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<p>The neoliberal turn in American politics is about to get more vicious.&#160; Our corporate dominated media and political system is now turning its attention to the last area of the economy traditionally characterized by some modicum of worker security: the public sector.&#160; Officials claim that decent pay for state workers, in addition to union protections and other benefits are now too expensive for American taxpayers to afford.&#160; This summer California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered 200,000 state workers to take mass pay cuts, forcing them to receive the federal minimum wage pay of $7.25 per hour.&#160; The cuts were undertaken in the name of balancing the state’s budget.&#160; Similarly, Florida state officials promised cuts in state workers’ pay by as much as three percent for 2011, while state senators cynically raised their own pay (following an additional cut in state worker pay last year).</p>
<p>Illinois Republican Gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady is promising a massive 10 percent budget cut should he win this fall, on top of the already announced 18,000 layoffs in the public sector this year.&#160; Brady framed his proposal to freeze state workers’ pay as an inevitable necessity during tough economic times: “let’s face it, the private sector’s gone without a pay raise, and in many cases pay cuts, over the last four years.”&#160; Brady’s suggestion that state workers have had it too good for too long is a common theme among America’s business-dominated officialdom, which is increasingly attacking public sector pay and benefits as unsustainable.</p>
<p>The most obvious problem with the neoliberal narrative above is that it distorts the true levels of pay and benefits received by public sector workers.&#160; This strategy is common among Republicans and an increasingly business-oriented Democratic Party – those framing public workers as greedily enjoying excessive pay at the expense of those in the private sector and those who are suffering under the economic crisis.</p>
<p>Recent empirical studies of state and private sector pay raise serious questions regarding conservative dogmas and propaganda.&#160; The Political Economy Research Institute and The Center for Economic and Policy Research report this month that state and local workers do technically earn more, on average, than private sector workers, but this is primarily because they are older and more highly educated.&#160; These workers, the study finds, benefit from greater levels of experience and training, but are actually less well paid when compared to private sector workers of a similar age and qualification level.&#160; The Economic Policy Institute reports that, “after controlling for education, experience, hours of work, organizational size, gender, race, ethnicity and disability,” public employees are undercompensated, earning 3.7 percent less than those in the private sector in similar work conditions.</p>
<p>The claim that public workers are overpaid is a myth.&#160; The above findings are important because they suggest that public sector workers shouldn’t become scapegoats in light of the major budget crises under which 37 states are currently suffering.&#160; Further complicating conservative propaganda is the inconvenient fact that major cuts in state and local employee pay will do little to balance budgets and save money.&#160; Public sector wages and worker benefits account for less than 30 percent of all state and local spending.&#160; Furthermore, as economist Paul Krugman reports, cutting a few percentage points from pay or other worker benefits would have a negligible impact on balancing state budgets.&#160; Mass layoffs and pay cuts in the name of fiscal austerity are also likely to hurt state budgets in the short term, as firing tens of thousands of employees in each state will almost certainly be accompanied by a significant decline in taxes collected, as we saw following the layoffs in the private sector in 2008 and 2009.</p>
<p>Public sector workers are just now starting to feel many of the negative consequences of the dramatic contraction in the private sector felt over the last two years (State education spending, for example, has suffered under the worst cuts in recent history this year.&#160; Further cuts to workers in the public sector will likely exact a negative toll on state taxes collected and state budgets in the future (which will continue to decline due to increased unemployment).&#160; Economic performance will also suffer in general, as those who suffer under layoffs and pay cuts will become far more careful in their spending habits.</p>
<p>None of the negative consequences of state budget and pay cuts are of serious concern for those national and state officials who oppose stimulus spending and support budget cuts and layoffs.&#160; They have long been intent on gutting public sector unions and weakening public services and goods that are provided for through public sector employment and taxation.&#160; The ideology stressing ever-increasing tax cuts is accompanied by an understanding that such cuts will inevitably lead to massive budget deficits, which will be met by calls for cuts in social welfare spending, public employment, and state worker benefits.&#160; Such policies amount to little more than class warfare, when all’s said and done.</p>
<p>ANTHONY DiMAGGIO is the editor of media-ocracy ( <a href="http://www.media-ocracy.com/" type="external">www.media-ocracy.com</a>), a daily online magazine devoted to the study of media, public opinion, and current events. &#160;He has taught U.S. and Global Politics at Illinois State University and North Central College, and is&#160;the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1583671994/counterpunchmaga" type="external">When Media Goes to War</a> (2010) and <a href="" type="internal">Mass Media, Mass Propaganda</a> (2008). He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p> | Are Government Workers Overpaid? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/09/24/are-government-workers-overpaid/ | 2010-09-24 | 4 |
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<p>When it comes to streaming-content platforms, Netflix still wears the crown.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The company’s shares surged to an all-time high of $143.46 on Thursday as investors cheered fourth-quarter earnings results that beat expectations, thanks to strength in subscriber additions and strong first-quarter earnings guidance.</p>
<p>The streaming giant has more than one reason to be optimistic. Ahead of earnings this week, Netflix announced it signed comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who will produce new episodes of his “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” exclusively for the platform later this year. The subscription-based on-demand video service will also offer previous episodes of the comedian’s hit 1990’s sitcom “Seinfeld” -- and two new stand-up shows.</p>
<p>Nearly half of the 42 brokerages with ratings on Netflix hiked their price targets for the stock Thursday, raising the median target by 16% to $150.50, according to Reuters. FBR’s Barton Crockett was among those, calling the quarter “impressive,” raising his price target to $144 from $100.</p>
<p>“This argues that the disappointing performance earlier in 2016 from un-grandfathering has run its course and that some of those who dropped the service are coming back,” Crockett said, referring to a decision in May to raise prices for Netflix’s legacy subscribers who had been exempt from previous price hikes.</p>
<p>Helping lure customers back to the platform is the company’s wildly popular original content, which includes hits like “Orange is the New Black,” “Narcos,” “The Crown” and “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life,” which debuted in the top 10 in every one of Netflix’s territories.&#160;With sights set on releasing more than 1,000 hours of original programming in 2017, up from 600 last year, the company plans to sink more than $6 billion into its content, a $1 billion increase from 2016.</p>
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<p>Netflix said compared to the last quarter of 2015, global streaming revenue grew 41%&#160; -- to $2.4 billion – as it added more than 7 million net new subscribers during the quarter – the most in its history, and substantially more than the 5.2 million members it expected to add. While the company signed up more users in the U.S. than it forecasted, international subscriber additions grew by 5.12 million, well above the 3.75 million expectation. That growth puts nearly half of the company’s total members outside of the U.S.</p>
<p>“Think of it as this big adoption of Internet TV,” said co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings on the company’s earnings call Wednesday evening. “It’s somewhat influenced by content in the short term… what we’ve seen in Latin America is steady growth, Europe has really been picking up for us, in Asia we’re just getting started.”</p>
<p>While the ease of Internet access and use around the world has helped the company’s subscriber base swell, it’s also drummed up increased competition from other internet giants. In its letter to shareholders Wednesday, Netflix said Amazon Prime Video (NASDAQ:AMZN), YouTube, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), and rumblings of an Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) video service all represent opportunities industry growth, but a challenge for itself.</p>
<p>“[Netflix] has become really aggressive in ramping up content, and that’s a big reason why they’re drawing more subscribers and more adherence to their platform. As long as they keep investing aggressively, content sets them apart. None of their competitors come close to spending the type of cash Netflix is,” said Tuna Amobi, media analyst at CFRA.</p>
<p>What’s more, Amobi noted it’s not a zero-sum game in the streaming world as Netflix subscribers may also use Hulu, Amazon and other platforms at the same time. While it presents competition, it also provides incentive for Netflix to continue producing high-quality content to keep its loyal subscribers.</p>
<p>“One challenge is escalated content spending. That continues to balloon significantly so keeping that in check will take some managing,” Amobi noted.</p>
<p>Netflix reported 4Q revenue of $2.48 billion, topping expectations for $2.47 billion, while profits per share of 15 cents outpaced expectations by two pennies.&#160; For the current quarter, the company expects to add 8.9 million members globally and is targeting earnings per share of 37 cents, more than double the 18 cents Wall Street expects.</p> | Netflix Signs Seinfeld, Throws Another $1B at Original Content; Shares Hit New High | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/19/netflix-signs-seinfeld-throws-another-1b-at-original-content-shares-hit-new-high.html | 2017-01-19 | 0 |
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<p>But teachers quickly complained in September that the limits, 1,200 per student, put a serious crimp in their ability to provide their charges with necessary materials, and the APS administration rescinded the limits and proposed a different strategy – and it seems to be working.</p>
<p>The district instead asked teachers to send large printing and copying jobs to the district’s central print shop at the district’s Lincoln Complex, which would help save money, said chief operations officer Ruben Hendrickson. Administration officials also encouraged teachers to make only as many copies and printouts as they needed, he said.</p>
<p>Still, APS administrators feared this voluntary strategy might fail, forcing the district to spend upward of $1 million in reserve funds above and beyond the $2.7 million budget for copies and printouts.</p>
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<p>“As it turns out those fears were unfounded,” Hendrickson said, explaining it now appears the district’s revised strategy is working based on reports from October and November that show copying and printing expenses have come in under budget.</p>
<p>Interim Superintendent Brad Winter said he believes teachers have responded well to the issue.</p>
<p>“I think it’s absolutely great,” he said. “I think they (teachers) are very respectful to use only what they need to do their work.”</p>
<p>Hendrickson said it’s still important for staff to continue to send large copying and printing jobs to the district print shop.</p>
<p>“I hesitate to declare victory for fear of the unknown,” Hendrickson said, explaining he hopes usage doesn’t spike during the coming months.</p>
<p>Last school year, APS lifted copying and printing limits, which had been in place during previous years, because the new Common Core standards the district adopted encouraged students to take notes on source material. And teachers say they now rely more on printouts because many textbooks don’t match the new standards.</p>
<p>After lifting the limits, however, APS overran its $2 million printing and copying budget for the 2013-14 school year by $700,000, Hendrickson said.</p>
<p>So this school year, APS budgeted an additional $700,000 for copies and printouts and also put limits back in place.</p>
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<p>But during a September school board meeting, teachers protested the policy, saying the limits wouldn’t work given the changes brought on by the Common Core.</p>
<p>That prompted the administration to rethink its approach.</p>
<p>Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, said APS should not have imposed limits.</p>
<p>“The last thing an overworked, stressed workforce needs is more limits on their ability to do their work,” Bernstein said.</p>
<p>She said she’s glad costs are coming in under budget and it doesn’t appear the district will have to impose limits.</p>
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<p /> | Centralized printing helps APS to keep costs under control | false | https://abqjournal.com/523533/centralized-printing-helps-aps-to-keep-costs-under-control.html | 2 |
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<p>MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont Agency of Agriculture says about $200,000 in federal grant funding is available to improve the competitiveness of Vermont specialty crops.</p>
<p>The crops include fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits; horticulture crops such as honey, hops, and maple syrup; and nursery crops, like Christmas trees and flowers.</p>
<p>The funding will be awarded through a competitive review process. Some of the funding priorities are pest and disease management; enhancing food safety and improving the capacity of specialty crop businesses to comply with those regulations; and producer collaborations.</p>
<p>Applicants must submit a letter of intent by Feb. 28, and top-ranking projects will be invited to submit full proposals. The agency will hold a webinar for possible applicants on Feb. 2. More information can be found on the agency’s website at: agriculture.vermont.gov/vtscbgp.</p>
<p>MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont Agency of Agriculture says about $200,000 in federal grant funding is available to improve the competitiveness of Vermont specialty crops.</p>
<p>The crops include fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits; horticulture crops such as honey, hops, and maple syrup; and nursery crops, like Christmas trees and flowers.</p>
<p>The funding will be awarded through a competitive review process. Some of the funding priorities are pest and disease management; enhancing food safety and improving the capacity of specialty crop businesses to comply with those regulations; and producer collaborations.</p>
<p>Applicants must submit a letter of intent by Feb. 28, and top-ranking projects will be invited to submit full proposals. The agency will hold a webinar for possible applicants on Feb. 2. More information can be found on the agency’s website at: agriculture.vermont.gov/vtscbgp.</p> | Grants available for Vermont specialty crops | false | https://apnews.com/69a07130462240bf9532e81cee8dadca | 2018-01-21 | 2 |
<p>From the Hill:</p>
<p>An exasperated group of California Democrats is intensifying its attack on President Obama’s handling of the ongoing foreclosure crisis.</p>
<p>The lawmakers — who maintain the president has unilateral powers to help struggling homeowners — say he’s chosen instead to prioritize the well-being of the financial industry. And they aren’t mincing words.</p>
<p>“The challenges that we are facing are exacerbated by an administration that has simply not gotten it right over, and over, and over,” Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) told reporters Thursday in the Capitol. “The administration has simply not done a darn thing to help my constituents.”</p>
<p><a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/house/187187-california-dems-intensify-pressure-on-obama-to-tackle-foreclosures" type="external">(Read Full Article.)</a></p> | California Dems Intensify Pressure on Obama to Tackle Foreclosures | false | http://capoliticalreview.com/trending/california-dems-intensify-pressure-on-obama-to-tackle-foreclosures/ | 2011-10-15 | 1 |
<p>BAMAKO, Mali — Malian voters will head to the polls on Sunday in a presidential election meant to press the restart button on what was until last year considered a democratic model in West Africa.</p>
<p>Twenty-seven candidates are vying to lead the country out of its darkest chapter in recent memory. A coup d’état in March 2012 saw the country’s long-serving president deposed five weeks before elections set to choose his successor, as the country’s vast north fell to Al Qaeda-linked rebels.</p>
<p>Only an eleventh-hour intervention by former colonial power France in January spared the rest of the country a similar fate.</p>
<p>In a frantic three-week campaign period, candidates have crisscrossed the country, staging rallies before thousands of supporters.</p>
<p>The capital Bamako is saturated with billboards and flyers bearing the candidates’ faces and slogans. The interim government declared Friday a national holiday to boost distribution rates of the biometric identification, or NINA, cards required to vote.</p>
<p>But less than 24 hours before polls open Sunday morning, the prospects of a credible and inclusive election remain in question.</p>
<p>The timing of the election has been fast-tracked under intense pressure from international donors, namely France. About $4 billion of aid money is blocked until an elected government takes power.</p>
<p>The race to organize the poll has produced countless logistical headaches. The government only started distributing NINA cards to Mali’s more than 6.8 million registered voters a month ago.</p>
<p>Over 500,000 Malians remain displaced after the turmoil in the north — either internally or abroad — according to the latest UN figures. Reports suggest that only a tiny fraction of them will be able to vote.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/war/conflict-zones/130131/mali-crisis-human-impact-conflict-zones-military" type="external">First the war in Mali, now the crisis</a></p>
<p>Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of young people between the ages of 18 and 21 will also be disenfranchised. The country’s electoral list is based on the country’s 2009 census and therefore does not include most Malians who were not yet of voting age at the time.</p>
<p>Some have called for a delay of the election to allow authorities to resolve these issues.</p>
<p>The International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based NGO, warned earlier this month that the elections could be “marred by such technical shortcomings and with such a low rate of participation, that a new president could be deprived of the legitimacy necessary to lead a confused and weakened country back onto the road to stability and development.”</p>
<p>One of the original presidential candidates, Tiébilé Dramé, dropped out of the race, accusing organizers of “fetishizing” the July 28 date and refusing to entertain any alternatives.</p>
<p>Malian and international officials, however, insist that the country is ready.</p>
<p>The interior ministry told GlobalPost Friday that 85 percent of eligible voters had already retrieved their NINA cards. Officials hope that figure will climb to 90 percent for election day.</p>
<p>“We don’t have concerns about the elections,” said Issago Kampo, the first vice president of Mali’s electoral commission, or CENI. “We hope that the results will be respected.”</p>
<p>Still, no one expects a trouble-free election.</p>
<p>“I think they’re going to muddle through somehow,” said Tobias Koepf, a political scientist who specializes in the Sahel region, a belt of land immediately south of the Sahara. “We can try to make them as good as possible [but] it won’t be perfect.”</p>
<p>Another concern is the northern city of Kidal. There, forces from the MNLA, a nominally secular Tuareg-led separatist group, led the initial rebellion against Malian forces in early 2012. Later they were edged aside by jihadist groups, but have occupid Kidal since French and Chadian forces recaptured it in February.</p>
<p>An accord reached in June between the MNLA and Malian government allowed Malian soldiers and officials to reenter Kidal.</p>
<p>But clashes between Tuaregs, an ethnically Berber nomadic people, and black Malians flared upon the army’s arrival in town, leaving four dead last week. Six election officials were also briefly abducted slightly farther to the north in Tessalit. The Malian government has blamed the MNLA.</p>
<p>The Kidal region accounts for just one-half of one percent of the national electorate, but the symbolism of its participation in the election is perceived as critical.</p>
<p>One of the most pressing issues confronting the next president will be the status of the north, which has experienced repeated Tuareg-led rebellions against the central government in recent decades.</p>
<p>More broadly, the success of the election will be determined by the extent to which Malians embrace the return of the democratic process,&#160;says Susanna Wing, a Mali expert at Haverford College in Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>Although Mali’s elections since its transition to democracy in the early 1990s were routinely labeled free and fair, turnout never surpassed 40 percent, the worst rates of any country in the region.</p>
<p>The key question, Wing says, is, “Do Malians rally around this as a uniting moment and a necessary moment given the challenges, or do the divides that we’ve seen over the years get exacerbated by this process being demanded so early?”</p>
<p>A strong turnout Sunday, analysts say, would give the new president an important stamp of legitimacy.</p>
<p>The upheavals of the last year seem to have given Malian democracy a shot in the arm. Despite the logistical hurdles, many observers are predicting a record turnout — some say as high as 60 percent.</p>
<p>In a market in the capital Bamako on Friday, it was impossible to find anyone not planning to vote.</p>
<p>Aissata Sidibé, 27, was one of many who said they would be voting for the first time. The economy, specifically jobs, ranked at the top of her priorities. Mali is one of the world’s poorest countries.</p>
<p>“We’re in a crisis,” she said. “And I think if many of us vote, we can change things.”</p>
<p>Like most of the others in the market, Sidibé plans to vote for Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, a former prime minister and speaker of the national assembly. Keïta is widely considered the frontrunner, though handicapping the race is difficult in the absence of reliable nationwide polling.</p>
<p>Soumaïla Cissé, a former finance minister and chairman of the West African Economic and Monetary Union, is viewed as the other possible winner.</p>
<p>Given the number of candidates, though, it is unlikely that anyone will claim the outright majority in the first round necessary to avoid a runoff two weeks later.</p>
<p>Whoever emerges victorious will face a laundry list of challenges. The security situation in the north remains tenuous. A 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping force is currently moving in to replace French soldiers, most of whom are scheduled to leave by the end of the year. The school system is in desperate need of reform. So is infrastructure, especially in rural areas.</p>
<p>The new president’s most urgent priority might be restoring public confidence in government. The leading candidates are all closely tied to the previous administrations, which were dogged by corruption.</p>
<p>For now, Malians are eager to turn the page on the last 16 months.</p>
<p>“This is like a wound that is open,” said Biba Traoré, 45, as she sold kola nuts in the market. She eagerly flashed an ID card showing her name and year of birth, but was taking no chances with her NINA card ahead of the election.</p>
<p>“I keep that stashed away at home,” she said.</p> | Mali elections: hasty or much-needed shot in the arm? | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-07-27/mali-elections-hasty-or-much-needed-shot-arm | 2013-07-27 | 3 |
<p>Nov. 8 (UPI) — A general strike in Spain Wednesday to protest the jailing of former Catalan officials — including leader Carles Puigdemont — failed to gain traction.</p>
<p>As many as <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/catalonia-general-strike-catalan-roads-pro-independence-supporters-schools-traffic-jams-a8043596.html" type="external">60 roads were blocked by protestors</a> in Catalonia, causing heavy traffic jams and delays in main access routes in Barcelona.</p>
<p>The strike, called by the smaller Intersindical-CSC union, <a href="https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/11/08/inenglish/1510136752_406095.html" type="external">doesn’t have the backing</a> of two of Spain’s largest general worker unions — the CCOO and the UGT. Together, they make up 85 percent of all union members in Catalonia.</p>
<p>About 500 people stood on train tracks at a station in Girona, which houses the high-speed train link between Barcelona and France. About 85 percent of Metro services in Barcelona ran despite protests. Bus services, for the most part, were running a normal schedule.</p>
<p>More in the education and public broadcasting centers took part in the strikes, with around half of Catalonia’s schools and universities reported closed.</p>
<p>Operations in Barcelona’s high-traffic port area, other major industrial areas and most stores and restaurants were also open — highlighting an overall lower level of support than prior pro-independence strikes.</p>
<p>The Mossos D’Esquadra, the region’s local police force, was tasked with physically removing protesters from roads.</p>
<p>A poll conducted by the Center for Sociology Research last month showed nearly 30 percent of respondents identified <a href="https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/11/08/inenglish/1510129263_266729.html" type="external">Catalonia’s bid for independence</a> as the second most pressing issue — behind unemployment, which is at 66 percent.</p>
<p>In surveys before June, Catalonian secession never ranked anywhere above 2 percent.</p>
<p>Catalonia’s pro-independence referendum vote ultimately led to Madrid taking control and placing the region’s ousted leaders in pre-trial custody on charges of sedition and misusing public funds.</p> | Strike for ousted Catalan leaders fails to gain traction | false | https://newsline.com/strike-for-ousted-catalan-leaders-fails-to-gain-traction/ | 2017-11-08 | 1 |
<p>If there is appealing food on a table ready to eat one is likely to eat it. If there is a lot of food, water, or drinks, humans tend to eat and/or drink more. It should be a no brainer that if there are more guns on people’s body, they will use any possible excuse to use it.</p>
<p>In Orange City, Florida Mr. Jose Martinez was arrested for shooting five times in the Wal-Mart parking lot off of Veterans Memorial Parkway. He told the cops that he was defending himself from a shoplifter who ran over and injured him.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Orange-City-Walmart-customer-shoots-suspected-shoplifter/-/1637132/19107274/-/rotvq8/-/index.html" type="external">According to WKMG Local 6</a></p>
<p>"The guy put me in danger and other people," said Martinez as police hauled him off to jail Wednesday evening. "He tried to run me over."</p>
<p>But police said Martinez only was bumped by the shoplifter's getaway car because he was chasing after the car and even tried to open the door to the moving vehicle before he opened fire.</p>
<p>Eddie McKee, 42, was caught shoplifting groceries at the Walmart and took off when security confronted him, knocking down a woman, according to police.</p>
<p>Several other people chased after the alleged shoplifter, Eddie McKee, and another man was armed but he never drew his gun. McKee was arrested in DeLand shortly after.</p>
<p>Police said McKee then jumped in his car and took off, but bumped into another car in the parking lot, that's when police say bullets started flying.</p>
<p>This is the world according to the NRA, a good guy with a gun. The problem is that the good guy with the gun could be a stupid guy. There are lot of immature, well-meaning people that lack any type of inhibition that armed will put average American citizens at risk. It is not a secret that if there is a gun in the home, it is usually used against a loved one. It is not a secret that the presence of a gun when depressed or in mental distress suicide becomes that much easier.</p>
<p>In the NRA world where society is fully armed, it won’t be long before this incident is normal. When Americans fear leaving their homes to go shopping at Wal-Mart or anywhere else, because of their fear of “the good guy with the gun”, maybe the time when businesses and politicians join the average citizens to bring down the NRA and pass sensible gun controls.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> LIKE My <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/EgbertoWilliescom/181893712536" type="external">Facebook Page</a> – Visit My Blog: <a href="http://www.EgbertoWillies.com" type="external">EgbertoWillies.com</a></p> | America’s Gun Future According To The NRA? | true | http://egbertowillies.com/2013/02/28/americas-gun-future-according-to-the-nra/ | 2013-02-28 | 4 |
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<p>Stephen Slevin’s attorney claimed his client had been treated worse than an animal, losing 50 pounds and developing bedsores, toenails that curled under his toes and the general appearance of a wild man.</p>
<p>Slevin, arrested for DWI and receiving a stolen vehicle, was at the detention center from August 2005 until June 2007, when charges against him were dismissed. His federal lawsuit alleged that the administrative segregation he was kept in was not reviewed periodically, ultimately making his mental and physical deterioration worse.</p>
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<p>After a five-day trial, the jury awarded $22 million in damages, including $15.5 million in compensatory damages, primarily pain and suffering, and $3 million in punitive damages – amounts that U.S. District Judge Martha Vázquez also refused to reduce.</p>
<p>The county in March asked for a new trial or a reduction of the amount of damages awarded, contending that the jury did not abide by the court’s instructions to use “dispassionate common sense” and “sound discretion” in assessing damages. Instead, the county argued that the jury was moved by passion or prejudice that led to manifest injustice against the county.</p>
<p>“Having presided over the trial, heard the testimony, received the exhibits and observed the demeanor of the witnesses,” Vázquez wrote, “the court cannot find that the award was excessive in relation to the injury.”</p>
<p>She noted the jury heard testimony about Slevin’s “letters … seeking help, and sick call requests documenting (his) suffering from bedsores on his thighs, fungus growing on his face, rotting teeth, pain, inability to sleep and nightmares when he could sleep.”</p>
<p>She also said that notes from the jury show it was trying to “ensure that it imposed only the proper category of damages on each party.”</p>
<p>County spokesman Jess Williams said the legal department is reviewing the opinion, and doesn’t usually comment on active cases.</p>
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<p>“We do believe, however, that the appeals process remaining ahead provides meaningful opportunities to mitigate the jury’s $22 million award, which we still maintain is unreasonable,” he said.</p>
<p>Matthew Coyte, who represents Slevin, said the county continues to refuse responsibility for Slevin’s injuries.</p>
<p>Rather than accuse the judge or jury, he said, “they should stop and take a look at their own behavior.”</p>
<p>Since the verdict was returned in January, little has changed in jail operations, he said.</p>
<p>“There has been an inmate death, and what has been described as a riot in one of the pods. There have also been reports of rubber bullets being used to control the behavior of pretrial detainees. These are the signs of an out-of-control, mismanaged facility,” he said. Coyte said the future is in the hands of the county commissioners, who will decide whether to litigate the matter further.</p>
<p>Two commissioners, Karen Perez and Billy Garrett, said in an op-ed published in the Journal after the verdict that the jail was struggling to provide adequate medical and mental health care for detainees at the time Slevin was arrested in 2005.</p>
<p>An estimated 40 percent of those held at the jail have a history of mental illness, they said, and the detention center has changed to accommodate the influx of people with mental health issues. — This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | $22 Million Award Is Upheld | false | https://abqjournal.com/154307/22-million-award-is-upheld.html | 2012-12-19 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>My objective has always been good government. When conducting public business, we need processes in place that oversee our practice and relationships to ensure that we are working in the best interest of the people and not for personal or political gain. In my opinion, that is generally defined by:</p>
<p>♦ A separation of power providing the necessary checks and balances. The governor’s staff has taken over the process of awarding this contract without the transparency required of our commission by the Open Meetings Act or the oversight provided in our enabling legislation. They have also disregarded the LFC committee audit report hearing that produced strong legislative opposition to the bid process. By producing a faux RFP, they avoided having the contract vetted through the Senate and the House.</p>
<p>♦ Accountability and access to information. The administration has gone to great lengths to keep access to information regarding this RFP secret and constantly maneuvered to keep the commission from obtaining important documents or from meeting and communicating with one another, even as they lobbied members to support the lease. Emails released show that while the governor’s office kept the commission in the dark, they were unabashed in their communications with Pat Rogers, the Downs’ lawyer and national committeeman for the Republican Party. Shortly after I voted against the lease they filed an IPRA for my personal emails, which I provided. Why are they now withholding their own?</p>
<p>♦ Proper representation of the people, giving them a meaningful voice in government. There was no point in the process that allowed for a representative voice. Not only were the stakeholders not brought to the table, but their concerns were never even considered. Political maneuvering has provided the opportunity for a private business with a dismal track record to get rich while the needs of the horseman, the community and the best interest of the taxpayer are ignored. The governor appointed all individuals involved: Expo management, the State Fair Commission, the evaluation committee, the Racing Commission, the Gaming Control Board, the Board of Finance and even the person who evaluated the losing bidder’s protest. She controlled the award from start to finish.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>With that in mind, I’d like to directly address my complaint to the New Mexico State Auditor’s Office. Portions of that complaint and supporting documents contain confidential material I’m not at liberty to release, though much of it was given to the Journal months ago. I’m sure as Hector Balderas and others perform their evaluation, that which can be proven will be made public.</p>
<p>I made repeated attempts to communicate my concerns “in-house” before reaching out to the auditor’s office. The governor’s deputy chief of staff personally blocked attempts by five commission members to define roles and responsibilities during the open bid period. When I met briefly with Keith Gardner, Ryan Cangiolosi and Jessica Hernandez to discuss my research, they were interested only in documentation that might prove illegality, not with the appearance of impropriety. The governor ignored my requests to meet with her, though she did meet with Tom Tinnin about the Downs lease and said she would take it personally if he did not reconsider his position. As a matter of integrity, he immediately resigned his position as the longest-standing member of the State Board of Finance who worked for two Democratic and two Republican governors over a period of 16 years.</p>
<p>The attorney general and FBI have both contacted me for an interview, though I never filed any official complaint with those entities. I reached out to the state auditor because that office has the authority to perform an independent review of my concerns.</p>
<p>There are some media outlets diligently working to provide that vital component of good government we depend on as citizens: accountability. I have always been and will always be available to anyone at the Journal who believes in these principles as deeply as I do.</p> | Goal of Downs Probe Is Clean Government | false | https://abqjournal.com/118190/goal-of-downs-probe-is-clean-government.html | 2012-07-13 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>When this saga began, it was about defunding Obamacare. House Republicans passed legislation to keep the government running while defunding the president’s health care law.</p>
<p>Senate Democrats rejected it.</p>
<p>Next, the House passed another government-funding bill but attached a one-year delay of Obamacare and repeal of the medical-device tax.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Senate Democrats rejected it.</p>
<p>So the House passed yet another government-funding bill, this one with a one-year delay of just Obamacare’s individual mandate, plus a provision requiring the president, the vice president, political appointees, all members of Congress and their staff to enroll in Obamacare’s health-care exchanges with no employer contribution.</p>
<p>Senate Democrats rejected it.</p>
<p>This week, the House tried passing small appropriations bills to keep specific portions of the government running individually – with no Obamacare conditions whatsoever.</p>
<p>Senate Democrats ignored it.</p>
<p>So we’ve gone from defunding Obamacare to delaying Obamacare to delaying parts of Obamacare to funding the government piecemeal without touching Obamacare at all. If Republicans have already conceded the defunding of Obamacare, what’s the point of keeping the government closed?</p>
<p>It calls to mind the episode of “Seinfeld” in which Jerry and George are coming up with an idea for a show to pitch to NBC – and decide it will be “a show about nothing.” That’s what this standoff has become – the Seinfeld Shutdown, a shutdown about nothing.</p>
<p>Fortunately, it’s not too late to make it a shutdown about something. The GOP can still turn the tables on the Democrats and win the standoff – if it makes the fight about spending and preserving its one legislative victory of the Obama era: the Budget Control Act.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Senate Democrats gave Republicans an opening when they passed a continuing resolution that keeps government funded at the spending level the GOP wanted ($986 billion) rather than the one Democrats wanted ($1.058 trillion). They did this to put Republicans in a box, so they could mock the GOP because its members “won’t even accept their own number.”</p>
<p>The way Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada persuaded his fellow Democrats to go along with the GOP number was by promising that this spending level would last for only six weeks – and that after Nov. 15 Democrats would fight to get more spending as part of a debt-limit deal.</p>
<p>What if Republicans said to Reid: OK, let’s not change current law at all. We’ll pass your continuing resolution to keep the government running, at the spending levels Senate Democrats agreed to – but for a full year. Then come January, we’ll let the second round of sequester spending cuts take effect – the cuts you agreed to in the Budget Control Act – automatically reducing spending even further, to $967 billion.</p>
<p>All of a sudden, Democrats would be the ones in a box: If they were to refuse, instead of Republicans shutting the government over a law they don’t like (Obamacare), Democrats would be shutting down the government over a law they don’t like (the Budget Control Act).</p>
<p>Think about it: Reid has been deriding the GOP as a bunch of “tea party anarchists who deny the mere fact that Obamacare is the law.” Well, the Budget Control Act is also the law. In fact, it is a law that Democrats voted for and President Barack Obama signed.</p>
<p>Are Democrats now “anarchists who deny the mere fact that the Budget Control Act is the law?” Are they going to, in Obama’s words, “hold the economy hostage over ideological demands” to increase federal spending? Are they going to “hurt our economy and millions of innocent people” to repeal “a law that passed both houses of Congress; a law that bears my signature”?</p>
<p>Democrats are not going to keep the government closed in order to bust spending caps they voted for and their president signed into law. That would be a politically unsustainable position. They would lose the moral high ground. The GOP can say, “We are agreeing to live under current law – and continue under existing funding levels and the automatic spending cuts that both parties agreed to.” Overnight, the GOP would trade a losing hand for a winning one.</p>
<p>Republicans could then pocket that victory and use the debt limit (where they have real leverage) to fight for further spending reductions. In that fight, they would have the backing of a supermajority of Americans who believe that there should be deep spending cuts in exchange for any debt-limit increase.</p>
<p>Will Republicans do this? Or will they continue the Seinfeld Shutdown? It depends on whether they want to continue putting on a show about nothing – or whether they want a win.</p>
<p>Marc A. Thiessen is a fellow with the American Enterprise Institute and writes a weekly online column for The Washington Post.</p>
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<p /> | Shutdown: A show about nothing | false | https://abqjournal.com/277936/shutdown-a-show-about-nothing.html | 2 |
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<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/world/middleeast/02flotilla.html" type="external">Israel</a> used "excessive" deadly force against a Turkish-led aid <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jKk_bEyF1PrNn-bQjtIdgyDJCv8g?docId=CNG.a724b78e2e84cd84028c7fdda12aa83e.441" type="external">flotilla</a> to Gaza and more could have been done to warn participants of the potential risk of attack, a U.N report says.</p>
<p>The report, published the New York Times on Thursday, also said however that flotilla organizers had been reckless and Israel's naval blockade of Gaza is legal.</p>
<p>Eight Turkish nationals and an American of Turkish descent died in the May 31, 2010 raid when Israeli special forces in speed boats and helicopters raided the six vessels in international waters.</p>
<p>"Israel's decision to board the vessels with such substantial force at a great distance from the blockade zone and with no final warning immediately prior to the boarding was excessive and unreasonable," said the inquiry, led by former New Zealand prime minister Geoffrey Palmer, AFP reports.</p>
<p>The 105-page report is expected to be released on Friday and says the Israeli military's treatment of passengers afterwards was abusive, New York Times reports.</p>
<p>The inquiry said forensic evidence showed that "most of the deceased were shot multiple times, including in the back, or at close range" and this has "not been adequately accounted for" by Israel, AFP reports.</p>
<p>It added, however, that the flotilla "acted recklessly in attempting to breach the naval blockade" set up around the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory by Israel.</p>
<p>AFP reports:</p>
<p>The inquiry called for Israel to make "an appropriate statement of regret" for the raid and pay compensation to the families of the dead as well as to injured victims.</p>
<p>Turkey and Israel should resume full diplomatic relations "repairing their relationship in the interests of stability in the Middle East," it added.</p>
<p>Israel has rejected Turkey's demands for an apology. Israeli government officials have said compensation is possible, however.</p>
<p>Neither the Turkish nor Israeli governments reacted immediately to the publication of the report by the New York Times.</p>
<p>The official release of the report has been delayed because the former allies have been unable to agree on a final version. A U.N. spokesman said, however, that the report was expected to be handed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.</p>
<p>The Mavi Marmara ferry led the <a href="http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE78064I20110901" type="external">flotilla</a> of six ships in which about 700 people from 40 countries took part. All the dead were on the ferry.</p>
<p>According to the report, a Turkish commission said "there was indiscriminate shooting, including from the helicopters."</p>
<p>The UN inquiry concluded, however, that Israeli forces "faced significant, organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers when they boarded the Mavi Marmara requiring them to use force for their own protection."</p>
<p>But it added that the loss of life inflicted by Israeli forces on the Mavi Marmara was "unacceptable." "No satisfactory explanation has been provided to the panel by Israel for any of the nine deaths", AFP reports.</p>
<p>Relations between the two countries deteriorated after the raid and Turkey wants an apology and insists the blockade is illegal.</p>
<p>The report did back Israel over its naval blockade. "We have made it clear that we consider that Israel was entitled to impose the naval blockade. It follows that Israel was also entitled to enforce it."</p>
<p>It added: "The manner of its enforcement, however, raises serious issues of concern".</p>
<p>The Hamas movement called the inquiry report "unjust and unbalanced".</p>
<p>The New York Times says Turkey has not yet commented on the report:</p>
<p>Turkey is particularly upset by the conclusion that Israel's naval blockade is in keeping with international law and that its forces have the right to stop Gaza-bound ships in international waters, which is what happened in the 2010 episode.</p>
<p>That conclusion oversteps the mandate of the four-member panel appointed by the United Nations secretary general and is at odds with other United Nations decisions, Turkey argued.</p>
<p>The report noted that the panel did not have the power to compel testimony or demand documents, but instead had to rely on information provided by Israel and Turkey.</p>
<p>Therefore, its conclusions cannot be considered definitive in either fact or law.</p>
<p>The Israeli and Turkish members of the four-man panel that wrote the report said they disagreed with key findings. The Turkish panelist dissociated himself from some conclusions.</p> | Israel used excessive force on Gaza flotilla | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-09-02/israel-used-excessive-force-gaza-flotilla | 2011-09-02 | 3 |
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<p>A law enforcement investigator collects evidence at the Clovis Carver Public Library in Clovis, NM, a day after a deadly shooting. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Officers investigate fatal shootings at the Clovis Carver Public Library in Clovis, NM, on Monday, August 28, 2017. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/ Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Jessica Thron, an employee at Clovis-Carver Public Library, is helped into an ambulance after the shooting on Monday afternoon. Her condition was not immediately clear.</p>
<p>The Clovis police chief said a man taken into custody at the a public library is suspected of shooting and killing two and injured four Monday. (The Eastern New Mexico News)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Lupe Aguirre had just watched his wife walk into the Clovis-Carver Public Library Monday afternoon, when a family came running out of the building, screaming that there had been a shooting.</p>
<p>He said he ran in to look for his wife and instead found smoke clearing from gunfire, casings on the floor and parents and children hiding under tables and behind locked doors.</p>
<p>Minutes later, Aguirre said, he found himself cornered by the shooter and staring down the barrel of a gun.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>It wasn’t until later that police would say that two women had been shot and killed, and four other people injured by a single suspect. Authorities say the suspect surrendered to police peacefully.</p>
<p>They have not identified the suspect or provided his age, but Aguirre said he was in his mid to late teens.</p>
<p>“He was happy,” Aguirre said. “He was just laughing, smiling the whole time until he came up real close to me, and then he put on that mean look.”</p>
<p>Aguirre said he was on the line with 911 telling police to hurry when the suspect confronted him and shouted at him to get on the floor.</p>
<p>As he was kneeling down, Aguirre said he told the shooter that someone was looking for him, as an attempt to distract him.</p>
<p>“He turned around and he saw a child and mother on the floor,” he said. “He told them to stay on the floor or he’s going to kill them, and then he walked to where I was pointing and went that way.”</p>
<p>In a news conference Monday night, Clovis Police Chief Douglas Ford said shortly 4 p.m. officers were called to the Clovis-Carver Public Library on North Main street near Seventh for reports of an active shooter.</p>
<p>He said the suspect surrendered peacefully when police arrived and no force was used against him.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Ford said the victims, some of whom were severely injured, were taken to hospitals in other cities to be treated. He did not identify any of the victims but said there were two women and two men.</p>
<p>He said they are still investigating what prompted the shooting.</p>
<p>However, Aguirre said his wife had seen the gunman enter and was standing next to one of the women who was shot. He said she told him it appeared as though he was firing randomly.</p>
<p>Aguirre said in the hours since the shooting, he has been praying and thanking God he and his wife were not harmed.</p>
<p>“It’s a really scary feeling,” Aguirre said. “Everything was going through my mind from where is he going to shoot me, to how is it going to feel. And then you start thinking about your kids, all at one time.”</p>
<p>More from ABQJournal.com</p>
<p>Suspect surrenders, is in police custody… continue reading »</p> | Man threatened by Clovis library shooter describes scene | false | https://abqjournal.com/1055121/man-threatened-by-clovis-library-shooter-describes-scene.html | 2 |
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<p>Before the Obama Administration buys in to General Stanley McChrystal’s escalation strategy, it might spend some time examining the Aug. 12 battle of Dananeh, a scruffy little town of 2,000 perched at the entrance to the Naw Zad Valley in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province.</p>
<p>Dananeh is a textbook example of why counterinsurgency won’t work in that country, as well as a study in military thinking straight out of Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass.”</p>
<p>According to the U.S., the purpose of the attack was to seize a “strategic” town, cut “Taliban supply lines,” and secure the area for the presidential elections. Taking Dananeh would also “outflank the insurgents,” “isolating” them in the surrounding mountains and forests.</p>
<p>What is wrong with this scenario?</p>
<p>One, the entire concept of a “strategic” town of 2,000 people in a vast country filled with tens of thousands of villages like Dananeh is bizarre.</p>
<p>Two, the Taliban don’t have “flanks.” They are a fluid, irregular force, not an infantry company dug into a set position. “Flanking” an enemy is what you did to the Wehrmacht in World War II.</p>
<p>Three, “Taliban supply lines” are not highways and rail intersections, they’re goat trails.</p>
<p>Four, “isolate” the Taliban in the surrounding mountains and forests? Anyone in the Pentagon ever read the story of Brer Rabbit?&#160; “Please don’t throw me in the briar patch, Brer Fox”?&#160; Mountains and forests are where the Taliban move freely. It also appears that the Taliban were not the slightest bit surprised when the U.S. showed up. When the Marines helicoptered in at night, all was quiet. At dawn—the Taliban have no night fighting equipment—the insurgents opened up with rockets, mortars, and machine guns. “I am pretty sure they knew of it [the attack] in advance,” Golf Company commander Captain Zachary Martin told the Associated Press.</p>
<p>Pinned down, the Marines brought in air power and artillery and, after four days of fierce fighting, took the town. But the Taliban had decamped on the third night. The outcome? A chewed up town and 12 dead insurgents, if you accept that there is no difference between an “insurgent” and a villager who didn’t get out in time, so that all the dead are automatically members of the Taliban.</p>
<p>“I’d say we’ve gained a foothold for now, and it’s a substantial one that we’re not going to let go,” says Martin. “I think this has the potential to be a watershed.”</p>
<p>Only if hallucinations become the order of the day.</p>
<p>The battle of Dananeh was a classic example of irregular warfare. The locals tip off the guerrillas that the army is coming. The Taliban set up an ambush, fight until the heavy firepower comes in, then slip away.</p>
<p>“Taliban fighters and their commanders have escaped the Marines’ big offensive into Afghanistan’s Helmand province and moved into areas to the west and north, prompting fears that the U.S. effort has just moved the Taliban problem elsewhere,” writes Nancy Youssef of the McClatchy newspapers.</p>
<p>When the Taliban went north they attacked German and Italian troops. In short, the insurgency is adjusting. “To many of the Americans, it appeared as if the insurgents had attended something akin to the U.S. Army’s Ranger school, which teaches soldiers how to fight in small groups in austere environments,” writes Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post.</p>
<p>Actually, the Afghans have been doing that for some time, as Greeks, Mongols, British, and Russians discovered.</p>
<p>One Pentagon officer told the Post that the Taliban has been using fighting in the Korengal Valley that borders Pakistan as a training ground. It’s “a perfect lab to vet fighters and study U.S. tactics,” he said, and to learn how to gauge the response time for U.S. artillery, air strikes, and helicopter assaults. “They know exactly how long it takes before…they have to break contact and pull back.”</p>
<p>Just like they did at Dananeh.</p>
<p>General McChrystal has asked for 40,000 new troops in order to hold the “major” cities and secure the population from the Taliban. But even by its own standards, the plan is deeply flawed. According to the military’s “Counterinsurgency Field Manuel, one needs a ratio of 20 soldiers for every 1,000 residents. Since Afghanistan is slightly over 32 million, that would require a force of 660,000 soldiers.</p>
<p>The U.S. will shortly have 68,000 troops in Afghanistan, plus a stealth surge of 13,000 support troops. If 40,000 additional troops are sent, that will bring U.S. forces to 121,000. Added to that are 35,000 NATO troops, though most alliance members are under increasing domestic pressure to withdraw their soldiers. McChrystal wants to expand the Afghan army to 240,000, and there is talk of trying to reach 340,000.</p>
<p>One does not need a calculator to conclude that the counterinsurgency formula—even with the larger Afghan army—is 150,000 soldiers short.</p>
<p>And can you really count on the Afghan army? It may indeed reach 340,000—although it doesn’t have the officers and sergeants to command those numbers— but the counterinsurgency formula calls for “trained” troops, not just armed boots on the ground. And according to a recent review, up to 25 percent of recruits quit each year, and the number of trained units has actually declined over the past six months. On top of which, it is not a national army. If Pashtun soldiers are deployed in the Tajik-speaking north, they will be seen as occupiers, and vice-versa for Tajiks in Pashtun areas. If both groups are deployed in their home territories, the pressures of kinship will almost certainly overwhelm any allegiance to a national government, particularly one as corrupt and unpopular as the current Karzai regime.</p>
<p>And by defending the cities, exactly whom will U.S. troops be protecting? When it comes to Afghanistan, “major” population centers are almost a contradiction in terms. There are essentially five cities in the country, Kabul (2.5 million), Kandahar (331,000), Mazar-e-Sharif (200,000), Herat (272,000), and Jalalabad (20,000). Those five cities make up a little more than 10 percent of the population, over half of which is centered in Kabul. The rest of the population is rural, living in towns of 1500 or fewer, smaller even than Dananeh.</p>
<p>But spreading the troops into small firebases makes them extremely vulnerable, as the U.S. found out in early September when eight soldiers were killed in an attack on a small unit in the Kamdesh district of Nuristan province. The base was abandoned a week later and, according to the Asia Times, is now controlled by the Taliban.</p>
<p>While McChrystal says he wants to get the troops out of “armored vehicles” and into the streets with the people, the U.S. will have to use patrols to maintain a presence outside of the cities. On occasion, that can get almost comedic. Take the convoy of Stryker light tanks that set out Oct. 12 from “Forward Operating Base Spin Boldak” in Khandar province for what was described as a “high-risk mission into uncharted territory.”</p>
<p>The convoy was led by the new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles designed to resist the insurgent’s weapon-of-choice in Afghanistan, roadside bombs. But the MRAP was designed for Iraq, which has lots of good roads. Since Afghanistan has virtually no roads, the MRAPs broke down. Without the MRAPs the Strykers could not move. The “high-risk” mission ending up hunkering down in the desert for the night and slogging home in the morning. They never saw an insurgent.</p>
<p>Afterwards, Sergeant John Belajac remarked, “I can’t imagine what it is going to be like when it starts raining.”</p>
<p>If you are looking for an Afghanistan War metaphor, the Spin Boldak convoy may be it.</p>
<p>McChrystal argues that the current situation is “critical,” and that an escalation “will be decisive.” But as former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst A.J. Rossmiller says, the war is a stalemate. “The insurgency does not have the capability to defeat U.S. forces or depose Afghanistan’s central government, and…U.S. forces do not the ability to vanquish the insurgency.”</p>
<p>While the purported goal of the war is denying Al-Qaeda a sanctuary, according to U.S. intelligence the organization has fewer than 100 fighters in the country. And further, the Taliban’s leader, Mullah Omar, pledges that his organization will not interfere with Afghanistan’s neighbors or the West, which suggests that the insurgents have been learning about diplomacy as well.</p>
<p>The Afghanistan War can only be solved by sitting all the parties down and working out a political settlement. Since the Taliban have already made a seven-point peace proposal, that hardly seems an insurmountable task.</p>
<p>Anything else is a dangerous illusion.</p>
<p>CONN HALLINAN can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> &#160;</p>
<p /> | Strategic Towns | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/11/18/strategic-towns/ | 2009-11-18 | 4 |
<p>May 9, 2013</p>
<p>By Chris Reed</p>
<p>Last month’s Los Angeles Times’ <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-high-speed-bidding-20130419,0,188616.story" type="external">bombshell</a> about the state bullet-train project could scarcely have made those in charge of the California High-Speed Rail Authority look worse. The Times reported that in determining who would be chosen to build the first segment of the project from Madera to Fresno, a rail authority committee — after a long, well-publicized public hearing — decided to emphasize competence and design skills by ruling that only the three contractors rated highest in this area would be considered. But the rules were subsequently changed with the bare minimum of publicity. The result was the authority’s favored bidder was the one with the cheapest bid. It was Sylmar-based Tutor Perini — a consortium which had the worst “technical” ranking of any bidder and would have been ineligible under the original rules.</p>
<p>A later <a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/04/25/3274086/high-speed-rail-agency-changed.html" type="external">Fresno Bee report</a> confirmed the Times’ findings.</p>
<p>But the rail authority decided the best defense was a good offense. New CEO Jeff Morales was sharply critical of the reporting by the Times. The authority’s argument, boiled down, was that everything it had done was done in satisfaction with authority rules and state laws. Since what was done was by the book, Morales argued, it was outrageous for anyone to suggest there was anything wrong with the decision. Everything was <a href="http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/apr/27/tp-rail-bidding-process-was-transparent/" type="external">“careful and transparent.”</a></p>
<p>CHSRA board chairman Dan Richard also offered this critique, suggesting routine decision-making was being depicted as scandalous by out-of-control journalists.</p>
<p>But as Morris Brown <a href="http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2013/05/high-speed-rail-ceo-jeff-morales-scrambles-to-explain-his-actions/" type="external">detailed on Fox &amp; Hounds</a>, the decision to emphasize technical competence in picking a contractor was done in high-profile fashion, while the the decision to de-emphasize technical competence was buried in a 150-page addendum that was posted on the authority’s website — with no acknowledgement that a major change had been made.</p>
<p>But Morales’ and Richard’s strategy of attack isn’t just misleading, based on the background provided by Morris Brown. There’s also this larger context: No state agency in California has less claim to the moral high ground than the California High-Speed Rail Authority. It narrowly won passage of $9.95 billion in state bond fund seed money from state voters in November 2008 after failing to meet a state law requiring that a business plan for the project be made public before the vote.</p>
<p>Within days after the vote, the plan was released — and one of its key provisions was based on the assumption that private investors could be attracted if they were given a ridership guarantee. But such a guarantee would have violated the state law that banned further California taxpayer subsidies of the project. (If ridership guarantees to investors are not met, taxpayers would have to pay investors.)</p>
<p>That is the <a href="" type="internal">original sin of the bullet train debate</a> — the rail authority keeping this damning detail from the public.</p>
<p>In the years since, claims and promises made by the rail authority on the bullet train have proven to be grossly wrong — and all in ways that make the project worse. The total project cost is far higher. The individual ticket cost is going to be higher. The number of jobs that will be created is lower. The environmental benefits won’t show up for decades, if then.</p>
<p>But most of all, there’s this: What the CHSRA is building simply isn’t a statewide bullet train.</p>
<p>The train won’t come even close to connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco in two hours and 40 minutes, as mandated in the 2008 ballot measure providing the bond seed money. Quentin Kopp, the former state senator and judge who is considered the father of the state’s bullet train dream, is right when he says what’s being contemplated isn’t what he and other original advocates proposed. Instead, it’s a really fast train from Fresno to the northern edge of Los Angeles County, linked to regular rail in Silicon Valley and the Los Angeles metropolitan rail system.</p>
<p>From this perspective, the idea that rail authority honchos Jeff Morales and Dan Richard think they have the stature to lecture state journalists on the problems with their coverage is absurd. It’s like Tony Soprano complaining about the crime coverage in the Newark Star-Ledger.</p>
<p>And even if they did have the stature to righteously attack journalists for their CHSRA coverage, there’s this little problem. In their criticism, they haven’t laid a finger on the Times’ or the Bee’s reporting. Namely, in determining who would be chosen to build the first segment of the project from Merced to Fresno, a rail authority committee decided to emphasize competence and design skills. But the rules were subsequently changed in borderline-surreptitious fashion, and the favored bidder turned out to be the cheapest — and the one judged to have the least competence and design skills.</p>
<p>If Morales and Richard think this isn’t news because none of what was done was illegal, their credibility is even lower than it used to be.</p> | Bullet train CEO on war path | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2013/05/09/bullet-train-ceo-on-war-path-to-comic-effect/ | 2018-05-20 | 3 |
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<p>Tonight at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn., Dutch heavyweight Alistair Overeem, who earlier this year moved his training base to Albuquerque, fights on a “UFC Fight Night” card.</p>
<p>Saturday at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., three Jackson-Winkeljohn fighters – Michelle Waterson, Tara LaRosa and Jodie Esquibel – will fight on an Invicta FC card.</p>
<p>Mike Winkeljohn, Greg Jackson’s partner in the world-renowned Albuquerque MMA concern, had the following to say about the four fighters and their fights:</p>
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<p>“UFC FIGHT NIGHT,” Fox Sports 1, tonight at 7: Overeem (37-13) vs. Ben Rothwell (33-9).</p>
<p>Overeem, Winkeljohn said, “came here searching for some new tools, new footwork, new things he can do.</p>
<p>“He’s like a sponge, soaking it up, trying new things. You’re gonna see a different Overeem, but at the same time we’re just honored to work with a guy that has those kind of skills. ”</p>
<p>Rothwell, Winkeljohn said, is a big puncher and a good wrestler.</p>
<p>“I think Alistair will beat him with his speed, beat him with his footwork,” Winkeljohn said.</p>
<p>INVICTA FC 8, UFC Fight Pass, Saturday, 6 p.m.: Waterson (10-3) vs. Yasuko Tamada (15-8-3); LaRosa (21-4) vs. Roxanne Modafferi (15-11); Esquibel (3-1) vs. Jinh Yu Frey (2-0).</p>
<p>Waterson, Winkeljohn said, “always finds a way to win. She knows how to win, and she believes in herself. Michelle just will not lose.”</p>
<p>LaRosa is seeking to avenge a loss by split decision to Modafferi in 2010. The two women are friendly rivals, Winkeljohn said.</p>
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<p>“If Tara throws punches in combos, she should win the fight,” he said.</p>
<p>Winkeljohn said Esquibel, an Albuquerque firefighter, “is incredibly explosive and incredibly strong, and her wrestling has come to a high level.</p>
<p>“Jodie’s gonna be a force in that (105-pound) division real soon. She’s getting better every day at what she does, and her power’s coming way up.”</p>
<p>BELLATOR, TOO: Rio Rancho featherweight Steve Garcia (4-0), who trains at Luttrell’s MMA &amp; Fitness, is scheduled to face Kin Moy (5-0) of Cambridge, Mass., tonight on a Bellator card at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The Bellator main card will be televised on Spike TV. The undercard, including the Garcia-Moy fight, will be available via digital streaming on <a href="http://Spike.com" type="external">Spike.com</a>, starting at 4 p.m.</p>
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<p /> | Several Jackson-Winkeljohn fighters set to fight this weekend | false | https://abqjournal.com/457136/several-jacksonwinkeljohn-fighters-set-for-action.html | 2 |
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<p>Tomorrow morning, me and about 60,000 of my pals will start heading down to <a href="http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/local/USCA0512?from=recentsearch" type="external">Indio</a> for <a href="http://coachella.com/" type="external">the Coachella Music &amp; Arts Festival</a>. The event – envisioned as an American version of British festivals like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glastonbury_Festival" type="external">Glastonbury</a>, without <a href="http://www.new-age.co.uk/glastonbury-festival-pics-5-2004.htm" type="external">the mud</a> — has drawn hipsters, fashionistas, yuppies, rockers, ravers, goths and geeks to the broiling desert since 1999. I’ve been to all but one. Maybe it’s the amazing lineup, maybe it’s the well-planned and grassy venue, or maybe it’s the fact that I never had a wild Spring Break experience because I was always studying too hard, but I love everything about Coachella, and every year I start counting down the days to the next one the moment I get back. Check back here for coverage and pictures all weekend. Here’s an arbitrary list of what to look forward to if you’re going (or watching the <a href="http://clk.atdmt.com/ATA/go/sbcsbcon0030000021ata/direct/01" type="external">webcast</a>):</p>
<p>10. Sonic Youth (Outdoor Stage, Friday) This venerable New York combo put out one of the best albums of 2006, and this might be our only chance to hear them play songs from it, since much of their upcoming tour will be dedicated to Daydream Nation. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.</p>
<p>9. Jarvis Cocker (Outdoor Stage, Friday) Pulp were near-revolutionaries, and while their frontman hasn’t stayed on top of the charts, he’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_M22STINYw" type="external">as feisty as ever</a> (bad language on that link!), releasing an acclaimed solo record this year.</p>
<p>8. Manu Chao (Main Stage, Sunday) What’s great about Coachella is that not only do you catch up with your favorite artists, but also discover new ones. I don’t know much about this Latin singer, but about seven different people in the last week have told me how excited they are about him, so I’ll check him out, and I hope he doesn’t turn out to be the World Music Dave Matthews which is kind of what he looks like he might be from this picture.</p>
<p>7. Faithless (Sahara Stage, Friday) It’s been almost ten years since I’ve seen Faithless, and it was at a small San Francisco club; in the meantime, they’ve established themselves as an epic, must-see festival act all over Europe. With Coachella known for life-changing dance tent shows (see Daft Punk, Underworld, Chemical Brothers), this could be a highlight.</p>
<p>6. Peter Bjorn &amp; John (Mojave Tent, Saturday) Sticking a heavily-buzzed band in the tiniest tent (see Gnarls Barkley last year) is also a Coachella tradition; if I can actually get in to see them, I’ll be interested to see how their lilting, ’60s-style indie pop translates to the stage.</p>
<p>5. Justice / LCD Soundsystem / The Rapture (Sahara Tent, Saturday) Now here’s some scheduling magic: three great dance/rock bands in a row, with little competition from other stages, finish out the night on Saturday. I’ll just be staying in this tent until the bitter end thank you.</p>
<p>4. Bjork (Main Stage, Friday) No polar bears at this show, for sure. While I noted being slightly underwhelmed by her SNL performance, this will be the first taste of most of the new material from Volta, and I’m still very intrigued.</p>
<p>3. Ratatat (Mojave Tent, Sunday) This New York City duo make quirky yet energetic electronic music; their second full-length studio album, Classics, came out last year to much acclaim. Supposedly they are amazing live, and supposedly they recorded part of the album at a house owned by Bjork. Small world.</p>
<p>2. Arcade Fire (Main Stage, Saturday) Hey, Riff readers, did you know I liked this band? Har har. Anyway, it’ll actually be hard to top their stunning performance here in 2004, and moving to the main stage carries risks that they’ll be overwhelmed by its immensity. But, my God, it’s Arcade Fire!</p>
<p>1. Interpol (Main Stage, Friday) I know, crazy, but I just heard a couple preview tracks from their upcoming album (The Heinrich Maneuver, out May 7th), and they were awesome; plus they always put on a riveting, emotional live show; their epic, wide-open songs should be perfect for a warm night under the desert sky.</p>
<p>Wait a minute — actually, if I’m honest, this is my real #1: We rented a house with a pool table!!!!!!</p>
<p /> | Early Top 10: Coachella Edition | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/04/early-top-10-coachella-edition/ | 2007-04-26 | 4 |
A Video, An Apology And The Long Road To Accountability BGA Calls For A Clear Policy To Preserve Vital Police Records Toxic CPD Culture Goes Back Decades No Bonfires: Retain Police Misconduct Records | false | https://bettergov.org/news/preserving-police-records-a-key-to-real-reform | 2015-12-27 | 2 |
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<p>In over 30 years, the floor of Halema’uma’u crater in Hawaii had not seen lava flowing onto its floor. Overnight, the volcano’s volatile lava lake spilled over the rim of a deep vent within Halema’uma’u crater several times. The lava splashed onto the edges of the vent like a pool overflowing in this deep, vast pit located at the top of Kilauea volcano. The crater’s position poses no risk to people or structures according to geologist Matt Patrick from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory because of where the lava lake sits.</p>
<p>Although the lava poses no risk to structures or people, it has, in fact, reached the wall of Halema’uma’u crater that prompted rock falls and remarkable blasts as cold rock smashed the hot lava. Patrick reported that yesterday, Apr. 28, 2015, a rock fall flung molten rock 280 feet high onto the edge of Halema’uma’u crater. The lava then landed on devices that were monitoring the churning lake’s exterior and charred an old fence that was in place.</p>
<p>Since February 2010 when the lava lake emerged, it had never reached the crater’s rim until yesterday. The lava lake has ascended to 72 feet high right on the crater’s rim and has plummeted more than 720 feet below the rim at its lowest level. Kilauea volcano has a long history of summit eruptions, and the most recent was in 1982.</p>
<p>In a region called the East Rift Zone, Kilauea volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983 where it has wrecked more than 200 structures and submerged more than 9 miles of highway.</p>
<p /> | Kilauea volcano’s lava lake officially overflows for the first time in 30 years | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/04/29/kilauea-volcanos-lava-lake-officially-overflows-for-the-first-time-in-30-years/ | 2015-04-29 | 3 |
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<p>Security company ADT (NYSE:ADT) announced on Monday the hiring of NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) exec Michael Geltzeiler as chief financial officer once the Big Board’s $8.2 billion buyout closes.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Geltzeiler is the highest profile NYSE executive to jump ship ahead of the transaction with IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE:ICE), which is <a href="" type="internal">expected to wrap up on November 4.</a></p>
<p>“Michael has a proven track record serving as CFO at public companies with subscriber-based revenue models," ADT CEO Naren Gursahaney said in a statement. "His extensive capital markets experience, operational skills and financial acumen will help us to deliver value for our shareholders.”</p>
<p>Boca Raton, Fla.-based ADT said Geltzeiler is expected to join ADT “shortly after” the closing of the ICE deal.</p>
<p>The decision to leave is not surprising because <a href="http://ir.theice.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=728039" type="external">when ICE and NYSE announced their deal late last year Opens a New Window.</a>, the exchanges said ICE CFO Scott Hill would become the combined company's CFO.</p>
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<p>Geltzeiler was hired by NYSE five years ago and prior to that worked as CFO of the Reader’s Digest Association and as an executive at ACNielsen.</p>
<p>"ADT is a widely respected company and a clear leader in the industry, and I am honored to be joining the team," said Geltzeiler. "There is significant potential to grow ADT's residential and small business security and automation segments."</p>
<p>A spokesperson from NY-based NYSE said, "Mike Geltzeiler has been a valued member of our management team and has made significant contributions to the company.&#160;We wish him well."</p>
<p>Shares of ADT, which were inactive in premarket trading Monday morning, have declined 15.4% year-to-date, compared with a 19.4% rally on the S&amp;P 500.</p> | NYSE Euronext CFO Geltzeiler Jumps to Security Firm ADT | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/10/14/nyse-euronext-cfo-geltzeiler-jumps-to-security-firm-adt.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in remarks published Friday that his government will not negotiate with armed groups, calling them "terrorists" and saying they will only talk to political opposition.</p>
<p>Assad's comments to Spanish news agency EFE were published by Syria's state media Friday, a day after a conference in Saudi Arabia that sought to form a unified opposition front ahead of proposed talks on ending Syria's nearly five-year conflict.</p>
<p>A peace plan agreed to last month by world powers meeting in Vienna set a Jan. 1 deadline for the start of talks between Assad's government and opposition groups. Within six months, the negotiations are to establish a "credible, inclusive and non-sectarian" transitional government that would set a schedule for drafting a new constitution and holding a free and fair U.N.-supervised election within 18 months.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia has been a key backer of Sunni opposition blocs pushing for Assad's ouster, such as the hard-line Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham groups that were at the two-day talks in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.</p>
<p>Assad told EFE that Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and some Western countries "want terrorist groups to join the negotiations table." He said they want his government to "negotiate with terrorists and this is a matter that I believe no one will accept."</p>
<p>The Syrian leader said "we are ready to start negotiations with the opposition ... and the opposition for any person in the world does not mean armed" groups.</p>
<p>The powerful Ahrar al-Sham group pulled out of the opposition conference in Saudi Arabia on Thursday in protest over the role given to groups it said are close to the Syrian government, signaling continued divisions among rival factions ahead of the proposed peace talks.</p>
<p>Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country has been among Assad's strongest backers, said last month that peace talks for Syria cannot go ahead until all parties involved agree on which groups should be listed as terrorists and which are legitimate opposition.</p>
<p>"In principle we are ready for dialogue ... and in order for the dialogue to be successful you have deal with real national opposition that has a popular base in Syria," Assad said.</p>
<p>DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in remarks published Friday that his government will not negotiate with armed groups, calling them "terrorists" and saying they will only talk to political opposition.</p>
<p>Assad's comments to Spanish news agency EFE were published by Syria's state media Friday, a day after a conference in Saudi Arabia that sought to form a unified opposition front ahead of proposed talks on ending Syria's nearly five-year conflict.</p>
<p>A peace plan agreed to last month by world powers meeting in Vienna set a Jan. 1 deadline for the start of talks between Assad's government and opposition groups. Within six months, the negotiations are to establish a "credible, inclusive and non-sectarian" transitional government that would set a schedule for drafting a new constitution and holding a free and fair U.N.-supervised election within 18 months.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia has been a key backer of Sunni opposition blocs pushing for Assad's ouster, such as the hard-line Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham groups that were at the two-day talks in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.</p>
<p>Assad told EFE that Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and some Western countries "want terrorist groups to join the negotiations table." He said they want his government to "negotiate with terrorists and this is a matter that I believe no one will accept."</p>
<p>The Syrian leader said "we are ready to start negotiations with the opposition ... and the opposition for any person in the world does not mean armed" groups.</p>
<p>The powerful Ahrar al-Sham group pulled out of the opposition conference in Saudi Arabia on Thursday in protest over the role given to groups it said are close to the Syrian government, signaling continued divisions among rival factions ahead of the proposed peace talks.</p>
<p>Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country has been among Assad's strongest backers, said last month that peace talks for Syria cannot go ahead until all parties involved agree on which groups should be listed as terrorists and which are legitimate opposition.</p>
<p>"In principle we are ready for dialogue ... and in order for the dialogue to be successful you have deal with real national opposition that has a popular base in Syria," Assad said.</p> | Syria's Assad says he will not negotiate with armed groups | false | https://apnews.com/amp/e033d17ba2f846f89291d48c5aa65fa8 | 2015-12-11 | 2 |
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<p>Politico’s Roger Simon is <a href="http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=2EC0F60E-3048-5C12-00410E5BC5CFBB24" type="external">reporting</a> that the Clinton campaign will try to get pledged delegates that Obama has won in primaries and caucuses to abandon their commitment to Obama and vote for Clinton at the convention. This is primarily done, one suspects, by promising delegates tons of goodies in the upcoming administration.</p>
<p>On its face, this seems like an insane idea. People are <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2008/02/7226_movement_in_the.html" type="external">already freaked</a> about the possibility of superdelegates reversing a narrow pledged delegate lead, and thus taking the Democratic nomination out of the hands of the people and putting it in the hands of party insiders. The anger and resentment at Clinton would be far greater if she promised a few unscrupulous delegates some sweet Clinton Administration jobs and subverted the decisions of the people. This win-at-all-costs strategy is self-defeating, because it would undermine the Democratic Party’s excitement about their nominee in the general election.</p>
<p>But how much credibility can we assign to the report? Simon cites a single, unnamed source. The only quote from that source is this:</p>
<p>“I swear it is not happening now, but as we get closer to the convention, if it is a stalemate, everybody will be going after everybody’s delegates… All the rules will be going out the window.”</p>
<p>That doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a coordinated strategy to pursue pledged delegates. Maybe Simon was told more but didn’t think he needed to include additional quotes. I wish he had. We’ll see how the Clinton campaign’s responds.</p>
<p>But will going after pledged delegates even matter? Let’s say the pledged delegate count is within a couple hundred (or less!) going into the convention, and Clinton gets a couple to flip. Let’s go so far as to say she gets a couple dozen to flip. Isn’t the difference between herself and Obama still within that “superdelegate buffer” that ensures the margin of victory of the 795 superdelegates by one of the two candidates will determine the nomination?</p>
<p>Update: Clinton campaign <a href="http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/02/19/update-chait-right.aspx" type="external">issues a strong denial</a>.</p>
<p /> | Clinton Seeks to Flip Pledged Delegates? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/02/clinton-seeks-flip-pledged-delegates/ | 2008-02-19 | 4 |
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<p>LONDON — Inflation across the 19-country eurozone struck a four-month high in August largely because of higher energy costs, official figures showed Thursday in a development that’s unlikely to alter expectations that the European Central Bank will play it relatively safe at next week’s policy meeting.</p>
<p>Eurostat reported that annual consumer price inflation picked up to 1.5 percent from July’s 1.3 percent. Though the increase was anticipated in financial markets, inflation remains below the European Central Bank’s goal of just below 2 percent.</p>
<p>As a result, most economists believe the ECB will opt against any big announcement next week on the speed at which it will rein in its monetary stimulus program.</p>
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<p>“The ECB is unlikely to be in any hurry to exit from its ultra-expansionary policy,” said Christoph Weil, an analyst at Commerzbank. “It will probably only slightly adjust its forward guidance.”</p>
<p>This year’s pick-up in growth has stoked talk in the markets that the bank will soon follow the U.S. Federal Reserve in bringing an end to the emergency measures it put in place during the past few crisis-ridden years.</p>
<p>Those measures have included slashing interest rates including the ECB’s main one to zero in order to boost economic activity and stoke price pressures. The bank has also sought to keep market interest rates, which affect the costs of loans and mortgages, low by flooding the financial system with newly-created money. As part of that program, the ECB is pumping 60 billion euros ($71 billion) a month into the eurozone economy, a program that is intended to run until the end of the year, or beyond if necessary. The ECB has insisted that the policy will remain in place until policymakers have seen a “sustained adjustment in the path of inflation consistent with its inflation aim.”</p>
<p>One reason why ECB watchers believe the central bank will tread carefully at its Sept. 7 meeting is the euro’s recent strength. The euro has risen around 10 percent this year against the dollar, rising earlier this week to above $1.20 for the first since January 2015. On Thursday, it faltered somewhat after the inflation data, trading down 0.1 percent at $1.1880.</p>
<p>As well as potentially weighing on exports, the high currency has the potential to keep a lid on inflation by making imports cheaper. That’s not ideal for a central bank aiming to stoke price pressures in the economy.</p>
<p>Eurostat also reported Thursday that the core rate, which strips out potentially volatile items such as food and energy, was unchanged at 1.2 percent, a sign of stubborn underlying inflation pressures. That’s also likely to weigh on policymakers in their deliberations next week.</p>
<p>Cathal Kennedy, European economist at RBC Capital Markets, thinks that the ECB will reduce the amount of its monthly purchases largely for technical reasons but refrain from announcing an end-date for its asset purchases while reinforcing its message that interest rates will remain low.</p>
<p>“We think that the still muted inflation backdrop mean that the ECB will still be ‘patient’ as it tapers purchases,” Kennedy said.</p>
<p>Separately, Eurostat reported that unemployment across the eurozone was unchanged at 9.1 percent in July, its lowest level since February 2009. During the month, the number of unemployed people in the eurozone fell by 73,000, taking the total down to 14.86 million.</p>
<p>Of the 19 eurozone members, Germany has the lowest unemployment rate at 3.7 percent, while Greece has the highest at 21.7 percent, though that relates to May.</p> | Eurozone inflation picks up but remains below target | false | https://abqjournal.com/1056247/eurozone-inflation-picks-up-but-remains-below-target.html | 2017-08-31 | 2 |
<p>Conservative groups and lawmakers are lining up against a proposal by Senate Republicans to impose automatic tax increases on millions of Americans — if their sweeping tax package doesn't grow the economy and raise tax revenues as much as projected.</p>
<p>The opposition comes as the tax package cleared a key procedural vote in the Senate on Wednesday. The Senate voted 52-48 to start debating the bill. Wednesday's vote potentially could pave the way for the Senate to pass the package later this week. The Senate could start voting on amendments Thursday evening.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Opposition to the tax "trigger" could doom a delicately negotiated proposal aimed at mollifying deficit hawks who worry that tax cuts for businesses and individuals could add trillions to the mounting national debt.</p>
<p>Tucking a potential tax increase into the tax cut bill isn't sitting well with conservatives.</p>
<p>"Automatic tax increases are a special level of insanity," said Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz. "I don't think it survives."</p>
<p>Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, called the proposal "a uniquely bad idea," especially if revenues fall short because of an unforeseen slowdown in the economy.</p>
<p>Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., said the threat of an automatic tax increase would make businesses reluctant to invest.</p>
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<p>"If businesses or individuals have no ability to plan on a rate, it makes an investment decision, for instance, very, very difficult," Sanford said.</p>
<p>The proposal is being pushed by Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee, James Lankford of Oklahoma and Jeff Flake of Arizona. It is picking up steam in the GOP-controlled Senate, even if it could land with a thud in the GOP-controlled House.</p>
<p>Corker said he has received assurances from Republican Senate leaders and the White House that some sort of "trigger" would be added to the Senate package that would increase taxes if the economy doesn't grow — and tax revenues don't increase — as much as projected.</p>
<p>"While we are still working to finalize the details, I am encouraged by our discussions," Corker said.</p>
<p>Senators are also considering a companion proposal from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that would automatically cut taxes further if the economy grows faster than expected.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Republicans hit a procedural snag in their bid to use the tax bill to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Democrats said measures to fast-track environmental approvals violate a rule designed to limit budget legislation to provisions that are mainly fiscal in nature. Congressional aides said the Senate parliamentarian has signaled agreement with the Democrats.</p>
<p>The overall package is a blend of generous tax cuts for businesses and more modest tax cuts for families and individuals. It would mark the first time in 31 years that Congress has overhauled the tax code, making it the biggest legislative achievement of President Donald Trump's first year in office.</p>
<p>In crafting the bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has been trying to balance sometimes competing interests with very little room for error. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said Wednesday he would support the bill after reaching a deal to sweeten tax cuts for business owners who report their business income on their individual tax returns.</p>
<p>Senate Republicans hold a slim 52-48 majority in the Senate, meaning they can only lose two votes, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaker.</p>
<p>Pence was dining Wednesday night with a group of Republican senators, some of whom have expressed reservations about the tax bill. Pence invited Flake, Daines, Lankford and David Perdue of Georgia to the vice president's residence to discuss the tax overhaul, budget and other priorities, the White House said.</p>
<p>Democrats, who have been excluded from crafting the bill, are expected to unanimously oppose it.</p>
<p>The tax increase trigger is one way Senate GOP leaders are trying to round up votes. Even GOP senators who don't love the proposal said they are resigned to including it.</p>
<p>"We're probably going to have it, but I would prefer not to have it," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the tax-writing Finance Committee.</p>
<p>Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said, "Personally I prefer not to have a trigger, but I wouldn't vote against the bill. We'll do what we can do to get Bob Corker's vote."</p>
<p>An estimate by congressional analysts says the Senate tax bill would add $1.4 trillion to the budget deficit over the next decade. GOP leaders dispute the projection, saying tax cuts will spur economic growth, reducing the hit on the deficit.</p>
<p>Many economists disagree with such optimistic projections. The trigger would be a way for senators to test their economic assumptions, with real consequences if they are wrong.</p>
<p>A number of conservative groups that are usually allied with Republicans are slamming the idea.</p>
<p>The U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a statement calling the trigger "impractical, unreasonable, and unnecessary."</p>
<p>Grover Norquist, an anti-tax guru, said, "A trigger that threatens tax hikes is a self-fulfilling threat to kill jobs."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Ken Thomas and Matthew Daly contributed to this report.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter at http://twitter.com/stephenatap</p> | Conservatives slam GOP proposal to automatically raise taxes | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/29/senate-poised-for-test-vote-on-tax-overhaul.html | 2017-11-29 | 0 |
<p>The evolution is complete. President Obama disclosed in a television interview recorded Wednesday that he had changed his long-standing position, a move that should satisfy (at least for now) a Democratic base that was growing frustrated with him over the controversial social issue.</p>
<p>ABC News</p>
<p>In an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts, the president described his thought process as an “evolution” that led him to this decision, based on conversations with his staff members, openly gay and lesbian service members, and his wife and daughters.</p>
<p>“I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together; when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama told Roberts in an interview to appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday.</p>
<p />
<p>Excerpts of the interview will air tonight on ABC’s “World News With Diane Sawyer.”</p>
<p>The president stressed that this is a personal position, and that he still supports the concept of states’ deciding the issue on their own. But he said he’s confident that more Americans will grow comfortable with gays and lesbians getting married, citing his own daughters’ attitude toward the concept.</p>
<p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/obama-comes-out-i-think-same-sex-couples-should-be-able-to-get-married/" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p>Obama’s announcement came one day after North Carolina voted to ban same-sex marriage. –TEB</p> | Obama Evolves, Backs Gay Marriage | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/obama-evolves-backs-gay-marriage/ | 2012-05-09 | 4 |
<p>Shares of some top insurance companies are mixed at 1 p.m.:</p>
<p>ACE L rose $1.15 or 1.0 percent, to $111.29.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Aflac Inc. rose $.49 or .8 percent, to $64.47.</p>
<p>American International Group rose $.25 or .4 percent, to $57.68.</p>
<p>MBIA fell $.08 or .8 percent, to $9.49.</p>
<p>MGIC Investments Corp. rose $.48 or 4.8 percent, to $10.39.</p>
<p>MetLife rose $.59 or 1.2 percent, to $51.09.</p>
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<p>XL Group PLC rose $.18 or .5 percent, to $37.48.</p> | Insurance companies shares mixed at 1 p.m. | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/03/23/insurance-companies-shares-mixed-at-1-pm.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings of $1.32 billion.</p>
<p>On a per-share basis, the Midland, Michigan-based company said it had profit of $1.07. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to $1.08 per share.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.01 per share.</p>
<p>The specialty chemicals maker posted revenue of $13.83 billion in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $13.65 billion.</p>
<p>Dow Chemical shares have risen 16 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard &amp; Poor's 500 index has climbed 11 percent. The stock has increased 24 percent in the last 12 months.</p>
<p>_____</p>
<p>This story was generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on DOW at https://www.zacks.com/ap/DOW</p>
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<p>_____</p>
<p>Keywords: Dow Chemical, Earnings Report</p> | Dow Chemical beats Street 2Q forecasts | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/07/27/dow-chemical-beats-street-2q-forecasts.html | 2017-07-27 | 0 |
<p>(Reuters) – Bank of America Corp (N:), the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, reported a 15 percent rise in quarterly profit as the lender kept a tight leash on costs and benefited from higher interest rates.</p>
<p>BofA’s shares rose about 1 percent in premarket trade.</p>
<p>The bank’s net income attributable to common shareholders rose to $5.12 billion for third quarter ended Sept. 30 from $4.45 billion in the year-ago period. Earnings per share rose to 48 cents from 41 cents.</p>
<p>Analysts on average had expected earnings of 45 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the reported results were comparable.</p>
<p>Benefiting from higher Federal Reserve interest rates, the lender’s net interest income rose 9.4 percent to $11.16 billion. The Fed is widely expected to raise rates again in December.</p>
<p>BofA’s large stock of deposits and rate-sensitive mortgage securities make the lender particularly dependent on a rise in interest rates to boost profits.</p>
<p>Trading revenue fell 15 percent, with revenue from fixed income trading down 22 percent. JPMorgan (N:) and Citigroup (N:) also reported declines in trading revenue on Thursday due to a slump in volatility.</p>
<p>BofA’s non-interest expenses fell 2.5 percent to $13.14 billion. Total revenue rose about 1 percent to $22.08 billion.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | BofA profit rises on higher rates, lower costs | false | https://newsline.com/bofa-profit-rises-on-higher-rates-lower-costs/ | 2017-10-13 | 1 |
<p>HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Guam's governor was duped by a pair of Russian comedians who pretended to be officials from Ukraine.</p>
<p>Comedians Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov posted a YouTube video on Tuesday with a phone call recording of Gov. Eddie Calvo, in which the pranksters asked Calvo about the threat of North Korea's missiles.</p>
<p>The foolery started in September 2017 when Guam officials received an email requesting a call with Calvo, the Pacific Daily News <a href="http://bit.ly/2qNGRYK" type="external">reported</a> . The senders claimed to be from the office of the Ukraine prime minister.</p>
<p>Guam government spokeswoman Jenna Blas said the email included verifiable information, which led officials to proceed with the phone call.</p>
<p>One of the men posed as Ukraine Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and spoke with Calvo about Ukraine's military cooperation with the U.S.</p>
<p>"It's an honor, it's the first time I've had an opportunity to speak from a representative from Ukraine, but thank you so much prime minister for calling," Calvo said during the call.</p>
<p>The pranksters told Calvo the missiles they sold to North Korea were defective, and assured Calvo none of the missiles would be able to reach Guam. They asked Calvo about classified information on whether President Donald Trump planned to carry a preventive strike at North Korea and warned Calvo about concerns of Russia deploying fleets to Guam.</p>
<p>Blas said Calvo caught wind of something not being right partway through the interview, but that he completed the call in a professional manner.</p>
<p>Afterward, Homeland Security Advisor George Charfauros told Guam authorities to vet all information from the initial email and the phone call, Blas said.</p>
<p>Chief of Staff Mark Calvo also informed a National Security Advisory Council member of the call.</p>
<p>The administration decided not to take further action.</p>
<p>HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Guam's governor was duped by a pair of Russian comedians who pretended to be officials from Ukraine.</p>
<p>Comedians Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov posted a YouTube video on Tuesday with a phone call recording of Gov. Eddie Calvo, in which the pranksters asked Calvo about the threat of North Korea's missiles.</p>
<p>The foolery started in September 2017 when Guam officials received an email requesting a call with Calvo, the Pacific Daily News <a href="http://bit.ly/2qNGRYK" type="external">reported</a> . The senders claimed to be from the office of the Ukraine prime minister.</p>
<p>Guam government spokeswoman Jenna Blas said the email included verifiable information, which led officials to proceed with the phone call.</p>
<p>One of the men posed as Ukraine Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and spoke with Calvo about Ukraine's military cooperation with the U.S.</p>
<p>"It's an honor, it's the first time I've had an opportunity to speak from a representative from Ukraine, but thank you so much prime minister for calling," Calvo said during the call.</p>
<p>The pranksters told Calvo the missiles they sold to North Korea were defective, and assured Calvo none of the missiles would be able to reach Guam. They asked Calvo about classified information on whether President Donald Trump planned to carry a preventive strike at North Korea and warned Calvo about concerns of Russia deploying fleets to Guam.</p>
<p>Blas said Calvo caught wind of something not being right partway through the interview, but that he completed the call in a professional manner.</p>
<p>Afterward, Homeland Security Advisor George Charfauros told Guam authorities to vet all information from the initial email and the phone call, Blas said.</p>
<p>Chief of Staff Mark Calvo also informed a National Security Advisory Council member of the call.</p>
<p>The administration decided not to take further action.</p> | Guam's governor fooled by Russian comedians via phone call | false | https://apnews.com/amp/259c771fed1547c19881f9e09e2cfe66 | 2018-01-12 | 2 |
<p>SÃO PAULO -- Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was convicted convicted Wednesday on corruption charges stemming from the Car Wash graft probe, the massive investigation into corruption centered on state-owned oil company Petróleo Brasileiro.</p>
<p>Mr. da Silva has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. His representatives couldn't immediately be reached for comment.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Judge Sergio Moro sentenced Mr. da Silva to nine years and six months, a spokeswoman for the judge said.</p>
<p>Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>July 12, 2017 13:56 ET (17:56 GMT)</p> | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Former Brazilian President, Convicted of Corruption | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/12/luiz-in-cio-lula-da-silva-former-brazilian-president-convicted-corruption.html | 2017-07-12 | 0 |
<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening’s drawing of the Tennessee Lottery’s “Cash 3 Evening” game were:</p>
<p>7-6-6, Lucky Sum: 19</p>
<p>(seven, six, six; Lucky Sum: nineteen)</p>
<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening’s drawing of the Tennessee Lottery’s “Cash 3 Evening” game were:</p>
<p>7-6-6, Lucky Sum: 19</p>
<p>(seven, six, six; Lucky Sum: nineteen)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in ‘Cash 3 Evening’ game | false | https://apnews.com/924bfdb54df0448db03c008640a4c224 | 2017-12-30 | 2 |
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<p>DETROIT - A Nissan recall for possible fuel leaks in crashes has been expanded to include nearly 59,000 Altima and Maxima sedans worldwide.</p>
<p>The recall now covers certain 2013 to 2016 Altima midsize cars and some 2016 Maxima large cars. Also included are some 2014 to 2016 Teana sedans made in Russia. All have V6 engines.</p>
<p>Nissan says in documents posted by U.S. safety regulators that in a crash, fuel could leak from a seal between the gas tank and the fuel sending unit. That could cause a fire.</p>
<p>The company says the problem was discovered in crash tests, and it has no reports of fires, injuries or fuel leaks.</p>
<p>Dealers will install a retainer ring to help maintain a proper seal. The recall should begin within the next two months.</p>
<p>The recall began in July with about 5,500 2016 Maxima sedans, but Nissan said at the time it was investigating to find out whether more models were affected.</p>
<p>A company spokesman said Monday that no Infiniti luxury brand vehicles are affected by the recalls.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Nissan expands fuel leak recall to 59,000 sedans | false | https://abqjournal.com/665785/nissan-expands-fuel-leak-recall-to-59000-sedans.html | 2 |
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<p>Julie Moos recently wrote a <a href="" type="internal">centerpiece</a> for Poynter Online in which I commented that I would like to see more reporting on climate change, what with the hurricanes and the wild weather we are seeing. It's nice to know, then, that there is some brilliant reporting around. Let me suggest you check out the <a href="http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/special_packages/gulfstream/" type="external">climate package from Philly.com</a>. It doesn't just deal with climate change, but it has multimedia, animations, graphics, and some very good writing. I was made aware of this special report package by Philly.com's deputy managing editor of news, Carl Lavin, after my comments in the centerpiece. I guess he is proud of the work they've done. He should be.</p> | Good Reporting on Climate Change | false | https://poynter.org/news/good-reporting-climate-change | 2006-01-03 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Mattel(NASDAQ: MAT)reported third-quarter 2016 results on Wednesday that suggest its turnaround is on track. The leading toy maker's revenue and earnings were flat with the year-ago period. This was an accomplishment, since it means that it has now closed the revenue gap created by losing theDisney(NYSE: DIS)Princess and Frozen licenses to rivalHasbroin 2016.</p>
<p>Strong Barbie sales largely drove results, with help from a turnaround in American Girl doll sales and dependable performers Fisher-Price and the wheels (vehicle) category.</p>
<p>Here are four key things that investors should know from Mattel's analyst conference call:</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>From Chief Operating Officer Richard Dickson's remarks about the reality series that Mattel and Disney-owned ABC TV Network are launching in 2017:</p>
<p>You may have guessed the fun and familiar concept: Each episode will feature wannabe-professional toy inventors competing in various categories, striving for a place in the finale in which they'll pitch their inventions to a panel of kid judges. The winner of the competition will have his or her toy brought to market by Mattel.</p>
<p>Having kids serve as judges is not only apt, but has the potential to be very entertaining. Beyond the entertainment value, Mattel should be able to find at least one or two toys that have the potential to be big winners.</p>
<p>From Dickson's remarks:</p>
<p>Various entertainment publications have listed a Barbie movie as coming in May 2017, as the analyst who posed a question about the topic to Mattel's top management team said. Dickson wouldn't confirm a date or anything else about the movie.</p>
<p>A movie based upon the iconic fashion doll has much potential to help keep her nascent rebound in sales going. (Barbie sales have increased notably year over over for two consecutive quarters in a row now.) Mattel will probably play it pretty safe with the Barbie flick, in my opinion, but it seems to me that a bolder stroke could be just the ticket for Barbie to lose some of her critics, of which she has many.</p>
<p>From Dickson's remarks:</p>
<p>Mattel's management believes that Disney's Cars 3 movie, slated for release in June 2017, will not only benefit it by driving toys based upon the movie to fly off retail shelves, but also by expanding the size of the entire toy vehicle category. Mattel's Hot Wheels brand is a strong performer, so Cars 3 has the potential to accelerate its already robust sales. Beyond Hot Wheels, Mattel's other vehicles brands should also benefit.</p>
<p>From Dickson's remarks:</p>
<p>Wellie Wishers is a brand extension of American Girl that's aimed at younger girls, with the dolls somewhat less expensive than the original line. American Girl led the moderate-to-higher priced tall doll category for many years, but has suffered in recent years as competitors poured into the space with similar lines that are more competitively priced.</p>
<p>The distribution expansion that Dickson is referring to includes a new exclusive store-within-a store partnership with Toys "R" Us, a new retail execution at Kohl's, and a new franchise licensing agreement to expand the brand into the Middle East.</p>
<p>American Girl's year-over-year sales rose 14% as reported and 15% in constant currency in the third-quarter. These results suggest the brand could be on an upswingafter a long decline in quarterly year-over-year sales. One quarter, however, doesn't make a trend; the critical holiday quarter should be more telling.</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/TMFMcKenna/info.aspx" type="external">Beth McKenna Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Hasbro and Walt Disney. 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> | 4 Key Things from Mattels Q3 Earnings Call That Investors Should Know | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/10/22/4-key-things-from-mattels-q3-earnings-call-that-investors-should-know.html | 2016-10-22 | 0 |
<p>Six years after the disastrous invasion of Iraq, Britain’s armed forces have formally ended their combat mission in the war-torn country. Believing that their role is finished, U.K. government officials handed over control of their base to the U.S. — not Iraqi — military.</p>
<p>The Guardian:</p>
<p>Six years after the invasion of Iraq, British troops yesterday formally ended their combat mission, the UK’s most controversial military operation since the Suez crisis more than 50 years ago, when they handed over their airport base to a US brigade.</p>
<p>“The role of British ground forces is finished,” a defence official said, having completed their mission of mentoring and training two Iraqi army divisions. Yesterday’s ceremonies were in many ways symbolic. British forces had been winding down their presence in Basra for many weeks and had already handed over responsibility for Basra’s security to the Iraqis at the start of the year.</p>
<p />
<p>It was significant that UK forces handed over their base not to the Iraqis but the Americans. US forces will remain in Basra protecting the important supply route from Kuwait, and helping the Iraqi army and police force.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/01/british-army-end-occupation-iraq" type="external">Read more</a></p> | One If by Land, Two If by Flee | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/one-if-by-land-two-if-by-flee/ | 2009-05-01 | 4 |
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<p />
<p>That’s what happened with the so-called “area code scam,” which has been circulating in various forms for more than a decade. In fact, this one is so old that it used to be transmitted to pagers.</p>
<p>Still, persistent rumors about this scam being spread by email and social media prompted the Better Business Bureau to issue a “Scam Alert!” last month.</p>
<p>Here’s how the BBB describes the scam in its recent alert:</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“You get a voicemail from an unknown number. The person on the message claims there is an emergency and urges you to call a number starting with an 809, 284, 649 or 876 area code. The ’emergency’ varies, but common scenarios involve either an injured (or arrested) relative, an overdue bill or a cash prize to claim.”</p>
<p>So what happens if you call back any of these numbers?</p>
<p>You will be charged with making an international call and possibly some extra fees to boot. That’s because all these area codes are based in the Caribbean: Dominican Republic (809), British Virgin Islands (284), Turks and Caicos Islands (649) and Jamaica (876).</p>
<p>As you might suspect, the scammer’s goal is to keep you on the line for as long as possible, thereby driving up the fees associated with the call. In some early permutations, callers were connected to a fax machine, a long recorded message or a pricey “pay-per-call” service.</p>
<p>When this scam first started making the rounds in the late 1990s or early 2000s, it fueled a rash of hysteria-filled emails warning people to “don’t ever dial” any of these area codes and claiming that those who do will be charged up to “$2,425 per minute.”</p>
<p>Obviously, there are plenty of legitimate reasons to call people within those area codes, especially if family or friends call those countries home.</p>
<p>But perhaps more to the point, claims that making such a call would cost you nearly $2,500 a minute are greatly exaggerated. Snopes.com, which has been fact-checking these kind of claims for roughly 20 years, suggests the real cost is closer to $25 – still a reasonable amount of money, but nowhere near the inflated figures contained in those early emails.</p>
<p>The BBB says there are numerous benefits to running this type of an operation overseas, prime among them being that the perpetrators aren’t required to notify callers in advance that they are about to be hit with special rates or fees.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>As a result, the U.S. victims of this scam have no idea they are calling the international equivalent of a 1-900 number.</p>
<p>Here’s what the BBB recommends should you ever receive one of these calls or emails:</p>
<p>If you believe you may have been scammed:</p>
<p>Nick Pappas is assistant business editor at the Albuquerque Journal and writes a blog called “Scammed, Etc.” Contact him at <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a> or 505-823-3847 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-800-678-1508.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Area code scam still crops up | false | https://abqjournal.com/298228/area-code-scam-still-crops-up.html | 2013-11-10 | 2 |
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<p>Robert S. Alarcon, 46, of the 1000 block of Third Street, has been charged with residential burglary, attempted residential burglary, larceny over $2,500 and possession of marijuana, according to the Las Cruces Police Department.</p>
<p>Police said the alleged burglary occurred around 1:15 a.m. Monday at the EconoLodge hotel, 2585 S. Valley Drive.</p>
<p>Alarcon had checked into the hotel on Sunday evening, police said. Several hours later, police said, surveillance video from the hotel shows Alarcon entering the hotel room next to his and leaving with several backpacks that belonged to the guest who had rented that room.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Police said the guest had temporarily left his hotel room door ajar, giving Alarcon easy access to the room.</p>
<p>The items reported stolen included the victim’s passport, credit cards, a cellphone, an unknown amount of Egyptian money and an estimated $10,000 in U.S. currency.</p>
<p>Alarcon left the hotel shortly after the alleged burglary but returned about noon Monday and was detained by police.</p>
<p>Police later determined that Alarcon had also violated terms of his probation.</p>
<p>He was booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2017 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)</p>
<p>Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at <a href="http://www.lcsun-news.com" type="external">www.lcsun-news.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.</p>
<p>_____</p> | Las Cruces man suspected in hotel burglary | false | https://abqjournal.com/1025413/las-cruces-man-suspected-in-hotel-burglary.html | 2 |
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<p>In the third and final presidential debate Wednesday night, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were able to land some serious blows on the other, though neither managed a knockout. One of the most important exchanges of the evening came in response to moderator Chris Wallace's question on immigration, where Trump presented a compelling case for locking down the southern border, while repeatedly slamming Clinton for espousing "open borders," which she adamantly denied. Clinton countered by accusing Trump of wanting to put innocent illegal immigrant families "on trains."</p>
<p>The exchange began when Wallace, pointing out that Clinton so far has offered "no specific plan" on immigration, asked the two to explain why their approach to immigration was better than the other's. Wallace gave Trump the floor first and he was certainly ready for the question, starting with a shot at Clinton and then moving through his key campaign points on the issue, including drugs and criminal illegal immigrants. A few highlights:</p>
<p>TRUMP: Well, first of all, she wants to give amnesty, which is a disaster and very unfair to all of the people that are waiting on line for many, many years. We need strong borders.</p>
<p>In the audience tonight, we have four mothers of -- I mean, these are unbelievable people that I've gotten to know over a period of years whose children have been killed, brutally killed by people that came into the country illegally. You have thousands of mothers and fathers and relatives all over the country. They're coming in illegally. Drugs are pouring in through the border. We have no country if we have no border. ...</p>
<p>Now, I want to build the wall. We need the wall. And the Border Patrol, ICE, they all want the wall. We stop the drugs. We shore up the border. One of my first acts will be to get all of the drug lords, all of the bad ones -- we have some bad, bad people in this country that have to go out. We're going to get them out; we're going to secure the border. And once the border is secured, at a later date, we'll make a determination as to the rest. But we have some bad hombres here, and we're going to get them out.</p>
<p>Clinton began her response by countering Trump's reference to victims of criminal illegals with a story about "Carla," who she said was born in this country but feared that Mr. Trump would deport her parents. She said that while she's "been for border security for years," pointing out that she did vote for border security as a Senator, she believes we must have an immigration policy that is "in keeping with who we are as a nation."</p>
<p>In her characterization of Trump's "deportation force," she described him as "put[ting] them on trains," a loaded phrase to say the least. She also slammed Trump for his meeting with the president of Mexico, in which, she said, he "choked" and failed to raise the issue of the border wall.</p>
<p>CLINTON: I don't want to rip families apart. I don't want to be sending parents away from children. I don't want to see the deportation force that Donald has talked about in action in our country.</p>
<p>We have 11 million undocumented people. They have 4 million American citizen children, 15 million people. He said as recently as a few weeks ago in Phoenix that every undocumented person would be subject to deportation. Now, here's what that means. It means you would have to have a massive law enforcement presence, where law enforcement officers would be going school to school, home to home, business to business, rounding up people who are undocumented. And we would then have to put them on trains, on buses to get them out of our country. ...</p>
<p>When it comes to the wall that Donald talks about building, he went to Mexico, he had a meeting with the Mexican president. Didn't even raise it. He choked and then got into a Twitter war because the Mexican president said we're not paying for that wall.</p>
<p>So I think we are both a nation of immigrants and we are a nation of laws and that we can act accordingly. And that's why I'm introducing comprehensive immigration reform within the first 100 days with the path to citizenship.</p>
<p>After their opening responses, things got increasingly combative between the two candidates, as they cut each other (and Wallace) off repeatedly and pushed back against each other's claims. When Wallace cited Clinton's call for "open borders" in a leaked speech, she attempted to redirect the discussion to Russia's relationship with WikiLeaks. Trump responded with one of the best lines of the night: "That was a great pivot off the fact that she wants open borders," said Trump. The crowd erupted in laughter. Video and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/19/the-final-trump-clinton-debate-transcript-annotated/" type="external">full transcript</a> below:</p>
<p>WALLACE: All right. Let's move on to the subject of immigration. And there is almost no issue that separates the two of you more than the issue of immigration. Actually, there are a lot of issues that separate the two of you.</p>
<p>Mr. Trump, you want to build a wall. Secretary Clinton, you have offered no specific plan for how you want to secure our southern border. Mr. Trump, you are calling for major deportations. Secretary Clinton, you say that within your first 100 days as president you're going to offer a package that includes a pathway to citizenship. The question, really, is, why are you right and your opponent wrong?</p>
<p>Mr. Trump, you go first in this segment. You have two minutes.</p>
<p>TRUMP: Well, first of all, she wants to give amnesty, which is a disaster and very unfair to all of the people that are waiting on line for many, many years. We need strong borders.</p>
<p>In the audience tonight, we have four mothers of -- I mean, these are unbelievable people that I've gotten to know over a period of years whose children have been killed, brutally killed by people that came into the country illegally. You have thousands of mothers and fathers and relatives all over the country. They're coming in illegally. Drugs are pouring in through the border. We have no country if we have no border.</p>
<p>Hillary wants to give amnesty. She wants to have open borders. The border --as you know, the Border Patrol agents, 16,500-plus ICE last week, endorsed me. First time they've ever endorsed a candidate. It means their job is tougher. But they know what's going on. They know it better than anybody. They want strong borders. They feel we have to have strong borders.</p>
<p>I was up in New Hampshire the other day. The biggest complaint they have -- it's with all of the problems going on in the world, many of the problems caused by Hillary Clinton and by Barack Obama. All of the problems -- the single biggest problem is heroin that pours across our southern border. It's just pouring and destroying their youth. It's poisoning the blood of their youth and plenty of other people. We have to have strong borders. We have to keep the drugs out of our country. We are -- right now, we're getting the drugs, they're getting the cash. We need strong borders. We need absolute -- we cannot give amnesty.</p>
<p>Now, I want to build the wall. We need the wall. And the Border Patrol, ICE, they all want the wall. We stop the drugs. We shore up the border. One of my first acts will be to get all of the drug lords, all of the bad ones -- we have some bad, bad people in this country that have to go out. We're going to get them out; we're going to secure the border. And once the border is secured, at a later date, we'll make a determination as to the rest. But we have some bad hombres here, and we're going to get them out.</p>
<p>WALLACE: Mr. Trump, thank you. Same question to you, Secretary Clinton. Basically, why are you right and Mr. Trump is wrong?</p>
<p>CLINTON: Well, as he was talking, I was thinking about a young girl I met here in Las Vegas, Carla, who is very worried that her parents might be deported, because she was born in this country but they were not. They work hard, they do everything they can to give her a good life.</p>
<p>And you're right. I don't want to rip families apart. I don't want to be sending parents away from children. I don't want to see the deportation force that Donald has talked about in action in our country.</p>
<p>We have 11 million undocumented people. They have 4 million American citizen children, 15 million people. He said as recently as a few weeks ago in Phoenix that every undocumented person would be subject to deportation. Now, here's what that means. It means you would have to have a massive law enforcement presence, where law enforcement officers would be going school to school, home to home, business to business, rounding up people who are undocumented. And we would then have to put them on trains, on buses to get them out of our country.</p>
<p>I think that is an idea that is not in keeping with who we are as a nation. I think it's an idea that would rip our country apart.</p>
<p>I have been for border security for years. I voted for border security in the United States Senate. And my comprehensive immigration reform plan of course includes border security. But I want to put our resources where I think they're most needed: Getting rid of any violent person. Anybody who should be deported, we should deport them.</p>
<p>When it comes to the wall that Donald talks about building, he went to Mexico, he had a meeting with the Mexican president. Didn't even raise it. He choked and then got into a Twitter war because the Mexican president said we're not paying for that wall.</p>
<p>So I think we are both a nation of immigrants and we are a nation of laws and that we can act accordingly. And that's why I'm introducing comprehensive immigration reform within the first 100 days with the path to citizenship.</p>
<p>WALLACE: Thank you, Secretary Clinton. I want to follow up...</p>
<p>TRUMP: Chris, I think it's...</p>
<p>WALLACE: OK.</p>
<p>TRUMP: I think I should respond to that. First of all, I had a very good meeting with the president of Mexico. Very nice man. We will be doing very much better with Mexico on trade deals. Believe me. The NAFTA deal signed by her husband is one of the worst deals ever made of any kind, signed by anybody. It's a disaster.</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton wanted the wall. Hillary Clinton fought for the wall in 2006 or thereabouts. Now, she never gets anything done, so naturally the wall wasn't built. But Hillary Clinton wanted the wall.</p>
<p>WALLACE: Well, let me -- wait, wait, sir, let me...</p>
<p>TRUMP: We are a country of laws. We either have -- and by the way...</p>
<p>WALLACE: Now, wait. I'd like to hear from...</p>
<p>TRUMP: Well -- well, but she said one thing.</p>
<p>WALLACE: I'd like to hear -- I'd like to hear from Secretary Clinton.</p>
<p>CLINTON: I voted for border security, and there are...</p>
<p>TRUMP: And the wall.</p>
<p>CLINTON: There are some limited places where that was appropriate. There also is necessarily going to be new technology and how best to deploy that.</p>
<p>But it is clear, when you look at what Donald has been proposing, he started his campaign bashing immigrants, calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals and drug dealers, that he has a very different view about what we should do to deal with immigrants.</p>
<p>Now, what I am also arguing is that bringing undocumented immigrants out from the shadows, putting them into the formal economy will be good, because then employers can't exploit them and undercut Americans' wages.</p>
<p>And Donald knows a lot about this. He used undocumented labor to build the Trump Tower. He underpaid undocumented workers, and when they complained, he basically said what a lot of employers do: "You complain, I'll get you deported."</p>
<p>I want to get everybody out of the shadows, get the economy working, and not let employers like Donald exploit undocumented workers, which hurts them, but also hurts American workers.</p>
<p>WALLACE: Mr. Trump?</p>
<p>TRUMP: President Obama has moved millions of people out. Nobody knows about it, nobody talks about it. But under Obama, millions of people have been moved out of this country. They've been deported. She doesn't want to say that, but that's what's happened, and that's what happened big league.</p>
<p>As far as moving these people out and moving -- we either have a country or we don't. We're a country of laws. We either have a border or we don't.</p>
<p>Now, you can come back in and you can become a citizen. But it's very unfair. We have millions of people that did it the right way. They're on line. They're waiting. We're going to speed up the process, big league, because it's very inefficient. But they're on line and they're waiting to become citizens.</p>
<p>Very unfair that somebody runs across the border, becomes a citizen, under her plan, you have open borders. You would have a disaster on trade, and you will have a disaster with your open borders.</p>
<p>WALLACE: I want to...</p>
<p>TRUMP: But what she doesn't say is that President Obama has deported millions and millions of people just the way it is.</p>
<p>WALLACE: Secretary Clinton, I want to...</p>
<p>CLINTON: We will not have open borders. That is...</p>
<p>WALLACE: Well, let me -- Secretary...</p>
<p>CLINTON: That is a rank mischaracterization.</p>
<p>WALLACE: Secretary Clinton...</p>
<p>CLINTON: We will have secure borders, but we'll also have reform. And this used to be a bipartisan issue. Ronald Reagan was the last president...</p>
<p>WALLACE: Secretary Clinton, excuse me. Secretary Clinton.</p>
<p>CLINTON: ... to sign immigration reform, and George W. Bush supported it, as well.</p>
<p>WALLACE: Secretary Clinton, I want to clear up your position on this issue, because in a speech you gave to a Brazilian bank, for which you were paid $225,000, we've learned from the WikiLeaks, that you said this, and I want to quote. "My dream is a hemispheric common market with open trade and open borders." So that's the question...</p>
<p>TRUMP: Thank you.</p>
<p>WALLACE: That's the question. Please quiet, everybody. Is that your dream, open borders? CLINTON: Well, if you went on to read the rest of the sentence, I was talking about energy. You know, we trade more energy with our neighbors than we trade with the rest of the world combined. And I do want us to have an electric grid, an energy system that crosses borders. I think that would be a great benefit to us.</p>
<p>But you are very clearly quoting from WikiLeaks. And what's really important about WikiLeaks is that the Russian government has engaged in espionage against Americans. They have hacked American websites, American accounts of private people, of institutions. Then they have given that information to WikiLeaks for the purpose of putting it on the Internet.</p>
<p>This has come from the highest levels of the Russian government, clearly, from Putin himself, in an effort, as 17 of our intelligence agencies have confirmed, to influence our election.</p>
<p>CLINTON: So I actually think the most important question of this evening, Chris, is, finally, will Donald Trump admit and condemn that the Russians are doing this and make it clear that he will not have the help of Putin in in this election, that he rejects Russian espionage against Americans, which he actually encouraged in the past? Those are the questions we need answered. We've never had anything like this happen in any of our elections before.</p>
<p>WALLACE: Well?</p>
<p>TRUMP: That was a great pivot off the fact that she wants open borders, OK? How did we get on to Putin?</p>
<p>WALLACE: Hold on -- hold on, wait. Hold on, folks. Because we -- this is going to end up getting out of control. Let's try to keep it quiet so -- for the candidates and for the American people.</p>
<p>TRUMP: So just to finish on the borders...</p>
<p>WALLACE: Yes?</p>
<p>TRUMP: She wants open borders. People are going to pour into our country. People are going to come in from Syria. She wants 550 percent more people than Barack Obama, and he has thousands and thousands of people. They have no idea where they come from.</p>
<p>And you see, we are going to stop radical Islamic terrorism in this country. She won't even mention the words, and neither will President Obama. So I just want to tell you, she wants open borders.</p> | WATCH: Trump: Hillary Wants Open Borders. Hillary: Trump Wants to Put Immigrants 'On Trains' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/10089/watch-trump-hillary-wants-open-borders-hillary-james-barrett | 2016-10-20 | 0 |
<p>GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Officials say a sinkhole opened up in western Michigan at the site a defunct mine that dates back to the late 1800s.</p>
<p><a href="http://woodtv.com/2018/01/04/sinkhole-opens-over-defunct-grand-rapids-mine/" type="external">WOOD-TV</a> reports the sinkhole is along the Grand River near the Blue Bridge and Grand Valley State University's Eberhard Center in Grand Rapids. Crews have removed some old timber that covered the shaft and worked to cover the opening with a gravel mix.</p>
<p>The school says the sinkhole was being caused by dirt moving into the old William T. Powers gypsum mine, which includes a 100-foot (30-meter) mine shaft.</p>
<p>The TV station says the mine operated until 1909, but tunnels remain in the area.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: WOOD-TV, <a href="http://www.woodtv.com" type="external">http://www.woodtv.com</a></p>
<p>GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Officials say a sinkhole opened up in western Michigan at the site a defunct mine that dates back to the late 1800s.</p>
<p><a href="http://woodtv.com/2018/01/04/sinkhole-opens-over-defunct-grand-rapids-mine/" type="external">WOOD-TV</a> reports the sinkhole is along the Grand River near the Blue Bridge and Grand Valley State University's Eberhard Center in Grand Rapids. Crews have removed some old timber that covered the shaft and worked to cover the opening with a gravel mix.</p>
<p>The school says the sinkhole was being caused by dirt moving into the old William T. Powers gypsum mine, which includes a 100-foot (30-meter) mine shaft.</p>
<p>The TV station says the mine operated until 1909, but tunnels remain in the area.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: WOOD-TV, <a href="http://www.woodtv.com" type="external">http://www.woodtv.com</a></p> | Sinkhole opens up at site of old mine in western Michigan | false | https://apnews.com/amp/8c1d6e5fdc4a4851942244d7fb0670ad | 2018-01-05 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Chip:What advice would give to an editor trying to become a better writing coach? I'm the city editor at a fairly small daily, and I’m working with a fairly young crop of journalists. We're all looking to improve our skills. I'm always looking for ways to help them, but I’m not much more experienced as an editor than they are as reporters. How do you approach your role as a writing coach?</p>
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<p />
<p />
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<p>Scott ShackfordCity Editor, <a href="http://www.desertdispatch.com/" type="external">Desert Dispatch</a>, Barstow, Calif.</p>
<p /> | The Coaching Way | false | https://poynter.org/news/coaching-way | 2003-05-14 | 2 |
<p>Last week, in a bit of journalistic hackery that would be merely scurrilous were its timing over Sukkot not so utterly pusillanimous, The New York Times saw fit to print a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/opinion/ben-shapiro.html" type="external">hit piece</a> by Jane Coaston on Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro. Ben is more than capable of defending himself against Coaston's distortions and falsehoods, and, indeed, he did precisely that on <a href="" type="internal">Monday's podcast</a>. Since I am a fan of The Godfather and believe dead horses are better suited for Jack Woltz's bedroom than for superfluous beatings, I withhold any further riposte to Coaston's insipid drudgery.</p>
<p>In the aftermath of Coaston's screed, Philip H. DeVoe wrote a <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/452652/ben-shapiro-new-york-times-op-ed-response" type="external">short piece</a>defending Ben at National Review's "The Corner" blog, to which Coaston then responded via <a href="https://twitter.com/cjane87/status/918944873679654912" type="external">tweet storm</a>. Two of her tweets, in particular, merit further reflection:</p>
<p>Again, it is not my intention to add an additional defense of Ben to his already perfectly competent <a href="" type="internal">defense</a> of himself. The notion that Ben does not seek to convince leftists of conservatism's superiority is quite <a href="https://twitter.com/BenShapQuotes/status/920038579715395584" type="external">comical</a>; indeed, I can personally attest that a close law school friend has become markedly more conservative since graduating, due in no small part to her becoming a loyal listener of Ben's podcast.</p>
<p>Instead, the umbrage I take from Coaston's tweets is of a subtler variety. Coaston seems to think that the raison d'être of the conservative commentator — and, extrapolating a bit, of all generally engaged conservatives — is "to attempt to convince" non-conservatives of their inherent faultiness. It is axiomatic, of course, that such a purpose is indeed a focal point for so many of us entering into the public discourse. The dialectic, as perhaps best demonstrated by the Socratic dialogues, permits colloquists to employ logic and reason to engage each other in a common pursuit of the truth. And it is no exaggeration to suggest that, in Western civilization, the dialectic serves as the cornerstone for the existence of the academy.</p>
<p>But contrary to Coaston's implication, there are other reasons, besides the art of persuasion, for engaged citizens to enter the public discourse. This is disproportionately true, perhaps, in the political context. And within the political context, it is idiosyncratically true, perhaps, in the conservative context.</p>
<p>Within the conservative fold, we tend to have "bomb throwers," and we tend to have a "bomb squad." Whereas the conservative bomb throwers seek to rally the base and/or ensure that the conservative movement retains an intellectual and philosophical backbone, the conservative bomb squad seeks to defuse tensions and present an amicable front in the exchange of ideas and the persuasion of hearts and minds. Neither label is intended to be a pejorative.</p>
<p>For conservatives, both of these roles are indispensable to the promotion of our vision of the nation-state and the social compact that undergirds it. Neither our bomb throwers nor our bomb squadsmen, so long as prudence is shown in the rejection of both amoral <a href="" type="internal">Alinskyism</a> and the insidious "eye for an eye" <a href="" type="internal">race to the bottom</a> that is the temptation of the tribalist, have a monopoly on the propriety of their morals or tactics. Moreover, neither our bomb throwers nor our bomb squadsmen, perhaps counter-intuitively, necessarily have a superior claim to conservative purity.</p>
<p>The post-Russell Kirk/William F. Buckley, Jr. conservative movement is a largely creedal one. While our principles are <a href="http://theresurgent.com/alwaysprinciple/" type="external">timeless</a>, many in the broader tent invariably fall astray. Venal and virtue-signaling politicians in Washington fall victim to economic or cultural cronyism. Echo chamber groupthink pushed by the K Street "smart set," on issues as wide-ranging as health care to immigration to Middle East geopolitics, can easily come to predominate. In such an environment, and especially amid surging tribalism and "whataboutism" percolating through our increasingly balkanized political fabric, bomb throwers are acutely needed to maintain fealty to principle. As I asked in <a href="" type="internal">June</a>, "What good is our fight, after all, if we become so consumed with victory that we lose sight of why we are fighting in the first place?" A few of our notable conservatives more known for being bomb throwers are Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and my friends Erick Erickson of The Resurgent and Daniel Horowitz of Conservative Review.</p>
<p>Yet, while the principled guardianship of conservatism is indeed pivotal, so too is the role of the bomb squad in defusing tensions and putting on a happy warrior visage for the persuasion of hearts and minds in the public square. There is little point, after all, in preserving our conservative creed if we stand no chance of ultimately enacting our agenda by germinating our ideological convictions all throughout the land. And such germination, of course, is not possible unless we eloquently and amicably seek to evangelize our ideals and win conversions at an individual level. The conservative bomb squadsman requires not necessarily a quixotic naivete, but certainly a cheerful optimism. A few of our notable conservatives more known for being bomb squadsmen — those whose demeanors and dispositions are most naturally suited for engagement in the dialectic with those of differing ideological stripes — are Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Prof. Robert P. George of Princeton University, and Mary Katharine Ham of CNN and The Federalist.</p>
<p>Neither the bomb thrower nor the bombsquadsman is necessarily more or less important than is the other. Neither even necessarily has a claim, as evidenced by my placing of Sen. Cruz in one camp and Sen. Lee in the other camp, to superior conservative bona fides; rather, where one feels more at home is a function of non-ideological character traits such as demeanor, and perhaps a more ethereal and visceral sense of purpose within the broader movement. For some, specialization feels like the best maximization of talent; personally, I have long felt more at home in the bomb thrower camp. For others, dexterity in serving multiple roles is best; for example, as it pertains to our own fearless Editor-in-Chief here, I believe Ben has grown over the years from the erstwhile single-faceted bomb thrower of the Breitbart blogging and Piers Morgan <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHIQtxLCgrM&amp;t=7s" type="external">gun debating</a> days to a more multi-faceted conservative figure also fully capable of engaging leftists in sustained and intellectually meaningful colloquy.</p>
<p>Which means, of course, that Jane Coaston is wrong about Ben Shapiro. But you already knew that. What you perhaps did not already realize is that Coaston is also wrong about who populates the conservative commentariat, and the conservative movement, more broadly. Indeed, we need both our bomb throwers and our bomb squad.</p> | The Conservative Movement Needs Both Bomb Throwers and Bomb Squads | true | https://dailywire.com/news/22404/conservative-movement-needs-both-bomb-throwers-and-josh-hammer | 2017-10-17 | 0 |
<p>Getting ahead isn't simply a matter of having a great idea, nor of being intelligent or improving your mastery in your chosen arena. The key is to focus on the edge that you can keep for the longer term. In this episode of&#160; <a href="https://www.fool.com/podcasts/answers/?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=3b40a680-ae9d-11e7-a276-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Motley Fool Answers Opens a New Window.</a>, Alison Southwick and Robert Brokamp are joined by former Fool Morgan Housel to talk about figuring out what your sustainable advantages are, both in investing and in life. He lays out five possible advantages that you and the businesses you invest in might already have, or want to cultivate, in service of acquiring an edge. The third: better communication. Not only does it pay off for the customer when you can get complex concepts across clearly, but it helps them trust you, too.</p>
<p>A full transcript follows the video.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of&#160;October 9, 2017The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned.</p>
<p>This video was recorded on Aug. 22, 2017.</p>
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<p>Alison Southwick: No. 3: the ability to communicate more effectively than your competition.</p>
<p>Morgan Housel: I think this is really important in financial services and it's something that The Motley Fool ...</p>
<p>Southwick: I was going to say. This sounds like The Motley Fool.</p>
<p>Housel: ... has done since day one. It's really the essence of The Motley Fool -- the ability to take something that is complicated and intimidating, like investing, and just communicate it better than other financial advisors or brokers who might be out there. I think there are a lot of really smart financial advisors out there who could add a really good service for their clients, but they can't communicate very well with their clients.</p>
<p>There's something I mentioned in the piece. For a lot of financial advisors it's hard for customers, especially if they are novices to investing, to distinguish between confusion on the customer's end and obfuscation on the financial advisor's end. If the financial advisor is using big terms and lingo that the customer doesn't understand, from the customer's point of view it's hard to distinguish between, "Do I just not know what he's talking about, or is he trying to pull the wool over my eyes?"</p>
<p>You see this a lot. A great example besides The Motley Fool is Josh Brown of Ritholtz Wealth Management. Josh, Barry, and Michael Batnick -- those guys are big on Twitter and Josh is on CNBC a lot -- have the competitive edge as financial advisors because they are incredible bloggers, and they can communicate their vision to the world in ways that anyone can understand.</p>
<p>Someone who has no experience in investing can read Josh's blog and say, "I know what you're doing, and I trust you because I've read so much of what you're doing. I know how you see the world and I know how you invest, so I'm comfortable going to you as a client just because of that. Just because of your ability to effectively communicate what you're doing." That sets up a new level of trust and, I think, especially in financial services that is a sustainable competitive advantage.</p>
<p>It's sustainable because it's so difficult for people to do. Effective communication is a really difficult thing that I think is difficult to teach some people. So, if you're able to do it well, that's an edge that will stick with you.</p>
<p>Southwick: And people like Josh and Barry also speak with a confidence that a lot of people sometimes lack in finance, too. That obfuscation that you talk about is what people resort to when they really don't know what they are talking about a lot of the time. Whereas Josh and Barry are like, "This is how it is. This is my strong opinion. Take it or leave it. I'm too busy. I'm moving on to the next thing."</p>
<p>Housel: Exactly. No problem saying, "I don't know." They're not going to try to BS their way through a question. If you ask them a question that they don't know they'll tell you, and that, itself, is a communication tactic that sets up trust.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFAlison/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=3b40a680-ae9d-11e7-a276-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Alison Southwick Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/cmfhousel/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=3b40a680-ae9d-11e7-a276-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Morgan Housel Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Twitter. 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=3b40a680-ae9d-11e7-a276-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 5 Ways to Maintain a Competitive Edge, No. 3: Outcommunicate Your Rivals | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/10/12/5-ways-to-maintain-competitive-edge-no-3-outcommunicate-your-rivals.html | 2017-10-12 | 0 |
<p>News For All The People (Verso Books)</p>
<p>Colonial printers, as we would expect, reported domestic events entirely from the perspective of the European settlers who were their only readers. They did, however, devote considerable space to two groups of non-Europeans who warily coexisted in the New World with the settlers: the Native American tribes and African slaves.</p>
<p>The lone edition of Benjamin Harris’ Publick Occurrences (commonly regarded as the first newspaper in the New World, with a publication date of September 25, 1690), contained five separate news items about the Native population in just three pages of text. In one entry, Harris wrote of two white children apparently kidnapped by “barbarous Indians” who were “lurking about” the town of Chelmsford. In another (the longest article in the newspaper), Harris gave an account of an expedition by the Massachusetts militia and their Mohawk allies against the French in Canada. The Mohawks killed some French prisoners “in a manner too barbarous for any English to approve,” he wrote.</p>
<p>In a related item on the same Canada campaign, Harris counseled his readers that they had “too much confided” in the Mohawks. “If Almighty God will have Canada to be subdu’d without the assistance of those miserable Savages…we shall be glad,” he added. Only one of his reports did not associate the Natives with violence—an item on how the Christianized Indians of Plymouth “have newly appointed a day of Thanksgiving to God.”</p>
<p>Publick Occurrences thus created “the perfect prototype for news coverage of Native Americans by colonial newspapers,” concludes David A. Copeland in an exhaustive analysis of the content of early American newspapers. Years of sporadic fighting over settler incursions on Native lands had already sparked the rise of anti-Indian captivity literature—outlandish tales of rape, infanticide, torture and dismemberment that both disgusted and fascinated the settlers.</p>
<p>Native Americans were depicted as cunning, barbaric and evil—and certainly undeserving of the vast lands coveted by the European settlers.</p>
<p>Descriptions of “sculking” or “barbarous” Indians were commonplace then, much as today’s news media use terms such as “wolf packs,” “drug gangs” and “superpredators” as monikers for non-white criminals. Indian-white conflict, after all, engendered the highest level of fear and hysteria in colonial society. During a series of Indian wars that erupted throughout the 1700s along the Eastern Seaboard, the Boston News-Letter and other colonial papers routinely stirred up settler outrage and dutifully reported government bounties for the killing of Indians.</p>
<p>Massachusetts, for instance, urged its settlers in 1706 “to kill all male Indians over the age of twelve and capture women and children under the age of twelve for rewards,” and when South Carolina declared war on the Tuscaroras in 1735, the colony’s leaders offered “Fifty Pounds Current Money [for every Indian] who shall be taken alive.” On more than one occasion, the papers reported scalps acceptable as proof that an Indian had been slain. Copeland’s study found positive news items about Indians rare unless they “were involved in fighting for the colonists.”</p>
<p>Some news accounts even alleged cannibalism as a Native American practice. A 1745 article in the Boston Evening Post reported: “The Enemies had 2 kill’d and as many wounded in the Engagement, which being over, the Indians cut open Capt. Donahew’s Breast, and suck’d his Blood, and hack’d and mangled his Body in a most inhuman and barbarous Manner, and then ate a great part of his Flesh.” Once war with the Cherokees engulfed South Carolina in 1760, an astounding 30 percent of all stories in the South Carolina Gazette that year, 18 percent in the Pennsylvania Gazette, and more than 15 percent in the New York Gazette were about violence by Native Americans.</p>
<p>Those early accounts thus established a voluminous and entirely one-sided newspaper narrative: Native Americans were depicted as cunning, barbaric and evil—and certainly undeserving of the vast lands coveted by the European settlers.</p>
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<p>Benjamin Franklin: One of the few colonial editors to challenge the dominant narrative of Indian savagery</p>
<p>One of the few colonial editors who challenged the dominant narrative of Indian savagery was Benjamin Franklin. In early 1764, Franklin published a pamphlet that exposed a horrific incident of anti-Indian rioting by white frontiersmen in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In the pamphlet, he reported that on the previous December 14, a mob of whites had “murdered 20 Innocent Indians” who were living in peace among the Quakers. “These poor defenseless Creatures were immediately fired upon, stabbed and hatcheted to Death!” he wrote. “All of them were scalped, and otherwise horribly mangled. Then their Huts were set on Fire, and most of them burnt down.”</p>
<p>His description of the massacre is one of the few in colonial-era journalism to portray Indians as victims. It also offered a rare glimpse into the deep divide among Pennsylvania’s settlers over Indian policy, with the Moravians and Quakers urging humane treatment of the natives. As Franklin noted:</p>
<p>By the time he issued the pamphlet in early February, two months had passed since the massacre, yet neither of Philadelphia’s papers—neither the Pennsylvania Journal, nor Franklin’s former sheet, the Pennsylvania Gazette—had printed any account of the gruesome affair, other than proclamations by the governor condemning it and offering a reward for information about the killers. Franklin’s rush to publish the details of the tragedy was undoubtedly his way of breaking the news blackout by the Philadelphia editors. His explicit condemnation of the bias and ignorance that fueled the massacre has a chilling resonance even today:</p>
<p>Franklin rushed to publish his account after discovering that leaders of the massacre were threatening to march on Philadelphia to attack other peaceful Natives that Quaker Governor John Penn had placed under his protection. The impact of the pamphlet was so great that “1,000 of our Citizens took Arms to support the Government in the Protection of those poor Wretches,” Franklin later reported. Those armed government supporters, who included the pamphleteer himself, confronted 500 of the anti-Indian rioters in Germantown and “the Fighting face we put on made them more willing to Reason.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, no other colonial editor exhibited Franklin’s extraordinary empathy for Indians or his courage in exposing abuses against them. The image of skulking Indians thus became firmly entrenched in the colonial press.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Early colonial newspapers disseminated similar stereotypes of the “rebellious Negro.” Accounts of black life that did make it into print invariably focused on two main subjects: slave insurrections and common crimes. As early as 1706, editor John Campbell’s first full-fledged essay in the Boston News-Letter urged more importation of white indentured servants to reduce the colony’s need for African slaves. The local black population, he warned, was “much addicted to Stealing, Lying and Purloining,” and he urged the importing of more white servants because, unlike blacks, they could also be pressed into military service.</p>
<p>In 1712 the News-Letter reported one of the earliest slave rebellions in the colonies. Seventy New York Negroes, it claimed, had been arrested for “their late Conspiracy to Murder the Christians,” prompting authorities to execute the leaders of the plot and to punish their followers by breaking their bones on a wheel. Over the next 60 years, colonial newspapers chronicled 50 separate incidents of actual or suspected slave revolts.</p>
<p>A similar obsession prevailed for violent crimes by individual slaves. After a slave in northern Massachusetts threw her owner’s child down a well in anger, every newspaper between Boston and Annapolis reported the story. Such blanket news coverage revealed more about the anxieties of the editors and their readers than about the rage of a single slave.</p>
<p>Fear of violence by blacks was rooted in the settlers’ instinctual knowledge that slavery was not merely a highly profitable enterprise, but was indispensable to the very survival of the British colonies. Africans constituted more than half of South Carolina’s population in 1720, 8 percent of Boston’s in 1755, and a third of all new immigrants entering New York at mid-century.</p>
<p>That rapid growth of the black population only reinforced white fears of slave violence. In 1740, for example, the Boston Evening-Post published a letter from an angry resident who was seeking volunteers for a vigilante group to control slave conduct. “The great Disorders committed by Negroes, who are permitted by their imprudent Masters &amp;c. to be out late at Night…has determined several sober and substantial Housekeepers to walk about the Town in the sore part of the Night,” the writer noted, adding, “It is hoped that all lovers of Peace and good Order will join their endeavors for preventing the like Disorders for the future.”</p>
<p>And in 1755 the New-York Weekly Post Boy reported that “nine of the Ethiopian Breed, belonging to this city, have been apprehended, committed, try’d and whipt at the whipping post for assembling and meeting together in an Illegal manner, on Sunday.”</p>
<p>As slave rebellions became more frequent and more violent, colonial editors adopted a new strategy: quashing all news about slaves. In South Carolina, suppression of such news started after the bloody Stono Rebellion near Charleston in 1739, in which 21 whites and 44 blacks lost their lives. The South-Carolina Gazette printed no information about similar revolts in the colony in 1739 and 1740. It never mentioned the colony’s newly enacted slave code that permitted any white person to stop and search a slave and kill him if he reacted violently.</p>
<p>The depiction of blacks in those early colonial papers displayed a remarkable consistency. “African slaves revolted against their owners. Slaves murdered, robbed, raped and burned out whites,” Copeland notes of the coverage. As for any other aspect of black life, colonial newspapers “rarely printed a positive word,” except to praise “slaves who warned their owners of impending slave revolts.”</p>
<p>One of the rare condemnations of slavery in the colonial press appeared in 1740 in the Pennsylvania Gazette, which published a letter from Rev. George Whitefield challenging the morality of holding others in bondage. Ben Franklin was the paper’s editor at the time. Even though he had owned slaves as a young man, and often published ads from slave-traffickers in his Gazette, Franklin was one of the few editors willing to provide space for abolitionist commentaries. He turned increasingly against slavery in his old age, and in his last public act in 1790 he petitioned Congress to put an end to the practice. By then, he was serving as president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery.</p>
<p>This is an excerpt from News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media. Copyright Juan González and Joseph Torres 2011. Published by Verso Books. Reprinted here with permission.</p>
<p>Juan González is the co-host of Democracy Now! and a columnist for the New York Daily News; Joseph Torres is the senior adviser for government and external affairs for the media reform group Free Press.</p> | The Colonial Roots of Media’s Racial Narratives | true | http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/the-colonial-roots-of-media8217s-racial-narratives/ | 2012-02-01 | 4 |
<p>Equity markets found firmer footing in the Asia-Pacific region early Tuesday, with stocks in Singapore leading gains following five straight sessions of declines.</p>
<p>The FTSE Straits Times Index gained 0.7% in early trading, making up for some of the 1.9% pullback there since last Monday, led by strength in blue chips. Elsewhere, Korea's Kospi was up 0.5%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.7% in early trade.</p>
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<p>Still, trading volumes broadly remained light, as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the Jackson Hole economic symposium this week.</p>
<p>Top central bankers, including Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, will gather at the annual conference that starts Thursday.</p>
<p>"The market continues to wait on policy makers for direction," said Michala Marcussen, global head of economics at Société Générale. "Unless there is fresh guidance forthcoming from ECB President Draghi or from officials at Jackson Hole, markets are likely to keep trending."</p>
<p>In Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average was up in morning trade, after recovering from early softness, having fallen in 10 of the past 12 trading sessions to cut the year-to-date gain to 1.5%. All listed companies with market capitalizations of at least $5 billion there were trading within 2% of Monday's close, underscoring directionless trading, thanks to the earlier strength in the yen.</p>
<p>The Japanese currency rose after Monday stock trading ended, with the dollar falling below Yen109 overnight from Yen109.27. That put pressure on the export-heavy index. Still, the dollar rebounded and was last at Yen109.23.</p>
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<p>Among the bright spots in the region, mining-company stocks in Australia notched strong gains after a solid rise in metal prices in the previous session and good news from heavyweight BHP Billiton. The gains helped drive a 0.2% rebound in the S&amp;P/ASX 200 index.</p>
<p>BHP declared on Tuesday that it would triple its final dividend, joining fellow miners in rewarding shareholders as its fortunes have rebounded with a recovery in commodity prices. Like its peers, BHP has spent recent years focused on lowering costs and working to strengthen its balance sheet. The company also said Tuesday that it was looking to sell its onshore U.S. oil-and-gas operations.</p>
<p>Shares of BHP Billiton were last up 1.3%, while fellow miner Rio Tinto added 0.8% and Fortescue Metals gained 1.2%.</p>
<p>In the energy market, oil prices moved higher in Asian trade, helping buoy related company stocks. Nymex crude futures were last up 0.4% at $47.70 a barrel, while Brent crude futures were up 0.3% at $51.80 a barrel.</p>
<p>Kosaku Narioka contributed to this article.</p>
<p>Write to Ese Erheriene at [email protected]</p>
<p>Stock markets were broadly higher across Asia on Tuesday, with Singapore performing especially well and on track to snap a five-session losing streak.</p>
<p>The FTSE Straits Times Index was up 0.8%, making up for some of the 1.9% pullback there since last Monday, led by strength in blue chips. Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1% at the midday break, while Taiwan's Taiex added 0.7% and Korea's Kospi was up 0.5%.</p>
<p>Volumes were relatively light, though, as investors broadly sat on the sidelines ahead of the Jackson Hole economic symposium later this week.</p>
<p>The roster of top central bankers includes Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who will gather at the annual conference that kicks off Thursday.</p>
<p>"The market continues to wait on policy makers for direction," said Michala Marcussen, global head of economics at Société Générale. "Unless there is fresh guidance forthcoming from ECB President Draghi or from officials at Jackson Hole, markets are likely to keep" their listless trend, she said.</p>
<p>In Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average was most recently down 0.1%, after earlier rising 0.1% after morning softness. It has fallen in 10 of the past 12 trading sessions to cut the year-to-date gain to 1.5%.</p>
<p>The Japanese currency rose after Monday stock trading ended, with the dollar falling below Yen109 overnight from Yen109.27. That put pressure on the export-heavy index. But the dollar rebounded this morning and was last at Yen109.31.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Chinese equities took a back seat following earlier gains. The Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.2% in the morning session, while the Shenzhen benchmark was down 0.1%.</p>
<p>The Shanghai-listed shares of telecom firm China Unicom, which last week unveiled plans to sell stakes to key Chinese tech giants, rose by the upward limit of 10% for the second-straight session, as trading resumed Monday after a near five-month suspension, when the company's share-ownership reform plan was being completed.</p>
<p>Also in Hong Kong, shares of Great Wall Motor halted trading after the company confirmed its interest in buying Fiat Chrysler's iconic Jeep brand. The Chinese auto maker's stock was up almost 40% so far this year.</p>
<p>Among the bright spots in the region, mining-company stocks in Australia notched strong gains after a solid rise in metal prices in the previous session and good news from heavyweight BHP Billiton. The gains helped drive a 0.3% rebound in the S&amp;P/ASX 200 index.</p>
<p>The metals sector "continues to benefit from an increasingly positive sentiment as economic growth betters expectations amid a weaker" U.S. dollar, ANZ analysts said in a note.</p>
<p>BHP declared on Tuesday that it would triple its final dividend, joining fellow miners in rewarding shareholders as its fortunes have rebounded with a recovery in commodity prices. Like its peers, BHP has spent recent years focused on lowering costs and working to strengthen its balance sheet. The company also said Tuesday that it was looking to sell its onshore U.S. oil-and-gas operations.</p>
<p>Shares of BHP Billiton were last up 1.3%, while fellow miner Rio Tinto added 1.2% and Fortescue Metals gained 1.6%.</p>
<p>In the energy market, oil prices edged higher in Asian trade, helping buoy related company stocks. Nymex crude futures were last up 0.5% at $47.75 a barrel, while Brent crude futures were up 0.3% at $51.83 a barrel.</p>
<p>S&amp;P Global Platts said the widening price spreads between the Nymex benchmark and the global standard Brent may "encourage U.S. producers to export more crude oil, which could help relieve pressure on U.S. stockpiles about the time they typically rise because of easing refinery demand."</p>
<p>Kosaku Narioka contributed to this article.</p>
<p>Write to Ese Erheriene at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 22, 2017 01:23 ET (05:23 GMT)</p> | Asian Shares Broadly Higher as Markets Await Central Bankers' Summit | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/21/singapore-ends-five-session-decline-leading-asia-shares-higher.html | 2017-08-22 | 0 |
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<p>WASHINGTON — Supreme Court litigation is a bit like bread-baking. If the dough goes in the oven too soon, before it’s had enough time to rise, the end product is unpalatable. Yet at a certain point, the oven beckons. Baking is key to the process.</p>
<p>This is the conundrum presented by the Supreme Court’s decision to tackle the subject of same-sex marriage. For those who believe in marriage equality, the court’s move is both exhilarating and scary.</p>
<p>To understand why, remember that the court agreed to hear two very different cases. One involves the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, and the question of whether the federal government, in states that recognize same-sex marriage, can refuse to provide some married couples the federal benefits available to others.</p>
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<p>The court was widely expected to accept the DOMA case because the law was declared unconstitutional in the lower courts. It is possible to imagine a majority — the four liberal justices and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, most likely — agreeing. After all, the DOMA argument has overtones of federalism that ought to appeal to conservatives: the right of states to have their judgments about marriage respected by the federal government.</p>
<p>Moreover, the DOMA issue does not call on the court to wade into the far more controversial matter of whether the Constitution affirmatively requires states to grant same-sex couples an equal right to marry.</p>
<p>How the court decides the DOMA case will be illuminating for how the justices might deal with that question. For example, how strict a test will the justices apply to laws that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation? But striking down DOMA would be a much less consequential step — albeit an exhilarating one — than extending to same-sex couples a constitutional right to marry.</p>
<p>This issue is implicated by the second case, involving California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage. The court doesn’t have to reach the constitutional question in the California case, and my guess is it won’t. There are various offramps for the justices to take.</p>
<p>For example, the court raised the question of whether those arguing to reinstate Prop 8 had standing to do so. Even if it doesn’t avail itself of a procedural out, the court could avoid declaring — or rejecting — a broad right to marriage equality because of the unusual facts of California, which recognized same-sex marriage before voters rejected it. The appeals court relied on that about-face in declaring Prop 8 unconstitutional.</p>
<p>Still, the prospect that the justices could decide on the constitutional right to marry is unsettling, even scary, because it’s far easier to count five votes for “no” than for “yes.”</p>
<p>Much like the step-by-step litigation that produced Supreme Court victories against racial discrimination, the court may need time — and new members — to get there. On the then-divisive issue of interracial marriage, the Supreme Court deliberately dawdled until more states had lifted their bans. Waiting is hard. Losing is worse.</p>
<p>As justification for such anxieties, look no further than President Obama. Earlier this year, he finally backed same-sex marriage. But he stopped short of declaring that the Constitution protects the right of same-sex couples to marry, as it does interracial couples.</p>
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<p>Worrying that this case is premature is very different from saying that court protection is unnecessary. Some observers have looked at rapidly changing attitudes and suggested that court intervention is unwarranted and unwise.</p>
<p>This is an updated — and equally wrongheaded — version of the contention that the court’s declaration of a constitutional right to abortion pre-empted formation of a national consensus on the divisive subject. If only the court had stayed out, this argument goes, states would have moved on abortion rights.</p>
<p>Nonsense. The movement toward same-sex marriage — three states just approved marriage-equality measures, the first time such efforts had succeeded at the ballot box — is gratifying and instructive. Whether the Supreme Court follows election returns, the justices are exquisitely aware of the public mood.</p>
<p>Yet leaving the issue solely to public whim won’t work. Mississippi will never allow same-sex marriage, or, if it could choose, abortion. Its citizens deserve the same rights as those of Massachusetts.</p>
<p>This is the fundamental meaning of a national Constitution and the role of federal courts. Constitutional protection for marriage equality may not be immediate, but it is, ultimately, both essential and inevitable.</p>
<p>E-mail: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Copyright 2011, Washington Post Writers Group.</p> | Is It Too Soon for Marriage Ruling? | false | https://abqjournal.com/152885/is-it-too-soon-for-marriage-ruling.html | 2012-12-13 | 2 |
<p>Mt Everest has been conquered by an 80-year-old after&#160; Japanese mountain climber Yuichiro Miura, who has had four heart surgeries, reached the summit Thursday.</p>
<p>However, Miura's record might not last long, with an 81-year-old Nepalese man, Min Bahadur Sherchan, preparing for his own attempt on the summit next week.</p>
<p>Miura took Everest's standard southeast ridge route pioneered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay 60 years ago to become the oldest person to conquer the world's highest mountain, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/japanese-octogenarian-oldest-man-reach-summit-mount-everest/story?id=19238945#.UZ3arYJvDxk" type="external">ABC News reported</a>.</p>
<p>He reached the top of the 29,028 foot mountain at about 9:00 a.m. local time accompanied by three other Japanese, including his 43-year-old son and six Nepali sherpas.</p>
<p>At home in Tokyo, Miura's wife and two daughters chronicled every step on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yuichiro-MIURA-Everest-2013/270688616399317?id=270688616399317&amp;sk=info" type="external">Facebook</a> and were first to hear of his successful climb.</p>
<p>He told them via satellite phone from the summit:</p>
<p>"It feels great."</p>
<p>Previously the oldest climber to summit Everest was Sherchan, at age 76 in 2008.</p>
<p>Miura, whom <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/octogenarians-in-battle-to-become-oldest-to-climb-mount-everest/story-e6frg6so-1226649215306" type="external">the Associated Press describes as</a> an extreme skier, first climbed Everest in 2003 and repeated the feat five years later.</p>
<p>He also skied down Everest from the so-called South Col in 1970, and has since skied down the highest mountains on each of the seven continents.</p>
<p>On his <a href="http://miura-everest2013.com/" type="external">expedition website</a>, Miura explained his attempt to scale Everest at such an advanced age:</p>
<p>"It is to challenge [my] own ultimate limit. It is to honor the great Mother Nature... And if the limit of age 80 is at the summit of Mt Everest, the highest place on earth, one can never be happier."</p>
<p>He <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/thomson-reuters/130523/japanese-octogenarian-becomes-oldest-reach-everest-summit" type="external">told Reuters</a> in April that the record "is not so important to me," adding:</p>
<p>"It is important to get to the top."</p> | Japanese mountain climber Yuichiro Miura, 80, becomes oldest man to climb Mt Everest | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-05-23/japanese-mountain-climber-yuichiro-miura-80-becomes-oldest-man-climb-mt-everest | 2013-05-23 | 3 |
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<p>The settlement, totaling $71 million, will be divided among 48 states and the District of Columbia.</p>
<p>The states alleged the California-based company violated consumer protection laws by promoting the drugs Aranesp&#160; and Enbrel for uses or dosages that had not been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.</p>
<p>New Mexico's complaint and the consent judgment that resolves it were filed this week in state District Court in Santa Fe.</p>
<p>In 2012, Amgen pleaded guilty in federal court in New York to illegally introducing a misbranded drug, Aranesp, into interstate commerce, as part of a broader settlement in which it also agreed to pay $762 million to resolve criminal and civil liability for its marketing practices.</p>
<p>The recent settlement - in which Amgen doesn't admit any wrongdoing or liability - resolves with the states some of the same issues that were involved in the federal case, according to a statement from Amgen.</p>
<p>"Amgen is pleased to have this matter resolved, and remains committed to fulfilling its mission to serve patients," the company said.</p>
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<p>New Mexico's share, $869,649, could be used to offset costs of the Amgen lawsuit or be applied to consumer protection education, enforcement, or future litigation, under the settlement.</p>
<p>"At this point, that hasn't been decided," said Assistant Attorney General Paul Splett, , who handled the case in Balderas' office.</p>
<p>Aranesp is approved to treat anemia caused by chronic renal failure and anemia caused by chemotherapy. The complaint says Amgen promoted Aranesp for longer dosing frequencies than the FDA-approved label, and promoted Aranesp for anemia caused by cancer even though it didn't have scientific evidence to back that up.</p>
<p>Enbrel is approved to treat conditions including moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, but Amgen was also promoting it for patients with mild plaque psoriasis, according to the complaint.</p>
<p>Amgen said in its statement that most of the alleged conduct occurred in 2007 or earlier, and that Amgen has a "strong compliance program" and management that is "dedicated to fostering a culture of doing the right thing."</p> | NM gets $870k in pharmaceutical settlement | false | https://abqjournal.com/632183/nm-gets-870k-in-pharmaceutical-settlement.html | 2 |
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<p>Kristan Lieb</p>
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<p>Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel held <a href="http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/rahm-chicago-will-remain-sanctuary-city-despite-trump-threat/" type="external">a press conference</a> Wednesday to assure anxious residents that Chicago would remain a “sanctuary city”—meaning local law enforcement won’t help federal agents with President Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of immigrants, a plan that just got <a href="" type="internal">a lot more real</a>. In December, Emanuel told Trump to his face that he should rethink his proposed policies—specifically, that he should retain the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has allowed undocumented immigrants who were brought here as young children (and for all practical purposes are Americans) to stay in the United States.</p>
<p>Yet even as Emanuel gets recognition as a mayor willing to stand up to Trump on immigration, 27-year-old rookie Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa has been pushing for stronger legal protections in the city—especially given the White House’s reported intent to engage state and local police in its deportation efforts. “What we really need,” the alderman <a href="https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20161128/logan-square/alderman-ramirez-rosa-sanctuary-city-immigration-mayor-rahm-emanuel" type="external">told local reporters</a> “is less symbolism and more action.”</p>
<p>Ramirez-Rosa is a Chicago native, the son of a Puerto Rican dad and a Mexican-born mom. He grew up in the Lakeview neighborhood on the city’s North Side and went to a magnet high school before attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After graduating, he become an aide to Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez, running his boss’ social-media efforts and working directly with families facing deportation. Just two years later he managed to unseat Rey Colon, the four-term 35th Ward incumbent, to become one of the youngest members of the City Council and its first openly gay Latino.</p>
<p>As an alderman, Ramirez-Rosa has made immigrants’ rights his main focus, and the overwhelming message he hears from affected families is that the city hasn’t done enough to protect them. “I’ve been fighting this mayor [since] before I took office,” Ramirez-Rosa told me. “I wasn’t elected to cozy up with the rich and powerful. I was elected by my constituents to represent their interests.”</p>
<p>Chicago’s 2012 sanctuary city law, the <a href="https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mayor/press_room/press_releases/2012/july_2012/mayor_emanuel_introduceswelcomingcityordinance.html" type="external">Welcoming City Ordinance</a>, prevents city police from detaining undocumented immigrants on behalf of federal authorities. But the law contains several exceptions: for immigrants who have a criminal warrant out on them, who have been convicted of a serious offense, who are defendants in a criminal case, or who have been identified as part of a gang. Some of these carve-outs mean that people who haven’t been found guilty of a crime could be refused sanctuary. A Chicago Police Department spokesman told me that, to his knowledge, the police have not acted on any of the exceptions, and that they were intended for extreme circumstances. Still, Ramirez-Rosa and his constituents want those carve-outs removed to give legal backup to the city’s commitment to not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.</p>
<p>Ramirez-Rosa wants Chicago, with its <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-illinois-immigrants-met-20170102-story.html" type="external">183,000 undocumented immigrants</a>, to be a model for immigrant protections. While Chicago’s law is already stronger than those of many sanctuary cities, it falls short of Philadelphia (which has no exceptions, barring extreme circumstances) and Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco (which have only a couple). He has been busy organizing and educating immigrant communities to be ready for the Trump administration. “The focus right now,” he said, “is preparing the community.”</p>
<p>Back in 2015, Ramirez-Rosa and more than a dozen local immigrants’ rights groups joined forces to create the Chicago Immigration Working Group, which has come up with <a href="http://www.mujereslatinasenaccion.org/blog/category10/ChiPlan" type="external">six key policy goals.</a> Bolstering the Welcoming City ordinance is one of them. They’ve also persuaded the city to <a href="https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mayor/press_room/press_releases/2016/october/Municipal-ID-Program.html" type="external">launch an ID program</a> that’s open to undocumented immigrants and helps them access city services. Emanuel has committed just over <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-rahm-emanuel-immigrant-legal-fund-met-1203-20161202-story.html" type="external">$1 million</a> to a legal defense fund for would-be deportees, although Ramirez-Rosa points out that <a href="http://abc7news.com/news/san-francisco-lawmaker-works-to-help-undocumented-immigrants/1631407/" type="external">San Francisco</a>, with a fraction of Chicago’s undocumented population, has just proposed a $5 million legal-defense fund. The alderman also <a href="https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20161005/downtown/welcoming-city-protections-bolstered-for-undocumented-immigrants" type="external">co-sponsored an amendment</a> that makes it illegal for police to threaten people with deportation during a confrontation, or to verbally abuse them. (During a 2013 raid, a Chicago cop famously yelled at a naturalized Chinese American man that he’d “put you in a UPS box and send you back where the [expletive] you came from!”)</p>
<p>This week, Trump <a href="http://Trump%20this%20week%20signed%20orders%20to%20%20doubled-down%20on%20his%20commitment" type="external">signed orders</a> to begin construction on a Mexican border wall and add detention centers and federal agents to the deportation effort. He also doubled down on his threat to rescind federal funding from sanctuary cities that won’t cooperate with the feds on deportations. If Trump follows through, Chicago stands to lose an <a href="https://budgetblog.ctbaonline.org/what-will-trumps-sanctuary-city-threat-cost-chicago-c8018f299735#.aukk55iy4" type="external">estimated $1.3 billion</a>—Congress would need to approve the cut. Trump’s attorney general pick, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, is in favor of repealing DACA and opposes a path to citizenship to undocumented immigrants. Democrats in the Senate have <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/jeff-sessions-senate-vote-delayed-234106" type="external">delayed his confirmation vote</a>, which is now expected to take place in February.</p>
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<p>Given all the uncertainly about what will happen, Ramirez-Rosa and his office are making it a priority to educate the immigrant community. Earlier this month, he started a door-to-door outreach effort and “know your rights” trainings to teach undocumented families what they can do to fight deportation attempts. Next up: a “cop-watch” type network in his ward so neighbors can alert one another if federal immigration agents are in their area. In an act of solidarity, Ramirez-Rosa has even declared his office a sanctuary location, a move he hopes other aldermen will copy.</p>
<p>Ramirez-Rosa was in talks with Emanuel’s office last year. The mayor wasn’t always such a full-throated defender of immigrant rights, the alderman notes; as chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Emanuel <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/22/AR2007102201717_2.html?hpid=topnews" type="external">once called immigration</a> the “third rail of American politics,” and he actually pushed to ramp up deportations while <a href="http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2014/06/20/a-trip-through-mayor-rahms-brain" type="external">working under President Bill Clinton</a> in the mid-1990s. “We know the history of this mayor,” Ramirez-Rosa says. “He just wants the sound bite on TV where he says ‘I’m your champion.'”</p>
<p>But the alderman is feeling more hopeful of late. The talks with the mayor have gone well, he says, and Emanuel even asked for a memo outlining the working group’s proposals. Emanuel’s office wouldn’t comment on plans to alter the carve-outs. But it pointed out in a statement that the mayor started a <a href="https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mayor/provdrs/office_of_new_americans/news/2016/december/mayor-emanuel-joins-senator-durbin-and-congressman-gutierrez-in-.html" type="external">task force (“Chicago Is With You”</a>) with Rep. Gutierrez and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) late last year to provide legal and mental-health services to immigrants and others in need, and he’s involved in other efforts to help immigrants.</p>
<p>But Chicago leaders have to do much more, Ramirez-Rosa insists.&#160;The measure of progress, he says, “is in the actual ordinances and resources that the city is bringing to bear. And we’re nowhere near the other cities that are actually national leaders on this.”</p>
<p /> | This Rookie Chicago Politician Is Ready to Resist Donald Trump’s Deportation Fervor | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/carlos-ramirez-rosa-donald-trump-immigration-deportation-chicago-sanctuary-cities/ | 2017-01-26 | 4 |
<p>Even billionaire moguls get homework over the summer. Every year, the media, technology, and finance titans assembled in Sun Valley for Allen and Co's confab get a package of books, usually on topics ranging from business and current events to politics and health care, meant to keep them abreast of the national conversation. This year's reading list features <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594202354/thedaibea-20/" type="external">Googled</a>, the definitive account of the search-engine colossus by New Yorker writer and Sun Valley regular Ken Auletta. The other book on the mogul reading list is a bit of a national pick-me-up: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400068606/thedaibea-20/" type="external">Comeback America</a> by David Walker. Read up moguls; there will be a pop quiz in September.</p>
<p>Plus: <a href="" type="internal">Check out Book Beast, for more news on hot titles and authors and excerpts from the latest books</a>.</p>
<p>Peter Lauria is senior correspondent covering business, media, and entertainment for The Daily Beast. He previously covered music, movies, television, cable, radio, and corporate media as a business reporter for The New York Post. His work has also appeared in Avenue, Blender, Black Men, and Media Magazine.</p> | Sun Valley, What the Moguls Are Reading | true | https://thedailybeast.com/sun-valley-what-the-moguls-are-reading | 2018-10-06 | 4 |
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<p>These are the kinds of questions that many Americans living abroad have faced in the wake of Trump’s shock victory.</p>
<p>“The undercurrent to conversations goes like this: ‘What the hell is your country thinking?’ and ‘Can you speak for your country?’ ” said Mena Mark Hanna, a 32-year-old academic who moved to the German capital, Berlin, two years ago.</p>
<p>It is estimated that more than 8 million Americans live abroad, and, like many of them, Hanna is no fan of the 45th president-elect. But that hasn’t stopped him from being pelted with questions about how his fellow Americans could vote for a man widely reviled in Europe.</p>
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<p>Hanna doesn’t always know how to answer the questions. “I can’t speak for this man Trump or the political results of this election. It’s not the America I know or recognize,” he said, noting that Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton, appears set to win the popular vote.</p>
<p>Trump is hugely disliked across Europe. In Britain, members of Parliament debated earlier this year whether to ban Trump from the country after his controversial comments on Muslims. The motion was not passed, but lawmakers dug deep into the well of insulting adjectives, calling him a “ridiculous xenophobe” and “the orange prince of American self-publicity.”</p>
<p>Trump’s victory sent shock waves around the world, and reactions from global leaders have ranged from Vladimir Putin’s optimistic note of congratulations to Angela Merkel’s very cautious welcome.</p>
<p>But there is an intense curiosity and eagerness on the ground to understand how the nation that elected Barack Obama could, just a few years later, choose Trump, or as the comedy writer Rob Fee tweeted: “How do we go from our first black president to a president endorsed by the KKK? How?”</p>
<p>Foreigners are curious, too, and ears perk up when they hear an American accent with its distinctive “r’s.”</p>
<p>“As expats we are expected to be able to explain the actions of the president,” said Lucia Lucas, a 36-year-old from Sacramento who moved to Germany in 2009. Sometimes complete strangers overhear her accent on the train and launch into questions about U.S. politics. “People who don’t know us feel like we owe them an explanation,” she said.</p>
<p>She hasn’t resorted to sewing a maple leaf on her backpack or – as some of her American friends have done – telling people that her accent is Canadian. But she has vowed to work on her German accent in hopes of blending in.</p>
<p>This sensation is new. When Obama first assumed power eight years ago, the world was enamored with America for electing its first black president and there was enough stardust around to be sprinkled on U.S. expats. It was a strange feeling for many Americans who lived overseas during the George W. Bush era, when anti-Americanism was rife.</p>
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<p>“Obama has this rock star status, and you felt like, as an American over here, you were a roadie in his rock star entourage, just because you were an American,” said John Scardino, 56-year-old high school teacher who moved to the United Kingdom in 2000.</p>
<p>Now, he says, his British friends and colleagues are flabbergasted.</p>
<p>“When I walk into school, a lot of my teaching colleagues will say – what is going on? Something Trump has proposed or said will be in the news, and people at work will say: ‘Is this for real?’ “</p>
<p>Some expats find it easier than others to explain the appeal of Trump.</p>
<p>“I think Brexit and Trump-ism are a necessary corrective to excesses of globalization,” said Alex Sundstrom, a 37-year-old from Boston and a board member of the U.K. branch of Republicans Overseas.</p>
<p>On Tuesday night, he was at a watch party at the U.S. Embassy in London, where he estimated that of the 1,500 guests, about “99 to 99.5 percent were pro-Hillary.” But he also said that just as there are “shy Tories” in Britain, there are “shy Trump supporters,” too.</p>
<p>At the embassy party, Sundstrom’s “Make America Great Again” pin easily identified him as pro-Trump, and he described the experience of walking into a room filled with journalists as “going into a pen with starving lions and wrapping yourself with raw meat.”</p>
<p>Part of the global interest in the results of the election stem from how Trump defied the expectations of almost every pollster and pundit.</p>
<p>Albert Frantz, 41, an American expat and entrepreneur who lives in the Austrian capital of Vienna, was “pre-celebrating” with friends on Tuesday evening. But as it became clear that Trump had won, the proud American went from feeling jubilant to suddenly feeling “ashamed” of his homeland.</p>
<p>“I was shocked and horrified. We just clicked the undo button for all of the advances that Western societies have made in the last century,” he said. “I never thought this could be a reality.”</p>
<p>trump-expats</p> | For Americans living in Europe, a struggle to explain Trump’s triumph | false | https://abqjournal.com/886496/for-americans-living-in-europe-a-struggle-to-explain-trumps-triumph.html | 2 |
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<p>DANDRIDGE, Tenn. — Roy A. Dobyns, the eighth president of Bluefield College, died Nov. 12 in a Dandridge, Tenn., nursing home. He was 82.</p>
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<p>Dobyns was president of the Baptist-affiliated school from 1989 until he retired in 1996, a period of enrollment growth for the school in southwest Virginia. During his tenure the number of students doubled, to an all-time high of 853. Much of the growth occurred following the addition of an adult degree completion program in 1991.</p>
<p>Also during Dobyns’s tenure, Bluefield launched its 75th Anniversary Campaign, a fundraising effort which garnered $7.5 million for a science center, two parking lots, a campus roadway, an expansion of the Student Activities Center, renovations to Lansdell Hall, and additional investments in faculty and students.</p>
<p>Dobyns’s career included stints on the staff of Carson Newman University in Jefferson City, Tenn., Clayton State University in Morrow, Ga., Georgetown (Ky.) College, McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La., and Louisiana College in Pineville, La.</p>
<p>He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Kathryn Dobyns, and three sons. A funeral service will be held Nov. 15 at First Baptist Church in Jefferson City.</p> | Former Bluefield College president Roy Dobyns, whose tenure saw enrollment growth, dies at 82 | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/formerbluefieldcollegepresidentroydobynswhosetenuresawenrollmentgrowthdiesat82/ | 3 |
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<p>In its history, residents of Detroit have faced some significant injustice, oppression, and discrimination. And it continues! WITH FRUIT.</p>
<p>That is right.</p>
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<p>From race riots and police brutality, to prejudice and poor public schooling, there is a new item to add to the long list of horrors.</p>
<p>Delicious, juicy fruit.</p>
<p>Breaking news updates and daily headlines from a news source you can trust.</p>
<p>Wait…I thought fruit was an excellent source of hydration and vitamins. No?</p>
<p>That is what one firefighter wants us to think!</p>
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<p>Robert Pattison, a 41-year-old probationary firefighter, decided to visit Engine 55 in Detroit and introduce him to his fellow firefighters. It is customary among firefighters to come bearing gifts when visiting a station.</p>
<p>Apparently, most bring donuts but Pattison brought a watermelon.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/detroit-firefighter-fired-for-bringing-watermelon-to-station" type="external">Fox 2 Detroit</a>, African-American firefighters “were instantly offended, since 90 percent of the people who work at Engine 55 are black.”</p>
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<p>FOX 2 spoke to Pattison by phone, who claims it was not a joke – and he did not mean to offend his fellow firefighters. But he clearly did. Fire Commissioner Eric Jones says the Fenton native was officially discharged.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>In a statement Jones says: “There is zero tolerance for discriminatory behavior inside the Detroit Fire Department. On Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, at Engine 55, a trial firefighter (probationary employee) engaged in unsatisfactory work behavior which was deemed offensive and racially insensitive to members of the Detroit Fire Department.</p>
<p>“After a thorough investigation, it was determined that the best course of action was to terminate the employment of this probationary employee.”</p>
<p>In a world where racial tensions run high, some tell me the trial firefighter should have known better. Trout doesn’t know if he meant anything by it – but feels it was a bad choice.</p>
<p>“For sure by far it was.”</p>
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<p>It was a bad decision? Watermelon is NEVER a bad decision!</p>
<p>What kind of a world do we live in that people need to question the type of food they offer another person?</p>
<p>What IS acceptable? Where is the list? The politically-correct menu? I’m asking for a friend…who doesn’t want to get fired.</p>
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<p>Because here is the thing: if you want to find a problem, you will find/create a problem.</p>
<p>If you want to see the kindness in the offering of a gift, you’ll see that.</p>
<p>To fire someone because they introduce themselves to a new station by bringing a healthy food to said station is absolutely ridiculous. I’m sure you could misconstrue the action as “fattist” as well.</p>
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<p>“Where are the donuts?”</p>
<p>“What are you SUGGESTING with this watermelon?!? That we need to watch our weight?!”</p>
<p>The only time I have ever gotten offended is when I’m brought fruitcake as a Christmas gift, because, well, it’s a freaking fruitcake. They’re disgusting. No one likes them. You’re probably re-gifting said fruitcake for the 5th time, anyways.</p>
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<p>A gift from the mailman–who received it from someone on his route–who received it from their cousin–who is also a mailman…and so on and so on.</p>
<p>But a watermelon to a fire station?</p>
<p>Racist fruit?</p>
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<p>THIS is why our country is divided.</p>
<p>Because people are too busy looking for something to be upset about instead of looking to unite. Acts of generosity cannot be accepted without the suspicion of a hidden racist message.</p>
<p>And it’s embarrassing.</p>
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<p>Are there really offensive foods? (Besides fruitcake?!)</p>
<p>What do you think? Scroll down to comment below.</p> | Detroit Firefighter Fired For Bringing Watermelon To Station | true | http://thefederalistpapers.org/us/detroit-firefighter-fired-bringing-watermelon-station | 0 |
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<p>LAS VEGAS, Nev. — With a headset on, Marvin Menzies sat on a stool on Tarkanian Court moments after losing on UNLV’s home court for the third time in as many Mountain West Conference games.</p>
<p>His rather somber postgame interview was being broadcast on the large video monitor hanging over the court inside the Thomas &amp; Mack Center while Rebel fans were yelling their displeasure from the stands.</p>
<p>While that was going on, his friend and longtime assistant, UNM Lobos coach Paul Weir, was halfway up the arena steps doing his postgame interview with the Albuquerque-based radio crew, getting compliments from Rebel fans.</p>
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<p>While he doesn’t enjoy what his friend is going through, Weir was all smiles after his Lobos picked up their first road win of the season, scoring the final nine points of the game in 1:07 to shock the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, 85-81, in front of an announced crowd of 10,546.</p>
<p>“To get a road win for us, obviously is enormous,” Weir said. “And against a team of this caliber — a top 100 (KenPom rating) team. It’s growth for us. There’s a lot of reasons why, maybe these things shouldn’t be happening. But we’re not asking that in that locker room. We’re just trying to do everything we can to just be the best that we can be.”</p>
<p>The win improves UNM to 9-11 overall and 4-3 in Mountain West play and in a third place tie with Fresno State in the league standings. UNLV drops to 13-5, 2-3 in league games.</p>
<p>It was the fourth-consecutive game the Lobos played with just eight scholarship players and a now-utilized walk-on. And the fact that two freshmen — Vladimir Pinchuk (10 points, three rebounds) and Makuach Maluach (19 points) and the walk-on — junior Mike Mondragon — played such key roles in the program’s first road win under Weir left their head coach shaking his head.</p>
<p>“They probably shouldn’t be,” Weir said of those players being relied on so much while junior Troy Simons and senior Sam Logwood remain out of the rotation while the coach is still deciding when to let them return. “It defies a lot of logic, but that’s part of the reason we’ve been playing these guys all year. …</p>
<p>“We’ve got nine now. They call themselves the ‘Nasty Nine’ and they’re just giving it all they’ve got and I’m just really happy for them that they get the feeling of a good road win together.”</p>
<p>The back-and-forth game looked to be getting away from UNM down the stretch. After UNM led almost the entire first half, UNLV was up 67-56 with 6:48 remaining following an 18-5 scoring stretch that looked like it might be too much for the Lobos to handle.</p>
<p>Down 81-76, junior Anthony Mathis, who was just 1-of-7 from 3-point range to that point, drained a 3-pointer with 1:07 left while also being fouled, converting a four-point play to pull UNM within 81-80.</p>
<p>A defensive stop led to another Mathis 3-pointer and an 83-81 Lobos lead with 14 seconds left in the game.</p>
<p>Yet another defensive stop by UNM, and a Joe Furstinger rebound, led to the senior forward draining a two game-clinching free throws with 3 seconds remaining.</p>
<p>“I thought we had some really timely plays down the stretch,” Weir said. “I think we’ve been in a lot of these games down the stretch. … We’ve had several close games down the stretch. We just haven’t been able to close one. I think being in those games over and over again have really kind of built a real toughness.”</p>
<p>Up next: Saturday, San Diego State at UNM, 5 p.m., CBSSN, 770 AM/94.5 FM</p>
<p><a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/unm.sidearmsports.com/documents/2018/1/18/1_17_at_UNLV.pdf" type="external">BOX SCORE: New Mexico 85, UNLV 81</a></p> | Lobos find a winning hand in Vegas | false | https://abqjournal.com/1120725/lobos-rally-to-beat-unlv.html | 2018-01-17 | 2 |
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<p>Say goodbye to check-writing.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Visa (NYSE:V) announced it's launching a new personal payments service for card holders to send money to each other electronically.</p>
<p>"By simply entering the recipient's 16-digit Visa account, email address or mobile phone number, consumers can send funds directly from their bank account to a recipient's Visa account," Visa said in a press release.</p>
<p>Visa card holders with eligible credit, debit, or even prepaid accounts can use the service to send funds to other consumers.</p>
<p>Visa, in the release, also announced an agreement with CashEdge Inc. and <a href="" type="internal">Fiserv</a> Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV), which already provide person-to-person electronic payment services, letting them integrate with Visa's service.&#160; Customers of banks that use CashEdge and Fiserv will be able to send money to Visa accounts, the release said.</p>
<p>CashEdge's service is called Popmoney, while Fiserv's is called ZashPay.</p>
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<p>Visa isn't the first company to embrace electronic methods of person-to-person payments.&#160; EBay's (NASDAQ:EBAY) PayPal has offered this service for years, letting <a href="" type="internal">eBay</a> buyers send payments from their bank accounts to sellers on the auction site, but also letting people send money outside of eBay.</p>
<p>ING DIRECT, considered by many to be a pioneer of electronic banking, has also offered what it calls Person2Person payments for a while.</p>
<p>Person2Person, which is handled internally and not through a third party, lets customers send money to family and friends free of charge and at any bank in the U.S., not just ING DIRECT, Laura DiLello, an ING DIRECT spokeswoman, told FOX Business.</p>
<p>However, to send money to a non-ING DIRECT customer, an account number and routing number of the receiving account is necessary, she said.</p>
<p>DiLello also pointed out customers can use the service through ING DIRECT’s mobile app.</p> | Visa Jumps on Person-to-Person Payment Bandwagon, Taking on PayPal | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/03/17/visa-jumps-person-person-payment-bandwagon-taking-paypal.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
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<p>After a week of more moderate summer temperatures, the heat is back on this week as temperatures will rise into the mid-to-upper 90s all week. There’s also just a slight chance of precipitation in the forecast.</p>
<p>Here’s the forecast from the National Weather Service:</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. North northwest wind between 5 and 15 mph.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. North northwest wind between 5 and 15 mph.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Tuesday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 98. Calm wind becoming west southwest between 5 and 10 mph.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 65. West southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east northeast.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Heat is On | false | https://abqjournal.com/8348/heat-is-on.html | 2 |
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<p>So, you know those <a href="http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/091608/sta_333013278.shtml" type="external">Yahoo accounts</a> Sarah Palin was using to keep her official business safe from subpoenas? Turns out they’re not so safe after all. Palin’s Yahoo accounts ([email protected] and [email protected]) were successfully hacked last night and you can see the screengrabs <a href="http://gawker.com/5051193/sarah-palins-personal-emails" type="external">here</a>. Since then, the accounts have been deleted, which could be considered destruction of evidence if a court chose to pursue it.</p>
<p>The evidence, at first glance, looks pretty solid that the accounts were authentic. Photos of Palin’s family were pulled from e-mails, plus a “sent” e-mail to aide Amy McCorkell was confirmed by a call to McCorkell herself, reports <a href="http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/" type="external">Wired</a>.</p>
<p>Who knew the GOP was so in favor of government transparency? Maybe the McCain/Palin team is a real “ <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=184113&amp;title=john-mccain-reformed-maverick" type="external">maverick</a>” ticket after all.</p>
<p /> | Sarah Palin’s Yahoo Accounts Hacked | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/09/sarah-palins-yahoo-accounts-hacked/ | 2008-09-17 | 4 |
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<p>Inspired by the civil rights <a href="http://www.iwfr.org/civilhistory.asp" type="external">Freedom Riders of the early 1960s,</a> the Immigrant Workers “Freedom Ride” made its final two stops in Washington D.C. and New York City last week. Eighteen buses carrying 900 immigrants from 50 countries visited more than 100 U.S. cities over two weeks, calling for better working conditions, legal status and <a href="http://www.iwfr.org/about.asp" type="external">other reforms</a> for legal and illegal immigrants.</p>
<p>Washington Post’s Harold Meyerson took the opportunity to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30700-2003Oct1.html" type="external">remind</a>Americans of a basic demographic fact:</p>
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<p>“For the first time in American history, then, we have a huge immigrant population — the 2000 Census says that 12.4 percent of the national workforce is immigrant — permanently consigned not even to second-class citizenship but no citizenship at all. “</p>
<p>In Washington the Freedom Riders pulled up at the Capitol to lobby lawmakers. There are two bills before Congress that would legalize the status of many undocumented workers. One would give undocumented farm workers in the U.S. a chance to become permanent residents. Another would allow children of illegal immigrants to become legal residents if they entered the U.S. before the age of 16 and have been here for five years. It also allows them access to higher education.</p>
<p>Meyerson argues that in the past 25 years, immigrants, encouraged by poltical gains made by ethnic groups, are becoming a factor in politics the same way the pre-New Deal Irish, Italians, Germans and Russians did. In California, for example, the political clout of immigrants is growing steadily:</p>
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<p>“[T]he transformation of California politics unleashed by the entry of immigrants into politics — a transformation that a Schwarzenegger victory can delay but not deny — is already responsible for enactment of the first paid family-leave program in the land and the likely enactment (if, as expected, Davis signs the bill this week) of mandated employer-financed health coverage. In this, California’s new immigrants are following the path laid out by the immigrant activists of the last century, who provided much of the vision and support for the policies that became the core of the New Deal. Like their predecessors, they are not just pounding on the doors of American society but defining it for the better.”</p>
<p>As always, views differ on what constitutes “for the better.” Writing for National Review Online, Mark Krikorian <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/krikorian200310030902.asp" type="external">says</a>Meyerson’s arguments are an indication that the Left “sees mass immigration as a way to promote more socialism.” But what bugs him most is the analogy with <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/reference/articles/freedom_riders.html" type="external">Freedom Rides</a> at the forefront of the civil rights movement in the 1960s:</p>
<p>“…the very fact that illegal aliens are hijacking the terminology of a brave struggle for liberty by American citizens is an abomination. The real Freedom Riders traveled the South to challenge Jim Crow segregation in restrooms, restaurants, and other public facilities; a mob in Alabama attacked them, set one of the buses on fire, and beat some of the fleeing passengers. Other Civil Rights protesters, of course, faced police dogs, high-pressure hoses, and firebombs. The idea that lobbying for amnesty is in any way comparable to this is ludicrous…”</p>
<p>Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, an original Freedom Rider, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25656-2003Sep30.html" type="external">disagrees</a>:</p>
<p>“Like the Freedom Rides of 1961, Freedom Ride 2003 calls on ordinary people to do extraordinary things: to put their bodies on the line at a moment in American history when immigration is a volatile issue everywhere; to stand up for their rights and the rights of many others; to call attention to bad laws that harm good people; and to challenge the federal government to act where it seems determined not to. In this, and in so many other ways, these new Freedom Riders are just like you and me — seekers after the American dream, makers of the American dream.”</p>
<p>The NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Southern Christian Leadership Council all appeared on the <a href="http://www.iwfr.org/endorsement.asp" type="external">list of endorsers</a> of the new Freedom Ride. Black leaders, including Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, rallied with the immigrant workers in New York. Kirkorian says that African Americans actually don’t want increased immigration, even if the black “political elite” does:</p>
<p>“[T]he disconnect between the black political elite and the people it claims to represent is nowhere wider than on immigration. A Zogby poll taken shortly before 9/11 found that blacks opposed an illegal-alien amnesty at about the same rate as whites and Hispanics. And a September Field Poll in California found that a majority of blacks opposed driver’s licenses for illegal aliens.”</p>
<p>W. James Antle, writing for the conservative web site TooGood Reports, says that liberals should in fact <a href="http://toogoodreports.com/column/general/antle/20031006.htm" type="external">oppose</a>increased immigration:</p>
<p>“In fact, those who are concerned about racial equality and improved race relations have ample reason to oppose mass legal and illegal immigration. The current system amounts to the importation of cheap, disproportionately minority labor for the benefit of corporations and a disproportionately white upper class in need of domestic service. In the process, many lower-income Americans, also disproportionately minority, find themselves displaced from jobs and their wages reduced.”</p>
<p>Not only will more immigration hurt the poor, Antle argues, it will harm race relations by giving fodder to white nationalists (as if they ever needed any):</p>
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<p>“This portends an unmistakable risk of polarizing society along racial lines. Carol M. Swain, professor of law and political science at Vanderbilt University and the author of The New White Nationalism: Its Challenge to Integration, considers it likely to be a factor in the advancement of a harmful trend toward white racial nationalism. Do we really need an American Jean-Marie Le Pen or a more widely accepted David Duke?”</p>
<p>Both Antle and Kirkorian underplay the real contribution legal and illegal immigrants make to American society. Bill Berkowitz <a href="http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9059" type="external">writes</a>on TomPaine.com that “Latinos make up a disproportionate percentage of the lowest ranks in the armed services. And now they also make up a disproportionate number of the wounded and dying in Iraq.” For the military, immigrants – both illegal and legal – are key targets of recruitment:</p>
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<p>“Both citizens and non-citizens are seen as fertile ground. While both groups face the growing lack of employment opportunities, non-citizens are being induced into the military with promises of a fast track to citizenship. The Bush administration has told non-citizens they can apply for citizenship the day they join instead of waiting the usual five years after receiving their green card. Between 35,000 and 40,000 non-citizens — most of them Latino — are currently enlisted, and recruiters have reportedly even crossed into Mexico looking for U.S. school dropouts who still carry U.S. residency papers.”</p>
<p>Factor in the economic contribution immigrants make, the measly compensation they receive, the legal hassles they face, and the conditions in which they work — and one might conclude that immigrants, legal and illegal, have a right to be heard.</p>
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<p /> | No Free Ride | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2003/10/no-free-ride/ | 2003-10-07 | 4 |
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<p>With racial sentiments swirling in the 2008 campaign—notably, Geraldine Ferraro’s claim that Barack Obama is not much more than an affirmative action case and the controversy over his former pastor’s over-the-top remarks—Senator Obama on Tuesday morning responded to these recent fusses with a speech unlike any delivered by a major political figure in modern American history. While explaining—not excusing—Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s remarks (which Obama had already criticized), he called on all Americans to recognize that even though the United States has experienced progress on the racial reconciliation front in recent decades (Exhibit A: Barack Obama), racial anger exists among both whites and blacks, and he said that this anger and its causes must be fully acknowledged before further progress can be achieved. Obama did this without displaying a trace of anger himself.</p>
<p>Speaking in Philadelphia, Obama celebrated his own racial heritage but also demonstrated his ability to view the black community with a measure of objectivity and, when necessary, criticism—caring criticism. But this was no <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Souljah_moment" type="external">Sister Souljah moment</a>. He did not sacrifice Wright for political ends. He hailed the good deeds of his former minister, noting that Wright’s claim that America continues to be a racist society is rooted in Wright’s generational experiences. And Obama identified the sources of racial resentment held by whites without being judgmental. With this address, Obama was trying to show the nation a pathway to a society free of racial gridlock and denial. Moreover, he declared that bridging the very real racial divide of today is essential to forging the popular coalition necessary to transform America into a society with a universal and effective health care system, an education system that serves poor and rich children, and an economy that yields a decent-paying jobs for all. Obama was not playing the race card. He was shooting the moon.</p>
<p>Obama delivered his speech in a stiff manner. The melodious lilt and cascading tones that typically characterize his campaign addresses were not present. This was a speech in which the words—not the delivery—counted. He began with a predictable notion: slavery was the original sin of the glorious American project. Removing that stain has been the nation’s burden ever since, and he tied his campaign to that long-running endeavor: “This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign—to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America.” And he proclaimed that due to his own personal story—”I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas”—he both recognizes the need to heal this divide and possesses an “unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people.” Unlike the black leaders of recent years, Obama identified with both the winners and losers of America: “I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.” He is E Pluribus Unum.</p>
<p>Without being coy about it, Obama declared that race has been an issue in the campaign. “Some commentators have deemed me either ‘too black’ or ‘not black enough,'” he said. “We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well. And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.”</p>
<p>He was referring to the remarks of Ferraro and Wright. About his onetime pastor, Obama said, “For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely—just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.” Yet Obama did not leave it at that. He didn’t dismiss Wright as another pissed-off black person stuck in racial conflict:</p>
<p>The truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a United States Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth—by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.</p>
<p>Obama went on to explain what moves Wright and those in the pews who cheered his now-controversial remarks:</p>
<p>Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity Church embodies the black community in its entirety—the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger….The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and, yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.</p>
<p>And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions—the good and the bad—of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.</p>
<p>Obama added that he could “no more disown” Wright “than I can disown the black community” or “my white grandmother—a woman who helped raise me…and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.”</p>
<p>As Obama noted, he was not taking the “politically safe” route of denouncing Wright and moving on, hoping the controversy would fade. He embraced the Wright matter to address uncomfortable truths about race: In fact, in assessing America’s ills and needs, Obama declared, references to race are unavoidable. “We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country,” he said. “But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist between the African-American community and the larger American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.” Obama recited the list of past grievances: segregated schools, legalized discrimination, the exclusion of blacks from unions, obstacles to black homeownership, etc. Not ducking a point that does peeve some whites, Obama noted that all this history “helps explain” the present wealth and income gap between blacks and whites:</p>
<p>A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one’s family, contributed to the erosion of black families—a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods—parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement—all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continues to haunt us.</p>
<p>Obama noted, that “this is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up.” Consequently, for Wright and his peers, “questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways.” As if he was taking White America on a guided tour of Black America, Obama was saying very gently, this is how it works over there:</p>
<p>For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or the beauty shop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings. And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews.</p>
<p>Not that this makes it right. Obama did not let Wright and others off the hook: “That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.”</p>
<p>This is as sophisticated a discussion of race as any American politician has sought to present to the public. And Obama was not done. He turned to whites:</p>
<p>A similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience—as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.</p>
<p>Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.</p>
<p>Obama was not condemning anyone. His key to post-racial transformation? End the blame game. In the end, he argued, black-and-white matters less—or should matter less—than issues of class and economic power:</p>
<p>And just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze—a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns—this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.</p>
<p>His bottom line: “This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years.” How to climb out of this hole? Obama offered no ten-point plans or facile answers. Heavy lifting has to happen on both sides. African Americans must embrace “the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances—for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs—to the larger aspirations of all Americans: the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for our own lives—by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.”</p>
<p>As for the white community, he added, “the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination—and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past—are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds—by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.”</p>
<p>Obama ended up at an obvious point: can’t we all just get along and “do unto others as we would have them do unto us.” But the path he took was not without some courage. He dared to explain—and somewhat justify—black anger that can lead to comments that upset whites, while calling for blacks to move past such anger. And he did not dump Wright. He also dared to understand white resentment, but he chided whites (without castigating them) for dismissing or ignoring black anger. Events beyond Obama’s control pushed him to make this speech. And, no doubt, political foes and conservative antagonists will continue their crusade to tar Obama with Wright’s words. But with this address, Obama presented a candid approach to race. Still, there’s no telling if this will help him in his fierce battle with Hillary Clinton—let alone in a general election, should he secure the Democratic presidential nomination.</p>
<p>While discussing his years of worship at the Trinity Church, Obama noted that by attending services there and imagining “the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones,” he came to realize that “our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black.” With this speech—and throughout his campaign—as he merges his own story with the story of race in America, he is presenting himself also as “black and more than black.” And that is a story with no ending yet.</p>
<p>Full speech here:</p>
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<p /> | “Black and More Than Black”: Obama’s Daring and Unique Speech on Race | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/03/black-and-more-black-obamas-daring-and-unique-speech-race/ | 2008-03-18 | 4 |
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<p>Up down, up down. The U.S. financial markets, especially stocks, have been extremely volatile. Earlier this week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 400 points midday. The drop had even the most professional investors reaching for the Alka Seltzer.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Financial advisors are getting an earful from individual investors. According to the Eaton Vance Top-of-Mind Index, 80 percent of investors have expressed concern about the markets and volatility this quarter. “Fear has risen up in a big way,” John Moninger, Eaton Vance managing director, told FOX Business Network’s &#160;Maria Bartiromo during a recent interview. “It went from 55 percent of clients were worried about markets and were fearful to 80 percent.”</p>
<p>And, yet, just last week, equity mutual funds saw inflows of or 2.5 percent or $2.1 billion, according to Jeff Tjornehoj, head of Americas Research, Thomson Reuters Lipper. That optimism contrasts with the sentiment of the last three months, in which funds overall posted outflows, albeit small ones.</p>
<p>“We’re seeing a net drain out of the mutual fund industry over the last couple of months,” says TJonehoj. “I think it’s frustration. Small investors don’t like the volatility in equities and the market is getting off to a rough start.”</p>
<p>Through this week, the Dow and the S&amp;P 500 have lost roughly 8 percent this year while the Nasdaq is experiencing a steeper drop of 13 percent.</p>
<p>There have been few places to hide in mutual funds. While small investors had turned to passively managed equity funds over the past few years to cut costs and improve returns, passively managed funds are barely outperforming actively managed funds for the year.</p>
<p>According to research provided by Morningstar, actively managed funds lost 9.2 percent for the year to date through Feb. 5, while passively managed funds lost 8.7 percent.</p>
<p>Most advisors counsel investors to stay the course when the road gets rocky. But the repeated downdrafts experienced by those on the cusp of retirement during their investing careers, such as the dotcom crash that occurred between 1999 and 2001 and the housing crash that took the stock market down in 2008 and 2009, has investors wary.</p>
<p>With good reason.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Yo Yo Markets Put Regular Investors On Edge | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/02/09/yo-yo-markets-put-regular-investors-on-edge.html | 2016-02-10 | 0 |
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<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — Some 2 1/2 years after former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, lobbyists Elizabeth and Joseph Kupfer and campaign consultant Armando Gutierrez were indicted for alleged misspending of federal election money, the case is only marginally further along than when it was indicted.</p>
<p>Questions about the use of federal Help America Vote Act funds from 2004 to 2006 ultimately led to 50 counts of fraud, embezzlement, money-laundering and conspiracy related to $6 million in contracts.</p>
<p>Vigil-Giron’s attorney, Robert Gorence, contends the case should be dismissed because of repeated delays.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“You can assume prejudice (against Vigil-Giron) as we approach the three-year mark,” he said. “Ms. Vigil-Giron at every hearing has steadfastly asserted her speedy trial rights.”</p>
<p>The first speedy trial motion was filed the day of her arraignment, as was a motion for a bill of particulars or statement of facts — essentially, asking the government to state what benefit she received from the allegedly fraudulent conduct. He has repeatedly said she didn’t get a dime.</p>
<p>“I’d like that to be heard front and center,” he said.</p>
<p>The case now has a judge, Reed Sheppard, the presiding criminal judge in 2nd Judicial District Court, who was assigned to it after the resignation of Judge Albert “Pat” Murdoch.</p>
<p>It has an up-to-speed independent prosecutor, Joseph CampBell, who got the case on a contract with the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which in turn inherited it when Murdoch disqualified the Attorney General’s Office from prosecuting it — not because of actual wrongdoing, but because of the appearance of a conflict of interest.</p>
<p>The case has a funding mechanism because the Legislature during the last session said the DA’s Office could request budget increases up to $190,000 from internal fund transfers and up to $500,000 in internal agency transfers from the attorney general “to support the joint powers agreement for the Vigil-Giron, Gutierrez and Kupfer cases.”</p>
<p>What the case needs now is a series of dates for 32 pre-trial motions, some of which, if granted, would dispose of the case. Some will take an hour, others a day or more, attorneys said Wednesday.</p>
<p>High on the list to be heard first is the defense motion to have the case dismissed because of the many delays.</p>
<p>Trial time estimates now stand at somewhere between two weeks, if Vigil-Giron’s case is separated and tried independently of the others, or six weeks if all four defendants are tried together. Meanwhile, Gutierrez and the Kupfers face federal tax charges and have trial dates, Gutierrez separately from the Kupfers on some counts, in August and October.</p> | Fraud Case Inches Along | false | https://abqjournal.com/99940/fraud-case-inches-along.html | 2012-04-13 | 2 |
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<p>Craicmore will bring its Celtic music to Corrales on Saturday evening.</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The fiery jigs and reels of Scotland and Ireland will churn up some post-St. Patrick’s Day fun at the Old Ysidro Church in Corrales on Saturday.</p>
<p>The Los Angeles-based Celtic band Craicmore will bring its lively performance to New Mexico. The name means “great fun” in Irish.</p>
<p>Although all four band members are of Scottish or Irish descent, none grew up hearing the music they play today. They all met at Los Angeles Celtic music gatherings.</p>
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<p>“It just moved me; it touched me,” said John MacAdams, who plays acoustic guitar, didgeridoo, drums and sings. “You learn it by playing with friends and acquaintances. It’s all taught by ear.”</p>
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<p>MacAdams brought the Australian aboriginal didgeridoo to the band’s instrumental sets and songs after becoming transfixed by the 1971 Peter Weir movie “Walkabout.”</p>
<p>The instrument brings a droning sound to the mix, coalescing well with the pipes, harps and penny-whistles of this traditional music, he said.</p>
<p>Lead vocalist and contralto Nancy Johnston sings in both English and Irish. The musicians’ repertoire includes the obligatory Robbie Burns songs and tunes dating back to the 1600s.</p>
<p>“Cape Clear/Morrison’s Jig” segues into “Gi’e Me a Lass wi’ a Lump o’Land,” a Scottish song about a suitor with an obvious motive.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t matter what she looks like, as long as she has a piece of land,” MacAdams said.</p>
<p>“Glasgow City Police” likely came from a constabulary that sponsored a pipe band. In Burns’ “The De’il’s Awa’ wi’ th’ Exciseman” (The Devil is Away with the Taxman), both the devil and the tax collector have a penchant for dancing a jig. “The Farmer’s Curst Wife” tells the story of a farmer who made a deal with the evil one and won. The devil demands a family member and the farmer surrenders his wife. When the devil sweeps her down to Hell, he realizes he’s gotten more than he bargained for.</p>
<p>“She’s pretty destructive,” MacAdams said. “He brings her back to the farmer.”</p>
<p>The program leans toward the joyful.</p>
<p>“We don’t do fighting songs; we don’t do rebel songs; we don’t do drinking songs,” MacAdams said. “We don’t want to perpetuate stereotypes.”</p>
<p>The current band has been together for 15 years. It last played New Mexico in Alamogordo; publicity pictures show the group posing at White Sands.</p>
<p /> | Craicmore carries lively Celtic music to Corrales | false | https://abqjournal.com/555641/craicmore-carries-lively-celtic-music.html | 2 |
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<p>America’s top intelligence officials have briefed President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump on allegations that Russian operatives “claim to have compromising personal and financial information” about Trump, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/10/politics/donald-trump-intelligence-report-russia/index.html" type="external">CNN</a> reported Tuesday evening. According to the network, these allegations were included in a two-page memo that was appended to the intelligence community’s assessment that concluded that Russia had hacked political targets during the US presidential election in order to benefit Donald Trump. From CNN:</p>
<p>The FBI is investigating the credibility and accuracy of these allegations, which are based primarily on information from Russian sources, but has not confirmed many essential details in the memos about Mr. Trump.</p>
<p>The classified briefings last week were presented by four of the senior-most US intelligence chiefs — Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan, and NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers.</p>
<p>In late October, <a href="" type="internal">Mother Jones’ David Corn</a> first reported that a former Western counterintelligence official with nearly two decades of experience on “Russian intelligence matters” had been assigned the task of looking into Trump’s dealings with Russia as part of an opposition research effort initially funded by a Republican donor. This official was so alarmed by what he discovered that he passed the intelligence to the FBI. As Corn reported:</p>
<p>“It started off as a fairly general inquiry,” says the former spook, who asks not to be identified. But when he dug into Trump, he notes, he came across troubling information indicating connections between Trump and the Russian government. According to his sources, he says, “there was an established exchange of information between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin of mutual benefit.”</p>
<p>This was, the former spy remarks, “an extraordinary situation.” He regularly consults with US government agencies on Russian matters, and near the start of July on his own initiative—without the permission of the US company that hired him—he sent a report he had written for that firm to a contact at the FBI, according to the former intelligence officer and his American associates, who asked not to be identified. (He declines to identify the FBI contact.) The former spy says he concluded that the information he had collected on Trump was “sufficiently serious” to share with the FBI.</p>
<p>Mother Jones has reviewed that report and other memos this former spy wrote. The first memo, based on the former intelligence officer’s conversations with Russian sources, noted, “Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting TRUMP for at least 5 years. Aim, endorsed by PUTIN, has been to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance.” It maintained that Trump “and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his Democratic and other political rivals.” It claimed that Russian intelligence had “compromised” Trump during his visits to Moscow and could “blackmail him.” It also reported that Russian intelligence had compiled a dossier on Hillary Clinton based on “bugged conversations she had on various visits to Russia and intercepted phone calls.”</p>
<p>In Mother Jones‘ original report, we did not publish the memos drafted by the intelligence official or cite specific details from the documents because the allegations could not be confirmed. After the CNN report was published, at least one other news outlet posted the memos.</p>
<p>Trump has yet to respond to the CNN report. According to the network, the President-elect’s transition team is preparing to issue a statement.</p>
<p /> | The FBI Is Investigating Allegations That Russia Has Compromising Information on Trump | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/fbi-investigating-allegations-russia-compromised-trump/ | 2017-01-11 | 4 |
<p>ZAGREB (Reuters) – The Croatian government survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote early on Saturday that the opposition demanded over handling of a debt crisis at the country’s largest private firm Agrokor [AGROK.UL].</p>
<p>In the vote, 59 deputies in the 151-seat parliament were in favor of the removal of the conservative-led cabinet, while 78 were opposed to it.</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> | Croatia government survives no-confidence vote over Agrokor debt crisis | false | https://newsline.com/croatia-government-survives-no-confidence-vote-over-agrokor-debt-crisis/ | 2017-11-10 | 1 |
<p>On February 18, 2011 the Nassau County Crime lab was closed down because of grave concerns about the integrity of testing evidence.&#160; A multitude of errors were found to be committed that jeopardized thousands of cases. It was estimated that 3,000 drug convictions might have to be reviewed.&#160;&#160; This followed the labs probation initiated by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) on December 10, 2010 when an inspection report was issued condemning its practices.&#160; It was the second time in 4 years that the lab was put on probation.</p>
<p>The closing of the lab brought shock waves to the office of District Attorney Kathleen Rice, who focused on damage control. She had claimed she even did not know of that the Nassau County Crime Lab was under suspension. But soon after, the truth, severity and magnitude of the problem was revealed. Thus Governor Andrew Cuomo was forced to step in to protect the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system ,he appointed Inspector General Ellen Biben to lead an investigation.</p>
<p>Just last week&#160; Inspector General Biben issued a scathing 170 page report criticizing officials — including the police department — and blaming District Attorney Kathleen Rice for not knowing about the problems earlier.&#160; In the report I.G. Biben scolds Nassau County officials, arguing that the lab suffered from “weak leadership, a dysfunctional quality management system, analysts with inconsistent training and qualifications, and outdated and incomplete testing procedures.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“The chronic failures of the Nassau County crime lab deprived Nassau County, the criminal justice system and the public of their right to have complete and unfettered confidence in forensic testing,” I.G. Biben told the Associated Press. But the inspector general’s most scathing criticism was for the police department itself. The report said problems were “exacerbated” because top police officials were not “appropriately attentive” to the Forensics Evidence Bureau, even though there were many warning signs of failures.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Biben’s report is important, but the fact remains that the report raises more questions that require urgent attention. First, no one has been held accountable for the labs demise and the report states that despite the lab’s problems, no one had committed any criminal wrongdoing. Second – and most importantly — the report states along with its a press release that as a result of the errors, as many as 10 percent of all criminal drug tests performed at the lab were problematic.&#160; In reality what this means is that potentially several hundred cases have been tainted by the testing procedures used by the lab. What is going to happen to the individuals who are currently serving prison sentences based on problematic evidence?&#160; Will justice be served and their cases be re-evaluated? Or will their cases be swept under the rug and be forgotten through the rhetoric of crime and politics?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>No one should be rotting away in prison sentenced from a crime based on tainted evidence. Governor Cuomo who has supported Rockefeller drug law reform in the past, should take the next step to ensure that justice is realized not just in the crime labs of Nassau County, but in the prisons where Nassau County residents may now be incarcerated as a result of this growing scandal.</p>
<p>Anthony Papa is the author of 15 to Life and the Manager of Media Relations for the Drug Policy Alliance.</p> | Something’s Rotten in the Crime Lab | true | https://counterpunch.org/2011/11/18/somethings-rotten-in-the-crime-lab/ | 2011-11-18 | 4 |
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<p>House Bill 300 would allow pregnant students or to-be fathers to take as many as 10 days of excused absences from high school classes when their child is born. The bill would also allow pregnant students and high school parents to take off four days per semester for pre-natal or child care.</p>
<p>Parents would be required to make arrangements to make up missed work with their teachers.</p>
<p>The Senate voted 37-3 to advance the bill, which had already passed the House. The effort to accommodate teen parents in public schools comes while New Mexico struggles with one of the highest teen birth rates in the country.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Sen. Lisa Torraco, R-Albuquerque, said the bill would provide much needed support for teen parents who choose not to have an abortion.</p>
<p>“If we do not want young women to have abortions, then we must stand beside them and give them all the support we can in raising those children,” she said. “That’s why I stood in support.”</p>
<p>Opponents of the bill have voiced concern that the additional time off from school that the bill allows could be interpreted as rewarding teen parents.</p>
<p>“There used to be some sense of self-control, because people didn’t want to be in these positions; now it’s almost honorable,” said Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington. “It does seem to me that we are trying to take away as many of the consequences of our actions as we possibly can.”</p>
<p>The proposal is sponsored by Rep. Doreen Gallegos, D-Las Cruces, and Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque.</p>
<p>In other legislative action:</p>
<p>– A proposal financing $274 million worth of capital improvements across New Mexico has won final approval in the Legislature. The projects range from state-owned building upgrades and school equipment to improving local athletic fields. It now goes to the governor, who has used her line-item veto powers to reject some individual projects in previous capital outlay measures.</p>
<p>– Voters would be allowed to make online changes to their voter registration information under a proposal passed by the Senate on Wednesday. It now heads to the governor for approval. The bill would not allow online registration for a first-time voter.</p>
<p>– Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have allowed Rio Arriba County to seek a voterapproved property tax to pay for construction, renovation and other capital needs at Northern New Mexico College.</p>
<p>– Martinez also vetoed a proposed $5 fee for parking placards for the disabled. Part of the money from the fee would have supported the Governor’s Commission on Disability and its programs.</p> | Additional absences OK’d for teen moms | false | https://abqjournal.com/178124/additional-absences-okd-for-teen-moms.html | 2013-03-14 | 2 |
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<p>BELLEFONTE, Pa. — A former assistant football coach who won verdicts of more than $12 million from Penn State over his treatment after Jerry Sandusky was arrested for child molestation is asking for another $1.7 million in legal fees.</p>
<p>Lawyers for Mike McQueary filed a petition Wednesday outlining the litigation costs and lawyer bills that would justify such an award.</p>
<p>The legal fees are being sought under the state’s whistleblower protection law.</p>
<p>A Penn State spokeswoman says the school will review the request.</p>
<p>McQueary testified he saw Sandusky sexually abuse a boy in a team shower in 2001.</p>
<p>After Sandusky’s 2011 arrest, McQueary was placed on paid leave and banned from athletic facilities. He was terminated the next year when his coaching contract expired.</p>
<p>Sandusky is appealing a 45-count child sexual abuse conviction.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Ex-assistant coach seeks $1.7M in legal fees from Penn State | false | https://abqjournal.com/909055/ex-assistant-coach-seeks-1-7m-in-legal-fees-from-penn-state.html | 2 |
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<p>Regardless of the outcome of November’s U.S. elections, what will count most is what happens in the streets. As Frederick Douglass put it plainly a century and a half ago, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will.”</p>
<p>All the advances of the 20th century (most of which are being steadily eroded in these early years of the 21st century) came about through organized movements, forcing elected officials to react.</p>
<p>I know that what I’ve written above is something that most of you reading this already know. But it does seem that we need to remind ourselves of this as United Statesians ponder a choice of two of the most unpopular candidates in the history of U.S. presidential campaigns, a choice reflecting the growing crisis of capitalism. The technocratic corporate war monger versus the proudly ignorant misogynist egomaniac. But it doesn’t necessarily follow that a ready-made alternative exists on the November ballot, and not simply because either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will be the next president.</p>
<p>Revolutions are made in the street, not in the election booth. Bernie Sanders can promise a “revolution” all he wants, but no matter how fervently some of his followers wish it, the Vermont senator offered no revolution. Significant reforms that would be welcome should they be realized, certainly. But Senator Sanders offered merely to ameliorate the conditions of capitalism, not transcend them. His example, Sweden, is not a socialist country, even if it is a county that is much more humane. The Swedish government <a href="" type="internal">didn’t keep its banks in public hands</a>after nationalizing them during an early 1990s crisis; instead it re-privatized them.</p>
<p>Secretary Clinton supports every U.S. imperial adventure, while Senator Sanders supports only some of them. Moreover, Senator Sanders’ main complain about NATO isn’t its imperial mission but rather that Europeans don’t pay more. Why should I get worked up over this difference?</p>
<p>And that brings us to Jill Stein, about to receive the Green Party’s presidential nomination. Or, rather, to the Green Party itself. Those who see the Greens as an anti-capitalist alternative are, sad to say, destined for disappointment. Here I can speak from personal experience, having been highly active in the New York State Green Party more than a decade ago, and even serving as the editor of state party’s newspaper for two years. There are Greens who are sincerely socialists, and who would like to see the party be socialist, but these folks represent the left wing of the party, not the party as a whole.</p>
<p>Contradictory trends among Greens</p>
<p>The New York Green Party at the time I was active was filled with liberals and ex-Democrats; the latter joined when the Greens earned ballot status in New York because they had not risen in the Democratic Party and believed they could be big fish in a small pond. Many of these folks wished for nothing more than to tug the Democrats a bit to the left and to cross-endorse Democratic candidates deemed sufficiently progressive. But as Democrats thoroughly dominate state politics and have no need for Green support, such cross-endorsements were worth nothing and these dreams of influence proved empty. At the national level, shortly before I ceased active involvement, a bureaucratic structure calling itself Green Party US was created, further cutting off the party’s rank and file from decision-making.</p>
<p>The center and right wings of the party (more oriented toward electoral politics than activism) generally supported the creation of Green Party US; unfortunately they were supported by a minority of activism-oriented Greens, one of whom, a sincere life-long activist who should have known better, argued on the floor of a state party assembly against me that “the train is leaving the station and we have to be on board.” That the Green Party’s national committee this year approved an <a href="http://www.gp.org/green_party_moves_towards_declaring_itself_eco_socialist" type="external">“ecological economics” plank</a> that declares the party “anti-capitalist and in favor of a decentralized vision [of] socialism” does not magically turn a “big tent” party into a socialist one.</p>
<p>The party’s platform has stated that “Greens support small business, responsible stakeholder capitalism, and broad and diverse forms of economic cooperation.” <a href="http://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=835" type="external">The new language</a>, to be formally approved at this week’s national convention, states that the party “seeks to build an alternative economic system based on ecology and decentralization of power” and seeks to instead “build an economy based on large-scale green public works, municipalization, and workplace and community democracy.” Further, the new language states that “Production is best for people and planet when democratically owned and operated by those who do the work and those most affected by production decisions. This model of worker and community empowerment will ensure that decisions that greatly affect our lives are made in the interests of our communities, not at the whim of centralized power structures of state administrators or of capitalist CEOs and distant boards of directors.”</p>
<p>Yes, a significant step forward from the thinly disguised “green capitalism” that the party previously had stood for. Green capitalism, the hope of liberals and social democrats that the same system that has brought the world to economic, political and environmental crisis will somehow solve these problems, <a href="" type="internal">is a fantasy</a>, one best given no quarter. I certainly do not wish to discourage Greens, or anybody else, from moving beyond the chimera of “green capitalism.” But does an organization declaring itself “socialist” — or, in this case, “anti-capitalist” — make it so? A measure of caution is warranted.</p>
<p>The record of the Green Party is not particularly strong. In 2004, maneuvering by David Cobb’s supporters wrested the presidential nomination from Ralph Nader (although national-convention attendees I talked to told me that had Mr. Nader campaigned for the nomination rather than expecting it to be handed to him by right he would have been the nominee). Mr. Cobb ran a “safe states” campaign, whereby he would only ask for votes in states that were firmly in the hands of one of the major parties, unmistakably implying that voters in states that were up for grabs should vote for pro-war Democrat John Kerry. I should note that when I had a chance to ask him about this intellectually dishonest campaign, he, with a straight face, told me that he was running a 50-state campaign. But his slick “professional politician” personality told a different story.</p>
<p>Mistaking Bernie Sanders for a savior</p>
<p>That mistake hasn’t been repeated. But Dr. Stein committed a serious strategic error when she offered to cede the presidential nomination to Senator Sanders if only he would abandon the Democratic Party and instead become his vice presidential running mate. Why a person as serious as she is would indulge in such a fantasy I do not know. There was no possibility of Senator Sanders doing anything other than endorsing Secretary Clinton; he not only said so clearly from the start but political reality (i.e., his ability to retain any influence in the party) mandated that he do so. Complaining that he is a “sellout” for doing so is naïve.</p>
<p>Here, I would strongly disagree with the analysis of Chris Hedges that it was a mistake for him to have run as a Democrat instead of as an independent — his impact would have been minuscule had he done so. Whatever criticisms we have of Senator Sanders, he galvanized millions of people and put socialism into a national conversation, even if he wasn’t actually offering socialism. These are positive steps.</p>
<p>Dr. Stein does offer a more progressive vision than that of Senator Sanders. And let us note the new anti-capitalist plank in the Green platform. But there is a world of difference between an abstract idea and practical work to make that idea a reality. The history of social democracy, theoretically parties working toward a form of socialism, provides ample evidence.</p>
<p>Germany’s former Social Democratic chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, pushed through his “Agenda 2010” legislation in 2003 that imposed austerity. The so-called “German miracle” has been so <a href="" type="internal">only for German multi-national capital</a>. The “secret” to Germany’s economic dominance within the European Union is cuts to German wages. Germany has undercut other countries that use the euro as their currency by suppressing wages, while the common currency has the effect of making German exports cheaper.</p>
<p>In France, the “Socialist” government of Francois Hollande has resorted to <a href="" type="internal">bypassing parliament to impose rules</a> speeding up layoffs and cutting wages. And then there is Tony Blair in Britain, Jean Chrétien in Canada and so on.</p>
<p>German Greens invert definition of imperialism</p>
<p>The Greens are not the Social Democrats. But does that make them genuinely different? Recall that when the German Greens attained power, joining a Social Democratic government as a junior partner, they found themselves administrating Germany’s nuclear power plants despite their anti-nuclear stance, and eagerly joined in the bombing of Yugoslavia, a particularly unfortunate place for Germany to intervene militarily given the history of World War II in the Balkans. This was the handiwork of Joschka Fischer and his wing of the German Green Party, who liked to call themselves “realos” (realists) while dismissing those who sought to uphold the party’s ideals as “fundis” (fundamentalists).</p>
<p>The “realos” did not engage in Germany’s first post-World War II imperial adventure unwillingly. I was one of a small group of New York Greens who sent a letter to the German Green leadership asking them to honor party principal and not participate in the U.S.-led bombing of Yugoslavia. We received a response calling us arrogant and imperialists for daring to discuss their policies. Separately, a letter sent from The Greens/Green Party USA, the more progressive of the then two U.S. national organizations, asked the German Greens to “set an example” by opposing the bombing of Yugoslavia or participating in the U.S. war in Afghanistan. German Green leadership responded by <a href="" type="internal">dismissing the request</a> as “a terrific exercise in ‘green imperialist’ thinking,” as “sectarian propaganda from afar” and as an “attempt to lecture and bully other parties.”</p>
<p>A U.S. sister organization asks for support of its opposition to U.S. war-mongering waged to open new lands for U.S. multi-national corporations to exploit and for this they are called imperialists and bullies!</p>
<p>Expecting socialism from such a party is futile. Remember, that swatted-away criticism wasn’t from U.S. Greens as a whole, but rather from the party’s left wing. The Greens are not a revolutionary grouping, and are and will be moved in the directions that social democratic parties are moved. That Dr. Stein in effect declared that a Democratic candidate who is in favor of many imperialist adventures and who supported the stationing of air force bombers against the will of his constituents is the savior of the United States amply demonstrates that the party has not shaken itself free of capitalism or properly analyzed the nature of imperialism.</p>
<p>One of the underlying reasons for that is its lack of strongly defined principals. The “10 Key Values” on which the party bases itself are vague, a lowest common denominator representing what could be agreed upon. Much of the party is led by middle class people who tend to vacillate. For now, the campaign of Senator Sanders has helped put socialism in a national conversation, so the switch to anti-capitalism in the party’s program can be interpreted more as a weather vane than a sudden move leftward. If the wind shifts, it can not be excluded that the platform will as well.</p>
<p>Expediency over principle</p>
<p>Senator Sanders simply fails to make the connection between austerity at home and imperialism abroad, and that is a serious error reflecting his lingering nationalistic thinking and an inability to make a proper critique of capitalism. Dr. Stein, I believe, does not share these deficiencies, but that she was willing to indulge them for the sake of an ill-fated, chimeric short-term expediency reflects an organization that is groping toward some version of a kinder and gentler capitalism, not one working toward socialism no matter what its platform states. And thus not a party that genuinely offers an alternative to the <a href="" type="internal">detested two-party system</a>, one deeply rooted in the winner-take-all, single-seat district U.S. electoral structure.</p>
<p>And what choice is there between those two parties? One the surface, it would appear that there are drastic differences between the two. The demagogue Donald Trump offers a dark vision of turning back to the 19th century, when everybody not a White male possessing wealth knew their place. The technocrat Hillary Clinton, and other speakers at the Democratic Party national convention, offered soaring visions of a coming world of equality and hope, a kinder and gentler capitalism that will bring prosperity to all. President Barack Obama, in particular, gave a bravura performance. As I watched some of this, I couldn’t help but think “If only they meant it.”</p>
<p>However outstanding the oratory,&#160;the dismal results speak for themselves. Bill Clinton was the most effective Republican president the U.S. ever had, putting into law policies that Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush could only dream of doing. The Obama administration organized repression against Occupy Wall Street, unilaterally kills people with drones and protects Wall Street. Given her record as a senator, her pathetic foot-dragging on same-sex marriage until it was absolutely safe to be in favor, her role as the leading hawk of the Obama administration and her support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership as the “gold standard” of trade agreements until political pressure forced her into carefully worded opposition that leaves her maneuvering room, can it be reasonable to believe her administration will be substantially different?</p>
<p>The only route to a better world is through mass movements articulating clear goals. But instead of settling for reforms, the only way out of our present crises is to push beyond what is possible in the world’s present political systems. There are only two reasons for voting for Secretary Clinton instead of Mr. Trump — one, that voting for the latter is a vote for open racism, misogyny and immigrant-bashing embodied in a candidacy that carries with it the <a href="" type="internal">seeds of a potential fascist movement</a> and, two, that it would be better to be on the offensive than the defensive. A Trump presidency would necessitate a multi-pronged movement against an all-around assault on civil rights just to maintain the crumbs left to us. Although a Clinton presidency is hardly destined to be a golden age, mass movements would be better able to go on the offensive as she will have to give lip service to the campaign promises she has been forced, through gritted teeth, to make to fend off Senator Sanders’ primary challenge.</p>
<p>Either way, what we do in the streets, what pressure movements bring to bear, will be decisive. Vote for a lesser evil if your conscience dictates (although I can’t bring myself to do so), but then get in the streets to push hard that lesser evil. There are no saviors on the ballot, not Bernie Sanders, not the Green Party. Some day we will have candidates we can vote for rather than against, but there is much work to do before we arrive at that day. That work is up to us.</p> | There Are No Democratic or Green Saviors: Get in the Streets! | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/08/02/there-are-no-democratic-or-green-saviors-get-in-the-streets/ | 2016-08-02 | 4 |
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<p>The ever-useful Moving Ideas Network has just posted <a href="http://www.movingideas.org/content/en/on_the_hill/anwr_drilling.htm" type="external">Oil Drilling in the Arctic: Wildlife Refuge at Risk</a>, a report explaining the importance of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and detailing recent congressional attempts (via a two-track approach using the budget process and the energy bill) to open the preserve to oil drilling. This is still very much a live issue, and we’ll have more to say about it in a forthcoming article on the Mother Jones site.</p>
<p /> | All about ANWR | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2005/06/all-about-anwr/ | 2005-06-09 | 4 |
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<p>It seems the DEA disinformation machine is kicking up into overdrive again. The New York Post just published an article that is rife with blatant misinformation. At this point, no matter how many times groups like the Botanical Education Alliance and American Kratom Association have had to step in and offer expert opinions from doctors and researchers to debunk false claims, some reporter always seems willing to offer up the DEA's error-riddled press releases as if they were gospel.</p>
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<p>The New York Post article claims that 10% of the respondents to the DEA comment period claimed that they experienced withdrawal. The actual figure was somewhere in between 0.1% and 1.0% in all actuality. The American Coalition of Free Citizens did an analysis of the comment results. 99.1% of the 23,000 respondents were in favor of kratom. Only 113 of the 23,000 supported the DEA's decision for an extra-judicial ban. 48% of the respondents were veterans, law enforcement officials, healthcare professionals, and scientists. This population of the respondents came out in favor of kratom and against a ban with a support level of 98.7%. 21% of the filers who indicated age were 55 or older. Many users of kratom prefer the plant to prescribed pain medication because it is more effective and doesn't have the same side effects of intoxication and addiction that pain pills do.</p>
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<p>Scientific American: <a href="https://twitter.com/DEAHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" type="external">@DEAHQ</a>'s kratom ban will "cripple" painkiller research <a href="https://t.co/LRIuPGeLsc" type="external">https://t.co/LRIuPGeLsc</a></p>
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<p>The New York Post also refers to the fact that kratom can bind to the same receptors as opioids. You know what else does that? Multiple studies show that <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelpellmanrowland/2017/06/26/cheese-addiction" type="external">cheese binds to opiate receptors.</a> Another study showed how <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6296693" type="external">"coffee contains potent opiate receptor binding activity."</a> The coffee plant is actually a botanical cousin to kratom. Both hail from the Rubiaceae family. The difference is, caffeine overdose actually does lead to a small number of overdose deaths per year, unlike kratom.</p>
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<p>The DEA's Crazy Kratom Ban Dresses Pharmacological Phobia In Scientific Garb via <a href="https://twitter.com/Forbes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" type="external">@forbes</a> <a href="https://t.co/lEfda78qV7" type="external">https://t.co/lEfda78qV7</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KratomSavesLives?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" type="external">#KratomSavesLives</a></p>
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<p>Of the "15 cases of death attributed to kratom," <a href="" type="internal">Dr. Babin points out</a> that 9 were shown to be traceable back to a Swedish kratom product that had been adulterated with the research chemical O-desmethyl-tramadol. Other cases involved at least one other drug that would be more likely to cause or contribute to a death by overdose. In one case, kratom was found present as well as the antihistamine diphenhydramine and cough syrup. Dextromethorphan and diphenhydramine are over-the-counter drugs that are occasionally abused for their hallucinogenic and dissociative effects. Nerve pills, alcohol, and other painkillers were also present at the time. Another "kratom overdose" was the case of a heroin addict who was found with large amounts of benzodiazepines (anxiolytic drugs like Xanax) and cold medicine in his system. Another case involved the drug propylhexedrine which has stimulant effects similar to amphetamines. Yet another death attributed to kratom, morphine, promethazine and other drugs were found in the system. Several of the attributed deaths involve multiple drugs being found in the system that are much more likely to have been the cause of death. In laboratory trials, scientists have not been able to induce death even in lab rodents with any amount of mitragynine intravenously.</p>
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<p>Last year, Dr. Babin <a href="https://www.botanical-education.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Dr.-Jane-IP-Synergy-Kratom-Comment.pdf" type="external">blasted the DEA's Office of Diversion Control</a> noting that their initial conception of the plant was based on "contradictory opinions, incomplete knowledge of the most current scientific evidence and without input from the public on their experience with kratom." Sadly, despite being brought to task multiple times by doctors, pharmacologists and other experts they continue to spread the same disinformation. Bear in mind, the head of the DEA, when asked if marijuana was safer than heroin claimed <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/07/28/new-dea-leader-pot-probably-not-as-bad-as-heroin" type="external">he thought heroin was "probably" more dangerous but admitted, "I'm not an expert."</a> If you don't know whether heroin is more dangerous than coffee, marijuana or kratom, I'd say you probably shouldn't be in charge of banning plants that could potentially loosen the chokehold of the opiate epidemic.</p>
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<p>Shawn Lucas Cause Of Death Revealed: He Was Drugged With Fentanyl, Cyclobenzaprine, Mitragynine <a href="https://t.co/owv5D32pxn" type="external">https://t.co/owv5D32pxn</a></p>
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<p>As for kratom causing death, recently two coroners were debunked by lawyer and molecular biologist Dr. Jane C. Babin, PhD, molecular biology, Purdue University, and JD, University of San Diego School of Law. "Both of these cases appear to add to the long list of mistaken, inaccurate, and now discredited reports implicating kratom," Dr. Babin offered in her 15-page report on the mistakes in the two coroners' reports blaming kratom for two recent deaths. Karl V. Ebner, PhD, is a consultant at KETox Forensic Toxicology Consulting and author of numerous depositions, reports, and opinions related to drug and alcohol-related cases. Dr. Ebner concurred that Dr. Babin's report "very troubling indications" of incorrect attribution of death to kratom, once again.</p>
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<p>Kratom Now Schedule 1: Cartel Sex Scandal Shamed DEA Suppresses Herb Imports <a href="https://t.co/5LCH4l353I" type="external">https://t.co/5LCH4l353I</a></p>
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<p>In the midst of an opiate epidemic and the DEA and FDA are doing everything in their power to lie about a plant that could be the most effective ally in the war against addiction. Not like the DEA is in the best standing at the moment anyway. Scandals and corruption have haunted the agency for several years. It was discovered that DEA agents were partying with prostitutes paid supplied by cartels. Some of the prostitutes were likely underage sex slaves, the product of human trafficking. <a href="https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/dea-chief-explains-why-she-cant-fire-agents-involved-sex-parties-paid-drug" type="external">Trey Gowdy found it "stunning"</a> that the DEA was unable to fire agents involved.</p>
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<p>FACT: 1175 docs, veterans, scientists &amp; cops told DEA they don't want a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/kratom?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" type="external">#kratom</a> ban. <a href="https://t.co/iqoKgWx2bT" type="external">https://t.co/iqoKgWx2bT</a> See infographic: <a href="https://t.co/ytBLTaDncK" type="external">pic.twitter.com/ytBLTaDncK</a></p>
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<p>The history of kratom misinformation has many causes. Despite experts like Johns Hopkins' Dr. Jack Henningfield, one of the world's foremost experts on addiction showing that kratom is no more addictive than coffee, a concerted effort to spread lies about this beneficial plant have been standard in the mainstream media. The war on kratom began when <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/kratom/comments/516s8z/former_head_of_fda_now_head_of_nps_speaks_out/" type="external">a group of consumer advocacy groups</a> expressed their concern over the safety of the plant which has been used as a traditional medicine in Southeast Asia for hundreds of years. It is noteworthy to mention that the heads of these advocacy groups are all tied to pharmaceutical companies that would stand to potentially lose millions if a safer, less addictive treatment for pain, anxiety, and addiction were available. Can you say "conflict of interest?"</p> | DEA Spreads Disinfo Regarding Kratom | true | http://thegoldwater.com/news/11703-DEA-Spreads-Disinfo-Regarding-Kratom | 2017-11-12 | 0 |
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<p>Image credit: Intel.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>A little while ago, respected technology website PC Watch revealed the existence of a future Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) processor family code-named <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/20/intel-corporation-reportedly-planning-coffee-lake.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Coffee Lake Opens a New Window.</a>. This processor family, PC Watch reported, would essentially be a fourth generation of processors built on the company's 14-nanometer manufacturing technology aimed at certain segments of the personal-computer market.</p>
<p>Intel hasn't publicly commented about the reports, but a company executive may have accidentally revealed the existence of Coffee Lake at a recent investor conference.</p>
<p>Intel's Brice Hill recently presented at an investor conference hosted by Pacific Crest. At the conference, an analyst asked Hill about the potential impact of the elongation of Intel's development cycle, from about two years to about three, on Intel's manufacturing lead over the rest of the industry, as well as the desirability of Intel's products to end customers.</p>
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<p>Hill had quite a lot to say, but here's the bit that's relevant to Coffee Lake (emphasis mine):</p>
<p>"On product competitiveness, what you see with Intel currently is we're able to push the performance of our current generations of products. So for a short period of time, if we elongate the design cycle, we can develop a third or fourth generation of product that gives you a performance boost in the market that continues the customer expectation from a performance advancement perspective."</p>
<p>The main show-stopper with respect to Intel's 14-nanometer ramp-up was that it couldn't get manufacturing yields under control. Not only did this lead to an elevated cost structure for 14-nanometer products relative to their 22-nanometer predecessors, but it also led to some supply shortages, particularly for high-performance parts.</p>
<p>Intel's problem is that, historically, once it begins transitioning to a new manufacturing technology, it has to transition practically all of its products -- from high-performance desktop chips all the way to low-power 2-in-1 processors -- to this new manufacturing technology fairly quickly.</p>
<p>In the past, when Intel's process development went more smoothly, this didn't present much of an issue. Today, however, the reality is that Intel doesn't seem to be able to develop new manufacturing technologies and get them to high yield levels as quickly as it could previously.</p>
<p>Intel's new strategy could be this: Move to new manufacturing technologies as quickly as possible in segments that can really benefit from them, while building new products on more mature technologies for market segments that don't benefit as much from such technology transitions.</p>
<p>What such a strategy allows Intel to do is to keep a large portion of its product mix in more mature manufacturing technologies, minimizing the potential negative gross margin impact that would come from transitioning other products to a newer, lower-yielding manufacturing process.</p>
<p>Once yields on the company's newest manufacturing process matures, Intel can then begin releasing new products based on that process into segments of the market that hadn't yet undergone the process transition without fear of gross-margin erosion.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2668&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/aeassa/info.aspx" type="external">Ashraf Eassa Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Intel. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Intel Corporation May Have Just Confirmed the Existence of Coffee Lake | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/08/09/intel-corporation-may-have-just-confirmed-existence-coffee-lake.html | 2016-08-10 | 0 |
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<p>The Pimco Total Return Fund, launched by Bill Gross, has lost its title as the world's biggest bond mutual fund, following two years of withdrawals.</p>
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<p>On Monday, Pacific Investment Management Inc said investors yanked another $5.6 billion from its flagship Pimco Total Return Fund last month, bringing its assets to $110.4 billion at the end of April. Cash withdrawals in April marked the fund's 24th consecutive month of net outflows.</p>
<p>By comparison, the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund had $117.3 billion as of April 30, according to a Vanguard spokesman.</p>
<p>"We do not view this as an asset gathering horse race," said John S. Woerth, spokesman at the Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group. "It is, however, representative of the popularity of low-cost, broadly diversified index funds."</p>
<p>The Pimco Total Return Fund hit a peak of $292.9 billion in assets under management in April 2013.</p>
<p>The Pimco Total Return Fund delivered a net after fee return of 1.62 percent year-to-date through April, outperforming its benchmark by 38 basis points, Pimco said.</p>
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<p>Gross, the legendary bond manager long known as the 'Bond King,' exited Pimco suddenly last September for smaller rival Janus Capital Group Inc .</p>
<p>Pimco has seen about $130 billion of net withdrawals from its open-ended funds since Gross' departure even as performance has improved.</p>
<p>Outflows from the flagship Pimco Total Return Fund, which Gross managed since 1987, have slowed to an average of $7 billion to $8 billion a month recently from $23.5 billion in September.</p>
<p>Pimco, which oversees $1.59 trillion in assets as of March 31, announced last week that former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke was joining the Newport Beach, Calif.-based firm as a senior adviser, as Pimco seeks to bolster its star power following the departure of Gross.</p>
<p>(Reporting By Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Bernard Orr)</p> | Pimco Total Return Fund Loses World's Biggest Bond Fund Title | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2015/05/04/pimco-total-return-loses-title-as-world-largest-bond-fund-240825587.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>What is it about Emma Bovary?</p>
<p>She is, of course, one of literature's most famous and tragic heroines, and so it's no surprise that directors from Jean Renoir (1934) to Vincente Minnelli (1949) to Claude Chabrol (1991) have tried to immortalize Gustave Flaubert's frustrated, yearning 19th-century housewife on film. But the task has proven exceedingly difficult.</p>
<p>Now, tantalizingly, we have a female director — Sophie Barthes — attempting to capture Emma's devastating story. Sad to say, Barthes' version doesn't break much ground. In fact, though it's often beautiful and stars the usually compelling Mia Wasikowska, the film is maddeningly flat, and at times simply tiresome.</p>
<p>The curiosities of this version start at the very beginning. We see Emma running through the woods in a lovely embroidered dress, clutching at her stomach, clearly suffering. Soon she's lying on the ground, turning deadly pale.</p>
<p>Barthes is, essentially, giving us the end before the start. It would have been more effective to get there gradually. We now need to put this image behind us, and focus on how Emma got to her moment of crisis. But the drama of the next 117 minutes never lives up to that of the first.</p>
<p>After the opening, we go back to Emma's school years in a rural Normandy convent. Her education is ending, though; Emma is to be married to a country doctor chosen by her father. Barthes does a lovely job portraying a simple French country wedding, with a church ceremony and family meal in the garden.</p>
<p>Soon Emma's off in a horse-drawn carriage to her new life. Charles Bovary (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) is a very decent but dull man, with few ambitions other than to serve the local townspeople. Emma dreams of something more.</p>
<p>One of this film's main problems surfaces early: a strange disconnect in the way the actors sound. They speak in English, but in their own accents — French accents, British accents, American accents. Wasikowska, though she's Australian, sounds like she's in the modern-day U.S here, and her very contemporary manner of speaking becomes increasingly jarring in this period piece.</p>
<p>When the disillusioned Emma meets Leon, a young, handsome law clerk (Ezra Miller), we know there's going to be trouble. She rejects his amorous advances, reminding him she's married, but when she hears he's moving to nearby Rouen to pursue his studies, she falls apart. "I imagined that this would be the happiest time in my life," she weeps to her household maid. "Is my future just a dark corridor with a bolted door at the end?"</p>
<p>Emma's road to ruin — adultery — comes first with the handsome, rakish Marquis (Logan Marshall-Green), who invites the couple to a hunt at his estate. To clothe herself properly, Emma seeks out local merchant Monsieur Lheureux (Rhys Ifans, amusingly villainous and injecting life into the proceedings), who agrees to make her a lovely riding dress on credit — the start of a dangerous relationship.</p>
<p>Soon, other dangerous relationships form. Emma succumbs to the physical charms of the Marquis. While cheating on Charles, she's also filling their home with beautiful carpets and silks from Monsieur Lheureux — none of which her oblivious husband can afford. Then, her lover bails on her — commitment issues, of course, plus he's French.</p>
<p>Once recovered from that trauma, Emma reconnects with young Leon, but that affair, too, will end in tatters. And then Lheureux comes calling for his money.</p>
<p>Readers know what happens. Alas, along the way to the screen, much of the famous detail in Flaubert's novel has gotten lost somewhere in those beautiful, misty woods that Emma frequently escapes to, and where our story ends. This movie may find you wanting to pick up the book to fill those gaps.</p>
<p>Which isn't a bad thing at all, of course.</p>
<p>"Madame Bovary," an Alchemy release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America "for some sexuality/nudity." Running time: 118 minutes. Two stars out of four.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Jocelyn Noveck on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/JocelynNoveckAP" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/JocelynNoveckAP</a></p>
<p>What is it about Emma Bovary?</p>
<p>She is, of course, one of literature's most famous and tragic heroines, and so it's no surprise that directors from Jean Renoir (1934) to Vincente Minnelli (1949) to Claude Chabrol (1991) have tried to immortalize Gustave Flaubert's frustrated, yearning 19th-century housewife on film. But the task has proven exceedingly difficult.</p>
<p>Now, tantalizingly, we have a female director — Sophie Barthes — attempting to capture Emma's devastating story. Sad to say, Barthes' version doesn't break much ground. In fact, though it's often beautiful and stars the usually compelling Mia Wasikowska, the film is maddeningly flat, and at times simply tiresome.</p>
<p>The curiosities of this version start at the very beginning. We see Emma running through the woods in a lovely embroidered dress, clutching at her stomach, clearly suffering. Soon she's lying on the ground, turning deadly pale.</p>
<p>Barthes is, essentially, giving us the end before the start. It would have been more effective to get there gradually. We now need to put this image behind us, and focus on how Emma got to her moment of crisis. But the drama of the next 117 minutes never lives up to that of the first.</p>
<p>After the opening, we go back to Emma's school years in a rural Normandy convent. Her education is ending, though; Emma is to be married to a country doctor chosen by her father. Barthes does a lovely job portraying a simple French country wedding, with a church ceremony and family meal in the garden.</p>
<p>Soon Emma's off in a horse-drawn carriage to her new life. Charles Bovary (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) is a very decent but dull man, with few ambitions other than to serve the local townspeople. Emma dreams of something more.</p>
<p>One of this film's main problems surfaces early: a strange disconnect in the way the actors sound. They speak in English, but in their own accents — French accents, British accents, American accents. Wasikowska, though she's Australian, sounds like she's in the modern-day U.S here, and her very contemporary manner of speaking becomes increasingly jarring in this period piece.</p>
<p>When the disillusioned Emma meets Leon, a young, handsome law clerk (Ezra Miller), we know there's going to be trouble. She rejects his amorous advances, reminding him she's married, but when she hears he's moving to nearby Rouen to pursue his studies, she falls apart. "I imagined that this would be the happiest time in my life," she weeps to her household maid. "Is my future just a dark corridor with a bolted door at the end?"</p>
<p>Emma's road to ruin — adultery — comes first with the handsome, rakish Marquis (Logan Marshall-Green), who invites the couple to a hunt at his estate. To clothe herself properly, Emma seeks out local merchant Monsieur Lheureux (Rhys Ifans, amusingly villainous and injecting life into the proceedings), who agrees to make her a lovely riding dress on credit — the start of a dangerous relationship.</p>
<p>Soon, other dangerous relationships form. Emma succumbs to the physical charms of the Marquis. While cheating on Charles, she's also filling their home with beautiful carpets and silks from Monsieur Lheureux — none of which her oblivious husband can afford. Then, her lover bails on her — commitment issues, of course, plus he's French.</p>
<p>Once recovered from that trauma, Emma reconnects with young Leon, but that affair, too, will end in tatters. And then Lheureux comes calling for his money.</p>
<p>Readers know what happens. Alas, along the way to the screen, much of the famous detail in Flaubert's novel has gotten lost somewhere in those beautiful, misty woods that Emma frequently escapes to, and where our story ends. This movie may find you wanting to pick up the book to fill those gaps.</p>
<p>Which isn't a bad thing at all, of course.</p>
<p>"Madame Bovary," an Alchemy release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America "for some sexuality/nudity." Running time: 118 minutes. Two stars out of four.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Jocelyn Noveck on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/JocelynNoveckAP" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/JocelynNoveckAP</a></p> | Review: Emma Bovary proves elusive on screen, once again | false | https://apnews.com/amp/b23fe68bf4874d938184f942e2fec9fc | 2015-06-10 | 2 |
<p>MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Failed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore is raising money to pay legal bills stemming from a lawsuit by a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct.</p>
<p>The Moore campaign sent a fundraising email to supporters Wednesday asking for donations to pay his legal expenses related to a suit filed earlier this month by Leigh Corfman.</p>
<p>The email claims Moore has “very minimal” resources after his losing Republican campaign against Democrat Doug Jones. And it says Moore needs as much as $250,000 for a court fight.</p>
<p>Corfman is among several women who said Moore pursued them sexually decades ago when they were teens and he was in his 30s.</p>
<p>She filed suit after the election, claiming Moore and his campaign defamed her by claiming she was a liar and immoral.</p>
<p>MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Failed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore is raising money to pay legal bills stemming from a lawsuit by a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct.</p>
<p>The Moore campaign sent a fundraising email to supporters Wednesday asking for donations to pay his legal expenses related to a suit filed earlier this month by Leigh Corfman.</p>
<p>The email claims Moore has “very minimal” resources after his losing Republican campaign against Democrat Doug Jones. And it says Moore needs as much as $250,000 for a court fight.</p>
<p>Corfman is among several women who said Moore pursued them sexually decades ago when they were teens and he was in his 30s.</p>
<p>She filed suit after the election, claiming Moore and his campaign defamed her by claiming she was a liar and immoral.</p> | Roy Moore seeking money for fight against female accuser | false | https://apnews.com/831b671edad64423a4111fd95a6e336f | 2018-01-25 | 2 |
<p>An ongoing act of cosmic cannibalism may be responsible for the strange appearance and unprecedented behavior of a gigantic star nicknamed "Nasty 1," a new study reports.</p>
<p>Observations by NASA's <a href="http://www.space.com/15235-hubble-space-telescope-latest-photos.html" type="external">Hubble Space Telescope</a> have revealed a disk of gas nearly 3 trillion miles (4.8 trillion kilometers) wide surrounding Nasty 1, which is a massive, rapidly aging object known as a Wolf-Rayet star.</p>
<p>Wolf-Rayet stars start out big, initially containing at least 20 times more mass than the sun. But their hydrogen-dominated outer layers soon puff up and are lost, exposing the objects' helium-burning cores to space. Astronomers aren't exactly sure how this process unfolds, but they have a few ideas. [ <a href="http://www.space.com/9699-top-10-strangest-space.html" type="external">Top 10 Strangest Things in Space</a>]</p>
<p>For example, some scientists think these massive stars' powerful stellar winds blow away their own hydrogen envelopes. Another idea holds that the outer layers are siphoned off by a cannibalistic companion star.</p>
<p>"That's what we think is happening in Nasty 1," study lead author Jon Mauerhan, of the University of California, Berkeley, <a href="http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/21/full/" type="external">said in a statement</a>, referring to the second hypothesis. "We think there is a Wolf-Rayet star buried inside the nebula, and we think the nebula is being created by this mass-transfer process. So this type of sloppy stellar cannibalism actually makes Nasty 1 a rather fitting nickname."</p>
<p>Such a disc had never before been seen surrounding a Wolf-Rayet star, researchers said. The nebula is likely only a few thousand years old and lies about 3,000 light-years from Earth, they added.</p>
<p>Several other factors further bolster the cannibalism idea over the stellar-wind hypothesis, study team members said. For one thing, at least 70 percent of all massive stars belong to binary systems. And modeling work suggests that such a star's own winds may not be strong enough to push it to Wolf-Rayet status.</p>
<p>"We're finding that it is hard to form all the Wolf-Rayet stars we observe by the traditional wind mechanism, because mass loss isn't as strong as we used to think," co-author Nathan Smith, of the University of Arizona, said in the same statement.</p>
<p>"Mass exchange in binary systems seems to be vital to account for Wolf-Rayet stars and the supernovae they make, and catching binary stars in this short-lived phase will help us understand this process," Smith added.</p>
<p>The new study was published online Thursday (May 21) in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.</p>
<p>This is a condensed version of a report from Space.com. <a href="http://www.space.com/29462-nasty-star-discovery-cosmic-cannibalism.html" type="external">Read the full report</a>. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/michaeldwall" type="external">@michaeldwall</a> and <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/108984047382030613667/posts" type="external">Google+</a>. Follow us <a href="http://twitter.com/spacedotcom" type="external">@Spacedotcom</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/spacecom" type="external">Facebook</a> or <a href="https://plus.google.com/+SPACEcom/posts" type="external">Google+</a>.</p> | Cosmic Cannibal: Massive ‘Nasty’ Star Observed by Hubble Telescope | false | http://nbcnews.com/science/space/cosmic-cannibal-massive-nasty-star-observed-hubble-telescope-n363396 | 2015-05-22 | 3 |
<p>Phillips 66 Partners said Monday its planned initial public offering will likely total as much as $315 million, as the Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) subsidiary looks to raise funds for potential acquisitions and expansion programs.</p>
<p>The master limited partnership will include some transportation assets of refining and marketing company Phillips 66, which was spun off last year by oil exploration and production company ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP).</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Several oil and gas companies, such as Tesoro (NYSE:TSO), have formed master limited partnerships for their midstream businesses.</p>
<p>The IPO of approximately 15 million shares is expected to price in a range of $19 to $21 a share, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.</p>
<p>Phillips 66 Partners will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PSXP.</p>
<p>The company will initially include certain pipeline, terminal and storage systems—used for crude oil and refined petroleum product—in the Central and Gulf Coast regions. Commercial agreements with Phillips 66 will be the source of nearly all of its revenue.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Phillips 66 Partners Eyes IPO of $315M | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2013/07/15/phillips-66-partners-eyes-ipo-315m.html | 2016-03-02 | 0 |
<p>Journal Article - British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies</p>
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<p>Patterns of Islamist violence in Saudi Arabia suggest that it has been much easier to mobilize Saudis for extreme pan-Islamist activism than for revolutionary activism. This is unlike most Arab republics which show the opposite pattern. This article empirically documents the curious extraversion of Saudi militancy, contrasts it with patterns of Islamist violence in Algeria and Egypt, and presents four explanations to account for it: first, that the typical grievances of revolutionary Islamism are less pronounced in Saudi Arabia; second, that structural characteristics of Saudi state and society inhibit anti-regime mobilization; third, that Wahhabism or socio-cultural isolation make Saudi Islamists particularly hostile to non-Muslims; and fourth, and most important, that the Saudi regime has promoted pan-Islamism to divert challenges to its own legitimacy.</p>
<p /> | Jihad, Yes, But Not Revolution: Explaining the Extraversion of Islamist Violence in Saudi Arabia | false | http://belfercenter.org/publication/jihad-yes-not-revolution-explaining-extraversion-islamist-violence-saudi-arabia | 2009-12-01 | 2 |
<p>MOGADISHU (Reuters) – A suicide bomber in police uniform blew himself up inside a police training camp in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Thursday, killing at least three police officers, an official said.</p>
<p>“So far we can confirm that three had died. The death toll may rise,” Mohamed Hussein, a police major, told Reuters.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Suicide bomber attacks police academy in Somalia's capital, at least 3 killed | false | https://newsline.com/suicide-bomber-attacks-police-academy-in-somalia039s-capital-at-least-3-killed/ | 2017-12-14 | 1 |
<p>The message of Thomas Helwys — a founder of the Baptist denomination and one of the first Englishmen to state explicitly that people of any religion should be free to exercise their faith without government interference —&#160;is as relevant today as it was in 1616, according to speakers at a recent <a href="http://www.clarborough-welham.org.uk/BCH_Helwys_Event_Briefing__Jan_2016_.pdf" type="external">event</a> commemorating the 400th anniversary of his death.</p>
<p>“Thomas Helwys is rightly regarded as the pioneer Baptist leader,” Tony Peck, general secretary of the European Baptist Federation, said in a keynote <a href="https://freedomdeclared.org/media/Thomas-Helwys-Commemoration-Day.pdf" type="external">address</a> at a recent&#160;gathering at The Well, also known as Retford Baptist Church, near the Nottinghamshire village where Helwys probably was born. The church was organized around 1691.</p>
<p>Peck said a core value of the approximately 100 million Baptists living today around the world remains “a Baptist contribution to building a peaceful and tolerant society.”</p>
<p>Tony Peck</p>
<p>“That is a commitment to religious freedom for all, not just for ourselves,” Peck said. “We owe that to the legacy of Thomas Helwys, even if we have not always lived up to the full extent of his vision.”</p>
<p>Born into a family of some reputation —&#160;his uncle served as sheriff of London and his cousin was knighted by the king —&#160;Helwys became associated with the early Puritans, a group of dissenters from the Church of England. He&#160;developed a close bond with dissenter John Smyth, and he and his wife became members of Smyth’s separatist congregation in Gainsborough.</p>
<p>Church authorities cracked down on the dissenters, and about 40 members from Gainsborough and another congregation fled to safety in Amsterdam in the more tolerant Dutch Republic. While there Smyth became convinced that baptism should be for Christian believers instead of infants, marking the birth of the earliest church labeled “Baptist” in 1609.</p>
<p>Smyth later embraced&#160;Mennonite doctrines, while Helwys and others began working on the <a href="http://evangelicalarminians.org/helwys-declaration-of-faith-the-first-baptist-confession/" type="external">earliest</a> Baptist confession of faith. Helwys returned&#160;to England to start a&#160;Baptist church, an act that was still illegal, and it became&#160;the first congregation of the Baptist denomination in England. Before he left Helwys completed <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=_fGP4RgBUQYC" type="external">A Short Declaration of the Mistery of Iniquity</a>, the first book in English making the case for universal religious freedom for all faiths&#160;and for those with no faith at all.</p>
<p>“The King is a mortal man and not God,” Helwys wrote. “Therefore he has no power over the immortal souls of his subjects, to make laws and ordinances for them and set spiritual lords [bishops] over them. If the king has authority to make spiritual Lord and laws, then he is an immortal god and not a mortal man.”</p>
<p>It is unclear if King James I, who commissioned the Authorized Version of the Bible published in 1611, read Helwys’ words, but somebody did, landing the Baptist in Newgate Prison, where he died probably around 1615 or 1616.</p>
<p>Peck said Helwys’ unconventional views probably resulted from his interaction in Amsterdam with Dutch Anabaptists, the radicals of the Reformation whose teaching embraced universal religious freedom. “Nobody was putting forward such a bold vision at that time in England,” Peck said.</p>
<p><a href="http://1648o73kablq2rveyn64glm1-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/thomas-helwys-dedication-to-king-james.jpg" type="external" />Peck said it took about three decades for Helwys’ ideas to find a more ready audience in England. From there Helwys’ ideas directly influenced Roger Williams, who founded an American colony based on religious freedom in Providence, R.I., establishing ideas of religious liberty later enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.</p>
<p>Peck said the religious and political strife Helwys experienced during his lifetime caused him to believe his generation was living in the last times. In many ways his book “calls out a pure church to be ready for the final apocalypse,” Peck said. Attacking every other church in England, Peck said by today’s standards “Thomas Helwys does not come across as a very tolerant man.”</p>
<p>In the middle of his polemic, however, Peck said there emerges a “pure diamond,” the book’s most famous passage: “For our Lord the King is but an earthly king, and he has no authority as a king in earthly causes. And if the king’s people be obedient and true subjects, obeying all human laws, our lord the king can require no more. For men’s religion to God is between God and themselves. The king shall not answer for it. Neither may the King judge between God and men. Let them be heretics, Jews or whatsoever, it appertains not to the earthly power to punish them in the least measure.”</p>
<p>Though it didn’t go over well at the time, Peck said it is important to note that Helwys went out of his way to stress loyalty to the king in “everything except the individual conscience regarding religion and spiritual matters,” at one point urging non-conformists like himself to be prepared to fight in battle for the king if the nation is threatened.</p>
<p>Peck said Helwys’ argument for religious freedom was not the later idea of inalienable rights that would give rise to the French and American revolutions.</p>
<p>“Helwys’ conviction was rooted in his Christian faith; that if Jesus Christ is King and Lord, then he is especially Lord of the spirit and the conscience and there can be no other kings, no other lords that get in the way of the free response of faith on the part of the individual,” Peck said. “In the realm of the spirit, the earthly King cannot play God, though he is to be obeyed in everything else.”</p>
<p>Whether or not he knew it at the time, Peck said, Helwys “was articulating a bold vision of a plural society that values and protects its minorities at a time when everyone was religious and atheism was almost unheard of.”</p>
<p>“It was a blueprint for a very different kind of society a long way from the reality of its time,” Peck said. It’s a message, Peck said, that especially resonates today.</p>
<p>“So the legacy of Thomas Helwys, richly nurtured in the fertile spiritual soil here on the borders of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, lives on in a very different English society but one that still faces urgent questions about how those with different faith convictions and none are to live together in peace,” Peck said. “May his bold vision continue to inspire us, too.”</p> | Baptist founder still speaking after 400 years, says European leader | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/baptist-founder-still-speaking-after-400-years-says-european-leader/ | 3 |
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<p>RANGELY, Colo. — Firefighters hope to have the second of two northwestern Colorado wildfires fully contained by the end of Friday.</p>
<p>The Dead Dog Fire has burned nearly 18,000 acres (7,285 hectares) of mostly Bureau of Land Management land north of Rangely. It was 95 percent contained as of Thursday evening.</p>
<p>Officials say the fire was human-caused but exactly how it started is still under investigation.</p>
<p>The 990-acre (401-hectare) Hunter Fire near Meeker was fully contained on Wednesday. It was started by lighting.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Full containment expected on northwestern Colorado fire | false | https://abqjournal.com/1018817/full-containment-expected-on-northwestern-colorado-fire.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>Morgan Stanley (MS) on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.67 billion.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The company, based in New York, said it had earnings of 81 cents per share.</p>
<p>The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 65 cents per share.</p>
<p>The investment bank posted revenue of $10.01 billion in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $9.02 billion, also beating Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $8.49 billion.</p>
<p>Morgan Stanley shares have increased nearly 4 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard &amp; Poor's 500 index has climbed nearly 2 percent. The stock has risen 61 percent in the last 12 months.</p>
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<p>This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MS</p>
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<p>Keywords: Morgan Stanley, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings</p> | Morgan Stanley tops Street 4Q forecasts | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/17/morgan-stanley-tops-street-4q-forecasts.html | 2017-01-17 | 0 |
<p>Photo by FlyingSinger, &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/flyingsinger/468502417/"&gt;via Flickr&lt;/a&gt;.</p>
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<p>It’s still not clear when we might see a climate and energy bill from John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). Kerry is <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100413/sc_afp/usclimatepoliticssenate" type="external">still saying</a>, “We hope next week.” But it won’t be on Earth Day, since Graham <a href="http://energytopic.nationaljournal.com/2010/04/eta-for-climate-bill-not-on-ea.php" type="external">wants to make sure everyone knows</a> this ain’t no dirty commie environmental legislation.</p>
<p>“We don’t want to mix messages here,” Graham said yesterday. “I’m all for protecting the Earth, but this is about energy independence.”</p>
<p>Seems like most Senate watchers are expecting the bill on Wednesday. I’m not sure how much Graham’s hippie-bashing desires are fulfilled by introducing it a day early, but if that’s what it takes to get this thing rolling, so be it.</p>
<p /> | Graham: Screw Earth Day! | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/04/graham-screw-earth-day/ | 2010-04-15 | 4 |
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<p>Image source: Flickr user <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/" type="external">Wonderlane Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
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<p>Beginning investors often make mistakes, but there's no reason you need to make them. Instead, you can avoid learning lessons the hard way by getting guidance from those who've come before you. Below, three Motley Fool contributors share their views on the single thing they wish they had known when they first got started with investing.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a>: The thing I wish I had known when I first started investing was that investors don't have to settle for high-cost methods of investing. My first investments involved mutual funds that carried sales loads and stocks purchased through a full-service broker that charged hundreds of dollars to make trades. At the time, that means that only 90% to 95% of the money I was investing actually went toward my investment, putting me in a hole that took years to climb out of. Although the Internet hadn't yet arrived to make discount brokerage firms as ubiquitous as they are today, even back then, there were choices that would have reduced my upfront investing costs.</p>
<p>The only upside to the high-cost investing options available back then was that it encouraged me to take a long-term mind-set about making investments. However, even if low trading commissions or the lack of fees on no-load mutual funds don't necessarily punish you for trading more frequently, there's still good reason to think long term with your investments.</p>
<p>That's a silver lining from lessons I learned the hard way, but embracing the positives of low-cost investing methods like discount brokers and no-load mutual funds can add a lot to your eventual nest egg at the end of the day.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFVelvetHammer/info.aspx" type="external">Jason Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFVelvetHammer/info.aspx" type="external">Hall Opens a New Window.</a>: I wish I really, truly understood this one, simple piece of information: Investing even small amounts of money early can be worth much, much more than investing larger amounts later in life.</p>
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<p>Case in point: The U.S. stock market has increased around 10% per year on average. There are better and worse years, but over the long term, this 10% rate of return has been a relatively consistent average. What's 10% per year worth? Over time, a whole lot. If I'd managed to invest $5,000 by age 25, and put that $5 grand in a low-cost index fund that tracks theS&amp;P 500, by age 45, that $5,000 would be worth more than $33,000.Or to look at it another way, your $5,000 would double in value after about eight years of average market returns.</p>
<p>Here's the bottom line: Whether you're only 25, already 45, or even well past that age, you still have years ahead of you that you'll need to save for. Take advantage of the value of the time remaining and start investing now. Don't keep putting it off.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSelena/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Selena Maranjian Opens a New Window.</a>: I wish I'd known to be more patient. When I began investing, I didn't realize how little I really knew about it, so I made a host of rookie mistakes, such as impatiently jumping in and out of stocks. My funds were limited, of course, so if I were fully invested and happened to read about some exciting stock, I would sell out of some older holding in order to buy into the new one. If any holding didn't perform well in short order -- and many didn't -- I was ready to sell it.</p>
<p>That's very wrong-headed thinking. One particularly pleasant thing you'll learn as you become a savvier investor is that doing very well doesn't require frequent trading and finding lots of unknown little companies about to skyrocket. You can build wealth by simply investing regularly in an expensive, broad-market index fund -- for many years. For example, if you sock away $8,000 per year in an S&amp;P 500 index fund and it grows by an annual average of 8% over 25 years, you'll end up with $631,000 -- a rather hefty sum. If it averages 10% annually, which is close to the long-term average growth rate of the stock market, it will top $865,000. (Stock market returns are never guaranteed, so it's best to hope for the best returns but to prepare for below-average ones.)</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/31/1-thing-i-wish-i-knew-when-i-first-started-investi.aspx" type="external">1 Thing I Wish I Knew When I First Started Investing Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p>Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 1 Thing I Wish I Knew When I First Started Investing | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/31/1-thing-wish-knew-when-first-started-investing.html | 2016-03-31 | 0 |
<p><a href="" type="internal">Facebook</a> Inc and its founder <a href="" type="internal">Mark Zuckerberg</a> urged a court to throw out a lawsuit by a New York man claiming a 50 percent ownership stake in the social networking website, calling the lawsuit "a brazen and outrageous fraud."</p>
<p>In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, Facebook and Zuckerberg called the plaintiff Paul Ceglia "an inveterate scam artist whose misconduct extends across decades and borders."</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Ceglia had contended in an amended complaint filed on April 11 that he and Zuckerberg, then a student at Harvard University, had entered a contract giving him ownership of 50 percent of Zuckerberg's interest in Facebook.</p>
<p>A lawyer for Ceglia declined immediate comment.</p> | Facebook, Zuckerberg Say Ownership Suit a "Fraud" | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/05/26/facebook-zuckerberg-say-ownership-suit-fraud.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p>Newt Gingrich&#160;is unconvinced that former&#160;Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney would be the right choice as&#160;President-elect Donald Trump‘s secretary of state.</p>
<p>“I can think of 20 other people who would be more naturally compatible with the Trump vision of foreign policy,” the former House speaker said Tuesday on&#160;Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”</p>
<p>Watch the latest video at &amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=&amp;#8221;http://video.foxnews.com&amp;#8221;&amp;amp;amp;gt;video.foxnews.com&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
<p>Amid reports that Romney is the frontrunner for the position, Gingrich said he would support him but would prefer another candidate.</p>
<p>“I’m going to support him. But President-elect Trump deserves to have the team he wants,” he said.</p>
<p>He pointed out that Trump’s campaign supporters would be disappointed in the choice of Romney because of the negative things he said about Trump during the campaign. He also questioned&#160;that, as a 2012 Republican presidential nominee,&#160;“to what degree would Romney represent himself” if chosen for the position.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Hamilton star who lectured Mike Pence has just been dealt the ultimate dose of karma; time to rethink that apology!</a></p>
<p>“To what extent would he represent the kind of tough-minded, America-first policies that Trump has campaigned on,” Gingrich questioned.</p>
<p>Gingrich favored other choices for the secretary of state position, including former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Hewlett-Packard CEO and Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina.</p>
<p>Two-time presidential contender Mike Huckabee agrees that Trump could feel a severe backlash if&#160;he appoints Romney, whom he views as extremely disloyal for trying to “derail” Trump’s campaign.</p>
<p>“He attacked him on a personal level about his character, integrity, his honor,” the former&#160;Governor of Arkansas said on Wednesday’s “Fox and Friends,” adding that “it would be a real insult to all those Donald Trump voters who worked really hard” if Romney is appointed.</p>
<p>“When you go after a person who is the nominee of your party, who has been duly nominated by the voters,” Huckabee said, &#160;“you’re savaging the voters. You’re not just savaging Donald Trump.”</p>
<p>Wake up right! Receive our free morning news blast&#160; <a href="" type="internal">HERE</a></p> | An insult to voters? Newt Gingrich ‘can think of 20’ better choices than Romney for secretary of state | true | http://bizpacreview.com/2016/11/23/insult-voters-newt-gingrich-can-think-20-better-choices-romney-secretary-state-415834 | 2016-11-23 | 0 |
<p>The comments on the Great Commission Resurgence in the June 24th Religious Herald have caused me great concern. John Upton’s opinion, although not as aggressive as Jim White’s editorial, shows an obvious bias against the Southern Baptist Convention.</p>
<p>Cooperation among Virginia Baptists is said to be top priority, but I have noticed often among Baptist General Association of Virginia leadership that cooperation is limited. Of course, Virginia Baptist leadership proudly boast of its “own missions efforts” and of cooperation with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, but when it comes to cooperation with the SBC, a tone of aggression dominates the discussion.</p>
<p>If we are truly all Southern Baptists in the BGAV, then why would the tone of cooperation with non-Southern Baptist organizations be so important? Why do Virginia Baptists push so heavily their own missions agency over the SBC if cooperation is truly the goal? Jim White writes, “I predict there is very little likelihood that the Baptist General Association of Virginia will adopt the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as the task force recommended that all SBC entities and partners do.” Seems like the line has been drawn in the sand, not by the SBC but by the BGAV.</p>
<p>The war was over in the Conservative Resurgence when the CBF proudly and publicly disbanded from all associations with the SBC. Virginia Baptists are hypocritical when touting peace among all Baptists when they so blatantly disagree with the majority of Southern Baptist churches nationwide yet so lovingly associate with the CBF. It is obvious that the CBF is anti-SBC and it sounds like the BGAV is as well.</p>
<p>Let’s face reality. The SBC is a voluntary national cooperative denomination of local churches. But when the state association is clearly not in agreement with the national movement of Southern Baptists, I wonder why continue the association?</p>
<p>The Great Commission came from our Lord Jesus Christ. It is clear in Matthew 28 that all Christians are to proclaim the gospel, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Cooperation is the most effective way of fulfilling this command from our Lord. Voluntary cooperation with the Cooperative Program is still vital and will continue, only stronger.</p>
<p>The fear of many in the opposition to the Great Commission Task Force is the unknown. But the vision is clear and should be embraced by all Christians. Trust our Lord Jesus Christ in his command to evangelize nonbelievers. Reach the nations for Christ. Unity is the most effective way of completing this task.</p>
<p>If Virginia Baptists are not wanting to cooperate any longer with the Southern Baptist Convention, then I suggest they at least be honest and consider whether they can still call themselves Southern Baptists.</p>
<p>Then and only then will the movement to revive passions for the Great Commission be free to succeed as blessed by God and not John Upton or Jim White.</p>
<p>Bryant Owens, Clintwood</p> | VIRGINIA BAPTIST FORUM: BGAV vs. SBC | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/virginiabaptistforumbgavvssbc/ | 3 |
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<p>PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AP) - South Africa stormed to an innings win over Zimbabwe on Wednesday, needing less than two days of the four-day test to dispatch the visitors.</p>
<p>South Africa bowled the Zimbabweans out for 68 and 121 in the day-night match to win by an innings and 120 runs after making 309-9 declared batting first.</p>
<p>Zimbabwe lost four first-innings wickets quickly under floodlights on day one, but didn't even make it to the night session on day two. South Africa collected another 16 wickets in less than two sessions on the second day at St. George's Park to romp to victory before the dinner break.</p>
<p>Fast bowler Morne Morkel destroyed Zimbabwe's top and middle order in the first innings with his 5-21 from 11 overs. In the second innings, the Zimbabweans collapsed from 54-0 to 121 all out with left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj taking 5-59.</p>
<p>Aiden Markram set up South Africa's first-innings total with his 125 - a second century in three tests for the opener. AB de Villiers added 53 in his first test in two years.</p>
<p>But the game was decided by the fragility of the Zimbabwe batting lineup as South Africa's bowlers ran through the tourists twice in quick succession, led by the pace and hostility of Morkel in the first innings and the persistence of Maharaj in the second.</p>
<p>The highest score by a Zimbabwe batsman was 23. Only two Zimbabweans reached double figures in the first innings.</p>
<p>South Africa was also understrength, missing captain Faf du Plessis, who was unavailable because of a virus. Fast bowler Dale Steyn, who was expected to make his return from a series shoulder injury in the game, also missed out because of illness.</p>
<p>The Proteas didn't miss them.</p>
<p>Morkel knocked Ryan Burl's off stump out of the ground for the first wicket of the second day, starting a procession of Zimbabwe wickets that ended with Maharaj clinching his five-wicket haul and sealing South Africa's victory when Chris Mpofu was bowled attempting a big heave down the ground.</p>
<p>PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AP) - South Africa stormed to an innings win over Zimbabwe on Wednesday, needing less than two days of the four-day test to dispatch the visitors.</p>
<p>South Africa bowled the Zimbabweans out for 68 and 121 in the day-night match to win by an innings and 120 runs after making 309-9 declared batting first.</p>
<p>Zimbabwe lost four first-innings wickets quickly under floodlights on day one, but didn't even make it to the night session on day two. South Africa collected another 16 wickets in less than two sessions on the second day at St. George's Park to romp to victory before the dinner break.</p>
<p>Fast bowler Morne Morkel destroyed Zimbabwe's top and middle order in the first innings with his 5-21 from 11 overs. In the second innings, the Zimbabweans collapsed from 54-0 to 121 all out with left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj taking 5-59.</p>
<p>Aiden Markram set up South Africa's first-innings total with his 125 - a second century in three tests for the opener. AB de Villiers added 53 in his first test in two years.</p>
<p>But the game was decided by the fragility of the Zimbabwe batting lineup as South Africa's bowlers ran through the tourists twice in quick succession, led by the pace and hostility of Morkel in the first innings and the persistence of Maharaj in the second.</p>
<p>The highest score by a Zimbabwe batsman was 23. Only two Zimbabweans reached double figures in the first innings.</p>
<p>South Africa was also understrength, missing captain Faf du Plessis, who was unavailable because of a virus. Fast bowler Dale Steyn, who was expected to make his return from a series shoulder injury in the game, also missed out because of illness.</p>
<p>The Proteas didn't miss them.</p>
<p>Morkel knocked Ryan Burl's off stump out of the ground for the first wicket of the second day, starting a procession of Zimbabwe wickets that ended with Maharaj clinching his five-wicket haul and sealing South Africa's victory when Chris Mpofu was bowled attempting a big heave down the ground.</p> | South Africa hammers Zimbabwe by innings in 4-day test | false | https://apnews.com/amp/8f89a3b3b57247a7af22ed9caf92a8a6 | 2017-12-27 | 2 |
<p>Get off the plane at Honolulu's airport and you'll most likely receive a lei. But leis are mostly imported from Thailand, a well kept secret until the latest dust up in Thailand caused flights to be delayed from there. Thailand is the world's largest orchid exporter and Hawaiians often buy leis from Thailand, all information the lei industry does not want to make public.</p> | Thai flower power | false | https://pri.org/stories/2008-12-02/thai-flower-power | 2008-12-02 | 3 |
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<p>GLENDALE, Ariz. ( <a href="https://www.intellihub.com/" type="external">INTELLIHUB</a>) — Activist and patriot Gavin Seim, also known for helping end the <a href="" type="internal">Malheur Wildlife Refuge</a> standoff with the ‘final four,’ has been, at minimum, delayed and may even be denied the right to purchase a firearm by the FBI.</p>
<p>Seim entered a “big name sporting goods retailer” Thursday to attempt to purchase a firearm.</p>
<p>Seim said that he was forced to fill out “absurd paperwork,” a form, before the staff came back to him after a brief wait looking “uncomfortably” and told him that his application has been “delayed” and that they can’t sell Seim the gun.</p>
<p>Seim then called the FBI who told the activist that they can delay the transaction for up to three days. Then if the store does not hear back from the FBI within three days the store can then sell Seim the firearm.</p>
<p>Incidentally, if the FBI later comes back and tells that store, after the three day period, that the purchaser was denied, it is then up to the retailer to seek out and try and get back the firearm that was purchased.</p>
<p>“Now get this it gets better — you can appeal the delay or the denial, they said, that takes six months or a year,” Seim said.</p>
<p>During a recorded call to the FBI Seim discovered that people are now being turned down on misdemeanors.</p>
<p>“One of the federal prohibitors is if you’ve been convicted of a misdemeanor for more than two years,” the FBI told Seim on the call. Meaning that if a misdemeanor offers a max penalty of more than two years your rights can be revoked.</p>
<p>Seim said that if we don’t “exercise our rights” we are going to lose them.</p>
<p>Seim also pointed out that he is “not a convicted felon.”</p>
<p>“I wanted to find out what would happen if I tried to buy a gun on the record” and they told me “no,” Seim said.</p>
<p>“This government, that says they get to define and decide our rights through their courts and their arbitrary rules, they are the terrorists,” said Seim.</p>
<p>“They are the terrorists.”</p>
<p>The FBI terminated the call with Seim after he apparently offended the agent on the line for asking if she swore an oath to the Constitution.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="https://intellihub.com/shepardambellas/" type="external">Shepard Ambellas</a> is an activist, journalist, filmmaker, film producer, radio talk show host and the founder and editor-in-chief of Intellihub. Established in 2013, <a href="https://www.intellihub.com/" type="external">Intellihub.com</a> is ranked in the upper 1% traffic tier on the World Wide Web. Read more from <a href="https://intellihub.com/opinion/shepsworld/" type="external">Shep’s World</a>.</p>
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<p /> | FBI Preventing Patriots from Buying Guns: People are Now Being Turned Down on Misdemeanors | true | http://dcclothesline.com/2016/05/21/fbi-preventing-patriots-from-buying-guns-people-are-now-being-turned-down-on-misdemeanors/ | 2016-05-21 | 0 |
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<p>SILVER CITY — An 85-year-old man led Grant County sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase through the county after allegedly driving recklessly for a time in the parking lot of the Grant County jail, where he returned upon arrest.</p>
<p>At 7 a.m. Wednesday, deputies were called to the Grant County Detention Center in reference to an unwanted subject driving recklessly all over the parking lot. People working at the jail told deputies the man driving, Frank Jimenez of Silver City, had left the area at a very high rate of speed north on Ridge Road.</p>
<p>The deputies made contact with Jimenez in his vehicle at the N.M. 90 and Ridge Road intersection.</p>
<p>Deputies attempted a vehicle stop, to no avail. What followed was a high-speed chase through Silver City and on to the Santa Clara area.</p>
<p>According to the Sheriff’s Office, Jimenez was driving at reckless speeds up to 120 mph. He even waved at some of the vehicles he was passing as he was pursued.</p>
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<p>Somehow, the man managed to light a cigarette while traveling at such high speeds and when he lost control of his vehicle, he pulled over and came to a stop. When the deputies caught up to him and approached him, Jimenez was sitting in his vehicle, calmly smoking his cigarette.</p>
<p>Jimenez was arrested and taken back to the Grant County Detention Center.</p>
<p>He has been charged with one count of aggravated fleeing an officer and two counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon. He is being held on a $15,000 bond.</p>
<p>Grant County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Michael Aguirre wasn’t sure what made Jimenez start driving recklessly in the parking lot.</p>
<p>“I guess he just flipped out,” Aguirre said. — This article appeared on page C2 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | 85-year-old accused of high-speed chase | false | https://abqjournal.com/190252/85yearold-accused-of-highspeed-chase.html | 2013-04-19 | 2 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />SANTA THERESA - Union Pacific Railroad plans a May 28 grand opening event for its new rail facility in southern New Mexico.</p>
<p>The Santa Teresa event planned by the Omaha, Nebraska-based freight railroad marks completion of a 2,200-acre facility that includes ramps to transfer freight between trains and trucks. It also includes fueling facilities and crew-change buildings.</p>
<p>Union Pacific says dignitaries scheduled to participate in the event include New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall.</p>
<p>Construction began in 2011.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Union Pacific plans May 28 event in New Mexico | false | https://abqjournal.com/403249/union-pacific-plans-may-28-event-in-new-mexico.html | 2 |
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<p>MSNBC analyst Howard Dean appeared on&#160;Now With Alex Wagner, Wednesday, to question the patriotism of Republicans. Discussing Barack Obama's attack on the congressional GOP, Dean sneered: "I'm certainly disgusted with them...I question their patriotism, really.&#160;I mean, we're paying them to do something and they are doing nothing."</p>
<p>Talking to Wagner and Republican Michael Steele, Dean snarled, "I just think the Republican Congress is incompetent. They are incompetent and they are untrustworthy." Despite the howling from liberals in the media about questioning patriotism during the era of George W. Bush, MSNBC hosts do it all the time. On&#160; <a href="http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2014/06/02/unhinged-ed-schultz-questions-ted-cruzs-patriotism-prisoner-swap-not" type="external">June 2, 2014</a>, Ed Schultz snapped, "There's nothing American about Ted Cruz." On&#160; <a href="http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2011/07/13/msnbcs-chris-matthews-questions-rupert-murdochs-patriotism-wonders-i" type="external">July 13, 2013</a>, Chris Matthews wondered if Rupert Murdoch is a "true American."&#160;</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/73418/howard-dean-patriotism-policeman/tim-graham" type="external" /></p>
<p><a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/73418/howard-dean-patriotism-policeman/tim-graham" type="external">In 2004</a>, the MSNBC-friendly Dean slammed George W. Bush "and a group of people around the President whose main allegiance is to each other and their ideology rather than to the United States."</p>
<p>On another occasion, he shrieked that Republicans are&#160; <a href="http://www.ijreview.com/2014/05/140243-screamin-howard-dean-suggests-republicans-leave-country/" type="external">"not Americans</a>."&#160;</p>
<p>A transcript of the July 2 exchange is below:&#160;</p>
<p>4:18</p>
<p>ALEX WAGNER: I just wonder if you think all the vitriol directed towards the President really has to do with executive overreach or whether it's Republican frustration that President Obama seems to have found, in some way, a work around their intransigence?&#160;</p>
<p>HOWARD DEAN: I just think the Republican Congress is incompetent. They are incompetent and they are untrustworthy. They're – We're paying them. They are doing nothing. They might as well just go home they did do something, excuse me. Yesterday the ethics committee decided to make it easier to hide the money, taxpayers money you spend when you take a congressional trip. These guys need to go and I think they get their butts kicked in November. People are sick of this. You know, they may like or may not like Barack Obama. There hasn't been a debate about policy, a serious debate about policy for the last six months. And I think that the American people are just disgusted. I'm certainly disgusted with them. These are, really, people --&#160;I question their patriotism, really. I mean, we're paying them to do something and they are doing nothing.&#160;</p> | MSNBC: The Place to Question the Patriotism of Republicans | true | http://mrc.org/biasalerts/msnbc-place-question-patriotism-republicans?utm_source%3DFacebook%26utm_medium%3DMarketing%26utm_term%3DFacebook%26utm_content%3DFacebook%26utm_campaign%3DMSNBC-Patriotism-Republicans | 0 |
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<p>“ <a href="http://variety.com/t/the-china-hustle/" type="external">The China Hustle</a>,” a feature documentary that premiered at the <a href="http://variety.com/t/toronto-intl-film-festival/" type="external">Toronto Intl. Film Festival</a> on Friday, suggests that e-commerce and entertainment giant <a href="http://variety.com/t/alibaba/" type="external">Alibaba</a> is ripe for investigation alongside smaller Chinese companies accused of deceiving investors and regulators.</p>
<p>The film appears to tar Alibaba with the same brush as a number of smaller Chinese firms that the film says deliberately inflated their earnings, lied to investors about their business scale, and listed their shares on U.S. stock exchanges through a dubious method known as a reverse merger or reverse takeover. Their actions endanger pensions, investment funds and the financial system, the film says.</p>
<p>“The China Hustle” is directed by issues-driven multihyphenate Jed Rothstein, whose short “Killing in the Name” was Oscar-nominated in 2011. The film’s production houses include the pedigreed Kennedy/Marshall Company, and Todd Wagner and <a href="http://variety.com/t/mark-cuban/" type="external">Mark Cuban</a>’s 2929 Prods.; executive producers include Cuban, Wagner, Frank Marshall and campaigning documentary veteran <a href="http://variety.com/t/alex-gibney/" type="external">Alex Gibney</a>, whose films have taken on Enron, Lance Armstrong and Scientology, among others.</p>
<p>Most of “Hustle” consists of interviews with investors whose discovery of another gaping hole at the heart of the global financial system turned them into short sellers — investors who believe an asset’s price will fall. It discusses several small Chinese companies, which are not prevented by Chinese law from feeding misleading financial information to investors so long as the suckers are overseas. And it shows how gatekeepers such as auditors, lawyers and dealers, in China and the U.S., were financially motivated to ignore the companies’ deceptions.</p>
<p>At the end of the film, without preamble, “Hustle” turns its sights on Alibaba. In the closing minutes, as a voiceover warns that U.S. investors and regulators must do more to protect themselves from fraud by Chinese companies, Rothstein shows 2014 footage of Alibaba executives ringing the bell on the first day that the company’s shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. That is followed by 2017 footage of Alibaba founder <a href="http://variety.com/t/jack-ma/" type="external">Jack Ma</a> glad-handing then-President-elect Donald Trump.</p>
<p>“I’m not saying Alibaba is a fraud. I think the reason [the Alibaba segment] was included was more of a Muddy Waters-type warning for where we need more research,” Gibney told&#160;Variety, referring to one of the short-selling investment firms featured extensively in “Hustle.” Headed by Carson Block, Muddy Waters conducts proprietary research into a listed company, sells stock on the anticipation that its price will drop, and then publicly releases its findings in order to trigger the share-price fall.</p>
<p>In exchanges with the audience after “Hustle’s” world-premiere screening in Toronto, financier Dan David said he had had enough of Chinese companies that were “lying, cheating and stealing.” Then he asked: “Is Jack Ma from Alibaba prosecutable? No. He lives in China, he is a Chinese citizen, and if he steals the entire stake in Alibaba he cannot be prosecuted in China.”</p>
<p>“The time is coming when the bottom is going to fall out of the China market and everybody here is going to feel it, because every pension is [invested] in [Chinese stock],” said David.</p>
<p>It is not currently known if David, Block or any of the filmmakers have long or short positions in Alibaba stock.</p>
<p>Alibaba did not use the contentious reverse takeover method to list its shares. Instead, it conducted the largest initial public offering (IPO) in U.S. history to raise some $25 billion of fresh capital in September 2014. Its ADR shares have risen from $68 at listing to $169&#160;on Sept. 8. At that price it has a market capitalization of $392 billion, making Alibaba currently the seventh-largest company in the world.</p>
<p>“Enron was also a large company when we made ‘The Smartest Guys in the Room,’” Gibney said of his 2005 documentary.</p>
<p>Alibaba has not been accused of fraud. But its IPO, management structure and company finances have been criticized by activist investors. Alibaba is operated by a Ma-headed management committee that has operational control but that is not answerable to shareholders. That controversial structure was rejected in Hong Kong, where the company initially sought to list. Hong Kong regulators argued that all equity holders should have equal rights. The split voting structure, however, was acceptable to U.S. stock regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission.</p>
<p>Since then Alibaba has differed with financial analysts over definition of its gross merchandise volume (roughly the sum of all business transacted on its platforms), on share-based pay for executives, and the application of U.S. generally agreed accounting principles (GAAP). As a result of such criticism, Alibaba now reports GAAP and non-GAAP earnings and plays down gross merchandise volume.</p> | Toronto Documentary ‘China Hustle’ Probes Financial Misdeeds, Swipes at Alibaba | false | https://newsline.com/toronto-documentary-china-hustle-probes-financial-misdeeds-swipes-at-alibaba/ | 2017-09-09 | 1 |
<p>SAN DIEGO (AP) — Recent assaults by tactical teams on prototypes of President Donald Trump’s proposed wall with Mexico found their imposing heights should stop border crossers, The Associated Press has learned, a finding that’s likely to please security hawks but raise concerns about costs and environmental damage.</p>
<p>Military special forces based in Florida and U.S. Customs and Border Protection special units spent three weeks trying to breach and scale the eight models in San Diego, using jackhammers, saws, torches and other tools and climbing devices, a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the rigorous testing told the AP on condition of anonymity because the information was not authorized for public release.</p>
<p>Each model was to be 18 to 30 feet (5 to 9 meters) high, and contractors built at or near the maximum, which is roughly twice as high as many existing barriers. Ronald Vitiello, the agency’s acting deputy commissioner, said after visiting the prototypes in October that he was struck most by their height.</p>
<p>The highly trained testers scaled 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) unassisted but needed help after that, said the official, who described the assaults on the wall prototypes to the AP. Testers also expressed safety concerns about getting down from 30 feet.</p>
<p>Only once did a tester manage to land a hook on top of the wall without help, the official said. Tubes atop some models repelled climbing devices but wouldn’t work in more mountainous areas because the terrain is too jagged.</p>
<p>The findings appear to challenge what Janet Napolitano, now chancellor of the University of California, often said when she was President Barack Obama’s homeland security secretary: “You show me a 50-foot wall, and I’ll show you a 51-foot ladder.”</p>
<p>A Customs and Border Protection report on the tests identifies strengths and flaws of each design but does not pick an overall winner or rank them. The report recommends combining elements of each, depending on the terrain. The official likened it to a Lego design, pulling pieces from different prototypes.</p>
<p>The report favors steel at the ground level because agents can see what is happening on the other side through mesh, and damage can more easily be fixed than concrete, the official said. With concrete, large slabs have to be replaced for even small breaches, which is time-consuming and expensive. Topping the steel with smooth concrete surfaces helps prevent climbing.</p>
<p>Brandon Judd, who heads the union representing border agents, said the recommended height and steel-concrete design make sense. He said people have been able to scale the smaller border walls, which were not put to same degree of testing before construction.</p>
<p>“Not many people are going to attempt to go over 30 feet,” said Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council. “I just don’t see it happening.”</p>
<p>Just as daunting as getting over, he said, is climbing back if someone decides to try to return to Mexico to avoid capture.</p>
<p>Taller barriers are undoubtedly more effective, but they drive up the cost and could endanger wildlife.</p>
<p>Brian Segee, an attorney for Center for Biological Diversity, which has sued to block construction, said border walls 15 feet (5 meters) or less have prevented the movement of low-flying birds and insects.</p>
<p>“The bigger, more impervious the wall, the worse the impacts are going to be for wildlife,” Segee said.</p>
<p>U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat in a border district, said a 30-foot (9-meter) wall would increase the cost “tremendously” and do nothing to address the problem of people entering the country legally and overstaying their visas.</p>
<p>Customs and Border Protection leaders were set to be briefed on the findings this week amid a standoff over immigration legislation that threatens to shut down the government. Democrats insist it includes protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who were shielded from deportation under an Obama-era program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which is scheduled to end in March.</p>
<p>The administration has insisted wall funding be part of any immigration deal, but Trump has been unclear about how long the wall would be and how it should be designed. The administration has asked for $1.6 billion this year to build or replace 74 miles (118 kilometers) of barriers in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley and San Diego and plans to request another $1.6 billion next year.</p>
<p>A proposal by Customs and Border Protection calls for spending $18 billion over 10 years to extend barriers to cover nearly half the border. Mexico has steadfastly rejected Trump’s demand that it pay for the wall.</p>
<p>The agency is still in “the testing phase” and results are being evaluated, spokesman Carlos Diaz said. Combining elements of different prototypes instead of picking a winner is consistent with previous statements by officials, he said, noting that the agency said in bidding guidelines that a minimum height of 18 feet (5 meters) would be a key characteristic.</p>
<p>Contractors were awarded between $300,000 and $500,000 for each prototype. They were built last fall in a remote part of San Diego to guide future construction of one of Trump’s signature campaign pledges. Four were concrete and four were made of other materials.</p>
<p>SAN DIEGO (AP) — Recent assaults by tactical teams on prototypes of President Donald Trump’s proposed wall with Mexico found their imposing heights should stop border crossers, The Associated Press has learned, a finding that’s likely to please security hawks but raise concerns about costs and environmental damage.</p>
<p>Military special forces based in Florida and U.S. Customs and Border Protection special units spent three weeks trying to breach and scale the eight models in San Diego, using jackhammers, saws, torches and other tools and climbing devices, a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the rigorous testing told the AP on condition of anonymity because the information was not authorized for public release.</p>
<p>Each model was to be 18 to 30 feet (5 to 9 meters) high, and contractors built at or near the maximum, which is roughly twice as high as many existing barriers. Ronald Vitiello, the agency’s acting deputy commissioner, said after visiting the prototypes in October that he was struck most by their height.</p>
<p>The highly trained testers scaled 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) unassisted but needed help after that, said the official, who described the assaults on the wall prototypes to the AP. Testers also expressed safety concerns about getting down from 30 feet.</p>
<p>Only once did a tester manage to land a hook on top of the wall without help, the official said. Tubes atop some models repelled climbing devices but wouldn’t work in more mountainous areas because the terrain is too jagged.</p>
<p>The findings appear to challenge what Janet Napolitano, now chancellor of the University of California, often said when she was President Barack Obama’s homeland security secretary: “You show me a 50-foot wall, and I’ll show you a 51-foot ladder.”</p>
<p>A Customs and Border Protection report on the tests identifies strengths and flaws of each design but does not pick an overall winner or rank them. The report recommends combining elements of each, depending on the terrain. The official likened it to a Lego design, pulling pieces from different prototypes.</p>
<p>The report favors steel at the ground level because agents can see what is happening on the other side through mesh, and damage can more easily be fixed than concrete, the official said. With concrete, large slabs have to be replaced for even small breaches, which is time-consuming and expensive. Topping the steel with smooth concrete surfaces helps prevent climbing.</p>
<p>Brandon Judd, who heads the union representing border agents, said the recommended height and steel-concrete design make sense. He said people have been able to scale the smaller border walls, which were not put to same degree of testing before construction.</p>
<p>“Not many people are going to attempt to go over 30 feet,” said Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council. “I just don’t see it happening.”</p>
<p>Just as daunting as getting over, he said, is climbing back if someone decides to try to return to Mexico to avoid capture.</p>
<p>Taller barriers are undoubtedly more effective, but they drive up the cost and could endanger wildlife.</p>
<p>Brian Segee, an attorney for Center for Biological Diversity, which has sued to block construction, said border walls 15 feet (5 meters) or less have prevented the movement of low-flying birds and insects.</p>
<p>“The bigger, more impervious the wall, the worse the impacts are going to be for wildlife,” Segee said.</p>
<p>U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat in a border district, said a 30-foot (9-meter) wall would increase the cost “tremendously” and do nothing to address the problem of people entering the country legally and overstaying their visas.</p>
<p>Customs and Border Protection leaders were set to be briefed on the findings this week amid a standoff over immigration legislation that threatens to shut down the government. Democrats insist it includes protections for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who were shielded from deportation under an Obama-era program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which is scheduled to end in March.</p>
<p>The administration has insisted wall funding be part of any immigration deal, but Trump has been unclear about how long the wall would be and how it should be designed. The administration has asked for $1.6 billion this year to build or replace 74 miles (118 kilometers) of barriers in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley and San Diego and plans to request another $1.6 billion next year.</p>
<p>A proposal by Customs and Border Protection calls for spending $18 billion over 10 years to extend barriers to cover nearly half the border. Mexico has steadfastly rejected Trump’s demand that it pay for the wall.</p>
<p>The agency is still in “the testing phase” and results are being evaluated, spokesman Carlos Diaz said. Combining elements of different prototypes instead of picking a winner is consistent with previous statements by officials, he said, noting that the agency said in bidding guidelines that a minimum height of 18 feet (5 meters) would be a key characteristic.</p>
<p>Contractors were awarded between $300,000 and $500,000 for each prototype. They were built last fall in a remote part of San Diego to guide future construction of one of Trump’s signature campaign pledges. Four were concrete and four were made of other materials.</p> | Border wall tests find heights should keep out crossers | false | https://apnews.com/a7c524fcd45e4c99959970d337dbdc3c | 2018-01-20 | 2 |
<p />
<p>The United States, and our Western capitalist partners, have entered a new economic era. Intense global competition has suppressed wages in some industries that had uncompetitive cost structures. And because political leaders of both major parties have for far too long emphasized consumption and income protection at the expense of investments in the future, the adjustments necessary to provide new opportunities to replace lost employment have been slow and inadequate.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, as economic pressures have intensified, it’s become clear that the social welfare arrangements built decades ago by governments and employers are no longer viable, especially in view of the unprecedented demographic transformation—rapid population aging and slow or stagnant labor force growth—now underway in the industrialized world.</p>
<p>There’s no retreating from these challenges, especially global competition. What policy makers must do is get the policy fundamentals right again so that dynamic economic growth in the private sector can once again generate new opportunities for the middle class.</p>
<p>First and foremost, that will require facing fiscal reality with regard to entitlement reform at both the federal and state levels of government. Rapid growth of entitlement spending is already putting severe stress on government finances, and the problem will become even more acute over the next two decades as the baby boom generation heads into retirement. Programs written for the 20th century need to be updated to reflect the realities of today. Most especially, the nation’s health entitlement programs need the discipline of a functioning marketplace to replace the government’s ineffective command-and-control structure.</p>
<p>Entitlement reform can pave the way for pro-growth tax reform. The federal tax law for individuals and corporations badly needs to be rewritten, with an emphasis on simplicity, low rates, a broader tax base and taxation of consumption rather than investment.</p>
<p>The formula for private sector opportunity and growth is not a secret. Fiscal restraint, low marginal tax rates, free trade and a strong and stable currency have worked before to restore dynamism to our economy, and, with time, they will work again—if tried.</p>
<p>James C. Capretta is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He was an associate director at the Office of Management and Budget from 2001 to 2004.</p> | A System in Need of an Update | false | https://eppc.org/publications/a-system-in-need-of-an-update/ | 1 |
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<p><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/" type="external">Via Whitehouse.gov:</a></p>
<p>PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good afternoon, everybody. Today, the entire world is appalled by the brutal murder of Jim Foley by the terrorist group, ISIL. Jim was a journalist, a son, a brother, and a friend. He reported from difficult and dangerous places, bearing witness to the lives of people a world away.</p>
<p>He was taken hostage nearly two years ago in Syria, and he was courageously reporting at the time on the conflict there. Jim was taken from us in an act of violence that shocked the conscience of the entire world. He was 40 years old. One of five siblings, the son of a mom and dad who worked tirelessly for his release.</p>
<p>Earlier today, I spoke to the Foleys and told them that we are all heartbroken at their loss, and join them in honoring Jim and all that he did.</p>
<p>Now, Jim Foley's life stands in stark contrast to his killers. Let's be clear about ISIL. They have rampaged across cities and villages, killing innocent, unarmed civilians in cowardly acts of violence. They abduct women and children and subject them to torture and rape and slavery. They have murdered Muslims, both Sunni and Shia, by the thousands. They target Christians and religious minorities, driving them from their homes, murdering them when they can, for no other reason than they practice a different religion. They declare their ambition to commit genocide against an ancient people.</p>
<p>So ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day. ISIL has no ideology of any value to human beings. Their ideology is bankrupt. They may claim, out of expediency, that they are at war with the United States or the West, but the fact is, they terrorize their neighbors and offer them nothing but an endless slavery to their empty vision and the collapse of any definition of civilized behavior.</p>
<p>And people like this ultimately fail. They fail because the future is won by those who build and not destroy, and the world is shaped by people like Jim Foley and the overwhelming majority of humanity who are appalled by those who killed him.</p>
<p>The United States of America will continue to do what we must do to protect our people. We will be vigilant and we will be relentless. When people harm Americans, anywhere, we do what's necessary to see that justice is done.</p>
<p>And we act against ISIL standing alongside others. The people of Iraq who, with our support, are taking the fight to ISIL, must continue coming together to expel these terrorists from their communities. The people of Syria, whose story Jim Foley told, do not deserve to live under the shadow of a tyrant or terrorists. They have our support in their pursuit of a future rooted in dignity.</p>
<p>From governments and peoples across the Middle East, there has to be a common effort to extract this cancer so that it does not spread. There has to be a clear rejection of these kind of nihilistic ideologies.</p>
<p>One thing we can all agree on is that a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century.</p>
<p>Friends and allies around the world, we share a common security and a common set of values that are rooted in the opposite of what we saw yesterday, and we will continue to confront this hateful terrorism and replace it with a sense of hope and civility.</p>
<p>That's what Jim Foley stood for, a man who lived his work, who courageously told the stories of his fellow human beings and who was liked and loved by friends and family.</p>
<p>Today, the American people will all say a prayer for those who loved Jim. All of us feel the ache of his absence. All of us mourn his loss.</p>
<p>We keep in our prayers those other Americans who are separated from their families. We will do everything that we can to protect our people and the timeless values that we stand for.</p>
<p>May God bless and keep Jim's memory and may God bless the United States of America.?</p> | Obama On ISIL: 'Their Ideology Is Bankrupt' | true | http://crooksandliars.com/2014/08/obama-isil-their-ideology-bankrupt | 2014-08-20 | 4 |
<p>Voices first heard in childhood often continue to impact us with potent echoes from the past. At the speed of thought I return to that small church in Jefferson County, Mo., where I grew up. It was Sunday evening and the shellacked knotty pine paneling reflected the overhead lights, producing a warm and welcome glow. Warmer still, however, was the fiery sermon delivered by a loving pastor who urged us to consider that before we got home that night from church, Jesus might come again. He spoke of the signs: Wars, rumors of wars and earthquakes.</p>
<p>More than a half century has passed since that sobering prediction that our drive home might be interrupted by a trumpet blast from the heights. In the intervening decades, I learned to concentrate my attention on kingdom-building tasks. More and more I planted my feet on solid ground and less and less did I pause to listen for the sound of a distant trumpet.</p>
<p />
<p>Even as a pastor, which I was for nearly 30 of those years, immediate needs seemed to require my full focus. There were grieving hearts to console, sermons to prepare, Bible studies to lead, committees to chair, staffs to inspire, fires to douse, souls to save and money to raise. Christ’s second coming became for me more a prophetic potential than an eschatological expectation.</p>
<p>Still, the voice from long ago occasionally rings clarion through the clamor in my mind: wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes. This is one of those times.</p>
<p>No one can escape the news of global catastrophe. On the war front, in addition to Iraq and Afghanistan we can list Egypt and Libya and others in various stages of eruption. And earthquakes? Say them with me: Haiti, Chile, China, New Zealand, Japan — and these are major quakes since the first of last year.</p>
<p>Am I sounding the alarm? Do I encourage us to sell or give away our goods and wait for Christ in a vast valley meadow? Or quit our jobs in anticipation of his coming as did some in the Thessalonian church? No, I haven’t been hitting the Kool-Aid.</p>
<p>But we who are Christ-followers must listen for his words. Not the words of a passionate preacher, and certainly not the emails mass forwarded through the cybersphere. The words of Jesus, himself, should cause all Christians to pause and reflect no matter how preoccupied we may be with Kingdom concerns. To quote Jesus’ words as found in the synoptic Gospels (Mark 13:1-37, Matthew 24:1-51; Luke 21:5-36), wars, rumors of wars and earthquakes are signs that the end is approaching.</p>
<p>Many will remind me that humankind has always been plagued by these events. Others will caution me that Jesus’ words may be interpreted to apply in different ways and to a different age. Observations and cautions are acknowledged and affirmed. But the second coming of Christ is one belief most Christians agree on.</p>
<p>Two millennia have passed, however, and it hasn’t happened yet. But if a thousand years are as a day with the Lord, then in his timing only two days have passed since the resurrection! Even so, perhaps it’s not surprising we have grown complacent.</p>
<p>Still, we lose something when we cease to expect it. We lose a sense of passion and a sense of urgency. In my grandparents’ home, family members and friends who gathered sometimes sang, “Wait a little longer, please Jesus. There are so many wandering out in sin. Just a little longer, please Jesus, a few more days to get our loved ones in.”</p>
<p>I am not advocating a return to tent revivals and the sawdust trail, but I believe we Virginia Baptists could channel that kind of passion into ministries, church starts, evangelism and discipleship. But so many of us are tired. A few have gotten lazy. Many seem to have ceased expecting anything extraordinary.</p>
<p>In citing on-going tragedies that occur in every generation as signs of the end, perhaps the Lord intended to keep us alert and energized.</p>
<p>So what do we do between now and the time Christ returns? Appealing to another old song, “We’ll work ‘till Jesus comes.” And with that, I come back to the earthquakes.</p>
<p>We Virginia Baptists have opened our hearts and our pockets to those who have been hard hit by these natural disasters. John Upton and others in the mission board have already been in contact with Baptist leaders in Japan to determine how we might help. Needs are still being assessed, but soon requests will come. In anticipation of that time, I urge us to reach again into the storehouse of reserves the Lord has provided us and withdraw a gift of money to send to our Japanese brothers and sisters and those unbelievers they are trying to reach.</p>
<p>Authorities have already issued cautions because groups seeking to scam generous people out of their contributions have already arisen. When you give through the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, you know that your gift is used with integrity and applied only to the purpose for which you gave it.</p>
<p>In the aftermath of this great tragedy, perhaps the Japanese people will observe that Christians, motivated by love and fired by urgency, have been their greatest allies in their struggle to recover.</p>
<p>So, as we live and minister in the context of wars, rumors of wars and earthquakes, let us pray as though Christ were coming tomorrow and plan as though he will wait a thousand years.</p> | EDITORIAL: Is that a trumpet I hear? | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/editorialisthatatrumpetihear/ | 3 |
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<p>The geniuses on Wall Street have found another way to gamble and call it investing. Forget about mortgage-backed securities (wouldn’t that be nice?). Life insurance securitizations are the new hotness on Wall Street. And the fun part is, they make more money when you die faster.</p>
<p>Maybe death panels will make a comeback.</p>
<p>The New York Times explains how it works:</p>
<p>The bankers plan to buy “life settlements,” life insurance policies that ill and elderly people sell for cash — $400,000 for a $1 million policy, say, depending on the life expectancy of the insured person. Then they plan to “securitize” these policies, in Wall Street jargon, by packaging hundreds or thousands together into bonds. They will then resell those bonds to investors, like big pension funds, who will receive the payouts when people with the insurance die.</p>
<p />
<p>The earlier the policyholder dies, the bigger the return — though if people live longer than expected, investors could get poor returns or even lose money. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/business/06insurance.html" type="external">[Link]</a></p>
<p>Will someone please regulate these people before we have to go running to the Chinese for even more money to bail them — or what’s left of us — out?</p>
<p>Let’s just summarize this: Rich people have found a way to gamble on how long financially desperate people will live. We are living in a Philip K. Dick novel. — PS</p> | Wall Street Comes Up With a Great Idea for the Next Recession | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/wall-street-comes-up-with-a-great-idea-for-the-next-recession/ | 2009-09-07 | 4 |
<p>A 2007 Gallup poll showed 94 percent of U.S. respondents saying they would vote for a Black presidential candidate, while 88 percent indicated they would vote for a woman. A Newsweek poll released on May 26th showed roughly 70 percent of voters agreeing that the country is ready for a Black man to serve as president, up from just 37 percent in the 2000 election. The political landscape has at long last shifted sharply away from the racist and sexist bigotry that have kept the popular majority so divided historically, ignoring their shared interests–and thereby allowing the political status quo to continue to flourish.</p>
<p>But this seismic shift in mass consciousness was nowhere to be seen in the Democratic primaries in recent months. On the contrary, as Hillary Clinton’s quest for the Democratic nomination succumbed to the momentum of Senator Barack Obama’s, the multi-millionaire Clinton ludicrously posed as a populist spokesperson for that minority of stereotypical rural, racist whites who steadfastly refuse to vote for any Black candidate — complete with photo-ops swilling shots of whiskey and posing on the back of pickup truck.&#160; As New York Times columnist Bob Herbert noted, “There was a name for it when the Republicans were using that kind of lousy rhetoric to good effect: it was called the Southern strategy, although it was hardly limited to the South. Now the Clintons, in their desperation to find some way — any way — back to the White House, have leapt aboard that sorry train.”</p>
<p>The Clintons’ last-ditch effort was in full display at the Democratic National Committee showdown on Saturday, May 31st at a Washington, D.C. hotel. Hundreds of bitter Clinton supporters protested inside and outside while the DNC’s rules committee attempted to forge a compromise on the contested delegations of Florida and Michigan, which violated party rules by holding early primaries. As the rules committee met, tensions ran high. Jeering and cheering filled the hotel ballroom, while “one woman, wearing a blue ‘Team Hillary’ shirt, shoved a man in a suit and tie wearing a small Obama button on his lapel,” according to the New York Times.</p>
<p>Clinton’s supporters, whipped into a frenzied and desperate attempt to rescue her long-doomed campaign, couched their complaints as an attempt to restore “democracy” to the primary contests. But the racial overtones were hard to ignore. Harriet Christian, one of Clinton’s more unruly supporters, was captured on YouTube calling Obama an “ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KACQuZVAE3s" type="external">inadequate black male</a>” exploiting the “white woman running for president,” as she vowed to vote for McCain in November rather than cast a vote for Obama.</p>
<p>Former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro had primed the pump for the angry Clinton mob just one day earlier, in a racist tirade that appeared as a Boston Globe op-ed piece. There, Ferraro clumsily fused the interests of feminists and white racists in an anti-Obama rant.&#160; “Perhaps it’s because neither the Barack Obama campaign nor the media seem to understand what is at the heart of the anger on the part of women who feel that Hillary Clinton was treated unfairly because she is a woman or what is fueling the concern of Reagan Democrats for whom sexism isn’t an issue, but reverse racism is,” she wrote.</p>
<p>Ferraro made headlines in March when she told the Torrence, California newspaper, the Daily Breeze, “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position.” She later defended her comments by stating angrily, “I will not be discriminated against because I’m white.” She resigned from Clinton’s finance committee afterward but clearly reserves her right to articulate the clarion call of white racists—all in the name of feminism. “If you’re white you can’t open your mouth without being accused of being racist,” she argued in the Globe. “They [racist whites] see Obama’s playing the race card throughout the campaign and no one calling him for it as frightening… [W]hen he said in South Carolina after his victory ‘Our Time Has Come’ they believe he is telling them that their time has passed.”</p>
<p>One of Hillary Clinton’s scandal-ridden younger brothers, Tony Rodham, briefly escaped the DNC melee at a nearby Irish bar, where he seethed over a beer, as his pregnant wife and small children waited for him to finish. There, he told a Los Angeles Times reporter, “I’m just here to make sure Americans are represented by one vote for every person.” (Rodham apparently does not appreciate that most democracies require more than one candidate to appear on the ballot, in contrast to Michigan’s, where only Clinton’s name was on offer.)</p>
<p>Rodham described himself as a “yellow dog Democrat, all my life” while threatening, “If my sister doesn’t end up with the nomination, I gotta take a look at who I’m gonna vote for.” Lest there be any confusion about Rodham’s political motives, his commitment to women’s rights is highly suspect. His first wife, Nicole Boxer (daughter of California Senator Barbara Boxer) was forced to sue him in court last year to retrieve $158,000 in back alimony and child support payments he had failed to deliver since they parted ways. Nevertheless, he played a prominent role in Clinton’s fracas at the DNC, which consciously pitted the interests of ‘60s generation white feminists against the African-American candidate.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton’s entourage appeared to be above the fray on May 31st, hundreds of miles away, relishing victory in the Puerto Rican primary. But the Clintons were the key architects of the thinly veiled race-based campaign strategy that escalated when Hillary Clinton’s own presidential aspirations disintegrated after Iowa’s caucuses delivered victory to Obama in January. The Clintons appeared unable to gracefully relinquish control over the party apparatus that they have so ruthlessly abused over the last twenty-odd years. Indeed, they were barely able to conceal their outrage that the First Lady of the so-called “first black president” could be so easily upstaged by an actual Black presidential candidate.</p>
<p>Before embracing a classic “Southern strategy,” the Clintons seem to have paid close attention to polls such as one conducted by the Los Angeles Times in 2006 that reported only 34 percent of respondents said they could vote for a Muslim for president. Even prior to the January Iowa caucuses, at least two Clinton staffers forwarded an email reading, “Let us all remain alert concerning Obama’s expected presidential Candidacy. Please forward to everyone you know. The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the US from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level.” Clinton summarily fired the two staffers, yet the campaign theme remained, even as right-wing bloggers circulated rumors, as the Washington Post reported, claiming that Obama is “a ‘Muslim plant’ in a conspiracy against America, and that, if elected president, he would take the oath of office using a Koran, rather than a Bible.”</p>
<p>Indeed, when Clinton was asked on March 2nd in an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes whether she believes Obama is a Muslim, she replied, “No, no why would I — there’s nothing to base that on,” while adding suggestively, “as far as I know.” In contrast, John McCain chastised a radio host for repeatedly referring to “Barack Hussein Obama” during an interview. Clinton’s campaign denied leaking a widely circulated photo of Obama wearing a turban and also denied leaking a rumor that the young Obama had “spent at least four years in a so-called madrassa, or Muslim seminary, in Indonesia” to Insight, an online conservative magazine.&#160; Insight editors insist their source was the Clinton campaign. Opinion polls have reported in recent months that roughly one in ten U.S. voters erroneously believe that Obama is a practicing Muslim.</p>
<p>Moreover, a Pew Research Center survey released on March 27th showed that, while Obama has a highly favorable image among Democratic voters of all races, the breakdown shows his clear areas of demographic weakness. The report noted, “white Democrats who hold unfavorable views of Obama are much more likely than those who have favorable opinions of him to say that equal rights for minorities have been pushed too far; they also are more likely to disapprove of interracial dating, and are more concerned about the threat that immigrants may pose to American values. In addition, nearly a quarter of white Democrats (23%) who hold a negative view of Obama believe he is a Muslim.”</p>
<p>In early May, Hillary Clinton ventured into territory once limited to the likes of white supremacist George Wallace, telling USA Today that Obama’s support has been weak among “hard-working Americans, white Americans”—invoking the racist stereotype of “lazy” African-Americans embraced by the most reactionary section of the voting population. “There’s a pattern emerging here,” Clinton added, reinventing her waning campaign as a crusade for whites unable to stomach the prospect of voting for a Black presidential candidate.</p>
<p>In this process, Clinton has shifted the parameters of election year politics backwards by several decades–away from the most urgent issues facing voters, which include falling living standards, lack of healthcare and the Iraq war—to a debate over whether a Black person has a democratic right to become president over the persistent opposition of a minority of white racists who happen to be “swing voters.” She has deliberately stoked the mistaken and racist fear that Muslims threaten the principles of democracy.</p>
<p>Those pockets of racism are undeniable, and they continue to flourish in both so-called “Blue” and Red” states. And the Clintons have courted all of them, from Boston to West Virginia. While Hillary Clinton has undoubtedly been subjected to virulent sexism as she seeks to become president, the Obama campaign has played no role in contributing to it. In contrast, the Clintons must bear tremendous responsibility for embracing society’s most backward elements in their cold-blooded quest to move back into the White House.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>In a rare report on the uglier encounters faced by Obama campaigners, the Washington Post described on May 13th, “For all the hope and excitement Obama’s candidacy is generating, some of his field workers, phone-bank volunteers and campaign surrogates are encountering a raw racism and hostility that have gone largely unnoticed — and unreported — this election season. Doors have been slammed in their faces. They’ve been called racially derogatory names (including the white volunteers). And they’ve endured malicious rants and ugly stereotyping from people who can’t fathom that the senator from Illinois could become the first African American president.”</p>
<p>Tunkhannock Borough, Indiana Mayor Norm Ball wrote a letter to a local newspaper explaining his opposition to Obama with anti-Muslim racial stereotypes. “Barack Hussein Obama and all of his talk will do nothing for our country,” he wrote. “There is so much that people don’t know about his upbringing in the Muslim world. His stepfather was a radical Muslim and the ranting of his minister against the white America, you can’t convince me that some of that didn’t rub off on him. No, I want a president that will salute our flag, and put their hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office.”</p>
<p>Obama supporters in Kokomo, Indiana (an historic bulwark for the KKK) have been chased by dogs and treated to a steady stream of racist invective. Obama’s Vincennes office was vandalized on the eve of the Indiana primary, spray painted with slogans such as, “Hamas votes BHO” and “We don’t cling to guns or religion– Goddamn Wright” as they proved otherwise.</p>
<p>Obama supporter Ray McCormick, who is white, arrived at the crime scene and took photos. “I thought, this is a big deal,” he told the Washington Post. But when he notified the Obama campaign, he was told that the incident was not newsworthy. All told, Obama’s Indiana campaign offices received three bomb threats from disgruntled locals, but the campaign chose not to raise these as a campaign issue. Likewise, Obama’s response to claims that he is a practicing Muslim has been reduced to repeated denial, rather than a defense of one of the world’s largest religions, which is currently so disparaged in mainstream Western discourse. “Barack has never been a Muslim or practiced any other faith besides Christianity,” states one of his fact sheets.</p>
<p>Obama is innocent of Ferraro’s charge that he has played the “race card” during the primary season, but this is unfortunate. Obama’s reluctance to forcefully challenge racism on the campaign trail has allowed the Clinton campaign to make the “Southern strategy” respectable once again, emboldening the racist white minority—in stark contrast to majority opinion in this changing political climate. To be sure, there has been an anti-racist backlash against Clinton’s white supremacist supporters. Even in Indiana, Clinton barely scored a victory, with an unimpressive 51 to 49 percent, while Obama attracted a strong percentage of white voters.</p>
<p>Now, as Clinton faces the inevitability of failure in her quest for the presidency, she is floating the possibility of vice president on Obama’s ticket. He should give her a middle finger, after surveying the wreckage the Clinton campaign has left behind.</p>
<p>U.S. politics are at a potential turning point, in which a nation founded upon slavery, with racism ingrained in its very foundation, could finally begin to correct its hideous past. This process is long overdue. But realizing it requires a candidate willing to wage a frontal assault on the minority of white Americans from all social classes who still cling to racism—who the Clintons have consciously emboldened—while championing the civil rights of African-Americans, Muslims, Latinos and Asians victimized by the system.</p>
<p>SHARON SMITH is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1931859116/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Women and Socialism</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/193185923X/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Subterranean Fire: a History of Working-Class Radicalism in the United States</a>. She can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p><a href="" type="internal">Your Ad Here</a> &#160;</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Hillary’s Wreckage | true | https://counterpunch.org/2008/06/05/hillary-s-wreckage/ | 2008-06-05 | 4 |
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration removed 368,644 immigrants from the country during the most recent budget year, which ended in September, officials said Thursday.</p>
<p>Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director John Sandweg <a href="https://www.ice.gov/doclib/about/offices/ero/pdf/2013-ice-immigration-removals.pdf" type="external">reported</a> that 235,093 of those immigrants were arrested at or near the U.S. border, especially with Mexico, and that 133,551 of those individuals were apprehended in the U.S. interior.</p>
<p>ICE said that 59 percent of all the people who were deported during the most recent budget year had been convicted of a crime. The U.S. government counts people who have misdemeanor convictions, repeat immigration violations and undocumented border crossings for any reason as criminals, according to ICE documents.</p>
<p>This is the fewest number of immigrants deported by ICE since the end of President George W. Bush’s administration.</p>
<p>During the previous fiscal year for 2012, ICE removed more than 409,000 immigrants.</p>
<p>Sandweg said significant increases in the numbers of Central Americans arrested along the Mexican border led to the drop in deportations this year. He said those cases take more time.</p>
<p>The Border Patrol made more than 409,000 arrests at the border during the 2013 budget year that ended in September.</p>
<p>ICE has removed more than 1.9 million immigrants since 2009.</p>
<p>The issue of deportations has been of great concern this year to grassroots groups that support comprehensive immigration reform and want to keep families together.</p>
<p>Community groups and families have held rallies and protests nationwide, saying that deportations are separating families – and that these families are working and supporting the U.S. economy.</p>
<p>“Because Congress failed to act in 2013 on immigration reform, a cruel and un-American reality permeates thousands of communities nationwide. A climate of fear continues to reign in our communities, where interactions with local police can lead to a loved one becoming a statistic for next year’s ICE press release,” Angelica Salas, executive director of the <a href="http://www.chirla.org/" type="external">Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles</a>, said in a statement.</p>
<p>“It’s clear that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is working to focus its resources on deporting criminals. We are encouraged that a higher proportion of deportees had criminal convictions,” Ali Noorani, executive director of the <a href="http://www.immigrationforum.org/" type="external">National Immigration Forum</a>, said in a statement.</p>
<p>“But ICE is still removing people with no criminal record who are just trying to build a life in America — including tens of thousands this past year.”</p>
<p>In July, residents and grassroots groups along the U.S.-Mexico border held a rally to <a href="" type="internal">voice their concerns over safety for immigrants</a> and what they say has become the “militarization” of the region.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Equal Voice News contributed to this report.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Contact author</a></p>
<p>&#160;&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles</a>, <a href="" type="internal">deportation news</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Immigration and Customs Enforcement</a>, <a href="" type="internal">immigration news</a>, <a href="" type="internal">John Sandweg</a>, <a href="" type="internal">national immigration forum</a></p> | U.S. Government Deports 368,600 People in Fiscal 2013 | true | http://equalvoiceforfamilies.org/u-s-government-deports-368600-people-in-fiscal-2013/ | 4 |
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<p>From New England to heartland cities like Kansas City and along the West Coast, many thousands of demonstrators carried flags and anti-Trump signs, disrupting traffic and declaring that they refused to accept Trump’s triumph.</p>
<p>In Chicago, where thousands had recently poured into the streets to celebrate the Chicago Cubs’ first World Series victory in over a century, several thousand people marched through the Loop. They gathered outside Trump Tower, chanting “Not my president!”</p>
<p>Chicago resident Michael Burke said he believes the president-elect will “divide the country and stir up hatred.” He added there was a constitutional duty not to accept that outcome.</p>
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<p>A similar protest in Manhattan drew about 1,000 people. Outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in midtown, police installed barricades to keep the demonstrators at bay.</p>
<p>Hundreds of protesters gathered near Philadelphia’s City Hall despite chilly, wet weather. Participants — who included both supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who lost to Clinton in the primary — expressed anger at both Republicans and Democrats over the election’s outcome.</p>
<p>In Boston, thousands of anti-Trump protesters streamed through downtown, chanting “Trump’s a racist” and carrying signs that said “Impeach Trump” and “Abolish Electoral College.” Clinton appears to be on pace to win the popular vote, despite losing the electoral count that decides the presidential race.</p>
<p>The protesters gathered on Boston Common before marching toward the Massachusetts Statehouse, with beefed-up security including extra police officers.</p>
<p>A protest that began at the Minnesota State Capitol Tuesday night with about 100 people swelled at is moved into downtown St. Paul, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Protesters blocked downtown streets and traveled west on University Avenue where they shouted expletives about Trump in English and Spanish.</p>
<p>There were other Midwest protest marches in Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri.</p>
<p>In Des Moines, Iowa, hundreds of students walked out of area high schools at 10:30 a.m. to protest Trump’s victory, the Des Moines Register reported. The protests, which were coordinated on social media, lasted 15 to 45 minutes.</p>
<p>Marchers protesting Trump’s election chanted and carried signs in front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.</p>
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<p>Media outlets broadcast video Wednesday night showing a peaceful crowd in front of the new downtown hotel. Many chanted “No racist USA, no Trump, no KKK.”</p>
<p>Another group stood outside the White House. They held candles, listened to speeches and sang songs.</p>
<p>Dallas activists gathered by the dozens outside the city’s sports arena, the American Airlines Center.</p>
<p>In Oregon, dozens of people blocked traffic in downtown Portland, burned American flags and forced a delay for trains on two light-rail lines. Earlier, the protest in downtown drew several Trump supporters, who taunted the demonstrators with signs. A lone Trump supporter was chased across Pioneer Courthouse Square and hit in the back with a skateboard before others intervened.</p>
<p>Several thousand chanting, sign-waving people gathered in Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, California. A night earlier, in the hours after Trump won the election, Oakland demonstrators broke windows and did other damage.</p>
<p>In San Francisco, hundreds are marching along Market Avenue, one of the city’s main avenues, to join a vigil in the Castro District, a predominantly gay neighborhood.</p>
<p>In Los Angeles, protesters on the steps of City Hall burned a giant papier mache Trump head in protest, later, in the streets they whacked a Trump piñata.</p>
<p>Hundreds massed in downtown Seattle streets.</p>
<p>Many held anti-Trump and Black Lives Matter signs and chanted slogans, including “Misogyny has to go,” and “The people united, will never be defeated.”</p>
<p>Five people were shot and injured in an area near the protest, but police said the shootings and the demonstration were unrelated.</p>
<p>Back in New York, several groups of protesters caused massive gridlock as police mobilized to contain them under a light rain.</p>
<p>They held signs that read “Trump Makes America Hate” and chanted “hey, hey, ho, ho Donald Trump has got to go.” and “Impeach Trump.”</p> | Thousands protest Trump win around US | false | https://abqjournal.com/885678/donald-trumps-victory-sets-off-protests-on-both-coasts.html | 2016-11-09 | 2 |
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