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<p>Now, only about 8 percent of households have just landlines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.</p>
<p>More than 47 percent of American homes use only cellphones. About 42 percent have both.</p>
<p>A dozen years ago, a mere 3 percent of U.S. households used only cellphones. Given the trend, officials believe more than half of U.S. homes will be wireless within the next year.</p>
<p>"The tipping point is approaching," said CDC's Stephen Blumberg, the report's lead author.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The preliminary data is based on in-person interviews in more than 21,000 homes during the first six months of this year. The researchers found:</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online:</p>
<p>CDC report: <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/" type="external">http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/</a></p> | Nearly half of U.S. homes use cellphones only, shun landlines | false | https://abqjournal.com/683705/nearly-half-of-u-s-homes-use-cellphones-only-shun-landlines.html | 2 |
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<p>Aug. 25 (UPI) — Filmmaker Matt Reeves clarified on Twitter that his upcoming superhero film The Batman, takes place within Warner Bros.’ DC extended universe.</p>
<p>“Just to be clear: Of COURSE Batman will part of the D.C. Universe. Batman will be Batman,” Reeves <a href="https://twitter.com/mattreevesLA/status/900784577802678272" type="external">wrote</a> after an July interview he gave with podcast <a href="https://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/the-business/director-matt-reeves-on-war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes" type="external">The Business</a>, started gaining traction due to the director stating that The Batman is “a standalone,” that “isn’t part of the extended universe.”</p>
<p>Reeves’ earlier comments made headlines as Warner Bros. announced the creation of a new DC Comics film label that will stand apart from their ongoing extended universe starting with a Joker <a href="https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2017/08/23/Warner-Bros-announces-Joker-origin-film-produced-by-Martin-Scorsese/6401503491817/" type="external">origin film</a> produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by Todd Phillips.</p>
<p>The new DC Comics banner is being created to allow the studio to tell unique stories using different actors in the title roles. The DC extended universe includes films such as Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, the forthcoming Justice League and now The Batman, among others.</p>
<p>Jeez, what’d I miss, guys…?</p>
<p>Just to be clear: Of COURSE Batman will be part of the D.C. Universe. Batman will be BATMAN…</p>
<p>— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattreevesLA/status/900784577802678272" type="external">August 24, 2017</a></p>
<p>“In my comments from a while back about not being part of the DCEU, I was talking about The Batman being a story specifically about Batman,” Reeves <a href="https://twitter.com/mattreevesLA/status/900784804886568960" type="external">continued</a> on Twitter.</p>
<p>In my comments from a while back about not being part of the DCEU, I was talking about The Batman being a story specifically about Batman…</p>
<p>— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattreevesLA/status/900784804886568960" type="external">August 24, 2017</a></p>
<p>“Not about the others in the Universe. That it wouldn’t be filled with cameos servicing other stories — that it would be a BATMAN story,” he <a href="https://twitter.com/mattreevesLA/status/900784948025503745" type="external">said</a>.</p>
<p>…not about the others in the Universe. That it wouldn’t be filled with cameos servicing other stories — that it would be a BATMAN story.</p>
<p>— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattreevesLA/status/900784948025503745" type="external">August 24, 2017</a></p>
<p>The Batman currently has no release date and is set to star Ben Affleck as The Dark Knight. Recently, the actor’s brother Casey Affleck said Ben would not be returning to the role after Justice League however, a rep for Casey stated that he was “having fun” when he made <a href="https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2017/08/17/Rep-says-Casey-Affleck-was-having-fun-when-he-made-Batman-comment/9151502981510/" type="external">the comments</a> and was not “speaking from a place of firsthand knowledge.”</p>
<p>Casey’s comments came after Ben denied reports that he was ditching the Batman role days before he took the stage to present Justice League at Comic-Con. “Let me be clear. I’m the luckiest guy. Batman is the coolest [expletive] part in any universe, DC, Marvel,” Ben said during the event. “I am so thrilled to do it. I know there’s this misconception that because I’m not directing it, that maybe I wasn’t enthusiastic about it. It’s [expletive] amazing! I still can’t believe it after two films.”</p> | Director Matt Reeves confirms 'The Batman' is a part of the DC film universe | false | https://newsline.com/director-matt-reeves-confirms-the-batman-is-a-part-of-the-dc-film-universe/ | 2017-08-25 | 1 |
<p>In an apparent mixing of official messages, President Obama has contradicted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by rejecting the analogy that Mexico is becoming more and more like 1990s drug-heyday Colombia, when 40 percent of the country’s territory was controlled by rebel groups.</p>
<p>Mexico has adeptly responded to both politicians by claiming the only commonality between the two conflicts is the insatiable demand brought about by U.S. drug consumers. –JCL</p>
<p>The BBC:</p>
<p>President Obama has denied that rising violence is making Mexico more and more like Colombia at the height of its drugs war.</p>
<p />
<p>The remark is an apparent contradiction to comments made by his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>She said on Wednesday that the drug war in Mexico had begun to resemble the violence in Colombia 20 years ago.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11256477" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Mexico May Look a Little Colombian | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/mexico-may-look-a-little-colombian/ | 2010-09-10 | 4 |
<p>Christmas is coming. My e-mail has returned at least one plea to help Bethlehem – Christ’s birthplace crucified by Israel’s segregation wall; 25 foot-high concrete punctuated by militarized watch towers surrounds the entire town. PEACE BE WITH YOU reads a huge legend on the wall without (apparently) the slightest trace of irony; stenciled in English. Hebrew, and Arabic, it’s signed, ISRAELI MINISTRY OF TOURISM.</p>
<p>What lies beyond Bethlehem – the Bethlehem province or “governate,” – is equally shocking, though invisible to the casual visitor. According to a May, 2009, UN report, Bethlehem governate’s total land mass is 660 square kilometers, but only 13 per cent remains for Palestinians to use. The rest has vanished under the Greater Israel’s ever-expanding colonies and “outposts”; its ever-lengthening wall (declared illegal in 2004 by the International Court of Justice: Israel and its US backer have simply ignored the ruling); and Israel’s designation of most of Bethlehem’s region as “Area C”. (The Oslo Accords diced the West Bank into Areas “A” — Palestinian Authority (PA) rule; “B” –PA and Israel joint rule; and “C” – Israeli rule. Area C is 60 per cent of the West Bank).</p>
<p>Palestine’s Stop the Wall campaign, launched in 2002, has been waging nonviolent resistance here to retain and regain land – weekly demonstrations in the village Al Mas’ara, land-reclamation in other villages (clearing stones, preparing the land for planting, petitioning the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture for supplies and trees), and rallying a population exhausted by over three decades of “peace process” that has meant only land-theft for the Palestinians. Stop the Wall was launched by activists like 65-year-old Sharif Omar Khalid whose roots go back to Palestine’s Land Defense Committee (a nonviolent movement begun in 1980), and younger activists who cut their teeth organizing the first Intifada (1987-1990). 46-year-old Jamal Juma, the Campaign’s coordinator, says that when Israel began building the wall in 2002, he and other activists realized an unprecedented danger.</p>
<p>“We saw that this was a huge political project,” he commented this past October. “The whole country [Palestine] was under siege, all the villages . . . We [began] building a movement against the wall”. The campaign built popular committees in villages menaced by the wall. From 52 of these in 2005 it has consolidated into ten committees, governing a region (the Bethlehem region is one). The campaign can’t possibly cover the entire Palestinian population so it focuses on “hot spots” – places where the wall intrudes or is about to be extended, and land where settlers and soldiers harass villagers.</p>
<p>In a field near the village Artas, south of Bethlehem, stands a mammoth rectangle of cement surrounding two giant circles of piping. This was to be an Israeli sewage dump, part of a waste project servicing the Israeli colony Efrat and neighbor-colonies to Bethlehem’s south and west. Stop the Wall and Artas villagers are litigating against the sewer in Israel’s Supreme Court. The case is still pending.</p>
<p>60 apricot trees once grew where the cement and pipe sections now rise. They were on a trajectory leading straight through Artas’s 182-dunam green belt (a dunam is a little over a quarter-acre). Over twenty kinds of vegetables flourish in this rich agricultural matrix. Abu Swayk said it would all be destroyed by the sewage dump, the run-off cascading down and permeating the fertile land. As it stands, the sewage housing seems just a nibble into a small plot of land. But think: Israel wants to dump the colonists’ excrement where people once raised crops for their living. Moreover, since 1967 such “small” confiscations have been a motor force driving the Greater Israel – the Jewish state’s continuous expansion beyond its borders.</p>
<p>I remember the West Bank in the 80s when I reported here regularly. The landscape was Mediterranean, rippling with dry-wall terracing; olive trees’ silvery leaves billowed in the wind; fruit and nut trees and grape arbors etched darker greens against the grey of stones and taupe colors of earth. You could still see old Arab architecture in West Bank villages – beautiful pale stone with rounded arches over doors and windows; vaulted ceilings within homes. There were scattered colonies, but none of the sprawling suburbs and whole cities that slice and dice the region now.</p>
<p>Returning here in 2002 after a fourteen-year absence was like waking up in another country. The hills were freighted with bland, California-style urban sprawl buttressed by a vast prison network for containing the natives whose presence so annoys the Greater Israel — the wall in its early forms, huge holding-pens called “checkpoints,” mazes of other barriers, and Jewish-only super-highways that made me feel I was somewhere in New Jersey. The state of the villages was also a shock: Israel almost never lets Palestinians build beyond their urban limits, so Palestinian expansion can only be vertical. New, Palestinian multi-storey buildings, so different from the traditional one-to-two-storey village architecture, are as faceless – ugly, even – as the colonies.</p>
<p>Maps can tell you a lot about the extent – and design – of Israeli colonizing within the West Bank. (The colonies divide the land, isolating Palestinian urban centers: the wall is a mighty force in this and in de facto annexation of Israel’s colonies to the Jewish state.But nothing ever prepares you for really being there. At some point this past fall, having spent days in group taxis and cars scribbling down the names of colonies and Palestinian villages, trying to get some geographical hold, I finally understood: all my points of reference had vanished. The landscape I had known in the 1980s was gone. The West Bank’s very geography is under assault as surely as historic Palestine’s after 1948 when Israel destroyed over 500 Arab villages. What is here today can be “disappeared” tomorrow – the apricot field is one of thousands of cases.</p>
<p>When Israel announced it intended to build the sewer, Artas villagers protested that the waste project would destroy the region’s livelihood. In desperation they even suggested an alternate location on a nearby hillside. Israeli officials retorted that the hillside was to be “a nature reserve” (to date, the area remains stony and barren of trees); they added that it would be too expensive to build there. “This is not my problem, it’s yours, and you aren’t allowed on my land,” rejoined 36-year-old villager and Stop the Wall activist Awad Abu Swayk, whose family once owned hundreds of dunams in the region.</p>
<p>A protest by Stop the Wall activists, villagers, young Israeli and international sympathizers, began in May, 2007. Everyone camped in the threatened apricot field, sleeping there for eighteen days. They even tied themselves to the trees. “We were never less than 25 persons, sometimes 80,” Abu Swayk told me this past October. “But finally when they came around 3:30 in the morning of May 21, they blocked all the entrances to the area. They said it was a military zone.”</p>
<p>The Israeli military forbade any media. But an Israeli activist sneaked in a video camera, later producing an excellent documentary In the video*** you see two soldiers on the hilltop; then they’re close-up in the camera’s lens. One, a lean, smiling man in his late teens or early twenties, asks Abu Swayk, “How many people are sleeping here?” Abu Swayk: “If you’re civil and you aren’t dressed in uniform you can drink tea with us.” The young soldier grins: “I need to know how much time because it is not regular here.”</p>
<p>Very early the next morning the soldiers came and dragged the young Israelis off — they went limp as they were hauled away. A gigantic bulldozer gouged out swathes of the grove, tossing aside the lush trees with their fruit like so much trash. On the video all the carefully tilled earth disappears before your eyes; the entire grove lies heaped amidst boulders. An older villager in kuffiyeh and rusty black coat gazes with eyes full of tears. The villagers throw no stones; they utter no angry words. They sit, huddled and forlorn, mourning their fallen trees and ravaged earth.</p>
<p>The soldiers stand grinning and chatting. This is just routine – a joke, even. “Oh God!” screams Awad, “They destroyed our trees! I swear on almighty God we will return to plant the trees!” (Abu Swayk was arrested with other villagers: Youtube footage shows him being thrown to the ground and kicked).</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>This past October Abu Swayk took me to see the sewage mounting and the ruined plot of land. The apricot grove was about five of 120 dunams inherited by 53-year-old Mahmoud Yusef Kalawi from his father and grandfather, both full-time farmers. So far, beyond the five dunams destroyed for the sewer housing, Kalawi has lost nothing else, but last February Israel announced it was confiscating another 1771 dunams for the construction of a brand-new settlement. Kalawi’s 115 dunams are included. Stop the Wall has brought another suit in Israel’s Supreme Court and it bucks Kalawi up to continue farming.</p>
<p>During the Jewish holidays we found him in a plot adjacent to the land where the sewer housing rises. One of a small minority of Palestinians with permits to enter Israel, he works there six days a week as a builder, leaving home at 5:30 AM and returning at 8 PM. Sundays and Jewish holidays he works on his farm. In the late afternoon the sun was going down; sheep and goats browsed in the brush. Kalawi and his wife and children were preparing the terrain for planting. He has a deeply lined face that smiles readily and is full of good cheer – remarkable, given his ceaseless labor, the trauma of his loss, and his anxiety about the future..</p>
<p>On top of which, the Israeli military has continued harassing him. One day this past fall while he was bulldozing his land, soldiers appeared. Kalawi told me, “They took the number of the bulldozer, and said, ‘What are you doing here? Building? Digging a well?’ “(Israel forbids Palestinians to dig wells. Israel’s water-confiscation and rationing for Palestinians is a separate story. “‘I’m just planting as our people do,” he told the soldier. “You can see for yourselves we’re not building,’” Despite Kalawi’s pleas, the soldiers made him stop his work and stand in the sewer housing for an hour. Then they allowed him to go back to his labors, warning he should stay a hundred meters from the sewer.</p>
<p>After that, Bethlehem Stop the Wall members and internationals came to stay with him while he worked. Guarding people like him is imperative: so many others have left their land out of fear and exhaustion.&#160; Of course, this is what Israel wants. As Defense Minister Moshe Dayan once put it, “You Palestinians, as a nation, don’t want us today, but we’ll change your attitude by forcing our presence on you.” You will “live like dogs, and whoever will leave, will leave.” (Gershom Gorenberg, Accidental Empire, p.82).</p>
<p>By backing and helping farmers, bringing them services (bulldozers; plants; roads for accessing their fields) Stop the Wall makes life more bearable for some, persuading them not to leave, and expanding its base. The campaign also travels, trying to raise awareness and inspire energy. “We try to coordinate all the villages, go to the mosques,” said Abu Swayk, explaining the campaign’s efforts to arouse popular resistance. “Everywhere I go I say, ‘You have to be aware. You’re losing your land.’”</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Artas once had 13, 830 dunams of land. Israel has already confiscated 69 per cent of that for its colonies. If Stop the Wall were to fail in its litigation against the most recent confiscation, Artas would be left with only 18 per cent of its former wealth. Excavating the mountains for the settlement would create debris and havoc throughout the agricultural valley. “No more lettuce,” comments Abu Swayk. “No more onions, cucumbers, potatoes. Nothing will be in this valley.”</p>
<p>In the midst of loss, every defense, however small, is urgent. Two years since the apricot grove was destroyed, Abu Swayk has been able to keep his promise to replant the trees. Stop the Wall petitioned the PA Ministry of Agriculture to buy new ones for Kalawi: 65 have already been delivered. In early December another 65 will come.</p>
<p>Other victories: through litigation in 2007, Stop the Wall was able to prevent at least part of the wall from being built into Artas. In May, 2008, it raised money among Artas villagers to rent a bulldozer to clear a small dirt road so farmers could reach their land more easily. The PA Ministry of Agriculture is financing another such road; construction is due to start during the Christmas season. On November 22 an e-mail arrived from Mazin Qumsiyeh, who teaches at Bethlehem University announcing a victory on lands belonging to the village Um Salamuna, very near Artas: “[O]ver 150 Palestinians and internationals participated in an activity to reclaim and plant olive trees on a threatened hill in an area called Um Salamuna.&#160; Um Salamuna already lost significant amount of its land to colonial . . . settlements . . . The wall that includes the settlements has not been completed in this area and is slated to zig-zag to capture the hill we worked on. . . .”</p>
<p>Bethlehem’s Stop the Wall committee also plans to dig seven wells on Artas land lying next to the segregation wall. “We will go to court if the Israelis stop us.” What if the army comes? “I expect the army will destroy what we do. But we will do it two, three, four times. We will not stop.”</p>
<p>ELLEN CANTAROW, a Boston-based journalist, has written from Israel and the West Bank since 1979. This article is part two of a series, “ <a href="" type="internal">Heroism in a Vanishing Landscape</a>,”about non-violent Palestinian resistance to Israel’s occupation. She can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> Notes</p>
<p>For a comprehensive argument that land-seizure is meant not for “security,” but for expanding Israel’s borders, see this <a href="" type="internal">report by B’tselem</a>, an Israeli human rights organization.</p>
<p>For a description of Palestinian architectural restoration now underway in 50 villages see RIWAQ – Center for Architectural Conservation – <a href="http://www.riwaq.org/" type="external">www.riwaq.org</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Resistance in Bethlehem’s Villages | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/12/15/resistance-in-bethlehem-s-villages/ | 2009-12-15 | 4 |
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<p>RICHARDSON, Texas —&#160;Seventy-one Western New Mexico University student-athletes landed on the Lone Star Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll Tuesday. In order to be on the list, student-athletes had to have at least a 3.30 GPA at the end of the fall semester and be on a current team roster.</p>
<p>Twenty recorded a perfect 4.0 for the semester, with football putting the most on the list with 16. Below is a complete list of Mustangs that qualified for the award.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Western New Mexico lands 71 on Lone Star academic honor list | false | https://abqjournal.com/929597/western-new-mexico-lands-71-on-lone-star-academic-honor-list.html | 2 |
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<p>Every day, hundreds of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East are taking a 40-minute boat ride in inflatable rafts from Turkey to the vacation island paradise of Lesbos.</p>
<p>Lesbos is in the Aegean Sea and it is the third largest of the Greek islands.&#160;Authorities there say they are overwhelmed by huge numbers of migrants coming ashore. So far this month, around 4,500 have made the trip. The population of Lesbos is only about 86,000.</p>
<p>The boat trip is relatively short, but expensive. Smugglers are said to charge about $1000&#160;per person. And safe passage is far from guaranteed. The refugees must first evade Turkish coast guard ships to get across the waterway. Smugglers tell them to slash their rafts once they arrive on shore so they can’t be sent back by boat to where they came from.</p>
<p>At one beach on the northern shore of Lesbos, waves rolled over dozens of black, deflated rafts. Colorful life vests in adult and children’s sizes were scattered along the rocks. On Wednesday morning, the BBC’s Anna Holligan watched a boat arrive full of refugees at that spot.</p>
<p>“We saw 45 people come ashore,” Holligan says. “They scrambled over the rocks, the women and children and the babies first, and then, the men.”</p>
<p>Holligan says the children she saw were soaking wet. The inflatable rafts they had used were built to hold a maximum of just 15 passengers. The smugglers&#160;were sure to retrieve the engines from the rafts for future use.</p>
<p>Many of the refugees Holligan spoke with on Lesbos had originally come from the Syrian city of Aleppo, where fierce fighting continues to rage between government forces and a host of rebel groups. But some had come from as far away as Afghanistan and Pakistan. So many desperate people have arrived that authorities opened a new refugee camp to accommodate them.</p>
<p>It is nearly a 40-mile walk from this particular beach to the refugee camp and refugees usually have to make the trip by foot. Tourists who have picked up refugee families in their cars have been told not to and some have even been arrested for doing so, Holligan says.</p>
<p>People arriving on the beach have received no official assistance, only some food and water handed out by local volunteers. The newly arrived refugees are now in camps waiting for Greek authorities to process their paperwork. Most of them are hoping to travel to other parts of Europe.</p>
<p>The Greek financial crisis has not spared the refugees either. “Many of these people have sold their homes, sold their cars, and they do have money in the banks. But,” Holligan says, “the banks are closed because of the financial crisis. So, they can’t access their cash.</p>
<p>Tourists on holiday in Lesbos — this is near the peak of the summer holiday season —&#160;are also seeing the effects of the refugee crisis:</p>
<p />
<p /> | The Greek island of Lesbos is being overwhelmed by refugees | false | https://pri.org/stories/2015-07-08/greek-island-lesbos-being-overwhelmed-refugees | 2015-07-08 | 3 |
<p>Expanding on its popular high-yield low-volatility strategy, Invesco PowerShares launched two new multi-factor-based exchange traded funds that combine high dividends and low instability features. The PowerShares S&amp;P International Developed High Dividend Low Volatility Portfolio (BATS: IDHD) and PowerShares S&amp;P SmallCap High Dividend Low Volatility Portfolio (BATS: XSHD) began trading Thursday. Both new funds come with… <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2016/12/powershares-expands-on-popular-high-yield-low-volatility-etf-line/" type="external">Click to read more at ETFtrends.com. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | PowerShares Expands on Popular High-Yield, Low-Volatility ETF Line | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/01/powershares-expands-on-popular-high-yield-low-volatility-etf-line.html | 2016-12-01 | 0 |
<p>I attended a townhall on Saturday, August 17, 2013 in Ithaca, NY, held&#160;by Republican Congressman <a href="http://www.tomreedforcongress.com/" type="external">Tom Reed</a> (NY-23).</p>
<p>Reed is a “moderate” Republican. On immigration he’s against a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens, but open to a pathway to citizenship for “Dreamers” and some manner of legal status for illegals.</p>
<p>I arrived fairly early for the 8 a.m. start time, and the first few rows already were taken up by pro-immigration reform supporters, carrying signs from the&#160;Amnesty International&#160;and a union group.</p>
<p>Questions had to be submitted in writing (although as it developed, there was a lot of give and take with the audience).</p>
<p>The first question was about immigration, and the moderator from Reed’s staff indicated that there were multiple questions along the same lines — what would happen to the American citizen children of undocumented immigrants if the parents were deported, and would Reed be willing to adopt such children.</p>
<p>“An estimated 5 million U.S. citizen children have an undocumented parent.&#160; Guest worker programs do not keep those families together.&#160; Do you believe these parents should be deported, and if so, do you believe their U.S. citizen kids should be put in foster care or get deported too.&#160; Would you consider adopting one of those kids?</p>
<p>It was at once a brilliant and ridiculous question, supposing that the problem is enforcement of the law not the person who broke the law to come here and later had children. It also supposes that the parent would leave the child behind in the U.S. — what kind of parent would do that?</p>
<p>Reed appeared surprised by the question, and basically deflected it by joking that he’d have to run it by his wife and restating his position on amnesty:</p>
<p />
<p>The woman who asked the question was carrying an&#160;Amnesty International&#160;sign, and indicated that&#160;she advocated a comprehensive immigration reform that&#160;“preserve[s] family unity rather than tearing families apart” ( <a href="http://youtu.be/9qqzPE2e80w" type="external">video interview here</a>).</p>
<p>There also was a tracker from the New York State Democratic Party filming the whole thing. I approached her after the session to ask whether she would be sharing the video with the campaign of Reed’s Emily’s List-backed opponent, Martha Robertson, but she declined to answer other than to insist that she was there on behalf of the NYS Democratic Party.</p>
<p>(Tom Reed Town Hall – NYS Democratic Party Tracker – wearing black)</p>
<p>After the session I thought to myself, clearly the question was part of an organized effort, otherwise why would multiple people submit the same question? But I didn’t think it was that big a deal, maybe some local activists.</p>
<p>Then today I saw this article at BuzzFeed about a town hall held by Tennessee Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais, <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/young-girl-tells-republican-congressman-her-father-is-an-und" type="external">Young Girl Tells Republican Congressman Her Father Is An Undocumented Immigrant</a>:</p>
<p>“I have a dad, and he’s undocumented, what can I do so that he can stay with me,” the young girl asks.</p>
<p>“Thank you for being here and thank you for coming forward and speaking this is a big intimidating crowd and appreciate you coming forward and asking your question but the answer still kinda remains the same. We have laws, and we need to follow those laws and ya know, that’s where we’re at,” the Congressman said to applause.</p>
<p />
<p>That same video is being circulated by groups sites like <a href="http://progressivepopulist.org/2013/08/17/tennessee-republican-rejects-trembling-little-girls-request-for-help-at-town-hall-meeting-video/" type="external">Progressive Populist</a>, which describes the little girl as “trembling” and asserts that she is in therapy due to the deportation:</p>
<p>Josie’s father is currently in deportation proceedings and she is undergoing therapy to deal with the anxiety.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/18/1231989/-Tennessee-Republican-tells-frightened-girl-her-father-must-be-deported-Tea-Party-crowd-cheers#" type="external">Daily Kos</a> also hyped that the girl was “scared.”</p>
<p>The light bulb went on.</p>
<p>It couldn’t be coincidence that in two townhalls, almost a thousand miles apart, similar questions were asked within days of each other meant to make the Republican look heartless to some young child for the possible break up of a family due to deportation of an illegal immigrant parent.</p>
<p>Some quick research revealed similar questions were asked at a town hall held by Paul Ryan, via <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/paul-ryan-lays-out-immigration-proposals-in-racine-town-hall-b9962573z1-217134531.html" type="external">JSOnline</a> (via <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2013/07/27/paul-ryan-faces-immigration-questions-in-townhall-meeting/" type="external">Hot Air</a>):</p>
<p>Coming face-to-face with activists, immigrants and the children of undocumented immigrants, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan on Friday laid out his proposals to achieve a consensus in Congress and push through long-sought reform of the nation’s immigration laws….</p>
<p>…. Another “dreamer,” Valeria Ruiz, 17, of Racine, prodded the congressman on deportations that divide families.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151624546553853&amp;set=a.360545043852.152911.310264703852&amp;type=1&amp;relevant_count=1" type="external">Facebook page</a> of <a href="http://vdlf.org/" type="external">Voces de la Frontera</a>, a Wisconsin&#160;anti-deportation group, the precise question to Ryan was:</p>
<p>&#160;“What are you going to do to stop the separation of families, for those of us that live in fear everyday due to unjust deportations.”</p>
<p>Earlier in July, Representative Bob Goodlatte confronted similar questions at a town hall, via <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-03/goodlatte-open-to-citizenship-for-undocumented-youth.html" type="external">Bloomberg</a> (h/t <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/07/03/republican_congressmen_agree_young_adorable_illegal_immigrants_might_get.html" type="external">Dave Weigel</a>):</p>
<p>A key House Republican in the debate over revising immigration policy said he would consider offering some young people brought illegally to the U.S. as children a chance to become citizens.</p>
<p>House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte made the comments at a town hall meeting last night in Lynchburg, Virginia, following a teary plea from a 16-year-old high school student whose parents are undocumented immigrants.</p>
<p>“People like you should be addressed,” Goodlatte told Dulce Elias, who said she came to the U.S. from Mexico as a 3-year-old. “Maybe for someone like you,” legislation “could include a path to citizenship,” he said.</p>
<p>Even where there is no direct question about deporting parents, groups like <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2013/08/12/2449661/gop-congressman-supports-legalizing-undocumented-youths/" type="external">Think Progress</a> are spinning Republican positions on immigration using the same theme of deporting parents:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>There probably are many other examples that just don’t get picked up on the mainstream media — like my experience at Tom Reed’s town hall.</p>
<p>And sure enough, none of this is coincidence.</p>
<p>The “Don’t Deport My Dad” theme (and variations on it) has been developing for months.&#160;&#160; For Father’s Day 2013, a <a href="http://dontdeportmydad.org/" type="external">Don’t Deport My Father</a> website was launched&#160;by various community organizing groups.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>There were <a href="http://www.weareoneamerica.org/blog/jun-13/dont-deport-my-dad-fathers-day-vigils-immigration-reform" type="external">vigils organized</a> and <a href="http://youtu.be/kwOOU8jl5Lo" type="external">rallies</a> in various states, and even&#160;a <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/don-t-deport-my-dad" type="external">Don’t Deport My Dad</a> petition at Change.org.&#160; The <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yyYefG9UX7IJ:acluidaho.org/dont-deport-dad/+&amp;cd=11&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us" type="external">ACLU</a> highlighted the movement as did <a href="http://www.cwsglobal.org/newsroom/news-releases/dont-deport-my-dad-speak.html" type="external">Church World Service</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.aft.org/getinvolved/immigration/index.cfm" type="external">American Federation of Teachers</a>&#160;is organizing groups to attend town halls on the issue of deportation of family members, and presumably other groups are as well.</p>
<p>There are numerous Don’t Deport My Dad type videos uploaded to YouTube, including this one uploaded a few days ago by the website <a href="http://action.dreamactivist.org/california/teodulfo#sthash.d25IRDBX.gbpl" type="external">Dream Activist</a>:</p>
<p />
<p>Although Don’t Deport My Dad seems to predominate, there also are <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/girl-wears-dont-deport-mom-t-shirt-she-photo-165953057.html" type="external">Don’t Deport My Mom</a> activities too:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>The theme is being picked up by Democratic Congressmen, like Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), <a href="http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/314873-children-brought-into-united-states-illegally-refuse-to-leave-their-parents-behind" type="external">Children brought into United States illegally refuse to leave their parents&#160; behind</a></p>
<p>It’s about the more than 5,000 U.S. citizen children who are currently living&#160; with strangers in foster care because their parents were deported.</p>
<p>For their sake and for the sake of millions of other families, we need fair and&#160; just immigration reform. Legislative proposals that separate Dreamers from their&#160; parents and siblings are contrary to our American values and create an uncertain&#160; future for these young people if their parents are deported.</p>
<p>There is a reason why Democrats and supportive groups which want all-out amnesty for everyone are so focused on the issue of family unification.</p>
<p>If it takes just a single person in a family having legal status to avoid deportation of the entire family, amnesty supporters will have found a back-door way to bring in almost everyone on “humanitarian” grounds. Indeed, the <a href="" type="internal">Senate Gang of 8 Bill</a> has extensive family reunification provisions.</p>
<p>A fear on the Democratic side is that the position being espoused by Republicans of being sympathetic to the plight of “Dreamers” not only sounds too reasonable to too many people, it deprives Democrats of the sweeping amnesty they want.&#160; <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/07/03/republican_congressmen_agree_young_adorable_illegal_immigrants_might_get.html" type="external">Dave Weigel</a> writes at Slate.com:</p>
<p>It’s a beautiful thing, the birth of a talking point. As they fan out across their districts taking questions from constituents, Republicans are largely avoiding the sort of chaos that dogged Democrats in 2009. (The surge of angry citizens at that summer’s town hall meetings dragged down support for Obamacare more than the party wanted to admit.) But they are encountering young, sympathetic people who ask whether the government wants to deport them. The answer is universal: Hey, you guys might OK….</p>
<p>From southeast Texas, in the district that was shored up for Rep. Blake Farenthold after redistricting:</p>
<p>“There are some people facing deportation that were brought here as very young children, they speak only English, they’re the victims,” he said. “We’ve spent all this money educating them, we need their productivity.”</p>
<p>The Congressman said he also supports an end to “birthright citizenship” — the notion that anyone born on U.S. soil is automatically a citizen — as a way of slowing down “chain immigration.”</p>
<p>That last bit isn’t part of the the messaging, but no matter— here’s how Republicans are trying to short-circuit the emotionally powerful appeal of DREAMers and young ‘uns.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/08/16/happy-hour-roundup-170/" type="external">Greg Sargent</a> at The Washington Post, who is very attuned to the Democratic Party strategies, writes that the Republican tactic is unacceptable and a risk to Democrats:</p>
<p>The preferred option for some Republicans — create a path to citizenship only for the DREAMers — wouldn’t even begin to grapple with this question for the rest of the 11 million.</p>
<p>The Democrats want those 11 million new voters.&#160; And if it means sending young children to townhalls to ask “Why do you want to deport my daddy?,” then that’s what will be done.</p>
<p>And there will be trackers at every event waiting for a Republican to flub the answer.</p>
<p>Related post: <a href="" type="internal">American Bridge to follow even more Republicans around in 2014 and 2016</a>.</p> | Townhall Tactic 2013: Why do you want to deport my daddy? | true | http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/08/townhall-tactic-2013-why-do-you-want-to-deport-my-daddy/ | 2013-08-18 | 0 |
<p>The support that Donald Trump gets from the allegedly Christian faithful has always been peculiar and illustrative of a unique brand of hypocrisy. Trump may be the most flagrantly irreligious person to ever occupy the White House. He insists that he <a href="" type="internal">doesn’t have to ask</a> God’s forgiveness because he doesn’t do anything wrong. He can’t cite a single bible verse when asked, and can’t explain the ones that are inserted into his prepared speeches. And his entire agenda goes against everything that the historical Jesus stands for.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NewsCorpse/posts/2095159170498867" type="external" /></p>
<p>On this Easter Sunday, Trump, wife Melania, and nearly forgotten daughter Tiffany, attended church near his Mar-A-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. On the way into this holiest of holidays service, Trump stopped to answer a few question from reporters. Everyone knows by now that the truth is a foreign concept to this president. But outside of church, prior to a celebration of one’s savior rising from the dead, ought to cause one to think twice before lying to the entire nation – again. But not Trump. Replying to a question about DACA (video below) he said that…</p>
<p>“A lot of people are coming in because they want to take advantage of DACA. And we’re gonna have to see. They had a great chance. The Democrats blew it. They had a great, great chance. But we’ll have to take a look.”</p>
<p>Either Trump still has no idea what DACA is or he simply doesn’t care about spewing obvious falsehoods. It’s a given that his supporters won’t catch the lies in that comment, but God probably will. First of all, DACA recipients must have been living in the U.S. continuously since 2007, and had to be sixteen or younger when they entered. No new arrivals would be covered by DACA or any of the immigration bills Republicans in Congress have already rejected.</p>
<p>As for those bills, after originally saying he would sign whatever bipartisan legislation Congress sent him, he reversed himself and refused to back any of the congressional bills. So it wasn’t Democrats who “blew” their chance. They cooperated with their colleagues, but Trump reneged on his promise. And it should not go unnoticed that it was Trump who killed DACA in the first place and he could reinstate it at any time if he wanted to. Earlier in the day Trump tweeted some of the same lies about DACA that he told the reporters at church:</p>
<p />
<p>In addition to his misrepresentation of Democrats and DACA, the President referred to a “Catch and Release” law that doesn’t actually exist. If the border patrol isn’t allowed to do its job, it’s because of Trump, to whom they report. And Trump’s choice of Easter as the day to proclaim that the DACA deal is dead confirms his callous insensitivity. Then there’s his curious talk about “caravans” of immigrants pouring into the country, which was totally unsubstantiated. Plus, it was taken <a href="https://twitter.com/MattGertz/status/980449691103059968" type="external">verbatim from Fox and Friends</a> forty minutes earlier. And the good Lord knows that Fox News can’t be trusted to tell the truth either. Case in point, they posted this tweet Easter morning:</p>
<p />
<p>Let’s set aside that this is hardly a newsworthy scoop that Fox had to rush out to their dimwitted audience. Or that they didn’t post any <a href="https://twitter.com/NancyPelosi/status/980472804608004096" type="external">tweets of Nancy Pelosi</a> or other Democrats wishing everyone a Happy Easter. What’s interesting about this is that the photo is of <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/04/white-house-easter-egg-roll-crowd-size-problem" type="external">the Trump Klan on Easter of 2017</a>. Apparently Fox News couldn’t find a picture of the Trumps celebrating the holiday this year (because there isn’t one), so they dredged up an old one to make it look like Trump was joining America in this year’s celebration.</p>
<p>Most of the country is already aware of – and fed up with – the lying from both Trump and Fox News. But if you thought that they might refrain from being so shamelessly dishonest on this of all days, you would be wrong. They have no shame, and they obviously don’t care who knows it.</p>
<p>How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QSSMOES/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00QSSMOES&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=newscorpsecom-20&amp;linkId=TLI6JC2OYE22MUTS" type="external">Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.</a> Available now at Amazon.</p>
<p /> | Hellbound? Donald Trump Blatantly Lies Before Entering His Easter Sunday Church Service | true | http://newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p%3D9179 | 4 |
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<p />
<p>Image source: Amazon.com.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Move over, Facebook . Amazon.com just passed you to become the sixth largest U.S. company by market cap.</p>
<p>The two megacaps have both grown substantially larger over the past year. Amazon's stock price is up over 50% over the trailing 12 months. Facebook's is up 45%. Both companies have a market cap of around $340 billion, with Amazon now edging out Facebook by a couple of billion dollars.</p>
<p>But to achieve a market cap higher than Facebook's, Amazon investors are paying higher earnings and cash flow multiples for its stock. That means they're betting Amazon will grow more in the future, so let's look at the growth prospects for each company.</p>
<p>Both Amazon and Facebook are taking larger shares of increasingly larger markets. Facebook is one of the biggest sources for digital ad inventory, particularly on mobile. Meanwhile, Amazon is double-dipping in the hypergrowth industries of e-commerce and cloud computing.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Research company eMarketer expects global e-commerce sales to more than double from 2015 to 2019, reaching $3.58 trillion that year. Additionally, e-commerce will grow from 7.4% of all retail in 2015 to 12.8% in 2019. In North America, where Amazon is most dominant, e-commerce is expected to grow 58% from 2015 to 2019 to account for 9.6% of all North American retail.</p>
<p>Not only is e-commerce growing, but Amazon is also taking a larger share of the market. Competing online retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart grew their online sales 23% and 7%, respectively, in the first quarter. Amazon, comparatively, grew its sales 27% in North America and 26% internationally.</p>
<p>IDC forecasts that spending on public cloud services will double between 2015 and 2019 to reach $141 billion. Platform and infrastructure as a service -- the areas where Amazon participates -- will grow even faster than the overall market, with expected five-year growth rates of 30.6% and 27%, respectively.</p>
<p>Amazon has a commanding lead in the market over its biggest competitors, Google and Microsoft. A recent note from Citigroup analysts reported that Amazon will be able to maintain or even grow that lead over time. "AWS maintains the largest scale and breadth of product offerings of cloud providers with a revenue base that enables it to invest well above Azure and Google. This will likely protect its market position."</p>
<p>For its part, Facebook is also gaining share in a growing market. Digital advertising is forecast to grow 12.1% annually over the next five years. That digital-advertising growth skews toward mobile and social, the areas Facebook dominates. Mobile ad spend in the U.S. surpassed desktop last year, and it's expected to account for 70% of digital ad spend in 2019. U.S. mobile display advertising is expected to more than double from 2015 to 2019.</p>
<p>Both companies are poised to continue growing revenue at a strong pace simply by virtue of secular industry growth. Each of the three markets Facebook and Amazon operate in could easily double over the next five years, and both Facebook and Amazon ought to outpace the industry growth. Investors are expecting even stronger earnings growth based on their valuations.</p>
<p>Facebook currently trades for 33.3 times analysts' earnings expectations for 2016. Amazon trades for a whopping 135 times expected earnings. On a free cash flow basis, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' preferred metric, the two companies are much more closely valued. Facebook trades for 50.4 times free cash flow over the trailing 12 months, and Amazon trades for 53.8 times free cash flow.</p>
<p>Investors willingness to pay such a high earnings multiple for Amazon, is understandable given the potential growth of its cloud platform and margin expansion in its retail segment. Facebook, comparatively, will probably see its margins decline as it grows its investments in video, virtual reality, and increasing connectivity while expanding into lower-margin areas such as its Audience Network, which requires it to split ad revenue with publishers.</p>
<p>So, while Amazon's revenue growth will produce similar, if not better, margins and cash flow than what it's seeing today, Facebook will find it difficult to maintain its high operating margin going forward -- <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/02/10/facebook-is-making-billions-but-it-doesnt-care-abo.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">management even made a note of it Opens a New Window.</a> at the end of last year.</p>
<p>So Amazon deserves a higher price tag than Facebook, although both are great stocks to own.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/06/is-amazon-really-worth-more-than-facebook.aspx" type="external">Is Amazon Really Worth More Than Facebook? Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/adamlevy/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Adam Levy Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Amazon.com. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon.com and Facebook. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft. 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> | Is Amazon Really Worth More Than Facebook? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/06/06/is-amazon-really-worth-more-than-facebook.html | 2016-06-06 | 0 |
<p>What’s next? He was secretly for NAFTA, the Paris Climate Deal, the TPP the whole time and will soon see a complete surrender on those too?</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Trump Visits California</a></p>
<p>This amnesty “that is not amnesty” being talked about is a <a href="https://amgreatness.com/2017/09/14/amnesty-deal-huge-win-trump-foes/" type="external">huge win for the globalists</a>:</p>
<p>If President Trump reverses his campaign promises and supports a DACA amnesty then within the span of a few days he would do to himself what the combined efforts of the Democratic National Committee, the Republican establishment, the Clinton campaign, and an openly hostile media couldn’t do: knee-cap his presidency and separate himself from his base.</p>
<p>Amnesty is where Republican careers go to die. Just ask Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) whose own 2016 presidential run was stillborn because he backed the 2012 “Gang of Eight” amnesty bill after promising voters in 2010 he would do no such thing.</p>
<p>Guess who offered Marco the apple back in 2012? Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). The same Chuck Schumer who is in the process of leading another electorally successful Republican to break faith with his base. But this time it’s the president.</p>
<p>Little did Democrats or establishment Republicans know that in order to separate Trump from the people who elected him, all they had to do was send a New York Democrat to pitch an amnesty bill. Think of all the wasted ink, the needless declamations, and sundry accusations. There was no need for James Comey’s public agonizing or Robert Mueller’s unfettered investigation or the phony Russian hacking and collusion story: just encourage the president to do to himself what his opponents could never do to him. Finesse is often more powerful than force.</p>
<p>Democrats Crow, Internet Explodes Of course, no one expected that Barack Obama’s unconstitutional Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program could be Trump’s Achilles heel. Trump used to understand the politics of immigration on the Right. In 2013 he tweeted “Amnesty is suicide for Republicans. Not one of those 12 million who broke our laws will vote Republican. Obama is laughing at @GOP.” If Trump goes for this deal, Chuck Schumer will be laughing at Trump.</p>
<p>Emerging from a dinner Wednesday night at the White House, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) crowed they had reached an amnesty deal with Trump. The Internet exploded: Trump’s detractors discovered in him some previously unseen virtue while his supporters reacted to the whiff of betrayal. Then came the half-hearted backpedaling, then the non-denial-denials, and finally the double-talk and dissembling from the White House.</p>
<p>The president took to Twitter to promise that in exchange for amnesty we’ll get “BIG border security.” He also asked his supporters to believe that “The WALL, which is already under construction in the form of new renovation of old and existing fences and walls, will continue to be built.” Really? The Wall is already under construction? Hours later, the president confirmed Schumer’s version of the story, saying “The Wall will come later…”</p>
<p>That’s why when CNN reports that a White House spokesman says the Trump Administration “will not discuss amnesty” but “what they will discuss is a responsible path forward,” we all get the joke. When a politician promises that “it’s not amnesty” you can be sure it’s amnesty.</p>
<p>We’ve all heard these arguments before and they’re always the same. The open-borders crowd is always willing to promise money and enforcement in the future for amnesty today. That’s what they’re offering again, but they’re hoping Trump can sell it to the Republican base.</p>
<p>If the president backs a DACA amnesty—as he seems to have indicated he will—then he will have divorced himself from everything that became known as Trumpism. Within a very short time, he will have gone from an America First foreign policy and building the wall to more war in Afghanistan and open borders. Perhaps next we will learn that he has always secretly supported NAFTA.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Trump’s Alleged Amnesty Deal Would be a Huge Win for Globalists | true | https://spartareport.com/2017/09/trumps-alleged-amnesty-deal-huge-win-globalists/ | 2017-09-15 | 0 |
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<p />
<p>His publisher, Penguin Random House Ireland, announced his death but did not provide additional details.</p>
<p>Trevor had lived in England since the mid-1950s, settling eventually in a secluded mill in the countryside of Devon, but considered himself “Irish in every vein.”</p>
<p>Although his work occasionally touched on Irish politics, Trevor wrote mainly of pain and suffering experienced in the towns and countrysides of Ireland and England – of “backward villages,” as the critic Stephen Schiff once characterized this “Trevor Territory” in the New Yorker, “with narrow streets full of dogs and bicycles and small boys and nuns, and, here and there, the odd dwarf or sex-crazed town simpleton.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Trevor wrote 15 novels, a handful of plays and scores of stories – enough to fill two volumes and 1,800 pages in a 2009 edition of his collected tales.</p>
<p>His novels – among them the Man Booker Prize finalists “Mrs. Eckdorf in O’Neill’s Hotel” (1969), “The Children of Dynmouth” (1976), “Reading Turgenev” (1991) and “The Story of Lucy Gault” (2002) – often featured multiple protagonists and unreliable narrators, and were set against a backdrop of Irish religious conflict between working-class Catholics and Protestant gentry.</p>
<p>Born into a Protestant family that frequently moved, Trevor said that as a child he often found himself as an outsider in the Irish towns where he grew up. He worked for more than a decade as a sculptor and teacher before turning fully to writing in his mid-30s.</p>
<p>He was driven to write, he told The New York Times, because his sculptures had become “increasingly abstract. Some part of me missed people.”</p>
<p>Stories, which Trevor often described as literary “glimpses,” were in his hands a way to burrow into the lives of individuals and their relationships with one another, if only for a few pages.</p>
<p>More often than not, his subjects were lowlifes: criminals and tricksters and poor lonely-hearts at insane asylums, public schools and churches whose relationships had failed or were failing. He told their stories with a scrupulous aversion to cant and cliche, and with an eye for detail not unlike that of fellow Irishman James Joyce.</p>
<p>Trevor’s early story collection “Angels at the Ritz” (1975), the novelist Graham Greene once wrote, was “one of the best collections, if not the best since James Joyce’s ‘Dubliners’ ” was published in 1914.</p>
<p>In “An Evening Out,” a story from Trevor’s collection “A Bit on the Side” (2004), a lonely woman employs a group called the Bryanston Square Introduction Bureau to meet someone for conversation. Her “date,” a photographer, turns out to be uninterested in her life. And why would he, she thinks, recalling one of several disappointments in her life:</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Why should anyone be interested in her rejection more than twenty years ago of someone she had loved? Why should anyone be interested in knowing that she had done so, it seemed now, for no good reason beyond the shadow of doubt there’d been? A stranger would not see the face that she still saw, or hear the voice she heard; or understand why, afterwards, she had wanted no one else; or hear what, afterwards, had seemed to be a truth – that doubt played tricks in love’s confusion.”</p>
<p>William Trevor Cox was born in Mitchelstown, a dairy town in southern Ireland, on May 24, 1928. He recalled that his mother and father, a bank official whose job led the family to move frequently, did not get along and eventually separated.</p>
<p>Trevor finished secondary school in Dublin, where he also studied history at Trinity College, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1950. He taught history in Northern Ireland before an economic downturn in the region led him to move to England.</p>
<p>It was while working as a copywriter at a London advertising agency that Trevor began writing again, working on his first novel – the comedy “A Standard of Behavior” (1958) – amid downtime at work. He later disowned the book, telling the Paris Review that it was “really a fragment which was written for profit when I was very poor.”</p>
<p>His second novel, written at the encouragement of an editor who had seen some of his stories in the London Magazine and the Transatlantic Review, was “The Old Boys” (1964), about a group of petty men in a school alumni organization.</p>
<p>The work was a critical and commercial success – Trevor subsequently adapted it into a BBC TV special – that enabled him to quit his job and leave London for the country, where he said he sought the distance from society that would enable him to do his best work.</p>
<p>“The great challenge in writing is always to find the universal in the local, the parochial,” he told the Times. “And to do that, one needs distance.”</p>
<p>Trevor’s later books included the novels “Other People’s Worlds” (1980) and “Fools of Fortune” (1983), later adapted into a film, about an Irish family during that country’s war of independence. His story collections included “Lovers of Their Time” (1978), “Beyond the Pale” (1981) and “After Rain” (1997).</p>
<p>Many of his books were dedicated to his wife, the former Jane Ryan, whom he married in 1952. Besides his wife, survivors include two sons.</p>
<p>Trevor, an Irish citizen, earned an honorary title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1977 and received an honorary knighthood in 2002.</p>
<p>He insisted for many years that short stories, despite their brevity, were as significant as novels – perhaps more so.</p>
<p>“If the novel is like an intricate Renaissance painting,” he told the Paris Review, “the short story is an impressionist painting. It should be an explosion of truth. Its strength lies in what it leaves out just as much as what it puts in, if not more. It is concerned with the total exclusion of meaninglessness. Life, on the other hand, is meaningless most of the time. The novel imitates life, where the short story is bony, and cannot wander. It is essential art.”</p>
<p>trevor-obit</p> | Irish author was known for his darkly humorous tales | false | https://abqjournal.com/893902/irish-author-was-known-for-his-darkly-humorous-tales.html | 2 |
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<p>Via Mother Jones</p>
<p>Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/ted-yoho-cliff-stearns" type="external">will likely lose</a> his primary election to tea partier Ted Yoho. &#160;Stearns was a consistent and vocal opponent of Planned Parenthood launching the <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/fallout-over-komens-planned-parenthood-decision" type="external">congressional investigation</a> into their funding which lead to the <a href="" type="internal">Komen Foundation fiasco</a> earlier this year. &#160;Stearns had a &#160;significant fundraising advantage over Yoho but still looks primed to lose a close race <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/florida-primary-shocker-cliff-stearns-long-career-may-be-finished-newcomer-ted-yoho" type="external">after 12 terms in the House</a>.</p>
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<p>The loss for Stearns isn’t a win for Democrats who will still likely lose in the mostly Republican district. &#160;Replacing Stearns with a tea party candidate is certainly not a positive thing either. &#160;That said, it’s worth noting Stearns’ loss because of his high profile attacks on Planned Parenthood. &#160;Apparently, launching congressional investigations&#160;did not help him win a Republican primary. &#160;</p>
<p>Looks like voters – even Republican primary voters in Florida – have more pressing concerns than a Planned Parenthood witch hunt.</p> | Planned Parenthood foe likely loser in Florida primary | true | http://feministing.com/2012/08/15/planned-parenthood-foe-likely-loser-in-florida-primary/ | 4 |
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<p>That decision meant that the U.S. regulator missed its best chance to foil the German carmaker's deception early on. The portable emissions measurement systems that EPA pioneered might have subjected VW diesel cars to on-road tests and discovered they were spewing up to 40 times the allowable levels of key pollutant nitrogen oxide under normal driving conditions.</p>
<p>Without that test, VW was virtually home free and evaded detection for seven years.</p>
<p>"If EPA had used the technology back then (on diesel cars), we could have caught it," said Margo Oge, who was director of the EPA's office of Transportation and Air Quality at the time and headed the office for 18 years until 2012. But she doesn't regret EPA's decision to focus that technology on manufacturers of trucks and heavy equipment, which had a record of cheating on tests and accounted for a much bigger portion of U.S. pollution than the nascent diesel car business.</p>
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<p>Interviews with former and current EPA officials and other auto and environmental experts suggest that although the U.S. has the world's toughest auto emissions standards, federal and state regulators don't have the resources to conduct the kind of comprehensive tests that might have nabbed VW, and they rely on automakers to self-report data in a kind of honor system.</p>
<p>"They trust the auto companies to tell the truth. And the auto companies have proven time and again that they don't tell the truth," said Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Campaign and a veteran of the fight for tougher car emissions regulation. "We can't allow the students to test themselves and submit their own grades."</p>
<p>The crucial step in the U.S. testing system is "certification" of each new model or family of models, allowing them to be sold in the U.S. To get that EPA stamp of approval, car manufacturers run their own tests and submit sometimes thousands of data points to the EPA.</p>
<p>The EPA requires carmakers to follow a test script that has not changed in more than a decade. The script must be the same, experts said, in order to compare vehicles or validate data. They put the vehicles on a dynamometer - a treadmill for cars - that accelerates and slows down at a programmed interval known as a "drive cycle." A device measures pollutants from the tailpipe.</p>
<p>Aware of the script, VW installed 2009-2015 diesel models with software that sensed when the vehicles were on the treadmill and switched the emissions system to trap the right amount of nitrogen oxide. That sophisticated software algorithm sensed things such as the position of the steering wheel, speed, the duration of the engine's operation and barometric pressure.</p>
<p>Out on the road, the exhaust system would switch back to allowing more pollutants to pass through the nitrogen oxide trap and spill out of the tail pipe.</p>
<p>Volkswagen's 2009 Jetta and Jetta Sportwagen models passed the dynamometer tests and were certified for sale in the U.S.</p>
<p>In addition to certification, the EPA runs spot checks on cars representing 15-20 percent of models in a year to verify the data from manufacturers.</p>
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<p>"We can't do a 100 percent check of every data point for every model," said Byron Bunker, director of the EPA's vehicle compliance program. "We focus on new vehicles, new technologies or those where we have a concern."</p>
<p>EPA's National Fuel and Vehicle Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan, ran spot checks on VW's 2009 models that validated the company's data by running an identical series of laboratory tests.</p>
<p>After that, emissions tests are not required at U.S. ports of entry for imported cars or at dealerships. And most states do not require owners of diesel cars to submit them to an emissions test to get a car registration renewed.</p>
<p>The 21 states that do test diesel vehicles usually are not equipped to catch cheaters. Most only examine data stored in on-board-diagnostics systems for a record of faults that would indicate a broken component or a maintenance problem. But in the case of the Volkswagens, if the cars were operating as designed, no fault would appear.</p>
<p>It was only when researchers connected with West Virginia University last year used the technology pioneered by EPA, that VW's duplicity was finally exposed by subjecting the cars to actual road tests. Threatened with having its new models banned from the U.S. market, VW admitted the cheating.</p>
<p>In response, EPA last month announced it would toughen testing and is keeping the details secret from carmakers. The new methods could include the use of the portable devices and other tests that replicate real-world driving or just changing the treadmill script. The EPA will have to prioritize its limited money for testing, Christopher Grundler, the agency's current Transportation and Air Quality director, said last week. The regulator's budget has been slashed 21 percent by Congress since fiscal 2010, according to data on its website.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Justin Pritchard in Orange County, California, contributed to this report.</p> | US regulator missed its best chance to catch VW cheating | false | https://abqjournal.com/653047/us-regulator-missed-its-best-chance-to-catch-vw-cheating.html | 2 |
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<p>Jan. 18 (UPI) — After a record-setting auction for rights to mostly North Sea operations, the Norwegian government said Statoil now has approval for exploration in the area</p>
<p>The Petroleum Safety Authority said Statoil <a href="http://www.ptil.no/consents/statoil-given-consent-for-exploration-drilling-in-the-north-sea-article13366-890.html" type="external">has consent</a> to use the Deepsea Bergen drill ship, owned and operated by Odfjell Drilling, for 37 days starting in February. The duration of the exploration program depends on whether or not a discovery is made in the waters off the western coast of Norway.</p>
<p>The consent follows this week’s conclusion of <a href="https://www.upi.com/Norway-speaks-of-record-interest-in-offshore-oil-and-gas/5521516186248/" type="external">an annual auction</a> for licenses in Norwegian waters. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the country’s energy regulator, said the auction this year was also one of the most diverse, with licenses spread out among small and international majors. Of the 75 production licenses, 45 are in the North Sea, 22 are in the Norwegian Sea and eight are in the Norwegian waters of the Barents Sea.</p>
<p>Statoil was offered interests in 31 exploration licenses offshore Norway.</p>
<p>There were 85 fields in production on the Norwegian continental shelf last year. Jez Averty, the senior vice president for Statoil’s exploration plans, said a robust program was needed to ensure reliable output from offshore basins.</p>
<p>“New discoveries are needed in order to offset the declining production on existing fields on the Norwegian continental shelf,” he said in <a href="https://www.statoil.com/en/news/16jan2018-awards-predefined-areas.html" type="external">a statement</a>.</p>
<p>The National Petroleum Directorate said last week, meanwhile, that around 60 percent of the undiscovered resources are in the Barents Sea and it’s there where maintaining a high level of production may be important over the long term.</p>
<p>Statoil has plans to drill, or participate in the drilling of, as many as 30 exploration wells offshore this year. That’s an increase from the 19 tapped last year.</p>
<p>Norway is, apart from Russia, an important oil and natural gas supplier to the European economy, sending nearly all of its offshore production to the export market.</p> | Statoil to start new North Sea exploration effort in February | false | https://newsline.com/statoil-to-start-new-north-sea-exploration-effort-in-february/ | 2018-01-18 | 1 |
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Mark your calendars, or perhaps color them in: Johanna Basford has two adult coloring books coming out this year.</p>
<p>Penguin Random House announced Tuesday that Basford's "Magical Jungle" is coming out in August, followed in October by "Johanna's Christmas." Basford's previous books, which include "Secret Garden" and "Enchanted Forest," have sold more than 16 million copies worldwide and have made the Scottish illustrator and "ink evangelist" the leader of the adult coloring book boom.</p>
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<p>Online:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.johannabasford.com/" type="external">http://www.johannabasford.com/</a></p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Mark your calendars, or perhaps color them in: Johanna Basford has two adult coloring books coming out this year.</p>
<p>Penguin Random House announced Tuesday that Basford's "Magical Jungle" is coming out in August, followed in October by "Johanna's Christmas." Basford's previous books, which include "Secret Garden" and "Enchanted Forest," have sold more than 16 million copies worldwide and have made the Scottish illustrator and "ink evangelist" the leader of the adult coloring book boom.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.johannabasford.com/" type="external">http://www.johannabasford.com/</a></p> | 2 more coloring books by Johanna Basford coming this year | false | https://apnews.com/amp/9b5917a27b4f40fa805f36f43ac0dfaf | 2016-02-02 | 2 |
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<p>The Brentano String Quartet is in concert Sunday. (Photo By Christian Steiner)</p>
<p>The 3 p.m. concert in the museum’s St. Francis Auditorium, 107 W. Palace Ave., will include Haydn’s “Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20, No. 1”; Beethoven’s “String Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1”; and a new work by Stephen Hartke. So, appropriately, it sounds as if the acclaimed foursome is combining the old with the new.</p>
<p>Tickets are $20-$70, available through www.ticketssantafe.org or the Santa Fe Pro Musica box office at 988-4640.</p>
<p>Songwriter James McMurtry.</p>
<p>WRITE AND SING: AMP Concerts and the Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St., are presenting “An Evening with the Songwriters” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. And they’ve got quite a powerhouse line-up: James McMurtry, Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore will regale the audience with songs they have written and the stories behind them. Alvin calls himself a “barroom guitarist,” but others call him a founder of the current Americana scene. McMurtry writes “like he’s lived a lifetime,” according to John Mellencamp. And Gilmore, with roots in Texas, combines philosophical inquiry with a down-home approach. Tickets are $34-$47, available through www.ticketssantafe.org or by calling 988-1234.</p>
<p>Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet make up Trout Fishing in America. (Photo By Guy Zahller)</p>
<p>FUN DAY: The Lensic is presenting a free Family Fun Day at 2 p.m. Sunday, with games, prizes and a concert by Trout Fishing in America, with Dana Louise &amp; the Glorious Birds opening. The Trout Fishing duo, Keith Grimwood on bass, and Ezra Idlet on guitar and banjo, has been called “the Lennon and McCartney of kids’ music,” so pack up the little ones and head on down.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>MORE MUSIC: The all-female Zia Singers will present “The Melody in the Meter: Poetry in Song” at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel, 50 Mount Carmel Road. Tickets are $20 at the door (free for students). Hear how composers translate the rhythm of poetry into a song.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Performance Santa Fe is presenting its free family opera, an abridged version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado,” at 7 p.m. today, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Scottish Rite Center, 463 Paseo de Peralta. Reservations are required; call 984-8759 to see if any are available. The performers will include rising stars from the Fort Worth Opera Studio and PSF’s own EPIK Artists program.</p>
<p /> | Arts and Entertainment: Top Picks for the Week | false | https://abqjournal.com/926906/top-picks-for-the-week-29.html | 2 |
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<p>CYPRESS, Texas (AP) — A Houston-area man says sheriff's deputies conducted faulty field tests on cat litter they found in his vehicle, which they believed was methamphetamine.</p>
<p>Ross Lebeau was charged with possession of a controlled substance following the Dec. 5 traffic stop, but court documents show the case was dismissed last week because the material was not an illicit substance.</p>
<p>Lebeau told the Houston Chronicle for a story this week that his father had placed the cat litter in the sock as a way to absorb moisture and keep the car's windows from fogging.</p>
<p>The Harris County sheriff's office says deputies smelled marijuana coming from the car and conducted a search. Officials say marijuana was found in the console and Lebeau never identified what was in the sock.</p>
<p><a href="#f31863fe-2603-45cb-835a-68269fd2abd3" type="external">© 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</a> Learn more about our <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/privacy" type="external">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/terms" type="external">Terms of Use</a>.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Houston-area man says deputies mistook cat litter for meth | false | https://abqjournal.com/924669/houston-area-man-says-deputies-mistook-cat-litter-for-meth.html | 2017-01-10 | 2 |
<p>“Marriage Made in Heaven,” says an editorial cartoon about Pfizer’s January purchase of Wyeth. Attached to the “couple” are tin cans that read Neurontin Suits, Bextra Suits, Prempro Suits and Fen Phen Suits.</p>
<p>As Whitehouse Station, NJ-based Merck announces its purchase of Kenilworth, NJ-based Schering-Plough who remembers that it was a Merck/Schering-Plough combo that brought us Vytorin?</p>
<p>No one outside the scientific community had heard the term “surrogate endpoint” before Vytorin–a cholesterol drug that combined Merck’s statin drug Zocor (simvastatin) with Schering-Plough’s anti-hyperlipidemic drug Zetia (ezetimibe)–was marketed in 2004.</p>
<p>But it soon came to mean “the sun-was-in-my-eyes” as Merck/Schering-Plough sat on a Vytorin efficacy study for over a year tampering with its endpoints until Congress said time’s up in 2008. Surprise! Vytorin was no better at unclogging arteries than generic simvastatin at a fifth of the cost.</p>
<p>In fact Vytorin was so worthless, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked the General Accounting Office to investigate why the FDA would approve a drug to reduce artery-clogging plaque that doesn’t reduce artery-clogging plaque.</p>
<p>Congressmen Bart Stupak (D-MI) and John Dingell (D-MI) asked why Schering-Plough executive VP Carrie Smith Cox unloaded $28 million stock between the end of the stonewalled study and release of its results. (Maybe her stint at fen phen and HRT plagued Wyeth taught her when to head for the exits.) And why the brat pack drug reps on Cafepharma seemed to know about the study’s results before the government!</p>
<p>States had questions of their own–especially as Schering-Plough paid $31 million to Missouri in 2008 for bilking Medicaid with a different drug three years earlier. Who can say incorrigible?</p>
<p>And New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo wondered whether the $21 million his state paid for Medicaid Vytorin prescriptions in only two years was Vioxx all over again as he sought to recoup $100 million from the first Merck scandal.</p>
<p>And it got worse. A second Vytorin study testing the drug’s effectiveness in aortic stenosis showed Vytorin worthless in preventing aortic-valve and cardiovascular events but with a macabre dividend: it increased the chances of getting and dying from cancer.</p>
<p>When the study results were integrated with two others trials, Vytorin only increased the risk of dying of cancer not getting it–whew!–and the FDA sounded an all-clear. But the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) said a cancer risk could not be discounted in a Sept. 2008 editorial.</p>
<p>The Vytorin scam came less than four years after the Vioxx scam in which Merck’s superaspirin taken by 20 million was withdrawn from the market for doubling heart attack and stroke risk in 2004.</p>
<p>Court documents show that Merck researchers were well acquainted with Vioxx’s “cardiovascular events” when they supplied the NEJM with phony heart attack data for the 2000 article that led to led its popularity and medical credibility. Oops</p>
<p>No wonder the NEJM filed a supporting brief in the recent Supreme Court Wyeth v. Levine case,</p>
<p>Who realizes today that up to 139,000 people had heart attacks and strokes on Vioxx and 50,000 died? Think ten Iraqs or one Vietnam.</p>
<p>Nor did Fosamax (alendronate) Merck’s bone wonder drug have a happy ending.</p>
<p>Despite Merck’s “awareness” campaign which increased the diagnosis of osteoporosis sevenfold thanks to bone density measuring machines planted in doctors’ offices, Fosamax was found to cause esophageal cancer, osteonecrosis (jaw bone death) and the very fractures it was supposed to prevent. It was listed on the FDA’s second quarterly Potential Signals of Serious Risks list. (See: forgiveness easier than permission)</p>
<p>Singular, Merck’s asthma drug is also on the ropes for suicidal side effects and parents are saying you want us to vaccinate our daughter with WHAT about its $400 cervical cancer drug Gardasil. (Who do you think paid for all the HPV “awareness” campaigns?)</p>
<p>Many are saying the drug companies need a new business model, having dealt themselves out of the game with their crash-and-burn blockbusters and with third party and Medicaid benefits managers saying “you’ve got to be kidding” about extravagant patent drugs.</p>
<p>Nor will they be shielded from law suits because they have FDA approval thanks to March’s Wyeth v. Levine ruling.</p>
<p>Will patients pay hundreds for the vaccines and biologics which drug companies hope will become their new gravy train? If they say Trust Us?</p>
<p>MARTHA ROSENBERG is a columnist/cartoonist who writes about public health. She can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | A Merger From the Folks Who Brought You Vytorin | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/03/11/a-merger-from-the-folks-who-brought-you-vytorin/ | 2009-03-11 | 4 |
<p>The <a href="" type="internal">“#MeToo” and “Time’s Up” movements</a>, spurred by&#160;revelations of horrific and <a href="" type="internal">possibly criminal misconduct</a> by <a href="" type="internal">politicians</a>, <a href="" type="internal">business icons</a>, and <a href="" type="internal">Hollywood figures</a>—along with festering <a href="" type="internal">sexual harassment</a> and <a href="" type="internal">porn star-fling allegations</a> against the putative leader of the Free World—have prompted a global discussion concerning the challenges women face both in and out of the workplace.</p>
<p>They have also inspired a collective case of nerves among men, some in high places, who are currently conducting anxious self-inventories of their actions and attitudes and re-assessing the magnitude of past transgressions.</p>
<p>“With all this talk about sexual harassment, there’s a lot of men who are asking questions like, ‘What do I do now?’” <a href="" type="internal">Joanne Lipman</a> told The Daily Beast. “And there’s a lot of men who are now looking at their past behavior and saying, ‘Did I? Can somebody come back to bite me? Could this come back to haunt me? Did I do something 10 years ago that now I’m going to get in trouble for?’ There’s a lot of concern out there.”</p>
<p>Thus the 56-year-old Lipman, a former top editor at The Wall Street Journal and Conde Nast who until December was chief content officer of the Gannett newspaper chain and editor in chief of USA Today, is taking a break from the journalism biz to focus on what she calls her “mission,” as reflected in her <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Thats-What-She-Said-Together-ebook/dp/B0716GZT1P/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1517510997&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=that%27s+what+she+said+joanne+lipman" type="external">new book</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Thats-What-She-Said-Together/dp/0062437216/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1517526629&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=that%27s+what+she+said+joanne+lipman" type="external">That’s What She Said: What Men Need to Know (AND&#160;WOMEN NEED TO TELL THEM) About Working Together</a>.</p>
<p>“Women have been talking amongst themselves about the issues they face for years and years, and that’s great, but it’s only half a conversation and, at most, can solve 50 percent of the problem,” Lipman said. “We’re never going to solve this issue if we don’t bring men along. All of my mentors were men. These are good guys. They’d like to be part if the solution… The vast majority of men are not predators. The vast majority of men I’ve worked for are actually guys who would like to do the right thing.</p>
<p>“By the way,” she added, “it’s still OK to hug me. These days, you see men freezing up all the time.”</p>
<p>Lipman’s book, the product of more than three years of research in corporate America and around the world, also addresses the tendency of men to interrupt women and dismiss their ideas in workplace meetings, the chronic salary gap that advantages men over women, and draws upon studies showing that men are socialized from childhood to value their work more highly than women.</p>
<p>Lipman recalled that when she was named The Wall Street Journal’s first-ever female deputy managing editor in the late ’90s, she failed to negotiate for higher pay, and settled for a smaller office than her male counterparts of the same rank.</p>
<p>Yet by the time she became editor in chief of Conde Nast Portfolio, the short-lived business glossy she launched for magazine mogul Si Newhouse in 2007 (and where I worked as a columnist and contributing editor), Lipman had figured out how to secure a spacious corner office and door-to-door car service.</p>
<p>“If you were going to try and pick the worst possible time to launch a magazine, you couldn’t have done any better than we did,” Lipman said, noting that the financial meltdown of 2008 practically ensured Portfolio’s rapid demise. “We launched at a really difficult time. The entire economy was about to implode. That was the biggest single factor, in retrospect.”</p>
<p>By contrast, Lipman’s book is being released at an especially auspicious moment—when the presence of sexual harassment and assault, to say nothing of just plain sexism, has never been more conspicuous in the popular culture.</p>
<p>In recent days, we’ve witnessed the spectacle of more than 100 female gymnasts, including two Olympic gold medalists, testifying about the sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of Michigan State University physician <a href="" type="internal">Larry Nassar</a>, who will spend the rest of his life in prison; of top managers at the Los Angeles Times and <a href="" type="internal">New York Daily News</a> receiving suspensions over sexual misconduct allegations; of hip-hop icon <a href="" type="internal">Russell Simmons</a> becoming the subject of multiple rape accusations, and of Las Vegas gambling and hotel tycoon Steve Wynn, the defrocked chief fundraiser for the Republican National Committee, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/dozens-of-people-recount-pattern-of-sexual-misconduct-by-las-vegas-mogul-steve-wynn-1516985953?tesla=y&amp;mod=e2tw" type="external">allegedly forcing himself sexually</a> on female underlings.</p>
<p>Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't).</p>
<p>Less violent, but also vexing, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow <a href="" type="internal">blamed women who haven’t “stepped up,”</a> rather than the middle-aged men who dominate the music business, for the dearth of Grammys awarded this past Sunday to deserving female artists.</p>
<p>On Thursday, meanwhile, Morning Joe cohost Mika Brzezinski <a href="" type="internal">booted Fire and Fury author Michael Wolff off the set</a> of the MSNBC program after he declined to take responsibility for spreading the baseless misogynist insinuation—on television and elsewhere—that former South Carolina Gov. <a href="" type="internal">Nikki Haley</a>, now U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has been conducting an illicit affair with President Donald Trump.</p>
<p>“Mika was adhering to basic journalistic principles, and she was certainly in the right because in journalism we deal with facts, not&#160;innuendo. I applaud her for that,” Lipman said about the cable TV dustup. “In terms of the innuendo piece of it, it fits—unfortunately—with every bit of research I’ve done. One of the studies showed that the more powerful the woman is, the more likely she is to be sexually harassed. Nikki Haley is very powerful, and as a woman gains power that exceeds the norms of corporate female behavior, she’s susceptible to these attacks.”</p>
<p>Addressing Wolff’s actions—which also included a series of personally offensive tweets about Brzezinski—Lipman added: “I think it’s irresponsible for any journalist to spread innuendo, particularly when it is about a woman. It’s incredibly damaging to the woman, and,” she added, embracing the most charitable interpretation possible, “there seems to be a lack of understanding on the author’s part of what he is doing.”</p>
<p>Lipman was less willing to directly criticize Hillary Clinton <a href="" type="internal">for rejecting the recommendation</a> of her 2008 presidential campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, that she fire her so-called faith adviser, Burns Strider, because he repeatedly harassed a young female staffer with unwelcome physical advances.</p>
<p>“She obviously had her own issues because of the history with her husband, and she was in a particularly difficult spot,” Lipman said, adding that she’s reluctant to render a judgment on Clinton without &#160;knowing the details of the incident. “I think the lines have moved since then. I would say that a year ago, or even six months ago, cases like this were treated very, very differently.”</p>
<p>Lipman noted that U.S. companies have paid out hundreds of millions in fines over sexual harassment and discrimination claims, and that over a 15-year period, Merrill Lynch paid nearly half a billion dollars in judgments and settlements to complaining female employees.</p>
<p>“I’m saying that what Hillary did was done at a different time,” Lipman said. “I’m not giving her a pass, nor am I giving a pass to all of the companies that did exactly the same thing… You can be a man who is a great defender of woman, and a woman &#160;who is not.”</p>
<p>In a Facebook post this week, as charges of hypocrisy swirled around her after The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/us/politics/hillary-clinton-chose-to-shield-a-top-adviser-accused-of-harassment-in-2008.html?smid=tw-nytimes&amp;smtyp=cur&amp;mtrref=t.co" type="external">reported</a> the incident, <a href="" type="internal">Clinton expressed grudging regret</a> for her decision to keep Strider on.</p>
<p>With calculated irony, Lipman noted that Clinton’s 2016 campaign opponent—he of “grab ’em by the pussy”—can arguably be credited with creating the right conditions for the mass consciousness-raising over gender issues.</p>
<p>“There is an argument that some make that we would never have the #MeToo movement if we didn’t have Trump as president,” she said. “There’s this pent-up frustration among women that exploded.”</p> | Joanne Lipman Wants Men to Join the ‘Me Too’ Movement | true | https://thedailybeast.com/joanne-lipman-wants-men-to-join-the-me-too-movement | 2018-10-03 | 4 |
<p><a href="" type="internal">Truthdig Radio</a> airs Wednesdays at 2 p.m. Pacific time on <a href="http://kpfk.org" type="external">90.7 KPFK Los Angeles</a>.</p>
<p>{g_podcast_box}</p>
<p>This week on <a href="" type="internal">Truthdig Radio</a> in association with <a href="http://kpfk.org" type="external">KPFK</a>: Robert Scheer condemns the eviction of Occupy L.A.; the protesters police themselves; the NBA lockout ends and so does Herman Cain’s campaign, and we get a feminist analysis of the Penn State scandal.</p>
<p>Listen to the show:</p>
<p />
<p>Segments:</p>
<p>Health and Safety at Occupy L.A.</p>
<p>The Herman Cainwreck</p>
<p>Mark Heisler on the NBA Lockout and Penn State</p>
<p>A Feminist Take on Penn State</p>
<p>Robert Scheer on the Eviction of Occupy L.A.</p>
<p /> | Preoccupied by Health and Safety | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/preoccupied-by-health-and-safety/ | 2011-12-02 | 4 |
<p>The National Park Service turns <a href="" type="internal">100 years old this month</a>. Fifty-nine U.S. National Parks cover almost 52 million acres across 27 different states. Last year, they saw a record 305 million visitors. To recognize the centennial of the system protecting these American treasures, NBC News will feature stories from 10 national parks and recreation areas — from California's Yosemite to New York's Gateway.</p>
<p>National parks belong to everyone. That is what ranger Shelton Johnson instills in people who visit Yosemite.</p>
<p>The National Parks Service turns 100 this month. In celebration, they’re encouraging everyone to <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/centennial/index.htm" type="external">“Find Your Park.”</a> If you choose Yosemite, Johnson will congratulate you on claiming your inheritance. As far as he’s concerned, the parks belong to all Americans, which is why he is committed to getting more citizens of all creeds to visit them.</p>
<p>Johnson works in the division of interpretation and education at Yosemite. He gives tours and educates parkgoers on the vast history that has transpired on the grounds. However, Johnson’s true goals as a park ranger transcend his job description. He doesn’t just want people to see nature, he wants them to build a lasting connection with it.</p>
<p>“My job is a facilitator of astonishment,” Johnson said. “I create that bridge between the divine and the earth, that's my job. It means building a bridge between one world and the next.”</p>
<p>As one of the few black park rangers, Johnson is also bridging the Park Service’s minority hiring gap. According to Park Service employee statistics, only six percent of the entire workforce is black. His experience at a national park when he was a kid lured him to a career as a ranger. He knows firsthand the impact a visit to the park can have on a child.</p>
<p>Johnson grew up in a military family. During his father’s army service in Germany, the family traveled to Berchtesgaden National Park. It was there in the Bavarian Alps where Johnson had a transcendent, life-changing experience that sticks with him to this day.</p>
<p>“I thought I was elevated to the top of the world,” Johnson said. “I thought I literally was on that line between heaven and earth, and the only thing that was keeping me on the earth were the hands of my parents.”</p>
<p>That moment connected Johnson with something greater than himself. But, when he went returned to the United States to live in Detroit, Michigan, forests and foliage were replaced with steel and sometimes violence. He lost that otherworldly feeling he experienced in the mountains of Germany. He became a park ranger to regain what nature roused in him as a youth.</p>
<p>Johnson believes that a visit to a national park should mark every childhood, because children have an openness in their spirit that makes them feel like they are seeing the world for the first time. In his experience, people who love national parks attribute a childhood visit to the source of their affection.</p>
<p>He wants more inner-city children of color to have those experiences. As U.S. demographics shift, Johnson recognizes the necessity of getting people of color interested in the parks while they’re young so that their interest in parks can intensify as they mature.</p>
<p>Though the National Park Service does not have a national, in-depth national survey of visitors’ ethnicity, they estimate that visitor demographics generally align with the demographic statistics of their workforce. That would mean that over 80 percent of visitors to the parks are white, even though <a href="" type="internal">America's racial and ethnic minorities</a> now make up about half of the under-5 age group, and white-majority nationwide could dissipate by 2043.</p>
<p>Should the new “cultural majority” have no connection with the national parks, Johnson believes the survival and sustainability of the national parks would be at serious risk. To that end, Johnson works especially hard to connect kids of color to the park, because his livelihood and his personal passion depend on it.</p>
<p>When a group of inner-city kids from the Bay Area came on a trip to Yosemite, Johnson encouraged them to take care of their birthright as American citizens — this national park and all the others. He conveys messages of ownership so that they understand that the parks belong to them. The park service, he says, is just there to take care of their inheritance.</p>
<p>“That is a very powerful thing,” Johnson said, “to tell someone who feels perhaps they own very little, to find out they own the world.”</p>
<p>Johnson encourages youth because he still identifies with the young boy standing on a mountaintop between his parents at a national park in Germany.</p>
<p>Aside from giving visitors the lay of the land, Johnson also researches the history of Yosemite Valley. He specializes in the history of the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/historyculture/buffalo-soldiers.htm" type="external">Buffalo Soldiers</a>, the African-American Army regiments formed after the Civil War and eventually posted to the national parks in Yosemite and Sequoia. He performs skits to retell the history of the Buffalo Soldiers and the challenges they faced as African-Americans in the infantry.</p>
<p>Though African-American history has roots in Yosemite, Johnson doesn’t feel that African-Americans are connected to nature anymore, let alone the national parks.</p>
<p>“When people ask me why African-Americans don't visit national parks, I personally feel that you have to go to every single African American family and say, ‘Excuse me, why don't you go to national parks?’" Johnson said. "And I think you'll have a certain degree of variance in answers, but I think more than anything else, there's not a history of connection.”</p>
<p>Johnson expounds upon the disconnect, because he understands its intricacies. African-Americans know a past of exclusion, rather than inclusion. That history lingers whenever black people choose new destinations, as they wonder whether a place will be safe to visit, or whether they will be treated poorly.</p>
<p>“When you come out of a history where you could be violently treated to be at a place that was determined to not be for you,” Johnson said, “why would you choose that place to relax?”</p>
<p>Despite any natural aversions, Johnson is confident in parks’ ability to connect African-Americans with a legacy of being one with the land.</p>
<p>“You can reclaim that which is African right in our national parks,” Johnson said. “Because all it means is a connection, a spiritual connection, an emotional connection with the earth itself.”</p>
<p>National Parks at 100:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">From City Block to Teton Rocks: Bronx-Born Ranger Inspires Young Parkgoers</a></p>
<p>Follow NBCBLK on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nbcblk" type="external">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCBLK" type="external">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://instagram.com/nbcblk/" type="external">Instagram</a>.</p> | ‘You Have an Inheritance’: Yosemite Ranger Reminds Visitors of Park’s True Owners | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/national-parks-at-100/you-have-inheritance-yosemite-ranger-reminds-visitors-park-s-true-n626736 | 2016-08-11 | 3 |
<p>This week on Louder With Crowder, we start off dealing with the news of the week. &#160;Obama, ISIS, Rudy Giuliani and the like.</p>
<p>But we also have a fascinating discussion with Gary Wilson, author of <a href="http://yourbrainonporn.com" type="external">“Your Brain on Porn”</a> as we discuss the physiological and cultural ramifications coming from a generation raised with online pornography. The data is staggering. You can watch our interview on the video-cast, or listen to it on the go with the full audio podcast below!</p>
<p>We’re also joined by my friend <a href="https://twitter.com/KurtSchlichter" type="external">Kurt Schlicter</a> to discuss freedom of speech, the military and exercising as you get older!</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p /> | The Surprising Science Against Porn | true | http://louderwithcrowder.com/the-science-against-porn-free-speech-and-kurt-schlicter/ | 2015-02-21 | 0 |
<p>Jan 18 (Reuters) - Cogobuy Group:</p>
<p>* UNIT TO BUY FROM KMT AUTOMATION PARENT CO. ENTIRE EQUITY INTEREST IN SHANGHAI KMT AND SHANGHAI KMT AUTOMATION AND THE ASSETS</p>
<p>* UNDER THE DEAL, KMT AUTOMATION PARENT CO. AGREES TO SUBSCRIBE 30% OF ENLARGED ISSUED SHARE CAPITAL OF COGOBUY SUB AFTER COMPLETION Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TAMO.NS" type="external">TAMO.NS</a>) will cut around 1,000 jobs and production at two of its English factories due to a fall in sales caused by uncertainty around Brexit and confusion over diesel policy, a source told Reuters.</p> FILE PHOTO: New Land Rover cars are seen in a parking lot at the Jaguar Land Rover plant at Halewood in Liverpool, northern England, September 12 , 2016. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
<p>Output will be cut at its central English Solihull and Castle Bromwich plants, affecting some 1,000 agency workers, the source said.</p>
<p>A spokesman at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) declined to comment on the number of jobs which would be lost but the firm said it would be making changes to its output plans.</p>
<p>“In light of the continuing headwinds impacting the car industry, we are making some adjustments to our production schedules and the level of agency staff,” the company said in a statement.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TAMO.NS" type="external">Tata Motors Ltd</a> 356.1 TAMO.NS National Stock Exchange of India -2.45 (-0.68%) TAMO.NS
<p>It is not renewing the contracts of a number of agency staff at the Solihull site and would be informing staff on Monday of its plans for the 2018-19 financial year.</p>
<p>In January, the firm said it would temporarily reduce production at its other British plant of Halewood later this year in response to weakening demand due to Brexit and tax hikes on diesel cars but did not detail any job losses.</p>
<p>Jaguar sales are down 26 percent so far this year whilst Land Rover demand dropped 20 percent in its home market as buyers shun diesel, concerned over planned tax rises and possible bans and restrictions in several countries.</p>
<p>“It’s been obvious to everyone that sales have been dropping,” the source said.</p>
<p>British new car registrations have been falling for a year which the car industry body has partly blamed on weakening consumer confidence in the wake of the Brexit vote, after record demand in 2015 and 2016.</p>
<p>Editing by Stephen Addison</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Tesla Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TSLA.O" type="external">TSLA.O</a>) will be profitable in the third and fourth quarters of this year and will not have to raise any money from investors, billionaire Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Friday, driving shares in the electric carmaker higher.</p> FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk, founder, CEO and lead designer at SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla, speaks at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington, U.S., July 19, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein
<p>Tesla has already sought this month to play down widespread Wall Street speculation that it would need to return to capital markets this year to raise more funds for the money-losing company as it ramps up production of the Model 3 sedan seen as crucial to its long-term profitability.</p>
<p>The Silicon Valley car maker, which has consistently fallen short of promised production targets and is fighting bad publicity over a fatal crash of a car using its Autopilot system, said 10 days ago it would have positive cash flow from the third quarter.</p>
<p>Musk went further on Friday in a tweeted response to a story in The Economist which cited estimates Tesla would need $2.5 billion to $3 billion this year in additional funding.</p>
<p>“The Economist used to be boring, but smart with a wicked dry wit. Now it’s just boring (sigh). Tesla will be profitable &amp; cash flow+ in Q3 &amp; Q4, so obv no need to raise money,” Musk wrote.</p>
<p>Tesla shares, which have gained nearly 10 percent since disclosing the Model 3 production numbers on April 3, were up 1.8 percent in afternoon trading on Wall Street.</p>
<p>Musk’s claim about profit and cash flow hinges on a rapid rise in production of the Model 3 sedan, Tesla’s latest vehicle to have experienced production delays. That has postponed revenue from reaching Tesla’s bottom line from cars being delivered to customers.</p>
<p>An unprecedented level of robots used in the Model 3’s final assembly, in a break with automotive manufacturing norms, has added complexity and delays, which Musk acknowledged on Friday.</p>
<p>“Excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake,” Musk tweeted. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated.”</p>
<p>Thomson Reuters consensus of analyst estimates predicts Tesla’s free cash flow to be negative well into 2019, thanks in part to heavy investments. Only one of 19 analysts covering the stock see positive adjusted earnings per share in the third quarter, with that number growing to four for the fourth quarter.</p> FILE PHOTO: A Tesla dealership is seen in West Drayton, just outside London, Britain, February 7, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo
<p>Wall Street brokerage Jefferies, which provided the funding estimate cited by The Economist, said in a note last week it expects refinancing risk to remain high for Tesla until it can consistently produce 10,000 Model 3s a week.</p>
<p>The company again missed its own 2,500 target for weekly production at the end of the first quarter, and analysts and fund managers doubt Tesla’s ability to keep production growing to a promised 5,000 Model 3s per week in three months time.</p>
<p>Musk in July said Tesla was going through “manufacturing hell” in ramping up production of the Model 3.</p>
<p>He told “CBS News” in an interview that aired Friday the company “got complacent” and “put too much new technology into the Model 3 all at once.” Part of the interview took place in a Tesla Model 3 Musk was driving with Autopilot activated at times.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TSLA.O" type="external">Tesla Inc</a> 300.34 TSLA.O Nasdaq +6.26 (+2.13%) TSLA.O
<p>Musk told CBS Tesla is currently producing 2,000 Model 3 cars a week.</p>
<p>Last month, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Tesla’s credit rating to B3 from B2, reflecting “the significant shortfall in the production rate of the company’s Model 3.”</p>
<p>Moody’s added that its negative outlook for Tesla “reflects the likelihood that Tesla will have to undertake a large, near-term capital raise in order to refund maturing obligations and avoid a liquidity shortfall.”</p>
<p>On Thursday, the National Transportation Safety Board said that after a series of public disclosures by Tesla it had taken the unusual step of revoking Tesla’s status as a formal party to its investigation of a March 23 crash in California that killed a driver who was using Autopilot. The NTSB is also investigating two other Tesla crashes.</p>
<p>Tesla lashed out at the NTSB and said it planned to complain to Congress.</p>
<p>Asked by CBS if there was a defect with Autopilot, Musk responded: “The system worked as described, which is that it is a hands-on system. It is not a self-driving system.”</p>
<p>At one point during the interview, Musk did not have his hands on the wheel and the car beeped at him to retake the wheel.</p>
<p>Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru and David Shepardson in Washington; additional reporting by Dan Burns and Alexandria Sage; editing by Phil Berlowitz</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>MEXICO CITY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. trade negotiators have significantly softened their demands to increase regional automotive content under a reworked NAFTA trade pact in an effort to move more quickly towards a deal in the next few weeks, auto industry executives said on Friday.</p> FILE PHOTO: Eduardo Solis, President of the Mexican Automotive Industry Association (AMIA), speaks during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City, Mexico May 22, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso/File Photo
<p>A deal on automotive content rules would remove one of the biggest sticking points in talks to update the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement.</p>
<p>The Trump administration had initially demanded that North American-built vehicles contain 85 percent content made in NAFTA countries by value, up from the current 62.5 percent, along with half the value coming from the United States - levels that Canada, Mexico and automotive groups had said was unworkable.</p>
<p>But this has been cut by 10 percentage points, and the U.S. specific percentage demand dropped, industry officials said.</p>
<p>“The U.S. put on the table 75 percent instead of 85 percent for the regional content value of the vehicle and its core components,” said Eduardo Solis, head of Mexico’s AMIA automotive industry association.</p>
<p>“All of this is being carefully analyzed and specific questions are being asked during this round of the U.S. negotiators (in charge of) rules of origin,” Solis said in a statement.</p>
<p>The 75 percent regional content is for major components such as engines, drivetrains, axles, suspensions and body panels. Aluminum and steel would go into a bucket of other parts and materials requiring 70 percent regional content, while a third bucket of lesser parts would require 65 percent regional content.</p>
<p>“From the parts manufacturer perspective this is a significant step in the right direction, compared to where we were,” said Ann Wilson, head of government affairs at the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association.</p>
<p>“But it does appear that this will creates significantly more paperwork for smaller suppliers to have to certify their parts,” Wilson added. “I think there’s a lot of room yet to improve this.”</p>
<p>Negotiators from the three nations were due to discuss the new U.S. proposals at talks this week in Washington. Talks on rules of origin were due to take place on both Friday and Saturday, according to a schedule seen by Reuters.</p>
<p>A senior union leader who spoke to the Canadian negotiating team on Friday said the talks were progressing slowly.</p>
<p>“We really still are far, far, far away on the issues that are keeping us apart and frankly there has been very little discussion on them this week,” Unifor President Jerry Dias told Canada’s CTV network, citing the U.S. stance on dispute resolution and labor standards.</p>
<p>U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been pushing for a deal-in-principle on NAFTA in the next few weeks as the Mexico’s presidential election campaign officially gets underway. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he thought negotiators were “pretty close” to a deal, but that he was in no hurry for a conclusion.</p>
<p>“Unless the United States makes some meaningful major changes in the short term, for anybody to think this is getting done by the end of April is pushing their luck,” said Dias.</p>
<p>U.S. negotiators had also recently floated the idea that 40 percent of automotive production must occur in areas paying wages of between $16 to $19 per hour. Some auto industry officials briefed on the U.S. plan said the latest version would require an average wage rate of $16 an hour for a finished vehicle.</p>
<p>Setting wage minimum wage thresholds for the auto industry could benefit the United States and Canada, whose trade unions say that lower Mexican pay has prompted manufacturing capacity to move south of the Rio Grande.</p>
<p>Talks to rework NAFTA, which underpins $1.2 trillion in annual trade, began last year after President Donald Trump took office promising to abandon the 1994 agreement if it could not be reworked to better serve American interests.</p>
<p>Reporting by Anthony Esposito and David Lawder; Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Cynthia Osterman</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo &amp; Co ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=WFC.N" type="external">WFC.N</a>) believes the U.S. government, rather than banks, should set rules to promote gun safety, its finance chief said on Friday.</p> FILE PHOTO: A Wells Fargo branch is seen in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, U.S., February 10, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo
<p>The No. 3 U.S. lender has been talking to customers who legally manufacture firearms, but is “not currently setting policy in our extension of credit,” Chief Financial Officer John Shrewsberry said during a call with reporters.</p>
<p>Major financial firms have been under pressure from gun-control activists to limit their support for firearms makers and retailers since 17 people died in a school shooting in Florida in February.</p>
<p>Citigroup Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=C.N" type="external">C.N</a>), for instance, last month slapped restrictions on new clients in the retail sector who sell guns, such as having the retailers require customers to pass background checks.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=WFC.N" type="external">Wells Fargo &amp; Co</a> 50.89 WFC.N New York Stock Exchange -1.81 (-3.43%) WFC.N C.N BAC.N
<p>In addition, Bank of America ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=BAC.N" type="external">BAC.N</a>) plans to stop lending to companies that make military-style firearms for civilians, a Bank of America executive said this week.</p>
<p>However, Wells Fargo believes solutions should come from the government, Shrewsberry said.</p>
<p>“The best way to make progress on these issues is through the political and legislative process,” he said. “In the meantime, Wells Fargo is engaging our customers that legally manufacture firearms and other stakeholders on what we can do together to promote better gun safety in our communities.”</p>
<p>Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, has been reaching out to clients in the consumer firearms industry to make sure they hear input the bank has received from other customers, investors, employees and citizens, according to materials provided by a spokesman.</p>
<p>The bank also routinely analyzes customers from a risk-management perspective, suggesting that its relationship with gunmaker clients could change in the future.</p>
<p>Reporting by Lauren Tara LaCapra in New York and Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Richard Chang</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | BRIEF-Cogobuy Group Says Unit To Buy Entire Equity Interest In Shanghai KMT Jaguar Land Rover to cut output and jobs due to Brexit, diesel slump: source Musk insists Tesla does not need more capital, predicts profit soon U.S. lowers NAFTA key auto content demand: auto executives Wells Fargo CFO says government, not banks, should set gun policy | false | https://reuters.com/article/brief-cogobuy-group-says-unit-to-buy-ent/brief-cogobuy-group-says-unit-to-buy-entire-equity-interest-in-shanghai-kmt-idUSFWN1PD140 | 2018-01-18 | 2 |
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<p>This time, two Metropolitan Court judges made it more difficult for Lujan to get out of jail - he'll have to shell out $30,000 in cash to be released.</p>
<p>Lujan made headlines last week when he allegedly burglarized a senior couple's garage. The couple asked him to stop, and when he didn't, they grabbed their guns and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.</p>
<p>He had posted bail and been released from jail a day earlier on a July drug charge, according to jail records.</p>
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<p>After allegedly burglarizing the garage, Lujan was arrested, charged with burglary and booked into the county jail.</p>
<p>When he faced Judge Victor Valdez on Friday on the burglary charge, Valdez released him to pretrial services, a monitoring program for defendants awaiting trial.</p>
<p>Valdez said that decision is in line with the state Supreme Court decision handed down about a year ago saying that defendants' bail cannot solely be determined on their crimes and that judges must consider flight risk, along with other factors.</p>
<p>Lujan has no prior felony convictions and has primarily faced misdemeanor charges, which made him a lower risk in the eyes of the court.</p>
<p>That's in part why Valdez said he released him.</p>
<p>Lujan was arrested again Saturday after, police say, he pointed a gun at a woman and tried to steal her 2015 red Chevy Camaro. He couldn't get the car, which was standard transmission, into gear, and then fled in a different car. But he kept her keys.</p>
<p>He later called the woman, Mary Peterson, saying he wanted to give her keys back. She met him at Target near Louisiana and Indian School, and police arrived soon after.</p>
<p>Police say Lujan fled and crashed the car he was driving, and officers found him hiding in a tree in a golf course.</p>
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<p>He was booked into jail again, charged with robbery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, receiving/transferring a stolen motor vehicle, aggravated fleeing a peace officer and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.</p>
<p>He appeared before Judge Valdez again Monday for a conditions-of-release hearing on last week's burglary charge. Valdez said Lujan is clearly not trustworthy, and because the judge isn't bound by the Supreme Court's decision in a follow-up hearing, set his bail in that case at $25,000, cash only.</p>
<p>Metro Court Judge John Duran then took over for Lujan's felony first appearance on Saturday's armed robbery charges.</p>
<p>Duran denied a request from Lujan's attorney challenging probable cause and set his bail at $50,000 cash or surety, of which Lujan would have to pay $5,000 in cash.</p>
<p>A woman named Summer Molina is also facing charges in connection with the alleged robbery. Her bail was set at $2,500 cash or surety.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Higher bail set for suspect who was released repeatedly | false | https://abqjournal.com/680863/judges-set-higher-bail-for-alleged-burglar-repeatedly-released-last-week.html | 2015-11-23 | 2 |
<p>BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (AP) — Police have arrested two people in connection with a shooting near a Massachusetts police station that injured one person.</p>
<p>Authorities on Tuesday charged 34-year-old Kevin O’Brien, of Bridgewater, and 26-year-old Roberto Perez, of Taunton, with assault with intent to murder. Their arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday.</p>
<p>Police responded to the shooting near the Bridgewater police station around 6:30 p.m. Saturday. They found a 29-year-old man with one gunshot wound to the forearm and another in the upper thigh.</p>
<p>Authorities say the victim was conscious and alert when he was transported to a hospital. The victim is still recovering as of Tuesday, but police say he is expected to survive.</p>
<p>Investigators believe the shooting was not random.</p>
<p>BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (AP) — Police have arrested two people in connection with a shooting near a Massachusetts police station that injured one person.</p>
<p>Authorities on Tuesday charged 34-year-old Kevin O’Brien, of Bridgewater, and 26-year-old Roberto Perez, of Taunton, with assault with intent to murder. Their arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday.</p>
<p>Police responded to the shooting near the Bridgewater police station around 6:30 p.m. Saturday. They found a 29-year-old man with one gunshot wound to the forearm and another in the upper thigh.</p>
<p>Authorities say the victim was conscious and alert when he was transported to a hospital. The victim is still recovering as of Tuesday, but police say he is expected to survive.</p>
<p>Investigators believe the shooting was not random.</p> | Police arrest 2 suspects for shooting near police station | false | https://apnews.com/f0c603d6843b45b88892beb3335f31d7 | 2017-12-27 | 2 |
<p>Jan 25 (Reuters) - Indoco Remedies Ltd:</p>
<p>* DEC QUARTER PROFIT 226.6 MILLION RUPEES VERSUS PROFIT 175.9 MILLION RUPEES YEAR AGO</p>
<p>* DEC QUARTER REVENUE FROM OPERATIONS 2.74 BILLION RUPEES VERSUS 2.72 BILLION RUPEES YEAR AGO Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc’s top television shows drew more than 5 million people worldwide to its Prime shopping club by early 2017, according to company documents, revealing for the first time how the retailer’s bet on original video is paying off.</p>
<p>The documents also show that Amazon’s U.S. audience for all video programming on Prime, including films and TV shows it licenses from other companies, was about 26 million customers. Amazon has never released figures for its total audience.</p>
<p>The internal documents compare metrics that have never been reported for 19 shows exclusive to Amazon: their cost, their viewership and the number of people they helped lure to Prime. Known as Prime Originals, the shows account for as much as a quarter of what analysts estimate to be total Prime sign-ups from late 2014 to early 2017, the period covered by the documents.</p>
<p>Core to Amazon’s strategy is the use of video to convert viewers into shoppers. Fans access Amazon’s lineup by joining Prime, a club that includes two-day package delivery and other perks, for an annual fee.</p>
<p>The company declined to comment on the documents seen by Reuters. But Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has been upfront about the company’s use of entertainment to drive merchandise sales. The world’s biggest online retailer launched Amazon Studios in 2010 to develop original programs that have since grabbed awards and Hollywood buzz.</p>
<p>“When we win a Golden Globe, it helps us sell more shoes,” Bezos said at a 2016 technology conference near Los Angeles. He said film and TV customers renew their subscriptions “at higher rates, and they convert from free trials at higher rates” than members who do not stream videos on Prime.</p>
<p>Video has grown to be one of Amazon’s biggest expenditures at $5 billion per year for original and licensed content, two people familiar with the matter said. The company has never disclosed how many subscribers it won as a result, making it hard for investors to evaluate its programming decisions.</p>
<p>The internal documents show what Amazon considers to be the financial logic of its strategy, and why the company is now making more commercial projects in addition to high-brow shows aimed at winning awards, the people said.</p>
<p>For example, the first season of the popular drama “The Man in the High Castle,” an alternate history depicting Germany as the victor of World War Two, had 8 million U.S. viewers as of early 2017, according to the documents. The program cost $72 million in production and marketing and attracted 1.15 million new subscribers worldwide based on Amazon’s accounting, the documents showed.</p>
<p>Amazon calculated that the show drew new Prime members at an average cost of $63 per subscriber.</p>
<p>That is far less than the $99 that subscribers pay in the United States for Prime; the company charges similar fees abroad. Prime members also buy more goods from Amazon than non-members, Bezos has said, further boosting profit.</p> AMAZON’S SECRET MATH
<p>Precisely how Amazon determines a customer’s motivation for joining its Prime club is not clear from the documents viewed by Reuters.</p>
<p>( <a href="" type="internal">See an interactive version of the above graphic</a>)</p>
<p>But a person familiar with its strategy said the company credits a specific show for luring someone to start or extend a Prime subscription if that program is the first one a customer streams after signing up. That metric, referenced throughout the documents, is known as a “first stream.”</p> FILE PHOTO: Passengers board a 42nd Street Shuttle subway train, wrapped with advertising for the Amazon series "The Man in the High Castle" in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., November 24, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
<p>The company then calculates how expensive the viewer was to acquire by dividing the show’s costs by the number of first streams it had. The lower that figure, the better.</p>
<p>The internal documents do not show how long subscribers stayed with Prime, nor do they indicate how much shopping they do on Amazon. The company reviews other metrics for its programs as well. Consequently, the documents do not provide enough information to determine the overall profitability of Amazon’s Hollywood endeavor.</p>
<p>Still, the numbers indicate that broad-interest shows can lure Prime members cheaply by Amazon’s calculations. One big winner was the motoring series “The Grand Tour,” which stars the former presenters of BBC’s “Top Gear.” The show had more than 1.5 million first streams from Prime members worldwide, at a cost of $49 per subscriber in its first season.</p>
<p>The documents seen by Reuters reflect Prime subscribers in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Japan, where Amazon’s programs were available before Prime Video rolled out globally in December 2016.</p>
<p>Analysts estimate that 75 million or more customers have Prime subscriptions worldwide, including about half of all households in the United States.</p> BIGGER BETS
<p>About 26 million U.S. Prime members watched television and movies on Amazon as of early 2017. Reuters calculated this number from the documents, which showed how many viewers a TV series had as a percentage of total Prime Video customers.</p>
<p>Rival Netflix Inc had twice that many U.S. subscribers in the first quarter of last year. It does not disclose how many were active viewers.</p>
<p>For years, Amazon Studios aimed to win credibility in Hollywood with sophisticated shows beloved by critics. Its marquee series “Transparent,” about a transgender father and his family, won eight Primetime Emmy Awards and created the buzz Amazon wanted to attract top producers and actors.</p>
<p>Yet “Transparent” lagged Amazon’s top shows in viewership. Its first season drew a U.S. audience half as large as that of “The Man in the High Castle,” and it fell to 1.3 million viewers for its third season, according to the documents.</p>
<p>Similarly, “Good Girls Revolt,” a critically-acclaimed show about gender inequality in a New York newsroom, had total U.S. viewership of 1.6 million but cost $81 million, with only 52,000 first streams worldwide by Prime members.</p>
<p>The program’s cost per new customer was about $1560, according to the documents. Amazon canceled it after one season.</p>
<p>Amazon is now working on more commercial dramas and spin-offs with appeal outside the United States, where Prime membership has far more room to grow, people familiar with the matter said.</p>
<p>The effort to broaden Amazon’s lineup, long in the works, will be in the hands of Jennifer Salke, NBC Entertainment’s president whom Amazon hired last month as its studio chief. Amazon’s Bezos has wanted a drama to rival HBO’s global hit “Game of Thrones,” according to the people.</p>
<p>In November, Amazon announced it will make a prequel to the fantasy hit “The Lord of the Rings.” The company had offered $250 million for the rights alone; production and marketing could raise costs to $500 million or more for two seasons, one of the people said.</p>
<p>At half a billion dollars, the prequel would cost triple what Amazon paid for “The Man in the High Castle” seasons one and two, the documents show. That means it would need to draw three times the number of Prime members as “The Man in the High Castle” for an equal payoff.</p>
<p>Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Marla Dickerson</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SALISBURY, England (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May visited Salisbury on Thursday, the elegant cathedral city which became the unlikely backdrop to a chemical attack against a Russian former double agent this month.</p> Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits the city where former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent, in Salisbury, Britain March 15, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Pool
<p>Dominated by its 13th Century cathedral with England’s highest spire, Salisbury has witnessed dramatic scenes since the attack as soldiers in chemical suits and gas masks conduct forensic searches.</p>
<p>Dozens of passersby and schoolchildren crowded outside the city’s Guildhall to get a view of May as she met emergency service workers, police and local politicians.</p>
<p>Most locals who have spoken to reporters have welcomed her tough stance against Russia in the affair but some worry about the effect on tourism and possible lingering health dangers.</p>
<p>Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center on March 4 after being exposed to what the British authorities have identified as a military-grade, Soviet era Novichok nerve agent. They remain critically ill in hospital.</p>
<p>The pair had visited a pizzeria and a pub before collapsing and although officials have said there is no public health danger, they have advised anyone who was in the vicinity to wash their clothes and clean all jewelry, mobile phones and spectacles with antiseptic wipes.</p>
<p>“I don’t think these things can ever be investigated quickly, but there’s sort of mixed messages,” said Tommy Roberts, 50, who runs a nearby bar and hotel.</p>
<p>“First there is no risk to the public health, then there’s a little bit, then it’s ‘make sure you wash everything’.”</p> FALLING TRADE
<p>Several local traders have noticed a drop in custom since the incident and May made a point of meeting some of them.</p>
<p>She visited a small clothes boutique, speaking to shop owner Sarah Haydon, who welcomed her arrival.</p>
<p>“We just need people to come back to the city,” Haydon told reporters after May had left. “I love the city and we should promote that the city is fine.”</p>
<p>May has blamed President Vladimir Putin for the attack and on Wednesday announced Britain would expel 23 Russian diplomats she said were intelligence agents. Russia denies any involvement.</p>
<p>“I was surprised at how tough she’s been. I though she might pussyfoot around, but she hasn’t,” said Samantha Smith, 22 who works for a product design firm in Salisbury.</p>
<p>May said her visit was to thank emergency and health services and reassure the public about their safety.</p>
<p>“It’s been great to meet some tourists here in Salisbury, people coming to Salisbury, still enjoying this great city,” she said.</p>
<p>Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, betrayed dozens of Russian spies to British intelligence before he was arrested in Moscow in 2004.</p>
<p>He was given a lengthy jail term in 2006 but was released four years later as part of a swap for 10 Russian spies caught in the United States.</p>
<p>Since arriving in Britain, he had lived modestly in Salisbury, keeping out of the spotlight until earlier this month.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper in London; editing by Stephen Addison</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>LONDON (Reuters) - Britain, the United States, Germany and France jointly called on Russia on Thursday to explain a military-grade nerve toxin attack on a former Russian double agent in England which they said threatened Western security.</p>
<p>After the first known offensive use of such a nerve agent on European soil since World War Two, Britain has pinned the blame on Russia and has given 23 Russians it said were spies working under diplomatic cover at the embassy in London a week to leave.</p>
<p>Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused London of behaving in a “boorish” way and suggested this was partly due to the problems Britain faces over its planned exit from the European Union next year.</p>
<p>Russia has refused Britain’s demands to explain how Novichok, a nerve agent first developed by the Soviet military, was used to strike down Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the southern English city of Salisbury.</p>
<p>“We call on Russia to address all questions related to the attack,” U.S. President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May said in their joint statement.</p>
<p>“It is an assault on UK sovereignty,” the leaders said. “It threatens the security of us all.”</p>
<p>While the statement signals a more coordinated response from Britain’s closest allies, it lacked any details about specific measures the West would take if Russia failed to comply.</p>
<p>The Western leaders said the use of the Novichok toxin was a clear breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention and international law.</p>
<p>They called on Russia to provide a complete disclosure of the Novichok program to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.</p>
<p>Russia says it knows nothing about the poisoning and has repeatedly asked Britain to supply a sample of the nerve agent that was used against Skripal.</p>
<p>TIT-FOR-TAT EXPULSIONS?</p> Security cameras are seen, and a flag flies outside the consular section of Russia's embassy in London, Britain, March 15, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
<p>Skripal and his daughter have been critically ill since they were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury, an elegant cathedral city, on March 4. A British policeman who was also poisoned is in a serious but stable condition.</p>
<p>May has directly accused President Vladimir Putin of being behind the attack. Putin, who casts himself as a strong leader able to stand up to a hostile West, is poised to win a fourth term in power on Sunday in Russia’s presidential election.</p>
<p>Russia is expected to respond soon to Britain’s decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats. Putin discussed relations with Britain at a meeting of Russia’s Security Council, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.</p>
<p>Putin, who took over as Kremlin chief from Boris Yeltsin on the last day of 1999, has tried to claw back some of the clout that Moscow lost when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. He says the West has repeatedly tried to undermine Russia.</p> Slideshow (10 Images)
<p>Skripal, a former colonel in Russia’s GRU military intelligence, betrayed dozens of Russian agents to British intelligence before his arrest in Moscow in 2004.</p>
<p>He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006, and in 2010 was given refuge in Britain after being exchanged for Russian spies. He was later granted British citizenship.</p>
<p>May on Thursday visited Salisbury, a normally sedate city where police investigators in chemical protection suits and the army have been removing evidence of the poisoning.</p>
<p>NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the attack in Britain was part of a pattern of reckless behavior from Russia over many years. He said Britain could count on NATO’s solidarity, but said there had been no request by London to activate the alliance’s mutual defense clause.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-may-salisbury/uk-pm-may-visits-city-where-russian-double-agent-was-poisoned-idUSKCN1GR1TH" type="external">UK PM May visits city where Russian double agent was poisoned</a>
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-allies/uk-u-s-france-germany-jointly-condemn-chemical-attack-on-ex-spy-idUSKCN1GR1VU" type="external">UK, U.S., France, Germany jointly condemn chemical attack on ex-spy</a>
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-lavrov/russia-hopes-ex-spy-will-recover-reveal-truth-about-poison-attack-idUSKCN1GR1KO" type="external">Russia hopes ex-spy will recover, reveal truth about poison attack</a>
<p>In London, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson defended the government’s response to the attack against critics who said it did not go far enough.</p>
<p>He suggested the authorities might also go after assets held in Britain by Russians close to Putin, though he gave no specific details.</p>
<p>His opposite number in Moscow, Lavrov, suggested that one possible motive for the poisoning was to complicate Russia’s hosting of this summer’s soccer World Cup.</p>
<p>Lavrov also said he hoped Skripal recovered from the attack so that he could shed light on what happened.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Estelle Shirbon, Elisabeth O'Leary and Costas Pitas in London and Edinburgh, William James in Salisbury, England, and Denis Pinchuk and Andrew Osborn in Moscow; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Gareth Jones</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>KESZTHELY, Hungary (Reuters) - In a corner of Lake Balaton, central Europe’s largest body of freshwater, the rocky shoreline leads to a leafy park at the city of Keszthely, a resort whose natural beauty contrasts with the dereliction of its hotels.</p> FILE PHOTO: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives at the EU summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo
<p>Keszthely used to be a magnet for Communist-era workers and apparatchiks before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Now, to the delight of many locals, the dilapidated waterfront is set for an investment bonanza. But the scheme is controversial. The reason: the people who stand to profit from it. In Keszthely, Reuters has found, those first in line to capitalize are Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s friends and family.</p>
<p>Orban has earmarked more than $3 billion in public funds for tourism ventures across Hungary up to 2030, including more than $1.4 billion for Balaton, according to government announcements since March 2014. Most of the cash will come from Hungarian taxpayers. About 40 percent of the money for Balaton will come from the European Union, which gives funds to members to help lagging regions grow.</p>
<p>“This kind of money has not come to Balaton in all the years since the end of Communism combined,” said Henrik Hoffmann, chairman of a Balaton regional tourism association.</p>
<p>Since 2014, when the prime minister first mooted the prospect of investment, the seven most prominent waterfront properties in Keszthely have changed hands. An analysis of publicly available data shows three of them are now owned by Orban’s childhood friend Lorinc Meszaros and his business partners, and another three by Orban’s son-in-law Istvan Tiborcz and his associates. Reuters has also found company documents that show a company co-owned by Orban’s son-in-law Tiborcz stands to collect almost half of any profits from a venture which acquired the resort’s biggest hotel.</p>
<p>Neither Tiborcz or Meszaros responded to requests for comment.</p>
<p>Meszaros and Tiborcz are part of a Hungarian elite which has grown fast over the past eight years, acquiring stakes in major industries like banking, energy, construction, agriculture and the media, as well as tourism. In all, 10 individuals have significant stakes in the Keszthely developments. Most of them have become heavyweights in the broad economy: Companies they control have participated in winning bids for public procurement contracts, some of them funded by the EU, worth nearly $8 billion since Orban resumed power in 2010, according to a Reuters analysis of data collected by the Corruption Research Centre Budapest, a think tank, from the Public Procurement Authority.</p>
<p>That is more than 10 percent of the value of such contracts over that time. Last year was a bumper one for public procurement tenders: More than $14 billion were awarded, and companies controlled by men with interests on the Keszthely waterfront won just over $4 billion of them - more than one dollar in every four.</p>
<p>Neither Orban or the government responded to requests for comment.</p>
<p>The European Union’s anti-fraud office (Office européen de lutte antifraude or OLAF), has recommended that Brussels ask Hungary to repay EU funds totaling more than 4 percent of the cash Europe has given it between 2012 and 2015. OLAF declined to discuss specific projects, but says on its website it makes such recommendations when it believes EU money has been “defrauded or irregularly misspent.” Suspected violations can include projects that have been overpriced, involved collusion with bidders, or pointed to conflicts of interest. Hungary’s suspect total, according to OLAF’s 2016 annual report, is a bigger share than that of any other EU state, amounting to about 850 million euros ($1 billion) of funds.</p>
<p>In January, OLAF recommended that Hungary take legal action over what it called “serious irregularities” in the award of contracts to Tiborcz and an associate, Endre Hamar, for a street lighting project. In that project, a company owned by Hamar was the adviser on tenders that another Tiborcz and Hamar firm went on to win. Neither man has commented on OLAF’s findings.</p>
<p>OLAF has no power to police member states, and can only recommend steps for the European Union or national authorities to take. The EU has “zero tolerance to fraud with EU funds and therefore insists on a clear commitment from all member states to prevent fraud,” a Commission spokesperson said by email. The spokesperson did not respond directly to Reuters findings, or say what if any funds have been recovered from Hungary. The European Commission also carries out its own audits, blocks payments when it suspects an irregularity and claws back the expenditure if the irregularity is confirmed. But this work is not made public.</p>
<p>Orban’s party, Fidesz, has ruled Keszthely for more than a decade, and polls show he is set for victory in a national election this April. He has long defied oversight by what he calls the “global political overlords” and “liberal elites” and portrays himself as a pioneer among eastern European leaders whose countries are part of the European Union, but who rebel - in his case by saying Hungary deserves the bloc’s cash in exchange for opening up its markets, and that he should be free to form his own class of loyal industrialists.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-hungary-orban-balaton-list-factbox/factbox-the-keszthely-10-idUSKCN1GR2DI" type="external">Factbox: The Keszthely 10</a>
<p>“What some call corruption is essentially the main policy of Fidesz,” Andras Lanczi, an Orban supporter at the think tank Szazadveg, said in a 2015 newspaper interview that Szazadveg put up on its website. “By that I mean the government has set goals like forming a layer of domestic businessmen, building pillars of a strong Hungary in rural areas or in industry.”</p>
<p>Orban and his associates have a clear system, said Peter Kreko, chief analyst at the Political Capital think tank in Budapest: They build positions in sectors and prepare for the arrival of public funds. “Close associates of the prime minister get fat on state money,” he said.</p> “NATIONAL COOPERATION”
<p>Outside Hungary, Orban, the country’s longest-serving leader since Communist times, makes headlines for what he rejects. He helped banish Communism, but he also went on to flout European policy by refusing to house refugees. He cut short cooperation with the International Monetary Fund and boosted taxes on foreign banks and multinational corporations.</p>
<p>Less widely known is that eight years ago, he introduced an economic doctrine which he called a revolt against international capital and liberal values. It is geared to affirming the supremacy of nationalist-minded people, a vogue that has spread across eastern Europe.</p>
<p>“We were among the first, or maybe the first, to revolt in 2010,” Orban said in his state of the nation address last year. “In seven years of hard work we built our own political and economic system, a Hungarian model tailor made for us... the System of National Cooperation.” He told a gathering of friendly intellectuals in 2013 that this involves nurturing a supportive moneyed class: “The system cannot work without international capital. But... Hungarian national capital must be empowered as well.”</p>
<p>Since 2010, Hungary’s economy has grown by about 2 percent a year on average and tourism in Balaton has grown even faster. But Keszthely’s tally of 165,000 overnight stays in 2014 slipped to about 135,000 per year, on average, in 2015 and 2016, according to Hungary’s Central Statistics Office.</p>
<p>The month before Hungary’s 2014 election, Orban attended a conference of tourism professionals in another town on the Balaton shore. He told them the government had a plan, based on “sketches on the canvas,” to inject development funds totaling about $1.1 billion in tourism - plus extra funds for Balaton. He did not say then where the money would come from.</p> WESTERN HARBOR
<p>That June, after Orban had been re-elected, his daughter Rahel’s husband, Istvan Tiborcz, set up a company, Western Basin Harbor Development, with partners including Tiborcz’s old school friend Hamar, who is a lawyer. It went on to acquire the rights to the Keszthely Yacht Club from the city.</p>
<p>The agreement, sealed in December 2014, divided the sale into three parts and included an option rather than a cash sale. This structure meant that even though the arrangement obliged the buyer to pay more than $1 million for the buildings, each element of the deal’s value was below the $100,000 threshold that would require the contract be put out to tender.</p>
<p>There was a flurry of controversy with headlines such as “Tiborcz buys marina for Christmas” in the press. But after an investigation, the regional prosecutor said there was nothing illegal about the arrangement.</p>
<p>“We sold an unprofitable harbor at a decent price,” said Keszthely’s former deputy mayor, Robert Palinkas, rejecting any suggestion of wrongdoing. “This was not an area that was marketable immediately and unconditionally. Maybe there were no other investors because they had to commit to serious undertakings there.”</p> Hotel Via in Keszthely, Hungary, September 21, 2017. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh
<p>Tiborcz quit as a partner in the Yacht Club in March 2015. The marina’s main owner, Krisztian Lukacs, told Reuters this was a response to the controversy about his purchase. Tiborcz did not respond.</p>
<p>An old friend of Tiborcz stayed as CEO at the club. Zsolt Peter, who has lived in Keszthely since 2000, said his family had been close to the Tiborczs for three generations. The new owners gave the marina a facelift, installed a chic new restaurant and worked on marketing. Peter said that at the close of season last year, 130 boats moored there - up from 67 when he took over and just shy of breakeven, which he put at 150 boats.</p>
<p>But Tiborcz’s interest in Keszthely did not end when he quit the Yacht Club. By far the biggest hotel on the waterfront, and the one in the best condition, is the boxy concrete structure of the Hotel Helikon, recently closed down for redevelopment. Behind the Helikon’s grimy windows on a January visit, a billiard table stood with a lone cue propped up against it.</p>
<p>The site was bought in December 2016 by a new company called Pannon Tessera Hospitalis, or PTH. In its first year, PTH was owned and operated by a veteran hotel manager called Zoltan Somlyai. It had zero revenue and he said he was its only employee. Company documents showed 90 percent of profits were to be paid to an undisclosed holder of preference shares.</p>
<p>According to fresh company documents filed last month, a company owned by Tiborcz and Hamar owns preference shares in PTH. These entitle the holder to 45 percent of any profits it makes. The rest of the profit now goes to a Tiborcz associate called Attila Paar, who bought a stake last year through a company he owns, and a another investor, a lawyer who is largely unknown in the tourism industry.</p>
<p>Tiborcz, Hamar and Paar did not respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>On a windswept weekday in late January, 70-year-old Gyorgy Horvath, fishing on the refurbished marina jetty, said he was more than happy with the plans to revamp the waterfront. He served at tables for 35 years as a waiter in the Helikon: He remembered when busloads of visitors came, in winter and in summer, year after year.</p>
<p>“Keszthely has great potential,” Horvath said. “I really don’t care who builds stuff, and I don’t care about politics. ... Just start something worthwhile already.”</p> Slideshow (23 Images) “FLOWERS FOR HUNGARY”
<p>Back in 2015, Orban’s “sketches on the canvas” were still vague. There was, say people involved in Hungary’s tourism industry, confusion over what to expect from the government, either in the marketing strategy or the funding. The government launched one plan in November but withdrew it six months later.</p>
<p>In April 2016, the government centralized the administration of Hungary’s tourism industry in the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTU). This entity, it said in a decree last March, designs and implements tourism programs, including those to be funded by EU money from 2014 to 2020. The MTU does everything from outlining strategy and assigning state funding down to organizing events such as the “Flowers for Hungary” program, a contest for the prettiest environment.</p>
<p>Orban’s ministerial office took a similar centralizing step in 2014 when it absorbed the National Development Agency, which allocates EU funding in Hungary.</p>
<p>Orban’s daughter, Rahel, played a role in the changes, such as formulating the tourism marketing strategy. Then 27, she had studied tourism and graduated with an Executive MBA in hospitality management at the private Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne in Switzerland, which educates some of the best tourism managers in the world.</p>
<p>Eight current and former tourism and government insiders told Reuters that Rahel Orban is highly influential in the tourist trade and works closely with the MTU’s CEO, Zoltan Guller. The MTU said Guller had “occasionally sought Rahel Orban’s opinion about shaping the Hungary brand,” and that she is not paid for this work.</p>
<p>When asked if she influences decisions on funding, it did not respond. She did not respond.</p> GOLDEN TOUCH
<p>Even before Rahel Orban had helped clarify Hungary’s strategy, others in the prime minister’s circle joined the Keszthely shopping spree. In April 2015, a businessman named Gellert Jaszai made a purchase that paved the way for Orban’s childhood friend Lorinc Meszaros.</p>
<p>Jaszai bought into a small holding company called Konzum, a former retail chain operator that had sunk to a penny stock. A year later, Konzum bought a real estate fund that included two Keszthely hotels and the rights to a company which operates a lakeside campsite. In February 2017, Meszaros announced on the stock exchange that he had bought 19.6 percent of Konzum.</p>
<p>Meszaros acquired dozens of properties elsewhere around the lake, which he incorporated into Konzum. Jaszai said he had known Meszaros for a long time.</p>
<p>A pipe-fitter and mayor of Orban’s hometown, Meszaros is one of Hungary’s most influential businessmen, famed nationally for attributing his rise to “God, good fortune, and Viktor Orban.” His interests span well over 100 companies in seven major industries from construction and real estate to energy, media, banking, finance, tourism, sports, and agriculture.</p>
<p>Today, Konzum is one of four publicly traded companies in which Meszaros and Jaszai hold stakes. Its shares rose 5,300 percent last year, in anticipation of business success in ventures from tourism to energy.</p>
<p>“It’s difficult to put a ceiling on the valuation,” wrote stock analyst Gellert Gaal from Concorde, a prominent Hungarian brokerage, in December - a view he said in March he still held. “Investors have extreme faith in the profit growth of these companies, as if everything these companies touch turned into gold.”</p>
<p>In addition to renovated hotels, the Balaton area now is promised improved road, rail, air and water infrastructure, including a $670 million motorway, upgraded adventure parks, and a central state marketing effort around the Balaton brand.</p>
<p>Gyorgy Wossala, a 77-year-old Balaton hotel manager who sold a hotel up the lake to Meszaros in 2016, said he chose Meszaros from a half dozen competing bidders solely because Orban’s old friend offered the best price. He would not say what it was.</p>
<p>“He probably sees the opportunity in Balaton,” Wossala said, sucking on a pipe on the patio of his lakeside home. “Everyone who can is building positions now,” he added, referring to the government’s planned cash injection in tourism.</p>
<p>“Everyone sees these billions. ... And of course, people with good government ties have always received their subsidy before those without.”</p>
<p>Edited by Sara Ledwith and Richard Woods</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | BRIEF-India's Indoco Remedies Dec-Qtr Profit Rises Exclusive: Amazon's internal numbers on Prime Video, revealed UK PM May visits city where Russian double agent was poisoned West calls on Russia to explain nerve toxin attack on former double agent Special Report: How Europe's taxpayers will bankroll Viktor Orban's friends and family | false | https://reuters.com/article/brief-indias-indoco-remedies-dec-qtr-pro/brief-indias-indoco-remedies-dec-qtr-profit-rises-idUSFWN1PK0E6 | 2018-01-25 | 2 |
<p>It’s autumn, the time of year when millions of Americans renew their love affair with guns and head for the woods in a preemptive strike in their war against wildlife. Hunters justify this slaughter by claiming to reduce incidents of human/animal conflict. They tell us they must kill to protect Americans from automobile/deer collisions ­ and save animals from certain starvation. They would have us believe that hunting is not only good for people, but also good for the animals they kill. Yet in reality, hunting is neither useful nor necessary. It is an environmentally and socially destructive practice historically grounded in racial injustice.</p>
<p>There is no truth to the myth that hunting reduces human/animal conflict. In fact, automobile/deer collisions actually increase during hunting season as deer are flushed from forests and onto roadways. The presence of wildlife in our yards, cities, and highways is due not to an increase in the number of animals, but to a staggering decrease in wilderness. We live in a culture that has accepted hunting for so many generations that we can no longer see the forest through the disappearing trees. The animals are not invading our territory ­ we have increasingly invaded theirs. It is our society’s constant destruction of wilderness that causes human/animal conflict. In an age of water shortages and global warming our natural resources merit a sophisticated ecosystem protection policy ­ a policy in which humane wildlife management is one important aspect.</p>
<p>The tragic histories of the passenger pigeon and the American buffalo show us that hunters are sometimes the last to realize the delicate nature of animal populations. Hunting is not an effective method of wildlife management; the “need” to hunt on an annual basis is proof itself of hunting’s ineffectiveness. Hunters’ claims of conservationism are necessary because admitting that you enjoy killing is a less than flattering attribute. Hunters make the cruel choice to shoot animals instead of skeet or targets. And cruel it is.</p>
<p>There is nothing as heartbreaking as the sight of a bird shot from flight or witnessing a gunned down deer’s last moments – the blood, the panicked breathing, the struggle, the recognition of what is happening, and the animal’s visible desire to survive.</p>
<p>While some people may view hunting as a harmless cultural tradition, in fact, hunting is a stubborn holdover from our country’s racist past. While many still consider it an annual rite of passage for white children to stalk through rural communities with loaded guns, it is a crime for a minority child to possess a gun in his urban neighborhood. A gun remains a traditional right for many boys in white, rural America, a tradition that would get a Latino boy killed or imprisoned in our cities. That we allow, even encourage, one segment of our population to run amuck with guns, while imprisoning others, is blatantly racist.</p>
<p>In a year when many cities are struggling with a disturbing reemergence of gun violence, America must rethink the continued glorification of guns and killing. The cruel reality of hunting blurs the message we deliver to our children about guns and violence in this country. We cannot simultaneously discourage gun violence and encourage hunting. Both cruelty and compassion are contagious, and it is our responsibility to plant the seeds of a compassionate culture for future generations. Children who learn to empathize with animals are much more likely to become empathetic adults. There is nothing good that comes from the murder of vulnerable creatures. Hunting teaches it is acceptable, even admirable, to kill a defenseless creature. Hunting is the opposite of caring.</p>
<p>We should celebrate when our children plant their first tree or spend their first day volunteering at a homeless shelter ­ not when they gun down their first animal. By abandoning hunting in favor of state-of-the-art methods of ecosystem management we can save two birds without picking up a single stone. We can forever improve the quality of life for both humans and animals while teaching our children a crucial lesson about compassion, mercy, and living in harmony with all of the earth’s creatures.</p>
<p>KELLY OVERTON is Executive Director of People Protecting Animals &amp; Their Habitats. Email: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Bang Bang, Shoot Shoot | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/09/06/bang-bang-shoot-shoot/ | 2007-09-06 | 4 |
<p />
<p>What: Shares of Rockwell Medical were tumbling 31% at 12:30 p.m. EST Tuesday due to reporting fourth quarter financial results, after the bell Monday, that disappointed investors.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/RMTI/total_return_price" type="external">RMTI Total Return Price</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>So what: In its first few months on the market, sales of Rockwell Medical's newly launched drug, Triferic, an iron replacement therapy for chronic kidney disease patients, failed to win traction.</p>
<p>In the past, iron replacement therapy has been done in dialysis centers using IV infusion, a method that can lead to patient complications, and because of those risks, industry watchers had been hopeful Triferic could win away market share.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that market share has been hard to come by.</p>
<p>According to the company's 10-K filing with the SEC, the company only sold an anemic $200,000 worth of the drug in the fourth quarter and as a result, its total revenue was $14.1 million in Q4, down $300,000 from a year ago.</p>
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<p>Even worse, the company's gross profit slipped by 3% year over year to $2.1 million in the fourth quarter, and the combination of poor sales and rising expenses led to Rockwell Medical losing $5.8 million in the three-month span.</p>
<p>Full year results weren't much better.</p>
<p>Rockwell Medical's revenue only inched up 2.1% to $55.4 million and its loss totaled $14.4 million in 2015.</p>
<p>Now what: Rockwell Medical's CEO Robert Chioini attempted to put a positive spin on the performance, referring to the year as "exceptional," but his optimistic assessment shouldn't be surprising. In his Q4, 2014 financial press release he used the word "exceptional" to describe his company's performance, which included a tepid 3.5% revenue increase and in the company's Q4, 2013 earnings press release he described Triferic's phase 3 clinical data as "exceptional" too.</p>
<p>Overall,until real-world uptake of this drug proves Triferic is worthy of Chioini's accolades, I don't see a compelling reason to buy shares in Rockwell Medical, even at these lower prices.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/01/why-rockwell-medical-inc-shares-are-crashing-today.aspx" type="external">Why Rockwell Medical, Inc. Shares Are Crashing Today Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/EBCapitalMarkets/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Todd Campbell Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. Todd owns E.B. Capital Markets, LLC. E.B. Capital's clients may have positions in the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=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> | Why Rockwell Medical, Inc. Shares Are Crashing Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/01/why-rockwell-medical-inc-shares-are-crashing-today.html | 2016-03-27 | 0 |
<p>Dutch newspaper <a href="http://www.volkskrant.nl" type="external">Volkskrant</a> lost 4,717 paying subscribers to the print edition in Q4 2004, but at least its new digital edition managed to attract 10,000 paying subscribers. For €150 per year (instead of €244 for the print version), they still get the thick Saturday issue delivered to their homes, plus they get a daily digital edition which is an exact copy of the print version.The <a href="http://www.hoi-online.nl/Default.aspx?Language=UK" type="external">HOI Institute for Media Auditing</a>, which tracks circulation figures of newspapers and magazines, also is now counting digital-edition subscribers (as long as&#160;it is&#160;like the printed counterpart) as well.The free Volkskrant website has a lot of information as well, so most new subscribers may just want to get hold of the Saturday print issue -- which offers job ads, a magazine, and all the weekend supplements. But it is still a welcome new €1.5 million in subscription revenues.</p> | Gain Some, Lose Some | false | https://poynter.org/news/gain-some-lose-some | 2005-04-26 | 2 |
<p>Meet China’s new secret weapon: monkeys.</p>
<p>The People’s Liberation Army has recruited macaques to protect an air force base in northern China from migratory birds, <a href="http://kj.81.cn/content/2014-05/04/content_5888582.htm" type="external">state media reported.</a></p>
<p>The highly trained unit of monkeys has been described as China's <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/08/world/asia/china-pla-monkeys/" type="external">"secret weapon."</a></p>
<p>Don't be deceived by their cute appearance.&#160;</p>
<p>Here's one of the new recruits.</p>
<p />
<p>China Air Force Network/Ministry of National Defense</p>
<p>The furry defenders have been charged with <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/05/05/theyre-fierce-furry-and-ready-to-protect-china/" type="external">discouraging the birds from building nests</a> near the unidentified air force base.</p>
<p>The birds can cause potentially deadly havoc if they get sucked into the engine of an aircraft mid-flight.</p>
<p>Bye, bye nest.&#160;</p>
<p />
<p>Chinese Air Force Network/Ministry of National Defense</p>
<p>Previous attempts to evict the feathered enemy, such as installing scarecrows, setting off firecrackers and even firing live ammunition, failed. They kept coming back.&#160;</p>
<p>So the decision was made to teach monkeys to destroy the nests and scare the intruders away once and for all.</p>
<p>Look at me!</p>
<p />
<p>China Air Force Network/Ministry of National Defense</p>
<p>The macaques are said to have been successful because they <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/08/world/asia/china-pla-monkeys/" type="external">leave a scent</a>&#160;on the branches, which the birds don't like.&#160;</p>
<p>Best of friends.</p>
<p />
<p>China Air Force Network/Ministry of National Defense</p> | China has deployed monkeys to protect its troops | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-05-10/china-has-deployed-monkeys-protect-its-troops | 2014-05-10 | 3 |
<p>Right-hander Tyler Chatwood agreed to a three-year, $38 million deal with the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Chicago-Cubs/" type="external">Chicago Cubs</a>, the team announced Thursday.</p>
<p>Chatwood posted an 8-15 mark and a 4.69 ERA in 33 appearances last season for the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Colorado-Rockies/" type="external">Colorado Rockies</a>. His loss total last season tied for the most in the National League.</p>
<p>The 27-year-old likely will be thrilled to leave Coors Field in his rear-view mirror, as he limped to a 3-8 record with a 6.01 ERA in 17 games in Denver last season. By comparison, Chatwood owned a 5-7 mark with a 3.49 ERA in 16 games on the road.</p>
<p>Chatwood compiled a 40-46 record with two saves and a 4.31 ERA in six major league seasons with the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Los-Angeles-Angels/" type="external">Los Angeles Angels</a> and Rockies.</p>
<p>The Cubs could potentially lose right-hander <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Jake-Arrieta/" type="external">Jake Arrieta</a> as a free agent this offseason, so signing Chatwood gives Chicago another bona fide starter.</p> | Chicago Cubs: RHP Tyler Chatwood signs three-year deal | false | https://newsline.com/chicago-cubs-rhp-tyler-chatwood-signs-three-year-deal/ | 2017-12-07 | 1 |
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<p>BRUSSELS – A top NATO general said Tuesday that aspects of the alliance were “obsolete,” echoing President-elect Donald Trump’s language and saying that the Western military alliance needs to adapt for a changing world.</p>
<p>The admission was a first sign of how NATO may try to pitch itself to the most skeptical U.S. president in the history of the bloc, which was formed as a defensive bulwark against the Soviet Union in the aftermath of World War II. But it appeared unlikely that French air force Gen. Denis Mercier, the senior NATO commander based in the United States, and Trump believe that the same aspects of NATO are obsolete.</p>
<p>Trump has said that he wants the 28-nation defense alliance to focus more on counterterrorism, a shift that NATO leaders say was already underway before Trump’s insurgent candidacy transformed into an election victory. He has also left open the question of whether he would come to the aid of NATO allies who have not been meeting their defense spending commitments and left open the door to a deal with Russia that would be anathema to most other NATO members.</p>
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<p>NATO leaders have been left to struggle with how to present themselves to an incoming president even as U.S. and allied troops fan out across Eastern Europe to provide deterrence to a threat of a Russian invasion.</p>
<p>“When I look at the threats we are facing now, we see that we may have focused too much, until the Ukraine crisis, we may have focused too much on expeditionary operations, especially in Afghanistan, and doing that, NATO has a bit failed to look at the change in the strategic background,” said Mercier, who is the supreme allied commander transformation of NATO, based in Norfolk.</p>
<p>His job, previously held by retired U.S. Marine Gen. James Mattis, Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, is focused on the technical side of developing NATO’s future military stance and strategies, a command post that stands to benefit from major demands for change. His assessments do not appear to be shared by all senior staff at NATO.</p>
<p>“We have some structures that are obsolete,” Mercier told a small group of journalists in Brussels, saying that aspects of NATO bureaucracy are duplicative and could be streamlined. One example he offered was a standardized blueprint for the way NATO partners with nonmember countries on security initiatives.</p>
<p>But in a sign that his vision of NATO’s future may diverge from Trump’s, he said that the July 2016 summit in which NATO nations committed thousands of troops to Eastern Europe was an example of successful adaptation.</p>
<p>“If there was not obsolescence in many areas of the alliance, we would not have decided this adaptation, in fact,” Mercier said.</p>
<p>Mercier also said that NATO was working on counterterrorism efforts by committing military trainers to Iraq and by offering NATO radar planes to the coalition combating the Islamic State. He said that additional initiatives were also possible as the world struggles to confront the terrorist group.</p>
<p>He carefully broke from Trump’s desire to team up with Russia, saying that NATO needed to talk to the Kremlin but that Russia should not violate the territorial integrity of other nations.</p>
<p>“We always talk better with Russia when we are strong,” he said, praising the current NATO troop deployments across Eastern Europe. Again pitching NATO’s work to Trump, he said that resolving the complexities of the multinational deployment would speed future counterterrorism efforts.</p>
<p>But he acknowledged that Trump’s unorthodox approach to NATO, if carried through to a full reversal of military commitments made under President Obama, could result in significant disruptions to the alliance.</p>
<p>“If the U.S. forces would stop deploying, it would be some kind of strategic shock in Europe,” he said of the deployments to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.</p>
<p>Over the weekend, Trump called NATO “obsolete” and said that other nations were not paying enough for their own defense. “With that being said, NATO is very important to me,” Trump told the Times of London and Germany’s Bild newspaper.</p> | A top NATO general echoes Trump, calling aspects of alliance ‘obsolete’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/929417/a-top-nato-general-echoes-trump-calling-aspects-of-alliance-obsolete.html | 2017-01-17 | 2 |
<p>Wednesday the Indian government began distributing 100,000 computer tablets in New Delhi. The Aakash is a cheap tablet that will be handed out to school children, as part of an initiative to help the poor access the digital world. Anchor Marco Werman talks to Rajat Agrawal, executive director of BGR India, an online tech review magazine, about the new device.</p> | 100,000 Tablets for School Children in New Delhi | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-10-05/100000-tablets-school-children-new-delhi | 2011-10-05 | 3 |
<p>WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers on Sunday called on President Donald Trump to turn over any tapes of conversations with <a href="" type="internal">fired FBI chief James</a> <a href="" type="internal">Comey</a>, potentially setting up a showdown with the White House as Democrats considered a boycott of the vote on Comey’s replacement.</p>
<p>In a highly unusual move, Trump last week <a href="" type="internal">appeared to suggest on Twitter that he might have tapes of conversations with Comey</a> and warned the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation against talking to the media. Trump and a White House spokesman declined to confirm or deny whether such tapes exist.</p>
<p>Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said the White House must “clear the air” about whether there are any taped conversations.</p>
<p>“You can’t be cute about tapes. If there are any tapes of this conversation, they need to be turned over,” Graham told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.</p>
<p>Trump sparked a political firestorm when he abruptly fired Comey last week. The FBI has been investigating alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election <a href="" type="internal">and possible ties between Moscow and the Trump</a> <a href="" type="internal">campaign</a>.</p>
<p>Democrats have accused Trump of attempting to thwart the FBI’s probe and have called for some type of independent inquiry into the matter.</p>
<p>Trump has said he removed Comey because he was not doing a good job and that Comey had lost the support of FBI employees.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Trump tweeted on Friday that “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!”</p>
<p>If there are recordings, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah told the “Fox News Sunday” program it was “inevitable” that they would be subpoenaed and the White House would have to release them.</p>
<p>Lee, who was on Trump’s list of potential replacements for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, also said recording conversations in the White House is “not necessarily the best idea.”</p>
<p>‘Sigh of relief’</p>
<p>Trump’s threat about tapes has intensified calls from Democrats for an independent probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.</p>
<p>Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump must immediately provide Congress with any tapes and warned that destroying existing tapes would violate the law.</p>
<p>Schumer also said Senate Democrats are weighing whether to refuse to vote on a new FBI director until a special prosecutor is named to investigate Trump’s potential ties to Russia.</p>
<p>Russia has denied the claims and the White House says there was no collusion.</p>
<p>“To have that special prosecutor, people would breathe a sigh of relief because then there would be a real independent person overlooking the FBI director,” Schumer told CNN’s “State of the Union” program.</p>
<p>Trump, who has sought better relations with Russia, has continued to question whether it was behind the hacking of email accounts belonging to Democrats involved in Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.</p>
<p>But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program there is no question that “the Russians were playing around in our electoral processes.”</p>
<p>He defended Trump’s decision to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Oval Office last week.</p>
<p>“It’s in the interest of the American people, it’s in the interest of Russia and the rest of the world that we do something to see if we cannot improve the relationship between the two greatest nuclear powers in the world,” Tillerson said.</p>
<p>The Justice Department began interviewing candidates for the FBI director job on Saturday. Some people under consideration include acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, New York Appeals Court Judge Michael Garcia and former Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher, according to a White House official.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released on Sunday found that 29 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s decision to fire Comey, while 38 percent disapprove.</p>
<p>If a Senate vote on a new FBI director breaks down along party lines, Democrats would not have the votes to block a nominee because Republicans hold a majority in the chamber.</p>
<p>“The key is getting some of our Republican colleagues to join us,” Schumer said.</p>
<p>Republican leaders in the Senate have rebuffed calls for a special prosecutor, saying it would interfere with ongoing congressional probes.</p>
<p>Graham said there may come a time when a special prosecutor is needed but not now.</p>
<p>“Right now, it is a counterintelligence investigation, not a criminal investigation. So you don’t need a special prosecutor,” Graham said on “Meet the Press.”</p>
<p>Related</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Timing, optics of Comey firing not in Trump’s favor — ANALYSIS</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Trump asked Comey if he was under FBI investigation</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Shocked FBI agents grapple with Comey’s firing</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Trump says Comey ‘wasn’t doing a good job’</a></p>
<p /> | Lawmakers call on Trump to turn over any Comey tapes | false | https://reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/lawmakers-call-on-trump-to-turn-over-any-comey-tapes/ | 2017-05-14 | 1 |
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<p />
<p>Chelsea Goupil of Rio Rancho was shot Dec. 23 with a small-caliber handgun, according to Lt. Matt Ross. The department has not released the name of Goupil's brother because no charges have been filed against him.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho officers were dispatched around 9:30 p.m. to a home in the 300 block of Aldaba Circle, near Idalia and Unser, in response to reports of a shooting. Ross said that officers interviewed people who were in the home at the time and that the preliminary investigation determined that the shooting "might possibly have been accidental."</p>
<p>"The investigation is leaning that way," Ross said Tuesday.</p>
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<p>He said that officers found no indication alcohol was involved and that the scene was processed for evidence using a search warrant.</p>
<p>"At this time, no evidence or statements provide probable cause that articulates criminal intent for immediate charges to be filed," Ross said in an email.</p>
<p>He said in an interview that the weapon fired while it was being "shown to someone."</p>
<p>A GoFundMe page set up to help cover Goupil's funeral expenses describes the mother of two as a kind person who went out of her way to help her friends, family and co-workers. She worked at Target and was a member of a bowling league.</p>
<p>Jon Winter II went to high school with Goupil in Paso Robles, Calif., and the two stayed close afterward. Winter said she messaged him the day before her death to wish his son a happy birthday.</p>
<p>"There are a million things I can say: She was very comforting, easy to talk to, always there for me when I was going through tough times," he said. "An all-around great woman."</p>
<p>He said she was a devoted parent whose life revolved around her 3- and 7-year-old sons.</p>
<p>"I know she adored her boys," he said. "She was a great mother to them."</p>
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<p>He said he spent lots of time at Goupil's home throughout high school, hanging out with her and her older brothers.</p>
<p>"That whole family just loved each other so much," he said.</p>
<p>He said the news left him in shock, and he knows there will be times when he will come upon a moment or a story and wish that Goupil were there to share it with.</p>
<p>"There will always be a void," he said.</p>
<p />
<p /> | RR mom's shooting may have been accident | false | https://abqjournal.com/698726/rr-moms-shooting-may-have-been-accident.html | 2015-12-31 | 2 |
<p>Oil stocks in focus as OPEC agrees to extend output cuts</p>
<p>European stocks ended a choppy session on a down note Thursday. The pan-European index was supported by broad-based gains in the banking sector, after Credit Suisse Group AG provided an upbeat outlook and vowed to return a large chunk of profits to investors.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Oil companies, however, lost ground as oil prices turned mixed as OPEC agreed to extend output curbs.</p>
<p>What are markets doing: The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 1.25 points, or 0.3%, to end at 386.71, contributing to a 2.2% monthly decline for November--the largest such fall since June.</p>
<p>Germany's DAX 30 index fell 0.3% to 13,023.98, while France's CAC 40 index dropped 0.5% to 5,372.79.</p>
<p>The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index underperformed the broader European markets for a second day, falling 0.9% to 7,326.67 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-slides-to-2-month-low-as-pound-rallies-on-brexit-hopes-2017-11-30). The slide came as the pound rallied to a fresh two-month high at $1.3470 on further signs of a breakthrough in the Brexit negotiations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-closes-in-on-deal-with-eu-over-irish-border-times-2017-11-30). Sterling traded around $1.3410 late Wednesday in New York.</p>
<p>The euro rebounded to $1.1889, up from $1.1850 on Wednesday, after initially declining on some uninspiring eurozone inflation numbers.</p>
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<p>What's driving the market: Banks were again among biggest gainers, continuing Wednesday's push higher. That advance came after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman-nominee Jerome Powell said he hopes to ease financial regulations. Many European banks do business in the U.S., so looser regulations stateside could also be a boon for them.</p>
<p>More positive news in the sector came out Thursday, when Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.EB)(CSGN.EB) raised its 2018 profit target (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/credit-suisse-pledges-to-return-50-of-profits-2017-11-30) for its wealth-management and connected business in Asia-Pacific. The bank also said it plans to increase returns to shareholders by distributing 50% of profit to them through share buybacks and special dividends.</p>
<p>Credit Suisse shares rose 2%.</p>
<p>Investor optimism has been boosted recently by improved prospects for the passage of Republican-proposed tax reforms in Washington. The U.S. Senate began debating the tax bill on Wednesday, and a final vote could come as early as Thursday night (https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-heads-toward-initial-vote-on-tax-overhaul-1511976620).</p>
<p>Brexit breakthrough: In the U.K., there were further signs London and Brussels could break the Brexit deadlock by Christmas. The Times newspaper said Thursday the U.K. is close to reaching an agreement over Northern Ireland (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/brexit-britain-close-to-irish-border-deal-pltcgrvcj) with the European Union's Brexit negotiators. The report said British officials earlier this week made a proposal to avoid a "hard border" between the U.K. province and the Republic of Ireland.</p>
<p>The EU has said it needs to see "sufficient progress" on the Irish border before the withdrawal talks can move on to deal with trade and a potential transition period. The two other issues are EU citizens' rights and the size of the U.K.'s exit bill.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, media reports said London and Brussels had agreed on a Brexit divorce bill of around EUR50 billion, after U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May significantly raised the British offer.</p>
<p>OPEC meeting: Traders closely tracked the meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna that began early Thursday. OPEC members and a group of non-cartel countries agreed to extend an agreement on output curbs that was due to expire in March through the end of 2018, reports said.</p>
<p>See:This is the big question for oil traders as OPEC meets on Thursday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/opec-oil-ministers-will-face-this-dilemma-when-they-meet-to-extend-production-cuts-2017-11-17)</p>
<p>Crude oil prices headed south, with Brent down 0.3% at $62.32 a barrel.</p>
<p>Among energy companies, shares of BP PLC (BP.LN) (BP.LN) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) (RDSB.LN) each lost 1.1%, and Total SA (TOT) fell 0.6%.</p>
<p>Economic news: Eurozone inflation rose to 1.5% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/eurozone-inflation-rises-to-15-on-energy-prices-2017-11-30) in November, according to a preliminary estimate from Eurostat, up from 1.4% in October. However, it missed consensus forecasts of a 1.6% reading.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, unemployment in the currency union fell to 8.8% in October from 8.9% in September, marking the lowest joblessness rate since January 2009.</p>
<p>Stock movers: Shares of Daily Mail and General Trust PLC (DMGT.LN) tanked 24% after the newspaper company said it swung to a pretax loss (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/daily-mail-swings-to-loss-on-impairment-charges-2017-11-30) in fiscal 2017.</p>
<p>Shares of Aviva PLC (AV.LN) rose 0.4% after the insurer lifted its forecast for annual earnings growth (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aviva-lifts-earnings-growth-targets-2017-11-30) to more than 5% a year from 2019 onward.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>November 30, 2017 14:02 ET (19:02 GMT)</p> | EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks End Lower As Oil Shares Slip | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/11/30/europe-markets-european-stocks-end-lower-as-oil-shares-slip.html | 2017-11-30 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Image Source: McDermott International investor presentation</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>What: Shares of McDermott International climbed 23.9% in March. The largest reason for the big gain was on March 3rd after the announcement that it had secured another engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract for an upstream oil and gas producer in the Middle East.</p>
<p>So what: Unlike so many other oil and gas service providers that have seen their revenue backlogs decrease, McDermott has been one of the few that has been consistently adding to its project pipeline. At the end of 2015, the company had increased its backlog from the year prior by $630 million to $4.3 billion, and the company has continued on its streak of contract wins this past month. Typically, McDermott doesn't immediately disclose the full contract value of an awarded project, but this is the fourth major project that McDermott has won so far this year.</p>
<p>McDermott can attribute a large portion of its recent success to its operations in the Middle East. While many integrated and independent oil and gas companies have been reeling from low prices, many of the national oil companies in the Gulf States have still been generating enough cash to reinvest in projects that have been related to field maintenance and optimization.</p>
<p>Now what: Even at a time when capital spending around the world is drying up, it's promising for investors that McDermott continues to rack up project awards. The company had about $19.6 billion worth of submitted bids outstanding at the end of the 4th quarter in 2015, so there is still ample opportunity out there to keep growing that backlog through this rough part of the cycle.</p>
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<p>The one discouraging aspect is that despite these contract awards, the company is still generating losses and only expects to break even for the fiscal year 2016. If the company can cut costs as much as it claims it can in its recent investor presentation, then beyond 2016 the company should be able to start generating some much more promising profits. Personally, I would probably want to see some tangible results before making an investment. After all, even when we account for March's stock price jump, the company's shares are still down more than 85% over the past 5 years.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/MDR" type="external">MDR</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts</a></p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/06/mcdermott-inernationals-stock-climbs-239-in-march.aspx" type="external">McDermott Inernational's Stock Climbs 23.9% in March After Another Contract Award</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFDirtyBird/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Tyler Crowe</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned.You can follow him at Fool.comor on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/TylerCroweFool" type="external">@TylerCroweFool</a>.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days</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</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</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</a>.</p> | McDermott Inernational's Stock Climbs 23.9% in March After Another Contract Award | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/04/06/mcdermott-inernationals-stock-climbs-23-9-in-march-after-another-contract-award.html | 2016-04-06 | 0 |
<p>Photo Credit: Mijente</p>
<p>Early Friday morning, social movements from across the country converged in numerous locations across Washington, D.C., including 14 different "security" checkpoints, to shut down, slow and disrupt the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. From Standing Rock Indigenous water protectors to Movement for Black Lives organizers, activists locked down and staged blockades to delegitimize a ceremony for a figure who rose to power on a tide of white nationalism and neo-fascism.</p>
<p>The large numbers took action in step with people across the United States and <a href="//www.timeout.com/london/blog/bridges-not-walls-anti-trump-protesters-have-dropped-banners-on-londons-bridges-012017" type="external">world</a>.</p>
<p>“We must take to the streets and protest, blockade, disrupt, intervene, sit in, walk out, rise up, and make more noise and good trouble than the establishment can bear,” <a href="//www.disruptj20.org/get-organized/call-to-action/" type="external">declared</a> the Washington, D.C.-based Disrupt J20 Collective in a call-to-action released ahead of Thursday. “The parade must be stopped. We must delegitimize Trump and all he represents. It’s time to defend ourselves, our loved ones, and the world that sustains us as if our lives depend on it—because they do.”</p>
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<p>(Photo Credit: It Takes Roots to Grow the Resistance / Grassroots Global Justice Alliance)</p>
<p>AlterNet asked activists why they decided to put their bodies on the line. "My message is, don't be afraid," said Kandi Mossett, an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network who traveled from Standing Rock to Washington, D.C. to protest Donald Trump's inauguration. "Any time we make our voices heard, we're not guaranteed to win our fight, but we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, if we don't try we are guaranteed to fail. We are not afraid. We can all stand together and have unity.”</p>
<p>“On this inauguration day, we are making sure that we are visible and are being heard, as we understand the impacts of climate change on the frontlines,” continued Mossett, who is participating in the It Takes Roots delegation of the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance. “It is hard to describe being in a frontline community—the social impacts, the destruction that comes with the fossil fuel industry, all the violence. The abuses that go hand-in-hand with mother earth. We experience them firsthand. The Donald Trumps of the world don’t ever have to experience the pain and violence of the fossil fuels industry.”</p>
<p>“They need to hear from grassroots people,” Mossett told AlterNet. “If we have to travel all the way here to meet them where they are more comfortable, we will do that.”</p>
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<p>Department of Energy disruption with Indigenous women leaders, veterans, climate and housing activists coming together. (Photo Credit: It Takes Roots to Grow the Resistance / Grassroots Global Justice Alliance)</p>
<p>"I am in tears. I am so honored to have co-organized the ‘Communities Under Attack Fight Back’ block to uplift Muslim resistance, immigrant resistance, Jewish resistance," said Darakshan Raja, founder of the Muslim American Women’s Policy Forum and co-director of the Washington Peace Center.“For now, a day that I was afraid of is giving me more power than ever,” said Raja.</p>
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<p>Groups centering immigrant, Muslim and Jewish resistance came together under the banner of ‘Communities Under Attack Fight Back’ to blockade a checkpoint to the inauguration in the early morning. (Photo credit: Mijente)</p>
<p>“The threats of mass deportation, the dismantling of Obamacare, the registration of Muslims and the criminalization of women’s health, are loud and clear,” said Black Lives Matter DC, Baltimore BLOC, and the Movement for Black Lives in a statement. “Black people and other people of color are being targeted by vigilantes, our places of worship are being burned, our children are being attacked at school and the promise of more 'law and order' policing leaves us even more vulnerable to police terror.”</p>
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<p>Black Lives Matter DC, Baltimore BLOC, and the Movement for Black Lives shut down a checkpoint. (Photo credit: Disrupt J20)</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;“Trump stands for tyranny, greed, and misogyny,” said the Disrupt J20 Collective. “He is the champion of neo-nazis and white Nationalists, of the police who kill the Black, Brown and poor on a daily basis, of racist border agents and sadistic prison guards, of the FBI and NSA who tap your phone and read your email.”&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>"If there is going to be a positive change in this society," the colletive continued, "we have to make it ourselves, together, through direct action."</p>
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<p>(Photo credit: Disrupt J20)</p>
<p>Protests will continue to sweep Washington, DC and the United States throughout the weekend. Melissa Miles from It Takes Roots told AlterNet that she will be among those preparing to continue to mobilize in the days and years ahead. “I’m a grassroots feminist because I see the innate dignity in all life,” she said. “Because those who have suffered the most deserve the most to live happy healthy lives, because as long as I live I will fight for justice for those who have been denied it.” &#160;</p>
<p>Thuy Nguyen, a member of Iraq Veteran Against the War, told AlterNet that she took part in the disruptions "to stand in solidarity with my fellow brothers and sisters in the growing resistance, to get the conversation started that change needs to happen."</p>
<p>Sarah Lazare&#160;is a staff writer for AlterNet. A former staff writer for Common Dreams, she coedited the book&#160;About Face: Military Resisters Turn Against War. Follow her on Twitter at&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/sarahlazare" type="external">@sarahlazare</a>.</p> | Rising up and Shutting It Down: The Trump Inauguration Protests in Images and Quotes | true | http://alternet.org/rising-and-shutting-it-down-trump-inauguration-protests-images-and-quotes | 2017-01-20 | 4 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/statephotos/3952976597"&gt;White House / Pete Souza&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href="http://creativecommons.org/"&gt;CC&lt;/a&gt;)</p>
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<p>The slight prospects for a deal at Copenhagen are already being pinned largely on the US and China. But with Obama’s hands tied behind his back partly by the US Congress, with China already demonstrating leadership on renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts, and with both the developing and developed world hanging on Beijing’s every word, the success or failure of Copenhagen will in large part depend upon China.</p>
<p>In a sense, Copenhagen isn’t just about agreeing to agree on future carbon cuts or aid and technology transfer to developing countries. It’s about how countries position themselves to lead the dialog going forward. Now’s China’s chance to shine, and we have to hope that it will.</p>
<p>The crucial role that China can play at Copenhagen <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/interview-yang-fuqiang-wwf-china-climate-change-copenhagen.php" type="external">hasn’t been lost</a> on China’s negotiators or leaders. For decades they led a country notorious for its flagrant disregard for the environment, and with deep suspicion of foreign opinions. But for a handful of years, starting mainly with the awarding of the Beijing Olympics in 2001, China’s government has grown determined to show the world it’s cleaning up. And not just because it looks good. A cleaner environment will make real money, and prevent the <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/tweeting-middle-class-china-protests-environmental.php" type="external">social and political fallout</a> that could come with continued environmental disaster.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, China sees Copenhagen as its best opportunity yet at illustrating its commitments to the environment. If environmental controls were once at odds with the government’s sense of self-determination and confidence, such controls are now becoming firmly part of that sense of power.</p>
<p>If climate change was once an excuse for the first world to (quite hypocrtically) tell China how to behave, now it’s seen as a chance for China to show the rest of the world how to behave. To borrow Al Gore’s (somewhat mistaken) formulation about the word <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_word_for_%22crisis%22" type="external">""</a> weiji, the country that once looked like a paragon of crisis now exudes opportunity. And China’s leaders, masters of both pragmatism and propaganda, may recognize that better than anyone.</p>
<p>Whatever the outcome may be of the climate negotiations — and between <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/china-cop15-target.php" type="external">China’s</a> and the <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/breaking-obama-to-attend-cop15.php" type="external">US’s</a> still modest carbon targets, much remains to be done — the best overall result of Copenhagen will be a China that’s more confident than ever on the world stage. Combined with the country’s booming economic and political (to say nothing of military) power, that kind of confidence is a great asset to both Beijing and the rest of the world. Whether you’re talking about renewable energy or currency policy or political freedoms, the last thing anyone needs is a big important and strong country with a chip on its shoulder. That sense of insecurity only serves to isolate, antagonize and estrange — and turn global concerns like climate change into merely political sore spots.</p>
<p>The dangers of China’s historical inferiority complex were summarized in <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21715" type="external">a great article</a> last year by Orville Schell in the New York Review of Books. Schell, head of the Asia Society’s center on US-China relations, describes the ways in which a national narrative of humiliation has served the power interests of China’s leaders, at the often untold expense of its people. The country’s “century of humiliation” was the subtext of the nasty international back-and-forth that ensued following the riots in Tibet last year, he observes, and of its vigorous and somewhat ugly reach for the most gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.</p>
<p>To be sure, China had much to be proud of as a nation at the glorious opening ceremony. And yet, as Schell quotes Xu Guoqi, author of Olympic Dreams: China And Sports, 1895-2008, “Through their coverage and handling of the Beijing torch relay, the West seemed to remind the Chinese they were still not equal and they were still not good enough.”</p>
<p>But climate change — once a bitterly divisive issue between China and the west — could ferry China and all of us out of this narrative. At a meeting at the Asia Society recently about US-China cooperation over carbon capture (US pays, China builds, both sides benefit), I heard Schell invoke a new vision of China:</p>
<p>China’s rise has been accompanied by America’s decline. This does have one very good effect: for the first time in 150 years, we find this Sino-US relation playing field, which used to be like this – [he held his hand diagonally] in terms of pop culture, politics, soft power — more like this [hand horizontal]. But this new leveling means we will cofront each other with new equality… The Chinese strength, its new confidence, and a level playing field, comes with a prospect for a better relationship.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>A better relationship will be crucial on all fronts, not least the climate one. For all the competitiveness of a global low carbon economy, climate change is ultimately not a zero-sum game. Like China, it’s a crisis that could be an opportunity. By increasingly putting pragmatism before propaganda, Beijing is showing it recognizes that. If it can locate the leadership to get the developing world to follow suit, and enter into cooperation with the developed world with a greater sense of confidence, China will shed its status as the world’s environmental villain. That would inspire even greater confidence in the future among both African leaders and US senators.</p>
<p>If China assumes the role it’s earned at Copenhagen, for perhaps the first time on the world stage, it can demonstrate the great responsibility that comes with its great power. In doing so, it would be remaking much more than its image.</p>
<p>This story was reported for <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/copenhagen-climate-change-conference/" type="external">Treehugger</a> as part of the <a href="/mojo/2009/12/copenhagen-time-get-over-ourselves" type="external">Copenhagen News Collaborative</a>, a cooperative project of several independent news organizations. Check out the constantly updated feed <a href="/environment/2009/12/copenhagen-news-coverage" type="external">here</a>. Mother Jones’ comprehensive Copenhagen coverage is <a href="/blue-marble" type="external">here</a>, and our special climate change package is <a href="/special-reports/2009/11/climate-countdown" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p /> | Copenhagen’s Legacy: A Stronger China? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/12/copenhagens-legacy-stronger-china/ | 2009-12-09 | 4 |
<p>That’s a pretty depressing number. Newspoll just released the finding, and the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) is using it as an opportunity to draw the connection between education and political leadership. Just 50% of Indigenous kids finish high school at the moment, and among kids in AIEF programs, <a href="http://osocio.org/message/australia_will_never_have_an_indigenouspm..._or_will_it" type="external">which it calls</a> “Australia’s most proven and scalable solution to reducing Aboriginal secondary education inequality,” that figure is 90%. This video features Indigenous high schoolers answering the question, “what would you do if you were PM?”</p>
<p /> | Two-thirds of Australians say they won’t live to see an Indigenous Prime Minister | true | http://feministing.com/2013/05/10/two-thirds-of-australians-say-they-wont-live-to-see-an-indigenous-prime-minister/ | 4 |
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<p>Paper - Harvard Business Publishing</p>
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<p>In 2011, Dillon Beresford, a computer security expert, discovered a series of new vulnerabilities impacting components of widely used industrial control systems. These new previously unknown vulnerabilities—what are known as "zero-days"—were potentially very serious. Zero-day vulnerabilities are key components of computer viruses, worms, and other forms of malware. Vendors and security firms seek these flaws in order to patch and fix insecure software and hardware. Increasingly, however, nation sates and criminals purchase zero-days from independent security researchers in order to develop new destructive cyberweapons and capabilities. Managing the growing trade in zero-day vulnerabilities is a key challenge for policymakers and corporate leaders. The case follows Beresford as he discovers a set of new zero-days and considers the different disclosure options available to someone in his position. The case reviews the mix of incentives that might encourage or discourage the discoverer of a new zero-day to: (1) disclose the flaw to the vendor of the insecure software or hardware privately; (2) disclose the flaw to the public, without notifying the vendor; (3) pursue a hybrid-strategy known as responsible or coordinated disclosure; (4) or opt to sell the vulnerability. The case illuminates the different costs and benefits of each of these approaches for the security researcher, the vendor of the flawed software or hardware, and the public at large. Ultimately, the case asks students to consider which model of disclosure is most beneficial for the public and to consider what policy levers are most useful in supporting that model.</p>
<p /> | The Vulnerability Economy: Zero-Days, Cybersecurity, and Public Policy | false | http://belfercenter.org/publication/vulnerability-economy-zero-days-cybersecurity-and-public-policy | 2015-02-01 | 2 |
<p>LONDON (Reuters) - A focus on fewer diseases, together with cuts in laboratories and staff, has delivered a more than fourfold increase in research productivity at drugmaker AstraZeneca ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AZN.L" type="external">AZN.L</a>), based on one key measure of success. The analysis published on Friday comes at a time of soul-searching among large pharmaceutical companies as they compete with smaller biotech firms, which are getting new drugs to market more efficiently. The turnaround evident this decade at AstraZeneca follows a shrinking of its global research and development organization and a revision of R&amp;D strategy in 2011, a year before the arrival of current chief executive Pascal Soriot. Soriot has since continued the shift to a deeper and narrower focus on priority therapeutic areas, notably cancer. “All these improvements have happened with less people, less sites and less money,” Mene Pangalos, who leads AstraZeneca’s Innovative Medicines and Early Development unit, told Reuters. Previously, AstraZeneca was a laggard in the pharmaceutical industry with a dismal track record in launching new medicines and a rapidly eroding base business, due to expiring patents on its older medicines. Its average success for getting a drug from the discovery phase through to successful completion of final-stage Phase III clinical trials was at an all-time low of 4 percent in 2005-10, below the industry average of 6 percent. But in the five years from 2012 to 2016, this jumped to 19 percent, while the industry average, according to consultancy CMR International, was little changed. AstraZeneca scientists published the latest findings in the journal Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. Significantly, there was a marked drop in the number of projects started at the discovery stage, with the total falling to just 76 in 2012-16 from 287 in 2005-10. “We’re working on far fewer programs and the probability of success on those programs is going up,” Pangalos said. “Going from 4 percent to nearly 20 percent is something we are all very happy with but I still want us to do better ... we’re still failing 80 percent of the time.”</p> FILE PHOTO: The logo of AstraZeneca is seen on a medication package in a pharmacy in London, Britain, April 28, 2014. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth/File Photo
<p>INVESTOR SENTIMENT The productivity boost coincides with an improvement in shareholder sentiment as investors have started to bet on AstraZeneca’s ability to replace older medicines with new products, particularly in oncology. A failed bid from Pfizer ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=PFE.N" type="external">PFE.N</a>) in 2014 has also helped the investment story.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AZN.L" type="external">AstraZeneca PLC</a> 5045.0 AZN.L London Stock Exchange -25.00 (-0.49%) AZN.L PFE.N GSK.L
<p>Today, two-thirds of analysts recommend buying the shares, up from one in five in 2012.</p>
<p>The decision by Pangalos and his colleagues to detail the company’s successes and failures in two academic papers, the first of which appeared in 2014, is unusual. Rivals such as GlaxoSmithKline ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=GSK.L" type="external">GSK.L</a>) and Pfizer have published some details of R&amp;D productivity in the past but the AstraZeneca review is more comprehensive. Still, the data does not track the profitability of AstraZeneca’s research activities, since even when a new drug succeeds in final clinical tests and wins regulatory approval, commercial success is not guaranteed. A report last month by consultancy Deloitte found projected returns at 12 of the world’s top drugmakers had fallen in recent years, even though the overall of number of new drugs had increased. AstraZeneca itself has had some notable successes, such as its new cancer pills Tagrisso and Lynparza, but prospects for other approved products, including its high-profile immunotherapy drug Imfinzi, have been more mixed. Imfinzi suffered a major lung cancer trial setback in July 2017, although it then went on to show impressive results in another lung cancer setting.</p>
<p>Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Giles Elgood</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>PARIS (Reuters) - French healthcare group Sanofi ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=SASY.PA" type="external">SASY.PA</a>) is investing 350 million euros ($432.4 million) in a Canadian vaccine facility, which the drugmaker said would help it meet growing demand in this area.</p> FILE PHOTO: A logo is seen in front of the entrance at the headquarters French drugmaker Sanofi in Paris October 30, 2014. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo
<p>Sanofi’s new investment will finance the construction of a new state-of-the-art vaccine manufacturing facility at the Sanofi Pasteur Canadian headquarters in Toronto, Ontario.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=SASY.PA" type="external">Sanofi SA</a> 66.3 SASY.PA Paris Stock Exchange -- (--%) SASY.PA
<p>The new facility would allow its Sanofi Pasteur division to meet the growing demand of five-component acellular pertussis (5-acP) antigen, the company added.</p>
<p>Sanofi sealed two major takeovers at the start of 2018, buying hemophilia specialist Bioverativ for $11.6 billion and acquiring Ablynx, which is developing a prized experimental drug for a rare blood disorder, for 3.9 billion euros ($4.8 billion).</p>
<p>Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Sunil Nair</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline is divesting its rare disease gene therapy drugs to private biotech company Orchard Therapeutics as Chief Executive Emma Walmsley makes good on her promise to prune the drugmaker’s pharmaceuticals portfolio.</p> FILE PHOTO: The GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) logo is seen on top of GSK Asia House in Singapore, March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Loriene Perera/File Photo
<p>Financially, the transaction will not move the dial for Britain’s biggest drugmaker, but it offers a sign that Walmsley is making progress in reshaping the company since her arrival a year ago.</p>
<p>She first announced a strategic review of the rare diseases unit last July as part of a wide-ranging overhaul designed to narrow the focus of drug research and improve returns in the core pharmaceuticals business.</p>
<p>Under the deal announced on Thursday GSK will receive a 19.9 percent stake in unlisted Orchard, a seat on its board and future royalties and milestone payments linked to the commercial success of the drugs.</p>
<p>A GSK spokesman said it would also receive a small upfront payment, the size of which is not being disclosed.</p>
<p>To some extent, GSK is swimming against the tide by getting out of treatments for rare diseases at a time when rivals see the field as a rich profit source.</p>
<p>But the assets in GSK’s rare diseases portfolio are tiny in commercial terms and the drugmaker will continue to invest in the development of its platform capabilities in cell and gene therapies, with a focus on oncology.</p>
<p>GSK is stepping up its work in gene-based cell therapies for cancer, having recently spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build a large presence focused on T-cell receptor treatments to fight a range of tumor types.</p>
<p>The company’s only marketed rare disease gene therapy is Strimvelis for ADA severe combined immune deficiency (ADA-SCID), or “bubble baby” disease. It has been used to treat only a handful of patients since its launch in Europe two years ago, at a price of 594,000 euros ($735,000) per treatment.</p>
<p>Strimvelis and other gene therapies for ultra-rare conditions will sit better within Orchard, a small British company that is also working on ADA-SCID and other niche genetic disorders.</p>
<p>Orchard CEO Mark Rothera said his company, which has already raised more than $140 million, planned another private sale of shares following the GSK deal and could consider an initial public offering after that.</p>
<p>“From an investor community point of view there is a huge amount of interest and willingness to support development of these medicines. I am very confident that we will be raising funds in the not too distant future,” he told Reuters.</p>
<p>Gene therapy is a hot area for drug research right now, as highlighted by Novartis’s $8.7 billion acquisition of AveXis this week.</p>
<p>Pfizer , meanwhile, stepped up its commitment to the field on Thursday with the dosing of the first patient in a clinical trial of an experimental gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.</p>
<p>($1 = 0.8087 euros)</p>
<p>Editing by David Goodman/Keith Weir</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters Health) - The cost of new anti-cancer drugs increased more than five-fold from 2006 to 2015, but a new analysis suggests that cancer patients and insurers may be getting less for their money.</p>
<p>Anticancer medications account for the lion’s share of global drug spending, and the average price per month of these drugs is known to have more than doubled in recent years, Dr. Kelvin Chan of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto and colleagues note in the Journal of Oncology Practice.</p>
<p>“To justify the increasing prices of novel oncology drugs, a parallel increasing trend in clinical benefit would be expected to ensure that value of these new treatments is maintained over time,” the study team writes.</p>
<p>They analyzed 42 clinical trials of anti-cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006-2015 to determine whether the drugs’ clinical benefits were also rising as prices climbed. All of the studies were in patients with advanced cancer. Monthly costs for the drugs ranged from $5,454 to $45,004, and the average was $13,176.</p>
<p>The average monthly cost of oncology drugs increased from $7,103 in 2006 to $15,535 in 2015, they found. And the incremental cost of new drugs - meaning the difference in cost between a full course of treatment with the new medication and a course of treatment with the older medication it was intended to replace - increased from $30,447 in 2006 to $161,141 in 2015.</p>
<p>Over the study period, monthly drug costs increased by 9 percent per year, while incremental costs rose by 21 percent per year.</p>
<p>Chan’s team used two scales, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)’s Value Framework and the European Society of Medical Oncology’s (ESMO) Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale, to measure clinical benefits of the newly approved drugs. Neither scale showed any improvement in clinical benefit over time, nor were there any associations between the clinical value of a drug and its monthly or incremental cost.</p>
<p>“The cost is going up very steeply, and the improvements tend to be much more incremental, that’s really the fundamental issue,” Dr. Richard Schilsky, senior vice president and chief medical officer at ASCO, said in a telephone interview.</p>
<p>Cost increases are similar regardless of whether a drug is a “true game changer that revolutionizes the approach to treating a kind of cancer, or the drug just produces a small incremental improvement over an otherwise available therapy,” he added.</p>
<p>“Cost is not connected with benefit, and cost is going up quickly, and benefit is highly variable,” Schilsky said. “I think that as a society and as a healthcare system we need to introduce and experiment with some strategies that try to restore more normal market forces.”</p>
<p>ASCO and other groups are supporting efforts to make cancer drug costs relate to their effectiveness, he added. “We clearly need to do something,” he said. “We can’t just allow the continued escalation in pricing and cost without making any effort to tie it to the benefits the treatment delivers.”</p>
<p>Dr. Chan was not available for an interview by press time.</p>
<p>Pricing for new cancer drugs needs to be examined carefully, Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, said in a telephone interview. “There are going to be solutions I expect down the line that address the high cost of these drugs,” he said.</p>
<p>“That’s a legitimate, fair discussion that we need to have,” Lichtenfeld added. “Having said that, I also think we need to be looking more carefully at the impact of these drugs on survivorship, quality of life and side effects to get a much better handle on how these drugs impact patients’ lives.”</p>
<p>Pricing of new cancer drugs is “very much what we call a black box,” he said, noting that prices of older drugs also often increase, and that sometimes these increases seem to be more than can be justified by increases in marketing and production costs and inflation.</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="https://bit.ly/2JzBRw9" type="external">bit.ly/2JzBRw9</a> Journal of Oncology Practice, March 30, 2018.</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s Orchard Therapeutics, which has already raised more than $140 million to fund its work in gene therapy, plans another private sale of shares following its acquisition of a portfolio of GlaxoSmithKline ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=GSK.L" type="external">GSK.L</a>) rare disease medicines.</p>
<p>Chief Executive Mark Rothera also told Reuters that an initial public offering (IPO) was an option beyond this next private financing move.</p>
<p>Gene therapy is a hot area for drug research - highlighted by Novartis’s ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NOVN.S" type="external">NOVN.S</a>) $8.7 billion acquisition of AveXis ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AVXS.O" type="external">AVXS.O</a>) this week - but the rare disease products sold to Orchard are too niche for GSK as it refocuses its R&amp;D efforts.</p>
<p>For tiny unlisted Orchard, however, the portfolio is transformative.</p>
<p>“The addition of these programs is a really big step up in terms of activity, so we are going to be looking to raise further funds through an additional private round,” Rothera said on Thursday.</p>
<p>“From an investor community point of view there is a huge amount of interest and willingness to support development of these medicines. I am very confident that we will be raising funds in the not too distant future.”</p>
<p>After that, Orchard might do a further private fund-raising “and we could also consider going public”, Rothera said.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=GSK.L" type="external">GlaxoSmithKline PLC</a> 1429.6 GSK.L London Stock Exchange -7.60 (-0.53%) GSK.L NOVN.S AVXS.O
<p>The GSK deal, which involves Britain’s biggest drugmaker taking a 19.9 percent stake in Orchard, offers Rothera a way to leap ahead in the fast-moving gene therapy field by giving his company a medicine that is already on the market.</p>
<p>GSK’s Strimvelis for ADA severe combined immune deficiency (ADA-SCID), or “bubble baby” disease, was approved in Europe in 2016 and costs 594,000 euros ($735,000) per treatment - but it has been used to treat only a handful of patients since its launch.</p>
<p>Orchard believes it can improve on this by developing its own ADA-SCID medicine in parallel. Its product, called OTL-101, is designed to be frozen so it can be sent to patients anywhere, in contrast to Strimvelis, which can only be given at one center in Milan.</p>
<p>Orchard aims to file OTL-101 for U.S. regulatory approval later this year. Together with drugs in earlier-stage development, this will give the group a broad gene therapy line-up.</p>
<p>“Now we have one approved therapy, Strimvelis, we have three late-stage clinical programs and a further three clinical stage programs,” Rothera said.</p>
<p>Orchard, which was incorporated in September 2015, is focused on ex-vivo gene therapy, in which stem cells are taken from the patient and genetically corrected outside of the body before being transplanted back.</p>
<p>Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Susan Fenton</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | At AstraZeneca, fewer drug projects bring big productivity jump Healthcare group Sanofi to invest 350 million euros in Canada vaccine facility GSK slims portfolio with sale of rare disease gene therapy drugs As cancer drug prices climb, value not keeping pace UK gene therapy firm Orchard plans stock offer after GSK deal | false | https://reuters.com/article/astrazeneca-rd/at-astrazeneca-fewer-drug-projects-bring-big-productivity-jump-idUSL8N1PD3N9 | 2018-01-19 | 2 |
<p>Oh hey, thanks to the 20 people who have alerted me over the last 24 hours to the news that&#160; <a href="http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-moms/news/eva-mendes-and-ryan-gosling-are-expecting-their-second-baby-w163390" type="external">Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling are expecting their second child.</a> Ryan and Eva met on the set of&#160;The Place Beyond The Pines in 2011&#160;and have been low-profile together ever since, never giving the tabloids a damn thing to speculate about. I am still using this photo of them, above, from 2012, BECAUSE THAT’S BASICALLY THE ONLY ONE THAT EXISTS. UGH. Mendes barely even acknowledged her first blessed pregnancy, let alone daughter Esmeralda’s birth in&#160;September 2014, and I don’t expect that they’ll be telling&#160;PEOPLE&#160;all about their birthing plan this time around either. Will they name Baby #2 after a character from the&#160;Hunchback of Notre Dame as well? We’ll be lucky if we ever find out.</p>
<p>Even though I like to pretend like it pisses me off, being that Ryan is my fave and all, I actually think he and Eva are cute together and I do not begrudge them their happiness. It’s generous of me, I know. I’ve really matured since the days when my coworkers had to do Goservention. So yeah, congrats to Eva and Ryan on their news, I look forward to seeing a family photo of the future foursome, um, probably never.</p>
<p>[ <a href="http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-moms/news/eva-mendes-and-ryan-gosling-are-expecting-their-second-baby-w163390" type="external">Us Weekly</a>]</p> | Ryan Gosling & Eva Mendes Are Expecting Their Second Child, Not That We’ll Ever Get To See It | true | http://thefrisky.com/2016-04-15/ryan-gosling-eva-mendes-are-expecting-their-second-child-not-that-well-ever-get-to-see-it/ | 2018-10-06 | 4 |
<p>Lt. Col. Ralph Peters (Ret) is a familiar face on Fox News. He has been doing commentary on military matters and foreign affairs for more than a decade. He has always been a hard-core spokesman for ultra-conservative views and a fierce opponent of all things liberal. He once <a href="" type="internal">called President Obama</a> a “total pussy” on the air (for which he got a two week suspension).</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NewsCorpse/posts/2081502651864519" type="external" /></p>
<p>For a little background, Peters is so radical that he once complained that the U.S. military needed to buck up and <a href="" type="internal">produce more civilian casualties</a> in order to win the war on terror. He also advocated <a href="" type="internal">targeting the media</a> for military attacks, including in the U.S. But more recently he has assumed a strident “NeverTrump” position. He believes that Donald Trump is Putin’s puppet and even announced on Fox that he would be <a href="" type="internal">voting for Hillary Clinton</a> because he doesn’t “want Moscow’s man in the White House,” and that “Vladimir Putin has a deep hold on Trump.”</p>
<p>Bearing all of that in mind, the <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomnamako/ralph-peters" type="external">letter</a> Peters released on Tuesday is all the more remarkable. In it he announced that he was severing his relationship with Fox News. And the substance and tone of the document is just plain shocking. For someone so devoted to the far-right agenda, Peters’ descriptions of Fox News must sting. And no matter how much of a war-mongering neanderthal he is, he seems to have solid grasp of how reprehensible and dangerous Fox News is. So read on in amazement (emphasis added):</p>
<p>On March 1st, I informed Fox that I would not renew my contract. The purpose of this message to all of you is twofold:</p>
<p>First, I must thank each of you for the cooperation and support you’ve shown me over the years. Those working off-camera, the bookers and producers, don’t often get the recognition you deserve, but I want you to know that I have always appreciated the challenges you face and the skill with which you master them.</p>
<p>Second, I feel compelled to explain why I have to leave. Four decades ago, I took an oath as a newly commissioned officer. I swore to “support and defend the Constitution,” and that oath did not expire when I took off my uniform. Today, I feel that Fox News is assaulting our constitutional order and the rule of law, while fostering corrosive and unjustified paranoia among viewers. Over my decade with Fox, I long was proud of the association. Now I am ashamed.</p>
<p>In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration. When prime-time hosts–who have never served our country in any capacity–dismiss facts and empirical reality to launch profoundly dishonest assaults on the FBI, the Justice Department, the courts, the intelligence community (in which I served) and, not least, a model public servant and genuine war hero such as Robert Mueller–all the while scaremongering with lurid warnings of “deep-state” machinations– I cannot be part of the same organization, even at a remove. To me, Fox News is now wittingly harming our system of government for profit.</p>
<p>As a Russia analyst for many years, it also has appalled me that hosts who made their reputations as super-patriots and who, justifiably, savaged President Obama for his duplicitous folly with Putin, now advance Putin’s agenda by making light of Russian penetration of our elections and the Trump campaign. Despite increasingly pathetic denials, it turns out that the “nothing-burger” has been covered with Russian dressing all along. And by the way: As an intelligence professional, I can tell you that the Steele dossier rings true–that’s how the Russians do things.. The result is that we have an American president who is terrified of his counterpart in Moscow.</p>
<p>I do not apply the above criticisms in full to Fox Business, where numerous hosts retain a respect for facts and maintain a measure of integrity (nor is every host at Fox News a propaganda mouthpiece–some have shown courage). I have enjoyed and valued my relationship with Fox Business, and I will miss a number of hosts and staff members. You’re the grown-ups.</p>
<p>Also, I deeply respect the hard-news reporters at Fox, who continue to do their best as talented professionals in a poisoned environment. These are some of the best men and women in the business.</p>
<p>So, to all of you: Thanks, and, as our president’s favorite world leader would say, “Das vidanya.”</p>
<p>That hardly requires any elaboration. However, Fox News issued a brief and uncharacteristically weak response:</p>
<p>“Ralph Peters is entitled to his opinion despite the fact that he’s choosing to use it as a weapon in order to gain attention. We are extremely proud of our top-rated primetime hosts and all of our opinion programing,”</p>
<p>Fox didn’t even bother to refute any of Peters’ allegations regarding Fox’s devolution into a propaganda machine. Nor did they defend the assertions that Trump is a hapless asset of Vladimir Putin. They just bragged about their on-air shills (only those in primetime) and made a wholly nonsensical accusation that Peters was seeking attention. By quitting his job at a major cable TV network? Um, Okay. Let’s see if any of his former colleagues have the guts to join a long overdue and righteous exodus from Fox. Or they can stay and forever wallow in the treasonous glow of Comrade Trump’s State TV.</p> | ‘I Am Ashamed’ To Be Associated With Fox News, Says Long-Time Military Contributor | true | http://newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p%3D21928 | 4 |
|
<p>INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Lance Stephenson had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Darren Collison scored 22 points and the Indiana Pacers rallied from a 22-point, first-half deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-95 on Friday night.</p>
<p>The Pacers have won three of four and improved to 3-0 against the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs.</p>
<p>LeBron James did everything he could to prevent the Cavs from losing a third straight game. He finished with 27 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, while Kevin Love had 21 points and 10 rebounds.</p>
<p>But James had two chances in the final two seconds to win it and missed both opportunities — after Victor Oladipo gave Indiana the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 2:09 left in the game.</p>
<p>First, the four-time MVP stepped out of bounds with 1.7 seconds to go, a play that was confirmed on replay review. Then, after Collison made a free throw to give the Pacers a 97-95 lead, James’ desperation 3 bounced high off the rim as the buzzer sounded.</p>
<p>WARRIORS 108, BUCKS 94</p>
<p>MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 26 points, Draymond Green added 21 and Golden State used a 13-4 run in the fourth quarter to beat Milwaukee.</p>
<p>With sharpshooting star Stephen Curry still sidelined by a right ankle injury, the Warriors clamped down on defense and did most of their damage on the other end in the lane.</p>
<p>Durant’s mid-range jumper gave Golden State a 96-90 lead before the All-Star forward hit an open 3 with 2:15 left to cap the run with a three-possession lead. The Warriors were just 3 of 13 from 3-point range until Durant and Green hit back-to-back 3s in the final 3 minutes to seal their 11th straight road win.</p>
<p>Giannis Antetokounmpo had 23 points to lead the Bucks. They were outscored 28-12 in the fourth after hitting just 5 of 20 from the field.</p>
<p>TIMBERWOLVES 118, KNICKS 108</p>
<p>MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns fell one assist shy of his second career triple-double, scoring 23 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in Minnesota’s victory over New York.</p>
<p>Taj Gibson added 17 points and Andrew Wiggins had 16 for Minnesota. The Timberwolves shot 56.7 percent (38 of 67) over the final three quarters to come from behind and win their fourth game in a row and 11th of 14 overall.</p>
<p>Kristaps Porzingis scored 17 points for New York. Porzingis was 3 of 5 from 3-point territory but 3 of 14 from inside the arc. Enes Kanter had his 18th double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but the Knicks lost for the ninth time in 11 games.</p>
<p>ROCKETS 112, SUNS 95</p>
<p>PHOENIX (AP) — Chris Paul scored 25 points to lead six Houston players in the double figures and the Rockets, still without injured James Harden, rolled past Phoenix.</p>
<p>Houston, in its sixth straight game with Harden sidelined by a hamstring injury, led by 18 in the second quarter, 22 at the end of the third and 27 in the fourth in its sixth consecutive victory over Phoenix.</p>
<p>Clint Capela scored 17 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Rockets, who dominated the boards 53-38. Ryan Anderson and Trevor Ariza added 18 points apiece and Eric Gordon 14.</p>
<p>Devin Booker scored 27 and T.J. Warren 21 for the Suns, who were coming off a home win over Oklahoma City four days earlier.</p>
<p>WIZARDS 125, MAGIC 119</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Bradley Beal and John Wall each scored 30 points and Washington snapped a two-game losing streak.</p>
<p>Ian Mahinmi finished with a season-high 17 points in the defense-optional game. Washington shot 56.8 percent from the field and scored a season-high 74 points in the paint.</p>
<p>Orlando has lost seven in a row, 16 of 17 and 27 of its last 31. That stretch included a 130-103 rout by Washington on Dec. 23.</p>
<p>Elfrid Payton scored 27 points and Jonathon Simmons had 23 as all five Orlando starters reached double figures. Bismack Biyombo finished 8 of 9 from the field for a career-high 21 points. The Magic hit 51.3 percent of their attempts from the floor after a 6-for-22 fourth quarter.</p>
<p>PELICANS 119, TRAIL BLAZERS 113</p>
<p>NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Anthony Davis scored 36 points in his return from a right ankle sprain, and New Orleans beat Portland.</p>
<p>Davis did not appear at all bothered by the injury that kept him out of Wednesday night’s narrow loss in Memphis, scoring on everything from explosive dribble drives to soaring dunks.</p>
<p>DeMarcus Cousins had 24 points and 19 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday scored 25 points for New Orleans, which hit the halfway point of the regular season one game above .500 and in the Western Conference playoff picture, but still in need of more consistency and less sloppiness.</p>
<p>Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum each scored 23 points for Portland, which attempted 42 3-pointers and missed 30 of them.</p>
<p>HORNETS 99, JAZZ 88</p>
<p>CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kemba Walker scored 22 points and Frank Kaminsky added 16 to lead Charlotte over Utah for its fourth victory in six games.</p>
<p>Marvin Williams scored 15 and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 12 for Charlotte, which won despite an off night for Dwight Howard, who scored just two first-half points. Howard finished with eight points on 2-of-9 shooting. He also went 4 for 10 from the foul line.</p>
<p>Nicolas Batum and Jeremy Lamb added 11 points apiece for Charlotte.</p>
<p>Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points for Utah, which has lost 14 of 19. Rodney Hood added 15 and Royce O’Neale 11 for Utah, which had been 10-3 when holding opponents to 100 points or fewer.</p>
<p>NETS 110, HAWKS 105</p>
<p>ATLANTA (AP) — Spencer Dinwiddie had 20 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, Jahlil Okafor added 17 points in a reserve role and Brooklyn beat Atlanta.</p>
<p>Dinwiddie made the go-ahead basket with 11 seconds left as the Nets snapped a three-game losing streak to move past an embarrassing 34-point home loss to Detroit two nights earlier.</p>
<p>Atlanta guard Dennis Schroder finished with a career-high 34 points, but after causing matchup problems all night with his ball-handling, he missed his last two layup attempts and committed a game-ending turnover with 5 seconds remaining.</p>
<p>Kent Bazemore had 16 points for the NBA-worst Hawks, who have lost five of six.</p>
<p>NUGGETS 87, GRIZZLIES 78</p>
<p>DENVER (AP) — Will Barton scored 17 points, Trey Lyles had 16 and Denver overcame a slow start to beat Memphis, snapping a season-high, three-game losing streak.</p>
<p>Nikola Jokic added 14 points and nine rebounds for Denver, which played without guard Gary Harris, who was excused for personal reasons. It was the first game Harris has missed this season. Barton started in his place.</p>
<p>Marc Gasol had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis. Tyreke Evans and James Ennis III added 12 points each.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For more NBA coverage: <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball</a></p>
<p>INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Lance Stephenson had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Darren Collison scored 22 points and the Indiana Pacers rallied from a 22-point, first-half deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-95 on Friday night.</p>
<p>The Pacers have won three of four and improved to 3-0 against the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs.</p>
<p>LeBron James did everything he could to prevent the Cavs from losing a third straight game. He finished with 27 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, while Kevin Love had 21 points and 10 rebounds.</p>
<p>But James had two chances in the final two seconds to win it and missed both opportunities — after Victor Oladipo gave Indiana the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 2:09 left in the game.</p>
<p>First, the four-time MVP stepped out of bounds with 1.7 seconds to go, a play that was confirmed on replay review. Then, after Collison made a free throw to give the Pacers a 97-95 lead, James’ desperation 3 bounced high off the rim as the buzzer sounded.</p>
<p>WARRIORS 108, BUCKS 94</p>
<p>MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 26 points, Draymond Green added 21 and Golden State used a 13-4 run in the fourth quarter to beat Milwaukee.</p>
<p>With sharpshooting star Stephen Curry still sidelined by a right ankle injury, the Warriors clamped down on defense and did most of their damage on the other end in the lane.</p>
<p>Durant’s mid-range jumper gave Golden State a 96-90 lead before the All-Star forward hit an open 3 with 2:15 left to cap the run with a three-possession lead. The Warriors were just 3 of 13 from 3-point range until Durant and Green hit back-to-back 3s in the final 3 minutes to seal their 11th straight road win.</p>
<p>Giannis Antetokounmpo had 23 points to lead the Bucks. They were outscored 28-12 in the fourth after hitting just 5 of 20 from the field.</p>
<p>TIMBERWOLVES 118, KNICKS 108</p>
<p>MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns fell one assist shy of his second career triple-double, scoring 23 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in Minnesota’s victory over New York.</p>
<p>Taj Gibson added 17 points and Andrew Wiggins had 16 for Minnesota. The Timberwolves shot 56.7 percent (38 of 67) over the final three quarters to come from behind and win their fourth game in a row and 11th of 14 overall.</p>
<p>Kristaps Porzingis scored 17 points for New York. Porzingis was 3 of 5 from 3-point territory but 3 of 14 from inside the arc. Enes Kanter had his 18th double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but the Knicks lost for the ninth time in 11 games.</p>
<p>ROCKETS 112, SUNS 95</p>
<p>PHOENIX (AP) — Chris Paul scored 25 points to lead six Houston players in the double figures and the Rockets, still without injured James Harden, rolled past Phoenix.</p>
<p>Houston, in its sixth straight game with Harden sidelined by a hamstring injury, led by 18 in the second quarter, 22 at the end of the third and 27 in the fourth in its sixth consecutive victory over Phoenix.</p>
<p>Clint Capela scored 17 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Rockets, who dominated the boards 53-38. Ryan Anderson and Trevor Ariza added 18 points apiece and Eric Gordon 14.</p>
<p>Devin Booker scored 27 and T.J. Warren 21 for the Suns, who were coming off a home win over Oklahoma City four days earlier.</p>
<p>WIZARDS 125, MAGIC 119</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Bradley Beal and John Wall each scored 30 points and Washington snapped a two-game losing streak.</p>
<p>Ian Mahinmi finished with a season-high 17 points in the defense-optional game. Washington shot 56.8 percent from the field and scored a season-high 74 points in the paint.</p>
<p>Orlando has lost seven in a row, 16 of 17 and 27 of its last 31. That stretch included a 130-103 rout by Washington on Dec. 23.</p>
<p>Elfrid Payton scored 27 points and Jonathon Simmons had 23 as all five Orlando starters reached double figures. Bismack Biyombo finished 8 of 9 from the field for a career-high 21 points. The Magic hit 51.3 percent of their attempts from the floor after a 6-for-22 fourth quarter.</p>
<p>PELICANS 119, TRAIL BLAZERS 113</p>
<p>NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Anthony Davis scored 36 points in his return from a right ankle sprain, and New Orleans beat Portland.</p>
<p>Davis did not appear at all bothered by the injury that kept him out of Wednesday night’s narrow loss in Memphis, scoring on everything from explosive dribble drives to soaring dunks.</p>
<p>DeMarcus Cousins had 24 points and 19 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday scored 25 points for New Orleans, which hit the halfway point of the regular season one game above .500 and in the Western Conference playoff picture, but still in need of more consistency and less sloppiness.</p>
<p>Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum each scored 23 points for Portland, which attempted 42 3-pointers and missed 30 of them.</p>
<p>HORNETS 99, JAZZ 88</p>
<p>CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kemba Walker scored 22 points and Frank Kaminsky added 16 to lead Charlotte over Utah for its fourth victory in six games.</p>
<p>Marvin Williams scored 15 and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 12 for Charlotte, which won despite an off night for Dwight Howard, who scored just two first-half points. Howard finished with eight points on 2-of-9 shooting. He also went 4 for 10 from the foul line.</p>
<p>Nicolas Batum and Jeremy Lamb added 11 points apiece for Charlotte.</p>
<p>Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points for Utah, which has lost 14 of 19. Rodney Hood added 15 and Royce O’Neale 11 for Utah, which had been 10-3 when holding opponents to 100 points or fewer.</p>
<p>NETS 110, HAWKS 105</p>
<p>ATLANTA (AP) — Spencer Dinwiddie had 20 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, Jahlil Okafor added 17 points in a reserve role and Brooklyn beat Atlanta.</p>
<p>Dinwiddie made the go-ahead basket with 11 seconds left as the Nets snapped a three-game losing streak to move past an embarrassing 34-point home loss to Detroit two nights earlier.</p>
<p>Atlanta guard Dennis Schroder finished with a career-high 34 points, but after causing matchup problems all night with his ball-handling, he missed his last two layup attempts and committed a game-ending turnover with 5 seconds remaining.</p>
<p>Kent Bazemore had 16 points for the NBA-worst Hawks, who have lost five of six.</p>
<p>NUGGETS 87, GRIZZLIES 78</p>
<p>DENVER (AP) — Will Barton scored 17 points, Trey Lyles had 16 and Denver overcame a slow start to beat Memphis, snapping a season-high, three-game losing streak.</p>
<p>Nikola Jokic added 14 points and nine rebounds for Denver, which played without guard Gary Harris, who was excused for personal reasons. It was the first game Harris has missed this season. Barton started in his place.</p>
<p>Marc Gasol had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis. Tyreke Evans and James Ennis III added 12 points each.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For more NBA coverage: <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball</a></p> | Pacers come from 22 down to hand Cavs third straight loss | false | https://apnews.com/dda1e0b2a971422b9ed06001ad93e501 | 2018-01-13 | 2 |
<p>Canada’s Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is here in Marrakech, Morocco at the <a href="" type="internal">UN Climate Change Conference</a> and she has congratulated United Arab Emirates for their leadership in getting youth involved to act on climate.</p>
<p />
<p>That all sounds nice but like everything here in Marrakech, there is a <a href="" type="internal">healthy helping of hypocrisy</a> and delusion involved in McKenna’s statement.</p>
<p>McKenna is a <a href="" type="internal">self-proclaimed “fearless feminist”</a>, but would someone who really cared about women’s rights thank a place like the UAE for anything? The UAE, where women need a male relative’s permission to marry and where “illegal pregnancies” are punishable by flogging.</p>
<p>I guess some fearless feminists are just too scared to speak truth to power when the chance is right in front of them.</p>
<p>To help crowdfund the Rebel's reporting on the UN, <a href="" type="internal">CLICK HERE</a>.</p> | Canada’s “fearless feminist” Environment Minister praises UAE at COP22: Puts climate over women | true | http://therebel.media/canada_s_fearless_feminist_environment_minister_praises_uae_at_cop22_puts_climate_over_women | 2016-11-15 | 0 |
<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Barack Obama and discussed continued tensions in eastern Ukraine and the fight against ISIS in the Middle East.</p>
<p>In a statement, the White House said the two leaders addressed continued bloodshed in Syria and agreed on the importance of unity among the six world powers that are negotiating to restrict Iran's nuclear capabilities.</p>
<p>As for Ukraine, the White House said Obama told Putin Russia needs to meet commitments it made in Minsk, Belarus, earlier this year, including the removal of troops and equipment from Ukrainian territory.</p>
<p>The call came on the same day NATO's supreme allied commander cited a continuous flow of ammunition and other military supplies from Russia across the border to Ukraine.</p>
<p>According to a posting on the Kremlin's <a href="http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/49768" type="external">official English website</a>, "significant attention" was given to the topic of ISIS and terrorism in the Middle East.</p>
<p>"Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama agreed to instruct Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to hold a meeting to discuss this issue," the Kremlin said.</p> | Putin Calls Obama to Talk ISIS, Iran and Ukraine | false | http://nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-love-putin-calls-obama-talk-shop-n382201 | 2015-06-26 | 3 |
<p>Federal authorities announced Monday that Kansas has agreed settle a securities fraud charge accusing the state of misleading investors about the financial health of its public employee pension system in 2009 and 2010 - at the time the second-worst underfunded system of its kind in the nation.</p>
<p>The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that the state has consented to its cease-and-desist order to settle the case, without admitting or denying its findings. No financial sanctions were imposed. The SEC noted Kansas has since made changes and blamed insufficient procedures and poor communication between state agencies for the problem, which happened under the administration of then-Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"Kansas failed to adequately disclose its multi-billion-dollar pension liability in bond offering documents, leaving investors with an incomplete picture of the state's finances and its ability to repay the bonds amid competing strains on the state budget, said LeeAnn Ghazil Gaunt, chief of the agency's enforcement unit dealing with public pensions.</p>
<p>She also noted in a news release that in determining the settlement, the agency considered the state's "significant remedial actions" to mitigate the issues and the cooperation of state officials during the investigation.</p>
<p>Between August 2009 and July 2010, the Kansas Development Finance Authority raised $273 million through eight series of bonds without disclosing in its offering the existence of the significant underfunded pension liability in its Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, according to the SEC order. The failure to disclose the information resulted from insufficient procedures and poor communication between the state's Development Finance Authority and the Kansas Department of Administration, SEC said.</p>
<p>Gov. Sam Brownback said in a written statement that his administration has improved transparency in the reporting system and taken decisive actions to meet its obligations.</p>
<p>"Since taking office, I have made restoring the health of our KPERS system a priority," Brownback said.</p>
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<p>The Legislature in 2012 approved changes that included boosting employer and employee contributions and creating a new cash balance plan for people hired after 2015 that made "significant strides" in reducing the state's projected pension debt by almost $500 million, the governor said.</p>
<p>Kansas Secretary of Administration Jim Clark also said in a statement that the agency is pleased SEC did not seek any financial penalties or make any claims of intentional misconduct based on the actions of prior administrations.</p> | US settles with Kansas over allegations that state misled investors about pension system | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/08/11/us-settles-with-kansas-over-allegations-that-state-misled-investors-about.html | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
<p>Target Corp. will raise its minimum wage to $10 an hour beginning in May because of the competitive job market and labor groups pushing for higher pay, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-target-wages-exclusive-idUSKCN0XF2L4" type="external">according to Reuters Opens a New Window.</a> on Monday, citing unnamed sources. The $1-an-hour wage hike would follow the retailer's minimum wage raise to $9 an hour from $7.25 an hour last April. Target shares , which closed up 1% Monday, declined 0.1% to $83.30 after hours.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Target To Hike Minimum Wage To $10 An Hour: Report | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/04/18/target-to-hike-minimum-wage-to-10-hour-report.html | 2016-04-18 | 0 |
<p>By Eron Henry</p>
<p>The Baptist World Alliance has launched a major evangelism award, made possible by Kowloon International Baptist Church in Hong Kong.</p>
<p>The award highlights the work of evangelism among Baptists around the world and aims to inspire churches to share the gospel, said Harry Lucenay, who recently retired as pastor of Kowloon International Baptist Church after more than 12 years in Hong Kong.</p>
<p>“The people of Kowloon International Baptist Church are pleased to be a part of this good effort,” said Lucenay.</p>
<p>The church made an initial $60,000 grant, to be followed with additional annual disbursements. Earnings on the fund will be applied to awards in evangelism presented every five years at the Baptist World Congress, beginning at the 2020 Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.</p>
<p>“We believe [Kowloon’s] reputation as a church recognizing the priority of evangelism will raise this award to the level of other distinguished awards in the worldwide Baptist family,” BWA General Secretary Neville Callam said. BWA also issues awards in recognition of Baptist work to promote or defend human rights.</p>
<p>“The ministry of evangelism is at the very heart of the church’s vocation, and it has long been my desire to see the BWA find additional ways to signal its importance appropriately,” Callam said.</p>
<p>The grant “reminds us of one significant implication of God becoming a person in Jesus Christ, that is, the Christian obligation to spread the good news to the entire world,” he added.</p>
<p>Kowloon International Baptist Church is a diverse congregation with members from more than 24 countries and a heart for evangelism, Callam noted.</p>
<p>“The congregation is led by a pastor whose dynamic preaching and heart for world evangelism have inspired [the church] to sponsor several church building construction programs and various other mission ventures in fulfillment of the broad vision God has given them,” he said.</p>
<p>The BWA previously conducted two campaigns to equip conventions, unions and churches for evangelism — Jesus Christ, the Living Water, and Jesus Christ, Bread of Life. During these programs, Baptists conducted 24 intensive training conferences in 19 countries.</p> | Hong Kong church enables BWA to launch evangelism award | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/hong-kong-church-enables-bwa-to-launch-evangelism-award/ | 3 |
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<p>Raytheon (NYSE:RTN) said Thursday its third-quarter earnings fell 2.8% amid declining revenue, but the defense contractor lifted its outlook after topping forecasts.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Waltham, Mass.-based weapons maker now expects a per-share profit of $5.67 to $5.77, up from $5.51 to $5.61. It also raised the high-end of its revenue estimate by $100 million to $23.8 billion.</p>
<p>Raytheon said it expects more opportunities to win overseas orders in the near future, while the company has already scored key contracts related to its missile-defense unit.</p>
<p>Raytheon’s profit checked in at $487 million for the third quarter, compared to $501 million in the year-ago period. Per-share earnings remained flat at $1.51. Earnings from continuing operations slipped two cents to $1.60 but handily beat the $1.32 consensus estimate.</p>
<p>Revenue was down 3.3% at $5.84 billion.</p>
<p>The company said its backlog was down 11% to $32.2 billion, although it noted overseas sales tend to accumulate in the fourth quarter. Aided by new U.S. Navy radar contracts, third-quarter bookings were $5.7 billion and raised Raytheon’s book-to-bill ratio to 97%.</p>
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<p>However, Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) filed a formal protest with the Navy over the contract win, a move that forced Raytheon to halt work on the project until an official ruling is given.</p>
<p>Raytheon, the No. 4 U.S. defense contractor by revenue, followed stronger-than-expected earnings from other Pentagon suppliers like United Technologies (NYSE:UTX) and Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor.</p>
<p>Each of the five top U.S. contractors beat profit expectations in the third period even as the Pentagon trims its budget.</p>
<p>In a statement, Raytheon CEO William Swanson said the “overall economic environment has been challenging.”</p>
<p>Shares fell 1.4% to $77.39 in mid-morning trading, paring year-to-date gains of 36% as of Wednesday’s close.</p> | Raytheon Lifts View After Beating 3Q Forecasts | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/10/24/raytheon-sees-tremendous-opportunities-in-4q.html | 2016-03-02 | 0 |
<p>Published time: 12 Sep, 2017 22:44Edited time: 12 Sep, 2017 23:16</p>
<p>The US Supreme Court decided in favor of the Trump administration’s request to block the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ restriction on banning refugees from entering the US.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/402962-supreme-cort-refugee-ban-decision/" type="external" /></p>
<p>On Tuesday, all nine US Supreme Court justices <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/091217zr_h3ci.pdf" type="external">blocked</a> the 9th Circuit ruling that exempted refugees with contractual relationships with resettlement organizations. About 24,000 refugees would have reportedly fallen into that description.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the temporary travel ban on October 10. The ban stems from an executive order banning entry to the US for travelers from six Muslim-majority countries.</p>
<p>The US Department of Justice had filed an emergency application Monday to stay the lower court’s ruling.</p>
<p>The executive order’s 90-day travel ban expires later this month, and its 120-day refugee ban sunsets in October. The affected countries are&#160;Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.</p> | SCOTUS restores Trump travel ban of refugees, blocking lower court | false | https://newsline.com/scotus-restores-trump-travel-ban-of-refugees-blocking-lower-court/ | 2017-09-12 | 1 |
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<p>KOAT-TV reports ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1ziaFV9)" type="external">http://bit.ly/1ziaFV9)</a> that Wednesday is the deadline for a winning New Mexico Lottery ticket to be claimed.</p>
<p>New Mexico Lottery CEO David Barden says now is the time for residents who played the lottery in a drawing Sept. 27 to search their homes and cars for the ticket.</p>
<p>Lottery officials say the lucky ticket was bought at 1:57 p.m. at a Circle K in northwest Albuquerque.</p>
<p>They say it’s unknown if the ticket’s buyer lives in New Mexico or out of state.</p>
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<p>The winner needs to get to the lottery by close of business and sign for it.</p>
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<p>Information from: KOAT-TV, <a href="http://www.thenewmexicochannel.com/index.html" type="external">http://www.thenewmexicochannel.com/index.html</a></p> | $1M New Mexico lotto ticket expires Wednesday | false | https://abqjournal.com/516902/1m-new-mexico-lotto-ticket-expires-wednesday.html | 2 |
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<p>IRELANDOne in FourBy Neans McSweeney in the <a href="http://www.examiner.ie/" type="external">Irish Examiner</a></p>
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<p>An Inquiry&#160;into clerical sexual abuse in a Wexford diocese will take more than a year, with an interim report most likely to be published in March, its secretary has estimated.</p>
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<p>As the Ferns Inquiry winds up for this year, Marian Shanley said its focus will move towards St Peter's College, a seminary and boarding school believed to have been plagued by abuse throughout the 1970s and '80s.</p>
<p>However, evidence from incidents in Monageer, Poulfour and other parishes in Wexford will continue to be heard."It's been a big task, but we've not encountered any delays or problems so far. We've been up and running since March and we've never not had a full day's work to do," said Ms Shanley.</p> | Ferns inquiry set to pass deadline | false | https://poynter.org/news/ferns-inquiry-set-pass-deadline | 2003-12-23 | 2 |
<p>For the 2017 <a href="http://variety.com/t/emmy-awards/" type="external">Emmy Awards</a>, <a href="http://variety.com/t/cbs/" type="external">CBS</a> and the <a href="http://variety.com/t/television-academy/" type="external">Television Academy</a> are splashing a torrent video, photos and other content across <a href="http://variety.com/t/facebook/" type="external">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://variety.com/t/instagram/" type="external">Instagram</a>.</p>
<p>The multifaceted social-media push is designed to give fans an up-close-and-personal insider’s pass to the Emmys and the celebs in attendance. On Sunday, Sept. 17, the TV Academy will host “Backstage Live!” on Facebook Live, which is the Emmys’ official video-streaming platform. The stream will be available on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/televisionacad/" type="external">Television Academy’s Facebook Page</a> and will include fan interactivity and a look backstage with winners. The live-stream will feature interviews with winners, a “thank-you cam,” and multiview camera angles.</p>
<p>Facebook-owned Instagram, meanwhile, is teaming up with the Television Academy and CBS for coverage of Emmys night on the platform, with content from the red carpet, backstage and more.</p>
<p>“We are thrilled to be working with Facebook on so many exciting efforts surrounding the Emmys again this year,” Television Academy president and COO Maury McIntyre said in a statement. “This year our audience will get a real behind-the-scenes look at Emmy night with exclusive Instagram Live posts and&#160;an&#160;exclusive social stream&#160;of ‘Backstage&#160;Live!’&#160;on&#160;Facebook Live.”</p>
<p>In addition to Facebook and Instagram, <a href="http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/snapchat-emmy-awards-three-year-deal-1202558780/" type="external">the TV Academy is working with Snapchat</a> to produce three “Our Stories” collections over Emmys weekend under a new three-year pact.</p>
<p>CBS — which is broadcasting the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards — will host an exclusive Facebook Live broadcast from the red carpet on its <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CBS/" type="external">Facebook Page</a>. Both the TV Academy and CBS have used Facebook Live leading up to the Emmys. This Tuesday, for example, the TV Academy live-streamed video of host&#160; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/televisionacad/videos/10154944600548193/" type="external">Stephen Colbert rolling out the red carpet</a> on Facebook Live.</p>
<p>Facebook also expects celebs to use Facebook Live over the Emmys weekend, with broadcasts from Emmy-nominated talent including Reese Witherspoon, Felicity Huffman and Sterling K. Brown.</p>
<p>Instagram is teaming up with director-photographer Mark Leibowitz ( <a href="https://www.instagram.com/marklphoto/" type="external">@marklphoto</a>) for an exclusive backstage “Stories Studio” experience for winners, nominees and presenters. Content will be posted to the TV Academy’s Instagram feed ( <a href="https://www.instagram.com/televisionacad/" type="external">@televisionacad</a>) throughout the evening. Instagrammers also can also check out CBS’s Instagram Story ( <a href="https://www.instagram.com/cbstv/" type="external">@CBSTV</a>) for more behind-the-scenes action.</p>
<p>Instagram expects stars including&#160; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yarashahidi/?hl=en" type="external">Yara Shahidi</a> (who will be taking over the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/instagram/" type="external">@Instagram</a> account),&#160; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reesewitherspoon/?hl=en" type="external">Reese Witherspoon</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/uzoaduba/?hl=en" type="external">Uzo Aduba</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/gatenm123/?hl=en" type="external">Gaten Matarazzo</a> (of “Stranger Things”) and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/therealcalebmclaughlin/?hl=en" type="external">Caleb McLaughlin</a> will document their Emmys experience on Instagram Stories, Feed and Live.</p>
<p>Under its partnership with Facebook, in July the&#160;TV Academy exclusively streamed the 2017 Emmys nominations on Facebook Live. Since then, the most-discussed nominated shows on Facebook in key categories have been HBO’s “Veep” (comedy series); NBC’s “This Is Us” (drama series); and HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” according to the social-media company.</p>
<p>Facebook also noted that this year’s <a href="http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/2017-oscars-backstage-show-free-live-stream-facebook-abc-comcast-1201995158/" type="external">“The&#160;Oscars: All Access” show</a>, which was <a href="http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/2017-oscars-backstage-show-free-live-stream-facebook-abc-comcast-1201995158/" type="external">streamed on Facebook Live</a> (among other platforms), won a 2017 Creative Arts Emmy in the outstanding creative achievement in interactive media within an unscripted program last weekend.</p> | Emmy Awards: CBS, TV Academy Team With Facebook, Instagram for Social-Content Surge | false | https://newsline.com/emmy-awards-cbs-tv-academy-team-with-facebook-instagram-for-social-content-surge/ | 2017-09-15 | 1 |
<p>DETROIT (AP) — Big discounts on pickup trucks kept U.S. auto sales strong in September.</p>
<p>General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group led the industry with 19-percent sales increases over last September. Toyota sales rose 2 percent; Ford and Volkswagen were down.</p>
<p>U.S. sales rose 9 percent to 1.2 million cars and trucks, according to Autodata Corp. The sales pace slowed after a blistering August, which was the best month for the industry in eight years. But September’s annualized pace of 16.4 million vehicles — down from 17.5 million in August — is closer to what analysts are predicting for the full year.</p>
<p>While August was fueled by Labor Day promotions and incentives on midsize cars, September saw good deals on pickup trucks. Chevrolet was advertising up to $8,500 off the price of a crew cab Silverado with a trade-in, while Chrysler’s Ram was offering zero-percent interest.</p>
<p>The second half of the year is usually stronger for pickup sales, and stable gas prices, employment gains and higher consumer confidence have more people shopping for trucks, automakers said.</p>
<p>But GM and Chrysler were also hoping to take advantage of Ford, which has temporarily closed a truck factory to retool for its new aluminum-clad F-150. Ford cut back on discounts in order to keep more trucks in stock during the shutdown. As a result, GM said its light-duty Silverado outsold Ford’s F-150 for the first month since 2011, and for only the second time in the last five years.</p>
<p>Pickup truck owners are the most loyal in the industry, but they also have come to expect big discounts, said Larry Dominique, president of the ALG auto forecasting firm. Full-size truck buyers may spend their entire annual income on a truck, Dominique said, so they’re sensitive to price.</p>
<p>“If you have two or three good trucks in the marketplace and Ram has an extra $2,500, they can pull off the fringes from each other,” he said. But automakers should beware: Those customers may not stay loyal when it’s time to buy a new truck.</p>
<p>Ford’s sales dropped 3 percent to 180,175 as F-Series pickup sales dropped 1 percent to 59,863. It was the first time in seven months that Ford’s monthly truck sales have dropped below 60,000.</p>
<p>Ford Motor Co. saw a 9 percent increase in Fusion sedan sales, but otherwise its car sales were down. Sales of the Escape small SUV fell 4 percent; Ford blamed that on a sharp cutback on sales to rental car companies.</p>
<p>GM’s sales totaled 223,437 cars and trucks. Three of its four brands saw double-digit gains; Cadillac sales were flat compared with last September.</p>
<p>Sales of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup rose 54 percent to 50,176. GM averaged just under $5,000 in incentives per pickup, which was 30 percent, or $1,140, higher than a year ago, according to estimates by J.D. Power and Associates. By comparison, Ford said its incentive spending dropped $160 per truck to $4,300.</p>
<p>GM’s SUV sales were also strong. Sales of the recently revamped Cadillac Escalade more than doubled, while Chevrolet Traverse sales rose 45 percent.</p>
<p>Chrysler sold 169,890 cars and trucks, its best September since 2005. Ram truck sales rose 30 percent to 36,612 after Chrysler raised Ram incentives by 22 percent to $4,640.</p>
<p>Chrysler also benefited from buyers’ increasing preference for small SUVs. Sales of the Jeep Cherokee, which was introduced late last year, surpassed the bigger Grand Cherokee for the first time. Jeep brand sales increased by 47 percent over last September.</p>
<p>Toyota sales rose 2 percent to 167,279, with a 43-percent gain for another small SUV, the RAV4, and big gains for the newly refreshed 4Runner SUV and the soon-to-be-discontinued FJ Cruiser. Honda sales rose 12 percent to 118,223 on the strength of the CR-V SUV and the Honda Fit subcompact, which jumped 66.5 percent</p>
<p>Other automakers reporting Wednesday:</p>
<p>— Nissan sales rose 18.5 percent to 102,955. Sales of the newly revamped Rogue crossover jumped 52 percent, while sales of the electric Leaf were up 47 percent.</p>
<p>— Hyundai sales rose 2 percent to 56,010 vehicles. Sonata sales were up 7.5 percent as a new version arrived in dealerships, while sales of the revamped Santa Fe SUV rose 35 percent.</p>
<p>— Subaru sales jumped 31 percent to 41,517 on the continuing strength of its SUVs as well as the new Legacy sedan, which saw sales double.</p>
<p>— Volkswagen sales fell 18.6 percent to 25,995, but the struggling German brand saw a glimmer of hope as its new Golf arrived in showrooms. Golf sales were up 93 percent.</p>
<p>DETROIT (AP) — Big discounts on pickup trucks kept U.S. auto sales strong in September.</p>
<p>General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group led the industry with 19-percent sales increases over last September. Toyota sales rose 2 percent; Ford and Volkswagen were down.</p>
<p>U.S. sales rose 9 percent to 1.2 million cars and trucks, according to Autodata Corp. The sales pace slowed after a blistering August, which was the best month for the industry in eight years. But September’s annualized pace of 16.4 million vehicles — down from 17.5 million in August — is closer to what analysts are predicting for the full year.</p>
<p>While August was fueled by Labor Day promotions and incentives on midsize cars, September saw good deals on pickup trucks. Chevrolet was advertising up to $8,500 off the price of a crew cab Silverado with a trade-in, while Chrysler’s Ram was offering zero-percent interest.</p>
<p>The second half of the year is usually stronger for pickup sales, and stable gas prices, employment gains and higher consumer confidence have more people shopping for trucks, automakers said.</p>
<p>But GM and Chrysler were also hoping to take advantage of Ford, which has temporarily closed a truck factory to retool for its new aluminum-clad F-150. Ford cut back on discounts in order to keep more trucks in stock during the shutdown. As a result, GM said its light-duty Silverado outsold Ford’s F-150 for the first month since 2011, and for only the second time in the last five years.</p>
<p>Pickup truck owners are the most loyal in the industry, but they also have come to expect big discounts, said Larry Dominique, president of the ALG auto forecasting firm. Full-size truck buyers may spend their entire annual income on a truck, Dominique said, so they’re sensitive to price.</p>
<p>“If you have two or three good trucks in the marketplace and Ram has an extra $2,500, they can pull off the fringes from each other,” he said. But automakers should beware: Those customers may not stay loyal when it’s time to buy a new truck.</p>
<p>Ford’s sales dropped 3 percent to 180,175 as F-Series pickup sales dropped 1 percent to 59,863. It was the first time in seven months that Ford’s monthly truck sales have dropped below 60,000.</p>
<p>Ford Motor Co. saw a 9 percent increase in Fusion sedan sales, but otherwise its car sales were down. Sales of the Escape small SUV fell 4 percent; Ford blamed that on a sharp cutback on sales to rental car companies.</p>
<p>GM’s sales totaled 223,437 cars and trucks. Three of its four brands saw double-digit gains; Cadillac sales were flat compared with last September.</p>
<p>Sales of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup rose 54 percent to 50,176. GM averaged just under $5,000 in incentives per pickup, which was 30 percent, or $1,140, higher than a year ago, according to estimates by J.D. Power and Associates. By comparison, Ford said its incentive spending dropped $160 per truck to $4,300.</p>
<p>GM’s SUV sales were also strong. Sales of the recently revamped Cadillac Escalade more than doubled, while Chevrolet Traverse sales rose 45 percent.</p>
<p>Chrysler sold 169,890 cars and trucks, its best September since 2005. Ram truck sales rose 30 percent to 36,612 after Chrysler raised Ram incentives by 22 percent to $4,640.</p>
<p>Chrysler also benefited from buyers’ increasing preference for small SUVs. Sales of the Jeep Cherokee, which was introduced late last year, surpassed the bigger Grand Cherokee for the first time. Jeep brand sales increased by 47 percent over last September.</p>
<p>Toyota sales rose 2 percent to 167,279, with a 43-percent gain for another small SUV, the RAV4, and big gains for the newly refreshed 4Runner SUV and the soon-to-be-discontinued FJ Cruiser. Honda sales rose 12 percent to 118,223 on the strength of the CR-V SUV and the Honda Fit subcompact, which jumped 66.5 percent</p>
<p>Other automakers reporting Wednesday:</p>
<p>— Nissan sales rose 18.5 percent to 102,955. Sales of the newly revamped Rogue crossover jumped 52 percent, while sales of the electric Leaf were up 47 percent.</p>
<p>— Hyundai sales rose 2 percent to 56,010 vehicles. Sonata sales were up 7.5 percent as a new version arrived in dealerships, while sales of the revamped Santa Fe SUV rose 35 percent.</p>
<p>— Subaru sales jumped 31 percent to 41,517 on the continuing strength of its SUVs as well as the new Legacy sedan, which saw sales double.</p>
<p>— Volkswagen sales fell 18.6 percent to 25,995, but the struggling German brand saw a glimmer of hope as its new Golf arrived in showrooms. Golf sales were up 93 percent.</p> | Truck deals boost US auto sales in September | false | https://apnews.com/88255b24ef954cef86e1b4950665735d | 2014-10-01 | 2 |
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<p>Net income for the parent company rose from $12.5 million in first-quarter 2013 to $14.3 million this year. Ongoing earnings per share climbed from 14.2 cents in 2013 to 16.5 cents.</p>
<p>The company reaffirmed on Friday its 2015 earnings guidance range of $1.52 to $1.60 per share.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The company's robust first-quarter performance builds on the solid financial gains it achieved in 2014, when net earnings rose 16 percent, said PNM Resources Chairman, President and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn.</p>
<p>"The company's first quarter results continue the momentum we've established, and we are in a strong position to meet the challenges ahead of us," Vincent-Collawn said in a statement.</p>
<p>Both Public Service Co. of New Mexico and Texas New Mexico Power had significant jumps in earnings during the quarter.</p>
<p>PNM's net earnings rose 33 percent, from $7.5 million in first-quarter 2014 to $10 million this year. The company benefited from decreased lease costs at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, and some other gains at the plant, such as reimbursement for spent fuel.</p>
<p>The New Mexico utility continues to face sluggish load growth, something that significantly affected its financial performance for much of 2014. During the first quarter, commercial and industrial load declined 1.3 percent.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, residential load grew by 2 percent, an indication that New Mexico's economy is beginning to stabilize from the lingering effects of recession, according to PNM executives.</p>
<p>"I believe it will bottom out at some point, but it's still a slow recovery process," said Chief Financial Officer Chuck Eldred in a conference call with investors Friday morning. "It will take time."</p>
<p>At Texas New Mexico Power, meanwhile, net earnings rose 13 percent, from $6.8 million in first-quarter 2014 to $7.7 million this year. In contrast to PNM, the Texas utility reported an overall 1.7 percent increase in load, with residential electric consumption up 2.1 percent and commercial demand up 1.6 percent, Eldred said. TNMP also benefited from a rate increase, although asset depreciation and property tax expenses somewhat offset the utility's gains during the quarter.</p> | Q1 PNM earnings up 14 percent | false | https://abqjournal.com/578176/q1-pnm-earnings-up-14-percent.html | 2 |
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<p>The Michael Mukasey Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing has demonstrated that Mukasey cannot be relied upon to function independently as U.S. Attorney General. Nevertheless, Senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee seem so thrilled that Mukasey is not Alberto Gonzales that they’re willing to vote for him even though he’s another loyal Bushie. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, backed down on his promise to hold up the confirmation hearing until the administration turned over material his committee had requested regarding several investigations. Leahy said of Mukasey after the hearing, “He’s at least answered the questions, which is better than his predecessor. He’s going to be different than Gonzales on all the issues, I think. He will certainly be better than Gonzales on morale.”</p>
<p>But saying that Mukasey compares favorably to Alberto Gonzales is faint praise for the nominee. The former Attorney General resigned during a firestorm of criticism about his U.S. Attorney purges, and his repeated claims of memory loss when he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.</p>
<p>Mukasey doesn’t seem to have a memory problem; he relied on a different excuse for dodging the Senators’ hard questions: he hasn’t been “read in on” the details of Bush policies, such as interrogation techniques, or the “Terrorist Surveillance Program.” Mukasey claims he doesn’t know what water boarding is, so he can’t say if it constitutes torture. Say what? Mukasey’s claimed ignorance of water boarding is about as credible as his predecessor’s convenient claims of amnesia. Rear Adm. John Hutson (USN Ret.) testified at the confirmation hearing, “Other than, perhaps the rack and thumbscrews, water boarding is the most iconic example of torture in history. It was devised, I believe, in the Spanish inquisition. It has been repudiated for centuries.”</p>
<p>Mukasey made the incredible assertions that “we do not torture” and “I don’t think people are mistreated” at Guantánamo. The main problem he sees with Guantánamo is that “nobody owns it,” that is, there is jurisdictional overlap between the Justice and Defense Departments. Mukasey callously told Sen. Dick Durbin before the hearings that Guantánamo was used as a “fright wig,” and after all, detainees receive “three hots and a cot, health care better than many Americans, and taxpayer-funded Korans.”</p>
<p>The rest of us haven’t been “read in on” the classified details either. But we know that torture and inhuman treatment is Bush policy in spite of the fact it’s illegal. The 2005 Department of Justice memos recently leaked to the New York Times say the government is engaging in water boarding, head slapping and exposing people to frigid temperatures, the International Committee of the Red Cross said the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody is tantamount to torture, and the U.N. Human Rights Commission concluded that force feeding Guantánamo prisoners amounts to torture. We also know that Bush spied on Americans without warrants in spite of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) because he and Gonzales admitted it. And we know what water boarding is.</p>
<p>Some of Mukasey’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee should have raised red flags in the minds of Democratic Senators. Mukasey refused to reject the notion that the President can constitutionally violate FISA. He misread the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which clearly rejected Bush’s claim that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions doesn’t protect al-Qaeda prisoners. Common Article 3 prohibits torture and cruel or inhuman treatment of all prisoners. In fact, the Hamdan Court referred to possible liability under the U.S. War Crimes Act for those who violate Common Article 3. And when asked about contempt charges against witnesses who refuse to respond to congressional subpoenas, Mukasey said he would refuse to follow the statute that requires a U.S. attorney to refer contempt citations to a grand jury.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, Mukasey appears to be a shoo-in, with the Senate proceedings resembling a charade. One month before Mukasey was tapped by Bush for AG, the former federal judge penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal complaining about too much due process in terrorism prosecutions and advocating special courts where the Constitution wouldn’t get in the way of catching the bad guys.</p>
<p>Mukasey’s excessive zeal for Bush’s war on terror was evident right after 9/11. In an October 2, 2001 hearing in his court, then-Judge Mukasey dismissed attorney Randall Hamud’s claim that his client, 21-year-old Jordanian Osama Awadallah, had been physically beaten while in custody and had the marks to prove it. Mukasey retorted, “As far as the claim he was beaten, I will tell you he looks fine to me.” The judge then refused to direct that Awadallah be examined by a doctor, and ordered that he be held indefinitely. The marks were under Awadallah’s clothing. He was one of the more than 1,000 men of Arab descent rounded up after 9/11, and later exonerated. Many suffered similar abuse while in U.S. custody. Ronald Kuby was a defense attorney in the 1995 Omar Abdel Rahman case, over which Mukasey presided. Mukasey “was violating the rights of Arabs before it was popular,” Kuby said. “It was very much like trying a case with two prosecutors, one of whom was wearing a black robe.”</p>
<p>After librarians complained about the USA Patriot Act’s provision that required them to tell the government what books we read, Mukasey mocked them in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. He described civil liberties concerns as “recreational hysteria.”</p>
<p>Although former Judge Mukasey ruled Jose Padilla had the right to consult with counsel, he held that the President has the power to detain U.S. citizens caught on U.S. soil without charging them with a crime. When Sen. Dianne Feinstein questioned him, Mukasey incorrectly cited Hamdi v. Rumsfeld to support his position. Hamdi, unlike Padilla, was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan, and the high court held that even Hamdi was entitled to some basic due process. In response to Feinstein’s question about whether Congress has the right to set boundaries on military action under Article I of the Constitution, Mukasey demurred, arguing his “learning curve” was “steep.”</p>
<p>Mukasey ducked the question of whether he would advise the President to allow unlawful enemy combatants habeas corpus rights at Guantánamo Bay. “I would not advise the President to grant rights beyond those that they already have,” he told Sen. Lindsey Graham. In spite of the Military Commissions Act, which purports to deny these people statutory habeas rights, the Supreme Court will likely decide this term that they still have the constitutional right to habeas corpus.</p>
<p>At the committee hearing on Wednesday, Mukasey was introduced by his dear friend and law school buddy Joe Lieberman. No one is fanning the flames of war against Iran more than Lieberman. Bush/Cheney likely see Mukasey as a reliable ally who will help “legitimize” their impending illegal attack on Iran.</p>
<p>When Bush nominated Mukasey for attorney general, he declared Mukasey would “ensure that our law enforcement and intelligence officers have the tools they need to protect the United States and our citizens.” Mukasey, who refused to call water boarding torture, will likely support that “tool” in the war on terror. Mukasey told senators in advance of his hearing that he supports enhanced interrogation techniques, according to Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff.</p>
<p>Michael Mukasey cannot be counted on to independently investigate the crimes of the White House. Elizabeth Holtzman, a former congresswoman who served on the House Judiciary Committee during the Nixon impeachment, advocated in a recent op-ed in the Progressive that the Senate should confirm Muksey only if he pledges to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration. That’s what the Democratically-controlled Congress did in 1973 after Nixon nominated Elliot Richardson for attorney general. Richardson agreed, he was confirmed, and then appointed Archibald Cox as special prosecutor. Cox’s investigations and summary dismissal resulted in the issuance of articles of impeachment against Nixon in the House Judiciary Committee followed by Nixon’s resignation. It would be wonderful to have a Congress that once again stood up to the President when he breaks the law.</p>
<p>MARJORIE COHN is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and president of the National Lawyers Guild. She is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Michael Mukasey and the Constitution | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/10/22/michael-mukasey-and-the-constitution/ | 2007-10-22 | 4 |
<p>The campaign bus of Hillary Clinton is being investigated for illegally dumping human waste. Yup, you read that correctly. On Tuesday, police in Lawrenceville, Georgia, received multiple reports of Hillary's "Forward Together" tour bus dumping human waste into a storm drain.</p>
<p>A local businessman took photos of the illegal activity, prompting police to launch a full investigation. The photos showed off-colored liquid oozing out of the bus. The bus was stationed at Grayson highway. Hillary Clinton was not at the scene as the bus was in-between campaign stops.</p>
<p>. <a href="https://twitter.com/CityofLville" type="external">@CityofLville</a> cops investigating claims that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hillary?src=hash" type="external">#Hillary</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ForwardTogether?src=hash" type="external">#ForwardTogether</a> bus dumped human waste into storm drain. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/cbs46" type="external">@cbs46</a> for updates. <a href="https://t.co/xyBnfaMy7n" type="external">pic.twitter.com/xyBnfaMy7n</a></p>
<p>When police arrived at the scene, they were greeted with a foul odor and remnants of used toilet paper scattered across the ground. What the campaign dumped at the scene was so disgusting that a HAZMAT team was called to come in to clean up the mess.</p>
<p>In addition to the local police, the Gwinnett County Stormwater Management and the State Environment Protection Department are participating in the investigation.</p>
<p>Local CBS affiliate CBS46 asked the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the party organization working in tandem with the campaign to get Hillary elected, prompting an apology by the DNC.</p>
<p>"This was an honest mistake and we apologize to the Lawrenceville community for any harm we may have caused," <a href="http://www.cbs46.com/story/33418363/witness-clinton-forward-together-tour-bus-dumps-human-waste-into-storm-drain" type="external">read</a> the apology. "We were unaware of any possible violations and have already taken corrective action with the charter bus company to prevent this from happening again. Furthermore, the DNC will work with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, as well as local and state officials to determine the best course of corrective action."</p> | Hillary Campaign Bus Investigated for Illegally Dumping Human Waste. How Fitting. | true | https://dailywire.com/news/10049/hillary-campaign-bus-investigated-illegally-michael-qazvini | 2016-10-18 | 0 |
<p>Illustration By: Jeffrey Decoster&lt;br&gt;Map by Baker Vail</p>
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<p>The red dirt of the jungle meets a paved road on the outskirts of Ebebiyin, where a national celebration is about to begin. Women are singing and swaying in an African rhythm that is hard to resist, even though their lyrics are not of a can’t-stop-dancing variety: “We await you, Mr. President,” they sing in Fang, the main language in Equatorial Guinea. “We are happy to see you; you are the people’s president.” In the distance, a cloud of Martian dust heralds the arrival of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.</p>
<p>The president is accompanied by 40 vehicles and enough firepower to start a small war. In the lead are army-green trucks, with soldiers clad in black ninja outfits. Because the president doesn’t entirely trust his military, the jeeps in front of his Lexus SUV bear his Moroccan security guards, many of them perched on the running boards, clutching Heckler &amp; Koch assault rifles as they scan the horizon.</p>
<p>The motorcade halts at the edge of the town and its chickens-in-the-road squalor. Obiang strolls up the street, shaking hands with people who line the uneven sidewalks, many clad in T-shirts and dresses bearing his image. His bearing is regal. If he has any anxiety because of a recent coup attempt, which involved a gang of couldn’t-shoot-straight mercenaries from South Africa and Britain (allegedly financed by the son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher), he does not betray it. And if his mind is troubled by a recent U.S. Senate investigation detailing how he siphoned millions from his country’s treasury with the help of Riggs Bank in Washington, D.C., and how he and members of his inner circle extracted large and unorthodox payments from American oil companies, that, too, does not show.</p>
<p>Obiang has traveled to Equatorial Guinea’s mainland from his palace on the island capital of Malabo to celebrate the 36th anniversary of independence from Spain. The three-day gala is replete with references to the 1979 overthrow of Francisco Macias Nguema, the nation’s first dictator. Macias, who once tortured and killed political opponents in a soccer stadium, drowning out their screams by playing “Those Were the Days” on the loudspeakers, was ousted and executed in a coup led by a senior military aide who was also his nephew — Teodoro Obiang.</p>
<p>For “El Libertador,” as Obiang allows himself to be called, the highlight of the October celebration is a parade down Ebebiyin’s finest stretch of asphalt. About a hundred goose-stepping soldiers lead the way, and through bouts of equatorial heat and showers, delegations from seemingly every town and organization in the nation march by with banners saluting the president and ruling party.</p>
<p>The heat, the soldiers, the jungle, the out-of-tune band — I was starting to feel I had fallen into a tin-pot time warp. Then I noticed the American flags. These were carried by a delegation from Mobil Equatorial Guinea, Inc., a subsidiary of ExxonMobil. They also carried white Exxon flags and placards bearing ExxonMobil’s name. Behind them came delegations with signs announcing Halliburton, ChevronTexaco, Marathon Oil.</p>
<p>In the past few years, Equatorial Guinea, population 500,000, has become the third-largest oil exporter in sub-Saharan Africa, after Nigeria and Angola. Per capita, it is one of the richest countries on the continent; rated by how much money ends up in the pockets of people not related to the president, it remains one of the poorest. Oil is the reason the desperate-looking cafés and shops in Ebebiyin use ExxonMobil signs as decorations. It is why, although his regime once sent death threats to the U.S. ambassador, Obiang now meets with senior administration officials and even with President Bush. And it’s why no one spoke out as Obiang treated his nation’s treasury as his own private bank account.</p>
<p>Equatorial Guinea sometimes seems a parody of an oil kleptocracy — a Blazing Saddles of the world of petroleum. Yet it has emerged as an all-too-real example of how a dictator, awash in petrodollars, enriches himself and his family while starving his people. His conduct has been aided by American companies: As detailed in Senate and Treasury Department documents, Riggs Bank helped Obiang shuttle millions into offshore accounts. Oil companies, meanwhile, made payments to his regime that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is now scrutinizing under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.</p>
<p>If America’s interest in foreign countries were predicated on human rights, Equatorial Guinea would have seized our attention long before its 1995 oil boom. Francisco Macias Nguema, whose self-bestowed titles included “Leader of Steel,” “The Sole Miracle of Equatorial Guinea,” and, of course, “President for Life,” was a morph of Idi Amin and Pol Pot. He killed or forced into exile nearly a third of the population, decimating in particular the small educated class. Some of his victims were crucified on the road leading to the airport. It was one of the 20th century’s most brutal genocides, but no foreign power except for Equatorial Guinea’s former colonial ruler paid attention to it, and the fascist regime of Spain’s Francisco Franco was not overly troubled by human rights abuses. Obiang’s coup was a welcome event, and his rule has not been nearly as ruthless as his uncle’s. Of course,that’s not much of an achievement.</p>
<p>Recent State Department reports define Equatorial Guinea as a nominal democracy but note that “in practice power is exercised by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.” In the latest election, Obiang was reelected with 97 percent of the vote in an election “marred by extensive fraud and intimidation.” “Corruption among officials is widespread,” one report adds; the distribution of oil revenues, meanwhile, has “lacked transparency despite repeated calls from international financial institutions and citizens for greater financial openness.” And finally, “There is little evidence that the country’s oil wealth is being devoted to the public good.”</p>
<p>Human rights abuses continue unchecked. An oil company employee was recently beaten unconscious by gendarmes when he refused to pay a bribe. In 2002, more than a dozen security officials at the airport in Bata, the country’s commercial center, were arrested after they allowed an opposition leader to board a plane for Gabon. If you happen to be a member of the opposition, or even a suspected member of the opposition, you live precariously.</p>
<p>For an intimate portrait of what “torture” and “abuse” mean in the context of Equatorial Guinea, I consulted Tropical Gangsters by Robert Klitgaard, an economist who worked in Malabo during the late 1980s. The book ends with Klitgaard protesting the torture of a local colleague who was taken to the presidential compound above Malabo’s harbor, blindfolded, and had his hands tied behind his back. He was then hung by his ankles — as Klitgaard writes, “like a marlin at the weight scale” — and lowered into a barrel of soapy water and kept there until he choked. He was pulled out, questioned, and submerged again. This went on for several hours. Later, electric shocks were administered to his genitals. He was eventually released.</p>
<p>Even foreign officials have not been excluded from thuggery. John Bennett was the U.S. envoy to Equatorial Guinea from 1991 to 1994, and his outspokenness about such abuses angered Obiang. One evening he received a death threat at the U.S. Embassy. When I talked with Bennett recently, he recalled meeting the country’s president after the incident. “Obiang said he couldn’t believe anyone would threaten the American ambassador,” Bennett said drolly. “It was pretty low comedy.” Soon after, in 1995, the embassy was closed because of concerns over corruption and human rights.</p>
<p>The country might have disappeared from our geopolitical radar had Mobil not struck oil in the waters off Malabo later that year. It quickly became clear that the Zafiro oil field was world-class. After a decade of development, oil production in Equatorial Guinea stands at more than 300,000 barrels a day, which at current prices translates to nearly $5.5 billion a year. A gas field owned by Marathon Oil has also become a major producer, and the ocean beds off Equatorial Guinea are being combed for additional deposits. Energy companies have invested several billion dollars in Equatorial Guinea, and Marathon is building a major liquefied natural gas facility. It is now possible to fly nonstop from Malabo to Texas on a weekly flight known as the “Houston Express.”</p>
<p>Equatorial Guinea is not the only country in the region to have emerged as a major oil supplier for the United States. West Africa is central to America’s effort to reduce dependency on Middle East oil. The region currently supplies 15 percent of America’s energy, and that figure is expected to rise to 25 percent within a few years. A report prepared by the African Oil Policy Initiative Group (AOPIG), a panel of U.S. government and energy industry officials brought together by the Jerusalem-based neoconservative Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, proposed that the Gulf of Guinea be declared a “vital interest” in U.S. national security policy. The report, unveiled at a press conference in 2002 by several congressmen, proposed that the U.S. military presence be enhanced to include a unified military command for Africa and a home port in São Tomé, an island state in this gulf. Three months later, President Bush convened a meeting with Obiang and nine other Central African leaders at the United Nations to discuss military and energy security. And in a sign of Equatorial Guinea’s new strategic role, a lieutenant colonel in the Special Forces — the U.S. military attaché from neighboring Cameroon — represented the Pentagon in the grandstand at the independence parade in Ebebiyin.</p>
<p>U.S. corporations are now investing more in Equatorial Guinea than in any other African country except for Nigeria and South Africa. In 2003, the Bush administration reopened the embassy, a move sharply criticized by human rights groups as a favor to the oil companies and to Obiang. Frank Ruddy, U.S. ambassador to Equatorial Guinea in the mid-1980s, decries current U.S. policy, saying that Bush administration officials are “big cheerleaders for the government — and it’s an awful government.”</p>
<p>Obiang has few friends. He has alienated the Spanish — and through them the entire European Union — by accusing Madrid of involvement in the March 2004 coup attempt. Aside from the Chinese, only the Bush administration seems to like Obiang. No senior administration official has issued a public word of criticism against his regime. Instead, in June 2004, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham each met privately with Obiang in Washington. When I interviewed Gabriel Nguema Lima, Obiang’s son, he warmly saluted the Bush administration: “The United States, like China, is careful not to get into internal issues.”</p>
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<p>Equatorial Guinea exemplifies what is known as the “resource curse,” the paradox by which countries rich in oil, gas, or minerals tend to suffer rather than benefit, because the abundance of “easy money” undermines healthy economic and political development. In Nigeria — to cite a classic example — total oil revenues have topped hundreds of billions of dollars, but poverty is worse than it was before the oil rush began more than 20 years ago; corruption is a national sport, and the country is fissuring along ethnic lines.</p>
<p>In Equatorial Guinea, nearly half of all children under five are malnourished. Even major cities lack clean water and basic sanitation. A health consultant who recently visited Equatorial Guinea for the first time since 1993 wrote with dismay in the International Herald Tribune: “Despite the oil boom, I was unable to see any improvements in the living standards of ordinary people.” (Obiang is not among the ordinary: In 1999 he paid $2.6 million — cash — for a mansion outside Washington, D.C. One of his wives had a $10,000 daily limit on her Riggs Bank debit card.)</p>
<p>On my way to Ebebiyin, I was stopped several times by underpaid or rarely paid soldiers who demanded bribes — in their parlance cerveza, or beer money. In the town itself, the main hospital is a place for dying, not healing. The wards are dingy rooms with soiled mattresses and no medical equipment except for a couple of IV drips. By contrast, the town’s sparkling conference hall is air-conditioned and had, during a reception for Obiang’s cabinet the evening before the parade, a 25-foot table stocked with bottles of Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, and Spanish wine. Apart from such showcase buildings, even government facilities can be decrepit. When I interviewed the minister of education in his office, only one of the two light fixtures had a bulb and I could not tell whether it worked because the power was out.</p>
<p>Yet to Western oil companies, Equatorial Guinea is an ideal partner. Nearly all of its oil and gas reserves are offshore, which means securing the fields is relatively easy. ExxonMobil and Marathon workers live in gated compounds that operate their own electrical, water, and communication systems. Unlike in Nigeria or Saudi Arabia, foreign workers do not face major security threats, and the government’s brutish security apparatus has kept the violent-crime rate low. Expats freely cruise the rutted streets of Malabo in their pickup trucks and hang out at the most popular bars, like La Bamba and Shangri-La, among an abundance of professional women, known as “night fighters” because they bicker over prospective clients.</p>
<p>Most important for oil companies, Equatorial Guinea is a profitable place to do business. According to a 1999 report by the International Monetary Fund, oil companies received “by far the most generous tax and profit-sharing provisions in the region.” The state received only 15 to 40 percent of the revenues from its oil fields, while the norm in sub-Saharan Africa was 45 to 90 percent.</p>
<p>Even so, the government is expected to reap $1.5 billion in oil revenues this year, or about $3,000 per capita. But that figure is deeply misleading; for the average Equatoguinean, scraping by on roughly $2 a day, $3,000 is an unimaginable fortune. So where does the money go?</p>
<p>A basement-level warren in the Russell office building in Washington, D.C., houses the minority staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which focuses on terrorism and money laundering. Its cramped suite is stacked with documents and investigative detritus. In March 2003, responding in part to an exposé by Ken Silverstein of the Los Angeles Times, the subcommittee began investigating Riggs Bank’s compliance with anti-money-laundering laws. It soon uncovered a range of improper activity involving accounts opened by Equatorial Guinea (and unrelated accounts belonging to former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet).</p>
<p>The Senate inquiry wasn’t the only government probe of Riggs’ dealings: In a parallel investigation begun in 2003, the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) started looking into the bank’s Equatoguinean and Saudi accounts. In May 2004, the Treasury Department fined Riggs $25 million for “systemic” violations of anti-money-laundering laws — the largest fine ever imposed under the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. While offering scant details, Treasury documents refer to “hundreds of thousands of dollars transferred from an account of the country of Equatorial Guinea to the personal account of a government official,” and to “millions of dollars deposited into a private investment company owned by an official of the country of Equatorial Guinea.”</p>
<p>The Senate investigation proved to be much more revealing. Using their subpoena power, investigators obtained records showing that as much as $700 million had been deposited in Equatoguinean accounts at Riggs. The committee also discovered that U.S. energy companies, including ExxonMobil, Amerada Hess, Marathon Oil, and ChevronTexaco, made questionable payments directly to Riggs Bank accounts held by members of Obiang’s regime and his family. What emerges from the committee’s final report, released in July 2004, is an intricate exposé of how Obiang enriched himself and his family, and how oil companies, wittingly or not, helped him do so.</p>
<p>Although Riggs is only a medium-sized bank, it has been a D.C. institution for more than a century. Riggs has always been well connected — 21 presidents have used its services — and Jonathan Bush, the president’s uncle, is CEO of its investment arm. Riggs has also long been the banker to Embassy Row, and in recent years, embassy banking accounted for 20 percent of its revenue. Its client list, Senate investigators wrote, included many countries “with high risks of money laundering and foreign corruption.”</p>
<p>Riggs also has a reputation for not asking too many questions. As the committee report notes, “Riggs has repeatedly been cited for having weak anti-money-laundering controls.” Indeed, the document went so far as to call the bank’s program “dysfunctional.” This certainly held true in Riggs’ treatment of Obiang’s money: “Riggs was fully aware of the corruption risks associated with the E.G. accounts,” Senate investigators reported, yet the bank “failed to exercise enhanced scrutiny of the account activity, even for transactions involving large cash deposits or international wire transfers.”</p>
<p>Obiang’s relationship with Riggs began in 1995, and by 2003 his regime had become the bank’s single largest customer. In all, Riggs held more than 60 accounts belonging to Obiang, his government, and his ruling circle. The primary Equatoguinean bank account, known as the “oil account,” was where energy companies would deposit their royalty payments, and it often contained tens of millions of dollars at a time. There is no suggestion that those payments themselves were tainted, but Obiang’s handling of the account raised eyebrows. Among other suspicious activity identified in the report, the regime wired — without objection or scrutiny from Riggs — $35 million from the oil account “to two unknown companies” with accounts in nations with strict bank-secrecy laws.</p>
<p>Then there were the “investment accounts.” In 2003, the value of these accounts fluctuated between $300 million and $500 million. It is unusual for funds tantamount to a country’s treasury to be held in a private bank, especially a relatively minor one like Riggs, and even more unusual for transfers from such accounts to require only one signature — the president’s. That’s just one of the reasons Obiang is believed to have treated the public treasury as his own.</p>
<p>The handling of the accounts might have been comical if a nation’s wealth hadn’t been at stake; the manner of deposits was, on occasion, Chaplinesque. The Riggs official who managed the accounts from the bank’s DuPont Circle branch, Simon Kareri, twice went to the Equatoguinean Embassy, a mile away on 16th Street, and picked up suitcases that, as detailed in the Senate report, weighed 60 pounds and contained $3 million in plastic-wrapped stacks of $100 bills. He ferried them back to Riggs and deposited them into one of Obiang’s accounts. The bank also received cash deposits of more than $1.4 million into accounts belonging to Constancia Nsue, one of Obiang’s wives. In those cases — as with other cash deposits that larded accounts controlled by Obiang and Nsue — Riggs did not file “Suspicious Activity Reports” to the OCC as required whenever a bank suspects, or should suspect, that a transaction might involve illicit funds or the laundering of illicit funds.</p>
<p>(The oil account, as well as the others, was closed after the Senate investigation began, and Obiang’s government says that the funds are currently deposited at the Bank of Central African States, a regional institution based in Cameroon that holds treasury accounts.)</p>
<p>The committee reported a litany of other unorthodox activity. Riggs helped Obiang set up Otong S.A., an offshore shell corporation in the Bahamas to which he deposited $11.5 million in cash. Reporting these transactions to U.S. officials, Riggs “repeatedly mischaracterized” Otong as a “timber export company.” Riggs also issued a $3.75 million loan to Obiang’s eldest son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang, to purchase a penthouse apartment in California. (Teodoro, owner of a fleet of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Bentleys, started a rap label in Beverly Hills.) But not all of the transactions were to Obiang’s benefit: The bank “exercised such lax oversight” over Kareri, the manager of the Equatoguinean accounts, that he was able to “transfer more than $1 million in E.G. oil revenues to an account he controlled at another bank.”</p>
<p>As the Senate report concluded, “Riggs Bank serviced the E.G. accounts with little or no attention to the bank’s anti-money-laundering obligations, turned a blind eye to evidence suggesting the bank was handling the proceeds of foreign corruption, and allowed numerous suspicious transactions to take place without notifying law enforcement.” Riggs officials declined to comment for this story.</p>
<p>The committee’s rebuke did not end with Riggs. “Oil companies operating in Equatorial Guinea,” Senate investigators wrote, “may have contributed to corrupt practices in that country by making substantial payments to, or entering into business ventures with, individual E.G. officials, their family members, or entities they control, with minimal public disclosure of their actions.” Those conclusions triggered the current inquiry by the SEC into oil company transactions. Although the SEC won’t comment on ongoing investigations, it is understood to be probing possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits American companies from making direct or indirect bribes. (The oil companies deny wrongdoing and say they are cooperating with the SEC.)</p>
<p>Among the payments were more than $4 million that American oil companies, including ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, Marathon, and Amerada Hess, provided to fund the tuition and living expenses of Equatoguinean students in the United States. According to the Senate report, most of these students “appeared to be children or relatives of wealthy or powerful E.G. officials.”</p>
<p>The Senate report also describes payments the oil companies made to Obiang and his inner circle. About half of the 60 Equa- toguinean accounts at Riggs belonged to members of Obiang’s family or government (who were often the same, as in the case of Armengol Ondo Nguema, Obiang’s brother and the director of national security). Between 1995 and 2004, millions of dollars from U.S. oil firms were deposited into these accounts — for what appeared to be real estate or business deals — and some of these funds were transferred to offshore accounts. Such payments were made to, among others, the president’s wife, the interior and agricultural ministers, and at least one well-placed general.</p>
<p>In 2001 Exxon paid $175,000 to Constancia Nsue — as a representative of Obiang’s personal company, Abayak S.A. — to rent a compound that houses Exxon workers and offices. Exxon also rented a house from the nation’s minister of agriculture and paid $236,160 to a firm owned by the interior minister. The prize for the most unusual lease goes to Amerada Hess, which rented property for $445,800 from a 14-year-old relative of Obiang. Overall, Hess paid nearly $1 million in rent to Equatoguinean officials and their relatives, though the company told the Senate committee it planned to cancel those leases in 2004.</p>
<p>How much is too much to pay in rent to a teenager, to a general, to the president’s wife? There’s no easy answer. Equatorial Guinea is not a normal country: One resident remarked of the ruling elite, “Everything you see that attracts your attention is owned by them.” A foreigner who knows the country well described it to me as “a ranch” owned by Obiang. If the president or his relatives don’t happen to own something you want, they will likely acquire it before you do and then sell it to you at a tidy profit. As the Senate report notes, this type of “economic dominance” means that almost any business deal is likely to enrich a member of the president’s clan. “How oil companies can and should respond to this situation,” the report notes, “raises a number of difficult policy issues.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the Bush administration is setting an abysmal example. The building it settled on to house the reopened embassy is owned by Manuel Nguema Mba, who is the minister of national security, a relative of Obiang’s, and an accused torturer. The State Department and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights have both documented cases in which Nguema supervised the torture of political opponents. In one case the victim was beaten to death. Now Nguema collects rent from the U.S. government.</p>
<p>After issuing its report, the Senate committee held a hearing in which the head of Riggs Bank, as well as senior executives of ExxonMobil, Marathon Oil, and Amerada Hess, testified under oath.</p>
<p>Kareri, the Riggs official who oversaw the accounts, took the Fifth. But the bank’s president and chief executive officer, Lawrence Hebert, did speak, voicing regret that Riggs did not “fully meet the expectations of our regulators.” He blamed the absence of suspicious activity reports on a subpar computer system.</p>
<p>Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the ranking minority member, was amazed. “Mr. Hebert,” he said, “you don’t need a computer system to realize suspicious activity when you’ve got 60 pounds of cash there being walked into the door with a suitcase.”</p>
<p>Levin was just warming up. He noted that Riggs hosted a lunch for Obiang in Washington, and that Hebert and three other executives had followed up with a letter expressing the bank’s “gratitude” for Obiang’s time and saluting his “prudent leadership.”</p>
<p>“How do you write that stuff to a man as abominable as this guy?” Levin asked. “How do you basically live with yourself?”</p>
<p>“We took prudent steps to be very careful with this gentleman,” Hebert replied.</p>
<p>“Who you calling a gentleman?” Levin shot back. “Let’s call him a dictator.”</p>
<p>Next were the oil executives. Andrew Swiger, then an executive vice president at ExxonMobil, was first to testify. “The business arrangements we’ve entered into have been entirely commercial,” Swiger said. “They are a function of completing the work that we are there to do, which is to develop the country’s petroleum resources and, through that and our work in the community, make Equatorial Guinea a better place.”</p>
<p>“Make it what?” Levin asked.</p>
<p>“A better place,” Swiger replied.</p>
<p>“I know you’re all in a competitive business,” Levin said in closing. “But I’ve got to tell you, I don’t see any fundamental difference between dealing with an Obiang and dealing with a Saddam Hussein.”</p>
<p>Obiang’s personal investment vehicle is Abayak S.A., and it was to Abayak that the oil companies made a number of their questionable payments. The company is mysterious — nobody seems to know how big it is, or exactly what it does. But an internal Riggs memo unearthed by the Senate describes it as “a significant earner of income for the President.” So I decided to make inquiries once I arrived in Equatorial Guinea.</p>
<p>According to the Senate report, Marathon Oil has negotiated a deal to purchase land from Abayak for more than $2 million; although much of the sale, as of June 2004, was pending, the oil company had already delivered a check to Abayak for $611,000, made out to Obiang. Marathon is also involved in a joint venture to operate two gas plants with GEOGAM, a quasi-state firm in which Abayak controls a 75 percent stake.</p>
<p>ExxonMobil operates an oil-distribution joint venture, called Mobile Oil Guinea Ecuatorial, in which Abayak owns 15 percent, based on a mere $2,300 investment. ExxonMobil has not disclosed the company’s revenues or current valuation.</p>
<p>What did Abayak offer its American partners other than the name and blessing of the president? I thought the answer could be found in Bata. The recently completed seven-story Abayak building is the biggest building in Bata — indeed, the largest one in the country. I asked a Ministry of Information official to take me to see Abayak’s headquarters so that I could talk with an executive or two.</p>
<p>At the ground-floor reception area, we were told the firm’s offices were on the top floor. When we went there, we found that four of the six offices on the floor were empty and not even furnished. Doors to the two remaining offices were locked and unmarked. If these were Abayak’s headquarters, they seemed unfathomably modest for a firm that had been selected as a partner by the largest oil companies in the world.</p>
<p>Perhaps the receptionist was wrong; maybe Abayak’s offices were on another floor. I checked every floor and saw that the offices were either empty — most were — or occupied by other entities. Even the Ministry of Information official who accompanied me was flummoxed. Where was Abayak? And more to the point, what was Abayak?</p>
<p>There were answers back in Malabo. I talked with two people who follow the nation’s financial affairs closely (and who asked not to be identified because they would face retribution from the government). One told me that, as far as he knew, Abayak conducted some legitimate business but functioned mainly as a vehicle through which payments were made in exchange for the president’s approval of business projects. The other person called Abayak a “holding company” and said it had no administrative offices that he knew of. Indeed, there is no Abayak building or administrative offices in Malabo that I could locate. It was not possible to ask the president about this or any other matter — my requests for an interview were declined. So I went to the next-best source, his son Gabriel Nguema Lima, who, in high Equatoguinean tradition, is also the vice minister of mines and energy.</p>
<p>Obiang has several wives and many children — some accounts put the number at 40 — but the two children who count the most are Teodoro, the eldest son of Constancia Nsue, and Gabriel, the eldest son of Obiang’s second wife. Due to his playboy habits, Teodoro has faded somewhat in the past year while Gabriel, who is smart and hardworking, has taken a larger public role even though he is not yet 30 years old.</p>
<p>His Malabo office is in the ministry headquarters, a modest two-story building where, on the day of my interview, a rooster was pecking around the front yard. The office, though it has a flat-screen computer, is not large — in most governments it would house a mid-level civil servant. Adorning the wall is Nguema’s diploma from Alma College and his varsity soccer letter from prep school Cranbrook Kingswood, both in Michigan.</p>
<p>Nguema has become a spokesman for his father on financial affairs, so I asked about the Riggs controversy. “If Equatorial Guinea wanted to do something illegal,” he said, “the easy thing would be to do a Swiss account or a Bahamas account where nobody will know what happens.” He claimed his government used Riggs because the U.S. State Department had recommended the bank: “We wanted to make sure that American companies feel comfortable.”</p>
<p>When I asked Nguema about Abayak, he described it as an industrial concern with experience in the cement and cocoa businesses. I told him that I had been trying to locate the company’s headquarters.</p>
<p>He scratched his head.</p>
<p>“Uhm, headquarters of Abayak, that’s a good question,” he said, pausing uncomfortably. “I don’t think they have a headquarters here. I know they work from here, but they don’t have a headquarters here. The headquarters would be” — he paused again and looked at his feet — “maybe my father’s house.”</p>
<p>As with most dictatorships, Obiang’s regime does not like reporters nosing around. I let the authorities know that I was working on a book about oil, and they had not seemed particularly concerned about my presence until I took a stroll with the Spanish ambassador, Carlos Robles Fraga. What ensued provided an unexpected lesson in the clout the U.S. government carries in Equatorial Guinea.</p>
<p>I happened to meet Robles while I was in Ebebiyin for the celebration. We walked around the town square, an area thick with security officials, and had an innocuous 10-minute conversation. The next day, an adviser to Obiang called my cell phone and demanded I leave the celebration because I had met “the enemy.” After a few hastily arranged meetings and many reassuring words, the problem seemed to have blown over. But two days later the minister of information, Alfonso Nsue Mokuy, came to my hotel with a presidential aide in tow.</p>
<p>“Peter, you have caused us enormous problems,” he said. “The president has called me three times, and him,” nodding to the presidential aide, “four times.”</p>
<p>I was startled that the president would concern himself so intimately with my case.</p>
<p>“Was he angry?” I asked.</p>
<p>“We are all angry,” the minister replied. I would have to leave the country.</p>
<p>I was driven by the adviser to the airport, where my passport was taken and I was told to wait in the international departure lounge. When I tried, an hour later, to send an email, I was taken to a security office, where the minister of information soon appeared, sweating like a boxer in the 10th round. He was yelling at me, a bit incoherently.</p>
<p>“You are a spy,” he said, waving his finger at me. This was nonsense, I replied, and, remembering the call-the-bluff strategy of a colleague in Baghdad who was accused of espionage by Saddam Hussein’s security service, I said that if he believed I was a spy he should take me to prison straightaway.</p>
<p>“Let me see your computer,” he demanded. Apparently I was not quick enough to open my bag because the minister slapped at my forearms and told me to hurry up.</p>
<p>“If any harm comes to me, there will be a big problem between your government and my government,” I said sternly.</p>
<p>“Are you threatening me?” he asked, mentioning that in a week or so he would be visiting Washington for official meetings.</p>
<p>“If you do anything to me, you will not be going to Washington,” I warned.</p>
<p>He backed down. If what I said was true — and I had as little idea of that as he did — he would be doing something worse than angering his own president; he would be angering the president’s all-powerful friend. He didn’t touch me again.</p>
<p>Two days after my expulsion, President Obiang met with the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy, who had come to the airport to make sure I was treated fairly before I was made to board a turboprop to Cameroon. Obiang apologized for my expulsion, saying there had been a misunderstanding, and he invited me back as his personal guest. His apology was surprising: Presidents, in democracies and dictatorships alike, don’t like to say they made a mistake. But Obiang did, and the most reasonable explanation is that he fears displeasing the U.S. government, his indispensable ally.</p>
<p>Unless something changes, Equatorial Guinea is cursed; it is ruled by an elite that has shown little conscience or judgment in the realms of economic and political development. It is a safe bet that much of the oil money will be stolen or squandered by Obiang’s regime, even if the American government and oil companies do what is within their power to do. Yet that margin of difference — reducing the curse from total to partial — is well within reach.</p>
<p>It is not a radical agenda. The report by AOPIG, the neoconservative group of government and energy industry officials, argues that it is against U.S. interests to support unsavory regimes, and that the solution is to engage them “in a way that fosters and encourages the development of a middle class, rather than allowing petrodollars to flow into the hands of a small number of corrupt leaders and their associates.” In other words, don’t go into business with the Abayaks of the world.</p>
<p>The Senate recommendations are more aggressive. “To further reduce opportunities for corruption, U.S. oil companies should not participate in future business ventures in which individual E.G. officials or their family members have a direct or beneficial interest,” the report concludes. “Congress should also amend the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to require U.S. companies to disclose substantial payments to and business ventures entered into with a country’s officials, their family members, or entities they control.”</p>
<p>The bottom line is that Equatorial Guinea is a country in which the Bush administration — which proclaims a vast interest in promoting democracy around the globe — could make a difference, if it wished. When it makes a demand, Obiang listens because he must. Militarily and politically, he’s a paper tiger. Last March, a gang of fewer than 100 inept mercenaries came close to killing him, which is why he has reinforced his Moroccan security detail and paid an estimated $50 million for several Ukrainian attack helicopters. Yet he knows it is well within the power of the U.S. government to depose him — or, at least, curb his kingly ways.</p>
<p>For people in Equatorial Guinea, the U.S. government may be their only and perhaps last hope. While in Malabo, I would often take an evening stroll from my hotel and sit on the steps of a building overlooking an intersection with a colorful whirl of activity. The street lights worked only occasionally, but a nearby bar played irresistible music from the Ivory Coast, and vendors sold snacks to the men and women who talked and flirted in the near-darkness.</p>
<p>Almost every time I visited that spot, I met a man on the steps. He was an ordinary Equatoguinean, which means he was jobless and struggled to feed his family, yet he was hopeful that things might improve because Americans had taken an interest in his country. We always talked, and because I never asked his name, he talked freely.</p>
<p>“Obiang doesn’t care about the people, only his family,” the man said. “He doesn’t want to share the money. He says he wants democracy, but if I say to him these things, I will go to jail and be killed. It is our brother who is killing us. The whites, they should help us. Saddam Hussein, he was a dictator, and the whites decided to get rid of him. They should help us, too.”</p>
<p>By “whites” he meant “Americans.” We are the ones offering jobs to a lucky few workers. In his eyes, we are the ones who stand for democracy and a future that is not filled with theft and violence by a government mafia. We are a good people who will do what is right — or should do what is right.</p>
<p>“Don’t forget me,” I heard him shout, after our last conversation, as I walked away.</p>
<p /> | A Touch of Crude | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2005/01/obiang-equatorial-guinea-oil-riggs/ | 2018-01-01 | 4 |
<p>Jan. 2, 2013</p>
<p>By Katy Grimes</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>I hope you don’t need $1,635, because that is what&#160;the average tax increase will be on the majority of Americans.</p>
<p>According to the Congressional Budget Office,&#160;80 percent of American households with incomes between $50,000 and $200,000 will be out more than $1,600 next year. And that’s just the starter.</p>
<p>The much hyped last-minute fiscal cliff deal negotiated Jan. 1 between&#160;Vice President Biden, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky,&#160;and President Barack Obama, cuts only $15 billion in spending but increases tax revenues by $620 billion. The 41:1 ratio of tax increases to spending cuts is no deal for Americans.</p>
<p>The tax increase is primarily due to the expiration of a payroll tax cut, according to the&#160; <a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/index.cfm" type="external">Tax Policy Center</a>&#160;in&#160;Washington.</p>
<p>While the bill, known as the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012,&#160;will protect millions of middle-class taxpayers from tax increases set to take effect this month, it will increase tax rates on wages and investments for households making more than $450,000 a year.</p>
<p>This is the first time in more than 20 years that a huge tax increase has been approved with GOP support.</p>
<p>The measure, which addressed the tax increases while holding off sequestration cuts and the debt ceiling, <a href="http://www.flashreport.org/blog/2013/01/01/fiscal-cliff-nightmare-for-the-new-year/" type="external">passed with the support of 85 Republicans</a>, including the Speaker who took the unusual measure of casting a vote, and 172 Democrats.</p>
<p>The smelly Senate deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff” will add approximately &#160;$4 trillion to the deficit, according to new &#160;the CBO, and&#160;achieves minimal deficit reduction in the early years.</p>
<p>“For a family making median income, they’ll notice an additional $3,500 dollar income tax increase,” Fox News <a href="http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/12/30/how-will-going-over-the-fiscal-cliff-affect-the-average-american/" type="external">reported</a>. “27 million Americans will be subject to the alternative minimum tax, and additionally, the death tax will increase to 55 percent for estates of $1 million and over.”</p>
<p>The extension of lower tax rates for taxpayers, and the addition of only a patch to the insidious Alternative Minimum Tax would add more than $3.6 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, the CBO said.</p>
<p>Other individual, business and energy tax extenders will add another $76 billion to the deficit.</p>
<p>The latest extension of unemployment benefits will cost $30 billion.</p>
<p>The “doc fix”, a one-year payment patch for physicians who treat Medicare patients,&#160;would add $25 billion to the deficit through fiscal 2022.</p>
<p>One of the most egregious aspects of this bad deal is how much pork was stuffed into the bill.</p>
<p>* Perks for Hollywood: special expensing rules for certain film and TV productions</p>
<p>* special tax-exempt financing for New York Liberty Zone, an area around the site of the World Trade Center.</p>
<p>* extension of American Samoa economic development credit</p>
<p>* Green energy — nearly a dozen provisions in the bill would extend green credits and green incentives for plug-in electric vehicles, energy-efficient appliances, biodiesel and renewable diesel, and other alternative energy initiatives.</p>
<p>* The legislation also would kill the part of Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act designed to let millions of elderly and disabled people get help at home rather than be placed in institutional care, which tends to be more expensive.</p>
<p>Democrats acknowledge that the insurance initiative known as the Community Living Assistance Services and Support program, or CLASS, is financially flawed but they had argued it should be fixed rather than ended.</p>
<p>The House voted to repeal that provision 11 months ago.</p>
<p>* No $8 per gallon milk: the “dairy cliff” was avoided. Measures to prevent a steep increase in milk prices were averted.</p>
<p>I can hardly wait.</p>
<p>See the <a href="http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/roll659.xml" type="external">Final Vote Results</a></p> | What’s left in your wallet? | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2013/01/02/whats-in-your-wallet/ | 2018-01-20 | 3 |
<p>Breakfast in bed, a bouquet of flowers, a Hallmark card, and... a call from the president?</p>
<p>Three moms who had written President Barack Obama letters got an additional Mother's Day gift this year when he called them to thank them for the hard work they do day in and day out.</p>
<p>"You’re doing the most important work there is," Obama told one mom over the phone, according to a video released by the White House.</p>
<p>He had some trouble convincing another mother that it was, in fact, the commander-in-chief on the line. "No way," the mom said. "Way," the president responded. "No it’s me. Ok, give me a test. What kind of test? Ask me about anything,” he said to the stunned mom.</p>
<p>One mother told the president that it was "amazing" that he had taken the time to call. "It's kind of cool," Obama admitted.</p>
<p>One of the mothers, Stephanie Tarr, from Minnesota, had written the president with her two sons on President's Day to thank him for his leadership, according to the <a href="http://www.startribune.com/coon-rapids-mom-gets-call-from-obama/303154571/" type="external">Star Tribune</a>. She didn't expect for the gratitude to be returned on the day dedicated to her. She was initially told to be available to receive a call from the White House. It wasn't a lie.</p>
<p>"The whole conversation and everything around it has been surreal,” Tarr said.</p>
<p>"I know how tough it is to raise kids and do right by them, and if hadn’t been for my mother I certainly wouldn’t be here," Obama said in the video.</p>
<p>Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, died of ovarian cancer in 1995. Michelle Obama tweeted a picture of her and her mother Sunday, saying she is thankful for "love and support."</p>
<p>— Elisha Fieldstadt</p> | President Obama Gives Moms Call for Mother’s Day | false | http://nbcnews.com/news/us-news/president-obama-gives-moms-call-mothers-day-n356791 | 2015-05-10 | 3 |
<p />
<p>People who lost large amounts of muscle in wars or accidents were able to regrow it with the help of a pig bladder implant, US researchers said Wednesday. The study included five men who had sustained serious injuries to their thighs or lower legs,…</p>
<p />
<p /> | Pig Bladder Implant Helps Regrow Lost Muscle | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/pig-bladder-implant-helps-regrow-lost-muscle/ | 2014-05-01 | 4 |
<p>GIF and omnishambles are having their moments in the linguistic sun, as Oxford Dictionaries voted them words of the year for the US and UK, respectively.&#160;</p>
<p>"GIF celebrated a lexical milestone in 2012, gaining traction as a verb, not just a noun," Katherine Martin, head of the US dictionaries program at Oxford, <a href="http://blog.oup.com/2012/11/oxford-dictionaries-usa-word-of-the-year-2012-gif/" type="external">said in a statement</a>. "The GIF has evolved from a medium for pop-cultural memes into a tool with serious applications including research and journalism, and its lexical identity is transforming to keep pace."</p>
<p>GIF, aka a compressed file format for animations that spread like wildfire across the Internet, used by Tumbloggers and journalists alike, beat out words like Eurogeddon (the potential financial collapse of the Eurozone, envisaged as having catastrophic implications for the region's economic stability [from euro + (arma)geddon]), super PAC, superstorm, Higgs boson, and YOLO (You Only Live Once), <a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/11/gif-beats-out-yolo-to-become-the-oxford-english-dictionarys-2012-word-of-the-year/" type="external">Beta Beat reported</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Omnishambles took the Brits' hearts, defined as "a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, and is characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations," <a href="http://blog.oup.com/2012/11/oxford-dictionaries-uk-word-of-the-year-2012-omnishambles/" type="external">Oxford dictionaries UK reported</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/weird-wide-web/merriam-webster-new-words" type="external">Sexting and man cave make the Merriam-Webster cut</a></p>
<p>It was coined by the writers of the satirical TV show "The Thick Of It," and was popularly spun off into "Romneyshambles," a word used widely by the British to "describe US presidential candidate Mitt Romney's doubts that London had what it took to host a successful Olympic Games," according to Oxford.&#160;</p>
<p>"It was a word everyone liked, which seemed to sum up so many of the events over the last 366 days in a beautiful way," said Fiona McPherson, the senior content editor for Oxford Dictionaries. "It's funny, it's quirky, and it has broken free of its fictional political beginnings, firstly by spilling over into real politics, and then into other contexts."</p>
<p>What do you think of the choices? Do you think, as Beta Beat argues, that YOLO or another word was "robbed?" Let us know in the comments.&#160;</p>
<p />
<p>[ <a href="http://storify.com/globalpost/gif-omnishambles-are-the-words-of-2012" type="external">View the story "GIF, omnishambles are the words of 2012" on Storify</a>]</p> | GIF, omnishambles are Oxford Dictionaries' words of the year | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-11-12/gif-omnishambles-are-oxford-dictionaries-words-year | 2012-11-12 | 3 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Here’s an intriguing thought: Maybe opposition to President Bush is much more widespread than anyone suspects, because people are afraid to say what they are really thinking.</p>
<p>I got an inkling of this when I was speaking to a group of people who came to a Borders Bookstore in Villanova, PA last night where I was talking about my new book, This Can’t Be Happening! Several people there, some who identified themselves as Democrats, and some who somewhat sheepishly admitted to being Republicans, said that they felt intimidated in their own neighborhoods about expressing their opposition to the Iraq War and their dislike of President Bush. The Republicans in particular seemed nervous about expressing their thoughts and one told me she was afraid to tell neighbors her opinions about the war and about the president.</p>
<p>I put this together with the ugly picture that ran in the N.Y. Times this morning of a right-wing male Bush backer yanking brutally on the hair of a female anti-Bush protester.</p>
<p>Of course this fear that was expressed to me could just be a local phenomenon, but I suspect it is much more widespread. In fact, fear of stepping out of line, or being critical of the government, is something that the Bush administration, right-wing members of Congress, and of course Attorney General John Ashcroft, have been deliberately promoting.</p>
<p>In the post-9/11 era, FBI and Secret Service agents have been sicced on people who have been reported by neighbors to have posters on their walls mocking or criticizing the president, who have publicly announced plans to attend protests against the president or the war, or who have said such innocuous (if self-evident) things such as that the president is “dumb.” High school students have been suspended from school for wearing anti-government or anti-Bush T-shirts, while others have been visited by police or the FBI for making drawings or writing essays that are perceived as anti-war. Teachers have even been fired for allowing students to produce anti-war themes.</p>
<p>It would not be surprising if, in such an intimidating environment, in which the words “treason” or “traitor” are readily bandied about by Republicans in power, ordinary people of good will and reason might feel afraid to express themselves openly–either to neighbors or to pollsters.</p>
<p>If this is the case, there could be a surprise in store for Bush and the Republicans on November 2.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, those of us who are not feeling intimidated need to get out and express our views on the election, the war, the importance of civil liberties, and the other major issues of the day–protecting the environment from corporate rape, protecting women’s rights, aiding the poor, properly funding public education, defending Social Security, keeping the courts honest, etc. Silence in the face of intimidation and threats only begets more intimidation and threats.</p>
<p>Speaking out, in homes and churches, at school, at work, at parties, in the supermarket, in letters to the editor, and with posters, T-shirts and bumper-stickers, will embolden others to say what they think too.</p>
<p>DAVE LINDORFF is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512283/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Killing Time: an Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal</a>. His new book of CounterPunch columns titled “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512984/counterpunchmaga" type="external">This Can’t be Happening!</a>” to be published this fall by Common Courage Press. Information about both books and other work by Lindorff can be found at <a href="http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/" type="external">www.thiscantbehappening.net</a>.</p>
<p>He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Perhaps This Time We’re the Silent Majority | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/09/11/perhaps-this-time-we-re-the-silent-majority/ | 2004-09-11 | 4 |
<p />
<p>This post originally ran on <a href="http://www.juancole.com/2014/08/maliki-preparing-coup.html" type="external">Juan Cole’s Web page</a>.</p>
<p>Nouri al-Maliki, who is seeking a third term as prime minister of Iraq in the teeth of widespread opposition, abruptly <a href="http://www.aleqt.com/2014/08/11/article_875514.html%20" type="external">began acting like a strongman on Sunday night.</a> He went on television to denounce President Fuad Masoum for not having appointed a prime minister yet, even though Sunday was the constitutional deadline for him to do so.</p>
<p>More disturbing, al-Maliki’s police and special forces mobilized throughout Baghdad to secure government buildings, man checkpoints, and close key bridges. Al-Maliki is having the security forces behave as though the real threat has yet to materialize. Iraqi security forces took up positions at the presidential palace, as well as around the Green Zone, the area of downtown Baghdad that is surrounded by blast walls. Most embassies are in the Green Zone, and that is where Parliament meets. When I was there a little over a year ago, the Green Zone (surrounded by blast walls) did not seem to me all that well guarded, and we now know that the new Iraqi army has a tendency to run away at any sign of trouble.</p>
<p />
<p>Al-Maliki has kept the Iraqi army from being very efficient, which political scientists call “coup-proofing,” i.e. making sure that an ambitious officer doesn’t have a platform in the military to just take over. But al-Maliki has also arranged for most senior officers to report directly to him, limiting their independence of action.</p>
<p>Al-Maliki went on television Sunday to denounce President Fuad Massoum for contravening the constitution by dawdling and by declining to appoint a new prime minister.</p>
<p>Most Iraqis appear to feel that al-Maliki has ruled in a narrow and sectarian way. His garrisons in Mosul are said to have sometimes put up Shiite symbols, making it clear to Sunni Arabs what their new position is (i.e. they are occupied by the Shiites). Al-Maliki’s unwillingness to reach out to Sunnis helped drive them into the arms of the so-called “Islamic State.”</p>
<p>On July 24, the Iraqi parliament finally elected a president, an ethnic Kurd, Fuad Masoum. He is from the socialist-leaning Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and had been a Communist in his youth. According to the Iraqi constitution, parliament votes on the president after general elections, and the president then appoints as prime minister the leader of the party with the largest number of seats (the constitution does not specify that his party has to have a majority, though since he can face a vote of no confidence it would be wiser to make a post-election coalition than to try to rule as a minority government. The constitution does not say whether the largest party in parliament can make a post-election coalition, but in 2010 the supreme court ruled that it can (this ruling, by a friend of Nouri al-Maliki’s, allowed al-Maliki to become PM.)</p>
<p>President Masoum seems convinced that he should not appoint al-Maliki to a third term, given that al-Maliki has alienated the Sunnis and even some major Shiite blocs are hostile to him.</p>
<p>Al-Maliki for his part appears to have calculated that now is the time to shoe-horn himself into power for another four years. He has discounted the opposition of the Kurds to his serving another term, since Kurdistan itself is now under attack by the vicious so-called “Islamic State,” and has suffered reversals at the hands of the radicals. Kurdistan, a federal region of Iraq, is not presently in a position to dictate who the prime minister will be in Baghdad. Likewise, the Sunni Arab members of parliament have been marginalized by the defection of their home provinces to the “Islamic State.” Some of the Shiite blocs has moved away from him, but they do not have the popularity in parliament that Da`wa does.</p>
<p>The irony, of course, is that al-Maliki is basically fiddling as Rome burns, dependent for his political position on political calculations that are themselves irrelevant to the advance of lean, hungry militiamen.</p>
<p>—–</p>
<p>Related video:</p>
<p><a href="http://youtu.be/RC-N0hPizIM%20" type="external">Iraq’s PM refuses to step down and deploys troops around Baghdad</a></p>
<p /> | Iraq: Is al-Maliki Preparing to Make a Coup? | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/iraq-is-al-maliki-preparing-to-make-a-coup/ | 2014-08-11 | 4 |
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<p>Rio Rancho assistant coach Pat Mastriano is lifted into the air by Jerry Arroyo (90) as they celebrate the team’s title win. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Rio Rancho football fans came in droves, and the home team didn’t disappoint: the Rams are the champs.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho High defeated the Mayfield Trojans, 33-31, in a thrilling back-and-forth contest on Friday night, capping off an unbeaten, 13-win season and capturing the Class 6A state football championship before a raucous crowd of more than 5,100.</p>
<p>The win was extra special as it was the school’s first prep football title and the contest was held on the Rams’ home turf – the first time the City of Vision played host to a championship football game.</p>
<p>Fans filled the stadium at Rio Rancho High School for the Class 6A football championship. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>“It was a hell of a good game,” said Rio Ranchoan Phil Hermanns, who was on his feet cheering for most of the game with good reason. His twin sons, Gregg and Grant, are team members.</p>
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<p>Hermanns tipped his hat to the team from down south, saying, “we can only hope to some day have the kind of tradition Mayfield has.”</p>
<p>Students and other supporters began tailgating outside the stadium well before kickoff.</p>
<p>“I drove nine-and-a-half hours just for this game,” said Mike Schmidt, who drove from Dallas to watch his nephew, Rams senior Taylor Schmidt, play. “I’ve never seen him play a high school game before. This is a big deal.”</p>
<p>Schmidt and his brother, Gary, Taylor’s dad, showed up to tailgate at 4 p.m. – three hours before the start – which was plenty of time to grill their bratwurst.</p>
<p>Gary said his son was somewhat nervous for the game, but focused. “He was pretty amped,” he said. “But he did come home and take a nap.”</p>
<p>Rio Rancho wide receiver Miguel Barreras catches a pass in the end zone to tie the game late in the fourth quarter against Mayfield. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Rams players and fans were wide awake after the nail-biter.</p>
<p>“It was exhilarating,” said Rio Rancho High senior Andrew Wanchek, adding that he was freezing for most of the night but in the end it was worth it. “The game was close so I’m glad I was there.”</p>
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<p>After shaking hands with their opponents, the Rio Rancho players took off their helmets and jogged to the student section, near the field. They began chanting and ended with a yell, sending the section into a frenzy. Students screamed, jumped up and down and hugged one another.</p>
<p>Parents eventually made their way to the field, some crying as they embraced the teenaged players. Their tears were met with long embraces and cries of “We did it. We did it.”</p>
<p>The excitement leading up to Friday’s game spread well beyond the grounds of Rio Rancho High, with the community, including local businesses, getting swept up in the big event.</p>
<p>Matt Geisel, the city’s business relations and convention and visitors bureau manager, said several businesses agreed to donate to the football boosters and displayed game-related, well-wishing messages on their marquees.</p>
<p>One such Rams backer was True Value manager George Meyerson Jr., whose parents own the hardware store on Southern Boulevard. Meyerson grew up in Rio Rancho, married a RRHS alum, and several years ago helped coach the football team.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho Rams football coach David Howes at a pep rally gets students excited for Friday’s state championship game. (Marla Brose/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>The win means the store will donate 7 percent of its sales on Sunday to the booster club.</p>
<p>“We wanted to show our support for the team,” he said.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull, meanwhile, opened the city’s arms to visiting fans.</p>
<p>“The city of Rio Rancho is proud to host such an exciting event and would like to welcome Mayfield High School and the citizens of Las Cruces to our great city,” he had said during the week.</p>
<p>A Thursday afternoon pep rally at Rio Rancho High helped drum up even more excitement for the game – not that it was really needed.</p>
<p>“The biggest game of the year comes your way (Friday) night,” school activities director Bill Duncan told the thousands of students inside the gymnasium.</p>
<p>His declaration was met with nearly deafening cheering, and followed by a contest to see which side of the gym could yell the loudest. The assembly ended with Rams football coach David Howes standing in the middle of the gym attempting to scream out a battle cry but not quite succeeding.</p>
<p>Jolie Hinkle was decked out in full Rio Rancho High School regalia for the game. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>“I know I’m losing my voice, it’s going away,” he said. “But I want to say you are the greatest fans in the state of New Mexico.”</p>
<p>The game wasn’t the only loss for Las Cruces.</p>
<p>Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima will have to settle his friendly wager with Mayor Hull and have to wear a Rams’ jersey during a future city council meeting.</p>
<p>Hull earlier in the week seemed to foresee the outcome, proclaiming, “I am confident that Mayor Miyagishima will make the fashion statement of the year in Las Cruces donning the Rams’ green and blue.”</p>
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<p /> | Rams are champs | false | https://abqjournal.com/506724/rams-are-champs.html | 2 |
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<p>As reported by Politico, The New York Times has responded to Donald Trump's recent mockery of one of its reporters who helped debunk the presidential candidate's <a href="/video/2015/11/22/abcs-george-stephanopoulos-fact-checks-donald-t/207020" type="external">false claim</a> that he saw " <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/11/22/donald-trumps-outrageous-claim-that-thousands-of-new-jersey-muslims-celebrated-the-911-attacks/" type="external">thousands and thousands</a>" of Arab-Americans cheering as the World Trade Center collapsed under the attacks of September 11, 2001.</p>
<p>Defending his claim at a campaign rally, Trump chose to mock the disability of New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who covered the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and has recently added to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/nyregion/a-definitive-debunking-of-donald-trumps-9-11-claims.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=second-column-region&amp;region=top-news&amp;WT.nav=top-news&amp;_r=0" type="external">definitive debunking</a> of the presidential candidate's smear. As reported by Politico, "'We think it's outrageous that he would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters,' said a spokeswoman for the Times."</p>
<p>Trump can be seen mocking Kovaleski in this clip from Morning Joe:</p>
<p />
<p>From <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/donald-trump-mocks-new-york-times-reporter-serge-kovaleski-216219" type="external">Politico</a>:</p>
<p>During a defense of his widely debunked claim that thousands of people in parts of New Jersey with large Arab populations celebrated the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001, Trump performed a derisive impression&#160;of New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski -- who suffers from a chronic condition that has limited the movement of his arms -- at a rally in South Carolina on Tuesday night.</p>
<p>Citing a 2001 article written by Kovaleski that referred to people allegedly seen celebrating the attacks, Trump said it was "Written by a nice reporter."</p>
<p>Trump went on, "Now the poor guy -- you ought to see the guy: 'Uhh I don't know what I said. I don't remember.' He's going, 'I don't remember. Maybe that's what I said.'" As he spoke, Trump launched into an impression which involved gyrating his arms wildly and imitating the unusual angle at which Kovaleski's hand sometimes rests.</p>
<p>"We think it's outrageous that he would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters," said a spokeswoman for the Times. The article cited by Trump was written by Kovaleski when he worked for The Washington Post and stated that in the aftermath of Sept. 11, "Law enforcement authorities detained and questioned a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks and holding tailgate-style parties on rooftops while they watched the devastation on the other side of the river."</p>
<p>On Tuesday, after Trump's supporters began citing the article as evidence for the candidate's claim, Kovaleski told CNN, "We did a lot of shoe leather reporting in and around Jersey City and talked to a lot of residents and officials for the broader story. Much of that has, indeed, faded from memory ... I do not recall anyone saying there were thousands, or even hundreds, of people celebrating. That was not the case, as best as I can remember."</p>
<p>Kovaleski suffers from arthrogryposis, a congenital condition that limits the movement of the joints and weakens the muscles around them. As a reporter at the New York Daily News in the late 1980s and early '90s, he covered Trump's business exploits and met with the developer on several occasions.</p>
<p>On November 24, the editorial board of The New York Times <a href="/research/2015/11/24/critics-call-on-media-to-better-explain-the-rac/207077" type="external">called on the media</a>&#160;to hold Trump accountable for his "racist lies," adding "[h]istory teaches that failing to hold a demagogue to account is a dangerous act. It's no easy task for journalists to interrupt Mr. Trump with the facts, but it's an important one."</p>
<p>Trump's actions are reminiscent of <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fox-responds-to-limbaugh-accusation/" type="external">Rush Limbaugh's mockery</a> of Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's in 2006. Limbaugh at the time <a href="/blog/2012/05/24/limbaugh-rewrites-his-history-of-attacks-on-mic/186688" type="external">accused</a> the actor of "exaggerating the effects" of the disease in an ad, and later suggested that Fox had intentionally over-medicated himself "so you would really, really hate Republicans." Fox News host Sean Hannity <a href="/blog/2014/06/20/sean-hannity-endorses-mocking-someone-with-park/199823" type="external">defended</a> Limbaugh, saying Fox "[has] a right to speak up, but he also has a right to be criticized. He is a guy that is very political."</p> | New York Times Responds To Trump Mockery Of Reporter Who Debunked Bogus 9/11 Claim | true | http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/11/25/new-york-times-responds-to-trump-mockery-of-rep/207089 | 2015-11-26 | 4 |
<p>Proctor &amp; Gamble (NYSE:PG) said it plans to increase the amount of time it takes to pay suppliers, potentially freeing up cash for the consumer products maker.</p>
<p>The move could free up as much as $2 billion in cash if P&amp;G extends its billing cycle by 30 days, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The report cited people familiar with the matter who said the household products company plans to extend its supplier bill payment cycle to 75 days from its current average of 45 days.</p>
<p>“This program is a win-win for our external business partners and P&amp;G,” P&amp;G said in a statement. “It enables us to improve our working capital in accordance with our Purpose, Values and Principles and local law, putting P&amp;G on par with peer companies in terms of payables.”</p>
<p>The consumer products giant already pays its suppliers faster than similar companies and large companies in other industries. According to the report, those companies generally have payment cycles of 60 to 100 days.</p>
<p>P&amp;G’s plans could impact hundreds of companies, the Journal said. The company recently began negotiations with its suppliers about the new payment terms.</p>
<p>The Journal added that P&amp;G is working with banks to offer suppliers cash after 15 days from delivery for a fee, in an effort to help those suppliers deal with the extended payment cycle.</p>
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<p>“External business partners will have the opportunity to leverage P&amp;G’s strong credit rating and receive faster payment via supply chain financing,” the company said, noting that terms of existing contracts will be honored.</p>
<p>P&amp;G added that it will discuss the program with external business partners “at the appropriate time.”</p>
<p>Shares of P&amp;G were down 1.2% at $79.12 in mid-afternoon trading Wednesday.</p> | Procter & Gamble Plans to Extend Supplier Bill Payment Cycle | true | http://foxbusiness.com/news/2013/04/17/procter-gamble-plans-to-extend-supplier-bill-payment-cycle-wsj.html | 2016-01-25 | 0 |
<p>Victorville, California police determined local resident Mohamed Elrawi is a radicalized Muslim and arrested him for attempted murder after he allegedly chased a neighbor with a sword and yelled “I would die and kill for Allah.”</p>
<p>Victorville police responded to an apartment complex shortly after 5 p.m. Monday after someone called about a person with a weapon. Police believe Mohamed Ahmed Elrawi, 57, was in a dispute with his neighbor when he threatened to kill him before fleeing the scene, the <a href="http://www.vvdailypress.com/article/20151208/NEWS/151209779" type="external">Victorville Daily Press</a> reports.</p>
<p>Sheriff Sgt. Dave Burgess told the news site the neighbor escaped unharmed, and police obtained a search warrant for Elrawi’s apartment, where “a Quran and other items were located …, leading investigators to believe Elrawi may have been a radicalized Muslim.”</p>
<p>Burgess said authorities also staked out Elrawi’s home and waited for him to return.</p>
<p>“Sheriff’s Intelligence Division was notified of the investigation,” Burgess told VVNG. “Deputies began surveillance and at a little after midnight, Elrawi returned to his apartment and was quickly taken into custody without incident.”</p>
<p>Apartment complex resident Yolanda Goring, 25, said she heard the commotion Monday night and went outside to find Elrawi with a sword, threatening other residents.</p>
<p>“My kids were sleeping when I heard a lot of noise,” Gorning said, adding that Elrawi alleged one of the neighbors had stolen something from him. “I went outside and saw that (Elrawi) had a big sword that he was swinging back and forth. I went back inside but I could still hear yelling and arguing and I heard (Elrawi) telling someone that he was going to kill him.”</p>
<p>Elrawi’s recent run-in with law enforcement isn’t his first.</p>
<p>According to the Daily Press:</p>
<p>The director of the High Desert Islamic Society in Victorville, Yousef Farha, told the Daily Press on Tuesday that Elrawi is a former member of that mosque. Elrawi was banned from the mosque in January after a small group — Elrawi included — attempted to “hijack” the mosque, according to Farha.</p>
<p>Farha said Elrawi also threatened his life and police informed Farha to “watch out.”</p>
<p>“Mentally he is not stable,” Farha said. “(Elrawi) — just about two or three years ago — his son committed suicide and that contributed to his situation. He doesn’t care about religion. He just goes to mosque for the heck of it.”</p>
<p>A “Mohamed Ahmed Elrawi” was previously charged with attempted murder in this county and later convicted Feb. 10, 1999 for felony spousal abuse in a plea bargain, court records show. It wasn’t clear Tuesday afternoon whether Elrawi was the same person. In that case, the man was sentenced to six years in prison and credited with 605 days for time served and good behavior — 89 of which were spent at Patton State Hospital, a forensics psychiatric facility, in San Bernardino, court records show.</p>
<p>Elrawi is in the High Desert Detention Center on a $500,000 bail.</p>
<p>Police in Melbourne, Florida were also busy this week vetting potential terrorists when they arrested United Arab Emirates citizen Hamid Mohamed Ahmed Ali Rehaif, who was kicked out of the Florida Institute of Technology in the fall of 2014, <a href="http://www.clickorlando.com/news/illegal-alien-arrested-in-central-florida-on-ammunition-charges-officials-say" type="external">News 6</a> reports.</p>
<p>Rehaif was supposed to leave the country within 30 days, and became an illegal alien when his student visa expired.</p>
<p>Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI learned Rehaif had been living out of a Melbourne hotel for the last two months – paying more than $11,000 in cash for room fees – and that he had been firing weapons at local gun ranges, according to the site.</p>
<p>Agents located handgun and rifle ammunition in Rehaif’s hotel room and a storage unit, police records show, but no weapons. Rehaif allegedly admitted to owning several weapons he fired at two gun ranges, but said he recently sold them.</p>
<p>He was arrested for possession of ammunition by an unlawful or illegal alien, a 10 year felony, and waived his detention hearing. He’s scheduled for a preliminary hearing in U.S. District court Monday, News 6 reports.</p> | COPS: ‘Radical Muslim’ chased neighbor with sword yelling ‘I would die and kill for Allah’ | true | http://theamericanmirror.com/cops-radicalized-muslim-chased-neighbor-with-sword-yelling-i-would-die-and-kill-for-allah/ | 2015-12-10 | 0 |
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<p>Inmates from the county jail are helping Albuquerque recycle.</p>
<p>The county and city of Albuquerque have reached an agreement allowing female inmates from the Metropolitan Detention Center to work at the Cerro Colorado landfill on the far West Side, where they sort recycled material into bundles.</p>
<p>The sorted bundles are more valuable than the co-mingled bales the city has to sell at a discount sometimes because of a lack of staffing.</p>
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<p>The city hopes to make enough money to offset the $300,000 it has agreed to pay the county for use of the inmates.</p>
<p>“We can get more money for this bale than before,” Mayor Richard Berry said Monday as he used a bundle of plastic bottles for a podium.</p>
<p>County Commission Chairman Art De La Cruz said he promised during his election campaign that he’d work with other government agencies and the county is fulfilling that pledge now.</p>
<p>Working together, in fact, hasn’t always been so easy for the two local governments, which have argued over jail funding, water line extensions and other issues in the past.</p>
<p>County Manager Thaddeus Lucero said the Berry administration has been easy to work with.</p>
<p>“It’s a breath of fresh air,” he said.</p>
<p>Inmates could be seen Monday sorting out recyclables that passed by on a conveyor belt.</p>
<p>They put newspaper into one enormous container, plastics into another and trash into yet another. They will get packs of snacks and other items as a reward for the work, but no cash.</p>
<p>Berry wants to work with a private company to build a new recycling plant. It’s not clear whether inmates will still be needed if that happens. They might be able to switch to other “solid waste” work, such as litter cleanup, officials said.</p> | MDC Inmates Working at ABQ Recycling Center | false | https://abqjournal.com/8997/mdc-inmates-working-at-abq-recycling-center.html | 2 |
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<p>As John Oliver noted on this Sunday’s “Last Week Tonight,” child labor and sweatshop labor in general used to be a huge deal. Kathie Lee Gifford got in a huge pile of trouble back in the ’90s when it was discovered that her clothing line was being manufactured by children in overseas sweatshops. These days, however–despite myriad horrifying factory fires at these shops–we kind of just overlook it. Why? Because we sure like buying dresses for $5.</p>
<p>One thing Oliver didn’t bring up that I think bears mentioning is that a great deal of our initial horror with sweatshops was also fueled by anger over American jobs moving overseas. I’m not saying we didn’t care about the children–I, for one, certainly did–but there was more widespread anger towards these practices here because not only were they abusing child labor, but also they were messing with the ability of many Americans to earn a living. It was two-fold.</p>
<p>Like so many other things, we’ve become inured to both of these things, and almost willing to accept them as “the way things are now.”</p>
<p>It used to be considered “UnAmerican” to buy things that hadn’t been made here, by our American workers. It is now considered “UnAmerican” to question the right of business owners to go overseas in order to manufacture these goods in the cheapest manner possible, even if that means using child labor. I’m going to say, I liked it the other way better.</p>
<p>Perhaps I’m just not with the times. Perhaps I’m still scarred from waking up so many mornings in the ’90s and seeing the headlines about the thousands of people being laid off from Kodak and Xerox–the two biggest companies in my city at the time–and thinking about what that meant for their families. Perhaps I’m annoyed at these companies getting tax breaks and corporate welfare while the people here, who could have those jobs, are stigmatized for taking welfare themselves. Perhaps kids dying in factory fires or being chained to work stations, or people working for 20 cents a day so I can buy a dress for $5 doesn’t seem like that great a deal to me in the long run.</p>
<p>Call me crazy, but I’d rather have fewer clothes that cost a little bit more then worry every time I go shopping that children were abused in the making of my perfect outfit. I’d be willing to pay more, as well, if they provided jobs for Americans who need them, and in factories that are safe. To me, the cheap prices aren’t worth the cost.</p> | John Oliver Takes On Child Labor, The Gap And Walmart | true | http://thefrisky.com/2015-04-27/john-oliver-takes-on-child-labor-the-gap-and-walmart/?utm_source%3Dsc-fb%26utm_medium%3Dref%26utm_campaign%3Djohn-oliver | 2018-10-04 | 4 |
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<p>In a state of more than 2 million people, jobs and businesses will come and go. Usually no single business opening or closing will by itself drive the economy. The question, rather, is “How does New Mexico stack up relative to other states?” On this score we don’t fare so well.</p>
<p>Our poverty rate is the highest in the nation, according to the Census Bureau; economic freedom (according to the Canadian Fraser Institute) is worst among the states; according to The Economist, New Mexico is the most economically reliant state on an increasingly erratic federal government; and our state has been losing jobs year-over-year since June 2011 while states throughout the West have been adding jobs. We were also named the top “Death Spiral” state by Forbes and made it onto the list of states from which people are moving (the only Western state to do so) in a recent United Van Lines report.</p>
<p>Most depressing is the fact that the leadership in our Legislature would rather raise the economically harmful minimum wage and throw more money at the film industry and a broken education system than make the tough choices needed to turn our state around.</p>
<p>Paul J. Gessing</p>
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<p>President</p>
<p>Rio Grande Foundation</p>
<p>Albuquerque — This article appeared on page 11 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | Letter: Missing the point on economic plight | false | https://abqjournal.com/176866/176866.html | 2013-03-11 | 2 |
<p>As overbearing as a Black Sabbath golden oldie but not half as funny, “Gun Shy” is the sort of leaden misfire in which actors labor mightily to transform themselves into cartoon caricatures in a desperate (and largely unsuccessful) attempt to make viewers think, despite all evidence to the contrary, they are watching a comedy. Credit lead player <a href="http://variety.com/t/antonio-banderas/" type="external">Antonio Banderas</a> for providing a few random moments of amusement as a pampered and petulant burned-out rock star who’s forced to take action, or at least snap out of his self-centered indolence, when his ex-supermodel wife is kidnapped during their vacation in his native Chile. But, really, those random moments are not nearly enough to recommend this witless and graceless farce.</p>
<p>With his flowing locks and garish attire, Banderas often comes across as a walking and talking sight gag while portraying Turk Henry, the former bassist for Metal Assassin, a rowdy ensemble of headbangers whose hit list included such crowd-pleasing ditties as “Teenage Ass Patrol.” Ever since he was discarded by his bandmates, Turk has dedicated himself to slothful seclusion in his Malibu mansion, where he spends most of his days waxing nostalgic for his wild times as a hedonist rock star. Trouble is, his decadence has left him too depleted to manage much in the way of bad behavior: When he angrily decides to toss his big-screen TV into his swimming pool, he relies on his servants to do the actual dunking.</p>
<p>When Sheila ( <a href="http://variety.com/t/olga-kurylenko/" type="external">Olga Kurylenko</a>), his enabling but not infinitely patient wife, suggests they get out of their rut and take a trip to Chile, Turk reluctantly — very, very reluctantly — agrees to the sojourn. Shortly after their arrival, however, Sheila is grabbed by a motley crew of first-time kidnappers (actually some financially strapped nice guys who revere Metal Assassin and know all the lyrics to “Teenage Ass Patrol”). The good news: Turk can easily afford to pay the $1 million ransom. The bad news: He’s repeatedly thwarted in his efforts to retrieve his wife by Ben Hardin ( <a href="http://variety.com/t/mark-valley/" type="external">Mark Valley</a>), a discontent functionary at the local U.S. embassy who thinks — or, to be more precise, hopes — that the kidnappers are terrorists. Even if they’re not, well, there’s a $1 million ransom to confiscate.</p>
<p>It’s entirely possible that more gifted filmmakers could have parlayed this premise into a genuine laugh riot. Neither director <a href="http://variety.com/t/simon-west/" type="external">Simon West</a> (“Con Air,” “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”) nor screenwriters Mark Haskell Smith and Toby Davies (working from Smith’s novel) are capable of providing anything other than shrill silliness amped up to 11 and beyond. It doesn’t help much that many of the supporting players — especially Valley, who’s rather too convincing as an obnoxious lout, and Jesse Johnson as a sexist Aussie mercenary — have been encouraged to overact at the top of their lungs. It helps even less that just when it seems the movie has mercifully drawn to a conclusion, it drags on for several more minutes of song, dance and broadly played tomfoolery during the unduly protracted closing credits.</p>
<p>Here and there throughout “Gun Shy,” there are snippets of a Metal Assassin music video for “Teenage Ass Patrol.” Maybe West and his collaborators should have simply stopped after completing that, and quit while they were behind.</p>
<p>Reviewed online, Houston, Sept. 6, 2017. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 91 MIN.</p>
<p>A Saban Films release and presentation in association with Carnaby International of a Salty Film production. Producers: Jib Polhemus, Harry Stourton, Simon West. Executive producers: Rene Besson, Cassian Elwes, Hannah Leader, Andrew Loveday, Gia Muresan, Sean O’Kelly, Alex Thoukydides, Jeremy Wall, Ahsan Zaman.</p>
<p>Director: Simon West. Screenplay: Mark Haskell Smith, Toby Davies, based on the novel “Salty” by Smith. Camera (color): Alan Caudillo. Editor: Nick Morris.</p>
<p>Antonio Banderas, Olga Kurylenko, Ben Cura, Mark Valley, Aisling Loftus, Jesse Johnson, Martin Dingle Wall, Emiliano Jofre.</p> | Film Review: ‘Gun Shy’ | false | https://newsline.com/film-review-gun-shy/ | 2017-09-08 | 1 |
<p>The Democrats have revealed their new slogan — and it's awful.</p>
<p>The slogan is "A Better Deal," which Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) expanded upon in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/opinion/chuck-schumer-employment-democrats.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=opinion-c-col-left-region&amp;region=opinion-c-col-left-region&amp;WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region" type="external">a New York Times column</a>:</p>
<p>"American families deserve a better deal so that this country works for everyone again, not just the elites and special interests," wrote Schumer. "Today, Democrats will start presenting that better deal to the American people."</p>
<p>Schumer resorted to class warfare rhetoric by stating that the government has rigged the system in favor of the rich, a problem the Democrats will supposedly ameliorate with policies that supposedly help the middle class.</p>
<p>"First, we're going to increase people’s pay," wrote Schumer. "Second, we're going to reduce their everyday expenses. And third, we're going to provide workers with the tools they need for the 21st-century economy."</p>
<p>Schumer then listed policies that would do the opposite of what he promised, as he stated that the Democrats support a trillion dollar infrastructure program, paid family leave and a $15 minimum wage. And then he argued for even more government:</p>
<p>Right now, there is nothing to stop vulture capitalists from egregiously raising the price of lifesaving drugs without justification. We’re going to fight for rules to stop prescription drug price gouging and demand that drug companies justify price increases to the public. And we’re going to push for empowering Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for older Americans.</p>
<p>Right now our antitrust laws are designed to allow huge corporations to merge, padding the pockets of investors but sending costs skyrocketing for everything from cable bills and airline tickets to food and health care. We are going to fight to allow regulators to break up big companies if they’re hurting consumers and to make it harder for companies to merge if it reduces competition.</p>
<p>Right now millions of unemployed or underemployed people, particularly those without a college degree, could be brought back into the labor force or retrained to secure full-time, higher-paying work. We propose giving employers, particularly small businesses, a large tax credit to train workers for unfilled jobs. This will have particular resonance in smaller cities and rural areas, which have experienced an exodus of young people who aren’t trained for the jobs in those areas.</p>
<p>It's hard to see how any of this will win the Democrats any new voters. "A Better Deal" is clearly meant to mock President Trump, who prides himself as a man who likes making deals, but literally none of the policies that Schumer lists will improve the average middle class worker, nor does it address <a href="" type="internal">one of the main problems the Democrats faced in November</a>: that blue-collar whites felt Democrats didn't care about them, especially as the Democrats are doubling down on their obsession with identity politics.</p>
<p>Frankly, <a href="" type="internal">any of these 10 suggested slogans</a> would be better than "A Better Deal."</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/bandlersbanter" type="external">Follow Aaron Bandler on Twitter.</a></p> | Democrats Unveil New Slogan. It's Pretty Terrible. | true | https://dailywire.com/news/18926/democrats-unveil-new-slogan-its-pretty-terrible-aaron-bandler | 2017-07-24 | 0 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>With five states holding primary elections today, the Republican race to the White House is not over just yet. While each candidate has had their 15 minutes of fame, Mitt Romney remains in the spotlight, partly due to his accumulation of delegates, and partly due to the media hype around his campaign. A&#160;recent report by the&#160; <a href="http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/romney_report" type="external">Pew Research Center Project for&#160;Excellence&#160;in Journalism</a>&#160;studies the role of the media on the remaining three candidates, and how it has shaped the future of the 2012 Republican primary.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" />In an interesting finding, the report shows that Romney’s win in Michigan’s February 28th primary was the turning point in his campaign. After his close victory in the state, the media unofficially picked Romney as the eventual Republican candidate. Pew reports:</p>
<p>“News coverage about his [Romney’s] candidacy became measurably more favorable and the portrayal of his rivals—particularly Rick Santorum—began to become more negative and to shrink in volume.”</p>
<p>With the media portraying his nomination as “inevitable” and references to delegate math, Mitt Romney gained momentum long before Santorum’s <a href="" type="internal">official departure</a> from the race.</p>
<p>The report also reveals that despite Newt Gingrich’s positive coverage in the media after his January victory in South Carolina, “no candidate also fell off the media radar screen more precipitously than Gingrich,” appearing now in less than 1% of stories surrounding the election.</p>
<p>And while there are <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57419308-503544/is-newt-gingrich-about-to-leave-the-gop-race/" type="external">rumors</a> that Newt Gingrich is planning to drop out of the race, the launch of a 10-city campaign effort in North Carolina, a state that doesn’t hold its primary until May 8th, would lead us to believe he is still vying for the Republican bid.</p>
<p>Then there’s Ron Paul, whose strategy to collect delegates has garnered him little&#160;attention&#160;in the media. <a href="http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/romney_report" type="external">Pew Research</a> notes that while media coverage on Ron Paul is consistently positive, with only 3% of coverage scrutinizing his personal background of public record, he was practically ignored by the media throughout the election.</p>
<p>Now, sixteen weeks after the Iowa primary, it looks as though Ron Paul has locked up enough delegates to declare the state a victory, and the media is finally picking up in it.&#160; <a href="http://img.ibtimes.com/www/articles/20120424/332617_ron-paul-2012-delegates-news-iowa-minnesota.htm" type="external">Rachel Maddow explains</a>:</p>
<p>“Fourteen of the 28 delegates, half the delegates, are his. He will not get less than half. So Ron Paul either wins Iowa, or worst-case scenario, he ties for first place.” She continues, “And, while we’re on the subject, looks like Ron Paul just won Minnesota, too. Minnesota has 40 delegates total, this weekend, Ron Paul won 20 of them. Now not all the rest of Minnesota’s 40 delegates have been allocated yet, but with half of them locked up, Ron Paul cannot come in worse than first.”</p>
<p>So despite the media’s attempt to push Gingrich and Paul out of the race, both candidates remain dedicated to their campaigns, confident in their strategy, and resilient in their efforts. Today is not so much about who will win in Connecticut,&#160;Delaware, New York,&#160;Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, rather how the media will portray the results.</p>
<p>Do you think the media has played a positive or negative role on the 2012 Republican Primary?</p> | Media Influence On The 2012 Republican Primary | false | https://ivn.us/2012/04/24/2012-election-update-where-the-gop-candidates-stand/ | 2012-04-24 | 2 |
<p>CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Jaron Blossomgame scored all 14 of his points in the second half and blocked a potential tying basket in the final minute of Clemson's 62-59 victory over High Point on Friday night.</p>
<p>The Tigers (4-2) led by 12 points in the first half and were still ahead 51-42 on Damarcus Harrison's basket with 9:04 left. But the Panthers (4-2) outscored Clemson 17-9 down the stretch to draw within 60-59 on Devante Wallace's 3-pointer with 11.6 seconds left.</p>
<p>Harrison, though, followed with two free throws and Clemson held on to win its third straight game.</p>
<p>Wallace let a 3-pointer fly at the buzzer that was off the mark.</p>
<p>John Brown led all scorers with 26 points for High Point.</p>
<p>Blossomgame also added 13 rebounds for his first double-double since Clemson beat Duke last January. Landry Nnoko gave the Tigers two players with double-doubles, finishing with 10 points and 13 rebounds.</p>
<p>Blossomgame was 0-for-5 in the opening half, but rebounded by going 4-of-6 from the field and making six of seven foul shots to tie his career high. He also blocked Brian Richardson's layup with 38 seconds to go and High Point down 58-56.</p>
<p>Clemson was back at home after an eventful trip to the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. The Tigers were beaten by Gardner-Webb 72-70 in part when freshman Donte Grantham called a time out the team did not have in the final seconds, leading to the Bulldogs making two foul shots that put them up for good.</p>
<p>Clemson bounced back in its two other tournament games, topping Nevada 59-51 before rallying past LSU in the final four minutes for a 64-61 victory.</p>
<p>The Tigers two losses this season have come to Winthrop and Gardner-Webb, both Big South Conference members. So they made sure to turn up their defense — they were second in the Atlantic Coast Conference in that category last season — when facing High Point, also of the Big South.</p>
<p>The Panthers missed their first nine shots and fell behind 19-7 after Patrick Rooks' second 3-pointer of the half.</p>
<p>Brown's two straight backs drew High Point within 21-13. But Damarcus Harrison hit a 3-pointer and Sidy Djitte finished a layup off a sharp bullet pass from Jordan Roper to send Clemson to the locker room up 26-16.</p>
<p>The Tigers played all but two minutes without senior point guard Rod Hall, who appeared to twist an ankle early and came off the floor.</p>
<p>TIP INS</p>
<p>High Point: The Panthers started 4-1 for the first time since their inaugural Division I season of 1999-00. They won their next game, then went 6-16 the rest of the way.</p>
<p>Clemson: The 16 first-half points given up by the Tigers were their fewest since holding Stetson to 15 in the opening game of the 2013-14 season.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>High Point plays at UNC Greensboro on Monday night.</p>
<p>Clemson plays host to Rutgers on Monday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.</p>
<p>CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Jaron Blossomgame scored all 14 of his points in the second half and blocked a potential tying basket in the final minute of Clemson's 62-59 victory over High Point on Friday night.</p>
<p>The Tigers (4-2) led by 12 points in the first half and were still ahead 51-42 on Damarcus Harrison's basket with 9:04 left. But the Panthers (4-2) outscored Clemson 17-9 down the stretch to draw within 60-59 on Devante Wallace's 3-pointer with 11.6 seconds left.</p>
<p>Harrison, though, followed with two free throws and Clemson held on to win its third straight game.</p>
<p>Wallace let a 3-pointer fly at the buzzer that was off the mark.</p>
<p>John Brown led all scorers with 26 points for High Point.</p>
<p>Blossomgame also added 13 rebounds for his first double-double since Clemson beat Duke last January. Landry Nnoko gave the Tigers two players with double-doubles, finishing with 10 points and 13 rebounds.</p>
<p>Blossomgame was 0-for-5 in the opening half, but rebounded by going 4-of-6 from the field and making six of seven foul shots to tie his career high. He also blocked Brian Richardson's layup with 38 seconds to go and High Point down 58-56.</p>
<p>Clemson was back at home after an eventful trip to the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. The Tigers were beaten by Gardner-Webb 72-70 in part when freshman Donte Grantham called a time out the team did not have in the final seconds, leading to the Bulldogs making two foul shots that put them up for good.</p>
<p>Clemson bounced back in its two other tournament games, topping Nevada 59-51 before rallying past LSU in the final four minutes for a 64-61 victory.</p>
<p>The Tigers two losses this season have come to Winthrop and Gardner-Webb, both Big South Conference members. So they made sure to turn up their defense — they were second in the Atlantic Coast Conference in that category last season — when facing High Point, also of the Big South.</p>
<p>The Panthers missed their first nine shots and fell behind 19-7 after Patrick Rooks' second 3-pointer of the half.</p>
<p>Brown's two straight backs drew High Point within 21-13. But Damarcus Harrison hit a 3-pointer and Sidy Djitte finished a layup off a sharp bullet pass from Jordan Roper to send Clemson to the locker room up 26-16.</p>
<p>The Tigers played all but two minutes without senior point guard Rod Hall, who appeared to twist an ankle early and came off the floor.</p>
<p>TIP INS</p>
<p>High Point: The Panthers started 4-1 for the first time since their inaugural Division I season of 1999-00. They won their next game, then went 6-16 the rest of the way.</p>
<p>Clemson: The 16 first-half points given up by the Tigers were their fewest since holding Stetson to 15 in the opening game of the 2013-14 season.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>High Point plays at UNC Greensboro on Monday night.</p>
<p>Clemson plays host to Rutgers on Monday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.</p> | Blossomgame leads Clemson past High Point 62-59 | false | https://apnews.com/amp/52f3137984f547d1942ea329da3a9bb2 | 2014-11-29 | 2 |
<p>Although It has been widely repeated that the GRU-GREC incinerator will burn woody biomass as an exclusive fuel source the contract is clear that GREC is fully prepared to burn municipal waste if woody biomass is not available – or if the cost of making a profit for banks and investors is too high. &#160; Specifications for the aftermath of burning municipal waste appears on page 6-24 of the site certification application – 6.0 “Effects of Plant Operation.” <a href="http://saive.com/911/DOCS/Biomass-GREC-Fly-Ash.pdf" type="external">Source</a></p>
<p>“Bottom ash consisting of noncombustible materials (i.e., rocks, glass, sand, metal) from the BFB combustor will be collected in ash containers. When these containers are filled, they will be transported and emptied at an offsite, properly permitted landfill. Fly ash will be collected from the boiler backpass ash hoppers and the fabric filter hoppers and transported pneumatically to the fly ash storage silo. The fly ash will be conditioned by adding water to control dust when the silo is unloaded into truck trailers with covers. Alternatively, the fly ash may be loaded dry into sealed trucks using an enclosed process. The conditioned fly ash will then be hauled offsite for use as agricultural or silvacultural soil supplement, to the extent possible, with the remainder disposed at an offsite, properly permitted landfill.”</p>
<p>The opportunity to defray operating costs by selling the fly-ash as “agricultural or silvicultural soil supplement” was lost when the design of the incinerator was changed by the manufacturer (Metso) to require injection of the toxic sorbent “Trona”.&#160; As a result, GRU ratepayers will be charged for the lost opportunity of selling fly-ash as a soil supplement.</p>
<p>Resources:&#160; Trona: <a href="http://saive.com/911/DOCS/Biomass-TRONA-Tech-Data-Sheet-EnProve.pdf" type="external">Tech data sheet</a>&#160;&#160; Trona: <a href="http://saive.com/911/DOCS/Biomass-TRONA-MSDS.pdf" type="external">MSDS Data</a>&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="http://%20http://saive.com/911/DOCS/Biomass-fly-ash-characteristics-behaviour-in-combustion.pdf" type="external">Fly-ash behavior in combustion</a></p>
<p>More importantly, GRU ratepayers will now be obligated to pay for increased landfill disposal fees for the mountains of contaminated fly-ash that need to be hauled away.</p>
<p>As the pressure increases to turn a profit for American Renewables and groups of banks and investors, GREC could legally choose to revert to burning solid municipal waste.&#160; An opportunity to incinerate automobile, aviation and truck tires for profit could be implementd to off-set costs for generating expensive biomass power that has no market.&#160; Burning tires and garbage could gain substantial favor by bean counters looking to assure investor profit at lowest political impact to GRU customers.</p>
<p>Debunking the Myth of a Unanimous City Commission in Favor of the Biomass Plant: &#160; Former commissioner, Ed Braddy’s April 8, 2010 letter to Public Service Commission raises questions as to the City Commission’s support of the GRU-GREC contract.</p>
<p>On March 15, 2010, then Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan misrepresented the facts to the PSC when she responded a query:</p>
<p>“Do you believe that local electoral control provides adequate protection for your citizens and electric customers?”</p>
<p>Mayor Hanrahan responded:</p>
<p>So far, eleven Commissioners have voted unanimously in support of GREC over the years, including myself and sitting Commissioners Craig Lowe, Jack Donovan, Thomas Hawkins, Lauren Poe, Jeanna Mastrodicasa, and Sherwin Henry, and previous Commissioners Rick Bryant, Ed Braddy, Warren Nielsen, and Chuck Chestnut.”</p>
<p>Braddy’s April 8, 2010 response to the PSC addressing Hanrahan’s error clearly stated he would never have voted for the Biomass plant if he had known the truth that no additional generation would be needed until 2023, a full decade later than the 2013 that was falsely asserted by the City and GRU. <a href="http://saive.com/911/DOCS/Biomass-Braddy-refutes-Hanrahan.pdf" type="external">Source</a></p>
<p>“…the analysis by PSC staff has indicated that new electrical generation is not needed by 2013 and that no additional capacity is needed until a full decade later – 2023. This is a very important change in the substance of the information, and I can say with absolute certainty that – with this new assessment – I would not have been in support of GREC. Although I cannot speak for the other commissioners, I suspect I would not be alone in this determination.”</p>
<p>Escalating strain on the City to finance the GRU-GREC deal became evident at the March 15 Commission meeting when GRU’s chief financial officer made a presentation that promised to provide, “near-term debt relief as we deal with an expected rise in fuel costs.” The plan to issue municipal bonds amounts to re-financing current debt over a longer period of time with lower initial rates that eventually balloon to higher than anticipated rates from 2021 through 2040.</p>
<p>Mayor Crag Lowe who is increasingly criticized for his breach of trust in hiring his campaign manager as his personal aide, provided anemic damage control by denying the City is trying to “scramble” because of the GREC contract.</p>
<p>In a previous meeting, the City Manager and a majority on the commission revealed unbelievable fiscal ignorance when they sat mute as General manager, Bob Hunzinger suggested that GRU was considering ways to mitigate the Biomass rate hike impacts by effectively reducing the City’s operating budget through a reduction in the annual General Fund Transfer. Like zombies incapable of their oversight responsibilities, the commission continued to stare off into space as Hunzinger followed with another suggestion that GRU could reduce the solar FIT program. To date, neither City manager, Russ Blackburn, Mayor Lowe or any commissioner has put Hunzinger on the carpet about his outrageous idea to threatening jobs and City programs by eliminating substantial dollars from the City’s operating budget.&#160; This is yet another example that GRU holds fiscal tyranny over the City and that the commission is comfortable in their position as subservient to GRU’s fiscal whims.</p>
<p>Burdensome Biomass Debt is a Lost Opportunity for 21st Century Distributed Power Technologies.</p>
<p>The fiscal impact of a burdensome 30 year PPA contract places huge restrictions on the City’s current and future opportunities to deploy advanced energy technologies. For example, distributed energies of Solar and Fuel cells already provide far more efficiency than a GRU-GREC biomass incinerator and provide far more sustainable operating costs since neither solar or fuel cells require potable ground water and off-site hauling of toxic waste.</p>
<p>As Energy competitors next door and around the country position for 21st Century distributed enegy solutions Gainesville will be stuck with a 30 year balloon mortgage on a&#160; smoke-stack technology that will always be more expensive than almost any other generation available.</p>
<p>Gainesville Sun reporter, Chris Curry provided comprehensive coverage of the March 15 commission meeting. <a href="http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120316/ARTICLES/120319679&amp;tc=email_newsletter?p=all&amp;tc=pg" type="external">Source</a> &#160;</p>
<p><a href="/" type="external">We encourage you to Share our Reports, Analyses, Breaking News and Videos. Simply Click your Favorite Social Media Button and Share.</a></p> | Biomass Plant Costs Escalate Forcing Gainesville to Re-Finance Ballooning Debt | true | http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1906/180/Biomass_Plant_Costs_Escalate_Forcing_Gainesville_to_Re-Finance_Ballooning_Debt.html | 2012-03-17 | 0 |
<p>Safety regulators say Missouri-based Kaldi's Coffee is recalling 700,000 disposable coffee cup sleeves because they pose a fire hazard.</p>
<p>The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says it has received two reports of the Java Jackets catching fire when they were used in a microwave. No injuries were reported. The paper sleeves fit 12- and 16-ounce cups, and they were distributed for free with hot drink orders at Kaldi's Coffee stores between February 2014 and March 2015.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The sleeves are black and have "Kaldi's Coffee" and company logo printed on the front. The agency says consumers should discard the sleeves.</p> | Safety regulators say Kaldi's Coffee recalls 700K coffee cup sleeves because of fire risk | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/05/19/safety-regulators-say-kaldi-coffee-recalls-700k-coffee-cup-sleeves-because-fire.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>Oil prices hit a two-year high Monday on rising tensions in the Middle East following a wave of arrests in Saudi Arabia and a missile attack on Riyadh by Yemeni rebels.</p>
<p>Brent crude, the global oil benchmark as up 0.47% to $62.46 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 0.36% at $55.85 a barrel.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Oil prices have gained more than 15% since the beginning of September -- their best two months in over a year. On Thursday, U.S. crude futures rose to $54.54 a barrel, their highest since July 2, 2015, while Brent, the global reference price, broke above $60 last week.</p>
<p>The rise was driven "by the unrest in the Middle East with the missile incident in Yemen but also the reshuffle in Saudi Arabia and the antigraft sweep there," said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB Markets.</p>
<p>Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock -- the benchmark gasoline contract -- fell 0.51% to $1.78 a gallon. ICE gasoil changed hands at $554.00 a metric ton, up$6.75 from the previous settlement.</p>
<p>Write to Neanda Salvaterra at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>November 06, 2017 06:02 ET (11:02 GMT)</p> | Oil Gains Amid Crackdown in Saudi Arabia | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/11/06/oil-gains-amid-crackdown-in-saudi-arabia.html | 2017-11-06 | 0 |
<p><a href="http://pienews.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/YT.jpg" type="external" />A still-classified State Department e-mail says that one of the first responses from the White House to the Benghazi attack was to contact YouTube to warn of the "ramifications' of allowing the posting of an anti-Islamic video, according to Rep. Darrell Issa,&#160;the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and ["]</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/05/white-house-contacted-youtube-during-benghazi-attack-darrell-issa-says/" type="external">Click here to view original web page at abcnews.go.com</a></p>
<p /> | Darrell Issa: White House Contacted YouTube During Benghazi Attack | true | http://politicalillusionsexposed.com/white-house-contacted-youtube-during-benghazi-attack-darrell-issa-says/ | 0 |
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<p>Amazon.com Inc launched its video-streaming service, Prime Video, in nearly every country except China on Wednesday, in its biggest challenge yet to Netflix Inc .</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Prime Video, home to popular shows such as Jeremy Clarkson's "The Grand Tour" and transgender comedy "Transparent", will now be bundled with Prime subscriptions in 19 countries including India, Canada and France.</p>
<p>In other regions, those who want the service will have to pay $2.99 or 2.99 euros per month for the first six months, after which the price will be doubled to $5.99 or 5.99 euros.</p>
<p>Subscriptions for Netflix, whose current hits include original shows "Stranger Things", "Daredevil" and "Narcos", start at $8.99.</p>
<p>Amazon has been spending heavily, sometimes at the cost of profits, on the creation and marketing of movies and TV shows.</p>
<p>The company hopes that people will sign up for its Prime service to watch these shows - and in turn buy more from its online store to make the annual subscription worth it.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Amazon will continue to focus on producing original content, said Tim Leslie, vice president of Amazon Instant Video, International.</p>
<p>Most of the original shows, including local content, will be made available everywhere, Leslie told Reuters.</p>
<p>The success of "The Grand Tour", a series hosted by former "Top Gear" presenter Clarkson following his departure from the BBC, underscores Amazon's focus on original content as it takes on video-streaming pioneer Netflix.</p>
<p>Netflix has been hugely successful in attracting more subscribers through the popularity of its original shows. The company took its service global in January, rolling it out in more than 130 countries.</p>
<p>China is the missing piece for both Amazon and Netflix in their global expansion as the world's most populous country has stringent policies on regulations and censorship.</p>
<p>Slowing growth in U.S. video subscriptions and increasing competition have drive the international expansion of video streaming providers. But as they expand around the world, the need for more local content will pose a big challenge.</p>
<p>"We've made a big investment in originals in Japan, and we're doing the same in India," Leslie said.</p>
<p>Amazon Prime Video members can also download all movies and TV shows for offline viewing on mobile devices, a feature Netflix introduced late last month.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru and Sankalp Phartiyal in Mumbai; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)</p> | Amazon launches Prime Video globally, leaves out China | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/12/14/amazon-launches-prime-video-globally-leaves-out-china.html | 2016-12-14 | 0 |
<p>“60 Minutes,” “Frontline,” “The Rachel Maddow Show,” and “Nightline” were among the big winners Thursday night at the 38th annual News and Documentary Awards.</p>
<p>PBS led the network pack with 12 wins, followed by nine for CBS, five apiece for ABC and HBO and three apiece for CNN and Univision. The ceremony was held at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center.</p>
<p>CBS’ “60 Minutes” won a total of seven trophies, including for breaking news in a newsmagazine for its coverage of conflict in Syria, and for feature segment for “The Music of Zomba Prison.”</p>
<p>The “Frontline” documentary “Yemen Under Siege” took home two awards. for continuing coverage in a newsmagazine and story in a newsmagazine. PBS’ “Frontline” claimed two more wins for its election doc “The Choice 2016” and “Children of Syria.” ABC’s “Nightline” earned two trophies for its “Gang Land” installment.</p>
<p>MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow” was recognized for its coverage of the tainted water crisis in Flint, Mich., and for Maddow’s interview with White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.</p>
<p>HBO’s “Vice News Tonight” won the continuing coverage in a newscast award for its reporting on Syria. CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” got the nod for its coverage of the Trump University scandal.</p>
<p>Univision’s “Aqui y Ahora” won two awards to lead the Spanish-language field. Regional wins went to Telemundo affiliate KTLM-TV in Rio Grande City, Texas and to NBC O&amp;O WCAU-TV in Philadelphia.</p>
<p>The lifetime achievement kudo went to CBS News veteran Charles Osgood.</p>
<p><a href="http://emmyonline.com/news_38th_winners" type="external">Click here for a complete list of winners</a>.</p>
<p /> | ’60 Minutes,’ ‘Frontline,’ Rachel Maddow Among News and Documentary Emmy Winners | false | https://newsline.com/60-minutes-frontline-rachel-maddow-among-news-and-documentary-emmy-winners/ | 2017-10-06 | 1 |
<p>Here's a nice way to watch a debate (well, as long as your brain is good at multi-tasking). <a href="http://www.cbc.ca" type="external">CBC.ca</a>, website of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, has developed a media player that's integrated with running commentary in a weblog format (text, that is). The site had a team of veteran journalists providing live analysis and fact-checking the candidates during last week's national political debate. Here's a screen grab of the media player in action. And <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/mediaplayer/media_player.html?videofeed=cbcvideo-debate" type="external">here's the media player itself</a>. According to CBC.ca editorial director Jonathan Dube, the website will be doing this again for the next national debates in January.</p> | Multi-tasking at the Canadian Debates | false | https://poynter.org/news/multi-tasking-canadian-debates | 2005-12-19 | 2 |
<p>It seems that something is making these cues that normally preserve civility ineffective, and there is more than one factor causing this phenomenon. First, a masking-effect is likely occurring. In effect, the cues we are usually attuned-to may be masked by a counteracting ‘noise’ from our political association. To better understand this effect, let’s start by considering how noise-cancelling headphones work. Such headphones have an external microphone that detects outside ambient noise. A micro-computer (chip) then analyzes the sound for its patterns. The chip then tells the speakers to produce sound waves opposite to the ambiance, with peaks to counter the valleys of the offending sound, and vice versa. Thus, there is a direct contradiction of the outside “noise.” Sonance is defeated by dissonance, resulting in silence where there was sound.</p>
<p>Our loved one’s complaints about our message and means of delivery, constant and clear though they may be, are the ambient noise of an election season. During elections, the personally appealing political statements we are bombarded by through the airwaves, in print, and in person, all work to counteract ambient warning sounds. The result is that the dull warning buzz of friction building elsewhere is drowned-out. In other words, the acceptance we receive from our political connections may act as a destructive interference to the more-or-less ambient sounds of protest.</p>
<p>The second factor affecting our attention to familiar social cues during an election season is in our intentional response. Not only do we not hear our loved ones’ complaints due to interference, but often we do not listen when we could. It has been said that the campaigning during an election season is “deafening.” I think it’s also dumbing. Like drunken sailors on shore leave, the intoxicating comfort of our associations allows us to blithely ignore the dangers around us. We become so enamored with ties to our chosen causes and political parties that our primary concern becomes that our side wins, not preserving loving relationships. We proceed carelessly with our arguments, unconcerned with the harm we cause.</p>
<p>It is far more damaging to break a bond than it is to never form one. As an example, consider receiving a piece of political mail from an opposing party. You may have a twinge of recoil, but it’s usually no big deal. You simply throw the mailing away and move on with your day. Now, take that same mailing but imagine it’s printed in a chain-email, or a Facebook posting from your best friend or favorite aunt. Different story, right? The first example is where there is no bond to break and the second explores the strain that we experience from conflict with those to whom we have bonded.</p>
<p>How can we avoid being the 1 in 5 users who is blocked, hidden or “un-friended” over politics?</p>
<p>Once the political season has passed, so too passes the overwhelming support we once received from candidates and policies. When the campaigns have quieted, we are left with a void. Into this void appears the reality that we’ve grown apart from those we love and admire most. We begin to feel the distance in our relationships, loved ones we’ve alienated through our political fervor. We feel regret for our back-and-forth comments on Facebook.</p>
<p>The process to patch-up the gaps and re-build the interpersonal connections can be lugubrious. If you’re like me, you too will want to protect your relationships, avoid damage in the first place, and avoid the rebuild entirely. But is it even possible to protect our relationships during political season?</p>
<p>Here are some tips to keep your emotions at bay and relationships strong:</p>
<p>Use the tools offered by technology.</p>
<p>Social media offers us some protection from getting triggered. Rather than “unfriend” someone, you can choose to hide certain posts from your Facebook friends and then reset the filters after the election.</p>
<p>Be frank, be honest, and don’t be afraid.</p>
<p>Be open with your feelings, not with your ideologies (at least, not before consent)! Let your loved-one know of your hesitation to talk about politics. Tell them directly that it is difficult to begin a dialogue because you are afraid that your views may not be heard or accepted. We can all benefit from exposure to different points-of-view, but if things become too hot or you are feeling scared or angry, it’s likely best to simply pull discussion of politics off the table.</p>
<p>Remember the relationship and always keep it in mind.</p>
<p>Focus on what you have in common, or how much you appreciate the unique personality they bring to your relationship. Spend time doing and discussing things that you share and can appreciate together. Go out somewhere that you share in common with them and do something cooperative together. Go golfing, bowling, or team-up for a trivia contest at your favorite bar, you’ll feel better for it.</p>
<p>Avoid making “ad hominem” attacks.</p>
<p>It sounds so formal, doesn’t it? But really it only means to argue the point, not the person. Remember, you may disagree on a point in discussion, and don’t forget that you can disagree on a point without attacking the person. If you can learn and remember this, a lot of pointless anguish can be avoided and valuable relationships preserved.</p>
<p>True persuasive power is not in how loud one shouts, but in how well one listens.</p>
<p>Never is the power of listening more important than when dealing with loved ones. When you take the time and patience to listen, you show respect and regard for your partner. You’ll get further with your point if you allow them to make theirs, and doing so will help you to feel closer, too. So, in the end, rather than moving apart, you can stay close to those you love even though your politics may remain miles apart.</p>
<p>It may be justifiable, maybe even justified, to hold political viewpoints and concerns primary, but it is damaging to relationships when they become our exclusive concerns. If the goal of our interactions with loved ones is to secure their “consent,” and not mere intellectual “consideration,” then we are almost always doomed to failure. What makes us different often brings us together, though we often forget this in light of politics. There is nothing like the political season to turn people who have no reason to be upset with each other into bitter and angry enemies.</p>
<p>So, the next time you see a posting status like “Obama is a Socialist!” or “Romney is a Liar!” take a deep breath and remind yourself of why you appreciate your friend or family member, send them this article, and take the high road by hiding their status before you respond in a way you may later regret.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Relationships and Politics Pt. 2:Five Tips to Ensure They Last | false | https://ivn.us/2012/11/02/five-tips-part-2/ | 2012-11-02 | 2 |
<p>According to Politico, President Obama's back is against the wall, so he's “getting in touch with his inner [Spiro] Agnew, hitting the neo-nattering nabobs of cable and the Net.” “If we could just — excuse the press — turn off the cameras,” <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0210/He_hates_us_he_really_hates_us.html" type="external">he told Democratic senators at their annual retreat</a>. “Turn off your CNN, your Fox, your MSNBC, your blogs, turn off this echo chamber . . . where the topic is politics . . . We've got to get out of the echo chamber. That was a mistake I made last year — not getting out of here [Washington].”</p>
<p>This is now of a piece. At virtually every stop he's made along the way since Republican Scott Brown's stunning victory in the Massachusetts Senate race, Obama has been frantically trying to recapture the magic of his campaign — to the point that he's bringing back into the fold operatives like David Plouffe.</p>
<p>The president is attempting once again to hover above us, to portray himself as serious and thoughtful, high-minded and reflective, post-partisan and trans-political. In this telling of the tale, the problems he made in his first year had nothing to do with his agenda; it had everything to do with not rising above the echo chamber. He had a communications problem. He didn't get out of Washington enough.</p>
<p>It goes even deeper than that, in the mind of Obama and much of the political class. “As the president wrapped up his <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/state_of_the_union_message_us/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" type="external">State of the Union address</a> on Wednesday night with an appeal to transcend partisan gamesmanship,” <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/weekinreview/31stevenson.html?ref=todayspaper" type="external">Richard Stevenson wrote in The New York Times</a>, “he was plaintively testing a broader proposition: Is it possible to embrace complexity in a political and media culture that demands simple themes and promotes conflict?” Stevenson continued:</p>
<p>The president, whose hallmark has been ideological eclecticism, would clearly like to think the answer is yes. But a year into his presidency, Mr. Obama has lost control of his political narrative, his ability to define the story of his presidency on his own terms. And the main reason is that his story is no longer so simple or easy to tell.</p>
<p>Andrew Sullivan, <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/andrew_sullivan/article7009528.ece" type="external">writing in the Sunday Times of London</a>, amplified on this theme:</p>
<p>On Tuesday night Obama stood between them all, like a teacher entering a classroom with spit balls flying and desks crashing. He cannot discipline; he does not have the constitutional power to dictate to Congress what it must do, and he is also determined to reverse the imperial style of presidency that has corroded the constitutional balance in the past few decades and especially the past few years. There is no headmaster to send the children to — just an argument that certain things simply have to be done . . . I do not know if Americans will respond to Obama's reasoning, or if the short-term political posturing will dissipate. In the depressed economic climate, where tempers are high and anxiety is endemic, the odds of Obama succeeding seem remote.</p>
<p>Of course. If Obama fails it is because we were not up to the challenge of responding to his eclectic reasoning. Aristotle ain't for everyone. The adolescent spit ball throwers and desk crashers may prevail against the forces of light and goodness.</p>
<p>It turns out The Great Synthesizer's message is too sophisticated, too deep and subtle, for the common folk. Apparently the blogs, online news sites (like this one, presumably), and cable networks are warping and disfiguring the complicated and intricately balanced Obama proposals: neither left nor right, liberal nor conservative, Democratic nor Republican. It was Obama — and Obama alone — he told us during the campaign, who would “cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past.” Under Obama we would see “A nation healed. A world repaired. An America that believes again.”</p>
<p>The problem with all this is it turned out to be a campaign ornament, a mirage, a cynical (if extremely well executed) ploy. Obama's problem isn't that he didn't get out of Washington enough; it is that he wants to concentrate unprecedented powers in Washington. It is that in a center-right nation our president, himself a person of thoroughly liberal beliefs, outsourced his agenda to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.</p>
<p>The president's difficulties have nothing to do with the “echo chamber;” it has to do with the liberal and in some respects, the radical substance of his ideas. It is his actions — systematic, premeditated, and philosophically misguided — that have caused him and his party so much damage in so short a period of time. And until Obama understands that — until he quits blaming the New Media, or Washington, or his predecessor — he cannot possibly recover.</p>
<p>“Human kind,” T.S. Eliot wrote, “cannot bear very much reality.” That appears to be triply the case for America's 44th president. He is in a trance. Those who care for him, and his presidency, better break him out of it. And soon.</p>
<p>Peter Wehner is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. He served in the Bush White House as director of the office of strategic initiatives.</p> | President Obama: Channeling His Inner Agnew | false | https://eppc.org/publications/president-obama-channeling-his-inner-agnew/ | 1 |
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<p>Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, the Indonesian cleric and political leader, says that the Bali bombers “were not terrorists but counter-terrorists.” (Suherdjoko, “Ba’asyir pays homage to Bali bombers in jail,” The Jakarta Post, December 16, 2007).</p>
<p>It’s a claim that should outrage anyone who realizes that the Bali bombers executed their victims just to use their corpses to send what they saw as a political message. (For discussion of this theme see posting of November 28, 2007, “Thomas L. Friedman and the Bali Bombers. Cold Blooded Celebrity.”)</p>
<p>Such outrage could lead to the answer : ‘You’re wrong, they weren’t counter-terrorists,’ and it’s a powerful answer since you shouldn’t claim to be fighting terrorism if what you’re doing is committing it.</p>
<p>But as a social and legal matter, that answer — though important for honesty and for clear thinking — should be seen to be part of an argument that is somewhat beside the point.</p>
<p>The bigger problem is not how people see their crimes — in a certain sense, who cares? — but rather whether those crimes get stopped and deterred, and whether the criminals get caught and punished.</p>
<p>A staple of American legal drama is the scene where the just-arrested accused perp is hauled before the booking judge (who sets the date and conditions for trial), and, sweating, begins to frantically tell his story, before the bored jurist cuts him off.</p>
<p>With a courtroom full of purported lowlifes to process, he/she doesn’t have time to hear rationalizations, so out of the corner of their mouth the judge mutters something to the effect of: ‘Whatever. Call it whatever you want. But if you murdered those people, buddy, you’re going to prison. [Gavel slap]. Next case!’</p>
<p>Americans — and foreign audiences who watch them in translation — seem to love these shows, for good reason. Its fulfilling to see, or at least to imagine, justice being done.</p>
<p>If we were civilized we would also be able to imagine — and create — similarly crowded, brusque, courtrooms, in which all murderers, high and low, were hauled before similarly no-nonsense jurists:</p>
<p>There’s a president. There’s a prime minister. There’s a dear, beloved leader, waiting.</p>
<p>And maybe even squeezed among the Commanders on the crowded benches of the waiting accused sit some mere power-talkers — editorialists, broadcasters, ideologues — who, as has already happened in the Rwanda tribunals, have been arrested and could be — as also happened re. Rwanda — convicted and sent to prison for the purported international law crime against humanity of “public incitement to commit genocide” (eg., one of the charges against Augustin Ngirabatware for things said on his radio station, BBC News online, “Rwandan genocide suspect arrested,” September 9, 2007).</p>
<p>Each of them has a noble rationalization for their killing — which is fine, that is their right. But each of them would also have to persuade a jury, or face a long time in ugly lockup.</p>
<p>Just recently they say Donald Rumsfeld fled France to avoid a torture lawsuit, which is amusing. Isn’t he a tough guy? He’s the one who was so thrilling to the press in his blunt language about bombing Afghans that Jamie McIntyre of CNN, Pentagon, produced a piece themed (in McIntyre’s words): “Everybody loves Rumsfeld.”</p>
<p>Isn’t part of the point of being a tough guy that you confront and stare down your accusers?</p>
<p>People who dabble in the mass maiming of others should be thoroughgoing in their macho. Their attitude toward murder/ torture proceedings against them should be, as Bush once said,: “Bring it on.”</p>
<p>ALLAN NAIRN can be reached through his <a href="http://www.newsc.blogspot.com/" type="external">blog</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Terrorism; CounterTerrorism: Excuses for Murder | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/12/17/terrorism-counterterrorism-excuses-for-murder/ | 2007-12-17 | 4 |
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<p>Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld may be playing the role of a budget hawk these days, advocating the Army abandon its highly-touted $11 billion Crusader artillery program. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the Pentagon is being pushed to tighten its belt.</p>
<p>Embracing a policy trend initiated during the Clinton administration, the Bush White House has advocated the use of civilian contractors to fill scores of government needs. “Only those functions that must be performed by the [Department of Defense] should be kept in the DoD,” Rumsfeld wrote in a state-of-the-military review just seven months ago. “Any function that can be provided by the private sector is not a core government function.”</p>
<p>For one defense contractor in particular, that approach is proving staggeringly fruitful. Kellog Brown and Root Services, a division of Vice President Dick <a href="/news/feature/2000/08/cheney.html" type="external">Cheney’s former employer, Halliburton Companies</a>, has provided the bulk of logistics services for the Army since 1992. Whenever US troops venture abroad, Brown and Root builds the barracks, cooks the food, mops the floors, transports the goods and maintains the water systems before and after the soldiers arrive.</p>
<p>The support services Brown and Root delivers represent the kind of work the Pentagon has said does not require the attention of today’s highly-trained GI’s. Using a civilian contractor instead, Army officials insist, is simply less expensive.</p>
<p>Brown and Root’s most recent deal with Washington, however, is unlikely to be cheap. Awarded on Dec. 14, the deal with the Army’s Logistics Augmentation Program — the Pentagon division responsible for providing support services to Army bases around the world — has a base period of one year. But the contract can — and if history is any guide will — be extended for an additional nine years.</p>
<p>The total cost of the deal is almost impossible to estimate, as Brown and Root’s fees will be limited only by the amount it spends to meet the Army’s requests and the degree to which it pleases military brass. If the company’s past performance is any guide, Brown and Root’s bill could quickly climb into the billions.</p>
<p>The contract places no limits on the quantity of services delivered — an approach Army officials argue is designed to maximize flexibility. It enables the Army to send Brown and Root employees to Uzbekistan on 72 hours notice to build a base camp. It also allows the Army to comply with mandatory downsizing guidelines established as part of former Vice President Al Gore’s campaign to streamline government. In essence, Brown and Root provides the Pentagon with a private battalion of engineers, janitors and other support staff.</p>
<p>The unusual manner in which the contract was awarded is another cause for concern, budget watchdogs claim. The companies bidding for the contract were asked to submit support proposals for a theoretical scenario. When the proposals were reviewed, Army officials concede, cost was not the deciding factor.</p>
<p>“Brown and Root offered the best value to government, considering price and non-price factors,” says Army lawyer Dave Defrieze. “Cost was considered but because of the nebulous nature of cost in the contract, it wasn’t the most significant.”</p>
<p>Under the new contract, Brown and Root will be reimbursed for every dollar it spends to support the troops, and will also receive a base fee of one percent, which will guarantee the company a profit. In addition, the contract provides that Brown and Root can earn another fee provided the military approves of the company’s performance. That award will be calculated as a percentage of Brown and Root’s costs, a fact which critics suggest will serve only to encourage the company to spend as much as possible.</p>
<p>“The more money [Brown and Root] spend, the more profitable the contract is,” says Professor Steve Schooner, a contract expert from George Washington University. “Nobody in their right mind would enter into a contract that basically says: ‘Come up with creative ways to spend my money and the more you spend the happier I’ll be.'”</p>
<p>Operating under similar rules, Brown and Root consistently earned high points — and high award fees — from military officials for its support of US troops in the Balkans.</p>
<p>“The government was very happy with all the things that Brown and Root did because they were building to maximum standards rather than minimum standards,” says Mike Noll, the deputy program manager of the Army’s logistics program.</p>
<p>According to Joan Kibler, spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers, over a five-year period Brown and Root received 96 percent of all available awards fees.</p>
<p>“The military folks love them. They’re ecstatic with them,” says Schooner. “What military officer wouldn’t want the best for soldiers on the front?”</p>
<p>Some budget hawks on Capitol Hill, however, have given the company far less glowing reviews.</p>
<p>A September 2000 report by the General Accounting Office, Congress’s budget oversight arm, found that Brown and Root was providing nearly twice the electricity necessary to the army’s facilities in Kosovo, at a cost of some $17 million a year. The same report found that Brown and Root ordered $5.2 million worth of furniture for camps in Kosovo, an amount so excessive the Army struggled to find space for all the furniture and spent $377,000 just processing the order. The GAO also charged that Brown and Root routinely either overstaffed operations, resulting in employees standing around on long breaks, or was over-eager in its hiring, paying employees to work around the clock for no apparent reason. Offices at the Army’s Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo were cleaned four times a day, the report states, latrines a mere three times.</p>
<p>From 1995 to 2000, Brown and Root billed the government for $2.2 billion for its logistics support in Kosovo, making the services contract the costliest in US history. Overall, Brown and Root’s costs amounted to nearly one-sixth of the total spent by the military on Balkans operations.</p>
<p>Still, Army officials appear to have given the GAO report little credence when considering bids for the new contract. Defrieze admits that past experience and documented performance was most important to the officers reviewing the bids, and no company has had more experience in the still-young business than Brown and Root. With the GAO report set aside and only the Pentagon’s evaluations considered, no company has exhibited better performance, either.</p>
<p>“We were only looking at relevant past performance – which is limited to three years,” says Defrieze. “We did not find relevant past-performance that indicated significant cost-control problems with Brown and Root.”</p>
<p>Some of these excesses, the GAO report states, are the result of the Pentagon’s failure to properly manage Brown and Root’s activities. The report found that many of those administering the Balkans contract wrongly believed that, “they had little control over the contractor’s actions once it was authorized to perform tasks.” One Army contracting officer at Camp Bondsteel appeared to believe that the military was working for Brown and Root, describing the company as the “customer” in an internal email.</p>
<p>Noll admits that the Army officers administering the Brown and Root contract in Kosovo “may have been naive, and not familiar with the contracting procedures.” But he says that has changed. With the new contract, he says the Army is committed to making sure there will be “no more Camp Bondsteel,” and has instructed officers administering the contract to weigh cost-control effort more heavily.</p>
<p>At this point, however, those internal policies appear to be all the Army has done to ensure that the excesses seen in Kosovo are not repeated. The manner in which the contract is administered has not changed, and the payment structure remains the same. Like in the Balkans, the Army, the Defense Contract Management Agency and the Defense Contract Audit Agency are all responsible for oversight and monitoring. Brown and Root will compile monthly project reports and the company’s work will be evaluated — and its award fee determined — twice a year.</p>
<p>As of early May, however, it was still unclear how the three offices would work together to administer the contract — even though Noll says Brown and Root is already operating a base camp for the Army in Uzbekistan. In fact, a spokesman for the Defense Contract Management Agency said at the time that his office was “not involved” in the new contract in any way.</p>
<p>Contracts like the one awarded to Brown and Root are not without their defenders, of course. Steven Kelman, a professor of public management at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a lobbyist for the information technology firm Accenture, compared the GAO criticism to preliminary notes on a first draft.</p>
<p>“There’s a learning curve,” he says. “But the important thing is that the government is trying to hold companies accountable for their performance.”</p>
<p>Even when it comes to performance evaluation, however, the contract gives little emphasis to controlling costs. For Brown and Root to earn the highest possible points, it is required only to “implement at least minimal cost avoidance measures.”</p>
<p>“What you have is a concern with the appearance of cost-control,” says Schooner.</p>
<p>The result, says Danielle Brian, executive director of the non-profit Project on Government Oversight, is a “pay-now, review-later” approach to contracting.</p>
<p>“Really what it is, is making the flow of tax payer money to these favorite contractors easier and easier with less oversight and less guarantee that we’re getting what we’re paying for,” Brian charges. “We no longer know what we’re going to get for our money. And it really opens up the government for being taken for a ride.”</p>
<p /> | A Contract to Spend | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2002/05/contract-spend/ | 2002-05-23 | 4 |
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<p>Tyler was arrested by Shiprock Criminal Investigations officers from the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and was turned over to the FBI, the release said. He is expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque today.</p>
<p>Navajo police officers responded to a report of a disturbance at an apartment complex around 9:30 p.m. Friday, and an altercation ensued between Tyler and a police officer, who was stabbed in the foot.</p>
<p>Tyler was shot, but his injuries were not considered life-threatening, according to the FBI release.</p>
<p>The officer has not been named.</p>
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<p>5:47pm 8/17/13 — Navajo Nation police officer involved in Shiprock shooting</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>By Patrick Lohmann/Journal Staff Writer</p>
<p>A Navajo Nation police officer is under investigation after shooting a man Friday night in Shiprock.</p>
<p>The officer suffered stab wounds to his foot after responding to a “disturbance” at an apartment complex at around 9:30 p.m., a Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesman said.</p>
<p>A fight ensued, and the officer, whose identity was not released, shot the man. The man is expected to survive.</p>
<p>Now, the FBI, State Police and the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety are investigating the officer-involved shooting. No further information will be released until the investigation is complete.</p> | UPDATED: Shiprock man arrested in officer-related shooting | false | https://abqjournal.com/251038/updated-shiprock-man-arrested-in-officer-related-shooting.html | 2013-08-21 | 2 |
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<p>Fiddler Beth Cohen, a founding member of the Albuquerque-based ensemble, said the concert will focus on Hanukkah songs from many countries.</p>
<p>“The first half will have Bosnian Sephardic and Venetian Sephardic tunes … a classical Arab instrumental piece and a Yiddish song,” Cohen said.</p>
<p>Sephardic refers to Jews who have lived in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.</p>
<p>“The second half will be mostly klezmer but also Rom (Gypsy) music of Serbia, a Sephardic wedding dance medley from Spain, and a Sephardic lullaby from Greece played as a waltz.”</p>
<p>Besides Cohen, the ensemble’s other members are Barbara Friedman, Randy Edmunds and Debo Orlofsky. Mary Masuk is the guest percussionist.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The ensemble’s instrumentation reflects many cultures. For example, there’s an electric bass; a pennywhistle; a medieval instrument known as a bowed psaltery; a Macedonian tambura, which is a long-necked lute; and a variety of percussion instruments, such as the doumbek, riq and tupan.</p>
<p>The concert’s theme, “Kindling the Light,” is symbolic of bringing light into our lives “and keeping in mind our roots and origins and celebrating the cultures we live in,” Cohen said.</p>
<p>“This is not a concert just for Jewish people,” she added. “Everybody is invited. It’s for people to experience a unique culture, a Havdalah ceremony and the lighting of Hanukkah candles.”</p> | Blend of instruments will light up the coffeehouse | false | https://abqjournal.com/151488/blend-of-instruments-will-light-up-the-coffeehouse.html | 2012-12-07 | 2 |
<p>The city of Sochi has hired a company to kill off as many stray dogs as possible before the start of the Winter Olympics later this week, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/01/sochi-culling-stray-dogs-ahead-of-the-olympics/" type="external">ABC News reported</a>.</p>
<p>City officials backed off on a <a href="http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130418/180711977/Russian-Olympic-City-Cancels-Tender-to-Cull-Strays.html" type="external">similar plan</a>last year after outcry from animal rights groups.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130418/olympic-host-sochi-under-fire-plan-kill-stray-dogs" type="external">Olympic host Sochi under fire for plan to kill stray dogs</a></p>
<p>Alexei Sorokin, the owner of Basia Services, told ABC News by phone he didn't know how many strays his company had killed and would not say when it was hired by Sochi.</p>
<p>According to Sorokin, stray dogs pose a threat to the Games.</p>
<p>“Imagine, if during an Olympic games, a ski jumper landed at 130 kilometers an hour (over 80 mph) and a dog runs into him when he lands. It would be deadly for both a jumper and for the stray dog,” he <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/01/sochi-culling-stray-dogs-ahead-of-the-olympics/" type="external">told ABC</a>.</p>
<p>"Let’s call these things by their real name," Sorokin added. "These dogs are biological trash."</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/weird-wide-web/japan-russia-vladimir-putin-akita-inu-puppy" type="external">Puppy diplomacy: Japan hopes to win Vladimir Putin over with Atika Inu dog</a></p>
<p>Previous reports claimed more than 2,000 stray cats and dogs <a href="http://rbcdaily.ru/society/562949986623734" type="external">were planned</a> for culling through 2015.</p>
<p>Sochi representative Sergei Krivonosov <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/02/01/sochi-winter-olympics-stray-dogs-killed_n_4708834.html?utm_hp_ref=uk&amp;just_reloaded=1" type="external">had argued</a> that putting the animals in shelters would be too time-consuming.</p>
<p>The mayor’s office did <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/01/sochi-culling-stray-dogs-ahead-of-the-olympics/" type="external">not respond</a> to calls by ABC News seeking comment.</p>
<p>Stray dogs are not just a problem in Sochi. They also <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/01/moscow-stray-dog-concentration-camp_n_829025.html" type="external">roam</a> the streets of Moscow and countless other Russian cities, a product of decades of being abandoned after their owners could no longer afford to care for them.</p> | Sochi killing stray dogs ahead of Winter Olympics, report says | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-02-02/sochi-killing-stray-dogs-ahead-winter-olympics-report-says | 2014-02-02 | 3 |
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<p>A flying saucer stolen from the UFO museum in Roswell was found in pieces in a ditch outside of town. (Courtesy of the UFO Museum)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A flying saucer that disappeared from the UFO museum in Roswell didn't soar far before it ended up in pieces outside of town Wednesday afternoon, according to a spokesman for the police department.</p>
<p>"It was found in a ditch under some trees," said Todd Wildermuth. "It was torn up, but we don't know how it got torn up - if the suspects did that or if it fell out of a pickup truck."</p>
<p>The silver-colored saucer, a fiberglass and stainless steel bowl wrapped in lights, had been at the International UFO Museum and Research Center, in the center of town, for 24 years. It was knocked off its mount during a blizzard last winter and was being stored under an awning behind the museum after it was repaired.</p>
<p>The flying saucer on the side of the UFO Museum in Roswell, shown in a photograph from 2000, was recently stolen. The UFO was blown down during a storm this past winter and was repaired and being stored behind the building when it was taken. (Richard Pipes/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>It was stolen around 3:30 a.m. Saturday.</p>
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<p>Surveillance video from the museum shows three people driving into the back alley, loading the saucer into the bed of a red pickup and driving away.</p>
<p>Wildermuth said police don't have any leads about who the men are.</p>
<p>"No one has come forward to say we recognize these guys or that truck," he said. "It's probably going to be one of those types of cases where the key is someone coming forward, and offering up some sort of information."</p>
<p>News of the theft traveled quickly and national news outlets have picked up the story.</p>
<p>Karen Jaramillo, the museum's interim executive director, said since the police department posted about the saucer on Facebook on Tuesday, the museum has been inundated with calls and alien jokes.</p>
<p>She said she told police the saucer was worth about $500, but its real value is as a historical piece. The museum plans to replace it, she said.</p>
<p>Jaramillo said she suspects the theft was a joke and wasn't intended as a malicious act.</p>
<p>"It's just sad that we have people here who just do that," Jaramillo said. "They have no respect."</p>
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<p /> | UFO crash site found! (Not really. Stolen spaceship dumped in ditch. Really.) | false | https://abqjournal.com/745092/roswell-officials-pieces-of-stolen-flying-saucer-found-in-ditch.html | 2016-03-23 | 2 |
<p>Published time: 17 Nov, 2017 10:24</p>
<p>Theresa May’s husband has been linked to the Paradise Papers after his company was accused of arranging investments in tax havens. Thousands of documents have exposed how Britain’s mega rich invest their money abroad to legally avoid paying hefty tax bills.</p>
<p>Although not illegal, they are depriving the Treasury of juicy tax revenues at a time when many Britons are having their welfare payments slashed, and the National Health Service (NHS) faces a yawning budget black hole.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/uk/409387-queen-offshore-grenfell-coad/" type="external" /></p>
<p>Philip May, the PM’s husband, is a relationships manager for investment-management firm Capital Group. His is the latest big name to be associated with the papers.According to the documents, Capital Group allegedly used offshore-registered funds to make investments in a Bermuda-registered company. Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party wants ‘flush Phil’ to answer some questions.</p>
<p>“There are some serious questions for Philip May to answer about his firm’s use of tax havens, whether he had any knowledge of it and if he thinks this is an acceptable way to do business,” Jon Trickett, Labour’s shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, told Business Insider.</p>
<p>“Labour has previously asked Theresa May what her government plans to do to clamp down on the tax havens where money is squirrelled away to avoid paying taxes for public services in this country.</p>
<p>“When it comes to paying tax, there is one rule for the super-rich and another for the rest of us and, in refusing to act, the Prime Minister appears to condone this,” said Trickett.</p>
<p>[embedded content]</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/uk/409062-theresa-may-patel-johnson/" type="external" /></p>
<p>Other notable Brits implicated in the papers include Prince Charles and Her Majesty the Queen. Revelations of the great British tax stitch-up come as the Universal Credit roll-out sees the most vulnerable Brits have their benefits axed.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, a mother was found dead in her flat after her benefits were cut. Elaine Morrall died in her house in Runcorn, Cheshire, amid claims her financial woes meant she switched the heating off until her children got home from school.</p>
<p>A Downing Street spokesman denied Mr May had any involvement in Capital Group’s playful accounting.</p>
<p>“Mr May is involved in the development of Capital Group’s retirement solutions,” he said.</p>
<p>“He is not an investor but consults with other Capital associates on retirement products and solutions for clients.”</p> | New kind of politics, huh? Theresa May’s husband linked to Paradise Papers | false | https://newsline.com/new-kind-of-politics-huh-theresa-mays-husband-linked-to-paradise-papers/ | 2017-11-17 | 1 |
<p>The British media giant has fallen behind the times; fighting the Islamic State group’s propaganda may require propaganda in turn; meanwhile, Nutella struggles to dissociate its chocolatey spread from fecal matter. These discoveries and more below.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/weakened-bbc-would-see-american-778503?utm_source=Daily+Lab+email+list&amp;utm_campaign=e40300d71b-dailylabemail3&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_d68264fd5e-e40300d71b-395928741" type="external">Weakened BBC Would See ‘American Tastemakers’ Dominate U.K., Chief Says</a> BBC director general Tony Hall said Monday that the U.K. public broadcaster must become an online “pioneer” to remain a key player in the digital age, promising a “myBBC revolution.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121168/pope-francis-conservatives-battle-us-catholic-churchs-future" type="external">Fear of a Radical Pope</a> The Pope is engaged in a struggle to bring the Church into the modern age. And American conservatives are fighting him every step of the way.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bilerico.com/2015/03/the_pitfalls_of_transgender_celebrity.php#CV8T2iyi81Qrt56O.99" type="external">The Pitfalls of Transgender Celebrity</a> Increasingly over the past few years there have been rumors that Bruce Jenner is a transgender woman.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/04/east-india-company-original-corporate-raiders?CMP=fb_gu" type="external">The East India Company: The Original Corporate Raiders</a> For a century, the East India Company conquered, subjugated and plundered vast tracts of south Asia. The lessons of its brutal reign have never been more relevant.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.journalism.org/2015/03/05/local-news-in-a-digital-age/" type="external">Local News Plays Critical Role in U.S, Though News Environments and Habits Vary Dramatically</a> Nearly nine-in-ten residents follow local news closely — and about half do so very closely, according to a detailed examination of local news ecologies in three different metro areas in the U.S.</p>
<p><a href="http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/03/la_river_urban_farm_chinatown_northeast_la.php" type="external">The Real Plan to Turn a Huge Swath of Northeast LA and Chinatown Into a Farm</a> With a big-time rehab headed for a huge stretch of the LA River, why not start rethinking the surrounding areas?</p>
<p><a href="http://thechiefleader.com/news/open_articles/toxic-avenger-returns-belching-more-poison/article_86663022-b859-11e4-bc1b-2f8d0ee7d0bb.html?mode=story" type="external">Giuliani: Toxic Avenger Returns, Belching More Poison</a> Rudy Giuliani was accused by one Washington Post columnist of ‘blowing a racist dog whistle’ for stating, ‘I do not believe that the President loves America…He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.’</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/page_one_meetings_symbolism_re.php" type="external">Will the New Page One Meetings Finally Make the Times Digital First?</a> Last Thursday, New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet announced a radical change: The Gray Lady’s twice-daily Page One meetings would no longer be focusing on the print paper.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/03/why-its-so-hard-to-stop-isis-propaganda/386216/" type="external">Why It’s So Hard to Stop Islamic State Propaganda</a> It requires telling a better story. And the U.S. hasn’t come up with one yet.</p>
<p><a href="http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/a-note-on-call-out-culture" type="external">A Note on Call-Out Culture</a> Call-out culture refers to the tendency among progressives, radicals, activists, and community organizers to publicly name instances or patterns of oppressive behaviour and language use by others.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/03/03/why-netanyahus-speech-didnt-do-his-american-allies-any-favors/?postshare=4561425425702743" type="external">Why Netanyahu’s Speech Didn’t Do His American Allies Any Favors</a> Tuesday’s speech to Congress by Benjamin Netanyahu may have been about theater (it isn’t like there was some confusion about his position on Iran that he had to come here to clarify), but it did put before the American public a forceful statement of the Likud/Republican position on the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/vince-vaughn-and-costars-pose-idiotic-stock-photos-you-can-have-free-163239" type="external">Vince Vaughn and Co-stars Pose for Idiotic Stock Photos You Can Have for Free</a> Stock photos have a bad rap. They’re campy and cheesy and the butt of plenty of jokes. But what’s great about them is they’re often the catalyst for promotions or gags—sort of a comedic blank slate.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/12/08/american-pastor-who-helped-uganda-create-kill-the-gays-law-will-be-tried-for-crimes-against-humanity/" type="external">American Pastor Who Helped Uganda Create ‘Kill The Gays’ Law Will Be Tried For Crimes Against Humanity</a> Most of us go our entire lives without ever standing trial for crimes against humanity.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/all-fiction-follows-one-of-six-basic-storylines-according-to-new-research-10073672.html" type="external">All Fiction Follows One of Six Basic Storylines, According to New Research</a> Begging to differ, John Walsh can’t even begin to number the ways.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/03/03/nutella_s_say_it_with_nutella_viral_marketing_campaign_what_we_can_learn.html?wpsrc=slatest_newsletter&amp;sid=5388d75cdd52b8870b00aa3d" type="external">Nutella’s Attempts to Keep People From Calling It “Poop” Are Valiant but Futile</a> Last week, Nutella launched a campaign in France called “Say It With Nutella.” This campaign did not, as I’d hoped, involve putting Nutella in frosting pens and letting people scrawl notes on toast with it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aarp.org/entertainment/style-trends/info-2015/bob-dylan-aarp-magazine.html?intcmp=ATMBB2" type="external">Bob Dylan Does the American Standards His Way</a> In his first interview in nearly three years, the legendary singer-songwriter talks about his new disc, ‘Shadows in the Night,’ his love for Frank Sinatra and about life in his 70s.</p> | 'Ten Years Ago, the BBC and Apple Had the Same Global Revenues' | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/ten-years-ago-the-bbc-and-apple-had-the-same-global-revenues/ | 2015-03-05 | 4 |
<p>The growing phenomenon of loneliness, which international experts have described as a global epidemic, may be responsible for as many deaths as obesity, according to the results of two meta-analyses presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association in Washington.</p>
<p>To examine the impact of social isolation and solitude on the risk of premature mortality, researchers conducted an initial meta-analysis of 148 studies that involved 300,000 participants.</p>
<p>The results confirmed the longevity benefits of a rich social life: a greater social connection is associated with a 50 percent reduction in the risk of premature mortality.</p>
<p>A second meta-analysis that brought together data from 70 studies involving some 3.4 million individuals, mainly in North America, but also in Europe, Asia and Australia, highlighted the same conclusions and drew attention to a major cause for concern: social isolation and solitude constitute risk factors that are at least as significant as others that have been previously identified, like obesity.</p>
<p>“With an increasing aging population, the effect on public health [of social isolation] is only anticipated to increase,” explains the lead author of the analysis, Dr Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Professor of Psychology at Brigham Young University, Utah.</p>
<p>Physical impact of loneliness</p>
<p>Previous studies have shown that social isolation is not good for the heart or arteries. In 2016, researchers at the University of York in England&#160;found&#160;that people living alone faced a 29 percent greater risk of heart attack and angina, and a 32 percent greater risk of stroke.</p>
<p>Researchers have demonstrated that loneliness has an impact on lifestyle including on high blood pressure, high cholesterol counts, and diabetes. People who live alone tend to exercise less, smoke more, and eat a less well-balanced diet.</p>
<p>Family, friends and the workplace</p>
<p>Social involvement in activities, like in the pursuit of hobbies or spending time with family and friends, is one of the keys to good health and psychological wellbeing.</p>
<p>The researchers recommended that people should prepare for retirement socially as well as financially, as for many people, the workplace is their biggest source of companionship.</p>
<p>in the United States, the most recent census found that more than a quarter of the population lives alone.</p>
<p>In France, a 2016 study conducted by Crédoc for the Fondation de France found that social isolation affects one person in ten.</p> | Loneliness Can Impact Longevity | false | https://newsline.com/loneliness-can-impact-longevity/ | 2017-08-08 | 1 |
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<p>“So who’s coming to the party?” a college friend asked once.</p>
<p>“You, me, the guy from next door and his friend.”</p>
<p>“That friend who never talks?”</p>
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<p>“He does talk!” I objected.</p>
<p>“He does, but only to you!”</p>
<p>Yes, boys did talk to me. And not in the same way they talked to the girls they were interested in. We talked about our shared interests, exchanged geeky books and talked about relationships. To them, I was just one of the guys.</p>
<p>For so many of my girlfriends, men were potential love interests first, friends later. For me, friendship was the default setting with men. They, like women, were potential friends, not potential love interests.</p>
<p>So I cherished these friends immensely and, somehow, ended up with one or two close male friends during each stage of my life.</p>
<p>In elementary school, there was a boy who lived in the same apartment complex; we would frequently talk about “Lord of the Rings.” I was dumbfounded when classmates would ask, “When are you going to get married?” Couldn’t a boy and a girl simply be friends?</p>
<p>In high school, there was a boy with whom I exchanged “Star Wars” books. The other reason I preferred to be friends with men: I was too shy and awkward for much else.</p>
<p>Being friends was one way I could have a little male attention that my friends were boasting about without the tension of romance and without the pressure to appear perfect to the other person.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>There were very few men at college, but somehow I managed to befriend one of them. One of the professors liked closing the door to the lecture room to make sure no one would be late. He would also give out a sign-up sheet to check attendance. We were allowed only two absences per year. I was late once and did not make it to class. My friend signed that sheet for me.</p>
<p>It was about this time that I met the man who was a friend first but soon became much more. In fact, I was so used to viewing men only as friends that, at first, I would not consider anything else for us. It was my other friends who sensed we would end up together. They were right.</p>
<p>This stream of male friends continued until I moved abroad, got married and had a child in very quick succession. While unrooted from my friends, both male and female, I had to start from scratch.</p>
<p>It was then that I realized that by prioritizing male friendships, I was missing out on having intimate connections with women. So I threw myself into those friendships with full force. I started attending a play group, which became my lifeline. This group kept my children entertained. The women from that group were the first ones to read my blog. They provided inspiration for new blog posts and gave feedback on my writing. They even found me a job.</p>
<p>The few encounters I’ve had with other men – mostly fathers of my children’s friends – are usually focused on the logistics of getting children to and from play dates. Besides, as one blogger noticed, there is something slightly awkward about being friends with someone of a different gender when one or both of you are married.</p>
<p>Despite all the progress women have made in the past few decades, play groups are still dominated by moms, at least in my case. Their husbands were working, while they had to get through the day with children without losing their minds.</p>
<p>If I were working in an office, I probably would have male colleagues as well as female ones, and I could imagine going out as a group. But somehow, one-on-one meetings with men no longer happen.</p>
<p>I am very happy as a wife and mother. But there are things from my former life that I miss. The freedom to go out just by myself, without the company of little people is one. Meeting a man for coffee, just as friends, is another. The only difference is that the former is becoming reality, but the latter probably never will.</p>
<p>friends-comment</p> | Where are all of my male friends? | false | https://abqjournal.com/869750/where-are-all-of-my-male-friends.html | 2 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />When it comes to the federal government’s seemingly muted response to a severe drought in its most populous, richest state, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-feinstein-bill-drought-relief-california-20140608-story.html" type="external">Republicans</a> and <a href="http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/may/25/congress-must-help-with-californias-drought/" type="external">Democrats</a> in Congress have faced sharp <a href="http://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinion/4119508-181/pd-editorial-getting-a-say" type="external">criticism</a>.</p>
<p>GOP lawmakers from California and their supporters are accused of offering solutions that abandon responsible policies that follow federal law in protecting the&#160;Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta Estuary’s ecosystem and its endangered species.</p>
<p>Democratic lawmakers from California and their supporters are accused of being too concerned about preserving the Delta at any cost, and in doing so showing indifference to the fate of poor people in the Central Valley who need agricultural jobs.</p>
<p>Both parties in Congress have been knocked for their inability to work together on a crucially important issue.</p>
<p>But recent media coverage has had a third focus of criticism: the Obama administration, which has been depicted as distracted and detached when it comes to helping California deal with its mass water shortage.</p>
<p>Perhaps the toughest <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article31523159.html" type="external">assessment</a> yet came last week from the McClatchy newspaper chain’s Washington bureau. McClatchy’s Sacramento Bee and Fresno Bee papers gave it prominent play. Here’s a sampling:</p>
<p>With more than 70 percent&#160;of California now classified in a state of “exceptional” or “extreme” drought, Uncle Sam is floundering.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“We need leadership from the federal government,” pleaded Cannon Michael, a politically engaged farmer from Los Banos in California’s acutely dry San Joaquin Valley.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>But so far, dynamic federal leadership has been lacking. Some of that is inevitable. Western water use poses too many inherent conflicts to unify all factions. Some people refuse to be led, and the drought is, at bottom, a state matter. Certain federal shortcomings, though, seem like self-inflicted wounds.&#160;…</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The&#160;Obama administration lacks confirmed leaders in key positions. Four top water-related jobs at the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality have remained vacant for months, at least in part because of resistance from Senate Republicans. …</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>President Barack Obama has not used his bully pulpit to persistently drive a Western water agenda. He has visited California 28 times during his presidency, but his lone trip to the state’s San Joaquin Valley, ground zero for the drought, occurred 18 months ago.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“I think the Obama administration is missing a golden opportunity to provide leadership,” Dan Beard, a Democrat and former Bureau of Reclamation commissioner, said in an interview. “So far, we’ve had nothing but radio silence from them on the drought.”</p>
<p>But the White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/06/12/fact-sheet-supporting-workers-farmers-and-communities-suffering-drought" type="external">rejects</a> the narrative that it has done little.&#160;And CQ Weekly’s most recent <a href="http://cqrcengage.com/holiday/app/document/8694879;jsessionid=-IN40PLJ5BnKLT8d1ljIJEIY.undefined" type="external">analysis</a> of Washington’s response to the drought depicted the most consequential federal failure in the drought response to lie with Congress. It noted the Obama administration had ordered $110 million in emergency drought relief measures to help Western states with most going to California. CQ Weekly said the inability of Congress to respond was particularly ominous for the future of federal environmental policies:</p>
<p>For the most part, the debate is not bogged down by partisanship — in fact, some Democrats are sounding like Republicans on select issues. Members of both parties want to help quench California’s thirst by directing more pumping from two massive government water projects and boosting water storage for times of need.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>But divisions over states’ rights, the environment and the role of agriculture have left many in Washington at odds, and attempts to tackle the problem in previous years have foundered. Still, how Congress deals with drought in California could set a standard for policy reforms across the United States, as droughts affect more regions and science suggests such environmental disruptions could become increasingly common as the Earth’s climate warms.</p>
<p>The CQ Weekly piece praised Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is cited by virtually all Washington reporters who write about the federal response to California’s drought as being the adult in the room. Her reputation for centrism has often been boosted by her environmental moderation.</p>
<p>But after more than <a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article19527885.html" type="external">nine months</a> of stop-and-start negotiations, Feinstein still hasn’t hit on a deal that both House Republicans and a majority of the Senate will accept.</p> | CA drought: New front in federal blame game | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2015/08/24/ca-drought-new-front-federal-blame-game/ | 2018-08-20 | 3 |
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<p>Nigeria's former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki , centre, arrives for a hearing to face charges of possessing weapons illegally, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria, Monday, Dec. 14, 2015. Nigeria's former national security adviser says $47 million was withdrawn in cash from the Central Bank on the order of former President Goodluck Jonathan and was used to pay delegates at a party presidential nomination conference. Retired Col. Sambo Dasuki submitted the written statement before he was charged Monday at the Federal High Court with 19 counts of money-laundering and criminal breach of trust connected to the disappearance of $2.1 billion meant to buy arms to fight Boko Haram. (AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga)</p>
<p>LAGOS, Nigeria - Nigeria's former national security adviser pleaded innocent Monday to embezzling $2.1 billion meant to purchase arms to fight Boko Haram, and said some of the money was diverted on the then-president's order to try to get himself re-elected.</p>
<p>The former senior security official, Sambo Dasuki, said that part of the money - $47 million - was withdrawn from the Central Bank on then President Goodluck Jonathan's orders to pay delegates to nominate him to run for re-election as his party's candidate. Dasuki's allegation was submitted in a written statement before he was charged at the Federal High Court with 19 counts of money-laundering and criminal breach of trust connected to the disappearance of state funds.</p>
<p>Former finance director Shuaibu Salisu also pleaded not guilty. He allegedly told the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission that he collected $47 million and 5.6 million euros stuffed into 11 suitcases from the Central Bank at night and delivered it to Dasuki's home in November 2014, according to an officer at the commission. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to reporters.</p>
<p>Dasuki's statement said: "The money was exchanged (by the Central Bank) at $47 million and some euros - The money was for delegates that attended the nomination convention for the PDP (People's Democratic Party) presidential nomination. The money was paid and sent to Hon. Dudafa and ADC (aide-de-camp) for distribution on the instruction of the president." Warripamowei Dudafa, a special assistant to Jonathan, is wanted by the commission but is "now at large," according to the charge sheet.</p>
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<p>The party conference chose Jonathan, who lost the election last March to former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari, in part because of Jonathan's failure to fight Boko Haram's Islamic uprising. On Jonathan's watch, the extremists took over a large swath of northeast Nigeria and held it for months before Nigerian and Chadian troops drove them out shortly before the elections.</p>
<p>Buhari has said thousands of people died because Nigerian troops were not adequately equipped to defend them from Boko Haram. Some 20,000 people have died in the extremists? 6-year-old insurgency.</p>
<p>In a related case, the High Court on Monday allowed bail equivalent to $1 million to media magnate Raymond Dokpesi of African Independent Television, who is accused of fraud for receiving $10.5 million from Dasuki's office - supposedly earmarked for weapons - to broadcast features favorable to Jonathan.</p>
<p>Dasuki, who had usurped the Ministry of Defense role in purchasing arms, has been detained by the crimes commission for more than a week despite a court order allowing him bail.</p> | Nigerian security official charged in $2.1 billion arms scandal | false | https://abqjournal.com/691125/nigerian-security-official-charged-in-2-1-billion-arms-scandal.html | 2 |
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<p>Smith &amp; Wesson Holding is melding a love for the great outdoors with firearms into one giant enterprise. Image source: Flickr via Kyle Post.</p>
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<p>I agree with my Foolish colleague Rich Smith that Smith &amp; Wesson Holding (NASDAQ: SWHC) is <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/08/smith-wesson-holding-corp-just-doubled-its-debt-au.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">about to go shopping Opens a New Window.</a>, but I think instead of buying another gun manufacturer, it has a different idea in mind.</p>
<p>Late last month, Smith &amp; Wesson doubled the size of its revolving line of credit from $175 million to $350 million, while tripling the size of its existing credit facilities from $50 million to $150 million, actions that give it access to $500 million in financing, an ample cushion to make a big purchase.</p>
<p>Coming as it did just before the presidential elections, Rich was right to suggest it was done either in anticipation of an even bigger gun-buying boom than it's already enjoying as a result of a candidate who <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/30/9-ways-hillary-clintons-gun-control-plan-could-cha.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">favored tighter gun restrictions Opens a New Window.</a>potentially winning office, or Smith &amp; Wesson was looking to shore up holes in its business. An acquisition of a rival gunmaker would certainly fit the bill, and having sufficient lines of credit to backstop its large and growing stockpile of cash would help it punch back any competitive bid by Sturm, Ruger (NYSE: RGR), which has an equally impressive balance sheet.</p>
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<p>It also wouldn't be the first time Smith &amp; Wesson bought another gun maker. In 2007, it purchased Thompson/Center Arms for $102 million cash, a hunting rifle manufacturer withexpertise in making long-gun barrels. Coupled with the introduction of its own modern sporting rifle, Smith &amp; Wesson has since expanded its business into multiple segments of the long-gun market and perfectly positioned itself to capture the change in consumer preference for these firearms. It saw shipments of long guns more than double last quarter, far outstripping the gains it saw in higher handgun shipments, which rose less than 40%.</p>
<p>Image source: Flickr via zombieite.</p>
<p>Beyond rifles, though, concealed carry weapons (CCW) are one of the hottest segments today, topping the list of most popular firearms on the market. The Smith &amp; Wesson M&amp;P Shield, designed specifically for the CCW market, always sits atop such lists. While other top manufacturers like Beretta, Glock, Ruger, and Sig Sauer all manufacture leading CCW handguns, their size might be prohibitive for Smith &amp; Wesson to acquire. A company like Colt Manufacturing, however, which just exited bankruptcy earlier this year and has a popular Lightweight Commander version of the Model 1911 that's perfect for concealed carry, might be more within the realm of possibility.</p>
<p>Two storied handgun manufacturers combined to produce today's top firearms would be a formidable competitor.</p>
<p>But while a firearms acquisition is one path Smith &amp; Wesson could take, I think it's already signaled the road it's going to be heading down when it makes purchases: accessories and outdoors sporting goods.</p>
<p>Three times in the last six months the leading gunmaker has made an acquisition, and each time it's been for a business that <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/27/seeking-less-reliance-on-guns-smith-wesson-buys-up.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">supplements and extends Opens a New Window.</a>Smith &amp; Wesson's weapons-making capabilities rather than directly adding to it.</p>
<p>And perhaps more significantly, just three days after buying the extreme outdoors equipment maker, Smith &amp; Wesson said it was going to ask its shareholders to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/17/you-wont-believe-the-huge-mistake-this-gunmaker-is.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">change the company name Opens a New Window.</a> to American Outdoor Brands.</p>
<p>If Smith &amp; Wesson is going on a shopping spree, it's going to be in this segment, bringing it closer in composition to Vista Outdoorand less like firearms pure-play Ruger. Vista is a major outdoors sporting equipment maker, but it also owns Savage Arms, a manufacturer of rifles and shotguns, as well as Federal Premium ammunition.</p>
<p>Each of the recent purchases Smith &amp; Wesson made were for less than $100 million, meaning its $500 million available credit would allow it to make a handful of such purchases with ease, giving it more bang for its buck. In fact, earlier this year, that's exactly what it said it was going to do when Smith &amp; Wesson said it would create three new divisions for outdoor products as part of a broad restructuring.</p>
<p>Now it did purchase UST right after getting its new credit facility, and its investor presentation earlier this year also suggested plugging holes in its firearms portfolio, such as in shotguns (where it has a negligible presence), meaning a firearms manufacturer acquisition is still possible. But I think you will find Smith &amp; Wesson continuing to build out the accessories and sporting goods side first to further align itself with its corporate transformation goal.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFCop/info.aspx" type="external">Rich Duprey Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Is Smith & Wesson Holding Preparing to Make Another Acquisition? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/02/is-smith-wesson-holding-preparing-to-make-another-acquisition.html | 2016-12-02 | 0 |
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