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<p>MILAN (Reuters) – U.S. hedge fund Christofferson Robb &amp; Company (CRC) has presented an offer to buy Banca Carige’s (MI:) consumer credit unit Creditis, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The bank, which is selling assets and on Wednesday launched a 560 million euros capital increase to strengthen its balance sheet, must accept the offer by Wednesday and close the sale by Dec. 6, according to the prospectus for the capital increase.</p>
<p>Accepting the offer is a key condition for CRC to take on unsold shares in the capital increase under an existing accord with broker Equita.</p>
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<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Fund CRC presents an offer for Carige's consumer credit unit-source | false | https://newsline.com/fund-crc-presents-an-offer-for-carige039s-consumer-credit-unit-source/ | 2017-11-22 | 1 |
<p>Accountancy firm Deloitte has lost its appeal against a regulatory ruling that it failed to manage conflicts of interest in its advice to MG Rover Group and the "Phoenix Four" directors who bought the British carmaker before it collapsed.</p>
<p>Deloitte said on Monday the decision could have wider implications and force all accountants to examine what advice they can give. It will sound out business and accounting bodies on whether to mount a further appeal on some points.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>MG Rover was put into administration in 2005 with debts of 1.4 billion pounds ($2.1 billion) and the loss of 6,000 jobs. Four of its directors had set up Phoenix to buy the loss-making carmaker for a token 10 pounds five years earlier.</p>
<p>The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which regulates accountants, said last year Deloitte and an employee, Maghsoud Einollahi, had failed to properly manage conflicts of interest.</p>
<p>Deloitte and Einollahi had acted as corporate finance advisers to companies involved with MG Rover and the Phoenix Four, while Deloitte was also auditing MG Rover.</p>
<p>Deloitte's challenge to that decision was heard on Monday.</p>
<p>The FRC said in a statement its ruling was upheld in a hearing at the International Dispute Resolution Centre.</p>
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<p>"The outcome of this tribunal sends a strong clear reminder to all accountants and accountancy firms that they have a responsibility to act in the public interest in the work they undertake," FRC executive director for conduct Paul George said.</p>
<p>The tribunal is now hearing what sanctions the FRC wants to impose and the result is due later on Monday or Tuesday. It has powers to impose unlimited fines and suspensions.</p>
<p>Deloitte said it was surprised and disappointed by the outcome and disagreed with its main conclusions.</p>
<p>The firm, one of the world's "Big Four" accountants, said its advice, which was not criticized, helped to generate over 650 million pounds of value for MG Rover Group and kept the company alive for a further five years.</p> | Deloitte Loses Appeal In MG Rover Disciplinary Case | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/07/29/deloitte-loses-appeal-in-mg-rover-disciplinary-case.html | 2016-01-25 | 0 |
<p>“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” said Donald Trump to James Comey on February 14, a day after General Flynn was fired as national security special assistant. With those words, which Comey is said to have dutifully recorded in a memo, Trump may have put himself on the path to political oblivion. For the first time we have proof that the president directly interfered in a federal investigation, a criminal offense. To his credit, Comey did not “let it go.”</p>
<p>Every day brings bad news for Trump’s presidency. Every day is a reminder that this man is mentally, temperamentally, and politically unfit for the highest office. Every day also brings new risks to national security, which is in the hands of a commander in chief who is impulsive, uninformed, impervious to expert advice, and given to sudden movements that could mean war. Donald Trump must go, but how?</p>
<p>Up until now I thought our and the nation’s best hope was that somehow, some way, the Republican leadership in Congress would feel compelled by Trump’s outrageous behavior to start the ball rolling toward impeachment. Trump’s bald-faced interference on Flynn’s behalf leads me to a different denouement: his resignation, forced by the same Republicans who would otherwise never be persuaded to start impeachment proceedings.</p>
<p>What is the decisive factor now? Trump’s clear obstruction of justice may be the tipping point for Republican leaders who see no way that a conservative social and economic agenda can be achieved with Trump in office. Trump’s criminal interference shortens the timeline, and feeds their well-reported impatience with him. The Republicans knew all along that Trump was a wild card; but they had no idea how extraordinarily difficult his conduct would make their job. Now they surely must see that their preferred road ahead is going to be eternally blocked by Russiagate investigations. Immigration, taxes, health care, infrastructure jobs, environmental protection laws, abortion, border security—dramatic legislative changes the Republican leadership had planned in all these areas simply cannot move forward with Trump at the helm.</p>
<p>In short, I believe the Republicans are going to decide that they cannot keep sitting on their hands, making up excuses for Trump while watching their moment for remaking America slip by.</p>
<p>The other side of the coin for Republican leaders is a Pence presidency: Would it make their life easier? From their perspective, I believe they would think so. To be sure, Pence would lose a fair number of Trump working-class supporters as well as the Breitbart-Bannon wing of the conservative elite. But Pence would be much more ideologically in tune with Ryan and McConnell, and far more devoted to pushing their legislative agenda. The Republicans would still have the edge in Congress, and under Pence would have a better chance than under Trump to keep that edge in 2018. Maybe they would have to bend a little when dealing with the Democrats, but bending might now look much better than breaking.</p>
<p>So at the risk of engaging in wishful thinking, I am going to predict a Republican turnabout on Trump. Its leaders are going to push Trump to resign “for the good of the country and the party.” And Trump will decide that resignation—“I never liked the job anyway, and running my empire in more fun”—is a better way out than suffering the prolonged indignity of the impeachment process. To which the Republicans will say, amen.</p> | Watergate II? A Scenario for Trump’s Resignation | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/05/19/watergate-ii-a-scenario-for-trumps-resignation/ | 2017-05-19 | 4 |
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<p>PENNSYLVANIA Pittsburgh Post-GazetteTuesday, March 11, 2003</p>
<p>By Tom Gibb, Post-Gazette Staff Writer</p>
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<p>HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. -- The bishop of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown defended himself from allegations of letting pedophile priests go unfettered, acknowledging in a diocesan newspaper mailed yesterday that he has active priests accused of molestation -- but none against whom charges were proven "despite active investigation."</p>
<p>Bishop Joseph Adamec, writing in the biweekly Catholic Register, told the diocese -- shaken by two new lawsuits detailing abuse allegations against 11 priests -- that pedophilia "will not be tolerated" and that episodes cited so far were supposed to have occurred before his 15-year watch.</p>
<p>But, he lamented, "no matter what or how much I do, it is not going to be the right thing or enough in everyone's eyes."</p>
<p>It wasn't.</p>
<p>The leader of a national coalition of abuse victims said the statement shows Adamec, unlike other bishops, refusing to shoulder blame for mistakes in handling abuse cases.</p> | Altoona-Johnstown bishop defends actions on accused priests | false | https://poynter.org/news/altoona-johnstown-bishop-defends-actions-accused-priests | 2003-03-11 | 2 |
<p>COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Denmark’s central bank said Wednesday that several indicators suggest risks are building up in the financial system, and that a few of the country’s largest banks do not have sufficient capital to meet buffer requirements.</p>
<p>The largest banks and mortgage banks, including Denmark’s top lender Danske Bank (CO:), saw record high profits in the first half of 2017, which boosted optimism in the financial sector and helped increase risk appetite, the central bank said.</p>
<p>“Several banks are stepping on the accelerator by easing credit standards and granting loans to more vulnerable customers,” Lars Rohde, the chairman of the central bank board of governors, said in a statement.</p>
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<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Denmark's central bank says risks are building up in the financial system | false | https://newsline.com/denmark039s-central-bank-says-risks-are-building-up-in-the-financial-system/ | 2017-11-29 | 1 |
<p>BEIJING (Reuters) - China is willing to show utmost goodwill towards self-ruled Taiwan but won’t allow its separation from China, the country’s defense ministry said on Thursday after Taiwan’s president said she does not rule out the possibility of a Chinese attack.</p> A rainbow is seen behind Taiwanese flag during the National Day celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan, October 10, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
<p>Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said this week she does not exclude the possibility of China attacking them, amid heightened tensions between the two sides including an increasing number of Chinese military drills near Taiwan.</p>
<p>Beijing has taken an increasingly hostile stance towards Taiwan, which it considers a breakaway province, since the election two years ago of Tsai of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party.</p>
<p>China suspects Tsai wants to push for formal independence, a red line for Communist Party leaders in Beijing, though she has said she wants to maintain the status quo and is committed to ensuring peace.</p>
<p>Asked about Tsai’s attack remarks, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said China is willing to show the greatest amount of goodwill to seek “peaceful reunification”.</p>
<p>“But we will certainly will not allow Taiwan to separate from the motherland,” Wu told a regular monthly news briefing.</p>
<p>In recent months, China has stepped up military drills around Taiwan, alarming Taipei. China says the exercises are routine.</p>
<p>The Chinese aircraft carrier the Liaoning has this month sailed twice through the Taiwan Strait, the narrow stretch of water separating the two sides.</p>
<p>Wu said a carrier group led by the Liaoning had recently conducted training in accordance with an annual training schedule, to test the performance of equipment. He give no other details.</p>
<p>China considers proudly democratic Taiwan to be its sacred territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under Chinese control.</p>
<p>Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Finland is the world’s happiest country, according to an annual survey issued on Wednesday that found Americans were getting less happy even as their country became richer.</p> FILE PHOTO: Tia Rope and Joonas Saukkonen (L) and Katja Hyvarinen and Jukka Podduikin, all of Finland, compete during the Wife Carrying World Championships in Sonkajarvi, Finland July 2, 2016. Lehtikuva/Timo Hartikainen/via REUTERS/File Photo
<p>Burundi came bottom in the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s (SDSN) 2018 World Happiness Report which ranked 156 countries according to things such as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, social freedom, generosity and absence of corruption.</p>
<p>Taking the harsh, dark winters in their stride, Finns said access to nature, safety, childcare, good schools and free healthcare were among the best things about in their country.</p>
<p>“I’ve joked with the other Americans that we are living the American dream here in Finland,” said Brianna Owens, who moved from the United States and is now a teacher in Espoo, Finland’s second biggest city with a population of around 280,000.</p>
<p>“I think everything in this society is set up for people to be successful, starting with university and transportation that works really well,” Owens told Reuters.</p>
<p>Finland, rose from fifth place last year to oust Norway from the top spot. The 2018 top-10, as ever dominated by the Nordics, is: Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Netherlands Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia.</p>
<p>The United States came in at 18th, down from 14th place last year. Britain was 19th and the United Arab Emirates 20th.</p>
<p>One chapter of the 170-page report is dedicated to emerging health problems such as obesity, depression and the opioid crisis, particularly in the United States where the prevalence of all three has grown faster than in most other countries.</p>
<p>While U.S. income per capita has increased markedly over the last half century, happiness has been hit by weakened social support networks, a perceived rise in corruption in government and business and declining confidence in public institutions.</p> FILE PHOTO: People sit on the steps of Helsinki Cathedral on a sunny day in Helsinki, Finland, May 3, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo
<p>“We obviously have a social crisis in the United States: more inequality, less trust, less confidence in government,” the head of the SDSN, Professor Jeffrey Sachs of New York’s Columbia University, told Reuters as the report was launched at the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences.</p>
<p>“It’s pretty stark right now. The signs are not good for the U.S. It is getting richer and richer but not getting happier.”</p>
<p>Asked how the current political situation in the United States could affect future happiness reports, Sachs said:</p> Slideshow (4 Images)
<p>“Time will tell, but I would say that in general that when confidence in government is low, when perceptions of corruption are high, inequality is high and health conditions are worsening ... that is not conducive to good feelings.”</p>
<p>For the first time since it was started in 2012, the report, which uses a variety of polling organizations, official figures and research methods, ranked the happiness of foreign-born immigrants in 117 countries.</p>
<p>Finland took top honors in that category too, giving the country a statistical double-gold status.</p>
<p>The foreign-born were least happy in Syria, which has been mired in civil war for seven years.</p>
<p>“The most striking finding of the report is the remarkable consistency between the happiness of immigrants and the locally born,” said Professor John Helliwell of Canada’s University of British Columbia.</p>
<p>“Although immigrants come from countries with very different levels of happiness, their reported life evaluations converge towards those of other residents in their new countries,” he said.</p>
<p>“Those who move to happier countries gain, while those who move to less happy countries lose.”</p>
<p>Reporting By Philip Pullella; Additional reporting by Reuters television in Finland; Editing by Robin Pomeroy</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>KABUL (Reuters) - The United States is seeing signs of interest from elements of Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgency about talks with Kabul to end the more than 16-year-old war, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday, as he made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan.</p> Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Kabul, Afghanistan March 13, 2018. REUTERS/Phil Stewart
<p>Mattis offered few details about the Taliban outreach and it was unclear whether the latest reconciliation prospects would prove any more fruitful than previous, frustrated attempts to move toward a negotiated end to America’s longest war.</p>
<p>Taliban fighters still control large parts of the country and any new battlefield gains by U.S. and U.S.-backed Afghan forces cannot promise to overcome Afghanistan’s yawning political divisions and entrenched corruption.</p>
<p>“We’ve had some groups of Taliban - small groups - who have either started to come over or expressed an interest in talking,” Mattis told reporters traveling with him.</p>
<p>Mattis comments came during a trip to Afghanistan that is expected to precede a sharp increase in fighting after U.S. President Donald Trump approved a more aggressive strategy against the insurgents last year that included more U.S. combat advisors and air strikes.</p>
<p>That reversed a trend of scheduled drawdowns under his predecessor, Barack Obama, and set the stage for an open-ended conflict.</p>
<p>Trump has also piled pressure on Pakistan to crack down on militant safe havens on its side of the Afghan-Pakistan border. Mattis noted some positive indications from Islamabad, including Pakistani military operations along the border.</p>
<p>Trump has made no secret of anger toward Pakistan or his pessimism about Taliban peace talks, declaring on Jan. 29 after a series of Taliban attacks in Afghanistan: “I don’t see any talking taking place.”</p>
<p>But Afghan President Ashraf Ghani offered talks without preconditions with the Taliban insurgents last month, in what was seen by U.S. officials as a major overture from Kabul.</p> GAME CHANGER
<p>Ghani, hosting Mattis at his presidential palace in Kabul, described the new U.S. strategy as a game changer, allowing Kabul to extend its peace offer to the Taliban without doing so from a position of weakness.</p>
<p>Afghanistan experts have long worried that a precipitous U.S. exit could usher in defeat for the Afghan army.</p> U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is escorted into the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan March 13, 2018. REUTERS/Phil Stewart
<p>“It has been a game changer because it has forced every actor to re-examine their assumptions,” Ghani said.</p>
<p>Western diplomats and officials in Kabul say contacts involving intermediaries have been underway with the aim of agreeing on ground rules and potential areas of discussion for possible talks with at least some elements in the Taliban.</p>
<p>However, the insurgents, who seized a district center in western Afghanistan this week, have given no public sign of accepting Ghani’s offer, instead issuing several statements suggesting they intended to keep fighting.</p>
<p>U.S. Army Brigadier General Michael Fenzel, a top coalition official, said he interpreted the Taliban’s silence as a positive signal that the Taliban were considering Ghani’s offer.</p> Slideshow (2 Images)
<p>“I also wonder whether or not they’re saying to themselves perhaps this is the best negotiating position (we) will ever have,” Fenzel said.</p>
<p>Mattis stressed that the military campaign was aimed at driving the insurgents toward a political reconciliation, as opposed to an outright battlefield defeat.</p>
<p>“It may not be that the whole Taliban comes over in one fell swoop. That may be a bridge too far to expect,” Mattis said.</p>
<p>“But there are elements of the Taliban clearly interested in talking to the Afghan government.”</p>
<p>Uzbekistan is set to host an Afghan peace conference this month, where participants are expected to call for direct talks between the militant group and Ghani’s government.</p>
<p>However, the Taliban appears likely to miss that conference and have ruled out direct talks with the Western-backed government in Kabul, which they say is an illegitimate, foreign-imposed regime.</p>
<p>They have offered to talk directly to the United States about a possible peace agreement.</p>
<p>Asked whether the United States would be willing to talk directly with the Taliban, Mattis reiterated the U.S. position that the talks should be led by Kabul.</p>
<p>“We want the Afghans to lead and provide the substance to the reconciliation effort,” Mattis said.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by James Mackenzie; Editing by Paul Tait and James Dalgleish</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Britain’s response to the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal on its soil, using a nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union, could hit members of the Russian elite hard if it closes the door on their London lifestyles.</p> Members of the emergency services wearing protective clothing work next to a children's play area near the bench where former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found poisoned in Salisbury, Britain, March 13, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
<p>Britain gave Russian President Vladimir Putin until midnight on Tuesday to provide an explanation for the attack, and is due to consider its official response on Wednesday.</p>
<p>One possible counter-measure, suggested by British lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, could involve denying Russia’s so-called oligarchs access to the luxuries of London, where many have channeled their fortunes, traded their companies and relocated their family lives.</p>
<p>Most prominent among the residents of “Londongrad”, as the British capital has been nicknamed for its popularity among the Russian elite, are Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov, respectively owner and major shareholder of the English football clubs Chelsea and Arsenal.</p>
<p>But they are far from alone. Around 10-15 percent of the 96 Russians on the so-called “oligarch list” published by the U.S. Treasury Department in January could have close ties to Britain, according to Vladimir Ashurkov, a businessman and critic of the Kremlin based in London.</p>
<p>“It’s very possible that Britain will take measures that could affect these individuals,” Ashurkov said.</p>
<p>“We know that London is a large haven for money that come from Russia ... Britain has the capacity to investigate this money and the activity of specific people,” he added.</p>
<p>Among the best-known are a group of long-time business partners associated with the investment vehicle LetterOne, which sports three offices in London’s wealthy Mayfair district alone.</p>
<p>The firm’s founder, Mikhail Fridman, owns a mansion in London’s Highgate, according to the company restoring the property.</p>
<p>One of the firm’s investors, Petr Aven, has given journalists tours around his estate in Surrey, in the southeast of England.</p> Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich applauds fans after winning the Premier League, May 21, 2017. Reuters / Hannah McKay Livepic
<p>Cutting Russians off from the British education system would also sting. One of Fridman’s children attends a prestigious British boarding school, photos on his social media account suggest.</p>
<p>Two sons of Russian entrepreneur and Tinkoff Bank owner Oleg Tinkov attend private school in Britain, according to their LinkedIn and Facebook profiles.</p>
<p>And two of Aven’s children have described attending school in Britain before going on to study at Yale University in the United States.</p>
<p>Some wealthy Russians are in London specifically because they have fallen foul of the Kremlin.</p> Slideshow (2 Images)
<p>After being fired as Moscow mayor in 2010, Yuri Luzhkov moved his family to London, saying he feared for their safety.</p>
<p>Last December Yelena Baturina, his wife and Russia’s wealthiest woman, was made a director of the charity the Mayor’s Fund for London, according to Britain’s business directory Companies House.</p>
<p>Their daughter Olga studied at University College London, her social media accounts show.</p> Related Video
<p>It is by no means certain that oligarchs bringing their money home would receive a warm welcome, said Christopher Weafer, senior partner at Macro-Advisory, a consultancy in Moscow.</p>
<p>“Oligarchs could find themselves in the middle, in the firing ground as it were,” Weafer said.</p>
<p>“They could be the target of sanctions applied by the UK government, but on the other hand they will get absolutely no sympathy in Russia, because they brought their money out and spent it outside the country.”</p>
<p>Reuters has no evidence that any of the people mentioned, or their businesses, are going to be subject to any new British restrictions.</p>
<p>Editing by Kevin Liffey</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) - Japan’s foreign minister said on Wednesday he personally regretted the departure of “frank, trustworthy” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ahead of a proposed summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.</p>
<p>Trump fired Tillerson on Tuesday after a series of public rifts over policy on North Korea and other issues, replacing him with loyalist Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo.</p>
<p>“He (Tillerson) was a frank, trustworthy counterpart and I thought we would deal with the North Korea issue together, but personally, I feel that this situation that has developed is unfortunate,” Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told reporters in Tokyo.</p>
<p>“For sure, America holds the key, so I want to meet his successor as secretary of state soon and exchange views on North Korea and other matters,” Kono said.</p>
<p>Critics expressed dismay at the decision to swap out top diplomats so soon before the unprecedented potential meeting between Kim and Trump, and worried that Pompeo would encourage Trump to be hawkish on North Korea.</p>
<p>South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha decided to go ahead with a planned trip to Washington to discuss North Korea despite Tillerson’s departure, the ministry said in a text message. An official had earlier said she would cancel the visit.</p>
<p>Other South Korean officials, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that while Pompeo was known to have hardline views on North Korea, he was a seasoned politician and seemed to know how to compromise.</p>
<p>“We’re aware that Pompeo was one of the strongest voices in the talk of military action and fed Trump related assessments, but things have since changed a lot,” one senior official said, referring to upcoming inter-Korean talks and the prospect of a Kim-Trump summit. “So, we will see.”</p>
<p>Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China hopes the change in personnel will not impact the development of relations and important areas of cooperation.</p>
<p>“We of course hope that the positive momentum on the Korean peninsula, including the political will for talks of both the United States and North Korea, will be maintained,” Lu told a daily news briefing.</p> Slideshow (3 Images) CHINA CONTACT CRUCIAL
<p>Shares in Japanese defense equipment makers rose sharply on speculation that geopolitical tensions may rise after the firing of Tillerson and Pompeo’s appointment. Ishikawa Seisakusho ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=6208.T" type="external">6208.T</a>) surged as much as 15 percent, while Howa Machinery ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=6203.T" type="external">6203.T</a>) jumped 11 percent.</p>
<p>Jia Qingguo, an expert on Chinese diplomacy at Peking University in Beijing, said China may see positive outcomes from the change when it comes to the U.S. position on the Belt and Road initiative, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy initiative.</p>
<p>“Tillerson has at times been quite critical of China, including of Belt and Road,” Jia said. “Trump is not as hawkish on China as many assume. He has tried to communicate and to cut a deal.”</p>
<p>Coming from the CIA, Pompeo is more likely to see China as a threat but his views will probably soften, Jia said.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=6208.T" type="external">Ishikawa Seisakusho Ltd</a> 2250.0 6208.T Tokyo Stock Exchange +148.00 (+7.04%) 6208.T 6203.T
<p>“Once you are in the secretary of state position, you need to be more pragmatic and take into account the huge stakes involved, so the impact will not be as big as some people expect.”</p>
<p>Most important for China was that Pompeo makes contact with his Chinese counterparts to ensure a smooth meeting between Kim and Trump as soon as possible, said Ruan Zongze, a former Chinese diplomat now with the China Institute of International Studies, a think tank affiliated with the Foreign Ministry.</p>
<p>“Time is short. There are a lot things to do. Every day is very important,” he said.</p>
<p>Pompeo is also known for his hawkish views on trade. He takes over as the chief U.S. diplomat as the United States is finalizing the imposition of hefty tariffs on steel and aluminum that have upset a number of Asian trading partners.</p>
<p>Close ally Australia, which is working through an exemption from the U.S. tariffs, welcomed Pompeo’s appointment.</p>
<p>“We know him very well,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters. “He’s&#160;a great friend of Australia. The transition will be absolutely&#160;seamless. Our relationship with the United States, as you know, is&#160;outstanding at so many levels from&#160;the president and myself, right&#160;through the military, intelligence, diplomacy and business.”</p>
<p>South Korea is the largest supplier of steel to the United States not to have secured an exemption from the tariffs and is facing pressure from Trump over the two countries’ free-trade deal.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-usa-trump-tillerson-kremlin/russia-hopes-for-constructive-ties-with-u-s-after-tillerson-firing-kremlin-idUSKCN1GQ10M" type="external">Russia hopes for constructive ties with U.S. after Tillerson firing: Kremlin</a>
<p>“It is our joint understanding with the United States that strong cooperation be maintained through close communication between South Korea and the United States regardless of U.S. personnel changes as there are important issues, including the North Korea nuclear issue, the U.S.-South Korea alliance and trade matters,” South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Colin Packham in SYDNEY, Elaine Lies and Ayai Tomisawa in TOKYO, Josh Smith and Christine Kim in SEOUL, and Christian Shepherd in BEIJING; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Paul Tait and Michael Perry</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | China says has goodwill toward Taiwan, but won't allow separation Finland is world's happiest country, U.S. discontent grows: U.N. report U.S. detecting Taliban interest in Afghan peace talks: Mattis After spy is poisoned, Britain mulls closing door to London for Russia's rich Tokyo bids farewell to 'trustworthy' Tillerson, Seoul awaits seasoned Pompeo | false | https://reuters.com/article/us-china-taiwan-defence/china-says-has-goodwill-toward-taiwan-but-wont-allow-separation-idUSKBN1FE1A0 | 2018-01-25 | 2 |
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<p>After 14 years at 2817 San Mateo NE, <a href="http://heartandsolesports.net/" type="external">Heart &amp; Sole</a> had out-grown its environs, owner Stan Hockerson said. Rather than relocate to a larger building, he expanded with a second store.</p>
<p>The new store - at Eubank and Montgomery - opened earlier this month.</p>
<p>"I never can measure how much business I lose on Saturdays (on San Mateo) because we have such a small parking lot here, so I thought I better open up another one," Hockerson said.</p>
<p>He said the expansion was long overdue, citing 13 years of growth.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Heart &amp; Sole specializes in running shoes but has made its mark catering to customers with medical conditions or injuries such as neuropathy or plantar fasciitis, Hockersan said. He estimates that 75 percent of the business is medical, much of it referred to him by doctors.</p>
<p>The new location is smaller than the flagship store - only 1,700 square feet - but, Hockerson said, has "tons of parking."</p>
<p>The new location, at 4301 Eubank NE, is open seven days a week.</p> | Growing Albuquerque shoe store adds second site | false | https://abqjournal.com/382780/growing-albuquerque-shoe-store-adds-second-site.html | 2 |
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<p>Officials in Charlottesville, Virginia, are hoping newly-installed plastic fencing will prevent people from removing the tarps covering the city's Confederate statues.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/city-hopes-fencing-stops-disrobing-of-confederate-statues/article_532ba3e0-9d8f-11e7-bae9-070f905af20c.html" type="external">The Daily Progress reports</a> that City Manager Maurice Jones approved the fence installation after the black tarps covering the statues of Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson were removed for the sixth time.</p>
<p>Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman suggested adding the fencing because removing the tarps wasn't considered a criminal offense.</p>
<p>“The intent was to carve out an area within which no one would be permitted without authority,” Chapman told The Daily Progress. “If someone enters it without authority, they can be prosecuted for trespassing.”</p>
<p>The tarps were initially installed as a gesture of mourning for <a href="" type="internal">Heather Heyer</a>, who was killed on Aug. 12 when a car drove into a crowd of protesters at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.</p>
<p>A group of people, including Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler, have been ripping the tarps down ever since they were installed on Aug. 23, The Daily Progress reports.</p>
<p>Recently, Kessler retweeted a news report about the tarps being ripped off saying, "Taking out the trash..."</p>
<p>It is unclear how long city officials intend to leave the tarps up.</p> | Charlottesville officials are trying to stop people from removing the tarps covering Confederate statues | false | https://circa.com/story/2017/09/20/nation/charlottesville-officials-are-trying-to-stop-people-from-removing-the-tarps-covering-confederate-statues | 2017-09-20 | 1 |
<p>The <a href="http://www.mwdh2o.com/" type="external">Metropolitan Water District of Southern California</a>&#160;(MWD) is the biggest supplier of treated water in the US. It delivers an average of 1.7 billion gallons of water daily to 17 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, <a href="" type="internal">San Diego</a>, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. MWD is composed of 26 member agencies including the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) and has quite rightfully been called the 800 lb. gorilla of California water.</p>
<p>When you turn on a faucet in southern California, the water probably originated hundreds of miles away and arrives through a byzantine system of water projects, canals, and tunnels. A major source of MWD water is the Colorado River Aqueduct, which is pumped uphill five times on its 242 mile journey from Lake Havasu. It has 92 miles of tunnels, 9 treatment plants, 9 reservoirs, and many miles of canals.</p>
<p>More water comes from the State Water Project, which originates in the <a href="" type="internal">Sacramento Delta</a>. It delivers water to Central Valley farmers as well as to southern California. &#160;It is the largest single user of electricity in California, at about 2-3%. In total, water pumping and treatment uses over 6% of total electricity in <a href="" type="internal">California</a>.&#160; Hydroelectric power can bring some power back, but water projects are generally net users of power, not net producers.</p>
<p>The final major source of water for MWD is the Owens Valley. This was a major focus of the movie ‘Chinatown’, which was a fictionalized account about William Mulholland and the water wars of the 1930’s. The Los Angeles Aqueduct moves Owens Valley water to L.A. and is owned and operated by DWP. Loss of water in Owens Valley has been a concern for decades. DWP is now legally mandated to restore water to the area, which means there is less to export.</p>
<p>This convoluted and expensive system, while certainly a marvel of engineering and dedication, is clearly somewhat less than sustainable. Southern California is semi-arid desert made lush by piping water from long distances. But the Sacramento Delta and the Colorado River are having serious problems. Water supplies that used to be reliable are no longer so.</p>
<p><a href="http://aquafornia.com/where-does-southern-californias-water-come-from" type="external">Aquafornia says</a> “In the West, it is said that water flows uphill towards money, and nowhere else could that be truer than here in Southern California.” At the center of this is the Metropolitan Water District gorilla, which labors at the Herculean task of supplying clean water to 17 million people.&#160; Even more than Central Valley agriculture, MWD is the primary power in California water politics. The MWD gorilla seeks increasing amounts of water and has the power and clout to get it. This makes everyone else nervous.</p> | California Water Wars Spotlight: MWD, The 800 lb Gorilla | false | https://ivn.us/2012/03/30/california-water-wars-spotlight-mwd-800-lb-gorilla/ | 2012-03-30 | 2 |
<p>Next week, the film “Noah” opens.</p>
<p>Having taught the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) from the Hebrew for more than 40 years (hundreds of hours are available by download through my website), I consider the biblical flood story one of the world’s most profound moral teachings. As I will show, it means that God cares about goodness more than anything else.</p>
<p>Let me explain by answering the most frequent challenges to the story.</p>
<p />
<p>Q: Why did God destroy the world?</p>
<p>A: Because “The Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth. … And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth and His heart was saddened” (Genesis 6:5-6).</p>
<p>When God created the world, He announced after each day’s creations, “It was good.” But only after His final creation — the human being — on the sixth day, did God say, “It was very&#160;good.” God was particularly pleased with, and had the highest hopes for, this creation, the only one created “in His image.” This is not about man having God’s physical attributes (God is not physical). It is about humans being infinitely more precious than all other creations; and only man, like God, has moral knowledge and therefore moral free will.</p>
<p>When God saw how cruelly human beings treated one another, He decided that He would start over. Once people reach a certain level of widespread evil, life is pointless.</p>
<p>Q: Why did God destroy animals as well?</p>
<p>A: In the biblical worldview, the purpose of all creation is to benefit man. This anthropocentric view of nature, and indeed of the whole universe, is completely at odds with the current secular idealization of nature. This secular view posits that nature has its own intrinsic meaning and purpose, independent of man.</p>
<p>All of creation, in the biblical view, was to ultimately prepare the way for the creation of man. But one does not need the Bible alone to hold this view. A purely scientific reading of the universe is in keeping with this view. Everything — every natural and physical law — is exquisitely tuned to produce life, and ultimately man, on earth.</p>
<p>Q: Isn’t the biblical flood story just a fairy tale?</p>
<p>A: Two responses:</p>
<p>First, this is so only if you believe that the biblical flood story states that the entire earth from the North Pole to the South Pole was flooded and that every living creature from penguins to polar bears, except for the animals and the people on Noah’s ark, was killed. But that is not what the story says. The narrative speaks of the world where Noah lived: It is expressly stated in Genesis&#160;9:10&#160;that there were other animals in the world that were not killed by the flood.</p>
<p>Second, the primary purpose of the flood story — like other stories in the Bible, such as the creation story — is to convey enduring wisdom and moral insight, not geology or science. And the lessons of the flood story influenced civilization for millennia.</p>
<p>Q: What are these lessons?</p>
<p>A: One has already been mentioned: If evil becomes widespread enough, there is no longer a purpose to human existence.</p>
<p>Second, God values goodness more than any other human trait. Thus, the only reason Noah was saved was that “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations” (Genesis 6:9). This alone renders the biblical story unique among the flood stories of the ancient world. In those stories, a very common reason the gods saved a man was that the gods found him physically, not morally, exceptional. Third, God hates evil. And so should we.</p>
<p>A fourth lesson is the moral necessity of divine revelation. God created man without giving him a Ten Commandments or any other revealed moral instruction. The only moral code was the one God built in to the human being: the conscience. Clearly this was not enough to make a good world. The world sank into evil. This is another biblical lesson that runs entirely counter to a dominant belief of the modern age. The secular world holds that religion and God are morally unnecessary; the individual’s conscience is sufficient to guide moral behavior. The Bible, as usual, knew better.</p>
<p>After the evil that led to the flood, God decided to reveal basic moral rules — such as that murder is wrong. So wrong that one of the moral rules revealed after the flood is that murderers must be put to death — yet another way in which this story runs counter to the prevailing doctrines of our time. No wonder the secular world ignores the Bible and the left largely loathes it.</p>
<p>Given the unprecedented ignorance of the Bible in contemporary America, it is likely that more young Americans will only know the Noah of “Noah.” We can only hope that the film offers even a fraction of the wisdom of the original.</p>
<p>Dennis Prager’s latest book, “Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph,” was published April 24, 2013 by HarperCollins.</p>
<p /> | Noah: One of the most moral stories ever told | true | http://humanevents.com/2014/03/18/noah-one-of-the-most-moral-stories-ever-told/ | 2014-03-18 | 0 |
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<p />
<p>The music of the Iowa troubadour, who opens his current tour in Santa Fe on Thursday, Jan. 10, has been compared to that of Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, as well as Hank Williams and Blind Willie McTell – all artists who have angled for more than just entertainment value in their music.</p>
<p>Brown probably wouldn’t shirk those comparisons, but when he sits to write a song he admits he’s not necessarily trying to spearhead a cultural movement or inspire any kind of revolutionary spirit.</p>
<p>“I don’t think of a song being able to change things,” Brown said in a recent interview. “But I do think (songs) can be part of that whole – of a lot of people doing things to try and change.”</p>
<p>So it is that even if Brown hasn’t set out to make waves in the industry, he has unwittingly done so, even if just a glance at his discography and list of co-conspirators speaks to his importance in the American folk music canon.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>He’s released more than 30 full-length studio/live albums, and has been paid tribute to by the likes of Ani DiFranco, Gillian Welch and Shawn Colvin. Additionally, he has garnered numerous Grammy nominations. His song “Brand New Angel,” from his 2012 effort “Hymns to What is Left,” moved actor Jeff Bridges enough that he recorded it for the film, “Crazy Heart” in 2010.</p>
<p>Yet, Brown approached the recording of “Hymns” much like a guy with only a guitar and a tale to tell would.</p>
<p>He and longtime producer/collaborator Bo Ramsey eschewed drums and bass on Brown’s 25th studio release, instead opting to put banjo, fiddle, mandolin, accordion and piano behind Brown’s delicate guitar.</p>
<p>The result is what one critic called the “unvarnished power” of an album that can be compared to the personal anguish Dylan culled on his signature piece “Blood On the Tracks” many years ago.</p> | With ‘Hymns’ in tow, Brown ready for tour | false | https://abqjournal.com/157494/with-hymns-in-tow-brown-ready-for-tour.html | 2013-01-04 | 2 |
<p>The Latest on a Houston-area chemical plant that lost power when it was swamped by Harvey's floods, making it impossible to cool combustible chemicals (all times local):</p>
<p>7:10 p.m.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Arkema says two trailers of unstable compounds have caught fire at its chemical plant near Houston where it lost power after Harvey.</p>
<p>Arkema executive Richard Rennard also says the company expects its six other trailers with organic peroxides to eventually catch fire. He says the company is checking the air quality as black smoke billows from the plant.</p>
<p>The Environmental Protection Agency also says it's monitoring for any airborne toxic chemicals.</p>
<p>Arkema says Harvey's floodwaters engulfed its backup generators and knocked out the refrigeration necessary to keep the containers of organic peroxides from degrading and catching fire. One container caught fire Thursday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>6:30 p.m.</p>
<p>The Environmental Protection Agency says it's checking the smoke coming from a Houston-area chemical plant where highly unstable compounds have caught fire.</p>
<p>EPA spokesman David Gray said Friday that EPA surveillance aircraft is flying through the fire at the Arkema plant in Crosby to monitor any airborne toxic chemical and "will have information shortly."</p>
<p>It's the second day in a row that a fire has happened at the plant.</p>
<p>Arkema says Harvey's floodwaters engulfed its backup generators and knocked out the refrigeration necessary to keep it's nine containers of organic peroxides from degrading and catching fire.</p>
<p>Arkema spokeswoman Janet Smith on Friday evening reiterated statements executives made earlier in the day that the remaining containers of organic peroxides would explode. They say the safest course of action is to simply "let these fires happen and let them burn out."</p>
<p>______</p>
<p>5:45 p.m.</p>
<p>Fire officials say they're aware of one trailer containing unstable compounds that's on fire at a Houston-area chemical plant that lost power after Harvey.</p>
<p>Rachel Moreno, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office, said fire officials know that one trailer filled with organic peroxides and possibly a second trailer is on fire at the Arkema plant in Crosby. Aerial video shows a towering fire and smoke coming from the plant. The compounds are unstable because the plant lost refrigeration.</p>
<p>A day earlier, one trailer blew up, sending acrid smoke into the area. An area around the plant was evacuated, and Moreno says the department does not plan to expand it.</p>
<p>She added that the department believes that the sudden bursts of flame seen in television footage of the fire came from tires.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>5:35 p.m.</p>
<p>Another fire has broken out at Houston-area chemical plant that lost power after Harvey, sending black smoke into the air.</p>
<p>Aerial video shows a towering fire and smoke coming from the Arkema plant in Crosby on Friday evening. The fire came after a container of organic peroxides exploded and caught fire early Thursday, sending acrid smoke into the air. An executive had said up to eight more containers could burn and explode.</p>
<p>Arkema spokeswoman Janet Smith on Friday evening reiterated statements executives made earlier in the day that the remaining containers of organic peroxides would explode. They say the safest course of action is to simply "let these fires happen and let them burn out."</p>
<p>The Environmental Protection Agency and local officials said an analysis of the smoke that came from the plant early Thursday showed no reason for alarm. Still, authorities evacuated an area around the plant.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>5:25 p.m.</p>
<p>Aerial video shows another fire at a Houston-area chemical plant that lost power after Harvey.</p>
<p>Flames and smoke could be seen coming from the Arkema plant in Crosby Friday evening. That came after a container of organic peroxides exploded and caught fire early Thursday, sending acrid smoke into the air. An executive had said up to eight more containers could burn and explode.</p>
<p>Arkema says Harvey's floodwaters engulfed its backup generators and knocked out the refrigeration necessary to keep the compounds from degrading and catching fire.</p>
<p>The Environmental Protection Agency and local officials said an analysis of the smoke that came from the plant early Thursday showed no reason for alarm. No serious injuries were reported. Still, authorities evacuated an area around the plant.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10 a.m.</p>
<p>Authorities say they heard additional small blasts at the flooded chemical plant near Houston where 2 tons of corrosive chemicals burned.</p>
<p>Harris County Fire Marshal spokeswoman Rachel K. Moreno says the blasts were heard about 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Arkema Inc. plant but no fire or smoke was seen. She says sheriff's deputies flew over the plant Friday morning, but she doesn't know what they observed.</p>
<p>The container exploded and caught fire early Thursday and burned itself out by noon, but an additional eight trailers containing the highly unstable organic peroxides were also expected to blow after generators failed and refrigeration was lost.</p>
<p>Moreno says authorities don't know if what she characterized as "pops" blasts were caused by exploding containers or pressure releasing from valves.</p>
<p>Arkema notified fire officials Tuesday morning about the facility's power outage, which they believe was caused by flooding from Harvey.</p> | The Latest: Arkema says 2 trailers of compounds caught fire | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/09/01/latest-new-small-blasts-heard-at-flooded-chemical-plant.html | 2017-09-01 | 0 |
<p>Jan 22 (Reuters) - BioTime Inc:</p>
<p>* BIOTIME INC - ‍ FUNDS RAISED TOWARDS END OF LAST YEAR PROVIDE CO SUFFICIENT CAPITAL, AT CURRENTLY PLANNED SPENDING LEVELS, TO FUND OPERATIONS WELL INTO 2019​ Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow has told Britain it must cut “just over 50” more of its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia in a worsening standoff over the poisoning of a Russian former spy and his daughter in England, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.</p> A general view shows the headquarters of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia March 29, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
<p>As relations continued to deteriorate, Moscow also demanded an official explanation for the search of a Russian passenger plane in London on Thursday and said it could reserve the right to take similar action against British airlines in Russia.</p>
<p>More than 100 Russian diplomats have been expelled by various countries, including 23 from Britain itself, to punish the Kremlin over the March 4 attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the historic English city of Salisbury.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-aeroflot-minister/uk-minister-says-routine-for-plane-to-be-searched-after-russia-demands-explanation-idUSKBN1H70D4" type="external">UK minister says routine for plane to be searched after Russia demands explanation</a>
<p>London says Moscow was responsible for poisoning the Skripals in the first known use of a military-grade nerve agent on European soil since World War Two. Russia flatly denies that and has cast the allegations as part of an elaborate Western plot to sabotage East-West relations and isolate Moscow.</p>
<p>Russia had already retaliated in kind by ejecting 23 British diplomats. On Friday, the Foreign Ministry summoned British Ambassador Laurie Bristow and told him London had one month to further cut its diplomatic contingent in Russia to the same size as the Russian mission in Britain. It also expelled 59 diplomats from 23 other countries for backing Britain.</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Britain’s foreign ministry called the Russian move regrettable, and said it was considering the implications of the measures. It did not say how many diplomatic staff in Russia would be affected, while the British Embassy in Moscow says it does not make staff numbers public.</p>
<p>Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Reuters the demand meant Britain would have to cut “a little over 50” more of its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia on top of the 23 diplomats who have already gone home.</p>
<p>“We asked for parity. The Brits have 50 diplomats more than the Russians,” Zakharova said on Saturday.</p>
<p>When asked if that meant London would now have to cut exactly 50 diplomatic and technical staff, she said: “A little over 50.”</p>
<p>Separately, Russia’s Ministry of Transport demanded Britain explain why an Aeroflot ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AFLT.MM" type="external">AFLT.MM</a>) passenger plane was searched at Heathrow airport on Friday, in what the Russian Embassy in London called a “blatant provocation”.</p> Slideshow (2 Images)
<p>Britain’s interior ministry was not immediately available to comment on the plane search.</p> VISITS?
<p>Britain’s foreign office also said on Saturday it was considering allowing visits under consular access terms to Yulia Skripal, who is recovering in hospital against all expectations and no longer in critical condition.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AFLT.MM" type="external">Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye Avialinii PAO</a> 154.2 AFLT.MM Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange +0.20 (+0.13%) AFLT.MM
<p>Russia’s embassy said that it had contacted Viktoria Skripal, Yulia’s cousin, who would like to see her.</p>
<p>The BBC, citing sources, reported on Friday that Yulia was “conscious and talking,” a factor which may influence the investigation of how she and her father were poisoned.</p>
<p>Britain must now decide how it wants to make the cuts to its Russian diplomatic team and may be forced to lay off some Russian support staff as well as sending home fully-fledged diplomats to satisfy Moscow’s demand.</p>
<p>Russia ordered the closure of another British consulate, in St Petersburg, earlier this month in its first retaliatory step.</p>
<p>The poisoning on UK territory has united much of the West in taking action against what it regards as the hostile policies of President Vladimir Putin. This includes the United States under President Donald Trump, who Putin had hoped would improve ties.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Elisabeth O'Leary in Edinburgh; Editing by Catherine Evans</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Britain said on Saturday it was routine for border officials to search aircraft, after Russia said Moscow would demand an official explanation why a Russian Aeroflot ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AFLT.MM" type="external">AFLT.MM</a>) passenger plane was searched at London’s Heathrow airport on Friday.</p>
<p>“It is routine for Border Force to search aircraft to protect the UK from organized crime and from those who attempt to bring harmful substances like drugs or firearms into the country,” Security Minister Ben Wallace said in a statement.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AFLT.MM" type="external">Aeroflot-Rossiyskiye Avialinii PAO</a> 154.2 AFLT.MM Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange +0.20 (+0.13%) AFLT.MM
<p>“Once these checks were carried out the plane was allowed to carry on with its onward journey.”</p>
<p>Writing by Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing by Alison Williams</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Walmart Inc’s ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=WMT.N" type="external">WMT.N</a>) efforts to develop closer ties with health insurer Humana Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=HUM.N" type="external">HUM.N</a>), which came to light on Thursday, point to a brave new world of retail where superstores become healthcare centers offering basic medical care.</p> FILE PHOTO: The logo of Walmart is seen on shopping trolleys at their store in Sao Paulo, Brazil February 14, 2018. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/File photo
<p>They are also aimed at boosting Walmart’s slowing growth in brick-and-mortar store sales as it faces increasing pressure online from Amazon.com Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AMZN.O" type="external">AMZN.O</a>). Deepening its existing partnership with Humana, or even acquiring the company outright, could be a step toward turning its 4,700 or so U.S. stores into healthcare centers that aim to attract more shoppers over 65.</p>
<p>“The end goal here is to get more people in their stores, get them to buy drugs and make an additional purchase while they are in the store,” said Charles Sizemore, founder of Sizemore Capital Management LLC, who owns shares of&#160;Walmart.</p>
<p>If Walmart can offer “competitive rates” on primary care and other health services, he said, it “can grow traffic and push store visits.”</p>
<p>Walmart approached Humana this month, and the companies began to discuss closer ties focused on new partnerships, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. An acquisition of Humana by Walmart is also being discussed, the sources said.</p>
<p>Walmart declined comment Friday.&#160;Humana could not immediately be reached for comment.</p>
<p>Closer ties between the two could enable the retailer to tap into Humana’s patient roster and possibly put some of its physician clinics in stores to offer medical care to customers.</p>
<p>Walmart is the largest retailer to hit upon the combination of retail and health insurance, but it is not the first.</p>
<p>CVS Health Corp ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=CVS.N" type="external">CVS.N</a>) has struck a $69 billion deal to acquire Aetna Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AET.N" type="external">AET.N</a>). Separately, insurer Cigna Corp ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=CI.N" type="external">CI.N</a>) has a $54 billion deal to buy pharmacy benefits company Express Scripts Holding Co ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=ESRX.O" type="external">ESRX.O</a>). The two deals, if approved, will put pressure on the entire health care supply chain.</p> Slideshow (3 Images) AMAZON CHECKMATE?
<p>Humana could provide Walmart with “one more way to checkmate Amazon and equal and eclipse the CVS/Target partnership and equal and eclipse the CVS/Aetna partnership,” said Burt Flickinger at marketing consulting firm Strategic Resource Group.</p>
<p>“It allows them to get ahead of everybody from warehouse club operators like Costco, Target and other retailers who run chain drugstores as well as food and drug combo operators like Kroger and Wegmans.”</p>
<p>Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart already has pharmacies at many store locations and has a co-branded drug plan with Humana that caters to patients using Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people over 65. That plan steers patients to Walmart stores for their pharmacy needs, offering customers an opportunity to save up to 20 percent on drug costs, analysts said.</p>
<p>Louisville, Kentucky-based Humana is one of the country’s largest providers of Medicare Advantage plans - a type of coverage offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=WMT.N" type="external">Walmart Inc</a> 88.97 WMT.N New York Stock Exchange +1.20 (+1.37%) WMT.N HUM.N AMZN.O CVS.N AET.N
<p>Humana has 5.1 million seniors on prescription drug benefits and another 3.5 million on full medical benefits, according to Ana Gupte, senior health care analyst with Leerink Partners in New York.</p>
<p>Walmart superstores “could be a one-stop shop for seniors,” said Gupte, adding that Humana already has about 50 pharmacies sharing locations with doctors’ clinics, and could expand that model using Walmart’s real estate and pharmacies.</p> DATA ANALYSIS
<p>There is also a potential for Walmart and Humana to benefit from their mass of customer data, said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.</p>
<p>“One thing retailers have is a very good understanding of customers. They know their eating habits and other consumption patterns and that is quite useful in forming insurance decisions,” he said. “That is certainly something that Walmart would be able to leverage.”</p>
<p>Humana patients are most likely already heavy shoppers at Walmart, according to David Friend at the BDO Center for Healthcare Excellence and Innovation.</p>
<p>“If you know that somebody is on a certain medicine you can sell them other products and services and that will help keep customer loyalty,” he said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Nandita Bose and Chris Prentice; Additional reporting by Carl O'Donnell and Emma Thomasson; Writing by Vanessa O'Connell; Editing by Susan Thomas and Bill Rigby</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>GAZA (Reuters) - Dozens of Palestinian youths gathered by the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday, though the area remained mostly quiet, a day after deadly violence broke out in one of the biggest Palestinian demonstrations there in years.</p> A man passes closed shops as Palestinians call for a general strike, in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
<p>In the southern Gaza Strip, residents said Israeli troops fired warning shots toward a crowd of youths, some of whom burned tyres. Health officials said two people were wounded and an Israeli military spokesman said he was checking the details.</p>
<p>On Friday, at least 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces confronting protesters, some of whom the military said had opened fire, rolled burning tyres and hurled rocks and fire bombs toward troops across the border.</p>
<p>Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared Saturday a national day of mourning and a general strike was called across the occupied West Bank. Thousands in Gaza marched through the streets at funerals for those killed.</p> A man passes closed shops as Palestinians call for a general strike, in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
<p>Tens of thousands of Palestinians had gathered on Friday along the fenced 65-km (40-mile) frontier, where tents were erected for a planned six-week protest pressing for a right of return for refugees and their descendents to what is now Israel. The Israeli military estimate was 30,000.</p>
<p>Families brought their children to the encampments just a few hundred metres (yards) from the Israeli security barrier with the Islamist Hamas-run enclave. Football pitches were marked out in the sand and scout bands played.</p>
<p>But as Friday wore on, hundreds of Palestinian youths ignored calls from the organizers and the Israeli military to stay away from the frontier, where Israeli soldiers on the other side kept watch from dirt mound embankments, and violence broke out.</p> PALESTINIANS MARKING “CATASTROPHE”
<p>The protest, organized by Hamas and other Palestinian factions, is scheduled to culminate on May 15, the day Palestinians commemorate what they call the “Nakba” or “Catastrophe” when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out of their homes in 1948, when the state of Israel was created.</p>
<p>Israel has long ruled out any right of return, fearing an influx of Arabs that would wipe out its Jewish majority. It argues that refugees should resettle in a future state the Palestinians seek in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. Peace talks to that end have been frozen since 2014.</p> Slideshow (3 Images)
<p>Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said: “The message of the Palestinian people is clear. The Palestinian land will always belong to its legitimate owners and the occupation will be removed.”</p>
<p>Israeli military spokesman Brigadier-General Ronen Manelis said Hamas was using the protests as a guise to launch attacks against Israel and ignite the area. He said violence would likely continue along the border until May 15.</p>
<p>“We won’t let this turn into a ping-pong zone where they perpetrate a terrorist act and we respond with pinpoint action. If this continues we will not have no choice but to respond inside the Gaza Strip,” Manelis told reporters in a phone briefing.</p>
<p>The Gaza Health Ministry had said on Friday 16 people were killed but revised the death toll to 15 on Saturday.</p>
<p>Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Andrew Bolton</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | BRIEF-BioTime Says Funds Raised Last Year To Fund Operations Well Into 2019 UK-Russia standoff deepens as Moscow cuts UK diplomats UK minister says routine for plane to be searched after Russia demands explanation Come for your drugs, leave with more shopping: Walmart's new growth strategy? Violence subsides on Israel-Gaza border a day after deadly protest | false | https://reuters.com/article/brief-biotime-says-funds-raised-last-yea/brief-biotime-says-funds-raised-last-year-to-fund-operations-well-into-2019-idUSFWN1PH0N5 | 2018-01-22 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>As he overheard a deputy detailing the “crazy life story” of a 17-year-old girl who had been working as a prostitute in Montana and was facing other charges in New Mexico, Hartsock suspected something else was going on.</p>
<p>He suspected she had been forced to have sex for money.</p>
<p>“Within a week I was able to schedule an interview with her,” Hartsock said. “Six interviews later, we had a case with two male suspects identified, and arrested the girl’s mom who basically agreed to sell her daughter to these traffickers.”</p>
<p>Hartsock arrested Stephon McDaniel, 24, Lavodrick Hogues, 29, and the girl’s mother and charged them with human trafficking. The girl’s stepfather was also charged with child abuse for allegedly giving the girl methamphetamine.</p>
<p>McDaniel pleaded no contest to human trafficking and other charges last January, according to court documents. He was sentenced to six years in prison and had to register as a sex offender.</p>
<p>Hogues was extradited to Montana where he faced charges of aggravated promotion of prostitution and the case against him is ongoing.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Last July, 2nd Judicial District Court Judge Alisa Hadfield dismissed the cases against the girl’s mother and stepfather without prejudice, which means they can be refiled, because the state didn’t turn over key evidence to the defense by the court deadlines.</p>
<p>Hartsock said the successes in that case helped him convince the sheriff to let him train all deputies about sex trafficking in the hopes they will be able to identify cases to bring to detectives in the future.</p>
<p>“Without this deputy talking at the copy machine and the good luck of me just walking by we don’t even get the case,” Hartsock said. “That’s why we are focusing more on this training aspect.”</p>
<p />
<p /> | Chance encounter leads to prosecutions | false | https://abqjournal.com/1033656/chance-encounter-leads-to-prosecutions.html | 2 |
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<p>The pro-Morsi protest that almost was:</p>
<p>With an iron will, the People of Egypt will stand up to the military junta. &#160;Here, you troops, here is your Zionist-loving tear gas canister back at you!</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Our women! Look what they did to our women!</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Oh Lord, we will not fail you in our darkest hour!</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Like your American Marines at Iwo Jima, we will raise the flag of Egypt high for all the world to see!</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>The famous <a href="http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2013/08/video-pallywood-training-in-egypt-as.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter" type="external">Carl in Occupied Jerusalem</a> kindly provided the video from the <a href="" type="internal">Pallywood</a> film archives:</p>
<p /> | Pallywood on the Nile | true | http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/08/pallywood-on-the-nile/ | 2013-08-08 | 0 |
<p>No less a source than FIVE THIRTY EIGHT DOT COM reports that Greatest Living President George W. Bush is on the rebound : "Since April, Bush's favorable rating has averaged 49.3 percent. His unfavorable rating has averaged 46.3 percent." Not surprisingly, that's a better rating than the&#160; fifth greatest [?]</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://freebeacon.com/blog/america-falls-back-in-love-with-george-w-bush/" type="external">Click here to view original web page at freebeacon.com</a></p>
<p /> | America Falls Back In Love With George W. Bush | true | http://politicalillusionsexposed.com/america-falls-back-in-love-with-george-w-bush/ | 0 |
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<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal scientists have determined that a family of widely used pesticides poses a threat to dozens of endangered and threatened species, including Pacific salmon, Atlantic sturgeon and Puget Sound orcas.</p>
<p>The National Marine Fisheries Service issued its new biological opinion on three organophosphate pesticides — chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion — after a yearslong court fight by environmental groups. At the urging of pesticide manufacturers, the Trump administration had sought a two-year delay of a court-ordered deadline to issue the findings by the end of 2017, but it was unsuccessful.</p>
<p>The exhaustive 3,700-page <a href="ftp://ftp.library.noaa.gov/noaa_documents.lib/NMFS/OfcProtectedResources/Permits/biological_opinion/BO_Pesticides_signed_12_29_2017.pdf" type="external">federal review</a> , dated Dec. 29, concludes that chlorpyrifos and malathion jeopardize 38 out of the 77 species under the jurisdiction of the fisheries service and that diazinon was found to jeopardize 25 of the listed species.</p>
<p>The report makes detailed recommendations to the Environmental Protection Agency for new restrictions on how and where the pesticides can be sprayed to help limit the harm.</p>
<p>EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in March reversed an Obama-era effort to bar the use of chlorpyrifos on fruits and vegetables after peer-reviewed academic studies found that even tiny levels of exposure could hinder the development of children’s brains.</p>
<p>EPA’s press office did not respond Friday to a request seeking comment about the latest federal study on the threat to protected species.</p>
<p>Organophosphorus gas was originally developed as a chemical weapon before World War II. Dow Chemical, based in Midland, Michigan, has been selling chlorpyrifos for spraying on citrus fruits, apples, cherries and other crops since the 1960s. It is among the most widely used agricultural pesticides in the United States, with Dow selling about 5 million pounds (2.3 million kilograms) domestically each year.</p>
<p>Dow AgroSciences, the Dow subsidiary that sells chlorpyrifos, did not respond to a request for comment Friday.</p>
<p>The Associated Press first reported in April that lawyers representing Dow and two other pesticide companies sent letters to three of Trump’s Cabinet secretaries saying the academic studies were flawed. Dow wrote a $1 million check to help underwrite Trump’s inaugural festivities, and company CEO Andrew Liveris led a now-disbanded White House manufacturing working group.</p>
<p>CropLife America, an industry trade group that lobbies Congress and federal agencies on pesticide regulations, said it is still reviewing the final National Marine Fisheries Service opinion.</p>
<p>“The denial of a requested extension of time to complete the opinion resulted in a document that has the potential to create exaggerated and unfounded concerns regarding threatened and endangered species and have a negative impact on farmers as well as public health protection,” said Jay Vroom, the CEO of CropLife.</p>
<p>A coalition of environmentalists and commercial fishermen has fought in court for more than a decade to spur the federal government to more closely examine the risk posed to humans and endangered species by organophosphates.</p>
<p>Studies have shown for years that even low levels of pesticides running off into streams and rivers can impair the growth, swimming ability and reproductive systems of salmon. Potentially harmful levels of the toxins then build up in the bodies of orcas, also known as killer whales, that eat salmon.</p>
<p>“Salmon have been waiting four decades for relief from toxic pesticides in many of our rivers,” said Glen Spain, the northwest regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “The agencies should do their job.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow AP Environmental Writer Michael Biesecker at <a href="http://twitter.com/mbieseck" type="external">http://twitter.com/mbieseck</a></p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal scientists have determined that a family of widely used pesticides poses a threat to dozens of endangered and threatened species, including Pacific salmon, Atlantic sturgeon and Puget Sound orcas.</p>
<p>The National Marine Fisheries Service issued its new biological opinion on three organophosphate pesticides — chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion — after a yearslong court fight by environmental groups. At the urging of pesticide manufacturers, the Trump administration had sought a two-year delay of a court-ordered deadline to issue the findings by the end of 2017, but it was unsuccessful.</p>
<p>The exhaustive 3,700-page <a href="ftp://ftp.library.noaa.gov/noaa_documents.lib/NMFS/OfcProtectedResources/Permits/biological_opinion/BO_Pesticides_signed_12_29_2017.pdf" type="external">federal review</a> , dated Dec. 29, concludes that chlorpyrifos and malathion jeopardize 38 out of the 77 species under the jurisdiction of the fisheries service and that diazinon was found to jeopardize 25 of the listed species.</p>
<p>The report makes detailed recommendations to the Environmental Protection Agency for new restrictions on how and where the pesticides can be sprayed to help limit the harm.</p>
<p>EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in March reversed an Obama-era effort to bar the use of chlorpyrifos on fruits and vegetables after peer-reviewed academic studies found that even tiny levels of exposure could hinder the development of children’s brains.</p>
<p>EPA’s press office did not respond Friday to a request seeking comment about the latest federal study on the threat to protected species.</p>
<p>Organophosphorus gas was originally developed as a chemical weapon before World War II. Dow Chemical, based in Midland, Michigan, has been selling chlorpyrifos for spraying on citrus fruits, apples, cherries and other crops since the 1960s. It is among the most widely used agricultural pesticides in the United States, with Dow selling about 5 million pounds (2.3 million kilograms) domestically each year.</p>
<p>Dow AgroSciences, the Dow subsidiary that sells chlorpyrifos, did not respond to a request for comment Friday.</p>
<p>The Associated Press first reported in April that lawyers representing Dow and two other pesticide companies sent letters to three of Trump’s Cabinet secretaries saying the academic studies were flawed. Dow wrote a $1 million check to help underwrite Trump’s inaugural festivities, and company CEO Andrew Liveris led a now-disbanded White House manufacturing working group.</p>
<p>CropLife America, an industry trade group that lobbies Congress and federal agencies on pesticide regulations, said it is still reviewing the final National Marine Fisheries Service opinion.</p>
<p>“The denial of a requested extension of time to complete the opinion resulted in a document that has the potential to create exaggerated and unfounded concerns regarding threatened and endangered species and have a negative impact on farmers as well as public health protection,” said Jay Vroom, the CEO of CropLife.</p>
<p>A coalition of environmentalists and commercial fishermen has fought in court for more than a decade to spur the federal government to more closely examine the risk posed to humans and endangered species by organophosphates.</p>
<p>Studies have shown for years that even low levels of pesticides running off into streams and rivers can impair the growth, swimming ability and reproductive systems of salmon. Potentially harmful levels of the toxins then build up in the bodies of orcas, also known as killer whales, that eat salmon.</p>
<p>“Salmon have been waiting four decades for relief from toxic pesticides in many of our rivers,” said Glen Spain, the northwest regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “The agencies should do their job.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow AP Environmental Writer Michael Biesecker at <a href="http://twitter.com/mbieseck" type="external">http://twitter.com/mbieseck</a></p> | US review shows pesticides harm threatened salmon, whales | false | https://apnews.com/08ef61cb880e44d4805145dcc5c2a046 | 2018-01-12 | 2 |
<p>Whenever I am in Paris, I head to the <a href="http://marchedaligre.free.fr/" type="external">marché d’Aligre</a>. This is a farmers' market — one of the icons of a neighborhood that was attacked last week. It’s in the 12th district, right on the border with the 11th.</p>
<p>The market’s a very popular place, surrounded by cafés and cheese shops, butcher shops, fishmongers and hardware stores that sell items you won’t find anywhere else. There’s a little flea market on the side too. It’s great just to walk around and sample the fruit and vegetables that vendors are eager for you to try. There are mangoes from Madagascar, dates from Algeria, oranges from Tunisia&#160;as well as beautiful mushrooms from central France.</p>
<p />
<p>Usually you bump shoulders with people trying to get through the Aligre market's vendor-lined street, but not on this day, four days after the Paris attacks.&#160;</p>
<p>Adeline Sire</p>
<p>The market has a real North African flavor, not only because of the fruit sold here, but because almost every vendor is of North African descent.</p>
<p>Usually, you have to push your way through the crowds here, but not today. I can’t remember ever seeing a clear path down the street lined with vendors.</p>
<p>Eskander Dridi sells vegetables here. His parents are Tunisian, but Eskander is a Parisian, a true product of this neighborhood. He was born at the hospital around the corner, lives a few blocks away from the market, and went to school farther down the street. His father ran his vegetable stall before him, and Dridi kept the spot after he retired.&#160;</p>
<p>Dridi sells his produce at the Aligre market every day except Mondays, when the market is closed. But after the Friday attack, Paris authorities banned public gatherings so many vendors showed up here at 4 a.m. on Saturday, produce in hand, only to be told they couldn’t open their stalls.</p>
<p>The market was closed for two days. I asked Dridi if that had ever happened before.</p>
<p>“Never. NE-VER!” he says — not even after the attack on Charlie Hebdo in January.</p>
<p />
<p>Eskander Dridi (center) with friends at his vegetable stand at the Aligre market. Most of the vendors at this Paris farmers market are of North African descent.</p>
<p>Adeline Sire</p>
<p>Dridi says he walked by the Belle Équipe Café on rue de Charonne 20 minutes before it was attacked on Friday night, and he feels lucky that no one he knows personally got hurt.</p>
<p>But he still thinks the market should have opened as usual the next day.</p>
<p>“We can’t be afraid,” he says. “We have to live like any day.”</p>
<p>Valérie Xaé lives around the block from the market with her family and comes here nearly every day. But today it wasn’t an easy walk.</p>
<p>“I had to push myself out of the house today,” she says. “It was good to go for a walk and do something and then start it all again. We can’t stay and hide. It’s time for mourning and being sad, but if we stop doing things, they will win. I’m scared, but I don’t want them to win.”</p>
<p>Besides, Xaé says she feels the need to show her support for the Muslim vendors she knows here “to express that we don’t mix everybody together,” she says. “A really religious person would not kill anyone.”</p>
<p />
<p>Mohammed Amdi&#160;has grown children who live around the 11th district, and he was&#160;frightened for them on the night of the attacks. He says he thinks of all the young&#160;people&#160;out enjoying a drink at a café who lost&#160;their lives.</p>
<p>Adeline Sire</p>
<p>Another vendor, Mohammed Amdi, who was born in Tunisia, has grown children who live around the 11th district. And he was worried about them on Friday.</p>
<p>He says vendors like him lost a lot of money over the two days the market was closed.</p>
<p>“We all lost,” he says, “but I am looking at people in their 20s enjoying a drink at a café and losing their lives."</p>
<p>“That is so much more than money.”</p> | 'We can't be afraid, we have to live like any day' | false | https://pri.org/stories/2015-11-18/we-cant-be-afraid-we-have-live-any-day | 2015-11-18 | 3 |
<p>It was meant to herald the triumphant return to newsstands of a venerable 80-year-old American media institution with a proud journalistic record.</p>
<p>Newsweek’s 4,500-word relaunch cover story on Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, a California engineer who, it claimed, was the creator of the cryptocurrency bitcoin, gripped readers from Silicon Valley to Manhattan and delivered a frenzy of follow-up coverage to rival some of the biggest scoops of the magazine’s heyday.</p>
<p>“Everyone is really excited to start this new chapter,” Johnathan Davis, Newsweek’s new co-owner, told the Guardian earlier this month, before it went to press. “It’s a great honour. Newsweek has a storied history of great storytelling and hard-hitting journalism both in the United States and around the world.”</p>
<p>Since then, however, the article has come under an onslaught of criticism, as <a href="//www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/17/dorian-satoshi-nakamoto-denies-creator-bitcoin" type="external">Nakamoto “unconditionally” denied</a> that he was "the face behind bitcoin," as Newsweek’s cover had proclaimed, and said that he had not even heard of the currency until he was contacted by a reporter.</p>
<p>Newsweek declared in a statement that it stood “strongly behind” the story, whose reporting, it said, “was conducted under the same high editorial and ethical standards that have guided Newsweek for more than 80 years.”</p>
<p>The relaunch has, however, focused new attention on the young and relatively inexperienced men now at the helm of the newsweekly: Davis, 31, and Etienne Uzac, his 30-year-old business partner, whose company IBT Media bought the magazine last August and detached it from the Daily Beast, with which it had merged three years earlier.</p>
<p>Davis, a Californian electrical engineering graduate, is IBT Media’s chief content officer. Uzac, a French-South African economist, is its chief executive. The smartly suited pair have a confident sales pitch for the firm and are pursuing an aggressive expansion plan. They say that their online media outlets already reach 40 million unique users a month.</p>
<p>But they come with a backstory that is unusual for the mainstream media. The pair started their company in 2006 reportedly after meeting via Christian fellowships, and have frequently been the subject of reports linking them to David Jang, a controversial Korean pastor who is also the founder of Olivet University, an evangelical school based in San Francisco, California.</p>
<p>Davis once taught journalism at Olivet, and his wife, Tracy, is the university’s president. Uzac sat on Olivet’s board of trustees until last year, and his wife, Marion, who has also worked at IBT Media, was previously the press secretary for the World Evangelical Alliance. Olivet is a member of the alliance and Jang sits on the alliance’s North American council. Olivet graduates have been hired to work in a number of roles at IBT Media. The Guardian has confirmed that as Olivet expands its operations around the U.S., IBT Media has given money to the college.</p>
<p>Davis said in an interview that their work and faith were separate, and that he wanted “the journalism to speak for itself” both at their new magazine and at the International Business Times, a news website that was IBT Media’s flagship title until it bought Newsweek.</p>
<p>Similarly, he dismissed the notion that readers should be troubled by the little-known fact that he has personally endorsed the view, espoused by the so-called “ex-gay” movement, that gay people may have developed their sexuality as a result of being sexually abused as children, and can be cured by therapy to make them heterosexual.</p>
<p>In a Facebook post in February 2013, Davis described as "shockingly accurate" an <a href="//www.christianpost.com/news/the-ex-gay-problem-you-can-never-leave-90832/" type="external">op-ed article written by Christopher Doyle</a>, the director of the International Healing Foundation (IHF), which works to convert gay people. Davis said it “cuts like a hot knife through a buttery block of lies.”</p>
<p>Doyle, who once identified as gay but is now married to a woman, wrote that “same-sex attractions” are typically felt by people born with a “sensitive nature” and then subjected to “early sexual initiation and/or sexual abuse” or unusual attachment issues with their parents. He said last week that he was delighted by Davis’s praise. “Considering how much of the media is very gay-friendly, this is a breath of fresh air,” he said.</p>
<p>The American Psychological Association states that “ex-gay” therapies are “based on a view of homosexuality that has been rejected by all the major mental health professions.” A spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign said: “We would condemn any support for such activity.”</p>
<p>When asked if he believed that gay people could be cured, Davis said: “Whether I do or not, I’m not sure how that has any bearing on my capacity here as the founder of the company. I’m not sure how it’s relevant. People believe all sorts of weird things. But from a professional capacity, it’s unrelated.” The post was then removed from his Facebook page.</p>
<p>Davis’s endorsement of Doyle’s article did, however, offer a reminder of his link to Olivet and to Jang. Doyle’s article was published by the Christian Post, a popular evangelical news website, which itself has strong ties to Olivet. Olivet graduates were among its founders and the website was named as an “Olivet ministry affiliate” in a handbook for students at the university seeking work placement in 2008. William Wagner, a senior academic at Olivet and college president until 2012, was chairman of the Christian Post’s board of directors until last year. The International Business Times, Davis and Uzac’s news site, was also described in the handbook as an “Olivet ministry affiliate.”</p>
<p>A <a href="//www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/september/david-jang-second-coming-christ.html" type="external">2012 investigation into Jang’s activities</a> by Christianity Today claimed that documentary evidence indicated he was once “involved in” the Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon — whose followers became known as “Moonies” in the 1970s and ‘80s — and taught at one of its schools. Jang has denied this and Olivet denies any link with the Unification Church. Tracy Davis told the Guardian in an email: “Mr Jang is not part of Rev Moon's church.” Responding to a list of questions submitted for Jang, Jonathan Park, an Olivet teacher, said that Jang had never been a member of Moon’s church and had never taught in its schools.</p>
<p>Allies have also previously said that Jang was merely part of a political club with members of Moon’s church. They have also said, according to the New York Times, that Sun Hwa Theological Seminary was a methodist school when Jang taught there and that it was later bought by the Unification Church.</p>
<p>Christianity Today also reported on claims that before 2006, some of Jang’s senior followers hailed him as the “second coming Christ” and encouraged this belief among new members as well, prompting censure from a Hong Kong-based group of senior evangelical theologians. There is no evidence that Jang himself ever said this, and he explicitly denied doing so in a public statement in 2008. Tracy Davis directed the Guardian to a Christian Post report on Jang being cleared of improper teachings by the Christian Council of Korea, which is also a member of the World Evangelical Alliance.</p>
<p>When Olivet tried to buy a conference centre in New Mexico from a branch of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2012, the sellers pulled out of the deal after receiving the results of an inquiry into Olivet’s “theological compatibility” that it commissioned following reports of the college’s connection to Jang. Last year, the college spent $20m on the site of a disused psychiatric hospital in New York. It also offers some graduate classes from office space near the World Trade Center in Manhattan.</p>
<p>Asked whether IBT Media and other firms staffed by Olivet graduates gave money to the college that helped finance this expansion, Tracy Davis said in an email: “Yes, some of these donate to Olivet,” adding when pressed: “IBT has donated to Olivet.” Asked to confirm this, Johnathan Davis said in an email that IBT donated to several charitable groups and said: “We don't preclude giving to any of these organisations moving forward.”</p>
<p>Davis told the Guardian that IBT Media is not a commercial vehicle for Olivet. He says that he and Uzac co-own the company, and that they started the firm with loans and money from “friends and family” who were not affiliated with the church, and did not receive a stake. Asked to characterise the relationship between Olivet and the companies, Tracy Davis said: “Similar to the relationship between Stanford and Google, Olivet's alumni have been hired and are professionals at these companies.”</p>
<p>Corporation records in New York and California suggest that a web of media organisations connected to Davis have even more links to Olivet than previously thought. In 2007, Davis was the registered agent for IBTraders, a financial news and research firm based in an office five blocks from Olivet’s campus in San Francisco. The Gospel Post — a Christian publisher later renamed the Gospel Herald, another “Olivet ministry affiliate” — has operated from the same office.</p>
<p>IBTraders is now based in New York. A young Olivet graduate is its chief executive. It is registered to an office building on Whitehall Street, in lower Manhattan, that was shared for a while with 33 Universal, a publisher of a series of little-known news and consumer websites, which appeals for paying advertisers on its corporate website.</p>
<p>While running the International Business Times, Davis also led 33 Universal, according to a listing submitted by the firm to Gust, a website where start-ups court investors. The listing said that 33 Universal had annual revenues of $3m and that Davis was chairman of a five-man team including at least two other Olivet graduates and a former manager at Deographics, a web design firm that is another “Olivet ministry affiliate.” Davis and 33 Universal said that he was no longer involved. After he was approached by the Guardian, the company’s public listing on Gust was removed.</p>
<p>Also operating from the same building on Whitehall Street is Diakonos, a members-only club for Christian businessmen and women that says its primary mission is to collect financial donations to advance their religious cause. Diakonos (Greek for "one who serves") was described as "our own fellowship of business executives" by the World Olivet Assembly, a Manhattan-based society of evangelical groups founded by Olivet alumni. Jang is the assembly's president.</p>
<p>Christianity Today reported in 2012 that it had obtained an email showing that when invited to become the vice-president of a new organisation for “Jang-affiliated businesses” called Christians in Media in September 2010, Davis replied that he could not take part because “my commission is inherently covert.” Davis said in an email to the Guardian: “That's false” and added, of the Christianity Today story, “There are so many mistakes it's not worth responding to.”</p>
<p>He stressed that “readers can look at the content and they can tell” that the work of the media outlets he is involved with is separate from his religious affiliation. “I understand why people ask questions,” he said. “But I’d also like the journalism to speak for itself, and the aspirations we have for each brand. Whether my personal friend and family influence my company, all I can say is we are professional, we hire professionals.”</p>
<p>A former editor at the International Business Times said that Davis and Uzac never talked about their faith or their views on social issues such as gay rights. “They were right-wing, and they said so — ‘We are free market, we are very conservative,’ ” said the editor. “But as far as religion, they never discussed it.” Tracy Davis said that Olivet had no stance on the “ex-gay” movement and that it did not feature in any of the college’s teaching.</p>
<p>Journalists who worked at both the International Business Times and 33 Universal told the Guardian that at times they seemed to operate more as “content farms” — referring to the high volume of their output — than as outlets for the sort of quality journalism associated with a major title such as Newsweek.</p>
<p>“I think content farm is a charged word,” said Davis. “We were finding the culture for the type of business environment we found ourselves in … We have always strived to do journalism.”</p>
<p>A former editor at 33 Universal said “full-time freelance” writers who did much of the writing were paid $8 per article for pieces aiming to ride the crest of that day’s wave of popular news search terms. “You wrote at eight articles a day minimum, sometimes more,” said one former writer for 33 Universal websites. “In the beginning, it was a lot of pressure to produce big numbers,” said one former editor. “Even though it was still a lot of pressure, it was less as it went on.”</p>
<p>Several former International Business Times journalists said that in late 2011, Google moved the outlet’s articles down in search results in response to what it deemed excessive search engine optimisation (SEO) activity. Davis said: “I don’t recall specific letters but we are constantly working to meet and exceed the guidelines of business partners.” A Google spokesperson said "We don't comment on interactions with individual publishers.”</p>
<p>An internal email sent to reporters by the website’s copy chief around that time, seen by the Guardian, advised them on how to “re-work (or ‘re-jig’) a story you’ve already done and re-post it in the hopes that it will chart better via Google.” He told them: “Some people have been just re-posting the exact same story, with a new headline. We’re not doing that anymore.”</p>
<p>Two former International Business Times reporters told the Guardian that they were separately called to Davis's office in 2011 and told by him that they would lose their jobs unless traffic to their articles increased sharply. One said the demand was to "double" the number of views within a month. Both achieved higher numbers and kept their jobs. Davis did not respond to an email asking whether their accounts were accurate. Both IBT and 33 Universal have also been savaged in dozens of anonymous reviews purportedly written by former employees on Glassdoor, the careers website, which were impossible to verify.</p>
<p>In response to the claims in the negative Glassdoor reviews and more generally, Davis said: “We’ve always wanted a lot from our team,” but said: “We had some bonus structures in place also. It wasn’t only the whip without the carrot.” While stressing that in the early days “there was a necessity to figure out how we were going to keep the lights on," Davis said that IBT Media now makes $500,000 of profit on annual revenues of $20m.</p>
<p>Davis said that 30 full time employees currently work on the editorial and commercial staffs of Newsweek. A team of seven to 10 people is expected to be built in Europe, and then an Asian edition is planned. Davis is initially aiming to attract 100,000 print subscriptions in the U.S. and 100,000 elsewhere.</p>
<p>While stressing that the magazine would feature in-depth reporting like its relaunch story, Davis said that reporters would also be expected to turn around stories rapidly for the website. “We needed to basically build an organisation that was part of the ebb and flow of the internet,” he said. “I’m also proud to say that a lot of that culture has survived even to this day.”</p>
<p>The former IBT editor said that while “there was absolutely no socialisation between the big shots and the staff”, in 2011 a staff Christmas dinner was held at John’s, an Italian restaurant near its office in Manhattan. “Etienne and Johnathan said everything was wonderful, that it had been a good year,” said the former editor. “And then in 2012 they fired all these guys.”</p>
<p>“We laid off eight out of 15 people in a department in 2012 based on performance issues,” said Davis.</p>
<p>Jon Swaine is the Guardian's U.S. correspondent based in New York. He previously covered the U.S. for the Daily Telegraph.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Newsweek Honcho Thinks Gays Can Be 'Cured'? Behind New Owners' Strange Ties to Controversial Pastor | true | http://alternet.org/media/newsweek-honcho-thinks-gays-can-be-cured-behind-new-owners-strange-ties-controversial-pastor | 2014-03-28 | 4 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>COLLEGE FOR YOUNG PARENTS&#160;&#160; The Ounce of Prevention Fund has received a $300,000 grant from the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation to study the barriers to college attendance for young, low-income parents and to create a pilot program to support their efforts to further their education. The study will include young African-American parents in Chicago and young Hispanic parents in Denver and Miami. Researchers at Northwestern University and Columbia University will&#160;help conduct&#160;in the study. The pilot support program will operate out of early childhood education centers, including one in Grand Boulevard. … Also at Ounce of Prevention: Jelene Britten, former public affairs associate at Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, is now communications and media manager.</p> | Gates grant to provide better college access for young parents | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/gates-grant-provide-better-college-access-young-parents/ | 2008-12-11 | 3 |
<p>Stephen Paddock, the alleged Las Vegas gunman who opened fire on concertgoers, lived in an upscale retirement community in Mesquite.</p>
<p>Located just 90 miles from Las Vegas, Paddock&#160;purchased the home in 2015 for just over $369,000, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4940918/Details-Las-Vegas-shooting-suspect-Stephen-Paddock.html" type="external">according to the Daily Mail</a>.</p>
<p>(Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)</p>
<p>In what has become the&#160;deadliest mass shooting in US history, Paddock is suspected of firing on a crowd from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel — he had been staying at&#160;the hotel since September 28, the British tabloid reported.</p>
<p>At least 50 people were killed and more than 200 wounded — Paddock would save the last bullet he fired for himself, taking the coward’s way out by killing himself.</p>
<p>The shooter’s brother was in total shock over the tragedy.</p>
<p>“We’re lost. We don’t understand anything,” Eric Paddock said in an interview aired on Fox News:</p>
<p>More from the Daily Mail on Paddock:</p>
<p>He lived there with 62-year-old Marilou Danley according to records, the same woman police have bee searching for since late Sunday night as they begin their investigation into the horrific terror attack.</p>
<p>Paddock had both hunting and fishing licenses according to public records, as well as his pilot’s license, but no criminal record in the state of Nevada.</p>
<p>He may have worked as an internal auditor at Lockheed Martin for some time, and managed an apartment building complex in Mesquite, Texas.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Danley was reportedly sitting in Paddock’s car before the shooting, but has been cleared for now of any involvement.</p>
<p />
<p>The one-story three-bedroom retirement home was stormed by police early Monday, according to&#160;Mesquite Police Chief Troy Tanner.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Watch the chilling moment terrified Jason Aldean flees from stage after first piercing gunshots</a></p>
<p />
<p>Paddock had no social media presence, according to the Daily Mail, making it more difficult to get a clearer picture of just who he was.</p>
<p>Eric Paddock said his family has no idea why he would open fire on so many people.</p>
<p />
<p>“He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something,” the brother said from his home in Orlando, Florida.&#160;“We know absolutely nothing, this is just, we are dumbfounded.”</p>
<p>“We have absolutely no idea. Our condolences go to the victims and all their families.”</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Geraldo Rivera calls BS on San Juan mayor’s false Trump blame: ‘I’m here. Who is dying?’</a></p>
<p>Paddock said his brother had no experience with guns that he was aware of.</p>
<p>“Not an avid gun guy at all,” he said of his Stephen Paddock.&#160;“The fact that he had these kind of weapons is … where the hell did he get automatic weapons?”</p>
<p>“He has no military background or anything like that,” Paddock said. “He is a guy who lives in a house in Mesquite, who drove down and gambled in Las Vegas. He did stuff, ate burritos.”</p>
<p>His full interview can be seen below:</p>
<p /> | What we know about Las Vegas shooter; brother shares family history | true | http://bizpacreview.com/2017/10/02/know-las-vegas-shooter-brother-shares-family-history-543416 | 2017-10-02 | 0 |
<p>Shares of some top insurance companies are down at 1 p.m.:</p>
<p>ACE L fell $2.39 or 2.1 percent, to $109.98.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Aflac Inc. fell $.59 or .9 percent, to $63.89.</p>
<p>American International Group fell $.68 or 1.2 percent, to $57.48.</p>
<p>MBIA fell $.19 or 1.9 percent, to $9.58.</p>
<p>MGIC Investments Corp. fell $.21 or 2.1 percent, to $9.90.</p>
<p>MetLife fell $.50 or 1.0 percent, to $50.50.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>XL Group PLC fell $.52 or 1.4 percent, to $37.29.</p> | Insurance companies shares down at 1 p.m. | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/12/15/insurance-companies-shares-down-at-1-pm.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p><a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-372683071/stock-photo-nashua-nh-february-new-hampshire-welcome-sign-and-trees-are-covered-with-fresh-fallen-snow-on.html?src=BxeXPG51VdNyb493f5MZtA-1-3" type="external">Mark Van Scyoc / Shutterstock</a></p>
<p>Jeb Bush brought his <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/elections-2016-jeb-bush-barbara-bush-new-hampshire/" type="external">mom</a> and <a href="http://www.npr.org/2016/02/09/466106554/jeb-bush-finds-his-stride-in-new-hampshire-but-is-it-too-late" type="external">brother</a> out to rally for his cause during the lead-up to Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, but will their combined dynastic powers be enough to keep him in the running for the 2016 presidential contest?</p>
<p>Of course, it’s far from Jeb’s primary to lose — technically, it appears to be on-again, off-again GOP front-runner Donald Trump’s this time, as pre-primary <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/donald-trump-will-probably-win-new-hampshire/" type="external">poll numbers</a> have favored Trump by a comfortable margin. Given how well poll data served him in the Iowa caucuses, however, that’s not a conclusion of the foregone variety.</p>
<p>It was, mistakenly, for a moment there on Fox News: The Murdochian network accidentally handed Trump a premature win Tuesday, as <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/new-hampshire-primary-2016-live-updates/2016/02/new-hampshire-primary-2016-donald-trump-fox-news-winner-218999" type="external">Politico</a> was swift to point out. Here’s more of that faux news from Fox News:</p>
<p />
<p>Citing every precinct reporting, Fox News’ website accidentally published election results declaring Trump the winner with 28 percent support and 14 delegates.</p>
<p>[…] Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and John Kasich each shared three delegates, according to the errant Fox results. Rubio garnered 15 percent support, followed by Cruz at 12 percent and Kasich at 11 percent. Chris Christie received 9 percent support and Jeb Bush got 8 percent, while Carly Fiorina finished at 4 percent and Ben Carson at 2 percent. None of them, however, received a single delegate.</p>
<p>Maybe that will help to ease the strained relations (dramatized for beaucoup ratings) between Trump and the GOP-friendly outlet.</p>
<p>But back to reality. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/voting-begins-in-nh-as-presidential-hopefuls-make-a-final-sprint/2016/02/08/d56162d6-cecf-11e5-88cd-753e80cd29ad_story.html" type="external">The Washington Post</a> took stock of both parties’ prospects that day, as the other Republican candidates once again leveraged more aggressive recruitment tactics than the walking, talking media event leading their pack:</p>
<p>While Trump constrained his campaigning Tuesday morning to doing the rounds of a couple of TV shows, several of his rivals hit the streets to greet voters in a state in which residents often make up their minds at the last minute. Within the space of 2 1/2 hours, three Republican hopefuls — Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida governor Jeb Bush — all stopped by Manchester’s Webster School to chat with voters as they arrived.</p>
<p>In the Democratic race, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) maintained his double-digit lead over former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. After winning only narrowly in Iowa, Clinton braced for defeat while hoping to keep the damage from spilling over into upcoming states where she long has been dominant.</p>
<p>Following tradition, the voting got underway at midnight in some hamlets to kick off the first-in-the-nation primary. The towns delivered mixed verdicts. In tiny Dixville Notch, whose residents have been voting at midnight since 1960, all four Democratic votes went to Sanders. On the Republican side, Ohio Gov. John Kasich received three, and Trump had two.</p>
<p>Speaking of media events, here’s another Trump made all by himself on the eve of the primary, again with the misogynistic flair (via <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-shocks-awes-final-new-hampshire-rally-primary-n514266" type="external">NBC News</a>):</p>
<p>[…] [O]n Monday night, Trump became the first presidential candidate in recent memory to use an epithet for female anatomy to describe a Republican rival on stage at a rally — and he later said it was a “great moment.”</p>
<p>Speaking to about 5,000 people at Manchester’s Verizon Center on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, Trump railed against opponents who speak out against his tone. Specifically on waterboarding, Trump contrasted his recent statements on bringing back waterboarding to those of Sen. Ted Cruz.</p>
<p>“You know he’s concerned about the answer because well, some people,” Trump said, pointing to a woman in the crowd, “she just said a terrible thing. You know what she said? Shout it out ’cause I don’t wanna.”</p>
<p>Then he said it anyway: “She said, ‘He’s a p—y.’&#160;“</p>
<p>And with that, American political discourse reached heights beyond Trump Tower’s topmost floor.</p>
<p>Finally, here’s a handy guide, again from <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/voting-begins-in-nh-as-presidential-hopefuls-make-a-final-sprint/2016/02/08/d56162d6-cecf-11e5-88cd-753e80cd29ad_story.html" type="external">The Washington Post</a>, to how candidates can clinch the New Hampshire contest:</p>
<p />
<p>–Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Kasia Anderson</a></p> | VIDEO: GOP Candidates' Fates on the Line in New Hampshire | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/video-gop-candidates-fates-on-the-line-in-new-hampshire/ | 2016-02-10 | 4 |
<p>Amazon's move to whittle its list for a second headquarters leaves more than 200 municipalities disappointed. Here are statements from some of the places that didn't make the tech giant's cut to 20 contenders:</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>DETROIT</p>
<p>"We would have loved to have made it into the next round for Amazon's second headquarters but everyone here is incredibly proud of the proposal we submitted," Mayor Mike Duggan said. "It showed a clear vision for the future of our city and brought out the very best of our city and our region."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>MEMPHIS, Tennessee</p>
<p>"We came together and gave it our best shot," Mayor Jim Strickland said. "The good news is that this exercise showed us new ways to showcase our city that we are already using to attract other businesses."</p>
<p>"Memphis has momentum and other companies have seen and will continue to see our value"</p>
<p>The city offered Amazon $60 million in cash incentives.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>KANSAS CITY, Missouri</p>
<p>"I can understand that some Kansas Citians may be disappointed, but it's important to remember that as a result of this very collaborative effort, more people today know more great things about Kansas City than they ever did before," said Mayor Sly James. "Kansas City will continue to develop transformational projects and partnerships that continue the momentum you feel in every block and every neighborhood of this great city. We truly are a city on the rise, and I look forward to our exciting future."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>DELAWARE</p>
<p>Delaware's Gov. John Carney and the state's congressional delegation said they were "of course" disappointed not to be chosen.</p>
<p>"But we used this opportunity to showcase all the options in Delaware not just for Amazon, but for any business looking for a location to set down roots and grow," they said. "In that respect, Delaware's effort — which brought together leaders in the public and private sectors to promote our great state — was a resounding success. Going forward, we'll do everything we can to support Philadelphia's application, to help bring Amazon to our region."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>NEW HAMPSHIRE</p>
<p>"New Hampshire's groundbreaking proposal to recruit Amazon was the most comprehensive business marketing plan our state has ever produced," Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement. "While we always knew that our bid was considered a long shot, we are excited that it is already serving as a template for other businesses that now have New Hampshire on their radar. Our commitment to economic and workforce development is already yielding results. We will never stop emphasizing that New Hampshire is open for business, open for workers, and open for opportunity."</p>
<p>New Hampshire's Amazon proposal was centered in Londonderry and emphasized the state's lack of a sales or income tax.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>SAN DIEGO</p>
<p>"While disappointed San Diego/Chula Vista did not advance, we are not at all surprised," said Mark Cafferty, president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. "We knew that this would be a long shot based on geography and incentive options, but we also know that as a region, San Diego can most definitely compete with others in terms of talent, entrepreneurship, innovation and quality of life."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>NORTHERN CALIFORNIA</p>
<p>The two bids submitted by cities in the San Francisco Bay Area were both rejected by Amazon. Bay Area Council President Jim Wunderman said the decision was disappointing. "We're not completely surprised by Amazon's decision," he said. "The Bay Area is one of the most innovative regions in the world and the huge economic expansion we have witnessed here over the past 10 years has created significant challenges in the form of high housing costs, high cost of living and growing traffic. We are working hard to address these challenges, but we suspect they factored heavily in Amazon's decision to look elsewhere."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA</p>
<p>"We're disappointed the City of Virginia Beach was not listed among the top 20 finalists for this project. However, we're excited the Commonwealth of Virginia is still under consideration," Virginia Beach Mayor William Sessoms Jr. said. "A project of this magnitude will create many opportunities, and, if Virginia is selected, we expect Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads will benefit."</p>
<p>Amazon's move to whittle its list for a second headquarters leaves more than 200 municipalities disappointed. Here are statements from some of the places that didn't make the tech giant's cut to 20 contenders:</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>DETROIT</p>
<p>"We would have loved to have made it into the next round for Amazon's second headquarters but everyone here is incredibly proud of the proposal we submitted," Mayor Mike Duggan said. "It showed a clear vision for the future of our city and brought out the very best of our city and our region."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>MEMPHIS, Tennessee</p>
<p>"We came together and gave it our best shot," Mayor Jim Strickland said. "The good news is that this exercise showed us new ways to showcase our city that we are already using to attract other businesses."</p>
<p>"Memphis has momentum and other companies have seen and will continue to see our value"</p>
<p>The city offered Amazon $60 million in cash incentives.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>KANSAS CITY, Missouri</p>
<p>"I can understand that some Kansas Citians may be disappointed, but it's important to remember that as a result of this very collaborative effort, more people today know more great things about Kansas City than they ever did before," said Mayor Sly James. "Kansas City will continue to develop transformational projects and partnerships that continue the momentum you feel in every block and every neighborhood of this great city. We truly are a city on the rise, and I look forward to our exciting future."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>DELAWARE</p>
<p>Delaware's Gov. John Carney and the state's congressional delegation said they were "of course" disappointed not to be chosen.</p>
<p>"But we used this opportunity to showcase all the options in Delaware not just for Amazon, but for any business looking for a location to set down roots and grow," they said. "In that respect, Delaware's effort — which brought together leaders in the public and private sectors to promote our great state — was a resounding success. Going forward, we'll do everything we can to support Philadelphia's application, to help bring Amazon to our region."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>NEW HAMPSHIRE</p>
<p>"New Hampshire's groundbreaking proposal to recruit Amazon was the most comprehensive business marketing plan our state has ever produced," Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement. "While we always knew that our bid was considered a long shot, we are excited that it is already serving as a template for other businesses that now have New Hampshire on their radar. Our commitment to economic and workforce development is already yielding results. We will never stop emphasizing that New Hampshire is open for business, open for workers, and open for opportunity."</p>
<p>New Hampshire's Amazon proposal was centered in Londonderry and emphasized the state's lack of a sales or income tax.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>SAN DIEGO</p>
<p>"While disappointed San Diego/Chula Vista did not advance, we are not at all surprised," said Mark Cafferty, president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. "We knew that this would be a long shot based on geography and incentive options, but we also know that as a region, San Diego can most definitely compete with others in terms of talent, entrepreneurship, innovation and quality of life."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>NORTHERN CALIFORNIA</p>
<p>The two bids submitted by cities in the San Francisco Bay Area were both rejected by Amazon. Bay Area Council President Jim Wunderman said the decision was disappointing. "We're not completely surprised by Amazon's decision," he said. "The Bay Area is one of the most innovative regions in the world and the huge economic expansion we have witnessed here over the past 10 years has created significant challenges in the form of high housing costs, high cost of living and growing traffic. We are working hard to address these challenges, but we suspect they factored heavily in Amazon's decision to look elsewhere."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA</p>
<p>"We're disappointed the City of Virginia Beach was not listed among the top 20 finalists for this project. However, we're excited the Commonwealth of Virginia is still under consideration," Virginia Beach Mayor William Sessoms Jr. said. "A project of this magnitude will create many opportunities, and, if Virginia is selected, we expect Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads will benefit."</p> | Amazon's potential HQ2 sites leaves many cities disappointed | false | https://apnews.com/amp/cd960b24045d445a85c83186c8dcf149 | 2018-01-19 | 2 |
<p>By Asif Shahzad</p>
<p>LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – A new Pakistani political party controlled by an Islamist with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head is backing a candidate in a by-election on Sunday, in what a former senior army officer says is a key step in a military-proposed plan to mainstream militant groups.</p>
<p>The Milli Muslim League party loyal to Hafiz Saeed – who the United States and India accuse of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people – has little chance of seeing its favored candidate win the seat vacated when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was removed from office by the Supreme Court in July.</p>
<p>But the foray into politics by Saeed’s Islamist charity is following a blueprint that Sharif himself rejected when the military proposed it last year, retired Lieutenant General Amjad Shuaib told Reuters.</p>
<p>Three close Sharif confidants with knowledge of the discussions confirmed that Sharif had opposed the “mainstreaming” plan, which senior military figures and some analysts see as a way of steering ultra-religious groups away from violent jihad.</p>
<p>“We have to separate those elements who are peaceful from the elements who are picking up weapons,” Shuaib said.</p>
<p>Pakistan’s powerful military has long been accused of fostering militant groups as proxy fighters opposing neighboring arch-enemy India, a charge the army denies.</p>
<p>“PATRIOTIC PEOPLE”</p>
<p>Saeed’s religious charity launched the Milli Muslim League party within two weeks after the court ousted Sharif over corruption allegations.</p>
<p>Yaqoob Sheikh, the Lahore candidate for Milli Muslim League, is standing as an independent after the Electoral Commission said the party was not yet legally registered.</p>
<p>But Saeed’s lieutenants, JUD workers and Milli Muslim League officials are running his campaign and portraits of Saeed adorn every poster promoting Sheikh.</p>
<p>Another Islamist designated a terrorist by the United States, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, has told Reuters he too plans to soon form his own party to advocate strict Islamic law.</p>
<p>“God willing, we will come into the mainstream – our country right now needs patriotic people,” Khalil said, vowing to turn Pakistan into a state government by strict Islamic law.</p>
<p>Saeed’s charity and Khalil’s Ansar ul-Umma organization are both seen by the United States as fronts for militant groups the army has been accused of sponsoring. The military denies any policy of encouraging radical groups.</p>
<p>Both Islamist groups deny their political ambitions were engineered by the military. The official army spokesman was not available for comment after queries were sent to the press wing.</p>
<p>Still, hundreds of MML supporters, waving posters of Saeed and demanding his release from house arrest, chanted “Long live Hafiz Saeed! Long live the Pakistan army!” at political rallies during the past week.</p>
<p>“Anyone who is India’s friend is a traitor, a traitor,” went another campaign slogan, a reference to Sharif’s attempts to improve relations with long-time foe India that was a source of tension with the military.</p>
<p>‘DERADICALISATION’ PLAN</p>
<p>Both Saeed and Khalil are proponents of a strict interpretation of Islam and have a history of supporting violence – each man was reportedly a signatory to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s 1998 fatwa declaring war on the United States.</p>
<p>They have since established religious groups that they say are unconnected to violence, though the United States maintains those groups are fronts for funnelling money and fighters to militants targeting India.</p>
<p>Analyst Khaled Ahmed, who has researched Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity and its connections to the military, says the new political party is clearly an attempt by the generals to pursue an alternative to dismantling its militant proxies.</p>
<p>“One thing is the army wants these guys to survive,” Ahmed said. “The other thing is that they want to also balance the politicians who are more and more inclined to normalize relations with India.”</p>
<p>The military’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency first began pushing the political mainstreaming plan in April 2016, according to retired general Shuaib, a former director of the army’s military intelligence wing that is separate from the ISI.</p>
<p>He said the proposal was shared with him in writing by the then-ISI chief, adding that he himself had spoken with Khalil as well as Saeed in an unofficial capacity about the plan.</p>
<p>“Fazlur Rehman Khalil was very positive. Hafiz Saeed was very positive,” Shuaib said. “My conversation with them was just to confirm those things which I had been told by the ISI and other people.”</p>
<p>Saeed has been under house arrest since January at his house in the eastern city of Lahore. The United States has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his conviction over the Mumbai attacks.</p>
<p>Then-Prime Minister Sharif, however, was strongly against the military’s mainstreaming plan, according to Shuaib and three members of Sharif’s inner circle, including one who was in some of the tense meetings over the issue.</p>
<p>Sharif wanted to completely dismantle groups like JuD. Disagreement on what to do about anti-India proxy fighters was a major source of rancour with the military, according to one of the close Sharif confidants.</p>
<p>In recent weeks several senior figures from the ruling PML-N party have publicly implied that elements of the military – which has run Pakistan for almost half its modern history and previously ousted Sharif in a 1999 coup – had a hand in the court ouster of Sharif, a charge both the army and the court reject.</p>
<p>A representative of the PML-N, which last month replaced him as prime minister with close ally Shahid Khaqi Abbasi, said the party was “not aware” of any mainstreaming plan being brought to the table.</p>
<p>RELIGION AND POLITICS</p>
<p>Some analysts worry that mainstreaming such controversial groups would be a risky strategy for Pakistan.</p>
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened sanctions against members of Pakistan’s military and even raised the specter of declaring Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism.</p>
<p>“It will send a wrong message,” said analyst Zahid Hussain, who nevertheless thought that Saeed’s new party would have a “negligible” effect on Pakistani elections because religious parties have never won more than a few seats in parliament.</p>
<p>Others are not so sure.</p>
<p>Sheikh, the MML candidate in Sunday’s by-election who says he was handpicked by Hafiz Saeed, vowed to establish strict Islamic rule and “break” liberalism and secularism.</p>
<p>Analyst Ahmed warned that few existing religious parties have a charismatic leader like Saeed, and Pakistan may find itself unable to control a rising tide of Islamist sentiment.</p>
<p>“If Hafiz Saeed comes into the mainstream, it’s not that he is going to be politicized,” he added. “It’s that he is going to make politics more religious.”</p> | Pakistan army pushed political role for militant-linked groups | false | https://newsline.com/pakistan-army-pushed-political-role-for-militant-linked-groups/ | 2017-09-15 | 1 |
<p />
<p>However, as a former combat commander, I have been trained to look for trends. And I believe we’ve found a very disturbing one. it seems that back door gun control is in full effect in the United States. Why? Thanks to Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), we can no&#160; <a href="https://www.nraila.org/news-issues/articles/2013/10/end-of-an-era-last-us-lead-smelter-to-close-in-december.aspx" type="external">longer smelt lead from ore&#160;</a>in the United States.</p>
<p>The first contact the EPA made with The Doe Run Lead Smelter in Herculaneum, Missouri (population 2,800) was in 2008 but it was in 2010 that the EPA finally forced Doe Run to plan a shut down. This plant has been in operation since 1892 but will finally close its doors this month. It was the last lead smelting plant in the US.</p>
<p>The closedown is due to new extremely tight air quality restrictions placed on this specific plant. President Obama and his EPA raised the regulations by 10 fold and it would have cost the plant $100 million to comply.</p>
<p>In response to the Doe Run lead smelter shutdown, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the Doe Run Company “made a business decision” to shut down the smelter instead of installing pollution control technologies needed to reduce sulfur dioxide and lead emissions as required by the Clean Air Act.</p>
<p>Of course this is why we need serious regulatory reform that precludes executive agency fiat, especially regulation implementation that exceeds a certain adverse financial impact to a private sector business.</p>
<p>Of course the canned progressive socialist response is “For years families with children near Doe Run’s facilities have been exposed to unacceptable levels of lead, one of the most dangerous neurotoxins in the environment,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement Assurance. There are a few auxiliary lead processing plants remaining in the USA but their function is to re-claim lead from old batteries.</p>
<p>What this all means is that after December 2013, any ammunition that will be available to US citizens will have to be imported, which will surely increase the price and possibly come under government control. It seems this is fully in concert with the US Military and Homeland Defense recent purchase of large quantities of ammunition.</p>
<p>The effect is chilling: you can own all the guns you want, but if you can’t get ammo, you are out of luck. Remember when President Obama promised his minions that he was working on gun control behind the scenes? Welcome to it. The result is that all domestically mined lead ore will have to be shipped overseas, refined and then shipped back to the US.</p>
<p>Not only will ammo be even harder to come by, the demand and the process of supply will cause the price to skyrocket even more. And ponder this, there is an excellent chance that Obama will rig the market to where all ammo has to be purchased from the government instituting an ammo registration.</p>
<p>There hasn’t been a peep about this in the major news outlets, but it’s done. With the US no longer producing lead, all supplies will now have to come from China, Australia or Peru, with the overwhelming emphasis on China.</p>
<p>China is the largest miner of lead and the largest importer of scrap lead in the world. The highly progressive state of California recently passed a law that lead ammo is banned for sporting use. There is an alternative, copper ammo, but it is hugely expensive to make, and pure copper bullets are frequently labeled ‘cop killers’ so they can’t be sold.</p>
<p>So America, back door gun control is moving forward and while we are all distracted with Obamacare and Iran nuclear negotiations, our Second Amendment rights are undergoing an assault by clandestine infiltration. Remember we reported on this website the gun registration actions being undertaken in Washington DC. Barack Obama and his progressive socialist acolytes are quite savvy at political chess. He is seeking to outflank, envelope, and destroy the Second Amendment. Now it’s our move in 2014.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Without ammo a gun is just a club. The liberal answer to patriotic resistance to gun confiscation? Shut down ammunition supply…. | true | https://powderedwigsociety.com/without-ammo-a-gun-is-just-a-club-the-liberal-answer-to-patriotic-resistance-to-gun-confiscation-shut-down-ammunition-supply/ | 2013-12-02 | 0 |
<p>May 2, 2012</p>
<p>By Katy Grimes</p>
<p>SACRAMENTO — Faced with&#160;a growing state deficit,&#160;instead of cutting the size of California’s government programs, lawmakers have squeezed higher education. With dramatically higher tuition in just a few years, it’s the the middle class which has suffered the most. Low-income college students qualify for aid programs, and the wealthy can afford the higher tuition costs. But middle class students have been forced to pay the higher fees, most of which have been done through sizable student loans.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Assembly Speaker John Pérez, D-Los Angeles, authored AB 1500 and <a href="http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/billtrack/analysis.html?aid=242731" type="external">AB 1501</a>to help pay college tuition for middle class students, but his funding solution is higher taxes.&#160;Perez’s claims that&#160; <a href="http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/Bills/AB_1500/20112012/" type="external">AB 1500</a>&#160;and <a href="http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/billtrack/analysis.html?aid=242731" type="external">AB 1501</a>, which will “end tax loopholes for billionaires,” will fund a “two-thirds savings” on college tuition for middle-class students.</p>
<p>Someone has to pay for the college tuition scholarships.</p>
<p>At a hearing in the Assembly Higher Education Committee Tuesday, Perez presented <a href="http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/billtrack/analysis.html?aid=242731" type="external">AB 1501</a>, which&#160;would establish the Middle Class Scholarship Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/billtrack/analysis.html?aid=242731" type="external">AB 1501</a>&#160;would provide a grant for students&#160;at the University of California and California State&#160;University with family incomes below $160,000. “Students currently take out debt or parents forgo other expenses,” Perez said at the hearing.</p>
<p>Perez said a tax loophole which benefits out-of-state corporations needs to be closed in order to fund the middle-class scholarship for earners making less than $150,000.</p>
<p>Perez had five college students with him who testified about the hardships they suffer under the current college system.</p>
<p>“I work two jobs. This bill would help people like me. I deserve to go to college,” said Kevin Feliciano, a community college student. Feliciano said AB 1500 would help him go to a university while adding little debt.</p>
<p>Each of the other students testified about working&#160;two to four&#160;jobs. “I’d like to be able to party and study in the same day,” Tatianna Bush said. Bush, who works four jobs, said she used to be on honor roll, but was unable to stay on honor roll once she added the third and fourth jobs. “We are underworked and underpaid,” Bush said.</p>
<p>After a 10 minute lineup of community college and state university college students, as well as many labor unions in support of the bill, the only opposition came from the <a href="" type="external">California Manufacturers and Technology Association</a>.</p>
<p>“We do not oppose the bill, but disagree with the characterization of the funding mechanism of the bill,” said Dorothy Rothrock, with the CMTA. Rothrock challenged the notion of “out-of-state businesses” in California, and said many of these businesses run large distribution centers, and have large payrolls in the state.”It’s not a loophole,” Rothrock said.</p>
<p>AB 1500 would fund the scholarship “through increased taxes by requiring most corporate tax filers to use the Single Sales Apportionment Factor to calculate their tax liability,” the CMTA explains in its opposition to AB 1500. “In 2009, as part of the budget deal at the time, the Legislature adopted an elective Single Sales Factor that went into effect last January and provides corporations the option to pay state taxes based solely on the amount of sales they have in California — rather than a percentage of business conducted within the state.”</p>
<p>The CMTA opposes AB 1500 and calls the funding scheme “an unjustified $1 billion tax increase on companies that create jobs, pay taxes on their property, sales and payroll receipts, and have employees in California.”</p>
<p>Assemblyman Marty Block, D-San Diego, the committee chairman, told the committee to disregard Rothrock’s comments. “This is just the policy portion of the bill,” Block said. However, it cannot be ignored that AB 1500 is the funding mechanism for AB 1501.</p>
<p>“The Middle Class Scholarship will be&#160;paid for entirely by closing a wasteful out-of-state corporate loophole.&#160;This win-win opportunity for middle class families and California’s future economy needs your help to make it a reality,”&#160; <a href="" type="internal">the website Perez set up to promote the bills states</a>&#160;(bold emphasis in original).</p>
<p>According to Perez, eliminating the option and thus forcing companies to use Single Sales Factor would generate an estimated $1 billion. But the funding for AB 1500 and AB 1501 would come on the backs of businesses already struggling under California’s heavy regulatory burden and near-record high taxes.</p>
<p>The Legislature is responsible for the out-of-control tuition hikes, which they have imposed knowing that students would instead just turn to student loans, financial aid and grants to fund higher education.</p>
<p>Assemblywoman Kristen Olsen, R-Modesto, asked Perez if there were any academic requirements in the scholarship program as there are with Cal Grants. Perez said there were not,&#160;that just the entrance requirements imposed by the UC and CSU schools were enough.</p>
<p>However, more than 50 percent of California college students not only&#160; <a href="http://www.lao.ca.gov/sections/higher_ed/FAQs/Higher_Education_Issue_05.pdf" type="external">do not pay for school</a>&#160;at the state’s public colleges and universities. And the dropout rate is also about 50 percent. This is because, along with all of the free money for school, there are very few academic requirements.</p>
<p>Low and middle-low income students receive state-funded grants and fee waivers to cover education fees. It’s not difficult to imagine the Middle Class Scholarship Program also turning into just another free money program, with no accountability.</p>
<p>“One of the companies affected by this in my district provides hundreds of really good paying jobs,” Olsen said. “This would pit college students against job creators.”</p> | Free college tax bill would cost CA businesses | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2012/05/02/free-college-will-cost-ca-businesses/ | 2018-05-20 | 3 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico lottery officials say an Albuquerque man has claimed a $1 million Mega Million prize.</p>
<p>The lottery announced Tuesday that Leonard Bulmer had initially purchased two wagers for the Aug. 11 drawing. When he didn’t win, he returned to the grocery store and purchased a couple more tickets for the Aug. 18 drawing.</p>
<p>He learned Friday night that he had a winning ticket with the numbers 1, 31, 34, 40, 75 and Mega Ball 6. He had to wait until Monday to claim the prize since lottery headquarters was closed over the weekend.</p>
<p>Lottery officials also noted that the jackpot for Wednesday’s Powerball drawing has reached $700 million, the second-largest jackpot in U.S. history.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, <a href="http://www.lcsun-news.com" type="external">http://www.lcsun-news.com</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | $1M lottery ticket sold in New Mexico | false | https://abqjournal.com/1051625/1m-lottery-ticket-sold-in-new-mexico.html | 2017-08-22 | 2 |
<p>Chemotherapy administered in the last months of life — which offers a boon to profit-seeking drug companies (one month’s supply can cost <a href="http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/05/09/cost-of-chemotherapy" type="external">$10,000 or more</a>) — significantly increased the odds that a cancer patient would require intensive treatment in the last week of life, late referral to hospice care, and death away from their preferred place, an investigation has shown.</p>
<p>MedPage Today reports:</p>
<p>Patients treated with palliative chemotherapy were five to 10 times more likely to receive intensive medical care and to die in an intensive care unit (ICU). Fewer than half died at home as compared with two-thirds of patients with metastatic cancer not treated with palliative chemotherapy.</p>
<p>The findings call into question the benefits of palliative chemotherapy in terminally ill cancer patients, according to an article published online in BMJ.</p>
<p />
<p>“Our results suggest that less use of palliative chemotherapy among patients recognized to have a life expectancy of 6 months or less — or more frequent end-of-life discussions in this group — may reduce intensive end-of-life care and promote earlier access to hospice services, thus improving the quality of advanced cancer patients’ end-of-life care,” Holly Prigerson, PhD, of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, and colleagues concluded.</p>
<p>Read more <a href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/Ethics/44608?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2014-03-05&amp;utm_content=&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=DailyHeadlines&amp;utm_source=WC&amp;eun=g124025d0r&amp;userid=124025&amp;[email protected]&amp;mu_id=5122889" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p> | Late Chemo: Expensive and Unnecessarily Painful | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/late-chemo-expensive-and-unnecessarily-painful/ | 2014-03-07 | 4 |
<p>ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening's drawing of the New York Lottery's "Take 5" game were:</p>
<p>02-05-07-13-36</p>
<p>(two, five, seven, thirteen, thirty-six)</p>
<p>ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday evening's drawing of the New York Lottery's "Take 5" game were:</p>
<p>02-05-07-13-36</p>
<p>(two, five, seven, thirteen, thirty-six)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Take 5' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/0716553b14a14000b1da9d05f410dc3a | 2017-12-30 | 2 |
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Erik Cox Photography</a>&#160;|&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Shutterstock.com</a></p>
<p />
<p>On June 23 the US Supreme Court ruled, in Birchfield v. North Dakota, that police officers may require suspected drunk drivers to take breathalyzer tests without warrants as required by the US Constitution’s Fourth Amendment and under criminal penalty should they refuse. The court did go so far as to leave the constitutional warrant requirement intact for blood tests. Associate Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, lays out the chilling logic for differentiating between the two:</p>
<p>“Because breath tests are significantly less intrusive than blood tests and in most cases amply serve law enforcement interests, a breath test, but not a blood test, may be administered as a search incident to a lawful arrest for drunk driving. No warrant is needed in this situation.”</p>
<p>Searching the shed behind my house would certainly be “significantly less intrusive” than searching my closet or requiring me to open the lock box in which I keep important personal documents. Does this mean that the police should be free to poke around in my shed without procuring &#160;a warrant based on probable cause to believe I’ve committed a crime, if doing so happens to “amply serves their interests?” No, it doesn’t. The Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures isn’t there for the convenience of law enforcement. It’s there to protect everyone else’s rights from abuses by&#160;law enforcement.</p>
<p>And the thing is, it’s never been easier for the cop on the street to get a warrant within minutes, or to prove that the warrant application is (or was) justified. Most jurisdictions have &#160;judges &#160;“on call” to handle warrant applications 24/7. Between radios and cell phones, police officers are almost never unable to communicate with their departments or with those judges. Cell phone video, dash camera video and, more and more lately, body camera video are all available for reference to establish that probable cause exists (or, in retrospect, existed).</p>
<p>Laws requiring drivers to acquiesce in breathalyzer tests absent warrants — as well as other unconstitutional excesses such as random “DUI checkpoints” where drivers are stopped and interrogated absent any reason at all to believe they’ve committed crimes — aren’t about fighting drunk driving or making the roads safe.</p>
<p>These laws are about making law enforcement’s job easier. Which sounds nice, but gets things backward. A peace officer’s job is to keep the peace by the rules, easy or not. Absent those rules, cops become the public’s enemies rather than its servants.</p>
<p>These laws are about greasing the squeaky wheel. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), a tired special interest group that has long since fulfilled its founder’s purpose, is now mostly interested in keeping its revenues (more than $30 million per year as of 2013) coming by lobbying against the rights of those Americans who aren’t among its 400-plus employees.</p>
<p>And yes, these laws are at least a little bit about reminding the serfs just who’s in charge.</p>
<p>What these laws are not is constitutional. And that should be the only thing the Supreme Court considers in its deliberations.</p> | SCOTUS: Amply Serving Law Enforcement’s Interests versus Society’s | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/06/28/scotus-amply-serving-law-enforcements-interests-versus-societys/ | 2016-06-28 | 4 |
<p>The resolution of the current drama of Ukraine will touch both the moral and cultural future of the European project and the global strategic issue of whether something resembling the old Soviet Union will be de facto established by the Russian government of Vladimir Putin using bribes and coercion. In that unfolding drama, often referred to as EuroMaidan (a neologism that combines the aspirations of Ukraine’s democratic dissidents and the informal name of the square in Kiev where mass demonstrations continue), a leading role in the effort to reform a corrupt, post-Communist Ukraine is being played by the faculty and students of the Ukrainian Catholic University.</p>
<p>UCU is itself something of a miracle, having been born from beneath the rubble of Soviet-era religious persecution, during which the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was forcibly suppressed and was, for more than four decades, the world’s largest underground religious body. Today, UCU is providing an impressive and unique model of higher learning in the “former Soviet space,” emphasizing the development of personal character and public moral culture as well as intellectual and professional competence, to meet the challenges of a society wrecked by the hammer blows of Soviet totalitarianism. UCU has paid a price for its commitment to intellectual and moal truth, suffering continuing harassment from the government and security services of the Yanukovych regime in Ukraine. Yet the people of UCU remain unbowed, and both faculty and students have been active participants in the EuroMaidan demonstrations and in similar protests in Lviv, where the university is located.</p>
<p>The following two documents, recently sent to me from Lviv, usefully illustrate the dynamics of today’s Ukrainian drama. The first may help Western readers understand just how a corrupt, thuggish, post-Communist regime operates. The second gives a flavor of the witness that students whose teachers care about both intellectual and moral formation can offer Ukrainian society. It is instructive to note that much of the EuroMaidan protest has been led by young people who have grown up since Ukraine achieved its independence in 1991; they have no memory of the Communist regime, and they want a normal, European future, which they associate not with MTV, but with democracy, solidarity, and respect for human dignity.</p>
<p>The texts have been lightly edited for readability.</p>
<p>(1)&#160;Memorandum</p>
<p>On complications in the relations between the Ukrainian Catholic University and Ukrainian government in 2010–2013</p>
<p>Profile</p>
<p>The Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), located in Lviv, Ukraine, was established in 1994 by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC). The largest of the Eastern Catholic Churches, the UGCC was “dissolved” after World War II, and those who defied this ban were violently persecuted by the Soviet state. The UGCC emerged from the underground in 1989 and has rebuilt its ecclesiastical structures. According to its mission statement, UCU is an open academic community, forming leaders to serve with professional excellence in Ukraine and internationally — for the glory of God, the common good, and the dignity of the human person.</p>
<p>UCU is the only Catholic university in the territory of the former Soviet Union. UCU is a model for educational reform in post-Soviet higher education, and a living example of a corruption-free environment. It played a historical role in the state recognition of theology and in establishing high standards of theological education in Ukraine. UCU offers a quality education in theology and church history, sacred art and ecumenical studies, humanities, social sciences, bioethics, social work, journalism and social communication, innovation and nonprofit management, and business education, introducing the best approaches and methods of western European and North American universities. Fostering intercultural, cross-institutional, and interdisciplinary cooperation is both a goal and a conscious method at UCU.</p>
<p>As a non-governmental higher-education institution, UCU established the model of the independent, self-supporting university in a post-Communist setting which suffers from the Communist destruction of the culture of philanthropy; thus UCU aims to institute and enhance efficient and transparent relationships with its local and global stakeholders and donors. UCU is known for its independent public position, the scope of its international outreach, its commitment to the issues of social responsibility, and its concern for promoting a culture of academic excellence and honesty nationwide. Developing the spirit of community and service, inherited from the underground Church, is a priority in UCU’s institutional and educational strategy.</p>
<p>The harassment of the Ukrainian Catholic University by the Security Service of Ukraine, May–June 2010</p>
<p>On May 18, 2010, an agent of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) paid an unwanted visit to Father Borys Gudziak, the rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, to warn him of the possible repercussions of student participation in protest activity against growing state authoritarianism. The agent gave the rector a letter from SBU authorities and asked him to read and sign the letter, thereby acknowledging the letter’s contents. The agent stipulated that the rector could not keep nor make a copy of this letter even though it was addressed to him. Under such conditions Rector Gudziak refused to sign or even read the letter and published&#160; <a href="http://ucu.edu.ua/eng/news/549/" type="external">a memorandum</a>&#160;about the incident.</p>
<p>On June 2, 2010, Philip J. Crowley, U.S. assistant secretary of state for public affairs made a statement on the Ukrainian Catholic University and the Security Service of Ukraine concerning issues related to freedom of speech and association in Ukraine. He expressed concern about actions that could be interpreted as restricting basic freedoms.</p>
<p>On June 25, 2010, Mr. Khoroshkovsky, SBU Head, and Mrs. Herman, President Yanukovych’s spokesman, came to UCU. A non-confrontational encounter occurred during which the visitors had an opportunity to see the various aspects of UCU’s research, teaching, and social-outreach activity. Father Gudziak and Father Bohdan Prach, vice-rector for external affairs, aired the concerns of the university and its desire to work normally for a normal future of Ukraine as it emerges from a devastating totalitarian past. On July 2, 2010, Mrs. Herman made a public statement that Mr. Khoroshkovsky had&#160; <a href="http://blogs.pravda.com.ua/authors/4c03ad265db60/4c2dd3cb1b9ff/" type="external">issued an apology</a>&#160;regarding the May 18th incident</p>
<p>An attempt of the Ministry for Education, Science, Youth, and Sports of Ukraine to revoke UCU’s accreditation, December 2011–November 2012</p>
<p>Over the past years, the Ukrainian Catholic University continued to develop dynamically. In response, the Ministry for Education, Science, Youth, and Sports (MESYS) of Ukraine attempted to arrest that development through unfair and academically unjustified revocation of state accreditation for the University, based not on quality or efficiency criteria, but on purely formal, bureaucratic reasons. Its complaints with regard to UCU were the foreign citizenship of its rector and the staffing of teaching positions with faculty with international academic degrees.</p>
<p>During December 2011 through November 2012, MESYS tried to discipline UCU through its attempt to revoke UCU’s state licenses and accreditation for its programs. UCU has faced numerous difficulties in re-accrediting its existing programs and getting a license for its new programs.&#160;.&#160;.&#160;.</p>
<p>During one year UCU was rigorously inspected twice by an extraordinary Committee of the State Inspection of Higher Educational Institutions of Ukraine on its compliance with license requirements in the provision of educational services in the area of higher education, and on the quality of student education at UCU. Both times the Committee’s conclusion on UCU’s compliance with the licensing regulations was positive. Nevertheless, on the grounds that UCU rector Father Borys Gudziak (who holds a doctorate from Harvard) is not a Ukrainian citizen, and that a number of the theology faculty with doctoral degrees granted by leading Western universities did not have their Ph.D. degrees formally recognized in Ukraine (because of the lack of legal possibility to attain such a recognition for degrees in theology), MESYS tried to deny accreditation to UCU’s programs.</p>
<p>To respond to the threat of revoking accreditation, UCU professors with Ph.D.s in theology from world-renowned universities outside Ukraine were forced to get their degrees recognized in other specialties rather than theology: religious studies, philosophy, history, etc. It is scandalous that MESYS did nothing to create conditions for full recognition of theology in Ukraine and then used that failure as an instrument of discrimination against people with internationally recognized academic degrees in theology.</p>
<p>Following the intervention of the head of Lviv Region State Administration and other Ukrainian high officials who were familiar with UCU, the involvement of U.S. ambassador John Tefft, and the dedicated work of UCU administration, MESYS finally drew back and granted the accreditation to UCU programs in late 2012 and early 2013.</p>
<p>Opening of the new master program in social pedagogy, April–June 2012</p>
<p>In April 2012, UCU submitted to MESYS an application and request to issue a license for opening the new master program in social pedagogy. According to the procedure, DSWL appointed an expert committee, which visited UCU at the end of May to check the situation at the university and our compliance with the regulations for opening the new program. The final conclusion of the expert committee was completely positive.</p>
<p>But a MESYS expert, while transmitting our issue to the State Accreditation Committee, wrote a cover letter arguing that the positive conclusion of the expert committee is invalid. She appealed to the fact that the head of the department holds a Doctor of Sciences degree in general pedagogy and not in social pedagogy, which was, in her opinion, a violation of one of the licensing regulations. Given the fact that there is a general practice in Ukraine that people work in adjacent fields and are counted as fulfilling the license criteria, her reproach was outrageous, since our professor wrote a monograph and more than 40 articles in social pedagogy. Our department head was a director of one successful dissertation in social pedagogy, and she holds an official academic title of professor of social work issued by MESYS. All of this unmistakably testified to her qualifications in social pedagogy. And all of this was ignored by the MESYS expert. It took a great deal of work and argument with MESYS to finally convince the State Accreditation Committee to grant the license for opening a new UCU program.</p>
<p>EuroMaidan, November–December 2013</p>
<p>The Ukrainian government, led by President Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, is facing mass nationwide protests and demonstrations, initially sparked by the president’s decision not to sign an association agreement with the European Union, that had been scheduled to take place November 29. The rallies have rapidly grown in scope because of the brutality of the special police forces, which violently attacked peaceful protesters and journalists in Kiev November 30 and again December 1. UCU issued a number of statements on the present situation, appealing to its students and faculty, &#160;and the academic community in Ukraine at large, to stand in solidarity with the non-violent public defense of their values, their civic rights, and their vision of Ukraine as a strong, prosperous, and moral nation.</p>
<p>Frightened by the solidarity, commitment, and courage of millions of its citizens, as well as the demonstration of support it has inspired worldwide, the Ukrainian government has been taking an active offensive, not merely against the political opposition, activists, and journalists reporting on the events, but also against students — the initiators of this broad protest movement.</p>
<p>UCU is clearly high on the list of institutions the police and other authorities are pressuring. Police officers have already visited UCU and interrogated the Dean of the School of Humanities and a few of his colleagues in an attempt to collect information about the students who participated in the demonstrations. We have been informed that a few criminal cases have been opened&#160;against UCU students and professors. Some of our students are put under psychological pressure, getting phone calls attempting to interrogate them about their involvement with protests, and even warning them not to continue their participation in the demonstrations while insisting that they become “Internet silent.”</p>
<p>Meeting with the first deputy minister of the Ministry of Education and Science, Yevhen Sulima, December 2013</p>
<p>On December 11, 2013, UCU senior vice-rector Dr. Taras Dobko was invited to meet with the first deputy minister of the Ministry of Education and Science, Mr. Yevhen Sulima. During the meeting Mr. Sulima demanded that UCU comply with legal regulations about the requirements for a university rector. He cautioned that he will approve no UCU accreditation application unless UCU appoints as rector a person who fully complies with the legal requirements for the position holder. This includes the requirement about Ukrainian citizenship of the rector.</p>
<p>Father Bohdan Prach, the new rector of UCU, is a Ukrainian born in Poland, a Polish citizen, and a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest who has worked in Ukraine for more than 15 years and, legally speaking, is a permanent resident of Ukraine.</p>
<p>At the dawn of Ukraine’s independence, when the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church rose from underground life to resume legal existence, the Church’s structures needed to be rebuilt from scratch. The human and material resources of the Church had been fiercely attacked by the Soviet state and much was destroyed. It took an enormous effort of many dedicated people to restore the life of the Church. But still more time is needed to educate and train clergy of Ukrainian citizenship who could be able and legally acceptable to lead such an international institution of higher education as the Ukrainian Catholic University. The problem is that the government does not accept responsibility for the disruption of the UGCC development during Soviet time, and does not feel obliged to respond to its needs and challenges in a creative way. It is our conviction that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church should be allowed its full development without recourse to Soviet-like regulations that impinge both on common sense and the Church’s natural growth.</p>
<p>Thus, we will continue arguing with the Ukrainian government for the need to change the regulations on higher education or to approve of an exception for the Ukrainian Catholic University to permit Father Bohdan Prach to exercise fully his role as UCU rector, in spite of the ministry’s threats to block accreditation of the university’s programs.</p>
<p>(2)&#160;Appeal of Ukrainian Catholic University Students&#160;</p>
<p>December 11, 2013</p>
<p>For three weeks now the eyes of the world have been on the events unfolding in Ukraine.</p>
<p>It is Ukrainian youth and Ukrainian students who have initiated this mass protest movement against the corrupt and secretive actions of their government. It is they who have taken to the squares in Kyiv, and other cities and towns of Ukraine, in hopes that the authorities would listen to the voice of the people. A million-strong wave of peaceful protesters has received significant international support, for which the Ukrainian people are extremely grateful. This support has helped us brave the cold and the attacks by the riot police.</p>
<p>Within hours of the new attack on the Maidan on December 11, the government opened a large number of court proceedings, and took steps to block the work of Ukrainian and international journalists, and introduce anxiety and fear into people’s hearts.</p>
<p>In spite of emphatic declarations of their peaceful intentions and desires to hear the voice of the people and participate in dialogue, the Ukrainian authorities went on the offensive, not merely against opposition forces and journalists reporting on the events, but against the nation’s students — the initiators of this broad protest movement.</p>
<p>Among the methods of pressure and bullying that our university has encountered in recent days are phone calls and visits from representatives of the police, talks with our deans and vice rectors, attempts to inspect our students’ attendance records, searches for particular student activists, summons to the state’s attorney’s office, and the opening of criminal cases against students and professors.</p>
<p>We are convinced that these and similar steps will only increase in magnitude. After the new nighttime crackdown on the Maidan, we have resolved along with our professors to withdraw our moral loyalty, as citizens of Ukraine, for Ukraine’s president and government.</p>
<p>Now, more than ever, we are in need of your solidarity and support. We appeal to you and ask that you disseminate information about the shameful state of affairs in Ukraine, the pressure on institutions of higher learning and their students, the violations of constitutional rights and democratic freedoms, and the mockery of the dignity of people who are only calling for the good and prosperity of their country, and for a dignified, honest, and democratic life.</p>
<p>Please help, support and protect the students of UCU and other Ukrainian universities who stand firm for their freedom, human rights, and dignity, and the freedom, human rights, and dignity of their fellow-citizens.</p>
<p>—&#160;Students of the Ukrainian Catholic University</p>
<p>George Weigel is distinguished senior fellow of Washington’s&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Ethics and Public Policy Center</a>&#160;where he holds the William E. Simon chair in Catholic Studies. He is a member of the board of directors of the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | A Word from the Ukrainian Barricades | false | https://eppc.org/publications/a-word-from-the-ukrainian-barricades/ | 1 |
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<p /> JIHAN HAFIZ, TRNN CORRESPONDENT, CAIRO: It's a grim reality that has lately united Egyptian women from all walks of life. Two years of increased sexualized violence against female protesters has forced an ugly epidemic into the national spotlight. The gang rapes and attacks on women in the revolution's iconic Tahrir Square enraged many Egyptians to organize this protest specifically against sexualized violence. Angry chants condemned a system that condones and perpetuates violence targeting women.
<p />
<p />JIHAN FADEL, EGYPTIAN ACTRESS (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): There was harassment before the revolution, but what we have now is gangs. I'm talking about 30, 40, 50 men attacking with knives. That's not harassment. They're attacking women with pocket knives. Is that harassment? These are crimes.
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: Increased attacks singling out female protesters exploded over the past two years, culminating in scenes like this on January&#160;25 last month. Volunteers and activists with anti-harassment campaigns filmed these mob attacks against women this past January&#160;25.
<p />
<p />UNIDENTIFIED (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): That's Reem! There's Reem! She's in that one! There is another girl!
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: Some of them were their fellow volunteers. Here one woman tries to comfort her infant daughter as a mob moves in. Inside these mobs, over a dozen women were gang-raped, relentlessly groped, stripped naked of their clothes, and assaulted with knives and iron rods. In one case, a 19-year-old girl was rushed to emergency surgery with large gashes to her genitalia. Such savagery has provoked women to arm themselves, brandishing their weapons during this march as a clear warning to their attackers.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />REPORTER (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): Why are you holding this knife in the march?
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): Because no one is going to force us into our homes, no one is going to scare us into hiding in our homes. and we are going to arm ourselves to defend ourselves. And any dog who dares to come near us, I will slice him! These crimes are orchestrated. It's a social disease and it's present in this society. But what is happening now is organized crime.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: Rights groups and activists are convinced the systematic attacks are products of state-sponsored repression.
<p />
<p />LODNA DARWISH, ORGANIZER, OPANTISH: This is not the first time that the government uses sexual violence to intimidate men and women, especially women. We've been seeing, since Mubarak years until now, the government paying thugs—and it's proven—to come and sexually harass women. They would come to the protest and not beat up women, just sexually harass them, undress them, drag them undressed—and everybody probably saw the video of the blue-bra girl who was stripped of her clothes and dragged on the streets. This was the army. And then there was the virginity test, the so-called virginity test, which was like a rape incident of the army again, forcing 18 women to go through virginity tests. So it's a continuous pattern of sexual humiliation.
<p />
<p />UNIDENTIFIED (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): Hi. I'm with the campaign against sexual harassment. If there is any harassment in the square—.
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: A number of newly-formed campaigns combating sexual harassment have been mobilizing within communities and on the streets.
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATORS (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): We the women will free Egypt!
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: As the march roars through this busy neighborhood, scuffles break out between some of the female marchers and male onlookers.
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): He said women are raped and harassed depending on how they dress. So I shamed him! In Arabic and English! I said, does anyone leave their home naked? Even if she dressed indecent, would she leave her home naked? Dog! That's the Brotherhood's mentality! They do this so we go back to our homes. But we will never!
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: Although daily harassment is prevalent in this socially conservative society, the subject is often ignored when addressed.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): I no longer take my wife out because of harassment.
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): We take a short trip on the metro, and I get into 36 fights.
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): No, no.
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): We don't have the money to take a cab. If we take any public transportation, I have to sit her far against the window.
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): No, no! There is no such thing!
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): Don't put Egypt in that category.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />SALMA SAID, ORGANIZER, OPANTISH: We're not only facing the problem of harassment, of sexual harassment; we're also facing a huge problem of society wanting to be silent about it, the men being extremely aggressive when anyone trying to discuss what is happening.
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: A recent study found over 80&#160;percent of Egyptian women and over 95&#160;percent of foreign women have experienced sexual harassment. Videos of mob assaults of women started appearing on YouTube years before the revolution. Salma was among some of the first to blog about it several years ago.
<p />
<p />SAID: And I wrote my testimony about the time, the many, many, many times that I was sexually abused or sexually harassed from when I was a child till, like, now. And I asked other women to write about it as well, because I was—I mean, I was going to go—going crazy because men said that these things don't happen in Egypt and that Egypt is a religious country and these kind of things. So it happened, and I was sure that the same people who were saying this are the people who are harassing women in the street.
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: Considered a taboo subject, victims are commonly blamed for the attack while the perpetrator is let off.
<p />
<p />FADEL: But no one speaks out against it. Why? Because the victim is a woman, because they argue: what brought her there in the first place? Why is she in the streets? Women are supposed to be at home. Those who come to the streets are indecent. Rather than elicit a response, people are mocking it [rather] than responding to it.
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: In the urban slums and among the rural poor, the issue is practically ignored.
<p />
<p />UNIDENTIFIED (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): There is no religion. There's no life. There is no father who tells their sons, that's wrong. There is no concern for it. No one walks in the street and considers, this could be my mother or sister and it might happen to her. There is no such talk.
<p />
<p />UNIDENTIFIED (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): It used to be just one individual, not the entire society against the girl. And there is no distinction. It doesn't matter if she's covered, showing her hair, elderly, a child. There is no distinction.
<p />
<p />UNIDENTIFIED (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): I sat down and had a talk with my daughter, because rape and harassment also happens between teachers and the girls, to children my daughter's age. Of course, she is just a child. She doesn't understand anything. But I speak with her, and so does Sheren. We tell her not to go into the bathroom with the teacher.
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: These women have quietly formed a support group to deal with harassment and sexual abuse in their community.
<p />
<p />UNIDENTIFIED (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): She didn't have any pants on.
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: The silence is slowly being broken. Public discussion is opening up after the latest survivors of the mob attacks braved the backlash and recounted their experiences on national television.
<p />
<p />UNIDENTIFIED (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): I felt as if I would die in that moment.
<p />
<p />SAID: They have done an amazing favor for the rest of us, for everyone else, because they didn't worry about facing their neighbors, their families. They were like, it's not our fault that we were assaulted; it's your fault, it's society's fault, it's the men's fault, it's the government's fault; and we are not going to suffer above our suffering from what happened; we have to solve this, and we're going to speak up and we're going to talk about it and we're going to, like, make it explode in everyone's faces.
<p />
<p />HAFIZ: But it remains a long upward battle in this patriarchal society. A sheikh from the prominent Al-Azhar Institution issued a fatwa encouraging the rape of women during protests.
<p />
<p />During Friday's protests and on the front lines during clashes, women roamed amongst their male counterparts, asserting their resolve and participation in Egypt's ongoing revolution will remain.
<p />
<p />Jihan Hafiz for The Real News, Cairo, Egypt.
<p />
<p />
<p />End
<p />
<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | Sexual Harassment of Women is State Sponsored Say Egyptian Women | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D31%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D9658%23.URUzVFpdda4 | 2013-02-08 | 4 |
<p>BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - A doctor has found a man accused of killing his wife with a cleaver and critically injuring his mother-in-law competent to stand trial.</p>
<p>Police say 35-year-old Aita Gurung killed 32-year-old Yogeswari Khadka and seriously injured her mother at their Burlington home in October. He had just returned home after being released from the mental health treatment he sought.</p>
<p>Gurung pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and attempted murder.</p>
<p>Last month, his lawyer, Sandra Lee, filed a notice of insanity defense. Gurung received an in-patient exam at the psychiatric care hospital he's been at since his arrest.</p>
<p>The Burlington Free Press reports Lee told Judge Kevin Griffin on Tuesday that she could neither agree nor disagree with the doctor's evaluation at this time. The matter was continued to Jan. 19.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Burlington Free Press, <a href="http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com" type="external">http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com</a></p>
<p>BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - A doctor has found a man accused of killing his wife with a cleaver and critically injuring his mother-in-law competent to stand trial.</p>
<p>Police say 35-year-old Aita Gurung killed 32-year-old Yogeswari Khadka and seriously injured her mother at their Burlington home in October. He had just returned home after being released from the mental health treatment he sought.</p>
<p>Gurung pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and attempted murder.</p>
<p>Last month, his lawyer, Sandra Lee, filed a notice of insanity defense. Gurung received an in-patient exam at the psychiatric care hospital he's been at since his arrest.</p>
<p>The Burlington Free Press reports Lee told Judge Kevin Griffin on Tuesday that she could neither agree nor disagree with the doctor's evaluation at this time. The matter was continued to Jan. 19.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Burlington Free Press, <a href="http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com" type="external">http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com</a></p> | Doctor: Man accused of killing wife with cleaver competent | false | https://apnews.com/a3a5e21c55874a148f9dac3f62092e69 | 2018-01-03 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Search warrant documents released on Tuesday related to the probe of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's private email setup stirred fresh controversy about the FBI's decision to revive the investigation days before the Nov. 8 election.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The materials, which related to a search warrant issued after Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey on Oct. 28 informed Congress of the emails, were ordered released on Monday by U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel in Manhattan.</p>
<p>Comey's letter drew new attention to Clinton's use of the server while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 and roiled the campaign 11 days before the election, which Republican Donald Trump won.</p>
<p>Clinton has blamed Comey and his letter for her defeat.</p>
<p>In an affidavit, an FBI agent said there was "probable cause" to believe emails between Clinton and a person whose name was redacted were among "thousands" found on a laptop that contained U.S. State Department correspondence.</p>
<p>But the filings gave no indication the FBI had any evidence at the time of Comey's letter that any of the emails on the laptop involved classified communications with Clinton, raising fresh questions about Comey's decision to issue his letter.</p>
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<p>David Kendall, Clinton's lawyer, said the documents showed the "extraordinary impropriety" of Comey's letter, which "produced devastating but predictable damage politically and which was both legally unauthorized and factually unnecessary."</p>
<p>The FBI declined to comment.</p>
<p>The laptop belonged to former Democratic U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin who was the subject of an investigation after a report about cellphone and online messages he sent a 15-year-old girl.</p>
<p>The search warrant materials' release was sought by Randol Schoenberg, a Los Angeles-based lawyer, who contended that transparency was crucial given the potential influence the probe had on the election's outcome.</p>
<p>In a statement, Schoenberg said he saw "nothing to suggest that there would be anything other than routine correspondence between Secretary Clinton and her longtime aide Huma Abedin."</p>
<p>Brian Fallon, who served as the national press secretary for Clinton's campaign, said on Twitter the search warrant "reveals Comey's intrusion on the election was as utterly unjustified as we suspected at time."</p>
<p>In July, Comey recommended no charges be brought over Clinton's handing of classified information in the emails, although he said she and her colleagues were "extremely careless" in handling such information.</p>
<p>That determination followed what the search warrant materials called a "criminal investigation concerning the improper transmission and storage of classified info on unclassified email systems and servers."</p>
<p>In his Oct. 28 letter to Congress, Comey said emails potentially related to the investigation had been discovered in an "unrelated case."</p>
<p>Federal investigators obtained the warrant to examine the emails on Oct. 30. Two days before the election, Comey disclosed the emails did nothing to change his earlier recommendation.</p> | FBI Search Warrant Stirs Renewed Focus on Revived Clinton Probe | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2016/12/20/fbi-search-warrant-stirs-renewed-focus-on-revived-clinton-probe.html | 2016-12-20 | 0 |
<p>NEW YORK (AP) - Not long after the Dow Jones industrial average passed 25,000 points, President Donald Trump had already turned his eye to another milestone.</p>
<p>"We broke a very, very big barrier: 25,000," he said at the White House after the index passed that mark Thursday morning. "So I guess our new number is 30,000."</p>
<p>For the Dow to hit 30,000, it would need to rise another 20 percent. Trump didn't give a time frame for the Dow to reach that target, but few on Wall Street expect stocks to climb that much anytime soon.</p>
<p>Most professional investors pay little attention to the Dow, which looks at just 30 stocks. They more often follow the Standard &amp; Poor's 500 index, which offers a more comprehensive look at the market. But the two indexes often follow the same patterns.</p>
<p>Strategists at Credit Suisse think the S&amp;P 500 will end the year at 3,000, which would be a roughly 10 percent gain from Thursday's close. At the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, they're expecting a final level of 2,800 to 2,900. At the low end, that would be a gain of less than 3 percent.</p>
<p>Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance, said in an email that he expects the Dow to hit 30,000 before the current bull market, now it its 9th year, runs its course, but he thinks it will be a bumpier ride.</p>
<p>"We are going to have a lot more turbulence between now and that next large round number," he said.</p>
<p>Stock prices usually follow the trend of corporate profits over the long term, but lately they've been rising more quickly than earnings.</p>
<p>Last year the S&amp;P 500 jumped 19.4 percent, but S&amp;P Global Markets Intelligence estimates earnings per share for S&amp;P 500 companies rose about 10 percent. Partly for that reason, some experts are concerned that stocks have become unusually expensive.</p>
<p>Even with the tax cuts that were just signed into law, few on Wall Street expect earnings to rise 20 percent this year. On average, analysts surveyed by FactSet thinks S&amp;P 500 company profits will rise less than 12 percent in 2018.</p>
<p>Meanwhile Wall Street is watching for the potential of inflation ripping higher, which would lead banks to raise interest rates. Central banks are scaling back their efforts to prop up the global economy, which have helped keep the market placid recently.</p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) - Not long after the Dow Jones industrial average passed 25,000 points, President Donald Trump had already turned his eye to another milestone.</p>
<p>"We broke a very, very big barrier: 25,000," he said at the White House after the index passed that mark Thursday morning. "So I guess our new number is 30,000."</p>
<p>For the Dow to hit 30,000, it would need to rise another 20 percent. Trump didn't give a time frame for the Dow to reach that target, but few on Wall Street expect stocks to climb that much anytime soon.</p>
<p>Most professional investors pay little attention to the Dow, which looks at just 30 stocks. They more often follow the Standard &amp; Poor's 500 index, which offers a more comprehensive look at the market. But the two indexes often follow the same patterns.</p>
<p>Strategists at Credit Suisse think the S&amp;P 500 will end the year at 3,000, which would be a roughly 10 percent gain from Thursday's close. At the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, they're expecting a final level of 2,800 to 2,900. At the low end, that would be a gain of less than 3 percent.</p>
<p>Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance, said in an email that he expects the Dow to hit 30,000 before the current bull market, now it its 9th year, runs its course, but he thinks it will be a bumpier ride.</p>
<p>"We are going to have a lot more turbulence between now and that next large round number," he said.</p>
<p>Stock prices usually follow the trend of corporate profits over the long term, but lately they've been rising more quickly than earnings.</p>
<p>Last year the S&amp;P 500 jumped 19.4 percent, but S&amp;P Global Markets Intelligence estimates earnings per share for S&amp;P 500 companies rose about 10 percent. Partly for that reason, some experts are concerned that stocks have become unusually expensive.</p>
<p>Even with the tax cuts that were just signed into law, few on Wall Street expect earnings to rise 20 percent this year. On average, analysts surveyed by FactSet thinks S&amp;P 500 company profits will rise less than 12 percent in 2018.</p>
<p>Meanwhile Wall Street is watching for the potential of inflation ripping higher, which would lead banks to raise interest rates. Central banks are scaling back their efforts to prop up the global economy, which have helped keep the market placid recently.</p> | Dow 30K? As a milestone falls, Trump talks up a new one | false | https://apnews.com/0a70bac2d28c445dac9ca9efba848515 | 2018-01-04 | 2 |
<p>President Obama has confirmed that a U.S.-led operation has killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, and his body is in U.S. custody. Update: In a related development, early Monday the State Department issued a worldwide <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_us_bin_laden_warn" type="external">warning</a> to American travelers.</p>
<p>BBC:</p>
<p>The al-Qaeda leader was killed in a ground operation in a mansion outside Islamabad in an operation based on US intelligence, reports said.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13256676" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p /> | Osama bin Laden Is Dead (Updated) | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/osama-bin-laden-is-dead-updated/ | 2011-05-02 | 4 |
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<p>“It’s just a typical night in here,” McLean said of CrossFit Loudoun and Northern Virginia Ninja, which she co-owns with Casey Passafaro. In its first year, NoVa Ninja has become a destination for people who seek more than a standard weightlifting or cardio challenge.</p>
<p>The idea to incorporate ninja-style training came from Passafaro, who wanted a place to train to get on the show – a goal she accomplished in May, when she and two other coaches competed on “Ninja” Season 8 in Atlanta.</p>
<p>“I didn’t in my wildest dreams think that Ninja could support itself as a business,” Passafaro said. “I thought that CrossFit would be a great way to support Ninja. Now, the Ninja definitely supports the CrossFit.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Obstacle course racing, or OCR, is a $500 million business, with the number of races increasing by 2,300 from 2014 to 2015, according to Running USA. “American Ninja Warrior” has seen applications to compete rise from 1,000 in its first season to 70,000 in its eighth.</p>
<p>A British man who goes by the name Mr. Mouse was the first obstacle course race creator with his Tough Guy competitions in the late 1980s. OCR caught on in the United States within the past decade. Competitors typically pay about $50 to $150 to slog through mud, climb nearly vertical walls, feel like they’re being waterboarded, wade through ice baths and even get electrocuted, all while covering several miles, often as fast as they can.</p>
<p>“I think there are a lot of forces driving this phenomenon,” said Scott Keneally, a self-described OCR addict and writer and director of “The Rise of the Sufferfests,” a 2016 documentary that studies such races. “Part of it is the narcissism epidemic – the rise of social media, the ability to brag and look like a hero on Facebook. That, I think, is an entry point for a lot of different people, but for other people it’s an excuse to get into shape in a fun way.”</p>
<p>But the industry didn’t grow from about 50,000 participants in 2009 to about 5 million in 2015 based purely on fun. OCR appeals to primal fears – and overcoming them.</p>
<p>For example, participants in 2017 runnings of the Tough Mudder, which started in 2010 and attracts 10,000 to 15,000 participants per event, will tackle Augustus Gloop, which “requires participants to climb up a 12-foot vertical tube while water is pouring down on top of their head,” said Nolan Kombol, Tough Mudder’s senior director of product design.</p>
<p>Why would someone not only willingly try that, but pay to do it?</p>
<p>“People want to conquer their fears and do something that they maybe thought they never would have done,” said Tanya Prewitt-White, a clinical assistant professor of kinesiology and nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago.</p>
<p>For Keneally, fear is a major motivator.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“I was freaking terrified in a way I hadn’t been in memory, and when I got through that, I felt amazing,” he said of his experiences.</p>
<p>That would be the adrenaline rush, says J.R. Fuller, a 46-year-old Burke, Virginia stay-at-home dad who had to overcome a fear of heights to compete on “Ninja” Season 8.</p>
<p>“You get a real adrenaline rush when you push yourself, when you force yourself to get up there and try it,” Fuller said. “Even though you fall 20 times, you get back up. You keep trying.”</p>
<p>That physical-mental combination is at the heart of OCR’s appeal. Joe De Sena, co-founder and chief executive of Spartan Race, which has 180 events a year, says Americans’ boredom is driving OCR’s success.</p>
<p>“I finally figured out what human beings want and need, which is to get outside, start breathing heavy, to sweat, to do all the things that we don’t do anymore,” De Sena said. “We have such easy lives, where everything is right at our fingertips, that you just don’t feel alive.”</p>
<p>The teamwork involved in completing a course is also an appeal. Scaling a 20-foot wall at a Warrior Dash, another OCR event, often requires a physical and psychological boost.</p>
<p>“It’s a no-judgment zone as well,” Prewitt-White said. “Everyone is really trying to support and help one another.”</p>
<p>Ashburn resident Verne Dickerson, 36, made it to the top of NoVa Ninja’s Warped Wall recently and savored the accomplishment before heading down. He said he sometimes is off his game and can’t reach the summit. When that happens, he refocuses and tries again.</p>
<p>“Anybody can have the physical ability to do it. A majority of it is mental,” Dickerson said. “You become stronger as a person as a whole.”</p> | How Tough Mudders and ‘Ninja Warrior’ turned primal fears into big business | false | https://abqjournal.com/924826/how-tough-mudders-and-ninja-warrior-turned-primal-fears-into-big-business.html | 2017-01-10 | 2 |
<p>A school in Beijing is offering courses in <a href="http://ca.news.yahoo.com/chinese-women-learn-snag-billionaire-050050530.html" type="external">how to snag a billionaire</a> or - if you can settle for it - a millionaire, or perhaps just an affluent man.</p>
<p>Reuters is reporting on the Moral Education Center for Women and its $3,000, 30-hour course that teaches its clients "techniques to make them more attractive, from how to put on make-up in the most flattering way to how to spot a liar by looking at his facial expressions."</p>
<p>They would also learn how to read a man's character (if that matters at all), and brush up on their conversational and traditional skills, such as tea-pouring techniques.</p>
<p>Reuters reports that wealthy eligible bachelors have approached the school in search of soul mates, and spent up to 30,000 yuan as an introductory fee. The school says it has successfully matched 30 couples, resulting in marriages.</p>
<p>China's wealthiest are reportedly getting richer, with the minimum amount needed to make the top 400 rising to $425 million from 300 million in 2010.</p>
<p>A Chinese person broke into the Forbes list of the <a href="http://www.whatsonchengdu.com/news-184-2011-forbes-baidu-ceo-listed-as-china-s-richest.html" type="external">world's top-100 billionaires</a> for the first time this year, with Robin Li, CEO of search site Baidu Inc., ranked at number 95, with $9.4 billion in assets, Xinhua reported.</p>
<p>A total of 115 mainland Chinese entrepreneurs were among the 1, 210 people on the world's richest list - representing a 340 percent increase from the 28 in 2009 and almost double the 64 in 2010.</p>
<p>The center's founder, Shao Tong, told Reuters that the school was encouraging women to become "the best they can be by giving them a goal" in a country that has an increasingly affluent middle class.</p>
<p>She reportedly said:</p>
<p>"We are nurturing internal qualities and developing potential.</p>
<p>"But if I were to advertise the school saying I would like to teach you how to build a good family and to better yourself, lots of girls would rule it out because they feel that they are agreeable and qualified enough.</p>
<p>"So then I thought, why not be more straightforward by saying: do you want to marry a rich man?"</p> | Beijing school instructs Chinese girls on how to marry rich | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-07-19/beijing-school-instructs-chinese-girls-how-marry-rich | 2011-07-19 | 3 |
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<p>The deficit increased 15.6 percent to $48.3 billion, the biggest deficit since March, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Exports of goods and services dropped 2 percent to $185.1 billion, the lowest level since October 2012. Imports rose 1.2 percent to $233.4 billion.</p>
<p>Exports have been hurt this year by the rising value of the dollar, which makes U.S. goods less competitive on overseas markets, and weaker economic growth in China and other major export markets. Economists say they expect these trends will combine to push the deficit higher and make trade a drag on overall growth this year.</p>
<p>Canada, America's largest trading partner, is in a recession. And China, the world's second largest economy, is growing more slowly. Meanwhile, many emerging market economies are being battered by a plunge in commodity prices.</p>
<p>Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said that the August trade performance showed that trade will be a "significant drag" on growth in the July-September quarter. Shepherdson said he looked for trade to subtract 0.75 percentage point from third quarter growth.</p>
<p>The overall economy grew at a 3.9 percent rate in the second quarter, but many analysts expect that trade and other factors will slow growth to perhaps as little as 1.5 percent in the third quarter.</p>
<p>The United States on Monday reached agreement with Japan and nine other Pacific Rim nations on what would be the largest regional trade pact in history. But the Obama administration will face a major challenge winning congressional approval for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal against opponents who argue that it will expose American workers to more unfair foreign competition.</p>
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<p>The critics point to America's huge trade deficits to bolster their argument that other nations are manipulating their currencies and pursuing other unfair trade practices that are costing U.S. jobs.</p>
<p>For August, the U.S. deficit with China rose 10.7 percent to $35 billion, the highest level in 11 months. So far this year, the deficit with China, the largest with any trading partner, is running 9.5 percent higher than a year ago. It is on track to set another annual record.</p>
<p>The deficit with the European Union rose 9 percent in August to $13.6 billion, while the imbalance with Japan fell 9 percent to $5.2 billion.</p>
<p>The drop in exports reflected lower sales of manufactured goods such as computers, industrial machinery and autos. Shipments of U.S. energy products also fell 9.3 percent to $8.1 billion, reflecting the slump in oil prices.</p>
<p>The rise in imports reflected a $2.1 billion jump in the category that covers cellphones, with many of those imports coming from China. Imports of telecommunications equipment and food products were also up, but imports of oil dropped 11.7 percent to $15.1 billion.</p> | US trade deficit widens to $48.3 billion in August | false | https://abqjournal.com/655316/us-trade-deficit-widens-to-48-3-billion-in-august.html | 2 |
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<p>One morning in November, D’Whitney Harris, a freshman at Michele Clark Academic Preparatory High School, posed a question in front of an audience of educators, students, reporters and city officials: “How much would you have to save a day from age 18 to become a millionaire by 65?”</p>
<p>Jazanay Taylor, her classmate, didn’t miss a beat. “$7.50 per day, assuming 7 percent interest,” she said. “Were you surprised?”From the back of the auditorium, Tracy Frizzell watched proudly as her students carried on the mock lesson on financial literacy—serving as capable ambassadors of the Economic Awareness Council, which Frizzell and four colleagues founded in 2003 to fill a void in financial awareness programming at Chicago Public Schools.</p>
<p>It is rare to hear teenagers talk about saving and investing money the way Harris, Taylor and their classmates can. For most teenagers in Chicago, financial matters like deposits, withdrawals or savings accounts are foreign concepts.</p>
<p>Through programs like Illinois Youth Saves, Get Real and On the Money magazine, the council teaches students the fundamentals of saving, budgeting, banking, credit, investing, business and entrepreneurship. Its philosophy is for teens to teach teens about how to be smart with their money through hands-on experience.</p>
<p>During its first year, the council worked with 50 students. Today, it far exceeds that number, serving 11,000 students in 2010.Frizzell, the council’s executive director, says empowering students—especially youth from less-resourced families—with basic financial knowledge and real skills goes a long way in improving their prospects of completing college and creating a stable future.</p>
<p>“It’s absolutely essential to know whether you’re an auto mechanic or whether you’re a brain surgeon,” she says. “You need to know, once you get your paycheck, not to spend it all, to spend less than you make and to put some of it away.”</p>
<p>Frizzell has already seen a lasting impact on students’ behavior. One alumna of the organization’s internship program recently asked Frizzell to be a reference. For her, this was a small but important sign that the student’s experience had changed her outlook from, “‘I’m just a student, and I’m here to learn,’ to, ‘I’m a young professional and the whole world is open,’” she said.</p>
<p>The Chicago Reporter sat down with Frizzell to talk about her work.</p>
<p>What gave you the idea of financial skills training?</p>
<p>There definitely was a feeling that we spend so much time in schools learning some things that we end up using a lot later and some that we don’t. But this is a skill that everyone needs. These are very essential life skills that can’t be left just to parents. We should do everything we can to involve parents, to excite them and encourage them to help their kids learn, but we can’t count on it just happening at home. We know it’s just not working.</p>
<p>We saw a lot of our peers in college blow through financial aid, end up with more and more loans, and then not have enough money at the end of the semester. When they get their first job, they make poor choices like not selecting to be part of 401(k) and not saving for the future because they felt they just didn’t need to think about it. It’s a skill that really impacts a family in terms of their stability and health. If you are not able to make ends meet, you’ll have a whole host of problems. That was our concern.</p>
<p>The students we work with are mostly in the high school range. It’s such an important time period because ideally they will get their first employment opportunity, if they’re fortunate enough. Around that time, they will get their first paycheck. At our internship program, we ask teens, ‘What are you going to do when you get your first paycheck?’ The first response is usually that they’re too excited to even think about it, and they’re going to run out and spend it all. When asked, ‘How are you going to get the money out of the check? You know, it’s just a piece of paper.’ The immediate response for most of them is, ‘I have to go to check cashing.’ They haven’t thought through that there are fees with check cashing and that they can’t build any savings. They’re also not building a relationship with a financial institution. For really, truly helping these students get on the path toward building wealth and financial stability, they need to be connected with more mainstream financial institutions.</p>
<p>What makes the Economic Awareness Council stand out?</p>
<p>The cornerstones of our programming are a focus on peer-based activities that emphasizes behavioral change and really evaluating the visible impact of our programs. There has been a lot of growth in this area since we first started, and quite honestly, everyone plays a vital part in sharing this information. But the research shows us that students, even if they get some financial literacy in school, still aren’t leaving with the proper skill set. This is one of the reasons that especially in the past few years we’ve really focused on, ‘How can we change behavior? How can we make sure we have a lasting impact on students in terms of them actually starting to save and actually starting to open accounts?’ I really believe that will help us to see more long-lasting changes.</p>
<p>Why is financial literacy important now?</p>
<p>Financial literacy is absolutely critical right now because everyone is pinched. Everyone is feeling like even if you have a job right now, you’re never sure what tomorrow will bring. And it is absolutely critical that people begin to build emergency savings whether you’re 15, whether you’re 40 or whether you’re 70. You should have some money in the bank that you can turn to. We know in America that about three in four people do not have enough emergency savings. It’s especially important among youth because the No. 1 reason students drop out of college is financial pressure.</p>
<p>Often we found that college kids get their funds in a lump sum. They are tempted to spend that money immediately, because it’s the most money they’ve ever seen. By the end of the year or semester, they’re running low. Often students aren’t going out and buying Prada this or Gucci that or whatever. They’re doing OK managing their money, and then something bad just happens. Their car breaks down or they get sick and miss their part-time. So they end up turning to credit cards or not being able to pay their bills. If a student can go into college with the money to fall back on even if it’s just $300 or $400, it can make a huge difference.</p>
<p>Why do you focus on less-resourced students and families?</p>
<p>Really there is a need for this information at every level. We do some work in schools that don’t have a high percentage of low-income students and find there is a need to know how to manage your money. Sometimes those kids have access to blow through more money, but the disparity in knowledge is quite significant. It’s a lot of bang for your buck, shall we say. You can make a big impact with the students we work with right away if they can master a few of these basic skills.</p>
<p>What have been some successful strategies?</p>
<p>Definitely to make it very hands-on. Instead of just putting up a PowerPoint of what a bank account is or what it is to make a deposit or withdrawal, have the students actually do it. A lot of the difficulty is that they’re not familiar. We really want the students to always leave each of our classes feeling like, ‘I did X skill. So when I am an adult or when I first get the opportunity as a teen, this will be easy for me because I’ve already done it.’</p>
<p>Whenever you can involve peer role models is fantastic. We know from our surveys and from the Consumer Federation of America’s surveys that people like to learn about money and learn best from their peers. It’s great if an expert comes in, but you don’t necessarily feel like that’s for you. ‘They’re through college; they already have money. It’s not for me. I don’t have to pay attention.’ But when it’s your buddy who lives down the street and hasn’t had a regular job yet and is another 14-year-old, and he’s done it—he’s saved up $10 to make his opening deposit. Then you start to pay attention.</p>
<p>Focus on behavior change and actually doing. One of the problems is that students are receiving more classroom-based instruction and testing related to financial literacy, but they’re not having an opportunity to actually apply it. My co-worker from Illinois Saves has an analogy he likes to use. If you were learning about baseball and it was all in the classroom, if you just learned what the rules are and how you score, and you just wrote about it and filled out forms, it wouldn’t be very interesting. You would have no desire to play baseball. That’s kind of how we’ve been approaching financial literacy.</p> | Making the save | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/making-save/ | 2012-01-01 | 3 |
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<p>Veteran spies say intelligence relationships are built to weather storms between political leaders. Even in the worst of times, allies share intelligence to thwart threats. But the lack of understanding about Trump’s foreign policy direction and his potential new friendship with Moscow are creating jitters across the Western world.</p>
<p>“We are facing an unprecedented level of uncertainty today,” said John Blaxland, a former Australian intelligence official and professor at Australian National University. He said there is mutual benefit to these “broad, deep” intelligence sharing relationships, but added: “It is hard to calculate just how much damage the new president’s approach may have.”</p>
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<p>“It will be felt,” Blaxland predicted, “and it won’t be good.”</p>
<p>Russia is a main concern.</p>
<p>If Trump moves forward with efforts to improve U.S.-Russian relations, European allies in particular will probably question how safe their intelligence is in American hands. Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and threatening movements near the borders of NATO members in Eastern Europe have contributed to the perception of Moscow as a threat to national sovereignty.</p>
<p>If American intelligence agencies are instructed to enhance cooperation with Russia, U.S. allies see “significant counterintelligence threats that come with that,” said Steven Hall, a retired CIA chief of Russia operations. He said they “will be much more careful in the future.”</p>
<p>As candidate and president, Trump has sparked widespread international unease by questioning the value of U.S. military alliances, if not necessarily intelligence partnerships. He called NATO “obsolete” and challenged countries such as South Korea and Japan to assume greater self-defense responsibility. In the last weeks, however, Trump advisers have gone out of their way to stress the durability of such arrangements and America’s commitment to its friends.</p>
<p>Detente between Washington and Moscow is no sure thing, despite Trump’s intentions. Under President Barack Obama, relations between the former Cold War foes strained dramatically over Syria, Ukraine and alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election after initially improving under a “reset” policy. In recent days, Trump’s administration has reverted to criticizing the Kremlin after a flare-up of violence involving Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.</p>
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<p>Regardless of Trump’s new direction, Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, a former CIA officer and new member on the House Intelligence Committee, said American intelligence professionals recognize the need to protect information they receive. “The point at which our allies will get concerned is if they believe that our intelligence professionals do not view Russia as an adversary,” he said.</p>
<p>Trump’s sometimes impulsive style and lack of experience handling classified information also have foreign officials concerned.</p>
<p>Mark Galeotti at the Institute of International Relations in Prague, said European intelligence officials worry that Trump or his advisers will “blurt something out at the wrong moment or to the wrong person.”</p>
<p>Allies might curtail what they share as a result, said Galeotti, who talks with intelligence officials in Europe and Russia.</p>
<p>“It’s not so much about how much,” he said. “It’s precisely how heavily edited it is, how carefully it’s scrutinized to absolutely make sure that there is nothing that you are worried about leaking.”</p>
<p>Former French internal intelligence chief Louis Caprioli said European countries might hold information related to Ukraine or other issues closer, given the uncertainty of Trump’s relationship with Putin. But he said intelligence sharing will continue in critical areas, such as counterterrorism.</p>
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<p>“Intelligence services go beyond the political world,” Caprioli said.</p>
<p>Still, allies fret about politics seeping into U.S. intelligence findings.</p>
<p>Trump has disparaged U.S. intelligence agencies for past failures and publicly challenged their assessment that Russia meddled in the presidential election. A day after he was inaugurated, Trump delivered an unusual speech at the CIA headquarters criticizing the media’s coverage of his inaugural crowds.</p>
<p>Wesley Wark, a University of Ottawa professor and national security expert, said U.S. allies may ask more questions about the source of American intelligence products. For example, he said, they might think a certain piece of intelligence is from Trump’s strategic adviser Steve Bannon, a conservative media executive who now sits on the National Security Council.</p>
<p>“There will be a growing concern about politicized — as opposed to truthful, objective — judgments and reports,” Wark said.</p>
<p>Last weekend’s testy conversation between Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull concerned a refugee deal Trump inherited from Obama. It didn’t relate to the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing program the U.S. has with Australia, Canada, Britain and New Zealand.</p>
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<p>Nevertheless, California Rep. Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, said the spat can’t be dismissed as simply “Trump being Trump.”</p>
<p>Schiff said Australia shares America’s interest in fighting terrorism and countering Chinese actions, and stood alongside the U.S. in every war of the last century. “This is not a relationship to be taken for granted or abused,” he said.</p>
<p>The committee chairman, GOP Rep. Devin Nunes of California, isn’t worried: “I have no doubt that intelligence sharing with our allies will continue to be robust and productive.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Lori Hinnant in Paris contributed to this report.</p> | US spy alliances may be tested by unpredictable Trump | false | https://abqjournal.com/943563/us-spy-alliances-may-be-tested-by-unpredictable-trump.html | 2017-02-06 | 2 |
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<p>It’s an election cycle like the American public has never seen before: A relentless battle between a boisterous political outsider on the right, and a savvy career politician on the left.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Just one week after the Republican National Convention wrapped up in Cleveland with businessman Donald Trump nabbing the party’s nomination for president, the Democratic National Convention kicked off in Philadelphia with the goal of nominating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as its party’s candidate for president.</p>
<p>The non-traditional nature of the campaign season rolled on, as the expected fuss-free nomination process for the Democratic Party became anything but. Focus on Clinton was at times overshadowed by repeated protests from supporters of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, whose determination to become the Democratic nominee took him through a bitter battle with Clinton in the primary season. And on day one of the convention, DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schulz – whose leaked emails plotting a takedown of Sanders – under pressure, stepped down from her role before she ever gaveled the convention to order.</p>
<p>Like the DNC, the party’s presidential nominee has been plagued by scandal after scandal throughout her 2016 presidential bid. Focus has run the gamut from alleged mishandling of the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya during which four Americans, including a U.S. ambassador, were murdered, to a scandal involving Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server during her time working at the State Department.</p>
<p>Gil Troy, American presidential historian and professor of history at McGill University, said while Clinton – a politician who very much enjoys getting into the nitty gritty details of policymaking – wants to debate the issues, her scandals combined with Trump’s bombastic tone, are likely to keep her from wading too deep into the issues this campaign season.</p>
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<p>“[Clinton] has a thoughtful take on policy, the economy. She wants to have economic equality among genders, more activist government. She has an understanding of what she wants but she can’t get it across because there’s so much noise,” he said. “She’s somewhat responsible for her scandals and can’t effectively frame those messages.”</p>
<p>The months following the convention flurry will see Clinton emerge stronger on policy issues, argued Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of Better Markets and former chief counsel and senior leadership advisor to the chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.</p>
<p>With four months until the general election and two candidates nominated by their respective parties, Kelleher says voters will begin to turn focus from name calling and cheap shots to campaign issues, figuring out with which nominee they’re better aligned. But Troy said based on historical evidence, while Americans might think they want the substance to push out style and see policy trump personality, it often doesn’t happen.</p>
<p>Troy pointed to the debates, which are generally intended to show where the candidates stand on the issues most important to the voting public, and allow them time to duke it out on a prime-time stage. But he said there’s a secret side to finessing the right message – and each candidate has to get it exactly right. Bill Clinton, he said was happy to sweat it out on the campaign trail, kissing babies and shaking hands with ordinary Americans. But his wife would prefer wading in the weeds on policy at the office to meeting the voters.</p>
<p>“Hillary is dying for a serious policy discussion and for her to be seen as a serious policy leader. Part of her [failure to do that] is her own fault for the ‘Clinton blind spot,’ convinced by their own virtue, and they can’t see how the things they’re doing are perceived by the public.”</p>
<p>"Hillary is dying for a serious policy discussion and for her to be seen as a serious policy leader. Part of her [failure to do that] is her own fault for the ‘Clinton blind spot’ that they can’t see how the things they’re doing are perceived by the public.”</p>
<p>Ultimately, according to Kelleher, the American people will assess which candidate better understands the lives ordinary Americans live, the challenges they face, the pathways to reaching their dreams and which candidate is best positioned to help them get them there. They want to know two things: Foreign and economic policy agendas.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/05/20/fox-news-poll-voters-trust-trump-on-economy-clinton-on-foreign-policy-nuclear-weapons.html" type="external">Fox News poll r</a>eleased in early May, 40% of voters say the economy is the most important issue to consider when casting their ballots – trumping by a wide margin issues including national security, education, health care, immigration and social issues.</p>
<p>The two major-party candidates couldn’t be on more opposite sides when it comes to their approach to facilitating economic growth. Trump has outlined initiatives including simplifying the tax code and lowering rates for millions of Americans, while also renegotiating trade policies with China and initiating reforms on the Affordable Care Act.</p>
<p>Clinton, meanwhile, has proposed raising taxes on wealthy Americans, eliminating corporate and Wall Street tax loopholes, raising the federal minimum wage, investing in the nation’s infrastructure and making college more affordable.</p>
<p>While some say Clinton’s policies are an extension of President Barack Obama’s, Kelleher said the president’s work in helping bring America back from worst recession since the Great Depression should be viewed as a net positive, and a wagon to which Clinton should hitch herself…at least partially.</p>
<p>“There’s no question more needs to be done and that’s why Hillary has a plan: On Wall Street, it’s to go much further than Obama. Her plan on jobs is dramatically different than Obama, her college plan is much stronger, broader, and more important to job creation than Obama’s,” he said.</p>
<p>However, Matt Bennett, senior vice president of Third Way and a former deputy assistant to the president for Intergovernmental Affairs for President Bill Clinton, said this will be one of Clinton’s biggest challenges over the next four months: Establishing herself as a new kind of Democratic leader without distancing herself too much from Obama’s legacy.</p>
<p>“That’s the trickiest thing of running after two terms of your party being in power. It’s extremely hard. The reason it rarely works is because every candidate wants to be the candidate of change. She can’t be. She has to respect the successes of Obama and she does…But she does need to find ways of saying this is how far we’ve come under Obama, and I’m going to go in a somewhat new direction,” he explained.</p>
<p>Bennett said Clinton has been successful in putting distance between herself and Obama on issues like trade. Clinton opposes the president’s trans-pacific partnership deal, a free trade agreement among 12 nations, which aims to promote global growth and raise living standards. Opponents of TPP, including Clinton, say it doesn’t provide essential security for American workers to compete globally. Bennett said her opposition, though, has been vague, and she needs a sharp message for voters about the changes the country is facing and how she’ll be the best candidate to face them.</p>
<p>“The globalization technology made Americans deeply anxious about the future, their ability to earn a middle-class income and live a middle-class life. She has to talk about how the government can help people buffeted by these changes and what she’ll do to make their lives better,” Bennett said.</p>
<p>He said Americans can see from the data that the economy is recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, but they don’t really believe it yet.</p>
<p>“Her task is to point to a destination where they feel that,” Bennett said.</p> | Can More Policy Focus Propel Campaign Plagued by Scandal? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2016/07/27/can-more-policy-focus-propel-campaign-plagued-by-scandal.html | 2016-07-28 | 0 |
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<p>ATLANTA — The Latest on the College Football Playoff national football championship game on Monday night (all times local):</p>
<p>2:30 a.m.</p>
<p>Alabama and Georgia topped the final Top 25 college football poll of the season but many eyes were on Central Florida.</p>
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<p>Alabama was voted No. 1 in the final Associated Press college football rankings and received 57 of 61 first-place votes from the media panel. Georgia finished second and Oklahoma was third, followed by Clemson and Ohio State.</p>
<p>UCF received the other four. The Knights went 13-0 to cap the only perfect season in the Football Bowl Subdivision. After beating Auburn in the Peach Bowl, UCF athletic director Danny White said the Knights were declaring themselves national champions.</p>
<p>Florida’s governor followed suit with his own proclamation, saying UCF deserved it by winning every game and by beating Auburn — the only team that defeated both Alabama and Georgia this season.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>1:25 a.m.</p>
<p>Alabama freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been named offensive player of the College Football Playoff championship game after leading the Crimson Tide to a come-from-behind 26-23 overtime win over Georgia.</p>
<p>Tagovailoa replaced an ineffective Jalen Hurts to start the second half and led the Tide back from deficits of 13-0 at half and 20-7 in the middle of the third quarter. He completed 14 of 24 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns, including the winning 41-yarder in overtime. The former prep star from Hawaii also ran 12 times for 27 yards.</p>
<p>Alabama defensive lineman Da’Ron Payne was defensive player of the game. Payne had six tackles and was part of an Alabama defensive front that shut down Georgia’s running game in the second half. Payne also intercepted a tipped pass, helping to set up a field goal.</p>
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<p>___</p>
<p>12:55 a.m.</p>
<p>Alabama’s 26-23 thriller over Georgia was the first national championship game to go to overtime since 2003.</p>
<p>That’s the year Ohio State outlasted Miami 31-24 in double overtime at the Fiesta Bowl in a game that settled the BCS Championship.</p>
<p>There have been some close games since, including the 41-38 Rose Bowl classic in 2006 when Texas beat Southern California. Two years ago, Alabama beat Clemson 45-40 and then the Tigers returned the favor last season with a 35-31 win decided on a last-second touchdown pass.</p>
<p>This year’s OT game was settled on a 41-yard TD pass from Tua Tagovailoa to DeVonta Smith.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>12:10 a.m.</p>
<p>Alabama has beaten Georgia 26-23 in overtime to win its fifth national championship since 2009 under Nick Saban.</p>
<p>Freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith after getting sacked on Alabama’s opening play of the extra session. Georgia had the ball first in overtime, and Rodrigo Blankenship kicked a 51-yard field goal.</p>
<p>Alabama’s Andy Pappanastos missed what would have been the winning 36-yard field goal as time ran out in regulation.</p>
<p>Tagovailoa took over for an ineffective Jalen Hurts to start the second half and led the Crimson Tide to two touchdowns and two field goals as they erased deficits of 13-0 at half and 20-7 in the middle of the third quarter.</p>
<p>It’s the 11th national title for the Crimson Tide. Georgia was seeking its second title after winning it all in 1980.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Midnight</p>
<p>Alabama and Georgia are going to overtime in the national championship game, tied at 20-20.</p>
<p>The Crimson Tide has stormed back from a 13-0 halftime deficit and was in position to win it with 3 seconds to go. But Andy Pappanastos missed a field goal try from 36 yards.</p>
<p>Freshman Tua Tagovailoa has led the Alabama comeback after replacing Jalen Hurts to start the second half. He tied it 20-all on a 7-yard pass to Calvin Ridley, and then Alabama’s defense forced a three-and-out to set up Pappanastos’ try.</p>
<p>Pappanastos missed far to the left. He missed earlier from 40 yards on his first field-goal try of the game. He has connected from 43 and 30 yards.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>11:43 p.m.</p>
<p>The national championship game is tied at 20-all late in the fourth quarter.</p>
<p>Freshman Tua Tagovailoa threw a 7-yard touchdown to Calvin Ridley on a fourth-and-4 play with 3:49 left. The play came after Georgia’s Roquan Smith and Trenton Thompson stuffed Damien Harris for a 1-yard loss on third down.</p>
<p>Tagovailoa replaced Jalen Hurts to start the second half and has led Alabama to two touchdowns and two field goals to bring the Crimson Tide back from a 13-0 halftime deficit.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>11:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Alabama has closed to 20-13 in the fourth quarter of the national championship game against Georgia.</p>
<p>Andy Pappanastos kicked his second field goal of the game, a 30-yarder with 9:24 left. The score came one play after Georgia’s Dominick Sanders nearly picked off Tua Tagovailoa’s overthrown pass in the end zone.</p>
<p>Georgia is trying to win its first national title since 1980.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>11:15 p.m.</p>
<p>Georgia went into the fourth quarter of the national championship game with a 20-10 lead over Alabama.</p>
<p>Georgia freshman Jake Fromm has thrown for 225 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions, and Sony Michel has run for 84 yards on 12 carries. Georgia’s Mecole Hardman has scored twice, the first time on a 1-yard run when he took a direct snap and the second on an 80-yard pass.</p>
<p>Alabama freshman Tua Tagovailoa, who replaced quarterback Jalen Hurts to start the second half, is 7 for 13 for 54 yards and a touchdown.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>11 p.m.</p>
<p>Alabama has pulled within 20-10 of Georgia with 5:15 left in the third quarter of the national championship game.</p>
<p>Andy Pappanastos, who missed a 40-yard field-goal attempt in the first quarter, connected from 43 yards six plays after the Crimson Tide got their second interception in two games by a defensive lineman.</p>
<p>Raekwon Davis picked off a Jake Fromm pass that bounced off the helmet of fellow defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand.</p>
<p>Alabama got an interception from Da’Ron Payne in the playoff semifinal win over Clemson.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10:50 p.m.</p>
<p>After having three touchdowns all season, Georgia’s Mecole Hardman has two touchdowns in the national championship game against Alabama, including an 80-yarder that included some fancy footwork along the sideline.</p>
<p>After Alabama staged an impressive drive for its first touchdown, cutting the Bulldogs’ lead to 13-7 in the third quarter, Georgia answered quickly with Jake Fromm’s bomb to Hardman.</p>
<p>A review confirmed Hardman stayed in bounds after making contact with Alabama defensive back Tony Brown. Hardman’s first score came on a 1-yard touchdown run late in the first half on a direct snap.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10:45 p.m.</p>
<p>Jake Fromm has thrown an 80-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman to give Georgia a 20-7 lead over Alabama with 6:52 left in the third quarter of the national championship game.</p>
<p>The touchdown stood after a video review to see if Hardman stepped out of bounds at about the Alabama 20-yard line.</p>
<p>The Bulldogs got the ball back when Deandre Baker intercepted freshman Tua Tagovailoa, who had led Alabama to its first touchdown after starting the second half in place of Jalen Hurts. But the Crimson Tide got an interception of its own when a Fromm pass was tipped at the line.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10:35 p.m.</p>
<p>Alabama has pulled within 13-7 at Georgia in the third quarter of the national championship game.</p>
<p>Freshman Tua Tagovailoa replaced Jalen Hurts to start the second half and hit Henry Ruggs III with a 6-yard touchdown pass to finish a seven-play, 56-yard drive.</p>
<p>Tagovailoa completed 4 of 5 passes, but he used his legs to make the biggest play. Under pressure after he dropped back to pass, he split two Georgia defenders and made a third miss as he scrambled for 9 yards on a third-and-7.</p>
<p>The Tide went three-and-out on their first series with Tagovailoa under center.</p>
<p>Alabama is playing the second half without offensive tackle Jonah Williams. The third-team All-American was replaced by Alex Leatherwood.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump attended the first half of the game and was on the field during the national anthem. He had left by the time things got rolling in the third quarter.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10:17 p.m.</p>
<p>Trailing 13-0, Alabama has started freshman Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback in the second half of the national championship game against Georgia.</p>
<p>Tagovailoa replaced a struggling Jalen Hurts coming out of the locker room. Hurts was just 3-of-8 passing for 21 yards in the first half while running for 47 yards.</p>
<p>Tagovailoa, a five-star recruit from Hawaii, played in eight games this season. He completed 35 of 53 passes for 470 yards with eight touchdowns against one interception, mostly in mop-up duty. Hurts was the Southeastern Conference offensive player of the year as a freshman last season.</p>
<p>Alabama hadn’t been held scoreless in the first half since last season. It was also the first time since the 2012 national title game that a team failed to score in the first half. Alabama shut out Notre Dame going into the half en route to a 42-14 win.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10 p.m.</p>
<p>Alabama trails Georgia 13-0 at halftime of the national title game.</p>
<p>The Crimson Tide had not been held scoreless in the first half since a 10-0 victory over LSU last season. All 10 of the Tide’s points came in the fourth quarter.</p>
<p>Alabama had outscored opponents 270-56 before the half this season coming into the game against its SEC rival.</p>
<p>Georgia’s Jake Fromm is 11 of 23 for 126 yards, and Sony Michel has run eight times for 61 yards.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:50 p.m.</p>
<p>Georgia holds a 13-0 lead over Alabama at halftime of the national championship game in Atlanta.</p>
<p>Jake Fromm led the Bulldogs on a 69-yard touchdown drive in the last 2 minutes. Wide receiver Mecole Hardman took a direct snap and ran 1 yard into the end zone with 7 seconds left.</p>
<p>Rodrigo Blankenship kicked field goals of 41 and 27 yards, and the Bulldogs’ defense held the Crimson Tide in check.</p>
<p>Alabama totaled just 95 yards on five possessions, and Jalen Hurts took a knee to end the half. The Tide punted four straight times after Andy Pappanastos missed a 40-yard field goal on the Tide’s first possession.</p>
<p>Georgia got the ball back with 1:19 left in the half. Fromm threw passes of 10 and 16 yards and ran for 14 on Georgia’s way to the touchdown.</p>
<p>Fromm is 11 of 23 for 126 yards, and Sony Michel has run eight times for 61 yards.</p>
<p>Hurts is 3 for 8 for 21 yards and he’s run six times for 47.</p>
<p>Alabama has scored in 226 consecutive games.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:40 p.m.</p>
<p>Georgia wide receiver Riley Ridley is flourishing in his opportunity to emerge from the shadow cast by his older brother, Alabama star Calvin Ridley.</p>
<p>Ridley has four catches for 62 yards in the first half of Monday night’s national championship game. He already has moved to within range of his career-high totals of five catches for 67 yards against Vanderbilt in 2016.</p>
<p>While Calvin Ridley, a junior, is second in Alabama history with 220 career receptions, including a team-high 59 this season, Riley Ridley has had a quiet season for Georgia with only eight catches before the championship game.</p>
<p>Georgia led Alabama 6-0 late in the second quarter.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:27 p.m.</p>
<p>Rodrigo Blankenship has kicked his second field goal, this one from 27 yards, to give Georgia a 6-0 lead over Alabama with about 6 minutes left until halftime of the national championship game.</p>
<p>Georgia’s defense limited Alabama to 57 yards and forced two straight three-and-outs before quarterback Jalen Hurts broke loose for 31 yards. Hurts has completed only 2 of his first 6 passes for 17 yards and the Crimson Tide has punted three times.</p>
<p>Bulldogs freshman Jake Fromm is 8 of 16 for 84 yards.</p>
<p>Georgia receiver Riley Ridley has outplayed his older brother, Alabama All-SEC receiver Calvin Ridley, in the early going. Ridley has two catches for 36 yards, including a 23-yarder to convert a third-and-8 and keep the Bulldogs’ second scoring drive alive. Calvin Ridley has one catch for 9 yards.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>9:02 p.m.</p>
<p>Georgia has taken a 3-0 lead in the College Football Playoff championship game, with Rodrigo Blankenship kicking a 41-yard field goal on the second play of the second quarter.</p>
<p>The Bulldogs got into position after moving from their 21 to the Alabama 24 in 14 plays.</p>
<p>The big play on the drive was Sony Michel’s 26-yard run to the Alabama 26 on a third-and-20 after Anthony Averett crashed through from the left side to sack Jake Fromm.</p>
<p>Michel’s run was reviewed to see if he stepped out of bounds before the 26, but the Big Ten officiating crew’s spot was upheld.</p>
<p>Alabama had a chance to take the lead in the first quarter, but Andy Pappanastos missed a 40-yard field goal.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>8:35 p.m.</p>
<p>Georgia turned over the ball on its opening possession of the national championship game but came away unscathed after Alabama missed a field goal.</p>
<p>Tony Brown wrestled a long pass away from Georgia’s Javon Wims to set up the Crimson Tide at their 36.</p>
<p>But Alabama failed to come away with points. Andy Pappanastos’ 35-yard field goal was nullified by a false start, and he pulled his second attempt from 40 yards wide left.</p>
<p>The Crimson Tide forced Georgia to punt on its second possession with 9:04 left in the first quarter.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>8:20 p.m.</p>
<p>The College Football Playoff national championship game between Alabama (12-1) and Georgia (13-1) is under way at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.</p>
<p>Frank Beamer, Mack Brown and Matt Stinchcomb — named to the 2018 College Football Hall of Fame on Monday — were on the field for the coin toss along with honorary captains O.J. Howard of Alabama and Herschel Walker of Georgia.</p>
<p>Alabama called tails and won the toss and deferred until the second half. They picked off Georgia on the third play from scrimmage.</p>
<p>This is the 68th all-time meeting between the Southeastern Conference rivals and first since 2015, when Alabama won 38-10 in the regular season.</p>
<p>Alabama is in the title game for the third year in a row and seeking its fifth national title under Saban since 2009. Georgia, led by second-year coach and former Saban assistant Kirby Smart, is looking for its first championship since 1980.</p>
<p>The Crimson Tide reached the title game with a 24-6 Sugar Bowl win over Clemson. The Bulldogs advanced with a 54-48 double-overtime win over Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump is in attendance and was on the field during the national anthem.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>8:15 p.m.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump was on the field for the national anthem before the College Football Playoff national title game.</p>
<p>Trump walked onto the field accompanied by the ROTC units from Georgia and Alabama. He was greeted by mostly cheers from the crowd on hand to watch the game between Alabama and Georgia.</p>
<p>Trump waved to the crowd before the Zac Brown Band sang the anthem. Hand placed over his heart, Trump appeared to sing along at times.</p>
<p>No players were on the field yet. That’s unlike the NFL, where some players this season protested racial injustice by kneeling during the anthem — often drawing Trump’s ire.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>7:45 p.m.</p>
<p>Mercedes-Benz Stadium has a bit of water dripping on to the sideline, seemingly coming from high above the field.</p>
<p>Around the 20-yard line on Alabama’s side of the field, but off the playing field, a few drops could be spotted falling on to the green artificial turf.</p>
<p>A stadium security worker wearing a blue shirt was standing where the water was landing and had wets spots on his shirt.</p>
<p>There have been issues with the stadium’s signature retractable roof since construction began on the facility. The roof has only been opened once for football since the stadium opened in August.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>7:15 p.m.</p>
<p>The crowd is trickling into Mercedes-Benz Stadium with the kickoff for Monday night’s College Football Playoff national championship game about an hour away.</p>
<p>Alabama native and former NFL star Terrell Owens is among the crowd that navigated the consistent chilly drizzle outside the stadium and security lines to get into the building.</p>
<p>Owens, from Alexander City, Alabama, wore a wool knit Crimson Tide cap and talked with the SEC Network before the contest, telling host Paul Finebaum that his dream growing up wasn’t the NFL, it was to play for Alabama.</p>
<p>If he had, the Crimson Tide might have had another national crown or two in their trophy case.</p>
<p>Owens instead played at Chattanooga and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 1996. He had 1,078 catches in 15 seasons with five NFL teams.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>6:45 p.m.</p>
<p>Alabama radio play-by-play announcer Eli Gold says he has been told that President Trump will be on the Alabama Radio Network during the College Football Playoff national championship game between the Crimson Tide and Georgia.</p>
<p>Gold says network officials reached out to the White House through the Alabama governor’s office last week to request an interview with the president and heard back in the last day or so that Trump agreed to come.</p>
<p>Gold says nothing is definitive but if Trump comes on it would like be after the first quarter.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>6:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Georgia won’t be at full strength at tight end in its national championship game against Alabama.</p>
<p>Sophomore Charlie Woerner, who set a career high with three catches in the Bulldogs’ Rose Bowl playoff win over Oklahoma last week, was on crutches when the team entered Mercedes-Benz Stadium for Monday night’s game.</p>
<p>Coach Kirby Smart said Sunday Woerner’s status was doubtful after the sophomore suffered a leg injury in last week’s win, so the crutches were not a big surprise.</p>
<p>Woerner, listed with Isaac Nauta behind starting tight end Jeb Blazevich, had nine catches for 100 yards this season.</p>
<p>Woerner is the nephew of former Georgia defensive back and return specialist Scott Woerner, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. Scott Woerner was a standout on Georgia’s 1980 national championship team.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>3:30 a.m.</p>
<p>No. 4 Alabama faces No. 3 Georgia in an all-Southeastern Conference College Football Playoff national championship game Monday night.</p>
<p>Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban tries to tie former Alabama coach Bear Bryant’s record six major poll national championships. Saban has led the Tide to four national championships since 2009, and the last three national championship games.</p>
<p>Georgia, coached by former Saban assistant Kirby Smart, is looking for its first national championship since 1980.</p>
<p>The Bulldogs feature the most prolific running back combination in college football in senior Sony Michel and Nick Chubb. They combined for six touchdowns in the Bulldogs semifinal victory against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl.</p>
<p>Alabama has to No. 1 rushing defense in the country and smothered Clemson in the Sugar Bowl semifinal to get here.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP college football: <a href="http://collegefootball.ap.org" type="external">http://collegefootball.ap.org</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>This story has been corrected to show winning TD throw was 41 yards.</p> | UCF ends up 6th in final AP Top 25 of season | false | https://abqjournal.com/1116496/the-latest-alabama-native-terrell-owens-pulling-for-tide.html | 2018-01-08 | 2 |
<p />
<p>ISLAMABAD, July 2 — Pakistan’s security forces surrounded and injured Mangal Bagh, a warlord of Khyber Agency. 28 commanders of Lashkar-e-Islam (Army of Islam) were killed during fierce fighting at midnight on Wednesday, confirmed Mir Qadir Khan, a Bara-based journalist.</p>
<p>“His conversation was intercepted by intelligence agencies. It appears he is badly injured,” Mir Qadir Khan told Arab News.</p>
<p>Mangal Bagh, a warlord who held substantial power in the Khyber Pass, remained a force stopping Pakistan’s Taliban from swooping in to cut off vital NATO supply routes to neighbouring Afghanistan.</p>
<p>A former bus driver, Mangal Bagh, who now leads Lashkar-e-Islam, took on government forces on a number of occasions. His men had establised their writ over the main conventional and non-conventional routes to Afghanistan via Khyber Agency.</p>
<p>&lt;img class="size-medium wp-image-1535 alignleft" style="margin: 5px;" title="mangal_bagh" src="https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/mangal_bagh-300x168.jpg" alt="mangal_bagh" width="270" height="151" /&gt; The Frontier Governor’s Secretariate has yet to issue a detailed statement on Mangal Bagh’s last battle.</p>
<p>A self-proclaimed spokesman of Lashkar-e-Islam Thursday morning called offices of several news organisations in Peshawar and denied that Mangal Bagh had been hunted down.</p>
<p>The office of the Inspector General Frontier Constabulary (IGFC), Major General Tariq, remained silent on the issue.</p>
<p>A trader and tribal chief of Karkhano Market, Ayub Afridi, told Arab News, “We have correct knowledge that Mangal Bagh and his men were beseiged by the Frontier Corps at Sandapal village near Bara Market. Still the exchange of fire is taking place, but I can neither confirm nor refute news of Mangal Bagh’s killing.”</p>
<p>Ayub Afridi said Mangal Bagh has the support of many tribal leaders of Khyber Agency and he went underground after massive military crackdowns in Khyber Agency.</p>
<p>Political Agent of Khyber Agency Tariq Hayat was not available today to offer any comment. His office, however, confirmed that many staffers of Khyber Agency’s headquarters were busy in an operation taking place in Bara District of Khyber.</p>
<p>Mangal Bagh initially fought his battles through FM radios with his arch rival organisation Lashkar-e-Ansar. He came into the limelight in 2005 when the feuding led to bloodshed and virtual war in Bara in the Khyber Agency, fourteen miles west of Peshawar, which saw 24 people killed and women and children taken hostage. Two clerics had been ordered on February 16 by a jirga to cease making radio broadcasts, but had ignored the decree of the council.</p>
<p>Both Mufti Munir Shakir and Pir Saifur Rehman were putting out radio broadcasts on FM transmitters, each denigrating the other’s religious beliefs. The war of words on the airwaves became explosive.</p>
<p>Pir Saifur Rehman follows the sect of Barelvi Islam, which encourages music, sees Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) as a figure of semi-divine status, a personage of light, whereas Mufti Munir Shakir follows the puritanical Deobandi form of hardline Sunni Islam. Most of the Taliban regime leaders in Afghanistan were educated at the Deobandi madrassa of Haqqania, including Mullah Omar. Haqqania is in Khyber Agency.</p>
<p>The two broadcasting sheikhs had been warring on the airwaves since December 2005.</p>
<p>While Pir Saiur Rehman wittered on about the ever-present spiritual manifestations of Mohammed, Mufti Munir Shakir used his broadcasts to encourage people to join the Lashkar-e-Islam. And with the two opposing views becoming more polarised, the violence of March erupted quite naturally. On March 25, 19 followers of Pir Saifur Rehman were killed, with 16 of these being Afghan nationals.</p>
<p>Ironically, neither Rehman nor Shakir came from Khyber Agency. Munir Shakir had been expelled from Khurram Agency because he was regarded as divisive, espousing sectarian views. Munir arrived in Khyber Agency in 2003. Munir had formerly worked for the tribal warlord and Taliban-like figure of Haji Namdar, who had set up a regime in 2003-4 in Khyber Agency called Amr bil Maroof wa Nehi Anil Munkir, which had its own prisons. Shakir eventually fell out even with Haji Namdar.</p>
<p>Pir Saiur Rehman had come originally from Afghanistan, and had settled in the region since the 1970s.</p>
<p>The followers of both Shakir and Rehman would kidnap and kill supporters, even after their divisive broadcasts stopped. And all the while, the Army of Islam, under the leadership of Mangal Bagh Afridi, a former driver, grew more powerful and more militant.</p>
<p>After the killings and the hostage-takings of women and children at the end of March, government forces began to take a more pro-active stance against the rising powers of the Lashkar-e-Islam. Mangal Bagh Afridi and his followers had then been located in the region around Bara Tehsil, scene of the interclan war, but on Friday, March 31 they moved on to Tarkhukas in the remote and inaccessible Tirah Valley.</p>
<p>On this date, states the Pak Observer, the Khasadar forces and Mehsud scouts surrounded the headquarters of Mufti Munir Shakir. The former radio star refused to surrender until 1pm the following day. The Lashkar-e-Islam headquarters was given up without a struggle. Those still in the compound handed over to the political FATA administration. They had been urged to do so at a jirga led by a leader of the left-wing Awami National Party (ANP).</p>
<p>The administration also ordered Mangal Bagh Alfridi, the leader of Lashkar-e-Islam to abandon possession of his house in Sheikhabad Spin Qaber in Bara tehsil, for it to be demolished. Similar orders were given to other activists of the Army of Islam.</p>
<p>Mufti Munir Shakir and Pir Saiur Rehman were officially expelled from Khyber Agency by the political administration. Pir had already left in February, reputedly to go to Lahore. But the fighting between their followers continued. In April five people were killed in a clash between the religious factions.</p>
<p>In May, Mangal Bagh threatened to block all routes leding into the Tirah valley if his men who had been made to surrender were not released.</p>
<p>On June 11, Starategy Page noted that “several hundred armed members of the Lashkar-e-Islam briefly occupied the town of Bara, but left when security forces approached. Officials in Bara said it was all a misunderstanding, as the Lashkar-e-Islam had been called in to help restore order in the town, which had been suffering from the violent side effects of tribal politics.”</p> | Pakistan: Mangal Bagh Badly Injured, But Alive | false | http://foreignpolicyjournal.com/2009/07/03/pakistan-mangal-bagh-badly-injured-but-alive/ | 2009-07-03 | 1 |
<p>India's Supreme Court gave the Sahara conglomerate more time to repay billions of dollars it had raised from investors through bond sales that were later ruled to be illegal.</p>
<p>The court ordered Sahara to initially deposit 51.20 billion rupees ($937 million) with the capital markets regulator and pay the remainder in two installments in January and February.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>On August 31, the court had asked Sahara to repay within 90 days as much as 240 billion rupees ($4.4 billion) collected from nearly 30 million mostly small investors, plus interest of 15 percent a year, to the capital markets regulator.</p>
<p>Sahara had also been ordered to submit detailed documents with the regulator if it had refunded any money collected through the so-called optionally fully convertible debentures to investors.</p>
<p>The regulator says Sahara has not complied with the top court's order, while Sahara says the regulator "deliberately refused" to accept documents and information submitted by it.</p>
<p>Sahara said in newspaper advertisements on Saturday it had "cleared" about 330 billion rupees raised in the outlawed bonds and had maximum outstanding liability of 51.20 billion rupees, which it was ready to deposit with the authorities.</p>
<p>India's capital markets regulator said in late October it had received complaints from investors that they were being forced by agents and officials of Sahara to switch the money held through the bonds to other investment products sold by the group.</p>
<p>($1 = 54.6400 Indian rupees)</p>
<p>(Reporting by Suchitra Mohanty, writing by Devidutta Tripathy, editing by Ross Colvin)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | India's top court gives Sahara more time to repay bond investors | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/12/05/india-top-court-gives-sahara-more-time-to-repay-bond-investors.html | 2016-01-26 | 0 |
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<p />
<p>If you have an opinion on the expansion of children’s health insurance, hop on over the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/SCHIP_Public_Review/" type="external">White House website</a>, where the SCHIP bill <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/29/AR2009012900325.html" type="external">is open for comments</a>. If Obama’s campaign promise is followed, commenting will last for five days, at which point the President will sign the bill.</p>
<p>While the move is an admirable nod to openness, it’s more of a presidential party trick than anything else. Here’s why:</p>
<p>(1) Public comments aren’t made public. The page that I link to above points you to the full text of the SCHIP legislation and has a submission field for a comment, but it does not display previously made comments. I submitted a comment and it was swallowed up by the White House website, presumably never to be seen again.</p>
<p>When the Obama team was in transition, it hosted a site called <a href="http://change.gov/open_government/yourseatatthetable" type="external">“Seat at the Table”</a> that enabled everyday citizens to view the policy papers that think tanks and interest groups were submitting to the President-elect. The site allowed users to comment and read the comments of others. That model ought to be followed on the White House website now. If comments could be viewed by everyone, one everyday citizen could identify a problem with the legislation, another could research it further, and a third could suggest a better idea. People could work together to push for improved law. And that’s the point, isn’t it?</p>
<p>(2) There is no guarantee that administration officials will actually read the comments. The transition website had a feature called <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2008/12/11289_transition_open_for_questions.html" type="external">“Open for Questions”</a> that allowed users to submit questions to top Obama officials and to vote up or down the questions of others. Popular questions were answered on a somewhat haphazard schedule (and never in fully in-depth way) but at least there was an guarantee that someone was paying attention. The same cannot be said for the five-day commenting period.</p>
<p>(3) The bill has already passed both the House and the Senate. There is no mechanism in the legislative process to change it now that it is on the president’s desk. (Obama could use a presidential signing statement, an <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/04/30/bush_challenges_hundreds_of_laws/" type="external">old Bush Administration trick</a>. But Obama and his camp frowned upon the practice during the campaign.) “All they can do is veto it,” says Ellen Miller, Executive Director of the Sunlight Foundation. Given that Obama isn’t going to veto something like a long-sought children’s health care bill, one has to wonder if this is little more than a way to generate good PR. “It is far more important to have this kind of opportunity for the public to comment during the legislative process,” says Miller, “when changes could actually be made.”</p>
<p>(4) The site demands that users fit their comment inside 500 characters. The paragraph above is 621. “The notion that there can be quality commenting in 500 characters on a piece of legislation is laughable,” says Miller.</p>
<p>Miller suspects that the Obama team simply screwed up. The <a href="http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/29/breaking-lilly-ledbetter-fair-pay-act-signed-into-law-by-president-obama/" type="external">first bill Obama signed</a> was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. He did so without making the bill available for comment at all, a fact that earned him the scorn of the transparency community and his first <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/234/allow-five-days-of-public-comment-before-signing-b/" type="external">broken promise from PolitiFact.com</a>. That led to the subpar commenting system up now. Says Miller, “They realized they goofed last week and they really needed to create this feature immediately, so they did a very simple, very straight-forward feature. I have every expectation that the ability to comment will become far more meaningful than it is right now.”</p>
<p>Fostering legitimate public comment on legislation is clearly a difficult challenge. It does not appear the Obama Administration has the solution just yet.</p>
<p /> | Have Thoughts on SCHIP? The White House is Listening, Kind Of | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/02/have-thoughts-schip-white-house-listening-kind/ | 2009-02-02 | 4 |
<p>JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A proposal to ban smoking in bars and restaurants across Alaska gained wide support in the Alaska Legislature, but the bill's fate will again be decided by a single lawmaker.</p>
<p>Republican state Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux of Anchorage has given no sign that she has changed her opposition to the ban, the Juneau Empire <a href="http://bit.ly/2n88ozY" type="external">reported</a> Wednesday. LeDoux, the chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, killed the same bill in the 2015-16 Legislature. LeDoux is in a key position that allows her to decide whether it comes up for a final vote.</p>
<p>LeDoux, through a spokesman, declined to talk about her position.</p>
<p>If signed into law, the bill would restrict smoking in public places. It's being advanced by Republican state Sen. Peter Micciche of Soldotna.</p>
<p>Micciche said he believes the bill is a matter of public health and is about protecting employees in businesses that currently allow smoking.</p>
<p>"It's clearly a public health issue. No one disagrees there will be health benefits," he said.</p>
<p>Micciche, speaking to the House Judiciary Committee on Monday afternoon, said he refers to the bill as the "take it outside" act.</p>
<p>"It's complaint-driven," he said. "There's not going to be a group of people from (environmental conservation) or (state health) that is going around trying to catch you because you're trying to sneak a cigarette near the bathroom."</p>
<p>Bethel was the first city in Alaska to ban smoking in public spaces such as bars and restaurants. Its ban passed in 1998 and in the two decades since that vote, other cities have followed suit. Anchorage bans smoking in public and so does Juneau. Fairbanks hasn't passed a ban and neither has Kodiak.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, <a href="http://www.juneauempire.com" type="external">http://www.juneauempire.com</a></p>
<p>JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A proposal to ban smoking in bars and restaurants across Alaska gained wide support in the Alaska Legislature, but the bill's fate will again be decided by a single lawmaker.</p>
<p>Republican state Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux of Anchorage has given no sign that she has changed her opposition to the ban, the Juneau Empire <a href="http://bit.ly/2n88ozY" type="external">reported</a> Wednesday. LeDoux, the chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, killed the same bill in the 2015-16 Legislature. LeDoux is in a key position that allows her to decide whether it comes up for a final vote.</p>
<p>LeDoux, through a spokesman, declined to talk about her position.</p>
<p>If signed into law, the bill would restrict smoking in public places. It's being advanced by Republican state Sen. Peter Micciche of Soldotna.</p>
<p>Micciche said he believes the bill is a matter of public health and is about protecting employees in businesses that currently allow smoking.</p>
<p>"It's clearly a public health issue. No one disagrees there will be health benefits," he said.</p>
<p>Micciche, speaking to the House Judiciary Committee on Monday afternoon, said he refers to the bill as the "take it outside" act.</p>
<p>"It's complaint-driven," he said. "There's not going to be a group of people from (environmental conservation) or (state health) that is going around trying to catch you because you're trying to sneak a cigarette near the bathroom."</p>
<p>Bethel was the first city in Alaska to ban smoking in public spaces such as bars and restaurants. Its ban passed in 1998 and in the two decades since that vote, other cities have followed suit. Anchorage bans smoking in public and so does Juneau. Fairbanks hasn't passed a ban and neither has Kodiak.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, <a href="http://www.juneauempire.com" type="external">http://www.juneauempire.com</a></p> | Lawmaker could thwart Alaska smoking ban proposal again | false | https://apnews.com/amp/dff7034e057e47ca9680e1b93bac383f | 2018-01-25 | 2 |
<p>A humpback whale spotted near Maui has been freed of braided line caught in its mouth. Federal and state agencies say the whale has an excellent chance of survival. (Jan. 15)</p>
<p>A humpback whale spotted near Maui has been freed of braided line caught in its mouth. Federal and state agencies say the whale has an excellent chance of survival. (Jan. 15)</p> | Crews Free Entangled Humpback Whale Near Maui | false | https://apnews.com/4ae1d704501e4df5b1cfe25068cbdb0e | 2018-01-15 | 2 |
<p>Paul Ryan has <a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/04/paul-ryan-gets-marco-rubios-back-on-immigration.php" type="external">joined</a> Marco Rubio in the battle to pass the Gang of Eight immigration measure.</p>
<p>Ryan offered pub[l]ic encouragement to Rubio and the other “Gang of 8” senators throughout their negotiations to craft a comprehensive reform bill. And unlike other House leaders who encouraged “reform” in theory while dodging the specifics of what a bill would entail, Ryan specifically embraced a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants right out of the gate.</p>
<p>Is this the re-emergence of Paul Ryan's affiliation with the Jude Wanniski/Jack Kemp school of supply-side economics?</p>
<p>An example of GOP "young guns" unholstering their six-guns together?</p>
<p>Or … more cynically … another contender for the 2016 presidential nomination accepting the preference of the GOP's biggest donors for ultra-slack labor markets?</p> | Why is Paul Ryan Embracing Immigration Reform? | true | https://thedailybeast.com/why-is-paul-ryan-embracing-immigration-reform | 2018-10-03 | 4 |
<p>Boeing Co. on Thursday said it plans to acquire Aurora Flight Sciences Corp., a maker of aerial drones and pilotless flying systems that also expands the company's reach in the new field of electric-powered aircraft.</p>
<p>Virginia-based Aurora is a specialist in autonomous systems that allow military and commercial aircraft to be flown remotely, including technology that automates many functions.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The proposed deal marks Boeing's second acquisition in less than a year involving autonomous systems following last December's purchase of Liquid Robotics Inc., a maker of ships and undersea vehicles, and adds to a portfolio that includes aerial drone maker Insitu.</p>
<p>Boeing's venture capital arm also this year invested in Zunum Aero, a Washington state-based startup that on Thursday unveiled its plan for an electric-hybrid regional passenger jet.</p>
<p>Terms for the proposed purchase of Aurora weren't disclosed. The firm has more than 550 staff and will be run as an independent unit in Boeing's engineering and technology business.</p>
<p>Aurora also produces composite parts for aircraft and other vehicles. Boeing is looking to produce more of its own parts as part of an insourcing strategy to reduce costs and potential disruption in its supply chain.</p>
<p>Boeing has been considering further acquisitions as part of the push to expand sales at its newly formed services arm to $50 billion over the next several years from around $14 billion at present.</p>
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<p>Write to Doug Cameron at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>October 05, 2017 09:14 ET (13:14 GMT)</p> | Boeing Buying Drone Maker Aurora Flight Services | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/10/05/boeing-buying-drone-maker-aurora-flight-services.html | 2017-10-05 | 0 |
<p>With six lobbyists for every congressperson and $380 million spent on lobbying in recent months, the health care industry has pulled out all the stops in battling against any reform to the nation’s health insurance system, no matter how watered down it might be.</p>
<p>The Guardian:</p>
<p>America’s healthcare industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to block the introduction of public medical insurance and stall other reforms promised by Barack Obama. The campaign against the president has been waged in part through substantial donations to key politicians.</p>
<p>Supporters of radical reform of healthcare say legislation emerging from the US Senate reflects the financial power of vested interests - principally insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms and hospitals - that have worked to stop far-reaching changes threatening their profits.</p>
<p />
<p>The industry and interest groups have spent $380m (£238m) in recent months influencing healthcare legislation through lobbying, advertising and in direct political contributions to members of Congress. The largest contribution, totalling close to $1.5m, has gone to the chairman of the senate committee drafting the new law.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/01/lobbyists-millions-obama-healthcare-reform" type="external">Read more</a></p> | The $380 Million Gorilla | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-380-million-gorilla/ | 2009-10-01 | 4 |
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<p>Sen. Tom Udall, a Democrat entering the fifth year of his first six-year term, learned today that he will be among the newest members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, a critical seat for states such as New Mexico that are heavily dependent on federal money.</p>
<p>Udall will have a very full plate in the coming Congress. In addition to appropriations, he’ll serve on the Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works, Indian Affairs and Rules and Administration Committees.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“A seat on the Appropriations Committee is very meaningful for New Mexico,” said Udall. “From the labs, to the military bases and our public lands, we have a large federal presence in our state. I have no illusions about the difficult economic times and budgetary constraints our nation is facing, and I am eager to do my best and defend New Mexico through the appropriations process.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, incoming freshman Sen.-elect Martin Heinrich landed a seat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which Sen. Jeff Bingman, D-N.M., has chaired since 2006. Heinrich was angling for a seat on the energy or Armed Services Committee. Heinrich will also serve on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Senate leaders typically give freshman members a lighter load than more senior members.</p>
<p>Udall, a former congressman, has been angling for a Senate appropriations seat since he won election to the Senate in 2008. He was initially reluctant to leave the U.S. House and run for the Senate because he had been appointed to the House Appropriations Committee. &#160;While an appropriations seat is significant it doesn’t carry quite the same weight as it might have even three or four years ago, before Congress abolished earmarks and the nation’s debt crisis became so pronounced.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, having a member on an appropriations committee in either chamber is still a big deal for any state, and especially those like New Mexico that have a heavy federal government presence. Some New Mexico political observers – including this one – have been concerned about what the resignations of Bingaman, and before him, former Sen. Pete Domenici (a longtime appropriator), would have on the state. The delegation’s seniority is still greatly diminished but Udall’s appropriations seat should help ease at least some of the pain for New Mexico.</p>
<p>It’s also worth noting that Udall is widely expected to run for re-election in 2014 and a Senate Appropriations assignment is a significant testament to a senator’s clout in Washington. I would expect Udall to trumpet this assignment loudly as he gears up for re-election.</p>
<p>The anticipated committee assignments are subject to approval by the full Democratic caucus and an organizing resolution by the full Senate when the 113th Congress convenes in January.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Sen. Tom Udall Lands Coveted Senate Appropriations Committee Seat | false | https://abqjournal.com/152823/sen-tom-udall-lands-coveted-senate-appropriations-committee-seat.html | 2012-12-12 | 2 |
<p>Canadian mining company Dominion Diamond Corp. said Monday it has agreed to be acquired by The Washington Companies for $14.25 a share in cash, or $1.2 billion. The Washington Companies is a group of privately held North American mining, industrial and transportation businesses founded by Dennis Washington, an industrialist and entrepreneur. The price is equal to a 44% premium over Dominion's share price on March 17 and ends the company's review of strategic alternatives announced on March 27, the company said in a statement. Dominion will continue to operate as a standalone business with a new CEO based in Canada. The company will continue to operate the Ekati Diamond mine, which it controls, as well as the Diavik Diamond mine, in which it has a 40% interest. Both are located in the Northwest Territories in Canada. Dominion shares were halted premarket for the news, but have gained 39% in 2017, while the S&amp;P 500 has gained about 10%.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2017 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Dominion Diamond Agrees To Be Acquired By The Washington Cos. For $1.2 Billion | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/07/17/dominion-diamond-agrees-to-be-acquired-by-washington-cos-for-12-billion.html | 2017-07-17 | 0 |
<p>After being released just two weeks ago, our&#160;Make the Presidency Work!&#160;action plan is already making headway with the House's recent passage of bill S. 679, which will reduce congressional gridlock by decreasing the number of appointees subject to Senate confirmation.&#160;&#160;Since the bill had already previously passed the Senate, it will become law as soon as President Obama signs it.</p>
<p>This is a small but critically important step towards making our government more efficient and effective.&#160;</p>
<p>In recent years, the&#160;confirmation process for appointees had devolved into an embarrassing charade, with highly qualified nominees held up for months at a time often for petty or purely partisan reasons. The result has been vacancies in key positions at a time when America can least afford it, like when we had no Secretary of the Army in the middle of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner had almost no senior staff during the recent financial crisis.</p>
<p>Under S. 679, the Senate will continue to confirm all key presidential appointees, just as the Constitution intended.&#160;&#160;But as Sen. Joe Lieberman, a cosponsor of this bill, said: Under S. 679,&#160;"Important positions will be filled faster, government agencies will be more capable of offering valuable services to their constituents, and the overall confirmation process will be more efficient."</p>
<p>No Labels applauds those who worked across-the-aisle to make this legislation happen, and hopes that this development emboldens members of Congress to continue working together on behalf of the American people.</p> | S. 679 Marks First Victory for Make the Presidency Work! | false | https://nolabels.org/blog/s-679-marks-first-victory-for-make-the-presidency-work/ | 2012-08-06 | 2 |
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<p>NEW ORLEANS — The streets of New Orleans are filled with costumed revelers, dazzling floats featuring kings and queens, and people of all ages screaming for trinkets and beads. Lots of beads.</p>
<p>Tuesday marks the culmination of the Carnival season, which started Jan. 6.</p>
<p>Mardi Gras is “the one time of year people can act like fools and get away with it,” said one reveler, Craig Channell.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Channell, his wife, Darlene Channell, and friend Dian Walsh were visiting from Tampa, Florida. Host Bill Tucker pulled a wagon holding a big cooler and four roll-up chairs. The group was among 30 or so people who took the 7 a.m. ferry Tuesday to Canal Street. The crowd included people in tutus and a half-dozen pirates.</p>
<p>The biggest parades take place along the St. Charles Avenue parade route, where the Krewe of Zulu kicked off the morning’s parades and then was followed by the Krewe of Rex.</p>
<p>Pete Fountain’s Half-Fast Walking Club strutted from the famed Commander’s Palace restaurant to the French Quarter, tossing beads and doubloons to recordings of his music. Fountain, a clarinetist, died in August of last year, but the club members — decked out from hat to shoes in nearly fluorescent spring green — were carrying on the tradition.</p>
<p>The sidewalk along St. Charles Avenue near Canal Street barely had room for pedestrians. People were sitting two rows of chairs deep while families had set up ladders with seats on top for their children to sit on and catch throws.</p>
<p>Elaine Thomson, 48, of Silver Spring, Maryland, had been there since 7 a.m. with a group of friends.</p>
<p>“This is my 23rd Mardi Gras. Every year they do it bigger and better,” Thomson said.</p>
<p>In another part of the city, people dressed in elaborate costumes were taking part in the St. Anne’s parade — an eclectic walking parade that starts in the Bywater and Marigny neighborhoods and ends in the French Quarter.</p>
<p>Gabrielle Begue described her costume as “shrubs, greens, topiary” although she conceded that the leaves festooned around her body were a bit unruly to be called topiary.</p>
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<p>Begue and her husband, Erik Winkowski, were dressed as what could best be described as large bushes put together with fake ivy and: “…a whole lot of hot glue.”</p>
<p>Begue said with all of the year’s heated political commentary they wanted outfits that were “full whimsical.”</p>
<p>For others, the year’s heated politics were on full display.</p>
<p>Jim Segreto wore a costume inspired by President Donald Trump’s promises to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.</p>
<p>The costume consisted of blue sateen pants, an Uncle Sam hat and a cardboard box marked with black lines for cinderblocks. A label read: “Trump’s $26 billion wall. Mexico offers ‘nada.’ We’re stuck with the bill.”</p>
<p>“I had to have something that made a statement,” Segreto said.</p>
<p>In the Marigny, Kyle Straub and his friends were dressed as various aspects of science under attack. Straub was dressed as a glacier emblazoned with the words “Make Glaciers Great Again” in a pointed reference to those who question whether climate change is real.</p>
<p>His two kids were dressed as polar bears — what his wife Rebekah called “harbingers of global climate change” although she said the kids didn’t come up with the name themselves.</p>
<p>Members of various Mardi Gras Indian tribes — they’re African-American rather than Native American — were also out on the streets in hand-sewn, beaded and feathered outfits that they have been working on for months.</p>
<p>In Alabama, the port city of Mobile is transforming itself into one big parade route for Fat Tuesday.</p>
<p>Government offices and many businesses are closed as parades roll almost continuously through the city starting Tuesday morning. The weather is supposed to be good, and tens of thousands of people are expected to line parade routes.</p>
<p>At the stroke of midnight, police on horseback in New Orleans do a ceremonial clearing of revelers on Bourbon Street to mark the formal end of the Carnival season before Lent begins Wednesday. The word “carnival” comes from the Latin words meaning “farewell to flesh,” and was originally a time to revel and to use up all the fat and meat in the larder before the austerities of Lent.</p>
<p>This year’s Mardi Gras season was marred by a suspected drunken-driving incident that sent more than 20 people watching a parade in New Orleans to the hospital Saturday night. No one was killed.</p>
<p>Police say the suspect’s blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit.</p>
<p>On Sunday, a man fell off a float and injured himself near the end of another parade.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>Follow Rebecca Santana on Twitter @ruskygal.</p> | Mardi Gras: ‘One time of year people can act like fools’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/958866/mardi-gras-one-time-of-year-people-can-act-like-fools.html | 2017-02-28 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Theresa Dilworth, owner of the <a href="http://www.comtessetherese.com/index.html%20" type="external">Comtesse Thérèse Opens a New Window.</a> vineyards, came down from the upstairs office of her new bistro with a cane and a bandaged foot because the ladder fell while she was putting up Christmas lighting. A week earlier, she had fallen off the roof while trying to fix something -- herself.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>An international tax attorney by day and owner of a 42-acre vineyard by, well, weekend, Theresa (or Tree, as her friends call her) clearly is not afraid to be challenged – or get hurt.</p>
<p>During the week, she handles global tax transactions for a multinational company in Purchase, N.Y. Then, every Friday night she drives 1.5 hours out to Aquebogue on the North Fork of Long Island to spend the weekend planting grapes, decorating her new bistro, making candles, or whatever else this closet-Laura Ingalls feels must get done.</p>
<p>But that’s the two sides of Tree. She and her husband bought an uncultivated piece of property out on Long Island as a New York City getaway back in late 90s. Every weekend, they’d leave their Manhattan high-rise apartment and sleep in tents – yes, tents -- on the property, fixing it up until the actual home was complete.</p>
<p>Back then, Tree had no interest in growing grapes or making wine.</p>
<p>But thanks to the encouragement and financial interest of a friend, she found herself buying another 40 acres that again needed to be cultivated. This time, for grapes.</p>
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<p>We sat in the tasting room of her new Comtesse Thérèse French bistro, a converted home from the 1800s, as she told me her story. It didn’t take long for me to feel like a slacker.</p>
<p>But we did have something in common. Tree is an Ernst &amp; Young alum, like myself. I actually met Tree back in 2005 at a tasting bar in downtown Manhattan. The bar, since closed, only served wines produced in New York. Tree was there, personally pouring her own. And I remember thinking back then how cool it was that this corporate attorney was making wine on the weekend, for kicks. (Come to think of it, she made me feel like a slacker back then, too.)</p>
<p>But, clearly, wine-producing is for more than just kicks. Obviously, it can be quite painful -- and expensive. Tree has dumped all of her own money into the place. She uses her own blood and sweat to plant, grow and produce the wine, and, like most wise small business owners, she’s recruited her family. Her husband has since made a drastic career change, leaving the executive suite of the steel industry to become the in-house sommelier. And her parents come out Monday through Friday to work the property.</p>
<p>In the first year the land was ready, she only planted one acre of grapes to learn the process. The following year, she increased to five acres. Today, 42 acres are covered with all types of grapes from Sauvignon Blanc to Malbec to Syrah (the last two due in 2011).</p>
<p>But the problem with grapes? They take years to grow and Tree needed that property to start making money ASAP. So in 2001, she bought grapes from a local vineyard and started making some wine.</p>
<p>My Wine Lesson</p>
<p>I mentioned in my <a href="" type="internal">first column Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;that the weather, the grapes and the oak used in the barrels can all change the taste of your wine.</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, European countries like Italy, France and Germany have strict rules on the kind of oak you must use. Not in the U.S., though. Feel free to pick your oak.</p>
<p>So in an effort to differentiate herself, she did. She started tinkering with different oaks and has since created top notch wines in oak barrels from Russia and Hungary. And she is currently producing one with Canadian oak, which she says will be the first truly all North American wine available.</p>
<p>Now, in accordance to the column, I asked her to pick her favorite wine, but asking a vintner to pick her favorite wine is much like asking a mother to pick her favorite kid.</p>
<p>Instead she picked her customers’ favorite: The Comtesse Therese 2007 Russian Oak Chardonnay, which retails for about $20.</p>
<p>I stuck my nose in the glass and was able to smell pepper. She got that as well as nutmeg and clove, and pointed out that oak, not the grapes, was influencing the smell.</p>
<p>Now I don’t often drink chardonnay, but as I swished it around my mouth, that Russian oak offered a cinnamon taste to me.</p>
<p>Certainly not the chardonnay I’ve had in the past.</p>
<p>Life Lesson</p>
<p>Chef Arie Pavlou sent out escargots and a brie en croute, which was brie, wild mushrooms and their home-grown sage in a flaky pastry crust. And with that, we moved on to her 2005 Hungarian Oak Merlot.</p>
<p>I asked her if she had plans to leave corporate America and do this wine stuff full-time.</p>
<p>"I’m not giving up my day job. I love my job," she said emphatically.</p>
<p>Which one?!</p>
<p>This women spends the work week buried in the tax code and then gets on her hands and knees and plants grape seeds on the weekends just to keep paying the bills.</p>
<p>Yet we have close to 2 million people in this country collecting 99 weeks of unemployment benefits and asking for more.</p>
<p>Really?</p>
<p>But not people like Tree. They just keep moving forward. The deals keep coming on the international tax front, and she’s planning to open a Comtesse Thérèse bed and breakfast in her wine world.</p>
<p>"I'm having fun," she says, even with the bandage on her foot and her cane lying against her chair.</p>
<p>Clearly, it’s all hard work, and she obviously occasionally gets knocked down.</p>
<p>What sets her apart, though, is that she keeps getting back up.</p> | Can't Keep This 'Winer' Down | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2010/12/03/winer-1663790896.html | 2016-03-17 | 0 |
<p>Embattled <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Houston-Texans/" type="external">Houston Texans</a> coach <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Bill-OBrien/" type="external">Bill O’Brien</a> insisted Monday that he will not quit or resign in his post.</p>
<p>Speculation is running rampant that O’Brien will be out after this season’s disappointing campaign. Houston fell to 4-10 when it was pummeled 45-7 by the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Jacksonville-Jaguars/" type="external">Jacksonville Jaguars</a> on Sunday.</p>
<p>“I will never quit as the head <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/John_Walker/" type="external">football</a> coach of the Houston Texans. Ever,” O’Brien said at his Monday press conference.</p>
<p>When pressed on the matter, O’Brien was just as forceful with his remark.</p>
<p>“I’ll never resign as the head football coach of the Houston Texans,” O’Brien said.</p>
<p>O’Brien, 48, has one season remaining on his contract and there have been no discussions regarding an extension.</p>
<p>There are also reports of friction between O’Brien and general manager <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Rick_Smith/" type="external">Rick Smith</a>. CBSSports.com even reported that a “split is imminent.”</p>
<p>O’Brien said he hadn’t read the story but was told about it. The article said that “many close to the situation believe change is on the horizon.”</p>
<p>O’Brien’s response: “I’m not a quitter. I was raised in a family that believes in family, faith, education. Never quit.”</p>
<p>Houston’s season collapsed after rookie quarterback <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Deshaun-Watson/" type="external">Deshaun Watson</a> suffered a season-ending knee injury. The Texans are just 1-6 since the devastating injury.</p>
<p>The Texans also lost star defensive <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/JJ-Watt/" type="external">J.J. Watt</a> (leg) and linebacker Whitney Mercilus (pectoral) to season-ending injuries.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Tom-Savage/" type="external">Tom Savage</a>, who replaced Watson as the starting quarterback, is possibly done for the season due to a concussion suffered in Week 14.</p>
<p>O’Brien took heat for not immediately recognizing the seriousness of Savage’s injury.</p>
<p>Houston is 31-31 during O’Brien’s four seasons. The Texans went 9-7 in each of his first three seasons and made two playoff appearances. O’Brien has a 1-2 coaching mark in the postseason.</p> | Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien: 'I'll never resign' amid rumors of being fired | false | https://newsline.com/houston-texans-head-coach-bill-o039brien-039i039ll-never-resign039-amid-rumors-of-being-fired/ | 2017-12-18 | 1 |
<p>Jim Rule, a valued Dissent colleague, and I have a very sharp disagreement. In the aftermath of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, I wrote in praise of this man's revolutionary transformation while prime minister; it brought mutual recognition between the PLO and Israel, and the beginning of the end of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, despite furious opposition in Israel by right-wing and religious Zionists. Rule responds, in effect, that little differentiated Rabin, Baruch Goldstein (the religious right-winger who slaughtered scores of Palestinians at prayer in Hebron two years ago), Louis Farrakhan, and, by implication, me.</p>
<p>This is more curious than "bracing." After all, Rabin, who denounced Goldstein's "loathsome, criminal act of murder" (Rabin's words), was slain by someone with Goldstein's world- view. Rule's ire, I suspect, comes from something other than Rabin: he objects to all forms of nationalism, including that of an oppressed population, as racist. And he objects especially to the existence of Israel.</p>
<p /> | Nationalism Near and Far: Replies | true | https://dissentmagazine.org/article/nationalism-near-and-far-replies | 2018-10-04 | 4 |
<p>PHOENIX (AP) _ These Arizona lotteries were drawn Wednesday:</p>
<p>5 Card Cash</p>
<p>QS-8D-4H-9S-10S</p>
<p>(QS, 8D, 4H, 9S, 10S)</p>
<p>All or Nothing Evening</p>
<p>04-05-07-08-09-12-13-14-17-20</p>
<p>(four, five, seven, eight, nine, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, seventeen, twenty)</p>
<p>All or Nothing Midday</p>
<p>01-06-09-10-14-15-16-17-18-19</p>
<p>(one, six, nine, ten, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen)</p>
<p>Pick 3</p>
<p>0-4-5</p>
<p>(zero, four, five)</p>
<p>Fantasy 5</p>
<p>03-09-20-22-30</p>
<p>(three, nine, twenty, twenty-two, thirty)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $59,000</p>
<p>The Pick</p>
<p>12-14-24-30-32-33</p>
<p>(twelve, fourteen, twenty-four, thirty, thirty-two, thirty-three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $1 million</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $55 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>03-33-37-51-57, Powerball: 21, Power Play: 2</p>
<p>(three, thirty-three, thirty-seven, fifty-one, fifty-seven; Powerball: twenty-one; Power Play: two)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $62 million</p>
<p>PHOENIX (AP) _ These Arizona lotteries were drawn Wednesday:</p>
<p>5 Card Cash</p>
<p>QS-8D-4H-9S-10S</p>
<p>(QS, 8D, 4H, 9S, 10S)</p>
<p>All or Nothing Evening</p>
<p>04-05-07-08-09-12-13-14-17-20</p>
<p>(four, five, seven, eight, nine, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, seventeen, twenty)</p>
<p>All or Nothing Midday</p>
<p>01-06-09-10-14-15-16-17-18-19</p>
<p>(one, six, nine, ten, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen)</p>
<p>Pick 3</p>
<p>0-4-5</p>
<p>(zero, four, five)</p>
<p>Fantasy 5</p>
<p>03-09-20-22-30</p>
<p>(three, nine, twenty, twenty-two, thirty)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $59,000</p>
<p>The Pick</p>
<p>12-14-24-30-32-33</p>
<p>(twelve, fourteen, twenty-four, thirty, thirty-two, thirty-three)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $1 million</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $55 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>03-33-37-51-57, Powerball: 21, Power Play: 2</p>
<p>(three, thirty-three, thirty-seven, fifty-one, fifty-seven; Powerball: twenty-one; Power Play: two)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $62 million</p> | AZ Lottery | false | https://apnews.com/e9f1efea51654d0db517083e39f083c7 | 2018-01-18 | 2 |
<p>Texas Gov. Rick Perry attends an anti-abortion rally in January 2010.Jack Plunkett/AP</p>
<p />
<p>In the first six months of 2014, Texas paid <a href="" type="internal">a controversial marriage therapist</a> named Vincent Rue <a href="" type="internal">$42,000</a> to prepare the state’s defense of a <a href="" type="internal">draconian anti-abortion law</a>. It turns out that wasn’t such a great idea. On Friday, when US District Judge Lee Yeakel struck down part of that law, he slammed the state for hiring Rue—and for trying to hide Rue’s involvement.</p>
<p>“The level of input exerted by Rue undermines the appearance of objectivity and reliability of the experts’ opinions,” Yeakel wrote in his decision. “Further, the court is dismayed by the considerable efforts the State took to obscure Rue’s level of involvement with the experts’ contributions.” His decision blocked a portion of the law that would have <a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2014/08/29/federal-judge-strikes-down-texas-abortion-regulati/" type="external">closed</a> all but about a half-dozen of the state’s abortion clinics.</p>
<p>Rue was <a href="" type="internal">thoroughly discredited</a> as an abortion expert long before Texas hired him. When he testified in two landmark abortion cases in the 1990s, judges disregarded his testimony for being <a href="http://www.leagle.com/decision/19902067744FSupp1323_11868.xml/PLANNED%20PARENTHOOD%20v.%20CASEY" type="external">personally biased</a> and <a href="http://www.leagle.com/decision/19861404648FSupp756_11287.xml/HODGSON%20v.%20STATE%20OF%20MINN." type="external">lacking expertise</a>. Mainstream medical organization have <a href="http://www.leagle.com/decision/19902067744FSupp1323_11868.xml/PLANNED%20PARENTHOOD%20v.%20CASEY" type="external">rejected Rue’s efforts</a> to classify a supposed mental illness caused by abortion, “post-abortive syndrome.”</p>
<p>In Texas, Rue helped draft, edit, and find citations for the reports that the state’s experts witnesses submitted to the court.</p>
<p>“It amazes me that states continue to spend large amounts of taxpayer dollars outsourcing this work to this guy,” says Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. Kolbi-Molinas was the lead attorney on a lawsuit in which Alabama hired Rue to defend its anti-abortion law. “But we basically have a road show now, of all of his experts.”</p>
<p>Rue’s involvement with the defense came out thanks to emails between Rue and the experts that plaintiffs brought up at trial. But lawyers for the Center for Reproductive Rights, the legal advocacy group which sued to block the law, accused Texas of withholding some of those emails. Yeakel appeared to agree. On the final day of the trial, he said the state had made “very disturbing” efforts to “effectively tried to hide Rue’s involvement,” the Austin Chronicle <a href="http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2014-08-22/meet-the-anti-abortion-wordsmith-defending-hb-2/" type="external">reported</a>.</p>
<p>Yeakel ultimately discarded the testimony of four expert witnesses because of Rue’s “considerable editorial and discretionary control” over their written reports and testimony: James C. Anderson, <a href="http://www.vachristian.org/Board-of-Advisors/" type="external">the chair</a> of Virginia Physicians for Life; Deborah Kitz, a health care consultant from Pennsylvania; Peter Uhlenberg, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; and Dr. Mayra Jimenez Thompson, an OB-GYN and University of Texas-Southwestern professor.</p>
<p>Emails showed that that Rue sent&#160;Uhlenberg <a href="http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2014-08-07/state-witnesses-continue-to-show-ags-influence-on-hb-2-testimony/" type="external">sources, “ideas,” and “fact changes.”</a> In one message, Uhlenberg wrote, “I need your critical suggestions.” Kitz <a href="http://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2014-08-07/state-witnesses-defend-anti-abortion-hb-2/" type="external">wrote Rue</a> an email that said, “Tried to use as much of your material as I could, but time ran out.” Anderson testified that Rue was responsible for <a href="http://James%20C.%20Anderson,%20a%20Virginia%20emergency%20room%20doctor%20and%20the%20chair%20of%20Virginia%20Physicians%20for%20Life.%20Rue%20has%20tapped%20Anderson%20as%20an%20expert%20witness%20in%20Alabama,%20Alaska,%20North%20Dakota,%20and%20Wisconsin.%20These%20states%20have%20paid%20Anderson%20more%20than%20%24110,000." type="external">“wordsmithing”</a> his report to the court. Rue has <a href="" type="internal">tapped Anderson as an expert witness</a> in four other states that paid Anderson more than $110,000.</p>
<p>Rue, Kitz, Thompson, and Anderson did not respond to requests for comment. But Uhlenberg objected to the judge’s characterization of his testimony.</p>
<p>“He was wrong in asserting that Rue had considerable control over what I wrote in my expert report,” Uhlenberg wrote in an email. “That is insulting to me and not correct. I worked hard to provide a critical evaluation of what the experts for the plaintiffs wrote. If the judge wanted to know if this was my report, written by me, he could have asked.”</p>
<p>Here’s the full text of the footnote in which the judge discusses Rue:</p>
<p>The credibility and weight the court affords the expert testimony of the State’s witnesses Drs. Thompson, Anderson, Kitz, and Uhlenberg is informed by ample evidence that, at a very minimum, Vincent Rue, Ph.D, a non-physician consultant for the State, had considerable editorial and discretionary control over the contents of the experts’ report and declarations. The court finds that, although the experts each testified that they personally held the opinions presented to the court, the level of input exerted by Rue undermines the appearance of objectivity and reliability of the experts’ opinions. Further, the court is dismayed by the considerable efforts the State took to obscure Rue’s level of involvement with the experts’ contributions.</p>
<p>Yeakel is not the first judge to disregard Rue’s handpicked witnesses. In August, a judge who <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/04/alabama-abortion-clinic-law_n_5647772.html" type="external">struck down an Alabama law</a> requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges with a local hospital tossed out Anderson’s testimony in favor of the law “due to concerns about his judgment or honesty.”</p>
<p /> | Texas Slammed for Paying Discredited Abortion Foe | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/09/federal-judge-texas-abortion-clinic-vincent-rue/ | 2014-09-03 | 4 |
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<p>Jonathan Groff got the start for NMSU (33-19, 17-4 Western Athletic Conference) against fellow southpaw Jake Perkins for Chicago State (11-38, 7-14 WAC). For the third straight game, Chicago State struck first when a ground out to the shortstop brought home a runner and put the Aggies down 1-0 at the end of the first.</p>
<p>Each team left a runner on third in the next inning, but the pitchers were able to escpae the second unscathed. In the third inning, LJ Hatch crushed a ball to deep right field which he stretched into a triple and Austin Botello then brought Hatch home on an infield ground-out to tie the game at 1-1.</p>
<p>The Cougars again threatened to score with runners on the corners in the fourth, but Groff got the final batter to strike out looking and keep the game tied.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A walk, followed by a double by Brent Sakurai put two runners in scoring position during the fifth inning. In the next at-bat, Hatch used a sacrifice fly to right field to plate another run and give NMSU a 2-1 lead.</p>
<p>Groff went on to retire the next six batters he faced to hold the team’s lead heading into the seventh inning. In the bottom of the seventh, the opposition put runners on the corners with no outs which forced the Aggies to bring in Matt McHugh from the bullpen. The senior hurler went on to strike out the three batters he faced to hold the Cougars scoreless.</p>
<p>After a pair of walks in the eighth inning, Mason Fishback knocked a single to center which brought home one runner and extended the Aggies’ lead to 3-1.</p>
<p>A quiet frame in the ninth for NMSU saw it then turn to closer Ruger Rodriguez in the bottom half to close the door on the opponent. Rodriguez did just that, putting down the Cougars one-two-three to secure the 3-1 victory for NMSU.</p>
<p>Groff (8-5) picked up the win in the series finale after only allowing one run in six innings of work. Rodriguez captured his eighth save of the season, just one shy of the single-season record in program history.</p>
<p>With the series sweep, NMSU becomes the first Western Athletic Conference team to take all three contests from Chicago State this year.</p>
<p>The Aggies return home for their final series of the regular season at Presley Askew Field against Cal State Bakersfield Thursday through Saturday.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2017 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)</p>
<p>Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at <a href="http://www.lcsun-news.com" type="external">www.lcsun-news.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.</p>
<p>_____</p> | NMSU baseball sweeps Chicago State | false | https://abqjournal.com/1003276/nmsu-baseball-sweeps-chicago-state.html | 2 |
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<p>On Thursday, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin let the leftist mask slip, and admitted that he believes “due process” is the true threat to America’s security. “Due process is what’s killing us right now,” said Manchin. “The FBI did everything they were supposed to do. But there was no way to keep him on the nix list or keep him off the gun-buy list, there was no way to do that.”</p>
<p>That ain’t true.</p>
<p>Not remotely.</p>
<p>In April, Disney World called the FBI to inform them that the Orlando jihadist had visited to scope the place for a terror attack. In May, a gun store refused to sell bulk ammo to the Orlando jihadist after he asked to buy abnormal body armor, then whipped out his phone and began jabbering in Arabic.</p>
<p>The FBI’s response: nothing.</p>
<p>But the Democrats say that the FBI should be given the power to arbitrarily place people on a terror watch list, and thereby deprive them of their Second Amendment rights – five years beyond their removal from the terror watch list.</p>
<p>This is idiocy. But this is the idiotic choice America has made: instead of utilizing basic common sense in policing, we’ve decided to remove everybody’s rights. Because here’s the truth: if the Orlando jihadist had decided to sue the gun shop instead of shooting up a gay nightclub, the left would have sided with him. In fact, they did: last November, the left lost its mind when a judge <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/muslim-free-zone-gun-store-ruling_us_565d0170e4b079b2818b8dea" type="external">tossed a lawsuit</a> against a gun shop that refused to sell guns to Muslims. That man was a bigot! A horror! Unless, of course, he’d sold a gun to a Muslim terrorist. Then he’d be the problem.</p>
<p>Today, even after the Orlando terrorist attack, the left continues to maintain its focus on fighting “Islamophobia”: in Boston, someone called the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority after spotting two Muslims praying on a platform. They turned out not to be terrorists. Here’s how <a href="http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2016/06/prayer_scare_muslims_praying_at_station_triggers_armed_t_response" type="external">The Boston Herald</a> reported the incident:</p>
<p>Two people believed to be Muslims praying on an MBTA platform triggered a rapid response from heavily armed transit cops yesterday morning and immediately sparked a debate about when “see something, say something” vigilance can infringe on religious freedoms. “It’s really up to the person who makes the initial report to make a report based on actual evidence and an actual suspicion and not on prejudice and stereotyping,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington D.C.-based Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization.</p>
<p>CAIR, by the way, is an unindicted co-conspirator in the trial of a charity linked to 9/11 terrorists.</p>
<p>Concerns about “Islamophobia” drive policy. Today, Bill Gertz reported at the <a href="http://freebeacon.com/national-security/homeland-security-report-calls-rejecting-terms-jihad-sharia/" type="external">Washington Free Beacon</a> that a “new Department of Homeland Security report urges rejecting use of Islamic terms such as ‘jihad’ and ‘sharia’ in programs aimed at countering terrorist radicalization among American youth.” Phillip Haney, formerly of the Department of Homeland Security, <a href="http://therightscoop.com/former-dhs-employee-admits-obama-forced-them-to-scrub-records-of-muslims-with-terror-ties/" type="external">wrote this year</a> that in 2009, he was told to scrub “several hundred records of individuals tied to designated Islamist terror groups like Hamas from the important federal database, the Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS).” Muslims were scrubbed specifically because they were Muslims, Haney reported.</p>
<p>This means that Muslim terrorists slide through the cracks. They kill Americans. And then we’re told that government has done its best, and they’ll just have to violate all of our rights in order to stop terrorism.</p>
<p>They haven’t done their best. They’ve ignored the truth about radical Islam, and in doing so, they’ve endangered Americans. Now they will endanger your right to bear arms because they don’t have the intestinal fortitude or moral clarity to recognize that radical Islam must be monitored far more heavily than gun sales.</p> | The Left’s Screeching About ‘Islamophobia’ Puts Your Life And Your Gun Rights In Danger | true | https://dailywire.com/news/6685/lefts-screeching-about-islamophobia-puts-your-life-ben-shapiro | 2016-06-17 | 0 |
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<p>ESPN Fires Schilling for his social media post regarding North Carolina’s Bathroom law, yet ESPN overlooks actual crimes by others such as Ray Lewis. Cartoon by A.F.Branco ©2016.</p>
<p><a href="http://patriotdepot.com/comically-incorrect-a-collection-of-politically-incorrect-comics-volume-1/" type="external">A.F.Branco Coffee Table Book</a> &lt;—- Order Here!</p>
<p><a href="http://paypal.me/AntonioBranco" type="external">Donations/Tips accepted and appreciated</a>&#160;– &#160;$1.00 – $5.00 – $10 – $100 – &#160;it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. –&#160;THANK YOU!</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Sports Update | true | http://comicallyincorrect.com/2016/04/29/sports-update/ | 2016-04-29 | 0 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.shutterstock.com"&gt;Bjorn Stefanson &lt;/a&gt;/Shutterstock</p>
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<p>Everything was supposed to <a href="http://www.local10.com/news/politics/Everything-on-table-during-fiscal-cliff-negotiations/-/1895020/17541848/-/format/rsss_2.0/-/iv9dui/-/index.html" type="external">be “on the table”</a>&#160;in the crafting of deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. But in the end, congressional Democrats and Republicans skipped over some of the <a href="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/01/eight-corporate-subsidies-in-the-fiscal-cliff-bill-from-goldman-sachs-to-disney-to-nascar.html#fjvPoOYA0y5f0W5u.99" type="external">most glaring tax perks and giveaways</a>. Case in point: Congress didn’t touch <a href="" type="internal">billions of dollars a year in freebies to the oil and gas industry</a> that pad the profit margins of companies such as ExxonMobil and BP.</p>
<p>The <a href="" type="internal">final fiscal cliff deal</a> does not touch oil and gas subsidies, confirms Rory Cooper, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Ending the costliest tax breaks for oil and gas companies would have raised tens of billions of dollars in revenue. Trimming just a handful of these breaks for the big five companies—BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell—would’ve raised <a href="http://www.menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/press/menendez-calls-for-end-to-subsidies-for-big-oil" type="external">$24 billion over the next decade</a>. President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal <a href="http://www.taxpayer.net/library/article/ongoing-tcs-analysis-of-the-fy2012-budget-proposal" type="external">called for ending 13 breaks</a> benefiting oil and gas companies of all sizes; it would have saved $46 billion over 10 years.</p>
<p>There was a window of time around the November elections when it looked as if these subsidies <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82616.html" type="external">might, just might,&#160;face even the slightest cuts</a>. At the first presidential debate, Mitt Romney, whose <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/29/jack-gerard-oil-lobby-romney-administration_n_2039278.html" type="external">closest allies included the head of the oil lobby</a>, said oil subsidies <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/10/04/960461/why-its-hard-to-trust-romney-on-oil-subsidies/" type="external">were on the table</a> if corporate taxes were lowered. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chair of the powerful House energy and commerce committee, <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/10/debate_transcript_fred_upton_m.html" type="external">said</a> in a debate that he’d end all energy subsidies, including those for oil and gas. And a week after the election, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/267455-oil-industry-tax-breaks-face-new-peril-in-fiscal-cliff-talks" type="external">refused to rule out</a> trimming oil and gas subsidies as part of a fiscal cliff deal.</p>
<p>But oil and gas giveaways have a knack for surviving even the fiercest fiscal showdowns. (See: Congress’ <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/23/business/a-starting-point-for-tax-reform-what-reagan-did.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0" type="external">1986 tax-reform battle</a>.) Because they’re baked into the tax code, the industry and its lobbyists only have to defend their billions in perks; the wind and solar industries, by contrast, must fight and claw to extend the breaks they receive, which <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-02/wind-tax-credit-extension-seen-driving-growth-trade-group-says.html" type="external">include expiration dates</a>. The fiscal cliff deal also preserved tens of billions of dollars in tax credits for renewable energy production and research.</p>
<p>“We’re certainly not asking for anything on Capitol Hill,” a staffer with the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s top lobbying shop, <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/influence-game-election-over-campaign-continues" type="external">told the AP</a> in late November. And he wasn’t lying: the industry doesn’t necessarily want anything new from Congress. It just wants to keep what it already has.</p>
<p>Which is exactly what happened in the fiscal cliff drama. The oil and gas industry preserved its bountiful status quo so that the billions in breaks continue to flow. Game, set, match, Big Oil.</p>
<p /> | Big Oil’s Billions in Tax Perks Survive Fiscal Cliff Deal | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/big-oil-tax-subsidy-fiscal-cliff/ | 2013-01-02 | 4 |
<p>ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — If New York voters approve proposition No. 2 on the ballot next week, their 213 legislators will join the digital age. Their desks in the ornate chambers of the Capitol will have computers instead of thick stacks of bills.</p>
<p>Many other states have already made such efforts, but New York’s change has required a number of hurdles because its constitution requires bills to be “printed and upon the desks” of lawmakers for three days before they can be passed.</p>
<p>The change is expected to save millions of dollars in printing, many trees and landfill space. But there are concerns, including ensuring nobody is posting on Facebook or playing digital poker when they’re supposed to be making laws.</p>
<p>Assemblyman James Tedisco, a Schenectady Republican who has been calling publicly for the change for four years, believes they’ll equip the desks with keypads and computer tablets that legislators can pick up to show colleagues what they’re looking at.</p>
<p>“Everybody will have one. It’s a one-time expense. Hopefully they’ll be there a good long time,” Tedisco said. Printing will remain an option for those who want a paper copy of a bill. Lawmakers now get on average 17,000 bills a year, printed centrally for the Assembly and Senate, and copies placed on all 213 desks, he said.</p>
<p>The three-day “aging” period will continue, with certain exceptions when the governor sends messages of necessity calling for fast votes.</p>
<p>Spokesmen for the Assembly and Senate majorities said Tuesday there have been discussions about the change, but cautioned the referendum is next week. They declined to discuss specifics.</p>
<p>“We’re working on an implementation plan,” said Michael Whyland, spokesman for Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. “We’ll see when the law passes.”</p>
<p>Mark Hansen, spokesman for Republican Sen. Dean Skelos, co-leader of that chamber, said the referendum doesn’t set a date so if approved it might not be done when the Legislature reconvenes in January. Whatever technology is chosen, it will be restricted to legislative business, he said.</p>
<p>Whyland noted that the ballot measure would authorize the switch from paper to computerized legislation, but doesn’t require it. He added that they may need to have a backup plan for paper copies in case the computers crash.</p>
<p>ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — If New York voters approve proposition No. 2 on the ballot next week, their 213 legislators will join the digital age. Their desks in the ornate chambers of the Capitol will have computers instead of thick stacks of bills.</p>
<p>Many other states have already made such efforts, but New York’s change has required a number of hurdles because its constitution requires bills to be “printed and upon the desks” of lawmakers for three days before they can be passed.</p>
<p>The change is expected to save millions of dollars in printing, many trees and landfill space. But there are concerns, including ensuring nobody is posting on Facebook or playing digital poker when they’re supposed to be making laws.</p>
<p>Assemblyman James Tedisco, a Schenectady Republican who has been calling publicly for the change for four years, believes they’ll equip the desks with keypads and computer tablets that legislators can pick up to show colleagues what they’re looking at.</p>
<p>“Everybody will have one. It’s a one-time expense. Hopefully they’ll be there a good long time,” Tedisco said. Printing will remain an option for those who want a paper copy of a bill. Lawmakers now get on average 17,000 bills a year, printed centrally for the Assembly and Senate, and copies placed on all 213 desks, he said.</p>
<p>The three-day “aging” period will continue, with certain exceptions when the governor sends messages of necessity calling for fast votes.</p>
<p>Spokesmen for the Assembly and Senate majorities said Tuesday there have been discussions about the change, but cautioned the referendum is next week. They declined to discuss specifics.</p>
<p>“We’re working on an implementation plan,” said Michael Whyland, spokesman for Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. “We’ll see when the law passes.”</p>
<p>Mark Hansen, spokesman for Republican Sen. Dean Skelos, co-leader of that chamber, said the referendum doesn’t set a date so if approved it might not be done when the Legislature reconvenes in January. Whatever technology is chosen, it will be restricted to legislative business, he said.</p>
<p>Whyland noted that the ballot measure would authorize the switch from paper to computerized legislation, but doesn’t require it. He added that they may need to have a backup plan for paper copies in case the computers crash.</p> | NY voters to decide on digital legislation | false | https://apnews.com/abaf7d2a933f44d68755c88d58365e96 | 2014-10-28 | 2 |
<p>Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dyrkwyst/" type="external">Dyrk.Wyst</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" type="external">(CC BY 2.0)</a></p>
<p>On Sunday, parliamentary elections in Ukraine and “stress tests” and reviews conducted by the European Central Bank will “determine the entire continent’s direction for years ahead,” financial economist Anatole Kaletsky writes at Reuters.</p>
<p>Also next week, the European Commission will decide on the budget for 2015 submitted by the French government. That judgment will decide between “the French government’s determination to stimulate its economy by cutting taxes with the German-imposed ‘fiscal compact’ that former President Nicolas Sarkozy rashly accepted” in the euro crisis of 2012. (The compact requires France to raise taxes or drastically cut spending to drop its budget deficit to 3 percent of GDP.) If applied literally, these rules “would make economic recovery in France a mathematical impossibility,” Kaletsky writes. “Yet bending these rules will provoke a German public backlash … that could even force Angela Merkel to renege on her commitment to support the rest of the euro-zone.”</p>
<p>“Depending on how these three events turn out, Europe will either be on the road to a moderate economic recovery next year or it will condemned to permanent stagnation, possibly leading to the break-up the euro or even the European Union as a whole.</p>
<p />
<p>“Why are the stakes suddenly so high? With most of Europe sliding back into recession over the summer as a result of the war in Ukraine and the failure to implement the sort of policies of monetary and fiscal stimulus that revived the U.S., Japanese and British economies, Europe now has an obvious choice: stick to the failed policies which are almost certain to perpetuate economic stagnation or to change course,” Kaletsky continues.</p>
<p>“When faced with this choice, the German guardians of the euro’s monetary and fiscal rule-book defend the status quo, no matter how dismal. Germany’s Bundesbank and Constitutional Court are steeped in the tradition of Ordnungsliberalismus which insists that rules must be obeyed at all costs and that following the letter of the law is more important than observing its spirit or achieving a desired outcome. But this legalistic philosophy is now running run up against the even more inexorable laws of mathematics, democracy and geopolitics.”</p>
<p>Europe has reached a point, Kaletsky contends, where politicians will have to change, reinterpret or compromise on some of their rules in order to preserve their continental union and what remains of economic well-being.</p>
<p>Back to the three decisive events, Kaletsky forecasts that a parliamentary victory for President Petro Poroshenko’s moderate party would likely enable EU leaders to begin a “genuine peace process” in the Ukrainian conflict. A positive outcome for the European Central Bank’s review could lead to continental monetary stimulus in early November, and the European Commission’s verdict on the French budget could prompt a reversal of austerity in that country.</p>
<p>The alternative, Kaletsky concludes, is a deepening recession, with its attendant political nationalism and economic disintegration.</p>
<p>Read more <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/anatole-kaletsky/2014/10/24/europes-economic-and-political-future-will-be-determined-in-the-next-few-days/" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a></p> | Three Decisive Events for Europe in the Week Ahead | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/three-decisive-events-for-europe-in-the-week-ahead/ | 2014-10-25 | 4 |
<p>NWCN.comMarch 26, 2003</p>
<p>By SYLESTE RODRIGUEZ / KTVB</p>
<p>BOISE - The Red Cross of Idaho is experiencing care package overload.</p>
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<p>The Red Cross of Idaho asked people to donate care-packages to send to the troops in the Middle East, and the response was overwhelming. Idaho’s local chapter said it's gotten so many, it can't handle more care-packages. But it doesn't mean there aren't other ways to support the troops.</p>
<p>About 50 care packages sat in the Red Cross office in Boise. The group expected more, but they won't be heading overseas anytime soon. The group got word Tuesday morning only about 300 boxes can be sent overseas per week nationwide.</p>
<p>Many Idahoans like Mike Munker are volunteering their time to the Red Cross to support America’s troops.</p>
<p>"They're doing a heck of a job for us," Munker said. "And they're living not under the greatest of conditions."</p> | Red Cross on troops care package overload | false | https://poynter.org/news/red-cross-troops-care-package-overload | 2003-03-26 | 2 |
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<p>The Interior Department is reviewing fees paid for drilling on public lands. (Courtesy of NMOGA)</p>
<p>The Bureau of Land Management issued a notice seeking public comment on whether regulations are needed to give the government more flexibility to set fees.</p>
<p>Government auditors have consistently questioned whether the 12.5 percent royalty now being charged is too low. But a low royalty rate also encourages oil and gas exploration, and any increase would likely raise protests from industry and others that it will lessen production and increase prices at the pump.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says the current regulations have failed to keep pace with technological advances and market conditions. She described the notice issued Friday as an important step.</p>
<p>"It's time to have a candid conversation about whether the American taxpayer is getting the right return for the development of oil and gas resources on public lands," Jewell said in a press release.</p>
<p>The Government Accountability Office has recommended that BLM be allowed to raise or lower onshore royalty rates as necessary. The auditors also said the bureau needs to do a better job of justifying any changes it makes.</p>
<p>The department's news release said the review of its fees will also include a thorough analysis of the cost of doing business on federal lands.</p>
<p>"We welcome input from all parties on how taxpayers can be better assured adequate compensation from oil and gas production on public lands," said Janice Schneider, an assistant secretary at the department.</p>
<p>Julia Bell, a spokeswoman for Republicans on the House Committee on Natural Resources, described the administration's review of the fees as "the latest regulatory assault on oil and gas development on federal lands."</p>
<p>Matt Lee-Ashley of the Center for American Progress, a liberal advocacy group, applauded the review.</p>
<p>"The royalty rate for oil and gas on U.S.-owned lands has lagged behind the royalty rate of states and for offshore areas like the Gulf of Mexico, and has been costing local governments and taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue," he said.</p>
<p /> | BLM seeking feedback on drilling fee proposals | false | https://abqjournal.com/572014/blm-seeking-feedback-on-drilling-fee-proposals.html | 2 |
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<p>Chicago spends more on police misconduct lawsuits per officer than any other major U.S. city— <a href="/chicago-does-little-to-control-police-misconduct-or-its-costs/" type="external">more than $210 million</a> from 2012 to 2015.</p>
<p>Now, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration says the city cannot begin to analyze those lawsuits for patterns of police misconduct until after the U.S. Department of Justice completes its investigation of the Police Department, a decision a former DOJ official calls “not only unnecessary, but unproductive.”</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://chicagoinspectorgeneral.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Dept-Response_Advisory-Regarding-Claims-Analysis-and-Risk-Management.pdf" type="external">memo</a> to the city’s Inspector General released at the end of June, top Emanuel administration officials said they want to “avoid pre-supposing the results of the Department of Justice review or duplicating those efforts.”</p>
<p>Photo by Stacey Rupolo</p>
<p>Joseph Ferguson, Chicago’s Inspector General, was a member of the Police Accountability Task Force created by Mayor Rahm Emanuel during fallout from the release of the Laquan McDonald police shooting video.</p>
<p>The memo came in response to an Inspector General <a href="http://chicagoinspectorgeneral.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Advisory-Regarding-Claims-Analysis-and-Risk-Management.pdf" type="external">report</a> that found the city does not have a comprehensive program to analyze claims against it or to try to reduce the cost to taxpayers. Police misconduct lawsuits comprised the second-largest category of claims after workers’ compensation, according to the report.</p>
<p>The former chief of the DOJ section responsible for investigating police departments said the city’s choice to delay analyzing police misconduct lawsuits goes against the advice the federal agency gives to cities under investigation.</p>
<p>“There is no reason to wait to implement those things that can be changed now,” said Jonathan M. Smith, who ran the special litigation section of the civil rights division at DOJ from 2010 to 2015. He is now the executive director of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.</p>
<p>Smith said DOJ does not expect cities to wait until their investigations are complete—which can sometimes take years—before taking steps toward police reform. To the contrary, he said, the department encourages cities under investigation to correct problematic policies and practices as soon as they are brought to light.</p>
<p>The federal agency announced its civil-rights investigation of the Chicago Police Department following the release of a video of the police shooting of Laquan McDonald, an African-American teenager who was shot 16 times. The video became a focal point of protests for greater police accountability and calls for sweeping changes in police practices.</p>
<p>A Justice Department spokesman wrote in an email that DOJ will take any reforms a city makes while the investigation is underway into consideration when it crafts its final findings letter, which will report on whether there is a pattern or practice of unlawful conduct by CPD and any systemic failures that underlie that misconduct.</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for the finance department did not answer questions from the Reporter about why the city is waiting to analyze police misconduct lawsuits despite the DOJ’s advice to the contrary.</p>
<p>The consent decrees that the agency usually signs with cities at the end of its policing “patterns and practices” investigations focus on fixing constitutional violations. Since failure to analyze police misconduct claims does not rise to that level, DOJ doesn’t typically require cities to conduct claims analysis, Smith said.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">A fiscal lens on police accountability</a></p>
<p>But Smith and other policing experts reiterated that analyzing police misconduct lawsuits is a common sense best practice from both a fiscal and a police accountability standpoint.</p>
<p>“Analysis of lawsuits is an important risk management tool regardless of the presence or absence of a DOJ investigation,” said Merrick Bobb, executive director of the Police Assessment Resource Center. “It makes no apparent sense to me that a city would wait till the end of a DOJ investigation in order to take steps to reduce the likelihood of litigation.”</p>
<p>The finance department has previously reported that police lawsuits account for 60 to 70 percent of all settlement and judgement costs paid by the city each year.</p>
<p>Inspector General Joseph Ferguson&#160;said the city&#160;“falls short of the mark” by leaving&#160;police misconduct lawsuits out of its claims analysis.</p>
<p>“These are a‎ large and continuing burden on the taxpayer which, as our report‎ indicates, should be, and in other municipalities is, an important part of any comprehensive risk management program,” he said.</p>
<p>Ferguson added that he hopes the city chooses to analyze police misconduct lawsuits “sooner rather than later.”</p> | Mayor’s office: City won’t analyze police misconduct lawsuits until after DOJ review | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/mayors-office-city-wont-analyze-police-misconduct-lawsuits-until-after-doj-review/ | 2016-07-13 | 3 |
<p />
<p>The Obama administration on Tuesday announced a loan guarantee for the first new nuclear reactor to be built in the US in decades—part of a planned <a href="" type="internal">$54.5 billion program</a> <a href="" type="internal">to kickstart a nuclear revival</a> using government-backed loans. Yet Chu said he was not aware of a <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=4206&amp;type=0" type="external">Congressional Budget Office</a> study showing that the chances of default on these loans are “very high—well above 50 percent.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know of the CBO report,” Chu told reporters during a conference call on Tuesday. “We don’t believe the chance of default is 50 percent. We believe it’s far less than that.” The first loan guarantee, worth $8.33 billion, was awarded to two proposed reactors to be built by Southern Company at Plant Vogtle in Burke, Georgia.</p>
<p>As Mother Jones has reported, the proposal to encourage nuclear construction via massive federally backed loans represents a major risk for the US <a href="" type="internal">taxpayer</a>. While the nuclear industry as recently as 2005 claimed the price tag for a reactor was $2 billion, independent estimates now put the cost as high as $12 billion.</p>
<p>In fact, the economics of the nuclear industry look so dicey that Wall Street banks—no strangers to high-risk investments—have for several years balked at financing new plants unless the government underwrites the deal. “There will be no nuclear renaissance beyond what the government is willing to underwrite,” Peter Bradford, a former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who is now a professor at Vermont Law School, told Mariah Blake in a <a href="" type="internal">recent piece for Mother Jones</a>. And the nuclear industry has not been shy about announcing its reliance on the taxpayer. “Without loan guarantees we will not build nuclear power plants,” Michael J. Wallace, co-chief executive of UniStar Nuclear and vice president of Constellation Energy, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/washington/31nuclear.html?_r=1&amp;hp&amp;oref=slogin" type="external">told the New York Times in 2007</a>. That means the government would assume almost all the risk.</p>
<p>“Even Wall Street traders say these reactors are too risky to invest in, and that tells you something,” said Ben Schreiber, climate and energy tax analyst for Friends of the Earth. “There’s a 50 percent or greater risk of default. Why should taxpayers bear that risk?”</p>
<p>UPDATE: Stephanie Mueller, Press Secretary for the Department of Energy, sent this response on Tuesday evening: “This is a 7 year old analysis of legislation that was never enacted, and it is not germane to the current project—which has undergone rigorous financial analysis, is conditioned on regulatory approval, uses proven technology, and sets strict financial requirements to protect taxpayers. &#160;Further, the project already has power purchasing agreements in place. &#160;In other words, utilities have signed contracts agreeing to buy power from the plant for many years into the future, ensuring a stream of revenue.”</p>
<p>That the study is dated is fair criticism, and the CBO is expected to issue an updated study on loan guarantees sometime soon. But the program the study examined in 2003 is not much different from the one the Obama administration is currently in the process of expanding. The CBO at that time estimated that loan gaurantees would cover half the construction cost of a new plant—the current proposals would cover up to 80 percent. And while it’s beneficial that the Georgia project already has a power-purchasing agreement in place, the <a href="" type="internal">recent debacle with the proposed nuclear plant in San Antonio demonstrates</a> that those agreements are hardly fail safe.</p>
<p /> | Energy Sec Unaware That Nuclear Loans Have 50 Percent Risk of Default | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/02/chu-not-aware-nuclear-default-rates/ | 2010-02-16 | 4 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Residents in the far South Valley will have a chance to learn about local health care options during a free event today.</p>
<p>Molina Healthcare is holding a health and wellness fair today from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Los Padillas Community Center, 2117 Los Padillas Road. Pamela Herrera, manager of Molina’s community outreach in New Mexico, said a goal of the health care provider is to reach out to under-served communities.</p>
<p>“We identified the area (Los Padillas) as not having resources readily available to community members,” she said. “We know those community members may be in need of some help accessing health care.”</p>
<p>Herrera said the fair will feature other information. Specialists will be there to help community members fill out an application for Medicaid.</p>
<p>“Our goal is to connect them with local resources,” she said. “We feel health care is multi-faceted and we support the individual as well as the family as a whole.”</p>
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<p>Herrera said they have partnered with local organizations including Casa de Salud, Family Smiles Dental and Teen Pregnancy Coalition to provide information.</p>
<p>Olympia University cosmetology will also be on-hand offering free haircuts, and Bernalillo County will hand out pool passes.</p>
<p>There will be free books, a rock-climbing wall as well and instructions on pool safety and car seat safety.</p>
<p>The group does outreach all year, but Herrera said this is the first time they have held a health fair in Los Padillas.</p> | Free Health Fair In Los Padillas | false | https://abqjournal.com/113179/free-health-fair-in-los-padillas.html | 2012-06-16 | 2 |
<p>Milwaukee ex-Sheriff David Clarke apparently has no reason to make nice with reporters anymore, now that he's a private citizen. Not that he was such a prince before, but now he's fully a part of the Trumpist "screw-you" culture which is overtaking the country.</p>
<p>When asked in email by Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter Daniel Bice about the costs for his private security detail at taxpayer expense, Clarke replied, "Fuck you and the horse you rode in on."</p>
<p>What a prince. Here's the full exchange.</p>
<p>It isn't like Clarke is a non-controversial person. While he was still Sheriff, an inmate <a href="" type="internal">died of thirst in his jail.</a> He is a Trumpist in the extreme, he's <a href="" type="internal">a liar</a>, and he apparently <a href="" type="internal">bought all of his medals on eBay</a>.</p>
<p>But yeah, he feels perfectly justified in being a jerk, to which I raise my middle finger and gesture toward the horse he left outside the door. Bye now, David 'No One' Clarke. Have a nice life, you grifty jerk.</p> | Ex-Sheriff Clarke Tells Reporter 'Fck You And The Horse You Rode In On' | true | http://crooksandliars.com/2017/09/ex-sheriff-clarke-tells-reporter-fck-you | 2017-09-20 | 4 |
<p>Published time: 11 Oct, 2017 10:52</p>
<p>Environmentalists who urge others to “go green” to save the planet actually have a carbon footprint as big as anyone else, new research shows.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/uk/404131-greenpeace-environment-policy-criticism/" type="external" /></p>
<p>A study into the habits of activists suggests that while they may behave in a “marginally greener” manner, the difference in their environmental impact is “modest.” Besides, conservationists “often engage in environmentally harmful behavior” such as eating meat or using air travel, the study adds.</p>
<p>“Many conservationists undertake environmentally harmful activities… while calling for people as a whole to reduce such behaviors,” the study says.</p>
<p>Scientists at Cambridge University found that even though air travel was one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases, conservationists took an average of nine flights a year.</p>
<p>The research, published in the journal Biological Conservation, found they failed to score any better on green questions than non-activists. Their findings add to increasing evidence that education and knowledge has little impact on individual behavior.</p>
<p>The study assessed a range of lifestyle choices, including the use of bottled water, air travel, meat consumption and family size. The 734 participants were divided into three groups: conservationists, economists and doctors.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/385899-global-troubles-paris-russia/" type="external" /></p>
<p>Although conservationists recycled more and ate less meat than the other groups, they still consumed meat or fish five times a week.</p>
<p>This would mean conservationists had a smaller personal carbon footprint, were it not for their use of air travel. All groups had similar results for their commute.</p>
<p>The combined footprint score of the conservationists was roughly 16 percent less than that of economists, and seven percent lower than the medics.</p>
<p>The study’s four authors are all conservation scientists. They admitted that between them they have seven children, took 31 flights in 2016 and ate an average of two meat meals in the week before submitting their study.</p>
<p>“I don’t think conservationists are hypocrites, I think that we are human – meaning that some decisions are rational, and others were rationalized,” study co-author Brendan Fisher said.</p>
<p>“Our results show conservationists pick and choose from a buffet of pro-environmental behaviors the same as everyone else. We might eat less meat and compost more, but we fly more – and many of us still commute significant distances in gas cars.”</p>
<p>Another author Andrew Balmford, added: “We must do more to lead by example.”</p> | Environmentalists damage environment as much as anyone else – study | false | https://newsline.com/environmentalists-damage-environment-as-much-as-anyone-else-study/ | 2017-10-11 | 1 |
<p>MASSENA, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities say a freighter carrying soybeans is immobilized by ice in a lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway.</p>
<p>The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. says tugs have been working to dislodge the bulk carrier Federal Biscay from the U.S. Snell lock at Massena.</p>
<p>Once the Marshall Island-flagged vessel is freed, four other vessels can get through the lock and depart the Seaway.</p>
<p>Officials say the U.S. portion of the Seaway will close to commercial traffic for the season after all the vessels have departed.</p>
<p>MASSENA, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities say a freighter carrying soybeans is immobilized by ice in a lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway.</p>
<p>The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. says tugs have been working to dislodge the bulk carrier Federal Biscay from the U.S. Snell lock at Massena.</p>
<p>Once the Marshall Island-flagged vessel is freed, four other vessels can get through the lock and depart the Seaway.</p>
<p>Officials say the U.S. portion of the Seaway will close to commercial traffic for the season after all the vessels have departed.</p> | Icebound freighter delays closure of St. Lawrence Seaway | false | https://apnews.com/3ca4ee7035414ee4ae9ee01f3ea6e655 | 2018-01-03 | 2 |
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<p>Lucinda Williams is touring in support of her 11th album, “Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone.”</p>
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — Lucinda Williams decided to take charge of her career. That is the reason she started Highway 20 Records.</p>
<p>Along with having her own record company, she’s able to release her own albums. Case in point, “Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone.”</p>
<p>Williams says working on the album was a daunting task as it is two discs full of music. She also worked with her husband, Tom Overby, and Greg Leisz on producing the album.</p>
<p>“I felt like I was really on a roll when we started working on the album,” Williams says during an interview. “I usually have enough songs to fill an album, and maybe a couple more, but when I started writing for this, the inspiration just kept coming, and the people I was working with kept telling me the songs were worth keeping. It’s not like I was reinventing the wheel – there are only so many things you can write about, love, sex, death, redemption, and they’re all here – but I felt like I was really in a groove here.”</p>
<p />
<p>Williams says she pushed herself as a vocalist.</p>
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<p>“I felt really comfortable and happy when I was singing, and sort of on my toes a little, since I was working with a lot of new musicians, not just my regular band,” she says. “Putting different people together in different combinations, there was a lot of room to maneuver – a lot of room to make little changes that really made things click.”</p>
<p>Williams dug deep on the song “Compassion,” which is based on a poem that was published in 1997 by her father Miller Williams, who read the poem at President Clinton’s second inauguration. She says the homage was a long time in coming.</p>
<p>“It was challenging, to say the least,” she says. “For years, I’ve wanted to take one of his poems and turn it into a song. You really have to take the poem apart and put it back together, you can’t just sing it as is.”</p>
<p /> | On a roll: Lucinda Williams starts a record company and makes a new album | false | https://abqjournal.com/540728/santa-fe-singersongwriter-18.html | 2 |
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<p>The stage is set at the Supreme Court of the United States. ObamaCare - the pro-abortion, government-run health care law - front-and-center - <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66667.html" type="external">facing a number of serious constitutional challenges</a>.</p>
<p>As you know, we've been involved in challenging ObamaCare from the very start. We're in federal court with our own lawsuit now pending before a federal appeals court. <a href="" type="internal">We presented our oral arguments to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in September</a> arguing that the individual mandate, which forces Americans to purchase health insurance, violates the Commerce Clause.</p>
<p>We're also backing challenges by Virginia and Florida - cases that are now at the high court.</p>
<p>In fact, we will be filing a critical amicus brief this week in support of Florida's petition to the high court asking the Justices to uphold a decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that declared ObamaCare unconstitutional.</p>
<p>In our brief to be filed, we will ask the high court to take this case without delay urging the court to declare ObamaCare unconstitutional and citing the questions surrounding the constitutionality of the individual mandate are a "matter of national importance."</p>
<p>What's encouraging is that a clear majority of Americans oppose ObamaCare underscoring the fact that this law is simply not good America. And, while more than 70,000 Americans signed on to our earlier petition opposing this flawed health care law, we're now at a critical new stage.</p>
<p>With the issue now before the Supreme Court, it is imperative that we send a strong message - not only in the legal arguments we make - but with the thousands who don't want ObamaCare as the law of the land.</p>
<p>That's why we are starting a new committee - The Supreme Court Committee to Declare ObamaCare Unconstitutional. If you've added your name to our committee in the past, we need to hear from you again. And if you've never voiced your opposition to ObamaCare, this is the time to do it. <a href="" type="internal">Add your name now</a>.</p>
<p>The timing of exactly when the high court will take and hear these cases is yet to be determined. Some who are challenging the law are hopeful the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/in-charge/2011/10/20/health-care-bill-opponents-eye-march-for-top-court-hearing/?KEYWORDS=health+law" type="external">Justices hear the case as soon as March</a>, with a decision coming before the November 2012 elections.</p>
<p>There's no question about it. ObamaCare is on a fast track. And that's all the more reason we need to hear from you now.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Sign on to The Supreme Court Committee to Declare ObamaCare Unconstitutional now</a>.</p>
<p>We will keep you posted as developments unfold.</p> | Push at Supreme Court to Derail ObamaCare | true | http://aclj.org/obamacare/push-at-supreme-court-to-derail-obamacare | 2011-10-27 | 0 |
<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/02/us-markets-stocks-idUSTRE7771O020110902" type="external">U.S. stocks</a> fell 2 percent on Friday after a worse-than-expected jobs report showed the U.S. economy added no net jobs in August.</p>
<p>Reuters reports that the Dow Jones industrial average was down 253.16 points, or 2.20 percent, to 11,240.41. The Standard &amp; Poor's 500 Index fell 30.46 points, or 2.53 percent, to 1,173.96. And the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 65.71 points, or 2.58 percent, to 2,480.33.</p>
<p>Friday's decline left the market lower for the sixth week out of seven.</p>
<p>Bloomberg reports that <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-02/asia-stocks-end-six-day-rise-as-u-s-futures-drop-franc-climbs-oil-falls.html" type="external">10-year Treasury yields</a> "sank 14 basis points to 1.99 percent, four points above a record low, and the 30-year rate reached the lowest since 2009."</p>
<p>Earlier on Friday, the U.S. labor department reported that the country added <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/110902/august-jobs-report-labor-department-us-unemployment-rate" type="external">no net new jobs</a> in August, and that the unemployment rate had remained at 9.1 percent. Job growth figures for June and July were also revised downward.</p>
<p>"Another disappointing report that speaks to a severe unemployment crisis that, unfortunately, is becoming even more stubbornly embedded," Mohamed El-Erian, the CEO of Pimco, told Bloomberg. "Along with Europe's dislocations, this fuels concerns about the global economic outlook and the growing risk of a recession."</p>
<p>According to Reuters, stocks had rebounded recently on expectations that the Federal Reserve would be boosting the economy with new stimulus measures.</p>
<p>"By itself the Fed can't restore confidence or create jobs, so any steps it might take won't be game-changing for the economic growth prospects," said Leo Grohowski, chief investment officer at BNY Mellon Wealth Management.</p>
<p>President Barack Obama is scheduled to give a speech on jobs and the economy before a joint session of Congress on Thursday.</p> | U.S. stocks fall sharply after jobs report | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-09-02/us-stocks-fall-sharply-after-jobs-report | 2011-09-02 | 3 |
<p>NEWARK, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say at least seven people who claimed to be working for a TV network were arrested at a New Jersey airport after they tried to film themselves passing a fake explosive device through a security checkpoint.</p>
<p>Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein says it happened at Newark Liberty International Airport on Thursday. She says some members of the group attempted to bring the fake explosive device in a carry-on bag, but it was detected by TSA officers and never made it past security.</p>
<p>Farbstein says the alleged TV crew members were arrested on multiple charges and face possible civil penalties by the TSA.</p>
<p>Endemol Shine North America, which employs the crew, says the device is a "specially designed suitcase" used to compact clothing and "has no other intended use."</p>
<p>NEWARK, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say at least seven people who claimed to be working for a TV network were arrested at a New Jersey airport after they tried to film themselves passing a fake explosive device through a security checkpoint.</p>
<p>Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein says it happened at Newark Liberty International Airport on Thursday. She says some members of the group attempted to bring the fake explosive device in a carry-on bag, but it was detected by TSA officers and never made it past security.</p>
<p>Farbstein says the alleged TV crew members were arrested on multiple charges and face possible civil penalties by the TSA.</p>
<p>Endemol Shine North America, which employs the crew, says the device is a "specially designed suitcase" used to compact clothing and "has no other intended use."</p> | TV crew attempts to pass fake bomb through airport security | false | https://apnews.com/amp/263714b2623d4cc0adedd2e346715705 | 2018-01-19 | 2 |
<p>2015 was a big year for climate news — but you wouldn’t know it from watching network TV&#160;news in the US.</p>
<p>Despite such major stories as President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, the Paris climate agreement and the Pope’s encyclical on climate change, on average&#160;NBC, CBS and ABC all devoted fewer minutes of coverage to global warming, according to <a href="http://mediamatters.org" type="external">Media Matters for America</a>, which has been monitoring climate coverage since 2009.</p>
<p>The total amount of coverage on the nightly news and the Sunday talk shows dropped five percent in 2015, says Andrew Seifter, climate and energy program director for Media Matters and a <a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2016/03/07/study-how-broadcast-networks-covered-climate-ch/208881" type="external">co-author of the study</a>. This is surprising, Seifter says, given that “by any measure, we could say that 2015 was the most newsworthy year for climate change in history.”</p>
<p />
<p>Total coverage of climate change in 2014 and 2015, based on minutes of airtime on major news networks ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX.</p>
<p>Media Matters for America</p>
<p>ABC, in particular, stood out. The network showed a 59 percent drop in their coverage, dedicating just 13 total minutes to climate change coverage in all of 2015.</p>
<p>“Just to put that in perspective,” Seifter says, “[a&#160;recent]&#160;Sunday show had Bernie Sanders on several times and he brought up climate change on his own four different times — whereas the host and reporters of This Week brought up climate change only twice all year.”</p>
<p>FOX was the one network that significantly increased its coverage. It actually doubled it,&#160;Seifter says. But that wasn't necessarily a good thing for people concerned about climate change, he notes. “The vast majority of that coverage included attacks on climate policies, or climate science denial,” he explains. “So, people who watch Fox for their climate coverage got more of it, but they didn't necessarily learn more from watching it.”</p>
<p>NBC and CBS’s coverage stayed about the same as the year before, but both networks did a better job “connecting the dots between extreme weather events and climate change,” Seifter believes. “That was one particular area where those two networks did an excellent job.”</p>
<p>PBS stood out in terms of the quality of its coverage, according to Seifter. The network had more segments on climate change than all of the other nightly news shows combined.</p>
<p>The current presidential campaign probably explains why climate change coverage didn’t rise in a year of dramatic climate news. But climate change coverage in general is never very high, Seifter says.</p>
<p>Because climate change is a “gradual menace,” it just “doesn't have the same shock value as a terrorist attack or a mass shooting — the types of events that draw massive waves of media coverage,” he explains. “Climate change requires journalists to dig a little deeper and to explain the nature of the threat to their viewers."</p>
<p>While polling consistently shows the vast majority of the public believes climate change is real, that humans are causing it and that the public supports actions to address it, polls also indicate that people don't prioritize climate change compared to other issues, Seifter says. He blames this on the nature of the news coverage.</p>
<p>“The media is not talking about the impacts of climate change on a day-to-day basis,” he says. “We found in our study that the national security impacts of climate change were largely ignored by the networks; the economic impacts were largely ignored and the public health impacts, as well, even though the Obama administration specifically made it a point to emphasize public health when they rolled out the Clean Power Plan.”</p>
<p>One might think that the huge changes in the media landscape, particularly the rise of internet news and social media, would lessen the importance of network news coverage. Seifter believes otherwise.</p>
<p>“The Sunday shows have a particular influence on the conversation that occurs in Washington and throughout the country,” he says. “They really set the policy agenda for the week and those conversations make news.”</p>
<p>The lack of daily coverage, along with the spread of climate change denial on outlets like Fox, has a cost to American society, Seifter believes.</p>
<p>“The public needs to know that climate change is already impacting their lives in significant ways and that it will continue to impact their lives and the lives of their children and grandchildren,” he insists. “I think it's really the obligation of the media to tell that story and inform the public about these threats.”</p>
<p>This article is based on an <a href="http://loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=16-P13-00012&amp;segmentID=2" type="external">interview</a> that aired on PRI's <a href="http://loe.org/index.html" type="external">Living on Earth</a> with Steve Curwood.</p> | Network news coverage of climate change dropped, on average, in 2015 | false | https://pri.org/stories/2016-04-09/network-news-coverage-climate-change-dropped-average-2015 | 2016-04-09 | 3 |
<p>A new study from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has revealed that one of its key strategies of arming and training foreign groups to intervene in a country is ineffective.</p>
<p>The internal report is still classified, but according to U.S. newspaper The New York Times, it concludes that training foreign rebels has a minimal impact in the result of an armed conflict.</p>
<p>The review was commissioned by President Barack Obama between 2012 and 2013 to determine if it was convenient for the U.S. to arm and train Syrian rebels to fight against President Bashar al-Assad.</p>
<p>In April 2013, Obama authorized the CIA to start training Syrian rebels at a base in Jordan. Ironically, the Syrian forces will now fight against the militants of Islamic State group, enemies of al-Assad, though their future role remains unclear.</p>
<p>“One of the things that Obama wanted to know was: Did this ever work?” said one former senior administration official, quoted by The New York Times.</p>
<p>The study “was pretty dour in its conclusions,” added the anonymous official.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/CIAs-Own-Study-Finds-Intervention-Is-Ineffective-20141015-0016.html" type="external">Read more</a></p> | CIA’s Own Study Finds Intervention Is Ineffective | true | http://rinf.com/alt-news/war-terrorism/cias-study-finds-intervention-ineffective/ | 2014-10-15 | 4 |
<p>A look at Nasdaq 10 most-active stocks at the close of trading:</p>
<p>Apple Inc. rose .6 percent to $93.52 with 37,030,600 shares traded.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>BlackBerry Ltd. rose 2.7 percent to $10.52 with 23,386,500 shares traded.</p>
<p>Cisco Systems Inc. rose .9 percent to $25.08 with 34,115,700 shares traded.</p>
<p>Facebook Inc. rose 1.1 percent to $68.06 with 32,600,700 shares traded.</p>
<p>GoPro Inc. rose 20.3 percent to $48.80 with 38,590,900 shares traded.</p>
<p>Intel Corp. rose .3 percent to $30.98 with 27,522,900 shares traded.</p>
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<p>MannKind Corp. fell 5.8 percent to $10.32 with 20,337,600 shares traded.</p>
<p>Micron Technology Inc. rose 3.1 percent to $33.98 with 35,654,600 shares traded.</p>
<p>Microsoft Corp. rose .4 percent to $41.87 with 26,230,700 shares traded.</p>
<p>Sirius XM Radio Inc. fell .7 percent to $3.44 with 53,926,800 shares traded.</p> | Nasdaq's 10 most active stocks at the close of trading | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/11/10/nasdaq-10-most-active-stocks-at-close-trading.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Daryl Chestnut, a running back out of Coffeyville (Kan.) Junior College, has enrolled at New Mexico and will have three years of eligibility remaining.</p>
<p>Chestnut&#160; originally signed with Indiana out of high school after receiving offers from Florida State, Texas Tech and West Virginia, among others. But he never played at Indiana because of academic ineligibility, media reports said.</p>
<p>“Daryl is an explosive back that was highly recruited,” UNM coach Bob Davie said in a statement released by the university. “You see him do a lot of great things on film and he has some versatility to make plays in many different ways. He has the potential to be a great addition to our offense.”</p>
<p>Chestnut rushed for 1,208 yards and 14 touchdowns during his senior season at Columbus High in Miami.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Lobo football adds Juco RB Chestnut | false | https://abqjournal.com/526394/lobo-football-adds-juco-rb-chestnut.html | 2 |
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<p>But we are not here today to reguritate the data, to discuss whether he is 6-foot-this or that he runs the 40 in <a href="http://4.tha" type="external">4.tha</a>t, or that he threw for this many yards, or ran for that many touchdowns.</p>
<p>Rather, I’d like to circulate a number you haven’t yet heard about Gentry, who at 7:08 Wednesday morning officially fired off his national letter of intent from Albuquerque to Ann Arbor, thus completing the segue from Eldorado Eagle to Michigan Wolverine.</p>
<p>The number is 62.</p>
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<p>That, Gentry said Wednesday in an astonishing revelation, is the number of quarterbacks new Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh told Gentry he looked at before deciding that this particular New Mexico quarterback was his primary target for the signing class of 2015.</p>
<p>“That’s what stuck with me,” Gentry told the Journal following a purely ceremonial signing event Wednesday afternoon at Eldorado. “Sixty-two quarterbacks. And he said I was his guy. That was impressive to me, that he had that kind of faith in me.”</p>
<p>There was no way to independently confirm the 62 with Harbaugh; the Journal made several attempts to interview him directly, but Michigan said Harbaugh would be unavailable.</p>
<p>This is part of what Harbaugh said Wednesday about Gentry to local media in Ann Arbor:</p>
<p>“Zach is … very talented,” Harbaugh said. “He is very fast, he has some real physical attributes that not every quarterback has, and he is somebody that works extremely hard at the game – especially during the offseason – on his technique, on his throwing.”</p>
<p>Added Michigan QB coach Jedd Fisch: “We think that Zach is going to make a huge impact for us at the quarterback position.”</p>
<p>The other new QB recruit for Michigan is a Detroit-area kid, Alex Malzone, who committed in his junior year when Brady Hoke was still the coach. Like Gentry is to New Mexico, Malzone was Michigan’s player of the year last season.</p>
<p>Malzone has will have one distinct advantage on Gentry: he’s already enrolled at Michigan and will be part of the Wolverines’ spring drills.</p>
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<p>There are, Harbaugh said, five current quarterbacks in the Michigan fold not including Gentry, who said he’ll arrive in Ann Arbor in June. Harbaugh got a question Wednesday about who would start at QB next fall, and he said, in essence, that it was anybody’s job.</p>
<p>“Well,” he said, “it’s got to take a lot. … Who moves the team the best? Who turns it over less? Who takes care of the football? Who can rally his team?”</p>
<p>Gentry said Harbaugh likewise told him the position is wide open.</p>
<p>“I think for sure I could (play right away),” Gentry said. “That’s obviously the goal. They’re gonna play the best quarterback, and I think that’s the way it should be.”</p>
<p>Harbaugh’s pro-style offense was perhaps the item on Gentry’s checklist that most appealed to him during a crazy few weeks during which he became shaky on Texas, where he had verbally committed last May. Texas’ offense, Gentry told me on Jan. 24, the night he flipped to Michigan, was being tweaked, and he was less than enthused about its direction.</p>
<p>Which makes his recruitment so much about timing.</p>
<p>It was a Sunday, 2½ weeks ago, Jan. 18, that the Gentrys got a phone call they never expected.</p>
<p>“Out of the blue,” said Tom Gentry, Zach’s father.</p>
<p>It was Harbaugh. He wanted to come to Albuquerque. Which he did, the following afternoon.</p>
<p>“We definitely cleaned the house,” Tom Gentry said with a laugh.</p>
<p>Harbaugh spent a few hours with the family.</p>
<p>“He had a really unique presence about him,” Zach said. “You could tell right away that he was hyper-competitive and driven, just from the way he talks about football.”</p>
<p>During the visit, Harbaugh and Zach Gentry compared hand sizes, and wingspans. The two even threw the football a bit in front of Gentry’s house.</p>
<p>“I was thinking, ‘I wonder if the people driving by are noticing that this is Jim Harbaugh,’ ” Zach Gentry said, smiling.</p>
<p>With the signing complete, a new phase of Gentry’s life begins. Soon, he’ll receive Michigan’s playbook, and get to work as best he can, being 1,500-plus miles from Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>“It’s pro-style, and you don’t see a lot of it in college anymore,” Tom Gentry said. “That suits Zach’s talents perfectly.”</p>
<p>This figures to be a rebuild at Michigan. ESPN on Wednesday rated the Wolverines’ recruiting class 14th out of 14 schools in the Big Ten. (Not that this matters, but Texas’ class was rated No. 1 in the Big 12.)</p>
<p>“I’m definitely comfortable being part of the rebuild,” Gentry said. “I knew what I was getting myself into.”</p>
<p>And so now, this part of the Zach Gentry saga is finally over. The next time we see him in pads will be on a TV set. If his zigzag recruiting tale has worn on him, you’d never know it.</p>
<p>“He doesn’t show the stress,” his father said. “It takes a lot to cause stress for him. He really is remarkable, the way he handles the pressure.”</p>
<p>Words, I would imagine, the Michigan faithful will be glad to hear.</p>
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<p /> | Michigan man? Gentry fits the bill | false | https://abqjournal.com/536820/michigan-man-gentry-fits-the-bill.html | 2 |
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<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Five death row inmates sued Pennsylvania prison officials on Thursday, challenging a policy that keeps the convicts isolated most of the time and calling the practice degrading and inhumane.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.aclupa.org/files/7315/1688/8000/Reid_v._Wetzel_--_Class_Action_Complaint.pdf" type="external">federal lawsuit</a> asks the court to end mandatory, indefinite solitary confinement for the 156 men on death row at Graterford and Greene state prisons.</p>
<p>The lawsuit said death row inmates are locked up alone 22 to 24 hours each day, and their small cells are kept illuminated at all hours.</p>
<p>"The devastating effects of such prolonged isolation are well known among mental health experts, physicians and human rights experts in the United States and around the world," the lawsuit said. "It is established beyond dispute that solitary confinement puts prisoners at risk of substantial physical, mental and emotional harm."</p>
<p>The lawsuit seeks class-action status as well as a declaration that the solitary policy violates constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment and violates the guarantee of due process.</p>
<p>A Corrections Department spokeswoman said officials have begun making changes that will let death row inmates have more time outside of their cells. She said all death row inmates with serious mental illnesses are currently permitted time out of their cells to receive therapeutic treatment services.</p>
<p>The defendants are the Corrections secretary and the wardens at Graterford and Greene.</p>
<p>The inmates who sued — Anthony Reid, 50; Ricardo Natividad, 49; Mark Newton Spotz, 46; Ronald Gibson, 49; and Jermont Cox, 46 — have spent between 16 and 27 years on the state's death row. The lawsuit said the state has not provided a meaningful way for them to challenge their confinement conditions.</p>
<p>The inmates say they are kept segregated inside cells the size of a parking space. They can exercise in small, outdoor enclosures for no more than two hours during weekdays but are kept in their cells around-the-clock on weekends, unless they have a visitor. They change cells every three months.</p>
<p>The men may not participate in prison vocational, recreational or educational programs, nor can they join in any communal worship.</p>
<p>The Marshall Project <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/07/23/condemned-to-death-and-solitary-confinement" type="external">reported</a> earlier this year that 20 of the 31 death penalty states allow death row inmates fewer than four hours of recreation outside their cells each day.</p>
<p>Pennsylvania has executed three people since 1976, all of whom had voluntarily given up on their appeals. The state's death row has been shrinking, as fewer death sentences are being imposed and appeals have resulted in some death row inmates being resentenced to life.</p>
<p>Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf announced a death penalty moratorium soon after he took office three years ago, saying he was concerned about "a flawed system that has been proven to be an endless cycle of court proceedings as well as ineffective, unjust, and expensive."</p>
<p>Wolf has said the moratorium will say in place until a state Senate-commissioned study of capital punishment is complete.</p>
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Five death row inmates sued Pennsylvania prison officials on Thursday, challenging a policy that keeps the convicts isolated most of the time and calling the practice degrading and inhumane.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.aclupa.org/files/7315/1688/8000/Reid_v._Wetzel_--_Class_Action_Complaint.pdf" type="external">federal lawsuit</a> asks the court to end mandatory, indefinite solitary confinement for the 156 men on death row at Graterford and Greene state prisons.</p>
<p>The lawsuit said death row inmates are locked up alone 22 to 24 hours each day, and their small cells are kept illuminated at all hours.</p>
<p>"The devastating effects of such prolonged isolation are well known among mental health experts, physicians and human rights experts in the United States and around the world," the lawsuit said. "It is established beyond dispute that solitary confinement puts prisoners at risk of substantial physical, mental and emotional harm."</p>
<p>The lawsuit seeks class-action status as well as a declaration that the solitary policy violates constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment and violates the guarantee of due process.</p>
<p>A Corrections Department spokeswoman said officials have begun making changes that will let death row inmates have more time outside of their cells. She said all death row inmates with serious mental illnesses are currently permitted time out of their cells to receive therapeutic treatment services.</p>
<p>The defendants are the Corrections secretary and the wardens at Graterford and Greene.</p>
<p>The inmates who sued — Anthony Reid, 50; Ricardo Natividad, 49; Mark Newton Spotz, 46; Ronald Gibson, 49; and Jermont Cox, 46 — have spent between 16 and 27 years on the state's death row. The lawsuit said the state has not provided a meaningful way for them to challenge their confinement conditions.</p>
<p>The inmates say they are kept segregated inside cells the size of a parking space. They can exercise in small, outdoor enclosures for no more than two hours during weekdays but are kept in their cells around-the-clock on weekends, unless they have a visitor. They change cells every three months.</p>
<p>The men may not participate in prison vocational, recreational or educational programs, nor can they join in any communal worship.</p>
<p>The Marshall Project <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/07/23/condemned-to-death-and-solitary-confinement" type="external">reported</a> earlier this year that 20 of the 31 death penalty states allow death row inmates fewer than four hours of recreation outside their cells each day.</p>
<p>Pennsylvania has executed three people since 1976, all of whom had voluntarily given up on their appeals. The state's death row has been shrinking, as fewer death sentences are being imposed and appeals have resulted in some death row inmates being resentenced to life.</p>
<p>Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf announced a death penalty moratorium soon after he took office three years ago, saying he was concerned about "a flawed system that has been proven to be an endless cycle of court proceedings as well as ineffective, unjust, and expensive."</p>
<p>Wolf has said the moratorium will say in place until a state Senate-commissioned study of capital punishment is complete.</p> | 5 death row inmates challenge policy of solitary confinement | false | https://apnews.com/amp/7b40d25583c64ff7a7e89d698823219e | 2018-01-25 | 2 |
<p>A former GOP official who once claimed “that virtually every case of voter fraud I can remember in my lifetime was committed by Democrats” could prove an exception to his own rule.</p>
<p />
<p>Steve Curtis, former chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, was charged with forgery and voter fraud for allegedly filling out and mailing in his ex-wife’s ballot for the 2016 election, <a href="http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/politics/former-colorado-gop-chairman-steven-curtis-charged-with-voter-fraud" type="external">KMGH</a> and <a href="http://kdvr.com/2017/03/21/former-colorado-gop-chairman-charged-with-voter-fraud/" type="external">KDVR</a> reported Tuesday.</p>
<p>Curtis and his attorney did not respond to KMGH or the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/03/22/ex-colo-gop-leader-said-only-democrats-committed-voter-fraud-now-hes-charged-with-voter-fraud/?utm_term=.1f6cb88afee8" type="external">Washington Post</a>’s requests for comment. His lawyer told KMGH that Curtis wouldn’t comment “”until the process is finished.” Curtis made his claim about Democrats committing voter fraud on his radio show on KLZ-560 AM (available at the 5:25 mark <a href="https://soundcloud.com/wake-up-with-steve-curtis/10062016-kevin-collin-voter-fraud-other-democratic-misbehaviors" type="external">here</a>) before the election.</p>
<p>Curtis’ ex-wife Kelly Curtis told KDVR she was “livid” about the situation.</p>
<p>“It was demeaning and presumptuous, and I had no idea what would go on in someone’s mind to cast my ballot for me illegally, actually to go to all the trouble to forge my ballot,” she said.</p>
<p>Kelly Curtis had moved to South Carolina prior to the presidential election and called the Weld County, Colorado elections office to determine how she could vote in the state, where she was still registered. That’s when elections officials discovered the alleged fraud.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, KDVR’s Rob Low captured an exchange with Curtis about the alleged crime. “We’re not going to talk about this,” he said.</p>
<p /> | Colorado Ex-GOP Official Charged With Voter Fraud Once Blamed It All On Dems | true | http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/colorado-gop-chair-voter-fraud | 4 |
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<p>PHOENIX — Maricopa County sheriff’s officials say they’ve seized 3,500 counterfeit oxycodone pills that were laced with the powerful narcotic fentanyl.</p>
<p>Sheriff Paul Penzone says in a statement Tuesday that a sting operation that took the pills off the street “undoubtedly saved lives.”</p>
<p>Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is extremely powerful in very small quantities. Penzone noted that even small amounts can be lethal.</p>
<p>The narcotics were seized on Aug. 30 after members of an undercover unit arranged to buy them from 26-year-old Jesus Madueno.</p>
<p>Penzone’s office says detectives met with Madueno, confirmed he had the drugs and arrested him without incident on narcotic sales charges.</p>
<p>It’s unclear whether Madueno has an attorney who could comment on the allegations.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Maricopa County deputies find oxycodone laced with fentanyl | false | https://abqjournal.com/1059178/maricopa-county-deputies-find-oxycodone-laced-with-fentanyl.html | 2017-09-06 | 2 |
<p>Paul Wolfowitz, in an interview with the Far Eastern Economic Review, calls it an “IOU.” Pakistan owes the U.S. something. What’s the debt? A debt of gratitude that the U.S. isn’t making a big deal out of the Abdul Qadeer Khan affair. Khan is the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, a national hero and icon, and, it was recently revealed, the biggest trafficker in nuclear secrets in history. I mean, he is so much what little Saddam was not, but his friend, Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf, lets him off scot-free, knowing that to punish him would be to enrage the Pakistani people who are already outraged by Musharraf’s close cooperation with the U.S.</p>
<p>According to Wolfowitz, “The international community” (this is a euphemism for “the United States,” comparable to the papal “we” in lieu of “I”) “is prepared to accept [Musharraf’s] pardon of A.Q. Khan for all he’s done, but it’s clearly a kind of IOU that, in return for that, there has to be a full accounting of everything that’s happened.” This suggests that Bush’s agreement not to make a big deal out of the sale of Pakistani nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea merely requires in return detailed information about what information was shared.</p>
<p>But no, there’s more. Musharraf has been downplaying all along the presence of Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in Pakistan, at one point declaring confidently that Osama bin Laden was dead. The U.S. on the other hand believes that bin Laden and remaining al-Qaeda forces move back and forth across the Afghan-Pakistani border. Bush administration officials have repeatedly stated that Pakistan “could do more” to engage the enemy. This includes allowing U.S. forces into South Waziristan to direct operations. They don’t push Musharraf too hard, because they worry that if he becomes too closely associated with themselves, his people will topple him. But they welcome what Wolfowitz calls “leverage” to get Musharraf to move, and the Khan affair provides more leverage.</p>
<p>Musharraf’s a military dictator who seized power in a coup in 1999. It wasn’t the first military coup in Pakistan’s short history. Musharraf overthrew the democratically-elected president, Nawaz Sharif, whom he accused of trying to destabilize and politicize the army. His power-base is weak, and he must court, among others, tribesmen sympathetic to the Taliban. He hasn’t delivered on promises to end corruption and provide stability and prosperity. Bin Laden probably has more support in Pakistan than he does. The dictator’s military is riddled with pro-Taliban officers; the Taliban was, after all, largely a creation of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), and there seem to be enduring ties between some folks in the Pakistani military and the Talibs. Musharraf under enormous U.S. pressure cut ties with the Taliban after 9-11 and allowed his country to be used as a base of operations against Afghanistan. He had no choice; he had to be either with or against the U.S. But longstanding ties between the Taliban and Pakistan’s military surely persist, along with the possibility of yet another coup—this time targeting Musharraf.</p>
<p>The “IOU” to which Wolfowitz alludes is Musharraf’s obligation to risk his own political career in order to enhance the prospects for the capture or killing of bin Laden—or at least to produce some major trophy—before the U.S. November elections. The problem is, of course, that while bowing to U.S. pressure he might expose his neck to some disgruntled commanders, who might just decide to hack it off to preserve the dignity of the Islamic state. It’s been reported that some officers recently plotted a coup that would have brought A. Q. Khan to the presidency. This would have met with ecstatic popular approval. Uneasily positioned between his people and general staff on the one hand, and the dictates of the Bush administration on the other, Musharraf doesn’t have the highest credit rating.</p>
<p>Let us say he can’t pay his IOU. Let’s say another dictator, or junta, emerges to affect regime change, and with the current U.S. favorite dead or behind bars, tells the world:</p>
<p>“In the Name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate.</p>
<p>“We continue to feel sorry for the suffering the U.S. experienced on 9-11. We understand why the U.S. found it necessary to attack our neighbor, Afghanistan, and change the regime there. But we only agreed, under enormous U.S. pressure, to cut off our ties with the Taliban, which had been friendly. We recommended that the Americans negotiate the handover of Osama bin Laden, but they insisted on invading and occupying our neighbor. They have re-established the warlord regime that ruled from 1992 to 1996, a regime so brutal that Afghans rallied to the Taliban cause.</p>
<p>“We Pakistanis supported the Talibs, thinking they would bring peace and stability, and allow us access to trade routes into Central Asia. They did these things. They allowed al-Qaeda to operate, using camps the Americans established in the 1980s when the U.S., the Saudis and ourselves were all working together to topple the pro-Soviet government. The Americans themselves allowed bin Laden to settle in Afghanistan after arranging his flight from Sudan in 1996. Their State Department didn’t think he would pose a threat from Afghanistan. He arrived before the Taliban took power, but he forged an alliance with them while Washington was discussing pipelines and opium eradication with them, and Zalmay Khalilzad was treating them to dinner on his Texas ranch.</p>
<p>“We think the Taliban made a big mistake treating al-Qaeda so cordially. But we don’t think the Talibs were all bad, especially when compared to the Northern Alliance warlords like Ismail Khan and Ahmad Rashid Dostum, the men they replaced and who are now back in power. We have no evidence that the Taliban even knew of plans for the 9-11 attacks. The Taliban is resurgent; and has regained control over some Pashtun areas. President Karzai, a U.S. puppet surrounded by American bodyguards, now even talks about including some of them in his government. So if some of them enter our territory, and receive local hospitality, we are not overly concerned.</p>
<p>“We will continue watching for al-Qaeda. We’ve already turned 500 captured al-Qaeda over to the U.S. But we will be less aggressive in the hunt. Our troops have killed innocent civilians in these border operations the Americans demanded we undertake. They have not been popular, and we cannot continue them indefinitely. Other matters, such as Kashmir, are more important to us.</p>
<p>“Mr. bin Laden could be in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, China or elsewhere. We have no information that he is in Pakistan. If we find him, we will turn him over to the U.S., even though there will be riots in our streets. He is very popular in Pakistan. We suggest the Americans ask themselves why.</p>
<p>“We have decided to deny foreign forces access to our Pasni and Jacobabad military bases. This is in deference to popular opinion in our country. The masses are offended that our Islamic state cooperates militarily with a nation that has bombed and occupied two Muslim countries and threatens to attack more.</p>
<p>“Pakistan is an independent country, with an independent foreign policy. We are a nuclear power, and demand respect. The former president humiliated the nation and offended our religion by accepting all U.S. demands. For such offenses, he has been removed.”</p>
<p>Now, this is all in my imagination, of course, and you might say it’s unlikely. But so far Musharraf’s compliance has been bought with carrots (the lifting of sanctions imposed when Pakistan went nuclear in 1998, generous economic and military aid, the designation “major non-NATO ally” which allows for expanded arms purchases, avoidance of criticism of the dictatorship) and sticks (the threat of being designated “against us,” the threat of greater U.S. cooperation with arch-rival India). As we speak I just bet you that there are Pakistani officers weighing the carrots and sticks and thinking:</p>
<p>“Aside from the F-16s, we’re not getting that much out of this. The damage to our economy of the U.S. alliance far outweighs the aid they give, and the people really want the U.S. troops out of the region. If we start saying ‘No’ to the Americans, there really isn’t that much they can do. We have other friends, like China. If the Americans attack Syria, they’ll confirm what we suspect: they want to attack all Islam. If Musharraf won’t stand up to them then, we will have to move forward and stage the coup.”</p>
<p>Then who will pay Musharraf’s IOU?</p>
<p>GARY LEUPP is Professor of History at Tufts University, and Adjunct Professor of Comparative Religion. He is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Servants, Shophands and Laborers in in the Cities of Tokugawa, Japan</a>; <a href="" type="internal">Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa, Japan</a>; and <a href="" type="internal">Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900</a>.</p>
<p>He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | General Musharraf’s IOU | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/03/24/general-musharraf-s-iou/ | 2004-03-24 | 4 |
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<p>Companies usually start out with noble intent: An idea, a product, or a culture that its founders hope will be different--the one that stands out among the many. They hope to be the kind of company that others seek to emulate and the most talented people want to work for.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>And while every entrepreneur and business owner knows how important it is to focus on the job at hand, to take one step at a time, somewhere in the back of their minds, they can envision their venture becoming one of the great ones that stands the test of time.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it doesn't usually turn out that way. What seem like brilliant concepts just don't pan out. Even viral successes often fizzle out in time. The truth is that markets are brutally competitive. We simply can't all win. And we certainly can't all be great.</p>
<p>Which begs that question: What distinguishes the few companies that make it over the long haul from the thousands that don't? What are the actions that entrepreneurs can take early on to set the stage for success down the road?</p>
<p>Here are nine fundamental blueprints for business success. These strategies enable companies to rise above.</p>
<p>Products that consistently provide a superior customer experience. Apple didn't build the first MP3 player, online music site, smartphone, or tablet computer. Amazon wasn't the first online retailer. Trader Joe's wasn't the first specialty grocer. But their products and services consistently delight customers by giving them what they want or need in ways that competitors can't even come close to.</p>
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<p>Breakthrough intellectual property that competitors can't design around. We know that Qualcomm makes processors and software for smartphones. But this technology giant quietly built its company on breakthrough patents for CDMA and other core wireless technologies that, today, are used in most of the world's cell phones. It spent many years and big bucks developing its breakthrough technology, bringing it to market, and defending its intellectual property.</p>
<p>Insanely great marketing. You may think that marketing is all about Super Bowl ads and B2B email campaigns, but the kind of marketing that makes or breaks companies is a whole different ballgame. According to venture capitalist and former Intel executive Bill Davidow, "Marketing must invent complete products and drive them to commanding positions in defensible market segments." Indeed, Steve Jobs was a genius at market segmentation, product positioning, masterfully controlling the message, and most importantly, figuring out what people wanted before they even knew it themselves. That's marketing.</p>
<p>Becoming the de facto standard. If you can get customers addicted or locked into your proprietary software, interface, or applications, you can reach critical mass and become a de facto standard. At that point, the cost and pain for customers to switch is prohibitively high. That's how Cisco routers, Texas Instruments DSPs, and of course, Microsoft--Intel PCs became standards.</p>
<p>A unique concept executed so quickly and flawlessly that nobody can catch you. Google probably doesn't have better search algorithms than anyone else, but its unique combination of search and advertising was executed so well that it came to dominate the market and nobody can catch up. Apple did the same thing with iPod and iTunes. The same is true of Starbucks, Skype, Facebook and Twitter.</p>
<p>A self-replicating culture that develops great managers and motivates employees to do great work. It's no coincidence that we find company names like Procter &amp; Gamble, PepsiCo, and IBM on the resumes of hundreds of CEOs. Likewise, it isn't surprising that certain successful companies, from Intuit and Intel to Wegmans and Whole Foods, show up time and again on annual lists of best companies to work for.</p>
<p>A truly trouble-free sales and customer service experience. Some companies manage to consistently rise above the competition by offering customers what they really want most: a relatively care free, easy way to buy what they need that doesn't try their patience or waste their precious time. If you've ever shopped at Zappos, Trader Joe's, or Nordstrom, you know what I'm talking about.</p>
<p>A culture that fosters innovation. Some mistakenly define innovation as invention. It's not. Innovation can also be turning inventions into products people can use. That's a core competency at IBM and 3M, among others. It's almost criminal when companies known for invention never seem to be able to productize them. Xerox PARC is the most famous example--and it's still working to change that reputation.</p>
<p>Flawless operations, supply chain management, logistics. As markets and manufacturing have become more complex, so have supply chains and logistics. It's hard to win on just this capability alone, but when coupled with one of the other categories--consistently superior products, for example--it can amount to an unbeatable combination. That's certainly been the case with Toyota, Samsung, and once upon a time, Sony and Dell.</p>
<p>One more thing. Keep in mind that none of these strategies are popular fads. They're all fundamental and, therefore, resilient. Even as markets change, technology advances, and competitors rise, these fundamental strategies will stand the test of time.</p>
<p>This column originally appeared on Inc.com.</p> | 9 Musts for Business Success | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/09/03/fundamental-blueprints-for-business-success.html | 2016-04-08 | 0 |
<p>Jan. 12 (UPI) — Anyone with access to a 3D printer can now create a replica of a 200-million-year-old dinosaur skull.</p>
<p>Scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, used advanced CT scanning technology to image and digitally reconstruct — bone by bone — a detailed 3D model of the skull of Massospondylus, a sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic.</p>
<p>The researchers published their rendering of the ancient dino skull this week <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/4224/" type="external">in the journal PeerJ</a>.</p>
<p>“This means any researcher or member of the public can print their own Massospondylus skull at home,” Kimi Chapelle, a PhD student at the Evolutionary Studies Institute at Wits, <a href="http://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/2018/2018-01/print-a-200-million-year-old-dinosaur-fossil-in-your-own-home.html" type="external">said in a news release</a>.</p>
<p>Massospondylus is one of the most famous dinosaurs in South Africa. Its fossil record is rich. But the latest study is the first to offer a detailed anatomical survey of the long-necked dinosaur’s skull.</p>
<p>“I was amazed when I started digitally reconstructing Massospondylus‘ skull, and found all these features that had never been described,” said Chapelle, “It just goes to show that researchers still have a lot to learn about South Africa’s dinosaurs.”</p>
<p>CT scans revealed new details about the connection between the dino’s middle and inner ear. The imaging also showed the pathways nerves took through the neck and head.</p>
<p>“By comparing the inner ear to that of other dinosaurs, we can try and interpret things like how they held their heads and how they moved,” said Chapelle. “You can actually see tiny replacement teeth in the bones of the jaws, showing us that Massospondylus continuously replaced its teeth, like crocodiles do, but unlike humans that can only do it once.”</p>
<p>The analysis also showed this particular dinosaur’s cranial bones had yet to fully fuse. It was still maturing.</p>
<p>“This allows us to understand how Massospondylus grew, how fast it grew and how big it could grow,” Chapelle said.</p>
<p>Chapelle says she plan to pose new questions and answer them with the help of new fossils and CT scans.</p>
<p>“Students like Kimi have been able to use our CT facility to produce cutting-edge research like this,” said Jonah Choiniere, a Wits professor who supervised Chapelle’s work. “It’s changing the way we do dinosaur research.”</p> | Scientists publish 3D-printing plans for 200-million-year-old dinosaur skull | false | https://newsline.com/scientists-publish-3d-printing-plans-for-200-million-year-old-dinosaur-skull/ | 2018-01-13 | 1 |
<p>The Trump administration has honed its strategy for remaking the North American Free Trade Agreement in advance of the next round of talks that started Wednesday -- by proposing a number of specific ways to water down the pact and reduce its influence on companies.</p>
<p>U.S. trade officials have made that theme clear in recent days, prompting a backlash from Mexico and Canada and from business groups in all three countries, casting new uncertainty over the talks as they resume in Washington.</p>
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<p>One provision designed with that objective is a "sunset" clause that would force Nafta's expiration in five years unless all three countries act to renew it, said people briefed on the plan.</p>
<p>Other proposals, these people said, would weaken or eliminate the mechanisms aimed at settling disputes between the three countries and curbing the unilateral threats and sanctions that frequently roiled trade ties in earlier years.</p>
<p>None of the U.S. proposals would alter the specific trade terms that have spurred a quarter-century of commercial integration between the U.S., Mexico and Canada, such as tax-free trade across borders. But the uncertainty they introduce over enforcement and duration would likely make them less appealing to companies, business groups say.</p>
<p>The administration wants to "change the incentives to disincentives," and "create more uncertainty and reluctance for U.S. businesses to invest in Mexico," said an outside trade adviser to the administration who has discussed the Nafta talks with officials. "They want to change the decision making around outsourcing and the offshoring of investment."</p>
<p>President Donald Trump has attacked the 1994 pact as "a disaster" and has threatened to pull the U.S. out, most recently in a Forbes magazine interview published Tuesday, where he said: "I happen to think that Nafta will have to be terminated if we're going to make it good. Otherwise, I believe you can't negotiate a good deal."</p>
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<p>But neither he nor his aides have publicly detailed what changes would be needed to avoid that outcome. Behind the scenes, lawmakers, lobbyists for a range of industries and other stakeholders are now getting a fuller picture of the U.S.'s posture.</p>
<p>That has sparked a fierce lobbying effort by American business groups to quell them. "We've reached a critical moment," Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a speech Tuesday in Mexico City, as he sought to tighten cooperation with Mexican government and business leaders in fighting his own government's plans. "The chamber has had no choice but to ring the alarm bells."</p>
<p>U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has presented the administration's plan to interested parties, opened the talks on an upbeat note Wednesday, saying the three countries "have made good progress" so far. Officials also said they were extending the talks through early next week so that Mr. Lighthizer, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal could meet.</p>
<p>As part of the swirl of diplomacy aimed at creating a widespread alliance to salvage much of the current Nafta, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to meet with Mr. Trump and lawmakers who have opposed the Trump proposals, before heading to Mexico to coordinate with President Enrique Peña Nieto.</p>
<p>Before his meeting with members of the influential Ways and Means committee, the Canadian leader said he was here to discuss making trade between the U.S. and Canada "easier" and "more profitable for your corporations." Mr. Trudeau added lawmakers in Congress can't lose sight of the big picture on Nafta. "We have benefited immeasurably from what we have been able to build together," Mr. Trudeau said.</p>
<p>The optimistic tone from all sides, though, covers some deep tensions under the surface. After the Chamber issued its statement last week, Emily Davis, a spokeswoman for Mr. Lighthizer said: "The president has been clear that Nafta has been a disaster for many Americans, and achieving his objectives requires substantial change."</p>
<p>Indeed, where American business groups, and the Mexican and Canadian governments largely say they want to strengthen and modernize Nafta, the administration's goal is to undo some of its core concepts -- particularly the goal of treating the three countries more like one big regional economy rather than three separate ones.</p>
<p>For example, Nafta is aimed at providing parallel access to government spending across the three countries, each opening to the others roughly the same percentage of their respective budgets. The Trump administration argues that is unfair, because the U.S. federal budget is much bigger than the other two.</p>
<p>During the Ottawa round of talks last month, Mr. Lighthizer pushed a provision that would reduce significantly U.S. federal projects open to Mexican and Canadian bidders. This "dollar for dollar" proposal would shrink the amount of U.S. federal spending to the same dollar amount as the trading partners, which would effectively cut the U.S. procurement open to Canada and Mexico by about 90%.</p>
<p>Another pending proposal would require for the first time that certain products contain not just a certain level of Nafta-regional content, but U.S.-specific content. That plan, applied to autos and auto parts, would require 50% of Nafta products come specifically from the U.S.</p>
<p>On the dispute mechanisms, the U.S. administration wants to weaken a provision that gives private companies the right to sue governments. That was intended to provide firms more certainty when investing in a foreign country, particularly Mexico, where they might not have confidence the local legal system would protect their property rights.</p>
<p>Business groups say the U.S. plans -- particularly the sunset clause and the one weakening the "investor-state dispute settlement" process -- would make it harder for executives to plan the cross-border investment feeding regional supply chains that Nafta has encouraged and that, they say, has raised the efficiency and competitiveness of the North American economy.</p>
<p>Advocates of those proposals don't disagree -- they say it is precisely the point. The Nafta provisions Mr. Trump wants to overhaul have "lowered the risk premium for outsourcing," said Lori Wallach, a senior trade expert at the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen, and a longtime Nafta critic. "This is about trying to change the terms and incentives."</p>
<p>Write to Jacob M. Schlesinger at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>October 11, 2017 14:13 ET (18:13 GMT)</p> | Trump Sets Nafta Goals: Dilute Pact's Force, Loosen Regional Bonds -- Update | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/10/11/trump-sets-nafta-goals-dilute-pacts-force-loosen-regional-bonds-update.html | 2017-10-11 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Mother Jones: What do you think is likely to happen in September, after General David Petraeus delivers his progress report on Iraq?</p>
<p>Thomas Donnelly: I think it is almost impossible that there will be a withdrawal.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ: Sure, but everyone I’ve talked to says it will be hard to maintain the surge after March or April 2008.</p>
<p>TD: You mean 160,000 troops?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ: Yes.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>TD: It is technically not true. There are mobilizable forces, including National Guard troops.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ: These are not people who’ve already been called back from there?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>TD: They may well be.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ: Politically, how difficult will it be for the president to maintain the surge?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>TD: I think that’s hard. I don’t think it’s as impossible as people think it would be, because we’ve already seen the Iraq narratives begin to swing back in a positive direction. It is very difficult to disaggregate my desires from my analysis here. But as a matter of analysis, I expect that trend line to continue, just because I think that’s the military logic of the situation. Also, if we turn the clock back to three months from now, you would have said that we were on a course for withdrawal. So we’ve come a long way in three months. And I can see that six months or eight months from now, it is at least reasonable to believe that we can be in a quite different place. We could go to hell again, but I expect that it is a military proposition; these effects of the surge would be cumulative.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ: Well, let me ask you then about the argument that by continuing the surge you increase the likelihood of a precipitous withdrawal when the next administration comes in, because the country is increasingly souring on the war.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>TD: I think it is straw man. This is a situation where you are either in or out. There is no dividing the baby. If you do the hardcore military analysis using their force, you quickly come to the proposition and you include their advisory force, which is one of the more attractive pieces of it. The macro picture is as follows: The combat force shrinks, basically, to three FOBs [Forward Operating Bases] and they are almost entirely consumed in protecting themselves. Let’s look at the Baghdad one. As they designed it, the Baghdad brigade combat team has the obligation not only to protect the Baghdad airport, which is huge, I mean just really huge, but also to protect the Green Zone. The Green Zone currently has, all by itself, a brigade protecting it. So even if you reduce, say, to strictly the American parts of the Green Zone and the embassy, you’ve got to at the absolute minimum assign a battalion to protect that. Then there is the infamous road between the airport and the Green Zone—there is no way you can protect that. You’ve got to turn it over to the Iraqis with whatever consequences you can imagine. Between the airport and protecting the Green Zone, basically, the force is entirely consumed in protecting itself, so it is not a rapid reaction force or a quick reaction force for the Baghdad region.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ: In terms of the surge, I think one thing most people agree on is that it hasn’t achieved progress on political reconciliation.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>TD: Is it more likely to happen when we pull out? Look, we still have a profound interest in an Iraq that functions. A collapsed Iraq is no more appetizing tomorrow than it is today. We are a long way from an Iraq that can stand on its own. The one thing that is true, if there is any part of the Iraqi state that even functions a little bit, it is the Iraqi Army. It certainly isn’t the Interior Ministry. It certainly isn’t the Parliament. It isn’t the Iraqi police on the local level. There are questions about large parts of the Iraqi Army. I’m willing to accept that it is getting better, but it is the nucleus around which any functional Iraqi state has to form. It will be crushed and reduced to a collection of sectarian militias if the American supports are pulled away from there.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ: What are the logistical issues raised by even going down from 160,000 to 120,000 or even 110,000 troops by the end of the administration?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>TD: First of all, it is just getting the stuff out. Really the only way out is to go out back through Kuwait. The main supply route, Route Tampa, has been pounded into dust and gravel by use. You’ve got a lot of stuff going through a very narrow straw, a vulnerable straw.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ: Do you worry about the troops being attacked on the way out?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>TD: One of the things that’s frightened me the most, recently, has been various Al Qaeda explosions and dropping bridges. You remember how anxiety ridden we were about Saddam dropping the bridges in the initial invasion? Now just turn that around. The force is basically centered around Baghdad, a little bit to the north. All our logistics, all of our gas stations, so to speak, and weigh stations along the road are to the south.</p>
<p><a href="iraq-war-christopher-dodd.html" type="external">Previous Interview</a>&#160;|&#160; <a href="iraq-war-james-dunnigan.html" type="external">Next Interview</a></p>
<p /> | Thomas Donnelly, American Enterprise Institute | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/10/thomas-donnelly-american-enterprise-institute/ | 2007-10-18 | 4 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />With the controversy surrounding the secretly recorded video of remarks that Mitt Romney made to donors&#160;months ago still swirling, a potentially damaging video showing then-state Senator Barack Obama making comments in support of redistribution of income received short shrift from Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Mitchell began the discussion of the video with Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt by telling him that she wasn’t going to air it since the network hadn’t yet verified its accuracy.</p>
<p>&#160;Ben, I should point out that at NBC and MSNBC we have not verified the accuracy of that tape from Loyola, so we are not playing it.</p>
<p>That “we” apparently referred only to Mitchell, because earlier in the day, on MSNBC, Chuck Todd aired the video on the Daily Rundown. Presumably, that made Todd look like a fool for jumping the gun, at least to Andrea Mitchell.</p>
<p>There was a certain logic to Mitchell’s decision though, because by questioning the authenticity of the video, it allowed her to paint its release as a desperate move by the Romney campaign in an attempt to deflect attention from the donor video, which has received so much attention.</p>
<p>Mitchell’s concern wasn’t shared by CNN or Fox News, which aired the video throughout the day, but then again their mission isn’t to be the broadcast arm of the DNC.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Andrea Mitchell Covers for Obama Campaign By Not Airing Redistribution Video | true | http://aim.org/don-irvine-blog/andrea-mitchell-covers-for-obama-campaign-by-not-airing-redistribution-video/ | 2012-09-20 | 0 |
<p><a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/gun-rights-amendment-upheld-by-missouri-supreme-court/article_372cc8d0-f516-59d2-b996-cfbfdd747a84.html" type="external">Great news</a> for the people of my homestate:</p>
<p>The Missouri Supreme Court has upheld a constitutional amendment approved by voters in August that bolsters gun rights.</p>
<p>In February, St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson presented his case against the amendment, alleging the ballot summary presented to voters was misleading and failed to explain the amendment, making it an irregular election.</p>
<p>The summary presented to voters said “that the right to keep and bear arms is an unalienable right and that the state government is obligated to uphold that right.”</p>
<p>The court disagreed and held the election results valid.</p>
<p>Amendment 5, which 60 percent of August voters supported, declares the right to keep and bear arms “unalienable” and subjects laws restricting gun rights to “strict scrutiny.” Residents have the right to keep ammunition and accessories, as well as the right to defend their families with firearms — a right previously limited to defending home, property and person.</p>
<p>The amendment also repeals wording that states that the right to bear arms does not justify carrying concealed weapons. Lawmakers can still pass laws limiting the rights of convicted violent felons and people with mental illnesses.</p>
<p>Dotson is Chief of Police, a political position appointed by the mayor (anti-gun advocate St. Louis City Mayor Francis Slay) as opposed to sheriff, an elected and accountable position. The ballot initiative was passed overwhelmingly 61-39% by Missouri voters. Anti-2A activists, including the daily newspaper's editorial board, claimed that the law extended Second Amendment protections to felons, which it expressly does not.</p>
<p>Ballot title:</p>
<p>Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to include a declaration that the right to keep and bear arms is a unalienable right and that the state government is obligated to uphold that right?</p>
<p>State and local governmental entities should have no direct costs or savings from this proposal. However, the proposal’s passage will likely lead to increased litigation and criminal justice related costs. The total potential costs are unknown, but could be significant.</p>
<p>Fair ballot language, bold my emphasis:</p>
<p>A “yes” vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to expand the right to keep and bear arms to include ammunition and related accessories for such arms. This amendment also removes the language that states the right to keep and bear arms does not justify the wearing of concealed weapons. This amendment does not prevent the legislature from limiting the rights of certain felons and certain individuals adjudicated as having a mental disorder.</p>
<p>A “no”; [sic] vote will not amend the Missouri Constitution regarding arms, ammunition, and accessories for such arms.</p>
<p>If passed, this measure will have no impact on taxes.</p>
<p><a href="http://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Right_to_Bear_Arms,_Amendment_5_(August_2014)" type="external">The measure amended</a> Section 23 of Article I of the Missouri Constitution to read as:</p>
<p />
<p>Democrat Rep. Jeanne Kirkton <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Right_to_Bear_Arms,_Amendment_5_(August_2014)" type="external">was quoted</a> in her support of the Amendment:</p>
<p>Under Amendment 5, the state will still have the authority to enact reasonable laws to protect the public and punish violent felons who possess firearms, but won’t be able to impose restrictions that infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners.</p>
<p>Back to the fair ballot language:</p>
<p>This amendment does not prevent the legislature from limiting the rights of certain felons and certain individuals adjudicated as having a mental disorder.</p>
<p>Lawmakers did not extend Second Amendment protections to felons. Rather, to quote Rep. Kirkton, “Amendment 5 will protect law-abiding gun owners and further guard against unnecessary government overreach.” Exactly. If courts are going to restrict Second Amendment rights, they must meet a high standard of review to do so.</p>
<p>The court disagreed with Dotson and the Bloomberg anti-gun lobby and ruled in favor of the constituency that passed the initiative.</p> | Missouri Supreme Court Upholds Gun Rights | true | http://danaloeschradio.com/missouri-supreme-court-upholds-gun-rights | 2015-06-30 | 0 |
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<p>Consumer reviews website Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, helped by a stronger mobile advertising business, and it forecast third-quarter revenue above analysts' expectations.</p>
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<p>Yelp shares jumped as much as 5 percent at $44 per share in trading after the bell. They have almost doubled since Yelp went public in March last year, as the company has gained from surging demand for information on mobile phones and tablets.</p>
<p>Yelp's mobile app makes it easier for people to discover local businesses, read user reviews or rate them. It combines Yelp's reviews and other relevant information with knowledge of a user's location.</p>
<p>Yelp said it got about 40 percent of its local ads from mobile devices, and 59 percent of search from mobile, which includes the mobile app and web.</p>
<p>The company said it expects third-quarter revenue of $58 million to $59 million, above the $57.4 million analysts had estimated, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.</p>
<p>The company has been expanding into restaurant bookings, event management and payments.</p>
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<p>It bought San Francisco-based online restaurant reservation company SeatMe Inc for $12.7 million this month to compete more closely with OpenTable Inc (NASDAQ:OPEN).</p>
<p>More than half its traffic comes from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG). A good number of referrals also come from Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).</p>
<p>Its net loss narrowed to $0.9 million, or 1 cent per share, in the second quarter, from $2.0 million, or 3 cents per share, a year earlier.</p>
<p>Revenue rose 68 percent to $55.0 million.</p>
<p>Analysts were expecting a loss of 4 cents per share, on revenue of $53.3 million.</p>
<p>About three quarters of the company's revenue comes from local advertising.</p>
<p>The company was founded by former PayPal engineers Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons as a start-up idea in a business incubator in 2004.</p> | Yelp Loss Narrows On Mobile Ad Growth | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/07/31/yelp-loss-narrows-on-mobile-ad-growth.html | 2016-01-25 | 0 |
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<p>WASHINGTON — Former acting attorney general Sally Yates is expected to testify to Congress next week that she expressed alarm to the White House about President Donald Trump’s national security adviser’s contacts with the Russian ambassador, which could contradict how the administration has characterized her counsel.</p>
<p>Yates on Monday is expected to recount her Jan. 26 conversation about Michael Flynn and to say that she was concerned by discrepancies between the administration’s public statements on his contacts with ambassador Sergey Kislyak and what really transpired, according to a person familiar with that discussion and knowledgeable about Yates’s plans for her testimony.</p>
<p>The person spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt the testimony.</p>
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<p>Yates is expected to say that she told White House counsel Don McGahn that she believed Flynn’s communications with Kislyak could leave Flynn in a compromised position because of the contradictions between the public depictions of the calls and what intelligence officials knew to be true, the person said.</p>
<p>White House officials have said publicly that Yates merely wanted to give them a “heads-up” about Flynn’s Russian contacts, but Yates is likely to testify that she approached the White House with alarm, according to the person.</p>
<p>“So just to be clear, the acting attorney general informed the White House counsel that they wanted to give a ‘heads up’ to us on some comments that may have seemed in conflict with what he had sent the Vice President out in particular,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at a Feb. 14 press briefing.</p>
<p>Flynn resigned in February after published reports detailed Yates’s conversation with the White House. White House officials initially maintained that Flynn had not discussed Russian sanctions with Kislyak during the transition period, but after news reports said the opposite, they then admitted that he had misled them about the nature of that call.</p>
<p>“The issue, pure and simple, came down to a matter of trust,” Spicer told reporters.</p>
<p>Flynn was in frequent contact with Kislyak on the day the Obama administration slapped sanctions on Russia for election-related hacking, as well as at other times during the transition period, a U.S. official has said.</p>
<p>Yates’s scheduled appearance before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, alongside former national intelligence director James Clapper, will provide her first public account of the conversation with the White House. It will also represent her first testimony before Congress since Yates, an Obama administration holdover, was fired in January for refusing to defend Trump’s travel ban.</p>
<p>She was previously scheduled to appear in March before a House committee investigating Russian interference in the presidential election, but that hearing was canceled.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP</a></p> | AP source: Yates to testify on warning White House on Flynn | false | https://abqjournal.com/997321/ap-source-yates-to-testify-on-warning-white-house-on-flynn.html | 2017-05-02 | 2 |
<p>“Unfortunately, today we are looking evil directly in the eye,” an emotional Mikheil Saakashvili said Friday after he signed a cease-fire agreement to end his country’s eight-day showdown with Russia. The Georgian president declared that other European nations ignored clear signs of impending conflict last spring and he hinted that trouble could also be in store for other countries.</p>
<p>CNN via YouTube:</p>
<p />
<p /> | Saakashvili Claims Europe Invited Russian Invasion | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/saakashvili-claims-europe-invited-russian-invasion/ | 2008-08-16 | 4 |
<p>ATLANTA (AP) — As the nation remembered and reflected Monday on the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., leaders and everyday Americans talked about how far the country has come in the past 50 years and how much more is to be done.</p>
<p>At Ebenezer Baptist Church in King’s hometown of Atlanta, civil rights leaders and members of King’s own family spoke about poverty, violence, health care and voting rights, all themes from the civil rights struggle that still resonate to this day.</p>
<p>“There is much work that we must do,” King’s daughter Bernice King said. “Are we afraid, or are we truly committed to the work that must be done?”</p>
<p>The event in Atlanta featured music, songs and choirs and was one of many celebrations, marches, parades and community service projects held Monday across the nation to honor the slain civil rights leader. It was about 50 years ago today that King had just appeared on the cover of Time magazine as its Man of the Year, and the nation was on the cusp of passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. King would win the Nobel Peace Prize later that year.</p>
<p>Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said not many states could boast a native son that merited a national holiday. “But we Georgians can,” he told the audience.</p>
<p>Deal said this year he would work with state legislators to find a way to honor King at the Georgia Capitol, which drew a standing ovation. He did not give any specifics, but civil rights leaders have suggested a statue. The only current tribute to King at the state Capitol is a portrait inside the Statehouse.</p>
<p>“I think that more than just saying kind thoughts about him we ought to take action ourselves,” said Deal, a Republican. “That’s how we embed truth into our words. I think it’s time for Georgia’s leaders to follow in Dr. King’s footsteps and take action, too.”</p>
<p>In the fall, a statue of 19th century white supremacist politician and newspaperman Tom Watson was removed from the Capitol.</p>
<p>Deal also touched on criminal justice reforms his administration has tried to make, including drug and mental health courts, saying too many people are not being rehabilitated in prisons.</p>
<p>“Let’s build a monument, but the monument should inspire us to build a better world,” said the Atlanta event’s keynote speaker, the Rev. Raphael Warnock. He also said the growing disparities in income, opportunity and health care are indications of a continuing struggle for equality decades after King’s death.</p>
<p>The event closed with the choir singing “We Shall Overcome,” with visitors singing verses in Spanish, Hebrew and Italian as audience members joined hands and swayed in unison.</p>
<p>President Barack Obama honored King’s legacy of service by helping a soup kitchen prepare its daily meals. Obama took his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha to DC Central Kitchen, which is a few minutes away from the White House.</p>
<p>New York City’s new Mayor Bill de Blasio marked the day by talking about economic inequality, saying it was “closing doors for hard-working people in this city and all over this country.”</p>
<p>“We have a city sadly divided between those with opportunity, with the means to fully partake of that opportunity, and those whose dreams of a better life are being deferred again and again,” he told an audience at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.</p>
<p>At the King Memorial in Washington, Arthur Goff, of Frederick, Md., visited with family members. He said the holiday was often a time to catch up on chores and other things, but his 6-year-old son is getting old enough to learn more about King, and he said it was a good time to make their first visit.</p>
<p>Goff’s mother, 68-year-old Loretta Goff, said she was in nursing school in New York when King died in 1968 and remembers it being a traumatic time. Now, she said, everyone is responsible for continuing King’s legacy.</p>
<p>“There is still so much more to do,” she said.</p>
<p>At a rally in Columbia, S.C., North Carolina NAACP President William Barber went over a list of ways that Republican leaders in Congress and Southern governor’s offices have treated Americans badly, from leaving the Confederate flag to fly on the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse to refusing federal money to expand Medicaid and allowing poor schools to fall further behind.</p>
<p>He left the few thousand people cheering and rocking like they were at a gospel revival, chanting “mighty low” and “higher ground” back to him.</p>
<p>Singer and activist Harry Belafonte headlined the 28th annual Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium at the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus.</p>
<p>“I’m not too sure where America is at this moment,” he said. “We seem to have lost our moral compass . if we ever had one. … We don’t have the KKK riding around lynching people. We now have something even more horrific: We have the prison system. We use the system to continually crucify the poor.”</p>
<p>At the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Ky., the centered showed King’s “I Have a Dream” speech on the hour. In August, tens of thousands of Americans visited the National Mall to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which he gave from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Verna Dobnik in New York; Jessica Gresko in Washington; Darlene Superville in Washington; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, S.C.; and Lucas Johnson in Nasvhille, Tenn., contributed to this report. The top image was made by Associated Press photographer Eric Gay. It was made on Monday in San Antonio, Tex.</p>
<p>Copyright 2014 The Associated Press</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Contact author</a></p>
<p>&#160;&#160; <a href="" type="internal">civil rights</a>, <a href="" type="internal">human rights</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Martin Luther King Jr.</a>, <a href="" type="internal">MLK Day</a>, <a href="" type="internal">MLK legacy</a></p> | Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. by Taking 'Action' | true | http://equalvoiceforfamilies.org/remembering-martin-luther-king-jr-by-taking-action/ | 4 |
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<p>“Historical treasure. Do not enter.”</p>
<p>Why, I wondered as a young student in Florence, was this tattered sign attached to the door of a Renaissance palazzo? Not until years later did I learn that it had been posted by the Monuments Men, a small group of men and women, mainly American and British soldiers, tasked with saving the vast treasure house of Italian art as the Allies clawed their way up the Italian peninsula, from Anzio to the Alps, in 1944.</p>
<p>Robert M. Edsel’s&#160;Saving Italy&#160;rescues the important work of that improbable little band of museum directors, curators, art historians, and artists from the murky corner of history into which it had slipped. This month, their story will reach an international audience as a star-studded movie, adapted from Edsel’s 2009 book&#160;The Monuments Men&#160;and directed by and starring George Clooney, opens in cinemas.</p>
<p>Edsel first encountered the Monuments Men serendipitously. After a successful career in the oil-drilling business, he retired early and moved to Florence, where he bought and rehabilitated a villa on the slopes of Bellosguardo, overlooking the city. There, while crossing the Ponte Vecchio, he began to wonder how “so many of Europe’s great works of art survived .  .  . and who saved them.” He then learned about the work of the Monuments Men from Lynn Nicholas’s&#160;The Rape of Europa&#160;(1994), the definitive study of Nazi looting and the subject of an excellent documentary of the same name.</p>
<p>Edsel has since dedicated his life to telling the story of the Monuments Men. To ensure that his cause would be sustained, he established the Monuments Men Foundation, which in 2007 received a National Humanities Medal from President George W. Bush in a moving East Room ceremony that reunited four surviving members of the band of brothers.</p>
<p>Their story begins when, just after the invasion of Sicily by the British and American armies in 1943, the State Department formed a working group with the cumbersome title of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in Europe—now better known as the Roberts Commission, after its chairman, Supreme Court justice Owen Roberts. Members included a number of distinguished museum directors and high-ranking government officials. Its mission was “to furnish museum officials and art historians to the General Staff of the Army, so far as is consistent with military necessity,” to protect “works of cultural value” in Europe.</p>
<p>The Roberts Commission was concerned about potential damage to Europe’s artistic treasures not only from ground combat, but particularly from the increasing Allied aerial bombardment in Italy and other European countries. There was also a diplomatic objective to the committee’s efforts intended to counter German propaganda depicting the invading Allied armies as barbaric defilers of European life and culture. In 1944, the Germans made much of the controversial bombing of the ancient Abbey of Monte Cassino by American aircraft; yet before the bombardment began, 15 cases of art that had been sent to the Abbey for safekeeping were on their way to Hermann Göring as a birthday present.</p>
<p>But this was, comparatively speaking, petty theft. From the invasion of Poland onward, it was the Germans who had brutally and systematically looted art on a scale unsurpassed in history. As official Nazi policy, millions of paintings (especially those from Jewish dealers and collectors), sculptures, libraries, and just about anything else of cultural value that could be uprooted were sent by the trainload to the Reich for the collections of Nazi overlords. Göring, Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and scores of other high-up Nazi officials were worshippers of&#160;Kultur, which makes one wonder about its role as a civilizing force.</p>
<p>To give teeth to the Roberts Commission’s charge, General Eisenhower issued a directive, in December 1943, making the military hierarchy responsible for the protection of cultural monuments in Italy. These, Eisenhower wrote, were an important part of Western civilization. (But if there were a choice between destroying a building and saving a soldier’s life, then “the building must go.”) He added that monuments should be destroyed only for “military necessity,” not “military convenience.” His directive ended with an order to the “higher commanders to determine through A.M.G. Officers [the Monuments Men] the locations of historical monuments whether they be immediately ahead of our front lines or in areas occupied by us.”</p>
<p>The Monuments Men worked closely with the Army Air Force, helping bomber crews avoid important cultural treasures. (One of my professors, an 18-year-old bombardier at the time, told me how his bombs narrowly missed the Leaning Tower of Pisa.)</p>
<p>Bombing in World War II was notoriously inexact, and despite the Army Air Force’s best efforts, major monuments were damaged throughout the Italian peninsula. But there were also remarkable successes, such as the U.S. attack on the rail yards of Florence, which spared historic churches and buildings located nearby. (Tragically, nothing could save the city’s ancient bridges, which were destroyed on Hitler’s direct orders—except for the Ponte Vecchio, for which he had a soft spot.)</p>
<p>Saving Italy&#160;focuses more on salvation than destruction, as it skillfully brings the Monuments Men to life by vividly narrating the often-perilous work of several soldiers, particularly Deane Keller and Frederick Hartt, who struggled to keep many of the treasures of Italian museums, including those of the Vatican and Uffizi, out of German hands.</p>
<p>Before the war, Keller was teaching art at Yale; Hartt was a promising young art historian just beginning his professional career. Both had visited Italy in the 1930s, but nothing prepared them, or the other Monuments Men, for the rigors, privation, and death they encountered in the protracted and brutal Italian campaign. One wonders if present-day denizens of the faculty lounge would be as willing to risk their lives.</p>
<p>As the Allies slowly chewed up the German defenses, Keller and Hartt, aided by several Italian art officials, played an elaborate cat-and-mouse game to keep the looted treasures of museums and private collections from being shipped north of the Alps.</p>
<p>Their nemesis was the suave SS colonel Alexander Langsdorff, head of the Kunstschutz, the “art protection” unit of German forces in Italy. An archaeologist and early adherent of Nazism, he had served as “personal artistic and cultural consultant” to Himmler. Langsdorff was also a member of Himmler’s infamous Ahnenerbe, the pseudo-scientific unit tasked with finding lost Aryan civilizations worldwide. Fortunately, and thanks to the Monuments Men, Langsdorff and his henchmen were arrested before making off with some of Italy’s most significant art.</p>
<p>As the war was ending in Italy, the Allies landed in Normandy and went on to defeat the Third Reich. But the task of the Monuments Men was far from complete: Allied troops pushing through conquered territory and into Germany and Austria uncovered hoards of stolen goods hidden in salt mines, castles, and other secret repositories. With each discovery, the Monuments Men were faced with the enormous job of identifying the looted objects and determining their original owners.</p>
<p>The Russians kept much of what they found, and the recent discovery of a trove of stolen art in a Munich apartment demonstrates that the Monuments Men did not get everything. Unlike past wars, in which the victors kept the spoils, at the end of the Second World War, the United States and Great Britain, in an unparalleled act of democratic beneficence, returned a multitude of objects to their rightful owners.</p> | Monuments Men | false | https://eppc.org/publications/monuments-men/ | 1 |
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<p>After months of planning, the Albuquerque office of the state Children Youth and Families Department is opening its first kid-friendly intake center so children removed from their families don’t have to spend hours in uncomfortable social worker office chairs or spend the night on the office floor while waiting for placement in a foster home.</p>
<p>New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Secretary Monique Jacobson</p>
<p>“(An office) is not the right setting for them, especially as they are processing trauma,” said Monique Jacobson, department secretary for CYFD.</p>
<p>What is right, she says, is a place where kids can feel cared for, where they can play, have a snack, decompress, or take a nap. And that’s what she says has been created in the PullTogether Receiving Center.</p>
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<p>Jacobson and Gov. Susana Martinez toured the center Friday, highlighting community donations that combined with about $118,000 of CYFD funding to create the multiroom area inside CYFD’s main Albuquerque office at San Mateo and Central.</p>
<p>CYFD’s PullTogether Receiving Center includes a resting room for children who are awaiting placement with foster families or relatives. (Marla Brose/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>CYFD moved some employees out of the rooms to make a space for the facility starting in March, after state legislators denied the department’s requests for money to build a free-standing welcome center to serve the same purpose.</p>
<p>CYFD’s lease on the building is up in 2019. Still, Jacobson said that under Martinez’s direction to fix the issue and knowing that kids were being further traumatized by sitting in sterile, uncomfortable offices at a time of great upheaval and trauma, a solution was necessary.</p>
<p>“We didn’t want to give up on these kids. We pushed (to get it done), even knowing we may move. Because about 900 kids a year” are taken into custody in Bernalillo County, Jacobson said. “In two years, that’s 1,800 kids. What the governor made clear is what we could not do, and that was do nothing.”</p>
<p>So now, children who are taken into custody and aren’t sent straight to a foster home or a relative can go with their social worker to the Receiving Center and play or rest while their caseworker team finds them a place to stay and works on court paperwork.</p>
<p>Jacobson is clear though that this is not a place intended to house children for a long time. New policy written for the center says they can spend no more than 24 hours in the facility.</p>
<p>CYFD Secretary Monique Jacobson leads a tour through its new PullTogether Receiving Center on Friday. The center is located at San Mateo and Central. (Marla Brose/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>While there, though, they have the run of the place while their social worker watches and works.</p>
<p>Rooms in the center include a kitchen, outfitted with a donated water filter from a local dentist, a stocked refrigerator from La Montanita Co-op with a promise of steady refills and a basket of snacks. Dion’s restaurant has also donated future pizzas.</p>
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<p>“Sometimes, the last meal they had was a free meal at school,” Martinez said.</p>
<p>A full stomach can help them focus on handling the situation better, she said.</p>
<p>The rooms are decorated with wall hangings and special designs, with all design work donated by Dekker/Perich/Sabatini architects in Albuquerque.</p>
<p>A central play area is set up like a kindergarten room, with a low table, a television with donated VHS tapes and DVDs, books that the children can take with them, and toys for younger children.</p>
<p>Older children can take refuge in the game room with video games and wall-mounted TV.</p>
<p>There is also a quiet room, painted in calm colors with dim lights where, Jacobson said, children can “decompress” or find stillness. Couches provide a place to take a nap.</p>
<p>Another room is set up for small children who need a nap or are picked up in the middle of the night and need to sleep. It includes a crib for a baby.</p>
<p>“Really, mostly, we wanted them to be super comfortable,” Jacobson said. “That way they’re not sitting (in an office) thinking of where they are getting placed.”</p>
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<p /> | New digs for displaced kids | false | https://abqjournal.com/1036475/cyfd-launches-center-to-comfort-kids-taken-into-custody.html | 2017-07-21 | 2 |
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