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<p>Now that American-British lies and distortions about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and al-Qaida links have been thoroughly exposed, Bush administration officials have had to create new rationalizations for the Iraq war.</p>
<p>Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in late July that “military and rehabilitation efforts now under way in Iraq are an essential part of the war on terror. In fact, the battle to secure the peace in Iraq is now the central battle in the war on terror.”</p>
<p>Last Tuesday, George W. Bush told the American Legion, “a democratic Iraq in the heart of the Middle East would be a further defeat for [the terrorist networks’] ideology of terror.”</p>
<p>And in early August, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice compared the U.S. mission in Iraq with the civil rights movement: “[W]e must never, ever indulge in the condescending voices who allege that some people in Africa or in the Middle East are just not interested in freedom … or they just aren’t ready for freedom’s responsibilities. … [That] view was wrong in 1963 in Birmingham, and it is wrong in 2003 in Baghdad.” Rice implied that those opposing the U.S. occupation are the moral equivalent of white supremacists who thought black Americans incapable of citizenship. To critique the Iraq occupation is to stand in the schoolhouse door.</p>
<p>The Bush strategy is clear: If WMD and terrorist links fail as rationalizations for war, don’t worry; let us now praise the liberation of Iraq. It turns out that all along the invasion was about creating democracy in Iraq so that Americans will be more secure.</p>
<p>The brutality of Hussein’s regime had long been known, not least to U.S. planners during the decade the United States supported him through the worst of his atrocities.</p>
<p>But liberation rhetoric is designed to divert people from questioning U.S. intentions. For the sake of discussion, however, let’s take Bush’s claim at face value and ask, How serious is the United States about establishing a meaningful democracy in Iraq? How liberated are Iraqis?</p>
<p>Rebuilding a country devastated by three wars (the eight-year Iran-Iraq War, the 1991 Gulf War, and this year’s invasion) and 13 years of punishing economic sanctions is no small task. But, as Wolfowitz has admitted, U.S. planners gave little thought to those problems. The United States is spending $3.9 billion a month on military operations but has allocated only $2.5 billion over two years for reconstruction.</p>
<p>Liberation, most would assume, also means allowing people to decide their own fate. Yet the crucial decision to privatize as much of the Iraqi economy as possible has been effectively made by American officials to be ratified by a handpicked Iraqi council.</p>
<p>U.S. officials also have eliminated most import tariffs, which has resulted in a flood of goods into the country – and hundreds of factory closings and increased unemployment. Iraqi companies dealing with 13 years of economic crisis and progressive decay under sanctions can’t compete with foreign goods.</p>
<p>One also might assume basic freedoms are part of liberation. Yet the Coalition Provisional Authority chief, Paul Bremer, gave himself the power to squelch Iraqi media engaged in “incitement,” which in practice means clamping down on those who oppose the occupation. Under the headline “Bremer is a Baathist,” one paper editorialized, “We’ve waited a long time to be free. Now you want us to be slaves.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the U.S. military has fired on crowds of peaceful demonstrators. The worst instance, which was condemned by Human Rights Watch, was in Falluja in April when 17 were killed. In a botched raid on a Baghdad house in July, troops fired on Iraqi civilians in a crowded street and killed up to 11, including two children. In one night in August, six Iraqi civilians were killed at unannounced U.S. checkpoints. All of this seems to suggest that, in the minds of occupation authorities, Iraqi life is cheap.</p>
<p>Most Iraqis are happy to be free of the regime of Saddam Hussein. But it’s increasingly clear that the well-being of Iraqis was not the reason for regime change.</p>
<p>Officials are quick to deny it had anything to do with increasing U.S. military control over that strategically crucial energy-rich region, or with control of the flow of oil and oil profits — even while they acknowledge plans to create permanent military bases, use their new leverage against other countries in the region, and privatize Iraq’s oil.</p>
<p>We’re supposed to trust them, though all the signs point in the opposite direction. After all, they haven’t led us wrong on Iraq before, have they?</p>
<p>Robert Jensen, a professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, is the author of the forthcoming “Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity” (City Lights Books). He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>Rahul Mahajan is a member of the <a href="http://www.nowarcollective.com/" type="external">Nowar Collective</a>. His newest book, “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1583225781/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond</a>” is just out from Seven Stories Press. His articles are collected at <a href="http://www.rahulmahajan.com/" type="external">http://www.rahulmahajan.com</a></p>
<p>He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Iraqi Liberation, Bush Style | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/09/02/iraqi-liberation-bush-style-2/ | 2003-09-02 | 4 |
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening’s drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery’s “Cash 5” game were:</p>
<p>02-06-21-32-39</p>
<p>(two, six, twenty-one, thirty-two, thirty-nine)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $500,000</p>
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening’s drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery’s “Cash 5” game were:</p>
<p>02-06-21-32-39</p>
<p>(two, six, twenty-one, thirty-two, thirty-nine)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $500,000</p> | Winning numbers drawn in ‘Cash 5’ game | false | https://apnews.com/57aa895d626f4334b4fa1e61ce224de5 | 2018-01-16 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>What better way to pay back the wish that was granted to her more than two decades ago?</p>
<p>Ayesha Kazim, 30, of Orange, Calif., recently signed up to volunteer at Make-A-Wish. She works for Disney (a fitting job for someone who dreams of granting wishes) in the online travel department. She's awaiting her first Make-A-Wish assignment. She has already figured out what she's going to tell the first person she meets with a life-threatening illness.</p>
<p>"I'm here," she will say. "My parents didn't think I would be here. So don't ever give up."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Disney said it will donate $5 - up to $1 million - for every picture shared on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that shows someone wearing mouse ears (#ShareYourEars). Kazim had her picture taken in mouse ears last Tuesday at Disneyland, where she was telling her story to offer hope to people who may be going through similar horrors to those she endured as a child.</p>
<p>Kazim carries a scrapbook with a kindergarten photo of her holding a book under her right arm and smiling. She remembers the pain.</p>
<p>"I couldn't hold that book with my left arm," she said. She was living in Olney, Md., at the time, and she remembers wearing a purple sweatsuit when the phone call came with her test results. She was rushed to a hospital in Washington, D.C., where she had the first of five operations.</p>
<p>That scrapbook also holds a drawing a doctor made of the tumor. When she was 5, she got a diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer of the muscle tissue.</p>
<p>Doctors gave her parents a best- and worst-case scenario. At best, she might live to see her 16th birthday. At worst, she had about six months to live.</p>
<p>She went through chemotherapy and radiation, and by the time she was 7, the cancer had spread to her shoulder. She had lost all her hair, and her brother pushed her in a wheelchair. She remembers her father praying in the hospital.</p>
<p>Her family grimly braced itself for what would happen next.</p>
<p>It was at one of the low points that Kazim's family was connected with Make-A-Wish. She wanted to go visit a Disney park in Europe but was told she couldn't stray very far from her hospital.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>So she choose Disney World, which was a two-hour flight away.</p>
<p>"This was going to be our last trip as a family," she said. "To think about it that way is terrifying."</p>
<p>It wasn't the end. It was the beginning.</p>
<p>Kazim remembers how nice everyone was to her and her family - her father, Fazlur; her mother, Seeta; a brother, Ijaz; and a sister, Samina.</p>
<p>"It was a magical trip," she said. "My dad said he didn't realize how compassionate people could be."</p>
<p />
<p /> | She got her wish, and now she'll pass it on | false | https://abqjournal.com/732341/she-got-her-wish-and-now-shell-pass-it-on.html | 2 |
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<p>Sept. 28 (UPI) — <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Katy_Perry/" type="external">Katy Perry</a> gives fans an inside look into how she created her four-day Witness Worldwide live-stream in the first trailer for upcoming YouTube Red documentary, Will You Be My Witness?.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz-3PgnD1vM" type="external">The clip</a>, released Wednesday, features the pop star planning the massive live-stream event to promote her latest album Witness by living inside a newly constructed home that was filming her for 24 hours from June 8-12.</p>
<p>“The reason I called this album Witness is everyone in the world is a witness,” Perry says of the inspiration behind the album and live-stream. “We are all observing life, whether we are actively participating or we’re just at home observing. We are all a part of this world. I hope by being a part of Witness World Wide, I’ll provoke you to be an active witness.”</p>
<p>The trailer also features looks at the number of celebrity guests Perry had appear on the live-stream including <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/America_Ferrera/" type="external">America Ferrera</a>, <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Anna_Kendrick/" type="external">Anna Kendrick</a>, Sia, RuPaul and <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Caitlyn_Jenner/" type="external">Caitlyn Jenner</a>.</p>
<p>“In her new YouTube Red Original Movie, the colorful pop icon puts her life on camera 24/7 for four whole days, in her most intimate reveal yet. Join Katy as she does behind-the-scenes in the creation and aftermath of this unprecedented live-streaming event with friends, artists and celebrity guests,” reads the synopsis.</p>
<p>Will You Be My Witness' is set to premiere on YouTube’s subscription based service YouTube Red on Oct. 4.</p> | Katy Perry goes behind the scenes in 'Will You Be My Witness?' trailer | false | https://newsline.com/katy-perry-goes-behind-the-scenes-in-will-you-be-my-witness-trailer/ | 2017-09-28 | 1 |
<p>Inflation hit 2.9%; Whitbread downgraded</p>
<p>U.K. blue-chip stocks turned lower Tuesday, hurt as the pound leapt following a stronger-than-expected reading on British inflation.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The FTSE 100 index shed 0.1% to 7,403.22, led by declines among consumer-related shares.</p>
<p>The index swung lower as the pound surged to an intraday high of $1.3283, spiking after the Office for National Statistics said inflation rose to 2.9% in August, more than the 2.8% reading expected in a FactSet survey of analysts. Pound strength can hurt revenue and earnings made overseas by U.K.-listed multinational companies.</p>
<p>Sterling bought $1.3160 late Monday in New York. The pound hasn't traded above $1.33 since last September.</p>
<p>Among multinationals, shares of British American Tobacco PLC (BATS.LN) fell 0.9%, Imperial Brands PLC (IMBBY) gave up 0.5% and drugmaker Shire PLC (SHPG) lost 0.9%.</p>
<p>"The breadth of today's inflation surprise is striking. All of the headline price indices, including core CPI, PPI and RPI printed higher than median forecasts. The record 4.6% increase in clothing and footwear indicates that retailers are passing cost increases straight to consumers," said Ranko Berich, head of market analysis at Monex Europe, in a note.</p>
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<p>The Bank of England's inflation target is 2%. The inflation data arrived before Thursday's Monetary Policy Committee meeting at the Bank of England.</p>
<p>"Whilst this inflation report is unlikely to mean the MPC votes for a rate hike Thursday, it does increase the prospect of interest rates raising sooner than the market currently anticipates," said Neil Wilson, ETX Capital's senior market analyst, in a note.</p>
<p>On Monday, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.5% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ashtead-hurricanes-may-increase-fleet-demand-2017-09-12) after Hurricane Irma wreaked less damage on Florida than anticipated, keeping alive hope for stronger U.S. economic growth, and as fears over North Korea's nuclear ambitions eased for now.</p>
<p>Stock movers: Whitbread PLC (WTB.LN) fell 2.7% after Citigroup downgraded its rating to sell from buy, saying it's "cautious on European hotels." Whitbread runs the Premier Inn hotel chain.</p>
<p>Citi also said its analysis points to "just" around four to five years of structural growth left in the branded U.K. coffee market, which includes Whitbread's competitors. Whitbread is behind the Costa Coffee chain.</p>
<p>Home builders were among the decliners, with Taylor Wimpey PLC (TW.LN) losing 2% and Persimmon PLC (PSN.LN) down 1.7%.</p>
<p>Ashtead Group PLC (AHT.LN) rallied 7.8%, to become the strongest performer on the FTSE 100. The equipment rental company posted a 29% rise in pretax profit and said Hurricanes Harvey and Irma may bolster demand. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ashtead-hurricanes-may-increase-fleet-demand-2017-09-12)</p>
<p>Gainers included Associated British Foods PLC (ABF.LN) , with shares up 0.7%, and miner Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) higher by 0.7%.</p>
<p>Brexit watch: British Prime Minister Theresa May won a key vote on Brexit legislation early Tuesday, resolving some concerns that the House of Commons could hold up a bill designed to transpose 10,000 EU laws into U.K. law. The bill passed its first key hurdle (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/controversial-brexit-bill-passes-first-hurdle-in-parliament-2017-09-11) late Monday.</p>
<p>"U.K. Prime Minister May also survived another Parliamentary vote on her Brexit bill, although not without significant resistance -- from both sides -- and the likelihood of major amendments being attached," the Accendo analysts said.</p>
<p>Critics argued the bill hands too much power to the prime minister and her cabinet -- what has been described as "Henry VIII powers" -- because it allows them to alter laws without parliamentary approval.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 12, 2017 06:19 ET (10:19 GMT)</p> | LONDON MARKETS: U.K. Stocks Swing Lower As Strong Inflation Reading Sends Pound To Year's Highs | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/12/london-markets-u-k-stocks-swing-lower-as-strong-inflation-reading-sends-pound-to-years-highs.html | 2017-09-12 | 0 |
<p />
<p>New orders for U.S.-made goods increased for a third straight month in February on</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>growing demand for machinery and electrical equipment, suggesting the manufacturing sector recovery was gaining steam.</p>
<p>Factory goods orders rose 1.0 percent, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday after an upwardly revised 1.5 percent increase in January.</p>
<p>Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory orders advancing 1.0 percent in February after a previously reported 1.2 percent increase in January.</p>
<p>Factory orders were up 4.6 percent from a year ago.</p>
<p>Shipments of manufactured goods increased 0.3 percent after a similar gain in January. Manufacturing, which accounts for about 12 percent of the U.S. economy, is recovering in part as steadily rising oil prices reinvigorate the energy sector, leading to demand for machinery and other equipment.</p>
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<p>The Commerce Department also said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft -- seen as a measure of business confidence and spending plans -- dipped 0.1 percent as reported last month.</p>
<p>Shipments of these so-called core capital goods, which are used to calculate business equipment spending in the gross domestic product report, jumped 1.0 percent, also as reported last month.</p>
<p>The rise in shipments suggests an acceleration in business spending on equipment in the first quarter after it increased at a 1.9 percent annualized rate in final three months of 2016.</p>
<p>That was the first rise in a year.</p>
<p>In February, orders for machinery rose 0.3 percent. Orders for transportation equipment advanced 4.4 percent, reflecting a 47.5 percent surge in civilian aircraft orders as well as a 0.3 percent rise in motor vehicle orders.</p>
<p>Orders for computers and electronic products gained 0.1 percent and bookings for electrical equipment, appliances and components jumped 1.9 percent.</p>
<p>Unfilled orders at factories were unchanged after falling for three straight months. Inventories of goods at factories rose 0.2 percent in February. They have increased in seven of the last eight months. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.31 in February, unchanged from January.</p>
<p>(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)</p> | U.S. factory orders increase for third straight month | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/04/04/us-factory-orders-increase-for-third-straight-month.html | 2017-04-04 | 0 |
<p>It wasn’t exactly “two thumbs up” material, but despite the Vatican’s vested interest in pooh-poohing certain conspiratorial notions presented in “Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown’s oeuvre, the official paper of the Holy See didn’t quite pan director Ron Howard’s cinematic treatment of Brown’s prequel, “Angels &amp; Demons,” either.</p>
<p>However, L’Osservatore Romano’s review did manage to throw a couple artful backhanded compliments into the mix.</p>
<p>AP via Yahoo! News:</p>
<p>L’Osservatore Romano ran a review and an editorial in Wednesday’s edition, critiquing the movie based on the Dan Brown best-selling novel of the same name.</p>
<p />
<p>“Angels &amp; Demons” had its world premiere Monday in Rome, after director Ron Howard charged that the Vatican interfered with getting film permits to shoot scenes in the city — a contention the Vatican said was a publicity stunt.</p>
<p>The newspaper wrote that the movie was “a gigantic and smart commercial operation” filled with “stereotyped characters.” The paper suggested moviegoers could make a game out of finding the many historical inaccuracies in the plot.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090506/ap_en_ot/eu_vatican_angels___demons_2" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Vatican Paper Gives 'Angels & Demons' a Pass | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/vatican-paper-gives-angels-demons-a-pass/ | 2009-05-08 | 4 |
<p>Toilet Queen, Ghoul Nipple, Sexy Chambers, Leper and Cholera are just a few names people in the U.S. have given their children.</p>
<p>And, yes, these are real names. Michael Sherrod and Matthew Rayback, the authors of " <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Bad_Baby_Names.html?id=ktY2mBIyHAYC" type="external">Bad Baby Names: The Worst True Names Parents Saddled Their Kids With—and You Can Too!</a>" searched through U.S. census records to find these names.</p>
<p>But a lot of these names just wouldn't fly in other countries.</p>
<p>“A lot of countries will monitor names they think are just bad for the child," explained Carlton Larson, a law professor at the University of California Davis.</p>
<p>In Iceland for instance, there's a special act, the <a href="https://eng.innanrikisraduneyti.is/laws-and-regulations/english/personal-names/" type="external">Personal Names Act No. 45</a>, that regulates what and when parents can name a child.</p>
<p>Here are just a few of the requirements:</p>
<p>There's even a committee that decides whether a child's given name is embarrassing.</p>
<p>But in the U.S., Larson said the laws for naming can vary from state to state. In most states, Larson added, the laws tend to limit the length of a name, certain diacritical marks or obscenities.</p>
<p>"They’re not as addressed to the substance of a name as much they are the form," Larson said of U.S. naming laws.</p>
<p>Larson said the problem with that is "we allow a lot of really bad names that other countries don’t allow.”</p>
<p>Some names he added, can actually be destructive to the child's physiological well-being.</p>
<p>In Larson's 2011 " <a href="http://www.gwlr.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/80-1-Larson.pdf" type="external">Naming Baby: The Constitutional Dimensions of Parental Naming Rights</a>," he points to an instance that made <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/28269290/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/-year-old-hitler-cant-get-name-cake/#.WibMcLQ-dUM" type="external">national headlines in 2008</a>.</p>
<p>When Deborah Campbell called her local New Jersey supermarket to order a cake for her 3-year-old son, the store declined her request. That's because she asked for the supermarket to inscribe "happy birthday," along with her son's name, Adolf Hitler Campbell, on the cake.</p>
<p>While the name "Adolf Hitler Campbell" may seem out of the realm of acceptable names for a child, it didn't violate New Jersey's statutory laws at the time.</p>
<p>Although that name and many others may be completely legal names in the U.S., various studies have shown that a child's name can actually affect his or her future success.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/02683940810849648" type="external">study by Marquette University</a> found that people with common names are more likely to be hired. And uncommon names are more likely to be associated with crime, according to a <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2009.00601.x/epdf?referrer_access_token=HoC5tBbPkX4lqj9mSnflnIta6bR2k8jH0KrdpFOxC66vznh0CdENfgwx7Yo-KR0vRQloKzpg6fEkkWLPTXLbQDMl7YULoqMSFVZH2WgAXNOhkKWGqBfViE0Jbhqamv5VF7zuFpLdAbcWcfS7yB3UqdeK7UUEzfvjtMhZbbySdjJ5uercas9H_l5bKK8w5k-62-GjS-1Nos2OQNtjQZwCWQHcGG_cwcoQaRQNtZ6e0VkQoWtzcCzbC6damWJYesDUlHLv6eHZnLGNTeh6tnGy_sFnf0-g7txlS91jXnuN-HE%3D" type="external">study published by Shippensburg University</a>.</p>
<p>Larson said this is why parents should take naming their children very seriously.</p>
<p>"This is a big decision you have to make for your kid and it will stick with them, probably, for the rest of their life," he said.</p>
<p>So, if you're expecting any time soon, maybe take a look at the <a href="https://www.babycenter.com/top-baby-names-2017.htm" type="external">list of most popular baby names of 2017</a> for inspiration.</p>
<p>Related stories on Circa: <a href="" type="internal">Forget 'Sister Act.' These nuns have climbed to the top of Billboard's classical chart.</a> <a href="" type="internal">The Karni Mata Temple in India is known for one thing: rats</a> <a href="" type="internal">Would you voluntarily walk into a lion's den? In Australia, now you can.</a></p> | Not all names are created equal: Here's how names are regulated in Iceland vs. the US | false | https://circa.com/story/2017/12/06/nation/iceland-and-the-us-have-very-different-rules-for-regulating-baby-names | 2017-12-06 | 1 |
<p>Photo credit: NPR</p>
<p>When your assailant is has control of your livelihood, and even whether you can stay in the same place as your family, you might think twice about reporting it. <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/11/05/243219199/silenced-by-status-farm-workers-face-rape-sexual-abuse?sc=tw&amp;cc=share" type="external">This is exactly the position of many women agricultural workers in the U.S</a>, the vast majority of whom are immigrants, and many of whom are undocumented:</p>
<p>Like many other undocumented women, she was afraid she would be branded a troublemaker if she reported the supervisor to management. “I saw my choices: I lose my job, I can’t feed my family,” she says.</p>
<p>But, she says, after seven months, she finally worked up the courage to lodge a complaint against the supervisor. And she was fired. With the help of a legal aid group, Ladino eventually filed a civil suit against the grower. The accused supervisor denied the allegations. But the company agreed to a confidential settlement in 2010.</p>
<p>Ladino agreed not to tell anyone the company’s name and how much money it paid her in damages. She didn’t file a police report, and the supervisor never faced criminal charges or went to jail.</p>
<p>Of course, jail, prison, or police intervention stands less as an actual solution here ( <a href="" type="internal">they’re</a> <a href="" type="internal">not</a>), but rather as the way we have to formally address these assaults today – and they are not being formally addressed. In fact, a Human Rights Watch report from last year, <a href="http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/05/15/cultivating-fear" type="external">Cultivating Fear</a>, describes the ways that agricultural workers are vulnerable to sexual harassment and assault, and its endemic nature in the context of a largely undocumented immigrant workforce. In this context, assailants often have the power to determine the kind of work given to the agricultural workers they are targeting, whether they have a job at all, and even report workers to immigration authorities.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/11/05/243219199/silenced-by-status-farm-workers-face-rape-sexual-abuse?sc=tw&amp;cc=share" type="external">This article is a part of a two-part investigative series</a> on sexual assault and agricultural workers in the U.S. – make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the next installment</p> | Sexual assault endemic for agricultural workers | true | http://feministing.com/2013/11/07/sexual-assault-endemic-for-agricultural-workers/ | 4 |
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<p>Greece will open the first of its planned 30 camps for illegal immigrants in about a month, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/29/greece-detention-centres-migrants?newsfeed=true" type="external">the Guardian reported</a>. Officials have so far approved construction of three detention centers.</p>
<p>As a result, some groups have drawn unfavorable comparisons between Greece and Nazi Germany.</p>
<p>"There has been fierce resistance to the concentration camp schemes by local farmers and people living in nearby villages and cities," the Workers Revolutionary Party <a href="http://www.wrp.org.uk/news/7403" type="external">wrote on its website</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120312/burma-economy-myanmar-sanctions" type="external">Promises, pitfalls await investors in Burma's frontier economy</a></p>
<p>And Kostas Agorastos, the regional governor of Thessaly, said that his region does not have an illegal immigration problem.&#160;</p>
<p>"We are against this proposal, the public doesn't want it and the local authorities don't want it," Agorastos <a href="http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/1/54431" type="external">told Athens News</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>But <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/29/greece-detention-centres-migrants?newsfeed=true" type="external">the Guardian reported</a> that 90 percent of illegal immigrants caught in the European Union each year are in Greece, with approximately 5,000 people living in abandoned buildings in the country. And in 2011, burglaries in Athens have risen 125 percent, Greek police told the Guardian.</p>
<p>Today police said they would begin 24-hour searches in inner-city Athens for illegal immigrants, with television crews invited to attend. The campaign has been criticized as a pre-election stunt, <a href="http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/1/54431" type="external">Athens News said</a>.</p>
<p>"It's not the migrants who are responsible for rising crime, but policies that Greece is being forced to take [by the EU and IMF] that are spreading poverty, unemployment and misery," an activist told the Guardian.</p>
<p>Greek police deported 39 foreign nationals today, according to Athens News.</p> | Greece plans to send illegal immigrants to 30 camps | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-03-29/greece-plans-send-illegal-immigrants-30-camps | 2012-03-29 | 3 |
<p>Throughout this academic year, Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University is hosting a series of lectures, billed as the “first interdisciplinary” study to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Blessed Paul VI’s encyclical&#160;Humanae Vitae. The series promises to examine the “many problems” that have emerged in family life since Pope Paul wrote on the ethics of human love and the morally appropriate methods of family planning. And that could indeed be useful.</p>
<p>Yet the roster of series speakers is not replete with defenders of Paul VI’s teaching in&#160;Humanae Vitae, and at least one of the lecturers has telegraphed his revisionist theological punch by suggesting that today’s “new situation” is quite different from that addressed by&#160;Humanae Vitae.</p>
<p>On that, at least, he’s right: Today’s situation is far worse.</p>
<p>The Gregorian promises the involvement of both the social sciences and moral theology in its study, presumably to complement the work of a new historical commission on&#160;Humanae Vitae&#160;established by Pope Francis. So let’s look at some of the relevant social science.</p>
<p>Demographers tell us that a society must have a “Total Fertility Rate” (TFR) of slightly over 2.1 (the average number of children a woman has during her child-bearing years) in order to maintain its population over time. Here are the most recent Eurostat TFP figures for the countries of the European Union in 2014: Austria: 1.47; Belgium: 1.74; Bulgaria: 1.53; Croatia: 1.46; Cyprus: 1.31; Czech Republic: 1.53; Denmark: 1.69; Finland: 1.71; France: 2.01; Germany: 1.47; Great Britain: 1.81; Greece: 1.30; Hungary: 1.44; Ireland: 1.94; Italy: 1.37; Latvia: 1.54; Lithuania: 1.63; Luxembourg: 1.50; Malta: 1.42; Netherlands: 1.71; Poland: 1.32; Portugal: 1.23; Romania: 1.52; Spain: 1.32; Slovakia: 1.37; Slovenia: 1.58; Sweden: 1.88. Thus, the TFR for the European Union as a whole in 2014 was 1.58, well below population-replacement level and heading toward the demographic Niagara Falls that demographers call “lowest-low fertility.”</p>
<p>Please note that no EU country was in a major war in 2014. Nor was any EU country beset by a devastating plague. Nor did Europe suffer a Vesuvius- or Krakatoa-like natural disaster. In other words, none of the causes of demographic collapse that have depleted populations throughout history was in play in the European Union in 2014. And insofar as I’m aware, European men have not suffered the loss of fertility that sets the stage for P. D. James’s brilliant novel,&#160;The Children of Men.</p>
<p>So from a strictly social-scientific point of view, one is led to the inescapable conclusion that Europe’s infertility is self-induced. Which means that European infertility is deliberate and willful, not random and accidental. Which means that Europe is contracepting itself into demographic oblivion.</p>
<p>And that means that Paul VI has been thoroughly vindicated in his warnings, in&#160;Humanae Vitae, about the effects of a “contraceptive culture”: a culture in which love and reproduction are technologically sundered; a culture in which children become another lifestyle choice, like the choice of vacation (the Dalmatian coast or Majorca) or automobile (BMW or Mercedes-Benz); a culture in which the family is defined absent its most fundamental characteristic, the transmission of the gift of life and the nurturance of the young.</p>
<p>Now&#160;there’s&#160;something for our Gregorian social scientists to ponder with their theological colleagues over the next eight months. Yet the notable absence of&#160;Humanae Vitae&#160;proponents among the lecturers does not fill me with confidence that the causal linkage between the contraceptive mentality and Europe’s demographic suicide will be seriously examined in this series of lectures.</p>
<p>Neither does the absence from the roster of lecturers of one of the Church’s most brilliant analysts of the social and cultural impacts of contraception, my friend Mary Eberstadt. Eberstadt’s 2012 book,&#160;Adam and Eve After the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution, analyzes the real-world effects of ignoring Paul VI on men, women, children, values, and culture with greater insight than anything produced at the Pontifical Gregorian University since&#160;Humanae Vitae&#160;was issued; of that, I am quite confident. Yet Mary Eberstadt was not invited to participate in an examination of the “new situation” after&#160;Humanae Vitae.</p>
<p>And that, in turn, suggests either that those who arranged this series of lectures are woefully ignorant of what’s happening outside their intellectual silos—or that the Gregorian conference organizers have more than their elbows up their sleeves.</p>
<p>George Weigel&#160;is Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington, D.C.’s Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he holds the William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies.</p> | What’s Changed Since Humanae Vitae? | false | https://eppc.org/publications/whats-changed-since-humanae-vitae/ | 1 |
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<p>China, too, has expressed concerns over “possible aggravation of regional tensions” following reports of the US decision. Calling the Jerusalem issue “complicated and sensitive,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that “all sides should focus on regional peace and tranquility act with caution, and avoid sabotaging the foundation for the settlement of Palestinian issues.”</p> | Trump’s Jerusalem recognition: Fears of global backlash | false | https://newsline.com/trumps-jerusalem-recognition-fears-of-global-backlash/ | 2017-12-06 | 1 |
<p>Next month marks the fiftieth anniversary of the film, A Man for All Seasons. And if it’s impossible to imagine such a picture on such a theme winning Oscars today, then let’s be grateful that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences got it right by giving Fred Zinnemann’s splendid movie six of its awards in 1967 – when, reputedly, Audrey Hepburn lifted her eyes to heaven before announcing with obvious pleasure that this cinematic celebration of the witness and martyrdom of Sir Thomas More had beaten The Sand Pebbles, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?, Alfie, and The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming for Best Picture.</p>
<p>Intriguingly, though, A Man for All Seasons is a magnificent religious film – perhaps the best ever – despite its author’s stated intentions.</p>
<p>Robert Bolt’s introduction to his play, which led to the movie, makes it rather clear that author Bolt saw More less as a Catholic martyr than as an existential hero, an approach befitting the hot philosophical movement of the day (which was, of course, the Sixties). As Bolt put it:</p>
<p>“Thomas More…became for me a man with an adamantine sense of his own self. He knew where he began and left off, what areas of himself he could yield to the encroachments of his enemies, and what to the encroachments of those he loved. It was a substantial area in both cases, for he had a proper sense of fear and was a busy lover. Since he was a clever man and a great lawyer he was able to retire from those areas in wonderfully good order, but at last he was asked to retreat from that final area where he located his self.&#160; And there this supple, humorous, unassuming, and sophisticated person set like metal, was overtaken by an absolutely primitive rigor, and could no more be budged than a cliff…</p>
<p>“What attracted me was a person who could not be accused of any incapacity for life, who indeed seized life in great variety and almost greedy quantities, who nevertheless found something in himself without which life was valueless and when that was denied him was able to grasp his death.”</p>
<p>Yet this portrait of Thomas-More-as-Tudor-era-existentialist doesn’t quite convince, because Bolt, perhaps in spite of himself, gave us a different More in his drama and later in his screenplay – a More who “grasps” his death, not as an existential stalwart, a courageously autonomous “Self,” but as a Catholic willing to die for the truth, which has grasped him as the love of God in Christ.&#160; Thus when More’s intellectually gifted daughter Margaret, having failed to argue him out of his refusal to countenance Henry VIII’s divorce and subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn, plays her final card and cries, “But in reason! Haven’t you done as much as God can reasonably want?”, More replies, haltingly, “Well…finally…it’s isn’t a matter of reason; finally it’s a matter of love.”</p>
<p>And not love of self, but love of God and love of the truth. For the God who is truth all the way through is also, St. John teaches us, love itself. And to be transformed by that love is to live in the truth – the truth that sets us free in the deepest and noblest meaning of human liberation.</p>
<p>There was something worthy and inspiring about certain aspects of existentialism: not the soured existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre, which quickly decomposed into nihilism, but the heroic existentialism of a Camus, who could not abide the anti-clerical Catholic progressives of his day and who sought a world in which we could be, as he put it, “neither victims nor executioners.” But it was Sartrean existentialism that won the day, at least insofar as one can trace a line from Sartre to contemporary narcissism, displayed today in everything from temper-tantrums on campus by over-privileged and under-educated barbarians to voters across the Western world who seek relief from their grievances – some quite legitimate – in adherence to some pretty dreadful characters.</p>
<p>In this unhappy situation, we need the real Thomas More: the Thomas More who bore witness and ultimately “grasped his death,” not to vindicate his sense of Self, but as the final and ultimate act of thanks for his having been grasped, and saved, by the truth itself, the Thrice-Holy God.</p>
<p>George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington, D.C.’s Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he holds the William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies.</p> | On Our Need for the Real Thomas More | false | https://eppc.org/publications/on-our-need-for-the-real-thomas-more/ | 1 |
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<p>Published time: 28 Nov, 2017 18:00</p>
<p>Tory minister Liz Truss has accused the BBC of peddling ‘fake news.’ The Chief Secretary to the Treasury called out the state broadcaster after it claimed 100,000 people on Universal Credit would have their payments halted over the Christmas period.</p>
<p>Journalist Paul Lewis told Money Box viewers that those who are paid weekly will have their payments cut off as there would be five pay days in December, so therefore their monthly income could be too high to receive the benefit. Lewis’ claims were then broadcast through multiple other BBC channels and mediums.</p>
<p>The BBC has since been forced to apologize for the alarmist report, with Lewis even admitting that he ignored warnings from colleagues that his figures were incorrect.</p>
<p>[embedded content]</p> | Tory MP lashes out at BBC’s alarmist ‘fake news’ on Universal Credit (VIDEO) | false | https://newsline.com/tory-mp-lashes-out-at-bbcs-alarmist-fake-news-on-universal-credit-video/ | 2017-11-28 | 1 |
<p>The notion that one heard fairly often about Sacramento for much of 2013 — Abel Maldonado’s election reforms actually had led to a more moderate batch of lawmakers coming to town — was annihilated in the final week of the session. A 25 percent increase in the minimum wage at a time of high unemployment is classic, knee-jerk, dumb liberalism, and that was only one example of many.</p>
<p>The starkest evidence that the union-first status quo remained entrenched in the Legislature came with the ramming through of the wish list of the most powerful forces in the state. I have an <a href="http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/sep/14/teachers-unions-demonstrate-again-who-controls/" type="external">editorial in Sunday’s U-T San Diego</a> laying out the sick picture and pointing to the CTA’s and the CFT’s key collaborator:</p>
<p />
<p>“The top priority for California’s public schools in California should be helping students. Instead, priority No. 1 is protecting teachers from accountability … .</p>
<p>“This was on display with an alleged teacher discipline measure prompted by the horrifying case of Mark Berndt, a veteran Los Angeles Unified elementary-school teacher who delighted in feeding semen to his students. The school district paid Berndt $40,000 to resign in 2011 after determining that job protections demanded and won by United Teachers Los Angeles were so imposing that he couldn’t simply be fired.</p>
<p>“In 2012, an Assembly committee blocked a bill that would have streamlined the discipline process and allowed for decisive action in cases like Berndt’s. This triggered considerable political fallout that led to one Assembly member’s defeat. And so in 2013, the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers ordered their puppets to adopt AB 375 — a fake reform that in some cases actually gives teachers even more job protections. The measure is on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, where it should die.</p>
<p>“But don’t count on that. The allegedly independent, tough-minded Brown is the closest ally the CTA and CFT have ever had in the governor’s office.”</p>
<p>“Which brings us to AB 484, which should get at least as much attention as AB 375. This bill, also on Brown’s desk, would broadly suspend much federally mandated testing of students for at least a year and also block the release of test scores in some other circumstances. This has prompted sharp criticism from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, including a threat to withhold federal education funds, because test scores are essential to evaluating student progress.</p>
<p>“The nominal reason for this extraordinary legislation? State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson says it would help schools to focus on a new testing regimen with different learning goals, called the Common Core standards.</p>
<p>“The real reason, however, is much more basic. On June 12, 2012, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant held that Los Angeles Unified — and, by implication, every California school district — could no longer ignore a 1971 state law that required that student performance be part of teacher evaluations.</p>
<p>“How do you keep the Chalfant ruling from inconveniencing teachers? You block student testing. If you can’t measure student performance, you can’t ding teachers.”</p>
<p>But the unions aren’t the only parties to blame. There’s also our alleged genius leader, Msgr. Edmund G. Brown Jr.</p>
<p>“And what is the governor’s idea of school ‘reform”’? Returning more authority to the local level. Our allegedly worldly, brilliant governor somehow is ignorant of the fact that local control used to be the status quo — and it was an enormous failure. ‘If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war,’ declared the 1983 ‘Nation at Risk’ federal report that triggered the education reform movement.</p>
<p />
<p>“Thirty years later, at least in California, a cold war over education persists. But as AB 375 and AB 484 show, it’s not much of a war. The teachers unions are winning in a rout — and their arrogance has hit such extremes that they’re even willing to use their clout to protect classroom sexual predators.</p>
<p>“Congratulations, CTA. Congra-tulations, CFT.</p>
<p>“And congratulations, governor. Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”</p>
<p>At least Katrina came and went. The CTA and CFT are like a perma-storm hanging over the Golden State’s classrooms. That their enabler is a guy who’s routinely billed as the sharpest guy in the room? What an indictment of CA’s media.</p> | CA public schools: ‘Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job’ | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2013/09/15/ca-public-schools-brownie-youre-doing-a-heck-of-a-job/ | 2018-09-20 | 3 |
<p>Singer, songwriter and poet Jamila Woods released the music video for her song “Blk Girl Soldier” yesterday, and it’s&#160;kind of perfect. When Woods dropped the audio back in January, we all prepared to be blown away by the video – but this? This is even more than I&#160;could’ve imagined. The visuals for “Blk Girl Soldier” are just as bold and unapologetic as its lyrics.</p>
<p />
<p>In an era of singles-turned-resistance&#160;songs, Woods’ video only adds to the ever-growing contemporary protest playlist. Shortly after the uprising in Ferguson began in the Fall of 2014, J. Cole gifted us with&#160;the stripped down melody in “ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VzpCmRtCL0" type="external">Be Free</a>,”&#160;Janelle Monáe later gave us&#160;a soulful and catchy movement&#160;song&#160;with “ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8kFSTzXyew" type="external">Hell You Talmbout</a>,” and even the&#160;chorus from Kendrick’s defiant single, “ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-48u_uWMHY" type="external">Alright</a>,”&#160;has become its own protest chant.</p>
<p>The music video for “Blk Girl Soldier” does similar work&#160;by celebrating the&#160;furnishings of Black girlhood. It honors and beautifully documents Black girls and women and their persistent resistance. Woods even&#160;pays respect to&#160;several Black girl soldiers throughout history such as Audre Lorde and Ella Baker, and includes footage from #SayHerName protests in Chicago. It’s really quite a powerful piece of work — and that doesn’t even cover the song’s actual words, written by Woods herself.</p>
<p>Within the first two lines of the song, Woods references&#160;“Black girl magic.”&#160;The specificity in her lyrics mirror the deliberate images of Black girlhood scattered throughout the music video. As Woods explained in an interview with&#160; <a href="http://www.complex.com/music/2016/06/jamila-woods-new-video-blk-girl-soldier" type="external">Complex</a>,&#160;“Hair beads and rollers are symbols of Black girlhood to me. I thought, what would it look like to arm ourselves with our own essence?” It’s clear that she intended to center the experiences of Black girls and women in this song.</p>
<p>Another&#160;part of that unique experience is named later in the <a href="http://genius.com/Jamila-woods-blk-girl-soldier-lyrics" type="external">lyrics</a>:</p>
<p>Look at what they did to my sisters Last century, last week They put her body in a jar and forgot her They love how it repeats</p>
<p>The “last century, last week,” line calls attention to the multi-generational trauma Black women have suffered, survived and still succumb to. It effectively&#160;places the song’s content and the song itself within the context of a much lengthier&#160;history; and&#160;putting footage from what appears to be Black women in the Black Panther Party in conversation with images&#160;from Chicago’s #SayHerName protests adds to the sentiment.</p>
<p>The “They put her body in a jar and forgot her” line is a bit less straightforward, as the “jar” could represent&#160;multiple things. The lyric might be referencing the simultaneous&#160;hypervisibility and hypersexuality&#160;that Black women are forced to navigate. It might be referencing the invisibility and isolation that many Black women face in everyday contexts. Either way, the line is a memorable one.</p>
<p>The whole song is full of memorable lyrics, which is unsurprising considering Jamila Woods’ considerable talent. Don’t believe me? Check out the music video and full lyrics for “Blk Girl Soldier” below.</p>
<p />
<p>It is our duty to fight for our freedom</p>
<p>See she’s telepathic Call it Black girl magic Yeah she scares the gov’ment Déjà vu of Tubman</p>
<p>We go missing by the hundreds Ain’t nobody checkin’ for us Ain’t nobody checkin’ for us</p>
<p>The camera loves us Oscar doesn’t Ain’t nobody checkin for us Ain’t nobody checkin for us</p>
<p>They want us in the kitchen Kill our sons with lynchings We get loud about it Oh now we’re the bitches</p>
<p>Look at what they did to my sisters Last century, last week They put her body in a jar and forgot her They love how it repeats</p>
<p>Look at what they did to my sisters Last century, last week They make her hate her own skin Treat her like a sin</p>
<p>But what they don’t understand (But what they don’t understand) But what they don’t understand (But what they don’t understand) See what they don’t understand</p>
<p>See she’s telepathic Call it Black girl magic Yeah she scares the gov’ment Déjà vu of Tubman</p>
<p>She she she she she she she Don’t give up Yea yea yea yea yea yea She don’t give up She don’t don’t don’t don’t don’t don’t give up No no no no no no She don’t give up</p>
<p>Rosa was a freedom fighter And she taught us how to fight Ella was a freedom fighter And she taught us how to fight Audre was a freedom fighter And she taught us how to fight Angela was a freedom fighter And she taught us how to fight Sojourner was a freedom fighter And she taught us how to fight Assata was a freedom fighter And she taught us how to fight Rosa was a freedom fighter And she taught us how to fight Ella was a freedom fighter And she taught us how to fight</p>
<p>See she’s telepathic Call it Black girl magic Yeah she scares the gov’ment Déjà vu of Tubman</p>
<p>But what they don’t understand (But what they don’t understand) But what they don’t understand is (But what they don’t understand) But what they don’t understand (But what they don’t understand) But what they don’t understand is</p>
<p>She she she she she she she Don’t give up Yea yea yea yea yea yea She don’t give up She don’t don’t don’t don’t don’t don’t give up No no no no no no She don’t give up, up</p>
<p>It is our duty to fight for our freedom It is our duty to win We must love each other and support each other We have nothing to lose but our chains</p>
<p><a href="http://www.jetmag.com/entertainment/jamila-woods-blk-girl-soldier/" type="external">Header image credit</a></p> | Jamila Woods’ Music Video For “Blk Girl Soldier” Might Be Perfect | true | http://feministing.com/2016/06/08/jamila-woods-music-video-for-blk-girl-soldier-might-be-perfect/ | 4 |
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<p>The major soap producer Dove released an advertisement on Sunday which features a black woman apparently morphing into a white woman who, in turn, morphed into an Asian woman.</p>
<p>The commercial sparked outrage and allegations of racism. Dove immediately took down the ad and released an apology on their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DoveUS/posts/1493719354007207" type="external">Facebook page</a>.</p>
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<p>“Dove is committed to representing the beauty of diversity,” the statement read. “In an image we posted this week, we missed the mark in thoughtfully representing women of color and we deeply regret the offense that it has caused. The feedback that has been shared is important to us and we’ll use it to guide us in the future.”</p>
<p>If “morphing” sequences in commercials sounds familiar, it’s because companies spend a lot of time working out what psychological strategies work best in advertising. As it turns out, morphing scenes are highly successful.</p>
<p>Breaking news updates and daily headlines from a news source you can trust.</p>
<p>From <a href="http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/jbutler/commentaries/visual-effects-morphing" type="external">Critical Commons</a>:</p>
<p>“In a medium whose very essence is the ability to reproduce the look of everyday reality, one of the surest ways of attracting the viewer’s attention is to violate that reality,” contends Paul Messaris. What intrigues him is advertising’s use of distorted imagery to make a viewer notice a product. Studies in cognitive psychology show that this distortion is most effective when it varies only slightly from a familiar object. As Messaris explains, “if the discrepancy between the unfamiliar shape and some preexisting one is only partial, the mental task of fitting in the new shape becomes more complicated. As a result, such partially strange shapes can cause us to pay closer attention.” If an object is wholly different from what you are familiar with, you may ignore it completely or place it in a new visual category; but if it is partially similar, then your cognitive processes work overtime trying to figure out whether or not it is a familiar object.</p>
<p>Messaris cites digital morphing as a prime example of this principle.</p>
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<p>What Dove was trying to achieve in their ad was a means of simultaneously attracting attention while conveying the message that Dove body wash is “for every woman.”</p>
<p>“The short video was intended to convey that Dove body wash is for every woman,” Dove said in its statement, “and be a celebration of diversity, but we got it wrong.”</p>
<p><a href="https://nypost.com/2017/10/09/doves-racist-soap-ad-turns-into-major-disaster-for-unilever-brand/amp/" type="external">The New York Post</a> has more:</p>
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<p>But the apology failed to stem a torrent of online criticism, with some social media users calling for a boycott of Dove products, while conventional media outlets in the United States and Europe were also seizing on the story.</p>
<p>In Britain, the controversy featured prominently in Monday’s television breakfast shows, with guests debating how the ad got through the company’s approval process and whether it was indicative of a broader problem with racism in marketing.</p>
<p>On Twitter, posts including the hashtag #BoycottDove, which started over the weekend among U.S. users, were appearing in multiple European languages.</p>
<p>“In short, racism is back in fashion and brands are looking to benefit,” wrote user @Beatrix B. in French.</p>
<p>In the full clip, the black woman removed her T-shirt to reveal the white woman, who then lifted her own top to reveal an Asian woman.</p>
<p>Several media outlets failed to detail the entire clip, leaving out the fact that the white woman morphed into an Asian woman, to give more credit to interpreting the ad as racist.</p>
<p><a href="https://nypost.com/2017/10/08/dove-thought-this-ad-celebrated-the-beauty-of-diversity/" type="external">The New York Post</a> continues:</p>
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<p>The apology received a barrage of outraged comments.</p>
<p>“What exactly were yall going for? What was the mark… I mean anyone with eyes can see how offensive this is. Not one person on your staff objected to this? Wow. Will not be buying your products anymore,” one woman wrote.</p>
<p>“This is gross. You think people of color can just wash away their melanin and become white? What were you going for, exactly? Your creative director should be fired,” another said.</p>
<p>The Dove debacle comes months after German skincare company Nivea came under fire for its “White is Purity” deodorant ad.</p>
<p>The New York Times featured a four-picture segment, conveniently leaving out the fact that the white woman would soon morph into an Asian woman:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
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<p>And here’s the full clip:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>The misconception compares the ad to much earlier, blatantly racist ads:</p>
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<p />
<p>The Dove ad was conveniently cut short to create a spectacle where there wasn’t any.</p>
<p>What do you think? Scroll down to comment below.</p> | Dove Accused of Racisim for Recent Advertisement | true | http://thefederalistpapers.org/us/dove-accused-racisim-recent-advertisement | 0 |
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<p>FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Police arrested a former Army medic after a vandal broke windows and left a Bible at a Colorado mosque — an act that led to an outpouring of support for Muslims, authorities said</p>
<p>Joseph Scott Giaquinto, 35, was taken into custody Monday on suspicion of committing a crime motivated by bias and other allegations just hours after police released surveillance video and asked for the public’s help identifying a hoodie-wearing man seen picking up a stone and kicking a door at the Islamic Center in Fort Collins.</p>
<p>The suspect’s father, Michael Giaquinto, told the Coloradoan ( <a href="http://noconow.co/2mKWQEG" type="external">http://noconow.co/2mKWQEG</a> ) that his son was an Army medic who served in Iraq and Korea and moved last year to Fort Collins — the home of Colorado State University about 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of Denver.</p>
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<p>“No matter what we find out happened, my son is a good man,” he told the newspaper. “He served his country well. Even if he was involved, and I’m not saying he was, it would just indicate that he was in a kind of a bad place.</p>
<p>“This whole affair has been exhausting. Here in Fort Collins, that sort of thing is not what we do,” Michael Giaquinto said.</p>
<p>According to an arrest affidavit, the younger Giaquinto acknowledged damaging the mosque. Investigators said they also found items at the man’s apartment that linked him to the vandalism.</p>
<p>He is being held on $7,500 bail, and booking documents do not indicate if he has hired an attorney.</p>
<p>The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, said there have been 35 attacks on mosques so far this year — ranging from arson to torn Qurans — compared with 19 between January and March last year.</p>
<p>The group believes people who may have hidden their anti-Muslim views in the past have been emboldened to act by the election of President Donald Trump, who called for a ban on Muslims entering the country during his campaign.</p>
<p>In response, more mosques have installed surveillance video and police have become aware of the trend, group spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said.</p>
<p>Police haven’t said what led them to Joseph Giaquinto in the Colorado incident.</p>
<p>About 1,000 people gathered Sunday at the mosque for a rally organized by a rabbi and many supporters have made donations online to pay for repairs and improved security.</p>
<p>Police Chief John Hutto, who attended the rally, said he hoped the arrest sends a message that the community will not tolerate acts of hatred.</p>
<p>“While the building can be repaired, this incident caused deeper hurt that won’t just go away.” he said in a statement.</p>
<p>Last month, someone was seen on security video throwing a rock through a window at the Colorado Muslim Society mosque near Denver but no arrests have been made and investigators say they have exhausted their leads.</p> | Former Army medic arrested in vandalism at Colorado mosque | false | https://abqjournal.com/977558/man-arrested-in-connection-with-vandalism-at-colorado-mosque.html | 2017-03-28 | 2 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Bank of America is looking to hire up to 300 employees to support services provided by a new type of automatic teller machine that allows customers to interact with a bank representative via video.</p>
<p>The company will hold a job fair from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday at Hotel Cascada, 2500 Carlisle Blvd. NE, in Albuquerque.</p>
<p>Those planning to come to the hiring fair should bring resumes to hand to hiring managers. If you have a multi-page resume, make sure your name and contact information appears on each page.</p>
<p>The company is hiring people for bilingual roles, supervisors and managers.</p>
<p>For more information and to register visit <a href="http://choicecareerfairs.com/" type="external">www.choicecareerfairs.com</a></p>
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<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Bank of America holding job fair for Rio Rancho support center | false | https://abqjournal.com/562934/bank-of-america-holding-job-fair-for-rio-rancho-support-center.html | 2 |
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<p>In early 2006, Mother Jones profiled Nebraska state lawmaker Ernie Chambers, the sole black member of Nebraska’s unicameral legislature and one heck of a cool dude. Sara Catania <a href="/news/outfront/2006/01/importance_being_ernie.html" type="external">wrote at the time</a>:</p>
<p>He wears sweatshirts and jeans amid a forest of suits and ties; his gray beard contrasts with the clean chins of most of his brethren. He’s been described as “left of San Francisco” in a state that for decades has been tightly tucked under the blanket of conservative Republicanism….</p>
<p>Because of Chambers, the Legislature routinely backs bills its members wouldn’t otherwise have dreamed of supporting. He cajoled his colleagues into abolishing corporal punishment in schools, correcting the state pension system so that women would be treated equally with men, and backing a switch from at-large municipal elections to district-based voting so that nonwhites would have a chance to serve. Under his sway, Nebraska led the nation in the 1980s in divesting in companies that did business with apartheid-era South Africa.</p>
<p>I can’t do Ernie Chambers justice in block quote form — <a href="/news/outfront/2006/01/importance_being_ernie.html" type="external">read Sara’s article in full</a> for a better picture of the man.</p>
<p>Here’s why I bring him up: he’s suing God. <a href="http://www.ketv.com/news/14133442/detail.html" type="external">For real</a>.</p>
<p>Chambers lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in Douglas County Court, seeks a permanent injunction ordering God to cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats.</p>
<p>The lawsuit admits God goes by all sorts of alias, names, titles and designations and it also recognizes the fact that the defendant is omnipresent.</p>
<p>In the lawsuit, Chambers said he’s tried to contact God numerous times…</p>
<p>[The lawsuit] says God has caused “fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects and the like.”</p>
<p>The suit also says God has caused “calamitous catastrophes resulting in the wide-spread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth’s inhabitants including innocent babes, infants, children, the aged and infirm without mercy or distinction.”</p>
<p>Chambers also says God “has manifested neither compassion nor remorse, proclaiming that defendant will laugh” when calamity comes.</p>
<p>Chambers is reportedly making a point about frivolous lawsuits, but I think he’s making a point about being awesome.</p>
<p>Update: Looks like Ernie Chambers reeeally chose the wrong situation to make his point, whatever it is. Read below to see the comments of Lundy, TheSoyMilkConspiracy, and elm.</p>
<p /> | Ernie Chambers, Nebraska’s Leading Hellraiser, Sues God | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/09/ernie-chambers-nebraskas-leading-hellraiser-sues-god/ | 2007-09-18 | 4 |
<p>Shawna Forde's Minutemen American Defense tattoo on her back, representing her organization. Forde created the Minutemen American Defense after falling out of graces with other Minutemen groups, but was working to reform alliances for one common goal. Forde organized a border muster month in October 2008 near Three Points in southern Arizona, near where other Minutemen groups were meeting. Despite Forde's efforts, very few of her members attended the muster and and no illegal immigrants were found by her members. Nonetheless Forde received much media attention from documentarians and foreign media while on the border.</p>
<p>Shawna Forde radios to members of the Minutemen American Defense who have gathered near Three Points in southern Arizona in October 2008.</p>
<p>Shawna Forde walks through the desert in high heels near the Arizona-Mexico border in October 2008.</p>
<p>Shawna Forde looks at an unknown form of identification found in a child's backpack while searching for illegal immigrant's trails in the desert near the US-Mexico border in October 2008.</p>
<p>Shawna Forde searches an abandoned trailer home for illegal immigrants and clues with her gun near the US-Mexico border in 2008. Forde accompanied a documentary videographer and myself through the trailer, preparing for danger with her handgun drawn.</p>
<p>Shawna Forde often wrote about her thoughts, beliefs and updates while on the Arizona-Mexico border in 2008.</p>
<p>Shawna Forde looks for clues in an old jacket while tracking illegal immigrants on the US-Mexico border in October 2008.</p>
<p>Shawna Forde searches for illegal immigrants with binoculars while on the US-Mexico border in Arizona.</p>
<p>Shawna Forde indicates the portion of the border she would like to concentrate on during the muster in October 2008. Arivaca, where Raul and Brisenia Flores were murdered, is directly between her two fingers.</p>
<p>Shawna Forde during an interview with international media near the Arizona-Mexico border in October 2008.</p> | Shawna Forde | true | https://thedailybeast.com/shawna-forde | 2018-10-07 | 4 |
<p>The Fore people of Papa New Guinea have a long and fascinating history but they are often known for only one thing: cannibalism. Well into the 20th century, these island natives would perform funeral rituals that involved eating the deceased – including their brain.</p>
<p>Yet, in the early 1900s, members of the tribe began to experience body tremors and uncontrolled bursts of laughter. This laughing sickness, known as kuru on the island, was in fact a degenerative neurological disease. There is no cure. Some two percent of the population would succumb to this each year. By the 1950s, the greatly reduced Fore people outlawed cannibalistic funeral rites.</p>
<p>Some Fore&#160;people survived the epidemic. When researchers began to examine how some people could eat human brains to their hearts content while others went mad, they discovered an interesting genetic mutation in the survivors. V127 provided protection against infectious prions – the proteins that fold abnormally on the brain, creating lesions or holes. Survivors with two copies of the mutation (one from the mother, one from the father) were twice as capable of resisting neurological disorders caused by prions such as mad cow disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, even dementia.</p>
<p>Researches crafted mice with the V127 genetic mutation. “From the human genetic work the Unit has carried out in Papua New Guinea we were expecting the mice to show some resistance to disease,” <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0615/110615-genetic-variation-prion" type="external">said</a> Dr. Emmanuel Asante, a lead researcher in the study. “However, we were surprised that the mice were completely protected from all human prion strains. The result could not have been clearer or more dramatic.”</p>
<p>Although kuru greatly reduced the population of the Fore people, a new study suggests that had the remaining islanders continued their traditional practices, a stronger, prion resistance population would have repopulated the island.</p>
<p>“This is a striking example of Darwinian evolution in humans,” <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0615/110615-genetic-variation-prion" type="external">said</a> Dr. John Collinge, the senior author of the study and a professor of neurodegenerative disease at University College London, “The epidemic of prion disease selecting a single genetic change that provided complete protection against an invariably fatal dementia.”</p>
<p>The scientists hope the revelations found in the Fore people will help find the root cause of dementia. With luck, their work may even give insights into finding a cure.</p>
<p /> | Zombies don’t get dementia. Eating human brains bolsters resistance | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/06/16/zombies-dont-get-dementia-eating-human-brains-bolsters-resistance/ | 2015-06-16 | 3 |
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<p>The BBC’s Andrew Marr interviewed Clinton, and the video of their discussion was released today. She said she was “shocked” and “appalled” by the allegations, and deflected her personal connections to him by stating “he’s been a funder for all of us, for Obama, for me, for people who run for office in the United States.”</p>
<p>She was then reminded of the adage about throwing stones in glass houses, after she tried to score a political point.</p>
<p>After discussing Weinstein, Hillary quickly turned the conversation to Trump, in an attempt to compare him to Weinstein. “We need to recognize that this behavior cannot be tolerated anywhere, whether it is in entertainment, politics, after all, we have someone admitting to being a sexual assaulter in the Oval Office,” she said.</p>
<p>After she added that Americans must stand against such sexism and misogyny, and in support of women, Marr did not hesitate. He immediately turned to the women who accused her husband of sexual assault. Several of those women were guests of Donald Trump at one of the presidential debates.</p>
<p>Clinton dismissed the comparison to her comparison. “That has all been litigated. That was subject of a huge investigation in the late 90s and there were conclusions drawn. That was clearly in the past.”</p>
<p>Marr did not challenge Clinton’s assertion that Trump had admitted to sexual assault. Trump’s statements, though offensive, were about consensual sexual contact. Then-candidate Trump said the comments were “locker room talk.”</p>
<p>Mrs Clinton is in the UK to promote her hand-wringing book about losing the presidential election.</p>
<p>She told Marr: ‘I was really shocked and appalled because I’ve known him through politics as many Democrats have.</p>
<p>‘He’s been a supporter – he’s been a funder for all of us, for Obama, for me, for people who have run for office in the United States.</p>
<p>‘So it was just disgusting and the stories that have come out are heartbreaking.</p>
<p>‘But I think that it’s important that we not just focus on him and whatever consequences flow from these stories about his behavior but that we recognize this kind of behavior cannot be tolerated anywhere, whether it’s in entertainment, politics. After all, we have someone admitting to being a sexual assaulter in the Oval Office. There has to be a recognition that we must stand against this kind of action that is so sexist and misogynistic. It is something that has to be taken seriously, for anyone not just in entertainment.”</p>
<p>Here is a video excerpt of the interview, from the BBC.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Hillary Clinton Calls President Trump An ‘Admitted Sexual Assaulter,’ But Says Husband Bill’s Sex Crimes Are ‘In The Past’ (VIDEO) | true | http://silenceisconsent.net/hillary-clinton-calls-president-trump-admitted-sexual-assaulter-husband-bills-sex-crimes-past-video/ | 2018-05-04 | 0 |
<p>It’s Election Day, and I can’t stop thinking of John Kennedy O’Hara, whose sad and bizarre tale in the polling places and the courtrooms of New York ought to be a warning to all Americans. His story is simple: O’Hara, who grew up and lives still in Brooklyn, New York, was a good citizen. He voted in every election he was eligible to vote in since the age of 18 – it was a point of pride for a once geeky civics student who when he was just 11 years old handed out fliers for George McGovern – and as a young man he tried to run for office, tried to better the system. Five times he ran unsuccessfully, for the New York city council and the New York state Assembly. As thanks for his effort, the earnest kid became, on the cusp of middle age, a disbarred attorney and convicted felon, an official second-class citizen whose future had been seemingly forever darkened. And the decade-long prosecution in the case of the People vs. John O’Hara now has some chilling ramifications for each of the 11 million or so people eligible to vote today across New York. It means they, like O’Hara, could face felony prosecution for stepping into a voting booth. In fact, anyone who might vote anywhere in the United States today could find themselves with a prosecutor on their tail.</p>
<p>It’s been four and a half years since I came to know O’Hara, a one-time rising Wall Street lawyer who at 44 is now bankrupted and jobless. When in April 2001 he telephoned my office in the editorial page department of the Albany Times Union, the paper of record in the state capitol, he was alternately articulate and earnest, desperate and incredible, at once deadly serious about his plight and unable to keep from laughing at its absurdities. It turned out this stranger on the phone, who reassured me this wasn’t some crazy hoax, had clashed with the Democratic bosses in Brooklyn just often enough that the bosses had to make an example of him. His most unforgivable act of rebellion in the backbiting world of Brooklyn machine politics was to demand in court that the U.S. Department of Justice step in and order the suspension and rescheduling of the Democratic primary election in 1996. The ’96 voting, such as it was, had been a fiasco, with tens of thousands of voters disenfranchised. Voting machines throughout Brooklyn arrived as late as ten hours after polls were supposed to open. The Village Voice called it “the worst electoral debacle in modern city history” and a federal judge reviewing the case – finally ordering a new election – wondered whether the election had been purposely stolen (much as some people still suspect, with no small supply of evidence, that those 20 electoral votes at stake in Ohio last year were similarly commandeered). It was a lawsuit by O’Hara that brought about a new election. His heroism left him more of an enemy than ever to the Brooklyn establishment. An aide to Brooklyn State Assemblyman James Brennan, a particular nemesis of O’Hara’s, told a reporter seven years later, “John O’Hara deserved some sort of street justice; that’s what a lot of people wanted to mete out.” A month after the electoral debacle of September of 1996, O’Hara was indicted. The same aide to Brennan tried to defend the indefensible this way: “If there was anybody who should have been selectively prosecuted, it was John Kennedy O’Hara.”</p>
<p>His arrest had come at the hands of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles “Joe” Hynes, a powerhouse prosecutor who served Brooklyn’s political bosses. The charge was a strange one: O’Hara had voted from what prosecutors contended was an illegal residence. It was the address of his then-girlfriend, fourteen blocks away from an apartment he’d kept for almost 25 years. O’Hara says, to this day, that he was effectively, and legally, living in both apartments. But he was voting from just one of them. The evidence backed that up, with financial records and testimony from neighbors attesting that he frequently stayed at the address in question. The district attorney’s office, however, insisted that the girlfriend’s address was a sham that failed to meet the legal standard of a “principal and permanent residence to which [he] had always intended to return,” as the court record put it.</p>
<p>A five-years ordeal of conviction, reversal, reinstatement and appeal – three trials in all – left O’Hara guilty of a felony, stripped of his license to practice law (his means of survival), fined $20,000, sentenced to five years probation and 1,500 hours of community service. He had been reduced by political attrition to a life that only faintly resembled all that he had aspired to through college and law school and his rebellious, abortive career as a politician.</p>
<p>On that April day of 2001, O’Hara was making his pitch to me at the editorial board — a common enough act of last resort – because his case was pending before the highest court in New York, the oddly and perhaps misleadingly named Court of Appeals. O’Hara took a special delight in pointing out that he was the first person to be successfully prosecuted for illegal voting in New York since 1873. His compatriot in crime, he gleefully told me, was Susan B. Anthony.</p>
<p>O’Hara’s story checked out. So the Times Union ran with an editorial urging the court to stop an abuse of justice that had rendered what was unbelievable into something unforgivable. The editorial boards of the New York Daily News and the New York Sun – not exactly papers itching to side with the likes of O’Hara against an often-vengeful prosecutor like Hynes – followed with denunciations of the case. Even Harper’s Magazine published an 8,000-word cover story on O’Hara’s saga.</p>
<p>But O’Hara’s plea to the high court fell on deaf ears among the justices at the Court of Appeals, who, incredibly, upheld his conviction. Since then, the injustice has been magnified by the indifference to it. The New York Times editorial page has never said a word about him. Neither Howell Raines nor his successor as editorial page editor, Gail Collins, appear the least bit troubled that the precincts of Brooklyn are home to a political prisoner.</p>
<p>Today, O’Hara fights on, in a struggle ever more daunting. The setbacks accumulate – the Supreme Court declined to hear the case in January of 2004, and a New York State judge last month rejected his claim of selective prosecution – while his legal options erode. O’Hara is left paying his public penance cleaning out garbage cans in a city park, across the street from where he went to high school and unrecognized by the people whose votes he used to seek.</p>
<p>Election day, of course, is depressing enough, given the miserable voter turn-out and the near 100 percent incumbency of so many legislatures (the worst example probably being the U.S. Congress). O’Hara’s case makes it even more so. Today marks one more election in which O’Hara can’t vote. It’s an indignity that rivals any other miserable lesson about American politics.</p>
<p>When I last interviewed O’Hara, in September, two things stood out in the kitchen of his apartment. There was the usual pile of weeks-old and months-old beer cans, and there was a voting notice from the New York City Board of Elections. The city government still had him on the list of citizens entrusted with enfranchisement.</p>
<p>O’Hara could legitimately be among those voters, if only he’d given in just a bit. Indeed, People vs. O’Hara could have been plea-bargained down to a misdemeanor and would today be long-settled and forgotten. But O’Hara felt that he had no choice but to stand his ground. He couldn’t stomach the example he’d otherwise be setting. What might DA Hynes and the corrupt elected officials he served do next?</p>
<p>O’Hara’s legacy, of one legal defeat after another, carries its own legal precedent, of course – one that goes well beyond Brooklyn. Clearly, voters can now be prosecuted anywhere in New York State, if they can’t prove something as chimerical as a “principal and permanent residence.” By refusing to hear O’Hara’s case, the Supreme Court brought national implications to his plight. What happened in New York conceivably could happen elsewhere.</p>
<p>Bennett Gershman, a Pace University law professor, recognized as much two years ago as O’Hara awaited word of his last-ditch appeal. The lesson for anyone involved in the political system in New York, he said, is, “There but for the grace of God go I.”</p>
<p>The polling place where I vote in Albany is not more than a few blocks from the state capitol where he had hoped to serve. Such aspirations have left him, at just 44, a battered man.</p>
<p>If that doesn’t frighten you, what does?</p>
<p>JIM McGRATH is the chief editorial writer for the Albany Times Union. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Voter Beware | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/11/08/voter-beware/ | 2005-11-08 | 4 |
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<p>Well, this is interesting. Glenn Beck, that champion of liberty and individual rights, that guy who hates government takeovers of health care and rails routinely about it, is threatening to move to Canada.</p>
<p>I apologize to all Canadians in advance if he actually does it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/glenn-beck-considers-moving-canada-obama-administration-revolutionaries-start-scoop-people" type="external">RightWingWatch</a>:</p>
<p>Last week, Glenn Beck warned that the Obama administration is led by “ <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/beck-obama-administration-will-commit-mass-killings-following-monument-closure" type="external">Marxist revolutionaries</a>” who are preparing to kill millions of people. Today, he announced that he is considering escaping the Marxist plot…by moving to Canada.</p>
<p>Beck recounted a conversation he had with co-host Pat Gray about fleeing the country: “Pat said to me a little while ago, ‘If you’re serious, I might take you up on that move to Canada thing.’ I mean I really sincerely thought this weekend, you know, maybe it’s time to move to Canada.”“Maybe it’s time to move to Canada because these people are not screwing around,” Beck said. “You don’t think they’re going to scoop people up? They will. They’re revolutionaries. Look at everything they do, they’re revolutionaries, pure and simple.”</p>
<p>While I started this post with some tongue-in-cheek snark, I do see a serious and far darker undertone here. Canada, after all, has universal single-payer health insurance. In that regard, it is a far more radical country than this one. So what exactly is it about the Obama administration that Beck regards as revolutionary?</p>
<p>I think we can go all the way back to his days on Fox News when he <a href="" type="internal">declared</a> that President Obama had a deep-seated hatred for white people, don't you?</p>
<p>The only "revolutionary" thing about this president is his race. That's why Glenn Beck is willing to sacrifice his principles to move to a country with single payer universal healthcare.</p> | Glenn Beck Considers Move To Canada | true | http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/glenn-beck-considers-move-canada | 2013-10-08 | 4 |
<p>UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to extend cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid to Syrians in rebel-held areas without Syrian government approval.</p>
<p>The resolution, sponsored by Australia, Jordan and Luxembourg, expresses grave distress at the "devastating humanitarian situation" and the fact that 12.2 million Syrians require urgent assistance including medical aid. They include 7.6 million people displaced inside Syria, 4.5 million in hard-to-reach areas and 212,000 in besieged areas.</p>
<p>"This is the biggest single humanitarian crisis the world faces at the moment," Australia's U.N. Ambassador Gary Quinlan said after the vote.</p>
<p>The resolution extends until Jan. 10, 2016 the authorization for U.N. agencies and aid organizations that assist them to deliver humanitarian assistance without approval from President Bashar Assad's government across conflict lines between government and rebel forces, and through four border crossings — two in Turkey, one in Iraq and one in Jordan. One crossing from Iraq, now controlled by extremists, has never been used.</p>
<p>The U.N.'s decision in July to authorize the movement of aid into war-torn Syria without Assad's consent was heralded as unprecedented, and marked the first time that humanitarian need trumped a nation's sovereignty.</p>
<p>So far, however, the number of people who have benefited from aid delivered under terms of the resolution is in the hundreds of thousands, not the 2.9 million people the U.N. humanitarian office said could be helped if security allowed.</p>
<p>Quinlan blamed the impediments and restrictions of the Syrian government for the failure to deliver large quantities of aid.</p>
<p>"There's very little we've been able to do. It's just obvious," Quinlan said. "Ultimately, there will be accountability. The council will make sure of that."</p>
<p>Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said his fellow ambassadors were "lying" when they said the Syrian government had not been cooperating with aid efforts.</p>
<p>Despite the low number of people getting aid, U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos urged the Security Council to extend the mandate for cross-border deliveries because the U.N. has gotten aid to nearly all hard-to-reach locations in four governorates.</p>
<p>UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to extend cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid to Syrians in rebel-held areas without Syrian government approval.</p>
<p>The resolution, sponsored by Australia, Jordan and Luxembourg, expresses grave distress at the "devastating humanitarian situation" and the fact that 12.2 million Syrians require urgent assistance including medical aid. They include 7.6 million people displaced inside Syria, 4.5 million in hard-to-reach areas and 212,000 in besieged areas.</p>
<p>"This is the biggest single humanitarian crisis the world faces at the moment," Australia's U.N. Ambassador Gary Quinlan said after the vote.</p>
<p>The resolution extends until Jan. 10, 2016 the authorization for U.N. agencies and aid organizations that assist them to deliver humanitarian assistance without approval from President Bashar Assad's government across conflict lines between government and rebel forces, and through four border crossings — two in Turkey, one in Iraq and one in Jordan. One crossing from Iraq, now controlled by extremists, has never been used.</p>
<p>The U.N.'s decision in July to authorize the movement of aid into war-torn Syria without Assad's consent was heralded as unprecedented, and marked the first time that humanitarian need trumped a nation's sovereignty.</p>
<p>So far, however, the number of people who have benefited from aid delivered under terms of the resolution is in the hundreds of thousands, not the 2.9 million people the U.N. humanitarian office said could be helped if security allowed.</p>
<p>Quinlan blamed the impediments and restrictions of the Syrian government for the failure to deliver large quantities of aid.</p>
<p>"There's very little we've been able to do. It's just obvious," Quinlan said. "Ultimately, there will be accountability. The council will make sure of that."</p>
<p>Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said his fellow ambassadors were "lying" when they said the Syrian government had not been cooperating with aid efforts.</p>
<p>Despite the low number of people getting aid, U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos urged the Security Council to extend the mandate for cross-border deliveries because the U.N. has gotten aid to nearly all hard-to-reach locations in four governorates.</p> | UN extends cross-border aid delivery to Syria for a year | false | https://apnews.com/amp/84382baa72d947d092b57bc22699f042 | 2014-12-17 | 2 |
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<p>For the first time, prospective employers as well as colleges are prohibited from requiring applicants to provide account information and passwords to social-media sites such as Facebook as part of the application process. We have seen social-media sites explode in popularity over the last few years and some of our past discussions have centered around how these sites have become a regular source of damaging information and admissions against interest for many people and a substantial source of evidence in divorce and criminal cases.</p>
<p>While the new law prohibits prospective employers or education administrators from requiring applicants provide access, it does not prevent them from utilizing information which is otherwise obtained legally – for example, by someone with an axe to grind and access to your page. Nor does the new law prohibit an employer from monitoring social-media activities of its established employees or from setting policies governing employees’ activities. In addition, courts now routinely issue subpoenas for the production of social-media content in various types of litigation from divorce to criminal prosecutions. Even with this new law, it’s a good idea to think before you post. Then think again.</p>
<p>The Fair Pay for Women Act also went into effect on July 1, and requires those who employ more than four people pay the same rates to women as they do to men. The New Mexico Human Rights Act has prohibited actions which ” discriminate in matters of compensation … because of … sex” since 1969, and federal law has prohibited pay-based gender discrimination since 1963, but the 2010 U.S. Census shows women continue to be paid less than men for similar work in many areas of the economy. Differentials in pay as a result of seniority, merit systems, and performance-based or commissioned employment are not affected.</p>
<p>New Mexico’s newest wage-equality legislation gives workers’ direct access to state court and waives filing fees and other court costs. The prevailing worker may be awarded reinstatement to employment, back pay and attorney’s fees. The court may also award treble damages or punitive damages in cases where the employer has acted intentionally or in bad faith. Critics point out that no provision exists for costs and fees to be recovered by employers who successfully defend against a fair-pay claim and that the act will only duplicate efforts and encourage frivolous lawsuits.</p>
<p>With the gravity of these examples, we might overlook some less-weighty legal provisions, but my research has lead me to one I think we should share. It’s not a new law, but its import may be significant given the unfortunate level of today’s political debate.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Article VII, Section 1 of the New Mexico Constitution was adopted in 1911 and provides “Every U.S. citizen over … twenty-one … (who) has resided in New Mexico twelve months … not preceding the election, except idiots … shall be qualified to vote ….” Unfortunately, the Constitution does not help us determine who would be unqualified to vote under Article VII so we’re left to rely on experts and pundits for guidance, or for concrete examples of the unqualified.</p>
<p>Before too many of you ask me, no, Article VII does not disqualify idiots from serving in public office, only from voting. And yes, Article VII might prohibit some people from voting for themselves.</p>
<p>U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-94) once said, “Pretty much all law consists in forbidding men to do some things that they want to do.” American society, some say, is overly burdened and hopelessly complicated by too many, too complex, laws. Others argue our legal system comes closest to equalizing the strongest and weakest amongst us by providing an open public forum for dispute resolution. The first week in July also marked the 237th birthday of our great experiment in self-government. How successful our experiment is proving to be is something you can “Judge for Yourself.”</p>
<p>Alan M. Malott is a judge of the 2nd Judicial District Court. Before joining the court, he practiced law throughout New Mexico for 30 years and was a nationally certified civil trial specialist. If you have questions, send them to Judge Malott, P.O. Box 8305, Albuquerque, NM 87198 or email to: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Opinions expressed here are solely those of Judge Malott individually and not those of the court.</p> | Slew of new laws takes effect, from social media to fair pay | false | https://abqjournal.com/221309/slew-of-new-laws-takes-effect-from-social-media-to-fair-pay.html | 2013-07-15 | 2 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />NEW YORK — T-Mobile US Inc. has another suitor on its hands. Upstart French telecom company Iliad SA on Thursday said it has offered $15 billion for a majority stake in the fourth-largest U.S. cellphone company.</p>
<p>Iliad is injecting itself into the courtship of T-Mobile and Sprint Corp., the No. 3 U.S. cellphone carrier. Sprint has reportedly been in talks with T-Mobile for months, but no deal has been announced. Analysts believe U.S. regulators are likely to block the T-Mobile/Sprint pairing due to concerns that it would reduce competition and thus raise prices for consumers.</p>
<p>Iliad is much smaller than T-Mobile US, and it doesn’t have the financial might to buy the whole company. It’s offering $15 billion in cash for 57 percent of T-Mobile US, at $33 per share. T-Mobile US didn’t immediately comment on the report. Iliad said it did not have a response from T-Mobile’s board.</p>
<p>T-Mobile shares jumped $2.07, or 6.7 percent, to $33.01 after Iliad’s announcement, indicating that investors believe there’s some chance of an improved offer, either from Iliad or Sprint.</p>
<p>T-Mobile US is controlled by Deutsche Telekom AG of Germany, which owns 67 percent of the stock. A similar portion of Sprint’s stock is owned by Softbank Corp. of Japan.</p>
<p>Iliad noted that its offer would not raise the same antitrust concerns that come with a Sprint deal, and that Iliad and T-Mobile US are both industry mavericks. Under CEO John Legere, T-Mobile US has thrown out the standard two-year service contract and introduced new plans that allow for more frequent phone upgrades, a move quickly copied by the larger carriers. Iliad broke onto the French scene with the Freebox, a unit that combines Internet access, TV and phone service over broadband lines. In 2012, it started offering cellphone service as well.</p>
<p>Iliad has 5.7 million broadband subscribers and 8.6 million wireless subscribers. T-Mobile US has 50.5 million subscribers on its wireless network.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | French company Iliad bidding for T-Mobile US | false | https://abqjournal.com/438454/french-company-iliad-bidding-for-t-mobile-us.html | 2 |
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<p>TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — Jordan Barnes buried 4 of 5 from 3-point range and scored 18 with five rebounds, three assists and two steals to propel Indiana State to a 73-64 victory over Valparaiso on Thursday night in a Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams.</p>
<p>Brenton Scott tossed in 15 points and Qiydar Davis chipped in with 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Sycamores (6-7), who trailed 30-27 at halftime.</p>
<p>Bakari Evelyn had 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting from long range, but the rest of the Crusaders (9-5) made just 3 of 19 attempts from beyond the arc. Tevonn Walker added 19 points and five boards, but he hit just 2 of 10 3-pointers. Max Joseph came off the bench to score 13 and grab seven rebounds. Valpo joined the MVC this season.</p>
<p>The game was tied at 50 with a little over eight minutes to play, but Barnes hit two 3s in a 10-2 run and Indiana State led 60-53. Scott hit a 3 to push the lead to 10 and Valparaiso never got closer than six points down the stretch.</p>
<p>TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — Jordan Barnes buried 4 of 5 from 3-point range and scored 18 with five rebounds, three assists and two steals to propel Indiana State to a 73-64 victory over Valparaiso on Thursday night in a Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams.</p>
<p>Brenton Scott tossed in 15 points and Qiydar Davis chipped in with 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Sycamores (6-7), who trailed 30-27 at halftime.</p>
<p>Bakari Evelyn had 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting from long range, but the rest of the Crusaders (9-5) made just 3 of 19 attempts from beyond the arc. Tevonn Walker added 19 points and five boards, but he hit just 2 of 10 3-pointers. Max Joseph came off the bench to score 13 and grab seven rebounds. Valpo joined the MVC this season.</p>
<p>The game was tied at 50 with a little over eight minutes to play, but Barnes hit two 3s in a 10-2 run and Indiana State led 60-53. Scott hit a 3 to push the lead to 10 and Valparaiso never got closer than six points down the stretch.</p> | Indiana State holds off Valparaiso in MVC opener | false | https://apnews.com/4bec3fa780d044a5af174da4e87fa1c2 | 2017-12-29 | 2 |
<p>(City Hall) — Mayor elect Bob Filner will be the second mayor to serve San Diego under the city’s relatively young Strong Mayor system. The city switched from the City Manager government to the current Strong Mayor form on January 1, 2006.&#160;Under the new system the Mayor is the City’s Chief Executive Officer, functioning similar to the governor or the president. The council will operate as the legislative body, ensuring a system of checks-and-balances on Filner.</p>
<p>San Diego Strong Mayor, <a href="http://http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/San_Diego_Strong_Mayor,_Measure_D_(June_2010)" type="external">Measure D</a>, passed on the June 8, 2010 with&#160;82,162 “yes” votes (60.53%), as opposed to&#160;53,581 “no” votes (39.47%). Obviously San Diegans voted for their city to be run a certain way, but many may have forgotten as to what it entails.</p>
<p>Operating as CEO of the city, Filner will be involved in the management of daily city operations, will be responsible for drafting the FY2014 budget, as well as head up labor negotiations. City council is responsible for the ratification of the budget, so they have final say in budgetary and land use issues.</p>
<p>Measure D read on the June 8, 2010 ballot:</p>
<p>“Shall the charter be revised to make permanent the Strong Mayor form of governance; add a Ninth council seat; and, when the ninth seat is filled, increase the Council votes required to override a mayoral veto to a two-thirds vote?”</p>
<p>Mayor Jerry Sanders, along with attorney John Davies, were avid supporters of the measure. Sanders felt that under the City Manager system of San Diego government, that all power resided in city council.</p>
<p>The ratification of Measure D, as well as all prior Strong Mayor legislature, makes for the five year experiment period. Not only is the system of governance permanent, but also adds a ninth seat to the City Council changing the override of a mayoral veto from a simple majority to two-thirds the vote.</p>
<p>This past March 20 saw some more stipulations added to the Strong Mayor system. In a unanimous vote by city council, Mayor Elect Filner will be able to negotiate contracts up to $30 million. This is a vast difference from the prior ceiling, which was set at $1million during Mayor Sanders tenure. Of this $30 million, 99% of upcoming city projects will be covered.</p>
<p>Mayor elect Filner certainly has a steady role to play in December. It will take an adjustment period, as Mayor Sanders will be actively participating in the transition, all the while serving as CEO of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce .</p> | A Closer Look at San Diego's Strong Mayor System | false | https://ivn.us/2012/11/12/a-closer-look-at-san-diegos-strong-mayor-system/ | 2012-11-12 | 2 |
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<p>Mid-tier Canadian miner Kirkland Lake Gold said on Friday its shareholders voted heavily in favor of its takeover of Newmarket Gold, confirming a Reuters story on Thursday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The deal was backed by 82.6 percent of votes cast by shareholders of Toronto-based Kirkland Lake and over 99 percent of votes cast by shareholders of Vancouver-based Newmarket Gold, the companies said in a statement.</p>
<p>To succeed, the deal needed support from at least two-thirds of Kirkland Lake shares and more than half of Newmarket's shares. The all-stock transaction, valued at some C$1 billion ($739.75 million) when announced Sept. 29, is expected to close Nov. 30.</p>
<p>Sources had told Reuters on Thursday that over 80 percent of Kirkland Lake shares and 90 percent of Newmarket shares were voted in favor of the deal.</p>
<p>Van Eck Associates, Kirkland Lake's biggest shareholder with nearly 17 percent of its shares, reaffirmed its support of the deal to Reuters earlier this week, but declined to specify how it voted.</p>
<p>Some investors and analysts criticized the combination of companies because they saw no apparent efficiency or growth opportunities with Kirkland Lake's assets in Canada and Newmarket's in Australia.</p>
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<p>Some shareholders worried that Kirkland Lake too hastily rejected three joint offers by Gold Fields and Silver Standard Resources to acquire Kirkland Lake. The two withdrew their offer on Nov. 18.</p>
<p>Executives at Kirkland Lake and Newmarket have said that their merger will create a larger company that drives increased analyst coverage and valuation.</p>
<p>The combined company will operate seven underground mines and five mills, which produced more than 500,000 ounces of gold in 2016. Output is anchored by Kirkland Lake's Macassa mine in Ontario and Newmarket's Fosterville mine in Victoria, Australia.</p>
<p>The acquisition follows Kirkland Lake's purchase of St Andrew Goldfields earlier this year. That stock transaction, valued at about C$178 million, created a company with four mines and two mills in Ontario.</p>
<p>Shares of Kirkland Lake fell 1.6 percent to C$7.18 on the Toronto Stock Exchange and Newmarket stock dipped 0.3 percent to C$3.42 after the results were announced on Friday.</p>
<p>(With additional reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Marguerita Choy)</p> | Kirkland Lake Gold shareholders approve Newmarket takeover | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/25/kirkland-lake-gold-shareholders-approve-newmarket-takeover.html | 2016-11-25 | 0 |
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<p>Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is one of just four Dow stocks that's trading lower so far in 2016. The retailer's business, though, continues to set new highs across a wide range of operating and financial metrics. Below are a few of the figures that stood out from the company's just-closed <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/16/ticker-coveragehome-depot-inc-earnings-spike-on-gr.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">third quarter Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>5.9%: Home Depot's most closely watched metric is comparable-store sales, and this quarter marked an acceleration of growth. Sales at existing location rose by nearly 6%, compared to 5% in the prior quarter. Rival Lowe's (NYSE: LOW), by contrast, <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/17/2-ways-home-depot-inc-just-trounced-rival-lowes.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">only managed a 3% comps uptick Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>3.1%: The company didn't enjoy much of an uptick in customer traffic this quarter, as the growth pace held steady at about 2%. Home Depot is on track to slow significantly this year from the 4% traffic gains it enjoyed over each of the past two fiscal years. However, average spending per customer jumped 3% in the third quarter, which made all the difference. Big transactions, those valued at $900 or more, surged 11% as the company continued to make market share gains with pro customers.</p>
<p>5.6%: E-commerce sales rose 17% and now account for just under 6% of Home Depot's business, far more than many other national retailers. Target's (NYSE: TGT) comparable metric, for example, is 3.5%. Home Depot has made <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/09/22/why-home-depot-inc-needed-a-new-16-million-square.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">aggressive bets Opens a New Window.</a> on this sales channel over the past few years and plans to continue investing heavily on raising its game. Its major initiative over the next few months will be the rollout of its buy-online, ship-from-store functionality.</p>
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<p>14.5%: Home Depot's profits are growing at a much faster clip than sales. As a result, profitability just touched a new high, with operating margin reaching 14.5% over the past nine months. Compare that to Lowe's 8%, or Target's 7%.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/LOW/operating_margin_ttm" type="external">LOW Operating Margin (TTM)</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>$7 billion: After hinting at the idea over the last few quarters, executives finally decided to boost Home Depot's 2016 share repurchase spending target to $7 billion from $5 billion. The company has plenty of cash to fund the move, but management instead chose to take advantage of historically low interest rates to take on an extra $2 billion of debt.</p>
<p>The aggressive share buyback trend has supercharged profit growth for investors: Per-share earnings spiked by 19% this quarter even though total net earnings rose by 14%.</p>
<p>$2.6 billion: Home Depot has paid $2.6 billion in dividends over the last nine months, compared to $2.3 billion over the prior-year period. For the full year, the figure should easily pass $3.5 billion, or more than it generated in total net earnings just five years ago. That's a testament to the retailer's market-thumping profit growth and <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/24/a-close-look-at-home-depot-incs-dividend.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">unusually generous dividend policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>$7.9 billion: Operating cash flow is up to nearly $8 billion over the past nine months from $7.4 billion last year. That gushing fund source provides plenty of ammunition for investments in the business, as well as for capital returns to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks.</p>
<p>29%: Home Depot's <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/27/1-number-that-shows-home-depot-is-an-unusually-str.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">return on invested capital Opens a New Window.</a>, a critical measure of management efficiency, surged by 3 percentage points to reach 29% of sales. That's enough to put the company in second place among the 30 members of the Dow, just behind Boeingand its 34% ROIC.</p>
<p>5%: The company affirmed its full-year sales outlook that calls for 5% higher comps, implying continued market share gains against Lowe's, whose management projects roughly 4% comps over the same period. The fourth quarter will likely be Home Depot's toughest of the year, but mainly because it is up against such a hard comparison against the prior-year period. Last year's final quarter was marked by the warmest December on record, which helped the company book an incredible 9% comps improvement.</p>
<p>If you're squinting to look for bad news in this report, you might focus on Home Depot's slowing customer traffic trends that imply an end to its heady days of 4% annual growth.Yet the company is still soaking up market share, and its overall report is packed with about as much good news as a shareholder could hope for from one of the nation's largest retailers.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Home Depot When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=24c1236c-8bad-491a-93b9-4cc47354ad80&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">ten best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Home Depot wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=24c1236c-8bad-491a-93b9-4cc47354ad80&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of November 7, 2016</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSigma/info.aspx" type="external">Demitrios Kalogeropoulos Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Home Depot. The Motley Fool recommends Home Depot. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 9 Key Numbers From Home Depot Inc.'s Third Quarter | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/22/key-numbers-from-home-depot-inc-third-quarter.html | 2016-11-22 | 0 |
<p>The global airline industry expects its profits to leap to a record high next year, helped by strong passenger demand, increased efficiency and a continued fall in jet fuel prices.</p>
<p>The International Air Transport Association forecasts 2015 will bring $25 billion in net profit — well above the $19.9 billion this year and the $10.6 billion in 2013 and $6.1 billion made in 2012.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>That is based on a forecast that the price of oil will average $85 per barrel. On Wednesday, the U.S. contract was trading below $63 a barrel.</p>
<p>The Geneva-based group, which represents 240 airlines, or 84 percent of total air traffic, said profit margins on expected revenues of $783 billion are due to remain tight — only 3.2 percent, just up from 3.1 percent in 2010.</p> | Airlines forecast huge profit rise to $25 billion in 2015 with continued fall in oil prices | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/12/10/airlines-forecast-huge-profit-rise-to-25-billion-in-2015-with-continued-fall-in.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p>NJBiz.com NJBiz is reporting that Newhouse Newspapers has decided to stop publishing the <a href="http://www.nj.com/times/" type="external">Times</a> as a separate newspaper and will fold its newsgathering operations into the Star-Ledger. Two Newhouse employees tell Romenesko that the report is wrong. "They’re consolidating some operations, that's all," says one. UPDATE: NJBiz.com has corrected its story. &gt; <a href="" type="internal">Read Newhouse's release on the consolidation plans (Romenesko Misc.)</a></p> | Newhouse sources say report on Trenton Times is wrong | false | https://poynter.org/news/newhouse-sources-say-report-trenton-times-wrong | 2006-01-24 | 2 |
<p>This year, Sacha Baron Cohen can thank the Academy Awards for giving his latest politically flavored comedy, “The Dictator,” some excellent free publicity. Not that he didn’t engineer it himself.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, Deadline Hollywood doyenne Nikki Finke reported that Baron Cohen had been “banned” from Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, even though he’s one of the stars of Martin Scorsese’s highly acclaimed “Hugo,” because the British prankster wanted to show up in full “Dictator” regalia. Engaging in this kind of sartorial spoof, evidently, would fly in the face of austere academy regulations — in other words, that’s just not done.</p>
<p>Except, as Finke pointed out in her column, it kind of is. Now the Oscar planners risk coming off like stuffy fuddy-duddies, and Baron Cohen could enjoy a big PR boost for his new movie simply by not showing up. Or, if the academy backs down, he gets to plug his project in character. Either way, he wins. –KA</p>
<p>Nikki Finke in Deadline Hollywood:</p>
<p />
<p>The Dictator is a spoof about the “heroic story of a Middle Eastern dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy never comes to the country he so lovingly oppressed”. Whether the fact that the 84th Academy Awards will be beamed into 200 countries had anything to do with this ban is unclear. But it is highly unusual for the Academy to pull a member’s tickets. An Oscars spokesperson acknowledged to Deadline yesterday: ”We would hope that every studio knows that this is a bad idea. The Red Carpet is not about stunting.” Oh really? Then why did Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park crossdress down the Red Carpet as J-Lo and Gwyneth Paltrow in evening gowns in 2000? Or Ben Stiller appear as an Oscar presenter in full blue Avatar makeup and hair in 2010?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/sacha-baron-cohen-banned-from-oscars-exclusive/" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Sacha Baron Cohen's 'Dictator' Act Not Welcome at the Oscars | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/sacha-baron-cohens-dictator-act-not-welcome-at-the-oscars/ | 2012-02-23 | 4 |
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<p>The Ghost Inside members had their eyes open during tours to less-fortunate places, such as small cities in Africa. (Courtesy of Justin Hartley)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jonathan Vigil was feeling stagnant and contemplating where life was taking him when writing for The Ghost Inside’s new album “Dear Youth.”</p>
<p>But don’t expect the album, which was released earlier this week, to be a sappy memoir. “Dear Youth” is heavy, melodic hardcore about strength, standing your ground and staying true to your convictions.</p>
<p>“When it came time to write for this record, I was in a different place,” Vigil, the frontman for The Ghost Inside, said. “I felt myself getting older and it was kind of hard to deal with. I felt that the band over the years has progressed a lot, but my home life and who I am as a person back home hasn’t changed much. I’m now 31 and the past 10 years have gone in a blink of an eye and I have friends and family getting married and having kids. Not that I’m complaining, it’s just hard to feel that I am not going to have more than this.”</p>
<p>Writing a letter to his former self about youthful ambition helped Vigil remember the feeling of being young, he said. He released the letter publicly to encourage the band’s younger fan base to forever retain their youthful ambition.</p>
<p>“Over the years, doors kept closing and something kept me going and I think it was being in that mindset,” Vigil said. “I may be older but have a youthful outlook. … I wanted to target the youth when writing to tell them there is still hope.”</p>
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<p>Touring the world for the past several years also put things into perspective for Vigil. The tours, which took the band to some less-fortunate areas including small cities in Africa, made an impression on Vigil and spawned the song on the new album, “The Other Half.”</p>
<p>“I noticed going to some of these less well-off countries how little they need to be happy,” he said. “You see kids in the street kicking a soccer ball, and in America if they don’t have the newest iPhone and things like that (they’re unhappy). Material stuff doesn’t matter there. It’s eye-opening seeing the other half and knowing people who are so happy with so little, and then you see people who have so much going for them be so unhappy.”</p>
<p /> | Stay true: The Ghost Inside goes within to look at age | false | https://abqjournal.com/499439/albuquerque-metal-8.html | 2 |
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<p><a href="http://pienews.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/MW-CG870_jobs_g_20140606084326_MG.jpg" type="external" />The U.S. created 217,000 jobs in May. WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of new U.S. jobs created in May slowed a bit after a big gain in April, but the brisk pace of hiring still pointed to a spring revival in the economy. The U.S. created 217,000 nonfarm jobs [?]</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-gains-217000-new-jobs-in-may-2014-06-06?dist=beforebell" type="external">Click here to view original web page at www.marketwatch.com</a></p>
<p /> | Unemployment Rate Stays At 6.3% | true | http://politicalillusionsexposed.com/u-s-gains-217000-new-jobs-in-may/ | 0 |
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<p>An innocuous Twitter comment Wednesday by game show host Pat Sajak set off a debate over who ranks as the worst secretary of state in recent history.</p>
<p>Sajak started the conversation by tweeting:</p>
<p>John Kerry has traveled more with less to show for it than anyone since the 1962 New York Mets.</p>
<p>— Pat Sajak (@patsajak) <a href="https://twitter.com/patsajak/statuses/494482211672829952" type="external">July 30, 2014</a></p>
<p>There were many who agreed with Sajak in the John Kerry corner, tweeting:</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/patsajak" type="external">@patsajak</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LibertyBelleCJL" type="external">@LibertyBelleCJL</a> imagine if John f’ing Kerry had been elected president in 2004; the world would have ended years ago — Western_Veteran (@Western_Veteran) <a href="https://twitter.com/Western_Veteran/statuses/494495246399463424" type="external">July 30, 2014</a></p>
<p>But not so fast, Kerry has competition, according to these tweets:</p>
<p>Looks like a tossup. These two get the last word:</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/patsajak" type="external">@patsajak</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/secretkiska" type="external">@secretkiska</a> hey, the ’62 Mets won a few games, don’t insult them.</p>
<p>— Andrew Martin (@StheAntagonist) <a href="https://twitter.com/StheAntagonist/statuses/494622528791248896" type="external">July 30, 2014</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Watch what these elephants do when bomb siren goes off in Israel</a></p> | Pat Sajak sparks Twitter debate over the worst secretary of state | true | http://bizpacreview.com/2014/08/01/pat-sajak-sparks-twitter-debate-over-the-worst-secretary-of-state-135617 | 2014-08-01 | 0 |
<p>Few expect Congress to say No to President Bush’s $87 billion request for the war in Iraq that he said was over. Decent Americans don’t want to abandon the Iraqi people. But we should get more for our money than a guerilla war, and we should limit the risk of being misled into further, unnecessary conflicts. One way is for Congress to attach conditions to any funding:</p>
<p>– Fire Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz. They cried – and lied – the loudest for war. They promised an easy liberation and ridiculed experienced military brass’s warnings against underestimating the difficulties of war.</p>
<p>– Ditto for Secretary of State Colin Powell. He’s portrayed as reasonable, but his February 5, 2003 speech to the UN Security Council has been exposed as lies by the Associated Press. (See “Charles J. Hanley, “Powell’s Battle Cry Fails Test of Time: Six months after his case swung opinion toward attacking Iraq, his intelligence file looks thin,” August 10, 2003.)</p>
<p>– Eliminate the financial incentives certain Administration officials and their friends may have for advocating war. The Administration shovels cash to companies such as Halliburton Corp., which Vice President Cheney CEOed, to repair oil wells in Iraq, provide meals and deliver mail for troops, build bases in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Jordan and prisons in Guantanamo Bay. Such dealing calls into question whether the Administration’s hawkishness is based on patriotism or cronyism.</p>
<p>– Cancel President Bush’s tax cuts, which reward only the richest Americans. Must working people, whose children are dying in Iraq, also foot the bill?</p>
<p>– Support the troops: let them come home. They’re fighters, not nation builders. Their presence outrages many Iraqis and thus may pose the greatest obstacle to stability and democracy. Military costs far outweigh rebuilding costs in Bush’s request. More important than saving money is that our young men and women are in grave – and gathering – danger. How long until a massive car bomb cripples and kills hundreds?</p>
<p>– Retract the Bush Administration’s National Security Strategy. The Administration’s claiming the right to invade other countries before they acquire nuclear weapons and scrapping weapons-reduction treaties could doom humanity to an atomic free-for-all. The “strategy” gives non-nuclear nations incentive to go nuclear, simply to avoid Iraq’s fate. The more nuclear weapons in circulation, the harder it will be to keep them from terrorists.</p>
<p>If we fail to clean our own house, the rest of the world may try. Much of humanity now views the U.S. under the Bush Administration as the greatest threat to peace. And there’s politics. Few forget how the Administration tried to humiliate the UN last year, threatening that the world body would be “irresponsible” and “irrelevant” if it “failed” to rubberstamp a U.S. invasion of Iraq.</p>
<p>Of course, sweeping action by the UN is probably unlikely, given U.S. veto power. Other nations may well chip in. But imagine a “coalition of the willing” deciding to go ahead anyway to enforce the UN’s will, by adding the following conditions to those set forth above:</p>
<p>– The U.S. must pay the majority of rebuilding costs. Coalition countries could seize U.S. assets abroad and hold them in trust for the Iraqi people.</p>
<p>– No oil contracts, no rebuilding deals for U.S. companies. Nations should not profit from illegal wars of aggression.</p>
<p>– Demand “regime change.” Foreign leaders could broadcast that they “have no quarrel with the American people,” but that our dangerous, lawless leaders must go.</p>
<p>Such improvements are possible now that we hold the power of the purse.</p>
<p>BRIAN J. FOLEY is a professor at Touro Law Center in Huntington, NY. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Power to the Purse | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/09/19/power-to-the-purse/ | 2003-09-19 | 4 |
<p>Discussion Paper - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School</p>
<p />
<p>With approval rates higher than ever thanks to the war against terrorism, President George W. Bush finally did in December 2001 what he had threatened to do on different occasions but what many others thought - or hoped - was only bluff: withdrawing unilaterally from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. Regardless of the rationale or emotions behind or against this decision, it ended a period of uncertainty. Although in principle the Bush administration can still change its mind until June 2002 when the six months withdrawal period expires, most observers believe that this will not happen. Indeed, there are already plans on the table to start building a new test site at Fort Greely in Alaska in the Summer of 2002 that from 2004 onwards could be used as a base for a small ground-based mid-course National Missile Defense (NMD) launch site if needed.</p>
<p>Another advantage of this drastic decision is that it forces other nuclear weapons states to reconsider their existing arms control and nonproliferation policies. This study seeks to establish new limits to both offensive and defensive strategic weapons and aims to set limits to the deployment of NMD. Without such limits, the strategic balance between the major powers in the world - the United States (and its allies), Russia and China - might be in danger.</p>
<p /> | Beyond the ABM Treaty: A Plea For a Limited National Missile Defense System | false | http://belfercenter.org/publication/beyond-abm-treaty-plea-limited-national-missile-defense-system | 2 |
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<p>Brandon Bourdages/Shutterstock</p>
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<p>On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court will hear a case that has the potential to give big corporations free rein to write contracts that prevent consumers from ever holding them accountable for fraud, antitrust violations, or any other abuses of consumer and worker protection laws now on the books. It’s a case that hasn’t gotten much attention, but should.</p>
<p>The case,&#160; <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/?p=159807" type="external">Italian Color v. American Express,</a> was brought by a California Italian restaurant and a group of other small businesses that tried to sue the credit card behemoth for antitrust violations. They allege Amex used its monopoly power to force them to accept its bank-issued knock-off credit cards as a condition of taking regular, more elite American Express cards—and then charging them 30 percent higher fees for the privilege.</p>
<p>The small businesses claims were pretty small individually, not more than around $5,000 per shop. So, to make their case worth enough for a lawyer to take it, they banded together to file a class action on behalf of all small businesses affected by the practice. In response, Amex invoked the small print in its contract with them: a clause that not only banned the companies from suing individually but also prevented them from bringing a class action. Instead, Amex insisted the contract required&#160;each little businesses&#160;to submit to the decision of a private arbitrator paid by Amex, and individually press their claims. (Arbitration is heavily stacked in favor of the big companies, as you can read more about <a href="" type="internal">here</a> and <a href="" type="internal">here</a>.)</p>
<p>The restaurants estimated, with good evidence, that because of the market research required to press&#160;an antitrust case, arbitration would cost each of them almost $1 million to collect a possible maximum of $38,000, making it impossible to bring their claims at all. After a lot of litigation, the little guys prevailed in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that the arbitration clause was unconscionable because it prevented the plaintiffs from having their claims heard in any forum. The court said the arbitration contract should be invalidated and that the class action should go forward in a regular courtroom. (Sonia Sotomayor sat on one of the appeals before heading to the high court and is&#160;recusing herself from the case as a result.)&#160;Now Amex is appealing and arguing that some of the high court’s recent decisions in favor of big companies&#160;mean it has every right to use contracts to deprive the little guys of access to the legal system.</p>
<p>Consumer advocates are worried about how the court’s going to decide this case. Under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts, the court has been especially amenable to the sorts of arguments Amex is making, and the results have been pretty damaging to consumers. The Alliance for Justice has <a href="http://www.afj.org/connect-with-the-issues/the-corporate-court/att-aftermath-stories.pdf" type="external">a list here</a> of some of the types of cases that were thrown out after the court’s <a href="" type="internal">last pro-business decision about mandatory arbitration</a>, which allowed companies to use arbitration clauses&#160;to trump state consumer and worker protection laws. It’s not pretty.</p>
<p>If the court rules in favor of Amex, big companies will essentially be able to immunize themselves from any legal accountability, simply by forcing customers and employees to sign a contract to get a job or a cellphone or a bank account. Civil and consumer rights laws will stay on the books, but big companies will be able to ignore them.</p>
<p /> | This Supreme Court Case Could Give Corporations Even More Power to Screw Consumers | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/supreme-court-hear-important-corporate-immunity-case/ | 2013-02-26 | 4 |
<p />
<p>While promoting the details of a new Republican proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) advised low-income Americans to resist purchasing new iPhones and <a href="https://twitter.com/NewDay/status/839088737242005506" type="external">prioritize purchasing health care coverage</a> instead. The remarks came as Chaffetz defended the plan’s elimination of the individual mandate, which Obamacare proponents have long maintained is crucial to keeping health care costs down for the people who need it the most.</p>
<p>“Americans have choices—and they’ve got to make a choice,” Chaffetz said during an appearance on CNN’s New Day on Tuesday morning. “So maybe rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and they want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest in their own health care.”</p>
<p>“They’ve got to make those decisions themselves,” he continued.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Chaffetz’s recommendation on Tuesday is consistent with the long-held belief among many conservatives that <a href="" type="internal">poor people don’t manage their money well</a> and therefore require strict restrictions on what they can buy using government food aid, for example. Such views persist despite evidence that poor people are no more likely to buy the groceries that conservatives want to limit, such as soda and other sugary foods, than people who don’t receive federal aid.</p>
<p>Chaffetz later appeared to walk back his iPhone comment, telling Fox News it did not come out as <a href="https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/839130957609320448" type="external">“smoothly”</a> as he intended.</p>
<p /> | Jason Chaffetz Tells Poor Americans to Choose Between iPhones and Health Care | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/jason-chaffetz-tells-americans-choose-between-new-iphone-and-healthcare/ | 2017-03-07 | 4 |
<p>Aug. 22 (UPI) — The European Union’s executive commission announced an investigation Tuesday into pharmaceutical giant Bayer’s $66 billion takeover of U.S. seed manufacturer Monsanto.</p>
<p>The European Commission, concerned with potential antitrust aspects of the deal, gave a minimum deadline of Jan. 8, 2018, to complete the review.</p>
<p>“The commission has preliminary concerns that the proposed acquisition could reduce competition in a number of different markets resulting in higher prices, lower quality, less choice and less innovation,” the <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-2762_en.htm" type="external">European Commission said in a statement</a>.</p>
<p>The merger of Germany-based Bayer and Monsanto would create the world’s largest integrated pesticides and seeds company. It would also be the largest acquisition of a U.S. company by a German firm, ahead of Daimler AG’s $40 billion purchase of Chrysler in 1998.</p>
<p>“Both companies are active in developing new products in these areas,” a European Union news release said. “The transaction would take place in industries that are already globally concentrated, as illustrated by the recent mergers of Dow and Dupont and Syngenta and ChemChina, in which the Commission intervened to protect competition for the benefit of farmers and consumers.”</p>
<p>The commission said its three areas of concern are pesticides, seeds and plant traits.</p>
<p>“We need to ensure effective competition so that farmers can have access to innovative products, better quality and also purchase products at competitive prices,” Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said in a statement.</p>
<p>Last month, Bayer and Monsanto submitted commitments to the EU in a bid to win approval, according to the regulator. But those were “insufficient to clearly dismiss [the EU’s] serious doubts as to the transaction’s compatibility with the EU merger regulation. The commission therefore did not test them with market participants.”</p>
<p>The commission said it is cooperating with with the U.S. Department of Justice, and the antitrust authorities of Australia, Brazil, Canada and South Africa.</p>
<p>“Bayer believes that the proposed combination will be highly beneficial for farmers and consumers, and will continue to work closely and constructively with the European Commission in its investigation,” the <a href="http://www.news.bayer.com/baynews/baynews.nsf/id/Bayer-will-continue-to-work-constructively-with-the-European-Commission?Open&amp;parent=news-overview-category-search-en&amp;ccm=020" type="external">company said in a statement</a>. “Bayer looks forward to continuing to work constructively with the Commission with a view to obtaining the Commission’s approval of the transaction by the end of this year.”</p>
<p>Monsanto had declined <a href="https://www.upi.com/Business_News/2016/09/06/Bayer-offers-65-billion-to-buy-Monsanto/7911473168394/" type="external">two previous offers</a> by Bayer last year for the takeover. <a href="https://www.upi.com/Business_News/2016/12/13/Monsanto-shareholders-OK-merger-with-Bayer-AG/6341481646076/" type="external">On Dec. 13</a>, its stock shareholders approved the $66 billion offer.</p>
<p>Nineteen Democratic U.S. senators told the Justice Department <a href="https://www.bna.com/bayermonsanto-merger-needs-n73014462125/" type="external">last month</a> it should “conduct a thorough and impartial analysis” of the merger.</p> | European Union to investigate $66B Bayer-Monsanto deal | false | https://newsline.com/european-union-to-investigate-66b-bayer-monsanto-deal/ | 2017-08-22 | 1 |
<p>A good loan is the bedrock of a solid car deal. But&#160;buyers in a rush often don’t shop around for the best loan. If you put the car ahead of the financing, you could wind up paying hundreds of dollars too much in interest.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Shopping for the best auto loan is a bit like car shopping itself: Let market competition get you the best deal.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/advantages-of-getting-pre-approved-for-a-car-loan/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=syndication&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_term=fox-business&amp;utm_content=470654" type="external">Getting preapproved Opens a New Window.</a> not only shows you what interest rate you qualify for, but also serves as self-defense during negotiations.</p>
<p>At the dealership, the salesperson will likely ask what <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/much-car-payment/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=syndication&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_term=fox-business&amp;utm_content=470654" type="external">monthly car payment Opens a New Window.</a> you want. But this makes it easy to hide&#160;the total price you’d pay for the car. With a preapproved loan offer, you can say you’re a cash buyer and that you want to negotiate the price of the car. &#160;</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Now, the fun part — get an even better rate:&#160;Once the purchase price is set, let the finance manager try to beat your best loan offer with dealership financing. Dealers have access to loans from the automakers’ finance companies that can undercut other lenders. Just make sure the term of the loan — &#160;the number of months you have to pay it off — is the same as your preapproved offer.</p>
<p>The article One-Minute Read: Avoid This Costly Car-Buying Mistake originally appeared on NerdWallet.</p> | One-Minute Read: Avoid This Costly Car-Buying Mistake | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/12/07/one-minute-read-avoid-this-costly-car-buying-mistake.html | 2017-12-07 | 0 |
<p>Jan. 11 (UPI) — An Idaho pizzeria is drawing attention for the unusual way it disciplines workers who burn pizzas — with a public pizza-shaming.</p>
<p>Pesto’s Pizza Shop in Boise posted <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pestospizzashop/posts/923612674464128" type="external">on its Facebook page</a> that employees who overcook pies are made to don a large orange bag reading, “I burned a pizza,” and walk five laps in front of the eatery.</p>
<p>The store refers to the punishment as “walking the plank.”</p>
<p>“Well it was one way to remind all of us not to burn pizzas,” owner Lloyd Parrott <a href="http://idahonews.com/news/local/local-pizza-shop-makes-employees-walk-the-plank-for-burning-pizza" type="external">told KBOI-TV</a>.</p>
<p>Employee Sterling Hunt, who appeared in the photos posted to the restaurant’s Facebook, said he wasn’t paying attention to the time when the burned the pizza.</p>
<p>“And I waited just a little bit too long and it overcooked it, so I had to put on the suit and walk the plank,” he said.</p>
<p>Hunt said replacement pizzas are made for customers whose pies come out a bit too crispy.</p>
<p>Parrott admitted his pizzeria’s cooking method is a bit more complicated than what some other eateries do.</p>
<p>“Basically we do everything by hand here. It’s very difficult, we have a 600 degree oven that fluctuates so they get burnt,” he said.</p>
<p>He said the pizza-shaming punishment is meant in good fun.</p>
<p>“We’re all good friends. We have a good time. It’s very hard work, we all love it so if we can’t be hard on each other then, you know we gotta have some fun around here its all in good fun,” Parrott said.</p>
<p>The owner said even he is not exempt from the pizza burning rule.</p>
<p>“It’ll happen again. Keep your eyes out. One of us will be out there again,” Parrott said.</p> | Restaurant ‘pizza-shames’ workers who burn pies | false | https://newsline.com/restaurant-pizza-shames-workers-who-burn-pies/ | 2018-01-11 | 1 |
<p>Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is a pandering, flip-flopping machine. Depending on what is most politically expedient at the time and place, the former secretary of state and first lady has altered policy positions, moral beliefs, and even accents. Her rhetoric on building a wall is no exception.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, in effort to slander Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and his tough immigration policy talk, Mrs. Clinton stated that we “can’t be talking about building walls” if we want to continue to “make it in America.”</p>
<p>Oddly enough, just mere months ago, she boasted about voting “numerous times” as a NY senator in favor of building “a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in.”</p>
<p>Is Hillary Clinton for building a wall, or against building a wall? I can't figure it out. Can you? <a href="https://t.co/mbclrY4YxY" type="external">pic.twitter.com/mbclrY4YxY</a></p>
<p>Here’s Clinton from November <a href="http://www.latintimes.com/hillary-clinton-bragging-about-building-border-wall-keeping-out-illegal-immigrants-352631" type="external">bragging</a> about her pro-border wall in New Hampshire:</p>
<p>Clinton’s pandering antics have been pounced on by both sides of the political aisle, from her changing stance on <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jun/17/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-change-position-same-sex-marriage/" type="external">gay marriage</a> and her “ <a href="" type="internal">Hispandering</a>” debacle last month, to her <a href="https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/wall-street/" type="external">tough talk against Wall Street</a> while she herself is a <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/11/why-wall-street-loves-hillary-112782" type="external">recipient and contributor to the corruption</a>. Recently a #WhichHillary hashtag even gained momentum, poking at Clinton's politically strategic inconsistencies.</p>
<p>Not to belabor the point that with Hillary you never know exactly who you’re going to get, but here’s a clip of the Democratic frontrunner from 2008 morphing into a middle aged black woman while giving a speech in Salam, Alabama.</p>
<p>And just for good measure, here are another 13 Clinton flip-flops (also known as lies):</p>
<p>#WhichHillary</p> | Hillary Rips Trump For Wall-Building Talk. But There's Something Awkward About That. | true | https://dailywire.com/news/3998/hillary-rips-trump-wall-building-talk-theres-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
<p>The Chicago Police Department said it appeared to be a suicide. The Cook County Office of the Medical Examiner said it was an accident. But when 84-year-old Bennie Saxon fell four stories to his death May 4 at a predominantly black South Side nursing home, a lawyer retained by his family said it could be neglect.</p>
<p>An investigation by The Chicago Reporter found that the facility has the worst rating a nursing home can get–”three times the number of lawsuits of half of Chicago nursing homes–”and that residents get less than half the time each day with staff than residents at a predominantly white facility in Evanston operated by the same owner.</p>
<p>Saxon, who had dementia, had been living at Alden Wentworth Rehabilitation and Health Care Center at 201 W. 69th Street in Greater Grand Crossing for about four weeks before his fatal fall, family members said. His family has retained attorney Thomas H. Murphy of the Vrdolyak Law Group to investigate whether Saxon received adequate care. “The law requires that [homes] take danger and fall precautions into account for people who are at risk for falling,” Murphy said.</p>
<p>Murphy is awaiting autopsy reports and said a lawsuit could be filed within weeks. If so, it will be the 14th in Cook County court filed against the nursing home between 2004 and 2009, according to Cook County records obtained by the Reporter. That’s more than three times the lawsuits than half of the city’s 91 nursing homes; the median is four lawsuits.</p>
<p>At least one of those cases has been settled. In 2006, Alden Wentworth paid $600,000 related to the November 2000 death of Bernetta Hall, a disabled 46-year-old woman.</p>
<p>Hall entered the home with a single pressure ulcer at the base of her spine. But within five weeks, that ulcer worsened and she developed sores on her heels, buttock and ear because of the poor care she received at the home, said Lawrence B. Finn, the lawyer for Hall’s family.</p>
<p>Alden’s management, owner, spokesperson and in-house lawyer declined to comment. The Greater Grand Crossing facility is owned by Floyd Schlossberg of Morton Grove, Ill. He is one of the state’s largest nursing home owners, operating some of the lowest-rated nursing home facilities in Illinois.</p>
<p>Schlossberg has ownership in 30 homes in Illinois, most in metropolitan Chicago, according to data the Reporter obtained from the Illinois Department of Public Health. The Reporter analyzed federal nursing home data and racial data on 21 of the homes provided by researchers at Brown University and found racial disparities in the care that Schlossberg’s residents received.</p>
<p>The Reporter found:</p>
<p>–¢ Each of the three predominantly black facilities received the lowest possible rating in 2009 from Nursing Home Compare, a federal database to evaluate nursing homes that are Medicare- and Medicaid-certified. Less than half of Schlossberg’s 16 predominantly white facilities received that same rating.</p>
<p>–¢ Two facilities received the highest ratings. At both facilities, located in Evanston and Skokie, at least 84 percent of the residents were white.</p>
<p>–¢ Residents at Schlossberg’s predominantly black homes received much less staff time than residents of his predominantly white facilities. For example, residents at Alden Estates of Evanston received an average of 5.53 hours of care per day, compared with 2.04 hours at the Greater Grand Crossing facility and 1.73 hours at the Heather Health Care Center in Harvey, which are both predominantly black. The combined total of daily care given at the three, predominantly-black homes was just 19 minutes more each day than the time at the predominantly-white facility in Evanston.</p>
<p>The Reporter analyzed the percentage of patient care that is paid for by Medicaid on a citywide basis, to determine if poverty could partially explain the disparities. The Reporter found that in Chicago, the disparities between black and white homes were even greater where at least 75 percent of care was paid for by Medicaid.</p>
<p>“The idea that race plays a role in the quality of one facility over another is extremely troubling,” said Zena Naiditch, president and chief executive officer of disability rights advocacy group Equip for Equality, Inc. “It suggests that the state needs to be taking a look at these kinds of issues on a more routine basis. It shouldn’t just be, –˜Is the facility following the law?’ [but] –˜How are the resources being distributed? Is there a disparate impact on different communities?'”</p>
<p>Saxon was buried May 11. Friends and family remembered him as a nattily dressed, gentle man of God.</p>
<p>“I’ve known him for 25 years,” said step-granddaughter Lakeisha Avant. “He was a man of God, a man of the Lord.”</p>
<p>“He was a loving, kind brother,” said Bernice Henderson, 83 and Saxon’s former neighbor at Bethel Terrace, a residential facility for seniors in the Englewood neighborhood. “He was a neatly dressed brother –¦ who dressed like he was going to church, even to take his garbage out.”</p> | Disparate nursing home care | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/disparate-nursing-home-care/ | 2009-07-01 | 3 |
<p>President Emmanuel Macron will visit French Caribbean islands hammered by Hurricane Irma where residents have criticized the government for not doing enough to prepare them for the storm's devastation.</p>
<p>Macron's plane is bringing water, food and tons of medicines and emergency equipment. He will first visit Guadeloupe on Tuesday morning before heading to St. Martin to meet with residents, and then to St. Barts.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The president is also being accompanied by doctors and experts who will be in charge of evaluating the damage. St. Martin was one of the hardest-hit islands where 10 people were killed.</p>
<p>About 1,500 troops, police and emergency workers were on the ground to help islanders, and 500 others were expected to arrive in the coming days, according to French authorities.</p> | French president to visit Caribbean islands hit by Irma | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/09/12/french-president-to-visit-caribbean-islands-hit-by-irma.html | 2017-09-12 | 0 |
<p />
<p>On Friday, GOP front-runner Donald Trump announced at the last minute that he would not attend the annual CPAC convention as originally planned, and instead intends to attend a major rally in Kansas Saturday prior to the state’s caucuses, Politico <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/donald-trump-cpac-2016-220263" type="external">reported</a>.</p>
<p>Politico added:</p>
<p>The Trump campaign released a statement to reporters announcing that it would be in “Witchita, Kanasas [sic] for a major rally on Saturday prior to Caucus.”</p>
<p>“He will also be speaking at the Kansas Caucus and then departing for Orlando, Florida and a crowd of approximately 20,000 people or more,” the campaign said. “Because of this, he will not be able to speak at CPAC as he has done for many consecutive years.”</p>
<p>“Mr. Trump would like to thank [American Conservative Union Chairman] Matt Schlapp and all of the executives at CPAC and looks forward to returning to next year, hopefully as President of the United States,” the statement continued. He had been scheduled to speak at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning.</p>
<p>CPAC clearly seemed disappointed:</p>
<p />
<p>And before you ask, yes, the misspelled words were actually in the Trump statement:</p>
<p />
<p>But why?&#160; Here’s one possible reason:</p>
<p />
<p>Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., who earlier said he would <a href="" type="internal">find a third option</a> if Trump becomes the nominee, tweeted:</p>
<p />
<p>Erick Erickson was even more blunt:</p>
<p />
<p>So was Brad Thor:</p>
<p />
<p>Writing at Townhall, Guy Benson said Trump was motivated by “vanity” and “fear.”</p>
<p>“Let’s face it,” he wrote.&#160; “A man of Trump’s inflated,&#160;fragile&#160;ego does not handle slights well. Having just&#160;defended the size of his dainty hands (and, surreally, his man-parts) from the debate stage unprompted, it seems likely that the controversial mogul couldn’t stomach the prospect of getting heavily booed in a&#160; <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/04/trump-cancels-on-cpac-to-campaign-in-kansas/" type="external">half-empty room</a> (due in part to early start time and long security lines) tomorrow morning. Instead, a hasty decision was made to pull the plug.”</p>
<p>The poorly-spelled press release is proof of that hasty decision, Benson argued.</p>
<p>A post at the pro-Trump <a href="http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/03/breaking-trump-pulls-out-of-cpac/" type="external">Gateway Pundit</a> suggested that Trump foiled the planned walkout organized by William Temple, a man <a href="http://www.bizpacreview.com/2016/03/04/one-thousand-plan-to-walk-out-during-trumps-cpac-speech-if-you-believe-this-guy-312833" type="external">BizPac Review</a> said is “known by some as the 1776 man.”</p>
<p>“We’re here to walkout on Donald Trump on Saturday morning,” he told BizPac Review. “We’ve got over 1,000 people gonna get up and we’re gonna all walkout together.”</p>
<p>He said people from all over the country have come to participate in the protest.</p>
<p>“We’re walking out on Trump because he’s not Ted Cruz,” he said.</p>
<p>But the post at Gateway Pundit left out this very import nugget from the BizPac Review article, which came right after the statement above:</p>
<p>However, Temple did say that he would vote for Trump if he is the Republican nominee, but he’d “Have to hold my nose when I do it. Just like I did for Romney and just like I did for McCain.”</p>
<p>Benson said that Trump’s decision to drop the conference to spend time with voters in Kansas isn’t an irrational one.&#160; But, he added, “…it solidifies fears among many conservatives that he’ll simply dump them when he no longer needs them, it disappoints his hundreds of&#160;followers who spent good money to see him at CPAC (although he’s demonstrated&#160; <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/432010/trump-university-scam" type="external">precious little compunction</a> over&#160; <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/buyers-still-feel-burned-by-donald-trump-after-tampa-condo-tower-failure/2239499" type="external">thoughtlessly&#160;betraying people</a> who trust him), and it reeks of an ego move, rather than a tactical allocation of campaign resources and time.”</p>
<p>What say you?&#160; Did Trump make the right move, or did he act out of vanity and fear?&#160; Let us know what you think in the comments below.</p>
<p>Related:</p>
<p>If you haven’t checked out and liked our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ConservativeFiringLine?fref=ts" type="external">Facebook</a> page, please go <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ConservativeFiringLine?fref=ts" type="external">here</a> and do so.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Trump dumps CPAC, plans to attend rally in ‘Kanasas’ per campaign | true | http://conservativefiringline.com/trump-dumps-cpac-plans-to-attend-rally-in-kanasas-per-campaign/ | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p>Published time: 7 Sep, 2017 12:47</p>
<p>US web giant Amazon announced plans on Thursday to open a second headquarters somewhere in North America that will accommodate up to 50,000 employees and cost $5 billion to build and operate.</p>
<p>The company said it would prioritize metropolitan areas with more than one million people for the new facility dubbed ‘HQ2.’ It will be a complete headquarters for Amazon with new teams and executives. Existing senior leaders across the company will be free to decide whether to locate their teams in HQ1, HQ2 or both.</p>
<p>“We expect HQ2 to be a full equal to our Seattle headquarters,” said Amazon’s Chief Executive Jeff Bezos.</p>
<p>“Amazon HQ2 will bring billions of dollars in upfront and ongoing investments, and tens of thousands of high-paying jobs. We’re excited to find a second home,” he added.</p>
<p>The Seattle-based company’s existing headquarters which opened in 2010 is more than eight million square feet of space across 33 buildings. According to Amazon estimates, its investments in Seattle from 2010 through 2016 added $38 billion to the city’s economy.</p>
<p>Amazon said earlier that it planned to expand its footprint in Seattle to 12 million square feet by 2022.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, the company confirmed the opening of its first major warehouse in New York City. The $100 million, 855,000-square-foot facility will be located on the west shore of Staten Island. Amazon said it will hire 2,250 full-time employees at the facility to pack and ship household essentials, books, and toys.</p>
<p>With more than 380,000 employees worldwide, Amazon is the ‘Most Innovative Company’ on the Fast Company’s 2017 list. It’s #2 on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies and on LinkedIn’s US most desirable companies list.</p>
<p /> | Amazon plans to invest over $5bn in second North American HQ | false | https://newsline.com/amazon-plans-to-invest-over-5bn-in-second-north-american-hq/ | 2017-09-07 | 1 |
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<p>This beveled rod of bone and incomplete projectile point are from an ancient burial site in Montana. (The Associated Press)</p>
<p>NEW YORK - The DNA of a baby boy who was buried in Montana 12,600 years ago has been recovered, and it provides new indications of the ancient roots of today's American Indians and other native peoples of the Americas.</p>
<p>It's the oldest genome ever recovered from the New World. Artifacts found with the body show the boy was part of the Clovis culture, which existed in North America from about 13,000 years ago to about 12,600 years ago and is named for an archaeological site near Clovis, NM.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The boy's genome showed his people were direct ancestors of many of today's native peoples in the Americas, researchers said. He was more closely related to those in Central and South America than to those in Canada. The reason for that difference isn't clear, scientists said.</p>
<p>The researchers said they had no Native American DNA from the United States available for comparison, but that they assume the results would be same, with some Native Americans being direct descendants and others also closely related.</p>
<p>The DNA also indicates the boy's ancestors came from Asia, supporting the standard idea of ancient migration to the Americas by way of a land bridge that disappeared long ago.</p>
<p>The burial site, northeast of Livingston, Mont., is the only burial known from the Clovis culture. The boy was between 1 year and 18 months old when he died of an unknown cause.</p>
<p>The skeleton was discovered in 1968 next to a rock cliff, but it's only in recent years that scientists have been able to recover and analyze complete genomes from such ancient samples.</p>
<p>The DNA analysis was reported online Wednesday in the journal Nature by scientists including Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark , Michael Waters of Texas A&amp;M University and Shane Doyle of Montana State University in Bozeman. The burial site lies on the property of the parents of another author, Sarah Anzick of Livingston. It is known as the Anzick site.</p>
<p>Doyle, a member of the Crow tribe, said the indication of such ancient roots for American Indians fits with what many tribal people already believed. He also said the boy's remains may be reburied at the site by late spring or early summer.</p>
<p>In a telephone conference with reporters, the researchers said that once they discovered the link between the boy and today's Native Americans, they sought out American Indian groups to discuss the results. The results are "going to raise a whole host of new ideas and hypotheses' about the early colonization of the Americas, said Dennis O"Rourke, an ancient DNA expert at the University of Utah who wasn't involved in the work.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Ancient baby DNA tied to Indians | false | https://abqjournal.com/352165/ancient-baby-dna-tied-to-indians.html | 2 |
|
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — As bad as President Donald Trump describes U.S.-Pakistani ties today, they can get far worse.</p>
<p>Over 16 years that included hundreds of deadly U.S. drone strikes, Osama bin Laden’s killing on Pakistani soil and accusations Pakistan helps insurgents that kill Americans, the reluctant allies never reached one point of no return: Pakistan closing the air routes to Afghanistan.</p>
<p>It’s an action that could all but cripple the U.S.-backed military fight against the Taliban. It could also be tantamount to Pakistan going to war with the United States.</p>
<p>Even if such a step is seen as unlikely by most officials and observers, Pakistan’s ability to shape the destiny of America’s longest war is a reminder of how much leverage the country maintains at a time Trump is suspending hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance.</p>
<p>“There’s some suggestion that we have all of the cards in our hands,” said Richard Olson, a former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan. “But we don’t. The leverage is strong on the Pakistan side as well and arguably stronger than our side.”</p>
<p>Trump’s re-commitment of U.S. forces to the fight in Afghanistan makes the stakes high for his administration. The top U.S. diplomat for South Asia, Alice Wells, made a low-key visit to Islamabad this week, suggesting both sides want to prevent a breach in ties. Pakistan’s cooperation is needed not only to reduce violence in its northern neighbor. It’s also critical to any hope of a political settlement with the Afghan Taliban after decades of conflict.</p>
<p>Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said the U.S. doesn’t expect Pakistan to cut off supply routes. Even so, the U.S. is seeking out alternatives, a senior administration official said, without elaborating on what those routes might be. The Pentagon wouldn’t discuss the issue, citing operational security, other than to say military planners develop “multiple supply chain contingencies” to sustain their mission.</p>
<p>The administration official, who wasn’t authorized to comment by name and demanded anonymity, said it would be “very difficult” but not impossible for the U.S. to get military equipment into Afghanistan if the Pakistan route is shut down. Restrictions limit what types of supplies can flow through the Northern Distribution Network in Central Asia, set up during the Obama administration amid concerns about relying solely on Pakistan.</p>
<p>Pakistan has cut overland access before. When a U.S. airstrike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at the Afghan-Pakistan frontier in late 2011, months after the U.S. commando raid that killed bin Laden, Pakistan blocked border crossings into Afghanistan.</p>
<p>The decision sunk U.S.-Pakistani relations to a post-9/11 low point. Supply trucks that trundle across desert into Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province or into Nangarhar via the mountainous Khyber Pass ground to a halt. Hundreds of containers shipped from the U.S. or the Gulf were left stranded in the Pakistani port of Karachi until mid-2012.</p>
<p>For the U.S., truck and rail costs inflated by about 50 percent, said David Sedney, a former Pentagon official who organized the alternative northern routes. He said deliveries by air cost three times as much or more.</p>
<p>But the saga, resolved through a U.S. apology, also exposed the limits of Pakistan’s leverage, Sedney said. Pakistan’s own economy was hurt, notably the military-dominated trucking industry. And the Afghan war effort, which was then supporting more than 70,000 U.S. troops, compared with around 16,000 now, endured.</p>
<p>That was perhaps the result of Pakistan never closing the air corridor into Afghanistan, which U.S. pilots call “the boulevard.” It’s essential for ferrying ammunition and weapons for U.S. and Afghan forces, and waging war. U.S. intelligence flights and combat missions use it when taking off from U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf or from aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean.</p>
<p>Since closing Pakistan’s airspace would hinder America’s ability to defend its forces in Afghanistan, Olson, the former ambassador, said the U.S. might regard such action as a “casus belli,” or grounds for war. Other former U.S. officials echoed that assessment.</p>
<p>“From what I can tell we don’t actually have any serious alternative,” said Daniel Markey, a South Asia expert at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.</p>
<p>Sedney said the Northern Distribution Network, which fell out of use after most U.S. forces were withdrawn from Afghanistan by late 2014, could be restored with astute U.S. diplomacy. Nations such as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan all have been used before for transporting mostly nonlethal supplies. Poor U.S. relations with Russia could make the task trickier, however. Moscow wields significant influence over these former Soviet states.</p>
<p>Pakistan is weighing options carefully. The suspension of around $1.2 billion in assistance and Trump’s accusations of Pakistani “lies and deceit” for allowing Taliban havens have stirred anger and demands from opposition party leader Imran Khan for both land and air links to be cut.</p>
<p>Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington, Aizaz Chaudhry, indicated such steps weren’t imminent, urging greater U.S. cooperation on counterterrorism. But he warned that further downward spiraling in U.S.-Pakistani ties could create a situation in which “everything will be on table.”</p>
<p>Chaudhry cited Pakistan’s longstanding complaints that its efforts have been unappreciated, claiming that most leaders of the Haqqani network — which the U.S. hopes to eradicate — have fled to Afghanistan. Critics say Pakistan’s military only targets insurgents threatening Pakistan itself.</p>
<p>“The problem is we have a porous open border and it’s like a revolving door,” Chaudhry told The Associated Press. “These elements tend to come back, and travel back and forth, but there is no organized presence or safe havens inside Pakistan.”</p>
<p>Republicans and Democrats in America aren’t sold. Lawmakers have urged targeted financial sanctions against Pakistani intelligence officials linked to militants, and for Pakistan to lose its “non-NATO ally” status that offers preferential access to U.S. military technology. Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. ambassador in Kabul, is among hawks advocating Pakistan be declared a state sponsor of terrorism, unless it cooperates.</p>
<p>But others who’ve worked with the Pakistanis fear coercion could backfire at a time they’re hedging their bets, unsure America will win in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>A tacit Pakistani alliance with the Taliban will appear “more important to them than ever as we turn once again from an ally into an adversary,” said Ryan Crocker, who was U.S. ambassador in Pakistan and Afghanistan.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Josh Lederman contributed to this report.</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — As bad as President Donald Trump describes U.S.-Pakistani ties today, they can get far worse.</p>
<p>Over 16 years that included hundreds of deadly U.S. drone strikes, Osama bin Laden’s killing on Pakistani soil and accusations Pakistan helps insurgents that kill Americans, the reluctant allies never reached one point of no return: Pakistan closing the air routes to Afghanistan.</p>
<p>It’s an action that could all but cripple the U.S.-backed military fight against the Taliban. It could also be tantamount to Pakistan going to war with the United States.</p>
<p>Even if such a step is seen as unlikely by most officials and observers, Pakistan’s ability to shape the destiny of America’s longest war is a reminder of how much leverage the country maintains at a time Trump is suspending hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance.</p>
<p>“There’s some suggestion that we have all of the cards in our hands,” said Richard Olson, a former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan. “But we don’t. The leverage is strong on the Pakistan side as well and arguably stronger than our side.”</p>
<p>Trump’s re-commitment of U.S. forces to the fight in Afghanistan makes the stakes high for his administration. The top U.S. diplomat for South Asia, Alice Wells, made a low-key visit to Islamabad this week, suggesting both sides want to prevent a breach in ties. Pakistan’s cooperation is needed not only to reduce violence in its northern neighbor. It’s also critical to any hope of a political settlement with the Afghan Taliban after decades of conflict.</p>
<p>Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said the U.S. doesn’t expect Pakistan to cut off supply routes. Even so, the U.S. is seeking out alternatives, a senior administration official said, without elaborating on what those routes might be. The Pentagon wouldn’t discuss the issue, citing operational security, other than to say military planners develop “multiple supply chain contingencies” to sustain their mission.</p>
<p>The administration official, who wasn’t authorized to comment by name and demanded anonymity, said it would be “very difficult” but not impossible for the U.S. to get military equipment into Afghanistan if the Pakistan route is shut down. Restrictions limit what types of supplies can flow through the Northern Distribution Network in Central Asia, set up during the Obama administration amid concerns about relying solely on Pakistan.</p>
<p>Pakistan has cut overland access before. When a U.S. airstrike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at the Afghan-Pakistan frontier in late 2011, months after the U.S. commando raid that killed bin Laden, Pakistan blocked border crossings into Afghanistan.</p>
<p>The decision sunk U.S.-Pakistani relations to a post-9/11 low point. Supply trucks that trundle across desert into Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province or into Nangarhar via the mountainous Khyber Pass ground to a halt. Hundreds of containers shipped from the U.S. or the Gulf were left stranded in the Pakistani port of Karachi until mid-2012.</p>
<p>For the U.S., truck and rail costs inflated by about 50 percent, said David Sedney, a former Pentagon official who organized the alternative northern routes. He said deliveries by air cost three times as much or more.</p>
<p>But the saga, resolved through a U.S. apology, also exposed the limits of Pakistan’s leverage, Sedney said. Pakistan’s own economy was hurt, notably the military-dominated trucking industry. And the Afghan war effort, which was then supporting more than 70,000 U.S. troops, compared with around 16,000 now, endured.</p>
<p>That was perhaps the result of Pakistan never closing the air corridor into Afghanistan, which U.S. pilots call “the boulevard.” It’s essential for ferrying ammunition and weapons for U.S. and Afghan forces, and waging war. U.S. intelligence flights and combat missions use it when taking off from U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf or from aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean.</p>
<p>Since closing Pakistan’s airspace would hinder America’s ability to defend its forces in Afghanistan, Olson, the former ambassador, said the U.S. might regard such action as a “casus belli,” or grounds for war. Other former U.S. officials echoed that assessment.</p>
<p>“From what I can tell we don’t actually have any serious alternative,” said Daniel Markey, a South Asia expert at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.</p>
<p>Sedney said the Northern Distribution Network, which fell out of use after most U.S. forces were withdrawn from Afghanistan by late 2014, could be restored with astute U.S. diplomacy. Nations such as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan all have been used before for transporting mostly nonlethal supplies. Poor U.S. relations with Russia could make the task trickier, however. Moscow wields significant influence over these former Soviet states.</p>
<p>Pakistan is weighing options carefully. The suspension of around $1.2 billion in assistance and Trump’s accusations of Pakistani “lies and deceit” for allowing Taliban havens have stirred anger and demands from opposition party leader Imran Khan for both land and air links to be cut.</p>
<p>Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington, Aizaz Chaudhry, indicated such steps weren’t imminent, urging greater U.S. cooperation on counterterrorism. But he warned that further downward spiraling in U.S.-Pakistani ties could create a situation in which “everything will be on table.”</p>
<p>Chaudhry cited Pakistan’s longstanding complaints that its efforts have been unappreciated, claiming that most leaders of the Haqqani network — which the U.S. hopes to eradicate — have fled to Afghanistan. Critics say Pakistan’s military only targets insurgents threatening Pakistan itself.</p>
<p>“The problem is we have a porous open border and it’s like a revolving door,” Chaudhry told The Associated Press. “These elements tend to come back, and travel back and forth, but there is no organized presence or safe havens inside Pakistan.”</p>
<p>Republicans and Democrats in America aren’t sold. Lawmakers have urged targeted financial sanctions against Pakistani intelligence officials linked to militants, and for Pakistan to lose its “non-NATO ally” status that offers preferential access to U.S. military technology. Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. ambassador in Kabul, is among hawks advocating Pakistan be declared a state sponsor of terrorism, unless it cooperates.</p>
<p>But others who’ve worked with the Pakistanis fear coercion could backfire at a time they’re hedging their bets, unsure America will win in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>A tacit Pakistani alliance with the Taliban will appear “more important to them than ever as we turn once again from an ally into an adversary,” said Ryan Crocker, who was U.S. ambassador in Pakistan and Afghanistan.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Josh Lederman contributed to this report.</p> | Pakistan’s ace in poker match with US: Afghan air routes | false | https://apnews.com/7bb8d434b66a4adca9997fbe31d074d4 | 2018-01-19 | 2 |
<p>FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) — For Fairmont resident John Schooley, music is more than just a hobby.</p>
<p>As a retired Fairmont State University music theory and low brass professor, Schooley’s career in music is not quite finished. He has been a performing member of the West Virginia Brass Quintet since its founding in June 2009.</p>
<p>The WVBQ serves as a chamber ensemble that engages in repertoire spanning centuries of music. They share their performances at many categories of events including church services, weddings, conferences, community events, graduation ceremonies and more. Not to mention, the WVBQ has sustained a holiday residency at the famous Greenbrier Resort for 14 plus years.</p>
<p>Other accolades and performances include locations like the Artist Series Concerts at the Tamarack Center in Beckley, the Penn Alps Summer Concert Series and the Barbara B. Highland Concert at the Waldomore Library in Clarksburg.</p>
<p>Members include David Dayton, trumpet; Adam Loudin, trumpet; Andrew Scott, horn; Brian Plitnik, trombone; and Schooley, tuba.</p>
<p>With members living more than 150 miles apart, the members go above and beyond and to great lengths to sustain their musicianship and passion for promoting the arts in the state of West Virginia.</p>
<p>Schooley was one of the founding members of the WVBQ in 2009. He attributes the founding to his urge to perform while teaching at FSU.</p>
<p>“The motivating thing for me was that I was a teacher of music, but I wasn’t, unless I played in a quintet or performing group, really exercising my craft,” Schooley said. “If you’re going to teach art, you really got to be a painter or a sculptor or something. You got to have your hands into making the thing that you are teaching. I think it’s the making of the music that is the motivating factor for me.”</p>
<p>While the WVBQ is not a full-time touring ensemble, they keep a busy schedule with 25 performances in 2017 and events already scheduled in advance for 2018. With multiple performances and the barrier of distance, the WVBQ goes above and beyond in terms of preparation for all of their scheduled events.</p>
<p>“When there’s an event that is going on that we are playing for, we try to sneak in time for us to rehearse at that event for the next event,” Schooley said. “When there is a high-profile concert, we will take more time in perfecting each piece, so then we will set up a more central location like in Morgantown at the CAC. We try to have rehearsals on a weekly or bi-weekly basis if it’s a high-profile performance.”</p>
<p>When Schooley isn’t performing or practicing with the WVBQ, he spends a lot of time composing, as he owns and operates a publishing company, Heilman Music Company.</p>
<p>“I have probably 12-15 published compositions for voice, choir, instruments and tuba quartets,” Schooley said. “My tuba quartets are known all over the world. My best sellers are two tuba quartets that I composed 25-30 years ago, and my biggest orders come from Japan, England, Germany and Switzerland.”</p>
<p>Heilman Music Company also publishes works from other composers including Virgil Thomson, who taught at Harvard and studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger.</p>
<p>Schooley considers himself a “pencil and paper” kind of composer, and he often arranges music for local choirs, including the First Presbyterian Church Choir in Fairmont, in which he performs.</p>
<p>“I sing OK,” Schooley said with a laugh. “I can read music pretty well, but it’s not like The Voice, where you envy the musicians you hear. We have choir rehearsal every Wednesday night, and it’s good exercise and good emotionally. We have a lot of fun, and it’s nice to sing and fun to sing, and you get to perform a concert every Sunday morning. That itself is very rewarding and refreshing.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Times West Virginian, <a href="http://www.timeswv.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.timeswv.com" type="external">http://www.timeswv.com</a></p>
<p>FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) — For Fairmont resident John Schooley, music is more than just a hobby.</p>
<p>As a retired Fairmont State University music theory and low brass professor, Schooley’s career in music is not quite finished. He has been a performing member of the West Virginia Brass Quintet since its founding in June 2009.</p>
<p>The WVBQ serves as a chamber ensemble that engages in repertoire spanning centuries of music. They share their performances at many categories of events including church services, weddings, conferences, community events, graduation ceremonies and more. Not to mention, the WVBQ has sustained a holiday residency at the famous Greenbrier Resort for 14 plus years.</p>
<p>Other accolades and performances include locations like the Artist Series Concerts at the Tamarack Center in Beckley, the Penn Alps Summer Concert Series and the Barbara B. Highland Concert at the Waldomore Library in Clarksburg.</p>
<p>Members include David Dayton, trumpet; Adam Loudin, trumpet; Andrew Scott, horn; Brian Plitnik, trombone; and Schooley, tuba.</p>
<p>With members living more than 150 miles apart, the members go above and beyond and to great lengths to sustain their musicianship and passion for promoting the arts in the state of West Virginia.</p>
<p>Schooley was one of the founding members of the WVBQ in 2009. He attributes the founding to his urge to perform while teaching at FSU.</p>
<p>“The motivating thing for me was that I was a teacher of music, but I wasn’t, unless I played in a quintet or performing group, really exercising my craft,” Schooley said. “If you’re going to teach art, you really got to be a painter or a sculptor or something. You got to have your hands into making the thing that you are teaching. I think it’s the making of the music that is the motivating factor for me.”</p>
<p>While the WVBQ is not a full-time touring ensemble, they keep a busy schedule with 25 performances in 2017 and events already scheduled in advance for 2018. With multiple performances and the barrier of distance, the WVBQ goes above and beyond in terms of preparation for all of their scheduled events.</p>
<p>“When there’s an event that is going on that we are playing for, we try to sneak in time for us to rehearse at that event for the next event,” Schooley said. “When there is a high-profile concert, we will take more time in perfecting each piece, so then we will set up a more central location like in Morgantown at the CAC. We try to have rehearsals on a weekly or bi-weekly basis if it’s a high-profile performance.”</p>
<p>When Schooley isn’t performing or practicing with the WVBQ, he spends a lot of time composing, as he owns and operates a publishing company, Heilman Music Company.</p>
<p>“I have probably 12-15 published compositions for voice, choir, instruments and tuba quartets,” Schooley said. “My tuba quartets are known all over the world. My best sellers are two tuba quartets that I composed 25-30 years ago, and my biggest orders come from Japan, England, Germany and Switzerland.”</p>
<p>Heilman Music Company also publishes works from other composers including Virgil Thomson, who taught at Harvard and studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger.</p>
<p>Schooley considers himself a “pencil and paper” kind of composer, and he often arranges music for local choirs, including the First Presbyterian Church Choir in Fairmont, in which he performs.</p>
<p>“I sing OK,” Schooley said with a laugh. “I can read music pretty well, but it’s not like The Voice, where you envy the musicians you hear. We have choir rehearsal every Wednesday night, and it’s good exercise and good emotionally. We have a lot of fun, and it’s nice to sing and fun to sing, and you get to perform a concert every Sunday morning. That itself is very rewarding and refreshing.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Times West Virginian, <a href="http://www.timeswv.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.timeswv.com" type="external">http://www.timeswv.com</a></p> | Professor founded brass quintet to practice what he teaches | false | https://apnews.com/b5d2a400476a46bd8c285d0ed4e0c542 | 2018-01-15 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
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<p>— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | 2012 Some of Our Favorites | false | https://abqjournal.com/156990/headline-200.html | 2013-01-01 | 2 |
<p>In These Times, August 5-18, 1987 (art: Miles DeCoster)</p>
<p>Journalists have documented, through firsthand testimony and confirmations from government officials, that Nicaraguan rebels either participate in or profit from cocaine traffic into the US.</p>
<p>But this news did not appear in the influential media outlets that set the bounds of political debate. The New York Times, the Washington Post and even the Miami Herald have limited their coverage of the Contra-drug connection to the barest mentions of other people’s investigations.</p>
<p>In fact, New York Times stories have consistently disparaged allegations of Contra drug-running. Three stories that ran over one week last month contained some variations on this theme from the July 20 edition:</p>
<p>Investigators, including reporters from major news organizations, have tried without success to find proof of … allegations that military supplies for the Contras may have been paid for with profits from drug trafficking.</p>
<p>Without validation by the elite press, crucial evidence of Contra drug involvement gels thrown away with yesterday’s newspaper, never entering public discourse. Yet the this evidence when assembled, points to a pattern of widespread, officially tolerated drug trafficking that may reach the highest levels of the Contra hierarchy and into the US government.</p>
<p>The first US report linking Contras to drugs came in a Dec. 20, 1985, Associated Press (AP) dispatch by Robert Parry and Brian Barger. They wrote that US and Costa Rican law enforcement officials and American Contra supporters told them Nicaraguan rebels in Costa Rica were financing their war through cocaine smuggling. The story also cited a secret C1A report that the Contra army ARDE had used cocaine profits to buy $250,000 in arms.</p>
<p>Hard-hitting as it was, the story distributed by AP was considerably watered down from the reporters’ version. According to the September/October 1986 Columbia Journalism Review, AP editors omitted, at the US government’s request, allegations involving John Hull, an American rancher who was the CIA’s Contra coordinator in Costa Rica.</p>
<p>“Hull has enough problems right now,” a US official reportedly told AP.</p>
<p>Even in this form, the story almost didn’t run. Only the unauthorized release of the story on AP‘s Latin wires on December 16 forced AP to offer it to their English-language customers, according to the Columbia Journalism Review.</p>
<p>Freedom frogmen:</p>
<p>Seth Rosenfeld of the San Francisco Examiner reported on March 16, 1986, that two convicted drug smugglers said they were working for the Contra cause. “The money belonged to help the Contra revolution,” Nicaraguan expatriate Carlos Cabezas testified, before being convicted for his role in the 1983 “frogman case,” described as the biggest cocaine bust in West Coast history. (The case involved frogmen retrieving cocaine from a ship in San Francisco Bay.)</p>
<p>Another “frogman” defendant, Julio Zavala, made the same claim, and the US government appeared to endorse it by returning to Zavala $36,000 federal prosecutors had seized as drug proceeds at the request of a Costa Rican-based rebel group that claimed Zavala was a Contra official. The group, the UDN-FARN, later became the nucleus for Lt. Col. Oliver North’s “Southern Front.”</p>
<p>Zavala told the Examiner he had given $500,000 to the Contras, largely proceeds from cocaine sales.</p>
<p>In the June 23, 1986, Examiner, Rosenfeld reported links between the FDN Contra army and another major Bay Area cocaine importer, Norwin Meneses. The Examiner wrote that Meneses, a Nicaraguan expatriate, was an “organizer and financial supporter” of the Contras, employed FDN members in his operations and had met with such top FDN officials as Adolfo Calero and Enrique Bermudez.</p>
<p>In 1986 Jesus Garcia, a Cuban-American mercenary who worked with Hull, began talking about a Contra drug connection after being convicted on a weapons charge. “It is common knowledge here in Miami that this whole Contra operation in Costa Rica was paid for with cocaine,” Garcia told Vince Bielski and Dennis Bernstein, writing in In These Times (Dec. 10, 1986). “I actually saw the cocaine and the weapons together under one roof, weapons that I helped ship to Costa Rica.”</p>
<p>Guns in, dope out:</p>
<p>Other convicts told their stories to news operations like Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal and CBS‘s West 57th: Gary Betzner and Michael Tolliver, imprisoned on drug charges, gave detailed accounts of flying weapons down to Central America and returning with cocaine and marijuana provided by North network figures like Hull.</p>
<p>George Morales, another convicted drug runner, said that he had given $3 million to the Contras in return for US government help with his pending criminal charges. West 57th confirmed, in an April 6, 1987, broadcast, that Morales had brought back $400,000 in one trip from the Bahamas. Contra official Octaviano Cesar signed the US Customs declaration.</p>
<p>In a July 11 report, West 57th presented the testimony of Ramon Milian-Rodriguez, a convicted narcotics financial expert, who told a Senate investigatory committee that he had helped the Colombian cocaine cartel funnel $10 million in donations to the Contras, at the request of Contra resupply overseer Felix Rodriquez.</p>
<p>A new link came from the Milwaukee Journal‘s David Umhoefer on July 8, reporting that a fugitive wanted on drug charges, Detlaf Thomas, told an undercover agent last December that 75 percent of his profits were going to the Contras, according to the agent.</p>
<p>Based on the testimony of these and other witnesses, including mercenary Steve Carr, who died mysteriously in Los Angeles last December, some journalists have alleged a direct US government hand in setting up a drug network. Wrote Bernstein and Bielski in the May 1987 issue of Spin:</p>
<p>To avoid getting caught arming the Contras during the congressional ban on such aid, the CIA turned to drug smugglers…who had their own planes and pilots with which to fly the weapons to the guerrillas. In exchange, the CIA opened up hidden airstrips in northern Costa Rica as refueling stops for the smugglers.</p>
<p>Evidence supporting direct US drug involvement has been uncovered by small newspapers for which Contra drug-running is a local story. For example, the Miami News‘ Michael Carrier reported on Oct. 30, 1986, that planes from Southern Air Transport–the airline that carried arms to Iran and the Contras–had been seen being loaded with cocaine in Barranquilla, Colombia.</p>
<p>Unfit to print:</p>
<p>Clearly the New York Times was wrong when it wrote on July 16 that charges claiming “the Contras were involved in smuggling drugs…have not been verified by any other people” than Morales, Betzner and Tolliver, the three convicted smugglers who appeared in the April West 57th program. Indeed, a public State Department report acknowledges that several persons “having various kinds of affiliations with or been involved in drug smuggling.” (The Reagan administration maintains such involvement is limited and does not involve Contra leadership, a contention disputed by several journalistic reports.)</p>
<p>The State Department document, released July 24, 1986, and sent to members of Congress, reports that a Colombian drug trafficker gave Eden Pastora’s Contra group $100,000 in 1984, as well as a cargo plane and two helicopters. Yet the Times still wrote on July 13 that news organizations have been unable to prove that “drugs were sold to buy weapons for the Contras.”</p>
<p>Hyper-caution has also led the Washington Post to misrepresent other people’s research. Its July 22 headline about a press conference by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) read, “Hill Panel Finds No Evidence Linking Contras to Drug Smuggling.” But in fact Rangel said his committee had found no evidence tying Contra leaders to drug-smuggling–but did find, as is obvious to anyone investigating the subject, that some Contras are cocaine smugglers. “Leaders Not Linked to Contra Drug Smuggling,” while a more accurate headline, would not have done as much to dampen a potentially explosive issue. (The worthiness of Rangel’s investigation is a different story—see page 6.)</p>
<p>Even the Miami Herald, which won a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize this year for its Iran-Contra coverage, has been uncharacteristically quiet on the Contra-drug story. “We’ve devoted a lot of manpower to this story,” a Herald editor told In These Times. “We haven’t been able to prove it.”</p>
<p>But one of the Herald‘s top reporters, Alfonso Chardy, had a different view of his newspaper’s investigations. “I looked into it. We didn’t do any stories,” he said, adding, “That doesn’t mean I didn’t find anything.”</p>
<p>Why have the major papers tried to squelch the drug story, even after some of the allegations have been officially confirmed? Some journalists suggested to In These Times that reports to date have not been well-sourced, although at least eight alleged Contra drug participants have made public confessions. One reporter argued that the story has been covered so much that “people’s eyes would glaze over because they got sick of it.”</p>
<p>A more plausible explanation was offered by Keith Schneider, author of two of the New York Times pieces cited above. “This story can shatter a republic,” he said. “I think it is so damaging, the implications are so extraordinary, that for us to run the story, it had better be based on the most solid evidence we can amass.”</p> | Big Papers Give Drug Story Small Play | true | http://fair.org/article/big-papers-give-drug-story-small-play/ | 1987-08-05 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Because the laws governing consumer liability for debit cards and credit cards are quite different. Plastic isn't equal, but it should be, according to Ed Mierzwinski of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.</p>
<p>A credit card is governed by the Truth in Lending Act and if it is stolen or compromised, the consumer is liable for only $50 of fraudulent charges, and card issuers are required to offer dispute protection and fair credit billing so you can stop payment on purchases.</p>
<p>However, the Electronic Funds Transfer Act governs debit cards, which are directly tied to your bank accounts. The fraud is much more akin to someone stealing your checkbook, and you could be liable for everything a thief buys with your debit card.</p>
<p>Victims of debit card fraud must act fast. If you report the loss or theft of your debit card to your bank immediately and the card hasn't been used, it can be deactivated. If you notify the bank within two business days, you are liable for up to $50. If you wait a day longer, you're on the hook for $500. And if after two months, you don't report to your financial institution, you're on the hook for the whole enchilada unless you can prove extenuating circumstances.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>U.S. PIRG wants the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to put debit cards on the same par with credit cards when it comes to security. Whether the bureau has that power is not clear, but all plastic needs to be brought closer to parity.</p>
<p>Consumers should monitor their accounts and statements closely until that day comes. Vigilance is the only way to protect yourself when it comes to debit card fraud.</p>
<p>This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.</p>
<p /> | Editorial: Debit should be on par with credit for security | false | https://abqjournal.com/351645/debit-should-be-on-par-with-credit-for-security.html | 2 |
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<p>YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Each afternoon, Cory Butler heads to Rod’s House — a drop-in center for homeless youth and young adults in downtown Yakima — where he waits to be taken across town to a new overnight winter shelter for young adults.</p>
<p>Butler, 20, said he’s grateful for the shelter at Englewood Christian Church, where he’s been spending nights since it opened more than two weeks ago. He doesn’t fit in at adult shelters.</p>
<p>“There’s a lot of older people who don’t understand the younger generations — the way I dress, the way I talk would upset them sometimes,” said Butler, clad in dark jeans and a black pullover sweater with the top of his dark hair dyed a lighter color.</p>
<p>Yakima’s overall homeless problem is long-standing and quite obvious, but less visible is a rapidly growing population of homeless youths and young adults, such as Butler, with few services to help them. For example, there’s no permanent overnight shelter in Yakima for minors, and placing young adults at facilities with older people could leave them vulnerable to sex trafficking, sexual exploitation and other problems, service providers say.</p>
<p>There is no clear picture of how many homeless teens and young adults there are in Washington state — or in Yakima County — but a 2016 state report estimated more than 13,000 youths ages 12 to 24 were living on the streets statewide. Officials also look to growing numbers of homeless K-12 students not only as a possible clue of how big the problem may be, but also as ground-zero in battling the issue.</p>
<p>The numbers are startling: Over the past decade, the Yakima School District has seen its homeless student population nearly quadruple to just over 5 percent of its students this year.</p>
<p>Officials know those homeless students are at high risk of becoming chronically homeless adults, so state and local agencies are focusing their efforts on homeless youths and young adults in hopes of breaking the cycle and preventing an explosion in chronically homeless people.</p>
<p>That means helping homeless students find stable living situations so they can concentrate on school work, and helping homeless young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 find a place to live so they can get a job and become independent, said Jim Theofelis, executive director of A Way Home Washington, a statewide coalition of service providers and state agencies focused on helping young adults out of homelessness.</p>
<p>“We need to have a system that understands (that) 18-to-24-year-olds are our best, last chance to interrupt the pattern of homelessness,” Theofelis said.</p>
<p>EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM</p>
<p>Determining the number of homeless young adults isn’t easy. Unlike their older counterparts, they are less likely to participate in surveys, such as the annual “Point in Time,” which counts the number of homeless in the state. A lack of associated services focusing on older teens and young adults also makes tracking them difficult, said Josh Jackson, director of Rod’s House. In addition, many have experienced bad situations in foster care, detention centers and other programs and are therefore less likely to seek help, he said.</p>
<p>“It takes time to build trust with a population that wants to stay underground,” Jackson said.</p>
<p>But there are indications homelessness among youths and young adults is on the rise statewide.</p>
<p>The number of homeless students in grades K-12 in the state has nearly doubled over the past 10 years. During the 2008-09 school year, there were 20,780 homeless students in Washington state, but by 2015-16 that number had jumped to 39,671 — 3.7 percent of the more than 1 million students statewide, according to the most recent data from the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.</p>
<p>It’s worse in the Yakima School District where the rate of homeless students nearly quadrupled over the same time period. The district’s homeless student population was 171 during the 2008-09 school year but grew to 847 by 2015-16, accounting for 5 percent of the district’s 16,200 students, OSPI data shows. Superintendent Jack Irion said he was surprised to see how much homelessness has grown among students.</p>
<p>“That’s a significant population of our students that are homeless,” Irion said. “When you come to school not knowing where you’re going to sleep that night, I think it’s pretty hard to focus on education.”</p>
<p>The situation is similar across Yakima County, where 2,614 homeless K-12 students were counted attending schools across the county during the 2015-16 school year — also 5 percent of the more than 54,290 students countywide.</p>
<p>SOLUTIONS</p>
<p>This year, Yakima has taken a step forward in reaching homeless young adults by establishing its first winter shelter devoted to homeless people ages 18 to 24. The shelter, Butler says, means he has a place to go — a refuge not possible if he had to go to a shelter housing older homeless adults.</p>
<p>Past experiences at those shelters have left the 20-year-old feeling vulnerable, he said.</p>
<p>Last summer, Butler stayed at Camp Hope behind the former Kmart, where he says he was intimidated by others.</p>
<p>A woman there took away a puppy Butler obtained from the nearby Yakima Humane Society after criticizing the way he was caring for the animal, and a man kept telling him he’d be drafted into the military, sent to Iraq and be killed, he said.</p>
<p>Tension grew, Butler said, and the man began threatening to beat him up.</p>
<p>“There definitely was a threat there and that’s why I’m glad I’m at the youth shelter, where we’re all relatively the same age,” he said.</p>
<p>So far, about eight homeless young adults have been using the winter shelter nightly, but Jackson said that number will increase as word gets out.</p>
<p>“This is a group that has been staying outside a lot and they don’t have to stay outside this winter,” he said,</p>
<p>The new statewide focus on homeless youths and young adults is already bringing attention to Yakima and leading to more collaboration among local service providers. For example, Catholic Charities has received $632,000 in state grants and another $304,000 in federal funds specifically to house young adults, said program manager Callie Webster.</p>
<p>Seven young adults have already been housed using the grant money, with five more in the process of being housed. The funding will be allocated over three years, and those housed will eventually begin paying rent. The program aims to help individuals come off of assistance within two years, she said.</p>
<p>“The real hope and goal of this is for a true launch into financial stability and adulthood,” Webster said.</p>
<p>Although the Yakima School District has partnered with area service providers in the past to ensure homeless students receive services, it’s now directed staff to determine the leading causes of homelessness among students and devise a plan to prevent it. One finding is that often poor communication prohibits families from solving conflict, and that results in homelessness, Irion said.</p>
<p>“What are we doing as a community to teach those skills? Because those are teachable,” he said. “We want to address that — that’s why we’re headed down this second path.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the state Office of Homeless Youth Prevention and Protection along with A Way Home Washington is embarking on a plan to help funnel grants to local communities in need of services.</p>
<p>And Yakima has caught the state’s attention, said Kim Justice, the agency’s executive director.</p>
<p>“Yakima is a community we’ve been paying a lot of attention to,” she said. “They’ve created a coalition on youth and young adults, they meet regularly and are working to find solutions.”</p>
<p>One such fix may be to establish a host-home program where youths can live with a family without the family being required to obtain a foster-care license, she said.</p>
<p>Another solution may include building shelters, one for minors and another for young adults, she said. But much work would be needed to provide the data needed to define such a project and secure funding.</p>
<p>The state and A Way Home Washington later this year will select eight to 12 communities across the state to help do the work needed to establish more services such as shelters, Theofelis said. Although A Way Home Washington has yet to make a decision, Yakima would be considered, he said.</p>
<p>Despite the challenges, Theofelis and other advocates are confident the problem of teen and young adult homelessness can be solved.</p>
<p>“We do not have to accept this, but we do have to be more thoughtful with more intent about how we address this,” he said. “I really believe we can solve this in Washington state and be a national model.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic, <a href="http://www.yakimaherald.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.yakimaherald.com" type="external">http://www.yakimaherald.com</a></p>
<p>YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Each afternoon, Cory Butler heads to Rod’s House — a drop-in center for homeless youth and young adults in downtown Yakima — where he waits to be taken across town to a new overnight winter shelter for young adults.</p>
<p>Butler, 20, said he’s grateful for the shelter at Englewood Christian Church, where he’s been spending nights since it opened more than two weeks ago. He doesn’t fit in at adult shelters.</p>
<p>“There’s a lot of older people who don’t understand the younger generations — the way I dress, the way I talk would upset them sometimes,” said Butler, clad in dark jeans and a black pullover sweater with the top of his dark hair dyed a lighter color.</p>
<p>Yakima’s overall homeless problem is long-standing and quite obvious, but less visible is a rapidly growing population of homeless youths and young adults, such as Butler, with few services to help them. For example, there’s no permanent overnight shelter in Yakima for minors, and placing young adults at facilities with older people could leave them vulnerable to sex trafficking, sexual exploitation and other problems, service providers say.</p>
<p>There is no clear picture of how many homeless teens and young adults there are in Washington state — or in Yakima County — but a 2016 state report estimated more than 13,000 youths ages 12 to 24 were living on the streets statewide. Officials also look to growing numbers of homeless K-12 students not only as a possible clue of how big the problem may be, but also as ground-zero in battling the issue.</p>
<p>The numbers are startling: Over the past decade, the Yakima School District has seen its homeless student population nearly quadruple to just over 5 percent of its students this year.</p>
<p>Officials know those homeless students are at high risk of becoming chronically homeless adults, so state and local agencies are focusing their efforts on homeless youths and young adults in hopes of breaking the cycle and preventing an explosion in chronically homeless people.</p>
<p>That means helping homeless students find stable living situations so they can concentrate on school work, and helping homeless young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 find a place to live so they can get a job and become independent, said Jim Theofelis, executive director of A Way Home Washington, a statewide coalition of service providers and state agencies focused on helping young adults out of homelessness.</p>
<p>“We need to have a system that understands (that) 18-to-24-year-olds are our best, last chance to interrupt the pattern of homelessness,” Theofelis said.</p>
<p>EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM</p>
<p>Determining the number of homeless young adults isn’t easy. Unlike their older counterparts, they are less likely to participate in surveys, such as the annual “Point in Time,” which counts the number of homeless in the state. A lack of associated services focusing on older teens and young adults also makes tracking them difficult, said Josh Jackson, director of Rod’s House. In addition, many have experienced bad situations in foster care, detention centers and other programs and are therefore less likely to seek help, he said.</p>
<p>“It takes time to build trust with a population that wants to stay underground,” Jackson said.</p>
<p>But there are indications homelessness among youths and young adults is on the rise statewide.</p>
<p>The number of homeless students in grades K-12 in the state has nearly doubled over the past 10 years. During the 2008-09 school year, there were 20,780 homeless students in Washington state, but by 2015-16 that number had jumped to 39,671 — 3.7 percent of the more than 1 million students statewide, according to the most recent data from the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.</p>
<p>It’s worse in the Yakima School District where the rate of homeless students nearly quadrupled over the same time period. The district’s homeless student population was 171 during the 2008-09 school year but grew to 847 by 2015-16, accounting for 5 percent of the district’s 16,200 students, OSPI data shows. Superintendent Jack Irion said he was surprised to see how much homelessness has grown among students.</p>
<p>“That’s a significant population of our students that are homeless,” Irion said. “When you come to school not knowing where you’re going to sleep that night, I think it’s pretty hard to focus on education.”</p>
<p>The situation is similar across Yakima County, where 2,614 homeless K-12 students were counted attending schools across the county during the 2015-16 school year — also 5 percent of the more than 54,290 students countywide.</p>
<p>SOLUTIONS</p>
<p>This year, Yakima has taken a step forward in reaching homeless young adults by establishing its first winter shelter devoted to homeless people ages 18 to 24. The shelter, Butler says, means he has a place to go — a refuge not possible if he had to go to a shelter housing older homeless adults.</p>
<p>Past experiences at those shelters have left the 20-year-old feeling vulnerable, he said.</p>
<p>Last summer, Butler stayed at Camp Hope behind the former Kmart, where he says he was intimidated by others.</p>
<p>A woman there took away a puppy Butler obtained from the nearby Yakima Humane Society after criticizing the way he was caring for the animal, and a man kept telling him he’d be drafted into the military, sent to Iraq and be killed, he said.</p>
<p>Tension grew, Butler said, and the man began threatening to beat him up.</p>
<p>“There definitely was a threat there and that’s why I’m glad I’m at the youth shelter, where we’re all relatively the same age,” he said.</p>
<p>So far, about eight homeless young adults have been using the winter shelter nightly, but Jackson said that number will increase as word gets out.</p>
<p>“This is a group that has been staying outside a lot and they don’t have to stay outside this winter,” he said,</p>
<p>The new statewide focus on homeless youths and young adults is already bringing attention to Yakima and leading to more collaboration among local service providers. For example, Catholic Charities has received $632,000 in state grants and another $304,000 in federal funds specifically to house young adults, said program manager Callie Webster.</p>
<p>Seven young adults have already been housed using the grant money, with five more in the process of being housed. The funding will be allocated over three years, and those housed will eventually begin paying rent. The program aims to help individuals come off of assistance within two years, she said.</p>
<p>“The real hope and goal of this is for a true launch into financial stability and adulthood,” Webster said.</p>
<p>Although the Yakima School District has partnered with area service providers in the past to ensure homeless students receive services, it’s now directed staff to determine the leading causes of homelessness among students and devise a plan to prevent it. One finding is that often poor communication prohibits families from solving conflict, and that results in homelessness, Irion said.</p>
<p>“What are we doing as a community to teach those skills? Because those are teachable,” he said. “We want to address that — that’s why we’re headed down this second path.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the state Office of Homeless Youth Prevention and Protection along with A Way Home Washington is embarking on a plan to help funnel grants to local communities in need of services.</p>
<p>And Yakima has caught the state’s attention, said Kim Justice, the agency’s executive director.</p>
<p>“Yakima is a community we’ve been paying a lot of attention to,” she said. “They’ve created a coalition on youth and young adults, they meet regularly and are working to find solutions.”</p>
<p>One such fix may be to establish a host-home program where youths can live with a family without the family being required to obtain a foster-care license, she said.</p>
<p>Another solution may include building shelters, one for minors and another for young adults, she said. But much work would be needed to provide the data needed to define such a project and secure funding.</p>
<p>The state and A Way Home Washington later this year will select eight to 12 communities across the state to help do the work needed to establish more services such as shelters, Theofelis said. Although A Way Home Washington has yet to make a decision, Yakima would be considered, he said.</p>
<p>Despite the challenges, Theofelis and other advocates are confident the problem of teen and young adult homelessness can be solved.</p>
<p>“We do not have to accept this, but we do have to be more thoughtful with more intent about how we address this,” he said. “I really believe we can solve this in Washington state and be a national model.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic, <a href="http://www.yakimaherald.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.yakimaherald.com" type="external">http://www.yakimaherald.com</a></p> | Yakima area’s homeless youth, young adult population growing | false | https://apnews.com/2e71144e2d854a0bb5ddb2c932e1992d | 2018-01-20 | 2 |
<p>On Tuesday, Professor Jordan Peterson announced via Twitter that he had been banned from posting new YouTube videos.</p>
<p>Peterson has become a major public figure not due to his fascinating work on Biblical thought and the nature of psychology, but because he refuses to cave to the politically correct but biologically erroneous perspective that women can become men and vice versa. Peterson became controversial because he opposed Bill C-16, a Canadian “human rights” bill that would prevent people from discriminating against “gender identity” and “gender expression” – in other words, the government could fine or prosecute you for properly identifying a biological male as such. Peterson stated:</p>
<p>I will never use words I hate, like the trendy and artificially constructed words "zhe" and "zher." These words are at the vanguard of a post-modern, radical leftist ideology that I detest, and which is, in my professional opinion, frighteningly similar to the Marxist doctrines that killed at least 100 million people in the 20th century.</p>
<p>Peterson has felt the backlash in the academic community; in 2017, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council refused him a grant, though he had received such grants in the past.</p>
<p>What prompted YouTube’s and Google’s move against Peterson? Political bias is the most obvious answer if no further evidence is presented. In the past, YouTube has “ <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/441400/google-youtubes-prageru-censorship-prager-universitys-conservative-videos-censored" type="external">restricted</a>” videos from Prager University; they’ve also placed Steven Crowder’s video in restricted mode.</p>
<p>This sort of thing leads to the continued polarization of politics in the country. While YouTube is a private company and can censor what it pleases, they pledge to open themselves to a variety of viewpoints. Cracking down on conservative viewpoints undercuts that mission, and could lead to an exodus from the platform if such censorship is maintained or grows. That would lead to the creation of another political site for videos, which would simply exacerbate the bubble mentality that now exists on both sides.</p>
<p>Free Jordan Peterson, YouTube.</p>
<p>UPDATE: Peterson's account has been unlocked.</p> | CENSORSHIP: Jordan Peterson Claims YouTube Now Banning Him From Posting New Videos [UPDATED] | true | https://dailywire.com/news/19225/censorship-jordan-peterson-claims-youtube-now-ben-shapiro | 2017-08-01 | 0 |
<p>Nov. 22 (UPI) — Norwegian energy company Statoil said Wednesday its Dudgeon wind farm off the British coast is now feeding the grid from its 67 wind turbines.</p>
<p>The Dudgeon wind farm is about 25 miles off the coast of Norfolk. Its turbines, with a combined capacity of 402 megawatts, can meet the energy demands of around 410,000 average households at its peak. The Norwegian company, one of the main energy suppliers to the European market, said Dudgeon is part of its efforts to add more green components to its portfolio.</p>
<p>“As part of our strategy to develop from an oil and gas company to a broad energy major, Statoil will grow significantly in profitable renewable energy, with an ambition to invest around $12 billion towards 2030,” CEO Eldar Sætre said in <a href="https://www.statoil.com/en/news/21nov2017-dudgeon-opening.html" type="external">a statement</a>.</p>
<p>Statoil placed the last of the 67 turbines at the Dudgeon wind farm in place <a href="https://www.upi.com/Last-of-the-67-turbines-for-a-British-wind-farm-installed/4391504780253/" type="external">in October</a>. The company said the entire facility was completed on time and below the $1.9 billion budget set when the final investment decision was made in 2014.</p>
<p>Statoil already counts several projects in its renewable energy portfolio. Through a memorandum of understanding signed with the Scottish government, the company aims to install a Lithium battery storage system within two years.</p>
<p>Working since 2012, its Sheringham Shoal is one of the largest offshore wind farms in service in the world with its capacity to provide enough power to meet the annual demands of nearly a quarter million average households.</p>
<p>The United Kingdom ranks second in Europe behind Germany for offshore wind energy capacity, with about 518 megawatts, before Dudgeon was connected.</p>
<p>Statoil reported adjusted earnings after tax for <a href="https://www.upi.com/Norwegian-central-bank-calls-for-oil-gas-divestment/4891510840266/" type="external">the third quarter</a> at $2.3 billion, more than double the amount from the same period last year.</p> | New wind farm in service off the British coast | false | https://newsline.com/new-wind-farm-in-service-off-the-british-coast/ | 2017-11-22 | 1 |
<p>Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., is the site of Monday’s presidential debate( <a href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Campaign-2016-Debate/d406116035b142babc507e92cf823bb5/4/0" type="external">David Goldman / AP</a>)</p>
<p>I don’t envy Lester Holt. No matter what he does in the first presidential debate, he’ll be denounced. But this certainty should be liberating. If you know the brickbats will come one way or the other, you might as well do the right thing.</p>
<p>But is there a “right thing” that doesn’t coincide with someone’s political agenda? That is precisely the wrong question, since any, choice he makes will be interpreted as favoring one candidate over the other. What should matter are the obligations of journalists in a democratic society.</p>
<p>READ: <a href="" type="internal">Truthdig’s Live Blog of First Presidential Debate</a></p>
<p />
<p>For debate moderators, both on Monday and in future encounters, three duties stand out. The first is to do all they can so viewers come away with an accurate sense of the facts. The second is to promote a real exchange of perspectives between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, not only on issues journalists deem to matter but also on what a president can realistically do to leave the country better off four years from now.</p>
<p>The third is the trickiest: Holt and his colleagues Martha Raddatz, Anderson Cooper and Chris Wallace need to keep in mind that they are far more affluent than most of the people watching the debates. They should think hard about what life is like for those — from Appalachia to Compton, from the working class in Youngstown, Ohio, to the farm workers in Immokalee, Florida — who find themselves in less comfortable circumstances than those at the media’s commanding heights.</p>
<p>It tells us a great deal that the Clinton camp wants the moderators to call out the candidates when they lie, while Trump wants to leave this task to his opponent. Never has a candidate signaled as clearly as Trump that he is terrified of fact-checking.</p>
<p>But let’s remove this argument from a partisan frame. The notion that moderators can take themselves out of the debate is absurd. I wish we had Lincoln-Douglas style debates in which a moderator was simply a timekeeper, but we don’t. As they are currently organized, debates already give moderators enormous influence over their outcomes by virtue of the questions they ask or don’t ask, by how and when they enforce the rules, and by which questions they choose to follow up on.</p>
<p>And if one candidate actually does lie more than the other, moderators who are passive in the face of whoppers place the more honest candidate at a profound disadvantage. She or he has to use precious time to highlight the lie. Moreover, since everything candidates say in a debate is presumed to be about getting themselves elected, they can hardly be expected to serve as (or to be seen as) independent verifiers of fact. And if journalism isn’t about getting the facts right, what’s the point?</p>
<p>Debates also need to catch up with social media. Tens of thousands of journalists and citizens will be checking the accuracy of what the candidates are saying. Debates should not be hermetically sealed from the truth-gathering going on around them. If those busy information-mongers find that a candidate has said something utterly untrue, a moderator should use the information to challenge the candidate and invite a response.</p>
<p>We all have concerns we want addressed. Personally, I want Trump pressed about whether foreign interests have helped prop up his business empire, and then asked how voters can possibly judge the truthfulness of his answer if he refuses to release any tax returns. I am sure Trump supporters want Clinton queried about servers and emails.</p>
<p>But this campaign has been billed as the one in which Americans who have not fully shared in our prosperity would finally have their say. Please, moderators, don’t let candidates get away with vague promises — or pledges they can never keep. And insist that they lay out the steps they can plausibly take to make the lives of struggling individuals and families better. The same goes for national security. You know a lot about the world. Don’t fear bringing that knowledge to bear when candidates try to slip through with nebulous or scary talk.</p>
<p>And, to go back to the beginning, forget about the critics and think instead of how you will feel years from now about how you discharged your responsibilities as journalists. Your job is not to bend over backward so you offend no one. It’s to help your fellow citizens learn as much as they can in preparing to make one of the most consequential decisions they will ever render in a voting booth.</p> | Presidential Debate Moderators Are Representing the People and Should Act Like Brave Journalists | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/presidential-debate-moderators-are-representing-the-people-and-should-act-like-brave-journalists/ | 2016-09-26 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Dear Senior Living Adviser,&#160;</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>My fiance is about to receive a lawsuit settlement from a wrongful death suit of his wife. He is 62 and has been financially irresponsible all his life. We are both on Social Security with no other income.</p>
<p>He is underwater with his house, has no retirement savings -- but no other debt. His home needs many repairs, his car is old, etc.</p>
<p>My house and car are paid for. I have no debt and $42,000 in an IRA.</p>
<p>He wants to give some of the money to his three sons (all adults). How much should he give his children? Since this is going to directly affect me, how can I help him decide how to allocate the rest of the money? Thank you.</p>
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<p>- Sharon Share</p>
<p>Dear Sharon,</p>
<p>I expect that your fiance wants to share the settlement with his adult sons because he recognizes that when he lost his wife, they lost their mother. They shared in the loss; he wants them to share in the settlement.</p>
<p>There are gift tax implications for large gifts above the annual exclusion amount, which for 2014 is $14,000 per person. But they aren't all that onerous -- just something to deal with at tax time when making a large gift.</p>
<p>You're painting a picture that you're in control of your finances and he is not doing a very good job with his, and the majority of the lawsuit settlement funds should be spent righting his finances for your future together. I can understand that point of view, but I'd tread lightly in volunteering your opinion on how the money should be allocated. Bringing in a financial planning professional on a fee-only basis to discuss his retirement income needs and how the settlement should be invested would get you out of the role of financial adviser.</p>
<p>That said, it would be healthy to have a discussion on how you'll manage your finances as a couple after you're married. What happens with the proceeds if you sell your house to move into his home? How many cars will you have? Will you keep your money separate or in a joint account? Who pays the utilities, the mortgage, the insurance and the cable bills?</p>
<p>Since he's just 62, it could make sense for him to withdraw his Social Security claim and reapply when he reaches full retirement age, or even wait until age 70. If eligible, he would have to repay all the benefits received. This can only be done in the 12 months following when he was entitled to receive retirement benefits. He can talk to a representative at the Social Security office for more details.</p>
<p>Get more news, money-saving tips and expert advice by signing up for a free <a href="http://app.bankrate.com/prefcenter/signup.cfm?t=newsletter" type="external">Bankrate newsletter Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Ask the Adviser</p>
<p>To ask a question of Dr. Don, go to the " <a href="http://www.bankrate.com/brm/ask.asp" type="external">Ask the Experts Opens a New Window.</a>" page and select one of these topics: "Financing a home," "Saving and Investing," "Senior Living" or "Money." Read more <a href="http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/advisers/drdon.aspx?pid=p:foxbz" type="external">Dr. Don columns Opens a New Window.</a> for additional personal finance advice.</p>
<p>Bankrate's content, including the guidance of its advice-and-expert columns and this website, is intended only to assist you with financial decisions. The content is broad in scope and does not consider your personal financial situation. Bankrate recommends that you seek the advice of advisers who are fully aware of your individual circumstances before making any final decisions or implementing any financial strategy. Please remember that your use of this website is governed by <a href="http://www.bankrate.com/coinfo/disclaimer.asp" type="external">Bankrate's Terms of Use Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 2014, Bankrate Inc.</p> | How to Allocate Money to Adult Children | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/08/13/woman-flummoxed-about-her-fiance-finances.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>If the conventional wisdom is that refiners equities are usually less bad than other energy stocks when oil prices decline, then it can be argued the nearly 4 percent year-to-date being sported by the Market Vectors Oil Refiners ETF (NYSE:CRAK) is fairly impressive.</p>
<p>The gains posted by some refining stocks, including several of the 26 held by CRAK, are enough to make investors ponder if the ETF and its holdings can remain firm going forward. CRAK tracks the Market Vectors Global Oil Refiners Index (MVCRAKTR), a modified market cap-weighted index intended to track the performance of the largest and most liquid companies in the global oil refining segment, <a href="http://www.vaneck.com/funds/CRAK.aspx" type="external">according to Market Vectors</a>.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>While CRAK has been solid this year, refiners equities do face some headwinds, particularly as distillate supplies remain elevated following a mostly moderate winter.</p>
<p>Related Link: <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/16/03/7764732/macquarie-oil-will-fall-to-low-30s-again" type="external">Macquarie Oil Will Fall To Low $30s Again</a></p>
<p>Lack of winter heating oil demand has pushed distillate inventories above 160 million barrels (bbl) as of early April versus historical averages of less than 130 million bbl, according to recent EIA data. With little incentive to produce additional distillates, some US refiners switched over early to gasoline, leading to an unseasonable build in gasoline inventories. As a result, gasoline stocks were moderately overbuilt but have since seen supportive draws. As of early April, they stood at 244 million bbl but were a more moderate 24.3 days of implied inventory when scaled against underlying demand, said Fitch Ratings <a href="https://www.fitchratings.com/site/fitch-home/pressrelease?id=1002410" type="external">in a new note</a>.</p>
<p>Refiners benefit when oil prices slide due to lower crack spreads, perhaps the inspiration for CRAK's ticker, and that could be a catalyst for further upside for the ETF even if oil prices continue climbing.</p>
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<p>Crack spreads contracted notably from last year's strong levels. Benchmark Gulf Coast 321 crack spreads in first-quarter 2016 were about 40 percent below year-ago levels, averaging $9.16/bbl versus $15.37 in 2015. Midcontinent crack spreads were down a comparable level, while NYH 321 spreads fell a more moderate 21 percent, having experienced less of a run-up in prior years. Key crude spreads have dropped sharply lower in line with lower oil prices, removing a windfall for midcontinent and other location- advantaged refiners, added Fitch.</p>
<p>Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) and Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) combine for over 15 percent of CRAK's weight and are the ETF's top two holdings. The former is up more than 7 percent this year, while Valero is off 10.7 percent.</p>
<p>Image Credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/en/refinery-petroleum-oil-industry-340439/" type="external">Public Domain</a></p>
<p>2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.</p> | A Test For The Refiners ETF | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/04/14/test-for-refiners-etf.html | 2016-04-14 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Blue Marblish news from our other blogs, and elsewhere.</p>
<p>Smart Start:&#160;Obama admin announces <a href="" type="internal">billions</a> to create a smart grid.</p>
<p>Women’s Voices:&#160;Women make up half of the population, so <a href="" type="internal">why not</a> half of bloggers?</p>
<p>Reid’s Plan:&#160;Sen. Harry Reid’s <a href="" type="internal">announced support</a> for a public option. So what is it?</p>
<p>No Going Back:&#160;Pollution is <a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1029-hance_pearlriver.html" type="external">so bad</a> in China’s Pearl River, it can’t be undone. [MongaBay]</p>
<p>Expensive Jokes:&#160;Yes Men pranksters <a href="" type="internal">get sued</a> by the Chamber of Commerce.</p>
<p>Belle of the Ball:&#160;Coal company <a href="" type="internal">pays for</a> basketball player’s dorm.</p>
<p>Driving DNA:&#160;Some people may be <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/genetically-bad-driving/" type="external">genetically predisposed</a> to be bad drivers. [WIRED]</p>
<p>Majority Rule: A majority of Americans support cap-and-trade, <a href="" type="internal">a new poll shows</a>.</p>
<p>Max Factor:&#160;Sen. Max Baucus <a href="" type="internal">threatens to hobble</a> healthcare legislation’s progress.</p>
<p>Tough Shot:&#160;Two HPV vaccines are on the market, <a href="http://www.livescience.com/health/091020-hpv-vaccine.html" type="external">re-igniting</a> controversies. [LiveScience]</p>
<p>Ready to Rumble:&#160;A <a href="" type="internal">look inside</a> the fake letters ACCCE sent to sway Congress members.</p>
<p>Scarlet Letters:&#160;ACCCE will have to <a href="" type="internal">answer to Congress</a> on forged letters scandal.</p>
<p>Testify: ACCCE CEO claims he <a href="" type="internal">never opposed</a> Waxman-Markey. But he’s wrong.</p>
<p>Denial-ism: A new breed of pundit is <a href="" type="internal">in denial</a> about denying global warming.</p>
<p /> | Eco-News Roundup: Friday October 30 | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/10/eco-news-roundup-friday-october-30/ | 2009-10-30 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The new locations are in addition to the two sites that opened earlier this month. They will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays until Oct. 4.</p>
<p>Shops @ 98th and Central, 120 98th A5 NW</p>
<p>Glenwood Village Shopping Center, Suite C-4, 12611 Montgomery NE</p>
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<p>Don Newton-Taylor Ranch Community Center, 4900 Kachina NW</p>
<p>Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center, 501 Elizabeth SE</p>
<p>Daskalos Plaza, 5339 Menaul NE</p>
<p>West Mesa Community Center, 5500 Glenrio NW</p>
<p>Office of the City Clerk, 600 Second NW (not open Election Day)</p>
<p>City of Albuquerque Records Center, 604 Menaul NW</p>
<p>Cesar Chavez Community Center, 7505 Kathryn SE</p>
<p>North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, 7521 Carmel NE</p>
<p>Montgomery Crossing Shopping Center, 8510 Montgomery NE</p>
<p>Venture Commerce, 9674-3 Eagle Ranch NW</p> | Early votes can be cast at 12 sites around ABQ | false | https://abqjournal.com/265058/early-votes-can-be-cast-at-12-sites-around-abq.html | 2 |
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<p>On Monday night, after Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) targeted him at the Democratic National Convention, Donald Trump attacked Booker on Twitter, saying in his usual omniscient way, "I know more about Cory than he knows about himself.”</p>
<p>If Cory Booker is the future of the Democratic Party, they have no future! I know more about Cory than he knows about himself.</p>
<p>Booker had offered a <a href="http://time.com/4421756/democratic-convention-cory-booker-transcript-speech/" type="external">glimpse</a> of how the Democrats will attack Trump, executing a direct assault. He started by citing Trump’s mockery of a New York Times reporter’s disability and his mockery of Senator John McCain:</p>
<p>We’ve watched him try to get laughs at others’ expense; try to incite fear at a time when we need to inspire courage; try to rise in the polls by dragging our national conversation into the gutter. We’ve watched him cruelly mock a journalist’s disability. We’ve watched him demean the service of my Senate colleague. “He’s not a war hero,” Trump said. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”</p>
<p>Booker continued by limning Trump as a racist:</p>
<p>We’ve watched him, with a broad and divisive brush, say that Mexican immigrants who came to America to build a better life are “bringing crime, they’re bringing drugs.” He says many of them are “rapists.” He said that an Indiana-born federal judge can’t be trusted to do his job because of his Mexican ancestry – a statement that even fellow Republicans have described as racist.</p>
<p>Booker then segued to Trump’s history of misogyny and his call for banning Muslims:</p>
<p>We’ve watched and heard him call women demeaning and degrading names. “Dog.” “Fat pig.” “Disgusting.” “Animal.” It’s a twisted hypocrisy when he treats other women in a manner he would never, ever accept from another man speaking about his wife or daughters. In a nation founded on religious freedom, he says ban all Muslims, don’t let certain people in because of how they pray.</p>
<p>"That’s what he wants, he wants us to be speculating: ‘Ooh, it sounds so sinister.'"</p>
<p>Cory Booker, responding to Donald Trump's attack on him</p>
<p>Booker concluded his attack on Trump by savaging Trump as a greedy profiteer who cared little for workers:</p>
<p>Trump says he would run our country like he has run his businesses. Well, I’m from Jersey, and we have seen the way he leads. In Atlantic City, he got rich while his companies declared multiple bankruptcies. Yet without remorse, even as people got hurt by his failures, he bragged, “The money I took out of there was incredible.” Yes, he took out lots of cash but he stiffed contractors – many of them small businesses, refusing to pay them for the work they’d done.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, after Trump's tweet, Booker responded on CNN's Good Day:</p>
<p>That’s what he wants, he wants us to be speculating: ‘Ooh, it sounds so sinister.' I don’t care. I love you, Donald. I pray for you. I hope that you find some kindness in your heart that you’re not going to be somebody that spews out insults to your political opposition. That you’re going to start finding some ways to love. I’m going to elevate him. I love you, I just don’t want you to be my president.</p> | Trump Battles With Cory Booker: ‘I Know More About Cory Than He Knows About Himself’ | true | https://dailywire.com/news/7820/trump-battles-cory-booker-i-know-more-about-cory-hank-berrien | 2016-07-26 | 0 |
<p>Sooner or later there will be a nuclear 9/11 in an American city or that of a US ally unless serious program is undertaken to prevent such an occurrence. A terrorist nuclear attack against an American city could take many forms. A worst case scenario would be the detonation of a nuclear device within a city. Depending upon the size and sophistication of the weapon, it could kill hundreds of thousands or even millions of people.</p>
<p>Terrorists could obtain a nuclear device by stealing or purchasing an already created nuclear weapon or by stealing or purchasing weapons-grade nuclear materials and fashioning a crude bomb. While neither of these options would be easy, they cannot be dismissed as beyond the capabilities of a determined terrorist organization.</p>
<p>If terrorists succeeded in obtaining a nuclear weapon, they would also have to bring it into the US, assuming they did not already obtain or create the weapon in this country. While this would not necessarily be easy, many analysts have suggested that it would be within the realm of possibility. An oft-cited example is the possibility of bringing a nuclear device into an American port hidden on a cargo ship.</p>
<p>Another form of terrorist nuclear attack requiring far less sophistication would be the detonation of a radiation weapon or “dirty bomb.” This type of device would not be capable of a nuclear explosion but would use conventional explosives to disperse radioactive materials within a populated area. The detonation of such a device could cause massive panic due to the public’s appropriate fears of radiation sickness and of developing cancers and leukemias in the future.</p>
<p>A bi-partisan task force of the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board, headed by former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker and former White House Counsel Lloyd Cutler, called upon the US in 2001 to spend $30 billion over an eight to ten year period to prevent nuclear weapons and materials in the former Soviet Union from getting into the hands of terrorists or so called “rogue” states. The task force called the nuclear dangers in the former USSR “the most urgent unmet national security threat facing the United States today.” At present, the US government is spending only about one-third of the recommended amount, while it pours resources into paying for the invasion, occupation and rebuilding of Iraq as well as programs unlikely to provide effective security to US citizens such as missile defense.</p>
<p>The great difficulty in preventing a nuclear 9/11 is that it will require ending the well-entrenched nuclear double standards that the US and other nuclear weapons states have lived by throughout the Nuclear Age. Preventing nuclear terrorism in the end will not be possible without a serious global program to eliminate nuclear weapons and control nuclear materials that could be converted to weapons. Such a program would require universal agreement in the form of an enforceable treaty providing for the following:</p>
<p>* full accounting and international safeguarding of all nuclear weapons, weapons-grade nuclear materials and nuclear reactors in all countries, including the nuclear weapons states;</p>
<p>* international tracking and control of the movement of all nuclear weapons and weapons-grade materials;</p>
<p>* dismantling and prohibiting all uranium enrichment facilities and all plutonium separation facilities, and the implementation of a plan to expedite the phasing out all nuclear power plants;</p>
<p>* full recognition and endorsement by the nuclear weapons states of their existing obligation pursuant to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty for an “unequivocal undertaking” to eliminate their nuclear arsenals;</p>
<p>* rapidly dismantling existing nuclear weapons in an orderly and transparent manner and the transfer of nuclear materials to international control sites; and</p>
<p>* criminalizing the possession, threat or use of nuclear weapons.</p>
<p>While these steps may appear extreme, they are in actuality the minimum necessary to prevent a nuclear 9/11. If that is among our top priorities as a country, as surely it should be, the US government should begin immediately to lead the world in this direction. Now is the time to act, before one or more US cities are devastated by nuclear terrorism.</p>
<p>DAVID KRIEGER is president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. He is the editor of Hope in a Dark Time (Capra Press, 2003), and author of <a href="" type="internal">Choose Hope, Your Role in Waging Peace in the Nuclear Age</a> (Middleway Press, 2002).</p>
<p>He can be contacted at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | A Nuclear 9/11? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/10/03/a-nuclear-9-11/ | 2003-10-03 | 4 |
<p>In the Oct. 4&#160; <a href="http://www.fool.com/podcasts/rule-breaker-investing?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=280642d4-a9e1-11e7-bf0b-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Rule Breaker Investing Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;podcast, David Gardner interviews Anders Ericsson, one of the world's top experts on expertise. His work has been cited in multiple best-sellers and was also the basis for an&#160;idea of the 10,000-Hour Rule that Malcolm Gladwell popularized. But as Anders has often repeated since then, there’s a lot more to mastery than that, and he and David discuss the keys to it this week.</p>
<p>A full transcript follows the video.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than&#160;Wal-MartWhen investing geniuses David and Tom&#160;Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they&#160;have run for over a decade, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom&#160;just revealed what they believe are the&#160; <a href="https://www.fool.com/mms/mark/e-sa-bbn-eg?aid=8867&amp;source=isaeditxt0000476&amp;ftm_cam=sa-bbn-evergreen&amp;ftm_pit=6627&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=280642d4-a9e1-11e7-bf0b-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">ten best stocks Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;for investors to buy right now... and Wal-Mart wasn't one of them! That's right -- they&#160;think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.fool.com/mms/mark/e-sa-bbn-eg?aid=8867&amp;source=isaeditxt0000476&amp;ftm_cam=sa-bbn-evergreen&amp;ftm_pit=6627&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=280642d4-a9e1-11e7-bf0b-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of September 5, 2017The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned.</p>
<p>This video was recorded on Oct. 4, 2017.</p>
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<p>David Gardner: Welcome back to Rule Breaker Investing. I'm David Gardner.</p>
<p>Happy October! I trust it will be for all of us. October is always an enchanting month that ends with Halloween, which is certainly one of America's cherished holidays. But in the meantime, the leaves begin to turn. Our area of Washington, D.C., becomes truly beautiful. I know many other places across America and in the Western Hemisphere somewhere around this line of latitude do as well, so I always enjoy October.</p>
<p>I'm going to enjoy this October of podcasts. We've got some great ones for you, and one of them is today's. This is an interview I've done with Anders Ericsson, who is one of the co-authors of the book&#160;Peak, P-E-A-K, a book about human potential. A book about excellence and expertise. It puts me in mind of one of my very favorite poems. In fact, it's such a favorite poem that I've memorized it, and I'm going to attempt to do it without looking at anything right now for you. It's Stephen Spender's "The Truly Great," because I really do think that Dr. Ericsson is helping us understand greatness a little bit better. So here we go.</p>
<p>I think continually of those who were truly great.Who, from the womb, remembered the soul's historyThrough corridors of light, where the hours are suns,Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambitionWas that their lips, still touched with fire,Should tell of the spirit, clothed from head to foot in song,And who hoarded from the spring branchesDesires falling across their bodies like blossoms.What is precious is never to forgetThe delight of the blood drawn from ancient springsBreaking through rocks in worlds before our earth.Never to deny its pleasure in the simple morning light,Nor its grave evening demand for love.Never to allow gradually the traffic to smotherWith noise and fog, the flowering of the spirit.Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields,See how these names are feted by the waving grassAnd by the streamers of white cloudAnd the whispering winds in the listening skies.The names of those who in their lives fought for life,Who wore at their hearts the fire's center.Born of the sun, they traveled a short while toward the sunAnd left the vivid air signed with their honor.</p>
<p>It's a beautiful poem, and while I can't claim that my interview with Dr. Ericsson -- which I've already done, so I know it already -- is quite that good, I think that this is one of the better interviews I hope that you'll hear in the year 2017. I just think Dr. Ericsson and his work is outstanding. I hope you'll enjoy this.</p>
<p>Dr. Anders Ericsson is the world's reigning expert on expertise. He is a Conradi Eminent Scholar and professor of psychology at Florida State University. He studies expert performance in domains such as music, chess, medicine, and sports. His groundbreaking work has been widely cited in major newspapers, magazines, and such best-sellers as Moonwalking With Einstein, Outliers, and How Children Succeed.</p>
<p>His research was the inspiration for the popular "10,000-Hour Rule" that I'm sure many of us have heard of -- the idea that you should practice something for 10,000 hours, and therein lies mastery -- although that's not all there is to it, as we'll shortly find out. He's worked with major international organizations, medical schools, military groups, and professional sports teams. He lives in Florida.</p>
<p>And I want to make special note of Robert Pool, his co-author. We don't have Robert Pool with us today -- we do have Anders Ericsson -- but I know it was an excellent collaboration between you both. Welcome, Anders!</p>
<p>Anders Ericsson: It's a pleasure to talk to you.</p>
<p>Gardner: I want to begin as your book begins, and that's with you telling the Steve Faloon story. Would you do that?</p>
<p>Ericsson: That's really how we got started. I was interested if one could actually understand how people improve memory capacity. At the time I actually moved from Sweden to the United States, there was a lot of interest in this kind of invariant short-term memory capacity that people differed in, and the test that was used was reading random numbers and then having people repeat them back. And the question is, how many of those numbers can a given individual reliably report back once you hear them at one per second?</p>
<p>We were interested in whether that really was something that would constrain people's thinking ability and skill acquisition, so we wanted to test that by giving somebody a lot of practice on that task. And I think that's where my interest in what's possible with practice was really becoming apparent.</p>
<p>So after about 200 hours of testing and experiments, he initially increased his ability to reproduce seven digits to over 80 digits, and I think what was the most interesting was the kind of changes in his thought processes that were associated with this dramatic improvement of his performance.</p>
<p>Gardner: And it is remarkable. So you are sitting there for hours and hours, and you are one-per-second saying something like this: "Seven, six" -- could you just do it briefly just so we can all be Steve Faloon for a sec?</p>
<p>Ericsson: OK. So 4, 7, 1, O, 2, 3, 0, 4, 3, 6...</p>
<p>Gardner: All right. I probably won't be able to do much better from that point, but 4, 7, 1, O, 2, 3. Something like that. I'm sure I know a lot of Rule Breaker Investing listeners were right there with me, and thank you.</p>
<p>So you just gave us a special experience. You gave us what you were doing that famously starts your book with Steve Faloon. He went from knowing seven or eight or so, which is what our short-term memory capacity typically can do, to over 80.</p>
<p>Ericsson: Yeah, and I think the most interesting part was that it was a qualitative shift that allowed him to actually increase his memory. So what most people do is that they listen to the numbers. And then when they get to the end, you know, you kind of go back to the beginning and then try to basically just read them off from your short-term memory.</p>
<p>What he ended up finding was a way to expand on this, was to actually concentrate on the first three digits and thinking of them as running times. He was a runner, so he could actually think of it as 4 minutes and 26 seconds, which would be a mile time, and that would now make contact with his long-term memory. And over time he started out doing one of those groups before he rehearsed, and then he added on groups and eventually developed a scheme, a hierarchical scheme, of a lot of these different groups that led him to be able to do over 80 digits.</p>
<p>Gardner: And this is a key point early on in your book, Peak, which is what we're talking about on Rule Breaker Investing this week. It turns out that our brains change. They grow. Parts of them can shrink just like our muscles, even though that wasn't always how science understood the brain. In fact, how recently have we discovered that, Dr. Ericsson?</p>
<p>Ericsson: I think it was this belief that the brain was growing until you were about 18, and by the time you were 18 your fundamental, basic mental capacities were pretty much determined. But what we're now finding is that the brain can be changed throughout the entire life span.</p>
<p>If we look at some types of skills, I think the one with the digit span is interesting, because when Steve started, he was close to 20 years old, so he supposedly had already, you know, his fixed capacity, and basically at that age he was able to make this dramatic improvement. And we actually have tested and replicated this, and other researchers have shown that this is not something that was just unique for him. This is something that you can see -- a large number of people, if they're willing to commit to this pretty exacting training, people's abilities are more determined here by what they're willing to do here in terms of training, especially training when you're instructed by a teacher.</p>
<p>Gardner: And we're definitely going to get more into practice and whether practice makes perfect. We're going to talk about that in a little bit, because that's the real meat of your book, Dr. Ericsson. But before we go there, I wanted to talk briefly and hear from you about the amazing gains, not just by Steve Faloon in the one experiment that you conducted over the course of a few years, but all of our fellow humans. Memorizing digits of pi, for example.</p>
<p>Elsewhere in your book you talked about David Richard Spencer of Canada. He had the world record in 1973. He had memorized 511 digits after pi. And then you said by 1978, as people start getting competitive, five years later the record had been increased from 511 to -- wait for it -- 10,000 digits of pi. I did want to ask you before finishing this question. Was it actually 10,000? Because I'm of the school that round numbers are usually lies.</p>
<p>Ericsson: Well, these records had to be demonstrated to a jury that was appointed by the Guinness Book configuration, so at that point you had to prepare a certain number of digits, and given the choice here, you could basically do 10,000. That would seem like a good, nice, round number, especially if that would be the record.</p>
<p>Gardner: It sure is, and it was the record, but not for that much longer, I gather. Subsequent to 1978 and that 10,000, now we're here in 2017. At least as of 2015, as your book documents, Rajveer Meena had pushed the record out from 10,000 digits of pi memorized to 70,000 digits. You said it took him nine hours and seven minutes just to recite his memorized digits of pi.</p>
<p>This is just another example, and we can talk about examples throughout all kinds of human endeavors from sports to music, games. There's something bigger happening here, when we talk about just the incredible acceleration of expert performance that we've seen in just the last 30 years or so. What is going on?</p>
<p>Ericsson: I think one issue is that you're actually being recognized. If nobody cared, then putting in that amount of time into a skill that you want to demonstrate -- we worked with a student from India, and apparently in India Guinness Book records were recognized as something that was up there with the Nobel Prize and stuff like that. So obviously you need to have a goal if you want to invest the amount of time that it would take for somebody to be able to memorize 50,000 or 70,000 digits. That would typically take several years, where you have to start with the beginning and then you keep adding on more and more digits until you can recite the whole long series.</p>
<p>Gardner: I'm curious. Have you looked at spelling bees at all? Spelling bees seem to have reached more popular currency here in the United States, as you know. The championship will be on ESPN or maybe ESPN2 each year with kids. Do kids spell much better this year than they did 30 years ago?</p>
<p>Ericsson: Well, if you look at the competitors, that's kind of the interesting finding. Once there is some reward associated with achieving something, it will now motivate parents and children to engage in training that would actually increase the probability that they would perform really well on these different kinds of events.</p>
<p>It's rare that you would find somebody sitting by themselves memorizing these digits without telling anyone. Now obviously if they didn't tell anyone, we wouldn't know about it, but these skills are very clearly motivated by the kind of recognition that individuals get from their performance that they can demonstrate.</p>
<p>Gardner: And probably a digressive point, which I won't belabor, but maybe the advent of the internet -- and more globalization, more global awareness and communication that somebody is really great at something and everybody around the world is competing -- maybe this is all accelerating things.</p>
<p>Ericsson: I think that's a really interesting point. I guess when it comes to memory, they now have these international, now, memory competitions that some people refer to as the "Mental Olympics," where you have national teams competing against each other along with the more individual competitions.</p>
<p>Gardner: Now we have to talk some about practice. There's practice. There's purposeful practice. There's deliberate practice. These three terms, while a lot of us may not have association with them, are really technical terms and they're very important to Dr. Ericsson's work. Glibly, I asked, earlier, does practice make perfect? One of our podcast personalities here at The Motley Fool, Mac Greer, said that he had a junior high band director who used to say, "Practice perfect makes perfect." Let me ask you, Dr. Ericsson. Could you lay out these three types of practice?</p>
<p>Ericsson: Just taking an example of a tennis player who's playing doubles tennis. You basically start up, and then maybe after six months or a year, you're able to play. You keep the ball so you can actually have a game with your friends. Now, just engaging in that kind of play, some people might refer to as practice. And some people, when they're just doing their job, they would think of that as being practice. Well, we refer to that as "naive practice." You're just reacting to the situations you're in and doing your best. You're really not trying to change what you're doing.</p>
<p>I would argue that what we call "purposeful practice" is that when you actually look at what you're doing, you're pinpointing out something that you want to change. This is now something that you would spend extra special time engaging in. So if you want to practice your serve, you could actually do that by yourself. Do one serve after the other. You could see where they're landing, and you would try to improve the power and control that you have over the serve.</p>
<p>We refer to that as purposeful practice, because you have identified, now, something that you can change, and you're now focusing in on training that would actually allow you to change and improve that particular aspect. One of the problems is that if you're just trying to improve something like your serve, it becomes even harder if you want to improve your backhand. When you're figuring out things that you can do by yourself to improve, this is purposeful practice.</p>
<p>Now, when you seek out a teacher and that teacher can take a look at your game and say, "Hmm, you would really be able to improve your game if you worked on your backhand volley," now the coach can help you get the fundamental strokes right when you're standing there by the net, and then you would be forced to run up to the net, perhaps, and finally integrate it into the game. The argument is that with a coach, you will actually be able to improve your backhand so much more than if you were just playing the game and occasionally running into an opportunity for a backhand volley that you may not be able to control.</p>
<p>Gardner: So from naive practice -- the phrase I should have led off with -- naive practice to purposeful practice to "deliberate practice." And you use a term called "homeostasis," which I think is one of the key concepts that I want my listeners to hear about. Could you define homeostasis and its role within better and better practice?</p>
<p>Ericsson: Right. Maybe running is a good example. If you just run the same route at the same speed day after day...</p>
<p>Gardner: Guilty as charged, although I wish I did do it day after day. I'd be a much better human being. But keep going.</p>
<p>Ericsson: Well, the thing is that after a while you will adapt to that, and if you see how fast you can run races, you're not going to see an improvement. The argument is that if you want to change something, you need to do something that will get your body out of this comfort state of doing an activity that you're used to be doing, so you actually have to push it. And one of the more effective ways to improve your speed for running, say, 10Ks, is "interval running," where you actually are running as fast as you can for maybe 10 or 15 seconds and then you walk until you recover, and then you push yourself again.</p>
<p>That kind of pushing will now push you outside this comfort zone, and the biochemicals that are generated will stimulate genes to start to be activated. That will lead to more capillaries and all sorts of physiological adaptations in your body, which, in turn, will actually allow you to run faster.</p>
<p>Gardner: So it is that process of getting outside of what I might call and you call, quotes, "good enough," and pushing ourselves outside of that if we want to get better at something. And I think it's worth putting in a quick note here, for those lazy bums among us -- and I include myself for most -- that homeostasis being good enough for a lot of areas of life is just fine.</p>
<p>Ericsson: Exactly, and if you tried to be world class in any of a hundred different activities, I would be very surprised if you were able to get even close.</p>
<p>Gardner: And actually, I want to mention that I first heard about your book from one of my listeners here at Rule Breaker Investing. It's a guy named Evan DaSilva, who was, at that time, a senior at the University of Michigan. He mentioned this book and I've read and enjoyed your book so much.</p>
<p>I did ask Evan to send me a question or two for the author, since I'm getting to talk to him right now, so these next two questions are coming from Evan. I'm dropping them in right now, because it connects very much with something that you just said in terms of trying to be really great at more than one thing.</p>
<p>The question that Evan had was, "First Abraham Lincoln learned geometry, even though his profession was law, because he thought mastering a hard topic would help boost his intellectual abilities to deal with other problems that came up. Is it possible, Dr. Ericsson, that learning something in-depth that is unrelated to your career could actually make you better at the field that you want to master?"</p>
<p>Ericsson: I think that's a really interesting question, and one that, I guess, I've been talking to a lot of people about. And it has to do with how do you actually learn to engage in what we call deliberate practice? Because that really requires you to set goals outside of what you're currently able to do and then actually focus and gradually stretch yourself toward those goals.</p>
<p>And I believe that learning how to understand something, whether it's geometry or some other domain, if you approach that in that kind of systematic way, where you're actually developing your understanding, as opposed to -- which I guess a lot of students do -- they're trying to figure out the easiest way to get their homework done and basically are not really interested in fundamentally understanding what they're doing.</p>
<p>And we believe that if we look at people who have engaged in music and been successful during childhood and adolescence, or sports, or any of these other domains, that they have now learned some more general aspect of learning that they then can apply to whatever professional interest or, you know, professional domain that they eventually select for their lifetime.</p>
<p>Gardner:&#160;So, and that kicks, then, into Evan's second question, and I'm kind of paraphrasing here. It's sort of the Renaissance man question a little bit that we're talking about. So he wanted me to ask you, "How realistic is a character like Sherlock Holmes, who's mastered a number of intellectual disciplines, which he ties together with unparalleled logical skills while also being notably strong and skilled in jujitsu, shooting, boxing, violin, and other physical activities? Did Conan Doyle have some unique insights into performance? Indeed, Holmes certainly doesn't try to balance his interests, but rather he works obsessively on whichever one interests him at the moment."</p>
<p>Ericsson: I personally think that I don't know of anybody who'd reach international and world class that basically have a lot of different activities that they are trying to reach that extreme level. I think I know of some people who decide to be good at certain things. But one of the things that I've found when I explored more carefully these individuals is that they maybe pick two or three things that they are clearly better than most of their friends, and then focus in on those three things, and they really don't do the other things or aren't willing to be part of activities that would reflect their ability.</p>
<p>So it's almost like you get the impression here that they're great at everything because they're only restricting themselves to the kind of activities where they really made that investment. But they wouldn't really be world class, or at least that's not been my experience, that people become world class in really competitive domains at the same time.</p>
<p>Gardner: We can certainly think of Michael Jordan trying to take up baseball when he took that really interesting departure from the basketball court for a few years in his prime as maybe one such example. I'm wondering, Dr. Ericsson. How has your study -- and your understanding of expertise in the book that you've written with Robert Pool -- changed you as a person?</p>
<p>Ericsson: I think in some ways, some of these ideas kind of emerged from my research, and I've always tried to basically live by the insights that I have. I think being able to structure your day where you really, in some ways, prioritize something -- and in my case, writing scientific articles -- you really protect that very best time that you have. At least I have never seen people being able to invest more than four or five hours a day when they're really, in some ways, trying to do something that is at the limits of their ability.</p>
<p>And that then means that some of rest of the day you're going to be doing things where you've organized it in such a way that you really wouldn't be demanded to be exhibiting your peak performance. So organizing one's day so you get two or three hours. And if you're an academic like I am, you need some energy for your teaching and for your other responsibilities once you stop writing and going to your office.</p>
<p>Gardner: Dr. Ericsson, I'm wondering. If I'm a student at Florida State University, where you live and work -- Tallahassee, Florida?</p>
<p>Ericsson: Yes, that's right.</p>
<p>Gardner: Do I have an opportunity to take you as a professor? Are you one of those that gives lectures? Talk a little bit about your life on campus and your thoughts about Florida State.</p>
<p>Ericsson: This year I'm on sabbatical leave, but typically I would be teaching an undergraduate class in cognitive psychology and then a graduate seminar on expertise. And we also have students working in my laboratory. We've really tried to provide them with the opportunity of learning a skill as part of their assignment here during the semester.</p>
<p>Sort of this idea is that if you're really going to understand here how one can improve in sort of different domains, taking a domain and then reading about what's actually known about effective training. And then I also try to match them up with teachers so basically they would have, for a short period of time, that opportunity of really seeing how they can improve and then actually testing themselves to kind of describe how their perception of what they're doing is changing as a function of their improved performance.</p>
<p>Gardner: It makes a great deal of sense, practicing, truly practicing what you preach by having kids do that. That sounds like, in your case, a deliberate practice. Is that fair?</p>
<p>Ericsson: Well, you know, if you find the right teacher, then you would meet their requirements for deliberate practice.</p>
<p>Gardner: What are you reading right now?</p>
<p>Ericsson: What I really enjoy is reading about research, and given that there's so much interesting stuff now happening in expert performance, if I have some free time I'm going to be spending it reading about the newest research that has been published so I can keep up with it.</p>
<p>Also what I tend to do is get opportunities to talk to experts, because I find that is very interesting -- both getting their perceptions and also sometimes having arguments with experts about things that will help me focus our own research on some of these questions.</p>
<p>Gardner: You know, we are The Motley Fool, and our name comes from Shakespeare. The fools were the ones who fought conventional wisdom. That's how we've kind of framed it up. They were the only ones who could tell the king or queen the truth back in medieval courts without having their head lopped off. They mixed some humor in.</p>
<p>I feel like I'm talking to somebody who is -- this is a compliment from me, of course -- a capital-"f" Fool. There is some amusement in your book, which I enjoyed, but primarily you're taking on a lot of subjects that people had set ideas about and it turns out they weren't right. And by the way, if you want to just start railing against anything, I enjoy that. If there's a conventional wisdom that really bothers you, either in your field or outside of your field, I'd be curious what you'd have to say. But at least one, maybe to get you started, is this idea that older people can't learn things.</p>
<p>Ericsson: Yeah, there's this real confounding here between what people believe they can do and what they're actually doing. So if you don't believe that you're going to be able to master a new language when you're older, you're not going to do that. And I think what we're now seeing is emails and other kinds of contacts from older people who, after reading our book, are really reassessing what it is that they should be able to do. I think that's so exciting to see demonstrations of people who actually thought that they couldn't do something and then maybe a year later can report back and say they're working with a teacher.</p>
<p>And I think it's really important here that you have a teacher that has experience with people of your age or with your background knowledge, because the path to successful performance is going to depend very much on the kind of background characteristics that you have, so you need a teacher who had those kinds of experiences with their previous students.</p>
<p>Gardner:&#160;You know, the great line -- and I can't remember whether you included it in your book or not, Maybe you know this one and maybe you don't. But from Henry Ford, the American entrepreneur. I've used this one a number of times on Rule Breaker Investing. I love this line. "Whether you think you can, or whether you think you cannot -- you're right."</p>
<p>Ericsson: Well, that's certainly the case. I guess I would just constrain it here that this thinking that you can do something is not going to be enough. You really need to have somebody else, at least in my mind, have demonstrated the path that they took to get to the point where you want to be. So basically, having that validation that other people have been able to do it, and by actually studying them or getting the help from teachers who have helped other individuals reach that point, that's the promise that I see. and that I'm trying to convince people that they should pay attention to.</p>
<p>Gardner: I think one of the great points that you make that is going to be very resonant with a lot of our listeners and a lot of Motley Fool fans is -- and you've used the word a number of times now -- teaching, coaching, teaching, finding a good teacher. And I'm thinking -- this is a little bit of a digression. Humor me, if you will. But I read a wonderful book in the last year or so called The Smartest Kids in the World. It's by Amanda Ripley. I'm not presuming you've necessarily heard of that or read that book. Have you?</p>
<p>Ericsson: I think I own the book, but I have not had a chance to read it yet. So it's on the sort of stack of books that I'd like to read.</p>
<p>Gardner: Excellent. Well, I do recommend it to you. And you've read so much more than I have that I very humbly nudge that one forward. But one of the things that Amanda Ripley does in her book is she profiles the approaches to education taken by different countries in the world, a lot of it is based on the worldwide test whose acronym I'm forgetting right now. Perhaps you know it. But it's this sort of, like, hey where does the U.S. rank in math worldwide?</p>
<p>She focuses on a few countries that are in the top 10 and ahead of the U.S., and they're very different cultures. South Korea, I think was No. 3, Finland was No. 1, and I think Poland was No. 8. She chose American exchange students -- this is part of what makes the book compelling, because as Americans we like to see through American eyes -- and she takes us into those educational cultures through American eyes with exchange students in those three radically different environments.</p>
<p>By no means am I going to start summarizing any of them now, but I do want to say what comes across clearly is the power and value of good teaching. Finland is No. 1 worldwide for its educational system. I know you're from Sweden. Sweden, of course, also ranks very high. The Nordic countries always do well on these tests.</p>
<p>But there is a tremendous amount of effort to train teachers, and it is probably not the highest-paying job in those countries. It pays decently, but really there is tremendous respect accorded to teaching and coaching. So a little bit of a digression there, but I wonder if you have any reflections either about your native country of Sweden or what I just said about The Smartest Kids in the World.</p>
<p>Ericsson: I think that general research fits very nicely. One of the little pieces that I've taken out of that work is when an American teacher asks a question, he or she only waits for a few seconds before they give the answer; whereas in, basically, Japan -- I think that was the research that was explicitly done with videotapes -- they basically wait for the students to come up with answers, forcing them to actually, you know, generate and think.</p>
<p>And I think if there's one thing that cuts across all the different domains that I see is that focus on understanding what you're doing and very thoughtfully reflect, especially on what you just did, so you will be actually able to identify things that you need to correct, or improve, or think about ideas about how you can do things differently. So basically, that kind of understanding of the task that you're trying to improve upon, making that into a mental activity as opposed to something that, where you're just accumulating more and more experience, I think that's a very general theme that I see cutting across all these other domains where you see excellent performance.</p>
<p>Gardner: Well, you've been very generous with your time, Dr. Ericsson. I could certainly -- I'm going to ask one or two more questions, but thank you very much for what has been very enlightening. Not that you care that much, but I bet we sold some books here this week, because I just know that a lot of Rule Breaker investors are people who are wondering, "How can I can get better?" There's a lot of entrepreneurs who listen to this show and these are often people who are into self-improvement. That's something that I think is powerful and I try to do the best I can as well.</p>
<p>I wanted to ask you. What, for you, at this stage of your research and your understanding, what is your biggest unanswered question right now about expertise?</p>
<p>Ericsson: One of the things that I'm really intrigued by is how would you be able to set up, kind of, opportunities for professionals to actually improve their performance? And we're looking -- I've been talking to people in surgery. So what are the methods that would actually help somebody who is an existing surgeon do even better and, in some ways, produce even better patient outcomes?</p>
<p>And I think the same thing goes for education. How would one be able to help a larger percentage of children really engage in this kind of purposeful and deliberate practice, where they are feeling like they're now understanding what they're doing? I think once you get to the point where you understand the task and the knowledge that you're acquiring and seeing how you can actually use it in the real world, I think that gives so much satisfaction and also stimulates you to apply the same way of mastering other domains.</p>
<p>And getting across how one would be able to help children get started or even professionals get started on this path, and then giving them support for how to keep improving -- that kind of individualized learning, that is supported by available teachers, you may not need all the time, but if you know that they're available to you, I think that helps people push their boundaries a little bit and really strive to become even more successful in what they're doing.</p>
<p>Gardner: Before we go, I have to ask you. Are you a stock market investor?</p>
<p>Ericsson: I'm basically a part of funds here that other people are doing.</p>
<p>Gardner: That's what most people do, and so it's an understandable answer. Have you ever bought an individual stock?</p>
<p>Ericsson: I have never done that. I've been talking to some really interesting people who are involved in investing, and I think it's interesting that there are certain types of activities where I believe you'd be more likely to be successful and reliably reproducing successful performance than maybe in some of the markets. Where the market by itself is imbalanced, it would be very hard to actually be able to do better than the average market itself.</p>
<p>Gardner: Well, it's certainly a subject of ongoing interest for everybody listening to you speak right now. It's something that I'm sure over the course of time humans will get a better and better understanding of -- how to beat the market -- or if it is, indeed, achievable, which I do think it is. And even under changing conditions, sometimes investors look better or worse because of a certain period or era.</p>
<p>One thing that I love about your work that helps all of us, as investors, is the recognition that we can deliberately think about what we're trying to do and what we would like to get better at. And that doesn't just go for picking stocks. That goes for really any aspect of our financial lives.</p>
<p>And we can be choiceful about that. I'm never going to select taxes for me, personally. I'm never going to try to get really good at taxes, but there are certainly other aspects of one's financial life and, of course, one's life outside of finance. We tend to live inside that shell a little bit here on this podcast.</p>
<p>Ericsson: I think the excitement that a lot of people feel when they're actually breaking through and doing things that they never thought was possible is something very liberating and exciting about that, and I think if more people could have that experience, I think it would be a benefit to all of us.</p>
<p>Gardner: That's a beautiful sentiment to end on. And I would normally end it right there, but I have to ask you the "next book" question, because for fans of yours, are you and Robert Pool collaborating on a new book coming out in 2018?</p>
<p>Ericsson:&#160;You know, we're talking about basically maybe doing a book on mental representations, which seems to be a theme that people felt that we could expand on. And I think especially I'm interested in talking a little bit about the work that I've been doing on thinking aloud, where you actually get a better immediate idea what actually goes on in experts' heads and then basically using that information.</p>
<p>We talked about, you know, some of the relevant information in the book, but actually getting into the issue here of what is it that people actually can give valid reports about versus, you know, where we know that some people's self-knowledge is biased and basically not appropriate? But actually giving expression to what you're thinking about right now seems to be something that offers some really unique insights into what distinguishes experts from less-accomplished individuals.</p>
<p>Gardner: And I greatly enjoyed your section -- it was a shorter section earlier on -- on mental representations. Thinking about a chess player who can play against 25 players. And not only is he walking up and down competing against them, but he's not even looking at a board. He's just doing it in his head. and how does humanity do that?</p>
<p>But we'll save that question for maybe, I hope, a return visit -- if you will grace us with that in a year or two -- and when you've got something more to say about that, we would enjoy learning.</p>
<p>Ericsson: It was just a tremendous pleasure here talking to you. I'm really excited to hear if you're taking up something and enjoying the journey to becoming expert, or at least much better, at something.</p>
<p>Gardner: Thank you very much, Dr. Anders Ericsson, for joining us this week on Rule Breaker Investing. Very best wishes, sir.</p>
<p>Ericsson: Thank you so much for talking to me. I really enjoyed it.</p>
<p>Gardner: Well, we have to end it right there. I hope you enjoyed that. I think it was a treat. I hope you'll share it with friends and family. There's a lot to learn. Most of all, I hope you'll enjoy his book. I haven't actually finished the book yet myself, because I did the interview one week ahead of time. I did this interview last week, because I'm at Motley Fool One&#160;Charleston this week. I didn't get a chance to read all of the book before I interviewed him, but I know you'll enjoy the book, and I'm sure some of you have already read this book. It is a pretty remarkable work, and I hope that came through in our discussion.</p>
<p>As you may know, my portfolio service,&#160;Motley Fool Supernova, only accepts new members once or twice a year, and this week, in case you didn't know, just happens to be one of those times. I encourage you to take a look. The URL is JoinSupernova.Fool.com. Many of our best members -- many longtime Rule Breakers members or Stock Advisor members -- eventually transition to becoming Supernova members. If that's you, don't delay. The doors close soon, and it won't open again this year. So for all the details, again, on a special offer that we've put together for you, just visit JoinSupernova.Fool.com.</p>
<p>I leave you with my best wishes that you will fulfill your full human potential. Fool on!</p>
<p>As always, people on this program may have interest in the stocks they talk about, and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. Learn more about Rule Breaker Investing at RBI.Fool.com.</p>
<p>The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=280642d4-a9e1-11e7-bf0b-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | How to Reach Your Peak: Interview With Anders Ericsson | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/10/07/how-to-reach-your-peak-interview-with-anders-ericsson.html | 2017-10-07 | 0 |
<p>Photo by flickr user erin m used under a CC license.</p>
<p />
<p>Kevin is <a href="" type="internal">skeptical</a> that we need to worry about the market in carbon derivatives that will be created by cap and trade, observing that most of these instruments will be relatively simple contracts like futures, and that “Waxman-Markey has some pretty good language regulating them in any case.”</p>
<p>Well, Waxman-Markey had some good language regulating carbon and other energy derivatives. Most of it was authored by Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, who wanted to eliminate over the counter (OTC), or unregulated, derivatives altogether and force trading onto exchanges. His measure also called for stricter trading limits and reporting requirements so that no single operator could assume more risk than it could handle or capture so much of the market that it distorted prices.&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>However, in the 300 pages of amendments added to Waxman-Markey just after 3.a.m on the night the bill passed, a few new sentences materialized that placed a big asterisk on those safeguards. The final text now says that the sections of the bill regulating carbon derivatives will be overridden by any derivatives legislation that the House passes later in the year.</p>
<p>This wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, if the House enacts tough reforms. But that’s not what the lawmakers who engineered the change had in mind: on Wednesday they released a proposal for a far more anemic regulatory regime than the one mapped out by Stupak.</p>
<p>A little backstory: The banking industry, especially Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, wasn’t happy about the language in Waxman-Markey outlawing OTC derivatives and called for it to be removed. Eighteen members of the business-friendly New Democrat Coalition in the House proved receptive to these concerns. They wrote to Waxman and Markey to say they were “concerned about requiring all OTC derivatives and swaps to be centrally cleared and settled.” The writers included nine members of the financial services committee, as well as some of the House’s top recipients of money from the financial industry. Rep. Scott Murphy of New York and Rep. Melissa Bean of Illinois, for instance, are respectively the second and fifth leading beneficiaries of donations from the finance, insurance and real estate sector this election cycle.</p>
<p>The New Dems point person was Rep. Michael McMahon of Staten Island, who often describes himself as representing one of the largest concentrations of financial services employees in the country. In the wake of the economic crisis, most lawmakers have refrained from conspicuously defending big banks. But McMahon has popped up on Fox News and other venues energetically attacking efforts to “over-regulate” derivatives. “I believe that the derivatives provision [in Waxman-Markey] is still an over-reaction to the AIG mess,” he said in a <a href="http://mcmahon.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=409:congressman-mcmahon-votes-for-more-jobs-and-reducing-american-dependence-on-foreign-oil-includes-critical-derivatives-amendment-in-bill&amp;catid=77:press-releases&amp;Itemid=194" type="external">statement</a>. “The fact remains, however, that when a car accident happens, we don’t ban automobiles.”&#160;</p>
<p>McMahon, Bean and other New Democrats released their proposal for derivatives reform on Wednesday. And while introducing their bill on a conference call, Bean and McMahon barely mentioned the damage that derivatives-trading-gone-wild has inflicted on the economy. Instead, McMahon explained that he had been worried by the “mob mentality directed towards Wall Street” and thought that derivatives had been “misunderstood” in the aftermath of the financial meltdown. Their bill would provide regulators with more information about derivatives than they have now, and it would establish an office in the Treasury for oversight of those instruments. But—similar to the proposal advanced by the Obama administration earlier in the year—it only requires standardized derivatives to be cleared, not exchange-traded, and calls for OTC derivatives to be reported to a trade repository, which is far less transparent than an exchange. Their provisions intended to prevent harmful speculation and market manipulation are also less explicit than those offered by Stupak.</p>
<p>All of this is to say that regulation of carbon markets will probably be swept up in broader financial reforms that are the subject of intense lobbying and political pressure. It’s too soon to take for granted that cap and trade will contain rules that go far enough to prevent speculation and fraud.</p>
<p>One promising development is a bill that Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Me.) introduced to the Senate in early July. Their 56-page legislation is even more detailed than Stupak’s amendment. It creates a central oversight office within the CFTC for carbon trading and establishes extensive electronic reporting requirements so that the CFTC can monitor trading in real time. While it allows for some OTC derivatives, it defines them narrowly: the deals must be of minimal value and traded at a low volume to qualify. Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s energy program, described it to me as a “very good piece of legislation.” Andy Stevenson, finance adviser to the National Resources Defense Council, characterized it as the “ <a href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/astevenson/feinsteinsnowe_carbon_bill_cre.html" type="external">gold standard</a>” for derivatives reform.</p>
<p>Now all Feinstein and Snowe need to do is get it through Congress intact.</p>
<p /> | It’s 3 a.m. Do You Know Where Your Climate Bill Is? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/07/those-last-minute-changes-waxman-markey/ | 2009-07-23 | 4 |
<p>Not far from where delegates are meeting at the UN's 18th Conference of the Parties on climate change in Doha, the Qatari writer Muhammad ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami sits locked away in a maximum security prison. His crime: a poem.</p>
<p>Entitled “Tunisian Jasmine,” it reads in part, “We are all Tunisians / in the face of the repressive.” After a clip of al-Ajami reading his Arab Spring-inspired verse was posted on Youtube last year, the regime of Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani took offense.</p>
<p>Last week, the poet was sentenced to life in prison in a secret trial for “insulting” the emir and "inciting to overthrow the ruling system."</p>
<p>The Qatar-based television news network al-Jazeera has been accused of using its influence to incite the Arab Spring. However, the network's owner – none other than the sheikh himself – is apparently not so enthusiastic about the prospect of a popular revolution in his own country. Now al-Ajami himself is grappling with this irony, telling the Reuters news agency in an interview from behind bars, “You can't have al-Jazeera in this country and put me in jail for being a poet.”</p>
<p>But so far, it appears you can.</p>
<p>Al-Ajami's case is an illustrative example of the Qatari regime, which puts on a liberal face but behind the scenes is not above doling out harsh repression to those who signal even the slightest opposition.</p>
<p>Thus, Qatar's strict laws regarding speech, together with the relatively high cost of visiting, make the gulf state an ideal location for global elites seeking to hold conferences away from pesky protesters - and hence a fine choice for yet another ineffectual UN climate gathering.</p>
<p>After the notorious <a href="http://www.globalissues.org/article/46/wto-protests-in-seattle-1999" type="external">Battle in Seattle</a>, the World Trade Organization secluded itself in Doha for its 2001 trade negotiations. Today, given that the effects of climate change are being felt more and more around the world, and activists are ramping up resistance efforts in the face of the increasingly dire threat posed by anthropogenic warming, it's not surprising that global governments largely apathetic to the crisis tore a page out of the WTO playbook and packed off to sunny Doha, opting to hold the first-ever UN climate conference in an oil-fueled dictatorship.</p>
<p>Leading environmental campaigners, such as Greenpeace's executive director Kumi Naidoo, have vowed to escalate their struggle for climate justice in the face of the counterproductive stance developed nations have taken in negotiations. “If our climate were a bank,” Naidoo told Democracy Now's Amy Goodman, “we would have saved it a long time ago.”</p>
<p>Earlier this year Naidoo strapped himself to a Russian oil rig in a bid to halt drilling operations in the arctic, making good on his pledge at the UN's Rio+20 Earth Summit in June to take nonviolent direct action for the climate, since going through official channels to address the crisis has become an increasingly futile exercise.</p>
<p>Renowned environmental activist Vandana Shiva labeled the Qatar summit a “Rio–20” in which corporations like Dow Chemical and Coca-Cola, together with delegates from developed nations, used the catch phrase “green economy” as a euphemism for privatizing every molecule on the planet.</p>
<p>Youth delegates at the summit walked out in protest, joining indigenous tribes, trade unionists and students rallying for a just and sustainable economy beyond the summit's fortified walls. Meanwhile inside, the United States and obstructionist partners lobbied hard against any content in the final declaration dealing with human rights or goals for greenhouse gas emission reductions.</p>
<p>They got what they were after.</p>
<p>Journalist George Monbiot described the final text as “283 paragraphs of fluff” that “could be illustrated with rainbows and psychedelic unicorns and stuck on the door of your toilet.”</p>
<p>There's been plenty more fluff this time around, both from developed countries and from <a href="http://www.cop18.qa/" type="external">COP 18's</a> host nation, yet little dissent on the streets of Doha. Civil society groups have complained that restrictions on gathering and leafleting have made it hard to have an impact on the conference where leading polluters aren't putting their money where their mouths are.</p>
<p>The top U.S. climate negotiator - if we can say that such a thing exists - is Jonathan Pershing, who on Wednesday said America is “looking to participate in an outcome that will lead to a reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions,” though his comments came in the wake of <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2011/08/31/report-exporting-energy-security-keystone-xl-exposed/" type="external">a report published earlier in the week by Oil Change International</a> revealing that the U.S. spent five times more money on fossil fuel subsidies in 2011 than on efforts to adapt to climate change from 2010 to the present.</p>
<p>Some developing nations that have been struck by extreme weather due to global warming, together with a cluster of nongovernmental groups, are calling for the U.S. and other Western governments to pay climate debt or climate reparations.</p>
<p>Given that Western nations are responsible for up to 75% of greenhouse gas emissions historically, the hope is that the world's wealthiest polluters can inject cash into developing markets in a way that fuels sustainable development. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paraded around the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009 shaking hands and promising $100 billion in climate aid.</p>
<p>But in Doha, would-be recipients still haven't seen more than a fraction of the amount pledged. Since the financial crisis hit in 2008, the U.S. government has managed to place $12 trillion in the pockets of banks, but when it comes to the climate crisis the cash comes at a trickle.</p>
<p>Put simply: the U.S. values the health of the business climate, not the actual climate. It's tracking the Dow industrial average, not the planet's rising temperatures, which are set to rise – if nonbinding emission reductions targets are honored – by six degrees Celsius by 2050, according the UN's Environmental Program. Even by more conservative estimates of temperature escalation, we're looking at a rise in droughts, flooding and other extreme weather events costing millions of lives and trillions of dollars.</p>
<p>Rachel Carson, in her classic plea for ecological conservation, <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/health/pesticides/hcarson.asp" type="external">Silent Spring</a>, warned 1960s America that the chemicals it was spraying on its crops and infusing into the atmosphere were decimating the environment and could have a catastrophic impact on future generations.</p>
<p>She cautioned of a time when spring would come and there would be no birds to sing. Even seemingly benign compounds born in the chemist's laboratory could mix with each other in the environment and reap deadly results. “In lakes and streams everywhere, in the presence of catalyzing air and sunlight, what dangerous substances may be born of parent chemicals labeled harmless?” asked Carson.</p>
<p>Here in New York City, where coastal neighborhoods struggle to rebuild in the wake of Frankenstorm Sandy, we are witnessing the ways in which poverty has catalyzed with climate change, creating a toxic elixir. Prior to the storm, politicians displayed little will to face up climate change or the city's cavernous class divide.</p>
<p>Desperation, which often existed quietly beside New York's billion dollar skyscrapers, reached a new pitch with Sandy. Homes that were the sole nest egg for many were inundated by rising tides. Once-prized possessions now sit under the winter sun, waiting to be driven away by garbage trucks. <a href="http://grist.org/news/how-new-yorks-poor-ended-up-along-its-vulnerable-coast/" type="external">Much of New York's public housing</a> lies along the coast, often beside industrial areas. Floodwaters in Red Hook swept through a cement processing plant, a fuel loading facility and other industrial sites active and abandoned, carrying numerous toxins yet to be scrutinized into the projects where mold continues to fester five weeks since the storm.</p>
<p>Thousands, who were already scraping to get by before Sandy, have been displaced and/or lack basic necessities afterwards. It is but one example of the before-and-after effects we can anticipate as the environment turns more chaotic in the years ahead.</p>
<p>Yet, in the face of this most recent disaster, thousands mobilized in a social defense drive initiated by veterans of Occupy Wall Street. Calling themselves <a href="http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy/" type="external">Occupy Sandy</a>, activists have been delivering food, water, clothing, medicine and comfort to those in need while fighting for a sustainable recovery that benefits the 99%.</p>
<p>The campaign has involved tens of thousands of people, many of whom never took part in the occupation of the Financial District last year, and has helped connect peoples' daily reality with the social justice objectives of the Occupy movement. After seeing the way Sandy exacerbated existing social problems, unionists, housing activists and healthcare advocates who previously did not consider ecology a central component of their lives now call themselves environmentalists.</p>
<p>Likewise, for many environmentalists the issue of climate change is now far less abstract. It's not just about polar bears and beautiful scenery. Global warming has a class component.</p>
<p>As competing governments negotiate in Doha, the question remains: will the spirit of the Arab Spring and its promise of people power continue to rise across the globe and force world leaders to listen up. Or, will repression rule the day as storms like Sandy stand as augurs of a future where the songs of birds no longer thrill the sky?</p>
<p>Peter Rugh is an activist and independent journalist based in Brooklyn, NY. Read his blog at <a href="http://eartoearth.org/" type="external">EartoEarth.org</a>.</p> | At Doha Climate Conference, Arab Spring or Silent Spring? | true | http://occupy.com/article/doha-climate-conference-arab-spring-or-silent-spring | 4 |
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<p>Karl Rove, finally figuring out what Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro wrote <a href="" type="internal">three months ago</a> and <a href="" type="internal">reiterated</a> last week, believes Donald Trump can still be blocked from winning the GOP presidential nomination if the field narrows quickly to one opponent for Trump. In an op-ed published in Wednesday’s <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-donald-doesnt-have-a-lockyet-1456359765?cb=logged0.18132622982375324" type="external">Wall Street Journal</a>, Rove pointed out, “Donald Trump scored a very impressive win in Nevada, taking 45.9% and 14 of the state’s 30 delegates to the GOP convention. But the Republican nomination is far from settled. After four contests, only 133 of the convention’s 2,472 delegates have been selected.”</p>
<p>Rove continued, “Is he consolidating Republicans? Perhaps, but a single caucus victory does not necessarily a consolidation make.” Rove segued into a reasoned explanation of his thinking, positing:</p>
<p>In the eight February polls of the states that vote between March 1 and March 8, Mr. Trump takes an average of 32.3%. Sen. Ted Cruz and Mr. Rubio take 21% and 19.9% respectively, with the remaining 26.8% split among other candidates and undecideds. Mr. Trump is supported by better than three of every 10 Republicans, but some 65% aren’t in his camp. The 963 delegates—39% of the convention’s total—to be selected in 24 contests between March 1 and March 12 will all be awarded proportionally. This means he could win the headlines but capture a minority of the delegates—unless he unites the GOP.</p>
<p>Rove stated, “Assume Messrs. Trump, Rubio, Cruz, Kasich and Carson receive the same percentage of voters in the early March contests that they did in South Carolina, and Mr. Rubio inherits Bush’s voters. In that case, Mr. Trump would emerge with 489 (or 44%) of the delegates. Mr. Rubio would have 330 and Mr. Cruz 197, with 24 delegates scattered elsewhere going into the winner-take-all primaries on the Ides of March. And that assumes Mr. Trump wins everywhere.”</p>
<p>Rove admitted, “Donald Trump could well have a lock on the nomination after March 15 if a fragmented opposition gives him an absolute majority of delegates on that day.” He warned, “There is still time for the non-Trump GOP majority to coalesce around a single candidate, but not much. Things can remain somewhat divided on March 1 as long as the majority is largely unified on March 8 and fully behind a single candidate on the Ides of March. If not, the hopes of the party’s non-Trump majority will suffer the same fate as Caesar.”</p>
<p>Trump had his own words for Rove, <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/karl-rove-donald-trump-wsj-219764" type="external">tweeting</a>, “Big defeat last night in Nevada for Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. <a href="https://twitter.com/KarlRove" type="external">@KarlRove</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews" type="external">@FoxNews</a> is working hard to belittle my victory. Rove is sick! In all of television- the only one who said anything bad about last nights landslide victory-- was dopey <a href="https://twitter.com/KarlRove" type="external">@KarlRove</a>. He should be fired!”</p> | Rove Warns: Time Running Out To Stop Trump | true | https://dailywire.com/news/3694/rove-warns-time-running-out-stop-trump-hank-berrien | 2016-02-25 | 0 |
<p><a href="http://variety.com/t/amazon/" type="external">Amazon</a> has greenlight an original hour-long superhero drama, “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/the-boys/" type="external">The Boys</a>,” from <a href="http://variety.com/t/eric-kripke/" type="external">Eric Kripke</a>.</p>
<p>“The Boys” is based on a comic book series from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson and will depict a world in which superheroes embrace the “darkers side of their massive celebrity and fame.” The titular “Boys” are a group of vigilantes who set out to take down these corrupt superheroes without powers of their own but mere “blue collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.”</p>
<p>“In a landscape saturated with superhero shows, ‘The Boys’ is the next evolution in this popular genre,” said Sharon Tal Yguado, Head of Scripted Series, <a href="http://variety.com/2017/film/spotlight/call-me-by-your-name-stronger-hostiles-i-tonya-last-flag-flying-lady-bird-florida-project-1202609253/" type="external">Amazon</a> Studios, in a statement. “With Eric, Evan, Seth and Original Film all behind this series, we are excited to adapt this popular comic, from the visionary minds of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, for television.”</p>
<p>The eight-episode series is created and written by Kripke, who also serves as showrunner and executive producer, and directed by <a href="http://variety.com/t/evan-goldberg/" type="external">Evan Goldberg</a> and <a href="http://variety.com/t/seth-rogen/" type="external">Seth Rogen</a>, who also serve as executive producers.</p>
<p>Original Film’s Neal H. Moritz, Ori Marmur and Pavun Shetty, as well as Point Grey Pictures’ James Weaver also executive produce the project, which sees Sony Pictures Television Studios as co-producers. Ennis and Robertson are also slated to co-executive produce.</p>
<p>“We are very happy to have the unique opportunity to produce a second series based on the subversive and innovative world of Garth Ennis,” Chris Parnell, Co-President of Sony Pictures Television Studios, said in a statement. “And we are thankful to Sharon and her team at Amazon for their vision, partnership, and support.”</p>
<p>The series is scheduled to begin filming in the spring of 2018, to be released on Amazon Prime in 2019.</p> | Amazon Greenlights Eric Kripke’s Superhero Drama ‘The Boys’ | false | https://newsline.com/amazon-greenlights-eric-kripkes-superhero-drama-the-boys/ | 2017-11-08 | 1 |
<p>Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves pumping water, sand, and chemicals under high pressure down a wellbore to fracture rocks underneath the surface so oil and gas can more freely flow out the of well. The process has been around since 1947 when Haliburton <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/10/16/4-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-fracking.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=0f6a7ed8-d548-11e7-9ffa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">performed Opens a New Window.</a> the first fracking operation in Kansas. However, it grew in importance (and notoriety) once drillers combined it with horizontal drilling to form a game-changing combination that has helped the U.S. unlock its vast shale resources.</p>
<p>Drillers have gotten so good at fracking that they've unleashed a gusher of oil and gas production in recent years, which has flooded the market and pushed down prices. Because of that, shale drilling activities have slowed, which has hit fracking stocks hard. That said, those falling prices have fueled more demand for oil and gas, which when combined with tepid supply growth, has started pushing prices higher. This rebound should drive up drilling activity levels in the coming year, which would fuel higher profits for the companies that do the actual fracking, likely taking their stock prices with it (especially given how far they've fallen in the past few years). While there are plenty of fracking stocks, three top options to consider given their strong market positions are:</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Halliburton is the leading oilfield-service provider in North America. Last quarter, the company pulled in $3.2 billion in revenue from the continent, which accounted for 58% of its total sales and was up 14% versus the prior quarter, thanks in part to a 6% increase in drilling activities in the U.S. as measured by the rig count. That put it well ahead of oilfield-service giants&#160;Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) and Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHGE), which pulled in $2.6 billion and $1 billion of revenue from North America, respectively, last quarter.</p>
<p>While Halliburton's revenue has been on the upswing, its stock price&#160;has been heading in the opposite direction. Shares have fallen a disappointing 25% this year, mainly because the company expects slower growth in the fourth quarter, with it warning that sales in its drilling and evaluation business would likely fall alongside the rig count. Rivals Schlumberger and Baker Hughes also sounded cautious about results in the near term. Schlumberger, for example, warned that profits in the fourth quarter might not meet analysts' expectations due to weakness in North America. Meanwhile, Baker Hughes called the current business environment "challenging." That said, oil prices have risen since that time, which could cause drillers to spend more money fracking wells next year. While all three companies would benefit from that boost, Halliburton would likely get the most lift since&#160;it holds the leading market position.</p>
<p>While C&amp;J Energy Services provides many of the same services as Halliburton, its sole focus is on fracking. Overall, the company is a top-ten fracturing company and holds the leading or second-best market position for several fracking-related services. Meanwhile, it recently bolstered its offerings by agreeing to acquire O-TEX Pumping, which is the fourth largest cementing service provider in the country. It provides a crucial service because cement helps create a strong barrier between a well and rock formations.</p>
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<p>As a pure play on fracking, it can be feast or famine for C&amp;J Energy Services. When activity levels dry up, it can have a dramatic impact on the company's bottom line. That was the case during the recent oil market downturn when C&amp;J Energy Services declared bankruptcy. However, it recently reemerged and now has a much stronger financial position, which should enable it to withstand what could be a rocky recovery. That said, as oil producers frack more wells in the coming year, C&amp;J Energy Services will be one of the companies benefiting from that uptick in activity. While it's a higher risk option than Halliburton because of its sole concentration on shale plays in the U.S., that focus gives it more upside as market conditions improve.</p>
<p>One of the main ingredients Halliburton and C&amp;J Energy Services use in fracking wells is sand, which the industry calls a proppant. That's because it helps prop open the tiny fractures in shale rocks, which allows oil and gas to flow out more freely. While several companies supply the industry with sand, one of the leaders is U.S. Silica, which currently operates eight oil and gas sand production plants.</p>
<p>Sales of sand dropped during the oil market downturn, though they've rebounded sharply this year. Last quarter, for example, U.S. Silica's oil and gas sand volume shot up 95% to 3.1 million tons, which helped drive revenue up 230% versus the prior year. The company expects demand to continue increasing, which is why it's building 9.5 million tons of incremental capacity, including two frack-sand mines in the red-hot <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/16/the-5-companies-dominating-the-permian-basin.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=0f6a7ed8-d548-11e7-9ffa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Permian Basin Opens a New Window.</a>. The most recently announced expansion will increase its sand capacity by 2.6 million tons per year, and it has already secured customer commitments for 1.2 million tons of sand from that plant, which should start up early next year.</p>
<p>While there's some concern that U.S. Silica and its peers are building too much capacity, the company noted on its third-quarter call that contract interest was at "an all-time high." Because of that, it expects record demand in 2018, which should drive up revenue and profits. In fact, the company is so confident in its outlook that it recently announced plans to buy back $100 million in stock. The company sees its shares as a bargain considering that they've plunged more than 40% this year despite the rebound in demand.</p>
<p>Fracking stocks sold off in 2017 mainly because drillers in the U.S. <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/29/shale-drillers-hit-the-brakes-feeling-the-hurt-of.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=0f6a7ed8-d548-11e7-9ffa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">slowed their pace after oil tumbled into the $40s Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;a few months ago. That said, crude has <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/09/26/the-quiet-bull-market-in-oil.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=0f6a7ed8-d548-11e7-9ffa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">come roaring back Opens a New Window.</a> and was recently in the upper-$50s, which should drive drilling activities back up in 2018. That rebound should benefit fracking-focused companies by driving up their revenue and profits, which should eventually spur their stock prices. That's why investors might want to consider buying a top fracking company like Halliburton, C&amp;J Energy Services, and U.S. Silica, since they should have the most upside if that forecast comes to fruition.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of November 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFmd19/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=0f6a7ed8-d548-11e7-9ffa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Matthew DiLallo Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=0f6a7ed8-d548-11e7-9ffa-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 3 Top Fracking Stocks to Consider Buying Now | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/30/3-top-fracking-stocks-to-consider-buying-now.html | 2017-11-30 | 0 |
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<p>PARIS — The Latest from the French Open (all times local):</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>10 p.m.</p>
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<p>Novak Djokovic joked that the start of his fourth-round match at the French Open was not much fun to watch.</p>
<p>The defending champion dropped his opening service game and took 1 hour, 15 minutes of scrappy, backs-to-the wall tennis to win the first set. He beat 19th-seeded Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-3.</p>
<p>After milking applause from the fans, Djokovic conducted his brief post-match interview on court.</p>
<p>He was asked by former player Fabrice Santoro what new coach Andre Agassi would have thought of the match.</p>
<p>“I hope he watched the second and third sets, and not the first,” a smiling Djokovic said with a twist of irony, before becoming serious again. “It’s a great honor and a pleasure to have Agassi as my coach.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>8.55 p.m.</p>
<p>Defending champion Novak Djokovic is through to the quarterfinals of the French Open for the eighth straight year.</p>
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<p>He beat 19th-seeded Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-3 in the day’s final match on Court Philippe Chatrier. Djokovic sealed victory on his first match point with a cross-court winner struck firmly from near the net.</p>
<p>The second-seeded Serb dropped his serve at the start of the match and squeezed through a tough first set lasting 1 hour, 15 minutes.</p>
<p>Next up for Djokovic is No. 6 Dominic Thiem of Austria — the player he beat in last year’s semifinal in three sets, dropping just seven games.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>8:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Timea Bacsinszky explained why she sprinted to her chair as Venus Williams was about to serve.</p>
<p>Late into their fourth-round match, Williams was about to toss the ball up into the air when the American noticed the 30th-seeded Swiss was not standing at the other end.</p>
<p>Instead, Bacsinszky was making an express trip to wash clay off her hands. She had got them dirty attempting to treat a sudden injury.</p>
<p>“I had a pinched nerve in my thigh. I was clumsily trying to stretch my foot and I got my hands all filthy with clay,” Bacsinszky said. “I really needed to get to my chair, and I had already received a warning about time. So I just rushed back and said (to the chair umpire) ‘Please, I’m really sorry, I’ve got clay all over my hands. I can’t play properly.'”</p>
<p>Bacsinszky, a semifinalist at Roland Garros in 2015, won 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>7:20 p.m.</p>
<p>Dominic Thiem is through to the French Open quarterfinals for the second straight year after easing past Horacio Zeballos 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.</p>
<p>The sixth-seeded Austrian, a semifinalist at Roland Garros last year, next plays either defending champion Novak Djokovic or No. 19 Albert Ramos-Vinolas.</p>
<p>Zeballos received a thumbs up from Thiem after one superb lob midway through the third set, but the unseeded Argentine was never really in contention and lost in 1 hour, 40 minutes.</p>
<p>An ace down the middle gave Thiem victory on his first match point.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>6:05 p.m.</p>
<p>Venus Williams has lost in the fourth round of the French Open to 30th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, meaning the tournament will produce a first-time Grand Slam champion.</p>
<p>Bacsinszky won 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 in Court Philippe Chatrier, the second year in a row that she beat Williams in the fourth round in Paris.</p>
<p>Williams, who turns 37 this month, is a seven-time major champion, with all of those titles at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open. Her best French Open showing was in 2002, when she lost to her sister Serena in the final.</p>
<p>Bacsinszky’s best result at a major tournament was reaching the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2015.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>5:15 p.m.</p>
<p>Defending champion Garbine Muguruza has lost in the French Open’s fourth round to France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.</p>
<p>Mladenovic reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>4:50 p.m.</p>
<p>Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta beat fifth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (6), 6-4, 8-6 in the French Open fourth round.</p>
<p>Carreno Busta reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal the hard way, wasting six match points through a combination of unforced errors and big winners from Raonic.</p>
<p>He wasted three of them serving at 5-4 up, and three more when serving at 7-6.</p>
<p>He finally won with a forehand volley at the net, with Raonic near the back of the court.</p>
<p>After 4 hours, 17 minutes of hard slog, the 20th-seeded Carreno Busta will have used up valuable energy for his quarterfinal against nine-time champion Rafael Nadal.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>4:35 p.m.</p>
<p>Defending champion Garbine Muguruza and French favorite Kristina Mladenovic are heading to a third set at Court Suzanne Lenglen with a Roland Garros quarterfinal spot at stake.</p>
<p>Muguruza forced a third set by taking the second 6-3, breaking in the last game. Mladenovic took the opener 6-1.</p>
<p>It is the third time in four matches that Mladenovic has played a three-setter. One of the earlier ones ended at 9-7, the other at 8-6.</p>
<p>Muguruza is seeded No. 5, Mladenovic No. 13.</p>
<p>Muguruza beat Serena Williams in the French Open final last year.</p>
<p>Mladenovic had never made it past the third round in Paris. The last woman representing France to win the country’s Grand Slam tournament was Mary Pierce in 2000.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>3:50 p.m.</p>
<p>Teenager Jelena Ostapenko is the first woman from Latvia to make it to the French Open quarterfinals in the professional era. She beat 2010 runner-up Samantha Stosur 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.</p>
<p>The 47th-ranked Ostapenko is the youngest player in the tournament at age 19.</p>
<p>She compiled a whopping 46-15 advantage in winners against the 23rd-seeded Stosur, who won the 2011 U.S. Open.</p>
<p>Ostapenko now faces former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who is a two-time major finalist.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>3:20 p.m.</p>
<p>Richard Gasquet retired from his all-French third-round match against Gael Monfils at Roland Garros after getting treatment on his right thigh.</p>
<p>The 24th-seeded Gasquet stopped playing while trailing 4-3 in the third set. The players split the first two sets.</p>
<p>Before the start of the third, Gasquet had a trainer work on his upper right leg. Gasquet got a massage and then his thigh was taped up.</p>
<p>The 15th-seeded Monfils moved into the fourth round at the French Open for the seventh time. His best showing in Paris was a semifinal run in 2008.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>3 p.m.</p>
<p>Rafael Nadal eased past 17th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the French Open.</p>
<p>The fourth-seeded Spaniard secured victory on his third match point when he pushed Bautista Agut to the back of the court with a big forehand that his countryman could only pat back into the net at full stretch. He won in less than two hours.</p>
<p>Nadal is through to his 11th at Roland Garros — equaling Roger Federer’s Open era record.</p>
<p>The 31-year-old Nadal is seeking his 10th French Open title and 15th Grand Slam title. His last major came at Roland Garros in 2014.</p>
<p>His opponent in the last eight will be either No. 5 Milos Raonic of Canada or Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>1:35 p.m.</p>
<p>Two weeks past his 21st birthday, unseeded Karen Khachanov of Russia became the youngest man to reach the French Open’s fourth round since 2009, beating 21st-seeded American John Isner 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3).</p>
<p>Isner was the last U.S. man in the draw of 11 who entered the tournament.</p>
<p>Khachanov is playing at Roland Garros for the first time. It is only the third major of his career.</p>
<p>The match was suspended a night earlier after the first set because of rain.</p>
<p>Despite hitting eight double-faults, Khachanov won all 23 games he served against Inser, saving four break points. Khachanov converted 1 of 6 break points on Isner’s serve, but that was enough.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>1:20 p.m.</p>
<p>Former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki returned to the French Open quarterfinals for the first time since 2010, eliminating 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.</p>
<p>The 11th-seeded Wozniacki is a two-time runner-up at majors.</p>
<p>She played her typically safe style for much of the match, winding up with 15 fewer unforced errors than No. 8 Kuznetsova. Wozniacki also broke in half of Kuznetsova’s 12 service games.</p>
<p>Wozniacki missed the 2016 French Open because of an ankle injury. She lost in the first or second round each of the previous three years.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>12:40 p.m.</p>
<p>Croatian qualifier Petra Martic upset 17th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova 6-1 6-1 to reach the fourth round of the French Open.</p>
<p>Martic is ranked 290th but she took just 49 minutes to beat the Latvian and match her best performance at a Grand Slam tournament.</p>
<p>The 26-year-old Martic next faces fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina after the Ukrainian beat Magda Linette 6-4, 7-5.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>12:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic is through to the fourth round of the French Open after swatting aside Germany’s Carina Witthoeft in straight sets.</p>
<p>The second-seeded Pliskova hit 34 winners as she raced to a 7-5, 6-1 victory in 70 minutes. She will next face the winner of the match between Veronica Cepede Royg and Mariana Duque-Marina.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>12:15 p.m.</p>
<p>The rain delay suited Kei Nishikori as he recovered to beat Hyeon Chung 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 0-6, 6-4 when their third round match resumed at the French Open.</p>
<p>The eighth-seeded Nishikori was leading 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 0-3 when rain stopped play on Saturday, but was clearly struggling with a wrist injury and had also had treatment on his back as the 21-year-old Chung rallied.</p>
<p>Chung, who is ranked 67th, had never beaten a top-10 player in six attempts but leveled when play resumed, keeping alive his bid to become the first South Korean to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros.</p>
<p>Nishikori broke early in the fifth set and was serving for the match when Chung broke back, but the Japanese player sealed the result when his opponent double faulted.</p>
<p>It was the first time in the Open era that two Asian men had met as late as the third round in a Grand Slam tournament.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>11:15 a.m.</p>
<p>Carina Witthoeft turned up late for her third round match against second-seeded Karolina Pliskova at the French Open.</p>
<p>Witthoeft walked onto Court 3 about eight minutes after Pliskova, who gave the German a wry smile as she walked past her seat.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>11 a.m.</p>
<p>Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Garbine Muguruza both play Sunday in the fourth round of the French Open, in a packed schedule created by multiple rain postponements.</p>
<p>Djokovic is last on Court Philippe Chatrier, against No. 19 Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain, while the fifth-seeded Muguruza plays No. 13 Kristina Mladenovic of France on Court Suzanne Lenglen after Rafael Nadal plays Spanish compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut.</p>
<p>Seven-time major champion Venus Williams is bidding for a quarterfinal spot against No. 30 Timea Bacsinszky.</p>
<p>Three third-round men’s matches are scheduled to resume after rain cancelled play on Saturday afternoon: No. 8 Kei Nishikori against Hyeon Chung, No. 15 Gael Monfils against No. 24 Richard Gasquet, and No. 21 John Isner against Karen Khachanov.</p> | Novak Djokovic jokes about his tough first set | false | https://abqjournal.com/1012879/the-latest-bacsinszky-explains-why-she-sprinted-to-chair.html | 2017-06-04 | 2 |
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<p>If there's one thing most Americans can agree on, it's that 2016 was a pretty rocky year on a whole. But apparently, it's not just politics and violence that have us unusually stressed. According to a new Gallup poll, Americans worried more about their finances in 2016 than they did the previous year. Now that's a good reason to celebrate the year coming to a close.</p>
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<p>IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, retirement tops the list of Americans' financial concerns. In 2016, 64% of Americans said they're worried about not having enough money to pay their living expenses in retirement, up from 60% the year before. Of course, these fears aren't exactly unfounded. An estimated 33% of Americans have no retirement savings whatsoever, and with Social Security replacing just 40% of the average worker's pre-retirement income, those who rely on their benefits alone might struggle financially during their senior years. In fact, in an Allianz study, 60% of baby boomers admitted they were more afraid of running out of money in retirement than actually dying. Now that's getting serious.</p>
<p>While retirement tops the list of Americans' financial fears, next in line is the inability to cover a medical emergency. A good 60% of Americans worry they wouldn't have the means to pay for an unexpected illness or injury, which is 5% more than last year. And once again, it's hardly a baseless concern. A recent GoBankingRates survey found that 69% of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. Meanwhile, an earlier study by the Federal Reserve Board found that 47% of Americans are unable to cover a $400 emergency. Rather, they'd have to sell something or borrow the money to foot a bill of that size.</p>
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<p>Not only that but 51% of Americans are worried they won't manage to maintain their current standard of living, while 41% stress about not having enough money to pay their normal monthly bills. Furthermore, 34% fear they'll be unable to keep up with their rent, mortgage payments, or other housing costs.</p>
<p>That last concern is a legitimate one, because according to a MacArthur Foundation report, between 2011 and 2014, 52% of American households had to make at least one major financial sacrifice to cover their rent or mortgage payments. These sacrifices including delaying retirement savings or racking up credit card debt to pay their expenses. Not only that, but in 2015, almost 12 million households spent more than 50% of their income on housing, which is downright excessive.</p>
<p>Unfortunate as it may be that countless Americans are lying awake at night worrying about their finances, there is a bit of good news to take away from all of this: You can take steps to address your concerns and improve your financial picture.</p>
<p>There's no question about it: If you don't save independently for retirement and rely on Social Security alone, there's a good chance you're going to come up short in your senior years. Even if you're currently living paycheck to paycheck, there are ways to eke out some savings that can add up over time. You can start by saving your entire raise each year and putting it into an IRA or 401(k). Furthermore, if you contribute enough to a 401(k) to take advantage of an employer match, you'll get free money out of the deal. Additionally, you might consider taking on an extra job to generate a bit more cash. Working even a few weekends a year could help you inch closer toward your savings goal.</p>
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<p>Americans' second-biggest fear is not having enough money for a medical emergency. But it's not just health-related issues that might creep up. Your car might break down, or your roof might spring a leak. That's why it's crucial to build an emergency fund with three to six months' worth of living expenses. If the amount in your bank account isn't anywhere close, start cutting back on whatever luxuries you can to catch up to where you need to be. In fact, funding your emergency savings is even more critical than saving for retirement, so make sure it takes priority over everything else.</p>
<p>Part of the reason so many Americans worry about keeping up with their regular bills is that they have a tendency to spend every penny they earn. A better approach is to consistently live below your means, especially when it comes to major expenses like housing and transportation. Generally speaking, your housing costs should never exceed 30% of your take-home pay, and if you can keep them even lower, you'll have more wiggle room in your budget for other expenses that might arise. Similarly, if you have the option to ditch your car in favor of public transportation, do it. AAA reports that it costs $8,700 a year on average to own and maintain a vehicle. If you can get by without your own set of wheels, you'll be freeing up money to save or spend elsewhere as needed.</p>
<p>Though it's easy to see why so many Americans fall victim to <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/14/are-your-finances-making-you-sick.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">financial anxiety Opens a New Window.</a>, you don't have to take your fears lying down. If you commit to growing your retirement savings, building your emergency fund, and keeping your living costs low, you'll be setting the stage for a much less stressful 2017.</p>
<p>The $15,834 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $15,834 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Americans' Financial Fears Peaked in 2016, Data Shows | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/30/americans-financial-fears-peaked-in-2016-data-shows.html | 2016-12-30 | 0 |
<p>By Henry A. Giroux / Truthout</p>
<p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/khurt/8801135494/" type="external">Khürt Williams / CC 2.0</a></p>
<p>For the last 40 years, the United States has pursued a ruthless form of neoliberalism that has stripped economic activity from ethical considerations and social costs. One consequence has been the emergence of a culture of cruelty in which the financial elite produce inhuman policies that treat the most vulnerable with contempt, relegating them to zones of social abandonment and forcing them to inhabit a society increasingly indifferent to human suffering. Under the Trump administration, the repressive state and market apparatuses that produced a culture of cruelty in the 19th century have returned with a vengeance, producing new levels of harsh aggression and extreme violence in US society. A culture of cruelty has become the mood of our times — a spectral lack of compassion that hovers over the ruins of democracy.</p>
<p>While there is much talk about the United States tipping over into authoritarianism under the Trump administration, there are few analyses that examine how a culture of cruelty has accompanied this political transition, and the role that culture plays in legitimating a massive degree of powerlessness and human suffering. The culture of cruelty has a long tradition in this country, mostly inhabiting a ghostly presence that is often denied or downplayed in historical accounts. What is new since the 1980s — and especially evident under Donald Trump’s presidency — is that the culture of cruelty has taken on a sharper edge as it has moved to the center of political power, adopting an unapologetic embrace of nativism, xenophobia and white nationalist ideology, as well as an in-your-face form of racist demagoguery. Evidence of such cruelty has long been visible in earlier calls by Republicans to force poor children who get free school lunches to work for their meals. Such policies are particularly cruel at a time when nearly “ <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160302132533.htm" type="external">half of all children live near close to the poverty line</a>.” Other instances include moving people from welfare to workfare without offering training programs or child care, and the cutting of children’s food stamp benefits for 16 million children in 2014. Another recent example of this culture of cruelty was Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveKingIA/status/840980755236999169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" type="external">tweeting his support</a> for Geert Wilders, a notorious white supremacist and Islamophobic Dutch politician.</p>
<p />
<p>Focusing on a culture of cruelty as one register of authoritarianism allows us to more deeply understand how bodies and minds are violated and human lives destroyed. It helps us to acknowledge that violence is not an abstraction, but is visceral and, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/opinion/humans-in-dark-times.html?_r=1" type="external">Brad Evans observes</a>, “should never be studied in an objective and unimpassioned way. It points to a politics of the visceral that cannot be divorced from our ethical and political concerns.” For instance, it highlights how Trump’s proposed budget cuts would reduce funding for programs that provide education, legal assistance and training for thousands of workers in high-hazard industries. As Judy Conti, a federal advocacy coordinator [at the National Employment Law Project] points out, these cuts would result in “ <a href="http://www.alternet.org/what-slashing-labor-department-budget-21-percent-would-mean" type="external">more illness, injury and death on the job</a>.”</p>
<p>Rather than provide a display of moral outrage, interrogating a culture of cruelty offers critics a political and moral lens for thinking through the convergence of power, politics and everyday life. It also offers the promise of unveiling the way in which a nation demoralizes itself by adopting the position that it has no duty to provide safety nets for its citizens or care for their well-being, especially in a time of misfortune. Politically, it highlights how structures of domination bear down on individual bodies, needs, emotions and self-esteem, and how such constraints function to keep people in a state of existential crisis, if not outright despair. Ethically the concept makes visible how unjust a society has become. It helps us think through how life and death converge in ways that fundamentally transform how we understand and imagine the act of living — if not simply surviving — in a society that has lost its moral bearing and sense of social responsibility. Within the last 40 years, a harsh market fundamentalism has deregulated financial capital, imposed misery and humiliation on the poor through welfare cuts, and ushered in a new style of authoritarianism that preys upon and punishes the most vulnerable Americans.</p>
<p>The culture of cruelty has become a primary register of the loss of democracy in the United States. The disintegration of democratic commitments offers a perverse index of a country governed by the rich, big corporations and rapacious banks through a consolidating regime of punishment. It also reinforces the workings of a corporate-driven culture whose airwaves are filled with hate, endless spectacles of violence and an ongoing media assault on young people, the poor, Muslims and undocumented immigrants. Vast numbers of individuals are now considered disposable and are relegated to zones of social and moral abandonment. In the current climate, violence seeps into everyday life while engulfing a carceral system that embraces the death penalty and produces conditions of incarceration that house many prisoners in solitary confinement — a practice medical professionals consider one of the worse forms of torture.</p>
<p>In addition, Americans live in a distinctive historical moment in which the most vital safety nets, social provisions, welfare policies and health care reforms are being undermined or are under threat of elimination by right-wing ideologues in the Trump administration. For instance, Trump’s 2017 budgetary proposals, many of which were drafted by the hyperconservative Heritage Foundation, will create a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-presidential-budget-2018-proposal/?tid=a_inl&amp;utm_term=.fd4dac2e9e1b" type="external">degree of imposed hardship and misery</a> that defies any sense of human decency and moral responsibility.</p>
<p>Public policy analyst Robert Reich argues that “the theme that unites all of Trump’s [budget] initiatives so far is their unnecessary cruelty.” <a href="http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/robert-reich-4-reasons-trump-administration-unspeakably-cruel" type="external">Reich writes</a>:</p>
<p>His new budget comes down especially hard on the poor — imposing unprecedented cuts in low-income housing, job training, food assistance, legal services, help to distressed rural communities, nutrition for new mothers and their infants, funds to keep poor families warm, even “meals on wheels.” These cuts come at a time when more American families are in poverty than ever before, including 1 in 5 children. Why is Trump doing this? To pay for the biggest hike in military spending since the 1980s. Yet the U.S. already spends more on its military than the next 7 biggest military budgets put together. His plan to repeal and “replace” the Affordable Care Act will cause 14 million Americans to lose their health insurance next year, and 24 million by 2026. Why is Trump doing this? To bestow $600 billion in tax breaks over the decade to wealthy Americans. This windfall comes at a time when the rich have accumulated more wealth than at any time in the nation’s history.</p>
<p>This is a demolition budget that would inflict unprecedented cruelty, misery and hardship on millions of citizens and residents. Trump’s populist rhetoric collapses under the weight of his efforts to make life even worse for the rural poor, who would have $2.6 billion cut from infrastructure investments largely used for water and sewage improvements as well as federal funds used to provide assistance so they can heat their homes. Roughly $6 billion would be cut from a housing budget that benefits 4.5 million low-income households. Other programs on the cutting block include funds to support Habitat for Humanity, the homeless, energy assistance to the poor, legal aid and a number of antipoverty programs. Trump’s mode of governance is no longer modeled on “The Apprentice.” It now takes its cues from “The Walking Dead.”</p>
<p>If Congress embraces Trump’s proposal, poor students would be budgeted out of access to higher education as a result of a $3.9 billion cut from the federal Pell grant program, which provides tuition assistance for low-income students entering college. Federal funds for public schools would be redistributed to privately run charter schools, while vouchers would be available for religious schools. Medical research would suffer and people would die because of the proposed $6 billion cut to the National Institutes of Health.</p>
<p>Trump has <a href="http://www.chronicle.com/article/What-Trump-s-Budget-Outline/239511?cid=pm&amp;utm_source=pm&amp;utm_medium=en&amp;elqTrackId=b7079d71a0c14fb6910f188d2d5753ac&amp;elq=70dd649a3da84960bd6012a5ceb0aee2&amp;elqaid=12999&amp;elqat=1&amp;elqCampaignId=5365" type="external">also called for</a> the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, making clear that his contempt for education, science and the arts is part of an aggressive project to eliminate those institutions and public spheres that extend the capacity of people to be imaginative, think critically and be well-informed.</p>
<p>The $54 billion that Trump seeks to remove from the budgets of 19 agencies designed to help the poor, students, public education, academic research and the arts would instead be used to increase the military budget and build a wall along the Mexican border. The culture of cruelty is on full display here as millions would suffer for the lack of loans, federal aid and basic resources. The winners would be the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, the private prison industry and the institutions and personnel needed to expand the police state. What Trump has provided in this budget proposal is a blueprint for eliminating the remnants of the welfare state while transforming American society into a “ <a href="http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/trumps-budget-vision-would-transform-america-war-obsessed-survival-fittest-dystopia" type="external">war-obsessed, survival-of-the fittest dystopia</a>.”</p>
<p>The United States is now on a war footing and has launched a war against undocumented immigrants, Muslims, people of color, young people, the elderly, public education, science, democracy and the planet itself, to say nothing of the provocations unfolding on the world stage. The moral obscenity and reactionary politics that inform Trump’s budget were <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/03/16/morally-obscene-trump-budget-proposal-stands-make-america-cruel-again" type="external">summed up by Bernie Sanders</a>: “At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, when 43 million Americans are living in poverty and half of older Americans have no retirement savings, we should not slash programs that senior citizens, children and working people rely on in order to provide a massive increase in spending to the military industrial complex. Trump’s priorities are exactly the opposite of where we should be heading as a nation.”</p>
<p>As more and more people find themselves living in a society in which the quality of life is measured through market-based metrics, such as cost-benefit analyses, it becomes difficult for the public to acknowledge or even understand the cost in human misery and everyday hardship that an increasing number of people have to endure.</p>
<p>A culture of cruelty highlights both how systemic injustices are lived and experienced, and how iniquitous relations of power turn the “American dream” into a dystopian nightmare in which millions of individuals and families are struggling to merely survive. This society has robbed them of a decent life, dignity and hope. I want to pose the crucial question of what a culture of cruelty looks like under a neofascist regime, and in doing so, highlight what I believe are some of its most crucial elements, all of which must be recognized if they are to be open to both criticism and resistance.</p>
<p>First, language is emptied of any sense of ethics and responsibility and begins to operate in the service of violence. This becomes evident as social provisions are cut for programs that help poor people, elderly people, impoverished children and people living with disabilities. This is also evident in the Trump administration’s call to scale back Medicaid and affordable, quality health insurance for millions of Americans.Second, a survival-of-the-fittest discourse provides a breeding ground for the production of hypermasculine behaviors and hypercompetitiveness, both of which function to create a predatory culture that replaces compassion, sharing and a concern for the other. Under such circumstances, unbridled individualism and competition work to weaken democracy.</p>
<p>Third, references to truth and real consequences are dismissed, and facts give way to “alternative realities” where the distinction between informed assertions and falsehoods disappears. This politics of fabrication is on full display as the Trump administration narrates itself and its relationship to others and the larger world through a fog of misrepresentations and willful ignorance. Even worse, the act of state-sanctioned lying is coupled with the assertion that any critical media outlets and journalists who attempt to hold power accountable are producing “fake news.” Official lying is part of the administration’s infrastructure: The more authority figures lie the less they have to be taken seriously.</p>
<p>Fourth, in a culture of cruelty, the discourse of disposability extends to an increasing number of groups that are considered superfluous, redundant, excess or dangerous. In this discourse, some lives are valued and others are not. In the current moment, undocumented immigrants, Muslim refugees and Black people are targeted as potential criminals, terrorists or racial “others” who threaten the notion of a white Christian nation. Underlying the discourse of disposability is the reemerging prominence of overt white supremacy, as evidenced by an administration that has appointed white nationalists to the highest levers of power in the government and has issued a racist appeal to “law and order.” The ongoing rise of hate crimes should be no surprise in a society that has been unabashedly subjected by Trump and his cohorts to the language of hate, anti-Semitism, sexism and racism. Cultures of cruelty slip easily into both the discourse of racial cleansing and the politics of disposability.</p>
<p>Fifth, ignorance becomes glamorized, enforced through the use of the language of emotion, humiliation and eventually through the machinery of government deception. For example, Donald Trump once stated that he loved “uneducated people.” This did not indicate, of course, a commitment to serve people without a college education — a group that will be particularly disadvantaged under his administration. Instead, it signaled a deep-seated anti-intellectualism and a fear of critical thought itself, as well as the institutions that promote it. Limiting the public’s knowledge now becomes a precondition for cruelty.</p>
<p>Sixth, any form of dependency in the interest of justice and care for the “other” is viewed as a form of weakness, and becomes the object of scorn and disdain. In a culture of cruelty, it is crucial to replace shared values and bonds of trust with the bonds of fear. For the caste of warriors that make up the Trump administration, politics embraces what might be called neoliberalism on steroids, one in which the bonds of solidarity rooted in compassion and underlying the welfare state are assumed to weaken national character by draining resources away from national security and placing too large a tax burden on the rich. In this logic, solidarity equates with dependency, a weak moral character, and is dismissed as anaemic, unreliable and a poor substitute for living in a society that celebrates untrammeled competition, individual responsibility and an all-embracing individualism.</p>
<p>Seventh, cruelty thrives on the language of borders and walls. It replaces the discourse of bridges, generosity and compassion with a politics of divisiveness, alienation, inadequacy and fear. Trump’s call for building a wall on the Mexican border, his endless disparaging of individuals and groups on the basis of their gender, race, religion and ethnicity, and his view of a world composed of the deadly binary of “friends” and “enemies” echo the culture of a past that lost its ethical and political moorings and ended up combining the metrics of efficiency with the building of concentration camps.</p>
<p>Eighth, all cultures of cruelty view violence as a sacred means for addressing social problems and mediating relationships; hence, the criminalization of homelessness, poverty, mental illness, drug addiction, surviving domestic violence, reproductive choice and more. The centrality of oppressive violence in the United States is not new, of course; it is entrenched in the country’s origins. Under Trump this violence has been embraced, openly and without apology, as an organizing principle of society. This acceleration of the reality and spectacle of violence under the Trump administration is evident, in part, in his call for increasing an already-inflated military budget by $54 billion. It is also evident in his efforts to create multiple zones of social abandonment and social death for the most vulnerable in society.</p>
<p>Ninth, cultures of cruelty despise democracy and work incessantly to make the word disappear from officially mandated state language. One example of this took place when Trump opted not to utter the word democracy in either his inaugural address or in his first speech to Congress. Trump’s hatred of democracy and the formative cultures that sustain it was on full display when he and his top aides referred to the critical media as the enemy of the American people and as an “opposition party.” A free press is fundamental to a society that takes seriously the idea that no democracy can exist without informed citizens. Trump has turned this rule on its head, displaying a disdain not only for a press willing to pursue the truth and hold politicians and corporations accountable, but also for those public spheres and institutions that make such a press possible. Under these circumstances, it is important to remember <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1978/10/26/hannah-arendt-from-an-interview/" type="external">Hannah Arendt’s warning</a>: “What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed … and a people that no longer can believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act but also its capacity to think and to judge.”</p>
<p>Tenth, all fascist regimes disparage, dismantle and destroy institutions, such as public and higher education and other public spheres where people can learn how to think critically and act responsibly. Evidence of an act of war against public spheres that are critical, self-reflective and concerned with the social good is visible in the appointment of billionaires, generals and ideological fundamentalists to cabinet positions running public agencies that many of them have vowed to destroy. What does it mean when an individual, such as Betsy DeVos, is picked to head the Department of Education even though she has worked endlessly in the past to destroy public education? How else to explain Trump appointing Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency, even though he does not believe that climate change is affected by human-produced carbon dioxide emissions and has spent most of his career actively opposing the authority of the EPA? At stake here is more than a culture of incompetency. This is a willful assault on public goods and the common good.</p>
<p>Eleventh, cultures of cruelty thrive when shared fears replace shared responsibilities. Under such conditions, an ever-expanding number of people are reduced to the status of a potential “terrorist” or “criminal,” watched constantly, and humiliated under the watchful eye of a surveillance state that inhabits practically every public and private space.</p>
<p>Twelfth, cultures of cruelty dispose of all vestiges of the welfare state, forcing millions to fend for themselves. Loneliness, powerlessness and uncertainty — fueled by the collapse of the public into the private — create the conditions for viewing those who receive much needed social provisions as cheaters, moochers or much worse. Under the Republican Party extremists in power, the welfare state is the enemy of the free market and is viewed as a drain on the coffers of the rich. There are no public rights in this discourse, only entitlements for the privileged, and rhetoric that promotes the moral superiority and unimpeachable character of the wealthy. The viciousness of these attacks is driven by the absolute idolatry of power of wealth, strength and unaccountable military might.</p>
<p>Thirteenth, massive inequalities in power, wealth and income mean time will become a burden for most Americans, who will be struggling merely to make ends meet and survive. Cruelty thrives in a society in which there seem to be only individual problems, as opposed to socially-produced problems, and it is hard to do the work of uniting against socially-produced problems under oppressive time constraints. Under such circumstances, solidarity is difficult to practice, which makes it easier for the ruling elite to use their power to engage in the relentless process of asset-stripping and the stripping of human dignity. Authoritarian regimes feed off the loyalty of those who benefit from the concentration of wealth, power and income as well as those who live in stultifying ignorance of their own oppression. Under global capitalism, the ultrarich are celebrated as the new heroes of late modernity, while their wealth and power are showcased as a measure of their innate skills, knowledge and superiority. Such spectacles function to infantilize both the general public and politics itself.</p>
<p>Fourteenth, under the Trump administration, the exercise of cruelty is emboldened through the stultifying vocabulary of ultranationalism, militarism and American exceptionalism that will be used to fuel further wars abroad and at home. Militarism and exceptionalism constitute the petri dish for a kind of punishment creep, in which “law and order” becomes code for the continued rise of the punishing state and the expansion of the prison-industrial complex. It also serves to legitimate a war culture that surrounds the world with military bases and promotes “democracy” through a war machine. It turns already-oppressive local police departments into SWAT teams and impoverished cities into war zones. In such a culture of cruelty, language is emptied of any meaning, freedom evaporates, human misery proliferates, and the distinction between the truth and lies disappears and the governance collapses into a sordid species of lawlessness, emboldening random acts of vigilantism and violence.</p>
<p>Fifteenth, mainstream media outlets are now a subsidiary of corporate control. Almost all of the dominant cultural apparatuses extending from print, audio and screen cultures are controlled by a handful of corporations. The concentration of the mainstream media in few hands constitutes a disimagination machine that wages a pedagogical war on almost any critical notion of politics that seeks to produce the conditions needed to enable more people to think and act critically. The overriding purpose of the corporate-controlled media is to drive audiences to advertisers, increase ratings and profits, legitimate the toxic spectacles and values of casino capitalism, and reproduce a toxic pedagogical fog that depoliticizes and infantilizes. Lost here are those public spaces in which the civic and radical imagination enables individuals to identify the larger historical, social, political and economic forces that bear down on their lives. The rules of commerce now dictate the meaning of what it means to be educated. Yet, spaces that promote a social imaginary and civic literacy are fundamental to a democracy if the young and old alike are to develop the knowledge, skills and values central to democratic forms of education, engagement and agency.</p>
<p>Underlying this form of neoliberal authoritarianism and its attendant culture of cruelty is a powerfully oppressive ideology that insists that the only unit of agency that matters is the isolated individual. Hence, mutual trust and shared visions of equality, freedom and justice give way to fears and self-blame reinforced by the neoliberal notion that individuals are solely responsible for their political, economic and social misfortunes. Consequently, a hardening of the culture is buttressed by the force of state-sanctioned cultural apparatuses that enshrine privatization in the discourse of self-reliance, unchecked self-interest, untrammeled individualism and deep distrust of anything remotely called the common good. Once again, freedom of choice becomes code for defining responsibility solely as an individual task, reinforced by a shameful appeal to character.</p>
<p>Many liberal critics and progressives argue that choice absent constraints feeds the rise of Ayn Rand’s ideology of rabid individualism and unchecked greed. But they are only partly right. What they miss in this neofascist moment is that the systemic cruelty and moral irresponsibility at the heart of neoliberalism make Ayn Rand’s vicious framework look tame. Rand’s world has been surpassed by a ruling class of financial elites that embody not the old-style greed of Gordon Gekko in the film Wall Street, but the inhumane and destructive avarice of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. The notion that saving money by reducing the taxes of the rich justifies eliminating health care for 24 million people is just one example of how this culture of cruelty and hardening of the culture will play out.</p>
<p>Under the Trump administration, a growing element of scorn is developing toward the increasing number of human beings caught in the web of oppression, marginalization, misfortune, suffering and deprivation. This scorn is fueled by a right-wing spin machine that endlessly spews out a toxic rhetoric in which all Muslims are defined as “jihadists;” the homeless are cast as “lazy” rather than as victims of oppressive structures, failed institutions and misfortune; Black people are cast as “criminals” and subjected en masse to the destructive criminal punishment system; and the public sphere is portrayed as largely for white people.</p>
<p>The culture of hardness and cruelty is not new to American society, but the current administration aims to deploy it in ways that sap the strength of social relations, moral compassion and collective action, offering in their place a mode of governance that promotes a pageant of suffering and violence. There will, no doubt, be an acceleration of acts of violence under the Trump administration, and the conditions for eliminating this new stage of state violence will mean not only understanding the roots of neofascism in the United States, but also eliminating the economic, political and cultural forces that have produced it. Addressing those forces means more than getting rid of Trump. We must eliminate a more pervasive irrationality in which democracy is equated with unbridled capitalism — a system driven almost exclusively by financial interests and beholden to two political parties that are hardwired to produce and reproduce neoliberal violence.</p> | The Culture of Cruelty in Trump's America | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-culture-of-cruelty-in-trumps-america/ | 2017-03-22 | 4 |
<p>Haiti's most famous export is Barbancourt, a delicately flavored, carefully aged rum that's considered among the best in the world. Then there's its rustic cousin clairin, a drink that's much cheaper and relatively rare outside this struggling Caribbean country.</p>
<p>Clairin, or kleren as it's known in Haitian Creole, is less refined than rum and typically not aged, though some artisanal varieties are subjected to an aging process to give them a more mellow and distinctive flavor. It's produced at hundreds of small distilleries scattered across Haiti.</p>
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<p>At one of them, Ti Jean, in the coastal town of Leogane west of the capital, men with their heads covered to ward off the tropical sun use machetes to cut down the towering sugar cane stalks that surround the distillery.</p>
<p>They feed the cane into a grinder to produce the juice that is the raw material of both clairin and the type of rum associated with the French Caribbean. Most rum produced elsewhere is made from molasses.</p>
<p>The juice that flows out the other side is a murky caramel color, though the finished product will be as clear as vodka.</p>
<p>The clairin is fermented and filtered and then shipped in plastic jugs for sale in market stalls and by street merchants. Individual retailers add flavors with herbs or fruit.</p>
<p>In Port-au-Prince, vendor Eddy Lecty adds cloves to spice up the clairin he sells in the capital's Cite Soleil slum. He and his father have been selling the drink for almost 20 years at the same sidewalk spot, which has become a meeting place locals call "The Citizens Club." He says even Haitian presidents have stopped by.</p>
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<p>Lecty and other vendors put the clairin into reused whiskey, vodka and soft drink bottles.</p>
<p>In Haiti, like in other countries where unregulated liquor production flourishes, there have been unscrupulous producers who spiked their spirits with methanol, which can be deadly.</p>
<p>Ti Jean owner Jeanty Bonnefois says his workers make sure they remove the toxic methanol byproduct that occurs during distillation, and his clairin has a good reputation among local consumers.</p>
<p>A liter of clairin sells for about $1.36, one-eighth the price of the least expensive bottle of Barbancourt. That price tag makes all the difference in a country where about 60 percent of the people get by on less than $2 a day.</p> | AP PHOTOS: Moving Haiti's rustic, rum-like clairin to market | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/07/12/ap-photos-moving-haitis-rustic-rum-like-clairin-to-market.html | 2017-07-12 | 0 |
<p>The third quarter of 2013 was complex and it continues to be complex going into the fourth quarter. Among the uncertainties are: the future direction of Federal Reserve policy with its bond purchase program, the Syrian conflict, unresolved spending authorizations, U.S. government default risk and budget fights, a lackluster economy, and the impact of Obamacare.</p>
<p>Despite all the crosscurrents, equities moved higher and fixed income markets finished with mixed results over the past three months. There was quite a bit of variance in the nature of equity appreciation with large-cap growth and small-cap equities capturing most of the gains.</p>
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<p>The <a href="http://covestor.com/timberline-investment-management/dividend-and-growth" type="external">Timberline Dividend and Growth portfolio Opens a New Window.</a>also had a positive quarter that was indicative large-cap value returns but lagged the overall market. Year to day, composite performance is indicative of the strong equity market conditions of 2013.</p>
<p>A majority of portfolio holdings provided positive returns. Interestingly, the strongest returns were not concentrated in any particular industrial sector. Apple ( <a href="" type="internal">AAPL),</a>) 3M ( <a href="" type="internal">DDD</a>), Williams ( <a href="" type="internal">WMB</a>), Dominion Resources ( <a href="" type="internal">D</a>), Paychex ( <a href="" type="internal">PAYX</a>) and DuPont ( <a href="" type="internal">DD</a>) all had positive returns.</p>
<p>Negative returns were not severe with names generally found in the consumer, telecom and technology areas. Performance during the quarter took a notable turn for financials when the Fed announced that they would not taper.</p>
<p>Financials had been trading higher in anticipation of higher rates but retreated with the Fed’s surprising announcement. All said, financials provided positive returns but at level that did not keep up with benchmarks.</p>
<p>On the dividend front, there were seven payout increases as announced by ( <a href="" type="internal">Duke Energy</a>) (+2.0%), ( <a href="" type="internal">Leggett &amp; Platt</a>)(+3.5%), ( <a href="" type="internal">Microchip Technology</a>) (+.3%), ( <a href="" type="internal">Microsoft</a>)(+21.7%), ( <a href="" type="internal">Paychex</a>)(+6.1%), ( <a href="" type="internal">Philip Morris International</a>)(+10.6%) and Williams Companies (+3.9%). Penn West ( <a href="" type="internal">PWE</a>) announced a roughly 50% dividend decrease in conjunction with new management and new initiatives that look promising for the stock. (Note that dividends reflect past performance and there is no guarantee they will continue to be paid.)</p>
<p>Valuations and earnings growth expectations point to a market that appears to be fairly valued but with good long-term potential. This is based on a supportive Fed, modest economic growth, and evidence of very effective management within many companies. Political conditions are complex but if past history is any indicator, government issues will likely get worked out in some rather unimpressive ways.</p>
<p>The investments discussed are held in client accounts as of September 30, 2013. These investments may or may not be currently held in client accounts. The reader should not assume that any investments identified were or will be profitable or that any investment recommendations or investment decisions we make in the future will be profitable. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.</p>
<p>The post <a href="http://investing.covestor.com/2013/10/portfolio-navigated-powerful-market-crosscurrents" type="external">How my portfolio navigated powerful market crosscurrents Opens a New Window.</a> appeared first on <a href="http://investing.covestor.com" type="external">Smarter Investing Opens a New Window.</a>Covestor Ltd. is a registered investment advisor. Covestor licenses investment strategies from its Model Managers to establish investment models. The commentary here is provided as general and impersonal information and should not be construed as recommendations or advice. Information from Model Managers and third-party sources deemed to be reliable but not guaranteed. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Transaction histories for Covestor models available upon request. Additional important disclosures available at http://site.covestor.com/help/disclosures.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | How my portfolio navigated powerful market crosscurrents | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2013/10/28/how-my-portfolio-navigated-powerful-market-crosscurrents.html | 2016-03-02 | 0 |
<p>NORWOOD YOUNG AMERICA, Minn. (AP) — Investigators believe a kerosene heater being used to thaw frozen pipes under a mobile home caused a fire that killed a 71-year-old woman southwest of Minneapolis.</p>
<p>Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson says sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a house fire in Norwood Young America just before 6 p.m. Thursday. A woman who was paralyzed and unable to more on her own reportedly was inside the home.</p>
<p>When deputies arrived, they found the mobile home engulfed in flames and smoke. Firefighters arrived and put out the fire. The body of Nancy Lee Green was found inside the home.</p>
<p>An ambulance crew treated two firefighters for non-life-threatening injuries.</p>
<p>Officials believe the fire was accidental.</p>
<p>NORWOOD YOUNG AMERICA, Minn. (AP) — Investigators believe a kerosene heater being used to thaw frozen pipes under a mobile home caused a fire that killed a 71-year-old woman southwest of Minneapolis.</p>
<p>Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson says sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a house fire in Norwood Young America just before 6 p.m. Thursday. A woman who was paralyzed and unable to more on her own reportedly was inside the home.</p>
<p>When deputies arrived, they found the mobile home engulfed in flames and smoke. Firefighters arrived and put out the fire. The body of Nancy Lee Green was found inside the home.</p>
<p>An ambulance crew treated two firefighters for non-life-threatening injuries.</p>
<p>Officials believe the fire was accidental.</p> | Heater used to thaw frozen pipes sparks fatal Minnesota fire | false | https://apnews.com/fece70c44c51447aad465c0e25269679 | 2018-01-12 | 2 |
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<p>Retta Ward, a former teacher and health educator, will take over the reins of the largest state agency next week, a Martinez spokesman said.</p>
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<p>The Department of Health has been without a permanent secretary since Catherine Torres stepped down from the job in October. Torres said at the time that she wanted to spend more time with her family.</p>
<p>Martinez asked Ward to shift agencies due to her understanding of New Mexico’s public health needs, the Republican governor said Friday.</p>
<p>“She is up to the challenge of leading the Department of Health and working to ensure the health and well-being of all New Mexicans,” Martinez said in a statement.</p>
<p>Before joining the Martinez administration in February 2011, Ward was a high school biology teacher in Arizona. She also worked previously for the Arizona Department of Health Services and Albuquerque Public Schools.</p>
<p>To fill the vacancy caused by Ward’s shift in agencies, Martinez appointed Gino Rinaldi secretary of the Aging and Long-Term Services Department.</p>
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<p>Rinaldi, a former president of the New Mexico Council on Aging, has served as the agency’s deputy secretary since October 2011.</p>
<p>In his new role, Rinaldi will receive an annual salary of $97,000, the Governor’s Office said Friday. Meanwhile, Ward will receive the same salary that her predecessor received – $122,500 a year.</p>
<p>The Department of Health runs state programs for preventive health, individuals with developmental disabilities and medical marijuana, among others.</p>
<p>The agency has more than 4,000 employees, compared with 259 employees that work for the Aging and Long-Term Services Department, according to the state’s online Sunshine Portal. — This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | Governor Names 2 to Cabinet Positions | false | https://abqjournal.com/163608/governor-names-2-to-cabinet-positions.html | 2013-01-26 | 2 |
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<p>Microsoft Corp is rolling out upgrades to its sales software that integrates data from LinkedIn, an initiative that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told Reuters was central to the company's long-term strategy for building specialized business software.</p>
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<p>The improvements to Dynamics 365, as Microsoft's sales software is called, are a challenge to market leader Salesforce.com and represent the first major product initiative to spring from Microsoft's $26 billion acquisition of LinkedIn, the business-focused social network.</p>
<p>The new features will comb through a salesperson's email, calendar and LinkedIn relationships to help gauge how warm their relationship is with a potential customer. The system will recommend ways to save an at-risk deal, like calling in a co-worker who is connected to the potential customer on LinkedIn.</p>
<p>The enhancements, which will be available this summer, will require Microsoft Dynamics customers to also be LinkedIn customers.</p>
<p>The artificial intelligence, or AI, capabilities of the software would be central, Nadella said. "I want to be able to democratize AI so that any customer using these products is able to, in fact, take their own data and load it into AI for themselves," he said.</p>
<p>While Microsoft is a behemoth in the market for operating systems and productivity software like Office, it is a small player in sales software. The company ranks fourth - far behind Salesforce.com and other rivals Oracle Corp and SAP - with just 4.3 percent of the market in 2015, the most recent year for which figures are available, according to research firm Gartner.</p>
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<p>Salesforce declined to comment on Microsoft's competing software.</p>
<p>But Nadella said specialized applications in fields like sales and finance are critical to the company's future. He bills them as Microsoft's "third cloud," the first two being Office 365 for general productivity like email and Azure for computing and databases.</p>
<p>Nadella's bigger vision is to have all products take advantage of a common set of business data that can be mined for new insights with artificial intelligence.</p>
<p>"I think that's the only way to long-term change this game, because if all we did was replace somebody else's (sales), or (finance) application, that's of no value, quite frankly," he said.</p>
<p>Microsoft pointed to Visa as a success story. Earlier this year Visa was in the process of choosing a cloud-based customer service software system and picked Microsoft's over Salesforce. Rajat Taneja, executive vice president of technology at Visa, said Nadella's three-cloud strategy was the deciding factor.</p>
<p>But Microsoft has a long way to go. The company has never released a revenue figure for Dynamics, though the former head of Dynamics said publicly in 2015 that it was a $2 billion business unit.</p>
<p>That compares with Salesforce revenue of $8.3 billion overall and $3 billion for its sales software specifically. Dynamics also grew more slowly than Salesforce last year - Dynamics revenue grew just 4 percent versus 26 percent for Salesforce, which is also rolling out artificial intelligence features.</p>
<p>Nadella is under pressure to show that the pricey LinkedIn acquisition in mid-2016 was worthwhile. R "Ray" Wang, founder of analyst firm Constellation Research, said LinkedIn-powered features, combined with popular programs like Office and Skype, could help.</p>
<p>"Microsoft is putting together the contextual business data people need to be more efficient and build better relationships," Wang said.</p>
<p>Nadella said Microsoft will also continue offering certain LinkedIn data to other companies, including Salesforce, as LinkedIn did before its acquisition. Salesforce had urged European regulators to probe the Microsft-LinkedIn deal, which they ultimately declined to do.</p>
<p>"That ecosystem approach is something that we will absolutely maintain and, in fact, if anything keep continuing to evangelize," Nadella said.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Stephen Nellis; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Mary Milliken)</p> | Microsoft's Nadella Banks on LinkedIn Data to Challenge Salesforce | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/04/24/microsoft-nadella-banks-on-linkedin-data-to-challenge-salesforce.html | 2017-04-26 | 0 |
<p>By Emelia Sithole-Matarise</p>
<p>HARARE (Reuters) – New Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to form a new cabinet this week, with all eyes on whether he breaks with the past and names a broad-based government or selects old guard figures from Robert Mugabe’s era.</p>
<p>Of particular interest is his choice of finance minister to replace Ignatius Chombo, who was among members of a group allied to Mugabe and his wife, Grace, who were detained and expelled from the ruling party. Chombo is facing corruption charges and is due to appear in court for a bail hearing on Monday.</p>
<p>In a tentative sign that he might do things differently, ZANU-PF cut the budget for a special congress to be held next month and also slashed the duration by half from six days, the state-owned Herald newspaper reported on Monday.</p>
<p>Mnangagwa was sworn in as president last Friday after 93-year-old Mugabe quit under pressure from the military.</p>
<p>He vowed to rebuild Zimbabwe’s ravaged economy and serve all citizens. But behind the rhetoric, some Zimbabweans wonder whether a man who loyally served Mugabe for decades can bring change to a ruling establishment accused of systematic human rights abuses and disastrous economic policies.</p>
<p>“The composition of the new government will show a clear path whether we continue with the status quo or the clear break with the past that we need to build a sustainable state. It’s a simple choice,” said former finance minister and opposition leader Tendai Biti.</p>
<p>“ALL HANDS ON DECK”</p>
<p>The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has called for an inclusive “transitional authority” to mark a break with Mugabe’s 37-year rule and enact reforms to allow for credible and free elections due next year.</p>
<p>“Zimbabwe needs all hands on deck…We cannot continue reproducing these cycles of instability,” Biti, who earned international respect as finance minister in a 2009-2013 unity government, told Reuters.</p>
<p>Some economic and political analysts say Mnangagwa’s choices may be limited after Cyber Security Minister and close ally Patrick Chinamasa said last week he saw no need for a coalition, as ZANU-PF had a parliamentary majority.</p>
<p>And with Mnangagwa saying on Friday elections would go ahead next year as scheduled, the opposition would have little to gain from participating in a coalition just eight months before the vote, Professor Anthony Hawkins, a business studies professor, said.</p>
<p>“If I were an opposition politician I would say: what’s in it for me? Unless I’m convinced I’m going to lose the election, I won’t participate,” Hawkins told Reuters.</p>
<p>“He (Mnangagwa) might introduce technocrats from commerce and that will send out a signal of sorts… As far as the international community is concerned legitimacy is important. It’s a very delicate situation and he has very little room for maneuver.”</p>
<p>The Standard newspaper, which has been critical of Mugabe and his government over the years, said Mnangagwa would be judged on how he delivers on the bold commitments he made at his inauguration. It said he must “walk the talk on graft” that has exacerbated the country’s economic decline.</p>
<p>Mugabe’s fall after 37 years in power was spurred by a battle to succeed him that pitted Mnangagwa, his former deputy who had stood by him for 52 years, and Mugabe’s wife, Grace, 52, who has been at the couple’s “Blue House” mansion in Harare and hasn’t been seen in public since.</p> | Zimbabwe cabinet pick to show if Mnangagwa is breaking with the past | false | https://newsline.com/zimbabwe-cabinet-pick-to-show-if-mnangagwa-is-breaking-with-the-past/ | 2017-11-27 | 1 |
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<p>Thanks to a $10,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant, a trinity of Chatter musicians have formed a core group to play together as well as anchor larger ensembles.</p>
<p>James Holland, David Felberg and Shanti Randall are the Chatter Trio.</p>
<p>Violinist David Felberg, violist Shanti Randall and cellist James Holland are the Chatter Trio and they’ve been rehearsing since September.</p>
<p>“We’ve always toyed with the idea of a residency,” Felberg said, “just to build some consistency. But we never quite got around to doing it.”</p>
<p>The grant supports expanded times of up to 12 rehearsals per piece, permitting the musicians to dig deep into the repertoire. Previously, the players rehearsed from three to four times per piece, Felberg said.</p>
<p>“When you walk up on stage after rehearsing 12 times, you feel really good,” he added. “We can really have a lot of fun. Rehearsals are tough to come by, because everybody’s got busy schedules.”</p>
<p>On Sunday, March 5, clarinetist James Shields will join the trio on the Penderecki Clarinet Quartet. Krzysztof Penderecki is considered Poland’s greatest living composer. “Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima” is his best-known work.</p>
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<p>“He writes in a polytonal style,” Felberg said. “In his later years, he’s become a little more classical.”</p>
<p>The program also will feature Leonard Bernstein’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano and Three Romances by Schumann.</p>
<p>On March 26, the group will premiere a commissioned piece by Italian composer Marta Gentilucci. The trio will perform with a flutist, percussionist and pianist.</p>
<p>“We’re each individually rehearsing our parts,” Felberg said. “One of the parts requires you to bow the strings (of the piano) with fishing wire. It’s incredibly beautiful. She creates an amazing tapestry; something like sound sculpture. It should be a very interesting program.”</p>
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<p /> | Concert features Chatter Trio | false | https://abqjournal.com/956922/concert-features-chatter-trio.html | 2 |
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<p>DETROIT (AP) — Travis Konecny gracefully got his skates to the blue line, carried the puck into the middle of the right circle and sent a wrist shot to the back of the net.</p>
<p>Konecny's goal 27 seconds into overtime lifting the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.</p>
<p>"It was 100-percent onside," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "Konecny made a heck of a play to stay onside and the linesman made a heck of a call."</p>
<p>The goal stood up after a video review, which determined Konecny was not offside when he got the puck near the blue line after Dylan Larkin lost it along the boards.</p>
<p>"I was pretty sure it was a good goal," Konecny said. "When I saw the replay, my skates hit the blue line before the puck hit my stick. I didn't think they had enough to overturn it.</p>
<p>Jakub Voracek scored a tiebreaking goal in the last minute of the second period and assisted on Andrew MacDonald's goal late in the first for the Flyers. Philadelphia's Brian Elliott stopped 19 shots.</p>
<p>The Flyers have won four straight, for the second time this month, and 16 of their last 22 games to surge into the playoff race.</p>
<p>"We've just got great chemistry in that group, and I think we all bring something else to the ice," Flyers center Sean Couturier said.</p>
<p>Detroit has lost five of seven, pushing the franchise closer to missing out on the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since a five-year drought from 1979 to 1983.</p>
<p>Blashill said the team's sense of urgency will lead to a tough decision in net, choosing to start Petr Mrazek or Jimmy Howard.</p>
<p>"We're in playoff hockey," Blashill said. "We have to win games and we have to make games on a game-by-game decision."</p>
<p>The offensively challenged Red Wings were fortunate to score midway through the first when Jonathan Ericsson flipped the puck toward the net from just inside the blue line and it appeared to be redirected by Philadelphia defenseman Brandon Manning.</p>
<p>Mrazek made 28 saves, coming off consecutive shutouts. Mrazek made some strong saves early in the game before the Flyers put a lot of pressure on him with pucks from all directions.</p>
<p>After it took about 5 minutes for either team to get a shot on net, the Flyers dominated. They looked like they were on a power play in some even-strength situations and generated more offense when short-handed than Detroit did.</p>
<p>"The second period, they were all over us and we couldn't get it out of the zone," Mrazek said.</p>
<p>Philadelphia controlled the puck and prevented Detroit from shooting much, but didn't lead until Voracek scored with 36.4 seconds left in the second.</p>
<p>After Nielsen tied the game, the Red Wings suddenly played aggressively on offense and created chances that forced Elliott to make saves to extend the game.</p>
<p>"We had a really sluggish start, but we were really good in the second period," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "It was night and day. They really pushed us back at the end, especially with their speed, but we found a way to get two points."</p>
<p>NOTES: Voracek leads the NHL with 46 assists. ... Detroit's Luke Glendenning returned from a 12-game absence for an upper-body injury and assisted on both of Detroit's goals. ... Philadelphia scratched F Taylor Leier, F Dale Weise and D Mark Alt. ... The Red Wings scratched F Justin Abdelkader and D Trevor Daley.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Flyers: Host Tampa Bay on Thursday night.</p>
<p>Red Wings: Host Chicago on Thursday night.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP NHL: <a href="" type="internal">www.apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Larry Lage at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/larrylage" type="external">www.twitter.com/larrylage</a></p>
<p>DETROIT (AP) — Travis Konecny gracefully got his skates to the blue line, carried the puck into the middle of the right circle and sent a wrist shot to the back of the net.</p>
<p>Konecny's goal 27 seconds into overtime lifting the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.</p>
<p>"It was 100-percent onside," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "Konecny made a heck of a play to stay onside and the linesman made a heck of a call."</p>
<p>The goal stood up after a video review, which determined Konecny was not offside when he got the puck near the blue line after Dylan Larkin lost it along the boards.</p>
<p>"I was pretty sure it was a good goal," Konecny said. "When I saw the replay, my skates hit the blue line before the puck hit my stick. I didn't think they had enough to overturn it.</p>
<p>Jakub Voracek scored a tiebreaking goal in the last minute of the second period and assisted on Andrew MacDonald's goal late in the first for the Flyers. Philadelphia's Brian Elliott stopped 19 shots.</p>
<p>The Flyers have won four straight, for the second time this month, and 16 of their last 22 games to surge into the playoff race.</p>
<p>"We've just got great chemistry in that group, and I think we all bring something else to the ice," Flyers center Sean Couturier said.</p>
<p>Detroit has lost five of seven, pushing the franchise closer to missing out on the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since a five-year drought from 1979 to 1983.</p>
<p>Blashill said the team's sense of urgency will lead to a tough decision in net, choosing to start Petr Mrazek or Jimmy Howard.</p>
<p>"We're in playoff hockey," Blashill said. "We have to win games and we have to make games on a game-by-game decision."</p>
<p>The offensively challenged Red Wings were fortunate to score midway through the first when Jonathan Ericsson flipped the puck toward the net from just inside the blue line and it appeared to be redirected by Philadelphia defenseman Brandon Manning.</p>
<p>Mrazek made 28 saves, coming off consecutive shutouts. Mrazek made some strong saves early in the game before the Flyers put a lot of pressure on him with pucks from all directions.</p>
<p>After it took about 5 minutes for either team to get a shot on net, the Flyers dominated. They looked like they were on a power play in some even-strength situations and generated more offense when short-handed than Detroit did.</p>
<p>"The second period, they were all over us and we couldn't get it out of the zone," Mrazek said.</p>
<p>Philadelphia controlled the puck and prevented Detroit from shooting much, but didn't lead until Voracek scored with 36.4 seconds left in the second.</p>
<p>After Nielsen tied the game, the Red Wings suddenly played aggressively on offense and created chances that forced Elliott to make saves to extend the game.</p>
<p>"We had a really sluggish start, but we were really good in the second period," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "It was night and day. They really pushed us back at the end, especially with their speed, but we found a way to get two points."</p>
<p>NOTES: Voracek leads the NHL with 46 assists. ... Detroit's Luke Glendenning returned from a 12-game absence for an upper-body injury and assisted on both of Detroit's goals. ... Philadelphia scratched F Taylor Leier, F Dale Weise and D Mark Alt. ... The Red Wings scratched F Justin Abdelkader and D Trevor Daley.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Flyers: Host Tampa Bay on Thursday night.</p>
<p>Red Wings: Host Chicago on Thursday night.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP NHL: <a href="" type="internal">www.apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Larry Lage at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/larrylage" type="external">www.twitter.com/larrylage</a></p> | Konecny scores in OT, lifts Flyers to 3-2 win over Red Wings | false | https://apnews.com/amp/d9c8673d7f7c4bd792515e457281f992 | 2018-01-24 | 2 |
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<p>UNM coach Craig Neal ended several minutes of praise for his Australian star only when it sounded as though he was about to break down.</p>
<p>And when the fourth-year starting guard started talking about, and then to, his mother Andree, who is battling breast cancer and is the motivation for the Australian’s philanthropic Pink Pack endeavor, there weren’t many dry eyes left in the place.</p>
<p>“I love you, mom,” Greenwood said. “And you’re going to be around for a long, long time.”</p>
<p>After what seemed like hundreds of hugs, autographs and pictures, Greenwood finally made his way up the Pit ramp. He sat, alone, for a few moments outside the media room with his head in his hands, clearly overcome by the moment.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>READ MORE: <a href="" type="internal">Greenwood, Delaney named to All-Mountain West teams</a></p>
<p>He gathered himself before talking with reporters about just how emotional the night was and how special it was to play his final home game against Wyoming. He has formed a close bond with the Cowboys, built on mutual respect for coach Larry Shyatt and senior stars Larry Nance Jr. and Riley Grabau.</p>
<p>Wyoming also was the team that UNM lost to in January at the end of an emotional week that included Twitter taunts about Andree Greenwood’s cancer before a win over UNLV. Three days later, two late-game mishaps from Greenwood cost the Lobos the game against the Cowboys.</p>
<p>“That was a shock in Laramie,” Greenwood said. “I haven’t really spoken about it since. It’s something that haunted me for a while now. In the back of my mind it has, unfortunately. I wouldn’t say that’s the reason for the (Lobos’ eight-game losing) streak, but if you were to go back and if we were to win that game, the position we would have been in, it would have been a different story for sure.”</p>
<p>Had the Lobos won in Laramie, they could have been in a tie for first place in the Mountain West standings at the midway point of the conference schedule.</p>
<p>“But you can’t go back,” Greenwood said. “We got a win (Saturday), and that’s all that matters. We put ourselves in a position to move forward with the conference tournament. It is fitting that we got a win tonight against Wyoming.”</p>
<p>DELANEY: UNM senior Deshawn Delaney hurt his hand at the team’s open practice on Thursday afternoon. After it was looked at for some time by the team’s trainer and taped up, he returned to the practice with his teammates.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>It wasn’t until it was examined further after practice that the extent of the injury was discovered.</p>
<p>Neal said it was a clean break “straight through” of the fourth metacarpal bone on Delaney’s right hand after hitting a teammate’s elbow. Greenwood said he and the team knew since Thursday night Delaney was done for the year, and it was no secret to the Cowboys, either.</p>
<p>UNM approached Shyatt about doing something special for Delaney at the beginning of the game.</p>
<p>“We first were going to allow him to make a layup, which I had no problem with because I’m an advocate for the student-athlete,” Shyatt told Wyoming media after the game. “… The referees refused to do that, so we wanted to at least give them the jump ball so we could recognize a pretty doggone good senior.”</p>
<p>Delaney got the start in his final college game, and Wyoming did not contest the opening tip. It was tapped over to Delaney, who caught the ball with his left hand. A timeout was called to pull him from the game, leading to a long embrace on the side of the court with a sobbing Neal. ( <a href="https://twitter.com/GeoffGrammer/status/574377103556128769" type="external">see video here</a>)</p>
<p>The UNM coach said late Saturday the injury requires a six- to eight-week recovery period. Neal said a professional playing career overseas is anticipated next season for Delaney, who is expected to earn his liberal arts degree in May.</p>
<p>SHY AINT SHY: UNM and Wyoming were each whistled for 18 fouls on Saturday. The Cowboys shot 19 free throws, UNM 18. But, not unlike most games, there was much debate about who the game’s officials were helping/hurting the most.</p>
<p>The Pit crowd cast its vote loudly throughout the game with a cascade of frequent boos. Shyatt, meanwhile, had his opinion, too.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to get fined,” Shyatt said in a postgame interview with Wyoming media, “but I’ve got to tell you, I think Larry Nance was fed the ball over 25 times, and I would have enjoyed watching him shoot more than 6-for-6 at the foul line.”</p>
<p>LOBO LINKS: <a href="" type="internal">Geoff Grammer’s blog</a> | <a href="" type="internal">Schedule/Results</a> | <a href="" type="internal">Roster</a></p>
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<p /> | Emotions run high in the Pit | false | https://abqjournal.com/551939/emotions-run-high-in-the-pit-for-greenwood.html | 2015-03-08 | 2 |
<p>If Congress passes the $940 billion healthcare bill, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects a $138 billion savings over ten years. While this sounds impressive in deficit reduction terms, in reality, it represents an infinitesimal percentage of the federal budget. Consider this. The Obama administration just presented a record <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/us/politics/02budget.html" type="external">$3.8 trillion</a> budget deficit, and the same nonpartisan CBO projects nearly <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/05/news/economy/cbo_obama_budget/" type="external">$10 trillion of additional debt</a> over the next ten years. You get the picture. $138 billion isn’t even a blip on the radar screen.</p>
<p>In addition, here’s another factor to consider. Government budget projections are notoriously inaccurate. Remember the Iraq War? It was supposed to cost <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/washington/19cost.html?_r=1" type="external">$60 billion</a>. Seven years later, we’re at $750 billion and counting. How about the Afghanistan War? Probably no one would have told you in 2001 that it would have cost $250 billion at this juncture, either. Or, what about the <a href="http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/issuebriefs_ib154/" type="external">budget surpluses</a> the CBO projected all throughout the Bush years as a result of the balanced budgets of the late ’90s? Those quickly turned into big deficits.</p>
<p>Perhaps more pertinent, what about government projections for <a href="https://reason.com/archives/2003/11/28/medicare-fraud" type="external">Medicare</a> and <a href="http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2009/11/07/obamacare_will_balloon_future_budget_deficits_97494.html" type="external">Medicaid</a> back in the day? By 1990, Medicare was projected to cost about $12 billion annually. In 1990, it hit $107 billion. Medicaid was originally projected to cost about $1 billion a year, but now, it costs about $250 billion a year.</p>
<p>As a result, based on historical precedent, the $940 billion healthcare bill would likely end up costing much more than expected.</p> | History shows healthcare bill will probably cost more than expected | false | https://ivn.us/2010/03/20/history-shows-healthcare-bill-will-probably-cost-more-expected/ | 2010-03-20 | 2 |
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<p>Stocks are edging lower in the U.S. and elsewhere as investors close their positions ahead of the New Year and consider the possibility of political turmoil in Greece.</p>
<p>The Dow Jones industrial average fell 51 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,985 as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday.</p>
<p>The Standard &amp; Poor’s 500 index lost five points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,085 and the Nasdaq composite was down 16 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,790.</p>
<p>European markets fell. Greece’s main index was down slightly.</p>
<p>Benchmark U.S. crude oil edged down 12 cents to $53.47 a barrel in New York. Oil has fallen about 50 percent since June.</p>
<p>Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.18 percent.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Global markets edge lower as New Year break nears | false | https://abqjournal.com/519045/global-markets-edge-lower-as-new-year-break-nears.html | 2014-12-30 | 2 |
<p>Handle with care.&lt;a href=http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml'searchterm=bird+flu&amp;search_group=&amp;lang=en&amp;search_source=search_form#id=73005496"&gt;mathom&lt;/a&gt;/Shutterstock</p>
<p />
<p>Five simple mutations in two genes were all it took for Ron Fouchier’s team at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam to develop a version of the H5N1 virus, commonly known as bird flu, that was airborne transmissible in mammals. In the wild, such a transformation requires&#160; <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57483411-10391704/bird-flu-blamed-for-deaths-of-new-england-seals-can-h3n8-strain-spread-to-humans/" type="external">more like 40 mutations</a>, which would take years, numerous generations, and plenty of random chance.</p>
<p>In a controversial experiment, Fouchier’s research team exposed ten generations of lab ferrets (many of which were euthanized after only a week) to a genetically modified strain of H5N1 that researchers had isolated from an infected human in Indonesia during the 2005 outbreak. (Ferrets have been used as human substitutes in flu research since 1933.) The goal of the experiment, their report states, was to investigate “whether A/H5N1 can aquire mutations that would increase the risk of mamalian transmission.” The conclusion was an overwhelming yes—and around the world, the public reacted to the news by demanding an end to the research.</p>
<p>In January, 39 of the world’s leading flu scientists <a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/01/in-dramatic-move-flu-researchers.html" type="external">announced a voluntary moratorium</a>on avian flu transmission research. “We realize that governments and organizations around the world need time to find the best solutions for opportunities and challenges that stem from this work,”&#160;the group said <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/data/hottopics/biosecurity/Fouchier.Express.pdf" type="external">in a statement</a>. The halt on research was supposed to last 60 days. Eight months later, it has yet to resume.</p>
<p>The “challenges”&#160;that stem from research like this are multifold. Initially, as Mother Jones senior editor <a href="" type="internal">Mike Mechanic reported</a>, the concern was that publishing papers like Fouchier’s (as well as <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/mutant-flu-paper-published-1.10551" type="external">a similar one by Yoshishiro Kawaoka</a> of the University of Wisconisn that made H5N1 transmissible in just four mutations) would give any genetic scientist with a taste for bioterrorism the recipe for a global pandemic. H5N1 is deadly: It has wiped out flocks of poultry across Europe and Asia since the first outbreak in 1997, and <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128314.600-five-easy-mutations-to-make-bird-flu-a-lethal-pandemic.html" type="external">New Science reports</a> that since 2004, 565 people who were in close proximity to infected birds have caught the virus—and 331 of them have died. The number of human casualities is relatively low because H5N1 was a virus that could only be contracted through contact with infected birds, and would not spread from human to human.</p>
<p>That is, until Fouchier and Kawaoka’s teams created strains that would.</p>
<p>That part of the discussion is a moot point now: Kawaoka’s paper was published in Nature in May, and Fouchier’s followed a month later in Science.</p>
<p>But last Monday, Dr.&#160;Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectuous Disease, urged a meeting of flu researchers in New York that scientists doing federally-funded experiments should continue the moratorium, <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/07/25/157130835/bird-flu-researchers-to-meet-about-research-moratorium?ps=sh_stcathdl" type="external">NPR&#160;reported</a>, at least until a discussion of the potential risks could be held in a public forum. Fauci also spent half an hour <a href="http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/jul3112fauci.html" type="external">explaining the need for a government policy</a> on “dual-use research of concern,” which basically means research whose results could be used either for good (developing vaccines) or evil&#160;(bioterrorism). Fouchier fired back that the original conditions for the moratorium had already been met—and that not all flu researchers who signed the moratorium were dependent on US funding.</p>
<p>While Fouchier and Kawaoka’s experiments were both funded by the US&#160;National&#160;Institute of Health, the US is the only government whose officials have advocated for a policy regulating scientific research.&#160;Whether or not countries in Europe and Asia, where bird flu outbreaks are most frequent, will push for similar regulations on government-funded research remains to be seen.</p>
<p>The primary concern at this point is that if the contagious genetically modified H5N1 strains escape from labs, we would have a pandemic on our hands that would look a lot like—or eclipse—the global swine flu (H1N1) pandemic of 2009 that <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304458604577488783196861476.html" type="external">killed over a quarter of a million</a> people. (And speaking of swine flu: the Center for Disease Control just <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/flu/spotlights/h3n2v_us_cases.htm" type="external">issued a warning yesterday</a> that a new strain of it was on the rise.)</p>
<p>Scientists are quick to point out that the H5N1 experiments were done in top-notch labratories with state-of-the-art security systems. It’s also worth noting that while Kawaoak and Fouchier’s ferrets became infected with bird flu via airborne transmission, none of them died, suggesting that the genetic modifications that made the virus airborne also softened its mortality rate.&#160;</p>
<p>H5N1 is by no means the only high-risk strain of bird flu—and some of the others aren’t isolated to labs. Two weeks ago, <a href="http://healthland.time.com/2012/07/31/a-bird-flu-spreads-in-seals-could-humans-be-next/" type="external">multiple</a> <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57483411-10391704/bird-flu-blamed-for-deaths-of-new-england-seals-can-h3n8-strain-spread-to-humans/" type="external">news sources</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/science/flu-that-leapt-from-birds-to-seals-is-studied-for-human-threat.html?_r=3&amp;smid=tw-nytimesscience&amp;seid=auto" type="external">reported</a> that the deaths of 162 seals found off the New England coast in 2011 were caused by a new strain of bird flu that a team at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-07/cums-aaf073012.php" type="external">identified as H3N8</a>.</p>
<p>Further investigation would open the door to vaccinations and other preventative measures, scientists hope. But safety concerns aren’t going away. “You will unquestionably lose the battle for public opinion on this one if you ignore these concerns. You can’t ignore them,” Fauci said, according to reporting by NPR. “The flu scientific community can no longer be the only players in the discussion of whether the experiments should be done.”</p>
<p /> | Will Bird Flu Research Cause a Bird Flu Outbreak? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/08/can-bird-flu-research-cause-bird-flu-outbreak/ | 2012-08-09 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Alan Teitzman died Jan. 1. (Photo by Tony Burns)</p>
<p>Dr. Alan B. Teitzman, who practiced general dentistry and orthodontics on Capitol Hill for more than three decades, died Jan. 1 at Sibley Memorial Hospital.</p>
<p>He was 62 and died after a brief illness, according to his partner of 40 years, Richard Fennell, with whom he lived in Washington. Burial was at Star of David Memorial Cemetery in North Lauderdale, Fla., on Jan. 6.</p>
<p>Teitzman received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida at Gainesville and was a graduate of the Howard University College of Dentistry in Washington.&#160;Beginning in 1986, he joined in practice with Dr. Robert Hood, with offices two blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Among their patients were members of Congress and the Supreme Court and numerous congressional staffers over the years.</p>
<p>Teitzman was born March 23, 1954, in New York City, and grew up in Hollywood, Fla. He was preceded in death by his parents, Michelle Galutin Teitzman and Philip Teitzman, and by a younger brother, Larry Teitzman.</p>
<p>In addition to husband Rich Fennell, he is survived by three cousins, Richard Nassau of New York City, and his wife Lori; Ian Nassau of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; and Steven Nassau of Lauderhill, Fla. Teitzman is also, according to Fennell, survived by “his beloved Westie,” MacDougal, also known as “Doogie.”</p>
<p>Teitzman was an avid runner and enjoyed travel, dogs, vacationing at Rehoboth Beach, volleyball and movies.</p>
<p>Commemorative gifts can be made to the Washington Humane Society and Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary. Plans are being made for a memorial service in Washington, at a date to be determined.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Alan Teitzman</a> <a href="" type="internal">Capitol Hill</a> <a href="" type="internal">Howard University College of Dentistry</a> <a href="" type="internal">Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary</a> <a href="" type="internal">Rich Fennell</a> <a href="" type="internal">Richard Fennell</a> <a href="" type="internal">Robert Hood</a> <a href="" type="internal">Sibley Memorial Hospital</a> <a href="" type="internal">Star of David Memorial Cemetery</a> <a href="" type="internal">University of Florida</a> <a href="" type="internal">Washington Humane Society</a></p> | Alan Teitzman dies at 62 | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2017/01/19/alan-teitzman-dies-62/ | 3 |
|
<p>From the LA Times:</p>
<p>For a governor who has hardly done any buck-raking in his first year in office, Gov.&#160; <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Jerry+Brown/" type="external">Jerry Brown</a>‘s trip last month to&#160; <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Orange+County/" type="external">Orange County</a>&#160;may have resulted in one of his best single-day hauls in months.</p>
<p>Which doesn’t mean it amounted to much.</p>
<p>Brown today reported raising $30,000 from three labor groups, a law firm and a lawyer in the area.</p>
<p><a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Jennifer+Muir/" type="external">Jennifer Muir</a>&#160;of the&#160; <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Orange+County+Employees+Association/" type="external">Orange County Employees Association,</a>&#160;which contributed $10,000, said her group organized a reception for the Democratic governor on Oct. 11, the day he spoke at a&#160; <a href="http://topics.sacbee.com/Democratic+Party/" type="external">Democratic Party</a>&#160;of Orange County event.</p>
<p><a href="http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/11/jerry-brown-reports-raising-money-in-orange-county.html" type="external">(Read Full Article)</a></p> | Jerry Brown raises money in Orange County | false | http://capoliticalreview.com/trending/jerry-brown-raises-money-in-orange-county/ | 2011-11-11 | 1 |
<p>Today is Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar. In Israel, the �day of atonement� means that much of the country simply stops. Stores are closed, there's no school, no newspapers and no Israeli television. And much less traffic. In and around Tel Aviv, the holiday has turned into a festival of bicycles for children. The World's Matthew Bell will have our story.</p> | Yom Kippur: Kids and bikes in Tel Aviv | false | https://pri.org/stories/2009-09-28/yom-kippur-kids-and-bikes-tel-aviv | 2009-09-28 | 3 |
<p>Gerald Epstein is codirector of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and Professor of Economics. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University. He has published widely on a variety of progressive economic policy issues, especially in the areas of central banking and international finance, and is the editor or co-editor of six volumes.</p>
<p>Jeff Faux is the Founder and now Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC. He is an activist, economist and writer, He has written extensively on issues from globalization to neighborhood development. His latest book is “The Servant Economy; Where America¹s Elite is Sending the Middle Class.”</p>
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<p /> PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome back to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay in Baltimore.
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<p />Now joining us for the final segment of our coverage of the U.S. presidential elections, starting first of all, is Jeff Faux; Jeff is joining us. He's the founder and distinguished fellow at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. He's joining us from Washington. He's an economist and a writer. His latest book is The Servant Economy: Where America's Elite Is Sending the Middle Class.
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<p />And also joining us is Gerald Epstein. He's the codirector of the Political Economy Research Institute, the PERI institute. He joins us from Amherst, Massachusetts, where he also teaches economics.
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<p />And in the studio with us is Lester Spence, who teaches political science at Johns Hopkins University here in Baltimore, and Marc Steiner of the acclaimed Marc Steiner radio show in Baltimore.
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<p />Thank you all for joining us.
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<p />Jeff, kick us off. Where do you think—what do you think America will look like in four years?
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<p />JEFF FAUX, AUTHOR: Well, first, I think that, you know, one of the realities of this election was that it wasn't so much an Obama victory as it was a Romney and Republican defeat.
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<p />Given the economy, Romney should have won, the Republicans should have won this election. And they didn't because they have—in the past they've gone just too far to the right for the people to stomach.
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<p />So here we are with Barack Obama reelected with an economy that still sucks, with no plans for a real job recovery, and, I think, with a White House that's going to feel that the last four years have been vindicated by this election. I saw Rahm Emanuel, Mr.&#160;Wall Street Democrat, on the tube about 15 minutes ago, and, you know, I think these guys at the White House are going to say, all you people carping on the left and all this progressive discontent with Obama, see, we won the election.
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<p />And it's hard for me to see that despite the populist, you know, campaign-stop rhetoric, that there's going to be any real change in the way Barack Obama is going to go and operate the presidency. Certainly, the people around him are going to be either the same people who were there for the last four years or they'll be people who come from that same pool of Wall Street apparatchiks who have been running the economy. So I think while we dodged the bullet of a really reactionary group of people in the White House, we're still left with a Democrat much too influenced by Wall Street, much too intimidated by reactionary ideology of the Congress, and, by his own words, an agenda that is not going to get us out of the problems of the American middle class.
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<p />His big priority is, one, to make a deal with the [Republicans] in Congress on a ten-year budget. Now, the difference between Romney and Obama is that Barack Obama wants the rich to contribute a little to this. He wants to raise tax or at least stop the—end the Bush tax cuts for the rich, and Romney didn't. So you're going to have a grand bargain, which I think all the evidence tells us is going to mean domestic cutbacks over the next ten years, which almost guarantees that we're not going to get back to full employment over the next four.
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<p />JAY: Right. Well, I was going to ask Gerry, I mean, if there's this grand bargain on Social Security and some of the entitlement programs, and apparently President Obama told one of the newspaper editorial boards that for every $1 of tax increases on the rich, he's going to have $2 of tax cuts on social spending—.
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<p />FAUX: Two and a half dollars.
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<p />JAY: Two and a half dollars. So you combine, essentially, austerity policies with, again, nothing that's going to do anything about wage levels, which continue to be stagnant. So, Gerry, what America do we look like in four years? I mean, doesn't this recession get deeper?
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<p />GERRY EPSTEIN, CODIRECTOR, PERI: It does. It gets much worse. And inequality gets worse. And the likelihood is that the Republicans would take a big victory, even larger victory in the midterms.
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<p />So I think the key thing here—I agree with everything that Jeff said—all that's going to happen is those who mobilized to help Obama get elected this time don't do anything about it. Those of us who have mobilized and those people who are on the left and the labor unions and everybody else has to start treating Obama differently than they did after the first election [incompr.] completely switch and not think of Obama as our ally. We have to now think of Obama and the Democrats as people that we have got to use this mobilization to push, every minute of every day, to move towards the kinds of policies that we need to get this economy going again. So we completely have to switch gears on a dime, starting tomorrow.
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<p />FAUX: Yeah, I think that's absolutely right. You know, the history is over the last decades—it was true with Bill Clinton—that as the campaign gets going, the progressives have to move to support the Democratic candidate and they mutter to themselves, this time it's going to be different, we're going to hold his feet to the fire, etc. But what happens after the euphoria of the election sort of dies off is there's a sense of, well, let's give him another chance, let's wait and see. But by the time you wait and see, the next election is on you and you start the cycle over again.
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<p />I think Gerry's absolutely [right]: this has got to change tomorrow. And tomorrow, progressive Democrats, including members of the House of Representatives and Senate, senators who share our views, they need an agenda that's going to draw some lines in the sand with Barack Obama.
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<p />JAY: So what are some litmus-test issues where those lines should be drawn in the sand? I mean, there was supposed to be a line in the sand drawn by the Progressive Caucus on the public option on health care, and it wasn't very long before the winds blew that line out of the sand.
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<p />FAUX: Well, that's why Gerry's point is important about doing it right away. The fight has got to start now. It can't wait. By the time, you know, the new year rolls around, then there's going to be the big story of the struggle between Obama and the Republicans in the House over this grand bargain. And they're going to have some kind of deal, believe me. Wall Street's not going to put up with—.
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<p />JAY: And, Jeff, how long before we're back into the debt ceiling fight again?
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<p />FAUX: Well, you know, all of those things, if that's what drives the politics of the next year, that is, the Republican intransigence and the Democratic administration's effort to appease them, then we're back in the same soup. And the problem here is that, you know, these last four years have been tough. The next four years, the pain is going to accumulate.
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<p />And I don't share the Democratic optimism that says, oh, listen, in the long run, we're going to be the dominant party because we appeal to the faster-growing population groups. You know, you look at minorities, you look at single women, you look at these groups and they are exactly the people who are getting it in the neck.
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<p />And I don't think that this sort of euphoria can last. So we need to start right away. And the first demand is for more public spending in order to put people to work. I do not believe that the public cannot understand that. What happened with Obama is that he didn't make the case. And I think the progressive Democrats have to be all over this guy tomorrow morning and say, you've got to get out there now and we've got to spend some money on things that make the economy more productive, that provides for people's jobs, provides for careers. You know, this is not impossible to do. It's only impossible that if you get up in the morning and you say, well, the Republicans are still in control of the House, I guess we can't do very much and we have to lower our horizons.
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<p />JAY: Marc?
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<p />EPSTEIN: The second thing that we have to do is to—.
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<p />JAY: Sorry. Gerry hang on just—. Yeah, go ahead Gerry. Go on, Gerry.
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<p />EPSTEIN: The second thing we have to do is draw a very clear line in the sand about Social Security. They cannot touch Social Security.
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<p />And the third thing is to demand that some of the top appointments on the economic team who are really progressive, progressives, progressive economists in the Treasury Department and in the Budget Office, in the capital's economic advisers, we have to start pushing for that immediately. We cannot any longer have a Wall Street team, [incompr.] people like Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, and so forth. Otherwise, there's simply not going to be any change. And the way to do this is to go to the House Democrats and the Senate Democrats and say, look, if you allow an Obama team to do this again for the next four years, you all are going to be out on your tails. And they understand that; they understand that they were lucky this time, they dodged a bullet. And we have to work with that.
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<p />JAY: Marc?
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<p />MARC STEINER, RADIO HOST, WEAA 88.9 FM: Well, I mean, I don't think you're going to see President Barack Obama change his team.
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<p />The question whether the Progressive Caucus steps up is a real question. Conversations I've had with them is just about that. I mean, are you going to step up to the plate? Are you going to take on the president? Are you going to start doing beyond Congress? The progressives [incompr.] progressives need to do is to begin to organize around the country, use their power to do that.
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<p />The problem is that a lot of people in the Progressive Caucus, a lot of people, members of that caucus, come from poor districts, working class districts. They don't have the money. They rely on corporate money a lot to get what has to get done. So they're all stymied as well. And so we'll see if they'll step up to the plate or they won't.
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<p />I don't think President Barack Obama's necessarily going to change his stripes now. And we'll see, as I said.
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<p />I just got a text that, you know, they're separated by 200,000 votes at this moment, Romney and Obama.
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<p />JAY: In the popular vote.
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<p />STEINER: In the popular vote, and that Florida and Virginia are still yet to be called, but Obama's leading in both places. So Barack Obama could yet and still pull out the popular vote. If he does, that changes the scenario for the next four years. But it's going to be very tight.
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<p />I think Jeff is correct. I mean, I think you—people have to stand up and start fighting tomorrow morning for the America they want. They can't let Social Security go. They've got to begin to fight for investment in American infrastructure, fighting for jobs. That's got to be the push, and it's got to be loud and clear. And the question is whether it'll be done.
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<p />We'll have to—you know, what role the Progressive Caucus is going to play we'll see. They've got a couple of new members now. Tammy Baldwin won. Elizabeth Warren won. See if that gives them some more impetus. We'll find out. It's really hard to call right now.
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<p />But the question is whether or not progressives can be organized enough to do the job. And I think that is the big question.
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<p />LESTER SPENCE, CONTRIBUTOR, WE ARE MANY: Yeah. I don't know what accountability for the president looks like on the ground after he gets in office, so the mechanism they're posing is us going through individual legislators, and yes, we need that. I would rather have a world where we had that.
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<p />But the reason I focus on what's going on in cities in particular is because we can get a hold of cities, you know, we can get a hold of representatives in them. We can use cities as symbolic levers to make change that will then in turn shape the presidential agenda and the legislator agenda. So for your viewers this may seem like, you know, apples or oranges, but for me it's about, you know, where do we—where can we make the most immediate bang for our buck, and I think for me the struggle's about the city.
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<p />JAY: Jeff, should people who want this kind of change you're talking about, you know, growth in terms of public sector investment, some kind of legislative framework that helps unions get organized and wages to go up and such, I mean, isn't it time just to come to the conclusion that this is not going to come from this political elite, period?
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<p />FAUX: I think that's right, and I don't think it will. I think that progressives—the first thing—you know, James Baldwin once said, not everything that's faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed if it's not faced. And I think we have to face just that. Obama is not going to change. He's not going to deliver. And he's still president, of course. So we do need to organize. I think we need to organize in a number of ways, including not just, you know, mass demonstrations, but including, in the Congress, pushing for the hard votes that the administration has been able to duck before,—
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<p />JAY: But the only way you could really—.
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<p />FAUX: —something like single-payer and public option. I think the health care thing is a—well, I think Obamacare was clearly a victory for the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies. But I also think what's very, very important is to start grooming candidates for the next congressional election, start scaring people. We've got the ability, the way the Tea Party scared the Republicans, we've got the ability to do something that's—would be a disaster for them, and that is to take away, you know, their congressional position.
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<p />JAY: I mean, if you're going to push them, you can't lobby them. You've got to defeat them, or they have to be scared about losing their job. If they're not scared of losing their job, you know, the administration has a lot more leverage over them than anybody else does. Marc?
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<p />STEINER: I mean, the reality is, I think, one of the things that—as I was looking at some of these results, is I see the referendum on the local level, what's happening. That's where the future lives. It may not be immediately in changing Congress, 'cause I don't think we will. The power's going to be local and moving up from the bottom up now. And that can change things in the long run, maybe in the short term a little bit.
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<p />JAY: Do we know where some of these other—.
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<p />STEINER: Let's take Maryland right now, where we're talking from. The DREAM Act won.
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<p />JAY: Maryland DREAM Act.
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<p />STEINER: Right. Fifty—Latinos voted for Obama 52 percentages more, points more than they did for Romney. The future lies in that. That's where the change is going to come.
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<p />I think, you know, that the fight has to be in Congress, 'cause that's in the headlines, but I don't believe you're going to change Congress in this nation. You're not going to—I don't think you're going to get most of the Progressive Caucus to stand up and fight the way they should. I just don't think they will. I think they had to be pushed from the bottom up. And that doesn't mean mass demonstrations, I agree, 'cause I think the problem is people are tired of mass demonstrations.
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<p />SPENCE: [incompr.]
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<p />STEINER: It's time to be in the communities and doing the hard work that has to be done. The fact that referendums that won around the country are calling for greater democracy, that's what people want, and that's where the fight's going to live. I think that the fight on Capitol Hill has to be waged, but I don't think that's where the front lines are going to be. It's just not.
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<p />JAY: Okay. Lester?
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<p />SPENCE: That's it. That's really it. And if you think about it—and I've been talking about cities, but going back to something Nader brought up in a earlier session, there are a number of issues. The drug war's starting to hit these rural areas, hit by the meth crisis, just like a number of cities, a number of, quote-unquote, inner city neighborhoods used to be hit by the crack crisis.
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<p />So there are a number of ways in local spaces, a number of things that we agree on. It's just about pushing.
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<p />And the referendum is labor-intensive and is difficult, but it's straightforward. Referendum is an easy way to get people to declare what their interests are. And if you do that, in a way, it's not going to matter who's in office, 'cause who's in office is going to have to support it. That's the reason Social Security is still in place, because even as conservative elites want to push on it, the Republican candidates, they can't move on it. They know they'll get no traction at all. That's the thing we have to do. That's the thing that we do.
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<p />JAY: Jeff, you want a final word?
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<p />FAUX: Well, as I said the last time I was on your show, I think if Obama wins, we've got four years just like we had the last four years. Again, we dodged a bullet, but if the euphoria tonight among progressive Democrats continues for more than 24 hours, I think we've already lost the game.
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<p />JAY: And, Gerry, one final question to you. So, assuming the next four years is like the last four years or the grand bargain is made, where is the economy in four years? Like, where is unemployment?
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<p />EPSTEIN: Well, I think the economy is stagnating. We've seen that. Unemployment rate is not going down quickly if at all. In Europe, we know that they haven't solved their problems over there. And we know that we're not dealing with the fundamental issues like global warming, which—we'll continue to have these costly weather events around the country. That's why we have to stay in the game about national and global economic policies. But rather than thinking of it as lobbying the Obama administration (I agree that that would be a mistake we made last time, and we're not going to make it again), we have to be organizing and demanding these kinds of changes that Jeff and others have talked about.
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<p />JAY: Alright. Well, thank you all for joining us.
<p />
<p />And thank you for joining us. (I'm waiting for the camera to come back. Here I am.) And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network. And what happened? Two billion dollars later, we have chosen which section of the elite we want to rule us for the next four years, and it's the same one we had before. So this, I guess, is just a continuation of what we've been talking about.
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<p />Over the next four years, we at The Real News, we're going to be doing something new. We're going to be digging in in Baltimore, and we're going to take up some of what's been said here tonight about taking on some local issues, and then connecting those to national and global perspective and seeing if something can't move here. And we hope you will join us in that endeavor.
<p />
<p />And sometime in the next few months, we'll be broadcasting from our new studio in Baltimore. And if you're coming by this way, let us know. Come for a visit.
<p />
<p />So thanks to everyone who participated tonight. And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
<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. | Obama Wins, Economy is Paralyzed | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D31%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D9087 | 2012-11-07 | 4 |
<p>Marcy Wheeler is a national security reporter and author. Her website is Empty Wheel.</p>
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<p /> JAISAL NOOR, PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jaisal Noor in Baltimore.
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<p />For the first time since 9/11, Americans can make phone calls without the National Security Agency tracking who they've called and for how long. That's because on Sunday night three key provisions within the Patriot Act expired after Senate leaders were unable to reauthorize or extend them. But an alternative bill that reinstates some elements within the expiring provisions is being debated in Congress. It's called the USA Freedom Act. On Sunday evening Senator Rand Paul voiced his opposition to legislation he says would continue the tradition of mass surveillance. This is what he said.
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<p />SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): It is, I think, maybe a minor success that we're going to prevent the government from collecting these records. But realize that the interpretation of this will still occur in secret in the FISA court, and that this is the FISA court that said that collecting everyone's records was relevant.
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<p />NOOR: This is the same program a federal court found illegal last month in a case filed by the ACLU. Well, now joining us to talk about this and more from Grand Rapids, Michigan, is Marcy Wheeler. She's an investigative reporter covering national security and civil liberties at EmptyWheel.net and other outlets.
<p />
<p />Thank you so much for joining us again, Marcy.
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<p />MARCY WHEELER, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Thanks for having me.
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<p />NOOR: So Marcy, the President, other top officials, say these expiring provisions, they endanger the lives of Americans. What's your response, and is the USA Freedom Act the compromise Americans have been looking for?
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<p />WHEELER: Well first of all, there's still a lot of surveillance going on. For example, you said that Americans can make phone calls without the NSA collecting it. That's only true if they're making calls domestically. If they're calling overseas, the NSA is still getting all of those. The NSA is still collecting internet data that includes Americans' data and tracking that overseas. The NSA can still access the content of Americans' calls if they get picked up in conversations with foreign targets.
<p />
<p />So there's still a great deal of surveillance that sucks up Americans. And importantly, a lot of what expired last night doesn't really expire. The phone dragnet does because the order for it also expired last night. But the majority of Section 215 orders are actually for internet content, and those deadlines probably didn't come up last night, they'll be grandfathered in. So that's fine, we'll continue to go on. The roving wiretaps. Anybody who's on a roving wiretap right now on a FISA order, that's going to continue to go on. So in point of fact, most of what quote-unquote expired last night continues today. It's just the phone dragnet that got shut down.
<p />
<p />As to your question of whether USA Freedom Act really fixes all of this. USA Freedom Act does get the government out of holding all of our phone records, which is an important improvement. But it's not clear how well limits on bulk collection in the bill will really work. I happen to think that the language was far too full of loopholes, and so the government could continue to do dragnets of non-communication records. The government could get very bulky collections. Reasonable people disagree on that. But a lot of spying would still, a lot of very bulky spying would still go on under USA Freedom Act.
<p />
<p />There are other reforms in the bill. But again, those are pretty weak. They're pretty easy for the executive branch to undercut them.
<p />
<p />NOOR: So are we seeing this system of surveillance perpetuating itself under a different name?
<p />
<p />WHEELER: Well, that's what always happens. I mean, the intelligence community keeps finding new shells to move things under. As it is this bill, the USA Freedom Act, it would get the government out of holding everyone's phone records, but it would probably include far more records in the universe that they would pull in. So you'd actually have more innocent Americans sucked in to the NSA maw, although there would be more--who would be subject to all of NSA's analysis than you do now. But the [tool] would also actually be more effective against terrorists. So that's one of the tradeoffs in the bill that people should be aware of.
<p />
<p />NOOR: And so can you talk about the possible ramifications with the court deal that we had you on talking about last month? I'm sorry, the court ruling that found this spying illegal last month. But it did not end it.
<p />
<p />WHEELER: It didn't end it because they said, well, Congress is about to end it. And I raised the question today, if the--what's happening now is the Senate is debating some amendments. These are amendments offered exclusively by surveillance hawks. Richard Burr, the Intelligence Committee chair. And one of them, for example, would extend the transition period to a full year to get on to the new phone dragnet program.
<p />
<p />ACLU is still a litigant. They are still a litigant in a suit where a circuit court has said the dragnet is illegal. And at the very least, I think they'd be able to go back and say, you got to take our records out of this dragnet if you're going to continue it for another year.
<p />
<p />And I also think people are not questioning what will happen with the House. I mean, the House was pushed to accept the USA Freedom Act as-is, and some of the amendments that Richard Burr is pushing in the Senate would gut important parts of the USA Freedom Act such as they exist. It would hurt the FISA court provisions, for example. And so we don't know what the House will do if something like that happens.
<p />
<p />There's still some--I mean, I think it's likely that USA Freedom Act will be passed maybe by the end of the week by both houses, and then the dragnet will be back in business for at least six months, but we can't be certain.
<p />
<p />NOOR: And it seems like Senate leaders miscalculated the anger and the mood right now when they tried to broker this deal, they assumed this renewal would get passed without any opposition.
<p />
<p />WHEELER: Well, look, Mitch McConnell was playing chicken. What he wanted to do was create a false crisis, and use that false crisis to make the USA Freedom Act worse. And what he didn't account for was that a week ago Friday Rand Paul, Ron Wyden, Martin Heinrich refused to let a short-term extension go. And last night, Rand Paul refused to let lone wolf and roving wiretaps go through. And so right now there's nothing. And that's really Mitch McConnell's doing, because he got too close to the deadline and left himself exposed if people objected to going through quickly.
<p />
<p />He's still using the crisis that he created to try and make the bill worse. And he may succeed, we'll see. But that would have happened in any case. That was Mitch McConnell and Richard Burr's goal from the entire start, was to add things like a data retention provision to USA Freedom Act.
<p />
<p />NOOR: And of course I think many would say that none of this would be happening if it wasn't for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and his leaks, exposing this program.
<p />
<p />WHEELER: Unquestionably. I mean, you couldn't--in 2009, some people in Congress knew about the phone dragnet. Predominantly the two intelligence committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee. The House Judiciary Committee had had inklings of it, but didn't have as good of an idea as the Senate. And yet they were never able to go out and say, look, the government is collecting every phone record from every American, and to use the political pressure of the public to say that's unacceptable. And so there's no question that we wouldn't have seen the reforms that we're seeing now go through without Edward Snowden.
<p />
<p />NOOR: Thank you so much for joining us again.
<p />
<p />WHEELER: Thanks so much.
<p />
<p />NOOR: And thank you for joining us at The Real News Network.
<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. | Vast Majority of Spying Will Continue Despite Expiration of Patriot Act Provisions | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D31%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D13951 | 2015-06-01 | 4 |
<p>With broad market indices like the S&amp;P 500 trading roughly 66% above their long-run averages, the search for cheap stocks to buy can seem daunting for the individual investor.</p>
<p>However, the search for cheap stocks-- particularly good dividend stocks-- isn't necessarily as challenging as it might initially seem. Case in point, the Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJINDICES: ^DJI)offers plenty of investment opportunitieshiding in plain sight. Let's quickly review the five cheapest stocks in the Dow today.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Finding great value stocks can be a laborious process. Image Source: Getty.</p>
<p>According to data from S&amp;P CapIQ, the five Dow components trading at the lowest valuations -- as defined by their price-to-earnings or P/E ratios -- are megabank JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), insurance stalwart The Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV), credit card companyAmerican Express (NYSE: AXP), tech giant Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), and struggling IT behemoth IBM (NYSE: IBM).</p>
<p>Compared to the S&amp;P 500's 25 times P/E ratio, this consortium of cheap stocks trades at multiples roughly 50% below the broad market. Here's a snapshot of each individual company's valuation.</p>
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<p>Data source: S&amp;P CapIQ.</p>
<p>Though grossly oversimplified, a host of academic researchsuggests that investors who buy cheap stocks can outperform the average market performance over the long term. This philosophy comprises the bedrock of "value investing," which was popularized by billionaire investor Warren Buffett. Perhaps it should then come as no surprise that Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns major stakes in three of the names appearing in the above chart: American Express, Apple, and IBM.</p>
<p>However, not all "cheap" stocks are created equal. Any stock can be cheap or expensive for a whole host of reasons, some positive and others quite negative. As you'll see below, investors looking to buy value stocks always need to delve into the specifics of why each company sports its relative valuation.</p>
<p>To further elucidate this point, let's briefly examine a name or two from the list abovethat are either opportunities to buy cheap or risky investments worth avoiding.</p>
<p>As a positive example, Apple's paltry 12.8 times price-to-earnings ratio makes it a legitimate value stock for investors. Though its golden decades of historic growth are long gone, Apple still has plenty going for it today. Its shares today trade at their substantial discount because of what will likely prove a cyclical lull in its iPhone business.</p>
<p>Apple will soon launch an updated form factor of its all-important iPhone-- likely next month. In anticipation of this, consumers have predictably held off from purchasing Apple's soon-to-be-outdated iPhone 6 models. True, Apple's iPhone 7 might prove to be a relatively unimpressive</p>
<p>Image source: Apple.</p>
<p>upgrade over its predecessor.However, given Apple's incredible customer loyalty and brand strength, it seems more likely that a disappointing iPhone 7 will simply shift iPhone purchases <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/25/an-apple-iphone-super-cycle-in-2017.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">one year further out Opens a New Window.</a> into the future -- when Apple will reportedly debut an impressive 10thanniversary iPhone -- rather than cause a mass exodus toward Android-based rivals like Samsung. Should this play out as described, investors willing to buy while sentiment around Apple remains muted stand to be handsomely rewarded.</p>
<p>On the other hand, American Express stands as a counter-example. As the result of a few industrywide trends, AmEx finds itself facing several relatively new competitive pressures.The company lost key card partnerships with Costco and Fidelity, while also facing new pressure in the credit card space from big banks and increased regulations. Its performance has predictably suffered, and its share price has underperformed the broad market by nearly 40% in the past two years.</p>
<p>American Express certainly isn't remaining idle in reaction. The company has enacted substantial cost cuts while also investing in new growth initiatives. However, unlike Apple, where a clear roadmap for multiple expansionis evident, American Express' path back to its longtime dominance isn't nearly as clear -- though it is certainly possible. Either way, hopefully this illustrates that investors looking to buy cheapstocks like those above should dig deeper into the particulars of each individual stock before buying.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2668&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTheDude/info.aspx" type="external">Andrew Tonner Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends American Express. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | The 5 Cheapest Stocks in the Dow | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/08/27/5-cheapest-stocks-in-dow.html | 2016-08-27 | 0 |
<p>During the recent presidential debate (9/26/08), moderator Jim Lehrer presented the following as one of his lead questions:</p>
<p>Are you willing to acknowledge, both of you, that this financial crisis is going to affect the way you rule the country as president of the United States…?</p>
<p>Play this one like Find the Hidden Picture in Highlights Magazine. Can you find the scary part of that question? I mean really scary, way too scary for a children’s magazine. I’ll give you a moment to look.</p>
<p>Some of you saw it right away, didn’t you? It jumped right off the page (or screen) and slapped you in the face. Ouch! For the rest of you, take a couple more minutes.</p>
<p>Okay, time’s up.</p>
<p>When I was watching the debate and I heard this question, I turned to my wife and asked a question of my own: “What did he just say?” I had a follow up question too: “Did Lehrer just say what I think he said?”</p>
<p>Lehrer did not bat an eye, did not flinch, had not one ounce of irony in mind, when he asked Senators McCain and Obama about how the current financial crisis would affect the way they would rule the country. Yep —- he said “rule.” Really, that’s what he said.</p>
<p>Like any good American, participating in the democratic process, I watch the debates just like I watch a baseball game. I am there to watch my team win. (This is both true and packed with irony.)&#160; So when Lehrer addressed his lead question first to Senator Obama, what I saw was a slow pitch, with nothing on it, smack dab in the middle of the strike zone. My guy was up to bat and here was his chance to sail one into the parking lot. This was a gimme.</p>
<p>All he had to do for the easy homer was preface his response with something like, “Jim, before I respond to your question, I need to object to the notion that a president rules the country. In the United States of America, a president is a public servant, not a ruler.”</p>
<p>But he didn’t say anything at all like that.</p>
<p>The pitch was made, and as it crossed the plate, Senator Obama took his swing… swish. He began his response, “There’s no doubt it will affect our budgets. There is no doubt about it…” A swing and a miss. STEEEE-RIKE!</p>
<p>So there you have it: the hidden scary thing. Pardon my partisanship, but this really is beyond simply supporting my team. Thanks to the way the Bush administration has bullied its way through the last eight years, thanks to the administration’s almost total disregard for what is best for the vast majority of the American people, thanks to their systematic disassembly of the Constitution, and to their willingness to literally sacrifice the lives of thousands to serve their own purposes, we have arrived at this sad point in American history when the suggestion that The President of the United States is a ruler, rather than a public servant, goes unnoticed, or at least unchallenged, by the media and by the people who should be the most aware of the nature of the job for which they are applying. Like I said: STEEEEE-RIKE!</p>
<p>Here’s hoping that this was just a fluke, a bizarre oversight. Here’s hoping that, in the past eight years, we have not been successfully reprogrammed to think of our president as a ruler, that we have not forgotten who works for whom.</p>
<p>And here’s hoping that we are going to see better hitting in the World Series.</p>
<p>THOM RUTLEDGE is a psychotherapist in Nashville, Tennessee, and the author of <a href="" type="internal">Embracing Fear: How to Turn What Scares Us into Our Greatest Gift</a>. For more information: <a href="http://www.thomrutledge.com" type="external">www.thomrutledge.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | On Presidential "Rule" | true | https://counterpunch.org/2008/10/03/on-presidential-quot-rule-quot/ | 2008-10-03 | 4 |
<p>The family of a Brazilian man, 41, were shocked - and some fainted - when he walked into his funeral.</p>
<p>The bizarre case of mistaken identity occurred last Sunday when Jose Marcos Araujo heard news circulating in the town that a car washer had been shot dead and his body was at the morgue, <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/brazilian-man-appears-very-much-alive-own-funeral-222203122.html" type="external">The Associated Press reported</a>.</p>
<p>He assumed it was his brother, Jose.</p>
<p>"Police called my husband and told him that his brother had been killed and his body was at the morgue."Jose Marcos' wife, Ana Paula, told the UOL Internet news portal.&#160;</p>
<p>According to police, the two men resembled each other and both were car washers.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2222241/Man-alive-funeral-familys-shock-identical-looking-murder-victim-lies-casket.html" type="external">Mail Online said</a>a few hours before the Monday burial "a friend of Gilberto's saw him walking down the street and told him that his family was mourning him," he said.</p>
<p>He then rushed to his wake to explain the mix-up, and according to reports some people passed out while others ran away.</p>
<p>Gilberto's mother Marina Santana said: "I am overjoyed. What mother wouldn't be after being told that her son is dead and then sees him alive."</p> | Mourners shocked as dead man walks into his own funeral | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-10-24/mourners-shocked-dead-man-walks-his-own-funeral | 2012-10-24 | 3 |
<p>We always knew SJWs were off their rockers. They'll break your phone, cover themselves in blood, screech about bigotry and pathologically lie, all for their cause. I don't think anyone is convinced they're mentally stable.&#160;</p>
<p>Now instead of just anecdotes, we have proof.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Dr. Jordan B. Peterson</a> and a few of his students at the University of Toronto have been studying political correctness, politics and personality.</p>
<p>They've unlocked the formula that makes someone a social justice warrior (not that we have any interest in recreating them.)</p>
<p>It's extremely important to understand and acknowledge what creates these radical leftists, and more importantly, how to stop this from happening.</p>
<p>This episode of Standoff, I talk to <a href="" type="internal">Dr. Peterson</a> and PhD student Christine Brophy about their research.</p>
<p>Our very own <a href="" type="internal">Faith Goldy</a> also joins me to discuss where we fall politically on the personality scale.</p> | What makes someone a social justice warrior? Prof. Peterson may have the answer | true | http://therebel.media/lauren_southern_october_25_2016 | 2016-10-25 | 0 |
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Alexander Hamilton, who has been featured on the $10 bill since 1929, is making way for a woman.</p>
<p>Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is to officially announce Thursday that a redesign of the $10 will feature the first woman on the nation’s paper money in more than a century. The plan is to decide which woman sometime this summer.</p>
<p>The bill will have new security features to make it harder to counterfeit and will be unveiled in 2020, the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. The date it will be put into circulation will be announced later.</p>
<p>Lew is asking the public for suggestions on who should be chosen for the bill, as well as what symbols of democracy it should feature. Ideas can be submitted by visiting thenew10.treasury.gov website.</p>
<p>Various groups have been campaigning to get a woman honored on the nation’s paper currency, which has been an all-male domain for more than a century. The last woman featured on U.S. paper money was Martha Washington, who was on a dollar silver certificate from 1891 to 1896. The only other woman ever featured on U.S. paper money was Pocahontas, from 1865 to 1869. Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea are on dollar coins.</p>
<p>Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, who is sponsoring legislation to put a woman on the $20 bill, praised Lew for moving forward with a decision to use the $10 bill, which is the next denomination of currency scheduled to be redesigned.</p>
<p>“While it may not be the twenty dollar bill, make no mistake, this is a historic announcement,” Shaheen said in a statement. “Young girls across this country will soon be able to see an inspiring woman on the ten dollar bill.”</p>
<p>A grass roots group, Women on 20s, had been pushing to get a woman’s portrait on the $20, which currently features Andrew Jackson. They had conducted an online poll that gathered over 600,000 votes. African-American abolitionist Harriett Tubman was the top choice in that poll.</p>
<p>Lew said that Hamilton, the nation’s first Treasury secretary, would still be honored in some way. He said one possibility being considered would keep Hamilton’s portrait on some of the redesigned $10 bills. Lew said no final decision had been made yet.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>This story has been corrected to show that 2020 is the year the bill will be unveiled, not the year it will go into circulation.</p>
<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Alexander Hamilton, who has been featured on the $10 bill since 1929, is making way for a woman.</p>
<p>Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is to officially announce Thursday that a redesign of the $10 will feature the first woman on the nation’s paper money in more than a century. The plan is to decide which woman sometime this summer.</p>
<p>The bill will have new security features to make it harder to counterfeit and will be unveiled in 2020, the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. The date it will be put into circulation will be announced later.</p>
<p>Lew is asking the public for suggestions on who should be chosen for the bill, as well as what symbols of democracy it should feature. Ideas can be submitted by visiting thenew10.treasury.gov website.</p>
<p>Various groups have been campaigning to get a woman honored on the nation’s paper currency, which has been an all-male domain for more than a century. The last woman featured on U.S. paper money was Martha Washington, who was on a dollar silver certificate from 1891 to 1896. The only other woman ever featured on U.S. paper money was Pocahontas, from 1865 to 1869. Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea are on dollar coins.</p>
<p>Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, who is sponsoring legislation to put a woman on the $20 bill, praised Lew for moving forward with a decision to use the $10 bill, which is the next denomination of currency scheduled to be redesigned.</p>
<p>“While it may not be the twenty dollar bill, make no mistake, this is a historic announcement,” Shaheen said in a statement. “Young girls across this country will soon be able to see an inspiring woman on the ten dollar bill.”</p>
<p>A grass roots group, Women on 20s, had been pushing to get a woman’s portrait on the $20, which currently features Andrew Jackson. They had conducted an online poll that gathered over 600,000 votes. African-American abolitionist Harriett Tubman was the top choice in that poll.</p>
<p>Lew said that Hamilton, the nation’s first Treasury secretary, would still be honored in some way. He said one possibility being considered would keep Hamilton’s portrait on some of the redesigned $10 bills. Lew said no final decision had been made yet.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>This story has been corrected to show that 2020 is the year the bill will be unveiled, not the year it will go into circulation.</p> | Treasury says woman will be picked for $10 bill | false | https://apnews.com/d37f2e5b8e6a4a06a8df5d5b0d1a3938 | 2015-06-18 | 2 |
<p>Our nation’s 45th and already worst President Donald Trump seems to be deeply insecure about the size of things. He was livid when Marco Rubio commented that he had small hands, later asserting during the debate that his hands are not small and that he has a large penis.</p>
<p>Recently, he flew into a rage when people said the attendance at his inauguration was small. A White House insider shared Trump’s reaction when he learned just how large the National Women’s March was, in comparison to his small inauguration crowd.</p>
<p>Wrote the Washington Post with information from a source close to Trump, “Trump turned on the television to see a jarring juxtaposition — massive demonstrations around the globe protesting his day-old presidency and footage of the sparser crowd at his inauguration, with large patches of white empty space on the Mall. As his press secretary, Sean Spicer, was still unpacking boxes in his spacious new West Wing office, Trump grew increasingly and visibly enraged.” This is what motivated Trump to direct Spicer to hold court with the press and insist the alternative fact about how large Trump’s inauguration crowd. Whined Spicer, “The default narrative is always negative, and it’s demoralizing. And I think that it’s just unbelievably frustrating when you’re continually told it’s not big enough, it’s not good enough, you can’t win.” Are you happy that the Women’s March clearly hit Trump where it hurts hardest?</p> | White House Insider Just Revealed Trump’s Reaction To Women’s March, You’ll Crack Up | true | http://liberalplug.com/2017/01/25/white-house-insider-just-revealed-trumps-reaction-womens-march-youll-crack/ | 4 |
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<p>Chief Economic Advisor to President Donald Trump Gary Cohn discusses the timetable for U.S. tax cuts and deregulation.</p>
<p>Following the Labor Department’s release of the <a href="" type="internal">March unemployment report</a>, President Trump’s Chief Economic Advisor Gary Cohn&#160;said Friday that tax reform is the number one domestic priority for the administration -- and Cohn hopes to get it done this year.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“The President is pushing extremely hard on tax cuts and everything we can do to generate economic growth in the United States. The President [completely] understands how stimulative deregulation and tax cuts will be for the U.S. economy. He understands that and he is pushing us all very hard to get that done as soon as we possibly can,” Cohn said during an interview on FOX Business’ Varney &amp; Co.</p>
<p>The White House National Economic Council director told FOX Business that the Trump administration will get a tax reform bill done within the year.</p>
<p>“The most important thing is that we get tax reform done, and we get it done this year. We are working as hard as we can to get tax reform done. It’s the number one priority of mine. The president [asks] me about it every day. He asks me about it more than every day. He asks me about it every time he sees me, ‘how are we doing on tax reform.’ It is his number [one] domestic priority right now,” Cohn told host Stuart Varney.</p>
<p>Cohn said the discussions on tax reform occur on a daily basis with the president.</p>
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<p>“I tell him exactly what is going on. I am very transparent with him. I tell him where the discussions are, who we are meeting with, what the issues are, what the opportunities are, what decisions are that we are making -- and he is actively involved in all of the decisions,” he said.</p> | Trump Pushing Hard on Tax Cuts, Deregulation: Chief Economic Advisor Gary Cohn | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/04/07/trump-pushing-hard-on-tax-cuts-deregulation-chief-economic-advisor-gary-cohn.html | 2017-08-04 | 0 |
<p>With 2017 drawing to a close, oil companies are starting to turn their attention to 2018. Several recently unveiled their plans for next year, including Hess (NYSE: HES), Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU), and Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC). While each plan had a slightly different focus, two recurring themes stood out. Not only do all three expect production to grow, but each intends to return cash to investors. That combination of growth and income could drive their stocks higher next year, even if oil slips a bit.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Hess has spent the bulk of the past few years sharpening its focus around a few core assets. That led the company to jettison $3.4 billion in assets this year. As a result, the company enters 2018 in a strong financial position.</p>
<p>Because of that, Hess has the flexibility to invest in growth projects while also returning money to investors. On the growth side, the company plans to pre-fund its world-class development in Guyana, which it co-owns with ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM). Phase one of the project will cost about $3.2 billion and should deliver first oil starting in 2020. That offshore project has remarkable economics even at current oil prices, with Exxon and Hess estimating that they can earn a higher return on this development than they could in the top U.S. shale play. In addition to that project, Hess also plans to ramp up drilling in the <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/13/the-5-companies-dominating-the-bakken-shale-play.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=8c0670f0-cae4-11e7-9416-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Bakken Opens a New Window.</a> by increasing its rig count from four to six. These investments position the company to grow production and cash flow by a 10% and 20% compound annual rate, respectively, through 2020.</p>
<p>At the same time that Hess is funding that growth, the company said it plans to return $500 million in cash to shareholders next year via a stock repurchase program. Meanwhile, it also plans to pay off another $500 million in debt to further strengthen its balance sheet. The combination of growth, cash returns, and a stronger balance sheet could fuel meaningful gains for investors in the coming years.</p>
<p>Anadarko Petroleum's 2018 plan also balances growth with returning money to shareholders. Overall, the company plans to spend between $4.2 billion and $4.6 billion on capital expenses, with 85% of that money going toward drilling in the U.S., including the <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/16/the-5-companies-dominating-the-permian-basin.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=8c0670f0-cae4-11e7-9416-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Delaware Opens a New Window.</a> and <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/25/the-5-companies-dominating-the-niobrara-shale-play.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=8c0670f0-cae4-11e7-9416-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">DJ Opens a New Window.</a> basins, as well as in the Gulf of Mexico. The company expects this investment to fuel a 14% increase in its oil production next year. Furthermore, the plan breaks even at $50 oil, which positions the company to generate more than $700 million in free cash flow if current prices hold.</p>
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<p>That said, even if prices fall, Anadarko still expects to return $1.5 billion in cash to investors next year via its <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/09/21/another-oil-giant-sees-value-in-an-unexpected-plac.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=8c0670f0-cae4-11e7-9416-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">stock buyback program Opens a New Window.</a>. The company can easily afford that spending level since it had $6 billion in cash when it initially announced plans to repurchase $2.5 billion in stock by the end of next year. Meanwhile, if oil holds up,&#160;it's possible the company could return some of the free cash flow it produces to investors next year.</p>
<p>While most rivals spent the bulk of the oil market downturn selling assets to shore up their financial situation, Suncor Energy used its already strong balance sheet to take advantage of opportunities to invest for the future. One way it did that was by continuing to invest in two major projects. Because of that, the Canadian oil giant will start reaping the rewards of those investments next year.</p>
<p>One piece of evidence for this is that the company expects to spend about 750 million Canadian dollars ($589 million) less on capital expenses next year, bringing its budget down to a range of 4.5 billion CAD to 5 billion CAD ($3.5 billion-$4 billion). However, even with that spending decline, production should rise by more than 10% at the mid-point of its guidance range, thanks to a full year of production from its Fort Hills oil sands mine and the Exxon-operated Hebron offshore facility.</p>
<p>That's near perfect timing according to CEO Steve Williams, who said, "With first oil at both Fort Hills and Hebron expected by year-end, we're bringing on new production at the same time as oil prices are rising to their highest level in several years." Because of that, Williams stated, "As we look to 2018, with increasing production and reduced capital spending, we're well-positioned to return more free cash flow to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks." While the company didn't put a number behind the cash returns, last April it announced plans to repurchase 2 billion CAD ($1.6 billion) in stock over the next year, and it had only spent 578 million CAD ($454 million) of that amount as of the end of last quarter. It'll likely exhaust that authorization first and then refill it early next year. Meanwhile, the company also boosted its dividend 10% this year and will probably give investors another big raise in 2018.</p>
<p>These oil giants made it clear that they're perfectly fine with oil in the $50s next year. That's because they've repositioned their businesses to such an extent that they can generate more than enough cash flow to finance the capital needed to deliver a double-digit production growth rate while at the same time returning a significant amount of money to investors. Those dual catalysts could provide these stocks with the fuel needed to soar in 2018 -- as long as oil doesn't&#160;take a tumble.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Suncor EnergyWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFmd19/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=8c0670f0-cae4-11e7-9416-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Matthew DiLallo Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=8c0670f0-cae4-11e7-9416-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Investors Can Expect 2 Things From These 3 Oil Giants in 2018 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/18/investors-can-expect-2-things-from-these-3-oil-giants-in-2018.html | 2017-11-18 | 0 |
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