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<p>(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>Below are the Blade’s staff picks for the top 10 local stories of the year.</p>
<p>Jose Cunningham (Photo courtesy of Cunningham)</p>
<p>Jose Cunningham, a local gay Republican activist and prominent GOP fundraiser, won an upset victory in his race for chair of the D.C. Republican Committee in January 2015, beating incumbent chair Ron Phillips by a vote of 74 to 41.</p>
<p>Cunningham ran on a platform calling for the DCRC to take more aggressive steps to expand the membership of the D.C. Republican Party and recruit more qualified candidates for public office in a city with an overwhelmingly Democratic electorate.</p>
<p>The DCRC, which serves as the D.C. Republican Party’s governing body, has been supportive of LGBT rights, including marriage equality, for a number of years, placing it at odds with the national Republican Party.</p>
<p>In his role as the DCRC chair, Cunningham has an automatic seat on the Republican National Committee. Among other things, he has said he would push for removing anti-gay language from the national party’s platform at the 2016 Republican National Convention.</p>
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<p>The Frank Kameny memorial stone was revealed on Veterans Day at Congressional Cemetery. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>A four-year saga surrounding efforts to secure a D.C. memorial site for gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny ended in November with a ceremony dedicating a memorial headstone in his honor at Congressional Cemetery.</p>
<p>Four gay members of the Army and one from the Navy stood at attention in full dress uniform as U.S. Air Force General Counsel Gordon O. Tanner, who’s gay, and Congressional Cemetery President Paul Williams unveiled the newly installed Kameny headstone.</p>
<p>The headstone along with a footstone bearing the slogan, “Gay is Good,” which Kameny coined in 1968, were placed at a cemetery plot just behind the gravesite of gay Air Force Sgt. Leonard Matlovich. With Kameny’s advice and coaching, Matlovich disclosed he was gay in 1975, becoming the first active duty U.S. service member to challenge the military’s ban on gays.</p>
<p>The dedication of the Kameny memorial site came just over four years after he died on National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11, 2011. He died of natural causes at his Washington home at the age of 86.</p>
<p>Judge Yvonne Williams (Image courtesy YouTube)</p>
<p>A D.C. Superior Court judge surprised court observers in August by rescinding an earlier decision to lower the sentence she gave to one of two defendants convicted of committing an anti-gay assault.</p>
<p>Judge Yvonne Williams, responding to objections by prosecutors, issued an order vacating her earlier order of July 15 that lowered the sentence for lesbian Christina Lucas, 22, from one year to six months in prison.</p>
<p>Lucas and her twin brother, Christopher Lucas, were convicted by a jury following a two-week trial on a charge of aggravated assault while armed with a hate crime designation. The case is the same one in which a grand jury took the unusual step of designating the assault as a hate crime, even though prosecutors didn’t ask it to do so.</p>
<p>Judge Williams came under fire from LGBT activists after stating in a post-trial hearing that she didn’t believe the two defendants should receive anywhere near the 15-year prison term recommended by prosecutors because the victim’s injuries were not serious enough. Prosecutors argued that the beating initiated by Christina Lucas and carried out by her brother and other men with them could have resulted in the victim’s death.</p>
<p>Williams drew further criticism by LGBT activists when she said she didn’t believe Christina Lucas could be accused of committing an anti-gay hate crime because she’s gay.</p>
<p>A former member of a D.C. Superior Court grand jury disclosed in July that grand jurors took the unusual step of handing down a hate crime indictment in an anti-gay assault case after prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not recommend that the case be listed as a hate crime.</p>
<p>The former grand juror, who spoke on condition of not being identified, said witnesses, including a D.C. police detective and the gay male victim, told the grand jury in August 2014 that then 20-year-old Christina Lucas and her twin brother, Christopher Lucas, knocked the gay male victim to the ground and punched and kicked him while shouting anti-gay names.</p>
<p>A police report says witnesses told police that Christina Lucas slashed the victim’s face with a sharp object while he was lying on the ground shortly after calling him a “faggot motherfucker.”</p>
<p>A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the office was barred by law from commenting on any aspect of grand jury deliberations, which by law must remain confidential. In May 2015, a Superior Court jury found the Lucas siblings guilty of aggravated assault while armed with a hate crime designation following a two-week trial. A judge sentenced the twins to one year in jail and five years of supervised probation upon their release, a sentence that law enforcement sources criticized as too lenient.</p>
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<p>Patrick Wojahn (Photo courtesy Wojahn)</p>
<p>Gay rights attorney and former congressional staffer Mark Levine won election in November to a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, becoming the third out gay member of the Virginia Legislature.</p>
<p>On the same day, gay attorney and College Park, Md., City Council member Patrick Wojahn won election as College Park mayor, becoming the first gay person to serve as that city’s mayor. Wojahn beat fellow Council member Denise Mitchell in a two-person race for the mayoral post.</p>
<p>Levine, a Democrat, ran unopposed in the November general election in an overwhelmingly Democratic district that includes parts of the city of Alexandria and Fairfax County. He won an upset victory in the June Democratic primary in a five-candidate race, finishing ahead of Alexandria government official Craig Fifer, who was considered by political observers to be the frontrunner, by a margin of 27.8 percent to 24.3 percent.</p>
<p>Two studies of D.C.’s transgender community released in November found that similar to other parts of the country, trans people living in the District continue to experience “devastatingly high rates” of poverty, unemployment, employment discrimination and health disparities.</p>
<p>The findings of one of the studies, compiled from the largest-ever city-based survey of transgender people, were released in a 116-page report called “Access Denied: 2015 Washington, D.C. Trans Needs Assessment Report.”</p>
<p>Among other things, the survey found that 46 percent of the trans people living in D.C. participating in the survey earned less than $10,000 a year, with 57 percent of trans people of color making below $10,000.</p>
<p>The second study was conducted by the D.C. Office of Human Rights. It found that 48 percent of employers “tested” by the office appeared to prefer at least one less-qualified job applicant over a better qualified applicant perceived as being transgender.</p>
<p>OHR said the testing consisted of sending 200 made up cover letters and resumes prepared by OHR to 38 employers that advertised 50 individual job openings. One set of cover letters and resumes were written to give the impression the applicant was a transgender person, with the other set portraying the applicant as cisgender.</p>
<p>Details of the study along with its finding are compiled in a 28-page report called “Qualified and Transgender: A Report on Results of Resume Testing for Employment Discrimination Based on Gender Identity.”</p>
<p>Ruby Corado presents findings at the Wilson Building on Nov. 13, 2015. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>Jamyra Gallmon (Photo courtesy of MVP Protective Services)</p>
<p>A D.C. woman who pled guilty in May to second-degree murder while armed for fatally stabbing 30-year-old attorney David Messerschmitt at the city’s Donovan Hotel on Feb. 9 was sentenced in August to 24 years in prison.</p>
<p>Jamyra Gallmon, 21, confessed to police that she targeted Messerschmitt for a robbery by pretending to be a man while answering an ad he placed on Craigslist seeking to meet another man for sex.</p>
<p>Police and prosecutors said she stabbed Messerschmitt at least seven times in the chest, groin area, arm and back when he attempted to fight back after she entered his hotel room and started to rob him of his possessions.</p>
<p>Hotel employees found Messerschmitt’s body in his room several hours after his wife reported him missing. LGBT activists said the case was a sad reminder that closeted gay men married to women sometimes fall victim to a phenomenon that has long plagued out gay men known as gay pickup murders.</p>
<p>Sgt. Jessica Hawkins heads the GLLU. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier in March named Sgt. Jessica Hawkins, an out transgender woman, as supervisor of the department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit. Hawkins became the first transgender person to hold that position.</p>
<p>In an interview with the Blade, Hawkins said she planned to build on what she said was a strong foundation for the unit begun by her predecessors, including Sgt. Brett Parson.</p>
<p>Hawkins assumed her position at a time when some LGBT activists expressed concern that Lanier had reduced the GLLU’s effectiveness by assigning its officers to non-GLLU related duties for as much as half of each work shift. Police officials said the chief had made similar reassignments for members of most other specialized police units due to a shortage of officers brought about by a recent retirement “bubble” in which more officers are retiring than can be replaced by new recruits.</p>
<p>“My officers are dedicated,” Hawkins said. “We will make sure that when any GLLU call comes out they are going to respond to it.”</p>
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<p>Yayo Grassi and his boyfriend met with Pope Francis. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>D.C. resident Yayo Grassi, a native of Argentina, made international headlines in September when news surfaced that he and his boyfriend of 19 years met with Pope Francis at the Vatican Embassy in Washington during the Pope’s visit to the United States.</p>
<p>Grassi, 67, the owner of a D.C.-based catering business, said he has known and admired Francis since the future Pontiff was his high school teacher at a Catholic school in Argentina.</p>
<p>His and his boyfriend’s visit with the Pope drew media attention because it took place shortly after Kim Davis, the county clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses for same-sex couples on religious grounds, announced that she had met with Francis at the Vatican Embassy.</p>
<p>Following a flurry of criticism that the Pope appeared to be condoning anti-gay discrimination by associating with Davis, the Vatican issued a statement saying Davis was part a group of visitors at the embassy and had not been personally invited by the Pope. According to the statement, Grassi and his family members were the only ones directly invited by Francis for a personal audience during the Pontiff’s Washington visit.</p>
<p>Grassi said he believes the Pope is making a genuine effort to change the church for the better for LGBT people.</p>
<p>Mayor&#160;Muriel Bowser at State of the District Address on March 31, 2015. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>In her first four months in office D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser appointed five out gays or lesbians to cabinet-level positions, including a first-ever appointment of a lesbian as deputy mayor.</p>
<p>In April, Bowser named lesbian activist and public affairs lobbyist Courtney Snowden as Deputy Mayor for Greater Economic Opportunity, a newly created position in the Executive Office of the Mayor. The position involves coordinating the city’s efforts to “create pathways to the middle class for residents in every corner of the city,” Bowser said.</p>
<p>The other appointees included veteran lesbian activist and media professional Sheila Alexander Reid as director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs; gay urban planning specialist David Do as director of the Mayor’s Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs; lesbian housing and homelessness policy expert Polly Donaldson as director of the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development, and gay former city official Matt Brown as director of the Mayor’s Office of the Budget.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Christina Lucas</a> <a href="" type="internal">Christopher Lucas</a> <a href="" type="internal">College Park</a> <a href="" type="internal">Congressional Cemetery</a> <a href="" type="internal">Courtney Snowden</a> <a href="" type="internal">David Do</a> <a href="" type="internal">David Messerschmitt</a> <a href="" type="internal">Denise Mitchell</a> <a href="" type="internal">Donovan Hotel</a> <a href="" type="internal">Frank Kameny</a> <a href="" type="internal">GLLU</a> <a href="" type="internal">hate-crime</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jamyra Gallmon</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jessica Hawkins</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jose Cunningham</a> <a href="" type="internal">Leonard Matlovich</a> <a href="" type="internal">LGBT</a> <a href="" type="internal">Mark Levine</a> <a href="" type="internal">Matt Brown</a> <a href="" type="internal">MPD</a> <a href="" type="internal">Muriel Bowser</a> <a href="" type="internal">Patrick Wojahn</a> <a href="" type="internal">Paul Williams</a> <a href="" type="internal">Pope Francis</a> <a href="" type="internal">Ruby Corado</a> <a href="" type="internal">Sheila Alexander-Reid</a> <a href="" type="internal">trans</a> <a href="" type="internal">transgender</a> <a href="" type="internal">Yayo Grassi</a> <a href="" type="internal">Yvonee Williams</a></p> | Top 10 local news stories of 2015 | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2015/12/30/top-10-local-news-stories-of-2015/ | 3 |
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<p>A <a href="www.sfgate.coma/bayarea/nevius/article/Microcosm-of-S-F-housing-plight-6-800-5879302.php" type="external">weekend story</a> about the gross failure of affordable housing policies in San Francisco contained plenty of public frustration and official consternation. But it also is one more example of the very shallow way this issue is almost always covered by California journalists, which means they are part of the problem. Here are the story’s key details:</p>
<p>When real estate developer Forest City began construction on a new apartment complex at 2175 Market St., it announced that it would build more affordable units than required by the city — 20 percent instead of 12.</p>
<p>The response was overwhelming. Forest City put a booth in the lobby of the building — chosen because it is centrally located, near public transit and well-recognized — and handed out more than 6,800 applications.</p>
<p>For 18 apartments.</p>
<p>Despite the odds, 2,595 individuals and families completed and returned the eight-page application. Their names were put in a lottery to draw 400 finalists.</p>
<p>Four hundred names for 18 apartments, 11 of them one-bedrooms.</p>
<p>This article bridles with barely disguised journalistic anger over the failure of local and state government to deal with affordable housing concerns.</p>
<p>Doug Shoemaker, president of the California branch of Mercy Housing, an affordable housing nonprofit, says this is the worst market he’s ever seen. Mercy just opened a 100-until affordable housing building for families at Fourth and Channel Streets. There were 2,995 applications.</p>
<p>“The demand is just intense,” he said. “It was a horrifying reminder of just how hard it is. I’ve been in this field for 20 years and for people looking for apartments this is the most depressing market I have ever seen. It is painful to watch any of it, but what horrifies us most is the homeless families.”</p>
<p>Sara Osaba, a single parent, can’t get over the irony. A former UC Berkeley student, she moved back to San Francisco from Vermont, where she was working for nonprofits, helping low-income immigrants.</p>
<p>“I’ve worked 30 years helping immigrant families find housing,” she said. “Now I’m one of those families. I’ve gone from being a contributing member of society to being essentially homeless.”</p>
<p>But any anger should extend to California’s government beat reporters for the complete absence of context in their coverage of this issue. The starting point for understanding why the state is so bad on this big issue is a 2003 Public Policy Institute of California report. I wrote about it last year when analyzing a San Diego affordable housing policy fight with the same dumb dynamics as San Francisco’s:</p>
<p>The study cited profound flaws in the state’s primary affordable-housing law. It forces cities to plan for needs that are much more appropriately addressed on a regional level. It emphasizes process — laborious long-term planning — over results — more housing units.</p>
<p>The PPIC analysis identified high-cost states with similarities to California that had significantly more success with affordable housing. In New Jersey, the “builder’s remedy approach” gives developers concessions in return for helping a community meet its affordable-housing obligations. Giving developers a profit motive has yielded “far more housing units” than previous policies. California’s version of this approach is much more constrained.</p>
<p>In Massachusetts, the state radically simplified the approval process for residential projects in which at least one-quarter of the units had “long-term affordability restrictions.” To limit NIMBYism, developers can appeal permits rejected at the local level to a state board.</p>
<p>We say heed the PPIC instead of embracing a failed status quo. It’s foolish for the city to try to address a problem that needs a regional approach and a much smarter conceptual framework. Instead of a massive increase in the “linkage fee,” the City Council should pass a resolution imploring the governor and the Legislature to fix state law — one so flawed that it gets in the way of fixing the problem it is supposed to resolve.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be nice if sabermetrics of a sort came to public policy reporting, complete with analytics examining what the effects of well-meaning laws actually were? If this did happen, the idiocy of state affordable housing policies would be obvious and maybe then they would be changed.</p>
<p>Instead, in California, we have affordable housing dealt with in the worst possible way — by individual local governments that obsess with process, instead of with a coordinated, sophisticated state-run program, as seen in New Jersey and Massachusetts, that emphasize results.</p>
<p>Do reporters ever mention this? Nope. They’d rather be indignant than get to the bottom of why they’re indignant.</p> | Think tank explained CA’s affordable housing debacles long ago | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2014/11/10/cas-affordable-housing-debacles-predicted-long-ago/ | 2018-11-20 | 3 |
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<p>Authorities now believe that a male nurse in Germany accused of killing at least 86 patients could have actually murdered more people. The nurse carried out the killings with overdoses of heart medication.</p>
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<p>Police Chief Johann Kuehme in the nortwestern city of Oldenburg said many of the deaths could have been prevented if only health authorities acted more quickly on their suspicions.</p>
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<p>Niels Hoegel, now 40, was first convicted in 2015 of two murders and two attempted murders at a hospital in Delmenhorst, a northwestern town. He was then sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors have long been convinced that he killed more people, and put the figure last year to at least 43 casualties.</p>
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<p>The said crimes were discovered after Hegel was convicted of attempted murder in another case. Authorities then probed hundreds of deaths, exhuming bodies of former patients inn Delmenhorst and nearby Oldenburg.</p>
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<p>Kuehme announced on Monday that authorities have unearthed evidence of 84 killings in addition to the ones Hoegel was already convicted. Kuehme added that the number of actual killings is likely higher because some possible victims were cremated, making it impossible to gather further evidence on them.</p>
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<p>Kuehme is overwhelmed with the scale of the crimes. He shared to reporters that: "Eighty-four killings leave us speechless. And as if all that were not enough, we must realize that the real dimension of the killings f Niels Hoegel is likely many times worse."</p>
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<p>Kuehme said their investigations of the actual number of deaths caused by Hoegel are hampered by the fact that many cases go back many years and families struggle with the exact details of their loved ones' deaths. The police chief squarely puts the blame on local health authorities for being slow to act.</p>
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<p>Authorities are already pursuing criminal cases against former staff at the two facilities. Hoegel worked at the Oldenburg hospital from 1999 to 2002 and in Delmenhorst from 2003 to 2005.</p>
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<p>During his trial, Hoegel admitted his dastardly act of intentionally bringing about cardiac crises in some 90 cases in Delmenhorst because he enjoyed the feeling of being able to resuscitate them. He also later confessed to killing patients in Oldenburg as well.</p>
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<p>Prosecutors are likely to try Hoegel on at least some of the additional murders but Germany's judicial system does not allow for consecutive sentences, so Hoegel's life term may not be affected even of future convictions.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/article169731242.html" type="external">miamiherald.com/news/article169731242.html</a></p> | Nurse Killed 86 Patients Because - Enjoyed Resuscitating Them | true | http://thegoldwater.com/news/7245-Nurse-Killed-86-Patients-Because-Enjoyed-Resuscitating-Them | 2017-08-28 | 0 |
<p>A bill introduced this week in the state Senate would require Nevada preteens to be immunized against meningitis and the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus before they enroll in public or private school or daycare, potentially raising Nevada's below-average HPV vaccination rate.</p>
<p>But mandates on the HPV vaccine have only made it into the law books in Virginia and the District of Columbia, and have failed in several other states. Critics say the mandates would encourage promiscuity and that the pharmaceutical companies behind the vaccine have too aggressively pushed legislation.</p>
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<p>SB117 was introduced Monday and is sponsored by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. It will be handled by the Education Committee, but it's unclear if and when it might be up for discussion.</p>
<p>"If we vaccinate people, we can prevent diseases that are not only horrific but deadly," said Dr. Joe Hardy, a Boulder City Republican senator who chairs the Health and Human Services Committee and supports the bill. "The vaccines that we use now have a purpose, and this is one of those that has a purpose and will protect people for a long, long time."</p>
<p>State law already requires some vaccines for school enrollment, including diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, rubella and measles, although children can be excused for religious or medical reasons. The bill would add HPV and meningitis to the list.</p>
<p>HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S., and can lead to warts and potentially deadly cervical cancer. About 79 million Americans have HPV, while about 360,000 will get genital warts each year and more than 10,000 women will get cervical cancer each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p>
<p>Experts recommend the three-part vaccine be administered over six months for boys and girls age 11 or 12, before they become sexually active.</p>
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<p>But mandates have been controversial. Texas Gov. Rick Perry issued an order in 2007 that required young girls to be vaccinated, but the measure met a fierce backlash by religious conservatives and critics who said Perry was too cozy with lobbyists from drugmaker Merck &amp; Co., which at the time was the only company producing a vaccine.</p>
<p>Texas lawmakers ultimately overturned Perry's order.</p>
<p>Nevada campaign finance records show that Merck, which makes the HPV vaccine Gardasil, and GlaxoSmithKline PLC, which makes the HPV vaccine Cervarix, have donated a total of about $10,000 to Democratic legislative candidates and the Democratic Searchlight Leadership Fund PAC in the past election cycle.</p>
<p>In spite of the political baggage, groups like the nonprofit Immunize Nevada are encouraging more students to get the vaccine, and said tying it to school enrollment is probably an effective way to reach the goal of vaccinating 80 percent of Nevada teens by 2020.</p>
<p>"The important message is that HPV vaccine is cancer prevention," said Heidi Parker, executive director of Immunize Nevada. "Studies have shown that it does not increase promiscuity."</p>
<p>Nevada teens are vaccinated at a lower rate than the national average. About 27 percent of girls ages 13 to 17 had completed all three installments of the vaccine, and 7 percent of boys had completed the series.</p>
<p>With help from a more than $600,000 grant from the CDC, the group is promoting Pre-Teen Vaccine Week this week by spreading the word about how children can get the vaccine for free and screening a documentary about HPV-related cancers around the state.</p>
<p>"We have a lot of education ahead of us," Parker said. "We're helping parents understand the impact of these cancers and not be stuck on the other pieces."</p> | Bill would require Nevada students to have HPV vaccine to enroll in school, child care | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/02/03/bill-would-require-nevada-students-to-have-hpv-vaccine-to-enroll-in-school.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>BOSTON — Many Africans will mourn the passing of Ted Kennedy, remembering his fiery opposition to apartheid which was instrumental in getting public opinion and then the U.S. government to support the release of Nelson Mandela and majority rule in South Africa.</p>
<p>Kennedy helped to make opposition to apartheid one of the great moral crusades of our time, not just with impassioned speeches and by spearheading sanctions but also by going to South Africa and organizing an illegal protest at the gates of Pollsmoor prison, where Nelson Mandela was jailed.</p>
<p>Anti-apartheid crusader Archbishop Desmond Tutu convinced Kennedy to travel to South Africa in order to bring international attention to the repression and human rights abuses of the white minority rule government of South African President P.W. Botha. At that time the Pretoria government had considerable military and police might, backed by the most sophisticated weapons. Because it claimed to be a bulwark against communism, the South African regime also received considerable implied support from Western powers, including the United States and Britain, which refused to impose economic sanctions against South Africa.</p>
<p>Ted Kennedy would have none of this. He embraced the anti-apartheid struggle and gloried in stating why the system of racial segregation and oppression was wrong and should be strongly opposed by the U.S. government.</p>
<p>In eight days in January 1985, Kennedy swept through South Africa, visiting Johannesburg townships and squatter camps in Cape Town. He met with anti-apartheid leaders including Winnie Mandela, the wife of the jailed Nelson Mandela, who was under draconian banning orders which confined her to her home and prevented her from meeting more than one person at a time. Kennedy championed Winnie Mandela as a fighter for democracy.</p>
<p>Kennedy's inspired campaign against apartheid culminated when he organized an illegal protest calling for the release of Nelson Mandela at Pollsmoor Prison. Defying orders of the South African police, Kennedy strode up to the gates of the prison and urged Mandela's release and the end of apartheid.</p>
<p>At that time Mandela was portrayed by many, including the mainstream media, as a controversial figure who espoused terrorism and communism. Kennedy helped to promote Nelson Mandela as a great democrat and freedom fighter.</p>
<p>"Behind these walls are men that are deeply committed to freedom in this land," said Kennedy, captured by international reporters, photographers and television cameras.</p>
<p>Kennedy's savvy and inspiring crusade in South Africa brought the expected denunciation from the South African government. It even brought a condemnation from the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, Herman Nickel, who was implementing President Ronald Reagan's policy of "constructive engagement" with the apartheid regime.</p>
<p>Kennedy's battle against apartheid continued when he returned to Washington. He introduced the Anti-Apartheid Act of 1985 which imposed economic sanctions against the South African regime. In 1986 Congress overrode President Reagan's veto and enacted the law which banned&#160; all new investments by Americans in South African businesses and the importation of key South African products such as steel, coal, ammunition and food. It was a strategic attack on apartheid.</p>
<p>"The time for procrastination and delay is over. Now is the time to keep the faith with Martin Luther King and Desmond Tutu and all those who believe in a free South Africa," said Kennedy.</p>
<p>I was in Zimbabwe at this time and remember that the fortress of apartheid looked impregnable. I saw how Kennedy's activism helped to get the Western world to join the brave fighters against apartheid. The hardscrabble campaign in South Africa became a worldwide movement that forced Western governments to change their policies and put forceful pressure on the South African government to end apartheid.</p>
<p>Years later, Nelson Mandela — freed and president of South Africa, Nobel Peace prize winner and acclaimed around the world — paid tribute to Kennedy's 1985 visit. He said that while in Pollsmoor Prison he and other anti-apartheid fighters were aware that Kennedy was standing outside the gates. He said that "gave us a lot of strength and hope and the feeling that we had millions behind us, both in our struggle against apartheid and in our special situation in prison."</p>
<p>Nelson Mandela today is 92 and in failing health but he still remembers the key support he received from Ted Kennedy. "He made his voice heard in the struggle against apartheid at a time when the freedom struggle was not widely supported in the West," said the Nelson Mandela foundation director Achmat Dangor, on behalf of Mandela. "We remain grateful for his role."&#160;</p> | Ted Kennedy, anti-apartheid crusader | false | https://pri.org/stories/2009-08-26/ted-kennedy-anti-apartheid-crusader | 2009-08-26 | 3 |
<p>Editors’ Note: We are honored to publish DOUG PEACOCK’s rollicking essay on his close friend Edward Abbey. This article is excerpted from the introduction to the French edition of Abbey’s greatest book, Desert Solitaire, published in France this month by Gallmeister. Doug was the inspiration for Abbey’s character Hayduke in the novels <a href="" type="internal">The Monkey Wrench Gang</a> and <a href="" type="internal">Hayduke Lives!</a> Peacock’s account of their intense and often contentious relationship is detailed his riveting memoir <a href="" type="internal">Walking It Off</a>. — JSC / AC.</p>
<p>When <a href="" type="internal">Desert Solitaire</a> hit the bookstores in 1968, the world was introduced to a writer who was at once eloquent, angry, poetic, crude and funny as hell. Edward Abbey wrote precise prose that raced like a jackrabbit and he spoke with a voice that stung with the pungency of garlic. Abbey was a fierce defender of wilderness, the enemy of injustice and champion of the voiceless and powerless of the world. Along his cantankerous path, Ed slaughtered as many sacred cows as he could. Accordingly, Desert Solitaire was received with both exuberant praise and caustic scorn.</p>
<p>Clearly, Desert Solitaire belongs on a separate shelf from most “nature” books. It advocates civil disobedience and empowers many readers to action, even to change the course of their lives. Forty years ago, my best friend from Michigan pored over the book, passed it on to me, then took up residence defending the high desert. A woman in Oregon read it, packed up and moved to southeastern Utah where she took a job as a national park ranger, busting archeological thieves for looting Indian burial grounds. She’s still out there.</p>
<p>The publication of Desert Solitaire and the emergence of the militant Western conservation movement in America was at least synchronous and arguably no coincidence. The radical environmental group Earth First! was a direct descendant of Abbey’s writings. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, more lives changed in response to Ed’s challenge; conservationists and new crops of activists pledged allegiance to the rights of wild animals, plants and rocks. Abbey lives on today as the ethical compass, the tribal muse and sacred rage inspiring those who steer the helm of the more visionary and wide-reaching of contemporary wilderness preservation efforts, such as the Wildlands Project or America’s Round River Conservation Studies.</p>
<p>Because of this influence, Abbey was stamped with various labels, wrongly tagged as a misanthrope (Ed was a man fueled by love and joy), eco-anarchist and called the patron saint of American radical environmentalism. Such confining representations miss the considerable artistry of his writing and nowhere is this literary legacy better illustrated than in Desert Solitaire. The range of this book runs from tight lyrical passages of desert beauty to parables of nuclear war, from ribald, politically incorrect rants to paradoxical hints of a post-apocalyptic world, all wrapped in contradiction and served up with a self-deprecating belly laugh. The more you ask from this book, the more you reap.</p>
<p>Current biographies of Abbey sometimes state he was born in Home, Pennsylvania, and died in Oracle, Arizona. Neither is true. Ed simply liked the names (he got his mail in Oracle).&#160; Although Abbey would be accused of never letting a few unimportant facts get in the way of a good story, he was in fact after a larger truth. “This is not primarily a book about the desert,” Abbey wrote in his introduction to the original edition of Desert Solitaire. “Since you cannot get the desert into a book any more than a fisherman can haul up the sea in his nets, I have tried to create a world of words in which the desert figures as more as a medium than as material. Not imitation but evocation has been the goal.”</p>
<p>Thus Abbey listens to spadefoot toads singing from their summer rain-filled potholes and finds an alternative view to traditional biology: “Why do they sing?” Ed asks. Is it the poison in the amphibian’s skin that permits such bold toad singing amid choruses of prowling coyote yips? No, they sing from joy, he writes. “Has joy any survival value in the operations of evolution? I suspect that it does; I suspect that the morose and fearful are doomed to quick extinction. Where there is no joy there can be no courage; and without courage all other virtues are worthless.”</p>
<p>The popular reception of Desert Solitaire mildly irritated Ed Abbey. Like other novelists who prefer to be remembered for their fiction, Ed considered his desert masterpiece an unexpected, unintentional love child. The commercial success of this classic especially surprised him. “After (writing) that book,” he said, “I’ve never had to work an honest day in my life.”</p>
<p>It might appear that Edward Abbey stood by every word he wrote in Desert Solitaire but that was not the case. He lived to doggedly regret the passages on desert composers: “I’d do anything,” he told me back in the 1970s, “to take back those pages on music (Berg, Webern, etc.).”&#160; Ed went on to prefer Mozart or the late Quartets of Beethoven, “Good ol’ Ludwig,” he wrote, “old courage-giver, hero of Western man.”</p>
<p>With his magical, sensual evocation of the desert, fierce defense of wilderness and irreverent attacks on conventions of every angle of the political spectrum, Abbey has been compared favorably to his heroes and fellow conservationists: Henry David Thoreau, Aldo Leopold and John Muir. But Desert Solitaire stands apart from the works of these great men in that it is a thoroughly modern classic; it carries us beyond the end of the 20th century and into the perilous topography of today’s world. Abbey tells us right off that the pristine landscape of Desert Solitaire “is already gone or going under fast.” The cloud on his horizon is “Progress.” The bulldozers of corporate development scrape away at the wilderness and “Industrial Tourism” invades our national parks.</p>
<p>And there is more: The terrible beasts stalking the edges of our human world today—nuclear warfare, even global warming—are already taking shape in the landscape of Desert Solitaire. In “Rocks,” Abbey tells a story of a murderous love triangle wrapped in atomic treachery and the rapaciousness for uranium mines. At the end of the tale, a child experiences a beautiful hallucination of the living earth, then dies of massive overexposure to radiation–from atomic rays or rays from the sun, a parable of apocalyptic war or approaching climate change? Abbey provides no easy answers, but this much is evident: Just as we grasp our absolute need for the wild beauty of the world, we are losing it. And it is children who will pay the price.</p>
<p>Ed is clear on what drives this madness: human greed exemplified by too many people living too high on the hog. Abbey foretells the collapse of industrial civilization, warning us that we must reduce our ecological footprint before catastrophe does it for us. He fears a world, as he put it, “completely urbanized, completely industrialized, ever more crowded environment. For my own part I would rather take my chances in a thermonuclear war than live in such a world.”</p>
<p>&#160;Time and wind will bury the polluted cities of the Southwest, he warns, “growth for the sake of growth is a cancerous madness,” he said, and human population will be dramatically reduced by the consequences of our self-destructive industrial technology. Out of this wasteland, the boldest of survivors will wander a new wilderness and perhaps get it right the second time: “Feet on earth. Knock on wood. Touch stone. Good luck to all,” Abbey’s “bedrock of animal faith.”</p>
<p>Edward Abbey is not alone in these views, just significantly ahead of his time. James Lovelock, famed contemporary global warming critic and originator of the Gaia hypothesis, predicts that in the next 30 years rising oceans will displace a billion hungry refugees, worldwide desertification will draw the Sahara north into Europe, and Berlin will be as hot as Baghdad. By the end of the century, Lovelock predicts, the human world will be torn apart by famine and disease, starving Asians who cannot grow their own food migrating into Siberia and precipitating nuclear war between Russia and China, all factors combining to kill off six billion of the world’s 6.6 billion human beings. The plants and creatures of our lovely planet would suffer the sixth great extinction, the most severe yet and entirely human-caused. Human civilization, Lovelock fears, would collapse.</p>
<p>Abbey, on the other hand, doesn’t allow us to settle into our easy chairs of hard numbers and precise prediction; yet he firmly plants the warning seeds of industrial ruination and the fate of the earth in the cryptogamic soil of Desert Solitaire. Instead, his polemic alternates with poetics and contentious humor. Ed used contradictory argument as an art form. He wanted to speak the truth, “especially unpopular truth.” Truth that offends the “traditional, the mythic, the sentimental.”</p>
<p>What we are left with is a book like no other. Ed’s own introduction is among the very best in American letters. &#160;Desert Solitaire is prophetic, a classic of a nature book and a hoot to read. Ed’s central message proclaims the paramount importance of wilderness and the necessity of the fight against the destruction of wild places, just as we would defend our own home from an armed intruder. Many of us thought that someone, maybe several writers, would come along and fill those big lecherous, toothy shoes Ed left behind. But, for whatever reason, they didn’t. I believe Abbey’s masterpiece is the most important book yet written in the considerable library of conservation literature.</p>
<p>Edward Abbey died as he had lived, with great dignity, fierce in his love of life, thinking of the wild desert and of his children. I shudder yet with the memory: his death was the bravest I’ve attended. To live in the joy of each day, experience the sorrow and, yes, to fight, to rage: Wilderness, he said, is the only thing worth saving.</p>
<p>On his very last solo camping trip to our most inviolate of desert places, the Cabeza Prieta wildlands of Arizona, Abbey scratched out his last notes in his field notebook around a tiny campfire:</p>
<p>“Smog in the valley between here and the Growler Range. Fucking Phoenix. Fucking LA. Fucking techno-industrial culture. You know what? I wish DOUG PEACOCK would appear, looking for me.”</p>
<p>Well Ed, I say to the smoke, I’m on my way. We all are.</p>
<p>DOUG PEACOCK is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Walking It Off: a Veteran’s Chronicle of War and Wilderness</a>, and co-author, with Andrea Peacock, of <a href="" type="internal">The Essential Grizzly: the Mingled Fates of Men and Bears.</a></p>
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<p /> | Desert Solitaire, Revisited | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/11/04/desert-solitaire-revisited/ | 2010-11-04 | 4 |
<p>Clunk. That was the sound last week when a report on the Everglades by the National Research Council (NRC) hit the desk of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.</p>
<p>Of course, I’ve never seen the governor’s desk. I write from the other side of the castle keep and pole axes, outside the moat.</p>
<p>But I have good company in the dreaming department.</p>
<p>Reports that the governor’s office dismissed recommendations of the nation’s top science advisers don’t fit reality, either.</p>
<p>The NRC bases its work on empirical evidence, a good thing, because if it were left to the state, Re-Engineering Water Storage in the Everglades: Risks and Opportunities would never have seen the light of day.</p>
<p>The NRC concludes the most urgent task of that contingency plan is to protect sufficient lands from irreversible development now.</p>
<p>Its key point is that options for water storage — mainly the multibillion-dollar gamble on aquifer storage and recovery wells (ASR) — are so rife with uncertainty that there is an immediate need for government to regroup around the single option we know works: more wetlands, on the order of several hundred thousand acres.</p>
<p>The NRC slices and dices ASR a thousand ways, but it still comes a cropper.</p>
<p>ASR represents nearly three-quarters of the new water promised from the Everglades restoration project, but it will take a decade or more to know whether ASR will even work. In the meantime, the only feasible contingency, using the sugar fields in the Everglades Agricultural Area for surface water storage, could be lost — I note, will be lost — to bulldozers, builder associations and campaign contributions.</p>
<p>I mean, this is Florida, right? And sugar is the equal opportunity exploiter of political parties par excellence.</p>
<p>So, instead of tearing my hair out — I actually don’t have much hair left to tear out — I am going to put in plain view some stuff the NRC won’t touch with a 10-foot pole.</p>
<p>Sugar will never have better friends in the White House or Congress or in the Florida Legislature.</p>
<p>But the Republican majority can’t support corporate welfare for the nation’s richest farmers forever.</p>
<p>With new federal dietary guidelines highlighting the fat role sugar plays in unhealthy lives, with Castro falling down steps and giving lift to dreams of soon growing sugar where the federal Environmental Protection Agency or county commission does not roost, sugar knows that change is on the way.</p>
<p>How smart is sugar? It foisted on taxpayers an expanding share of costs to clean up its pollution of the Everglades. It manipulated U.S. farm policy to keep the lid on impoverished Caribbean nations that produce sugar at a far lower cost. It dropped lawsuits like tips at a capitol bar.</p>
<p>Luck is way blinder than justice.</p>
<p>Give credit to the Federal Reserve and years of low interest rates that turned land where owners had grown wealthy into the hottest speculative real-estate market in the world. And sugar didn’t lift a finger to do it.</p>
<p>So what do you do when you are holding the only trifecta ticket in town? You cash in.</p>
<p>But here is the catch: The instant the first permit to convert sugar land in the EAA to housing tracts is approved, any leverage by the government and any hope for the Everglades is lost. Forever.</p>
<p>Doesn’t matter how sugar dresses up its first permit application — what glitter and sequins are sown on its sleeves — the Everglades gets saved one way only: if the future of the entire Everglades Agricultural Area is dealt with, as a whole, right now.</p>
<p>Does Bush have the constitution to stand up to sugar? Does he have the guts to bond out the purchase of EAA lands above and beyond the largest state land-buying program in the nation? Will his administration refuse to approve any development permits until a fully funded plan is in place to buy out property owners and create the surface water storage equivalent to what is dreamt in the idiotic plan to drill out Florida’s aquifers?</p>
<p>None of these questions is raised in the NRC report, of course.</p>
<p>But the NRC does note that in the early 1990s, the annual value of crops grown in the EAA was in the neighborhood of $640 million. Put that number next to the $12 billion U.S. taxpayers are forking over to fund a restoration plan that is designed to save a crop that is uneconomic and unsustainable and whose political blowback has done more harm to common sense than it has to all to all the birds that once existed in the Everglades.</p>
<p>So there you have it, that clunk the NRC report made on the desk of Bush ripped straight through taxpayer pockets.</p>
<p>Chances are if the governor ignores the NRC report, Everglades restoration will turn into the most innovative scheme for profiteering since buccaneers in the Florida Keys lured shipwrecks to the reef by setting out lights on the shoals to convey a safe way home.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if Bush carefully reads the NRC report and acts according to empirical evidence, he will earn more kudos, medals and parades than science can account for.</p>
<p>But there is no in-between in the heaven and hell of the Everglades.</p>
<p>From the angels in heaven, there will only be jeers if piecemeal permitting of the Everglades Agricultural Area is allowed to occur.</p>
<p>ALAN FARAGO, a writer on the environment and politics, can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>He wrote this commentary for the Orlando Sentinel. The NRC report is available online at <a href="http://www.nationalacademies/" type="external">http://www.nationalacademies</a>.</p> | Heaven and Hell in the Everglades | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/02/01/heaven-and-hell-in-the-everglades/ | 2005-02-01 | 4 |
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<p>Javier Esparza, 10, of Las Cruces holds his nose as he walks through the polar bear tunnel at the BioPark with his 13-year-old sister, Leslie, and grandparents Francisco and Maria Esparza. He said he was holding his nose because of the smell. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Copyright © 2014 Albuquerque Journal</p>
<p>Visitors to the zoo can expect to smell the animals.</p>
<p>But the children? Well, nobody’s supposed to smell what the kids leave behind.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>City staffers are on the lookout this summer for any puddles left in the dark corners of the Albuquerque BioPark.</p>
<p>“You get 1.2 million (visits) a year, you’re bound to have some accidents,” BioPark Director Rick Janser said. “Even though there’s plenty of bathrooms around, sometimes the kids can’t make it.”</p>
<p>The cave by the polar bears had a pungent odor over the weekend that hit visitors like a wall, and the reptile building didn’t smell so great, either.</p>
<p>Janser said zookeepers have found occasional evidence of potty mishaps near the zookeepers’ door to the giraffe area, among other places.</p>
<p>Crews power-wash the zoo twice a month, he said, but zookeepers and other staffers have been asked this week to check more often for any unwanted deposits.</p>
<p>Austyn MacDonald, Shennen MacDonald, Eileen MacDonald and Jack Shinaut, all of El Paso, look at snakes in the amphibian and reptile building of the BioPark’s zoo, which had an odd smell over the weekend. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>The polar bear exhibit is also getting extra cleaning this week.</p>
<p>No one’s ever been caught in the act, Janser said, but he assumes it’s children who have trouble holding it.</p>
<p>“I’m hoping that’s what it is,” he said. “I have a higher faith in human nature than to have it be an adult.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The zoo takes regular steps also to combat the smell of animal urine. It uses a “pee eliminator” that eats urine and odors.</p>
<p>Sometimes, however, there isn’t much that can be done. The zoo can’t change the water in the flamingo area during breeding season, and gorillas have glands in their armpits that produce an odor when excited.</p>
<p>“Animal smells we can take care of pretty well,” Janser said. “It’s the human ones, however, you don’t expect to show up.”</p>
<p>It’s the zookeepers themselves who usually notice any human-based smells, Janser said, but the public is welcome to notify the zoo as well.</p>
<p>“We love when people let us know about these things,” he said. “We think we have everything covered, and sometimes we don’t.”</p>
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<p /> | A wee problem at the zoo | false | https://abqjournal.com/446365/at-the-zoo.html | 2 |
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<p>A police riot over an austerity bill, or a failed attempt to oust leftist Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa from office? In the aftermath of the Sept. 30 attack on Correa by police in Quito, it is looking more and more like this was an orchestrated coup. And while there is no evidence that the U.S. was directly involved, the Obama administration’s strong support for the current Honduran government may well have encouraged the plotters to expect similar treatment by Washington.</p>
<p>The police attack on Correa was co-coordinated with similar takeovers in several other cities, the seizure of Ecuador’s two largest airports by army troops, and the occupation of the National Assembly. In the end the Ecuadorian Army supported the President, freed him from the police hospital where he was being held, and whisked him to safety, but only after a firefight killed one soldier and a student who had turned out to support Correa. The President’s car was struck by five bullets. According to the Latin American Herald Tribune, eight people died and 274 were wounded in incidents nationwide.</p>
<p>Suspicion has fallen on former president and army colonel Lucio Gutierrez, who led a 2000 coup and has called for Correa’s ouster. Gutierrez currently lives in Brazil and denies any link to the attempted coup. Correa also charges that Gutierrez’s brother Gilmar, a member of the National Assembly, supported the coup.</p>
<p>Last year’s coup in Honduras that ousted Manuel Zelaya has cast a shadow across the region, raising up the ghosts of a previous era when military takeovers routinely toppled governments in Latin America, including those in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador. According to The Guardian, Correa said in the aftermath of the Honduran coup, “We have intelligence reports that say after Zelaya, I’m next.”</p>
<p>After Zelaya was ousted, the coup-led government of Roberto Micheletti organized elections—boycotted by most the population—and put Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo into power. Most countries in the region refuse to recognize the Lobo government, including the region’s major players, Brazil and Argentina.</p>
<p>In spite of the fact that the Lobo government has overseen a wave of terror directed at journalists, trade unionists, gays and lesbians, and opposition activists, Washington is pushing hard for countries to end Honduras’s regional isolation and its suspension from the Organization of American States (OAS).</p>
<p>“Now is the time for the hemisphere as a whole to move forward and welcome Honduras back into the inter-American community,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the OAS.</p>
<p>But most countries are wary of anything that might give the appearance of endorsing a government brought in via a coup. There is also concern about the ongoing human rights crisis in Honduras. Reporters Without Borders has labeled Honduras the most dangerous country in the world for journalists—eight have been murdered in the past year—and human rights groups, including Amnesty International, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have all condemned the on-going reign of terror directed at members of the Honduran opposition, the National Front of Popular Resistance.</p>
<p>While most nations in the region are reluctant to bed down with the Honduran government, the U.S. has opened the military aid spigot, donating $812,000 worth of heavy trucks to the Honduran Army. In the meantime, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is handing out $75 million for development projects, and $20 million for the “Merida” security program.</p>
<p>“Washington’s support for the coup government in Honduras over the past year has encouraged and increased the likelihood of rightwing coups against democratic left governments in the region,” writes The Guardian’s Latin American correspondent Mark Weisbrot. “This attempt in Ecuador has failed, but there will likely be more threats in the months and years ahead.”</p>
<p>Two obvious candidates are Bolivia and Paraguay. In the case of the former, organizations like USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED)—both of which gave active support to organizations behind the Honduran coup—are active.</p>
<p>In Honduras, NED and USAID helped finance the Peace and Democracy Movement and the Civil Democratic Union, both dominated by the country’s tiny elite, and which strongly supported the coup. Many of the Honduran Army’s officers, including coup leaders Gen. Vasquez Velasquez and Gen. Prince Suazo, have been trained by the U.S. Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation, the former “School for the Americas” that has trained coup makers and human rights violators from throughout Latin America.</p>
<p>According to !Presente!, a publication critical of the School for the Americas, the commander of the police barracks where Honduran President Correa was attacked, Col Manuel Rivadeneira Tello, is a graduate of the School’s combat arms training course.</p>
<p>Bolivian President Evo Morales recently threatened to expel USAID for its role in financing opposition separatist groups based in the country’s wealthy eastern provinces. Along with the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD)—an organization long associated with the Central Intelligence Agency—USAID and NED have underwritten separatist media and organizations based in the wealthy province of Santa Cruz, where most of the country’s natural gas deposits lie.</p>
<p>The possibility of Eastern Bolivia declaring independence is very real and, if it happens, U.S. organizations will have played a major role in encouraging it.</p>
<p>In May of this year, Fernando Lugo, the progressive president of Paraguay, reported to the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) meeting in Buenos Aires, that he had evidence of a coup aimed at overthrowing his government. Lugo had a closed-door meeting with the UNASUR members, following which UNASUR reaffirmed its full support for the Paraguayan government.</p>
<p>Paraguay is one of the poorest and most unequal countries on the continent, and it was long dominated by a military dictatorship. Lugo, who took office in August 2008 for a five-year term, put together a coalition that broke the 60-year stranglehold the conservative Colorado Party had over the country.</p>
<p>Lugo has weathered some personal scandals—he is a former Catholic Bishop who fathered a number of children—and is currently suffering from lymphoma. He is locked in a battle with his more conservative vice-president, Federico Franco, and at loggerheads with a fractious congress that has made getting legislation through a trial. Those are the kind of difficulties that might well encourage Paraguay’s rightwing military and the Coloradoans to consider a coup, particularly if they think that Washington will eventually take a position similar to the one it took on Honduras.</p>
<p>Of course not all coups are successful these days. An outpour of popular support for Hugo Chavez reversed the 2001 Venezuela coup, and Correa’s 67 percent positive rating—he has doubled healthcare spending, increased social services, and stiffed a phony $3.2 billion foreign debt—certainly played a role in spiking the Ecuador coup.</p>
<p>But U.S. organizations like NED and AIFLD, active throughout the hemisphere, were closely associated with the Venezuelan coup makers.</p>
<p>The Obama Administration promised a new deal in Latin America and a break from the policies of the Bush Administration. Instead it has beefed up its military presence in Colombia, sharpened its attacks on Venezuela, refused to back away from its blockade of Cuba, and played footsie with Honduran government.</p>
<p>If countries in the region are paranoid, maybe they have reasons for it.</p>
<p>CONN HALLINAN can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p> | Ecuador: Coup or Riot? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/10/08/ecuador-coup-or-riot/ | 2010-10-08 | 4 |
<p>WOODS HOLE (MA)ABC 6&#160;</p>
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<p>(Woods Hole-AP) -- A Woods Hole priest has been suspended from his duties because of his connection to the investigation into the murder of a Falmouth man.</p>
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<p>The Fall River diocese says the Reverend Bernard Kelly of St. Joseph's parish was placed on leave pending the outcome of the probe into Jonathan Wessner's death.</p>
<p>Paul Nolin of Falmouth has been charged with kidnapping and murdering Wessner after the two met at a party in Falmouth. Wessner's body was found on a Falmouth Beach last Saturday.</p>
<p>Nolin's attorney tells the Cape Cod Times that his client and Kelly were "good friends."</p>
<p>Nolin was a parishioner at St. Joseph and worked at the church as a handyman.</p>
<p>The Cape Cod Times says Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe approached Fall River Bishop George Coleman last week, telling him investigators wanted to speak with Kelly.</p> | Woods Hole priest connected to investigation of Falmouth murder | false | https://poynter.org/news/woods-hole-priest-connected-investigation-falmouth-murder | 2003-10-08 | 2 |
<p>PRAGUE (Reuters) - A fourth person has died from injuries sustained in a fire on Saturday at a hotel in central Prague, a hospital spokesman said.</p> Firefighters work at the scene of a fire at a hotel in Prague, Czech Republic January 20, 2018. REUTERS/Milan Kammermayer Slideshow (3 Images)
<p>The fire broke out on Saturday evening at the Eurostars David Hotel, situated on a narrow street a block away from the Vltava River.</p>
<p>Two people died on Saturday and were identified by police on Sunday as a German man born in 1996, and a South Korean woman born in 1997.</p>
<p>The hospital spokesman said two more people who died on Sunday were women. Police said they had yet to identify the women.</p>
<p>Four other people injured in the fire remained in hospital, police said. Their conditions were unclear.</p>
<p>Investigations into the cause of the fire were continuing, police said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by John Stonestreet and Susan Fenton</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he was suspending a new agreement with the U.N. refugee agency to relocate thousands of African migrants, as right-wing pressure mounted on him to scrap the deal.</p> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem April 2, 2018. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
<p>Hours after announcing the new arrangement, which would also give thousands of other migrants the right to stay in Israel, Netanyahu posted a message on his Facebook page saying he was putting its implementation on hold until further review.</p>
<p>The fate of some 37,000 Africans in Israel has posed a moral dilemma for a state founded as a haven for Jews from persecution and a national home. The right-wing government has been under pressure from its nationalist voter base to expel the migrants.</p>
<p>According to the agreement, about 16,250 of about 37,000 African migrants, most of them from Eritrea and Sudan, would be relocated to Western nations while others would be allowed to stay in Israel.</p>
<p>At a news conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu praised the new agreement reached with the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR). But in the hours that followed the announcement he faced growing calls on social and mainstream media to abolish the deal.</p>
<p>Some Israelis accused him of caving to left-wing pressure and betraying the residents of south Tel Aviv, a poor part of the city which has attracted the largest migrant community, changing its ethnic makeup and enraging some of its inhabitants who want the migrants out.</p>
<p>“I am attentive to you, especially to the residents of south Tel Aviv,” Netanyahu said on Facebook, adding that he planned to meet with local representatives on Tuesday.</p>
<p>“In the meantime I am suspending the agreement’s implementation and after I meet with the representatives I will bring it forward for further review,” Netanyahu said.</p> FILE PHOTO: Pepole take part in a protest against the Israeli government's plan to deport African migrants, in Tel Aviv, Israel March 24, 2018. REUTERS/Corinna Kern/File Photo
<p>Implementing the signed agreement was expected to take five years and Netanyahu’s backtrack was largely seen in Israel as an attempt to appease his voter base and keep its support at a time of political uncertainty.</p>
<p>The four-term prime minister faces one of the greatest challenges to his career yet - he is under police investigation in three different corruption cases. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing.</p>
<p>Naftali Bennett, leader of the Israeli far-right party Jewish Home, a key member of Netanyahu’s coalition government and a competitor for Israel’s right-wing votes, said on Twitter the agreement would encourage more people to enter the country illegally and called on Netanyahu to overturn it.</p>
<p>His calls were soon echoed by members of Netanyahu’s own Likud party.</p> PRESSURE
<p>The UNHCR in a statement confirmed an agreement was signed with Israel but did not name the countries that would accept the migrants.</p>
<p>It said it would “facilitate the departure to third countries to be determined of some 16,000 Eritreans and Sudanese under various programs, including sponsorship, resettlement, family reunion and labor migration schemes, while others will be receiving a suitable legal status in Israel.”</p>
<p>Netanyahu named Germany, Italy and Canada as examples of countries that would accept the migrants, though German and Italian officials said they had no knowledge of any such agreement.</p>
<p>Canada has an arrangement with Israeli authorities to suspend the deportation of individuals who have private sponsorship applications with Canada until they are processed, said Hursh Jaswal, spokesman for Canada’s immigration minister.</p>
<p>There were 1,845 applications being processed at the end of last year, Jaswal said.</p> FILE PHOTO: African migrants wait in line for the opening of the Population and Immigration Authority office in Bnei Brak, Israel February 4, 2018. Picture taken February 4, 2018. REUTERS/Nir Elias/File Photo
<p>A previous plan already underway for a mass deportation of some 20,000 migrants to Rwanda had led to legal challenges in Israel, drew criticism abroad and triggered an emotional public debate among Israelis.</p>
<p>In February, Israeli authorities started handing out notices to male African migrants giving them two months to leave for a third country in Africa or risk being put in jail indefinitely.</p>
<p>At immigration hearings, migrants were told they could choose to go to Rwanda or Uganda. Both countries have denied having any deal in place with Israel.</p>
<p>The U.N.’s refugee agency had urged Israel to reconsider its deportation plan, saying migrants who have relocated to sub-Saharan Africa in the past few years were unsafe and ended up on the perilous migrant trail to Europe, some suffering abuse, torture and even dying on the way.</p>
<p>Rights groups had challenged the deportation in Israel’s High Court, which on March 15 issued a temporary order that froze its implementation.</p>
<p>Netanyahu said on Facebook that Rwanda had in the past few weeks folded to immense pressure and backed out of the deal it had made with Israel to accept expelled migrants, prompting him to seek the new arrangement with the UNHCR.</p>
<p>Since 2005 a total of 64,000 Africans had entered Israel illegally over its border with Egypt, although thousands have since left. A fence Israel has built over the past few years along the frontier has largely stemmed the flow.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Philip Pullella in Rome and Joseph Nasr in Berlin; Editing by Hugh Lawson and James Dalgleish</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>RIYADH (Reuters) - King Salman reiterated Saudi Arabia’s support for a Palestinian state after his son and heir apparent said Israelis were entitled to live peacefully on their own land - a rare statement by an Arab leader.</p> Saudi Arabia's King Salman attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin (not in the picture) in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia October 5, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Kadobnov/Pool
<p>The king also emphasized the need to advance the peace process in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday night, made after Israeli security forces killed 16 Palestinians last week during a demonstration along the Israel-Gaza border</p>
<p>King Salman reaffirmed “the kingdom’s steadfast position toward the Palestinian issue and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital”, state news agency SPA said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The report did not refer to the comments by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in an interview published on Monday by U.S. magazine The Atlantic, which are the latest public sign that ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel may be growing closer.</p>
<p>Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Prince Mohammed was quoted as saying:</p>
<p>“I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.”</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest shrines, does not recognize Israel. It has maintained for years that normalizing relations hinges on Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war, territory Palestinians seek for a future state.</p> Riyadh says Israel has right to its own land
<p>Increased tension between Riyadh and Tehran has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they see as a common Iranian threat.</p>
<p>Reporting By Stephen Kalin; editing by David Stamp</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said in a published interview that Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land, another public sign of an apparent thawing in ties between the two countries.</p>
<p>Asked if he believes the Jewish people have a right to a nation state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, Mohammed bin Salman was quoted by U.S. magazine The Atlantic as saying:</p>
<p>“I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations.”</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia - birthplace of Islam and site of its holiest shrines - does not officially recognize Israel. It has maintained for years that normalizing relations hinges on an Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war - territory Palestinians seek for a future state.</p>
<p>“We have religious concerns about the fate of the holy mosque in Jerusalem and about the rights of the Palestinian people. This is what we have. We don’t have any objection against any other people,” said Prince Mohammed, who is touring the United States to drum up investments and support for his efforts to contain Iranian influence.</p>
<p>Increased tension between Tehran and Riyadh has fueled speculation that shared interests may push Saudi Arabia and Israel to work together against what they regard as a common Iranian threat.</p>
<p>“There are a lot of interests we share with Israel and if there is peace, there would be a lot of interest between Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries,” Prince Mohammed added.</p>
<p>The German foreign ministry welcomed his comments and ministry officials underscored the Saudi role in pushing for an Arab peace initiative as early as 2002.</p>
<p>“The prince’s comments are very close to the position of Germany and the EU: We need a two-state solution and serious negotiations to achieve that,” said one ministry official. “Israelis and Palestinians have a right to peaceful lives in their own country.”</p>
<p>Israeli-Palestinian peace talks envisaging a Palestinian state alongside Israel have been frozen since 2014.</p> FILE PHOTO: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is seen during a meeting with U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the United Nations headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. March 27, 2018. REUTERS/Amir Levy/File Photo
<p>Saudi Arabia opened its air space for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel last month, which an Israeli official hailed as historic following two years of efforts.</p>
<p>In November, an Israeli cabinet member disclosed covert contacts with Saudi Arabia, a rare acknowledgment of long-rumoured secret dealings which Riyadh still denies.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last year. But Arab officials told Reuters at the time that Riyadh appears to be on board with a broader U.S. strategy for an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan still in its early phases of development.</p>
<p>Reporting by Stephen Kalin in Riyadh and Sabine Siebold in Berlin; Editing by Mark Heinrich</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Three foreign powers who have shaped Syria’s civil war - Iran, Russia and Turkey - will discuss ways to wind down the fighting on Wednesday despite their involvement in rival military campaigns on the ground.</p> Syrian and Russian soldiers are seen at a checkpoint near Wafideen camp in Damascus, Syria March 2, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki
<p>The leaders of the three countries will meet in Ankara for talks on a new constitution for Syria and increasing security in “de-escalation” zones across the country, Turkish officials say.</p>
<p>The Syria summit brings together two powers which have been President Bashar al-Assad’s most forceful supporters, Iran and Russia, with one of his strongest opponents, Turkey.</p>
<p>Cooperation between the rival camps raised hopes of stabilizing Syria after seven years of conflict in which 500,000 people have been killed and half the population displaced.</p>
<p>But the violence has raged on, highlighting strategic rifts between the three countries who, in the absence of decisive Western intervention, hold Syria’s fate largely in their hands.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-iran-syria/u-s-and-israel-interfere-in-syria-says-iran-president-idUSKCN1HA1X6" type="external">U.S. and Israel interfere in Syria, says Iran president</a>
<p>Syria’s army and Iran-backed militias, with Russian air power, have crushed insurgents near Damascus in eastern Ghouta - one of the four mooted “de-escalation zones”.</p>
<p>Turkey, which sharply criticized the Ghouta offensive, waged its own military operation to drive Kurdish YPG fighters from the northwestern Syrian region of Afrin. It has pledged to take the town of Tel Rifaat and push further east, angering Iran.</p>
<p>“Whatever the intentions are, Turkey’s moves in Syria, whether in Afrin, Tel Rifaat or any other part of Syria, should be halted as soon as possible,” a senior Iranian official said.</p>
<p>Iran has been Assad’s most supportive ally throughout the conflict. Iran-backed militias first helped his army stem rebel advances and, following Russia’s entry into the war in 2015, turn the tide decisively in Assad’s favor.</p>
<p>A Turkish official said Ankara will ask Moscow to press Assad to grant more humanitarian access in Ghouta, and to rein in air strikes on rebel-held areas. “We expect ... Russia to control the regime more,” the official told reporters this week.</p> RIFTS OVER ASSAD
<p>Ankara’s relations with Moscow collapsed in 2015 when Turkey shot down a Russian warplane but have recovered since then - to the concern of Turkey’s Western allies.</p>
<p>Turkey was one of the few NATO partners not to expel Russian diplomats in response to a nerve agent attack on a former Russian agent which Britain blamed on Moscow - an allegation which Turkey said was not proven.</p>
<p>Improved political ties have been reflected in Turkey’s agreement to buy a Russian missile defence system and plans for Russia’s ROSATOM to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.</p>
<p>Turkey has also expanded relations with Iran, exchanging visits by military chiefs of staff, although its deepening ties with Tehran and Moscow have not translated into broader agreement on Syria’s future.</p>
<p>Iran remains determined that Assad stay in power, while Russia is less committed to keeping him in office, a regional diplomat said. Turkey says Assad has lost legitimacy, although it no longer demands his immediate departure.</p>
<p>At a meeting in Russia two months ago, boycotted by the leadership of Syria’s opposition, delegates agreed to set up a committee to rewrite Syria’s constitution and called for democratic elections.</p>
<p>Turkey says Wednesday’s meeting will discuss setting up the constitutional committee, humanitarian issues and developments in Syria’s northern Idlib region, which is under the control of rival rebel factions and jihadi groups, and where Turkey has set up seven military observation posts.</p>
<p>“There are issues where all three countries have different policies in Syria,” another Turkish official said. “In this regard, an aim is to find middle ground and create policies to improve the current situation.”</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun and Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara, Writing by Dominic Evans, Editing by Angus MacSwan</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Fourth person dies after Prague hotel fire Israel suspends new relocation deal for African migrants Saudi king reiterates support for Palestinians after Israel comments Saudi crown prince says Israelis have right to their own land Russia, Iran and Turkey struggle to find common ground on Syria | false | https://reuters.com/article/czech-fire/update-1-fourth-person-dies-after-prague-hotel-fire-idUSL8N1PG0HR | 2018-01-21 | 2 |
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday afternoon's drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery's "Pick 4 Day" game were:</p>
<p>5-6-5-0, Wild: 5</p>
<p>(five, six, five, zero; Wild: five)</p>
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday afternoon's drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery's "Pick 4 Day" game were:</p>
<p>5-6-5-0, Wild: 5</p>
<p>(five, six, five, zero; Wild: five)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Pick 4 Day' game | false | https://apnews.com/6bb78bbdc63c46efb81a0eec66ede2b9 | 2018-01-05 | 2 |
<p>At a stop of liberal pundit Tavis Smiley and activist Dr. Cornel West’s “Poverty Tour 2.0” at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., The Nation’s Greg Kaufmann spoke with students about their crippling experiences with poverty.</p>
<p>“Where I’m from, they just prepare you for the life they expect you to have,” said one young man, talking about the treatment he received from teachers and police officers where he grew up in Louisiana.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p>
<p>VideoNation:</p>
<p /> | Students Talk Poverty on National Tour | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/students-talk-poverty-on-national-tour/ | 2012-09-16 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>FORT WORTH, Texas - Fort Worth police are investigating after an officer was caught on tape appearing to use pepper spray in the direction of a group of passing motorcyclists.</p>
<p>A video posted on Facebook shows an officer step out of a Fort Worth police squad car and start to use spray from a can.</p>
<p>Passing in front of the officer were a convoy of dozens of bikers on a highway.</p>
<p>A police spokeswoman told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1Ln1zDf" type="external">http://bit.ly/1Ln1zDf</a> ) that the department hadn't identified the officer in the video and were also trying to locate other witnesses.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Video suggests Texas officer used pepper spray toward bikers | false | https://abqjournal.com/740314/video-suggests-texas-officer-used-pepper-spray-toward-bikers.html | 2 |
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<p>He would be an elder statesman now, a lion in winter, an American hero perhaps impatient with the fuss being made over his birthday. At 83, he’d likely still have his wits and his voice. Surely, if he were able, he would continue to preach, and to pray — and to dream.</p>
<p>For the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., dreaming was not optional. It was a requirement of citizenship to envision a fairer, more prosperous nation no longer shackled by racism and poverty. It was a duty to imagine a world no longer ravaged by senseless wars. His most famous speech was less an invitation to share his epic dream than a commandment.</p>
<p>In these sour, pessimistic times, it is important to remember the great lesson of King’s remarkable life: Impossible dreams can come true.</p>
<p>This is not a partisan message; King was every bit as tough on Democrats as Republicans. His activism even transcended ideology. His call for social justice and his opposition to the Vietnam War were rightly seen as liberal, but his insistence on the primacy of faith and family was deeply conservative. His birthday is a national holiday because his words and deeds ennoble us all.</p>
<p />
<p>Thinking about King’s legacy reminds me that this is hardly the first time our society has been bitterly divided and fearful of an uncertain future. When he led the 1963 March on Washington and gave his indelible “I Have a Dream” speech, many Southern whites, including officials, were still determined to resist racial integration by any means necessary. Many black Americans were fed up, no longer willing to wait patiently for the rights promised them under the Constitution.</p>
<p>We were inured to television images that today would be shocking. Police dogs turned loose on peaceful protesters. Columns of smoke rising from cities across the land following King’s assassination.</p>
<p>As he predicted, King did not live to reach the mountaintop. But his leadership — and that of so many others in the civil rights movement — set us on a path that changed the nation in ways that once seemed unimaginable. Racism, sexism and all the other poisonous -isms have not been eradicated, but they have been dramatically reduced and marginalized. It is difficult for young people to believe that overt discrimination — “You can’t have that job because you’re black” or “I’m going to pay you less because you’re a woman” — used to be seen as normal.</p>
<p>Today, the nation is suffering what I see as a crisis of confidence. Economic globalization and advances in productivity have hollowed out the U.S. manufacturing sector, eliminating millions of blue-collar jobs. For the first time, parents have to worry whether their children’s standard of living will decline rather than improve. Demographic change is about to make this a nation without a white majority; by the middle of the century, we’ll be an increasingly diverse collection of racial and ethnic minorities — held together, even more than in the past, by the ideals of the nation’s founding documents.</p>
<p>We’re struggling to climb out of the worst recession in decades. We’re deeply in debt. Most of us agree on the need for a social safety net but not on how to structure it or how to pay for it. Our political system is sclerotic if not dysfunctional. The last few elections have not produced a consensus on the way forward. The next won’t, either.</p>
<p>I consider myself fortunate that when I’m feeling pessimistic about all of this, I’m able to visit the new King Memorial that was dedicated in October. The towering statue of King looks out toward the Jefferson Memorial, honoring the man whose stirring words now apply to all Americans, not just a few. Behind King is the Lincoln Memorial, a tribute to a leader who shepherded the nation through days much darker than these.</p>
<p>The plaza surrounding King’s statue opens up to the Tidal Basin as if to demonstrate how our nation, at its best, embraces possibility.</p>
<p>The first time I visited the memorial, I ran into former Sen. George Allen from Virginia. He and I disagree on almost everything — and since he’s running for office again, I’m sure we’ll be on opposite sides of many issues. But on a crystalline morning, we were able to stand together, awed by King’s moral vision and humbled by his challenge: We can be better. We must. We will.</p>
<p>Eugene Robinson’s e-mail address is eugenerobinson(at)washpost.com.</p>
<p>© 2011, Washington Post Writers Group</p> | The Dream That Came True | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-dream-that-came-true/ | 2012-01-16 | 4 |
<p>&#160;This <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175077" type="external">story</a> first appeared on the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external">Tom Dispatch website</a>.</p>
<p>Or How to Stay Out of Sight While Profiting From the War in Iraq By Pratap Chatterjee</p>
<p>The Houstonian Hotel is an elegant, secluded resort set on an 18-acre wooded oasis in the heart of downtown Houston. Two weeks ago, David Lesar, CEO of the once notorious energy services corporation Halliburton, spoke to some 100 shareholders and members of senior management gathered there at the company’s annual meeting. All was remarkably staid as they celebrated Halliburton’s $4 billion in operating profits in 2008, a striking 22% return at a time when many companies are announcing record losses. Analysts remain bullish on Halliburton’s stock, reflecting a more general view that any company in the oil business is likely to have a profitable future in store.</p>
<p>There were no protestors outside the meeting this year, nor the kind of national media stakeouts commonplace when Lesar <a href="http://indymedia.org/en/2004/05/111061.shtml" type="external">addressed</a> the same crew at the posh Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Houston in May 2004. Then, dozens of mounted police faced off against 300 protestors in the streets outside, while a San Francisco group that dubbed itself the Ronald Reagan Home for the Criminally Insane fielded activists in Bush and Cheney masks, offering fake $100 bills to passers-by in a mock protest against war profiteering. And don’t forget the 25-foot inflatable pig there to mock shareholders. Local TV crews swarmed, a national crew from NBC flew in from New York, and reporters from the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal eagerly scribbled notes.</p>
<p>Now the 25-foot pigs are gone and all is quiet on the western front. How did Halliburton, once branded the ugly stepchild of Dick Cheney—the company’s former CEO—and a poster child of war profiteering, receive such absolution from anti-war activists and the media? Of course, the defeat of the Republicans in the 2008 election, the departure of the Bush administration, and a general apathy towards the ongoing, but lower-level war in Iraq are part of the answer, but don’t ignore a potentially brilliant financial sleight of hand by Halliburton either. That move played a crucial role in the cleansing of the company.</p>
<p>“Burn &amp; Loot”</p>
<p>Halliburton has been doing work in war zones since the early 1960s, when it acquired the construction company Brown &amp; Root and was tasked by the Pentagon with <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521888653" type="external">building</a> the infrastructure for the Vietnam War. Back in those days, it was vilified as “Burn &amp; Loot.” After more than three decades in news obscurity, in March 2003, with the invasion of Iraq, it suddenly returned to national attention. After all, not only had its former CEO been beating the public drums for an invasion, but its subsidiary KBR (the old Brown &amp; Root) had been given a vast, open-ended, <a href="http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=6008" type="external">multi-billion dollar contract</a> to build and maintain the new infrastructure of bases that the U.S. military was rushing to construct in that country.</p>
<p>More than six years later, KBR has taken in over $31 billion for a variety of services to the U.S. military, notably in the field of logistics, and the money continues to flow in. As of April 2008, under a renewed contract, the company estimated that it had served more than 720 million <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175036/pratap_chatterjee_inheriting_halliburton_s_army" type="external">meals</a>, driven more than 400 million miles on various convoy missions, treated 12 billion gallons of potable water, and produced more than 267 million tons of ice. While these numbers may be impressive, so are the multiple claims from Pentagon investigators of Godzilla-like overcharges and waste, not to speak of spiraling claims of workplace negligence, including faulty electrical wiring that led to deaths and injuries on bases KBR built, and a failure to provide adequately clean water supplies to the troops; and then there are those <a href="http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/" type="external">allegations of war profiteering</a> made by activist groups and politicians.</p>
<p>In September 2004, Lesar announced that Halliburton was considering spinning off KBR as a separate company, in part he claimed because it was bearing the brunt of a “vicious campaign” of political attacks and its employees didn’t “deserve to have their jobs threatened for political gain.” It took three years, but in April 2007 the spin-off of KBR was completed. It is now officially on its own, and the results for both companies seem little short of miraculous. No protestors even attended the three annual shareholder meetings that KBR has since held, though its activities in the war zones have hardly changed, and only five made it to Halliburton’s in 2008. This year, of course, the protesting larder was bare.</p>
<p>Five shareholder activists did manage to attend Halliburton’s annual meeting, including me. (I own a single share of Halliburton stock.) When I asked Lesar about the company’s links to KBR, he responded unequivocally, “First of all, let’s be very clear, KBR and Halliburton are legally separated.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1568583923/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external" />Just three months ago, however, Halliburton didn’t hesitate to <a href="http://www.halliburton.com/public/news/pubsdata/press_release/2009/corpnws_021109.html" type="external">pay off</a> $382 million in fines to the U.S. Department of Justice as part of the settlement of a controversial KBR gas project in Nigeria in which the company admitted to paying a $180 million bribe to government officials. Halliburton, Lesar assured us, had been willing to pony up such a sum to ensure that KBR could survive on its own. He painted the payment as an act of corporate generosity. I asked Albert Cornelison and Mark McCollum, Halliburton’s top lawyer and chief financial officer, if the company had similarly agreed to pay off any future judgments against the company on its monster military logistics contracts in Iraq. Cornelison responded that he doubted the company had financial obligations for KBR’s work in Iraq.</p>
<p>Military Investigations Continue</p>
<p>In reality, Halliburton’s decision to spin the company off was surely tied to hopes that it might indeed escape a number of pending Iraq investigations and lawsuits, as well as tamp down the bad publicity KBR was generating. Still, those investigations are ongoing. At Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the headquarters of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), the office in charge of reviewing the Pentagon’s payments to KBR, a small group of investigators continue to pursue that company’s failures.</p>
<p>In early May, at a <a href="http://www.wartimecontracting.gov/hearing-20090504.htm" type="external">hearing</a> on Capitol Hill, DCAA director April G. Stephenson told the independent, bipartisan, congressionally-mandated Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan that, since 2004, her staff had sent 32 cases of suspected over-billing, bribery, and other possible violations of the law to the Pentagon inspector general. The “vast majority” of these cases, she testified, were linked to KBR, which accounts for a staggering 43% of the dollars the Pentagon has spent in Iraq. “I don’t think we’re aware of a program, contract, or contractor that has had this number of suspensions or referrals,” she told the hearing. (In the allied area of overpricing services, DCAA also recommended $4.3 billion worth of reductions to proposed or billed costs and pointed to another $3.3 billion worth of costs under the KBR contract that they believed were simply not supported.)</p>
<p>Stephenson’s staff, she indicated, recommended not paying the costs KBR had billed to the Pentagon on more than 100 occasions, among other things suspending or blocking some $553 million in payments. In but one example of typical KBR practices revealed at the hearing, the company allegedly billed the Pentagon for 4,100 prefabricated living units for military bases in Iraq at an average price of $38,000, even though another contractor offered to provide similar units for $18,000 each.</p>
<p>None of this may, however, matter, if the Pentagon continues to follow the precedents it has recently set. As Stephenson notes, the Pentagon has already agreed to pay out at least $439 million of the $553 million the DCAA questioned, after accepting the company’s explanations for each incident.</p>
<p>“I’m struck by the fact [that] the military doesn’t seem to care about the cost as long as they get the service,” said Commissioner Christopher Shays, former Republican congressman from Connecticut. “Is part of the problem that, in essence with this one contractor, we’ve basically said, ‘KBR is too big to fail?'”</p>
<p>Shocking Revelations</p>
<p>The Pentagon even appears willing to pay KBR for contracts that may have resulted in the deaths of military personnel in Iraq, allegedly electrocuted due to shoddy work by the company’s electricians.</p>
<p>Just as Lesar was addressing Halliburton’s shareholders in Houston, Senator Byron Dorgan’s Senate Democratic Policy Committee was <a href="http://dpc.senate.gov/dpchearing.cfm?h=hearing48" type="external">holding a hearing</a> on Capitol Hill focused on KBR. Testifying was Jim Childs, a master electrician hired by the U.S. Army to help review military facilities in Iraq.</p>
<p>Childs claims that as many as 70,000 KBR-maintained buildings where troops lived and worked were unsafe because of faulty electrical wiring. “When I began inspecting the electrical work performed by KBR, my co-workers and I found improper electrical work in every building we inspected,” Childs said. Hundreds of soldiers are believed to have received electrical shocks in showers and elsewhere as a result. There have been <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/washington/23electrocute.html" type="external">four documented fatalities</a>, including Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a Green Beret, who died of electrocution while showering in his barracks in Iraq on January 2, 2008. (Maseth’s family has sued KBR, alleging wrongful death.)</p>
<p>According to Senator Dorgan, documents show that KBR was paid huge bonuses by the Pentagon for this work, much of it after the allegations became public. If accurate, this gives “shocking” a new meaning. “How could it be that, given these obviously widespread problems with KBR’s electrical work, the Pentagon decided to give KBR bonuses totaling $83.4 million for such work?” he wondered.</p>
<p>KBR, of course, denies everything. “We believe the standards that we did employ were standards that were known and thought to be acceptable in an expeditionary environment,” KBR’s William P. Utt told the Associated Press in response. “We don’t think the wiring that we installed was potentially dangerous.” In a brief statement about the deaths, the company wrote: “Based on our current knowledge and the information we have gathered to date, KBR has found no evidence of a link between the work the military tasked KBR to perform and the reported deaths that have resulted from electrocution.”</p>
<p>Who Is Responsible?</p>
<p>One of the biggest problems with the sprawling 2008 KBR mega-contract appears to be that not enough people are watching the store (and evidently, some of those who do regularly doze off when payment issues arise).</p>
<p>In early May, Michael Thibault, co-chair of the independent Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, highlighted a simple, if disturbing statistic at the second hearing of his newly established commission. Out of 504 oversight officials that, by Pentagon estimate, are needed to keep an eye on KBR’s contract in Afghanistan alone, just 166 were actually in the field in April 2009. As Thibault added:</p>
<p>“After more than six years of fighting, this is just one example of serious and persistent shortfalls in staffing and training. In military parlance, no one is pulling guard duty on contractor performance. This example, an issue by itself, points to another broader question. Who is responsible? Who’s going to fix these types of issues?”</p>
<p>At the Democratic Policy Committee hearing in late May, Charles M. Smith, a 31-year veteran of contract management in the U.S. Army, <a href="http://dpc.senate.gov/index.cfm?video_select=052009smith" type="external">testified</a> that Pentagon officials were deliberately ignoring criticism in deciding to reward KBR. Smith was in charge of KBR contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as of the award-fee or bonus-payment process that went with them. He refused to allow any bonuses to be paid out, however, because the company was not able to provide proper documentation of its costs. This was one reason, he believes, that he was taken off the contract in August 2004. Smith became a whistleblower after he retired a year ago. Here is a sample of his testimony:</p>
<p>“The award-fee process is supposed to evaluate a contractor’s performance level and provide a ‘bonus’ or award fee for superior performance. Failure to perform satisfactorily should result in a significantly lower or no award fee. [The award system] appears to me to have failed to work as it was intended and to have led to poor service for American troops, wasted taxpayer money, and possibly the deaths of soldiers in KBR operated facilities…</p>
<p>“The problems for operating in the environment of Iraq and Afghanistan are not insignificant. However, the major failure appears to me to have been a culture that decided KBR was too big to fail and too important to be held to account. The Army was aware of KBR’s poor performance in Iraq. There have been numerous government inspections and reports. The Army, however, continued to give KBR high award fees. Those high award fees appear to have sent a message to KBR that performance did not really matter. Award-fee boards and decisions are a communications tool between the government and the contractor. The contractor learns what is important to the government and will respond accordingly.”</p>
<p>And the record shows that KBR did “respond accordingly.”</p>
<p>Remembering Halliburton</p>
<p>In the meantime, Halliburton, which provided so many years of corporate “oversight” for KBR, has been cleansed of all charges in the court of public opinion and has essentially dropped from view. It has also done its best to ignore a shareholder resolution brought by Patrick Doherty, the comptroller of the city of New York, that raises the obvious issue of war profiteering in Iraq, based on the Pentagon dollars it raked in while its former CEO helped oversee the war that was making it so much money.</p>
<p>Some shareholder activists continue to pursue the company by other means. For instance, the pension fund of the Policemen and Firemen Retirement System of the City of Detroit filed a lawsuit in mid-May against David Lesar and other executives of KBR and Halliburton, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/feeds/reuters/2009/05/14/2009-05-14T225926Z_01_N14500012_RTRIDST_0_KBR.html" type="external">accusing them</a> of a “reign of terror.” The lawsuit listed a number of complaints including bribes in Nigeria, overcharging the Pentagon for services rendered, accepting kickbacks, engaging in human trafficking, and concealing the rape of an employee.</p>
<p>“Under defendants’ watch, and supposedly under their control and supervision, the companies were permitted to engage in conduct so notorious that the name ‘Halliburton’ has become virtually synonymous with ‘corruption,'” the pension fund said in a complaint filed at the Harris County District Court in Houston. “Defendants’ failures have caused the Companies to suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, and to be exposed to substantial additional judgments in the future.”</p>
<p>Heather Browne, a company spokeswoman, responded: “It appears that the lawsuit is based on unfounded allegations. We intend to vigorously defend ourselves.”</p>
<p>Another shareholder activist, John Harrington, a socially responsible investment manager in California, used his KBR shares to file a protest resolution against the company this May. According to <a href="http://harringtoninvestments.com/kbr051209.aspx" type="external">Harrington’s press release</a>:</p>
<p>“KBR’s management is obviously not taking their human rights footprint very seriously. The board of directors is accountable to shareholders, but only if we assert ourselves as the real owners of the company. Understandably, shareholders don’t like being associated with atrocities. If ever there was a need for responsible fiduciary human rights oversight within a company, it is with KBR. This company has been castigated in the press, sued, and accused of bribery, rape, murder, political corruption, tax avoidance, and who knows what else.”</p>
<p>KBR nonetheless took in another $5.7 billion from the U.S. taxpayer in 2008, up 15% from the $4.8 billion it received in 2007. With the planned drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq, KBR expects its revenue to fall this year. But shareholders need not worry: its contract with the Pentagon, signed in April 2008, potentially sets it up to make more than triple the maximum profits allowed in the previous six years.</p>
<p>Recently, the Financial Times <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/32bb2fae-48c5-11de-8870-00144feabdc0.html" type="external">ran an interview</a> with KBR’s Utt, aptly headlined “KBR believes it is ready to construct a new image.” The same day stock analyst Will Gabrielski raised his profit estimate for KBR, causing company shares to jump.</p>
<p>If forgiving and forgetting are now the norm when it comes to the records of Halliburton and KBR in the Bush years, the question remains: Will the Pentagon complete this cleansing ritual or engage in the serious task of investigating both companies?</p>
<p>Pratap Chatterjee is the <a href="http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15287" type="external">author</a> of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1568583923/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Halliburton’s Army: How a Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War</a>. He is the former executive director of CorpWatch and a shareholder of both Halliburton and KBR.</p> | Cleansing Halliburton | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/06/cleansing-halliburton/ | 2009-06-01 | 4 |
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<p>An increasing number of voters say the terrorists are winning the war against the United States.&#160; Over half think profiling and stricter gun laws would make the country safer.&#160; Meanwhile, 4-in-10 voters say shootings like the one in Orlando make them feel they need to own a gun.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>That’s according to a new Fox News Poll.</p>
<p>Currently, 44 percent think the United States and its allies are winning the war on terrorism.&#160; That’s down from 49 percent in 2010.&#160; Nearly as many, 41 percent, say the terrorists are winning.&#160; That’s up from 31 percent.&#160; The shift comes mainly from Republicans, who are much less likely to say the U.S. is winning now (27 percent) than they were six years ago (48 percent).&#160; Democrats are more likely to say the U.S. is winning today than in 2010 by five points.</p>
<p>The poll, released Wednesday, was conducted Sunday through Tuesday evenings.&#160; Suicide bombers attacked the Istanbul airport Tuesday, causing 41 deaths and injuring at least 230 more.</p>
<p>A large 84-percent majority thinks most Americans today are feeling more nervous than confident about stopping terrorist attacks.&#160; That’s up significantly from 50 percent in 2005 (the last time the question was asked by Fox).&#160; Only one-in-ten say Americans are feeling more confident than nervous that the U.S. can prevent attacks (11 percent).</p>
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<p>What would make the country safer?&#160; Fifty-nine percent think “using profiling techniques to increase government surveillance on certain types of individuals” would increase safety, and 52 percent say “passing stricter gun control laws.”</p>
<p>Forty-one percent of voters say “encouraging more citizens to carry weapons to defend themselves” would make us safer, yet almost as many, 37 percent, say less safe.</p>
<p>Fifty-three percent support a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S., yet only 40 percent think such an action would make the country safer.</p>
<p>There are greater concerns than terrorist attacks.&#160; Most voters are extremely or very concerned about the price of health care (85 percent) and the economy (84 percent).</p>
<p>Those concerns are above gun laws (79 percent concerned), attacks by Islamic terrorists (78 percent) and attacks by non-Islamic terrorists (68 percent).&#160; Smaller numbers, yet still majorities, are worried about illegal immigration (62 percent) and climate change (56 percent).</p>
<p>Since last June, concern is higher by 11 points on guns, nine points on Islamic terrorist attacks, and six points on the economy.</p>
<p>The top concerns among Republicans are attacks by Islamic terrorists (92 percent concerned) and the economy (89 percent).&#160; For Democrats, it’s the price of health care (82 percent), climate change (81 percent), and the economy (80 percent).</p>
<p>Voters worried about gun laws prefer Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in the general election (48-36 percent).&#160; Those concerned about attacks by Islamic terrorists and immigration back Trump over Clinton (45-39 percent and 52-32 percent respectively).&#160; Voters concerned about the economy split:&#160; 42 Trump vs. 41 Clinton.</p>
<p>Views are divided over whether the June 12 shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando is better described as a “mass murder” (45 percent) or a “terrorist attack” (43 percent).</p>
<p>The Muslim gunman pledged allegiance to ISIS as he killed 49 people and wounded more than 50 others.&#160; He was born in the United States to parents from Afghanistan.</p>
<p>By an eight-point margin, voters think there would be fewer victims of mass shootings if more people carried guns (47 percent) than if guns were banned (39 percent).</p>
<p>Gun sales typically increase following a major shooting.&#160; The poll asked voters to pick between two opposite reactions after an event like Orlando.&#160; For 40 percent their response is “I need to get a gun,” while 33 percent feel “The country has got to get rid of guns.”</p>
<p>Forty-six percent of voters report living in a household where someone owns a gun.&#160; These gun owners are more likely to call the Orlando shooting a terrorist attack (53 percent), to think there would be fewer shooting victims if more people carried guns (66 percent), and to feel the need to buy a gun after a shooting (58 percent).</p>
<p>President Obama’s job rating remains in positive territory:&#160; 50 percent of voters approve of his performance, while 47 percent disapprove.&#160; In early June it was 51-46 percent (June 5-8).</p>
<p>Before that, the last time Obama’s job rating was this high was just before he was re-elected in 2012, when 51 percent approved and 46 percent disapproved (October 28-30, 2012).</p>
<p>Voters split on the job Obama’s doing on the economy, as 48 percent both approve and disapprove.&#160; Still, that’s his best issue.&#160; He receives lower marks for his handling of health care (44 approve vs. 53 disapprove), foreign policy (43-50 percent), and terrorism (43-53 percent).</p>
<p>His worst ratings are on gun control.&#160; Only 36 percent of voters approve, while 59 percent disapprove.&#160; That’s up from a record low 35 percent approval in January 2014.</p>
<p>While 87 percent of Democrats approve of Obama’s overall job performance, that drops to 63 percent on gun control.</p>
<p>The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,017 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw &amp; Company Research (R) from June 26-28, 2016.&#160; The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters.</p> | Fox News Poll: Terrorists and Guns Are Rattling Americans, Say Voters | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2016/06/29/fox-news-poll-terrorists-and-guns-are-rattling-americans-say-voters.html | 2016-06-29 | 0 |
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<p>“We’ve have some time off after touring for the better part of last year,” he says during a recent phone interview. “I’ve been recharged now and am ready to take on the rest of this tour.”</p>
<p>Reynolds and his bandmates in Band of Horses are beginning a monthlong trek in support of the 2012 album, “Mirage Rock.”</p>
<p>He says it took nearly a year of writing to complete the songs on the album.</p>
<p>“What’s difficult is we did all of the writing while on tour,” he says. “That alone presents its own challenges. We also knew that we didn’t have a lot of time to get the songs recorded so we wanted a producer that would knock out the songs quickly. We spent about a month in the studio and it was all done. I have to say our system of working on music is very democratic and we’re able to discuss any problems that we have. I’ve never been in a band that has done that as successfully as we have.”</p>
<p>Band of Horses began in 2004 when Ben Bridwell wanted to start a band. He later recruited Ryan Monroe, Tyler Ramsey, Creighton Barrett and Reynolds and it’s been history since.</p>
<p>Along the way, the band has released four full-length albums – all to critical acclaim. In fact, “Mirage Rock” came in at No. 19 on Rolling Stone’s list of “best of 2012 albums.”</p>
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<p>“It’s always great that people respond to our music,” he explains. “We take a lot of pride and put in a lot of hard work into everything we do. To get the response that we’ve been getting is overwhelming, but we can’t let that get to our heads.”</p>
<p>In addition to its recently announced sets at Coachella Music Festival in Indio, Calif., and New Orleans’ annual Jazz Fest, the band has added headlining dates including a stop at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium, the Fox Theater in Oakland, Calif., and winding down with two nights at the Fillmore in Charlotte, N.C.</p>
<p>Reynolds says that after almost 10 years in the music industry the band continues to grow.</p>
<p>“We’re still experiencing a lot of new places,” he says. “Creatively we’re really strong and have the love for getting out there on tour and having fun. The best part of this job is being able to connect with a different audience on any given night. It’s what musicians dream of and we’re able to be doing this for a living. It’s an amazing feeling and we’re continuing to push forward.”</p> | Band of Horses basks in latest success | false | https://abqjournal.com/185120/band-of-horses-basks-in-latest-success.html | 2013-04-05 | 2 |
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<p>Northrop Grumman Corp reported higher-than-expected first-quarter earnings and sales on Wednesday and stood by its previous forecast for the full year despite what it called ``an uncertain and constrained budget environment.''</p>
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<p>Northrop, one of the largest U.S. weapons makers, reported net earnings of $489 million, or $2.03 per share, compared with $506 million, or $1.96 per share, a year earlier.</p>
<p>Revenue dipped to $6.1 billion from $6.2 billion.</p>
<p>Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had forecast earnings of $425 million, or $1.74 a share, on sales of $5.96 billion.</p>
<p>Chief Executive Wes Bush said operating performance was strong across the board in the quarter.</p>
<p>"Looking ahead, we recognize that we are operating in an uncertain and constrained budget environment,'' Bush said in a statement. Northrop will maintain its focus on ``program performance, effective cash deployment and portfolio alignment,'' he said.</p>
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<p>The company repurchased 6.5 million shares during the quarter, reducing its outstanding shares by 7%. It has $1 billion left on its current repurchase authorization.</p>
<p>Backlog at the end of the quarter was $39.4 billion, compared with $40.8 billion as of Dec. 31, 2012.</p> | Northrop Grumman Sales, Earnings Beat Forecasts | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/04/24/northrop-grumman-sales-earnings-beat-forecasts.html | 2016-01-25 | 0 |
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<p>JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — U.S. senators in Alaska, Washington and Hawaii have proposed legislation intended to improve volcano monitoring efforts and early warning capabilities.</p>
<p>The measure would put the Alaska, Cascades and Hawaiian volcano observatories into a connected system and create a 24-hour Volcano Watch Office to provide ongoing situational awareness of active volcanoes in the U.S. and its territories.</p>
<p>A Senate energy committee release says the Alaska Volcano Observatory has long been underfunded and is among the busiest observatories in the world. The Cascades observatory, in Washington, monitors volcanoes in that state, Oregon and Idaho, and two of the more active volcanoes, Kilauea and Mauna Loa, are monitored by the Hawaiian observatory.</p>
<p>The bill is from Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Maria Cantwell of Washington and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, all energy committee members.</p>
<p><a href="#011dec5e-38af-4baf-92b5-20ab4e7fcd86" type="external">© 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</a> Learn more about our <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/privacy" type="external">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/terms" type="external">Terms of Use</a>.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | US senators propose bill to improve volcano monitoring | false | https://abqjournal.com/949217/us-senators-propose-bill-to-improve-volcano-monitoring.html | 2017-02-13 | 2 |
<p>Democrats are angry. They put all their stock into a terrible candidate in 2016 and got crushed.</p>
<p>The party suffered massive losses at every level during Barack Obama's time in the White House, losing 1,042 state and federal Democratic posts, including congressional and state legislative seats, governorships – and the presidency.</p>
<p>So it makes sense that the newly-elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Tom Perez, would go on a profanity-laced tirade about the party that has been eating their lunch for eight years.</p>
<p>Perez, speaking at a rally hosted by the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, ripped the GOP for trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act. “Because they don’t give a sh*t about people!” he said to a cheering crowd. “This repeal was a massive tax break for the wealthy.”</p>
<p>The DNC chief said January 21 was the day “the resistance took over,” as he praised protesters. “They marched all over the world and said, 'Donald Trump, you don’t stand for our values… Donald Trump you didn’t win the election,'” Perez shouted.</p>
<p>(Note to readers about "fake news": Trump did win the election, fair and square.)</p>
<p>Perez apparently isn't all that happy with his own party. Last week he asked all staffers to submit resignation letters. Party employees will be interviewed by a review committee to decide who stays.</p>
<p>Which makes it hilarious that he later said in his speech, "We have a bully in Washington in the White House."</p>
<p>Might want to take a look in the mirror, Tom.</p> | DNC Chief Works Blue: Republicans 'Don't Give A Sh*t!' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/15009/dnc-chief-works-blue-republicans-dont-give-sht-joseph-curl | 2017-04-02 | 0 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — More than 125 established and emerging artists have donated unique “Albuquirky Little Houses” for a silent auction to benefit OFFCenter Community Arts Project.</p>
<p>The houses will be sold in a silent auction from 5-8 p.m. Friday, May 3 during the opening reception for Frank McCulloch’s solo art show at Sumner &amp; Dene Creations in Art, 517 W. Central.</p>
<p>Bidding will start at $25 per little house.</p>
<p>Artists who have created quirky, little houses in the past for the fundraiser have included Angus Macpherson, McCulloch, Stephanie Lerma, Melody Mock, Maria Moya and others.</p>
<p>In addition, the eighth annual Albuquirky House Tour to benefit OFFCenter will be held from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, May 4. It is a self-guided tour throughout the city. It will include three artistic, quirky houses including a violin maker’s shop/home overtaken by story-high dragons, an artist/hairdresser’s shop and home laden with murals and mosaics and a multimedia artist/collector’s home splashed with colored walls, artwork and mosaics.</p>
<p>Refreshments and musical entertainment will be offered at each house.</p>
<p>Tickets are $25. They are available at OFFCenter, 808 Park SW; Bookworks, 4022 Rio Grande NW; Robertson &amp; Sons Violin Shop, 3201 Carlisle NE; Shampoo Alley, 116 Girard SE; and Sumner &amp; Dene Gallery.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Artists auction their quirky, little houses | false | https://abqjournal.com/193511/artists-auction-their-quirky-little-houses.html | 2013-04-28 | 2 |
<p>Sen. Tom Cotton said Wednesday that he’s willing to work with Democrats to solve the issue about the fate of “dreamers” in the United States, but he is also concerned giving them legal status could cause even more issues in the future.</p>
<p>“If we do that, we’re going to create some negative consequences,” the Arkansas Republican told <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/republican-senator-offers-options-for-replacing-daca-1040378435723" type="external">MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”</a> program.&#160;“One, of course, we’re going to encourage more illegal immigration with children in the future which is dangerous, and two, we’re going to create a whole new category of people who can be granted legal status through unlimited family reunification, the parents of these people, the very people who brought them here illegally.”</p>
<p>Show host Joe Scarborough asked if the draft bill could be drawn tightly enough to deal with just the dreamers, or people brought across the border illegally as children, who now are covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, but that could be complicated, Cotton said.</p>
<p>The underlying law would need to be changed, said Cotton, because applying a new law just to the dreamers in question would allow them to “get legal status ultimately for their parents, and their siblings, and those people can get legal status of their spouses and so on and so forth.”</p>
<p>However, he said his bill, the <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/files/documents/170802_New_RAISE_Act_Bill_Text.pdf" type="external">RAISE</a> (Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment) Act, shows “we’re not trying to do everything under the sun on immigration but we are addressing the problem immediately in front of us.”</p>
<p>Cotton said his bill does not include DACA legislation, but he does propose that “we could sit down and negotiate, include legal status for the 600,000 to 800,000 people who are covered by the DACA program, and address the problems that that would create secondary effect, making sure that we’re not opening up legal status for the people who violated the law in the first place.”</p>
<p>Lawmakers, meanwhile, should not try to “solve every single problem we have” when determining a solution to DACA.</p>
<p>“We should address the problem that’s in front of us and mitigate the consequences of that action,” said Cotton. “That’s what President [Donald] Trump wants to do. That’s what we’ve discussed. That’s what he said in his statement yesterday.”</p>
<p>Trump did not end DACA on Tuesday, with his announcement that he would be ending it after a six-month delay, said Cotton.</p>
<p>“By extending it for six months, it gives Congress the opportunity to take legislative action to resolve this problem,” said Cotton. “President Trump said he wants to take care of these people. I’m fine doing that as long as we mitigate consequences.”</p> | Sen. Tom Cotton: I'm Willing to Work With Dems on 'Dreamers' | false | https://newsline.com/sen-tom-cotton-im-willing-to-work-with-dems-on-dreamers/ | 2017-09-06 | 1 |
<p>On Monday, responding to President Trump actions vis-à-vis immigration over the weekend, Starbuck's outgoing CEO Howard Schultz announced in a letter to employees that Starbucks would hire 10,000 refugees in the 75 countries in which Starbucks does business, adding, “our Partner Resources team has been in direct contact with the partners who are impacted by this immigration ban.”</p>
<p>Schultz made various points in his announcement, starting with ripping Trump for his actions: “Let me begin with the news that is immediately in front of us: we have all been witness to the confusion, surprise and opposition to the Executive Order that President Trump issued on Friday, effectively banning people from several predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States, including refugees fleeing wars.”</p>
<p>Then Schultz called Trump’s presidency an “unprecedented time, one in which we are witness to the conscience of our country, and the promise of the American Dream, being called into question.”</p>
<p>Followed by the usual hyperbolic rantings of the committed leftist: “I am hearing the alarm you all are sounding that the civility and human rights we have all taken for granted for so long are under attack.”</p>
<p>Schultz then segued to his plans for action; supporting DACA, as he wrote, “There are nearly three quarters of a million hardworking people contributing to our communities and our economy because of this program. At Starbucks, we are proud to call them partners and to help them realize their own American Dream. We want them to feel welcome and included in our success, which is why we reimburse them for the biennial fee they must pay to stay in the program and why we have offered DACA-related services at our Opportunity Youth hiring fairs.”</p>
<p>Hiring refugees: “There are more than 65 million citizens of the world recognized as refugees by the United Nations, and we are developing plans to hire 10,000 of them over five years in the 75 countries around the world where Starbucks does business. “</p>
<p>"Building Bridges, Not Walls, With Mexico": Schultz noted that Starbucks has opened 600 stores in 60 cities in Mexico since 2002, and boasted that Starbucks has “sourced coffee from Mexico’s producers and their families for three decades . . . With the support of thousands of Starbucks partners and millions of customers, we have also donated half a million coffee trees to support 70,000 families, and we will be expanding the initiative this year to generate another 4 million tree donations.” He added, “As I told Alberto Torrado, the leader of our partnership with Alsea in Mexico, we stand ready to help and support our Mexican customers, partners and their families as they navigate what impact proposed trade sanctions, immigration restrictions and taxes might have on their business and their trust of Americans.”</p>
<p>Schultz concluded with electoral politics: “If there is any lesson to be learned over the last year, it’s that your voice and your vote matter more than ever . . . I can assure you that we will do whatever it takes to support you, our partners, to realize your own dreams and achieve your own opportunities. We are in business to inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time – whether that neighborhood is in a Red State or a Blue State; a Christian country or a Muslim country; a divided nation or a united nation. That will not change."</p>
<p>Schultz had made his feelings about political issues made public before; in 2013, he issued a <a href="https://www.starbucks.com/blog/an-open-letter-from-howard-schultz/1268" type="external">public request</a> for customers and employees to refrain from bringing guns into Starbucks outlets, writing, “Recently, however, we’ve seen the “open carry” debate become increasingly uncivil and, in some cases, even threatening. Pro-gun activists have used our stores as a political stage for media events misleadingly called “Starbucks Appreciation Days” that disingenuously portray Starbucks as a champion of “open carry.” To be clear: we do not want these events in our stores. Some anti-gun activists have also played a role in ratcheting up the rhetoric and friction, including soliciting and confronting our customers and partners. For these reasons, today we are respectfully requesting that customers no longer bring firearms into our stores or outdoor seating areas—even in states where “open carry” is permitted—unless they are authorized law enforcement personnel.</p>
<p>Complete text of Schultz’s Sunday announcement <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-29/starbucks-announces-plans-hire-10000-refugees" type="external">here</a>.</p> | Starbucks: We’ll Hire 10,000 Refugees | true | https://dailywire.com/news/12959/starbucks-well-hire-10000-refugees-hank-berrien | 2017-01-30 | 0 |
<p>President Barack Obama's announcement to Congress Friday to send 100 U.S. troops, also known as <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/14/us-uganda-usa-newspro-idUSTRE79D5CA20111014" type="external">combat-equipped military advisers</a>, to Uganda has sparked a lively discussion on the merits of the plan. But the decision to use the troops as advisers in the fight against the Lord's Resistance Army - a notorious fighting group in the region - leaves many readers with questions about the origin and operations of the LRA in Central Africa.</p>
<p>Here are the top five things to know about the LRA.</p>
<p>More: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/africa-emerges/obama-lra-uganda" type="external">LRA move sparks outcry</a></p>
<p>1. What is the Lord's Resistance Army?</p>
<p>The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is a guerilla group with operations throughout Central Africa that has been widely accused of numerous human rights atrocities, including the rape, killing and enslavement of civilians, including children. <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/africa-emerges/obama-lra-uganda" type="external">Read more from GlobalPost</a>.</p>
<p>Led by mystic Joseph Kony, the rebel group began its fight to overthrow the Ugandan government in 1987 to seize power from President Yoweri Museveni, who has been the leader of the country for the last 24 years.</p>
<p>More: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/101127/obama-launches-plan-against-africas-lords-resistance-army" type="external">Obama takes aim at LRA</a></p>
<p>Since then, it is estimated the militia has been responsible for at least 30,000 deaths over the last 20 years. <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/090317/besieged-the-lords-resistance-army" type="external">Read more from GlobalPost</a>.</p>
<p>2. Why the name?</p>
<p>Kony, a self-proclaimed prophet from God, claims to seek a world based on the Ten Commandments, though the commander has become well-known for his violent cruelty.</p>
<p>More: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/100427/uganda-lra-joseph-kony" type="external">Stopping LRA isn't all about Kony</a></p>
<p>Kony is a product of the Holy Spirit Movement, which was started by his aunt, a tribe mystic, <a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/lra.htm" type="external">Global Security reported</a>. The movement initially sought to retake Kampala, the capital city, to redeem the Acholi tribe from the violence they had committed toward others and "initiate a paradise on earth."</p>
<p>The Holy Spirit Movement failed, but when Kony inherited power from his aunt, he kept the religious aspect of the movement when he created the Uganda Christian Democratic Army in his attempt to overthrow the Museveni government. In 1991 Kony changed the name to the Lord's Resistance Army.</p>
<p>3. Where does the group operate today?</p>
<p>Despite the launch of a peace process after the end of the Ugandan civil war in 2006, GlobalPost correspondent Tristan McConnell writes that "the rebel group, which first emerged in Uganda in 1987, had been scattered into small ineffective units by a series of harassing assaults in late 2008 and early 2009."</p>
<p>Those units count bases in many of the countries neighboring northern Uganda. In President Obama's letter to Congress outlining his plans to send troops to Uganda, he wrote: "The LRA continues to commit atrocities across the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan that have a disproportionate impact on regional security."</p>
<p>4. Was Rush Limbaugh right about the LRA?</p>
<p>American talk show host Rush Limbaugh inspired a litany of calls to his show when he said that Obama is <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111015/rush-limbaugh-obama-christians-lra-lords-resistance-army-uganda" type="external">"targeting Christians"</a> by fighting the LRA. After being flooded with complaints, Limbaugh said he would do more research on the LRA.</p>
<p>But under Kony, the militant group has been accused of human rights abuses and war crimes - even against Christians.</p>
<p>More: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/100402/sudan-lords-resistance-army-LRA" type="external">Sudan and the LRA</a></p>
<p>The LRA allegedly crucified seven Christians in Sudanese villages in 2009, <a href="http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=34496" type="external">according to the Catholic Herald.</a></p>
<p>"One of the men was tied to a tree and mutilated while six other victims were nailed to pieces of wood fastened to the ground and killed," the Catholic Herald reported. "Villagers who found their bodies near the town of Nzara said it was like a 'grotesque crucifixion scene'."</p>
<p>The brutality inflicted on children has inspired the creation of several human rights organizations, such as the Invisible Children movement.</p>
<p>A Human Rights Watch report estimated that the LRA has abducted more than 20,000 children to be used as child soldiers and as sex slaves. <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/090317/besieged-the-lords-resistance-army" type="external">Read more from GlobalPost</a>. A common initiation into the soldiers' ranks for children is to kill their parents so that the LRA becomes their only family.</p>
<p>5. How will the leaders be held responsible?</p>
<p>Rebel leader Thomas Kwoyelo is the first LRA commander to be tried in a domestic court in Uganda for alleged crimes committed during his tenure as a leader in the rebel group's brutal fight in Central Africa. Kwoleyo pleaded innocent in July to 53 counts of willful killing, hostage-taking, destruction of property and causing injury. <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/africa-emerges/uganda-starts-first-war-crimes-trial" type="external">Read more from GlobalPost</a>.</p>
<p>Ugandan soldiers captured Kwoyelo, 39, in Congo in 2009, and he is being tried in Gulu, a town in the north of the country with a long history of LRA violence.</p>
<p>He and three other LRA commanders - including Kony - have also gained the attention of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The ICC has had an arrest warrant out for the four senior commanders since 2005.</p>
<p>If caught and brought to The Hague, Kony will face 12 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes, which include rape, murder, enslavement and forced enlistment of children, <a href="http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/Situations+and+Cases/Situations/Situation+ICC+0204/" type="external">according to the ICC</a>.</p>
<p>All of the leaders are still at large, but it is believed that one of them, Vincent Otto, was killed at the orders of Kony himself. Another, Raska Lukwiya, is believed to have been killed during clashed with the Ugandan army in 2006.</p>
<p>DISCUSSION: What other questions do you have about the LRA? Ask them in the comments section below. &#160;</p> | LRA: 5 Things to know about the Lord's Resistance Army | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-10-17/lra-5-things-know-about-lords-resistance-army | 2011-10-17 | 3 |
<p>KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Malaysia’s edotco Group is eyeing an entry into markets such as Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, and will tap funds to set itself up for more deals in the region, the telecommunications tower services unit of Axiata , the country’s largest mobile operator, said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The eighth largest integrated telecommunications infrastructure services provider globally, edotco owns 16,500 towers and manages another 10,800 across Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.</p>
<p>Initially, the group will look to expand organically in the next two years, as operators in markets where the tower sector is still developing are usually not ready for mergers and acquisitions, said edotco Chief Executive Suresh Sidhu.</p>
<p>“In some of those markets we may need to fund an initial organic entry while waiting for deals, (as) the operators may not be ready to do a full sale and lease back (of their towers),” he said.</p>
<p>If deal flow is good, the company would look to raise funds towards end-2018, or early next year, Sidhu said.</p>
<p>“We are as open to a private round as we are to equity capital like an initial public offering (IPO) as we are to looking at the debt market,” he said.</p>
<p>Recent media reports said Axiata, which owns 62.4 percent in the tower unit, was in talks with potential advisers for a possible $500 million IPO of edotco, which offers tower leasing, energy and transmission as well as operations and maintenance work.</p>
<p>“I don’t feel under any pressure (from our shareholders) whatsoever to pick any or to accelerate any one capital option. If it’s about a knee-jerk reaction to illustrate value, I think they are more patient than that,” Sidhu said.</p>
<p>The company still has funds to deploy from the $700 million raised through a private placement by Axiata to Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, local pension fund Retirement Fund Inc and Innovation Network Corporation of Japan.</p>
<p>Of that, $270 million and $160 million were used for acquisitions in Pakistan and Myanmar. (Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - U.S. media company Meredith Corp ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=MDP.N" type="external">MDP.N</a>) said on Wednesday it cut about 200 jobs and would lay off another 1,000 as it streamlines its operations following the completion of its Time Inc acquisition.</p> FILE PHOTO - A supporter holds up a copy of Time Magazine with the cover headline "How Trump Won" during Trump's speech at a veteran's rally in Des Moines, Iowa January 28, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking
<p>Meredith also said it had decided to explore a sale of Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money magazines after a review.</p>
<p>The move to sell the brands illustrates how Meredith sees some of Time’s titles that attract primarily a male readership as not playing to its core strength in women’s magazines.</p>
<p>Meredith, which owns lifestyle magazines such as Better Homes &amp; Gardens and Family Circle, agreed to buy Time Inc in a $1.84 billion all-cash deal backed by conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.</p>
<p>Reuters reported last week about the company’s plan to sell the Time Inc brands.</p>
<p>“There are guys who would like to own these marquee brands and are probably gonna pay more than what Meredith paid to acquire them,” said Daniel Kurnos, an analyst with Benchmark Co.</p>
<p>The company last month said it would sell Time Inc’s UK arm to private equity firm Epiris Fund II.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=MDP.N" type="external">Meredith Corp</a> 53.8 MDP.N New York Stock Exchange +0.00 (+0.00%) MDP.N GOOGL.O FB.O
<p>The media company said the job cuts were part of a plan to achieve annual savings in the $400 million to $500 million range from the Time Inc acquisition, which closed in January.</p>
<p>The company has notified about 200 employees, while the around 1,000 more positions will be eliminated over the next 10 months.</p>
<p>Meredith needs to be more aggressive to reach its cost-cut targets and will likely have to lay off a lot more, said Craig Huber, an analyst with Huber Research Partners.</p>
<p>With its roots in traditional publishing, Meredith has been facing a fierce competitive online race against internet giants such as Alphabet Inc’s ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=GOOGL.O" type="external">GOOGL.O</a>) Google and Facebook Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=FB.O" type="external">FB.O</a>) for consumer eyeballs and advertising dollars.</p>
<p>Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee and Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Sriraj Kalluvila</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German conglomerate Bayer won EU antitrust approval on Wednesday for its $62.5 billion buy of U.S. peer Monsanto, the latest in a trio of mega mergers that will reshape the agrochemicals industry.</p>
<p>The tie-up is set to create a company with control of more than a quarter of the world’s seed and pesticides market.</p>
<p>Driven by shifting weather patterns, competition in grain exports and a faltering global farm economy, Dow and Dupont, and ChemChina and Syngenta had earlier led a wave of consolidation in the sector.</p>
<p>Both deals secured EU approval only after the companies offered substantial asset sales to boost rivals.</p>
<p>Environmental and farming groups have opposed all three deals, worried about their power and their advantage in digital farming data, which can tell farmers how and when to till, sow, spray, fertilize and pick crops based on algorithms.</p>
<p>The European Commission said Bayer addressed its concerns with its offer to sell a swathe of assets to boost rival BASF, confirming a Reuters story on Feb. 28.</p>
<p>“Our decision ensures that there will be effective competition and innovation in seeds, pesticides and digital agriculture markets also after this merger,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.</p>
<p>“In particular, we have made sure that the number of global players actively competing in these markets stays the same.”</p>
<p>Vestager said the Commission, which received more than a million petitions concerning the deal, had been thorough by examining more than 2,000 different product markets and 2.7 million internal documents to produce a 1,285-page ruling.</p>
<p>The U.S. Justice Department, which is also reviewing the merger, said in a statement on its website that it would press on with its review and that the market in the two regions was quite different.</p> European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager holds a news conference at the EU Commission's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
<p>“While genetically modified seeds are largely prohibited in Europe, they are widely used throughout the United States,” the department noted. “The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice continues to examine the effects of the proposed transaction on American farmers and consumers.”</p>
<p>China has given conditional approval to the Bayer and Monsanto deal, which has won a green light in Brazil. It is currently being reviewed by Russian antitrust authorities too.</p>
<p>Australia said on Thursday it would not oppose the deal following the divestment commitment.</p> Slideshow (3 Images)
<p>Bayer has already reached a deal to sell certain seed and herbicide assets for 5.9 billion euros ($7.2 billion) to BASF and to give it a license to its global digital farming data. It will also divest its vegetable seeds business to BASF.</p>
<p>The Commission is due to rule on the BASF deal by April 16.</p>
<p>Online campaigns group Avaaz criticized the EU approval.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-monsanto-m-a-bayer-usa/u-s-says-it-is-still-reviewing-bayers-planned-monsanto-acquisition-idUSKBN1GX2HZ" type="external">U.S. says it is still reviewing Bayer's planned Monsanto acquisition</a>
<p>“This is a marriage made in hell. The Commission ignored a million people who called on them to block this deal, and caved in to lobbying to create a mega-corporation which will dominate our food supply,” Avaaz legal director Nick Flynn said.</p>
<p>U.S.-incorporated Avaaz, funded by its members, is active in climate change, poverty, conflict and corruption issues.</p>
<p>The Greens grouping in the European Parliament echoed the sentiment, saying smaller players in the agriculture industry needed to be helped too.</p>
<p>“The agriculture industry is already far too concentrated, giving a handful of massive firms a stranglehold on food production. Merging two of the biggest players only makes a bad situation worse,” Greens spokesman Bart Staes said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Foo Yun Chee with additional reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington; editing by Robin Emmott, David Evans and Cynthia Osterman</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil hit a six-week high on Wednesday, closing in on a 3-year peak set in late January, on a surprise decline in U.S. inventories, strong compliance on OPEC production cuts, and persistent concern related to the Iran nuclear deal.</p> FILE PHOTO: An oil well pump jack is seen at an oil field supply yard near Denver, Colorado, U.S., February 2, 2015. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo
<p>Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose $2.05, or 3 percent, to settle at $69.47, nearly a 7-week high.</p>
<p>U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 gained $1.63, or 2.6 percent, to settle at $65.17, their highest since Feb. 2.</p>
<p>Those increases put both benchmarks into technically overbought territory for the first time since January, and boosted the premium of the Brent front-month over WTI to its highest since the start of February WTCLc1-LCOc1.</p>
<p>Data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday morning showed a surprise 2.6 million barrel draw in crude inventories. Analysts had expected a 2.5 million barrel build.</p>
<p>(GRAPHIC: Russia vs Saudi vs U.S. oil production - <a href="http://reut.rs/2G7AK80" type="external">reut.rs/2G7AK80</a>)</p>
<p>“A few things happened,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates, referring to the EIA data.</p>
<p>“Crude imports dropped by half a million barrels per day, that contributed to the draw. We saw refinery runs increase more than expected by around 400,000 barrels per day so that ate up a lot of crude. And exports were up slightly,” he said.</p>
<p>Oil also got a boost after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday and forecast at least two more hikes for 2018.</p>
<p>“On the back end of the Fed meeting, the dollar is getting under pressure, and that is going to work as a reverse correlation to crude oil prices,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York.</p>
<p>A falling dollar .DXY versus a basket of other currencies makes commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies since they have to spend less to buy the same amount of the commodity.</p>
<p>The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said on Wednesday its members and allies achieved record compliance in February to their deal to cut global supplies, lifting the market.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, concerns that the United States could reimpose sanctions on Iran loom.</p>
<p>Energy consultancy FGE said new U.S. sanctions on Iran could result in a 250,000 to 500,000 bpd drop in its exports by year-end, compared with crude exports of roughly 2.0 million to 2.2 million bpd since early 2016, when sanctions were lifted.</p>
<p>“Even though you do see signs that the market is lax on the physical side, do you go aggressively bearish when you have the potential for something happening between the U.S. and Iran?”</p>
<p>Bearish concerns have largely been fueld by surging U.S. crude output.</p>
<p>Wednesday’s EIA data, in addition to showing inventory draws, also showed that weekly crude output had hit an all-time high.</p>
<p>“So far, the market is sort of ignoring the increase in production,” said Ritterbusch.</p>
<p>“We now have production above 10.4 million bpd and it’s going to keep rising; and the market is eventually going to have to reckon with that,” he said.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; editing by Louise Heavens and Phil Berlowitz</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday and forecast at least two more hikes for 2018, highlighting its growing confidence that tax cuts and government spending will boost the economy and inflation and spur more aggressive future tightening.</p>
<p>In its first policy meeting under new Fed chief Jerome Powell, the U.S. central bank indicated that inflation should finally move higher after years below its 2 percent target and that the economy had recently gained momentum.</p>
<p>The Fed also raised the estimated longer-term “neutral” rate, the level at which monetary policy neither boosts nor slows the economy, a touch, in a sign the current gradual rate hike cycle could go on longer than previously thought.</p>
<p>“The economic outlook has strengthened in recent months,” the Fed said in a statement at the end of a two-day meeting in which it lifted its benchmark overnight lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 1.50 percent to 1.75 percent.</p>
<p>Powell, who took over from former Fed chief Janet Yellen in early February, said the central bank was staying on a path of gradual rate increases but needed to be on guard against inflation.</p>
<p>“We are trying to take the middle ground here,” Powell said in a press conference after the end of the policy meeting, adding that there were no signs the economy was on the cusp of accelerating inflation.</p>
<p>The rate hike was widely expected. All 104 economists polled by Reuters from March 5-13 said the Fed would increase borrowing costs this week.</p>
<p>U.S. stocks rose after the policy statement before paring gains to close lower. U.S. Treasury yields fell and then recovered. The dollar .DXY recorded its steepest one-day loss in nearly two months against a basket of currencies.</p>
<p>“The guidance in terms of the future rate hikes is a touch more hawkish than originally expected. 2019 looks like we’re going to get a faster pace of rate hikes,” said Matt Miskin, market strategist at John Hancock Investments.</p>
<p>“This a new Fed chairman starting with a bit of a hawkish tone as he takes leadership.”</p> Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meetings in Washington, U.S., March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein CONFIDENCE IN THE ECONOMY
<p>The rate hike was the latest step away from years of stimulating the world’s largest economy in the wake of the 2007-2009 financial crisis and recession. The Fed tightened policy three times last year.</p>
<p>The combination of $1.8 trillion in expected fiscal stimulus from the Trump administration and recent hints of price and wage pressures had prompted some Fed officials to speculate more Americans could be drawn into an already tight labor market.</p>
<p>Some even worried inflation could rise well above the Fed’s target if the economy got too hot.</p> Slideshow (6 Images)
<p>Policymakers were largely split on Wednesday as to whether a total of three or four rate hikes would be needed this year. They predicted rates would rise three times next year and two times in 2020, a further indication of their view that the economy is on solid footing.</p>
<p>“The Fed seems to be gaining confidence,” said Brian Coulton, an economist at Fitch Rating in London.</p>
<p>Fed policymakers projected U.S. economic growth of 2.7 percent in 2018, an increase from the 2.5 percent forecast in December, and also marked up growth for next year. The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation was expected to end 2018 at 1.9 percent, unchanged from the previous forecast, but it is seen rising a bit above the target next year.</p>
<p>The U.S. unemployment rate by the end of 2018 is expected to edge down to 3.8 percent, indicating the Fed sees more room for the labor market to run. Fed officials predicted the longer-run rate would settle at 4.5 percent, slightly lower than the forecast from December.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-usa-fed-powell/powell-sets-record-for-shortest-quarterly-news-conference-by-fed-chair-idUSKBN1GX38N" type="external">Powell sets record for shortest quarterly news conference by Fed chair</a>
<a href="/article/us-usa-fed-taxation/as-trump-stimulus-fades-fed-sees-tight-monetary-policy-on-the-horizon-idUSKBN1GX36H" type="external">As Trump stimulus fades, Fed sees tight monetary policy on the horizon</a>
<a href="/article/us-usa-fed-fomc-text/fomc-statement-from-march-20-21-meeting-idUSKBN1GX2OJ" type="external">FOMC statement from March 20-21 meeting</a>
<p>U.S. joblessness stood at 4.1 percent last month.</p>
<p>While recent home sales and retail spending data have been on the weak side, the overall economic picture has brightened after growth accelerated to 2.3 percent last year.</p>
<p>Before the meeting, analysts were split over whether the Fed, which is wary of an early misstep under its new leadership, would raise policy tightening expectations until more price pressures are clearly evident. There are also looming outside risks to the economy such as a possible global trade war.</p>
<p>“This is a new risk (that) had been probably a low-profile risk, but which has become ... a more prominent risk to the outlook,” Powell said, adding, however, that the trade tensions had not affected the Fed’s expectations for the economy.</p>
<p>Reporting by Jonathan Spicer and Jason Lange in Washington; Additional reporting by Daniel Bases in New York and Ann Saphir in San Francisco; Editing by Paul Simao</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Malaysia's edotco targets expansion in region, possible capital raising Meredith to cut about 1,200 jobs, sell some Time publications Bayer wins EU approval for $62.5 billion Monsanto buy Oil hits six-week high on inventory data, OPEC compliance, Iran worries Fed lifts rates, signals tougher stance as economy strengthens | false | https://reuters.com/article/malaysia-edotco/malaysias-edotco-targets-expansion-in-region-possible-capital-raising-idUSL4N1PJ35A | 2018-01-24 | 2 |
<p>It makes for a stark image. Two disheveled rows of soldiers with bright blue backpacks marked "UNICEF," which were originally&#160;meant for children.</p>
<p>"We are of course extremely concerned to see this flagrant abuse of UNICEF education materials by combatants," UNICEF's spokeswoman Sarah Crowe <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/unicef-blasts-south-sudan-over-looted-school-backpacks-190834527.html" type="external">told Agence France-Presse</a>.</p>
<p>"A large amount of UNICEF supplies — along with humanitarian supplies from other organizations as well as stores from schools and hospitals — have been looted in many locations during the conflict in South Sudan," Crowe said.</p>
<p>The complaint from UNICEF came after photographs like this one captured South Sudanese government soldiers wearing the "back-to-school" bags on their backs.</p>
<p>Photographs of the misappropriated supplies surfaced at an awkward time for the United Nations, which <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hodemzM8zDY1KYIESSyrmz8RRODA?docId=de18266e-ba4c-474a-a177-58fa7e1fe481" type="external">issued an urgent appeal</a> for $1.27 billion in aid for South Sudan on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The UN is asking for money to provide "food, medicine and other lifesaving supplies" to the nearly 3.2 million people suffering from "devastating" humanitarian consequences, according to its top aid official in the country.</p>
<p>The ongoing conflict, which began in mid-December, has forced 900,000 from their homes and wounded thousands more.</p>
<p>"Livelihoods have been lost, and people's ability to move livestock to pasture, to fish or to hunt, has been severely compromised," the UN's Toby Lanzer said.</p> | Soldiers in South Sudan photographed wearing backpacks donated for children | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-02-04/soldiers-south-sudan-photographed-wearing-backpacks-donated-children | 2014-02-04 | 3 |
<p>RICHMOND, Va. — <a href="http://www.btsr.edu/s/918/3col.aspx" type="external">Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond</a> will suspend operations of its School of Christian Ministry in July, a move the seminary’s president says will benefit both BTSR and its six-year-old continuing education component.</p>
<p>The last group of classes offered by the <a href="http://scm.btsr.edu/s/918/index.aspx?sid=918&amp;gid=1&amp;pgid=473" type="external">School of Christian Ministry</a>, which has provided continuing education courses for both clergy and laity since 2003, will end July 31, said BTSR president Ron Crawford.</p>
<p>But he and the school’s director, Kim Siegenthaler, are exploring ways to keep the SCM functioning in conjunction with other ministry partners, Crawford said.</p>
<p />
<p>While cutting costs was a significant factor in suspending the SCM, Crawford said the school could “spread its wings” in a broader collaboration, unencumbered by links to a single theological institution.</p>
<p>“We’re in position that we need to save money,” Crawford said of BTSR. “But there are other partners which want to collaborate to give new life to the School of Christian Ministry. And the SCM will flower better in a different environment and context.” He declined to name potential partners, saying conversations are in early stages.</p>
<p>The SCM was inaugurated in the fall of 2003 with a grant from the <a href="http://www.thefellowship.info/" type="external">Cooperative Baptist Fellowship</a>. Later grants from the&#160; <a href="http://www.lillyendowment.org/" type="external">Lilly Endowment</a>, an Indianapolis-based philanthropic foundation, and the New York-based <a href="http://www.hluce.org/mission.aspx" type="external">Luce Foundation</a>&#160;— both of which contribute to many church-based causes — sustained the school's operations.</p>
<p>Each year the SCM offered about 25 four-week classes — all of them online — taught by experts contracted to develop and teach the courses, which drew anywhere from two to 25 students. Topics ranged from theology, preaching, worship and pastoral care to small group leadership, social issues, preschool and children’s ministry and family systems theory. It also offered occasional seminars, workshops and congregational resources.</p>
<p>At the end of 2008, the grants ended and BTSR assumed full funding for the school.</p>
<p>“We wanted to keep the program alive as long as possible and for a while we came up with the money to do it,” Crawford said. “But as the economy went south we realized we couldn’t do it any longer.”</p>
<p>Last year BTSR budgeted about $111,000 for the program, with an expectation of about $30,000 in revenue from tuition. But Crawford said the economic downturn reduced the number of students and revenue dropped to about $18,000. The seminary's total budget for 2010-2011 is $2.8 million.</p>
<p>Only one BTSR staff member — Siegenthaler — will be affected by the SCM’s suspension. She will continue oversight of the last group of classes in a part-time capacity until operations end July 31. Another staff member who served as the school’s registrar has been assigned other responsibilities within the seminary.</p>
<p>Crawford said BTSR remains committed to continuing education.</p>
<p>“I think it’s a need and a vital way to get theology into the congregation,” he said. “If in three to four years the SCM hasn’t begun collaborating with other partners and if the economy has improved, then we may re-create it under a different business model.”</p>
<p>That business model would be more entrepreneurial, focusing less on administration and more on individual teachers, Crawford predicted.</p>
<p>&#160;“You need about 20 different professors to teach the courses,” he said. “They do the promotion of the classes, they distribute the brochures. The institution controls the quality and the theological perspective. That model is low-cost for the institution but has an opportunity of expanding rapidly and is far more sensitive to the marketplace. A lot of entrepreneurs out there would eat it up.”</p>
<p>In the meantime, regular seminary classes continue to be open to both lay and clergy seeking to hone ministry skills.</p>
<p>“We’ve always had non-degree students in our classes,” Crawford said. “Sometimes they stay with us a few years and then decide it’s not for them. More often, they come as non-degree students and after a couple of semesters they enter a full-time degree program.”</p>
<p>In addition, the increased number of seminary classes available online likely will attract more full-time and part-time students, he said. Israel Galindo, the seminary’s dean, is in the process of putting two-thirds of the master of divinity degree curriculum online, following approval by the Association of Theological Schools, BTSR’s accrediting agency.</p>
<p>“We will get that done in the next two to three years,” said Crawford. “We’re teaching five [online classes] this year, seven next year and 16 the year following. This means eventually our students could get the majority of their work done in an online environment” — an environment that is decidedly not correspondence school, he insisted. While the methodology is different, the same rigorous theological standards are upheld, he said.</p>
<p>The growth in online seminary classes will “make theology accessible to laypeople and ministers who have not completed theological degrees,” Crawford said. “This has rich possibilities for churches and for laypeople in congregations. It creates a whole new dimension and will create new dynamics in congregations.”</p>
<p>Despite an increased Internet presence, “we’re never going to be wholly online,” he said, noting the school will not give up its required two-semester ministry internship program or its Mission Immersion Experience, which places students in cross-cultural ministry for an extended period of time.</p>
<p>The SCM’s suspension comes just at BTSR prepares for the September launch of a campaign to raise $6 million — more than the seminary’s endowment of $5.6 million. The fundraising campaign will mark the seminary’s 20th anniversary, which it celebrates this year.</p>
<p><a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">Robert Dilday</a> is managing editor of the Religious Herald.</p> | BTSR to suspend operations of its continuing education component | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/btsrtosuspendoperationsofitscontinuingeducationcomponent/ | 3 |
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<p>Barber Shop Show 112: It Gets Better? Teddy Ferrara &amp; Issues the Play Brings to Life</p>
<p>On this installment of the Barber Shop Show, we were joined by Adam Poss and Rashaad Hall (who play Drew and Nicky, respectively) in the Goodman Theatre’s production of Christopher Shinn’s “Teddy Ferrara.” They are pictured here.</p>
<p>The play was inspired by the life and death of gay Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi. Clementi killed himself in 2010 after his roommate secretly taped him having sex with another man, and put the video online.</p>
<p>We also talk about real issues impacting LGBTQ youth, especially minority youth coming out on the South and West Sides. We talk with Shannon Sullivan, Executive Director of the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, and Kim Hunt from Affinity, a South Side LGBTQ advocacy organization.</p>
<p>We were also be joined by Fresco Steez, a 21 year old LGBTQ advocate/activist who works with Affinity.</p>
<p>Listen in to The Barber Shop Show Fridays at Noon (CST) 89.5fm and 90.7fm in Chicago or visit Vocalo.org. Press play. For more info about the Barber Shop Show, visit: barbershopshow.tumblr.com</p>
<p /> | Barber Shop Show video review: It gets better? Teddy Ferrara & issues the play brings to life | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/barber-shop-show-video-review-it-gets-better-teddy-ferrara-issues-play-brings-life/ | 2013-02-27 | 3 |
<p>Starbucks COO Kevin Johnson shows off the upcoming prepaid debit card at the company's annual shareholder meeting on March 23. Image source: Starbucks Corporation.</p>
<p>Starbucks Corporation executives often state their goal of building a digital ecosystem using Starbucks Rewards "stars" as a type of digital currency. Last week, the company announced another step toward this dream at its annual shareholder meeting. Late this year, consumers will be able to use a prepaid debit card, which the company is developing with JP Morgan Chase &amp; Co. , to earn stars wherever the "Visa" symbol is accepted for payment.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The reloadable card, dubbed "Starbucks Rewards Prepaid Card from Chase," is first and foremost an attempt to increase Starbucks' brand visibility and loyalty. Customers will be able to apply for the card on Starbucks.com and, even more conveniently, apply from within the company's mobile app. Chase has confirmed that the rewards card will be free of some of the fees often associated with prepaid debit cards, including loading, overdraft, and monthly service fees.</p>
<p>Starbucks' deal with Chase achieves several additional objectives for the company. As I mentioned at the outset, the card expands Starbucks' budding digital ecosystem, while potentially drawing new customers to its existing rewards program. It also firms up the relationship with Chase, which has all but become Starbucks' primary transaction vendor for its ecosystem. The company recently named Chase to succeedSquare as its transaction processor for non-mobile payments. Chase is also charged with rolling out chip-enabled payment terminals in Starbucks' stores.</p>
<p>As Chase is forgoing some fee revenue, as well as potential financing revenue had the two companies jointly issued an affinity credit card, the bank most likely views this deal as a relationship investment in anticipation of further revenue opportunities in the coming years.</p>
<p>Creating a "digital currency" isn't easyThe details of how stars will be awarded on the Visa rewards cards haven't been shared as yet, and it's likely the company hasn't completely answered the question internally. Starbucks' Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Johnson, noted last week that stars wouldn't be earned at the same rate as coffee and food purchases through the newly revised loyalty program.Under the new loyalty program rules, points will be earned at the rate of two stars for every dollar spent, starting in mid-April.</p>
<p>Allowing customers to accumulate stars through everyday purchases may create value in cardholders' accounts which is difficult to reconcile with the current value of $0.50 per star. For example, even if Starbucks comes up with a highly depreciated formula, say, one-tenth of a star per Visa card dollar spent, what happens if a customer spends $1,000 in a month on a reloadable card? Will the customer then be eligible for $100 of Starbucks coffee and food? Even at a rate of one-twentieth of a star per dollar spent, a reward of $50 for every $1,000 in purchases doesn't sound like a profitable proposition for Starbucks Corporation.</p>
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<p>To solve this problem, the company may turn to limiting either the amount that can be reloaded onto a card in a given month, or the number of stars one can earn during the month. These star value considerations, and their limitations, are indicative of a larger issue that Starbucks will encounter if it truly wants to convert its rewards stars into a type of digital currency. For each partner or new deal the company adds on, it will have to keep the value of a star in at least approximate parity with existing star-earning opportunities.</p>
<p>A prepaid rewards card offers one tangible reward for Starbucks itselfDespite some possible rewards points complexity, Starbucks stands to reap a specific benefit from its card deal with Chase: better cash flow. The company discovered something of a minor gold mine when it began offering its own non-debit prepaid loyalty cards a few years ago. On these transactions, when cards are loaded, the coffee retailer receives funds instantly. It records accruals each month against liabilities for unused card balances, and even gets a small profit boost from the monies left on cards which aren't redeemed after a reasonable period.</p>
<p>In fact, if you pore over Starbucks' operating cash flow for the past few years, you'll see that, excluding a one-time $2.8 billion legal accrual over a licensing dispute with Mondelez International , no other item has affected working capital with as much effect as the balance sheet account known as "stored card liability." Offering prepaid cards has resulted in a positive net cash benefit to Starbucks, which has averaged $150 million annually over the past three years.</p>
<p>This is one of the most cogent reasons for Starbucks to issue a prepaid debit card with Chase, versus the more typical credit card we're used to seeing offered up by the airline and hotel industries. Starbucks loves being paid up front, often well in advance of having to render merchandise back to the customer. But which well-run business doesn't?</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/28/why-starbucks-wants-you-to-load-up-its-prepaid-vis.aspx" type="external">Why Starbucks Wants You to Load Up Its Prepaid Visa Debit Card Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFfinosus/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Asit Sharma Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Starbucks. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Starbucks Wants You to Load Up Its Prepaid Visa Debit Card | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/29/why-starbucks-wants-to-load-up-its-prepaid-visa-debit-card.html | 2016-03-29 | 0 |
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<p>When you’re strolling through the wine section in the liquor store or purusing the wine list at a restaurant is there really a huge difference between the $10 bottle and that $25 bottle? If the waiter or wine store sales guy recommends something and you’re stumped, how can you make sure you aren’t getting ripped off?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Sometimes you can really be misled. A few friends and I attended a wine tasting recently at a very posh restaurant. They had a specialty list just for the event, and when a few wines had prices like “$50”, “$75” and “$100” next to it, we figured, surely, that had to be the price per bottle. Oh yeah, when our check came we found out the unfortunate news, those were the prices per GLASS! Let’s just say it was a good thing we had a few glasses of the very.expensive.wine! Because it helped numb the pain of paying the bill! Of course we should have asked for clarification before we ordered, but it was such an upscale place we didn’t want to sound tacky. And we paid for it. Big time.</p>
<p>How can you make sure you aren’t paying too much? Wine guru <a href="http://rosinawilson.com/" type="external">Rosina Wilson Opens a New Window.</a> shared her top ten tips on how not to get duped.</p>
<p>Ordering Wine at a Restaurant:</p>
<p>1. Don’t let the server intimidate you. His or her job, after all, is to please "you," the customer. And although you don’t need to know anything at all about wine to enjoy it, or order it, a little knowledge does help.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="http://galtime.com/article/money/38415/5675/modern-tipping-rules-who-tip-how-much" type="external">Modern Tipping Rules: Who to Tip &amp; How Much&#160; Opens a New Window.</a></p>
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<p>For instance, if you know that Pinot Noir is a lighter red wine and Cabernet is heavier, you might order a pork chop and say “I’d like some red wine, but I don’t want anything too big (strong, overwhelming) for the pork.” You can ask about Pinot Noir or other light reds, match your food well, and get your money’s worth.</p>
<p>2. Do some homework. If you’re planning to dine at a restaurant that has a website, a little “homework” beforehand will enhance your experience - and help you spend your money wisely - especially when it comes to wine.</p>
<p>A restaurant with a well-chosen wine list is generally proud enough of it to post the list, along with its menu, online. Why not browse the wine offerings in advance for bargains? You might discover a little-known treasure. And if you want to take the next step, your favorite Internet search engine is just a few clicks away!</p>
<p>3. Order the right amount. Not long ago, most restaurants sold wine by the bottle ~ period. Now, with more diners ordering wine and wanting to pair it with food, many restaurants have started offering wines in half-bottles and by the glass.</p>
<p>As for pricing, restaurants need to charge more per ounce for wines by the glass or half-bottle, because these smaller amounts don’t bring in the higher total that a full bottle would. But even though a glass of wine might cost you 50% more per ounce, it still beats paying the full-bottle price. If, on the other hand, you’re in a group, or plan a lengthy meal for two, that full bottle becomes a better value.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="http://galtime.com/blog/love-sex/44287/23820/five-ways-cut-down-dating-costs" type="external">Five Ways to Cut Down on Dating Costs&#160; Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>4. Know the specials. To bring in both new and repeat customers, many restaurants offer special pricing at certain times of day (e.g. “Happy Hour”) and/or certain days of the week. Seek these out, and you can avoid paying the usual markups on wine as well as food. (Here too, the Internet is your ally!)</p>
<p>Even restaurants that are quite posh do their own versions of this. One such place near me has a special “small plates” menu in the late afternoon, with everything priced at $6.00 ~ including oysters by the half-dozen and excellent sparkling wine by the glass. Fantastic idea!</p>
<p>5. Consider your budget. If you’re on a tight budget, or you want only one glass of wine with your meal, consider drinking it with your main dish only. Since that’s generally the most wine-friendly course in the first place, this makes sense in several ways.</p>
<p>And if you’re ordering starters such as soup and salad, ask for iced tea, club soda, etc., which are inexpensive, or just stick with water until your wine and entrée arrive. You’ll spend fewer dollars, get maximum pleasure per dollar spent, and save on calories as well!</p>
<p>Shopping for Wine:</p>
<p>6. Read the “shelf-talker” tags. Shelf talker tags are those little “paper ambassadors” that stores display to describe their wines. Here, pay less attention to numerical scores (only *you* know your taste; also, higher scores sometimes mean higher prices) and more attention to things like the wine’s body and specific flavors.</p>
<p>Let’s say you’re comparing two red wines at the same price, with one described as “soft and smooth, with cranberry, cherry and spice flavors” and the other as “big and bold, with coffee, cocoa and licorice.” Which would you choose for your roast chicken or turkey? There’s no right or wrong answer, but if you pick one you don’t like with your food, you might be wasting money.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="http://galtime.com/multimedia/money/21097/25715/sneaky-ways-you-pay-more-grocery-store" type="external">Sneaky Ways You Pay More at the Grocery Store&#160; Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>7. Think Global. If you like Cabernet, for instance, but refuse to drain your wallet on brands that cost $50 and up, why not look in a different direction? Elsewhere in the world, where Cabs don’t yet have the clout to ask these sky-high prices, bargains abound.</p>
<p>While you’re out wine shopping, look at some descriptions (on bottles and “shelf-talkers”) of Cabernets from various places, and compare prices and “flavor profiles.” You’ll most likely find that the less-expensive Cabs are somewhat softer and lighter-bodied than the pricey ones. And although they’re not built to age, they’re probably ready to drink with *tonight’s* dinner!</p>
<p>8. Join a wine club. A great way to delve deeper into the world of wine, without overpaying, comes from the wineries themselves. To build a loyal customer base and ensure a steady revenue stream, many wineries have created their own wine clubs.</p>
<p>Usually, members sign up to receive different-sized “packages” (of, for example, three bottles of white, four of red, or six mixed), several times a year. The wineries discount the wines generously, and also host one or more annual members-only wine parties, winemaker dinners or other special events.</p>
<p>9. Shop online. Buying wine online can also be a great way to go. Choose one or more wineries that you like or want to know better, go to their websites and sign up for their mailing lists. You’ll be among the first to learn of their reduced-price offerings: end-of-vintage closeouts, seasonal specials and more.</p>
<p>Additionally, there’s a fairly new category in online wine buying, with independent firms selling small lots of clearance wines at great prices. Discounts sometimes exceed 50%, in fact, and shipping is often free with a minimum purchase.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="http://galtime.com/article/home/47753/26703/how-technology-will-change-way-you-shop" type="external">How Technology Will Change the Way You Shop&#160; Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>10. Develop your own taste. My very best advice to you, to avoid getting ripped off when you’re buying wine, is to develop your own taste, learn enough so you’ll feel comfortable in restaurants and wine shops, and most of all, trust your own judgment when it comes to what you like and dislike.</p>
<p>It’s easier than you think. Next time there’s a good sale on wine, try bringing home several bottles to compare with each other. Then try them with different foods and see what works best for you.</p>
<p>The more you experiment with it, and the more fun you have, the more you’re empowering yourself to keep moving forward with wine. You’ll be ordering and shopping for wine with confidence, while remaining alert for rip-offs.</p>
<p>Best of all, you’ll be experiencing the sheer enjoyment of wine - and the whole new world of flavors that unfold whenever you lift your glass in a hearty toast.</p>
<p>Rosina now has a new, free wine eBook that just came out. If you want to get it <a href="http://rosinawilson.com/winefoodbuzz-newsletter/" type="external">click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Read More from GalTime:</p> | Ten Ways Not to Get Ripped Off Buying Wine | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/06/11/ten-ways-not-to-get-ripped-off-buying-wine.html | 2016-11-22 | 0 |
<p>US policy towards Iran was a hot topic during the GOP debate in Iowa on Thursday, as Republican presidential candidates engaged in sharp exchanges about whether the United States should attack the country.</p>
<p>Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann and Texas Representative Ron Paul fought over Iran's nuclear ambitions, <a href="http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/10218-debate-bachman-santorum-say-attack-iran-paul-warns-thats-overreacting" type="external">The New American reported</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>Paul believes that there is no evidence of Iranian nuclear weapons, and he said that Bachmann's suggestions that Iran is bent on destroying the United States was "absurd."</p>
<p>Paul, a libertarian GOP hopeful, believes that terrorists aim to harm the US because it invades their countries, <a href="http://www.neontommy.com/news/2011/12/gop-hopefuls-attack-obama-over-iran" type="external">Neon Tommy reported</a>.</p>
<p>Bachmann also scoffed at Paul's suggestion that the US work with Iran to put an end to its nuclear ambitions.</p>
<p>Paul is the only GOP candidate who believes military action or intervention in Iran would be counterproductive.</p>
<p>Former Mass Gov. Mitt Romney also mocked President Barack Obama during the debate over his handling of the downed US drone in Iran.</p>
<p>"This is a president that the spy drone being brought down, he says pretty please? Foreign policy based on pretty please? You have to be kidding," Romney said.</p>
<p>His comment was a reference to Obama's recent statement that the US had asked Iran to return a drone, a decision weighed heavily by military leaders. However, as <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/12/16/143825913/new-republic-5-takeaways-from-the-gop-debate" type="external">NPR wrote</a>:</p>
<p>In any event, can Romney and the other candidates really attack Obama as afraid to use force, after the killing of bin Laden and so many other operations? I guess anything is possible in the world of Republican politics.&#160;</p>
<p>Former Utah Gov. Jon Hunstman and former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who squared off at St. Anselm College on Monday, also believed that Iran is the number one threat to stability in the Middle East.</p> | Iowa Debate: Presidential hopefuls debate Iran | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-12-16/iowa-debate-presidential-hopefuls-debate-iran | 2011-12-16 | 3 |
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<p>There are three new chairs: Democrat Peter Wirth of Santa Fe, heading the Conservation Committee; Democrat John Sapien of Corrales, chairing the Education Committee; and Democrat Gerald Ortiz y Pino of Albuquerque, heading the Public Affairs Committee. The chairmanships were open because the senators who held them last year didn’t run for re-election.</p>
<p>Other committee chairmen from last year kept their jobs, including Finance Chairman John Arthur Smith, a Democrat from Deming. The others, all Democrats, are: Corporations and Transportation Chairman Phil Griego of San Jose; Indian and Cultural Affairs Chairman John Pinto of Gallup; Judiciary Chairman Richard Martinez of Espanola; and Rules Chairwoman Linda Lopez of Albuquerque.</p>
<p>The recommendations were made by the Committees’ Committee, and approved by the full Senate. Also approved were the members of each committee.</p>
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<p>Democrats have the majority in the Senate, outnumbering Republicans 25-17.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Senate Approves Committee Chairs, Members | false | https://abqjournal.com/161262/senate-approves-committee-chairs-members.html | 2013-01-17 | 2 |
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<p>The Lobos? Nov. 7 home game against Utah State is scheduled for CBS Sports Network, with a kickoff time of 1:30 p.m. Their Nov. 14 game at Boise State and their season finale at home against Air Force are to be aired on ESPN networks to be announced later, kickoff times to be determined.</p>
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<p>It's possible that either or both of the games scheduled for ESPN could wind up being streamed on ESPN3.com.</p>
<p>All three games are scheduled on Saturdays. Earlier, the Mountain West announced that 11 games involving conference teams would be telecast nationally on a Thursday or a Friday. New Mexico did not appear on that list.</p>
<p>Other UNM games to appear on regional TV - ROOT Sports, in particular - will be announced later.</p>
<p>The two games targeted for an ESPN network have the potential to trigger a $500,000 bonus from the conference. But only games on ESPN and ESPN2 qualify - not ESPNU, ESPNews or ESPN3.</p>
<p>The ESPN network games will be assigned to a specific carrier 12 days in advance.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Among Mountain West schools, only Hawaii has as few nationally televised games as UNM.</p>
<p>The scorecard: Boise State nine, Air Force eight, Colorado State eight, Utah State eight, Fresno State seven, San Diego State seven, Nevada five, Wyoming five, San Jose State four, UNLV four, Hawaii three, New Mexico three.</p>
<p>BRAINS &amp; BRAWN: If you're looking for the ultimate combination of those qualities, look no further.</p>
<p>Garrett Adcock's your guy.</p>
<p>Adcock, a fourth-year junior offensive lineman from Dallas, earlier this month was named the New Mexico Lobos? 2015 "Hard Hat" champion for his dedication and performance in UNM's football strength and conditioning program.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Monday night, at UNM's annual Scholar-Athlete Banquet, Adcock was honored for having maintained a 4.0 grade-point average or better throughout his academic career.</p>
<p>Adcock, 6-foot-2 and 282 pounds, has started 18 games during his UNM career. He's valued for his versatility, able to step in and play any of the five offensive line positions.</p>
<p>In the classroom, he's working toward medical school and a career as an orthopedic surgeon.</p>
<p>WHITE HONORED: Junior linebacker Donnie White was recognized at Monday's banquet for the courage he has shown in dealing with the murder of his father, Donnie Sr., in a random shooting on a St. Louis street in September.</p>
<p>The elder White was killed Sept. 4, two days before UNM's game against Arizona State. Donnie White went home to St. Louis for his father's funeral, returned to Albuquerque on Sept. 17 and played three days later in the Lobos? 38-35 victory over New Mexico State in Las Cruces.</p>
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<p>White started eight games last season. He maintained a GPA above 3.0.</p>
<p>NCAA HARDWARE: Lobo linebacker Dakota Cox recently received a plaque from the NCAA for leading the Football Bowl Subdivision in tackles per game.</p>
<p>Cox, a 6-foot, 230-pound junior from Draper, Utah, averaged 12.9 tackles last fall before suffering a season-ending injury late in UNM's 60-49 loss to Boise State on Nov. 8. He was a first-team All-Mountain West selection.</p>
<p>If Adcock has a rival in the brains-and-brawn department, it might be Cox. He's an academic all-conference and all-district choice and was one of several Lobos recognized at Monday's banquet for his performance in the classroom.</p>
<p>VIDEO AWARD: UNM's Chris Crooks has been named Mountain West Conference Video Coordinator of the Year.</p>
<p>Crooks, who's beginning his fourth year at UNM, supervises all facets of game and practice video operations.</p>
<p>CAMP REGISTRATION: UNM is accepting registrations for its 2015 football camps this summer.</p>
<p>For more information, click on golobos.com, call Michael Levy at 505-925-5750 or email him at [email protected].</p> | UNM football: 3 games on national TV | false | https://abqjournal.com/576946/unm-football-3-games-on-national-tv-2.html | 2 |
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<p>A group of congressional Democrats wants Congress to officially censure President Trump in the wake of the clashes in Charlottesville sparked by a neo-Nazi and white nationalist rally.</p>
<p>Led by Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, a senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, the censure resolution says Mr. Trump did a disservice to the country when he blamed “many sides” for the violence that erupted.</p>
<p>The lawmakers, though, go beyond Charlottesville, saying the president “has surrounded himself with, and cultivated the influence of, senior advisors and spokespeople who have long histories of promoting white nationalist, alt-Right, racist and anti-Semitic principles and policies within the country.”</p>
<p>The resolution urges Mr. Trump to fire anyone who suggests he “cater to the alt-right movement.”</p>
<p>The resolution will be introduced when the House holds its next meeting on Friday. Lawmakers are currently at home on a five-week vacation, but the chamber is meeting in pro-forma sessions.</p>
<p>Censure of a president is rare. The Senate lists just one occasion, in 1834, when Andrew Jackson drew the ire of lawmakers.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. <a href="https://goo.gl/forms/xGjXcUKYsKxMeCUl1" type="external">Click here for reprint permission</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Democrats demand Congress censure Trump after Charlottesville | true | http://washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/16/dem-demand-congress-censure-trump-charlottesville/ | 2017-08-16 | 0 |
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<p>As Denver Police Department officers look on, homeless people gather their belongings and leave from a camp around a small park near the Denver Rescue Mission on Tuesday in Denver. The city has spent months urging the campers to move into shelters and get rid of makeshift structures that officials say pose a health hazard. (David Zalubowski/The Associated Press)</p>
<p>DENVER - People camping near Denver's homeless shelters packed up their belongings Tuesday before city workers started removing bags, tarps, shopping carts and other items left on sidewalks.</p>
<p>The Mile High City is another fast-growing metropolis struggling with what to do about homeless camps as affordable housing becomes scarcer. Construction cranes dot the skyline, but people drawn to Denver's outdoor, yet urban lifestyle are willing to pay rising rents.</p>
<p>The city has spent months urging the campers on the edge of downtown near the Coors Field baseball stadium to move into shelters and get rid of makeshift structures that officials say pose a health hazard. They posted notice of the crackdown Monday.</p>
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<p>The area has long been a hub for homelessness, with the city's two shelters located there, but the neighborhood is changing. More apartments are going up, and it is becoming increasingly popular for bars and restaurants.</p>
<p>Some of the campers who remained until Tuesday said they would move elsewhere rather than sleep in a crowded shelter. Shirley Cherrysseed said the city should set aside a designated area for homeless people to camp.</p>
<p>"It is just stupid. They are being unreasonable," she said before the cleanup started.</p>
<p>Salvatore Garofalo sits in a lawn chair as he smokes a cigarette in a makeshift homeless camp across from the Denver Rescue in downtown Denver on Monday. (David Zalubowski/The Associated Press)</p>
<p>Police accompanied the city crews clearing the sidewalks. A half-dozen protesters shouted from across a busy street, accusing the workers of stealing, but no one interfered with the cleanup.</p>
<p>Officials stressed that things, not people, were being removed. Until recently, the area was lined with many more camps, some with tarps tied to trees for shelter.</p>
<p>Crews have been cleaning the area three times a week, finding human waste, needles and discarded food, and the situation is nearing a crisis, city spokeswoman Julie Smith said.</p>
<p>"This unsafe, unhealthy, unsanitary and inhumane situation must be addressed," she said.</p>
<p>While more shelter beds are available, homeless advocates say not everyone should be forced to stay in them. A crowded shelter may not be a good place for people with mental illness and others don't want to leave their partners or dogs, said Cathy Alderman, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.</p>
<p>Denver's move comes a week after crews in San Francisco cleared out a homeless camp under a freeway overpass that city officials had declared a health hazard. In Seattle, city-sanctioned homeless encampments have opened and parking lots are available where people living in RVs and cars can park and have access to toilets and social services.</p>
<p>Denver native Josh Lampkin, who helps clean up trash near the homeless camps, said he ended up living on the streets after being released from prison.</p>
<p>He said he likes the energy from a downtown that has transformed into a hotspot of bars and clubs, but he wonders if there is room for those whose lives don't go smoothly.</p>
<p>"It's a city. People go through things. That's life," he said.</p> | Denver joins list of cities struggling with homeless camps | false | https://abqjournal.com/736808/denver-joins-list-of-cities-struggling-with-homeless-camps.html | 2016-03-08 | 2 |
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<p>This cartoon requires Macromedia’s Flash Player. If you don’t see the cartoon above, <a href="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="external">download the player here</a>.</p>
<p>Mark Fiore is an editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Examiner, and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com" type="external">web site</a> featuring his work.</p>
<p /> | Martha’s Guide to Fine Corporate Dining | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2002/06/marthas-guide-fine-corporate-dining/ | 2002-06-28 | 4 |
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<p>Some cells now sit empty in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, a jail that was once so crowded many inmates had to sleep on cots. (Dean Hanson/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Copyright © 2015 Albuquerque Journal</p>
<p>Decades of overcrowding have given way to a new reality at the Bernalillo County jail: Hundreds of beds are now empty.</p>
<p>The inmate population is hovering around 1,600 – its lowest level in a dozen years.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>One morning this month, in fact, the Metropolitan Detention Center held only 1,568 inmates, or 41 percent fewer than it held just three years ago, when it was bursting with more than 2,600 inmates, some of whom slept on cots on the floor.</p>
<p>In a recent visit to the jail, a Journal photographer and reporter observed two 64-bed units. One held 18 inmates, the other 42.</p>
<p>At one point, a unit that size would have held 96 inmates – with three inmates assigned to a cell designed for two.</p>
<p>The turnaround is raising hope that the county can end a 1995 lawsuit focusing on whether crowded conditions violate inmates’ constitutional rights.</p>
<p>“This is an accomplishment that’s been evasive for 20 years,” County Commission Chairwoman Maggie Hart Stebbins said in a recent interview.</p>
<p>Even if litigation continues, county taxpayers already are seeing some relief: They’re no longer paying millions of dollars a year to ship inmates to jails throughout New Mexico and Texas because of a shortage of beds in Albuquerque.</p>
<p>Credit for the reduced population, officials say, lies in a variety of initiatives aimed at speeding up the handling of cases in the court system and better cooperation among criminal-justice agencies.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Shorter stays</p>
<p>Unlike a state prison, the jail isn’t supposed to hold people long term. It’s for people awaiting trial or a hearing, or serving short sentences.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>How long someone spends in jail has a huge impact on the population.</p>
<p>“We have no control over who comes to our doors, nor do we have control over who’s released,” jail chief Phillip Greer said.</p>
<p>That’s where the courts come in.</p>
<p>The Legislature in 2013 passed a law establishing a multi-agency commission that included the state Supreme Court and Administrative Office of the Courts. They worked with representatives of state District Court, Metropolitan Court and others to come up with ideas for reducing the time inmates spend waiting for hearings.</p>
<p>The county paid for pro tem judges to preside over some preliminary and probation hearings.</p>
<p>Some of the changes are dramatic. People who violate their probation restrictions – by failing a drug test, for example – used to wait in jail more than 40 days for a hearing. Now it’s a little over 20 days.</p>
<p>A state Supreme Court decision on bail also is a factor.</p>
<p>In November, the court ruled that judges shouldn’t set high bonds to keep defendants in jail pending trial. Instead, judges should use the least-restrictive conditions in each case that still will ensure public safety and the defendant’s presence at trial.</p>
<p>In Bernalillo County, the courts are expanding use of a program that supervises people in the community as they await trial.</p>
<p>Elizabeth Simpson, an attorney hired in 2013 to help the county work on the jail population, said the package of local changes “does not mean releasing dangerous people to the streets.”</p>
<p>“It means identifying those individuals who need to be incarcerated and those who do not and making our system work efficiently so that people do not languish in jail waiting for adjudication,” she said.</p>
<p>In a report issued last month, the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit group that’s researched jails and prisons, estimated that three in five people in jails across the country “are unconvicted of any crime and are simply too poor to post even low bail to get out while their cases are being processed.”</p>
<p>Nan Nash, chief judge in the state’s 2nd Judicial District based in Albuquerque, said the courts and other justice agencies here “have worked diligently together to make some fundamental changes to the way we address criminal cases, especially pretrial.”</p>
<p>Some of that means moving to trial more quickly, and the change isn’t always easy.</p>
<p>“Along the way,” Nash said, “there’s been some vigorous debate and a lot of consideration about how and why we do the things we do, and some difficulty. Nevertheless, the judges have all gotten on board, and they’ve all been committed to making these changes.”</p>
<p>Inmates eat lunch and play dominoes recently inside the Bernalillo County jail. A 64-bed housing pod like this one once housed 96 inmates. It had only 42 inmates the day this photograph was taken. (Dean Hanson/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Nationwide debate</p>
<p>Bernalillo County’s scrutiny of the jail and courts is part of a discussion happening nationwide among Democratic and Republican leaders.</p>
<p>A conservative movement known as “Right on Crime” is pushing to examine corrections costs and make other changes. Its supporters question, for example, whether incarcerating drug abusers for nonviolent offenses is worth the cost to taxpayers.</p>
<p>The Vera Institute, with offices in New York, issued a report last month on jails called “Incarceration’s Front Door.”</p>
<p>The report notes that crime rates have been on the decline since the 1990s, even as the proportion of the population sent to jail continued to climb.</p>
<p>“I do think there’s growing recognition that we have a lot of people sitting in jails who don’t need to be there for reasons of public safety,” said Nancy Fishman, an author of the Vera Institute report.</p>
<p>Simpson, a local attorney whose expertise includes working on the jail system in New Orleans, said Bernalillo County’s success in driving down the population is ahead of many similar efforts across the country.</p>
<p>But part of that is rooted in just how overcrowded the jail was in the first place, she said. The inmate population is just now getting down to the national average for a community this size, she said.</p>
<p>Budget issues</p>
<p>But challenges remain.</p>
<p>The county’s budget crunch – there’s potential for a $40 million to $70 million shortfall in next year’s operating budget, if no adjustments are made – could make it difficult to continue some of the population initiatives.</p>
<p>Altogether, the county is spending about $8.3 million a year on the initiatives, which are among $36 million in county projects funded out of reserves and on the chopping block.</p>
<p>That debate will play out later this spring, as the county puts together next year’s budget. A proposal is set to go to the commission in May for the fiscal year that starts July 1.</p>
<p>The county no longer is sending inmates to other jails, which cost more than $6 million a year, at one point.</p>
<p>But otherwise, the reduced population at the jail isn’t providing much budget relief, county officials say. The jail needs the extra beds and cells to ensure inmates can be separated into the right classifications, depending on how dangerous they are and other factors.</p>
<p>It can’t, for example, just shut down a whole wing, officials said.</p>
<p>“We are operating a full facility,” Greer said. “Simply, we’ve reduced from being extremely overcrowded to now being within good operational parameters.”</p>
<p>The Bernalillo County jail was so crowded three years ago that many inmates slept on cots on the day-room floor. The pod shown above was photographed in February 2012. (Dean Hanson/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Civil-rights case</p>
<p>Another potential savings, eventually, could come from the end of the civil-rights litigation over conditions in the jail. The county estimates it spends about $1 million a year for legal fees and similar costs.</p>
<p>Experts are examining conditions inside the jail and reporting to federal judges.</p>
<p>County Attorney Randy Autio said overcrowding has been a big factor in the conditions under evaluation.</p>
<p>“We couldn’t continue to overcrowd the jail and ever function the way we wanted to,” Autio said.</p>
<p>Zach Ives, an attorney for the inmates, said there’s been progress, but “serious problems” continue.</p>
<p>“We’re relieved that the population has remained at reasonable levels recently,” he said, “and we hope the county will put a lasting system in place to prevent overcrowding. Despite the progress on crowding, a number of other serious problems remain, including a high incidence of staff using force unnecessarily.”</p>
<p>Safety benefits</p>
<p>Greer said the reduced population should make for a safer jail.</p>
<p>Fewer inmates, he said, means “less tension, less potential for violence. It certainly relieves the pressure of a very full or overfull cell block.”</p>
<p>There’s no more “triple celling,” where three inmates shared a cell designed for two, Capt. Ray Gonzales said.</p>
<p>The jail population hasn’t hovered near 1,600 inmates since about 13 years ago, when the Metropolitan Detention Center opened and the county closed the old Downtown jail and some satellites.</p>
<p>The population shot up in the years after the new jail opened and kept on climbing.</p>
<p>The Metropolitan Detention Center – stationed on the West Mesa, 17 miles from Downtown – is the 39th-largest jail in the country. It has 2,236 beds, though the operating capacity is considered to be 1,950 inmates.</p>
<p>The county, of course, hopes to stay well below the operating limit – something impossible just a year ago, without shipping inmates to other jails.</p>
<p>“It’s remarkable what’s happened,” County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley said. “It really is.”</p>
<p />
<p /> | Jail population plunges | false | https://abqjournal.com/555688/bernalillo-county-jail-population-has-plunged.html | 2 |
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<p>The unemployment rate in Germany ticked down in November as the labor market in Europe's largest economy remained strong.</p>
<p>The Federal Labor Office said Wednesday that the unemployment rate in November fell to 5.7 percent from 5.8 percent the previous month, with a total of 2.53 million people out of work.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Adjusted for seasonal factors, the rate remained steady at 6 percent, the lowest it has been since German reunification.</p> | German unemployment falls again in November to 5.7 percent | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/30/german-unemployment-falls-again-in-november-to-57-percent.html | 2016-11-30 | 0 |
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<p>The Denver Post ( <a href="http://dpo.st/2j5QHgY" type="external">http://dpo.st/2j5QHgY</a> ) reported that Jennifer Hernandez’ attorney says her client received the settlement Wednesday.</p>
<p>The Associated Press usually does not name victims of sexual assault.</p>
<p>The newspaper reported Hernandez said she wanted her name made public to help stop jail sexual abuse.</p>
<p>Hernandez was arrested and jailed in May 2014.</p>
<p>According to the lawsuit, Otero County jail guard Dominic Torres fondled Hernandez in her cell and threatened to plant contraband on her if she reported the incident.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Torres was later fired and pleaded guilty to introduction of contraband and sexual assault.</p>
<p>The lawsuit says he served 30 days in jail.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Denver Post, <a href="http://www.denverpost.com" type="external">http://www.denverpost.com</a></p> | Colorado county pays $150,000 in jail guard sex assault case | false | https://abqjournal.com/926832/colorado-county-pays-150000-in-jail-guard-sex-assault-case.html | 2 |
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<p>MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Typhoon Melor weakened Tuesday as it crossed over the central Philippines, leaving one man dead and wide areas without power. About 730,000 people were evacuated to safer grounds before the typhoon hit.</p>
<p>The government weather bureau said Melor was northwest of central Romblon Island, packing winds of 140 kilometers (87 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 170 kph (106 mph). Classes, flights and ferry trips remain suspended in affected areas.</p>
<p>The typhoon is expected to exit the land mass of Mindoro island later Tuesday, said Adzar Aurelio, a government weather forecaster. It will move over the South China Sea away from the country, and is forecast to weaken to a severe tropical storm on Wednesday and to a tropical depression by Thursday.</p>
<p>One fatality has been confirmed. Edgar Posadas, a regional civil defense official, said a 31-year-old man was hit Monday by a dislodged tin sheet while he was fixing his house’s roof in Northern Samar province.</p>
<p>The national disaster management agency said 733,153 people were evacuated before the typhoon hit, and officials said that averted more casualties.</p>
<p>About 20 storms and typhoons hit the Philippines each year. In November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest typhoon on record to make landfall, left more than 7,300 people dead and missing as it leveled entire villages and swept walls of seawater into parts of the central Philippines.</p>
<p>MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Typhoon Melor weakened Tuesday as it crossed over the central Philippines, leaving one man dead and wide areas without power. About 730,000 people were evacuated to safer grounds before the typhoon hit.</p>
<p>The government weather bureau said Melor was northwest of central Romblon Island, packing winds of 140 kilometers (87 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 170 kph (106 mph). Classes, flights and ferry trips remain suspended in affected areas.</p>
<p>The typhoon is expected to exit the land mass of Mindoro island later Tuesday, said Adzar Aurelio, a government weather forecaster. It will move over the South China Sea away from the country, and is forecast to weaken to a severe tropical storm on Wednesday and to a tropical depression by Thursday.</p>
<p>One fatality has been confirmed. Edgar Posadas, a regional civil defense official, said a 31-year-old man was hit Monday by a dislodged tin sheet while he was fixing his house’s roof in Northern Samar province.</p>
<p>The national disaster management agency said 733,153 people were evacuated before the typhoon hit, and officials said that averted more casualties.</p>
<p>About 20 storms and typhoons hit the Philippines each year. In November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest typhoon on record to make landfall, left more than 7,300 people dead and missing as it leveled entire villages and swept walls of seawater into parts of the central Philippines.</p> | Typhoon weakens but leaves 1 dead as it crosses Philippines | false | https://apnews.com/3c680fc140304e28bbd54f8a677e0cfd | 2015-12-15 | 2 |
<p>LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Twenty-eight children have died from lead poisoning from illegal gold mining in a remote west-central village, Nigerian health officials said, while doctors still are treating thousands from an earlier outbreak.</p>
<p>Dozens more children are sick in the Rafi area of Niger state and action must be taken quickly if they are not to suffer irreversible neurological damage, Michelle Chouinard, Nigeria director for Doctors Without Borders, told The Associated Press on Friday.</p>
<p>Her organization still is treating children from a 2010 mass lead poisoning, in Zamfara state, that killed 400 kids and left many paralyzed, blind and with learning disabilities because of a three-year delay in government funding for a cleanup.</p>
<p>Chouinard said they have cured 2,688 of 5,451 people infected and hope to complete treatment next year. They have had most success in the worst-affected village of Bagega, where all but 189 of 1,426 people have had the lead leached from their bodies.</p>
<p>Junior Health Minister Fidelis Nwankwo said Thursday all those newly infected in neighboring Niger state are under 5 with 43 percent of the 65 sickened children dying.</p>
<p>“The devastating impact of this outbreak is associated with new mining sites which were found to contain more leaded ores which are often brought home for crushing and processing,” he said.</p>
<p>Previous government efforts to forbid artisanal mining have failed as poor villagers make up to 10 times as much from gold than from farming.</p>
<p>In Zamfara state, where the processing area was found to contain over 100,000 parts per million of lead — the United Nations considers 400 parts per million safe — Idaho-based TerraGraphics International Foundation took 5 ½ months to clean up and also trained villagers in safer mining.</p>
<p>“This (training) is working fairly well and I think it’s one of the contributing factors to why the number of patients is decreasing so much and so quickly in Bagega,” Chouinard said.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Bashir Adigun contributed to this report from Abuja, Nigeria.</p>
<p>LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Twenty-eight children have died from lead poisoning from illegal gold mining in a remote west-central village, Nigerian health officials said, while doctors still are treating thousands from an earlier outbreak.</p>
<p>Dozens more children are sick in the Rafi area of Niger state and action must be taken quickly if they are not to suffer irreversible neurological damage, Michelle Chouinard, Nigeria director for Doctors Without Borders, told The Associated Press on Friday.</p>
<p>Her organization still is treating children from a 2010 mass lead poisoning, in Zamfara state, that killed 400 kids and left many paralyzed, blind and with learning disabilities because of a three-year delay in government funding for a cleanup.</p>
<p>Chouinard said they have cured 2,688 of 5,451 people infected and hope to complete treatment next year. They have had most success in the worst-affected village of Bagega, where all but 189 of 1,426 people have had the lead leached from their bodies.</p>
<p>Junior Health Minister Fidelis Nwankwo said Thursday all those newly infected in neighboring Niger state are under 5 with 43 percent of the 65 sickened children dying.</p>
<p>“The devastating impact of this outbreak is associated with new mining sites which were found to contain more leaded ores which are often brought home for crushing and processing,” he said.</p>
<p>Previous government efforts to forbid artisanal mining have failed as poor villagers make up to 10 times as much from gold than from farming.</p>
<p>In Zamfara state, where the processing area was found to contain over 100,000 parts per million of lead — the United Nations considers 400 parts per million safe — Idaho-based TerraGraphics International Foundation took 5 ½ months to clean up and also trained villagers in safer mining.</p>
<p>“This (training) is working fairly well and I think it’s one of the contributing factors to why the number of patients is decreasing so much and so quickly in Bagega,” Chouinard said.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Bashir Adigun contributed to this report from Abuja, Nigeria.</p> | Nigeria: 28 kids killed by lead poisoning from gold mining | false | https://apnews.com/eccce359eee34debb7e7e41055ee71e2 | 2015-05-15 | 2 |
<p>Americans know that the United States keeps a huge petroleum reserve. Other countries store oil or crops. But China takes stockpiling to an entirely different level: It runs a strategic pork reserve.</p>
<p>Last week's announcement that Shuanghui Group, a Chinese meat producer, struck a deal to <a href="www.cnbc.com/id/100772235" type="external">snap up America's largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods</a>, has generated <a href="www.cnbc.com/id/100774673" type="external">new interest among consumers and market watchers</a> about the inner workings of China's massive hog industry.</p>
<p>And it is, in fact, massive: Hogs are culturally and economically important in China, and Chinese consumers devour more than half the pork produced in the world, according to data from Northstar Commodity Investment.</p>
<p>That consumption is growing as Chinese families gain more expendable income and spend it on meat products that were once out of reach. Chinese now eat about 70 million tons of meat annually, more than double the total Americans eat.</p>
<p>The Chinese central government, famously sensitive to domestic instability of all sorts, created the pork reserve in 2007 with an official mandate to "stabilize live hog prices, prevent excessive hog price drops, which damage the interests of farmers and to ease the negative effects of the cyclical nature of hog production and market prices."</p>
<p>When hogs get too expensive in China, the reserve releases animals onto the market, trying to hold down prices for consumers. When hogs get too cheap, the reserve buys up pigs, trying to keep farmers profitable.</p>
<p>Not an Exact Science</p>
<p>Pork prices have gyrated in China since 2006 as the country has lurched from traditional farming to large-scale agriculture. Small "backyard" farms have disappeared as big, commercial farms have been brought along to replace them.</p>
<p>Only about 37 percent of live hogs in China came from backyard farms last year, compared with about 74 percent in 2001, according to research from Rabobank International.</p>
<p>The Smithfield acquisition is largely seen by China-watchers and commodities experts as a move to help accelerate the development of Chinese mega-farms by grabbing US know-how.</p>
<p>For now, at least, it's also about grabbing US pork: Even though 95 percent of the hogs eaten in China are home-grown, a quarter of all the pork produced in the United States in the first four months of 2013 wound up getting shipped to China as well, according to the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).</p>
<p>The strategic pork reserve's system for gauging the right price isn't something set in stone, but more of a guideline. According to Rabobank, the reserve usually buys up pigs when the price of a kilo of pork relative to the price of a kilo of corn falls below 6 to 1. The government sells when the ratio hits 7 or 8 to 1.</p>
<p>The most recent ratio, according to May 29 data from China's Ministry of Agriculture, is 5.53 to 1—below the unofficial break-even point for farmers.</p>
<p>In April and May, China's hog farmers took a loss of about 200 yuan ($32.60) per head, said Rabobank senior analyst Chenjun Pan.</p>
<p>As a result, the strategic reserve recently has made two big efforts to haul pig flesh off the market—once in March and again last month, according to Michael Pareles, a Beijing-based trade manager for USMEF.</p>
<p>The last time the reserve released swine onto the market was over a two-week period in late January and early February. That was just before China's New Year, a time when celebrating Chinese gobble up pork in staggering quantities and prices hit annual spikes.</p>
<p>In a country that consumes as many pigs as China does, it's difficult—maybe even impossible—to build and operate a pork reserve big enough that it can steer the gargantuan, national swine market by holding intermittent pig-sales or hog-grabs.</p>
<p>The pork reserve's two rounds of buying this year came in at 75,000 and 93,700 tons, respectively, combining to account for only 0.3 percent of the total Chinese market, according to Rabobank's Pan. Some analysts put the percentage even lower.</p>
<p>"It is not very effective, because the volume is too small," Pan said.</p>
<p>The precise size of China's pork reserve is a closely held secret, but what is known is that there are two types of hog on reserve: the kind that's alive, and the kind that's frozen. Some company-owned farms in China are designated as state reserve hog farms, but even those farms operate under a normal market mechanism.</p>
<p>"They will serve the government only when there is a need," Pan said. "They're scattered everywhere, in almost every province."</p>
<p>China introduced the frozen part of the hog reserve in 2008, after a particularly acute shortage. But freezing hog meat and holding it for when the market gets hungry is an iffy business, at best: Sources who spoke with CNBC put the cap on how long such meat will safely "keep" for consumption at anywhere from four to six months.</p>
<p>Pareles of the USMEF agreed that the strategic reserve doesn't possess the heft in terms of tons of pigs under its control in order to decisively move markets. He further pointed to the fact that the size and price of pig purchases "aren't announced until after the pork has been acquired."</p>
<p>Other pork subsidies, many of them offered by individual Chinese provinces and municipalities, sometimes undercut the effectiveness of the strategic hog reserve by bringing their own influences to bear on the market. Those can include subsidies per sow or per veterinary vaccine, for instance.</p>
<p>The central government's own efforts can get in the way, as well. As China tries to industrialize its hog production and bring it into the hands of fewer, larger entities, it has introduced subsidies that favor big producers over independent farmers, and big slaughter facilities over smaller ones. Such subsidies can, in turn, shape the market more than the pork reserve itself.</p>
<p>"Many Chinese industry analysts think that the reserve's ability to significantly control prices is waning," Pareles said.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/" type="external" /></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/100786509" type="external">Is the Dollar-Yen Slide Below 100 Just the Start?</a></p> | Hot Stock: Inside China's Strategic Pork Reserve | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-06-07/hot-stock-inside-chinas-strategic-pork-reserve | 2013-06-07 | 3 |
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<p>LOS ANGELES — Jerry Seinfeld and Netflix have announced a deal that will bring the star’s interview show “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” to the streaming service later this year.</p>
<p>Netflix says new episodes of “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” will premiere in late 2017 and previous episodes will also be made available. The show has streamed on Crackle since its debut in 2012.</p>
<p>Seinfeld will also film two new stand-up specials for Netflix to be released later this year. In addition, Netflix says Seinfeld will “help develop scripted and non-scripted comedy programming” on the platform.</p>
<p>Terms of the deal haven’t been announced.</p>
<p>“Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” features Seinfeld chatting with guests in classic cars and coffee shops.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Jerry Seinfeld series, specials coming to Netflix under deal | false | https://abqjournal.com/930181/jerry-seinfeld-series-specials-coming-to-netflix-under-deal.html | 2017-01-18 | 2 |
<p>Technology consulting firm Accenture yesterday dropped Tiger Woods as a spokesman, about two weeks after reports of the famous golfer's extra-marital affairs emerged. Woods later admitted to infidelity.</p>
<p>Woods has represented Accenture for the past six years.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p><a href="http://www.idg.com/www/rd.nsf/rd?readform&amp;u=http://newsroom.accenture.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=4915" type="external">Accenture issued Opens a New Window.</a> a brief statement yesterday concluding that it had "determined that [Woods] is no longer the right representative for its advertising." The company also wished "only the best" for Woods and his family.</p>
<p>Woods' most visible contribution to Accenture's business were billboards placed in strategic locations at airports near gates and baggage claim areas touting the strategies gollowed by Woods to remain the most successful golfer in the sport. Woods appeared in the billboards in still shots from various golfing locations, often in mid-stroke.</p>
<p>One notable <a href="http://www.idg.com/www/rd.nsf/rd?readform&amp;u=http://www.bozell.com/insights/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/tiger-wood-accenture-ad1.gif" type="external">print ad for Accenture Opens a New Window.</a> , which appeared last March, showed Woods contemplating a shot while standing in waist-high grass. The text reads, "It's rough out there. Economic realites are daunting. And yet, as with every competitive challenge, some businesses will respond proactively and effectively, while others are left behind. The winner will be those who act quickly..." The headline for the ad reads, "It's not a setback. It's a test."</p>
<p>Accenture's business has improved in recent years and it saw $21.6 billion in revenue for the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, 2009. It employes 177,000 workers and has clients in 120 companies.</p>
<p>More from IDG:</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142225/Accenture_drops_Tiger_Woods_ads" type="external">Original story Opens a New Window.</a></p> | Accenture drops Tiger Woods ads | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2009/12/14/accenture-drops-tiger-woods-ads.html | 2016-03-18 | 0 |
<p>BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) — A marine biologist believes a humpback whale shielded her from a 15-foot tiger shark in the South Pacific.</p>
<p>Nan Hauser said she didn’t understand the actions of the 25-ton whale that she met face-to-face in the Cook Islands. Then she saw the shark.</p>
<p>She’s heard on a <a href="https://youtu.be/9YZYQT8bvS8" type="external">video</a> telling the massive mammal, “I love you!”</p>
<p>The encounter took place in October, but Hauser didn’t upload the video until Monday. It quickly spread via social media.</p>
<p>Hauser, president of the Center for Cetacean Research and Conservation, tells <a href="http://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/08/humpback-whale-saves-brunswick-marine-biologist-from-shark/" type="external">the Portland Press Herald</a> that whales are “altruistic” and often hide seals from predators, but she has never experienced or read about anything about a whale protecting a human. “If someone told me the story, I wouldn’t believe it,” she said.</p>
<p>The Brunswick resident said she was oblivious to the shark during the tense, 10-minute encounter. The whale started to nudge her, and appeared to push her with its head. The animal also appeared to shield her with its pectoral fin.</p>
<p>Her research companions turned off an underwater video drone, fearing she was going to be mauled to death.</p>
<p>But Hauser kept her video rolling.</p>
<p>She suffered some bruises and scratches from the encounter, but was otherwise unscathed. She said that after she swam back to her boat, the whale surfaced nearby as if to check on her.</p>
<p>While Hauser credits the whale for protecting her, she acknowledges she can’t know what the whale was thinking.</p>
<p>James Sulikowski, a marine biologist and professor at the University of New England who has studied tiger sharks, said he’s not convinced that the whale saved her life. “The shark could have just been hanging around,” he said. “There’s really no way of knowing the whale’s motivation.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Portland Press Herald, <a href="http://www.pressherald.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.pressherald.com" type="external">http://www.pressherald.com</a></p>
<p>BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) — A marine biologist believes a humpback whale shielded her from a 15-foot tiger shark in the South Pacific.</p>
<p>Nan Hauser said she didn’t understand the actions of the 25-ton whale that she met face-to-face in the Cook Islands. Then she saw the shark.</p>
<p>She’s heard on a <a href="https://youtu.be/9YZYQT8bvS8" type="external">video</a> telling the massive mammal, “I love you!”</p>
<p>The encounter took place in October, but Hauser didn’t upload the video until Monday. It quickly spread via social media.</p>
<p>Hauser, president of the Center for Cetacean Research and Conservation, tells <a href="http://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/08/humpback-whale-saves-brunswick-marine-biologist-from-shark/" type="external">the Portland Press Herald</a> that whales are “altruistic” and often hide seals from predators, but she has never experienced or read about anything about a whale protecting a human. “If someone told me the story, I wouldn’t believe it,” she said.</p>
<p>The Brunswick resident said she was oblivious to the shark during the tense, 10-minute encounter. The whale started to nudge her, and appeared to push her with its head. The animal also appeared to shield her with its pectoral fin.</p>
<p>Her research companions turned off an underwater video drone, fearing she was going to be mauled to death.</p>
<p>But Hauser kept her video rolling.</p>
<p>She suffered some bruises and scratches from the encounter, but was otherwise unscathed. She said that after she swam back to her boat, the whale surfaced nearby as if to check on her.</p>
<p>While Hauser credits the whale for protecting her, she acknowledges she can’t know what the whale was thinking.</p>
<p>James Sulikowski, a marine biologist and professor at the University of New England who has studied tiger sharks, said he’s not convinced that the whale saved her life. “The shark could have just been hanging around,” he said. “There’s really no way of knowing the whale’s motivation.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Portland Press Herald, <a href="http://www.pressherald.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.pressherald.com" type="external">http://www.pressherald.com</a></p> | Maine whale biologist says whale protected her from shark | false | https://apnews.com/04b2a65bb6b049a5b8e38b1c83cf619f | 2018-01-09 | 2 |
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<p>An Albuquerque company wants to mine sand and gravel along La Bajada Mesa near County Road 57. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — After the County Commissioners’ meetings regarding destruction of La Bajada Mesa by mining, a few issues were made patently obvious:</p>
<p>1. The citizens of Santa Fe County do not want to see the destruction of a beautiful and culturally important piece of this county. Defiling a piece of property that is important to the native population is not even remotely desired by any faction of Santa Fe County, except the developers who wish to make money at the expense of a beautiful landmark, and the citizens who enjoy and appreciate its natural beauty.</p>
<p>Bernardo C’ De Baca.</p>
<p>2. The County Commission – and Commissioner Robert Anaya in particular in this instance – were elected to ensure that the best interests of the county population be protected. Period. There should be NO need to “review” 1,000 pages of documents and testimony regarding the issue. The majority – the citizens – have already spoken, except, of course, the TWO citizens who have spoken in support of the mining operation. Having reviewed these “documents,” nothing in them justifies the need for the destruction of the land, much less voting against the citizens that County Commissioners have vowed to protect against greed and corruption.</p>
<p>3. The few reasons for approval are far out-weighed by the damage potential. Jobs? In Santa Fe County, “We don’t need no stinking jobs” that involve destroying the natural beauty of our land and our resources. A handful of manual jobs are of little or no benefit. Besides, if I need a bag of gravel or concrete, I can go down to Big Jo’s and buy one – cheap.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The “rights” of the developers to do what they wish with their property? Not if it negatively impacts the rest of the citizenry. We don’t want to see – from ANY angle – a huge hole in the ground where a beautiful formation once stood. We don’t want the filthy stench and pollutants floating in the air. We don’t want to have our most precious resource – water – being wasted and polluted so a few could profit while the many have to ration water.</p>
<p>4. Finally, there are legitimate reasons why the developers have withdrawn their previous applications: The county has already concluded that mining is not “particularly suited” for the property in question and it has previously been denied approval based on a complete review by the County Development Review Committee. I am not saying anything new here. The facts/findings support that mining has no place in/on/near La Bajada. The majority of citizens are adamant on the issue. If it were necessary, I would suggest that this issue be presented to the people in the next election. Then the two people who want it so badly could vote for it.</p>
<p>Bernardo C’ de Baca is a resident of Santa Fe.</p>
<p /> | The majority has spoken: no mining | false | https://abqjournal.com/442488/the-majority-has-spoken-no-mining.html | 2 |
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<p>Image: Wikimedia Commons, User:Andux, User;Vardion, and Simon Eugster</p>
<p />
<p>Linda Gallini, one of the State Department’s leading experts on nuclear nonproliferation, stepped into an empty room at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, and placed a call to Washington. A senior delegate to the iaea, she’d spent the past week strategizing how to keep dangerous materials out of the hands of rogue states and terrorists. But as dusk settled over the Danube that evening in September 2005, Gallini was more worried about what was brewing back home.</p>
<p>When she got her boss, deputy assistant secretary for nuclear nonproliferation Andrew Semmel, on the phone, he confirmed her worst fears. Carrying out a plan announced two months earlier by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, neoconservative political appointees were about to replace some of State’s most knowledgeable wmd experts with Republican loyalists. Gallini’s heart sank. “If that’s what they’re going to do, pretty much everyone else is going to leave,” she said. “Yeah,” she recalls Semmel telling her. “That’s what they want.”</p>
<p>As she resigned a year later, Gallini gave a series of interviews to Mother Jones, providing an insider’s view of how the Bush administration has gutted the nation’s expertise on wmd. Presidents come and go, but State Department staff like Gallini have long been the backbone of U.S. foreign policy—the “ballast,” as she puts it—that keeps political appointees grounded in reality. “Our job is to be the informed, helpful, supportive folks who guide them when they arrive clueless to the issues,” she explains. A soft-spoken mother of two, Gallini had been a particularly committed arms-control negotiator; during talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear program, she reminded her colleagues that as the adoptive mother of a Korean boy, she had “a personal interest in avoiding nuclear confrontation on the Korean peninsula.”</p>
<p>But such diplomacy was not what President Bush’s undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, John Bolton, had in mind. “A pall was cast over the office” when Bolton arrived in 2001, Gallini recalls. Bolton’s crew included Robert Joseph, who was reportedly instrumental in inserting the claim that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger into Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address. (He succeeded Bolton in 2005.)</p>
<p>Soon the offices charged with keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of North Korea and Iran became, in the words of a former State Department expert, “mere shadows of their former selves.” Many of the changes happened to target career diplomats and other experts suspected of disagreeing with the administration on Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs or not supporting its vendetta against Mohamed ElBaradei—the iaea chief who had refused to rubber-stamp the White House’s claims about Iraqi wmd. One political appointee sent out a help-wanted email listing loyalty to the White House as a key job qualification. (He later retracted the message.) “The advice of career professionals was suddenly taken as disloyalty,” says Gallini.</p>
<p />
<p>Nuclear Freeze&#160;&#160;Remember the concept of “nuclear winter”—a catastrophic climate crash that would follow an all-out nuclear war? Now, new computer simulations show that even a limited nuclear war would cause changes that make global warming look mild. —Robin Mejia</p>
<p>SCENARIO</p>
<p>DROP IN AVERAGE GLOBAL TEMP. FOR SEVERAL YEARS</p>
<p>DROP IN AVERAGE GLOBAL RAINFALL FOR SEVERAL YEARS</p>
<p>CHILLING EFFECTS</p>
<p>India and Pakistan fire 100 warheads</p>
<p>2˚F</p>
<p>10%</p>
<p>Winter up to 4.5˚F colder in the U.S.</p>
<p>U.S. and Russia fire 7,000 warheads</p>
<p>6˚F</p>
<p>25%</p>
<p>Up to 80 more days below freezing in the U.S. per year</p>
<p>U.S. and Russia fire 20,000 warheads</p>
<p>15˚F</p>
<p>45%</p>
<p>Below freezing in Iowa for up to three years</p>
<p />
<p>The new guard also had little use for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, considered the world’s most successful arms-control agreement. Signed by all of the world’s nations except India, Israel, and Pakistan (North Korea withdrew in 2003), it empowered the iaea to control and monitor the spread of nuclear technology—all with a budget of only $350 million a year, less than that of the Washington, D.C., police department. The administration threatened to flout the treaty by planning to make plutonium pits for new weapons. (See “Failure to Launch,” page 58.) It also put the rest of the world on notice that, in effect, it would tolerate the npt only to the extent that it justified an aggressive stance toward Iran and North Korea. In 2004, Bolton and his team attended a two-week meeting on the npt. But instead of negotiating the issues on the agenda, one participant recalls, the American contingent “did a briefing where they said, blatantly, ‘We’re going to nail everybody on noncompliance, and that’s all we’re going to pursue.'”</p>
<p>Gallini, who was there, was appalled. “It was the first time I’ve ever been embarrassed to be on a U.S. delegation,” she says. “It was painful, and the first time in history that we failed to be a leader on the issue.”</p>
<p>Eventually, more than a dozen of the nation’s most experienced nonproliferation experts resigned or retired, including the venerable Dean Rust, a 35-year veteran known for his encyclopedic knowledge. Writing in Arms Control Today after his departure, Rust criticized those in the administration who’d assumed “seasoned wmd experts are only capable of ‘old think.'” The loss of institutional expertise, he continued, “will hamper the State Department’s role at home and abroad for years to come.”</p>
<p>In August 2006, Gallini retired in protest after three decades on the job. “It was unbelievably difficult,” she says. “Our job is to help [presidents] promote their agenda, whether we agree with it or not. But when I see an approach that is going to negatively affect our country and our interests, I’m going to bring it to their attention. And that was not welcome.”</p>
<p>That October, she hosted a farewell party for her former colleagues at her Virginia home. Nearly 100 guests attended, including much of the nation’s nonproliferation brain trust. They improvised songs and poems about their careers; the mood, recalls Gallini, was bittersweet. “Many of us worked together for 25 or 30 years and were like a family,” she says. “I’m still boggled by how much knowledge and expertise have been drop-kicked out the window for purely political reasons.”</p>
<p />
<p>Dropping The BombFive ways the Bush administration has thwarted nuclear nonproliferation</p>
<p />
<p>Treaty Busting: Despite paying lip service to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the United States has quietly backed away from it. In May 2005, 153 countries met at the U.N. for a routine review of the treaty. Many sent a foreign minister or a top diplomat; the United States dispatched a mid-level Bolton ally.Fallout: “[Bush appointees] have undermined the institutional structures, so that we are increasingly left only with the alternative to use force.” —Jonathan Granoff, Global Security Institute</p>
<p />
<p>The India Deal: In July 2005, President Bush and Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh announced that the United States would end sanctions against India for refusing to sign the npt and would supply it with nuclear technology. As part of the deal, which even John Bolton reportedly opposed, New Delhi would decide which facilities the iaea could monitor, and two reactors that can produce weapons-grade plutonium would not be inspected at all.Fallout: “The India deal signals to the world that if you want strong commercial relations with the U.S., go ahead and develop nuclear weapons. It’s a message I’m confident Iran hasn’t overlooked. The North Koreans are probably thinking, ‘The Indians got rewarded—why shouldn’t we?'” —Linda Gallini, former nonproliferation official</p>
<p />
<p>Soviet Nukes: For three years, the Bush administration has proposed cuts to the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, a Pentagon-led effort to secure the massive former Soviet nuclear arsenal.Fallout: “[Donald Rumsfeld] had it in his head that it was a wimpy thing to have the Pentagon involved in.” —Kenneth Adelman, former member of the Defense Policy Board</p>
<p />
<p>Back to Square One: In 1994, the Clinton administration and North Korea signed the Agreed Framework, freezing Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program in exchange for oil and civilian nuclear technology. The deal fell apart in 2002. For five years after that, Bush talked tough about Kim Jong Il and North Korea tested its first nuclear bomb. Last October, North Korea and the United States announced a nukes-for-fuel deal that closely resembled the Agreed Framework.Fallout: “My only regret is that we didn’t agree to this six years ago when we had the opportunity to do so, because we might not then have had the number of nuclear weapons and the nuclear tests that occurred.” —Former Democratic Senator George Mitchell</p>
<p />
<p>Lost in Transit: A Bolton brainchild, the Proliferation Security Initiative bets on legally murky high-seas police work to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, encouraging nations to board and inspect ships suspected of smuggling. No successful wmd seizures have been announced.Fallout: “The psi by itself is a silly thing. The important thing is to catch wmd before they get on ships.” —Former top American nonproliferation official —K.P.</p>
<p /> | Off Target | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/01/target/ | 2018-01-01 | 4 |
<p>The following paper was presented to a symposium held by the Albany Law School. The symposium, held on February 27, 1992, was titled: International War Crimes: The Search for Justice. This paper documents the numerous occasions that international laws were broken and disregarded during the Gulf War.</p>
<p>Introduction</p>
<p>1. For the past year I have been working with the International Commission of Inquiry into United States war crimes that were committed during the Persian Gulf War. This Commission has conducted the largest independent world-wide investigation of war crimes in history. Since last May [1991], the Commission has held thirty hearings across the United States and in twenty countries across five continents to expose the war crimes that the United States government inflicted upon the People and State of Iraq.</p>
<p>2. On Saturday, February 29, 1992 in New York City, at the Martin Luther, Jr. Auditorium, the Commission will publicly present its evidence before an International War Crimes Tribunal consisting of distinguished jurists and human rights activists drawn from around the world. In the brief space that has been allotted to me, I would like to present the basic gist of the charges that will be brought before the Tribunal against President George Bush, Vice President Dan Quayle, Secretary of State Jim Baker, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, National Security Assistant Brent Scowcroft, CIA Director William Webster, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell, General Norman Schwarzkopf, and other members of the High Command of the United States military establishment who launched and waged this brutal, inhumane, and criminal war. Hereinafter, these individuals will be collectively referred to as the Defendants.</p>
<p>The Charges</p>
<p>3. The international crimes that have been charged and will be proven against these Defendants consist principally of the three Nuremberg Offences: the Nuremberg Crime Against Peace, that is waging an aggressive war and a war in violation of international treaties and agreements; Nuremberg Crimes Against Humanity; and Nuremberg War Crimes. In addition, these Defendants also committed grievous war crimes by wantonly violating the Hague Regulations on Land Warfare of 1907; the Declaration of London on Sea Warfare of 1909; the Hague Draft Rules of Aerial Warfare of 1923; the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their two Additional Protocols of 1977; and the international crimes of Genocide against the People of Iraq as defined by the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crimes of Genocide of 1948 as well as by the United States’ own Genocide Convention Implementation Act of 1987, 18 . 1901. Finally, and most heinously of all, these Defendants actually perpetrated a Nuremberg Crime against their own troops when they forced them to take experimental biological weapons vaccines without their informed consent in gross violation of the Nuremberg Code on Medical Experimentation that has been fully subscribed to by the United States government.</p>
<p>Universal Jurisdiction</p>
<p>4. These international crimes create personal criminal responsibility on the part of all these Defendants that warrant their prosecution under basic norms of customary international law, treaties, and statutes in any state of the world community that obtains jurisdiction over them for the rest of their lives. We believe that the International War Crimes Tribunal will produce a Judgment that can be put into the hands of every government in the world with no injunction that should any of these Defendants ever appear within their territorial jurisdiction, they must be apprehended and prosecuted for the commission of the specified international crimes. Like unto pirates, these Defendants are hostes humani generis – the enemies of all humankind!</p>
<p>The Historical Origins of the War</p>
<p>5. I do not have the time in this brief presentation to analyse the entire history of illegal U.S. military interventionism into the Middle East – especially the Persian Gulf region – and in particular its divide-and-conquer (divida et impera) policies. Suffice it to say here that the “immediate cause” of the United States war to destroy Iraq and take over the Arab oil fields in the Persian Gulf goes back to the 1973 Arab oil boycott of Europe. The Arab oil states imposed the boycott in solidarity with those Arab states that were then attempting to reclaim their Lands that had been illegally stolen from Them by Israel in 1967. The Arab oil boycott brought Europe to its knees. Subsequently, Arab oil states were able to increase the price of oil to a point of economic fairness that would enable them to provide for the basic human needs of their own Peoples.</p>
<p>6. But the success of the Arab oil boycott led several prominent U.S. government officials in the Nixon administration, and especially Henry Kissinger, to publicly threaten that the United States government would prepare itself to seize the Arab oil fields in order to prevent something like the boycott from ever happening again. This illegal governmental threat was stated openly, publicly, and repeatedly during the course of the Nixon administration, the Ford administration, the Carter administration, and the Reagan administration. The Bush administration would finally be the ones to carry this threat out. But only after a decade of active preparations.</p>
<p>The Rapid Deployment Force</p>
<p>7. During the course of the Carter administration, the United States government obtained authorisation from Congress to set up, arm, equip, and supply the so-called Rapid Deployment Force (RDF), whose primary mission was to seize and steal the Arab oil-fields of the Persian Gulf region. So the planning and preparations for the U.S. war against Iraq go all the way back to the so-called “liberal” Carter administration – at the very least. The United States Foreign Policy Establishment consists of liberal imperialists, reactionary imperialists, and middle-of-the-road imperialists. But they all share in common a firm belief in America’s “Manifest Destiny” to rule the world.</p>
<p>8. For the next decade, the Pentagon obtained a new generation of high-technology conventional weapons possessing massive destructive power and lethality; the logistical support network necessary to convey a force of 500,000 soldiers over to the Persian Gulf region within six months; and base access rights and facilities for that purpose throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Working in conjunction with its de facto allies in the region such as Egypt and Israel, the Pentagon stockpiled enormous quantities of weapons, equipment, and supplies in the immediate vicinity of the Persian Gulf as a prelude to military intervention. Hence, the United States government had been planning, preparing, and conspiring to seize and steal the Persian Gulf oil fields for over a decade.</p>
<p>United States War Plans Against Iraq</p>
<p>9. Sometime after the termination of the Iraq-Iran War in the Summer of 1988, the Pentagon proceeded to revise its outstanding war plans for U.S. military intervention into the Persian Gulf region in order to destroy Iraq. Defendant Schwarzkopf was put in charge of this revision. For example, in early 1990, Defendant Schwarzkopf informed the Senate Armed Services Committee of this new military strategy in the Gulf allegedly designed to protect U.S. access to and control over Gulf oil in the event of regional conflicts. In October 1990, Defendant Powell referred to the new military plan developed in 1989. After the war, Defendant Schwarzkopf referred to eighteen months of planning for the campaign.</p>
<p>10. Sometime in late 1989 or early 1990, the Pentagon’s war plan for destroying Iraq and stealing Persian Gulf oil fields was put into motion. At that time, Defendant Schwarzkopf was named the Commander of the so-called U.S. Central Command – which was the renamed version of the Rapid Deployment Force – for the purpose of carrying out the war plan that he had personally developed and supervised. During January of 1990, massive quantities of United States weapons, equipment, and supplies were sent to Saudi Arabia in order to prepare for the war against Iraq.</p>
<p>11. Pursuant to this war plan, Defendant Webster and the CIA assisted and directed Kuwait in its actions of violating OPEC oil production agreements to undercut the price of oil for the purpose of debilitating Iraq’s economy; in extracting excessive and illegal amounts of oil from pools it shared with Iraq; in demanding immediate repayment of loans Kuwait had made to Iraq during the Iraq-Iran War; and in breaking off negotiations with Iraq over these disputes. The Defendants intended to provoke Iraq into aggressive military actions against Kuwait that they knew could be used to justify U.S. military intervention into the Persian Gulf for the purpose of destroying Iraq and taking over Arab oil fields.</p>
<p>The U.S. “Green Light” to Invade Kuwait</p>
<p>12. The Defendants showed absolutely no opposition to Iraq’s increasing threats against Iraq. Indeed, when Saddam Hussein requested U.S. Ambassador April Glaspie to explain State Department testimony in Congress about Iraq’s threats against Kuwait, she assured him that the United States considered the dispute to be a regional concern, and that it would not intervene militarily. In other words, the United States government gave Saddam Hussein what amounted to a “green light” to invade Kuwait.</p>
<p>13. This reprehensible behaviour was similar to that of the Carter administration during September of 1980, when United States government officials gave Saddam Hussein the “green light” to invade Iran and thus commence the tragic Iraq-Iran War. A decade later, Saddam Hussein simply surmised that he had been given yet another “green light” by the United States government to commit overt aggression against surrounding states. Only this time, the Defendants knowingly intended to lead Iraq into a provocation that could be used to justify intervention and warfare by United States military forces for the real purpose of destroying Iraq as a military power and seizing Arab oil fields in the Persian Gulf.</p>
<p>Bush Is the Bigger War Criminal</p>
<p>14. On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait without significant resistance. The Kuwaiti government itself estimated that approximately 300 people were killed as a result of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, and a few hundred more as a result of the military occupation. By comparison, Defendant Bush’s invasion of Panama in December of 1989 took between 2,000 and 4,000 Panamanian lives, and the United States government is still covering up the actual death toll. Defendant Bush killed more innocent people in Panama than Saddam Hussein did in Kuwait.</p>
<p>15. Defendant Bush’s invasion of Panama was even more illegal, reprehensible, and criminal than Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. The world must never forget that the first step in the construction of Bush’s “New World Order” was his illegal invasion of Panama and the murder of thousands of completely innocent Panamanian civilians. America’s self-anointed policeman in the Persian Gulf had the blood of the Panamanian People on his hands.</p>
<p>Bush’s Perversion of the Constitution</p>
<p>16. Pursuant to the Pentagon’s war plan for destroying Iraq and stealing Persian Gulf oil fields – and without consultation or communication with Congress – Defendant Bush initially ordered 40,000 U.S. military personnel into the Persian Gulf region during the first week of August 1990. He lied to the American People and Congress when he stated that his acts were purely defensive. Right from the very outset of this crisis – and even beforehand – Defendant Bush fully intended to go to war against Iraq and to seize the Arab oil fields in the Persian Gulf. Defendant Bush deliberately misled, deceived, concealed and made false representations to the Congress to prevent its free deliberation and informed exercise of legislative power.</p>
<p>17. Defendant Bush intentionally usurped Congressional power, ignored its authority, and failed and refused to consult with the Congress. He individually ordered a naval blockade against Iraq – itself an act of war – without approval by Congress or the U.N. Security Council. Defendant Bush waited until after the November 1990 elections to publicly announce his earlier order sending more than 200,000 additional military personnel to the Persian Gulf for offensive purposes without seeking the approval of Congress. Pursuant to the Pentagon’s war plan, Defendant Bush switched U.S. forces from a defensive position and capability to an offensive capacity for aggression against Iraq without consultation with, and contrary to assurances given to, Congress and the American People.</p>
<p>18. On the very eve of the war, Defendant Bush then strong-armed legislation through Congress that approved enforcement of U.N. resolutions vesting absolute discretion in any nation, providing no guidelines, and requiring no reporting to the United Nations. Defendant Bush knew full well that he intended to destroy the armed forces and civilian infrastructure of Iraq. Those acts were undertaken to enable him to commit a Nuremberg Crime Against Peace and war crimes. This conduct violated the Constitution and Laws of the United States and especially the War Powers Clause found in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, the U.S. War Powers Act of 1973, 87 Stat. 555, and the United Nations Charter, which is the “Supreme Law of the Land” under Article 6 of the Constitution. For this reason alone, Defendant Bush and his co-conspirators committed “High Crimes and Misdemeanors” that warrant their impeachment, conviction, removal from office, and criminal prosecution.</p>
<p>Bush’s Mad Rush to War</p>
<p>19. While concealing his true intentions, Bush continued the military buildup of U.S. forces from August into January 1991 for the purpose of attacking and destroying Iraq. Bush pressed the military to expedite preparations and to commence the war against Iraq before military conditions were optimum for domestic political purposes so that the war would not interfere with his presidential re-election campaign. Indeed, the entire timing, conduct and duration of the war were planned so as to promote Defendant Bush’s re-election prospects. But as a direct result of Defendant Bush’s mad rush to war, United States military personnel suffered needless casualties. Defendant Bush has still lied and covered up to the American People and Congress the true nature and extent of U.S. casualties during the Persian Gulf War.</p>
<p>Bush Corrupted the United Nations</p>
<p>20. Defendant Bush repeatedly coerced the members of the United Nations Security Council into adopting an unprecedented series of resolutions that culminated in his securing authority for any nation to use “all necessary means” to enforce these resolutions. To secure these votes in the Security Council, Defendant Bush paid multi-billion-dollar bribes; offered arms for regional wars; threatened and carried out economic retaliation; illegally forgave multi-billion-dollar loans; offered diplomatic relations despite human rights violations; and in other ways corruptly exacted votes. This illegal activity subverted and perverted the very Purposes and Principles of the United Nations Charter itself found in articles 1 and 2 thereof.</p>
<p>Bush Circumvented and Violated Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter</p>
<p>21. In his mad rush to war, Defendant Bush caused the United Nations to completely bypass Chapter VI of the U.N. Charter that mandates the specific settlement of international disputes. Defendant Bush consistently rejected and ridiculed all of Iraq’s efforts to negotiate a peaceful resolution of the dispute. Defendant Bush proudly boasted that there would be no negotiation, no compromise, no face-saving, etc.</p>
<p>22. Defendant Bush’s successful attempt to subvert every effort for negotiating a peaceful resolution of this dispute violated the solemn obligation mandating the peaceful resolution of international disputes found in article 2, paragraph 3 of the United Nations Charter; in article 33, paragraph 1 of the United Nations Charter; and in article 2 of the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928. Just like the Nazi war criminals before him, Defendant Bush pursued recourse to war as an instrument of his national policy and for the solution of international controversies in violation of article 1 of the Kellogg-Briand Pact. Just as the Nazi war criminals did by invading Poland in September of 1939, these Defendants perpetrated a Nuremberg Crime Against Peace in their decision to got to war against Iraq and to seize and steal the oil resources of the Persian Gulf.</p>
<p>The Conduct of the War Itself</p>
<p>23. Obviously, in the brief space that has been allotted to me, there is no way that I could adequately describe all of the atrocities and war crimes that were committed by these Defendants and their Agents during the course of their actual conduct of military hostilities against the People and State of Iraq. These matters have been covered in great detail during the course of the public investigations and hearings conducted around the world by the Commission during the past year. Nonetheless, I will provide you here with a succinct account of the major categories of war crimes committed by these Defendants during the course of their criminal war against Iraq.</p>
<p>Bush Ordered the Destruction of Facilities Essential to Civilian Life and Economic Productivity Throughout Iraq</p>
<p>24. Systematic aerial and missile bombardment of Iraq was ordered to begin at 6:30 p.m. . January 16, 1991, in order to be reported on prime time TV. The bombing continued for 42 days. It met no resistance from Iraqi aircraft and no effective anti-aircraft or anti-missile ground fire. Iraq was basically defenceless.</p>
<p>25. Most of the targets were civilian facilities. The United States intentionally bombed and destroyed centres for civilian life, commercial and business districts, schools, hospitals, mosques, churches, shelters, residential areas, historical sites, private vehicles and civilian government offices. In aerial attacks, including strafing, over cities, towns, the countryside and highways, United States aircraft bombed and strafed indiscriminately. The purpose of these attacks was to destroy life and property, and generally to terrorise the civilian population of Iraq. The net effect was the summary execution and corporal punishment indiscriminately of men, women and children, young and old, rich and poor, of all nationalities and religions.</p>
<p>26. As a direct result of this bombing campaign against civilian life, at least 25,000 men, women and children were killed. The Red Crescent Society of Jordan estimated 113,000 civilian dead, 60% of them children, the week before the end of the war. According to the Nuremberg Charter, this “wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages” is a Nuremberg War Crime.</p>
<p>27. The intention and effort of this bombing campaign against civilian life and facilities was to systematically destroy Iraq’s infrastructure leaving it in a pre-industrial condition. The U.S. assault left Iraq in near apocalyptic conditions as reported by the first United Nations observers after the war. As a direct, intentional and foreseeable result of this anti-civilian destruction, over one hundred thousand people have died after the war from dehydration, dysentery, diseases, and malnutrition caused by impure water, inability to obtain effective medical assistance and debilitation from hunger, cold, shock and distress. More will die until potable water, sanitary living conditions, adequate food supplies and other necessities are provided. Yet Defendant Bush continues to impose punitive economic sanctions against the People of Iraq in order to prevent this from happening.</p>
<p>The United States Intentionally Bombed and Destroyed Defenceless Iraqi Military Personnel; Used Excessive Force; Killed Soldiers Seeking to Surrender and in Disorganised Individual Flight, Often Unarmed and Far from Any Combat Zones; Randomly and Wantonly Killed Iraqi Soldiers; and Destroyed Material After the Cease-Fire</p>
<p>28. In the first hours of the aerial and missile bombardment, the United States destroyed most military communications and began the systematic killing of Iraqi soldiers who were incapable of defence or escape, and the destruction of military equipment. The U.S. bombing campaign killed tens of thousands of defenceless soldiers, cut off from most of their food, water and other supplies, and left them in desperate and helpless disarray. Defendant Schwarzkopf placed Iraqi military casualties at over 100,000. Large numbers of these soldiers were “out of combat” and therefore not legitimate targets for military attack.</p>
<p>29. When it was determined that the civilian economy and the military were sufficiently destroyed, the U.S. ground forces moved into Kuwait and Iraq attacking disorientated, disorganised, fleeing Iraqi forces wherever they could be found, killing thousands more and destroying any equipment found. In one particularly shocking manoeuvre, thousands of Iraqi soldiers were needlessly and illegally buried alive. This wholesale slaughter of Iraqi soldiers continued even after and in violation of the so-called cease-fire.</p>
<p>30. The Defendants’ intention was not to remove Iraq’s presence from Kuwait. Rather, their intention was to destroy Iraq. The disproportion in death and destruction inflicted on a defenceless enemy exceeded 100 to one. The Defendants conducted this genocidal war against the Male Population of Iraq for the express purpose of making sure that Iraq could not raise a substantial military force for at least another generation.</p>
<p>The United States Used Prohibited Weapons Capable of Mass Destruction and Inflicting Indiscriminate Death and Unnecessary Suffering Against Both Military and Civilian Targets</p>
<p>31. Fuel air explosives were used against troops in place, civilian areas, oil fields and fleeing civilians and soldiers on two stretches of highway between Kuwait and Iraq. One seven mile stretch called the “Highway of Death” was littered with hundreds of vehicles and thousands of dead. All were fleeing to Iraq for their lives. Thousands were civilians of all ages, including Kuwaitis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Jordanians and other nationalities.</p>
<p>32. Napalm was used against civilians and military personnel, as well as to start fires. Oil well fires in both Iraq and Kuwait were intentionally started by U.S. aircraft dropping napalm and other heat intensive devices.</p>
<p>33. Cluster bombs and anti-personnel fragmentation bombs were used in Basra, and other cities and towns, against the civilian convoys of fleeing vehicles and against military units.</p>
<p>34. “Superbombs” were dropped on hardened shelters with the intention of assassinating Iraqi President Saddam Hussein – a war crime in its own right.</p>
<p>The United States Intentionally Attacked Installations in Iraq Containing Dangerous Substances and Forces in Violation of Article 56 of Geneva Protocol I of 1977</p>
<p>35. The U.S. intentionally bombed alleged nuclear sites, chemical plants, dams and other dangerous forces. The U.S. knew such attacks could cause the release of dangerous forces from such installations and consequently severe losses among the civilian population. While some civilians were killed in such attacks, there are no reported cases of consequent severe losses. Presumably, lethal nuclear materials, and dangerous chemical and biological warfare substances, were not present at the sites bombed.</p>
<p>The United States Waged War on the Environment</p>
<p>36. Before the war started, the Pentagon had developed computer models that accurately predicted the environmental catastrophe that would occur should the United States go to war against Iraq. These Defendants went to war anyway knowing full well what the consequences of such an environmental disaster would be. Attacks by U.S. aircraft caused much if not all of the worst oil spills in the Gulf. Aircraft and helicopters dropped napalm and fuel-air explosives on oil wells throughout Iraq and many, if not most, of the oil well fires in Iraq and Kuwait.</p>
<p>Defendant Bush Encouraged and Aided Shiite Muslims and Kurds to Rebel Against the Government of Iraq Causing Fratricidal Violence, Emigration, Exposure, Hunger and Sickness and Thousands of Deaths. After the Rebellion Failed, the U.S. Invaded and Occupied Parts of Iraq Without Lawful Authority in Order to Increase Division and Hostilities Within Iraq</p>
<p>37. Without authority from the U.S. Congress or the United Nations, Defendant Bush encouraged and aided rebellion against Iraq, failed to protect the warring parties, encouraged mass migration of whole populations placing them in jeopardy from the elements, hunger and disease. After much suffering and many deaths, Defendant Bush then without authority used U.S. military forces to distribute aid at and near the Turkish border, ignoring the often greater suffering among refugees in Iran. He then arbitrarily set up bantu-like settlements for Kurds in Iraq and demanded for Iraq to pay for U.S. costs. When Kurds chose to return to their homes in Iraq, he moved U.S. troops further into northern Iraq against the will of the government and without any legal authority to do so. As Defendant Baker correctly put it when he visited the area, these atrocities constituted a Nuremberg “crime against humanity.”</p>
<p>Defendant Bush Intentionally Deprived the Iraqi People of Essential Medicines, Potable Water, Food and Other Necessities</p>
<p>38. A major component of the assault on Iraq was the systematic deprivation of essential human needs and services, to terrorise and break the will of the Iraqi People, to destroy their economic capability, and to reduce their numbers and weaken their health. Towards those ends, the Defendants:</p>
<p>– imposed and enforced embargoes preventing the shipment of needed medicines, water purifiers, infant milk formula, food and other supplies; – froze funds of Iraq and forced other nations to do so, depriving Iraq of the ability to purchase needed medicines, food and other supplies; – preventing international organisations, governments and relief agencies from providing needed supplies and obtaining information concerning such needs; – failed to assist or meet urgent needs of huge refugee populations and interfered with efforts of others to do so, etc.</p>
<p>As a direct result of these cruel and inhuman acts, thousands of people died, many more suffered illnesses and permanent injury. For these actions, the Defendants are guilty of Nuremberg Crimes Against Humanity and the Crime of Genocide as recognised by international law and U.S. domestic law.</p>
<p>Defendant Bush, Having Destroyed Iraq’s Economic Base, Demands Reparations Which Will Permanently Impoverish Iraq and Threaten Its People with Famine and Epidemic</p>
<p>39. Defendant Bush seeks to force Iraq to pay for damages to Kuwait largely caused by the U.S. and even to pay U.S. costs for its violation of Iraqi sovereignty in occupying northern Iraq to further manipulate the Kurdish population there. Such reparations are neo-colonial means of expropriating Iraq’s oil, natural resources, and human labour. Meanwhile, the United States government dominates and controls the respective governments and oil resources of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.</p>
<p>40. The United States government has successfully carried out its long-standing threat and war plan to seize and steal the oil resources of the Persian Gulf for its own benefit. The United States now directly controls the natural energy resources that fuel the economies of Europe and Japan. Acting with their de facto allies in Israel and Great Britain, the Defendants are today consolidating their control over the entire Middle East in a blatant bid to establish worldwide hegemony.</p>
<p>Bush’s “New World Order”</p>
<p>41. Today, the government in the United States of America constitutes an international criminal conspiracy under the Nuremberg Charter, Judgment and Principles, that is legally identical to the Nazi government in World War II Germany. The Defendants’ wanton extermination of approximately 250,000 People in Iraq provides definite proof of the validity of this Nuremberg Proposition for the entire world to see. Indeed, Defendant Bush’s so-called New World Order sounds and looks strikingly similar to the New Order proclaimed by Adolph Hitler over fifty years ago. You do not build a real New World Order with stealth bombers, Abrams tanks, and tomahawk cruise missiles. For their own good and the good of all humanity, the American People must condemn and repudiate Defendant Bush and his grotesque vision of a New World Order that is constructed upon warfare, bloodshed, violence and criminality.</p>
<p>Impeachment</p>
<p>42. All of these aforementioned international crimes constitute “High Crimes and Misdemeanors” as defined by the Article 2, Section 4 of the United States Constitution and therefore warrant the impeachment, conviction, and removal from office of Defendants Bush, Quayle, Baker, Cheney, Powell, and Scowcroft. In regard to this matter, Congressman Henry Gonzalez of Texas has already introduced an Impeachment Resolution into the House of Representatives, that is numbered House Resolution 86, calling for the impeachment and removal from office of these Defendants because they have committed these international crimes and also because they have subverted and perverted constitutional government in America “to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.”</p>
<p>A Special Prosecutor</p>
<p>43. These Defendants must be impeached by the House, tried and convicted by the Senate, and removed from office. Thereafter, we believe that the Commission of Inquiry and the International War Crimes Tribunal will have produced sufficient evidence to trigger the application of the Ethics in Government Act, 28 . 591 et seq., that would lead to the appointment of an Independent Counsel (i.e., Special Prosecutor) to investigate and prosecute these high-ranking officials for the wholesale violation of federal criminal laws in their decision to launch and wage this criminal war against the People and State of Iraq. We fully intend to see Bush, Baker, Cheney, Quayle, Scowcroft, Webster, Powell, Schwarzkopf and the rest of the U.S. High Command sitting in jail for the rest of their natural lives.</p>
<p>44. Make no mistake about it: The very nature, future and existence of the American Republic depends upon the success of these endeavours. Today, the battle begins for the hearts and minds of the American People between the Warmongers and the Peacemakers. We ask all of you to join us in this legal campaign and moral crusade to restore to the United States of America a democratic government with a commitment to the Rule of Law and the Constitution both at home and abroad.</p>
<p>Francis A. Boyle, Professor of Law, University of Illinois, is author of <a href="" type="internal">Foundations of World Order</a>, Duke University Press, and <a href="" type="internal">The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence</a>, Clarity Press. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | US War Crimes During the Gulf War | true | https://counterpunch.org/2002/09/02/us-war-crimes-during-the-gulf-war/ | 2002-09-02 | 4 |
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<p>A nightclub shooting in Berlin's Cozy Club last night left 1 person dead and three heavily wounded.</p>
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<p>This morning around 2.15am local time police rushed to the nightclub, which has a bad reputation, for reported gunfire. When they arrived at the scene a person was lying outside in a pool of blood whilst others had minor gunshot wounds. The heavily wounded man was rushed to hospital but died on the way.</p>
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<p>Police investigators questioned witnesses who claimed that a fight broke out in the nightclub between two rival drug dealing gangs. They were kicked out of the club by security personnel and the fight was then continued in the parking lot. At a certain point, one of the thugs went to his car and took a shotgun from the trunk. With the weapon he shot 4 people of the rival gang, one in the stomach and the three others in either arms or legs.</p>
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<p>The first group then drove off, but witnesses were able to give accurate descriptions as well as technical details about the car.</p>
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<p>A police officer reported that: "We still have no knowledge about the background or the identities of the participants".</p>
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<p>Berlin police said the cordoned remained cordoned off on Saturday.</p>
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<p>Shootouts at German nightclubs are unfortunately no longer exceptional incidents. Back in July of this year, a person was killed and six others were wounded when a man opened fire in a nightclub in Konstanz.</p>
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<p>Afterwards, the suspect got involved in a standoff with police in which he was fatally wounded. This all happened outside the music venue after they had rushed to the scene shortly after the incident around 0230 GMT. The shooter then died later in hospital.</p>
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<p>Even when it comes to school shootings, Germany starts to resemble the US more and more. In June of this year, a teenager walked into a school near Stuttgart armed with a gun. Luckily no fatalities could be reported at that particular incident.</p>
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<p>Source:</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.bild.de/news/inland/schiesserei/disko-schiesserei-in-berlin-53231208.bild.html" type="external">bild.de/news/inland/schiesserei/disko-schiesserei-in-berlin-53231208.bild.html</a></p> | Video: Berlin Nightclub Shooting - 1 Dead, 3 Wounded | true | http://thegoldwater.com/news/8190-Video-Berlin-Nightclub-Shooting-1-Dead-3-Wounded | 2017-09-16 | 0 |
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<p>Wells Fargo &amp; Co, which has been mired in litigations stemming from a sales scandal, reported a 0.6 percent fall in quarterly profit on Thursday, hit by weaker mortgage banking fees and higher costs.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The third-largest U.S. bank by assets said net income applicable to common shareholders fell to $5.06 billion, or $1.00 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $5.09 billion, or 99 cents per share, a year earlier.</p>
<p>Analysts on average had estimated earnings of 96 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the reported figures were comparable.</p>
<p>Wells Fargo has been dealing with multiple lawsuits and regulatory inquiries since government investigations found in September that some of its employees had opened as many as two million accounts without customers' knowledge.</p>
<p>The scandal damaged the bank's folksy image and also led to the ouster of Chief Executive John Stumpf, but growing deposit balances and a stable level of account closings show that profitability in the long run should not be hampered.</p>
<p>The company has been reporting customer activity in its branch banking unit on a monthly basis ever since the scandal, in an effort to be transparent with investors and to win back their trust.</p>
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<p>Wells Fargo's total revenue fell 0.9 percent to $22 billion.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru and Dan Freed in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)</p> | Wells Fargo reports slight drop in profit | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/04/13/wells-fargo-reports-slight-drop-in-profit.html | 2017-04-13 | 0 |
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<p>The man suffered lower leg lacerations in the Monday afternoon attack but the injuries were not serious enough for him to need treatment at a hospital, said Idaho Department of Fish and Game spokesman Phil Cooper.</p>
<p>The unidentified man told officials he noticed the bear following him and turned to confront it and fell to the ground when the bear attacked.</p>
<p>“When the bear actually swiped at him, he kicked at it, and that’s when it ran off,” he said. “With a black bear, you definitely want to fight.”</p>
<p>Trackers with dogs failed to locate the bear. The U.S. Forest Service closed the area overnight but reopened it after the search for the bear was called off. The jogger did not have bear repellant spray with him.</p>
<p>“We recommend people carry bear spray, make noise and have dogs on leashes,” said Forest Service spokeswoman Shoshana Cooper, who is not related to Phil Cooper.</p>
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<p>A black bear with a cub on July 4 attacked a woman hiking with dogs about 6 miles (10 kilometers) south of Monday’s attack. She was flown to a hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries. Trackers gave up following that bear after it crossed a river.</p>
<p>Phil Cooper said both bear attacks are likely the result of the bears being startled. The area the area is estimated to have up to four black bears per square mile (2.6 square kilometers) attracted to this year’s bumper crop of huckleberries. Bears will likely start moving to higher elevations as huckleberries ripen in the surrounding mountains, he said.</p>
<p>The Boise National Forest on Tuesday closed a campground because of bear and human encounters in the last several weeks.</p>
<p>Authorities in central Idaho captured and killed a black bear late last month after a string of encounters with people.</p>
<p>In one of them, a camper woke up to find her foot in a bear’s mouth. Officials believe the same bear also rubbed up against a different woman while she read a book near a stream.</p> | Bear attacks jogger in Idaho, jogger kicks it and it flees | false | https://abqjournal.com/1042208/bear-attacks-jogger-in-idaho-jogger-kicks-it-and-it-flees.html | 2 |
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<p>I arrived in Damascus a few hours after the Syrian government helped to end the career of the discredited acting leader of the Palestinian National Authority. Mahmood Abbas had made one of his characteristic misjudgements and sought a deferral of a UN debate on the Goldstone report into war crimes stemming from the Israeli onslaught on Gaza. The as-it-happens democratically-elected Palestinian group Hamas slammed the decision as “shameful and irresponsible”.&#160; Damascus told Abbas that a pre-arranged visit was cancelled and closed its doors. Abbas is seen by many not to understand the value of armed struggle and, ironically, it could be his teenage years in the very city of Damascus that sealed his fate.</p>
<p>In Damascus, there is no sign of any need for armed struggle as people of all faiths and none go about their business as they have for millennia. Within days Abbas announced his effective resignation. Even President Obama’s people must realise they have been talking to the wrong man and Syria is central to peace in Palestine.</p>
<p>Damascus still wields power in the region and her close ties with Tehran and her warmer relations with Washington are the result of artful manoeuvring by a new generation of Syrian politicians, carefully navigating change. A few years back, some of them would have banged the table about the need for economic “reform” but they have been chastened by the world economic crisis, less prone to the ideologies of moronic western economics textbooks. If Syria had gone along with the discredited World Bank and IMF economists, had opened up its economy, “freed” the state-controlled economic system, become hooked on too powerful, private foreign investment it would not be in as strong a position today.</p>
<p>The Syrian economy is not dead and it’s all the more surprising&#160; given the shadow cast on the country by U.S. foreign policy and, perhaps even more importantly, its lack of geological luck. Nearly a century of Syrian politicians must have asked what Syria could have done if it had the oil and gas reserves of the Persian Gulf.</p>
<p>Today, the latest Damascene elite politicos have inherited geopolitical antennae plugged in by Assad père. There is no crack in their solidarity for the plight of Palestinians. There is steadfast support for the present day’s favourite hero of the Islamic world, Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah. And, duly, there is withering contempt for Egyptian compliance with the Washington consensus. Syria beats Egypt on infant mortality and it beats Egypt on child literacy by a cool 10% for women. In Egypt, a fifth of the population are below the poverty line. In Syria it is 12% albeit that that is the same as in the United States. Except that the Syrian government has had to grapple with another factor – the five million displaced by the Bush war on Iraq.</p>
<p>Syria has more refugees per capita than any other country in the world, perhaps two million. The Bush war on Iraq casts a shadow of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives ruined across Syria. By contrast, the chief sponsors of the 2003 war have taken a trickle, a hundred here and a thousand there. Of those, a recent Baltimore Sun article quotes an Illinois refugee resettlement coordinator, Edwin Silverman, as saying the financial aid for those few who get in to America is “abysmal.” The State Department provides a one-time $425 grant per adult refugee. In the UK, only one in six Iraqis even gets asylum.</p>
<p>Today, a tourist visiting Syria can tread the topsoil of a hundred previous civilisations that have determined the development of the world and take in the sites – the&#160; Ozymandian ruins of Palmyra, Lawrence of Arabia’s favourite castle, Krak des Chevaliers, the citadel of Aleppo, the Grand Mosque of Damascus – but there’s now a new photo opportunity for Western tourists, the road signs for Baghdad.</p>
<p>The signs are as disturbing as the water-wheels at Hama, when in 1982 the Syrian government ordered a massacre to stem burgeoning Salafist fervour that might rock a secular state. It is the echoes from these places that will inhabit the imaginations of tomorrow’s 911 attackers, from Yemen to Indonesia. Syria’s war on terror uses alms.</p>
<p>With nothing like the U.S. budget for bombs, it frantically works with UN agencies to alleviate the squalor of Iraqi asylum in Syria. Without further outside aid, it offers only Elastoplasts and, with the pain unabated, the squalor will no doubt breed more terrifying anti-American hatred.</p>
<p>The border with Iraq is around 400 miles long and, along it, American-trained former Saddamists built pint-size Kracks des Chevaliers, small U.S.-taxpayer funded forts.</p>
<p>The Syrians have a shared interest with the U.S. in preventing the spread of Salafism. A senior Syrian official explained to me that the Syrian Army had sought night vision goggles for its soldiers to better patrol the border so that insurgents could not travel to Iraq and kill American soldiers. But the U.S. Syria Accountability Act&#160; of 2004 prohibits the export of most goods containing more than 10% U.S.-manufactured component parts to Syria.</p>
<p>Another said that President Obama had recognised the need and asked Britain to supply the equipment. According to him, Israel pressured Gordon Brown’s flailing regime to renege on the request. Yet another expressed disbelief that Washington prefers to endanger its boys and girls rather than trade with Damascus. It was back in 2003 that members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbied the U.S. government to prevent exports of night goggles to Syria.</p>
<p>Two years later, blogger Joshua Landis, who buys the line that U.S. rapprochement with Syria will temper the power of regional superpower, Iran, was complaining “It has refused to supply Syria with much needed night-vision goggles and other high-tech equipment to help survey the border. It has kept the Iraqi government from establishing links and dialog with the Syrians. It has rebuffed Syrian attempts to keep intelligence sharing on Iraq…America’s attempts to isolate Syria have undermined intelligent Iraq policy.”</p>
<p>This policy so far continues under President Obama. It doesn’t seem to matter to U.S. executive power that, before 911, according to an undercover CIA source of Seymour Hersh that “at every stage in [Mohammed] Atta’s journey is the Muslim Brotherhood,” that the Syrians had intelligence from their own spies in Germany which they offered to the U.S., handing them plans for future Al Qaeda atrocities. Maybe the born-again President Bush confused Syria with some other country when he talked about the axis of evil.</p>
<p>It’s easy to understand orientalism amidst the long-faded grandeur of Aleppo’s Baron Hotel where the bar once hummed to the voices of FDR, Mustafa Kemal Atarturk and the British spy, Lawrence of Arabia. But you don’t have to be Poirot, hero of Agatha Christie, who wrote “Murder on the Orient Express” there (the Baron was near the famous train’s biggest Middle Eastern stop) to figure out who is doing the murdering today, some 450 miles east of the art deco lobby.</p>
<p>Obama’s top general in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, however, is no Poirot. In al-Hayat, recently, he said that “during the past years Syria was lending indirect support to some of the fighters, on top of financial support.”</p>
<p>Damascus, he continued, “has not changed this type of interference and the American forces are watching that closely, and cannot interfere unless the Iraqi government requests it, that is for us to offer support and backup inside Iraqi territory and not outside it.” How nice to be notified of the great respect a U.S. general holds for borders as President Obama’s drones drop bombs on Pakistan which cause more millions displaced in a war on a neighbouring country that has nothing to do with Al Qaeda. Without a shred of evidence, Odierno said that “there are armed groups that receive financial and logistical support from Syria.”</p>
<p>The U.S. troop surge in Iraq has had nothing to do with greater peace in Iraq. For that development, the U.S. has Iran’s friend Moqtada Al-Sadr to thank, whose support from the urban poor is undiminished even after his change in strategy. But Sadr can’t do it on his own. In the final week of last month, explosions in front of the Iraq’s Ministry of Justice and the Baghdad Provincial Council caused more than 1,000 casualties.&#160; The corporate media quickly tired of the story as if to say in an Anna Wintour voice, “Iraq? That is so last season.”</p>
<p>In Britain, the top line on the war on terror was plaintive op-eds about how on earth a plan by British soldiers to teach Afghan drug addicts to fire automatic weapons could go wrong (five Brits dead). In U.S. corporate media, amidst statistics showing that last month was the deadliest for U.S. troops since the invasion, there was much scratching of heads: why are Afghans not more grateful about having their country occupied.</p>
<p>Let Syria have the night goggles, President Obama!</p>
<p>AFSHIN RATTANSI has helped launch and develop television networks and has worked in journalism for more than two decades, at the BBC Today programme, CNN International, Bloomberg News, Al Jazeera Arabic, the Dubai Business Channel, Press TV and The Guardian. His quartet of novels, “The Dream of the Decade” is available on Amazon.com. He is executive producer of a new TV show, “Rattansi &amp; Ridley” which broadcasts internationally, every Saturday at 2032 GMT on Press TV. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p /> | Night Vision | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/11/12/night-vision/ | 2009-11-12 | 4 |
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<p>The Lovington High School grad and collegiate All-American has been named to the College Football Hall of Fame.</p>
<p>Urlacher is one of 13 college standouts elected. Tennessee’s Peyton Manning, former Florida coach Steve Spurrier and San Diego State’s Marshall Faulk also headline the class.</p>
<p>Urlacher will be inducted on Dec. 5, 2017 at the National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner in New York City.</p>
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<p>Urlacher was born in Pasco, Wash., and raised in Lovington. Playing a variety of positions, he helped the Wildcats win the 1995 Class 3A title.</p>
<p>He had hoped to play for Texas Tech, but after the Red Raiders did not recruit him, he took an offer from New Mexico and then-coach Dennis Franchione.</p>
<p>“He could play eight or 10 different things for us,” Franchione said at the time. “Linebacker, defensive end, defensive tackle. He’d be a great tight end. If he lost weight, he could be a receiver. You can’t get enough Brian Urlachers. I wish I had 10 more like him.”</p>
<p>But Franchione left after the 1997 season.</p>
<p>“I wasn’t sure if I would have a spot on the team,” Urlacher said then.</p>
<p>It was under coach Rocky Long, who took over the program, that Urlacher blossomed.</p>
<p>In 1998, as a hybrid linebacker-safety (known as the “Lobo” position), Urlacher led the nation in tackles with 178. NFL scouts approached him about leaving after his junior season, but he declined.</p>
<p>“A lot of the guys were coming back, and I didn’t want to let them down,” Urlacher said in 1998.</p>
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<p>In 1999, he was a Jim Thorpe Award finalist and was 12th in the Heisman Trophy voting. That season Urlacher recorded 154 tackles, five forced fumbles, three recovered fumbles, seven pass breakups, seven touchdowns, 42 points and had a 15.8-yard average on punt returns.</p>
<p>He had 442 career tackles at UNM with 11 forced fumbles.</p>
<p>After being named to the 1999 AP All-America team, Urlacher said: “It’s awesome. I came from a small town and got looked over by a lot of schools. This is the only one that gave me a chance to play. … Hopefully, those other schools will be kicking themselves in the rear right now, wishing they had given me a scholarship. But I’m glad they didn’t. I’m glad I came here.”</p>
<p>He was picked ninth in the 2000 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears and went on to have an All-Pro career.</p>
<p>UNM retired his jersey No. 44 in 2013.</p>
<p>Urlacher was a Hall nominee last year, but was not elected.</p>
<p>Two New Mexico State Aggies are in the Hall. The late Warren Woodson, who coached the Aggies from 1958-67, was inducted in 1989. Running back Pervis Atkins, who played for Woodson at NMSU from 1959-60, was elected in 2009.</p>
<p>Manning started for four seasons at Tennessee and set school records for yards passing (11,201) and touchdown passes (89).&#160; He led the Volunteers to four consecutive bowl games and was Heisman Trophy runner-up as a senior in 1997.</p>
<p>But Manning never did beat Spurrier’s Gators, going 0-3. Spurrier built Florida into an SEC powerhouse from 1990-2001, winning six conference titles and the school’s first national championship in 1996. He also was never shy about taking verbal jabs at his rivals such as Tennessee (“You can’t spell Citrus without U-T”) and Florida State (“Free Shoes University”).</p>
<p>Urlacher time line</p>
<p>1996&#160; Brian Urlacher graduates from Lovington High School, where he played baseball, basketball and ran track. He also played some football. As a 6-4, 210-pound receiver/defensive back his senior year, he accounted for 1,348 yards and 23 TDs, leading the Wildcats to a 14-0 record and a state title.</p>
<p>1996&#160; With his only other offer being from New Mexico State, he enrolls at UNM.</p>
<p>Aug. 13, 1996&#160; Urlacher practices at linebacker for the first time, shifting from strong safety.</p>
<p>Nov. 1997&#160; Urlacher, playing linebacker against Tulsa, has 14 tackles, an interception and a sack and is named WAC Mountain Division defensive player of the&#160; week.</p>
<p>Dec., 1997&#160; Dennis Franchione leaves UNM for TCU. Rocky Long takes over.</p>
<p>Spring 1998&#160; Urlacher moves to free safety</p>
<p>Aug. 13, 1998&#160; Urlacher (now 6-4, 235) is named a starter for the first time in college. He’ll play the “lobo” position.</p>
<p>Sept. 1998&#160; Urlacher has 14½ tackles, six for loss, and a sack against Utah State.</p>
<p>Nov. 1998&#160; NFL scouts contact him about turning pro. He decides to stay in school.</p>
<p>Aug. 1999&#160; Atlanta Falcons scout Bob Harrison visits practice to check out Urlacher (now 240 pounds). Harrison says, “He really is a fine prospect. He’s a big linebacker playing safety.”</p>
<p>Nov. 1999&#160; Urlacher is ranked seventh on a list of top 50 NFL prospects by ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.</p>
<p>Nov. 27 1999&#160; In his final game as a Lobo, he forces a fumble late to preserve the win over Air Force in front of 21,013 fans.</p>
<p>Dec. 1999&#160; Urlacher finishes 12th in the Heisman Trophy voting.</p>
<p>Dec. 1999&#160; He is named to AP All-America team, the second Lobo to receive that honor.</p>
<p>April 2000&#160; Urlacher is taken ninth overall by the Bears in the NFL draft.</p> | Urlacher elected to College Football Hall of Fame | false | https://abqjournal.com/923948/urlacher-elected-to-college-football-hall-of-fame.html | 2 |
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<p>PHOENIX - Authorities say a man has been arrested in connection with the killing of a Phoenix musician on Christmas Day.</p>
<p>Phoenix police say 26-year-old Alexander James Chavez is accused of fatally stabbing Isaac Rivera.</p>
<p>The Arizona Republic reports that the 41-year-old Rivera was the front man of the punk rock band Section8 for more than 20 years.</p>
<p>Police say Chavez didn't make any statements to detectives after his arrest Wednesday night and was booked into a Maricopa County jail on suspicion of second-degree murder.</p>
<p>Police say Rivera was fatally stabbed after he rode a bicycle from his home to a convenience store and allegedly got into an altercation with Chavez.</p>
<p>They say Rivera was dropped off at a Phoenix hospital, where he died.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Man arrested in killing of Phoenix musician on Christmas Day | false | https://abqjournal.com/702420/man-arrested-in-killing-of-phoenix-musician-on-christmas-day.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>It is inconclusive whether GOP presidential contender <a href="" type="internal">Mitt Romney</a> was a job creator or destroyer at his former company, Bain Capital. Bain is a private equity shop that doesn’t file financial statements with the <a href="" type="internal">Securities and Exchange Commission</a>, and it does not track employment in its investments.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The bigger controversy for Romney has to do with taxes.</p>
<p>Specifically, three parts of the U.S. tax code lawfully juice private-equity executive payouts -- and it’s not just the fact that the executives pay their personal income taxes at lower rates than other executives do.</p>
<p>Where Are the Tax Returns?</p>
<p>Attacking Romney or Bain for restructuring companies is lame. Many reworked companies thrived and prospered, like Toys “R” Us, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, Staples, Domino’s Pizza or Sports Authority.</p>
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<p>The media is missing the fact that all of these revamped companies not only hired lots of people, they gave other small businesses who sell them goods or services a shot at success, too. Just as have businessmen like Larry Ellison, <a href="" type="internal">Bill Gates</a>, Steve Jobs, Jamie Dimon, Michael Dell, or <a href="" type="internal">Warren Buffett</a>.</p>
<p>Not to mention that restructuring organizations is as old as Jesus tossing the money changers out of the Temple.</p>
<p>But the broader controversy is likely the reason why Romney has yet to release his personal income tax returns, which every candidate since the Nixon era has done.</p>
<p>Three parts of the U.S. tax code legally enhance private equity executive payouts: Paying income taxes at the lower 15% capital gains tax rate versus the higher 35% income tax rate; borrowing heavily to do deals and then deducting on corporate tax returns the interest costs on those loans, thus juicing profits and executive payouts further; and getting lots of stock options from the companies they restructure.</p>
<p>The private equity guys, just like the leveraged buyout crowd, make ample use of the loan interest deduction. That’s because they tend to make heavy use of debt leverage to buy or invest in distressed companies to restructure them. They generally borrow in the range of 60% of the book value of their target companies.</p>
<p>Interest payments on those business loans are tax deductible, which lowers their IRS bills and in turn helps the bottom line.</p>
<p>Also, if a private equity firm raises money by selling bonds, they can deduct payments to bondholders, too, on their corporate tax returns.</p>
<p>Up to an estimated 20% of the returns from private equity deals come from lower tax bills, says the University of Chicago’s Steven Kaplan, a professor of finance there.</p>
<p>The Joint Committee on Taxation last year blasted the business-loan interest deduction for distorting economic activity, saying it encourages companies to raise investment capital through debt rather than equity.</p>
<p>Also, executives at private equity shops who restructure client companies or do leveraged buyouts often can get stock options from the newly bought or restructured companies they work on.</p>
<p>A stock option lets its owner buy stock in a company at a set price within a specified period. With those stock options in hand, private equity executives can make a lot of money if those revamped companies go public again or are sold in a merger.</p>
<p>Those executives, though, will have to pay income taxes on the gains they get from cashing in those stock options.</p>
<p>But there’s an upside for publicly traded restructured companies to pay their private equity helpers in stock options. They don’t have to deduct those stock options as executive pay from their corporate earnings, making their bottom lines look better to <a href="" type="internal">Wall Street</a>.</p>
<p>And even though there’s no cash outlay for these stock options, companies can deduct them on their tax returns, lowering their tax bills and making their reported earnings look better, too.</p>
<p>Moreover, the private equity crowd pays much lower taxes on their personal income because executives at private equity shops tend to pay at the lower 15% capital gains tax rate, not the higher 35% personal income tax rate.</p>
<p>The way it works is, private equity executives typically get paid a 20% share of the firms’ profit from selling and restructuring companies, a cut that’s called “carried interest.” That, though, is treated as a capital gain, not as personal income under the tax law.</p>
<p>The Administration has tried to reform this private equity edge, but so far has not succeeded.</p>
<p>It’s a debate that has already gotten Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of the world’s largest private-equity firm, Blackstone, heaps of criticism. Schwarzman, who has endorsed Romney, has blasted any federal moves to restructure private equity tax bills.</p>
<p>Romney and Schwarzman started out in private equity during the Mike Milken-Ivan Boesky leveraged buyout movement of the 1980s. Romney worked with Schwarzman’s team on deals in the late ‘80s, making his company money.</p>
<p>In August 2010, when the Administration said it wanted to increase the tax bills on private equity income, Schwarzman likened this move to “when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939,” according to a New York Post account of a private meeting. Schwarzman reportedly later apologized for the comparison, but still criticized the tax hike proposal.</p>
<p>Next Up: Romney’s Economic Plan</p> | Romney's Big Controversy: Where's the Tax Return? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2012/01/11/romneys-big-controversy-wheres-tax-return.html | 2016-03-03 | 0 |
<p>FRANKFURT, Jan 18 (Reuters) - South African furniture retailer Steinhoff has secured 60 million euros ($73 million) of the 200 million it is seeking to close a liquidity gap and will ask its creditors to waive some payments that are coming due, it said on Thursday.</p>
<p>“The company is seeking the necessary approvals and consent for further installments of the balance. It is expected that any funds so received will be available to meet business critical payments during the next phase of the group’s stabilisation plan,” it said in a statement. ($1 = 0.8169 euros) (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Ludwig Burger)</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>LONDON (Reuters) - Britain struck Syria with air-launched cruise missiles on Saturday to cripple President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons facilities and prevent what Prime Minister Theresa May cast as a global slide towards their greater use.</p>
<p>Four Royal Air Force Tornado jets from the Akrotiri base in Cyprus fired Storm Shadow missiles at a military facility near Homs where it was assessed that Syria had stockpiled chemicals, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said.</p>
<p>May said the strike was “limited and targeted” and came after intelligence indicated that Syrian military officials had co-ordinated a chlorine attack in the Damascus suburb of Douma on April 7.</p>
<p>Missile attacks by the United States, France and Britain had been aimed at deterring Assad’s further use of chemical weapons and were not an attempt to topple the Syrian government, May said. The mission had been a success, she said.</p>
<p>“This is not about intervening in a civil war. It is not about regime change,” May said in a statement made from her country residence at Chequers just minutes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the strikes from the White House.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-britain-may-lega/western-missile-attack-on-syria-was-right-and-legal-british-pm-may-says-idUSKBN1HL0H9" type="external">Western missile attack on Syria was 'right and legal', British PM May says</a>
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-britain-may-assa/british-pm-may-declines-to-say-whether-assad-can-stay-after-missile-strikes-idUSKBN1HL0IG" type="external">British PM May declines to say whether Assad can stay after missile strikes</a>
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-germany/germanys-merkel-backs-air-strikes-on-syria-as-necessary-and-appropriate-idUSKBN1HL0H6" type="external">Germany's Merkel backs air strikes on Syria as 'necessary and appropriate'</a>
<p>May later told reporters in her Downing Street office that the Western missiles struck a chemical weapons storage and production facility, a chemical weapons research center and a military bunker involved in chemical weapons attacks.</p>
<p>By launching strikes without prior approval from parliament, May dispensed with a non-binding constitutional convention dating back to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She said speed was essential and that military action was in the national interest.</p>
<p>“It was both right and legal to take military action,” May said, adding that she would update parliament on Monday.</p>
<p>The Western missile strikes demonstrate the volatile nature of the Syrian civil war, which started in March 2011 as an anti-Assad uprising but is now a proxy conflict involving a number of world and regional powers and a myriad of insurgent groups.</p>
<p>Assad, May said, should not doubt the resolve of Britain, France and the United States but made clear that the strike was a specific response to the Douma attack which killed up to 75 people, including children.</p>
<p>May dismissed as “grotesque and absurd” a claim by Russia, which intervened in the war in 2015 to back Assad, that the Douma attack was staged by Britain. But she declined to give any signal about the future of Assad.</p>
<p>May’s office issued a statement detailing what it said was the justification for military action under international law, saying Assad had used chemical weapons since 2013 and the blocking of United Nations action by Russia and other allies of Syria left no alternative to “truly exceptional” use of force.</p>
<p>“Such an intervention was directed exclusively to averting a humanitarian catastrophe caused by the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons, and the action was the minimum judged necessary for that purpose,” Downing Street said.</p> “RIGHT AND LEGAL”
<p>May referred specifically to last month’s nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the southern English cathedral city of Salisbury that she has blamed on Russia. Moscow has denied any involvement.</p>
<p>“We cannot allow the use of chemical weapons to become normalized – either within Syria, on the streets of the UK or elsewhere,” May told reporters in Downing Street.</p>
<p>She said almost a century of global acceptance about not using chemical weapons had been eroded in Douma and Salisbury.</p>
<p>May said Britain and its allies had sought to use every diplomatic means to stop the use of chemical weapons, but had been repeatedly thwarted, citing a Russian veto of an independent investigation into the Douma attack at the U.N. Security Council this week.</p> Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May attends a press conference in 10 Downing Street, London, April 14, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson/Pool
<p>“So there is no practicable alternative to the use of force to degrade and deter the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime,” she said.</p> BOMBS DON’T BRING PEACE
<p>The small Northern Irish political party that props up her government said May was justified in taking such action though it said wider intervention in Syria would be counter-productive.</p>
<p>However, opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a fervent anti-war campaigner, called the strikes “legally questionable” and said May should have recalled parliament from a holiday and “not trailed after Donald Trump”.</p>
<p>“Bombs won’t save lives or bring about peace,” he said. “Britain should be playing a leadership role to bring about a ceasefire in the conflict, not taking instructions from Washington and putting British military personnel in harm’s way.”</p> Slideshow (3 Images)
<p>Many politicians in Britain, including some in May’s own Conservative Party, had backed his call for parliament to give the authority for any military strike.</p>
<p>A YouGov poll for The Times newspaper this week indicated that only a fifth of voters believed that Britain should launch attacks on Syrian military targets and 43 percent opposed action.</p>
<p>Former Prime Minister David Cameron lost a parliamentary vote on air strikes against Assad’s forces in 2013 when 30 Conservative lawmakers voted against action, with many Britons wary of entering another conflict after intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya failed to bring stability to the region.</p>
<p>Cameron, though, gave his support of May on Saturday.</p>
<p>“As we have seen in the past, inaction has its consequences,” he said.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Andrew MacAskill, William James and William Schomberg; Writing by Michael Holden and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Peter Graff and Toby Chopra</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Twitter praised Western air strikes against the Syrian government on Saturday as “perfectly executed”, and added “Mission Accomplished”.</p> U.S. President Donald Trump makes a statement about Syria at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 13, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
<p>“A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!” Trump said in a Twitter post.</p>
<p>Trump’s message echoed the words of a banner that hung behind former President George W. Bush when he gave a speech in 2003 from the USS Abraham Lincoln, during the Iraq War.</p>
<p>That visual dogged Bush’s presidency as the war dragged out, with worsening American casualties, for the remainder of his two terms in office.</p> VERBATIM: Pentagon touts success of Syrian airstrikes
<p>(This version of the story refiles to fix typographical error in paragraph 3).</p>
<p>Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Joel Schectman editing by Jason Neely and David Gregorio</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S., British and French forces struck Syria with more than 100 missiles on Saturday in the first coordinated Western strikes against the Damascus government, targeting what they said were chemical weapons sites in retaliation for a suspected poison gas attack.</p>
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump announced the military action from the White House, saying the three allies had “marshaled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality”.</p>
<p>Later he tweeted: “Mission accomplished”.</p>
<p>The bombing represents a major escalation in the West’s confrontation with Assad’s superpower ally Russia, but is unlikely to alter the course of a multi-sided war that has killed at least half a million people in the past seven years.</p>
<p>That in turn raises the question of where Western countries go from here, after a volley of strikes denounced by Damascus and Moscow as at once both reckless and pointless.</p>
<p>By morning, the Western countries said their bombing was over for now. Syria released video of the wreckage of a bombed-out research lab, but also of President Bashar al-Assad arriving at work as usual, with the caption “Morning of resilience”.</p>
<p>There were no immediate reports of casualties. Damascus’s allies saying the buildings hit had been evacuated in advance.</p>
<p>Russia had promised to respond to any attack on its ally, and said on Saturday that Syrian air defenses had intercepted 71 of the missiles fired.</p>
<p>But the Pentagon said the United States had “deconfliction” contacts with Russia before and after the strikes, that Syrian air defense systems had been largely ineffective and there was no indication that Russian systems had been employed.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-trump/trump-mission-accomplished-on-perfectly-executed-syria-strike-idUSKBN1HL0TW" type="external">Trump: 'mission accomplished' on 'perfectly executed' Syria strike</a>
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-scene/syria-strike-reduces-research-center-to-smoking-rubble-idUSKBN1HL107" type="external">Syria strike reduces research center to smoking rubble</a>
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-un/u-n-security-council-to-meet-on-saturday-at-russias-request-diplomats-idUSKBN1HL0S9" type="external">U.N. Security Council to meet on Saturday at Russia's request: diplomats</a>
<p>British Prime Minister Theresa May described the strike as “limited and targeted”, with no intention of toppling Assad or intervening more widely in the war. She authorized British action after intelligence showed Assad’s government was to blame for gassing the Damascus suburb of Douma a week ago, she said.</p>
<p>In a speech, she gave a vivid description of the victims of the alleged chemical strike that killed scores, huddling in basements as gas rained down. She said Russia had thwarted diplomatic efforts to halt Assad’s use of poison gas, leaving no option but force.</p>
<p>French President Emmanuel Macron said the strikes had been limited so far to Syria’s chemical weapons facilities. Paris released a dossier that it said showed Damascus was to blame for the poison gas attack on Douma, the last town holding out in a rebel-held swathe of territory near Damascus that government forces have recaptured this year.</p>
<p>“ONE-TIME SHOT”</p>
<p>Washington described its targets as a center near Damascus for the research, development, production and testing of chemical and biological weapons, a chemical weapons storage site near the city of Homs, and another site near Homs that stored chemical weapons equipment and housed a command post.</p>
<p>U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called the strikes a “one-time shot”, although Trump raised the prospect of further strikes if Assad’s government again used chemical weapons.</p>
<p>“We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents,” the U.S. president said in a televised address.</p>
<p>The Pentagon said there had been chemical weapons agents at one of the targets, and that, although there were other parts to Syria’s chemical weapons system, the strikes had significantly crippled its ability to produce such weapons.</p>
<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss what Moscow decried as an unjustified attack on a sovereign state. Diplomats said the meeting would take place in New York at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT).</p>
<p>Syrian state media called the attack a “flagrant violation of international law”. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called it a crime and the Western leaders criminals.</p>
<p>Inspectors from the global chemical weapons watchdog OPCW were due to try to visit Douma later on Saturday to inspect the site of the suspected gas attack on April 7. Moscow condemned the Western states for refusing to wait for their findings.</p>
<p>Russia, whose relations with the West have deteriorated to levels of Cold War-era hostility, has denied any gas attack took place in Douma and even accused Britain of staging it to whip up anti-Russian hysteria.</p>
<p>But despite responding outwardly with fury to Saturday’s attack, Damascus and its allies also made clear that they considered it a one-off, unlikely to meaningfully harm Assad.</p>
<p>A senior official in a regional alliance that backs Damascus told Reuters the sites that were targeted had been evacuated days ago thanks to a warning from Russia.</p>
<p>“If it is finished, and there is no second round, it will be considered limited,” the official said.</p>
<p>Dmitry Belik, a Russian member of parliament who was in Damascus and witnessed the strikes, told Reuters: “The attack was more of a psychological nature rather than practical. Luckily there are no substantial losses or damages.”</p>
<p>At least six loud explosions were heard in Damascus and smoke rose over the city, according to a Reuters witness. A second witness said the Barzah district of Damascus was hit.</p>
<p>A scientific research lab in Barzah appeared to have been completely destroyed, according to footage from Syrian state TV station al-Ikhbariya. Smoke rose from piles of rubble, and a bus parked outside was heavily damaged.</p>
<p>But the Western intervention has virtually no chance of altering the military balance of power at a time when Assad is in his strongest position since the war’s early months.</p> ASSAD STRONG
<p>In Douma, site of the suspected gas attack, the last buses were due on Saturday to transport out rebels and their families who agreed to surrender the town, state TV reported. That effectively ends all resistance in the suburbs of Damascus known as eastern Ghouta, marking one of the biggest victories for Assad’s government of the entire war.</p>
<p>Russian and Iranian military help over the past three years has let Assad crush the rebel threat to topple him.</p>
<p>The United States, Britain and France have all participated in the Syrian conflict for years, arming rebels, bombing Islamic State fighters and deploying troops on the ground to fight that group. But they have refrained from targeting Assad’s government, apart from a volley of U.S. missiles last year.</p>
<p>Although the Western countries have all said for seven years that Assad must leave power, they held back in the past from striking his government, lacking a wider strategy to defeat him.</p>
<p>The Western powers were at pains on Saturday to avert any further escalation, including any unexpected conflict with their superpower rival Russia. French Defense Minister Florence Parly said the Russians “were warned beforehand”, to avert conflict.</p> A missile is seen crossing over Damascus, Syria April 14, 2018. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
<p>The combined U.S., British and French assault involved more missiles, but appears to have struck more limited targets, than a similar strike Trump ordered a year ago in retaliation for an earlier suspected chemical weapons attack. That strike had effectively no impact on the war.</p>
<p>Mattis said the United States conducted the strikes on the basis of conclusive evidence that chlorine gas had been used in the April 7 attack. Evidence that the nerve agent sarin was also used was inconclusive, he said.</p>
<p>Syria agreed in 2013 to give up its chemical weapons after a nerve gas attack killed hundreds of people in Douma. Damascus is still permitted to have chlorine for civilian use, although its use as a weapon is banned. Allegations of Assad’s chlorine use have been frequent during the war although, unlike nerve agents, chlorine did not produce mass casualties as seen last week.</p>
<p>A U.S. official familiar with the military planning said there could be more air strikes if the intelligence indicates Assad had not stopped making, importing, storing or using chemical weapons, including chlorine. The official said this could require a more sustained U.S. air and naval presence.</p> EXIT SYRIA?
<p>The U.S., British and French leaders all face domestic political issues surrounding the decision to use force in Syria.</p>
<p>Trump has been leery of U.S. military involvement in the Middle East, and is eager to withdraw roughly 2,000 troops in Syria taking part in the campaign against Islamic State.</p>
<p>“America does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria, under no circumstances,” Trump said in his address.</p>
<p>Trump has tried to build good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A prosecutor is investigating whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow in illegal efforts to help him get elected, an investigation Trump calls a witch hunt.</p> Slideshow (16 Images)
<p>In Britain, May’s decision to strike without consulting parliament overturns an arrangement in place since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Her predecessor David Cameron was politically hurt when he lost a parliamentary vote on whether to bomb Syria.</p>
<p>Britain has led international condemnation of Russia, persuading more than 20 countries to expel Russian diplomats in response to a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in England last month. May made clear that case was part of her calculus in ordering Saturday’s strikes.</p>
<p>She argued on Saturday it was necessary to act quickly without waiting for parliament’s approval. Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn accused her of following Trump, hugely unpopular in Britain, into battle without waiting for the evidence.</p>
<p>In France, Macron has long threatened to use force against Assad if he uses chemical weapons, and had faced criticism over what opponents described as an empty threat.</p>
<p>To view a graphic on an overview of chemical warfare, click: <a href="http://tmsnrt.rs/2pKDWOY" type="external">tmsnrt.rs/2pKDWOY</a></p>
<p>Reporting by Steve Holland and Tom Perry,; Additional reporting by Phil Stewart, Tim Ahmann, Eric Beech, Lesley Wroughton, Lucia Mutikani, Idrees Ali, Patricia Zengerle, Matt Spetalnick and John Walcott in Washington; Samia Nakhoul, Tom Perry, Laila Bassam, Ellen Francis and Angus McDowall in Beirut; Michael Holden and Guy Faulconbridge in London; and Jean-Baptiste Vey, Geert de Clerq and Matthias Blamont in Paris; Polina Ivanova in Moscow, Writing by Peter Graff and Kevin Liffey; Editing by Angus MacSwan</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States is “locked and loaded” to strike again if Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad’s government again uses chemical weapons, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the Security Council on Saturday.</p> FILE PHOTO: United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks during the United Nations Security Council meeting on Syria at the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., April 13, 2018. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
<p>“We are confident that we have crippled Syria’s chemical weapons program. We are prepared to sustain this pressure, if the Syrian regime is foolish enough to test our will,” she said.</p>
<p>“If the Syrian regime uses this poison gas again, the United States is locked and loaded,” Haley said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by David Gregorio</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Steinhoff secures 60 mln euros of required 200 mln liquidity Britain attacks Syria with cruise missiles to deter more chemical attacks Trump: 'mission accomplished' on 'perfectly executed' Syria strike U.S., UK, France strike Syria to punish Assad for suspected poison gas use If Syria uses toxic gas again, U.S. 'locked and loaded': U.N. envoy Haley | false | https://reuters.com/article/steinhoff-intlnl-liquidity/steinhoff-secures-60-mln-euros-of-required-200-mln-liquidity-idUSFWN1PD0RB | 2018-01-18 | 2 |
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<p>This post originally ran on <a href="http://www.juancole.com/2014/08/garners-iranian-support.html" type="external">Juan Cole’s Web page</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://newspaper.annahar.com/article/160930-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D8%AD%D8%B5%D9%84-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%AA%D8%A3%D9%8A%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A5%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A-%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89%20" type="external">Middle Eastern regional powers joined the U.S. in welcoming the appointment of Haider al-Abadi as Iraq’s next Prime Minister,</a> creating a dorm full of strange bedfellows.</p>
<p>The chairman of Iran’s national security council, Ali Shamkhani, congratulated al-Abadi and said that Iran approved of the legal process whereby President Fuad Masoum appointed the new PM. This entire line of reasoning was a slap in the face to outgoing prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, who argues that Masoum acted unconstitutionally in appointing anyone but Maliki and has said he will challenge the step in the supreme court. Shamkhani appeared to caution al-Maliki and others against opposing al-Abadi, calling on “all political blocs” to abide by “the rule of law” and to unite in the face of the threat posed by an “external enemy.” Some observers believe that al-Abadi was pressed on Masoum by Iran to begin with and is now Tehran’s candidate.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.aawsat.com/home/article/158601%20" type="external">Saudi Arabian King Abdullah</a> sent congratulatory messages both to President Masoum and to prime minister-designate al-Abadi, expressing the kingdom’s support for the new government. King Abdullah appears truly to have despised Nouri al-Maliki. In 2006, al-Maliki used his Islamic Call or Islamic Mission Party (al-Da`wa al-Islamiya) to mount a global campaign against “Wahhabism,” the severe branch of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia, which has often been hostile to Shiite Muslims like al-Maliki. King Abdullah, however, appointed two Shiites to his advisory council and allowed municipal elections in Shiite cities like Qatif, which brought Shiite politicians onto the city council. Before the 2011 Arab Spring demos, in which Shiites in the Saudi Eastern Province joined, King Abdullah appeared to be slowly trying to improve the position of Saudi minorities. Since then, unfortunately, there has been a renewed crackdown. In any case, Abdullah was deeply offended by al-Maliki’s critiques of Wahhabism and the mounting of Shiite demonstrations outside Saudi embassies. I don’t believe al-Maliki was ever allowed to visit Riyadh, whereas the Iranian prime ministers and even hard line Shiite Muqtada al-Sadr have come on such diplomatic visits. So whether or not King Abdullah is as enthusiastic as he says for Iraq to flourish (the Saudis are a little afraid of a united Iraq after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait), it is plausible that he is truly delighted that al-Maliki is being replaced by someone more level-headed.</p>
<p>Likewise, the Turkish foreign ministry congratulated al-Abadi. Turkey’s fate is much bound up with Iraq’s since they are neighbors and both Kurdish nationalism and hard line political Islam pose challenges to both.</p>
<p>Getting Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey all to agree on something is pretty difficult, so al-Abadi already has an achievement.</p>
<p>Al-Abadi has also garnered the support of the major Shiite parties, including Fadila (Virtue), the al-Ahrar (“Free Ones”) of hard line cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq (ISCI) of Ammar al-Hakim, which is close to Iran. He appears to have gained the support of about half of the Islamic Mission Party, which has 92 seats in parliament or so, and which al-Maliki theoretically heads. The party leaders, however, <a href="http://www.eremnews.com/?id=55534&amp;&amp;headline=%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D8%A8%D8%AF%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A%20" type="external">issued a statement on Tuesday that al-Maliki is their candidate</a>, rejecting al-Abadi.</p>
<p>On the other hand, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden appears to have elicited a promise from Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani to “work with” al-Abadi. Barzani has made it clear that he actually wants to secede from Iraq, so it is unclear how he will cooperate with Baghdad. Though, his pledge to hold a referendum on secession within 6 months was made before the Kurdistan paramilitary, the Peshmerga, found themselves unable to hold their front with the so-called Islamic State, an al-Qaeda offshoot. Barzani is now getting large amounts of U.S. weapons and money, and the U.S. air force is bombing IS positions near Kurdistan. The Peshmerga (“one who stands before death”) have been enabled to take back two border towns straddling the Arab and Kurdish frontier, Gwer (al-Kuwair) in Ninewa Province and Makhmour in Irbil Province. So, I think if Biden wants Barzani to compliment al-Abadi, he’ll swallow his pride and do so.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, in order to resolve the current crisis in Iraq, al-Abadi needs internal allies more than external lip support. He needs more than pro forma support from the Kurds in confronting IS in Diyala, Salahuddin and Ninawa provinces. And, he needs to detach some of the Sunni tribal leaders from the IS. The last time the Sunni rural notables allied with Baghdad against al-Qaeda, they were treated shoddily. Al-Maliki declined to continue their stipends or give very many of them government jobs. Since they had fought terrorists, they were often targeted for reprisals by the terrorists. And, al-Maliki even prosecuted some who had fought Baghdad before changing their minds and joining “Awakening Councils.” The difficulty is that when al-Abadi goes to the tribal chiefs, he may not get much of a hearing. He is after all from al-Maliki’s party.</p>
<p>Still, if Iranian, Turkish and Saudi support for al-Abadi is more than lip service, it could be important to al-Abadi’s success.</p>
<p>——-</p>
<p>Related video</p>
<p><a href="http://youtu.be/GhkMXoeXFBw%20" type="external">Iraq president asks Abadi to succeed PM Nouri Maliki</a></p>
<p /> | Iraq: Al-Abadi Garners Iranian, U.S., Saudi Support but Can He Unite Iraq? | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/iraq-al-abadi-garners-iranian-u-s-saudi-support-but-can-he-unite-iraq/ | 2014-08-13 | 4 |
<p>Two stories. Two young men. One white. One black.</p>
<p>It was a number of years ago now. I was a pastor in the suburbs of Washington, in a multi-ethnic congregation of people from the very poor to the quite wealthy.</p>
<p>The first story began with a call I received from the wife of a young, 35-year-old father and husband, a rising and seemingly successful stock broker in our church.</p>
<p>“Sam has been arrested,” she said. Embarrassed, heartbroken and desperate, she wondered if I could go to him. Sam was charged with fraud and cocaine possession. He had confessed and was pleading for rehab and mercy. He had two young girls in school; he had been their soccer and softball coach; he still had so much to live for and so much yet to do. He also had a good lawyer.</p>
<p>I visited Sam — as his pastor, his advocate and his friend. He sat on a nice bed with a colorful quilt while pastel paint tones and comfortable furniture offered a calming ambiance to his room in the rehab center. It was expensive he said, but necessary for his full recovery.</p>
<p>We prayed together and were very hopeful that all would work out for the best. He was getting the help he needed, the judge appeared to be open to leniency, and this lovely facility gave every indication that he would get his life back and could start over with a second chance.</p>
<p>I got another call not long after that one.</p>
<p>“Leo is in prison. He would like to see you.” Leo was 15, big smile, sweet spirit and a very hard life. He never knew his father; his mother had serious learning disabilities and the grandmother he lived with openly spoke of the money she got from a couple of sources to raise him as her only income. She never hid her ambivalent feelings about Leo’s presence in her life. Nevertheless, Leo remained resilient, caring and positive.</p>
<p>I went to the prison where he was being held. In stark contrast to the fine rehab facility of the previous story, I had to sit on one side of thick plexiglass with a phone on my side and a phone on his side. Leo was ushered in from the jail cell where he was being kept. Wearing an orange jump suit and hands chained together in front of him, he shuffled sadly across the dreary gray space that led to the plexiglass barrier between us. His expression was filled with shame. He slumped with resignation in the cheap plastic chair on the other side of the window.</p>
<p>He had been a passenger in a car that a friend had taken for a joy ride. He didn’t realize that the vehicle was stolen. “Dave, I thought he bought it with the money he had been making for working at Wendy’s. That’s what he told me, and I believed him.”</p>
<p>Two stories. Two young men. One convicted of fraud and cocaine possession. The other a passenger in a car he didn’t realize was stolen. The first was given a gentle slap on the wrist. The other, harsh treatment in difficult conditions for any age, but Leo was 15. He was also African-American and at the mercy of a system he didn’t understand and had no advocates in. Sam was white and well-connected.</p>
<p>I had never heard of the term “white privilege.” But I confess now to understanding stories like these to be the sad reality in our society. Not much has changed in the years since I was the pastor to those two young men. News almost weekly seems to reinforce this continuing saga of inequity.</p>
<p>So what can we do? I offer three possible responses.</p>
<p>First, Follow Jesus’ imperative: “In all things, do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Mt. 7:12). Consider how it feels to be an African-American male who lives daily with prejudiced assumptions and unfair responses. Jesus’ teaching demands a level of empathy that takes seriously the hurt, alienation and resulting anger of young men like Leo.</p>
<p>Second, acknowledge the reality of “white privilege.” Let us confess that our society too long has perpetuated economic, judicial and social privileges for individuals like Sam while denying just treatment for individuals like Leo.</p>
<p>Finally, acknowledge the inequities in the justice system. Important books like Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow reveal the troubling facts of our unjust treatment of young African-American males like Leo. Read carefully and come to terms with what needs to be changed for young men like him to receive fair treatment. As Cornell West says, quoted in Alexander’s book, “For too long, there has been no mass fight back against the multileveled assault on poor and vulnerable people.”</p>
<p>It is hard to recognize that many of us have benefitted from a society unfairly tilted. And with a more just system, it just might mean the white member of my congregation convicted of fraud and cocaine possession might actually receive less mercy.</p>
<p>But better, I hope it will mean young men like Leo in my congregation might have the possibility to be viewed fairly, be offered better options, and be given positive second chances. It is time to do what we must to make right the injustices that stifle hope and stunt positive opportunities for the Leo’s of the world.</p>
<p>Two stories. Two young men. Two separate and unequal systems still at work and representing a sad reality that must be recognized by this middle class, white preacher. Let us heed the call of the prophet Micah and the imperative of Jesus: to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, as we work for justice, in kindness and with a contrite heart, walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8).</p>
<p>— Both of these stories are true but the names of the two involved have been changed.</p> | Confessions of a white preacher | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/confessions-of-a-white-preacher/ | 3 |
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<p>CNN President Jeff Zucker has, apparently, the right ideas about Trump.</p>
<p>In an <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/03/02/517947251/amid-trump-attacks-and-snubs-zuckers-cnn-reclaims-newsy-mission" type="external">interview</a> with NPR that was published Thursday, Zucker pointed out the irony in that President Donald Trump obsessively criticizes Zucker’s network, while, apparently, being an avid viewer. After all, how else could it be that Trump has so much attack material to use against the network? The answer is that Trump is obsessively fixated on CNN, again undercutting the legitimacy of his continued criticisms. Trump wasn’t saying anything accurate to begin with, though.</p>
<p>As Zucker commented of Trump’s continued rants about CNN’s “fake news:” “A lot of this is red meat for his base.&#160;He claims that CNN is unwatchable, but the only way he knows that is because he’s watching it obsessively. We know that he spends his days and nights watching CNN.”</p>
<p>It’s true — Donald Trump is a man who absolutely, almost pathologically, obsesses over his public image such as what’s said about him on CNN. Remember, this is the same guy who pretended to be a non-existent publicist just so he could brag about himself. That same guy is the president now.</p>
<p>Zucker, overall, just isn’t impressed or intimidated by Trump’s attacks on his network.</p>
<p>He described to NPR how, even though his network’s legitimacy&#160;is under attack by literally the most powerful people in the United States, they’re not backing down.</p>
<p>He’s given a message to his staff that says, as Zucker told NPR: “Do not be intimidated. Go where the story goes. Report the facts. Make sure you’ve got it right. And don’t let things that the president says or that the White House does throw you off your game.”</p>
<p>Indeed, this message is similar to CNN’s official response to being shut out of a recent White House press briefing.</p>
<p>After CNN reporters were barred from being a part of White House Press Secretary’s informal meeting with reporters, the network responded by saying, simply, “We’ll keep reporting regardless.”</p>
<p>CNN wasn’t the only news organization barred from that press briefing, and it hasn’t been the only one to receive criticism from Trump for supposedly reporting “fake news,” but the network has certainly borne some of the worst of it.</p>
<p>For example, shortly after the election, Trump wrote on Twitter, “I thought that CNN would get better after they failed so badly in their support of Hillary Clinton however, since election, they are worse!”</p>
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<p>Much more recently, Trump wrote, “FAKE NEWS media knowingly doesn’t tell the truth. A great danger to our country. The failing New York Times has become a joke. Likewise CNN.&#160;Sad!”</p>
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<p>Ironically, Zucker apparently had a role in one of Trump’s most recent, notoriety building successes, “The Apprentice.” Perhaps a personal row from this time is what underlies Trump’s obsessive attacks on the network?</p>
<p>As NPR reports, “Zucker struck up a professional friendship with Trump 14 years ago, when the television executive was NBC’s entertainment chief (after having been head of NBC News). He helped to greenlight Trump’s Apprentice franchise.”</p>
<p>Featured Image via&#160; <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/629192720" type="external">Mike Coppola/ Getty Images for Turner.</a></p> | CNN President Responds To Trump’s Continued Twitter Attacks With Pure Comedy | true | http://bipartisanreport.com/2017/03/03/cnn-president-responds-to-trumps-continued-twitter-attacks-with-pure-comedy/ | 2017-03-03 | 4 |
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<p>Yabeny also was ordered to participate in domestic violence counseling and counseling for substance abuse, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.</p>
<p>Yabeny has been in federal custody since his arrest last October on a criminal complaint alleging he assaulted his girlfriend at the Shiprock Fair on Oct. 7, 2012, the release said.</p>
<p>He pleaded guilty in February to assault, and a charge of child abuse was dismissed after Yabeny was sentenced.</p>
<p>6:13am 2/20/13 — Gallup man pleads guilty to assault</p>
<p>Derek Yabeny, 26, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who lives in Gallup, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal assault charge as part of a plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.</p>
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<p>Yabeny was arrested on a criminal complaint last October and was subsequently charged with assault resulting in serious bodily injury and abandonment or abuse of a child after he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend who was carrying her 2-year-old child at the time, the release said.</p>
<p>The woman received two orbital fractures as a result of the assault, prosecutors said.</p>
<p>The assault occurred on the grounds of the Shiprock Fair, which is located on the Navajo Indian Reservation, on Oct. 7, 2012.</p>
<p>Yabeny has been in federal custody since Oct. 26, 2012, and will remain detained until his pending sentencing hearing at which he will be sentenced to 25 months in prison according to the plea agreement.</p> | UPDATED: Gallup man gets 25 months | false | https://abqjournal.com/201393/updated-gallup-man-sentenced-for-assault.html | 2013-05-21 | 2 |
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<p>2016 saw a sharp rise in oil prices, bouncing off of lows that would have proved unsustainable for more oil companies long term. Brent crude's spot price rose a whopping 50.1% last year, and WTI crude oil was up 44.8%.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Despite last year's rise, there are some signs that 2017 could be an even better year for oil prices. Maybe the absolute gain in oil won't be as large, but we could see prices move higher -- and see a return of a U.S. shale industry that's been awfully quiet for a few years now. Here's what to watch for in oil prices.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>The most notable change of the last few months is OPEC returning to its role as the controller of oil prices in 2017. The oil cartel teamed up with Russia and Oman to cut 1.8 million barrels per day of oil production, which is aimed at pushing oil prices even higher than they are today. So far, cuts have been steeper than expected, with Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Kuwait all cutting production more quickly than expected, indicating that there's real traction in the cuts.</p>
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<p>What'll be worth keeping an eye on this year is how OPEC holds together. Countries often exceed their production quotas as they try to squeeze a little more money out of oil markets, but OPEC will try to keep its members in line for the good of everyone. If they succeed, another 50% rise in oil prices, to $75 to $80 per barrel, wouldn't be out of the question.</p>
<p>One region that isn't subject to the production quota is the U.S. Oil producers here are driven more by market forces than anything else, and they're already starting to respond to the rising price of oil.</p>
<p>According to Baker Hughes' (NYSE: BHI) weekly rig count data, oil explorers are indeed starting to drill again. You can see that drilling activity has nearly doubled from its low in the middle of last year, and that means U.S. oil production could stop its recent decline.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/indicators/us_rotary_rigs" type="external">US Rig Count</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>If oil prices continue to rise, rig activity will pick up as well. That's good news for rig owners and fracking service companies like Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB), who have been absolutely crushed financially in the last two years.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/BHI/net_income_ttm" type="external">BHI Net Income (TTM)</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts</a>.</p>
<p>But this excitement about increasing oil prices leading to more drilling will actually dampen the supply reductions OPEC is making. If too much U.S. oil comes online, like it did between 2005 and 2014, it could lead to oversupply and act as a cap to how high prices can go.</p>
<p>Investors will want to watch where U.S. oil production trends. If it starts to rise because oil prices are going up, then OPEC may respond with more production, in turn pushing oil prices lower and hurting shale companies again. It's really U.S. supply that could keep a cap on oil prices in 2017.</p>
<p>One factor in oil prices that often goes overlooked is the dollar's impact. A rising dollar means more buying power for U.S. consumers of oil, which means if oil prices are flat in dollar terms, but the dollar gets stronger, then exporting countries see oil prices rising in their local currencies. But a falling dollar has the opposite effect, making each dollar spent to buy oil overseas worth less to other countries.</p>
<p>If the government moves toward a weaker dollar policy, it would have the effect of making oil more expensive in dollar terms. That could be good for U.S. oil producers, although it would be bad for consumers.</p>
<p>The problem is that we don't know where the dollar is headed, and the currency market can change course rapidly. With that said, the dollar is worth keeping an eye on in 2017.</p>
<p>If OPEC can hold together, which it looks like it will for now, I think the trend of rising oil prices will continue. But there will be a cap on how fast prices will rise because U.S. shale drillers are eager to begin drilling again. Barring any global events that disrupt oil markets, another 10% to 20% increase in oil prices in 2017 is certainly within reach. And that could help energy stocks recover some of their losses from the last three years.</p>
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<p>*StockAdvisor returns as of December 12, 2016.The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFlushDraw/info.aspx" type="external">Travis Hoium Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Halliburton. 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> | What Does 2017 Hold for Oil Prices? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/24/what-does-2017-hold-for-oil-prices.html | 2017-01-24 | 0 |
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<p>This undated image provided by Wal-Mart, shows the website that will enable it to personalize the online shopping experience for each customer. Wal-Mart is rolling out a feature that will enable its website to show shoppers more products that they may like, based on their previous purchases. It also will customize Wal-Mart’s home page for each shopper based on where that customer lives, showing local weather and events, as well as the customer’s search and purchase histories. (AP Photo/Wal-Mart)</p>
<p>NEW YORK — Wal-Mart, in its latest bid to compete with nemesis Amazon.com, is rebuilding its website to further personalize the online shopping experience of each customer.</p>
<p>Wal-Mart is rolling out a feature that will enable its website to show shoppers more products that they may like, based on previous purchases. It will also customize Wal-Mart’s home page for each shopper based on the customer’s location, local weather and the customer’s search and purchase history.</p>
<p>So if a new mom just bought a stroller or crib on Walmart.com, the revamped website might recommend diapers and car seats, too. And if someone who lives in Dallas searches the website for sports jerseys, Walmart.com could suggest Rangers or Dallas Cowboy gear.</p>
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<p>The increased personalization is part of a series of changes to improve the online shopping experience of its customers that are rolling out now and over the next few months. The retailer is looking to boost its business online at a time when its U.S. discount division has seen disappointing sales.</p>
<p>Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s e-commerce sales increased by 30 percent to over $10 billion in its fiscal year that ended Jan. 31. By comparison, Wal-Mart’s U.S. discount division has had five straight quarters of sales declines at stores opened at least a year. Wal-Mart sees big growth opportunity in the online business: Online sales still are only a fraction of the $473 billion Wal-Mart generated in overall annual revenue, dwarfed by Amazon’s $60.9 billion in annual sales.</p>
<p>The move to personalize websites for shoppers has become a top priority for traditional brick-and-mortar retailers like Wal-Mart as they play catch up with Amazon.com, the online king that pioneered customizing content for shoppers. Retailers increasingly are trying to use their reams of customer data they get from mobile devices and computers to personalize their websites and ultimately, boost sales.</p>
<p>Other retailers, including home-improvement chain Home Depot and office-supplies retailer Staples, have been working to personalize the online shopping experience. In fact, a quarter of customers who visit Home Depot’s home page see product recommendations that are based on recent purchase or browser history, according to the company.</p>
<p>Retailers have seen benefits in personalizing their websites for customers, as well as other efforts to improve the online shopping experience. Overall, Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru said that changes in customization can help lift a retailer’s online sales in the mid-single digits.</p>
<p>Wal-Mart said that customers have responded well to improvements it has made to its website in the past two years, including quadrupling the assortment of items it offers online to 8 million. For example, when Wal-Mart updated its search tool, it saw a 20 percent increase in shoppers completing a purchase after searching for a product using the new search engine.</p>
<p>Among the other changes, Wal-Mart has redesigned the site to cater to tablets as well as other devices. That means that the content and images are now adjusted to the size of the screen. So shoppers will see more columns of products on bigger screens.</p>
<p>Shoppers will see other improvements. Walmart.com will be testing a quicker online checkout process over the next couple of months. That means customers will view one page instead of six before clicking on the “buy” button. And the company will be able to update Web pages within minutes instead of days.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>Follow Anne D’Innocenzio at — <a href="http://www.Twitter.com/adinnocenzio" type="external">http://www.Twitter.com/adinnocenzio</a></p> | Wal-Mart’s website to personalize shopping | false | https://abqjournal.com/440469/wal-marts-website-to-personalize-shopping.html | 2 |
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<p><a href="http://firedoglake.com/2009/02/19/orszag-confirms-road-to-fiscal-responsibility-goes-through-social-security-benefit-reduction/" type="external">Liberals are worried</a> that next Monday’s “fiscal responsibility summit,” hosted by the Obama Administration, will be two things they don’t like: (1) yet another sop to conservatives, and (2) the beginning of a rightward shift on entitlement reform. Will the Obama team embrace the center-right consensus that Social Security is in crisis and that the only way to fix it is to cut benefits?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=02&amp;year=2009&amp;base_name=the_end_of_the_entitlement_sca" type="external">Ezra Klein</a> argues that the Obama folks understand that Social Security has <a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/the-social-security-obsession-again/" type="external">little bearing on America’s long-term financial solvency</a>, and that they will use the summit to make the case that health care reform is the way to ease our entitlement problems.</p>
<p />
<p>That, basically, has been Orszag’s project: Talk a lot about the health care crisis and longer-term problems in the budget and get people to stop talking about an illusory crisis in a made-up program called socialsecurityandmedicareandmedicaid. Because what Orszag and Krugman both realize is that Social Security’s unfunded liabilities only look like the sort of problem you need to “fix” if you’re mixing it in with Medicare’s unfunded liabilities. If there’s an “entitlements problem” that requires an “entitlements commission” then that will cut Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. If there’s no “entitlements problem” and instead a health reform problem and some small questions about a politically electric program, then what you get is health reform — which is also a way to slow Medicaid and Medicare growth without resorting to cuts — and an end to the fear-mongering on Social Security.</p>
<p>Let’s hope the Obama team is this savvy. It would be pretty remarkable if they can channel the Social-Security-is-a-crisis! hysteria and turn it into even more energy behind the cause of universal health care.</p>
<p /> | Is Obama’s “Fiscal Responsibility Summit” a Sneak Attack? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/02/obamas-fiscal-responsibility-summit-sneak-attack/ | 2009-02-20 | 4 |
<p>Speaker Paul Ryan, shortly after announcing there would be no vote on the Republicans’ health care bill</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;“I don’t know what else to say other than Obamacare is … going to remain the law of the land.” So spoke Speaker Paul Ryan after he pulled the bill to repeal Obamacare because there was insufficient support from his party to pass the bill. “We’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future,” he said. Yet, hours after Ryan’s announcement, some television ads seemed to be responding to “alternate facts”: Viewers were invited to call their member of Congress to thank them for repealing Obamacare.</p>
<p>An ad during the Wizards-Nets NBA game asked viewers to thank Barbara Comstock of Virginia for replacing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Before CBS’s coverage of March Madness (collegiate basketball tournament), viewers in Fresno, California were asked to call David Valadao for the same purpose, and viewers in Des Moines, Iowa were asked to call David Young and do the same. In San Antonia, Texas, a similar ad was aired asking viewers to call Will Hurd and offer thanks for repeal of Obamacare. An ad in San Diego, California, asked viewers to thank Darrell Issa “for keeping his promise and replacing the Affordable Care Act with a better health care you deserve.”</p>
<p>At least two of the legislators to be thanked in the ads opposed the Republican health care bill. Comstock said she could not support the bill because the final version had removed basic benefits such as maternity care and mental health services. Hurd said the final form of the bill “created new challenges.”</p>
<p>The ads were purchased by the American Action Network (AAN), which is described as a conservative-leaning group. Since Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House, repeal of Obamacare seemed assured. &#160;After the Republicans’ health care bill was withdrawn, the AAN apparently did not move quickly enough to remove the ads.</p>
<p>In a statement, the AAN said the ads had been running for two weeks as part of an ongoing effort to urge the repeal and replacement of Obamacare. Therefore, the claims in the ad remain true despite the abandonment of the Republicans’ health care bill.</p>
<p /> | Supporters of Obamacare Repeal “Jump the Gun” | true | http://politicalblindspot.com/supporters-of-obamacare-repeal-jump-the-gun/ | 2017-04-07 | 4 |
<p>Four additions to Taco Bell's $1 breakfast menu items. Image source: Yum! Brands.</p>
<p>Last week, Yum! Brands' Taco Bell division unleashed its latest attempt to grab market share during the lucrative breakfast hours. The Mexican-themed brand is expanding its previous breakfast value menu to feature no less than 10 value items priced at $1 each. For those fond of citing Stanley Kubrick's Doctor Strangelove as the epitome of brinksmanship gone mad, the quick-service restaurant industry may be offering up a new standard.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Taco Bell commissioned research market firm Edelman Berland to conduct a survey of 1,000 U.S. adult consumers on their value menu preferences last month. In rather tongue-in-cheek fashion, respondents were asked to state their preference to spend $1, versus more than $1, on value items. I was blown away, and you will be as well, to learn that 84% of respondents would rather spend $1, instead of forking over more than $1, when ordering an item from a value menu. As the company's press release wryly noted, these findings just happened to coincide with the nationwide launch of the $1 breakfast menu.</p>
<p>Making sense of this maneuverThe menu makeover demonstrates that two years after entering the breakfast space, Taco Bell is still fiercely intent on building a sustainable morning offering. It's undoubtedly also influenced by McDonald's Corporation's success with the introduction of all-day breakfast, which is turning out to have wide implications for the entire industry. McDonald's system is so large that an expansion in its breakfast business increases the overall market for quick-service breakfast. Taco Bell wants it what it believes to be its fair share of this market.</p>
<p>From a marketing perspective, the company's eye-catching proposition seems designed to lure value-conscious millennials and bargain seekers in general. Taco Bell would love to tear away a portion of customers who are frequenting McDonald's more often because of all-day breakfast, and their own greater disposable incomes, courtesy of lower gas prices.</p>
<p>This menu shift is all the more striking as most of the quick-service industry is graduating away from the $1 price point. McDonald's has moved its "McPick 2" promotion -- essentially a dollar offer -- to a new slate, the higher-margin "McPick 2 for $5." Similarly, Restaurant Brands International's Burger King brand is actively promoting its own profitable 2 for $5 "Get Fresh" sandwich offer.</p>
<p>As fellow giants gradually shift profits back to franchisees by raising value price points, Taco Bell has sensed an opening to differentiate itself from nearly every significant competitor. In a subtle manner, the company is also calling out the ridiculous escalation of value menu price competition, while fully participating in it. Whether this is poker, or true economic warfare over the lucrative a.m. peak hours, is difficult for the observer to discern.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>If it's warfare, and the point is to take share from McDonald's by sustaining this campaign for a long while, then my Foolish colleague Rick Munarriz is correct to observe that setting 10 breakfast prices at a single greenback is <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2016/03/10/taco-bell-bucks-breakfast-is-mcdonalds-worried.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">"a logical shot in this price war." Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>If it's poker, and Taco Bell means to put this idea to test without a firm long-term commitment, it's the equivalent of upping the ante after most of the players have folded and left the table. That is, most competitors are trying to charge more, not less, as a value tactic. This could reward Taco Bell in the form of higher traffic, but Yum! shareholders may also now be worried over breakfast margins.</p>
<p>About those breakfast marginsA few years ago, the idea to set 10 items on a breakfast menu at $1 might have languished for a few hours on an executive's whiteboard, until an administrative assistant mercifully wiped the brainstorming session clean at the end of the day.</p>
<p>But the velocity of change in a typical promotion or value menu launch has increased noticeably. McDonald's completed its "McPick 2" transition in a matter of weeks. Taco Bell, which is smaller and more nimble, has the ability to move just as quickly if it needs to revamp its bargain menu.</p>
<p>Realistically, with new protein-based items introduced last week such as the "Mini Skillet Bowl," "Breakfast Soft Taco," and "Sausage Flatbread Quesadilla," which I'll wager are barely profitable when traded for a single greenback, this menu configuration is unlikely to remain permanent. Taco Bell boasts the highest restaurant margins within the Yum! Brands portfolio, at 22.3%, so it conceivably could "take pricing" for some time to pinch customers from its peers.</p>
<p>But the division is also 86% franchised,and if the traffic boost from this bold call to consumers fades, franchisees watching their counterparts under competing brands are likely to push with haste for a higher value configuration. Taco Bell's archly commissioned survey may have caught the mood of the consumer dead on, but in this industry, surveys of franchisees' satisfaction are often just as vital in predicting future business direction.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/15/taco-bells-breakfast-dollarization-brilliance-or-f.aspx" type="external">Taco Bell's Breakfast Dollarization: Brilliance, or Folly? Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFfinosus/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Asit Sharma Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Taco Bell's Breakfast Dollarization: Brilliance, or Folly? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/15/taco-bell-breakfast-dollarization-brilliance-or-folly.html | 2016-03-15 | 0 |
<p>At its annual awards ceremony last month, the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) <a href="http://shnny.org/blog/entry/nyc-continuum-of-care-honored-in-washington-d.c/" type="external">honored</a> New York City for leading the nation in reducing homelessness among veterans, apparently cutting it by 64&#160;percent in just three years. NAEH president Nan Roman declared that it was “thanks to cities like New York” that the numbers have concurrently fallen across the US.</p>
<p>The same month, advocacy groups celebrated a glowing <a href="https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/4074/2014-ahar-part-1-pit-estimates-of-homelessness/" type="external">report</a> published by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announcing that overall homelessness is declining nationally. The report factors a 2 percent decrease between 2013 and 2014 and 11 percent since 2007. “I’ve been working at the NAEH since 1997,” says Steve Berg, vice president for programs and policy, “and I would say right now, today, is the time I feel the most hopeful that we’re going to actually solve this problem.”</p>
<p>Yet many anti-homelessness advocates are skeptical, finding it difficult to square the sunny narrative with the moribund economy: income inequality is the <a href="http://rt.com/business/204035-us-record-wealth-inequality/" type="external">worst</a> it has been since the Great Depression, unemployment is still high, and poverty is acute.</p>
<p>“When they say homelessness is going down, it depends who you’re talking to,” says Ralph Nunez, president of the Institute for Children Poverty and Homelessness. “Forty-five percent of this country is poor or near poor. Those are the federal government’s statistics since the recession. And you’re telling me that things are getting better for the people at the very bottom? I doubt it. It’s a numbers game.”</p>
<p>The discrepancy between the publicized results of the study and those kept buried in its pages is indeed striking, and points to a virtual cover-up of a crisis that the government does not truly intend to solve.</p>
<p>New York City may have less than half as many homeless veterans as it did three years ago, but its overall homeless population is hardly on the decline. Over the same period that veteran homelessness fell by nearly two-thirds, the total number of New Yorkers without permanent shelter spiked by one-third. The increase in&#160;families without a home&#160;was even higher, at 38&#160;percent. Going back to 2002, this latter demographic has mushroomed by an astounding 80&#160;percent.</p>
<p>New York City is not alone. Since 2011, Washington, DC has experienced a 21&#160;percent decrease in homeless veterans, but a 41&#160;percent increase in family homelessness and an 18 percent spike&#160;in the overall homeless population. In the past year, Chicago <a href="http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/fss/supp_info/Homeless/Plan20/Plan20ProgressReportOct2014.pdf" type="external">celebrated</a> a 43&#160;percent decrease in chronic homelessness at the same time that family homelessness swelled by 11&#160;percent and the total homeless population increased slightly, according to HUD data.</p>
<p>At fault for this distorted picture is a federal <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/oct/20/housing-first-the-counterintuitive-method-for-solving-urban-homelessness" type="external">program</a> called “Opening Doors,” announced by President Obama in 2010 and which aims to end veteran and chronic homelessness by 2016 and family homelessness by 2020. For all other types of homelessness (like temporary homelessness among individuals) the plan aims to “set a path” to a solution.</p>
<p>The result has been&#160;a minor increase in funding accompanied by a reallocation of resources for local services. “We didn’t really get more money or resources to address the problem,” says Julie Dworkin, policy director at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. “All we’ve done is target specific groups.”</p>
<p>To its credit, the Opening Doors program employs the “Housing First” approach, which flips the previous order of assistance to the homeless by offering them a place to live before trying to solve, say, a housing applicant’s substance abuse problem or mental illness. But the country’s largest cities are trumpeting decreases in select subpopulations of the homeless while playing down the local rise in overall numbers — giving especially <a href="http://billmoyers.com/2013/04/21/america-is-ignoring-homeless-families/" type="external">short shrift</a> to homeless families. And a more essential controversy bedevils the praise recently heaped on Obama: from the time the federal government began counting the homeless, the numbers&#160;themselves have been in dispute.</p>
<p>Before the results of the 1990 federal census had come back — the first serious attempt to measure how many&#160;US residents were without homes — two of the country’s most prominent radical anti-homelessness activists, Mitch Snyder and Maria Foscarinis, published their own account of the crisis. Their estimate: more than two million individuals.</p>
<p>Over the previous decade, advocates like Snyder and Foscarinis had succeeded in winning much of the&#160;country to the side of the destitute,&#160;calling attention to the crisis of homelessness that had surged with the dismantling of New Deal reforms under Ronald Reagan.</p>
<p>But when the US Census Bureau put the number of homeless people at one-tenth of Snyder and Foscarinis’ figures, the media shifted back in favor of austerity, content to brush off what they saw in the streets with the authority of official data. An additional blow to the movement against homelessness was the death of Snyder, who had spent time on the streets himself and who took his own life just months after the census results were released.</p>
<p>In her book Hobo, Hustlers, and Backsliders, sociologist Teresa Gowan <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hobos-Hustlers-Backsliders-Homeless-Francisco/dp/0816669678" type="external">describes</a> the movement’s marginalization:</p>
<p>Images portraying the dignity and resilience of homeless people continued to circulate in street newspapers, alternative newsweeklies, and art houses, but these kind of representations became increasingly rare in television news and daily newspapers. The suicide that year of Snyder, the most well known of the radical anti-homelessness advocates, was interpreted by many as some kind of verdict on the movement itself.</p>
<p>Critics of the federal data, however, are still around and still furious —&#160;the government’s count of the homeless, though certainly improved, remains flawed.</p>
<p>Now conducted annually under the supervision of HUD, volunteers across the country tally up the number of homeless people they find in shelters and in “hot spots” like under bridges and in warehouses on one night in January. The agency doesn’t expect their volunteers to find every homeless person in America on a single winter night, when those turned away from overcrowded shelters are likely hidden away at a friend’s house or splurging on a motel, and has implemented some statistical sampling techniques to compensate.</p>
<p>But critics believe the count is still far too low. “I’ve taught quantitative methods at Columbia University for twenty-eight years,” says Nunez. “I would not carry out a study like this.”</p>
<p>Yet the agency stands by this “point-in-time” count — which, depending on the geographic area, doesn’t always estimate the number of overlooked homeless people and thus&#160;produces&#160;absurd&#160;statistics. For example, in Chicago, a city of 2.7&#160;million, volunteers counted zero chronically homeless people living in families this year. That’s down from six in 2011 — a 100&#160;percent decrease according to their report.</p>
<p>HUD’s problem isn’t just an&#160;inadequate&#160;estimate of the scope of homelessness. Nunez and his peers believe that one reason the federal government has targeted chronic and veteran homelessness is not because they are more severe than family homelessness, but because they are the most visible and therefore more separable from the broader&#160;issue of poverty. “What we have money for is to stop people from looking poor,” Gowan says. “We don’t want people out there wearing five layers of clothing and eating out of garbage cans because that shows off where our social policy is at.”</p>
<p>Homeless families, who even HUD admits are becoming more prevalent, are largely invisible to the federal government. “In New York City,” Nunez points out, “you have 25,000 kids in the shelter system and you have 80,000 homeless kids in the schools. So where are they coming from?”</p>
<p>Unlike individuals, families without a place of their own tend to avoid shelters or the streets, seeking temporary refuge in cars and motels, or “doubling up” with friends or family. But once they’re off the street or out of the shelter, they’re also off the federal record, leaving an enormous portion of the homeless, or near-homeless, population unaccounted for and therefore unassisted.</p>
<p>The Department of Education, to which Nunez owes his statistic on homeless students, includes doubled-up families in its definition of homelessness. Their count, conducted independently of&#160;HUD, has consistently recorded higher rates of homelessness.</p>
<p>Definitions of homelessness are necessarily restrictive. The category “homeless” would be useless if it had no parameters, and in fact, the term came out of progressive circles in the 1980s as an alternative to the vague and pejorative “vagrant” and “transient.” Unfortunately, this had had the effect of creating a new category of people deserving of aid, while excluding those with slightly different needs, forcing them back into a system where access to housing, health care, and quality education are considered privileges rather than rights.</p>
<p>Even well-meaning service providers are caught up in the squabble over who is deserving of a home and who is not. Gowan recounts that she was invited as an expert to a meeting earlier this year by service providers in Minneapolis and St.&#160;Paul to brainstorm how to crack down on “scammers” of the housing voucher system. Families who had been living doubled-up or in residences they could hardly afford were moving into local homeless shelters in order to qualify more quickly for housing vouchers.</p>
<p>“We’ve created a system where, because we’ve slashed housing subsidies, qualifying yourself as homeless is the primary way to get any help with housing,” says Gowan.</p>
<p>But at the same time that the government has facilitated access to permanent&#160;shelter&#160;for a portion of the homeless, it continues to reduce its stock of subsidized housing for those who aren’t, strictly speaking, homeless, which has lead to seemingly interminable wait lists. In Chicago, for example, the housing authority began accepting new applicants in October after four years of a <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-cha-waiting-list-met-1028-20141027-story.html" type="external">closed</a> wait list.</p>
<p>There are more empty houses in the US than homeless people — <a href="http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/more_vacant_homes_than_homeless_in_us_20111231" type="external">many times over</a>. Yet because these properties are largely privately owned, shelters have every reason to worry that the most needy are being sent back to the streets in order to accommodate families with access to alternative shelter.</p>
<p>Joe Willard, vice president of policy for the People’s Emergency Shelter in Philadelphia laments that while his facility receives five to twenty-five requests for access every day, the beds in his shelter have been full, almost without exception, for the past four years. According to Willard, 48&#160;percent of all daily requests for emergency homeless shelter in Philadelphia were turned down. (Willard, for the record, doesn’t believe that homelessness is on the decline “by any stretch of the imagination.”)</p>
<p>That there is more than one open home&#160;for every one of the nation’s homeless underscores&#160;the irrationality and immorality of capitalism, of which homelessness is a direct outgrowth. Despite all the bluster of Opening Doors, the Obama administration, like those before it, seems content with a cosmetic approach, its veneer of action facilitated&#160;by HUD’s statistical underestimation of the crisis.</p>
<p>Homelessness will not be eradicated by engineering data or shifting around funds based on the prevailing definition of who is most deserving. As long as HUD’s budget for building new <a href="" type="internal">public housing</a> decreases, as long as housing isn’t recognized as a right, the wait lists will grow along with housing insecurity, whether or not this&#160;registers in a head count. And as long as capitalism’s worst symptoms are&#160;treated as separate malignancies, to be surgically removed&#160;in isolation, we’ll keep passing over&#160;the underlying disease.</p> | Losing Homelessness in an Excel Sheet | true | https://jacobinmag.com/2014/12/losing-homelessness-in-an-excel-sheet/ | 2018-10-06 | 4 |
<p>In an August 9 piece in the Telegraph entitled “Why the West Must Strike First Against Saddam Hussein”, Richard Perle attempts to teach the British a thing or two about embracing their imperialist prerogative and the corollary doctrine of preemptive war. What is notable about this piece isn’t so much its inherent disregard for principle — just war, violence in self defense, and so on — as its apparent lack of concern with overtly making the case for attacking.</p>
<p>To be sure, Perle goes through the motions of establishing the oppositional dynamic.. Saddam Hussein is “contemptuous of the UN and fearful of America”, and therefore seeks to play his “last card: dividing America and Britain in the hope that the former will be unwilling to act alone to remove him from office.” Hussein is a bad man, apparently, so it is fortunate that there is an “Iraqi opposition” seeking to “liberate Iraq from one of the world’s most brutal dictatorships.” We can presume that the opposition more or less shares the values and beliefs of “doughty cold warriors” [to borrow the London Times formulation] like Richard Perle.</p>
<p>And what might those values be? Perle clues us in while providing quotes for Tony Blair’s eulogy, describing him as having “shown extraordinary courage in defending Western values in the Balkans, in combating international terrorism, and in the current confrontation with Saddam.” Perle stops short of measuring Blair’s biceps with a velvet tape measure, preferring instead to assert that neither Blair nor Bush would be put off by “the feckless moralizing of ‘peace’ lobbies, or the unsolicited advice of retired generals.”</p>
<p>It’s a good thing that we can avoid such “feckless moralizing.” By avoiding it, we are able to appreciate Perle’s contention that the “decision to use force is most difficult when democratic societies are challenged to act preemptively.” He then goes on to assert that dangerous characters like Hitler [who FDR described as a “moderate” before the US got involved in Europe] and Osama bin Laden “could have been stopped by a relatively modest well-timed pre-emption.”</p>
<p>Left out of Perle’s piece to this point is an attempt to address moral considerations. Presumably, that would be feckless. Also left out, by way of establishing the US right to preemptive strike, are issues seemingly central to any military adventure. Just a few here, for starters. How many people will die? How much money will this cost? Who will benefit? To what substances will US troops be exposed?</p>
<p>But those considerations fall short of the notice of Mr. Perle, just as one would expect.</p>
<p>Having linked Osama and Hitler in infamy, and Bush and Blair in heroism, Perle proceeds to list his charges against Hussein. Here, we see the sober side of Richard Perle, as he approaches the problem of “regime change” with the rhetorical panache of a high school history book. The “concerned” Richard Perle shines through in formulations such as “we know that [Hussein] harbors terrorists, about which more evidence will emerge in due course.” While waiting for this evidence to emerge — presumably in the same package that contains hard evidence that 9/11 was not an inside job — we are invited to speculate about Hussein sharing his most “lethal weapons” with terrorists. After all, “his perfidy would be unprovable.”</p>
<p>One wonders why the burden of proof concerns Perle at all, considering his willingness to dismiss the need for proof throughout the balance of the piece. After repeating the usual litany of charges against Hussein — gassed his own people, working to attain nuclear weapons, and such — Perle addresses the question of the “evil of which Hussein is undoubtedly capable” by saying that “we cannot know for sure” whether said evil is “cogently probable.”</p>
<p>I guess Perle is an optimist, really. When he holds forth about a “democratic Iraq” as “a powerful refutation of the patronizing view that Arabs are incapable of democracy,” perhaps he’s actually serious. When Perle holds forth about the imminent danger of Hussein’s arsenal just a few paragraphs before asserting that “the Iraqi force today is a third of what it was in 1991, and it is the same third, 11 years closer to obsolescence”, perhaps I am mistaken in focusing on the apparent contradiction between a description of a military hellbent on destroying the US and Israel and the subsequent description of a ragtag, outmoded, dispirited army.</p>
<p>I expected better from Perle in this piece, but perhaps I shouldn’t have. The US government has proven itself capable time and time again of fabricating provocations for expensive and bloody wars, and it takes little imagination to picture how the October invasion of Iraq will proceed.</p>
<p>Anthony Gancarski is the author of UNFORTUNATE INCIDENTS, a 2001 collection of fiction and poetry. He attends Gonzaga Law School in Spokane, Washington.</p>
<p>He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]." type="external">[email protected].</a></p> | Union Jackass, Richard Perle’s UK Charm Offensive | true | https://counterpunch.org/2002/08/13/union-jackass-richard-perle-s-uk-charm-offensive/ | 2002-08-13 | 4 |
<p>Philadelphia’s mayor called Donald Trump an “a**hole” and “idiot” yesterday when asked to comment on the current Republican frontrunner. Flanked by religious Muslim figures, Nutter said, “How can I take seriously any foreign policy idea from someone like him? I mean, it’s impossible. He has no idea what he’s talking about.”</p>
<p>Following the discovery of a severed pig’s head outside a mosque on Monday, which police <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/heardinthehall/Nutter-wishes-he-could-ban-Trump-from-Philly.html" type="external">called</a> an “act of ignorance,” Nutter addressed the media at an event that was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC7aJJy6hM8" type="external">led off</a> with a Muslim prayer.</p>
<p>"If I had the power, the only banning that would be done is that I would ban [Trump] from Philadelphia," <a href="http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/st-petersburg-mayor-bans-all-trumps/36858502" type="external">Nutter said</a>. "We don't have any room for that kind of stupidity here." Nutter added that “nothing more vile or ignorant” could be said and accused the candidate of taking “a page from the playbook of Hitler.”</p>
<p>Invoking the specter of Nazism, Nutter added, “Donald Trump’s comments are a threat to the moral security of America. It engenders a level of fear and fearmongering that we have not seen literally since the 1930s and 40s.”</p>
<p>Nutter said Trump was trying to “demonize a group, blame that group for a country’s problems, and then seek to ban or eliminate that group as some kind of solution that does not exist.” He added that Trump was engaging in “a very dangerous form of American radicalization.”</p>
<p>Ostensibly expressing support for the First Amendment’s protections of freedom of speech and expression, Nutter seemed to imply that Trump had breached their boundaries.</p>
<p>Opining on the ethos of Islam and channeling <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwp8qKvE-0g" type="external">Obama’s description</a> of ISIS as “not Islamic,” Nutter added that “true Muslims” don’t engage in Islamic terrorism.</p>
<p>Describing Trump as a threat to America, Nutter said, “Donald trump has made himself a danger to our society and the freedoms that we enjoy by seeking to turn American against American, all for the sake of electoral points.”</p>
<p>Nutter also parroted the lie that Trump had denigrated all Mexicans and women. “No group is safe from his ignorance and rhetoric,” Nutter said.</p>
<p>Marwan Kreidie of the Arab American Development corporation requested that Pennsylvania Republican disinvite Trump from an upcoming event, and echoed President Barack Obama’s implication that Trump’s comments assist ISIS’s propaganda campaign in its recruitment of Muslims into Islamic terrorism.</p>
<p>Philadelphia’s Mayor-elect Jim Kenney called on the media to be more hostile towards Trump, and added that the term “illegal alien” should be excised from political lexicon, saying that immigrants “aren’t martians.” Kenney added that “this country exists for (immigrants).”</p> | Brotherly Love: Philly Mayor Calls Trump 'A**hole', 'Idiot', 'Dangerous, 'Insane', like 'Hitler' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/1730/brotherly-love-philly-mayor-calls-trump-ahole-robert-kraychik | 2015-12-09 | 0 |
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<p>LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The International Olympic Committee was advised on Monday to give its ethics panel more power to investigate suspected wrongdoing by sports officials.</p>
<p>Financial risks linked to the Olympic Solidarity Commission, which has $500 million to give Olympic bodies ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games, were also identified by Lausanne-based management consultants hired by the IOC.</p>
<p>The Solidarity panel chairman, Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah of Kuwait, is currently implicated in a FIFA bribery case in the United States. He resigned from FIFA in April.</p>
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<p>Seven “dilemmas” in the coming years and 33 recommendations to improve how the IOC is run were suggested by the International Institute for Management Development.</p>
<p>“We view the IOC as the leaders of the sports world in governance,” report author Didier Cossin told a news conference. “At the same time, this is always challenged.”</p>
<p>Cossin said his organization had called on the IOC to take action in specific areas.</p>
<p>“We are still pushing for some elements, notably around Olympic Solidarity,” added Cossin, who wrote that more information should be published about its “financial flows.”</p>
<p>The panel distributes tens of millions of dollars each year to national Olympic committees (NOCs), and helps athletes from poorer countries prepare for Olympic Games.</p>
<p>Sheikh Ahmad, president of the global group of Olympic bodies known as ANOC, has stayed in charge of the Solidarity work three months after being identified in a U.S. federal court as being the source of bribes paid to FIFA voters in Asia. He has denied wrongdoing, though he resigned his FIFA position days before he was due for re-election.</p>
<p>The IOC has said its ethics commission has sought information about the case but has not confirmed a formal investigation against him.</p>
<p>Asked if a possible case prevented the Kuwaiti sheikh attending key Olympic meetings in Lausanne this week, IOC executive director Christophe De Kepper said he had no decision to prevent him attending had been taken.</p>
<p>The management consultants suggest giving the IOC ethics panel freedom to launch its own investigations, instead of awaiting a referral from the IOC administration.</p>
<p>Sanctioning power could also be given to “an independent third party,” the report suggests, rather than being retained within the executive board chaired by IOC president Thomas Bach.</p>
<p>De Kepper said around half the report’s recommendations had already begun to be acted upon.</p> | IOC advised to empower ethics panel, control $500M panel | false | https://abqjournal.com/1030789/ioc-advised-to-empower-ethics-panel-control-500m-panel.html | 2017-07-10 | 2 |
<p>Michael Moore has created a petition urging the arrest of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder for his role in the Flint water crisis. (via <a href="https://twitter.com/MMFlint/status/722949576802574336" type="external">Twitter</a>)</p>
<p>Political documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has been extremely active in advocating for his hometown of Flint, Mich., since the <a href="" type="internal">news of the water crisis</a> there broke months ago.</p>
<p>He has repeatedly <a href="http://michaelmoore.com/10FactsOnFlint/" type="external">posted about Flint</a> on his website, even going so far as demanding <a href="http://michaelmoore.com/ArrestGovSnyder/" type="external">Gov. Rick Snyder’s arrest</a>. And, like other activists in Flint, he’s <a href="http://michaelmoore.com/ObamaComeToFlint/" type="external">been urging President Obama</a> to pay a visit to the desperate town.</p>
<p />
<p>Now, at last, the president has responded. The White House <a href="https://medium.com/@WhiteHouse/asked-and-answered-president-obama-responds-to-an-eight-year-old-girl-from-flint-48be6bfc36cc#.rslpbml2k" type="external">announced Obama’s upcoming visit</a> to Flint on Medium:</p>
<p>On Wednesday, May 4th, the President will travel to Flint, Michigan where he will hear first-hand from Flint residents … about the public health crisis, receive an in-person briefing on the federal efforts in place to help respond to the needs of the people of Flint, and speak directly with members of the Flint community.</p>
<p>Obama responded personally to a letter penned by 8-year-old Flint resident Mari Copeny. “I want to make sure people like you and your family are receiving the help you need and deserve,” Obama wrote, adding that he hopes to meet her during his visit.</p>
<p>But Moore was less than pleased by the news, as he explained in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mmflint/posts/10153460597166857" type="external">an open letter</a> published on Facebook:</p>
<p>You say you’re coming to “listen to the people of Flint.” Sir, they’ve been poisoned for two damn years. You’ve known about it since October. There’s nothing to listen to. Unless you’re bringing the entire U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dig up and replace the 75,000 lead pipes, plus the Attorney General to arrest Governor Rick Snyder, then this is just another photo-op and half-baked list of new promises we don’t need. If you’re coming to make one of those “we need to rebuild America’s infrastructure” speeches, don’t bother. This is NOT an infrastructure problem – it’s a hate crime and mass poisoning of Black and poor people that NEVER would happen if this were Bloomfield Hills or Grosse Pointe or any other white town. It was done in order to give a billion-dollar tax cut to the rich. Every child here now has some form of permanent brain damage. There is NOTHING you can do to reverse that for them. There is no cure. Again, they are Black, they are poor. Do you have a cure for that? Because THAT’s the only reason why this has happened. Flint’s infrastructure was just fine (or what passes for fine these days in the USA). This poisoning happened because the governor said “Cut services!” — and so one of the first services he cut was to seal off the clean drinking water pipeline from the Great Lakes and make the poor and the Black of Flint drink dirty water from the drainage ditch you and others call “the Flint River.” We haven’t called it that for years.</p>
<p>He goes on to stress that what Flint needs is not more visits from politicians or “token digging up of pipes.” Flint residents, Moore asserts, need more serious intervention from the commander in chief:</p>
<p>[U]nless you’re bringing the U.S. Army with you to save 100,000 of your fellow Americans, and unless you’re going to arrest the governor of Michigan who has now killed more Americans than ISIS, you might as well stay home.</p>
<p>Moore ends his letter by noting that riots will certainly begin “sometime soon.” The Obama administration has yet to respond to Moore’s letter, and it’s unknown whether the president will meet with Gov. Snyder during his visit.</p>
<p>–Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Emma Niles</a></p> | Michael Moore Blasts Obama in an Open Letter About the Flint Water Crisis | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/michael-moore-blasts-obama-in-an-open-letter-about-the-flint-water-crisis/ | 2016-04-28 | 4 |
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<p>The special committee investigating the shaky intelligence on which the Bush administration built its case for war won’t return a verdict until well after the November election. That’s not the case in Australia, where a nonpartisan parliamentary panel has cleared the conservative government of exercising overt political pressure over intelligence agencies or “sexing up” intelligence reports in the run up to war. Not that Prime Minister John Howard is being given a complete pass. The committee has accused his government of <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/01/1078117368341.html" type="external">“overstating” its case for war</a>, criticizing its over-reliance on alarmist and (as it turned out) unsubstantiated U.S. and British intelligence reports.</p>
<p />
<p>“…The case made by the Government was that Iraq possessed WMD in large quantities and posed a grave and unacceptable threat to the region and the world… This is not the picture that emerges from an examination of all the assessments provided to the committee by Australia’s two analytical agencies.”</p>
<p>Predictably, Howard downplayed the criticisms while hailing the committee’s findings as <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2004/s1056539.htm" type="external">a vindication of his policies</a>. Summing up his version of the report for the Australian Broadcasting Service Howard said it has “completely denied the 12-month claim of the [opposition] Labor Party that we went to war based on a lie. … That is the most important thing that the committee has done.”</p>
<p>But it’s unlikely that Howard will be able to dodge the issue that easily. The committee raised questions about whether covert political pressure was applied on Australian intelligence agencies, particularly the prime minister’s Office of National Assessments (ONA). Bot the lingering suspicions of political pressures on the intelligence community and the poor quality of the available intelligence were highlighted by the committee, prompting its recommendation — and Howard’s acceptance — of yet another investigation. As committee chairman and former Liberal minister David Jull <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/01/1078117364883.html" type="external">told the Melbourne Age</a>:</p>
<p />
<p>“It appeared that ONA, particularly after September 13, was more ready to extrapolate a threatening scenario from historical experience, more ready to accept the new and mostly untested intelligence…”</p>
<p>The new committee will have a broader mandate to examine the work of the country’s intelligence services in order to “ensure the maintenance of their independence and objectivity.” As a former director of the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1056642.htm" type="external">Defense Intelligence Organization (DIO)</a> Pauld Dibb said, “The question in my mind – and indeed others’ minds – is are these agencies now too close to the politicians?”</p>
<p>That’s a remarkably healthy question — one which the panel being formed by President Bush might be wise to consider. Australian intelligence reports were characterized as more considered than their British and American counterparts, but the committee questioned the reason for ONA’s switch in September of 2002 to a more alarmist stance closely mirroring that taken by London and Washington. As Carl Ungerer, a <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8837572%5E7583,00.html" type="external">senior Iraq WMD analyst</a> at the ONA from 1999 to 2002, argued in the Australian:</p>
<p />
<p>“In Australia, intelligence analysts tend to be cautious about WMD claims. There were serious doubts expressed about some of the judgments that were being made in Washington and London.</p>
<p>But in the spring of 2002, ONA appears to have been captured by the prevailing political winds – unwilling or unable to present the warts and all case to the Prime Minister in the months before the war. ONA has engaged in what some call ‘faith-based’ intelligence – a willingness to overlook the inaccuracies in the intelligence material and not to question the assumptions underlying the assessments of others because they believe in the political or strategic objective.”</p>
<p>The abrupt change in in ONA’s assessments came after the Department of Foreign Affairs requested a new report from the agency in September of 2002. After September 2002, the positions of the ONA and the DIO began to diverge. From that point on, the ONA also seems to have been <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/01/1078117368341.html" type="external">more willing to accept suspect intelligence</a>, particularly that generated by their British and American counterparts.</p>
<p />
<p>“ONA was swamped by a 10-fold increase in intelligence material after September, but only 22 per cent of the material was ‘tested’ or from reliable sources….Until September 2002, both agencies said that Iraq’s WMD capability was small and probably degraded. ONA, however, subsequently became more willing to accept new and untested intelligence and to view ‘dual-use’ technologies as indicating that Iraq was concealing new production.”</p>
<p>Opposition politicians have seized on the report, attacking Howard for being evasive at best in presenting his case for war. Kevin Rudd, the Labor Party’s shadow foreign secretary accused Howard of <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/01/1078117368341.html" type="external">selective use of intelligence</a>:</p>
<p />
<p>“This report is a catalogue of intelligence failure and it is a catalogue of a Government cherry-picking the intelligence advice it received to suit its own political objective.”</p>
<p>The leader of the opposition Democratic Party, Andrew Bartlett, was <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8842296%255E2702,00.html" type="external">even harsher in his criticisms</a>, accusing the prime minister of nothing less than lying.</p>
<p />
<p>“If you have evidence that clearly states there is significant doubt and you deliberately don’t state that is the case, that you deliberately instead say there is no doubt, then, yes, you are lying…”</p>
<p>Washington, London, Canberra. With the Australian inquiry to add to the ongoing investigations on both sides of the Atlantic, the “the coalition of the willing,” is increasingly becoming the “coalition of the investigated.”</p>
<p /> | Dissembling Down Under | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2004/03/dissembling-down-under/ | 2004-03-02 | 4 |
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<p>LOS ANGELES — A battle over control of the Los Angeles Lakers is over after an agreement was reached to have Jeanie Buss serve as controlling owner of the storied NBA franchise for the rest of her life, making permanent the arrangement her late father and longtime Lakers owner Jerry Buss said in his will that he wanted.</p>
<p>The agreement was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday and states that Jim and Johnny Buss have agreed that their sister will serve as the controlling owner. The filing ends weeks of uncertainty about control of the Lakers as the franchise tries to put several losing seasons behind it.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, Jeanie Buss went to court seeking an order to control the team after her brothers called for a board meeting that she interpreted as a challenge to her power. That filing came days after she removed Jim Buss as the Lakers’ executive vice president of basketball operations.</p>
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<p>She replaced her brother with Magic Johnson and also fired longtime general manager Mitch Kupchak, whom Johnson replaced with sports agent Rob Pelinka.</p>
<p>A person familiar with the agreement who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly said Jim Buss has been replaced as a trustee of the Lakers by his younger sister, Janie. A document filed Monday names Janie Buss as a successor trustee and states that she agrees with her older sister serving as the team’s controlling owner.</p>
<p>Jim Buss will retain his ownership stake in the team.</p>
<p>Attorney Robert Sacks, who represents Jim and Johnny Buss, did not return a phone message Monday. Sacks had previously said the brothers have no interest in wresting control from their sister and that the entire court fight was unnecessary.</p>
<p>The Lakers also had no immediate comment on the development, which was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.</p>
<p>“It’s hard to imagine a better outcome. Jeanie will run the team, just as Dr. Buss always intended,” her attorney, Adam Streisand, wrote in an email. “And Laker fans can get back to hoping for championships instead of favorable court rulings.”</p>
<p>The league approves of the move.</p>
<p>“We are pleased that this matter has been resolved,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “Jeanie is as knowledgeable and experienced as any owner in sports and the Lakers are in great hands.”</p>
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<p>As a player, Johnson led the Lakers to five NBA championships, but the team has been in rebuilding mode for several years in what has arguably been the lowliest stretch in franchise history.</p>
<p>Hopes were briefly high with even talk of a return to the playoffs at the beginning of this season when Luke Walton took over as coach with high draft picks like guard DeAngelo Russell and forward Brandon Ingram taking the floor.</p>
<p>But the team is just 21-52, in last place in the Western Conference and headed to the draft lottery again.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Anthony McCartney can be reached at <a href="http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP" type="external">http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP</a></p> | Agreement puts Jeanie Buss in control of Lakers for life | false | https://abqjournal.com/977078/agreement-puts-jeanie-buss-in-control-of-lakers-for-life.html | 2017-03-27 | 2 |
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<p>SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is again showing gains when it comes to job growth.</p>
<p>State labor officials say that between May 2012 and last month, the state gained 7,800 jobs, representing a 1 percent increase. New Mexico also recorded a 1 percent increase in over-the-year job growth in April.</p>
<p>It’s been five years since the state’s employment growth was at or exceeded 1 percent, and the Department of Workforce Solutions said the state’s economy “may be gathering momentum.”</p>
<p>State officials say the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in May. That’s down from 7 percent last May.</p>
<p>The survey shows nine industries added employment over the year, while four industries lost jobs.</p>
<p>The largest gains continue to be reported by the leisure and hospitality industry, which added 3,000 jobs over the year.</p>
<p>Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Monthly jobs report shows gains in New Mexico | false | https://abqjournal.com/213445/monthly-jobs-report-shows-gains-in-new-mexico.html | 2 |
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<p>This story was originally covered by PRI's The World. For more, listen to the audio above.</p>
<p>The Koran commands people to treat the environment with respect, according to many Islamic scholars. Passages like, "It is He Who hath made You (His) agents, inheritors of the Earth" (7:56) and " the earth We have spread out (like a carpet); set thereon mountains firm and immovable; and produced therein all kinds of things in due balance” (15:19) have been interpreted as encouraging environmental stewardship.</p>
<p>"Every Muslim should respect the nature and should take role to preserve this nature as a part of religion," Imam Mohammad Suleyman Tiwani told PRI's The World. Tiwani leads a mosque in a tiny island off of Pemba, part of the Zanzibar archipelago. He works on development projects using the Koran to encourage positive social behavior.</p>
<p>Tiwani also works with the the Misali Island Conservation Association, an organization that helps local fishermen manage and maintain the Zanzibar archipelago. Many people in Pemba are highly religious, and without the grounding in Islam, some locals believe there is a hidden, Western agenda in environmentalist teaching. Tiwani helps provide some of the religious basis for protecting the environment. He told The World:</p>
<p>I just take some verses and recite them, and I try to show them that there’s a relation between these verses and what we are required by ecology. When people find that these things have a basis in the Koran and the Suna, then they obey.</p>
<p>In fact, Islam is responsible for what some consider the <a href="http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200806/a.tradition.of.conservation.htm" type="external">world's oldest conservation system</a>, according to Saudi Aramco World. The Prophet Muhammad was described as setting up a hima meaning "protected place" designed "to be a sanctuary; its trees shall not be cut and its game shall not be hunted."</p>
<p>The hima, according to Othman Abd ar-Rahman Llewellyn of the Saudi National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development, is "the most widespread and long-standing indigenous, traditional protected-area institution in the Middle East, and perhaps on Earth."</p>
<p>The concept of the hima largely disappeared in the post-colonial, Muslim states, according to Saudi Aramco World. Today, Islamic scholars and organizations are reviving that tradition and creating himas throughout the Muslim world.</p>
<p>The idea of Islamic environmentalism may be taking hold in Africa. Hamadi Rashid, a farmer from Pemba, put the issue in stark terms to The World. He said, "It's God's law. It's in the Koran. God says don't damage the environment."</p>
<p>PRI's "The World" is a one-hour, weekday radio news magazine offering a mix of news, features, interviews, and music from around the globe. "The World" is a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston. <a href="http://www.theworld.org/" type="external">More "The World."</a></p> | Islam for the environment | false | https://pri.org/stories/2010-07-27/islam-environment | 2010-07-27 | 3 |
<p>Last Friday, a California high school took <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/10/18/hs-chemistry-teacher-suspended-after-she-kneels-at-school-assembly-with-black-lives-matter-sign/?utm_content=buffer53ed1&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer" type="external">swift action</a> after one of its chemistry teachers knelt during the national anthem at a pep rally while she held a “Black Lives Matter” sign: the school immediately suspended her.</p>
<p>Woodland High School chemistry teacher Wendy Pappas held posters reading “Black Lives Matter” and “It’s okay to disagree with any sign here!!!” as she knelt with her hand over her heart. Later that day, school administrators arrived at Pappas’ classroom and sent her home. According to the <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article179175046.html" type="external">Sacramento Bee</a>, she was placed on paid leave.</p>
<p>Woodland principal Karrie Sequeria followed the incident by emailing students’ families, stating:</p>
<p>While teachers do retain certain First Amendment rights in their capacity as an instructor, such rights are limited by Education Code and case law. Their personal, political or religious beliefs are not appropriately expressed at school or in the classroom. Instead, the appropriate and legal instructional role is one of neutral facilitator – one who facilitates student discussion and intelligent analysis of current events.</p>
<p>Woodland Joint Unified School District spokeswoman Callie Lutz added that school staff are supposed to attend rallies to supervise students and are assigned where to sit or stand.</p>
<p>Pappas <a href="http://www.dailydemocrat.com/social-affairs/20171014/woodland-high-school-teacher-escorted-off-campus-after-kneeling-for-anthem" type="external">told the Daily Democrat</a> that she had been unaware that her protest would offend people and that she would apologize, asserting, “I felt like it was something respectful and supportive to our flag. I didn’t even think of it as a protest. I was taken off-guard by the reaction.” Pappas did acknowledge she broke the California Education Code.</p>
<p>The Bee reported that an administrator of an unofficial Woodland High School page on Facebook on Friday posted, “I applaud her for her actions and for taking a stand for what she believes is right.”</p>
<p>Pappas returned to teaching Tuesday.</p> | CA School Reacts Swiftly After Teacher Kneels For Anthem: Suspends Her | true | https://dailywire.com/news/22442/ca-school-reacts-swiftly-after-teacher-kneels-hank-berrien | 2017-10-18 | 0 |
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market pulled back slightly Tuesday, following two days of gains, as investors focused on the damage that ongoing geopolitical tensions were causing the global economy.</p>
<p>Energy stocks were among the biggest decliners, dragged down by lower oil prices.</p>
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<p>U.S. stock indexes opened modestly higher but turned lower at mid-morning and stayed there for the rest of the day. Investors took a cue from Europe, where Germany's benchmark index fell more than 1 percent and France's CAC 40 fell nearly 1 percent.</p>
<p>An indicator of German investor confidence dropped to its lowest level in 20 months. Investors worried that the Ukraine crisis will start dragging down the German economy, Europe's largest. The continent is much more exposed to Russia than the U.S. is. Europe also gets most of its natural gas from Russia.</p>
<p>The Ukraine situation has dragged the German stock market down more than 8 percent from its early July peak.</p>
<p>"The Ukraine-Russia situation may be at a standstill politically, but it is weighing on the German economy and, more broadly, the eurozone," said Sean Lynch, a managing director at Wells Fargo Private Bank.</p>
<p>It has been a quiet week for investors overall, with little economic data or company earnings to work through. Absent hard data to pull the market higher, the current trend for the market is down, Lynch said.</p>
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<p>Fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine have faded in recent days, but worries about conflicts around the globe are likely to keep investors on edge in the coming weeks.</p>
<p>A convoy of more than 260 Russian trucks, reportedly packed with supplies, moved toward Russia's border with Ukraine on Tuesday, but Kiev said the goods would only be allowed to cross if they were inspected by the International Red Cross. Ukraine is fearful that Russia could use the move as a cover for sending troops into the separatist-held territory.</p>
<p>Investors are also watching political machinations and violence unfold in oil-rich Iraq. On Tuesday, that nation's embattled prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, tried to stay in power as Iraqi politicians and the international community rallied behind a political competitor.</p>
<p>The Dow Jones industrial average lost 9.44 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,560.54. The Standard &amp; Poor's 500 index fell 3.17 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,933.75 and the Nasdaq composite fell 12.08 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,389.25.</p>
<p>Energy stocks in the S&amp;P 500 fell 0.7 percent, the most of the 10 sectors in the index. Kinder Morgan declined nearly 2 percent after rising 9 percent the day before on news it would combine several companies under its control. Anadarko Petroleum and Diamond Offshore Drilling fell more than 2 percent.</p>
<p>Energy stocks have declined noticeably in the last month, due largely to falling oil and natural gas prices. Brent crude, which is traded in the U.K. and is considered a broader gauge of the international oil market, is trading at a nine-month low. U.S. crude is trading at a seven-month low.</p>
<p>The price of U.S. crude oil slipped 71 cents to $97.37 a barrel Tuesday. That followed three days of increases over concerns about the reliability of Iraqi oil production.</p>
<p>There were other signs that investors were in a "risk-off" mode. The Russell 2000 index, which is made up primarily of smaller and riskier companies, fell 0.8 percent, much more than the rest of the market.</p>
<p>In individual stocks, Kate Spade plunged $9.87, or 25 percent, to $29 after executives for the handbag company warned that sales growth could slow this year and profit margins were being hit. The comments came after Kate Spade reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit.</p>
<p>The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.45 percent. In metals trading, gold rose 10 cents to $1,310.60 an ounce, silver fell 19 cents to $19.51 an ounce and copper fell two cents to $3.15 a pound.</p> | Wall Street Slips on Geopolitical Strife | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/08/12/wall-street-slips-on-geopolitical-strife.html | 2016-03-06 | 0 |
<p>Muslims hate cartoons, especially those depicting their sacred prophet. Now, authorities in Germany have started issuing cartoon leaflets at public swimming pools to casually remind misogynistic male Muslim migrants not to grope women. “In the wake of the sex assaults in Cologne on New Year's Eve and a wave of reported cases of sexual harassment in swimming baths, officials have now created a special cartoon guide on appropriate etiquette,” <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3426142/Germany-hands-cartoon-etiquette-guides-swimming-baths-dozens-women-groped-migrants.html" type="external">reports</a> Daily Mail (UK). “The illustrations feature German captions with subtitles in English and Arabic and warn migrants not to wear underwear instead of swimming trunks, harass women, or push them in the water.”</p>
<p>20,000 leaflets in seven languages have been passed out at public swimming pools and refugee centers across the country. Authorities are working on updated editions of the cartoons to get the image just right. Some 20,000 leaflets in seven languages have been issued across refugee facilities and public pools and a second edition is already in the pipeline.</p>
<p>The leaflets were developed with the cooperation of the “equality office, anti-discrimination office, and the Centre for Intercultural Cooperation of the City of Munich,” according to the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3426142/Germany-hands-cartoon-etiquette-guides-swimming-baths-dozens-women-groped-migrants.html" type="external">Mail</a>.</p>
<p>Administrators in Munich are using the euphemism ‘intercultural subjects’ to refer to grope-happy male Muslim migrants.</p>
<p>A spokesman for Munich public services <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3426142/Germany-hands-cartoon-etiquette-guides-swimming-baths-dozens-women-groped-migrants.html" type="external">stated</a>:</p>
<p>We had a number of incidents in swimming pools with migrants who could not swim and do not understand our language, written warnings, bans or instructions.</p>
<p>The principle of acceptance of women – no matter what clothes they’re wearing – was not be respected by all visitors, hence the explicit indication.</p>
<p>The multilingual information helps the staff communicate and is helping them in prevention work.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s suicidal refugee absorption program has led to unimaginable social disruption. German authorities are simply not equipped to handle wave after wave of mostly male Muslim migrants fleeing from countries where women are treating like cattle. The incompetence of civic administrators has led to disastrous results, and for that matter, utter cultural chaos.</p>
<p>After a gang of 1,000 Muslim men viciously assaulted over 100 women on New Year’s Eve in Cologne, Germany, some German politicians condemned “the right-wing” for its apparent “anti-immigrant” rhetoric.</p>
<p>Here is the interior minister for North Rhine-Westphalia, <a href="https://archive.is/moqDy#selection-1289.0-1289.234" type="external">Raif Jaeger</a>:</p>
<p>What happens on the right-wing platforms and in chat rooms is at least as awful as the acts of those assaulting the women. This is poisoning the climate of our society.</p>
<p>He actually said that. Right-wing chat rooms are as just as bad as rape.</p>
<p>German authorities have even resorted to blaming the victims. “The mayor of Cologne, Germany suggested generated controversy this week by saying that women can protect themselves against sexual assault by keeping men at an arm's length away,” <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/01/06/cologne-mayor-blames-the-victims.html?source=TDB&amp;via=FB_Page" type="external">noted</a> The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>What we’re seeing here is an utter breakdown of civic society. So-called leaders in Germany, and the rest of Western Europe, cannot reconcile multiculturalism and the havoc it has caused.</p>
<p>“In the wake of the sex assaults in Cologne on New Year's Eve and a wave of reported cases of sexual harassment in swimming baths, officials have now created a special cartoon guide on appropriate etiquette."</p>
<p>Daily Mail</p>
<p>Instead of curing the disease and curtailing the influx of Muslim migrants, leftist politicians are naively bouncing from one symptom to another, drawing cartoons and handing out "don’t rape and brutalize women" manuals for uncivilized men. Leftists in Europe can either tackle the problem head-on or continue down the road of cultural suicide. Or better yet, they should take a hint from <a href="http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/us/winston-churchills-brutal-takedown-of-islam-means-more-today-than-ever" type="external">Sir Winston Churchill</a>:</p>
<p>How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the</p> | Germany’s Telling Muslims Not To Grope Women At Swimming Pools | true | https://dailywire.com/news/3031/germanys-telling-muslims-not-grope-women-swimming-michael-qazvini | 2016-02-01 | 0 |
<p>State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert has shrugged off a direct question from RT about if the withdrawal of the broadcaster’s Congress credentials contradicts her past vow that its registration as a foreign agent would not impede its ability to report.</p>
<p>Nauert fell short of providing a clear answer to RT’s Sameera Khan on whether the State Department still stands by its word that forcing RT America to comply with Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was a formality that would not create any hurdles for RT’s work in the US.</p>
<p>“I think that press credentials might have been revoked by Congress, and not necessarily the members of Congress but rather the Association of Reporters that handles who gets to come and cover Congress,” Nauert deflected.</p>
<p>Instead, she played the Russian card, dubbing the RT correspondent a “representative of the Russian government” whose sheer presence at the press briefing should serve as sufficient proof of Washington’s utmost respect for the freedom of press.</p>
<p>“They can get Russian ‘news,’ if you will,” she generously allowed. Complete with air quotes.</p>
<p>Twitchy quote-fingers aren’t a new thing for Nauert – she used the same snide gesture back in October, when assuring RT that registering under FARA wouldn’t “impact or affect the ability of them to ‘report’ news and information.” Again, the air quotes.</p>
<p>The following month, RT America’s “foreign agent” status was cited by the US Congressional press office as it stripped RT of its Capitol Hill accreditation.</p>
<p>In a letter, The Executive Committee of the Congress Radio &amp; Television Correspondents’ Galleries explicitly says that it is prohibited from issuing credentials to “any applicant employed” by any foreign government or representative thereof.”</p>
<p>The State Department spokesperson is not the first US official to (pretend to) not see a connection between the two events.</p>
<p>Last week, US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman told Kommersant FM radio that he didn’t believe that the stripping of credentials is a consequences of the FARA Act, but rather a result of the vote on the sanctions against Russia that left a deep imprint on Congress.</p>
<p>In response to the crackdown on the Russian media in the US, several US media outlets, including Voice of America and Radio Liberty, have been registered as foreign agents in Russia under a reciprocal law proposed and adopted by the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/412099-huntsman-fara-rt-congress/" type="external" /></p>
<p>Dave Lindorff, investigative journalist and founder of the news website This Can’t Be Happening, believes that evicting RT from the US Congress serves only to further demonize Russia, and Russia will likely remain the only victim.</p>
<p>“I think this is all focused on demonizing Russia and it has to do with the military-industrial complex wanting to have an enemy and people getting tired of the war on terror, so why not to have the revival of a sort of Cold War. That’s a great way to get money for weapons systems, like, really expensive ones,” Lindorff said.</p>
<p>Since Russia is a scapegoat too convenient to search for others, Lindorff suggested that pushing the anti-Russian narrative may come in handy for US congressmen from both sides of the aisle as it “allows a congressperson without having really to do anything to go back to their voters and say: Oh, I’m taking a tough stand against this Russian interference in our democratic system.”</p>
<p>The continuing anti-Russian hysteria has also been fueled by the Democratic leadership, which is still “trying steer people away from the idea that they blew away the election by pushing the nomination of Hillary Clinton who then blew the elections,” Lindorff argued.</p> | US State Dept offers smug gestures but no answers on stripping of RT credentials | false | https://newsline.com/us-state-dept-offers-smug-gestures-but-no-answers-on-stripping-of-rt-credentials/ | 2017-12-13 | 1 |
<p>Julie Jacobson/AP</p>
<p />
<p>Is the Donald Trump who supports torture and wants the United States to “bomb the shit out of ISIS” a thing of the past? The Republican front-runner certainly wants us to think so.</p>
<p>Trump gave a sedate but completely incoherent speech on foreign policy in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, hoping to burnish his image as the GOP’s self-declared “presumptive nominee” and to put his inflammatory foreign policy statements behind him. As he did during his last major foreign policy speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Trump read from a teleprompter and seemingly tried to give off a calm, statesmanlike appearance.</p>
<p>At the start of the speech, Trump promised he would lay out a foreign policy “that replaces randomness with purpose, ideology with strategy, and chaos with peace.” But there is simply no point in trying to pick out a Trump Doctrine or any sort of policy vision from Wednesday’s speech. The address was a baffling combination of establishment GOP foreign policy talking points, attacks pulled from Trump’s rallies and media appearances, red-meat jabs at President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and even an “America First” slogan once <a href="http://www.charleslindbergh.com/americanfirst/" type="external">used by 1940s Nazi sympathizers</a> to try and keep the United States out of World War II.</p>
<p>So, instead of trying to pick through the mess, here’s a list, in no way comprehensive, of the many times Trump contradicted himself while laying out his alleged foreign policy:</p>
<p>The foreign policy establishment has already reacted with almost universal horror to Trump’s rise. A group of more than 75 Republican foreign policy experts blasted Trump in an open letter last month, saying he was “fundamentally dishonest” and “utterly unfitted” to be president. CIA Director John Brennan said <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/apr/11/cia-john-brennan-waterboarding-republican-president-trump-cruz" type="external">he would refuse</a> any orders to resume waterboarding or other acts of torture, which Trump has said he would bring back. Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, <a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/03/17/dunford-again-calls-torture-and-waterboarding-un-american.html" type="external">attacked torture</a> as “inconsistent with the values of our nation” in response to Trump’s comments. The Huffington Post this week <a href="http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/trump-at-war/" type="external">described panic</a> among current and former military officers at the prospect of a Trump presidency. Wednesday’s speech likely won’t do anything to change minds.</p>
<p /> | Here Are the Many Ways Trump’s Big Foreign Policy Speech Made No Damn Sense | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/trumps-foreign-policy-speech/ | 2016-04-27 | 4 |
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<p>Tomas Young was in the fifth day of his first deployment to Iraq when he was struck by a sniper’s bullet in Baghdad’s Sadr City. The single bullet paralyzed him from the chest down, and changed his life forever.</p>
<p>Now, nine years later, at the age of 33, Tomas has decided to end his life.</p>
<p>He announced recently that he will soon stop his nourishment, which comes in the form of liquid through a feeding tube.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Tomas was the subject of the award-winning documentary “Body of War,” made by legendary TV talk-show host Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro. The 2007 film follows Tomas’ rehabilitation, struggles with his injuries and his political awakening to become one of the most prominent anti-war U.S. veterans of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.</p>
<p>He was first moved to action by the efforts of Cindy Sheehan to speak with President George W. Bush while he was on vacation at his so-called ranch in Crawford, Texas. Sheehan’s son, Casey, was killed in Baghdad, on the same day that Tomas was shot. She wanted to ask Bush, “For what noble cause did my son die?”</p>
<p>I asked Tomas if anything would change his mind about his decision to end his life. “No,” he said, adding that if he were not in such intense, constant pain, then he would not be taking this course.</p>
<p>“We wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he said.</p>
<p>This week, Tomas released a letter titled “The Last Letter: A Message to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney From a Dying Veteran”</p>
<p>In it, Tomas wrote, “You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans – my fellow veterans – whose future you stole.”</p>
<p>Phil Donahue has stayed in touch with Tomas for years since making “Body of War.” Donahue told me the making of the film was a “spiritual experience … a chapter of our lives.”</p>
<p>He says he understands Tomas’ decision: “Four years after being shot in Sadr City, he sustained a pulmonary embolism. So he struggles now to speak, although you can understand him.</p>
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<p>“He has difficulty grasping silverware, his opposable thumbs are at a serious deficit … so he has to be fed. When he and his wife, Claudia, have gone out to dinner, she would look for a corner of the restaurant, so when she fed him, they wouldn’t be stared at.</p>
<p>“He now has pressure sores, with exposed bone. He recently had a colostomy, so he has a bag on the side of his body. He is fed through a tube, and every other commercial he sees on television is about food.</p>
<p>“It is beyond awful what Tomas has sustained. He now lies immobile, in a dark bedroom in Kansas City, dutifully cared for by his wife, Claudia, who has been with him for five years.”</p>
<p>Donahue added: “Throughout this whole ordeal, I have been with him often enough to know, he wanted to live. That is what makes it extra sad. He wanted to live. He has fought back against every setback, from the inadequate treatment at the Veterans Administration, to his own PTSD. Now the situation is so dire, that no one who is close to him can claim to not understand: He has given up.”</p>
<p>Donahue reflected: “When I look down on this young man, all I can think of is President Bush saying, ‘Bring ‘em on.’ There is almost no remorse. Everybody’s hiding. Richard Perle doesn’t get around much anymore. Cheney is speaking for six-figure fees. I don’t know where Wolfowitz is. Bush is behind a well-secured home.”</p>
<p>Tomas recently appeared via video call from his home in Kansas City, Mo., before a group in Ridgefield, Conn., where Phil Donahue screened “Body of War” and asked Tomas questions.</p>
<p>It was at this February event that Tomas publicly announced his intention to die.</p>
<p>When asked how he wants to be remembered, Tomas Young replied: “That I fought as hard as I could to keep young men and women away from military service. I fought as hard as I could to keep another me from coming back to Iraq. That is what I want to be remembered for.”</p>
<p>Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 900 stations in North America. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.</p> | Veteran who fought war losing battle to stay alive | false | https://abqjournal.com/181444/veteran-who-fought-war-losing-battle-to-stay-alive.html | 2013-03-23 | 2 |
<p>Tour de France leader Bradley Wiggins has been dubbed "Le Gentleman" by the French media after an act of sabotage marred the first Pyrenean stage of the road race on Sunday.</p>
<p>Tacks thrown on to the road on a stretch before the summit of the last climb, the Mur de Pegure, punctured the tires of Australian defending champion Cadel Evans and up to 30 other riders.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/tour-de-france/9401525/Tour-de-France-2012-stage-14-Bradley-Wiggins-hailed-as-Le-Gentleman-after-race-is-attacked-by-saboteurs.html" type="external">According to the Guardian</a>, Evans was forced to stop three times with punctures, leading Wiggins to call for a halt to racing on the 14th stage and slow the pace to allow Evans to return to the group.</p>
<p>The yellow-jersey group of 50 riders had just crested the main climb of the day, about 25 miles from the finish, and were&#160;about to begin a descent on which riders can reach almost 70 miles per hour.</p>
<p>Italian Vincenzo Nibali, riding alongside Wiggins, a Briton, agreed to the slowdown, despite missing one of a few remaining chances for him to close a 2 min 23 sec gap on Wiggins.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/18849505" type="external">The BBC quoted</a>race official Jean-Francois Pescheux as saying: "The nails were mainly thrown on the ground around 200 meters from the summit. &#160;</p>
<p>"It was obviously done on purpose. We have the tacks but we don't know who spread them. They are imbeciles."&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/cycling/tourdefrance/story/2012-07-15/Tacks-cause-punctures-at-Tour-de-France/56237832/1" type="external">The Associated Press reported</a> that Tour officials are asking French police to investigate the incident.</p>
<p>Pescheux said finding the culprit would be "difficult" given the thousands of fans gathered on the roadside for the Mur de Peguere climb.</p>
<p>Minor incidents involving riders and spectators are not uncommon during the Tour, but usually involve stray dogs or photograph-snapping tourists wandering onto the course.</p>
<p>On Friday, Wiggins was hit on the arm and received minor burns by a flare being waved by a spectator.</p>
<p>According to the BBC, it is Tour etiquette that rivals do not take advantage of each others' misfortune.</p>
<p>"I thought it was the honorable thing to do," Wiggins, 32, reportedly said.</p>
<p>"Nobody wants to benefit from someone else's misfortune."&#160;</p>
<p>He added: "There's nothing stopping more of that sort of stuff happening. It's sad. These are the type of things we have to put up with as cyclists.</p>
<p>"I think people take that for granted sometimes, just how close they can get to us. If that happened in a football stadium, or wherever, you'd be arrested, CCTV.</p>
<p>"But we're out there, quite vulnerable at times, very close to the public on climbs. We're just the riders at the end of the day and we're there to be shot at, literally."&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/weird-wide-web/wall-street-greed-good-rich-wealthy-unethical-bernie-madoff-cheat-steal-lie" type="external">Rich People have a dirty little secret...</a> &#160;</p> | 'Le Gentleman' Bradley Wiggins slows Tour de France after tacks slow Cadel Evans | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-07-15/le-gentleman-bradley-wiggins-slows-tour-de-france-after-tacks-slow-cadel-evans | 2012-07-15 | 3 |
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<p>When it passed in 1993, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was supposed to be the beginning of a new movement to reshape the workplace to reflect the needs of working families. But the bill—allowing some workers to take a few weeks off, unpaid, to care for a new baby or a sick family member without losing their jobs—is incomplete. It does nothing for people who simply can’t afford to take unpaid leave, while leaving out 40 percent of the workforce, including millions of workers employed by companies with fewer than 50 employees in a 75-mile radius, those who work part time, or, strangely, flight attendants. The US is the only industrialized country in the world that doesn’t provide paid maternity leave, putting it on par with such nations as Liberia and Swaziland, according to one study. But for 15 years the FMLA has been the beginning and the end of federal work/family policymaking.</p>
<p>Groups like the US Chamber of Commerce have relentlessly attacked the popular law as an expensive administrative burden rife with abuse, and Republicans have responded by obstructing even the most minor attempts at expanding its reach. They’ve found an ally in President Bush, whose father twice vetoed the original FMLA, and who is quietly trying to gut the law through the regulatory process before he leaves office. Earlier this year, the Department of Labor proposed new regulations that would, among other things, make it easier for employers to deny leave requests and allow employers to directly quiz an employee’s doctor about his or her medical condition. (Currently, employers need an employee’s permission to contact physicians, and then they must have a medical professional, rather than the boss, contact the doctor.)</p>
<p>Frustration with federal inaction has led many states to move forward to create their own family-friendly workplace laws. In May, New Jersey became the third state in the nation to provide paid parental leave, along with California and Washington. Earlier this year, Washington, DC, passed legislation requiring employers to give some workers at least seven days a year of paid sick leave. Other states are considering following suit as political support grows for helping people juggle work and family. Meanwhile, the federal government is still stuck in 1993.</p>
<p>All that, however, may change this year, as Democrats have pushed the issue to the forefront of the political agenda, both in Congress and in the presidential election, where Democrats may make work/family policies an important wedge issue in the fall.</p>
<p>The new Democratic Congress has proposed a flurry of legislation designed to bring federal workplace policy into the 21st century. In January, for the first time in 15 years, Congress amended the FMLA to allow family members caring for wounded service members to take 26 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave and expanded the law’s definition of “caregiver” to include siblings and other next of kin, not just parents. Last week, the House voted to allow federal workers to take 4 of their 12 weeks of FMLA leave with pay after the birth or adoption of a child. Virginia senators Jim Webb and John Warner have introduced companion legislation in the Senate. (Bush has already threatened to veto the bill, calling it a “costly, unnecessary, new paid-leave entitlement.”)</p>
<p>Other bills introduced over the past year would extend the FMLA to many more workers, make some of the leave paid, require paid sick days for full-time workers, and increase workplace flexibility. And a bill that would finally allow the FMLA to cover flight attendants, who don’t qualify because of a quirk in the way their hours are calculated, passed the House in May by a vote of 402 to 9, a sign that many of these bills have bipartisan support.</p>
<p>Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama signaled his intention to make this a campaign issue on Friday, when his wife Michelle made a visit to a lunch sponsored by the National Partnership for Women and Families, one of the biggest players in the FMLA debate. Before an audience of 1,000 of the group’s donors and guests, Obama told stories about her own personal struggles as a working mother, and reiterated her husband’s support for measures that would help take some of the stress off American families. “It’s a cause I have championed and will continue to champion,” she said. Work/family issues were a staple of Hillary Clinton’s stump speeches, and something she has long advocated in the Senate. But Obama is also on record supporting virtually the entire package of Democratic bills designed to support families in the workplace and is not entirely a Johnny-come-lately to the issue. In 2004, when he was elected to the Senate, he hired Karen Kornbluh, the former director of the Work and Family Program at the New America Foundation, as his policy director, giving her, and her pet cause, a prominent place in his political operation. Kornbluh’s fingerprints are everywhere on his positions in this area. Obama has called for expanding the FMLA to cover smaller companies and has pledged to create a federal fund to help states create paid-leave programs. He has also supported measures that would give parents time off to attend their children’s school functions and meetings without fear of losing their jobs.</p>
<p>Polls consistently show that most Americans strongly support policies like expanding the FMLA, giving Obama an opportunity to distinguish himself from his opponent on something Americans of all stripes care about. John McCain has remained mum when it comes to the expansion of family leave, though he voted to pass the original law back in 1993. Given what’s happening in the states, it’s clear that Americans are hungering for change on this front. As Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families said on Friday, ticking off a list of the group’s accomplishments this year, “If we can accomplish all this in a recession, in an election year, in the seventh year of an administration that has turned such a blind eye to women and families, just think of what we’ll be able to accomplish next year.”</p>
<p /> | What Family Leave? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/06/what-family-leave/ | 2008-06-23 | 4 |
<p>After Hillary Clinton lost an election to the most unpopular Republican presidential candidate in modern American history, the Left insisted that the American people were a bunch of racists. That, of course, followed on Hillary’s campaign message that half of all Trump voters were racist deplorables.</p>
<p>Seeking to capitalize on their horrible 2016 performance, the Democrats have apparently decided to double down. On Friday, Hillary campaign spokesperson Brian Fallon went after Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie by suggesting that Gillespie stood with the white supremacist Charlottesville protesters:</p>
<p>Fallon has no evidence to support this slander, but that didn’t stop him. And he’s not the only Democrat making such claims. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-democratic-mailer-links-gillespie-to-white-nationalists-in-charlottesville/2017/10/25/f3811770-b92e-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html?utm_term=.e37230317e61" type="external">A Democratic mailer earlier this week</a> compared Gillespie with the torchlight Nazi sympathizers, with the caption, “On Tuesday November 7th, Virginia Gets To Stand Up…To Hate.” The ad continued, “This is our chance to stand up to Trump, Gillespie, and hate.”</p>
<p>The ad was approved by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam, lieutenant governor candidate Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark Herring.</p>
<p>This is disgusting, especially considering that Gillespie not only stated that there was no “moral equivalency” between white supremacists and counterprotesters, but that there were no “fine people” marching along the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville.</p>
<p>If the Left truly wants to paint all of its opponents as Nazis, they can expect to keep losing elections.</p> | Hillary Campaign Spokesman Calls Virginia Republican Gubernatorial Candidate A White Supremacist | true | https://dailywire.com/news/22856/hillary-campaign-spokesman-calls-virginia-ben-shapiro | 2017-10-27 | 0 |
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<p>Last week, the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division started issuing Real ID-compliant licenses and ID cards. And if the Journal’s Thursday front page was any indication, change is hard.</p>
<p>Even when it has been nine months in the making.</p>
<p>Gov. Susana Martinez signed HB 99 in March, finally putting the state into compliance with the federal Real ID Act of 2005, which was passed by Congress in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks. It sets stringent rules for issuing licenses and identification cards that can be used for federal purposes, such as boarding a commercial flight or entering a secure government facility.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>And by stringent, they mean you will need to take four, yes 4, documents with you to get your new license or ID – one proof of identification number, one proof of identity, and two proofs of residency. (To be clear, new license applicants have had to take these very same documents for years – what’s different is all the folks renewing a license have to round them up as well.)</p>
<p>SO WHAT DO I TAKE? The complete list of accepted Real-ID documents is posted <a href="" type="internal">here</a>on our website, <a href="" type="internal">ABQJournal.com</a>, as are those to get a non-Real-ID driver authorization or ID card. I checked with Tiffany Smyth at the state Taxation and Revenue Department, which oversees MVD, and she explains that for the vast majority of applicants who want a Real ID-compliant license it breaks down like this:</p>
<p>• Proof of ID number – Take your Social Security card. The Social Security administration does not allow it to be laminated because that obscures some of the safety features, so MVD will not accept it if it has been laminated. In lieu of your card, you can take a W-2 or 1099 tax form, which have your full Social Security number on them.</p>
<p>• Proof of identity – Take your passport or birth certificate. The passport can not be expired; the birth certificate has to be an original or certified copy.</p>
<p>• Proof of residency – Take two of these: your rental lease, mortgage statement, property tax bill, or any of these that have your physical address and are dated within the past 60 days: a utility bill (no cellphone bills allowed), an insurance bill or card or binder, a bank statement or credit card bill, a pay stub, a school transcript or report card, or a state medical or public assistance card. Drivers who are homeless or in temporary lodging can provide a notarized letter from a service provider and an affidavit of residency.</p>
<p>WHAT IF I HAVE A P.O. BOX? Most of the above mentioned forms of residency have a physical address in addition to the mailing address – utility statements include your service address, and rental, mortgage and property-tax documents include the property address. A document with just a P.O. Box will not be accepted.</p>
<p>WHAT IF ALL STATEMENTS ARE IN SOMEONE ELSE’S NAME? Then you need to either get something in your name or produce a document that links you to that person, such as a marriage certificate. In December 2012, I wrote a column about a young man who was living with his family, rode his bike everywhere and did not have two proofs of residency. The family planned to have him open a bank account and put the satellite TV bill in his name.</p>
<p>WHAT IF ALL STATEMENTS ARE ONLINE? If you use electronic billing and get all your statements online, MVD will accept a printout.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>WHAT IF MY NAME HAS CHANGED? If your bills or statements are in a different name than your birth certificate or Social Security card, for example, then you need to show the linking document, such as your marriage certificate, divorce decree or court name-change document. You do not need to get all those documents changed, you just need to show why your name changed.</p>
<p>WHICH MVD OFFICE DO I GO TO? You can get a Real ID-compliant license or ID card at any state, municipal or contract office. The only time you have to go to a specific state office is if you cannot prove legal immigration status AND your N.M. license has expired or it’s your first time getting a license – then you have to be fingerprinted per the state law. Only these state offices have the digital equipment to take the prints and transmit them to State Police: Albuquerque-Special Services; Alamogordo; Carlsbad; Clovis; Española; Farmington; Las Cruces-Del Rey; Raton; Roswell; Ruidoso; Silver City; Truth or Consequences; Tucumcari.</p>
<p>WHAT IF I HAVE A REAL ID LICENSE FROM ANOTHER STATE? Then that will take care of your proof of identity, no passport of birth certificate required.</p>
<p>ANNUAL RENEWAL AGE NOW 79: One added provision in the Real ID legislation raises the age at which drivers have to annually renew their licenses. The age had been 75; it is now 79. So a senior going to renew a license can get a multiyear license that lasts up to his/her 79th birthday – the hook is they have to pay for them. Only the mandatory annual renewals are free.</p>
<p>DO I NEED TO GO TO MVD NOW? Only if your license is expiring. Current driver’s licenses are Real ID-compliant under an agreement with Homeland Security, so drivers don’t need to visit MVD until it’s time to renew. You can renew your license up to 89 days before it expires. The one exception is if your license goes beyond the Oct. 1, 2020, deadline to comply; those folks need to go in before that date and will have their new license pro-rated.</p>
<p>HOW OFTEN DO I HAVE TO DO THIS? Once you have produced the documents to get a Real-ID-compliant license or ID card, you do not have to repeat the process – unless you let your license/ID expire.</p>
<p>UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to assistant editorial page editor D’Val Westphal at 823-3858 or [email protected]. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.</p>
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<p /> | Want a Real ID? Here’s your checklist | false | https://abqjournal.com/893241/want-a-real-id-heres-your-checklist.html | 2 |
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<p>Leonardo da Vinci/&lt;a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_Studies_of_Embryos.jpg"&gt;Wikimedia Commons&lt;/a&gt;</p>
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<p>Clearly <a href="" type="internal">having seen my roundup yesterday, and hoping to outdo it</a>, the Florida GOP offered us another precious moment today.&#160;From the <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/democrat-chastized-saying-uterus-house-floor?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tampabaycom%2Fblogs%2Fbuzz+%28The+Buzz+%7C+tampabay.com%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" type="external">St. Petersburg Times</a>:</p>
<p>At one point [Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando] suggested that his wife “incorporate her uterus” to stop Republicans from pushing measures that would restrict abortions. Republicans, after all, wouldn’t want to further regulate a Florida business.</p>
<p>Apparently the GOP leadership of the House didn’t like the one-liner.</p>
<p>They told Democrats that Randolph is not to discuss body parts on the House floor.</p>
<p>“The point was that Republicans are always talking about deregulation and big government,” Randolph said Thursday. “And I always say their philosophy is small government for the big guy and big government for the little guy. And so, if my wife’s uterus was incorporated or my friend’s bedroom was incorporated, maybe they (Republicans)&#160;would be talking about deregulating.</p>
<p>“It’s not like I used slang,” said Randolph, who actually got the line from his wife.</p>
<p>Wait. Uterus?&#160;What’s wrong with uterus?&#160;It’s a pretty common medical/anatomical term, right?&#160;A House GOP spokeswoman explained that Randolph’s comment lacked “decorum” and could pervert the kiddies:</p>
<p>…the Speaker believes it is important for all Members to be mindful of and respectful to visitors and guests, particularly the young pages and messengers who are seated in the chamber during debates. In the past, if the debate is going to contain language that would be considered inappropriate for children and other guests, the Speaker will make an announcement in advance, asking children and others who may be uncomfortable with the subject matter to leave the floor and gallery.</p>
<p>You know what I say to that?&#160;Take a long fallopian walk off a short doggoned uterus, you sigmoid colonoscopes!</p>
<p>Sorry, that was a little over the top…Oh dear, hope I don’t get fired.</p>
<p /> | Florida GOP: No Talk of Wombs on Statehouse Floor | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/gop-cant-say-uterus-statehouse-floor-florida/ | 2011-03-31 | 4 |
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<p>WASHINGTON — As floodwaters from Harvey keep rising, some Houston-area residents must decide between two dangerous choices: staying in homes with water coming in or venturing out on potentially deadly flooded roads.</p>
<p>It’s a no-win situation. There’s nowhere for the rain or these people to go. And it matters, because water kills. Even though wind is fierce, water is responsible for nearly 90 percent of the deaths in hurricanes, according to a 2014 study by acting U.S National Hurricane Center director Ed Rappaport.</p>
<p>In general, if people are safe, they shouldn’t move. In their updates on the storm’s progress Sunday, the Hurricane Center underscored in capital letters its warning to “not attempt to travel … if you are in a safe place.”</p>
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<p>Yet some New Orleans residents who decided to stay put in their homes during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 ended up dying in their attics, while others were trapped there for days awaiting rescue.</p>
<p>Former National Hurricane Center directors Neil Frank and Max Mayfield fear casualties from Harvey could rise over the next few days if stir-crazy residents decide to venture outside of their homes and into the high waters.</p>
<p>“This is going to go on a lot longer than most people think,” Mayfield said.</p>
<p>Gregory Waller, coordinating meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s West Gulf River Forecast Center in Fort Worth, Texas, especially worries about people going out at night.</p>
<p>“The dangerous time would be the overnight hours when you just can’t see the magnitude or the impact of the floodwaters,” Waller said.</p>
<p>Frank, who left the Miami-based hurricane center after 13 years as director to spend 20 years as chief meteorologist at KHOU, Houston’s now-flooded television station, knows firsthand how difficult the decision about whether to stay or go can be.</p>
<p>On Sunday, his grandson, the father of a new baby, was asking his advice about whether he should risk driving through floodwaters or stay put and hope the water wouldn’t overtake them in their home.</p>
<p>“This is a major, major difficult decision,” Frank said from his relatively safe home 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Houston. “You can’t call anybody on the phone and say, ‘Help me!’ And rescue workers can’t even get to you.”</p>
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<p>Frank’s grandson is staying put. For now.</p>
<p>Although Harvey has spawned a number of tornadoes, they are far less dangerous and less likely than the flooding, Mayfield said. So he said it is still best to get high above the water than worry about going to the basement to avoid tornadoes.</p>
<p>Leaving Houston before the storm conceivably could have helped. But residents got conflicting advice. Gov. Greg Abbott urged people to flee from Harvey’s path, but the Houston mayor issued no evacuation orders and told everyone to stay home, saying it was too difficult to empty the city of 2.3 million people.</p>
<p>Harvey made landfall Friday as a Category 4 hurricane. It has since been downgraded to a tropical storm.</p>
<p>The National Weather Service is predicting another 20 to 25 inches (50 to 64 centimeters) of rain for southeast Texas with some parts of Houston expected to accumulate as much as 50 inches (130 centimeters) of rain.</p>
<p>“It just really is a disaster that is only now beginning to unfold,” said meteorologist Patrick Burke of the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. “I think we’re going to run out of words to describe this, honestly.”</p>
<p>Even before Harvey struck, Houston was already more saturated with rain than normal, according to Waller. Post-Harvey, nearly all of the region’s waterways are at record-high levels, he said.</p>
<p>Waller says some forecasts have rain tapering off by the end of the week.</p> | Harvey dilemma: Stay as water rises or risk flooded roads? | false | https://abqjournal.com/1054424/harvey-dilemma-stay-as-water-rises-or-risk-flooded-roads-2.html | 2017-08-27 | 2 |
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<p>Iraq War veteran Jon Soltz and Mother Jones’ David Corn take a closer look at Mitt Romney’s foreign policy, revealing that—both in terms of ideals and advisers—it’s not a far cry from George W. Bush’s approach.</p>
<p>David Corn is Mother Jones’ Washington bureau chief. For more of his stories, <a href="" type="internal">click here</a>. He’s also on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/davidcorndc" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p>
<p /> | Corn on MSNBC: Romney’s Foreign Policy Just Like George W. Bush’s | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/corn-msnbc-romneys-foreign-policy-just-george-w-bushs/ | 2012-07-24 | 4 |
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<p>Hyundai is taking its Super Bowl LI ad to a new level this year. The company will film a 90-second TV spot while Sunday’s big game unfolds, and the ad will include footage from an undisclosed U.S. military base overseas.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The project, called “Operation Better,” is a high-tech venture that Hyundai says is the first of its kind. Several U.S. troops stationed overseas will watch Super Bowl LI inside a 360-degree immersive video pod, replicating the experience inside Houston’s NRG Stadium.</p>
<p>“We’re not just here to produce a great spot, but to make things better for the military,” Dean Evans, chief marketing officer of Hyundai Motors America, told FOX Business. “It’s going to feel like they’re down on the field as one of the players.”</p>
<p>The real-time ad brings a new set of challenges for Hyundai. Normally, Super Bowl spots can take up to a year of planning and production. Hyundai’s crew has only a few hours to shoot, edit and produce what the company envisions as a 90-second documentary. Filming will be done by the end of the first quarter, and Hyundai plans to submit the finished product in the third quarter.</p>
<p>Hyundai’s ad will hit the airwaves in the post-gun slot, the first commercial break after the final whistle.</p>
<p>“Editing the piece during the game itself is going to be intense, but we will have an incredible team in place on multiple continents to pull off this feat,” Hollywood director Peter Berg said in a statement.</p>
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<p>Hyundai recruited the “Lone Survivor” and “Patriots Day” director to oversee production. The company is also working with Film 45, Pony Show Entertainment and INNOCEAN Worldwide, Hyundai’s agency of record.</p>
<p>Evans is confident that production will go off without a hitch Sunday, saying a practice round went flawlessly last week. But Hyundai is prepared for the worst-case scenario, just in case.</p>
<p>“Here’s the backup scenario: a 90-second spot of me and the creative director crying,” Evans joked.</p>
<p>Actually, Hyundai has a 90-second ad ready to go if all else fails. The production team also has backup generators on hand if they lose power at NRG Stadium.</p>
<p>The South Korean automaker, which is in its second year as an NFL sponsor, has heavily invested in Super Bowl advertising. Super Bowl LI will be the ninth time in 10 years that Hyundai has placed an ad during the NFL championship, the biggest TV event each year. FOX reportedly fetched more than $5 million for each 30-second spot during the game. According to the <a href="http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Morning-Buzz/2017/02/03/SB-TV.aspx" type="external">Sports Business Journal Opens a New Window.</a>, FOX sold the final Super Bowl spots Friday.</p>
<p>Hyundai wanted to do something different this time around, and bringing the Super Bowl to U.S. troops fits the bill. The new Hyundai Ioniq hybrid will be part of the marketing campaign, but according to Evans, Hyundai’s vehicles are secondary for this ad.</p>
<p>“I’m a big believer that we want the message to be pure on that day,” he said.</p> | Hyundai to Bring Super Bowl to U.S. Troops in Real-Time Ad | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/02/03/hyundai-to-bring-super-bowl-to-u-s-troops-in-real-time-ad.html | 2017-02-03 | 0 |
<p><a href="http://mprokhorov.com/" type="external">Mikhail Prokhorov</a>, the billionaire owner of the NJ Nets, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/16/russia-politics-idUSLDE74F0U720110516" type="external">said Monday that he was seeking to head</a> a Russian pro-business political party as the country gets ready to hold parliamentary elections.</p>
<p>"I have sent my proposal to the leadership of the Right Cause party," Prokhorov said, according to Reuters. "Now the decision is with them." Party co-chairman Leonid Gozman <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/Leonid_Gozman/status/70128495031877632" type="external">confirmed the move</a> via Twitter.</p>
<p>Prokhorov, worth $18 billion <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/mikhail-prokhorov" type="external">according to Forbes</a>, has hinted at playing with politics before. Last year, there were <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/russia-and-its-neighbors/100126/the-nj-nets-likely-new-owner-about-join-the-putin" type="external">rumors that he wanted to become governor</a> of Krasnoyarsk.</p>
<p>Reuters frames the story as though Prokhorov's candidacy would be an affront, or at least a shock, to the powers that be. "Leadership of Right Cause would make Prokhorov the first top Russian businessman to enter party politics since the 2003 arrest of former oil magnate Khodorkovsky, who is still in jail and whose company was carved up and sold by the state," they write. True, the Kremlin expects loyal oligarchs these days, but that doesn't mean they have to stay entirely out of politics (witness <a href="http://en.rian.ru/russia/20101217/161815038.html" type="external">Roman Abramovich's involvement</a>, however party-less, in Chukotka). And Prokhorov remained one of the richest men in Russia throughout the devastating financial crisis by playing by the Kremlin's rules ( <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/russia/090923/new-jersey-nets-mikhail-prokhorov" type="external">a bit of luck</a> helped).</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_Cause" type="external">Right Cause</a> is a pro-business party founded two years ago. It holds no seat in the State Duma, which is due to hold elections at the end of the year. It is not very well known (pollster VTsIOM, for example, doesn't even include it in its polls). It did make waves though when Yevgeny Chichvarkin, the former millionaire owner of mobile phone shop Yevroset and a member of the party, was <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/russia-and-its-neighbors/090128/evgeny-chichvarkin-russias-latest-mogul-flee" type="external">forced to flee the country</a> amid what he said was a corrupt attempt to steal his business. &#160;</p> | NJ Nets owner Prokhorov to enter politics? | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-05-16/nj-nets-owner-prokhorov-enter-politics | 2011-05-16 | 3 |
<p>Investing.com – United Arab Emirates stocks were mixed after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the , and sectors led shares higher while losses in the , and sectors led shares lower.</p>
<p>At the close in Dubai, the declined 0.46%, while the index gained 0.48%.</p>
<p>The best performers of the session on the were Drake &amp; Scull International PJSC (DU:), which rose 2.81% or 0.050 points to trade at 1.830 at the close. Meanwhile, Takaful House (DU:) added 1.29% or 0.011 points to end at 0.865 and Damac Properties Dubai Co PSC (DU:) was up 0.88% or 0.030 points to 3.440 in late trade.</p>
<p>The worst performers of the session were Dubai Investments PJSC (DU:), which fell 1.95% or 0.050 points to trade at 2.520 at the close. Dubai Financial Market PJSC (DU:) declined 1.80% or 0.020 points to end at 1.090 and Arabtec Holding PJSC (DU:) was down 1.23% or 0.030 points to 2.410.</p>
<p>The top performers on the ADX General were Ad Shipbldg Co (AD:) which rose 14.95% to 2.230, Agthia Group (AD:) which was up 2.59% to settle at 5.14 and Union Natl Bk (AD:) which gained 2.56% to close at 4.000.</p>
<p>The worst performers were International Holding Company PJSC (AD:) which was down 2.70% to 1.44 in late trade, Natl Bk Of Rak (AD:) which lost 2.08% to settle at 4.70 and Rak Cement Co (AD:) which was down 1.54% to 0.640 at the close.</p>
<p>Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Dubai Stock Exchange by 23 to 10 and 5 ended unchanged; on the Abu Dhabi, 10 rose and 8 declined, while 7 ended unchanged.</p>
<p>Shares in Arabtec Holding PJSC (DU:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 1.23% or 0.030 to 2.410. Shares in Rak Cement Co (AD:) fell to 3-years lows; losing 1.54% or 0.010 to 0.640.</p>
<p>Crude oil for January delivery was down 0.86% or 0.50 to $57.61 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February fell 0.74% or 0.47 to hit $62.91 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract fell 0.10% or 1.31 to trade at $1293.09 a troy ounce.</p>
<p>USD/AED was up 0.00% to 3.6730, while EUR/AED fell 0.08% to 4.3659.</p>
<p>The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.12% at 92.96.</p>
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<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | United Arab Emirates stocks mixed at close of trade; DFM General down 0.46% | false | https://newsline.com/united-arab-emirates-stocks-mixed-at-close-of-trade-dfm-general-down-0-46/ | 2017-11-28 | 1 |
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<p>The seamen’s union announced Tuesday afternoon they would extend their strike, originally planned to last 48 hours, for a further two days, leaving ferries servicing Greece’s islands tied up in port until midnight Friday night.</p>
<p>The Panhellenic Seamen’s Federation said it was asking “for the understanding and full support of both the traveling public and all Greek workers,” adding that the new measures would lead seamen “to poverty and destitution.”</p>
<p>Journalists were holding a 24-hour strike Tuesday, pulling news broadcasts off the air from 6 a.m. (0300 GMT). News websites were not being updated, and no Wednesday newspapers would be printed. Public bus company employees were also holding work stoppages during the day.</p>
<p>Wednesday’s general strike is expected to affect services across the country, from schools and hospitals to public transport. Air traffic controllers have declared participation with a four-hour work stoppage, leading to the rescheduling of 99 flights and the cancellation of a further nine by Greece’s Aegean and Olympic Air. Another airline, Sky Express, announced the rescheduling of 41 domestic flights between Athens and the Greek islands.</p>
<p>Protest marches have been scheduled for central Athens in the morning.</p>
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<p>Workers are protesting a new deal with Greece’s international creditors that impose a raft of new tax hikes and spending cuts beyond the end of the country’s third bailout in 2018. The measures, which are to be voted on in parliament at midnight Thursday, will include additional pension cuts in 2019 and higher income tax in 2020.</p>
<p>Without the agreement with its creditors, Greece faced the prospect of running out of cash to service its debts this summer, which could have seen it have another brush with bankruptcy.</p>
<p>Greece is currently in its third international bailout, which is due to end in mid-2018. It has been dependent on rescue loans from its creditors — mainly other European countries that use the euro, and the International Monetary Fund — since its first bailout in 2010.</p>
<p>In return for the funds, successive governments have had to impose repeated waves of reforms, which have included tax hikes and salary and pension cuts. While the country’s finances have improved under the bailouts and the strict supervision they imposed, the belt-tightening has led to spiraling poverty and unemployment rates.</p>
<p>Although the jobless rate has been falling from a high of above 27 percent, it still hovers at around 23 percent.</p> | Greek seamen extend strike; no ferries for 4 days | false | https://abqjournal.com/1004054/greek-seamen-extend-strike-no-ferries-for-4-days.html | 2017-05-16 | 2 |
<p>Sunday on NBC Meet the Press, White House correspondent <a href="http://chucktodd.people.msnbc.com/" type="external">Chuck Todd</a> offered his best advice for the Obama administration’s self-imposed-disaster relief team: find a fall guy.</p>
<p>When host David Gregory asked how the president needed to reframe the national narrative, Todd provided the tried and true “fire somebody” stratagem:</p>
<p>Well, there's a couple things. I think one, if all else fails, they're going to have to find a fall person, somebody, and say, "You know what? This design work. Fire somebody. Maybe high profile."</p>
<p>Kathleen Sebelius is very nervous about her standing with the president. Who knows what happens? But that would be the ultimate sort of, "If all else fails, bring in somebody to quote unquote, 'Fix this.'"</p>
<p>Does Todd know something we don’t know? <a href="http://thehill.com/video/in-the-news/329587-msnbcs-todd-sebelius-could-be-fired-for-obamacare-glitches" type="external">The Hill</a> doesn’t seem to think so, arguing that Sebelius is simply too high profile to publically dethrone. But the depths of this administration’s ineptitude leaves room for all kinds of unlikely scenarios.</p> | MSNBC’s Chuck Todd Advises WH to 'Find a Fall Person' | true | http://truthrevolt.org/news/msnbcs-chuck-todd-advises-wh-find-fall-person | 2018-10-03 | 0 |
<p>It’s all too rare that a mainstream news network goes after just the sort of financial heavy hitters that tend to have ties to their own corporate sponsors, but thankfully, that’s what CBS News’ “60 Minutes” did last weekend with the help of two principled mortgage specialists. In fact, the news magazine and anchor Steve Kroft wouldn’t have had much of a story without former Countrywide Executive Vice President Eileen Foster and former Citigroup Senior Vice President Richard M. Bowen III. Note that they share the “former” designation, which is no coincidence.</p>
<p>Both whistle-blowers made headlines before agreeing to sit for their “60 Minutes” interviews, but their stories have a certain open-ended quality to them in that, as Kroft points out in the news magazine’s report that aired Dec. 4, the Justice Department has yet to bring charges against any major Wall Street players who shared responsibility for the cataclysmic financial implosion that first registered in 2008 and still resonates today. This glaring failure on the part of the DOJ to carry out its duties becomes even more infuriating considering top-tier executives from implicated companies such as Citigroup and Countrywide blatantly denied the parts they played in the meltdown and signed what should have been damning documents to back up their claims.</p>
<p>File that information under business as usual for the ever cozier relationship between Wall Street and the White House. But luckily, people such as Foster and Bowen were willing to do their jobs — and themselves, and consumers — justice by first reporting signs of trouble to their higher-ups at Countrywide and Citigroup, respectively, and then refusing to let their former employers buy their silence, even if their ethics cost them their jobs.</p>
<p>It’s also clear, from both of their accounts on “60 Minutes,” that they were aware of the risks that taking action might involve, once they got over the shock of discovering the widespread fraud happening under their noses at both firms. In fact, Bowen found that 60 percent of Citigroup’s mortgages for the year 2006 were defective. And the circumstances under which their employment status changed were also sketchy at best, if not criminal. As Foster put it: “It’s a crime to retaliate against someone for making reports of mail fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, mortgage fraud — things that would harm stockholders and investors — and that’s what I did, and that’s why I was terminated.”</p>
<p />
<p>However, she got some satisfaction (other than the nearly $1 million case she eventually <a href="http://bullionbullscanada.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&amp;Itemid=122&amp;func=view&amp;catid=6&amp;id=11978" type="external">won</a> in court against her former employer, now absorbed into Bank of America) by refusing to sign a 14-page document guaranteeing her silence. “I wanted them to have some sleepless nights thinking about what they would say to a federal investigator and worry about being exposed and being held accountable for committing a crime,” she <a href="" type="internal">told</a> Kroft.</p>
<p>For his part, Bowen made waves by taking his story to the top, first at Citigroup (he even <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/04/07/meet-a-citigroup-whistleblower-richard-m-bowen-iii/" type="external">sent an email</a> to Robert Rubin in 2007) and then on Capitol Hill on April 7, 2010, before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Bowen described his motivation in simple terms: “Somebody needed to pay attention. Somebody needed to take action.” Good thing that he, as well as Foster, did — even if the Justice Department couldn’t follow their examples. –KA</p>
<p>“60 Minutes” with Steve Kroft:</p>
<p>Part 1:</p>
<p />
<p>Part 2:</p>
<p /> | Truthdiggers of the Week: Two Mortgage Meltdown Whistle-Blowers | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/truthdiggers-of-the-week-two-mortgage-meltdown-whistle-blowers/ | 2011-12-10 | 4 |
<p>“I am at my wits end trying to do business in this city. Every time we turn around there is another fee, tax, or ‘progressive’ move. I support worker’s rights and fair wages for employees – but there has to be a real understanding and not just lip service from our elected officials about the challenges that small, locally owned businesses face. [We] can’t move out like Walmart did when hearing about the Paid Leave Act, yet are expected to warmly embrace all of this stuff. I’ve had it.”</p>
<p>These words – from a respected lesbian owner of a D.C. retail business – landed in my inbox last week. It was among several similar messages received in response to <a href="" type="internal">this columnist’s take</a> earlier this month on the disconnect between District elected officials and both the local enterprise community and the city’s lower-income residents.</p>
<p>She’s not running a one-woman or mom-and-mom operation, but a landmark homegrown small business that has helped shape the identity of a prominent D.C. neighborhood. Her business employs scores of primarily District residents, many born or long-raised in the city and local school system graduates.</p>
<p>She is making the contribution small business owners across the country make every day – while creating 2-of-3 new jobs in America. Her business is the workplace of many entry-level or less-experienced employees learning new skills and honing new responsibilities as they move up the ranks alongside more seasoned personnel.</p>
<p>It’s an owner-operator’s lament, nearly universal among commerce here and a handful of the most notoriously business-unfriendly locales like D.C. “They don’t even care about us, or our ability to survive and thrive,” is the refrain.</p>
<p>Important, too, due the uniquely high percentage of LGBT entrepreneurs and enterprise owners and management populating U.S. businesses – estimated to be 10 percent of the gay community.</p>
<p>Cultural assimilation and social acclamation continue to create political divergence within LGBT ranks and alter party allegiance, reinforced by a growing gratitude to the mainstream corporate community for now almost single-handedly defending and broadening our civil equality. We’ll likely see acceleration in that process, driven by lesbian and gay businesspersons.</p>
<p>While the two national political parties have devolved toward crony capitalism dependent on the largess of elite corporate client-patrons, the growing estrangement of smaller-scale entrepreneurs from the Democratic Party stands out strong.</p>
<p>It’s emblematic of the dilemma Democrats face as the anti-enterprise party. Bill Gates may have been overly optimistic when speculating last week that President-elect Donald Trump has the potential to bring innovation to the country and government in the manner of President Kennedy, but it resonated with many in business.</p>
<p>Commerce creators are bemused by confounded Democratic and media reaction to a businessman working in the White House. Especially given business-operating citizen-legislators occupying many an elected position in cities and towns outside the rarified political bubbles of deep-blue urban areas.</p>
<p>Liberals are sweating under the covers at night with both eyes wide open. Job-creators – whether lesbian or gay or not – sleep soundly with perhaps one eye half-cocked, wondering if Trump is the right person to shift the country in a better direction. Enterprise values predictability, and there’s little about Trump that is predictable.</p>
<p>Small business owners, however, know it could be worse – Hillary Clinton and the Democrats could be in charge. That “lip service” the business owner wrote to bemoan is their trademark. Enterprise folks no longer listen to liberals when lying about that legacy.</p>
<p>Small business owners’ reaction to Trump’s election is the highest satisfaction level Gallup has surveyed in eight years, shooting up to a favorable 80 percent and rebounding from an indexed low of minus-28 during President Obama’s term. By a ratio of 3-to-1, operators of modest-sized enterprise anticipate that Trump and a Republican Congress will improve prospects for their business. That roughly equals the percentage of the nation’s small business owners who now align with the Republican Party.</p>
<p>Democrats have only themselves to blame for that.</p>
<p />
<p>Mark Lee is a long-time entrepreneur and community business advocate. Follow on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/@MarkLeeDC" type="external">@MarkLeeDC</a>. Reach him at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Barack Obama</a> <a href="" type="internal">Bill Gates</a> <a href="" type="internal">Business</a> <a href="" type="internal">D.C.</a> <a href="" type="internal">Democratic Party</a> <a href="" type="internal">District of Columbia</a> <a href="" type="internal">Donald Trump</a> <a href="" type="internal">Gallup</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">Hillary Clinton</a> <a href="" type="internal">John F. Kennedy</a> <a href="" type="internal">lesbian</a> <a href="" type="internal">LGBT</a> <a href="" type="internal">LGBT entrepreneurs</a> <a href="" type="internal">overregulation</a> <a href="" type="internal">Paid Leave Act</a> <a href="" type="internal">Republican Party</a> <a href="" type="internal">small business owners</a> <a href="" type="internal">Walmart</a></p> | Small business owners have increasingly ‘had it’ | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2016/12/22/small-business-owners-increasingly/ | 3 |
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<p>Israelis talk about gov't appointed committee meant to deal with the demands of the mass social protest movement that started on July 14 and organized the biggest marches in the country's history ==== Israel's "March of the Million" brought out more people than any other protest in Israel's history. Meanwhile the government has decided to keep quiet, only appointing Professor Manuel Trachtenberg to head a committee to look into the demands of the J14 movement. Started on July 14, this march was the sixth in a row, and while many on the street have different ideas about how to move ahead, most have little faith in the Trachtenberg committee. The Real News' Lia Tarachansky reports from Tel Aviv and talks to protesters about how to move forward.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p /> LIA TARACHANSKY, TRNN: On Saturday night nearly 500,000 demonstrators marched in Israel's largest demonstration to date.
<p />
<p />CROWD (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): People demanding social justice.
<p />
<p />TARACHANSKY: Per capita, this number is more than five times bigger than the number of demonstrators in Tahrir Square during Egypt's uprising. Two of the movement's lead organizers spoke at the rally. Itzik Shmuli is the head of the student union at the Tel Aviv University.
<p />
<p />ITZIK SHMULI (SUBTITLED TRANSLATION): Our Israel demands a change in the set of priorities of its governments. This square is full of the new Israelis, who'd be even willing to die for this country, but who demand from you, Mr. Prime Minister, to let us live in this country!
<p />
<p />TARACHANSKY: Daphne Lief was the first to set up a tent on July 14, sparking the movement in the tent cities that sprung up throughout the country.
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<p />DAPHNE LIEF: This summer we woke up and refused to keep going on, with our eyes closed, towards the abyss.
<p />
<p />TARACHANSKY: For more than a week, graffiti and posters popped up throughout the country calling on Israelis to join the protest. The same day, an op-ed in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth by Stav Shaffir, who's one of the main organizers, called for the government to recognize the demands: "This circle will keep growing until it breaks through our government's walls and it starts to comply with our demands. We demand to see our government members losing sleep and losing weight as a result of the burden of responsibility on their shoulders." Until now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has mostly kept quiet. He appointed, however, a committee headed by Professor Manuel Trajtenberg to deal with with the demands. Trajtenberg, of the Tel Aviv University, is the former head of the Economic Policy Board under the former prime minister, Ehud Olmert.
<p />
<p />CROWD (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): They take from the poor and give to the rich. What a corrupt government!
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): [This committee] was created by the people because of whom there's a protest here, because of their policies. Many of the people in this committee, including Trajtenberg, took part in processes that brought people to the street today.
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): He is Bibi's man. He was sent by Bibi so Bibi can keep his hands clean without doing anything.
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<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): Unfortunately, I have doubts regarding Professor Trajtenberg's abilities, though he's a great and wise person, to really change things, unless the government takes what's happening here on the streets seriously and understand their responsibilities.
<p />
<p />TARACHANSKY: Much of the pessimism around the committee's ability to cause real change stems from Trajtenberg's previous work. In 2007, he authored a report commissioned by the former prime minister, where he emphasized the need to minimize the gap between the rich and the poor. In an article in ... outlined that the report relied heavily on what they call neoliberal thinking, meaning that it emphasized investing in the top industries with the hope that prosperity would trickle down. Regardless, they say, none of the suggestions were implemented by the government. But not everyone is as doubtful.
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): I think people aren't really giving Trajtenberg a chance. I think ... I've seen many signs here against the committee all together. I'd rather give it more of a chance, to listen, to see what's possible, and then, after decisions are made, go and criticize.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />TRNN (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): What in your opinion needs to happen now?
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): This protest has to continue until the government resigns and we have new elections.
<p />
<p />~~~
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): For the next stage, politics has to be part of it. Organization, political parties, people with similar thinking need to come together with some political background and start moving things.
<p />
<p />DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): The very fact that it was brought forward before the public eye is already a success. The fact that they're thinking twice before reducing any social sector is already a success. It didn't exist before. The very fact that the government froze the rise in fuel prices to avoid an outcry is already a success. I believe it's a process. This nation needs to get used to protesting. We're not used to this. We have to understand this is the beginning of something.
<p />
<p />SIGN (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): Privatization
<p />
<p />UNIDENTIFIED (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): I am 25. What are my main memories from this country? The Second Lebanon War, the period of suicide bombings, friends who died then, the murder of Rabin, Gilad Shalit. I'm the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. That was my consciousness, moments and memories full of death. At the protest in Afula I saw a sign: "I'm proud to be an Israeli 31 days". I stand before you, proud to be an Israeli for seven weeks now.
<p />
<p />TARACHANSKY: Protest organizers are now rethinking how to move forward while waiting for the conclusions of the Trajtenberg Committee, promised to be released by the end of the month. For The Real News, I'm Lia Tarachansky in Tel Aviv.
<p />
<p />End of Transcript
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<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. | Half Million March in Israel | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D31%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D7266 | 2011-09-06 | 4 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Community groups, family members of men shot by Albuquerque police officers, along with several city councilors, have for the past two years been asking the U.S. Justice Department for a civil rights investigation of APD.</p>
<p>But Police Chief Ray Schultz has insisted that APD has an image problem — not a cultural one — and he has pointed to a series of changes in policies and procedures aimed at addressing concerns over a spike in police shootings and other public black eyes the department has received.</p>
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<p>Schultz and Mayor Richard Berry have said a Justice Department investigation isn’t necessary because APD’s “self-induced” changes have the department on the right track.</p>
<p>Since May 2011, Schultz says, APD has made more than 60 changes. About 40 of those came after the city paid the Police Executive Research Forum, a national law enforcement think tank of which Schultz is a prominent member, $60,000 to review its use-of-force policies.</p>
<p>And the chief himself ordered nearly 20 more tweaks to department policies.</p>
<p>Among the more high-profile changes:</p>
<p>♦ All officers are required to carry Tasers, in addition to their firearms, and record all citizen contacts on lapel-mounted cameras.</p>
<p>♦ Supervisors are immediately sent to all “critical incident” scenes in an effort to slow down situations that are often fast-paced and emotionally charged.</p>
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<p>♦ APD has reinstituted previously discarded hiring standards — including a requirement of 60 college credit hours or two years’ military experience — to try to hire “good problem solvers and decision makers.”</p>
<p>♦ The department has hired a civilian director of training who has said he is moving the APD Academy away from the paramilitary methods of the past and toward a college campus environment.</p>
<p>♦ APD continues to develop a database that contains information about people who are “currently experiencing a mental health crisis.” Police officials say the database can give officers responding to potentially volatile calls real-time information about the people they are about to encounter.</p>
<p>APD officers have shot at 25 individuals since 2010, striking 23 of them with bullets. Seventeen have died.</p>
<p>Many of the changes were direct responses to a spike in police shootings in 2010. There were 14 that year, nine of them fatal. APD’s 10-year average is eight shootings a year. In 2011, there were six, and there have been six so far this year.</p>
<p>Several of those shot by APD officers were living with mental illness, substance abuse problems or both.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>According to a recent police union survey, rank-and-file officers overwhelmingly believe the changes were politically motivated and an overreaction to intense media scrutiny the department has been under.</p>
<p>But Schultz and Berry have stood by the changes, and although the city sent a letter to the Justice Department saying it would cooperate with any investigation, the chief and the mayor have been unenthusiastic about the prospect of DOJ launching a civil rights probe of APD.</p>
<p>Last year, Berry vetoed a City Council resolution that would have invited the Justice Department to Albuquerque for an investigation.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, Schultz had his staff compared APD to police departments in New Orleans and Seattle that were recently investigated by the Justice Department. The findings: APD already has put into place 100 percent of the “applicable” DOJ-ordered changes in Seattle and 95 percent of those in New Orleans.</p>
<p>For example, the Justice Department has ordered the New Orleans Police Department to form a crisis intervention team to better serve people living with mental illness. And NOPD must now video record all interviews with suspects.</p>
<p>APD has had a crisis intervention team for several years; Schultz has mandated that a growing number of his officers receive training in dealing with mental illness during the past 18 months, and APD officers are required to record all citizen contacts. — This article appeared on page A6 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | Mayor, Police Chief Say Changes Helping | false | https://abqjournal.com/149432/mayor-police-chief-say-changes-helping.html | 2012-11-28 | 2 |
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<p>Also, that data will no longer be used in evaluating first-year teachers even if they are in tested subjects.</p>
<p>SKANDERA: System is more fair for new teachers</p>
<p>Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera said Monday the changes to the evaluation system will make it more fair for new teachers, since the evaluations will be based more heavily on classroom observation and teacher attendance, and will no longer be tied to student performance measures from a previous year.</p>
<p>For veteran teachers in subjects and grade levels without standardized tests - music teachers would be one example - school districts will have the option of using primarily classroom observation and attendance to evaluate them.</p>
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<p>School districts would be allowed to choose whether to keep using the backup measures, such as improvement of some student test scores, or scrap them altogether. But if they do continue to use those measures, they can make up no more than 25 percent of a teacher's evaluation, rather than the 50 percent now.</p>
<p>The changes were made in response to feedback received by the agency in recent months, Skandera said. Skandera said they were presented to statewide superintendents last week and got a largely positive reaction.</p>
<p>"We feel like we've been very responsive," she told the Journal . "We want to make sure we have the fairest, most objective system for evaluating teachers."</p>
<p />
<p>The controversial teacher evaluations - released for the first time in 2014 and for a second round in May - have been blasted by some for rating teachers based in part on students they have never taught.</p>
<p>Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, a teachers union that has filed a lawsuit over the evaluation system, said the changes might address that problem, but will make the rating system more uneven overall.</p>
<p>"I think what this represents is a small concession," Bernstein said in a Monday interview. "But I think the system is so deeply flawed - that it doesn't help the vast majority of teachers."</p>
<p>Retroactive for new teachers</p>
<p>Under New Mexico's teacher evaluation system, test scores typically carry the most weight, accounting for 50 percent of a teacher's rating. The other 50 percent primarily consists of observation by principals, teacher attendance and students surveys.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>For teachers who do not have student test data, either because they are new to the job or teach subjects or grades that don't have student tests, school districts were told last year to come up with an alternate assessment instead that accounted for 50 percent. For instance, Albuquerque Public Schools chose to use the academic growth of the 25 percent of lowest-performing students in a school as the backup measure for teachers.</p>
<p>Under the changes announced Monday, that backup measure will no longer be used in evaluating new teachers.</p>
<p>But APS could choose to use it for those teaching non-tested courses. However, it could only use it at the lower 25 percent level or less, or abandon it entirely in favor of more heavily weighted observation and attendance criteria.</p>
<p>For the 1,876 new teachers in the 2014-15 school year - out of roughly 23,000 total teachers statewide - the revised evaluation formula is being used to recalculate evaluations from last year's school year. The change will also be applied moving forward.</p>
<p>Most of the 1,876 teachers will not see a change in their rating from last year due to the new criteria. Only 197 of the 1,876 new teachers will have a change in their designation - with 166 of those having an improved designation and 31 having their designation downgraded, according to the Public Education Department.</p>
<p>Skandera described the change in how new teachers are evaluated as the "right thing to do."</p>
<p>"There's literally no connection between the new teachers and those (backup) measures," she told the Journal.</p>
<p>The PED, which is part of Gov. Susana Martinez's administration, enacted the teacher evaluation system administratively in 2012, after a bill seeking to enact the system stalled in the Legislature.</p>
<p>The evaluations have been sharply criticized by some educators and teachers union leaders. After this year's evaluations were released, a group of roughly three dozen Albuquerque Public School teachers burned their evaluations in protest, with some educators saying the ratings were unfair and meaningless.</p>
<p>Under the teacher evaluation system, teachers are designated as falling into one of five categories - exemplary, highly effective, effective, minimally effective and ineffective. Most teachers - about 93 percent of those evaluated this year - fall into one of the three middle designations.</p>
<p>During the first year the teacher evaluations were released, numerous errors were found in the ratings, a phenomenon Skandera blamed on bad data submitted to the state by local school districts.</p>
<p>This year, the agency received 712 requests to clarify evaluations or look into possible glitches in the data.</p>
<p>Those requests led to just 31 teacher designation changes, mostly due to teachers getting a better rating after proving their attendance was better than previously shown. A number of other teachers had their school location or grade level labeled incorrectly, but fixing that problem did not result in a rating change.</p>
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<p /> | New Mexico teacher evaluations see change | false | https://abqjournal.com/622769/nm-teacher-evals-see-change.html | 2 |
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<p>It looks like Max Yon’s self-imposed hiatus will end on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Air Force’s leading scorer hasn’t played since Jan. 10, missing two games with a deep thigh bruise and then taking a personal leave of absence from the team for the past four games.</p>
<p>Yon returned to practice on Monday and coach Dave Pilipovich saw no reason why the senior wouldn’t suit up and play against New Mexico on Wednesday, assuming all goes well in the two practices leading up that game.</p>
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<p>“I think he feels good about what he wanted to do with the time off, so we’ve revisited that,” Pilipovich said. “He’s a really good person and he just wanted to be better.”</p>
<p>Air Force has offered no details about the nature of the issues that have sidelined Yon, but Pilipovich has maintained that this was Yon’s decision and had nothing to do with breaking any sort of team rules. Yon has remained a cadet in good standing throughout his absence.</p>
<p>“He’s had some good weeks and we’ll see how it goes now in practice,” Pilipovich said.</p>
<p>The Falcons could certainly use a boost, particularly on offense. The Falcons averaged 69 points through four Mountain West games with Yon, but just 58 points through the six games without him.</p>
<p>The guard from San Antonio, Texas, is averaging 15.3 points per game this season and is shooting 42 percent from 3-point range. He has scored at least 20 points six times this season, including career-high efforts of 25 points at Texas Tech and at home in an emotionally charged 92-87 loss to Colorado State.</p>
<p>“It will be good to have him around,” Pilipovich said. “It will be good to have another body in practice and kind of an older, been-through-it guy who can score a little bit, too.”</p>
<p>This week’s games: vs. New Mexico, 7 p.m. MT Wednesday (Root); vs. Wyoming, noon MT Saturday (Root). — Brent Briggeman, The Gazette, Colorado Springs</p>
<p>If the Mountain West had a First-Half Player of The Year award, senior guard Derrick Marks would be the odds-on favorite.</p>
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<p>Of course, if he wants the honor in March that actually exists, the Broncos need to keep winning. That’s obviously the real goal for the three-time player of the week honoree this season.</p>
<p>“It’s good to get it, but at the end of the day I want a Mountain West championship,” said Marks, who was MW player of the week three times as a sophomore and once last season. “If I’m getting all the player of the weeks, but we’re not getting our goal, it doesn’t mean anything to me, really.”</p>
<p>Marks’ improvement as a senior has been remarkable. He is shooting 52.6 percent from 3-point range (40-of-76) after shooting 28.8 percent (19-of-66) as a junior. His free-throw shooting (86.2 percent) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6-to-1) are on pace for the best of his career. He also averaged 25.9 points per game in January as teams have keyed on him with Anthony Drmic done for the year.</p>
<p>“It’s amazing what we’re getting to see, this senior year that he’s having,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said.</p>
<p>Per Boise State, of the 755 players in Division I scoring 10.5 points per game or more, Marks is the only one shooting better than 50 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and 85 percent on free throws.</p>
<p>“He’s the best player in the league,” Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy said.</p>
<p>Said Utah State coach Stew Morrill: “They probably have the MVP of the league right now.”</p>
<p>This week’s games: at Utah State, 7:30 p.m. MT Tuesday (CBS Sports Network); vs. San Diego State, 4 p.m. Sunday (CBS Sports Network) — Dave Southorn, Idaho Statesman</p>
<p>Coach Larry Eustachy has received some heat over the past two years for the Rams’ nonconference strength of schedule. That will soon cool off.</p>
<p>Colorado State and Kansas State have agreed to a two-game series beginning in 2015-16 to be played on neutral sites. The first meeting will be Dec. 19 of next season at the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas, with the Wildcats planning a return trip Dec. 17, 2016, at the Pepsi Center in Denver.</p>
<p>It will be the first time the schools have met since 2006 (Colorado State won 84-83 in Manhattan, Kansas) and 13th overall meeting.</p>
<p>Despite the flack Eustachy and the Rams (19-3, 6-3) have received about their scheduling — primarily from fans — it’s paid off this season with some key victories against teams in the NCAA RPI top 100. The Rams entered Tuesday with an RPI ranking of No. 29 and have wins against San Diego State (25), Boise State (51), Georgia State (84), UTEP (94) and at Colorado (99).</p>
<p>Kansas State (12-10) has a more recognizable brand name, but has an RPI only one spot better than Georgia State this season.</p>
<p>This week’s games: at Wyoming, 7 p.m. MT Wednesday (MW Digital Network); vs. UNLV, 2 p.m. MT Saturday (CBS Sports Network) — Matt L. Stephens, Fort Collins Coloradoan</p>
<p>The Bulldogs are not a strong rebounding team and that caught up to them in a rough week with losses at San Diego State and at Colorado State, falling to 5-4 and into a tie for sixth place in the MW.</p>
<p>They were a minus-12 in rebounding against the Aztecs, including 17 offensive rebounds. And they were minus-20 against the Rams, including 15 offensive rebounds.</p>
<p>They get a chance to bounce back against San Jose State on Wednesday at the Save Mart Center, but likely will have to do so without senior forward Alex Davis, who was suspended indefinitely prior to the loss at Colorado State for actions detrimental to the team. He was not in practice on Monday.</p>
<p>Davis was averaging only 4.1 rebounds while playing 23.1 minutes per game, but the Bulldogs are not particularly deep at the four and five. Karachi Edo started at the five against Colorado State, and Fresno State also has Braeden Anderson and freshman Terrell Carter II to eat up some minutes, though both have not seen much time on the floor.</p>
<p>Anderson played 15 minutes at Colorado State – he had played a total of 12 over the past four games. Carter played 10 minutes, his first since the conference opener at New Mexico, and grabbed five rebounds including two at the offensive end, which made an impression. The Bulldogs had five offensive rebounds in the game, but two were team rebounds and a third came off a blocked shot that never got close to the rim and was tracked down on the other side of the lane.</p>
<p>The Rams had 22 second-chance points to just one for Fresno State.</p>
<p>But with Davis suspended indefinitely, Anderson and Carter will get chances to make an impact around the rim. After playing San Jose State – the Spartans outrebounded Fresno State 33-25 when they played last month in San Jose — the Bulldogs are right back in the grinder with a game at UNLV and Boise State and Colorado State coming to Fresno after that.</p>
<p>“It gives another guy an opportunity to try and get something done,’’ coach Rodney Terry said. “I’m going to play guys who continue to try to buy into what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Collectively as a team we’re going to work on getting better and we have to challenge each other to continue to get better from a physical standpoint — guards, bigs, everybody working together to try to fix our rebounding problem.’’</p>
<p>Including a victory over Nevada that preceded the road losses at San Diego State and Colorado State the Bulldogs are a minus-15.3 in rebounding margin over their past three games, have given up 53 offensive rebounds and 40 second-chance points. In conference play are minus-8.3 in rebounding margin, ahead of only San Jose State.</p>
<p>The athletic department continues their promotional roll trying to gets fans into the Save Mart Center. Against San Jose State, they will be giving up $1,000 in gas cards and one student will win an iPad mini and another student will win some Beats headphones. The Bulldogs have had 7,945 and 8,118 for their past two home dates, the average for nine games up to 6,034. Last season, they averaged 6,776. … This week’s game: vs. San Jose State, 8 p.m. MT (MW Digital Network) — Robert Kuwada, Fresno Bee</p>
<p>When his team hits the floor, coach David Carter can only count on two players: AJ West and Tyron Criswell.</p>
<p>The rest of his team is a complete wild card.</p>
<p>In MW play, West has averaged 14.6 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and shot 50.6 percent from the field. Criswell, a first-year player who was inserted into the starting lineup halfway through league play, has averaged 11.1 points and 4.4 rebounds on 45.7 percent shooting (he’s averaged 15 ppg as a starter). Carter has been happy with their play and consistency. Not so much with everybody else.</p>
<p>“We’re still searching for that consistency with the rest of the guys,” the sixth-year coach said. “It’s about being consistency and knowing what you’re going to get from each player every night.”</p>
<p>While Carter’s starting lineup shakeup has made the team more competitive, in large part because of Criswell’s ascent, the team is still riding a six-game skid, although its last three defeats have come by closer margins. Against Wyoming last Saturday, Carter was pleased with his team’s play even though it didn’t result in a win, making the loss even more frustrating to take.</p>
<p>“It’s hard when I talk to the kids because they did battle and this is a really hard place to get a win,” Carter said. “We had a chance. We had to foul at the end and give them some free throws, which pushed their score up. But this team is better in terms of effort. We’re playing hard. We’re keeping games close. This is a hard place to play and we made too many mistakes to beat a veteran team.”</p>
<p>This week’s games: vs. San Diego State, 8 p.m. MT Wednesday (ESPN3); at San Jose State, 4 p.m. MT Saturday (MW Digital Network). — Chris Murray, Reno Gazette-Journal</p>
<p>At the turn of the Mountain West conference schedule, the Lobos feel they let two games get away — an overtime loss at Wyoming and a home loss to Boise State.</p>
<p>But even with a genuine belief it could, and maybe even should be 8-1 at the midway point of the season, New Mexico (6-3 MW) knows it has to get much better down the stretch, especially on offense. The easiest way to do that, it seems, would be if senior guard Deshawn Delaney truly has re-found his confidence in his jump shot.</p>
<p>While Hugh Greenwood is the clear do-a-little-of-everything leader of the team, the Lobos know they won’t have enough offense to make a run at a league title without Delaney regaining the form of earlier in the season when he was a respectable jump shooter and excellent at attacking the rim. But the former has lacked greatly over the past month or so, leading to teams defending him four to six feet off when he has the ball on the perimeter in order to take away his drive.</p>
<p>To be at his best, and open up so much more of the Lobos offense for teammates and his own dribble drive, Delaney has to at least regain a respectable form from the perimeter.</p>
<p>It was only San Jose State, but the results of countless hours in the gym over the past several weeks refining his jump shot showed up in a Saturday win over the lowly Spartans. He scored a game-high 15 points and hit 3-of-4 3-pointers. He had not made a 3-pointer the entire month of January prior.</p>
<p>“I don’t think it was a slump; it was a lack of confidence,” Delaney said of his near month-long 3-pointer drought. “I didn’t have the confidence. I started getting into the gym shooting, and I just came out and started (Saturday’s game) with confidence.”</p>
<p>Delaney still leads the team in scoring and rebounding for the season, but his conference numbers had slipped a bit as he seemed hesitant when getting the ball on the perimeter. After taking eight 3-pointers in back-to-back losses to Texas A&amp;M and USC in November, New Mexico coach Craig Neal had harped on his senior for settling for the 3-point shot. For the next two months, Delaney seemed unsure of when to shoot it and when to attack.</p>
<p>Neal said this week Delaney needs to find the right balance because without the threat of hitting the 3-pointer, defenses will sag back and take away his drive the rest of the season, which would really hamper the rest of the Lobos offense.</p>
<p>This week’s games: at Air Force, 7 p.m. MT Wednesday (Root); vs. Utah State, 4 p.m. MT (Root) — Geoff Grammer, Albuquerque Journal</p>
<p>San Diego State has always played superb defense under Steve Fisher, but the Aztecs continue to take it to new extremes. Just ask Stew Morrill.</p>
<p>Utah State came to Viejas Arena on Saturday leading the Mountain West in shooting percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio, and with 12 minutes left they were stuck on 16 points on 21.2-percent shooting (7 of 33 shooting) with five assists and 16 turnovers. It was only the fifth time since 1996-97 that the Aggies have scored 42 or fewer points, and the last two have come against San Diego State.</p>
<p>Morrill’s take: “That’s a really good defensive basketball team. They make it hard for you to get much. We couldn’t score … We were a little stunned by how they took us out of everything. I don’t think there will be anybody in the Mountain West that will win (at Viejas Arena). I don’t.”</p>
<p>Fisher said he told his team at halftime, when the Aggies had 14 points and 14 turnovers, that “I’ve never seen you play better defensively. You took a team that runs set plays to perfection and you made them play scramble ball.”</p>
<p>The Aztecs (17-5, 7-2), who are on the road at Nevada and Boise State this week, rank third nationally in fewest points allowed (53.1), fifth in fewest free throws allowed (294) and ninth in defensive field-goal percentage (.373). In Ken Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency ratings, they are second only to undefeated Kentucky at 85.1 points allowed per 100 possessions.</p>
<p>“This is as good of as defense as we’ve had since we’ve been here,” admitted Fisher, in his 16th season at San Diego State. “Tonight was a classic example.”</p>
<p>This week’s games: at Nevada, 8 p.m. MT Wednesday (ESPN3); at Boise State, 4 p.m. MT Sunday (CBS Sports Network) — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune</p>
<p>The best shot at getting a Division I win this season likely passed the Spartans by when it lost to Air Force 66-52 last week.</p>
<p>SJSU (2-19, 0-9 Mountain West) still has two meetings with Nevada — the team it beat for its lone MW win last season — including a home tilt on Saturday. But at this point, it’s looking less and less likely the Spartans will avoid the fate of a winless conference season.</p>
<p>For his part, coach Dave Wojcik is avoiding placing too much stress on the importance of getting that elusive victory.</p>
<p>“I’m sure that weighs on (the players’) minds when they leave here,” Wojcik said. “It weighs on my mind. It’s human nature. But I don’t focus on that with them, because I think if we focus on that, they’re going to be more disappointed when they don’t have that happen.”</p>
<p>Jaleel Williams, the team’s lone active senior, summed up the players’ view of the remainder of the season.</p>
<p>“Everybody puts the same jersey on and goes out there every night and continues to compete,” Williams said. “I think that’s all you can ask of your team. There’s not much to be said but to strap up and continue to be men and fight to the finish.”</p>
<p>This week’s games: at Fresno State, 8 p.m. MT Wednesday (no TV), vs. Nevada, 4 p.m. MT Saturday (MW Digital Network) — Jimmy Durkin, San Jose Mercury News</p>
<p>Add another item to UNLV’s long list of problems is freshman forward Goodluck Okonoboh is struggling with a painful case of plantar fasciitis in his right foot, and his availability down the stretch could be determined from game to game.</p>
<p>“I’m not able to do everything I want. But I just want to play. I’ll have time to rest later,” said Okonoboh, who takes prides in being tough.</p>
<p>Already thin on the front line, the Rebels need the 6-foot-10 Okonoboh’s low-post defense, rebounding and shot-blocking contributions. He came off the bench at Nevada last week and made a major impact by finishing with 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocks in 26 minutes.</p>
<p>UNLV has a three-game win streak going into Saturday’s game at Colorado State. The Rebels’ 67-62 victory over Nevada was their first true road win of the season, and they climbed to 4-5 in the Mountain West by holding off a shorthanded Air Force team on Saturday.</p>
<p>Freshman guard Rashad Vaughn scored a career-high 31 points as UNLV rallied to defeat Utah State 79-77 in overtime on Jan. 24. But his scoring tailed off in the past two games.</p>
<p>The Rebels have won three in a row since sophomore Chris Wood made this bold prediction on Twitter: “From here on out I PROMISE WE WONT LOSE anymore.”</p>
<p>So far, so good. But if Wood’s prediction comes true, he should be remembered with history’s great seers, right up there with Joe Namath and Nostradamus.</p>
<p>This week’s game: at Colorado State, 2 p.m. MT Saturday (CBS Sports Network). — Matt Youmans, Las Vegas Review-Journal</p>
<p>It was not exactly the way the Aggies had hoped to finish the first half of league play.</p>
<p>For the first time this season, Utah State (12-9, 5-4) was blown out. San Diego State handled the Aggies, 62-42, forcing them to shoot a season-low 29.2 percent from the field. It was just the second time this season USU has lost by double-digits as BYU beat the Aggies by 10.</p>
<p>However, USU was still in the game against its in-state rival until the final minutes. That was not the case last Saturday.</p>
<p>“The best thing we can do with this game is flush it, move on,” coach Stew Morrill said. “It doesn’t matter whether you lose by two or lose by 20. You lose.”</p>
<p>It’s good the Aggies don’t spend too much time dwelling on the loss as they have a big week ahead of them. First they host one of the hottest teams in the league in Boise State and then travel to New Mexico.</p>
<p>“We are obviously coming off a tough performance and we need to be ready to bounce back,” Morrill said. “We better get ready and better know what we are in for.”</p>
<p>So far this season, the Aggies have been able to forget bad performances and come ready to play after tough losses. Utah State turned the ball over a season-high 19 times after entering the contest 14th in the country for fewest turnovers at 10.4 per contest.</p>
<p>“It was our first blowout of the season,” said forward Jalen Moore, who continues to lead the team in scoring (15.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg). We’ve got to try and forget about it, because we have to turn around and play another hard team.”</p>
<p>Utah State is tied for sixth in the MW standings, just two games out of first. While the Aggies would like to have had at least one or possibly two more wins, they feel good after being picked to finish 10th in the preseason poll.</p>
<p>“When you look at what we started the year with, with our lack of experience and being picked 10th in the league, you have to take some feeling of satisfaction,” Morrill said. “Obviously, you always want to compete as high as you can and try and compete at the top. But you can’t feel awful about being on the upside of the record, 5-4 in the first half of league.”</p>
<p>This week’s games: vs. Boise State, 7:30 p.m. MT Tuesday (CBSSN); at New Mexico, 4 p.m. MT Saturday (ROOT). — Shawn Harrison, The Herald Journal, Logan, Utah</p>
<p>The Cowboys’ depth in the post took a hit this week when it was announced redshirt freshman forward Alan Herndon is out indefinitely with mononucleosis.</p>
<p>Coach Larry Shyatt said after a 63-55 home win over Nevada last Saturday Herndon had strep throat, but took some antibiotics and was deemed not contagious by doctors. He played 14 minutes off the bench.</p>
<p>Herndon has been the Cowboys’ first big man off the bench this season. He has averaged only 2.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, but has played 16.2 minutes per contest. That figure increases to 17.6 minutes in conference play.</p>
<p>Senior starters Larry Nance Jr. and Derek Cooke Jr. already play most of the minutes inside for this team. The only other post player available is true freshman Jonathan Barnes, who has played sparingly in eight games, and only in one conference game.</p>
<p>Senior center Matt Sellers quit prior to the start of the spring semester a couple of weeks ago. True freshman forward Tyrell Williams is being redshirted.</p>
<p>Wyoming (18-4, 7-2) remains tied for first place in the MW with San Diego State, but faces one of the better rebounding teams — and better teams overall — in the league in Colorado State Wednesday.</p>
<p>This week’s games: vs. Colorado State, 7 p.m. MT Wednesday (MW Digital Network); at Air Force, noon MT Saturday (Root). — Robert Gagliardi, Wyoming Tribune Eagle/WyoSports</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> | Around the Mountain: Team-by-team MWC hoops reports (Feb. 3) | false | https://abqjournal.com/536019/around-the-mountain-team-by-team-mwc-hoops-reports-feb-3.html | 2 |
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<p>Words have ensnarled the rampage at Fort Hood. Nothing more needs to be said. Thirteen dead, and thirty-one injured. What sets this massacre apart from the bombing at Oklahoma City (with 168 dead) and Columbine High (with 12 dead), is that the assailant here is a Muslim at a time when the United States is at war in two Muslim-majority countries (Iraq and Afghanistan). Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols as well as Eric Harris and Dylan Kiebold were all white. Their acts brought forth revulsion, but not condemnation of Christianity; that would have been ridiculous.</p>
<p>All these acts have indeed once more refreshed the necessary, but repetitive, debates over gun control and mental health care for war veterans. It is fitting to remember that the father of Columbine victim Daniel Mauser (age 15), Tom Mauser is a leading gun-control advocate. Traction has not come his way, as it has not for many of those parents and loved ones of those who were killed by assault rifles that do not belong where they find themselves (such as in places like Guns Galore, in Killeen, Texas, home to Fort Hood, and where Major Nidal Malik Hasan bought his FN Herstal tactical pistol, a standard issue gun used by NATO troops in Afghanistan).</p>
<p>Fort Hood, like other bases that send young people to ghastly wars, has seen a spate of suicides (ten in 2009, and seventy-six since 2003) and cases of violence against women (up by 75% since 2001). Post-traumatic stress disorder has become a routine problem. Multiple deployments don’t help. Nor does recalcitrance to admit to mental illness as a real injury, as much as a physical one.</p>
<p>All this is on the table. Including the failure by the military to identify serious problems in the well-being of Major Hasan. He was obviously not suited to the military, and should have been discharged rather than be shunted from Walter Reed to Ft. Hood. Large bureaucracies are like this: rather than take action, the envelope is pushed down the counter. This envelope contained a letter bomb.</p>
<p>Major Hasan’s own reasons for action will probably never be known. He has acted. The action has provoked analysis. Some of the ideas are useful, and hopefully productive, others are toxic. The deployment of the idea of “political correctness” and the shifting of the burden of explanation to Hasan’s religion is a convenient way to avoid all else. Muslim Americans anticipated the backlash immediately (one might remember CBS’s Connie Chung right after the Oklahoma bombing in 1995, “According to a government source, it has Middle East terrorism written all over it.” It turned out to be an Iraq War veteran and his friend; that’s the closest the attack came to the Middle East).</p>
<p>All the requisite Muslim American organizations hastily put together press releases to condemn Major Hasan’s attack, even before the smell of cordite left the processing center where he went on his rampage. This was mete. After all, it was important to make the point against the kind of assumptions that would float out of the slime of FOX and its various friends. As it turned out, it didn’t stop anything. Nor could President Obama’s plea to keep religion out of it. Nor could General George Casey, who told CNN, that the backlash against Muslims and Muslim American soldiers “would be a shame as great a tragedy as this was, it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well.” The Army has been particular about diversity (for more on this see George Baca’s forthcoming book from Rutgers, Conjuring Crisis: Racism and the struggle for civil rights in a southern military town). This is why it joined the amicus brief against the end to affirmative action at the University of Michigan (Grutter v. Bollinger). The text is instructive: “[the case’s] outcome could affect the diversity of our [N]ation’s officer corps, and in turn, the military’s ability to fulfill its missions.” When asked about this support, Lt. General Becton told NPR, that diversity was a “combat multiplier. It brings about unit cohesiveness.” The brief was signed by all the senior officers, each one battle-tested. Nothing pious here.</p>
<p>But here comes the easy bile. Published, no less, than by Forbes. The author, Tunku Vardarajan, is a professor at the well-named Stern School of Business, but also a luminary in the various financial pages (a regular columnist at Forbes). His essay on the Fort Hood massacre is called “Going Muslim” (November 9). You can close your eyes and imagine what he argues. It does not require much sophistication.</p>
<p>Vardarajan thinks that Muslims are an entity apart. They cannot integrate. Indeed, theirs is a “fake integration.” Fine, most of the “hundreds of thousands of Muslims in our midst,” he writes, might not want to kill others, but “there are a few (perhaps many more than a few) who are so radicalized that they would kill their fellow Americans.” The bulk of Muslims are not so radicalized, but, to Varadarajan, they are still irreducible (“Muslims are the most difficult ‘incomers’ in the ongoing integration challenge”). They are Muslims first and last. Consider this: “Muslims may be more extreme because their religion is founded on bellicose conquest, a contempt for infidels and an obligation for piety that is more extensive than in other schemes.” Any Muslim, then, is a danger. It is nonsense, plagiarized from the paranoid notebooks kept by Daniel Pipes. I bet Vardarajan has not read the Quran, or listened to the Taqwacore bands or had an intense discussion with The Muslim Guy (Arslan Iftikhar).</p>
<p>Vardarajan used to write for the Wall Street Journal. In 2005, its editorial page described American Muslims as “role models both as Americans and as Muslims” (“Stars, Stripes, Crescent,” August 24, 2005). The impetus for that statement was the imputed danger of Muslims in Europe (the so-called idea of Eurabia, the Fifth Column of Muslims). The WSJ decided that on balance Muslim Americans were ideal citizens, well-educated, professionals, with a voting pattern balanced between the two major parties, and, importantly for the paper, with a plurality in favor of a lower tax rate. Nothing of this kind comes out in Vardarajan’s essay, which is far closer to the kind of reaction from Rush Limbaugh and Joe Lieberman (Calling Joe Biden, whose best line so far was used against Guiliani, that he can’t say a sentence without a noun, a verb and 9/11).</p>
<p>If Muslims can be reduced to their religion, and if their religion is indeed extremist, then the pabulum of political correctness, Vardarajan believes, should go. “President Obama,” he writes, “was as craven as a community college diversity vice-president when he said that no one should jump to conclusions.” It “flies in the face of common sense” to be considerate to Muslims, who might “go Muslim” at any moment. Racial profiling is therefore good; it is not far to the internment camps.</p>
<p>Fort Hood Three</p>
<p>Not far from the gates of Fort Hood sits the Under the Hood Café. Run by Codepink member Cynthia Thomas whose husband has been on three tours of Iraq, the Café provides a safe place for veterans to come talk frankly about the things that the culture of the military forbids, such as how to deal with trauma and the loneliness of the post-battlefield condition. The Café recalls an earlier time, when Fort Hood was home to a coffeehouse, Oleo Strut (named for an aircraft shock absorber), which was the base of anti-war activity. In those days of the draft for the Vietnam War, the soldiers had a much clearer sense of disgruntlement and did not labor under the immense ideological feint of the war on terror. Everyone was familiar with the notion that Vietnam was not threat to the United States, and that the conflict in South-East Asia was absurd. That is not so clear these days.</p>
<p>In 1966, three soldiers refused to go to Vietnam. Pfc. James Johnson, Pvt. Dennis Mora and Pvt. David Samas joined together to form the Fort Hood Three. They were court-martialed and sentenced to two and a half years in Leavenworth Penitentiary. When they came of out jail, all three went to work in the Du Bois’ clubs, affiliated to the Communist Party. In their Statement (June 30, 1966), the three pointed out that they refused to fight in the “immoral, illegal and unjust” war, which was being fought against an enemy that “had the moral and physical support of most of the peasantry who were fighting for their independence.” They rejected the imputation of racism (“We were told that you couldn’t tell [the Vietnamese rebels] apart – that they looked like any other skinny peasant”).</p>
<p>The war was aimless. “No one used the word ‘winning’ anymore,” they wrote, “because in Vietnam it has no meaning. Our officers just talk about five and ten more years of war with at least one half million of our boys thrown into the grinder. We have been told that many times we may face a Vietnamese woman or child and that we will have to kill them. We will never go there – to do that.”</p>
<p>Substitute Afghanistan for Vietnam, and things are updated.</p>
<p>Major Hasan was obviously strained in many ways. He needed counseling. But he also needed to be part of a public discussion about the futility of these wars. There is not much of that on offer. He rather fell into discussion with a cleric in Virginia who was equally bilious, the mirror image of the war planners. There is too much blood in these conversations. There is insufficient courage to talk about peace and justice.</p>
<p>VIJAY PRASHAD is the George and Martha Kellner Chair of South Asian History and Director of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, CT His new book is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565847857/counterpunchmaga" type="external">The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World,</a> New York: The New Press, 2007. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p /> | Can the Major Speak? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/11/13/can-the-major-speak/ | 2009-11-13 | 4 |
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