text
stringlengths 0
127k
| title
stringlengths 0
777
| hyperpartisan
bool 2
classes | url
stringlengths 26
278
| published_at
stringlengths 0
10
| bias
int64 0
4
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
<p>BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s president on Wednesday proposed that a European member of Parliament be country’s the next prime minister and potentially its first female leader.</p>
<p>President Klaus Iohannis named Viorica Dancila, a member of the ruling Social Democratic Party and an ally of party chairman Liviu Dragnea. The decision must be approved by Parliament for her to get the job.</p>
<p>The move came after the ruling party forced the resignation of their prime minister on Monday less than seven months after he took office. Dragnea, the most powerful politician in Romania, can’t be prime minister due to a conviction for vote-rigging.</p>
<p>Dancila, 54, supports laws being considered by Parliament that critics say will make it harder to prosecute high-level corruption.</p>
<p>On Wednesday she said it was important “to put into practice the governing program and ... to prepare for the presidency of the European Union,” which Romania takes over on Jan. 1, 2019.</p>
<p>Iohannis said he was giving the Social Democrats, who have a parliamentary majority with a junior partner, another chance after “two failed governments.” He was referring to the resignation of Mihai Tudose on Monday and a previous prime minister, Sorin Grindeanu, who was ousted in June 2017.</p>
<p>Romania’s opposition Liberal Party called for an early election instead, saying the Social Democrats have failed to deliver a stable government.</p>
<p>Iohannis said Romanians had great expectations of their future government.</p>
<p>“The Social Democrats have promised salaries, pensions, schools ... hospitals, infrastructure ... but too little has been achieved,” he said.</p>
<p>After the Social Democrats came to power in December 2016, they moved to pass laws that have diluted efforts to crack down on corruption. That prompted weeks of massive protests, the largest since communism ended in 1989.</p>
<p>The government backed off, but late last year began to debate legislation in Parliament that would restructure Romania’s justice system, a move that has been criticized by the U.S. and the European Union.</p>
<p>BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s president on Wednesday proposed that a European member of Parliament be country’s the next prime minister and potentially its first female leader.</p>
<p>President Klaus Iohannis named Viorica Dancila, a member of the ruling Social Democratic Party and an ally of party chairman Liviu Dragnea. The decision must be approved by Parliament for her to get the job.</p>
<p>The move came after the ruling party forced the resignation of their prime minister on Monday less than seven months after he took office. Dragnea, the most powerful politician in Romania, can’t be prime minister due to a conviction for vote-rigging.</p>
<p>Dancila, 54, supports laws being considered by Parliament that critics say will make it harder to prosecute high-level corruption.</p>
<p>On Wednesday she said it was important “to put into practice the governing program and ... to prepare for the presidency of the European Union,” which Romania takes over on Jan. 1, 2019.</p>
<p>Iohannis said he was giving the Social Democrats, who have a parliamentary majority with a junior partner, another chance after “two failed governments.” He was referring to the resignation of Mihai Tudose on Monday and a previous prime minister, Sorin Grindeanu, who was ousted in June 2017.</p>
<p>Romania’s opposition Liberal Party called for an early election instead, saying the Social Democrats have failed to deliver a stable government.</p>
<p>Iohannis said Romanians had great expectations of their future government.</p>
<p>“The Social Democrats have promised salaries, pensions, schools ... hospitals, infrastructure ... but too little has been achieved,” he said.</p>
<p>After the Social Democrats came to power in December 2016, they moved to pass laws that have diluted efforts to crack down on corruption. That prompted weeks of massive protests, the largest since communism ended in 1989.</p>
<p>The government backed off, but late last year began to debate legislation in Parliament that would restructure Romania’s justice system, a move that has been criticized by the U.S. and the European Union.</p> | Romanian president backs having 1st female prime minister | false | https://apnews.com/94a797ea2b0c40dd8ce3aa974bb40b7b | 2018-01-17 | 2 |
<p>This story was originally reported by PRI's The World. For more, listen to the audio above.</p>
<p>Aid organizations and the United Nations are calling on the world to provide more help to the millions of Pakistanis affected by recent floods. According to the New York Times, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/world/asia/19nations.html" type="external">aid groups are struggling</a> to find the necessary shelter, medical supplies, food and clean water needed in the area. As of August 18, only about 1.2 million of the estimated 15 million people affected by the floods had access to clean drinking water.</p>
<p>Organizations like UNICEF are trying to help, but the accompanying funds have not been forthcoming. The current shortfall in UNICEF's funding, according to Executive Director of UNICEF UK David Bull, is about $35 million. Bull told PRI's The World:</p>
<p>There are more people affected by this emergency than the tsunami in 2004, the Haiti earthquake and the earthquake in 2005 in Pakistan, all added together. This is of massive proportions. We've already seen deaths from flooding. The rain is still coming. The situation is still getting worse. And now we're in a race against time to prevent a second wave of deaths, particularly affecting children, from waterborne diseases.</p>
<p>Experts believe that one reason why more aid isn't getting to Pakistan is because of the country's bad reputation. Imtiaz Qadir of the Active Change Foundation told The World, "People who would normally be very, very affected immensely, that we must do something here, are not doing that because they relate that country with terrorism now."</p>
<p>A fear of corruption may also be holding people back from donating to Pakistan. Qadir points out that many in the Pakistani, the British and the American communities don't trust the government to use donations for good. "Everybody's there just to fill their pockets," Qadir said, "and any sort of aid that they ask for will go into their pockets."</p>
<p>Other reasons for the lack of giving may be far <a href="http://www.theworld.org/2010/08/18/haiti-versus-pakistan-aid-response/" type="external">beyond Pakistan's control</a>. "Fundraisers know that the end of the summer is one of the worst times for raising money," Daniel Borokoff of the American institute of Philanthropy told The World. People getting back from their vacations, checking their credit card bills and getting ready for back-to-school spending aren't often in the mood for philanthropic giving. And the media may play a part in the lack of interest, too. Comparing the outpouring of giving to Haiti to the relatively paltry response to Pakistan, Borokoff noted, "Flooding doesn't make as interesting of footage as an earthquake that has collapsed buildings and roads and infrastructure."</p>
<p>The consequences of doing nothing, however, could be dire. Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Hussain Qureshi recently warned:</p>
<p>If we do not get the attention, if we do not get the help, I am worried. When people are suffering they do not differentiate from where help is coming. If a person is hungry, if a person is thirsty and you provide water, he would not ask you whether you are a moderate or an extremist, he will grab that water from you and save himself and his children who are starving.</p>
<p>And if extremists are the only people offering aid, that could create huge problems in the future.</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> | Aiding Pakistan proves a challenge | false | https://pri.org/stories/2010-08-18/aiding-pakistan-proves-challenge | 2010-08-18 | 3 |
<p>Since the late 1800s, the wolf at the door has taken many different forms: Jews, African Americans, Catholics, Communists, humanists, institutions of higher education, sexual minorities and immigrants.</p>
<p>Donald Trump is no principled conservative. His shifting attitudes on abortion and same-sex marriage have a whiff of opportunism. He called for double the $275 billion in infrastructure spending that Hillary Clinton proposed. And he’s a free-trade skeptic.</p>
<p>So how has he hijacked the GOP? Trump’s success at tapping into economic anxieties is certainly a factor in his success among white working-class conservatives (though his supporters are more affluent than is usually acknowledged). But it wasn’t just economic populism that allowed Trump to be the last candidate standing. He won because he told a story that conservatives never tire of hearing, and he told it better than anyone else.</p>
<p>The premise is this: Our nation is under dire threat. Threats to our freedom loom beyond and lurk within the national borders. Christianity and the foundations of American civilization are at stake.</p>
<p>Since the late 1800s, the wolf at the door has taken many different forms: Jews, African Americans, Catholics, Communists, humanists, institutions of higher education, sexual minorities and immigrants. The prominence of any particular villain depends on the storyteller, and it varies over time. But the basic claims remain strikingly similar.</p>
<p>The threat that the villain supposedly poses can be a traditional military one—bombs and armies—or it can take ideological forms: dangerous ideas or cultural shifts. It can come from the outside or the inside. The story is most powerful when all of these lines are blurred, so that the threat has both military and ideological elements, and the battlefield is both inside and outside the nation. The Soviet Union of the Cold War era is a classic example.</p>
<p>Trump has shrewdly cashed in on this story. Yet the story has also become the source of the GOP’s great dilemma. In Trump’s telling, the raw racism and bigotry that created the story’s earliest villains have resurfaced. Though they served him well in the primary season, they don’t bode well for Trump’s general election fate, or for a party that desperately needs to broaden its electoral base beyond a shrinking pool of elderly white voters.</p>
<p>The half century after the Civil War produced not only a vicious racist backlash against African Americans, but a period of strong nativist fervor, sparked by rapidly rising immigration.</p>
<p>About 20 million immigrants arrived in the U.S. from 1880 to 1920, mostly from Eastern, Central and Southern Europe. In Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis (1885), Congregationalist minister Josiah Strong offered one of the most influential responses to this wave, predicting that the world would soon “enter upon a new stage of its history—the final competition of races, for which the Anglo-Saxon is being schooled.” Strong proposed a massive Protestant missionary campaign to Christianize the nation’s cities and, ultimately, the world. The book reportedly sold 175,000 copies in the early years after its publication—a bestseller for the time.</p>
<p>Through the early decades of the 20th century, influential social reformers across the political spectrum—including many white progressives—followed Strong in defending the nation against the threats from immigrants, racial and religious minorities, and the generally “unfit,” a broad category that encompassed the poor and the physically and mentally disadvantaged. The pervasive racism of the World War I era was expressed most powerfully in the Ku Klux Klan, which flourished in the first half of the 1920s and directed its violence not only against African Americans and immigrants but against religious minorities—Jews and Catholics in particular.</p>
<p>Amateur anthropologist Madison Grant summed up the energies that fed into the Klan’s rise in his The Passing of the Great Race (1916), a seminal text of the emerging eugenics movement. “Altruistic ideals,” Grant wrote, “are sweeping the nation toward a racial abyss.” He meant that philanthropic efforts aimed at helping “unfit” races threatened the dominance of the “superior” race of white Nordic people. (Certain white ethnic groups, including Irish and Italians, were often included in the “unfit” races.) The book was widely read and endorsed by American politicians—Theodore Roosevelt applauded its “fine fearlessness”—and it is still widely read, circulated and celebrated within white nationalist circles.</p>
<p>World War II marked a transformative moment in the story of American conservatism, as communism moved to the foreground as the most prominent civilizational threat.</p>
<p>In 1951, William F. Buckley provided the movement with its modern foundational text in God and Man at Yale. Freshly graduated, young Buckley looked back on his undergraduate days with consternation. “I had always been taught, and experience had fortified the teachings, that an active faith in God and a rigid adherence to Christian principles are the most powerful influences toward the good life,” he wrote in the foreword. But at Yale, he found that he was “one of a small group of students who fought … against those who seek to subvert religion and individualism.” A devout Catholic, Buckley shifted the battle away from explicit interfaith antagonisms. The new enemies would be creeping communism, godlessness, and culturally critical institutions, like Yale, that betrayed the nation by promoting “atheistic socialism.”</p>
<p>Wisconsin Sen. Joe McCarthy planted that flag dramatically in the public square in the early 1950s, and though his wild accusations eventually backfired, anti-communism remained a vital source of energy and passion for the postwar conservative movement. In 1964, for example, a Missouri-based Baptist preacher, John Stormer, regurgitated McCarthy’s themes in None Dare Call It Treason. It reportedly sold 7 million copies; a new edition was published in 1990. “A cold analysis of the world situation and of the degree of control exercised by the collectivists can only produce the realization that the odds against our survival are great,” Stormer wrote.</p>
<p>Even with anti-communism ascendant, explicit racism remained a distinct element within mainstream conservatism through at least the mid-1960s. Buckley was an aggressive critic of the civil rights movement, for example, explaining in 1957 that “claims of civilization supersede those of universal suffrage.” He was addressing the question of whether the white race is “entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas” where it is a numerical minority. He thought it was, since “for the time being, it is the advanced race.”</p>
<p>Through the late 1970s and 1980s, as the Christian Right matured as an organized political force and became the GOP’s base, conservative polemics focused less on explicitly racist appeals or communist subversion and more on “secular humanism.” These jeremiads had a familiar conspiratorial edge, but they broadened the critique to position communism as one variety of humanism, which they defined as a philosophy that privileged human abilities and reason over faith in, and total submission to, God’s agency.</p>
<p>“Humanism means that … man is the measure of all things,” wrote Francis Schaeffer, an influential Christian apologist. Schaeffer thought there could be no compromise between humanism and Christianity, and evangelicals responded to this message with a burst of institution building, focused especially on elementary and secondary schools. Subsequent scholarship has shown that their creation of educational enclaves in the 1970s was, in large part, driven by racial fears and animosities about blacks. But the explicit justification was the defense of Christianity and civilization against the onslaught of humanism.</p>
<p>In the late 1980s and 1990s, a variation on this critique found an audience far beyond evangelical circles through a flood of influential books and articles decrying the corruption of American higher education, brought on by conservatives’ despair over the increasing presence of women and minorities on campus and the curricular reforms,&#160;such as the creation of race and gender studies departments, that reflected the new diversity of the institutions. In 1987, Allan Bloom, a secular Jew, gave this critique its most polished expression in The Closing of the American Mind—in which he explained “how higher education has failed democracy and impoverished the souls of today’s students.” It remained on the New York Times bestseller list for several months.</p>
<p>There are still distinct echoes of these eras within the conservative movement, but 9/11 initiated a sharp transition by refocusing conservative fears on perceived foreign threats. The demonized immigrants of a century ago, largely of European origin, have been replaced with Latino immigrants, especially Mexicans; the religious bigotry once aimed at Jews and Catholics has been trained on Muslims. In that sense, the story has come full circle.</p>
<p>Both groups, Mexicans and Muslims, can be portrayed as powerful villains, because they pose perceived threats that exist within and beyond the nation’s borders: “They’re taking our jobs,” in the case of Mexicans; and “they’re plotting war on us,” in the case of Muslims. And the latter narrative offers not only a military dimension—the “war on terror”—but also an ideological one. Since 2010, at least seven states, mostly in the South and Midwest, have passed laws to address the non-existent threat that Sharia law poses to the American legal system. The Muslim threat—like the former Soviet Union—is perceived as all-consuming and everywhere at once.</p>
<p>The racial and religious hostility of Donald Trump’s campaign is jarring in part because, before 9/11, the conservative end-of-civilization story focused on threats that had little to do, explicitly, with race or religion. And while racial and religious bigotry had been simmering within the conservative movement since the World Trade Center attacks, they’d been confined primarily to the movement’s pundits and publications—as when Ann Coulter wrote last year, in Adios America, “The only thing that stands between America and oblivion is a total immigration moratorium. … No matter how clearly laws are written, government bureaucrats connive to confer citizenship on people that a majority of Americans would not let in as tourists, much less as our fellow citizens.”</p>
<p>With the possible exception of Ted Cruz, no mainstream GOP politician would have said anything nearly as incendiary. But Trump, with his demagogic instincts and total lack of party loyalty, was free to join Coulter in taking the end-of-civilization story back to its roots in racial and religious animus. It is an open question where the story will take him now—and how his party, and the conservative movement with it, will navigate his aftermath.</p>
<p>Theo Anderson, an In These Times writing fellow, has contributed to the magazine since 2010. He has a Ph.D. in modern U.S. history from Yale and writes on the intellectual and religious history of conservatism and progressivism in the United States. Follow him on Twitter @Theoanderson7 and contact him at [email protected].</p> | A Brief History of the Right’s Racist Hate: From 1885 to Trump | true | http://inthesetimes.com/article/19450/the-rights-cycle-of-hate | 2016-09-26 | 4 |
<p>Despite some early concerns, a new study suggests the powerful cholesterol drugs known as PCSK9 inhibitors may not cause memory problems or other mental symptoms.</p>
<p>The drugs, which include evolocumab (Repatha) and alirocumab (Praluent), were approved in the United States in 2015. That came after trials showed they can dramatically slash LDL cholesterol (the “bad” kind), including in people with a genetic condition that often causes premature heart disease.</p>
<p>But early findings also hinted at a potential side effect: cognitive problems such as memory lapses and confusion.</p>
<p>The risk was small, though, and it was not clear whether the drugs were actually causing the problems.</p>
<p>Enter the new study. It’s the first to actually follow PCSK9 patients over time, looking for new memory problems or other cognitive issues, said lead researcher Dr. Robert Giugliano.</p>
<p>The study involved more than 1,200 patients who were randomly assigned to take either Repatha or a placebo. At the outset, patients took standard tests of memory, planning and other mental skills. They repeated those tests three times over the next two years.</p>
<p>The patients were also asked about any cognitive issues they’d noticed in daily life.</p>
<p>Overall, the study found, no differences surfaced between Repatha patients and those taking the placebo.</p>
<p>The findings should be “reassuring,” said Giugliano, a heart disease specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.</p>
<p>Dr. Erin Michos, a cardiologist who was not involved in the study, agreed.</p>
<p>“I do think the findings should provide much reassurance to patients,” said Michos, who is associate director of preventive cardiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.</p>
<p>Still, she said, the patients — who were 63 years old, on average — were typically followed for only 19 months.</p>
<p>“I am definitely interested in longer follow-up,” Michos said. “We will need to see what happens after 10 years.”</p>
<p>A five-year extension study is underway, Giugliano said. The research is being funded by Repatha maker Amgen, Inc.</p>
<p>For now, Michos said she feels “very comfortable” recommending PCSK9 inhibitors to certain “high-risk” patients who can benefit from them.</p>
<p>That includes people with familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic condition that causes very high LDL and, often, early heart disease.</p>
<p>Some other patients might be candidates, too, Michos said. A prime example would be someone with a history of heart attack whose LDL is still higher than desired, despite treatment with standard cholesterol drugs.</p>
<p>Why would PCSK9 inhibitors have any effect on memory and thinking?</p>
<p>According to Michos, there have been theoretical concerns about slashing LDL too much. Cholesterol is a key component of cell membranes, including the sheath that covers brain cells.</p>
<p>But that worry, Michos noted, has been countered by a crucial fact: There is a “blood-brain barrier,” and the brain makes its own cholesterol rather than pulling it from the blood.</p>
<p>So even a drastic drop in blood LDL, Giugliano said, should not affect the brain.</p>
<p>Plus, he added, the drug itself is “too big” to get past the blood-brain barrier and affect cholesterol production there.</p>
<p>There are some known downsides to PCSK9 inhibitors, however. They are taken by injection once a month or every two weeks, and people may have pain at the injection site, Giugliano said.</p>
<p>Then there’s the price tag, Giugliano noted.</p>
<p>PCSK9 inhibitors cost more than $14,000 a year, according to the American College of Cardiology. Meanwhile, many statins are currently available as cheap generics.</p>
<p>Statins remain the go-to cholesterol drug, Michos stressed.</p>
<p>“I do everything possible to optimize patients on their statins first,” she said.</p>
<p>Even when people think they are “statin intolerant” because of side effects, that’s often not the case, Michos added.</p>
<p>Sometimes, she said, patients do well if they switch to a lower dose or a different statin.</p>
<p>In other cases, the statin may not be the culprit at all, Michos said. Many people have heard that statins can cause muscle pain, she noted, so they can be quick to blame their medication when body aches strike.</p>
<p>“Much of the time people attribute their muscle symptoms to their statins, when they are due to other causes, such as arthritis or vitamin D deficiency,” Michos said.</p>
<p>The study was published Aug. 16 in the New England Journal of Medicine.</p> | Powerful Cholesterol Drug Won't Harm Memory: Study | false | https://newsline.com/powerful-cholesterol-drug-wont-harm-memory-study/ | 2017-08-17 | 1 |
<p>In her newly released paperback edition of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KAEXM2Y/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&amp;btkr=1" type="external">AND THE GOOD NEWS IS... Lessons and Advice from the Bright Side</a>, Fox News host and former George W. Bush press secretary <a href="http://danaperino.com/" type="external">Dana</a> <a href="http://danaperino.com/" type="external">Perino</a> provides some never-before published accounts of the Bush White House that offer revealing glimpses into the president’s handling of the Iraq War.</p>
<p>In a section titled "The President Knows His Most Important Audience," Perino records a discussion between Bush and aide <a href="https://twitter.com/EdWGillespie?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" type="external">Ed Gillespie</a> in which the president underscores the importance of conveying a message of "resolve" in the midst of a difficult and increasingly complex war.</p>
<p>Bush explains to Gillespie that he is always communicating with four distinct audiences: the American public, our allies, our enemies, and the troops. The fourth audience, Bush stresses, must "never" be sacrificed for the sake of the other three.</p>
<p>"Now, there will be times when you will want me to say something that would be popular with that first audience, the American people, but what you won’t realize is that it would have the effect of hurting the morale of our troops in the field," Bush told Gillespie. "And you just need to understand: I will never do that."</p>
<p>“Now, there will be times when you will want me to say something that would be popular with that first audience, the American people, but what you won’t realize is that it would have the effect of hurting the morale of our troops in the field. And you just need to understand: I will never do that."</p>
<p>George W. Bush</p>
<p>Here's the passage:</p>
<p>THE PRESIDENT KNOWS HIS MOST IMPORTANT AUDIENCE</p>
<p>In the spring of 2007, President Bush invited Ed Gillespie to his private study in the residence to ask him to serve as counselor to the president for his last eighteen months in office. The study is a beautiful, dark-paneled room off the Truman Balcony, and Ed settled into a black leather wingback chair across the president’s desk from him. The counselor position has a wide-ranging purview, including the White House press office, media affairs, communications, speechwriting, and events.</p>
<p>“You’re very good at communicating with American voters,” the president said, complimenting Ed’s time as chairman of the Republican National Committee. “But in this job you’ll need to understand that the president has more audiences than the American people.</p>
<p>“Our allies are an important audience. They listen closely to everything I say, and if they detect uncertainty or lack of resolve, they’ll be gone tomorrow.”</p>
<p>He snapped his fingers to emphasize the point. This was in June 2007, and America was in the thick of combat in both Afghanistan and Iraq (pre-surge).</p>
<p>“The third audience is our enemies,” the president continued. “They listen closely to whatever the American president says, and if they detect a lack of resolve, equivocation—they will become emboldened, and ramp up on us.</p>
<p>“The fourth audience is our troops in the field. They listen carefully to what their commander-in-chief says. And if they detect uncertainty, lack of resolve, equivocation . . . Well, it will hurt their morale.</p>
<p>“Now, there will be times when you will want me to say something that would be popular with that first audience, the American people, but what you won’t realize is that it would have the effect of hurting the morale of our troops in the field.”</p>
<p>As those words were sinking in, he leaned forward across his desk and with his eyes steeled he said, “And you just need to understand: I will never do that.”</p>
<p>And Ed thought to himself, Where do I sign?</p> | EXCLUSIVE Perino Book: W Knew His Most Important Audience: The Troops | true | https://dailywire.com/news/5100/exclusive-perino-book-w-knew-his-most-important-james-barrett | 2016-04-20 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A man charged with participating in a fatal home invasion of a professional New Mexico mixed martial artist has been sentenced to five years in prison.</p>
<p>The Las Cruces Sun-News reports ( <a href="http://goo.gl/hzWdwo)" type="external">http://goo.gl/hzWdwo)</a> that Nathan Avalos was sentenced this week more than two years after the deadly home invasion.</p>
<p>Avalos was one of three charged with invading the Las Cruces home of Joe Torrez, who was with his then-fiance, 2-year-old son and two female friends.</p>
<p>Authorities say 25-year-old Sal Garces was stabbed during the altercation and died. No one has been convicted in his death.</p>
<p>As part of the home invasion agreement, Avalos pleaded no contest to reduced charges of breaking and entering and conspiracy to commit breaking and entering, both fourth-degree felonies.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, <a href="http://www.lcsun-news.com" type="external">http://www.lcsun-news.com</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Suspect in MMA fighter's New Mexico home invasion sentenced | false | https://abqjournal.com/730688/suspect-in-mma-fighters-new-mexico-home-invasion-sentenced.html | 2 |
|
<p>Here is a couple that feels wrong and strange to me, but some members of the staff of this website cosign it with every fiber of their being. Bill Murray, America’s oldest hipster, and Jenny Lewis, America’s other favorite hipster, are “special friends,” according to a source speaking to <a href="https://pagesix.com/2015/10/20/bill-murray-celebrates-movie-release-with-special-lady-friend/" type="external">Page Six.</a></p>
<p>Lewis showed up at a party for Murray’s upcoming film “Rock The Kasbah,” and at one point, hopped on stage to join Murray and do what she does best, which is shake a tambourine and have bangs. The pair were later seen at the Hunting Inn at the end of the night.</p>
<p>But! This is not the first time that Lewis and Murray have been seen together. Our intrepid contributor Lauren Vinopal spotted Murray and Lewis together-but-apart-but-still-together, like celebs do when they don’t want to be linked in the press, walking over the Brooklyn Bridge for&#160;a <a href="http://www.poetshouse.org/programs-and-events/poetry-walk/20th-annual-poetry-walk-across-brooklyn-bridge" type="external">Poet’s House event</a> in June.</p>
<p />
<p>Is your mind blown? Are you reeling in shock? Are you shaking your head at this unlikely pairing, as unfamiliar and foreign to your mind as a peanut butter and mayo sandwich, anchored with an onion on Wonderbread? Do you not understand how the world hasn’t imploded from twee? We found out yesterday that&#160;sentient&#160;Victrola record player Zooey Deschanel named her daughter Elsie Otter. The world’s capacity for winky-cutesy-bangs-and-ukelele happenings is boundless; it cannot be contained.</p>
<p>“Special friends” is what you call the person you’re fucking when you don’t want to admit that you’re actually fucking them, or are too famous to do so without causing a large commotion. Beyoncé and Jay-Z are husband and wife; Kylie Jenner and Tyga are probably somewhere closer to “special friends.” Bill Murray and Jenny Lewis are special friends, friends whose friendship is so special that she encounters his nude downstairs region on occasion. Maybe? Probably. They are.</p>
<p>Own it, Lewis. Sing it from the rooftops, Murray. May your union be a blessed one, full of slouchy winter hats and plaintive shanties sung in reedy voices fit for a&#160;Wes Anderson movie montage. We wish you the best of luck, and godspeed.</p>
<p>[ <a href="https://pagesix.com/2015/10/20/bill-murray-celebrates-movie-release-with-special-lady-friend/" type="external">Page Six</a>]</p> | Excuse Me, Bill Murray And Jenny Lewis Are Possibly Maybe Dating?! | true | http://thefrisky.com/2015-10-21/excuse-me-bill-murray-and-jenny-lewis-are-possibly-maybe-dating/?utm_source%3Dsc-fb%26utm_medium%3Dref%26utm_campaign%3Djenny-lewis | 2018-10-04 | 4 |
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — We have a smiling pile of poop. What about one that’s sad?</p>
<p>There’s loaf of bread and a croissant. But where’s the sliced bagel?</p>
<p>How can our emotional vocabulary be complete without a teddy bear, a lobster, a petri dish or a tooth?</p>
<p>These are the kind of questions that trigger heated debates and verbal bomb tossing — or at least memos with bursts of capital letters — among members of the group burdened with deciding which new emojis make it onto our phones and computer screens each year.</p>
<p>And now more people are getting in on the act.</p>
<p>The Unicode Consortium is tasked with setting the global standard for the icons. It’s a heady responsibility and it can take years from inspiration — Hey, why isn’t there a dumpling? — to a new symbol being added to our phones.</p>
<p />
<p>That’s because deciding whether a googly-eyed turd should express a wider range of emotions is not the frivolous undertaking it might appear to be. Picking the newest additions to our roster of cartoonish glyphs, from deciding on their appearance to negotiating rules that allow vampires but bar Robert Pattinson’s or Dracula’s likeness, actually has consequences for modern communication.</p>
<p>Not since the printing press has something changed written language as much as emojis have, says Lauren Collister, a scholarly communications librarian at the University of Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>“Emoji is one way language is growing,” she says. “When it stops growing and adapting, that’s when a language dies.”</p>
<p>Growing and adapting doesn’t seem like an issue for emojis. The additions for 2017 included gender-neutral characters, a breastfeeding woman and a woman in a hijab.</p>
<p>For better or worse, the expanding vocabulary has given us an emoji movie, emoji short story contests and books written in emoji — someone translated “Moby Dick” into “Emoji Dick.” In 2015, Oxford Dictionaries declared the “face with tears of joy” emoji its word of the year. New York’s Museum of Modern art has added the original emoji set to its permanent collection. Apple’s pricey iPhone X lets you send animojis, animated emojis that mimic your facial expressions and speak in your voice.</p>
<p>HOW DID WE GET HERE?</p>
<p>These tiny pictographs became a part of our online language with the ascent of cellphones, getting their start in Japan in 1999 — “emoji” combines the Japanese words for “picture,” or “e″ (pronounced “eh”), and “letters,” or “moji” (moh-jee). At first, there were just 176: simplistic, highly pixelated icons such as a heart, a soccer ball and a rocking horse. Today there are more than a thousand. Because none are taken away, their number only keeps growing.</p>
<p>“Long after you and I are dust in the wind there will be a red wine emoji,” said Mark Davis, the co-founder and president of Unicode Consortium who also works at Google.</p>
<p>Anyone can propose an emoji. But for it to make it to phones and computers, it has to be approved by Unicode. The nonprofit group, mostly made up of people from large tech companies like Apple, Google and Facebook, translates emoji into one standard, so that a person in France, for example, can send an emoji or a text message to a person in the U.S. and it will look the same, no matter what brand of phone or operating system they use.</p>
<p>From the proposals to the design, a bevy of rules govern emojis. To submit a proposal to Unicode, you must follow a strict format, in writing, that includes your emoji’s expected usage level, whether it can be used as an archetype, a metaphor for a symbol (a pig face, for example, can mean more than the face of a pig and represent gluttony).</p>
<p>There are many reasons for exclusion, too. Emojis can’t be overly specific, logos or brands, specific people (living or dead) or deities. A swastika wouldn’t be approved either.</p>
<p>Each year, a new version of the Unicode Standard is released. This year we got Unicode 10.0, which adds 8,518 characters, for a total of 136,690. It added the bitcoin symbol, a set of 285 Hentaigana characters used in Japan and support for languages such as Masaram Gondi, used to write Gondi in Central and Southeast India.</p>
<p>And then there’s the dumpling.</p>
<p />
<p>AN EMOJI TAKES SHAPE</p>
<p>Back in August 2015, journalist and author Jennifer 8. Lee was texting with her friend Yiying Lu, the graphic designer behind the iconic “fail whale” illustration that used to pop up when Twitter’s network was down. It dawned on Lee that there was no dumpling emoji.</p>
<p>“There are so many weird Japanese food emoji,” she said, but she didn’t understand how there could be no dumpling. After all, dumplings are almost universal. Think about it — ravioli, empanada, pierogi, potsticker — all dumplings.</p>
<p>The process took almost two years, including research, many meetings and a written, illustrated proposal that reads a bit like an academic paper, complete with research on dumpling history and popularity.</p>
<p>But thanks largely to her efforts, the dumpling emoji was added to the Unicode Standard this year. And as part of her dumpling emoji lobbying, Lee decided to join the Unicode Consortium.</p>
<p>It was an eye-opener.</p>
<p>When she showed up at her first quarterly meeting of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee, she expected a big auditorium. Instead, it was just a conference room. Most people there, she said, were “older, white male engineers,” from the big tech companies.</p>
<p>The debates are as esoteric as they are quirky. Should “milk” be in a glass or a carton or a bottle? Pancake or pancakes? Many of the emoji decision-makers are engineers or have linguistic backgrounds, she said, but very few are designers, which can mean limitations on how they think about the images.</p>
<p>As part of their efforts to diversify emojis, Lee and Lu founded Emojination, a group promoting “emoji by the people, for the people.” While it all started with a dumpling, the group also helped other food, clothing, science and animal emoji, including the woman in the hijab, the sandwich and the fortune cookie. Emojination has worked with companies like China’s Baidu, GE and the Finnish government to help them submit emoji proposals.</p>
<p />
<p>WHAT MAKES THE CUT</p>
<p>But when they proposed the frowning poop, they met with some resistance.</p>
<p>“Will we have a CRYING PILE OF POO next? PILE OF POO WITH TONGUE STICKING OUT? PILE OF POO WITH QUESTION MARKS FOR EYES? PILE OF POO WITH KARAOKE MIC? Will we have to encode a neutral FACELESS PILE OF POO? As an ordinary user, I don’t want this kind of crap on my phone,” <a href="http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17393-wg2-emoji-feedback.pdf" type="external">wrote</a> Michael Everson, a linguist, typographer, in a memo to the Unicode Technical Committee.</p>
<p>Another member, typographer Andrew West, wasn’t happy with a proposal for a sliced bagel emoji.</p>
<p>“Why are we prioritizing bagel over other bread products?” he wrote. Clearly he is not a New Yorker.</p>
<p>Got an idea for an emoji and are willing to fight for it? It’s not too late to submit one for the class of 2019. As for 2018, stay tuned. We’ll know in a few months which ones made the cut. And while there’s a desire to be funny and quirky, the diversity of emojis is a real issue.</p>
<p>Amy Butcher, whose 2015 essay prompted Google to propose emojis to represent women as professionals— and not just brides and polished nails — thinks there’s more work to do. The Ohio Wesleyan University professor would like to see interracial couples and human in a wheelchair to represent a disabled person, rather than the wheelchair icon one might see on a bathroom door.</p>
<p>“These tiny, insignificant images begin to create an everyday narrative, and it’s deeply problematic that one might consistently find their identity or demographic lacking, or pigeonholed, or altogether absent,” she said.</p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — We have a smiling pile of poop. What about one that’s sad?</p>
<p>There’s loaf of bread and a croissant. But where’s the sliced bagel?</p>
<p>How can our emotional vocabulary be complete without a teddy bear, a lobster, a petri dish or a tooth?</p>
<p>These are the kind of questions that trigger heated debates and verbal bomb tossing — or at least memos with bursts of capital letters — among members of the group burdened with deciding which new emojis make it onto our phones and computer screens each year.</p>
<p>And now more people are getting in on the act.</p>
<p>The Unicode Consortium is tasked with setting the global standard for the icons. It’s a heady responsibility and it can take years from inspiration — Hey, why isn’t there a dumpling? — to a new symbol being added to our phones.</p>
<p />
<p>That’s because deciding whether a googly-eyed turd should express a wider range of emotions is not the frivolous undertaking it might appear to be. Picking the newest additions to our roster of cartoonish glyphs, from deciding on their appearance to negotiating rules that allow vampires but bar Robert Pattinson’s or Dracula’s likeness, actually has consequences for modern communication.</p>
<p>Not since the printing press has something changed written language as much as emojis have, says Lauren Collister, a scholarly communications librarian at the University of Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>“Emoji is one way language is growing,” she says. “When it stops growing and adapting, that’s when a language dies.”</p>
<p>Growing and adapting doesn’t seem like an issue for emojis. The additions for 2017 included gender-neutral characters, a breastfeeding woman and a woman in a hijab.</p>
<p>For better or worse, the expanding vocabulary has given us an emoji movie, emoji short story contests and books written in emoji — someone translated “Moby Dick” into “Emoji Dick.” In 2015, Oxford Dictionaries declared the “face with tears of joy” emoji its word of the year. New York’s Museum of Modern art has added the original emoji set to its permanent collection. Apple’s pricey iPhone X lets you send animojis, animated emojis that mimic your facial expressions and speak in your voice.</p>
<p>HOW DID WE GET HERE?</p>
<p>These tiny pictographs became a part of our online language with the ascent of cellphones, getting their start in Japan in 1999 — “emoji” combines the Japanese words for “picture,” or “e″ (pronounced “eh”), and “letters,” or “moji” (moh-jee). At first, there were just 176: simplistic, highly pixelated icons such as a heart, a soccer ball and a rocking horse. Today there are more than a thousand. Because none are taken away, their number only keeps growing.</p>
<p>“Long after you and I are dust in the wind there will be a red wine emoji,” said Mark Davis, the co-founder and president of Unicode Consortium who also works at Google.</p>
<p>Anyone can propose an emoji. But for it to make it to phones and computers, it has to be approved by Unicode. The nonprofit group, mostly made up of people from large tech companies like Apple, Google and Facebook, translates emoji into one standard, so that a person in France, for example, can send an emoji or a text message to a person in the U.S. and it will look the same, no matter what brand of phone or operating system they use.</p>
<p>From the proposals to the design, a bevy of rules govern emojis. To submit a proposal to Unicode, you must follow a strict format, in writing, that includes your emoji’s expected usage level, whether it can be used as an archetype, a metaphor for a symbol (a pig face, for example, can mean more than the face of a pig and represent gluttony).</p>
<p>There are many reasons for exclusion, too. Emojis can’t be overly specific, logos or brands, specific people (living or dead) or deities. A swastika wouldn’t be approved either.</p>
<p>Each year, a new version of the Unicode Standard is released. This year we got Unicode 10.0, which adds 8,518 characters, for a total of 136,690. It added the bitcoin symbol, a set of 285 Hentaigana characters used in Japan and support for languages such as Masaram Gondi, used to write Gondi in Central and Southeast India.</p>
<p>And then there’s the dumpling.</p>
<p />
<p>AN EMOJI TAKES SHAPE</p>
<p>Back in August 2015, journalist and author Jennifer 8. Lee was texting with her friend Yiying Lu, the graphic designer behind the iconic “fail whale” illustration that used to pop up when Twitter’s network was down. It dawned on Lee that there was no dumpling emoji.</p>
<p>“There are so many weird Japanese food emoji,” she said, but she didn’t understand how there could be no dumpling. After all, dumplings are almost universal. Think about it — ravioli, empanada, pierogi, potsticker — all dumplings.</p>
<p>The process took almost two years, including research, many meetings and a written, illustrated proposal that reads a bit like an academic paper, complete with research on dumpling history and popularity.</p>
<p>But thanks largely to her efforts, the dumpling emoji was added to the Unicode Standard this year. And as part of her dumpling emoji lobbying, Lee decided to join the Unicode Consortium.</p>
<p>It was an eye-opener.</p>
<p>When she showed up at her first quarterly meeting of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee, she expected a big auditorium. Instead, it was just a conference room. Most people there, she said, were “older, white male engineers,” from the big tech companies.</p>
<p>The debates are as esoteric as they are quirky. Should “milk” be in a glass or a carton or a bottle? Pancake or pancakes? Many of the emoji decision-makers are engineers or have linguistic backgrounds, she said, but very few are designers, which can mean limitations on how they think about the images.</p>
<p>As part of their efforts to diversify emojis, Lee and Lu founded Emojination, a group promoting “emoji by the people, for the people.” While it all started with a dumpling, the group also helped other food, clothing, science and animal emoji, including the woman in the hijab, the sandwich and the fortune cookie. Emojination has worked with companies like China’s Baidu, GE and the Finnish government to help them submit emoji proposals.</p>
<p />
<p>WHAT MAKES THE CUT</p>
<p>But when they proposed the frowning poop, they met with some resistance.</p>
<p>“Will we have a CRYING PILE OF POO next? PILE OF POO WITH TONGUE STICKING OUT? PILE OF POO WITH QUESTION MARKS FOR EYES? PILE OF POO WITH KARAOKE MIC? Will we have to encode a neutral FACELESS PILE OF POO? As an ordinary user, I don’t want this kind of crap on my phone,” <a href="http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17393-wg2-emoji-feedback.pdf" type="external">wrote</a> Michael Everson, a linguist, typographer, in a memo to the Unicode Technical Committee.</p>
<p>Another member, typographer Andrew West, wasn’t happy with a proposal for a sliced bagel emoji.</p>
<p>“Why are we prioritizing bagel over other bread products?” he wrote. Clearly he is not a New Yorker.</p>
<p>Got an idea for an emoji and are willing to fight for it? It’s not too late to submit one for the class of 2019. As for 2018, stay tuned. We’ll know in a few months which ones made the cut. And while there’s a desire to be funny and quirky, the diversity of emojis is a real issue.</p>
<p>Amy Butcher, whose 2015 essay prompted Google to propose emojis to represent women as professionals— and not just brides and polished nails — thinks there’s more work to do. The Ohio Wesleyan University professor would like to see interracial couples and human in a wheelchair to represent a disabled person, rather than the wheelchair icon one might see on a bathroom door.</p>
<p>“These tiny, insignificant images begin to create an everyday narrative, and it’s deeply problematic that one might consistently find their identity or demographic lacking, or pigeonholed, or altogether absent,” she said.</p> | Will we get a sad poop emoji? Well, there’s a process | false | https://apnews.com/21483993462746d0857ba1d6edcd61e6 | 2017-12-29 | 2 |
<p>AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine will soon prohibit the sale of 33 invasive plants.</p>
<p>State officials say that the Maine landscape is being invaded by otherwise lovely plants like “Crimson King” Norway maple, burning bush and Japanese barberry.</p>
<p>The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry says such plants crowd out native plants and eliminate the food source for other species like caterpillars, an essential food for baby birds.</p>
<p>Starting Jan. 1, it will be illegal to sell, import, export or buy 33 invasive plants. The regulation went into effect in January 2017, and businesses had through December to sell remaining stock.</p>
<p>The state recommends gardeners plant native species like native red maples, red chokeberries and staghorn sumac.</p>
<p>AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine will soon prohibit the sale of 33 invasive plants.</p>
<p>State officials say that the Maine landscape is being invaded by otherwise lovely plants like “Crimson King” Norway maple, burning bush and Japanese barberry.</p>
<p>The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry says such plants crowd out native plants and eliminate the food source for other species like caterpillars, an essential food for baby birds.</p>
<p>Starting Jan. 1, it will be illegal to sell, import, export or buy 33 invasive plants. The regulation went into effect in January 2017, and businesses had through December to sell remaining stock.</p>
<p>The state recommends gardeners plant native species like native red maples, red chokeberries and staghorn sumac.</p> | Maine to prohibit sale of invasive plants | false | https://apnews.com/7627fd28f6074be0b734634c3cd35418 | 2017-12-31 | 2 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Steven Greenhut: California Attorney General Kamala Harris and her union allies no doubt have amused themselves at the way they <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/09/4250305/group-suspends-california-public.html" type="external">destroyed a proposed pension reform initiative by giving it a false and unfair title</a>, but what Harris did is one of the most despicable acts I’ve seen in government in a while. Harris runs the Justice Department, yet she chose to wield her power to help her political allies and harm her opponents by posting a blatantly dishonest title. This is a totalitarian approach. If there is no semblance of fairness in the Justice Department, then all we are left with is the exercise of raw political power. Fear a society in which people like Harris rule the roost. Actually, we’re already in that society.</p>
<p>Feb. 13, 2012</p> | Kamala Harris’ Totalitarianism | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2012/02/13/kamala-harris-totalitarianism/ | 2018-02-20 | 3 |
<p>In recent years, public spaces available for artistic and political expression have been disappearing in San Francisco, a situation addressed by the 2012 guerrilla art festival called Streetopia. For five weeks, Erick Lyle (the man behind the zine SCAM and author of the compulsively readable political memoir On the Lower Frequencies) and a crew of collaborators presented a series of art installations, musical performances, and other creative offerings which aimed to revitalize what is left of the city’s progressive culture. Now Streetopia has been documented in a book of the same name. It’s an affordable, handsome volume published by the small press Booklyn, which brings together articles, photographs, artwork of all varieties, polemics, poetry, and more.</p>
<p>Lyle writes that Streetopia “was intended as a somewhat modest celebration of past, present, and future radical art and political movements in San Francisco,” a city which “… occupies a particular utopian place in the public imagination of the country. For generations, it has been a destination for people who want to live for themselves the freedom they found reflected in the work of the legendary beat poets, queer activists, protest movements, seminal punk bands, groundbreaking artists, and others who have made the city their home.” In multimedia artist and UC Davis professor Jesse Drew’s contribution to <a href="" type="internal">Streetopia</a>(the book), “Free Cities and the Roots of Utopia,” Drew writes, “… the utopian project must flourish in the cities and streets, because while many relish rosy thoughts about returning to an idealized countryside, the fact is that the future of humanity is urban.” He quite rightly concludes, “Streetopia reclaims the rich humanitarian history of the city and reminds us that San Francisco is still a city worth fighting for.”</p>
<p>Lyle’s essay “The Future of Nowhere” anchors the book with an astute historical <a href="" type="internal" />overview of San Francisco’s history and its future possibilities. The piece begins by examining visions of the future propagated within Northern California’s high tech firms. The founders of Google and PayPal are among the wealthy data miners championing a concept known as “The Singularity,” which envisions computers and humans merging to become one omniscient being. Lyle argues, “With their public devotion to The Singularity, tech CEOs are really telling us that they already wish to be seen by us as super-intelligent gods, that their technological innovations are already the very instrument shaping mankind’s future evolution.” Of course, any silly ideas of social justice are too twentieth century for the brave new world of high tech; on that score, Lyle quotes William Gibson, who wrote, “The future is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed.”</p>
<p>Tech companies have been warmly embraced by San Francisco’s current mayor Ed Lee, who enthusiastically hosts “Tech Tuesdays” where he solicits policy suggestions from Twitter and their ilk. Much of the concurrent corporate-led redevelopment now underway is focused on Market Street, a major thoroughfare which epitomizes the city’s wealth gap. Here the homeless struggle for survival while nearby nouveau riche eagerly work to disrupt (a favorite word in Silicon Valley) what little equilibrium still exists for working class San Franciscans. For years, owners of properties on Market Street kept their buildings vacant in patient anticipation of the next construction boom. Their speculative greed has now paid off.</p>
<p>Though homelessness remains at crisis levels, instead of addressing that problem head on the city government continues to apply inadequate cosmetic solutions. Lyle writes, “… to solve the problem is not their goal. If it were, building affordable housing and putting a stop to illegal evictions would be a priority. Instead, as the city gives more tax breaks to corporations and green lights the construction of one massive luxury tower after another, each successive mayor simply uses the police to move the homeless encampments strategically around town, keeping them out of sight of the new zones of development and property-value boom.”</p>
<p>Lyle excoriates Bay Area media collusion with this sad state of affairs. Lyle notes that under its former owner, real estate developer Ted Fang, the San Francisco Examiner which went out of its way to demonize the urban poor. Lyle writes, “As [William Randolph] Hearst’s Examiner once drummed up a public hysteria to promote a war with Spain, the new tabloid declared its own war on Mid-Market citizens, calling for more police on the street, the closing of SRO hotels, and even, memorably, the demolition of the entire neighborhood to build a stadium that might be used to lure the Olympics to San Francisco.”</p>
<p>In scouting locations for their project, Streetopia organizers dealt with grossly inflated rents by “requisitioning” several still-vacant buildings (Lyle perfected this approach in 2001 when he and some friends set up an impromptu art gallery in another abandoned Market Street building) to complement space they were loaned by a sympathetic community gallery. Much of the project’s activity took place in the poverty-stricken Tenderloin neighborhood (just north of Market), where Streetopia artists, musicians, activists, and writers engaged local residents through a wide variety of free programming. They also ran an ongoing free cafe and cultivated trees and plants in a trashed alley, which remains an oasis of greenery dubbed “the Tenderloin National Forest.”</p>
<p>To Lyle, the efforts of San Francisco city planners to pave the way for a downtown arts district spilling into the Tenderloin are part and parcel of “… a worldwide top-down reorganization of urban space by capital.” In addition to San Francisco, Lyle cites Miami’s “Art Basel” mob scene and the expansion of the art market in New York, and writes, “ … the art world has become increasingly complicit with the desires of the world’s super rich for a sure means of ferrying tax-sheltered wealth smoothly across international borders in the form of top auction objects.” Lyle and company’s ad-hoc galleries served as a D.I.Y. alternative to the big money world of this contemporary art market.</p>
<p>Other solid writing in this book includes San Francisco author Rebecca Solnit’s poignant piece about life in the cold new world of Google busses, skyrocketing rents, and evictions; raconteur and publisher V. Vale’s essay recalling City Lights Bookstore in the late 1960s; and filmmaker Sam Green’s quasi-tribute to giant outdoor art objects.</p>
<p>Green develops a hilarious obsession with “big steel abstract sculptures from the 60s and 70s” that he starts to notice everywhere: “I fantasized about an underground group that would blow them up. I imagined that no one would really notice, or if they did, they wouldn’t mind that much.” He finds a Wikipedia entry which helpfully gives him a name for the odd phenomenon. The post reads: “Plop Art (…) is a pejorative term for public art (usually large, abstract modernist or contemporary sculpture) made for government or corporate plazas, spaces in front of office buildings, skyscraper atriums, parks, and other public venues.” As with Vale’s piece on City Lights, it’s too bad this series of reflections on regrettable public art isn’t longer; comic relief is always welcome in taking on inherently depressing urban social ills.</p>
<p>As contributor Chris Kraus notes in her description of Streetopia’s five week experiment, “[the] projects were futuristic, idealistic, historically sensitive, and surprisingly practical. The offer enough ideas to keep anyone who cares about public life, culture, and art busy for the next decade.” Streetopia does a fantastic job of documenting that work. It is beautifully designed by graphic artist Josh MacPhee, who artfully assembled a phenomenal range of striking visual material, including beautiful black and white and color photographs. I hope the book will be widely read and provide inspiration for many more dissident art and activist undertakings.</p> | Streetopia: Dissident Art in an Urban Landscape | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/08/05/streetopia-dissident-art-in-an-urban-landscape/ | 2016-08-05 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Debbie O’Malley was sworn in as a Bernalillo County commissioner on Friday during a special ceremony at the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Government Center, the county announced.</p>
<p>“I am honored to join the County Commission and represent the residents of District 1 who elected me to be their voice on the commission,” O’Malley said in a news release. “I am already familiar with many of the quality of life initiatives that District 1 residents care about, which allows me to hit the ground running.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>O’Malley served as an Albuquerque city councilor for the past seven years, representing some of the same neighborhoods that are part of County Commission District 1, the county said.</p>
<p>She was elected to the County Commission on Nov. 6. She will complete the remaining two years of a four-year term as commissioner of District 1, a seat previously held by former County Commissioner Michelle Lujan Grisham, who left the commission to run for the U.S. House of Representatives.</p>
<p>“Debbie is a seasoned public servant whose dedication and talents will bring depth to the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners,” Commission Chairman Art De La Cruz said in the news release. “We welcome her and look forward to collaborating with her on programs and projects that improve the lives of all Bernalillo County citizens.”</p>
<p>O’Malley will be seated at the commission’s Dec. 11 meeting.</p>
<p>The Albuquerque Police Department is holding its last VIN etching event of the year today.</p>
<p>The etching of your vehicle identification number, or VIN, on your automobile window is an excellent deterrent to auto theft, according to the department. In a matter of minutes, the VIN can be permanently fixed in a corner of each window. Placing the VIN on each window can discourage thieves from dismantling your automobile and reselling the parts, which is one of the primary reasons vehicles are stolen.</p>
<p>Today’s VIN etching event will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Target store on 6100 Paseo del Norte NE (Paseo and Interstate 25). The etching is free, but citizens must provide current vehicle registration.</p> | News in Brief | false | https://abqjournal.com/151918/news-in-brief-4.html | 2012-12-08 | 2 |
<p>Last night a friend from Baroda called. Weeping. It took her fifteen minutes to tell me what the matter was. It wasn’t very complicated. Only that Sayeeda, a friend of hers, had been caught by a mob. Only that her stomach had been ripped open and stuffed with burning rags. Only that after she died, someone carved ‘OM’ on her forehead.</p>
<p>Precisely which Hindu scripture preaches this?</p>
<p>Our Prime Minister justified this as part of the retaliation by outraged Hindus against Muslim ‘terrorists’ who burned alive 58 Hindu passengers on the Sabarmati Express in Godhra. Each of those who died that hideous death was someone’s brother, someone’s mother, someone’s child. Of course they were.</p>
<p>Which particular verse in the Quran required that they be roasted alive?</p>
<p>The more the two sides try and call attention to their religious differences by slaughtering each other, the less there is to distinguish them from one another. They worship at the same altar. They’re both apostles of the same murderous god, whoever he is. In an atmosphere so vitiated, for anybody, and in particular the Prime Minister, to arbitrarily decree exactly where the cycle started is malevolent and irresponsible.</p>
<p>Right now we’re sipping from a poisoned chalice: a flawed democracy laced with religious fascism. Pure arsenic.</p>
<p>What shall we do? What can we do?</p>
<p>We have a ruling party that’s haemorrhaging. Its rhetoric against Terrorism, the passing of POTA, the sabre-rattling against Pakistan (with the underlying nuclear threat), the massing of almost a million soldiers on the border on hair-trigger alert, and most dangerous of all, the attempt to communalise and falsify school history text-books–none of this has prevented it from being humiliated in election after election. Even its old party trick–the revival of the Ram mandir plans in Ayodhya–didn’t quite work out. Desperate now, it has turned for succour to the state of Gujarat.</p>
<p>Gujarat, the only major state in India to have a BJP government has, for some years, been the petri dish in which Hindu fascism has been fomenting an elaborate political experiment. Last month, the initial results were put on public display.</p>
<p>Within hours of the Godhra outrage, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal put into motion a meticulously planned pogrom against the Muslim community. Officially the number of dead is 800. Independent reports put the figure at well over 2,000. More than a hundred and fifty thousand people, driven from their homes, now live in refugee camps. Women were stripped, gang-raped, parents were bludgeoned to death in front of their children. Two hundred and forty dargahs and 180 masjids were destroyed–in Ahmedabad the tomb of Wali Gujarati, the founder of the modern Urdu poem, was demolished and paved over in the course of a night. The tomb of the musician Ustad Faiyaz Ali Khan was desecrated and wreathed in burning tyres. Arsonists burned and looted shops, homes, hotels, textiles mills, buses and private cars. Hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs.</p>
<p>A mob surrounded the house of former Congress MP Iqbal Ehsan Jaffri. His phone calls to the Director-General of Police, the Police Commissioner, the Chief Secretary, the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) were ignored. The mobile police vans around his house did not intervene. The mob broke into the house. They stripped his daughters and burned them alive. Then they beheaded Ehsan Jaffri and dismembered him. Of course it’s only a coincidence that Jaffri was a trenchant critic of Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, during his campaign for the Rajkot Assembly by-election in February.</p>
<p>Across Gujarat, thousands of people made up the mobs. They were armed with petrol bombs, guns, knives, swords and &lt;tridents.Apart&gt; from the VHP and Bajrang Dal’s usual lumpen constituency, Dalits and Adivasis took part in the orgy. Middle-class people participated in the looting. (On one memorable occasion a family arrived in a Mitsubishi Lancer.) The leaders of the mob had computer-generated cadastral lists marking out Muslim homes, shops, businesses and even partnerships. They had mobile phones to coordinate the action. They had trucks loaded with thousands of gas cylinders, hoarded weeks in advance, which they used to blow up Muslim commercial establishments. They had not just police protection and police connivance, but also covering fire.</p>
<p>While Gujarat burned, our Prime Minister was on MTV promoting his new poems. (Reports say cassettes have sold a hundred thousand copies.) It took him more than a month–and two vacations in the hills–to make it to Gujarat. When he did, shadowed by the chilling Mr Modi, he gave a speech at the Shah Alam refugee camp. His mouth moved, he tried to express concern, but no real sound emerged except the mocking of the wind whistling through a burned, bloodied, broken world. Next we knew, he was bobbing around in a golf-cart, striking business deals in Singapore.</p>
<p>The killers still stalk Gujarat’s streets. The lynch mob continues to be the arbiter of the routine affairs of daily life: who can live where, who can say what, who can meet who, and where and when. Its mandate is expanding quickly. From religious affairs, it now extends to property disputes, family altercations, the planning and allocation of water resources… (which is why Medha Patkar of the NBA was assaulted).</p>
<p>Muslim businesses have been shut down. Muslim people are not served in restaurants. Muslim children are not welcome in schools. Muslim students are too terrified to sit for their exams. Muslim parents live in dread that their infants might forget what they’ve been told and give themselves away by saying ‘Ammi!’ or ‘Abba!’ in public and invite sudden and violent death.</p>
<p>Notice has been given: this is just the beginning.</p>
<p>Arundhati Roy is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Power Politics</a>, the Booker Prize-winning novel <a href="" type="internal">The God of Small Things</a> and <a href="" type="internal">The Cost of Living</a>. This column originally appeared in Outlook India.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Democracy and Religious Fascism | true | https://counterpunch.org/2002/05/03/democracy-and-religious-fascism/ | 2002-05-03 | 4 |
<p>KOENIGSSEE, Germany (AP) — South Korea’s Yun Sung-bin clinched the skeleton World Cup title despite not racing on Friday as Axel Jungk claimed his first World Cup victory.</p>
<p>Yun is the first South Korean to win the title, three weeks before the Winter Olympics get underway on his home track in Pyeongchang.</p>
<p>Yun finished with 1,545 points after taking five wins and two second-placed finishes earlier this season, 38 more than Jungk.</p>
<p>The German was fastest in both runs on the Koenigssee track, winning in a combined time of 1 minute, 41.61 seconds — 0.02 and 0.23 ahead of the Latvian Dukurs brothers, Martins and Tomass, respectively.</p>
<p>Tomass Dukurs finished third overall, ahead of his brother Martins, the defending champion and winner of the last eight seasons.</p>
<p>Jacqueline Loelling defended her women’s title later Friday, winning her fourth World Cup of the season to finish 124 points ahead of German teammate Tina Hermann, who was second in Koenigssee.</p>
<p>Canada’s Elisabeth Vathje finished third overall.</p>
<p>The competition was interrupted by heavy snowfall and recommenced after the men’s event.</p>
<p>KOENIGSSEE, Germany (AP) — South Korea’s Yun Sung-bin clinched the skeleton World Cup title despite not racing on Friday as Axel Jungk claimed his first World Cup victory.</p>
<p>Yun is the first South Korean to win the title, three weeks before the Winter Olympics get underway on his home track in Pyeongchang.</p>
<p>Yun finished with 1,545 points after taking five wins and two second-placed finishes earlier this season, 38 more than Jungk.</p>
<p>The German was fastest in both runs on the Koenigssee track, winning in a combined time of 1 minute, 41.61 seconds — 0.02 and 0.23 ahead of the Latvian Dukurs brothers, Martins and Tomass, respectively.</p>
<p>Tomass Dukurs finished third overall, ahead of his brother Martins, the defending champion and winner of the last eight seasons.</p>
<p>Jacqueline Loelling defended her women’s title later Friday, winning her fourth World Cup of the season to finish 124 points ahead of German teammate Tina Hermann, who was second in Koenigssee.</p>
<p>Canada’s Elisabeth Vathje finished third overall.</p>
<p>The competition was interrupted by heavy snowfall and recommenced after the men’s event.</p> | Yun clinches skeleton title, Jungk claims 1st World Cup win | false | https://apnews.com/ae329dc8f4164ca788a1b4e0bdb2619a | 2018-01-19 | 2 |
<p />
<p>The agreement signed between Greece and the EU after three weeks of negotiations is widely lamented on the left as a setback, if not a defeat, for Syriza. The two sides emerged from the agreement, if that is an accurate description, with different interpretations of the memorandum, signifying perhaps that no real deal was made after all. Greece obtained brief reprieve. Its banks will remain liquid for the next few months. The next phase will not be about what can be extracted from the troika, as much as what Greece can do despite and in defiance of the troika. That is what will be discussed here.</p>
<p>The immediate political problem for Syriza and Varoufakis is to create "fiscal space" to generate a countercyclical momentum. They have to increase government spending to more than offset the declines in the nongovernment sectors. But the Greeks are caught in a straightjacket. By agreeing to join the Eurozone, Greece, like all other member states, effectively ceded their fiscal sovereignty. They no longer have a unified central bank and treasury to call upon to support their spending decisions. So if there is to be fiscal expansion, within the confines of the EU's rules, Greece has to find ways to increase state spending without adding to its cumulative debt. It can tax idle savings. But this is only going to take them so far. And that distance is not far enough. In any case, these personal savings have probably been long squirreled away in Switzerland, where they are not touchable anyway. It can, as well, levy a draconian wealth tax, but the well goes dry after these funds are spent.</p>
<p>So the Greek Finance Minister needs to find work-arounds that allow increased state spending without technically adding to the Greek state's debt. This requires changing the current debt structure by swapping out existing debt for other forms of obligations. Varoufakis is proposing two things: the first is a GDP-linked bond (growth bonds). This is a perpetual bond that comes attached with a variable interest payment obligation pegged to the growth in the economy. This holds the possibility for a modest inflation premium for the Greek state. What is crucial is that Varoufakis is aiming to craft a debt swap by means that no longer oblige the Greek state to repay principal. Because there is no obligation to repay the principal, such bonds do not add to the debt. Greece can, by this artifice, remain in technical compliance with EU rules, while vigorously financing an economic turnaround. Willingness on behalf of EU bankers to put skin in the game would signal a common class commitment to a Greek recovery.</p>
<p>The second type of bond is technically called "consols." It was created by the British government in the 18th Century and used to pay off the Napoleonic war debt. It too is a perpetual interest bond, paying, in contrast to the growth bonds, a fixed rate of interest, again with no principal repayment. Again, because of the last provision, it doesn't enlarge the Greek deficit, and therefore does not add to the debt..</p>
<p>What we have seen in the last week is that Greece's creditors are unwilling to go for this. A perpetual period is a long commitment to carry credit risk on banking balance sheets. There is no obligation to repay principal even if Greek socialists eventually turn the economy around. So this is a permanent concession. If forced to service interest payments or pay for health care down the line, socialists are going to opt for the latter (we hope), which is precisely what bankers fear. So in case of failure, bankers get neither principal nor interest. And if the Syriza government is wildly successful in its negotiations and the troika (the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the IMF) funds these perpetual bonds, the banking system may be forced to accept returns below the market rate of interest.</p>
<p>And not just here. For if dispensations can be made to Greece, why not Italy, Portugal and Spain? Why not France? What credibility would Merkel have with German workers who have complacently accepted job rationing in lieu of wage growth for fear of imperiling German industrial competitiveness?</p>
<p>Syriza was swept to power on a wave of democratic discontent. The future of the government critically hinges on its success in terminating the austerity regime imposed by the troika. But Syriza and the troika are not merely approaching the same problem by differing class methods.</p>
<p>If European elites were actually interested in jumpstarting Eurozone capitalism in a reactionary way, they could have taken a page out of Obama’s playbook. The massive TARP recapitalization of Wall Street calmed panicky elites and softened their opposition to a modest $800 billion 3-year fiscal stimulus bill. This was far less than what was called for, but sufficient to put a floor under the economic collapse. Flagging capitalist sectors, most notably the automobile industry, were then subsidized and placed into temporary receivership. Union contracts were rewritten; public union contracts shredded. Social welfare provisions were slashed. Corporations and cash-strapped state and local governments were encouraged to ransack pension funds, while the government’s pension fund insurer was deliberately short-changed. What was left of the underperforming pensions was turned over to hedge fund managers with the desperate hope that risky betting could eliminate shortfalls. The Feds obliged this end by stimulating a stock market boom by means of quantitative easing. Toxic housing assets were removed from balance sheets, stimulating a financial asset bubble, which, in turn, prompted an upsurge in consumer spending.</p>
<p>The Obama recovery took shape, in short, as a painfully protracted economic uptick with weak job growth, stagnating wages, lax labor markets, and burgeoning profits and gains concentrated almost exclusively at the top. Absent a ripple effect in the form of induced private sector investment the Obama recovery remains fragile. But it is nonetheless a recognizable economic stabilization.</p>
<p>Even this overwhelmingly class-biased recovery has proven to have little attraction for the troika. If for no other reason, Varoufakis was successful in calling them out and exposing the troika for what it actually wants. They are patently uninterested in jumpstarting a recovery, even a reactionary recovery. Rather, they are hell-bent on perpetuating the restructuring of the Eurozone initiated by the Great Recession. They see the social welfare state as a looming hindrance to competition with the US and China that must be decisively removed. Since that cannot be eradicated through the democratic process, it must be imposed on that process by an unelected and unaccountable elite.</p>
<p>The ECB is a very peculiar institution. A properly functioning central bank spends money into the economy to support financial decisions made by the government it serves. Eurozone governments are, in starkest contrast, subordinate to the ECB. The latter, like any other central bank, has an endless supply of money and is not constrained by the Eurozone’s tax base. Private banks lend money into existence against collateral, both tangible and financial and make money on the spread between what they may need to borrow, in the last resort from the central bank to maintain required reserves, and the interest they get back in return. The private banking system under capitalism is, in either case, always problematic. They are backstopped by the nations’ central banks, which must insure adequate business liquidity, but they are answerable to their shareholders. Without government oversight, private banks are simply—no, literally—given a blank check to engage in whatever reckless behavior they can get away with in full knowledge that the central bank has no alternative but to recapitalize them if they fail.</p>
<p>The ECB and the Eurozone captures all these frailties. What it is purposely designed not to do, in contrast, is to support the spending decisions of the constituent democracies. These decisions must be made good from taxes and from loans issued by private banks secured against the nation’s public assets. Constituent states must, first of all, demonstrate adequate constraint against inflation lest bank profits be threatened. They must agree to operate in a context in which there is a scandalously inadequate surplus-recycling mechanism. Revenue sharing in the US, for instance runs to 10% of GDP. So, if the South in effect runs a balance of trade deficit with the North, the federal government returns a larger portion of the nation’s taxes to the South in compensation for that which is drained through trade. The European Social Fund and the Common Agricultural Policy recycle, in comparison, about 1% of Eurozone GDP to the entire periphery. The entire Eurozone framework is a prior constraint against democracy and the public interest, both because it effectively will not recycle surpluses (from Germany and the Eurozone north to the "PIIGS"—Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) except through unsustainable lending arrangements (and foreign investment) because it withholds support for needed public spending decisions, including countercyclical emergency decisions.</p>
<p>It is therefore entirely wrong to attribute a “debt” problem to Greece. It does not have a debt problem. It has a liquidity problem. It cannot finance the spending decisions needed to put the unemployed to work, to pay pensions, to maintain a public health system, to fix its infrastructure, to offset its current account imbalance and to offset spending cuts in the private sector resulting from the global recession. It has an austerity problem, because it has a liquidity problem.</p>
<p>It is the banks that lent money to Greece that have a debt problem, as a result of Greece’s illiquidity. Their asset base consisting of sovereign debt is worthless. But because they are fully insulated against failure by the ECB, this debt problem presents a mere technicality, a mere technicality with an immense human price tag. For the ECB could, in principle, simply recapitalize the banks directly, including Greece’s central bank, such as it is. The Greek central bank could, in turn, support the spending decisions of the Greek government up to the inflation barrier of full capacity employment.</p>
<p>Instead, Greece has been used as a dummy corporation for the laundering of funds to the banks, and the various private and national central banks have been forced to accept a “haircut” as a penalty for their reckless past support for democratic decisions. For its service as a holding corporation, the ECB has “generously “agreed to pay Greece a small service fee sufficient to operate a bare bones government; further payment of which being contingent on Greece surrendering untold public assets and beating its workers into penury.</p>
<p>Again, it is not the debt that presents a problem. The ECB can always internalize the debt and place toxic assets on its balance sheets in exchange for Euros through quantitative easing. And this is exactly what the ECB is now doing—but not for Greece. It may or may not otherwise be in Greece’s interest to renege on its “debt” and exit the Eurozone, but this so-called nuclear option is, in any case, a hollow threat and provides Syriza with absolutely no negotiating leverage. Any negative economic consequence of default can be readily mopped up—if hasn’t already been—and neutralized by the ECB, before becoming a contagion. The only threat of bank run insolvency in the event of a Grexit, will be against Greek banks.</p>
<p>The problem remains: an unaccountable ECB monopoly over the creation and mobilization of money that allows it to dictate a social program antithetical to the needs and interests of Europe’s workers.</p>
<p>What Varoufakis and his ministry have tried to do is to raise the service fees by changing the bond structures. They tried to create wiggle room through negotiations. Having failed, Syriza must find other ways, if Greece is to remain in the Eurozone, to break the stranglehold of the troika and gain fiscal space. In either case, it needs to demonstrate to the workers of Greece and Europe that defiance is not a losing strategy.</p>
<p>It has become patently obvious that the only measure Greece could carry out and command the full respect and attention of the ECB would be to dissolve itself as a country and reconstitute itself as a bank, declaring its citizenry co-equal shareholders and the former nation’s businesses to be bank assets.</p>
<p>In the nonparallel universe where Greece actually resides however, there are still some limited stopgap measures and work-arounds that may buy Syriza some time. They have committed themselves to ramping up the intensity and efficiency of tax collection. This is probably the only place where Syriza and the troika agree. When the necessary institutional changes are implemented, the Greek government can begin to generate a parallel currency for internal transactions by securitizing future taxes and issuing scrip based on revenue anticipation. This scrip can be an electronic entry into accounts, personnel and corporate, with which the government has business. Or it can be issued in small denomination bills intended for day-to-day purchases. It is denominated, in either case, in Euros with an exchange rate of parity. Euros will remain the unit of account, but scrip can be introduced as an additional means of payment. This parallel currency should be acceptable for settlement of private sector tax liabilities and must be transferrable within the nation and to foreigners who have business or pay taxes in Greece. It is precisely scrip’s acceptability to extinguish tax liabilities that assures its ability to circulate. It is in effect a short-term loan granted by the citizenry to the government. And because it is perpetual without a defined maturity date requiring repayment of principal, it would not increase the public debt-to-GDP ratio.</p>
<p>Numerous state governments in the US and elsewhere around the globe have employed this mechanism. It is a form of short-term credit cheaper than that offered by financial markets. The maintenance of parity with the Euro means that it comes with a built-in safeguard against inflation in compliance with EU guidelines.</p>
<p>Socialist economist Michael Burke has pointed out that Greek business claims the highest share of national income of the entire OECD at 56%. Of this, only 11.3% of the national income is actually invested. There is no reason why the remainder cannot provide a firm platform to securitize taxes for countercyclical activity. With adequate capital controls, Syriza is in a position to present business with a Hobson’s choice: either invest this savings now or it will be confiscated and spent by the state later. In the meantime, these savings will be securitized as scrip for immediate relief.</p>
<p>Scrip can pay civil servants and support the expansion of public services. With it, Syriza can fund infrastructural improvements and R &amp; D needed to earn additional Euros for Greece through improved trade and import substitution. And, at the same time, it frees Euros for the large-scale import purchases of food, medicine and fuel.</p>
<p>But neither is this a sufficient plan B. Even if the fiscal restraint imposed by the Eurozone limiting primary deficits to 3% of GDP were not in effect, the Greek economic recovery would still be restrained by its tax base. The advantages to this parallel currency is that it permits a path through which the tax base, once securitized, can pump a self-expanding loop through the system generating additional incomes to tax. Nevertheless, the type of robust recovery needed is still unlikely given these dual limitations. According to one estimate, Greece needs to run a primary deficit of 10% to return it to a full recovery growth path.</p>
<p>With a socialized European central bank, as has been argued previously, Greece and the other member nations would not be so constrained. A socialized ECB could disregard the deficit position of the collective national treasuries and directly support the spending decisions of the constituent governments up to full economic capacity. And it could do away with government “borrowing” as an unnecessary subsidy to private investors.</p>
<p>What such stopgap measures can do is to transform the Eurozone from a monetary union to a looser monetary federation. It can chip away at the power of the troika and provide hope and encouragement to similarly-minded insurgencies such as Podemos, and trade union militants eager to break with or move existing mass workers’ parties to the left. By stoking the anti-austerity brushfire, any success by Syriza, no matter how modest, would mobilize an emboldened left to ask larger questions about the structure, design and necessity of this Bankers’ Federation.</p>
<p>More immediately, it can provide Syriza with the space to properly deliberate over the risks and prospects that await Greece were it to opt out of the Eurozone.</p>
<p><a href="/filter/tips" type="external">More information about formatting options</a></p> | Can Greece defy the Troika? | true | http://newpol.org/content/can-greece-defy-troika | 2015-03-03 | 4 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.zumapress.com"&gt;Andrew Shurtleff&lt;/a&gt;/ZUMAPress &amp; &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com"&gt;davelawrence8&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
<p>Last week, President Obama accused the GOP of time-warping back to the days of “ <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/247073-obama-gop-agenda-suited-for-last-century" type="external">black and white TV</a>.” True, the party’s policies, especially on women and civil rights, are straight out of the 50s (if not the <a href="" type="internal">Middle Ages</a>). But Obama’s jab wasn’t quite fair to Republicans of the Leave it To Beaver era, whose <a href="http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25838" type="external">1956 platform</a> seems downright progressive when compared with some of the retrograde planks laid out in the <a href="http://www.gop.com/2012-republican-platform_home/" type="external">2012 version</a>. The year President Dwight Eisenhower ran for a second term against Adlai Stevenson, the platform sung the praises of unions, called for government to have a “heart as well as a head,” and backed the doomed Equal Rights Amendment. Oh, and the <a href="http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29601" type="external">1956 Dems</a> were a lot more agro on labor, and positively chest-thumping when it came to defense. Scroll down to <a href="#start" type="external">check out how</a> the parties’ positions have shifted over the past 50-plus years.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AdlaiEStevenson1900-1965.png" type="external">Wikipedia</a> &amp; <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3c17123/%20" type="external">Library of Congress</a></p>
<p><a type="external" href="" /></p>
<p>Image credits: donkey:&#160; <a href="http://thenounproject.com/" type="external">The Noun Project</a>; elephant: <a href="http://thenounproject.com/noun/elephant/#icon-No860" type="external">Adrijan Karavdic</a>, from The Noun Project.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | GOP Platform Flashback: “Government Must Have a Heart” | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/republican-democratic-party-platforms-then-now-1956-2012/ | 2012-09-07 | 4 |
<p>The new Democratic leaders in Congress and President Bush have both taken steps in recent days with significant implications for the federal budget battles that lie ahead.</p>
<p>In one of their very first moves (pre-“100 hours,” as it were), the new House Democratic leaders reestablished the so-called “pay-as-you-go” budget rule. “Paygo” requires — at least during House consideration — offsetting spending cuts or tax increases for any new proposals which reduce taxes or increase entitlement spending. Democratic leaders put this rule in place with one clear target in mind: President Bush’s tax cuts, now scheduled to expire after 2010.</p>
<p>For his part, President Bush has shrewdly strengthened his position by completing recasting the budget debate. In an op-ed <a href="http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009473" type="external">piece</a> in the Wall Street Journal, the president announced that the budget he will submit to Congress in February will achieve balance in 2012, the fifth year of his five-year budget plan. The president provided little additional information, preferring to hold back critical details until the full budget is released. But he did make clear that the plan is constructed on the one fundamental principle that Democrats cannot agree to: no tax increases. Democrats have responded to the president’s announcement with predictably dismissive comments. The Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010300235.html" type="external">quotes</a> a senior congressional aide who called the president’s plan “me-tooism,” apparently in reference to previously announced plans by the Budget Committee Chairmen to pursue the same five year goal. Others suggested that the president’s plan would be unrealistic because it would include unspecified or controversial spending cuts, omit the full costs of fixing the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), and not include the multiyear costs of waging the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Answers to some of these criticisms will have to wait for the President’s budget transmittal in early February. But it is clear from the rapid and critical response of key Democrats that the Bush announcement has struck a political nerve. Indeed, these Democrats understand that a Bush balanced-budget plan — with the tax cuts permanently extended and no further tax increases — threatens to undermine their carefully choreographed campaign to sell the American public on the inevitability of a tax increase and, in particular, the reversal of the Bush tax cuts.</p>
<p>The seeds of the coming budget conflict were planted in the Clinton era. After taking control of Congress in the 1994 election, Republicans constructed and passed a balanced budget plan with sizeable tax cuts. President Clinton promptly vetoed the legislation, stating that he too favored a balanced budget (perhaps the original “me-tooism”) but that the Republican spending cuts were inequitable, draconian, etc. The Clinton vetoes precipitated a political confrontation with the Congress, which, by all accounts, Clinton won. In the end, Republicans were forced to negotiate a compromise budget in 1997 after Clinton’s successful 1996 reelection. At the insistence of Clinton and his team, this compromise included both higher levels of spending and taxation than was proposed in the original Republican plan.</p>
<p>Soon after the 1997 budget deal was sealed, it became clear that the budget picture was far brighter than anyone had anticipated. A strong economy, the tech-stock boom, and other factors pushed federal revenues up rapidly, and the government ran the first budget surplus in three decades in 1998. Between 1997 and 2001, federal debt held by the public fell from about $3.8 trillion in 1997 to $3.3 trillion. Although Republicans initiated the push for a balanced budget, many veterans of the Clinton administration have since argued that it is the Democrats, not the Republicans, who should be viewed by the public as the party of “fiscal responsibility” because of the favorable budget picture that emerged in the late 1990s.</p>
<p>Of course, the Democratic self-identification with “fiscal responsibility” has hardened substantially during the Bush presidency. Indeed, the typical Democratic response to the large budget deficits that emerged during Bush’s first term was to say, essentially, “I told you so.” For these Democrats, it has become an article of political faith to assume that the only path to restored fiscal balance is higher taxes and reversal of the Bush tax cuts. Moreover, from their perspective, reversing the Bush tax policy would send an unambiguous message to the public that the Republican governing philosophy simply does not add up.</p>
<p>But what if the budget could be balanced without a tax increase? Here is a possibility that simply has not been on the Democratic radar, as it would score a direct hit on all of their most fundamental assumptions. In some sense, Democratic incredulity over such a possibility is understandable, as Bush himself has, until this year, steadfastly refused to get into a balanced budget debate with Democrats for fear it would disrupt more important priorities, particularly in the national security arena.</p>
<p>Now, however, conditions have changed sufficiently to make a balanced budget on Bush’s terms a real possibility, at least as a proposal. Federal revenues surged in both 2005 and 2006 — 15-percent and 12-percent annual increases, respectively — cutting the deficit in 2006 to just 1.9 percent of GDP, well below the recent historical average. Current revenue projections have not caught up, however, and still assume relatively slow revenue growth in 2007 (5 percent) and beyond. A modest upward revision of expected revenues would leave the budget within shooting distance of balance even without further spending cuts. Bush has apparently concluded it is worth the effort to cut spending as necessary to close the remaining gap and show to the world it is possible to govern responsibly with a low tax philosophy.</p>
<p>The only possible Democratic response to the Bush plan will be to attack the spending cuts, as they have done so often in the past and Clinton did in 1996. In doing so, they will expose the traditional differences between the parties on spending that have been papered over in recent years. While in the minority, it has been relatively easy for Democrats to attack Bush as a big spender even as they themselves proposed to expand government well beyond the Republican proposals (see, for instance, the 2003 Medicare drug-bill debate). As Democrats mount their attacks, the burden will be on the administration to do better than the Republican Congress did in showing that the spending restraint they propose is sound policy, consistent with a broadly supported view of limited government with adequate funding for programs that actually matter and work.</p>
<p>In the end, even with a balanced budget plan on the table, Bush may not see his tax cuts extended while he is president. Democrats — now in control of the congressional agenda — probably can stall consideration of such an extension until he leaves office. But submission of his balanced-budget plan will at least improve the odds that his tax cuts can be extended at some point. The mere presence of such a plan should help lay to rest the Democratic notion that fiscal responsibility always means higher taxes.</p>
<p>&#160;— James C. Capretta, a Fellow at the <a href="" type="internal">Ethics and Public Policy Center</a>, was an Associate Director at the Office of Management and Budget from 2001 to 2004.</p> | Taxing Debate | false | https://eppc.org/publications/taxing-debate/ | 1 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>In a nearly hour-long speech at the Elysee Presidential Palace, Macron noted that 123 women died in attacks against them in France last year. Holding a moment of silence for them, he declared: “It is time for shame to change camps.”</p>
<p>In neighboring Italy, the head of the Chamber of Deputies marked International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women by noting with dismay that the “Weinstein case” hasn’t inspired women to speak out on workplace harassment or assault like it has in the United States and other parts of Europe.</p>
<p>Laura Boldrini was referring to the onslaught of revelations after sexual harassment and assault allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein were made public.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“The Weinstein case lifted the lid on the shame of (sexual) abuse” in the glamorous world of U.S. cinema, “setting off an avalanche in many other areas of society,” Boldrini said, addressing a special gathering in which all the 630 seats, usually occupied by lawmakers in Parliament’s lower house, were instead filled by guests who came to speak of their rebellion against being victims of men.</p>
<p>Among the invited: a woman who survived being stabbed repeatedly in the back by an ex-beau; the mother of a college student who was strangled and her corpse set ablaze by her former lover after she broke up with him; a woman whose child was slain by her estranged husband to avenge their failed marriage; a Moroccan immigrant whose abusive husband burned down their home after she found the courage to flee to safety with their children; a Nigerian who was trafficked into a prostitution ring the day she set foot in Italy.</p>
<p>Boldrini lamented that Italy hasn’t seen a similar outpouring of accusations of workplace harassment.</p>
<p>“In Italy, this certainly hasn’t had the same effect,” she said, adding: I’d like to think that this has happened because there aren’t molesters, but I’m afraid that’s not the way it is.”</p>
<p>She explained the tendency toward silence, including about rape, saying that women “know that in this country there persists a strong prejudice against them” in terms of their credibility.</p>
<p>In France, Macron’s plan would encourage women to take action, strengthen laws against offenders and educating citizens on the issue — starting from nursery school.</p>
<p>He noted that violence takes on other forms, notably in the workplace, a result of inequality and a false sense of men’s superiority.</p>
<p>“What should be sanctuaries today becomes a hunting ground simply because (men) can use … age, authority, their post, or simply force,” the French president said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>But Macron cautioned against France becoming a society where every interaction between a man and a woman can come under suspicion. “We are not a Puritan society,” he said.</p>
<p>Among proposed measures, Macron said legal complaints will be rushed through the system, and the statute of limitations for suspected sexual crimes against minors would be moved to 30 years from 20 currently as part of a bill to be presented in 2018.</p>
<p>Macron also wants to rectify “intolerable ambiguities” in the penal code surrounding the legal age of consent. Outrage followed a ruling in an assault case that an 11-year-old was of the age of consent. He suggested the age of 15 — the legal age of sexual adulthood in France, and the age at which Macron met his future wife, Brigitte, his school’s drama teacher.</p>
<p>To encourage more women to speak out, Macron said that from the start of next year, an online alarm system will be set up for instant contact with police.</p>
<p>Nursery school teachers will be trained to address “non-negotiable” equality between the sexes.</p>
<p>Macron said violence against women is most often committed where women “should feel protected” — be it at home, in the street or in the office — and the “deafening silence” must end.</p>
<p>Several of those inspiring other women in Italy to refuse to accept violence at the hands of male companions or relatives, carry their scars of being attacked themselves, like Lucia Annibali, a lawyer whose face was devoured by acid tossed by two attackers hired by her ex-boyfriend, and who now advises the Italian government on legislature measures such as anti-stalking laws.</p>
<p>This rebellion by women marks a stunning turnaround in Italy, where a generation ago, the Italian penal code prescribed lenient prison sentences for men who killed women out of jealousy or to preserve “family honor.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Frances D’Emilio reported from Rome.</p> | France to tackle violence on women; Italy grapples with same | false | https://abqjournal.com/1097686/france-to-tackle-violence-on-women-italy-grapples-with-same.html | 2017-11-25 | 2 |
<p>Index funds, or ETFs, are a great way to get exposure to parts of the market where you may not be ready to pick individual stocks or even be able to. It's tough to invest in some countries, but funds can make it possible. And even broad bets like small caps or growth stocks can be better made through an ETF rather than buying individual stocks.</p>
<p>There are lots of index funds to choose from, so we put together a list of our favorites this July. And&#160;iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (NYSEMKT: EWZ),&#160;iShares Core S&amp;P Small-Cap ETF (NYSEMKT: IJR), and&#160;Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEMKT: VIG)&#160;are at the top of the list. Here's why they're great bets in this market.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/tmfditty/info.aspx?source=iapsitlnk0000002&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2631e030-65bc-11e7-ab9c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Rich Smith Opens a New Window.</a> (iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF): You all probably remember May 18, right? The day the Brazilian stock market collapsed?</p>
<p>It happened when Brazilian newspaper O Globo ("The World") implicated Brazilian President Michel Temer in a scheme to bribe former House speaker Eduardo Cunha to keep quiet about an investigation into corruption pervading the Brazilian government. The local stock market <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/05/18/why-cia-energetica-de-minas-gerais-companhia-sider.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2631e030-65bc-11e7-ab9c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">fell 16% in a day Opens a New Window.</a> -- and still hasn't bounced back, recovering only 6% of its losses in the nearly two months since.</p>
<p>Today, the Brazilian stock market as a whole offers one of the most compelling values in the world. Research firm Star Capital calculates the value of the local stock market at just 10.7 times its average earnings of the past 10 years -- less than half the valuation of the U.S. stock market. And the iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF&#160;offers a great way to invest in it.</p>
<p>With $5.5 billion in assets, the iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF is one of the larger Brazilian-concentrated ETFs. It aims to track the performance of the MSCI Brazil 25/50 Index by focusing its investments in relatively stable large and medium-sized companies, primarily in the financials sector, but with investments extending broadly (in order) from consumer staples to energy and all the way down to real estate. Two of the ETF's largest holdings are banks Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. and Banco Bradesco S.A., while its No. 2 holding is the well known beverages concern Ambev, and its fourth largest holding is oil giant Petrobras.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF charges a 0.63% management fee to its investors. Not only is this far below the average 1.5% expense ratio among mutual funds specializing in foreign stocks, but it's a fee quickly repaid by the ETF's 1.7% annual dividend yield. And if the Brazilian market recovers from its recent slump, as I expect it will once the political situation settles down, I expect this ETF to handily outperform the market.</p>
<p>Of course, by the time that happens, I expect the ETF to cost a lot more -- making July the time to buy in before the rebound happens.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2631e030-65bc-11e7-ab9c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a> (iShares Core S&amp;P Small-Cap ETF): Most investors pay closest attention to the major market benchmarks like the Dow Jones Industrials and the S&amp;P 500. By doing so, you can miss out on the more exciting things that happen among small-cap companies, which tend to include the fastest-growing, most promising stocks in the entire market. The iShares Core S&amp;P Small-Cap ETF is one of the cheapest ways to get exposure to small-caps, with an expense ratio of just 0.06% per year.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.fool.com/how-to-invest/investing-strategies-small-cap-investing.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2631e030-65bc-11e7-ab9c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Small-caps have outpaced the returns of their larger counterparts Opens a New Window.</a> over the past year, and the iShares ETF has given investors a return of more than 21% since July 2016. That compares to about 16% for the S&amp;P 500, and over longer periods of time, the outperformance from small-caps has been even more evident.</p>
<p>The iShares Small-Cap ETF isn't the only small-cap oriented exchange traded fund in the market, but it offers the best combination of trading liquidity and low management costs. Although you can find some ETFs with lower expense ratios, the fact that they generally trade fewer shares means that it can be more expensive to buy and sell shares, especially if you anticipate making trades frequently. The U.S. economy looks strong heading into the summer, and small-caps will be well positioned to take advantage.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFlushDraw/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2631e030-65bc-11e7-ab9c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Travis Hoium Opens a New Window.</a> (Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF): As tech stocks have taken Wall Street by storm the importance of reliable dividends seems to have waned. But that presents an opportunity for investors looking for reliable long-term cash flows from dividends and Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF is a great way to get exposure to the cream of the crop in growing dividends.</p>
<p>The ETF is made up of <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/10/3-high-yield-dividend-stocks-for-in-the-know-inves.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2631e030-65bc-11e7-ab9c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">companies who have at least 10 years of history increasing their dividends Opens a New Window.</a> and their businesses are some of the most stable in the world. Companies like Microsoft, PepsiCo, Johnson &amp; Johnson, and 3M are top holdings of the ETF and they have businesses that have endured and generated billions in cash for decades now.</p>
<p>Steady dividend stocks may not be the most exciting investments on the stock market, but if you're looking to make money off the steady stream of cash industrial and consumer giants are making the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF is a great place to look. And with a low expense ratio of 0.08% and a dividend yield of 1.92%, a figure that's intended to appreciate steadily quarter after quarter, this is a great cash flow stock for investors building a portfolio or funding their retirement.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than&#160;Wal-MartWhen investing geniuses David and Tom&#160;Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they&#160;have run for over a decade, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom&#160;just revealed what they believe are the&#160; <a href="https://www.fool.com/mms/mark/e-sa-bbn-eg?aid=8867&amp;source=isaeditxt0000476&amp;ftm_cam=sa-bbn-evergreen&amp;ftm_pit=6627&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2631e030-65bc-11e7-ab9c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">ten best stocks Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;for investors to buy right now... and Wal-Mart wasn't one of them! That's right -- they&#160;think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.fool.com/mms/mark/e-sa-bbn-eg?aid=8867&amp;source=isaeditxt0000476&amp;ftm_cam=sa-bbn-evergreen&amp;ftm_pit=6627&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2631e030-65bc-11e7-ab9c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock&#160;Advisor returns as of July 6, 2017The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned.</p>
<p>Teresa Kersten is an employee of LinkedIn and is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2631e030-65bc-11e7-ab9c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFDitty/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2631e030-65bc-11e7-ab9c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Rich Smith Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFlushDraw/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2631e030-65bc-11e7-ab9c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Travis Hoium Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of 3M and Johnson &amp; Johnson. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Johnson &amp; Johnson and PepsiCo. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2631e030-65bc-11e7-ab9c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 3 Top Index Funds in July | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/07/11/3-top-index-funds-in-july.html | 2017-07-11 | 0 |
<p>By Amy Butler</p>
<p>If your family is anything like mine, you probably recently engaged in the annual Thanksgiving tradition of sharing some things for which we are each thankful. It can be a tradition that lessens in meaning with its repetition every year. Even with the Pinterest flourishes engaged by those in charge of decorating this year at my house, there were some who sighed with resignation: “Here we go again!”</p>
<p>It seems silly that we’d ever find the tradition tiresome, as every single year we fail to make it all the way around the table without tears. There is so much to be grateful for, and I don’t know why we have to wait until Thanksgiving every year to remember.</p>
<p>In addition to celebrating Thanksgiving this year, I have joined pastors everywhere these past weeks in ushering in a season of stewardship. Every year, those of us responsible for raising enough money to keep the lights on struggle to frame that fundraising in spiritual terms: we are giving to God, we say. We are acting with gratitude. We are participating in the spiritual practice of abundance.</p>
<p>I really think all of these things are true, so I don’t want to discount any language for reminding each other of the call to generous living. But I’ve been curious again this year about the stigma of stewardship, how some of us (clergy and laity alike) tend to approach this time of year with a bit of sighing. No matter how exciting a stewardship campaign one plans, the tedium of repetition creeps in and one may find oneself thinking: “Stewardship season … here we go again!”</p>
<p>This year, I began thinking about our need to even have this conversation at all. Indulge a pastor’s fantasy for a moment: what if Thanksgiving wasn’t a special holiday and stewardship wasn’t a season and giving was just a way of life?</p>
<p>A couple of months ago I was sitting in worship. I’d been invited by some friends to join them as I had a few Sundays of sabbatical left and was relishing opportunities for pew-sitting. It was a small congregation, the folks gathered sitting in the round and participating in worship.</p>
<p>I’d noticed the man when I came in; he was eagerly sitting on the front row a few seats ahead of me, animatedly participating in worship. Though it was clear he was someone who existed on the margins of society, it was also obvious that he was a familiar and beloved presence in the community. Through most of the service I sat a few rows behind him, just minding my own business.</p>
<p>As the time for the offering arrived and we were invited to give, the man in front of me got up, came over to stand next to my chair, and asked me for a quarter. He did not, like the rest of us, discreetly fumble for a couple of dollars or close his eyes “praying” to avoid the plates. The man just came on over and said, “I need a quarter,” and held out his hand.</p>
<p>In that moment, I caught myself thinking, “That’s so inappropriate, interrupting the offering time like that.”</p>
<p>And then I thought: “Did you just hear yourself?”</p>
<p>Motivated by my own chagrin, I opened my wallet and dug around for some money. I can’t remember if I gave him a quarter or something else, but I managed to give him something.</p>
<p>And then the offering plates came around, and he put the money I gave him right in.</p>
<p>Now as we are in the season of stewardship, talking about money and generosity and all the ways in which we cling to what we have, I’ve revisited that experience over and over again, puzzling over what it has to teach me, not only about what compelling message a religious professional might craft to motivate generosity, but even more about how my own heart needs to change.</p>
<p>Maybe it was the unusual experience of being asked individually and guilelessly for money — in public, no less.</p>
<p>Perhaps it was his innocent expectation that I would give him some money — of course I would! I obviously had more to share than he did.</p>
<p>And maybe, most strikingly, I think it was the way he turned after I gave him the money and put it immediately in the offering plate.</p>
<p>What would happen to this world if the people who have more than they need didn’t even think about giving it away? And what would life be like if those of us in need saw our lives from the perspective of those who are even more needy? And what if we lived with open hands, asked each other to share without a second thought, received the gifts of others with no shame or hesitation, and turned then to give away what we didn’t need?</p>
<p>If we lived in a world where we behaved like that, I’m doubtful we’d be scouring Pinterest for unique ways to get the family to participate in expressions of thanks. I’d bet we wouldn’t spend much time at all working to create compelling stewardship campaigns. Instead, we’d be people who live with boldness into the call of community and reconciliation, with no thought at all for what we have and how to keep it.</p>
<p>It seems silly that we’d find the tradition of stewardship tiresome, as every single year we agree: we have so much more than we need. Yes, there is so much to be grateful for, and I don’t know why we have to wait until stewardship season every year to remember.</p> | Sigh. It’s that time of year again. | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/sigh-it-s-that-time-of-year-again/ | 3 |
|
<p />
<p>The top government auditor for bailouts of U.S. financial firms and automakers on Monday resigned his position as the $700 billion <a href="" type="internal">Troubled Asset Relief Program</a> winds down.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Neil Barofsky, 40, will leave as <a href="" type="internal">TARP</a> Special Inspector General on March 30, in part, to spend more time with his family, a spokeswoman said. He has spent more than two years policing the bailout program.</p>
<p>In a resignation letter to President <a href="" type="internal">Barack Obama</a>, Barofsky wrote that he had accomplished the goals he set for the office and that it "has truly been an honor to serve, particularly during such a critical time."</p>
<p>The spokeswoman said that Barofsky, who previously headed the mortgage fraud unit at the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan, would take some time to consider employment options.</p>
<p>Barofsky's deputy, Christy Romero, will head the operation until Obama nominates a permanent replacement for Barofsky.</p>
<p>Barofsky was nominated as TARP's first special inspector general in November 2008 by then-President <a href="" type="internal">George W. Bush</a> just after the $700 billion bailout program was launched by Congress during the depths of the financial crisis.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Since then, he has pursued fraud in the program and criticized its shortcomings, building an organization of more than 140 auditors, investigators, attorneys and other staff. The staffing of regional offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Atlanta continues.</p>
<p>Authority for new spending programs under TARP ended last October and the Treasury is working on winding down its investments in financial firms and automakers. A new Obama administration estimate forecasts that TARP will ultimately cost about $28.12 billion.</p>
<p>A companion bailout watchdog body, the Congressional Oversight Panel, will end in April.</p>
<p>FRAUD CASES RISING</p>
<p>SIGTARP's mission will continue until the last dollar has been repaid -- likely several more years. Barofsky told Reuters in September that evidence of fraud involving TARP recipient banks was on the rise and he had more than 120 open investigations, some with amounts exceeding $550 million.</p>
<p>His most celebrated case involved preventing the disbursement of $553 million to a bank that was involved in a fraud scheme to obtain TARP funds.</p>
<p>U.S. Representative Darrell Issa, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, praised Barofsky for his dedication but said SIGTARP's work was far from complete.</p>
<p>"It is imperative that the next IG pick up immediately where Barofsky left off," Issa, a sharp critic of the Treasury's handling of TARP, said in a statement.</p>
<p>Barofsky said in his letter that he believes SIGTARP has met its goals to build a robust enforcement agency to ensure transparency in TARP's operation and provide effective oversight to minimize waste, fraud and abuse.</p>
<p>In addition to policing TARP, Barofsky has been critical of the program's inability to meet its goals to preserve home ownership and to reduce moral hazard in the financial sector.</p>
<p>"Important parts of TARP continue to struggle: more than 150 TARP recipient banks have missed their regular dividend payments, and the Home Affordable Modification program has so far fallen short" of legislative mandates, Barofsky wrote.</p>
<p>"Indeed, with more than $150 billion in TARP funds outstanding and close to $60 billion still available to be spent, robust and effective oversight of TARP remains vitally important."</p>
<p>However, his warning in 2009 that the total potential cost of government bailouts could reach $23.7 trillion never came true, and he recently conceded that the Treasury will likely earn a profit on its most controversial programs.</p> | Bailout Cop Barofsky Resigns as TARP Winds Down | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/02/14/bailout-cop-barofsky-resigns-tarp-winds.html | 2016-03-07 | 0 |
<p>Anyone who makes weapons or invests in weapons industries is a hypocrite if they call themselves Christian, Pope Francis said Sunday.</p>
<p>Francis issued his toughest condemnation to date of the weapons industry at a rally of thousands of young people at the end of the first day of his trip to the Italian city of Turin.</p>
<p>"If you trust only men you have lost," he told the young people in a long, rambling talk about war, trust and politics after putting aside his prepared address.</p>
<p>"It makes me think of ... people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit a distrust, doesn't it?" he said to applause.</p>
<p>He also criticized those who invest in weapons industries, saying "duplicity is the currency of today ... they say one thing and do another."</p>
<p>Francis also built on comments he has made in the past about events during the first and second world wars.</p>
<p>He spoke of the "tragedy of the Shoah," using the Hebrew term for the Holocaust.</p>
<p>"The great powers had the pictures of the railway lines that brought the trains to the concentration camps like Auschwitz to kill Jews, Christians, homosexuals, everybody. Why didn't they bomb (the railway lines)?"</p>
<p>Discussing World War One, he spoke of "the great tragedy of Armenia" but did not use the word "genocide".</p>
<p>Francis <a href="" type="internal">sparked a diplomatic spat in April</a> calling the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians 100 years ago "the first genocide of the 20th century," prompting Turkey to recall its ambassador to the Vatican.</p>
<p /> | Pope Francis: Weapons Manufacturers Can’t Call Themselves Christian | false | http://nbcnews.com/news/world/pope-francis-weapons-manufacturers-cant-call-themselves-christian-n379551 | 2015-06-22 | 3 |
<p>The Spain-based non-profit GRAIN recently <a href="https://www.grain.org/bulletin_board/entries/5744-transgenic-corruption" type="external">revealed</a> the agribusiness takeover of Conabia, the National Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology of Argentina. Conabia is the GMO assessment body of Argentina. According to GRAIN, 26 of 34 its members were either agribusiness company employees or had major conflicts of interest.</p>
<p>Packing a regulatory agency with conflicted individuals is one way to ensure speedy GMO approvals and Conabia has certainly delivered that. A much more subtle, but ultimately more powerful, way is to bake approval into the structure of the GMO assessment process itself. It is easier than you might think.</p>
<p>I recently attended the latest international conference of GMO regulators, called <a href="http://isbr.info/ISBGMO14" type="external">ISBGMO14</a>, held in Guadalajara, Mexico (June 4-8, 2017). ISBGMO is run by the International Society for Biosafety Research ( <a href="http://isbr.info/" type="external">ISBR</a>). When I first went to this biennial series of conferences, in 2007, just one presentation in the whole four days was by a company. ISBR had some aspirations towards scientific independence from agribusiness.</p>
<p>I went for a second time in 2011, to the ISBGMO held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Company researchers and executives were frequent speakers and the conference had become an opportunity for agribusiness to present talking points and regulatory initiatives as if they had the blessing of science. This year, in Guadalajara, companies were now on the conference organising committee and even <a href="http://isbr.info/ISBGMO14/Student_Scholarships" type="external">conferring conference travel scholarships</a> from the podium. A former conference organiser and ISBR board member told me that the previous ISBGMO (St. Louis, USA, in 2015) had been almost entirely paid for by Monsanto.</p>
<p>Spreading the industry message</p>
<p>In Guadalajara, industry speakers were clearly working from a scripted list. That list translates as the key regulatory objectives of the biotech industry.</p>
<p>Prominent on that list was “data transportability”. Data transportability is the idea that regulators from different jurisdictions, say India, or the EU, should accept identical biosafety applications. Implementation of data transportability would mean that although each country has unique ecosystems and species, applicants ought not to have to provide studies tailored to each. For example, when it comes to assessing effects on non-target organisms, for example of a GMO crop producing an insecticide, regulators in Australia should accept tests on European ladybird species or earthworms as showing that a GMO cotton can safely be grown there.</p>
<p>The appeal of data transportability for an applicant is clear enough—less cost and less risk of their GMO failing a risk assessment. Not once did I hear mention of an obvious downside to data transportability. The fewer tests to which a novel GMO is subjected the less research there is to detect a significant problem if one exists.</p>
<p>A second standard corporate line was “need to know versus nice to know”. In other words do not ask applicants for more data than they wish to supply. The downsides to this are identical to data transportability. Less data is less testing and less science.</p>
<p>Modernising risk assessment?</p>
<p>Another major theme of the meeting was ‘modernization’ of regulation. In this scheme the most ‘advanced’ nation was proposed to be Canada. Canada has adopted what it calls “trait-based GMO regulation”. In trait-based regulation the method of development (i.e. whether the crop was genetically engineered or not) is considered irrelevant. The trait is the sole focus. So if a GMO crop contains an insecticide it is assessed for risk against non-target organisms. If a GMO improves flavour or nutrition then, since there is presumably no risk from flavours or nutrients, then the crop receives what amounts to a free pass.</p>
<p>The Canadian approach sounds harmless, but it has the crucial property that it hands control of risk assessment to the applicant, because under such a system everything depends on what the applicant chooses to call their trait. Imagine you were asked to review the safety of an aircraft, but the manufacturer wouldn’t tell you if it was propeller-driven or a jet; likewise, if a submarine was diesel or nuclear powered.</p>
<p>The Canadian approach therefore, by just asking what the crop is supposed to do, effectively places outside of regulation most of the standard considerations of risk and hazard. Once upon a time, risk assessment was supposed to be about what a product is not supposed to do. For proposing non-regulation over regulation, Canadian biosafety officials were given more prominent speaking opportunities at ISBGMO14 than any other national regulator.</p>
<p>Tiered risk assessment</p>
<p>An equivalently unscientific innovation, which seems widely accepted, is called tiered risk assessment. Imagine a company presents to regulators an insect-resistant GMO crop. An obvious question arises. How is a regulator to know, since the crops produces an insecticide, if it will kill beneficial organisms such as the bees that feed on its flowers?</p>
<p>In tiered risk assessment this question is answered by feeding the purified GMO insecticide to a bee species. If no harm is observed the crop is assumed safe. No further tests are required. If the bees are harmed then a larger scale test, presumptively more realistic, is conducted. If harm is not observed the crop is assumed safe and no further tests are required. If harm is shown then an outdoor or larger-level test will be conducted.</p>
<p>Monsanto presented a lengthy exposition, in a plenary session, of the ‘soundness’ and ‘logic’ of this tiered approach. Tiered risk assessment has been the subject of little scientific debate (though see <a href="" type="internal">Lang et al., 2007</a>), but the implications of the tiered approach are profound. It is an asymmetrical system in which passing any test leads to approval whereas failing that test does not result in disapproval.</p>
<p>Consider the comparison with pharmaceuticals. Currently, all pharmaceutical drugs must pass through three phases of clinical trials; first animal tests, then small scale human trials, then large scale human trials. Failure at any stage is considered terminal. Without wishing to give them any ideas, suppose the FDA were to replace this three-phase system with one under which approval in phase I (animal tests) allowed the developer to go straight to market. There would be, for good reason, an uproar, followed by an avalanche of dangerous medications on the market. But that is precisely the logic of tiered GMO testing.</p>
<p>Tiered testing is therefore a system in which failure is an unacceptable answer. In the scientific review paper that first proposed tiered risk assessment, there is no provision for rejecting the crop in the main figure, which diagrams the proposed decision tree (See Figure 1 of <a href="" type="internal">Romeis et al., 2008</a>). Approvals are guaranteed. Agribusiness knows this perfectly well because many of the principal authors of Romeis et al are from the major seed and biotech companies.</p>
<p>The so-called logical innovations presented at ISBGMO14, such as data transportability, trait-based regulation, and tiered risk assessment, are thus intended as regulatory bypasses. They make it all but impossible for a regulator to turn down a GMO application, or even to collect sufficient information. No wonder the biotech industry likes to refer to risk assessment procedures as approval systems.</p>
<p>Given the lack of objection to these approaches at ISBGMO14, the biotech industry ought now to feel confident that the regulation of biotechnology is largely in their hands, but still it wants more.</p>
<p>In the coming years, an upsurge is expected in the GMO pipeline as new applications and new approaches become possible. This pipeline is predicted to include GMO algae, animal biotechnology, gene drives, and so forth. Many of these opportunities the industry knows will be controversial. A pacified regulatory environment is for them a necessity before that can happen.</p>
<p>This is more than a shame. When a comprehensive evaluation of the <a href="https://www.independentsciencenews.org/health/unsafe-at-any-dose-diagnosing-chemical-safety-failures-from-ddt-to-bpa/" type="external">weaknesses</a> and <a href="https://www.independentsciencenews.org/environment/gene-drives-a-scientific-case-for-a-complete-and-perpetual-ban/" type="external">inherent limitations</a> of scientific risk assessment is urgently needed to cope with these challenges, the chemical and biotech industries are forcing those assessment systems in the opposite direction.</p>
<p>References</p>
<p>Romeis, Jörg; Bartsch, Detlef; Bigler, Franz; Candolfi, Marco P; Gielkens, Marco M C; et al. (2008) <a href="" type="internal">Assessment of risk of insect-resistant transgenic crops to nontarget arthropods</a>. Nature Biotechnology; 26: 203-8.</p>
<p>Andreas Lang, Éva Lauber &amp; Béla Darvas (2007) <a href="" type="internal">Early-tier tests insufficient for GMO risk assessment</a>. Nature Biotechnology 25: 35 – 36,&#160;doi:10.1038/nbt0107-35</p> | The Biotech Industry is Taking Over the Regulation of GMOs From the Inside | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/07/21/the-biotech-industry-is-taking-over-the-regulation-of-gmos-from-the-inside/ | 2017-07-21 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>But pioneer she did. Rubin’s work fundamentally changed astronomy by confirming the existence of dark matter, the invisible stuff that makes up 27 percent of the universe.</p>
<p>The way she worked changed astronomy, too. The field may have been all male when she entered it 70 years ago. But by the time she died Sunday, at age 88, that was no longer true. That’s in large part thanks to Rubin: a brilliant mentor and fierce advocate for women in science.</p>
<p>“She made science kinder &amp; the culture of research more human,” tweeted Mika McKinnon, a science writer and geophysicist.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Those words hardly described science in the 1940s and 50s, when Rubin was at the beginning of her career. In an interview published by the American Institute of Physics, she recalled the day she told her high school physics teacher that she’d been awarded a scholarship to Vassar.</p>
<p>“He said to me, ‘As long as you stay away from science, you should do OK,’ ” Rubin recounted. “It takes an enormous self-esteem to listen to things like that and not be demolished.”</p>
<p>But Rubin learned a lesson from the experience: “Rather than teaching little girls physics, you have to teach them that they can learn anything they want to,” she said.</p>
<p>Attitudes did not change as Rubin ascended in her field. Though she had degrees from Vassar and Cornell and had presented before the American Astronomical Society at age 22, she was barred from getting a PhD at Princeton because the university’s graduate program didn’t accept women. A few years later, she asked to attend a talk at the Applied Physics Lab, where her husband worked. She was rebuffed because “wives were not allowed” – never mind the fact that Rubin was a scientist in her own right, working on her PhD in astronomy at nearby Georgetown University.</p>
<p>But if the institutions of astronomy would not accommodate her, Rubin was not afraid to change them. In the mid 1960s, she was granted access to San Diego’s prestigious Palomar Observatory, an old boys’ club so infamous astronomers called it “the monastery.” Though she could use the telescope, Rubin was informed that there was nowhere for her to relieve herself – the facility had no women’s restroom.</p>
<p>“She went to her room, she cut up paper into a skirt image, and she stuck it on the little person image on the door of the bathroom,” former colleague Neta Bahcall of Princeton University told Astronomy magazine in the fall. “She said, ‘There you go; now you have a ladies’ room.’ That’s the type of person Vera is.”</p>
<p>Speaking to CNN, Bahcall also recalled a time when an astronomer at the University of Chicago wrote to Rubin, asking her to advertise his school’s program. She wrote back saying that if she were a promising young scientist just starting out in the field, she would never apply there because the program’s faculty included no women.</p>
<p>Everywhere she went, Rubin fought for more women to be included. In 1976, when she found out that the first-ever Smithsonian Air and Space Museum planetarium show on the history of American astronomy would feature only men – all but one of them white – she lobbied for months for women to be included (sadly, her efforts were unsuccessful). She was part of a cadre of scientists and scholars who pressured Washington’s exclusive Cosmos Club to admit women. She criticized the National Academy of Sciences for its dearth of female members. She met with politicians to discuss the need to create more opportunities for girls.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“All of us, men and women alike, need permission to enter and continue in the world of science,” Rubin wrote in a 1986 editorial in the journal Science. “While such permission has generally been granted to bright men, it has always been less readily granted to young women and continues to be denied to many women even today.”</p>
<p>She described how an aspiring scientist might be the only female student in her department, endure more scrutiny than her male colleagues and be discouraged from seeking a high-profile position in her field. “This kind of gatekeeping also serves to limit opportunities,” she wrote.</p>
<p>Having made it past astronomy’s gatekeepers, Rubin was devoted to keeping the way open for women behind her. “It is well known,” she once said, “that I am available 24 hours a day to women astronomers.”</p>
<p>This was not an exaggeration, according to Sandra Faber, an astronomy professor emerita at the University of California in Santa Cruz who once spent a summer working with Rubin.</p>
<p>“She was the first woman I encountered at that level,” Faber told the Los Angeles Times. “She helped me along at various crucial stages during my career. But each young person thinks they had the special relationship with Vera. She had that knack.”</p>
<p>Speaking to Astronomy magazine, Bahcall remembered how Rubin encouraged her younger colleagues.</p>
<p>“If they didn’t get a job or they didn’t get a paper published, she would cheer people up,” she said. “She kept telling her story about how there are ups and downs and you stick with it and keep doing what you love doing.”</p>
<p>Rubin never received the Nobel Prize for her work – a snub that many interpret as a sign of the Nobel Committee’s gender bias (only two women have won the award for physics, and none in the past 50 years). A recent profile in Astronomy magazine suggested she was like the dark matter she helped explain: invisible.</p>
<p>But, also like dark matter, she made her influence felt.</p>
<p>rubin-appreciate</p> | How Vera Rubin changed science | false | https://abqjournal.com/916325/how-vera-rubin-changed-science.html | 2 |
|
<p />
<p>From: theconservativetreehouse.com Link: http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2013/08/07/cnn-airs-the-truth-about-benghazi-but-fills-the-story-with-lies-and-deception-we-explain-why/#more-67436</p>
<p>In any endeavor of corruption and misleading governance, the control of, and support by, the media, is an absolute necessity. The USSR needed Pravda to keep the ruse of governance for decades. The need of/by the U.S. government has steadily grown over the course of several progressive decades; but the urgency has increased exponentially over the past five years with the extremes of The Obama Administration.</p>
<p>Yesterday another blatant example of this was clearly evident to those who are tuned in to the deceptive enterprise. However, for the sake of those who do not have the time or energy to actually track such things, here is what took place.</p>
<p>CNN broadcast a story about the Benghazi attacks on 9/11/12; a subject of much controversy. So much so, the administration cannot seem to get away from it because the deceptive narrative is so fundamentally false. Enter the need for the Pravda-esque media, CNN.</p>
<p>CNN needs to maintain an optic of middle road media in order to be effective. MSNBC is so far down the water-carrying road they are essentially useless in helping the White House except for motivating and cheerleading the base of Democrats. But CNN has a more important role, they need the illusion of journalism, as it pertains to the current U.S. administration, in order to be effective.</p>
<p>In the past 48 hours a series of events took place to establish the optic for their Benghazi coverage.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconservativetreehouse.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/benghazi-liars-banner.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>First,&#160;Mediaite, another left leaning entity, presented a story about&#160; <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/the-other-benghazi-scandal-journalists-worry-covering-the-attack-threatens-white-house-access/" type="external">the White House being concerned about CNN’s coverage of Benghazi</a>&#160;and threatening access. &#160;In essence Mediaite wrote the cover for CNN by saying the CNN story was “damaging”. &#160;It was not, and this was a planted seed to stimulate interest and subsequently create an illusion of independent journalism. The truth is 180 divergent; Mediaite was setting the bait.</p>
<p>Second, the administration announced, just before the evening news cycle,&#160; <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/06/politics/benghazi-charges/index.html" type="external">it was filing charges against the Benghazi attacker&#160;</a>who was interviewed by CNN and about to be broadcast. The goal here to give credibility to the CNN broadcast and simultaneously make it appear the narrative was damaging. Create the optic the administration was trying to get out ahead of the story. With the bait set by mediaite earlier, this second aspect set the hook.</p>
<p>So by the time the 10pm CNN Erin Burnett report was set to run, the substance was in place to give it credibility. However, what was broadcast was not journalism, it was/is better described as prime-time propaganda in the extreme.</p>
<p>We could dissect the entire 60 minute segment bit-by-bit, but for the sake of this discussion we will not do that except to point out the inherent flaws&#160;within the construct&#160;of the heavily manufactured faux-expose’. [At the bottom, we will repost an earlier outline showcasing how absolutely ridiculous the framework is].</p>
<p>As to the construct.</p>
<p>The production itself is several months old. How do we know this? Because Erin Burnett, the shows’ host, is pregnant. Very pregnant right now.&#160; <a href="http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/05/erin-burnett-and-piers-morgan-discuss-the-truth-about-benghazi-a-cnn-special-investigation-airing-tuesday-at-10-p-m/?hpt=hp_tvbx" type="external">She appeared live&#160;</a>on the Piers Morgan show,&#160; <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1308/05/pmt.01.html" type="external">last night 8/5/13</a>, to promote the broadcast story which aired today 8/6/13. In her own words “I’m rather large” describes her physical appearance:</p>
<p><a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1308/05/pmt.01.html" type="external">MORGAN</a>: …and on both sides and has been the problem. Your very moving interviews with some of the relatives of those who lost their lives and that really, I think, brings the human side here away from the politics. It’s a very powerful investigation. It’s called “The Truth about Benghazi,” Erin Burnett, airs tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Good to see you.</p>
<p>BURNETT: Good to see, Piers.</p>
<p>MORGAN: And looking so blooming, if I may say so.</p>
<p>BURNETT: Isn’t that a nice way to put it?</p>
<p>MORGAN: Very blooming.</p>
<p>BURNETT: I’m rather large.</p>
<p>MORGAN: So blooming. You’re blooming. Erin Burnett, good to see you.</p>
<p>BURNETT: All right, good to see you, Piers.&#160;&#160; <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1308/05/pmt.01.html" type="external">(link)</a></p>
<p>Indeed,&#160; <a href="http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/05/erin-burnett-and-piers-morgan-discuss-the-truth-about-benghazi-a-cnn-special-investigation-airing-tuesday-at-10-p-m/?hpt=hp_tvbx" type="external">she is</a>.</p>
<p>But if you watch the video from the latest Benghazi production you will clearly see several segments where Burnett&#160;is not even remotely showing her pregnancy.&#160; There is one especially evident part (toward the end) where she is interviewing the mother of Tyrone Woods, Burnett is wearing a belted red dress, and not even remotely pregnant.</p>
<p>This shows the production is clearly at least two months old, if not more, in some of the segments.</p>
<p>Generally this would not mean much, until you connect the dots to the previous Benghazi outlines which show with great specificity, and testimony of CNN employees, a concerted effort to help the White House sell a&#160;very specific narrative&#160;and hide information. This might sound incredulous, perhaps even entering into tin-foil hat territory, unless you really understand how much evidence exists which proves this to be TRUE.</p>
<p>We have built a virtual research library on their manipulations, just enter “CNN” in the search box and you will find the substance. Two of the most brutally obvious are:</p>
<p>1.&#160;&#160; <a href="http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/10/01/cnn-exposed-emmy-winning-former-cnn-journalist-amber-lyon-blows-the-whistle-simultaneously-answers-one-of-my-questions/" type="external">http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/10/01/cnn-exposed-emmy-winning-former-cnn-journalist-amber-lyon-blows-the-whistle-simultaneously-answers-one-of-my-questions/</a></p>
<p>2.&#160;&#160; <a href="http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/11/02/the-cnn-manipulation-of-benghazi-cover-is-getting-well-silly-cnn-propaganda-video-highlights/" type="external">http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/11/02/the-cnn-manipulation-of-benghazi-cover-is-getting-well-silly-cnn-propaganda-video-highlights/</a></p>
<p>We’ll look for video shortly so that we can capture screen shots, and dissect the actual substance of this latest report “The Truth About Benghazi“. However, in the interim here is the backstory which will help to explain exactly what they are doing….</p>
<p><a href="https://theconservativetreehouse.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/listen_up_words_horizontal__clear_bkrd__4-14-08_mayv_kyjx.gif" type="external" /> <a href="https://theconservativetreehouse.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/patriot4-e1308696418715.jpg" type="external" />Perhaps this one of the most important discussion threads ever regarding Legacy Media manipulation. We sincerely hope you will take the time to digest the content, think about the ramifications to what is here, and then share the information with others.</p>
<p>This is not a matter of opinion, the CNN stories are documented, attributed and cited. They are factual. Everything is verifiable within the embedded links and citations.</p>
<p>Before getting to the CNN Amber Lyon expose’ (which is incredible and troubling) let’s first back up a moment and&#160; <a href="http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/09/24/two-videos-to-shred-the-us-media-and-expose-the-outright-lying/" type="external">take you back to a previous video&#160;</a>we shared surrounding recent events.</p>
<p>In this first video from Canada the topic is the Libyan US Consulate Bombing and the US Egyptian Embassy being overrun. While the topic of Egypt is a ‘component’ of the issue, it is not our central concern.</p>
<p>The central issue is&#160;Media Controlled by The Obama Administration, and more specifically CNN – as a VERIFIED tool for propaganda and disinformation.</p>
<p>Within this Canadian video report you will find footage of a CNN story on Egypt and Mohammed Al Zawahiri. It was produced by well-known CNN Journalist Nick Robertson. The entire video is excellent, but the pertinent aspect is at the 1:30 mark.&#160; &lt;—- watch it.</p>
<p />
<p>In the&#160; <a href="http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/09/24/two-videos-to-shred-the-us-media-and-expose-the-outright-lying/" type="external">previous thread&#160;</a>I asked two central questions. The&#160; <a href="http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/09/24/two-videos-to-shred-the-us-media-and-expose-the-outright-lying/" type="external">Second Question&#160;</a>was:</p>
<p>Why would CNN [or CNNi] refuse to air the&#160; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=M86ndC4V7EQ" type="external">Nick Robertson report&#160;</a>with Muhammed Al Zawahiri (brother of Ayman Al Zawahiri) that&#160;clearly shows the Egyptian uprising was 100% in response to his call for protests for release of the Blind sheik on 9-11.?&#160;Why would the “most trusted name in news“, hide the report showing the truth, and instead allow the false narrative to be sold, by them, to the American electorate?</p>
<p>Amber Lyon provides the answer(s).</p>
<p>CNN never aired the Nick Robertson report in Egypt because it completely contradicted President Obama and Hillary Clinton’s assertions. In short, the Robertson report, if aired, would have proved Obama and Clinton were lying.</p>
<p>The Nick Robertson CNN report was filmed on 9/11/12, yes the exact morning of the Cairo embassy protest, and, by coincidence, it would have aired at the exact moment Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama began attributing the Egyptian embassy protest to a “U-Tube Video”.</p>
<p>A U-Tube Video the U.S. Cairo embassy itself&#160; <a href="http://www.soopermexican.com/2012/10/09/cairo-embassy-questioned-about-anti-muhammed-movie-in-twitter-exchange-2-days-before-911-attacks/" type="external">was unaware of until 9/9/12</a>.</p>
<p>CNN’s refusal to air the real reasoning for the Egyptian Embassy protest turned assault was intentional protection of President Obama, specifically orchestrated by the CNN News group, at the behest of the White House. Specific, intentional, lying.</p>
<p>Apparently they have a history of this no-one knew about.&#160;UNTIL NOW.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Amber Lyon is an award-winning journalist who worked for CNN.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>She says she was ordered to report fake stories, delete unfriendly stories adverse to the Obama administration (like the Nick Robertson report), and construct stories in specific manners while working for the left-wing network.</p>
<p>CNN is paid by foreign and domestic Government agencies for specific content.</p>
<p>CNN is&#160;paid&#160;by the US government for reporting on some events, and not reporting on others.&#160;&#160; She shares: the Obama Administration pays CNN for content control.</p>
<p>Additionally CNN and CNNi (International) are also paid by foreign governments to avoid stories that are damaging, and construct narratives that show them in a better, albeit false, light.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amberlyonlive.com/AmberLyonLive/HOME_PAGE.html" type="external">Amber Lyon is a three-time Emmy winning investigative journalist&#160;</a>and photographer. She accuses CNN of being “fake news.”</p>
<p>Back in March 2011, CNN sent a four person team to Bahrain to cover the Arab Spring. Once there, the crew was the subject of extreme intimidation amongst other things, but they were able to record some fantastic footage. As&#160; <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/04/cnn-international-documentary-bahrain-arab-spring-repression?INTCMP=SRCH" type="external">Glenn Greenwald of the UK’s Guardian writes in his blockbuster article from September 4th 2012</a>:</p>
<p>“In the segment, Lyon interviewed activists as they explicitly described their torture at the hands of government forces, while family members recounted their relatives’ abrupt disappearances. She spoke with government officials justifying the imprisonment of activists. And the segment featured harrowing video footage of regime forces shooting unarmed demonstrators, along with the mass arrests of peaceful protesters. In sum, the early 2011 CNN segment on Bahrain presented one of the starkest reports to date of the brutal repression embraced by the US-backed regime.</p>
<p>Despite these accolades, and despite the dangers their own journalists and their sources endured to produce it, CNN International (CNNi) never broadcast the documentary. Even in the face of numerous inquiries and complaints from their own employees inside CNN, it continued to refuse to broadcast the program or even provide any explanation for the decision. To date, this documentary has never aired on CNNi.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Having just returned from Bahrain, Lyon says she “saw first-hand that these regime claims were lies, and I couldn’t believe CNN was&#160;making me put&#160;what I knew to be&#160;government lies into my reporting.”</p>
<p>Here is a segment of the Bahrain report that Amber Lyon and her team put together. CNNi refused to allow it to air because the Bahrain Government had paid them not to show it.</p>
<p />
<p>When Amber Lyon recognized the extent of the reasoning, she challenged CNN.</p>
<p>CNN told her to be quiet, and began to view her as a risk. She knew, and found out, too much.</p>
<p>Amber began&#160;trying to tell the story, the real story, of what is going on behind the closed doors of US Media entities. Amber has created&#160; <a href="http://www.amberlyonlive.com/AmberLyonLive/HOME_PAGE.html" type="external">her own website</a>, and additionally as noted in the Guardian Article she is trying to share the&#160; <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1lxXzaxIu3h6nmJnit0oHb_LEVgOdfrypn_B0VDVm1cA" type="external">truth of the deceptions</a>.</p>
<p>What Amber Lyon&#160; <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1lxXzaxIu3h6nmJnit0oHb_LEVgOdfrypn_B0VDVm1cA" type="external">describes&#160;</a>is exactly the reason why CNN never aired the Nick Robertson interview with Muhammed Al Zawahiri in Egypt on 9/11/12.</p>
<p>Amber recently did a&#160; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDVzJNMKs8&amp;feature=player_embedded" type="external">web interview&#160;</a>with Alex Jones on InfoWars. Generally the TreeHouse does not appreciate Alex Jones. He is wound up tighter than piano wire, and unfortunately much of his truth is diminished because of the hype he places upon it.</p>
<p>Alex Jones is easy to disregard as a “conspiracy theorist”, not because of what he says, but because of how he says it. Everything is desperate and dangerous with him.</p>
<p>That said, the words and explanations of Ms. Lyon in the&#160; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDVzJNMKs8&amp;feature=player_embedded" type="external">discussion/interview&#160;</a>are poignant and vastly informative. So I share the&#160; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDVzJNMKs8&amp;feature=player_embedded" type="external">video&#160;</a>with you so you can hear from Amber herself exactly what is being described and articulated.</p>
<p />
<p>It is critical to listen to&#160;what she says, not just about Bahrain but also about what the Obama administration is specifically doing. Just try to overlook the Alex Jones-ism, and focus on what&#160; <a href="http://www.amberlyonlive.com/AmberLyonLive/HOME_PAGE.html" type="external">Amber Lyon&#160;</a>is sharing.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconservativetreehouse.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/media.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Is it any wonder why the new media formats are growing so rapidly?</p>
<p>Again, against the backdrop of this most recent propaganda it is helpful to read this link.</p>
<p><a href="http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/11/02/the-cnn-manipulation-of-benghazi-cover-is-getting-well-silly-cnn-propaganda-video-highlights/" type="external">http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/11/02/the-cnn-manipulation-of-benghazi-cover-is-getting-well-silly-cnn-propaganda-video-highlights/</a></p>
<p /> | CNN being paid with YOUR tax dollars to manipulate coverage that is being shoved down our throats as propaganda and disinformation…. | true | https://powderedwigsociety.com/cnn-being-paid-with-your-tax-dollars-to-manipulate-coverage-that-is-being-shoved-down-our-throats-as-propaganda/ | 2013-08-07 | 0 |
<p>PARIS (AP) — Pilots’ unions and Air France are in talks aimed at ending an 11-day strike over cost-cutting measures.</p>
<p>The walkout has grounded more than half of the airline’s flights, stranding passengers worldwide.</p>
<p>Air France offered Wednesday night to scrap a central part of a plan to shift most of its European operations to low-cost carrier Transavia.</p>
<p>That plan prompted the strike, because pilots see it as a way to outsource their jobs to countries with lower taxes and labor costs. Air France wants to restructure to stay competitive with budget airlines and growing Gulf carriers.</p>
<p>Guillaume Schmid of pilots’ union SNPL said the unions responded with a counter-offer that was rejected in overnight talks with airline management, then submitted another counter-offer that is being discussed in negotiations Thursday.</p>
<p>PARIS (AP) — Pilots’ unions and Air France are in talks aimed at ending an 11-day strike over cost-cutting measures.</p>
<p>The walkout has grounded more than half of the airline’s flights, stranding passengers worldwide.</p>
<p>Air France offered Wednesday night to scrap a central part of a plan to shift most of its European operations to low-cost carrier Transavia.</p>
<p>That plan prompted the strike, because pilots see it as a way to outsource their jobs to countries with lower taxes and labor costs. Air France wants to restructure to stay competitive with budget airlines and growing Gulf carriers.</p>
<p>Guillaume Schmid of pilots’ union SNPL said the unions responded with a counter-offer that was rejected in overnight talks with airline management, then submitted another counter-offer that is being discussed in negotiations Thursday.</p> | Pilots, Air France negotiating way to end strike | false | https://apnews.com/c900ff23418143f6ab77c3b0e753a879 | 2014-09-25 | 2 |
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | TREASURIES-Benchmark yields hit 3-year peak as government shutdown looms | false | https://reuters.com/article/usa-bonds/treasuries-benchmark-yields-hit-3-year-peak-as-government-shutdown-looms-idUSL1N1PE1GK | 2018-01-19 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Day hits mark with ‘Que Sera, Sera’</p>
<p>James Stewart and Doris Day steal the show in this one. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 classic, “The Man Who Knew Too Much” will be screened at 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 19 as part of the KiMo Theatre (423 W. Central) series on Hitchcock.</p>
<p>The film follows Lawrence, played by Stewart, and his wife Jill, played by Day, who are asked by a dying friend, Louis Bernard, to get information hidden in his room to the British Consulate.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>They get the information, but when they deny having it, their daughter Betty is kidnapped.</p>
<p>It turns out that Louis was a Foreign Office spy and the information has to do with the assassination of a foreign dignitary.</p>
<p>Admission is $5-7 at kimotickets.com or 768-3544.</p>
<p>Don’t let Dad stay indoors for the day</p>
<p>It’s time to celebrate all fathers at the annual Dia del Padre (Father’s Day Fiesta) at the Rio Grande Zoo, 903 10th SW.</p>
<p>From 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday, June 16 the zoo will have live Mexican music, an opportunity to learn about the best animal dads, visit booths from local businesses and win prize giveaways. Discovery stations about animal fathers will offer hands-on learning and four guest bands will perform.</p>
<p>Free Park-and-Ride service is available and visitors can catch a shuttle from the ABQ BioPark Aquarium and Botanic Garden or at the lot on the southwest corner of Central and Sixth Street.</p>
<p>Park-and-Ride shuttles run from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. The event is included with regular admission.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Get dancin’ shoes and swing away</p>
<p>It’s hot outside and about to get hotter.</p>
<p>Albuquerque will host Summerfest beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday, June 15 on Wyoming Boulevard just north of Paseo del Norte in the Heights.</p>
<p>The free event will feature music from Ryan Montano, Cowboys &amp; Indian, The Quality Retreads and will be headlined by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.</p>
<p>The event also will feature an art market, food, a microbrew garden with local breweries La Cumbre, Broken Bottle and Bosque Brewing offering a wide variety of beers and other beverages, and, of course, lots of fun activities for the kids.</p>
<p>Park at La Cueva High School or the Domingo Baca Intergenerational Center.</p>
<p>The event is free. For more information, visit cabq.gov.</p>
<p>Catch him before he goes ‘late night’</p>
<p>Really, really? Yes, it’s Seth Myers.</p>
<p>The “Saturday Night Live” fixture and comedian will perform at the KiMo Theatre, 423 W. Central, at 7 p.m. Sunday, June 16.</p>
<p>Myers has just been tapped to replace Jimmy Fallon as the host of NBC’s “Late Night” starting in February.</p>
<p>He’s been on “SNL” for 12 seasons and he’s also the head writer for the show for the past eight seasons.</p>
<p>He’s also hosted the series skit “Weekend Update” for seven seasons and has been nominated five times for an Emmy for writing.</p>
<p>Tickets are $54 at kimotickets.com or 886-1251. Proceeds from the event benefit the Jewish Federation of New Mexico.</p>
<p>Dorothy, Tin Man will be there, too</p>
<p>They’re off to see the wizard – and they want you to come along.</p>
<p>The Cardboard Playhouse Theatre Company is presenting “The Wizard of Oz” at 7 tonight, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, June 15 and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 16 at the South Broadway Cultural Center, 1025 Broadway SE.</p>
<p>The cast includes 47 performers ranging in age from 7-18 years old and will include the classic songs, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” and “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead.”</p>
<p>The adaptation of the MGM film has been written for younger actors to play all the roles.</p>
<p>Tickets are $10 at cardboard-playhouse.org or holdmyticket.com.</p> | Top Billing | false | https://abqjournal.com/210128/top-billing-15.html | 2013-06-14 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>“The Olympic community failed the people it was supposed to protect,” said Rick Adams, USOC executive in charge of national governing body development, reading from a prepared statement. “We do take responsibility, and we apologize to any young athlete who has ever faced abuse.”</p>
<p>In response to questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee about allegations of mishandled abuse complaints by USA Gymnastics, Adams blamed “a flawed culture, where the brand, the sport, and their (competitive) results are given a higher priority than the health and well-being of athletes” for leaving children at risk.</p>
<p>“That is what we need to change,” Adams said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Adams’ comments marked a stark departure for the USOC; the federally chartered nonprofit that oversees Olympic sports organizations has historically delegated child protection to individual Olympic governing bodies. Adams’ comments were the latest sign that the scandal engulfing USA Gymnastics – which came after previous allegations of mishandled abuse complaints by USA Swimming, US Speedskating, USA Judo and USA Taekwondo – could prompt changes victims advocates have demanded for years.</p>
<p>Adams pledged the USOC’s support for legislation proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that would impose mandatory reporting requirements on coaches and officials associated with Olympic governing bodies, and revise the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, the law that governs Olympic sports organizations, to require child protection measures.</p>
<p>Adams was joined Tuesday by two former Team USA gymnasts who are among more than 80 women who have alleged Larry Nassar, former longtime USA Gymnastics team physician, sexually assaulted them during routine examinations. Nassar, who has denied the allegations, has been charged with dozens of sex crimes in Michigan.</p>
<p>Jamie Dantzscher, a 34-year-old former Team USA member and bronze medalist, broke down in tears as she alleged Nassar assaulted her repeatedly over the years, including at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Like many others, Dantzscher has said Nassar inserted his fingers in her vagina under the guise of treatment for back pain. Dantzscher is one of dozens of women who have sued USA Gymnastics, alleging the organization is culpable for Nassar’s alleged abuse by allowing him to treat children alone and by fostering a culture of fear in which child athletes are conditioned never to question adults.</p>
<p>“If we didn’t weigh what they wanted, eat what they wanted, look the way they wanted, then they could take our spot away. . . . We were kids. That’s all we knew. We didn’t know it could be any different,” said Dantzscher.</p>
<p>Jessica Howard, former U.S. national champion in rhythmic gymnastics, told Senators of her first alleged assault by Nassar. She was 15, she said, and suffering from hip pain. Nassar told her, in advance of her treatment, to wear shorts and loose underwear.</p>
<p>“That seemed strange, but I obeyed,” Howard said. “As in training, I wanted to be perfect. He began to massage my legs, and then quickly moved inwards on my thighs. He then massaged his way into me.”</p>
<p>USA Gymnastics has defended how it handled the Nassar case, and has said former CEO Steve Penny reported Nassar to the FBI in 2015, five weeks after an athlete first raised concerns. The Olympic organization is also drawing fire, however, for revelations produced in a lawsuit in Georgia, in which Penny and USA Gymnastics officials testified that the organization dismissed allegations of abuse by coaches as hearsay unless they came, in writing, from a victim. In the Georgia case, William McCabe, a USA Gymnastics member coach, continued to coach and abuse children for years after USA Gymnastics officials first received complaints about his behavior in 1998. McCabe was convicted of sexual exploitation of children in 2006.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“It simply cannot be the case, as it was with USA Gymnastics, where member’s reports of sex abuse were only recognized if they were made in writing,” Feinstein said.</p>
<p>USA Gymnastics declined to send a representative to Tuesday’s hearing, instead releasing a statement from board chairman Paul Parilla in which he also pledged support for Feinstein’s legislation while pointing out the organization is conducting its own internal review of its child protection policies.</p>
<p>“USA Gymnastics is appalled that anyone would exploit a young athlete or child in the manner alleged, and we offer our sincere and heartfelt regrets and sympathies to any athlete who was harmed during his or her gymnastics career,” Parilla wrote.</p>
<p>Dominique Moceanu, a member of the 1996 women’s gymnastics team that won gold at the Atlanta Games, was not a victim of sexual abuse, but testified about the culture that she believed “set the stage for other atrocities to occur.” Moceanu, 35, blamed Bela and Marta Karolyi, the revered former coaches and directors of the women’s team, for creating a “culture of fear, intimidation and humiliation.”</p>
<p>The Karolyis, who have also been sued by several alleged victims of Nassar, have denied allegations made by Moceanu about verbal and emotional abuse.</p>
<p>Adams, the USOC executive, told senators he expected the problems highlighted by Tuesday’s testimony would be solved by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a recently opened independent organization that has taken over investigating allegations of abuse in Olympic sports organizations, similar to how the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency polices drug cheating.</p>
<p>“This will no longer be left in the hands of people who clearly did not exercise appropriate judgment in many, many cases,” Adams said.</p> | USOC apologizes to sex abuse victims, says Olympic sports culture needs change | false | https://abqjournal.com/977721/usoc-apologizes-to-sex-abuse-victims-says-olympic-sports-culture-needs-change.html | 2 |
|
<p>So, it’s the week of the Fourth of July-the date the United States celebrates its struggle for independence from England and its throne. Scooter Libby, who was convicted (in the place of more serious crimes and perpetrators) of lying to Congress about matters of state has just had his 30 month sentence commuted.</p>
<p>The reason for the July 4th date is because it was the date in 1776 that the Declaration of Independence was signed. Of course, this independence was really only for the southern white male planters and their northern counterparts, but the seed it planted has inspired men and women around the world to make the words of that declaration’s preamble universal. Yet, we are still quite far from that goal, even here in the United States. Indeed, especially here in the United States. Poverty prevents millions from achieving their right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Hundreds of thousands of those denied these rights end up in prison not only lose the latter, but quite literally lose their liberty. Of those hundreds of thousands, hundreds have lost their lives because of the state’s’ insistence on their right to execute certain prisoners, most of them black and brown-skinned.</p>
<p>One of these men is Kenneth Foster, a young African-American resident of Texas who is facing execution at the end of August 2007. His case revolves around a very controversial law known as the “law of parties.” In essence, this law imposes the death penalty on any body involved in a crime where a murder occurred, even if the accused was not involved in the murder or even aware that the killer intended to commit murder. If this law were applied to Scooter Libby’s case, there’s a good chance that Dick Cheney and Karl Rove would have also been convicted, even if they didn’t know that Libby was going to lie to Congress.</p>
<p>Kenneth is also a founding member of the Death Row Inner-Communalist Vanguard Engagement, or DRIVE. Members of DRIVE have organized in the worst of circumstances to protest the awful living conditions on Texas’ death row and against the death penalty in general. DRIVE is a first-of-its-kind social movement with a growing base of support in the U.S. and internationally. They have also created a politicized environment on death row in which condemned inmates are refusing to walk to their executions, forcing guards to drag them instead. More information about DRIVE is available online at <a href="http://www.drivemovement.org/" type="external">http://www.drivemovement.org</a></p>
<p>I ran into Marlene Martin of the Campaign to Abolish the Death Penalty in Chicago a couple of weeks ago and she told me about the case and gave me the name of Bryan McCann, who is an organizer of the campaign to prevent Foster’s execution. Bryan has been a member of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty since 2005. His writing on the Texas death penalty has appeared in the Socialist Worker and New Abolitionist. He lives in Austin, Texas where he is a PhD student in Communication Studies. I contacted Bryan and we carried on the following exchange.</p>
<p>Hi, Bryan. I just finished reading the materials on Kenneth Foster’s case sent to me by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, along with some other news articles that I found on line. To help out the readers, can you answer a couple background questions. Who is Kenneth Foster? Can you summarize the state’s case against Foster?</p>
<p>Kenneth Foster is a native of San Antonio, Texas. He has been on death row since 1997, sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Michael LaHood, Jr. Kenneth did not shoot LaHood. This is not an innocence claim made solely by his supporters. The state of Texas will be the first to admit that Kenneth is factually innocent of murder. How is he still on death row? Texas’s Law of Parties, the only legislation of its kind in a death penalty state, holds individuals criminally responsible for the offense of another if the prosecution can prove they actively promoted or assisted the commission of the offense or should have anticipated that it would have taken place.</p>
<p>On August 14, 1996, Kenneth Foster was driving a car carrying Mauriceo Brown, Dewayne Dillard, and Julius Steen. That night, Brown and Steen committed two armed robberies, at which point Kenneth asked Dillard to persuade them to stop. On the way home, Foster ended up behind a car carrying Michael LaHood, Jr. and his girlfriend, Mary Patrick. Concerned that Foster was deliberately following them, Patrick waved the car down in front of the LaHood residence. Brown exited the car, presumably to talk to Patrick and get her phone number. Dillard testified that no one anticipated violence, and that Brown took the gun without permission or knowledge of the other men. When Brown approached the woman, her boyfriend Michael LaHood appeared in the driveway. Brown and LaHood exchanged words, a shot was fired, and Michael LaHood lay dead. All of this transpired while the other three men remained in the car, 80 feet away from the scene of the crime, with the windows rolled up and radio turned on. After hearing the gunshots, Kenneth began to drive away, but Brown managed to get back in the car.</p>
<p>All of the above is well-corroborated by all four of the men on that evening. Brown admitted to shooting LaHood but insisted it was in self defense. However, the state tried Kenneth and Mauriceo together for capital murder, basing Kenneth’s charges on the Law of Parties. They claimed that because two robberies had already taken place that night, he should have anticipated that Brown might have tried to rob LaHood and Patrick. Because he should have anticipated a robbery could have taken place, he also should have known a murder could possibly take place. This shaky logic, along with testimony from Steen (who later retracted part of his testimony), was enough to sentence both Brown (who was executed in 2006) and Kenneth to death. What kind of legal representation did he have at trial?</p>
<p>Like the vast majority of death row inmates, Kenneth had a court-appointed attorney. This is largely due to the fact that the victim, Michael LaHood, Jr.’s father was a prominent San Antonio lawyer. This fact made it difficult for Kenneth’s family to find an attorney willing to take the case. Kenneth’s lawyers failed him on many counts, not least of all failing to interview Julius Steen during the original trial. In the sentencing phase, they failed to mention that both Kenneth’s parents were drug addicts and his mother died of AIDS. This gave the jury little basis for sympathy. Also, Brown’s attorney referred to his client as an “animal” and a “thug.” Because the two men were tried together, this likely prejudiced Kenneth in the eyes of the jury.</p>
<p>Has the case been appealed? What were the results and reasons given?</p>
<p>With the exception of his subsequent writ of habeas corpus, Kenneth’s appeals have been exhausted. In 2005, federal District Judge Royal Furgeson overturned Kenneth’s death sentence on the grounds that it violated his Eighth Amendment rights. Furgeson ruled that the jury in the original trial was not asked to determine if Kenneth harbored any intent to kill Michael LaHood. As a result, Kenneth’s case constituted a misapplication of the Law of Parties. However, Texas appealed the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and won. Since then, Kenneth has categorically lost all of his appeals</p>
<p>What is the “law of parties?” Has it ever been on the books in other states? I noted in the summary on the law that the Supreme Court that the ” imposition of the death penalty on a person who aids and abets a felony in the course of which a murder is committed by others but who does not himself kill, attempt to kill, or intend to kill violates the 8th and 14th Amendments of the US Constitution.” Can you provide the readers with a comprehensive history of this law and its interpretation in the courts?</p>
<p>The Law of Parties was adopted in 1974. It states that a person is equally responsible for the criminal conduct of another if “acting with intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense he solicits, encourages, directs, aids or attempts to aid the other persons to commit the offense” or “If, in the attempt to carry out a conspiracy to commit one felony, another felony is committed by one of the conspirators, all conspirators are guilty of the felony actually committed, though having no intent to commit it, if the offense was committed in furtherance of the unlawful purpose and was one that should have been anticipated as a result of the carrying out of the conspiracy.” The U.S. Supreme Court has indeed ruled on laws of this nature, drawing the conclusion that you cite above in the 1982 Enmund v. Florida decision. However the court has not heard any cases from Texas related to this issue. The only other case related to policies such as the Law of Parties is the 1987 Tison v. Arizona decision in which the Justices upheld the death sentences of two brothers who aided their father in a deadly prison escape. The decision stated that “”knowingly engaging in criminal activities known to carry a grave risk of death represents a highly culpable mental state.” They added that “We will not attempt to precisely delineate the particular types of conduct and states of mind warranting imposition of the death penalty. … Rather, we simply hold that major participation in the felony … combined with reckless indifference to human life is sufficient to satisfy the Enmund culpability requirement.” Thus, the legal precedent on policies like the Law of Parties remains highly ambiguous.</p>
<p>Obviously, you feel that this law has been wrongly applied to Kenneth Foster. How and why?</p>
<p>There is very little basis for believing that Kenneth had any malicious intent toward Michael LaHood, Jr. Yes, he was driving the car that night and robberies took place. However, there is every reason to believe that Kenneth had no idea LaHood’s life was in danger. There was also no conspiracy to rob him. He did not even know the gun had left the car. His jury, moreover, was only instructed to determine if he was associated with Brown and should have anticipated his actions. As Judge Furgeson pointed out in 2005, these instructions are not consistent with the intent of the Law of Parties. Kenneth is effectively facing an execution date for a failure of hindsight. As Kenneth’s criminal lawyer, Keith Hampton, wrote in his federal appeal, “By employing the conspiracy liability statute, the state is able to make persons death-eligible on nothing greater than a negligence standard ­ that the defendant ‘should have anticipated’ that his conspirator would, in the course of any planned felony, intentionally kill another person.” He added, “negligence is the least culpable mental state known to criminal law.”</p>
<p>What about the justness of the law itself?</p>
<p>The Law of Parties is a pretty transparent attempt to optimize convictions. By placing such a low threshold of proof, under which someone can be sent to death for failing to anticipate the actions of another, prosecutors have a multitude of strategies they can enlist to negotiate plea bargains and send multiple people to prison or the death chamber. Sentences ultimately boil down to who chooses to cooperate with the state, rather than who actually committed the crime. For example, Irineo Montoya was executed in 1997 for restraining a man while Juan Fernando Villavicencio stabbed him. Villavicencio, on the other hand, was acquitted of the murder after key witnesses in both trials (relatives of Villavicencio) changed their testimonies. The Law of Parties shows the lie to the notion of the death penalty as something reserved for the “worst of the worst.” Instead, it shows what a cynical political strategy the sanction actually is. Also, by asking jurors to determine if a defendant should have anticipated that a crime was going to take place, when that very jury obviously already knows that it has, the prosecution is asking individuals to make life and death decisions based on what seems logical in retrospect. It is a law that is ripe for abuse.</p>
<p>I noticed when reading the materials accompanying the case that Foster attempted to drive away after LaHood was shot. What does this mean to the case and how important is it to proving Foster’s intent (or lack of intent)?</p>
<p>This important piece of information never came out at the original trial. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to have new evidence stand during appeals, as the defense must be able to demonstrate that something prevented them from acquiring the evidence in the first place. One of the jurors in Kenneth’s original trial said that if he had known Kenneth tried to drive away, he would have voted for a different verdict.</p>
<p>When the trial judge told the jury that they could “find the defendant Kenneth Foster guilty of the offense of capital murder, though he may have had no intent to commit the offense,” was the judge correct?</p>
<p>According to the Law of Parties, a defendant is responsible for another person’s felony if it is committed in furtherance of a crime they were both responsible for. However, the jury should have been asked to determine if Kenneth was an active agent in a criminal conspiracy that he either knew would result in LaHood’s death or should have anticipated would have ended in murder. Under the judge’s instructions, the prosecution did not even have to meet this low threshold of proof.</p>
<p>Most everyone knows that Texas leads the United States in executions. Given Texas’ reputation, how does the defense hope to prevent Kenneth’s execution?</p>
<p>Texas will perform its 400th execution since 1982 in 2007. It is obviously a state out of control in its use of the death penalty. Because of this, there are many reasons to believe that Kenneth’s odds are rather low. Furthermore, conventional wisdom dictates that little hope is left when an execution date is set. However, the death penalty is on the defensive in the United States in a way it has not been for years. Beginning with the 2003 death row commutations in Illinois, the nation as a whole has begun asking hard questions about capital punishment, especially regarding innocence and lethal injection. While Texas still manages to be the exception to the rule in its flagrant use of capital punishment, there are signs that the tide is turning here, as well. Recently, the Supreme Court decided against the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in three death penalty cases. Also, the CCA has been deciding in favor of death row defendants at an unusual rate. Over the past several years, the cases of Ruben Cantu, Carlos DeLuna, and Cameron Todd Willingham have emerged as instances in which innocent men were almost certainly put to death in Texas. The statewide anti-death penalty movement continues to grow in size and confidence. While it is hard to make definitive predictions about what will or will not happen on August 30 (Kenneth’s scheduled execution date), I believe we have plenty of reasons to be hopeful. Texas is beginning to feel pressure where its use of the death penalty is concerned, and a case such as Kenneth’s is certainly one that can fan the flames of public discontent and create enough political pressure to halt his execution.</p>
<p>You are a member of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Can you tell us about their work?</p>
<p>Formed in 1998, the Campaign to End the Death Penalty is a national grassroots anti-death penalty organization based in Chicago. We oppose the death penalty for five reasons: it is racist, it targets the poor, it condemns the innocent to die, it does not prevent crime, and it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. We organized in order to call attention to the broad systemic implications of the death penalty, insisting that it is inseparable from the unjust society in which it operates. Committed to putting those who experience the death penalty first-hand on the frontlines of this battle, we work closely with current and exonerated death row inmates, as well as their families. The Campaign was active in the movement that persuaded former Illinois Governor George Ryan to clear the state’s death row in 2003. Our chapters have also played leading roles in the movements to save Gary Graham, Stan “Tookie” Williams, Vernon Evans, and Kevin Cooper. The Austin chapter is also working to win a new trial for Rodney Reed, an innocent man on who has been on Texas’s death row since 1998. Our national website is <a href="http://www.nodeathpenalty.org/" type="external">http://www.nodeathpenalty.org</a>.</p>
<p>What can people do to help prevent this execution?</p>
<p>Our experience teaches us that we cannot halt executions by appealing to the better intentions of men like Texas Governor Rick Perry. Rather, those who wield the power to execute individuals respond to political pressure. That is why we must build a vibrant and visible movement around the Kenneth Foster case. Those living in Texas should join the Save Kenneth Foster Campaign and help us as we plan a July 21 press conference, rally, and benefit concert in Austin. Those who are out of state can visit the Save Kenneth Foster Campaign blog at <a href="http://savekenneth.blogspot.com/" type="external">http://savekenneth.blogspot.com/</a> and download petitions, clemency letters, and case fact sheets. People can also learn more about Kenneth and his case at <a href="http://www.freekenneth.com/" type="external">http://www.freekenneth.com</a>. Fortunately, a number of activists form across the country are beginning to take notice of Kenneth’s case. What we need is a broad base of awareness and action to put the spotlight squarely on Texas, a state that for too long has continued to execute individuals with impunity.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Texas Wants to Kill Another Man, the Law be Damned | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/07/04/texas-wants-to-kill-another-man-the-law-be-damned/ | 2007-07-04 | 4 |
<p>The House Judiciary Committee has <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12218245" type="external">voted</a> to hold former White House counsel Harriet Miers and former White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten (pictured right) in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify on the firing of U.S. attorneys. The measure will now move to the full House.</p>
<p>NPR:</p>
<p>House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted to issue contempt citations against two White House aides who refused to answer subpoenas for information on the firings of eight federal prosecutors.</p>
<p>The panel voted 22-17 to issue citations against Joshua Bolten, the White House chief of staff, and Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel. Both refused to comply with subpoenas during the committee’s investigation into whether politics was a factor in the firings.</p>
<p />
<p>The vote advances the issues to the full House and sets the stage for a constitutional showdown with the president. President Bush has maintained that Bolten and Miers were immune from subpoenas because their documents and testimony are protected by executive privilege.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12218245" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Panel Calls for Contempt Action | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/panel-calls-for-contempt-action/ | 2007-07-26 | 4 |
<p>FOX Business: Capitalism Lives Here</p>
<p>U.S. stock-index futures skidded into the red on Friday after data on the American labor market widely missed expectations.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Today's Markets</p>
<p>As of 8:55 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 64 points, or 0.42%, to 15616, S&amp;P 500 futures gained 11 points, or 0.59%, to 1777 and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 23.2 points, or 0.67%, to 3511.</p>
<p>The economy has been in focus this week after a closely-watched report showed the U.S. factory sector nearly stalled in January. Other data have painted a more upbeat picture.</p>
<p>However, the monthly jobs report from the Labor Department is widely considered to be one of the most important economic indicators.</p>
<p>The U.S. economy added 113,000 jobs in January, falling well below Wall Street’s expectation of 185,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 6.6% from 6.7% the month prior, hitting the lowest level since 2008. The labor force participation rate rose to 63%, up from 62.8% in December.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>"The U.S. labour market started the year on a weaker than expected footing, casting doubt on whether the Fed should proceed with any further tapering of its asset purchase programme," Chris Williamson, chief economist at London-based Markit wrote in an e-mail.</p>
<p>"The FOMC may choose to await a clearer picture of the economy, and especially to see the extent to which severe cold weather may have affected the data, before cutting QE any further."</p>
<p>Also on the economic front is a report from the Fed on consumer credit conditions.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, LinkedIn (NASDAQ:LNKD) shares came under heavy pressure after the world's biggest professional network posted a disappointing forward outlook.</p>
<p>In commodities, U.S. crude oil futures fell 31 cents, or 0.33%, to $97.52 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline rose 0.2% to $2.688 a gallon. Gold rose $5, or 0.4%, to $1,262 a troy ounce.</p> | Stock Futures Swing Higher in Choppy Action | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/02/07/stock-futures-climb-ahead-jobs-report.html | 2016-03-06 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The Rio Rancho boys basketball team ran and shot and occasionally dunked its way into the championship game of the Joe Armijo Classic.</p>
<p>Even the bounces went the Rams’ way.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>In short, Rio Rancho (4-2) could do almost nothing wrong on Friday night at Albuquerque Academy, as the Rams steamrolled Mayfield 85-40 in the Armijo semifinals.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho plays District 1-5A rival Volcano Vista in tonight’s 8:15 championship game.</p>
<p>“It’s a big win for us,” Rams coach Wally Salata said. “There were a lot of firsts for us tonight.”</p>
<p>He laid out the list:</p>
<p>It’s the first championship game Rio Rancho has reached in any tournament in Salata’s four seasons.</p>
<p>It is the first four-game winning streak for Salata; the Rams started this season 0-2.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>And, this was the first win Rio Rancho’s had against another Class 5A program this season, after early two-point losses to both Valley and Clovis.</p>
<p>“Playing Valley and Clovis right off the bat I knew would be a challenge,” Salata said.</p>
<p>Mayfield, alas, was anything but.</p>
<p>The Trojans (4-5) beat a poor Los Alamos team in Thursday’s first round, but Mayfield was overmatched and overwhelmed on Friday night.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho set out early to push the pace, something Salata said would be important since the Trojans wanted to slow things down.</p>
<p>Leading the way was senior guard Jeremy Swafford, who had a career-high 33 points for the Rams, including four of the team’s six 3-pointers.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“It was fun,” Swafford said. “Our unselfishness, and looking for the open man … it’s so much easier.”</p>
<p>This was opposite of the style Rio Rancho showed on Thursday in a 59-54 victory over Academy in the first round. The Rams, Salata said, were too often impatient and eager to take the first shot, instead of the best shot.</p>
<p>Friday’s game was nothing more than a glorified scrimmage for Rio Rancho. Brady Patterson added 14 points in the semifinals. Marquis Sedillos had another 10; Sedillos tonight goes against his former teammates after he transferred from Volcano Vista in the offseason.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho led Mayfield 39-27 at halftime Friday, then opened the second half on an explosive 19-0 run.</p>
<p>On Thursday, four players were in double figures for the Rams. Austin Patterson had 14 points, Josh Lucero 13, and Brady Patterson and Sedillos 10 each.</p>
<p>n Bernalillo is also at the Armijo Classic. The Spartans lost 81-63 to Volcano Vista in Thursday’s first round — Brandon Saiz had 25 points, Tristan Arnett 17 for Bernalillo— and then they were involved in a really bizarre consolation game on Friday against Hope Christian.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Spartans were down double digits in the second half, but rallied to force overtime against the Huskies.</p>
<p>In the OT, Hope — which only brought seven players to the game, as many of its normal bench players were involved in a JV tournament — lost three players to fouls.</p>
<p>The third of those went out early in the OT, and Hope was forced to finish the last three or so minutes of overtime with only four players on the court.</p>
<p>Bernalillo (4-2) went on to a 103-92 victory. Saiz had 26 points, Arnett 23, and Aaron Griffith and Izzy Chavarria 13 apiece in the victory.</p>
<p>The Spartans face the host Chargers at 11:30 a.m. today in the fifth-place game.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho’s girls are hosting the 13th annual Mel Otero Invitational this weekend.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Rams beat Manzano 41-30 in Thursday night’s first round.</p>
<p>Ally Salata had 13 points to pace the Rams (2-2). Deanna Lucero had nine points and Santana Orozco eight for Rio Rancho.</p>
<p>The Rams were beaten 53-38 by Mayfield in Friday night’s semifinals, but there was no other information available.</p>
<p>Hobbs and the Trojans will meet at 7 p.m. today in the Otero championship game.</p>
<p>Rio Rancho takes on Clovis for fifth place at 5 p.m.</p> | Rams Charge Into Armijo Final | false | https://abqjournal.com/153524/rams-charge-into-armijo-final.html | 2012-12-15 | 2 |
<p>Published time: 13 Jul, 2017 18:10</p>
<p>Around 1,000 protesters, mainly from Ukraine’s nationalist movements, have blocked the parliament building in Kiev and several streets in the area, while deputies were voting on immunity of certain MPs. Police deployed tear gas to repel crowds turning violent.</p>
<p>Having gathered in the center of the Ukrainian capital at the entrance to the Verkhovna Rada parliament building on Thursday morning, around 1,000 protesters scattered smoke pellets and started banging on metal barrels with sticks, Interfax Ukraine reported.</p>
<p>[embedded content]</p>
<p>Clashes erupted between the protesters – many of who covered their faces with black masks – and police, with some nationalists having pepper sprayed the officers, Ruptly reported. Police deployed tear gas against the protesters.</p>
<p>No one has been arrested, according to Interfax.</p>
<p>Inside the building, MPs were voting on the abolition of parliamentary immunity for certain opposition deputies, as requested by Ukraine’s prosecutor general.</p>
<p>Outside, the protesters with nationalist flags demanded the abolition, with hundreds of them burning flares and smoke pellets, as well as throwing fire crackers, Ukrainian 112 TV channel reported.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/396228-lavrov-a%D1%81cuses-us-eu-ukraine-crisis/" type="external">READ MORE: Lavrov: Shortsighted policies of US, EU in many ways provoked Ukrainian crisis</a></p>
<p>The same day, Ukraine-EU summit has been taking place in Kiev. Speaking at the meeting, President of the European Council Donald Tusk has called on Ukraine to stay united and avoid internal conflicts, rather than worry about external threats.</p> | Up to 1,000 Ukrainian nationalists clash with police, block parliament (VIDEO) | false | https://newsline.com/up-to-1000-ukrainian-nationalists-clash-with-police-block-parliament-video/ | 2017-07-13 | 1 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Tickets are now available for upcoming tours of a closed New Mexico prison where one of the nation's deadliest riots took place.</p>
<p>The New Mexico Department of Corrections said this week the state is selling tickets for "Old Main" prison tours that begin in May. Tours of the prison outside of Santa Fe are scheduled twice a month and will continue through October.</p>
<p>Last year, corrections officials opened the historic site for limited public tours.</p>
<p>In February 1980, inmates at the prison killed 33 fellow prisoners in a violent clash that included beheadings, amputations and burned bodies. More than 100 other inmates and guards were hurt in the 36-hour riot fueled by overcrowded conditions.</p>
<p>Officials hope to eventually to turn the site into a museum.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | New Mexico selling tickets for 'Old Main' tours | false | https://abqjournal.com/358837/new-mexico-selling-tickets-for-old-main-tours.html | 2 |
|
<p />
<p>Introduction by Tom Engelhardt</p>
<p />
<p>Along with Jack Shafer of Slate, Michael Massing was one of the first media critics to take on our imperial press for the shameful way it caved to the Bush administration in covering the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. He did so in two devastating critiques in the New York Review of Books. They added up to little short of an indictment of the work of the New York Times and the Washington Post in particular. The first of these pieces must be considered at least in part responsible for the fact that, last May 26, the editors of the Times finally felt called upon to publish <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/26/international/middleeast/26FTE_NOTE.html?ex=1101186000&amp;en=1d38f110b449a839&amp;ei=5070&amp;oref=login&amp;ex=1086615019&amp;ei=1&amp;en=75d12f2a0565b37f" type="external">a relatively weak mea culpa</a> about the paper’s Iraq reporting that named no names and was tucked away on an inside page, and then for <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E7DC1E3EF933A05756C0A9629C8B63" type="external">the far stronger piece</a> published four days later by the paper’s forthright public editor Daniel Okrent. In Massing’s latest essay below, he considers how coverage of the war affected the election — or rather why the war didn’t prove as decisive as might have been expected in the voting booth.</p>
<p>There can be little question that the administration’s Iraq disaster chased the President to the polls on November 2; that, put another way, a ragtag group of insurgents who, 18 months ago, weren’t even on the administration’s radar screen, actually threatened to deprive him of a second term in office. There can also be little question that the war in Iraq, along with the various administration lies and misdemeanors that got us there, was a significant factor in mobilizing an anti-Bush electoral movement of striking scope. Why exactly the costs of the war didn’t penetrate further into George Bush’s America and what role the media may have had in blunting the war’s significance are questions Massing now takes up. His piece represents perhaps the opening salvo in a longer-term discussion.</p>
<p>Massing’s previous critiques of pre-war and wartime coverage have been collected in a tiny paperback, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1590171292/nationbooks08" type="external">Now They Tell Us, The American Press and Iraq</a>. (A version of the book’s introduction by Orville Schell -– <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=1543" type="external">Why the Press Failed</a> — has already been posted at Tomdispatch.) Massing’s latest piece appears below thanks to the kind permission of the editors of <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/" type="external">the New York Review of Books</a>. (It will appear in the December 16 issue of that magazine.)</p>
<p />
<p>By Michael Massing</p>
<p>In the end, the war in Iraq did not have the decisive impact on the election that many had expected. In the weeks before the vote there were the massacre of forty-nine Iraqi police trainees; a deadly attack inside the previously impenetrable Green Zone in Baghdad; the refusal by an army unit to carry out a supply mission on the grounds that it was too dangerous; the explosion of several car bombs at a ceremony where soldiers were handing out candy, killing dozens of children; the abduction of contractors, journalists, and aid workers, including the director of the CARE office in Baghdad; the release of a report holding the highest reaches of the Pentagon and the military responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib; a report by President Bush’s hand-picked investigator confirming that Iraq had long ago lost its ability to produce weapons of mass destruction; and the spread of the insurgency to every corner of the country, bringing reconstruction to a virtual halt. All of this, in the end, counted for less to voters (if the exit polls are to be believed) than such issues as whether homosexuals should be allowed to marry and whether discarded embryos should be used for stem cell research.</p>
<p>How did this happen? In many ways, George Bush’s victory seems to have confirmed the fact that large numbers of voters in America today are very conservative, dominated by strong attachments to God, country, and the traditional family. At the same time, it’s not clear to what extent the public was aware of just how bad things had gotten in Iraq. For while there was much informative reporting on the war, a number of factors combined to shield Americans from its most brutal realities. A look at these factors can help to understand some neglected aspects of George Bush’s victory.</p>
<p>1.</p>
<p>Toward the end of September, Farnaz Fassihi, a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Baghdad, <a href="http://www.rearviewwindow.com/blog/2004/10/000773.php" type="external">sent an e-mail</a> to forty friends describing her working conditions in Iraq. Fassihi had been sending out such messages on a regular basis, but this one seethed with anger and frustration. “Being a foreign correspondent in Baghdad these days,” she wrote, “is like being under virtual house arrest…. I avoid going to people’s homes and never walk in the streets. I can’t go grocery shopping any more, can’t eat in restaurants, can’t strike a conversation with strangers, can’t look for stories, can’t drive in any thing but a full armored car, can’t go to scenes of breaking news, can’t be stuck in traffic, can’t speak English outside, can’t take a road trip, can’t say I’m an American, can’t linger at checkpoints, can’t be curious about what people are saying, doing, feeling. And can’t and can’t.” Citing the fall of Falluja, the revolt of Moqtada al-Sadr, and the spread of the insurgency to every part of the country, Fassihi declared that “despite President Bush’s rosy assessments, Iraq remains a disaster. If under Saddam it was a ‘potential’ threat, under the Americans it has been transformed to ‘imminent and active threat,’ a foreign policy failure bound to haunt the United States for decades to come…. The genie of terrorism, chaos and mayhem has been unleashed onto this country as a result of American mistakes and it can’t be put back into a bottle.”</p>
<p>Fassihi’s e-mail soon ended up on the Internet, where it quickly spread, giving readers a vivid and unvarnished look at what it was like to live in the world’s most dangerous capital. Somehow, Fassihi, in her informal message, had managed to capture the lurid nature of life in Iraq in a way that conventional reporting, with all its qualifiers and distancing, could not.</p>
<p>Other US correspondents in Baghdad were startled at the attention her e-mail received. “All of us felt that we’d been writing that story,” one journalist told me. “Everyone was marveling and asking what were we doing wrong if that information came as a surprise to the American public.” Reporters rushed to file their own first-person accounts. Writing in the “Week in Review,” for instance, New York Times <a href="http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041010/NEWS/410100396/1002" type="external">reporter Dexter Filkins observed</a> that “in the writing of this essay, a three-hour affair, two rockets and three mortar shells have landed close enough to shake the walls of our house. The door to my balcony opens onto an Iraqi social club, and the roar from the blasts set the Iraqis into a panic, their screams audible above the Arabic music wafting from the speakers.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, no such account appeared in the Wall Street Journal. For Fassihi’s criticism of Bush administration policy outraged some readers, who insisted that she could no longer write about Iraq with the necessary objectivity. In response, the Journal announced that Fassihi was going to take a previously scheduled vacation from Iraq and that this would keep her from writing anything more about it until after the US election.</p>
<p>Both Fassihi and her editors insisted that this decision was not a criticism of her, but some detected a pulling back by the Journal, and an examination of its coverage tends to bear this out. In the weeks before Fassihi’s departure, the paper ran a number of probing pieces on Iraq. On September 15, for instance, Fassihi and Greg Jaffe, in a front-page story, described how the steady rise in violence in Baghdad reflected growing cooperation among Iraq’s once highly fragmented insurgent groups. After Fassihi’s e-mail was circulated, however, such stories almost entirely disappeared from the Journal‘s front page, and they were hard to find inside as well. The resulting vacuum was filled by the Journal‘s stridently conservative opinion pages, which every day featured one or more editorials or columns insisting that the war was going well and that anyone who felt otherwise was a defeatist liberal uninterested in bringing democracy to the Middle East.</p>
<p>In one column, Daniel Henninger mentioned several Web sites that readers interested in learning what was truly going on in Iraq could consult. I looked up one of them, <a href="http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/" type="external">HealingIraq .com</a>. It was written by an Iraqi dentist. His most recent posting began with an apology for the long hiatus since his last filing. “The daily situation in Baghdad is sadly too depressing to live through, let alone write about,” he lamented. He told of one friend who had been shot in the stomach while working at an Internet café when an armed gang sprayed a nearby car belonging to a lawyer who was pursuing a case they wanted dropped. Another friend, a doctor, had been kidnapped along with a pharmacist by ten armed men storming a pharmacy that had supplied medications to the U.S. Army. Their decapitated bodies were later found outside Baghdad. Such grim reports were absent from the Journal‘s opinion pages, and, increasingly, its news pages. Thus one of the nation’s top newspapers became effectively neutered as a source of reliable information about Iraq.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, pressure was building on other U.S. news organizations as a result of the visit to the United States of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi in late September. In private, he was not optimistic. As Peter Boyer reported <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?041101fa_fact" type="external">in the November 1 New Yorker</a>, Allawi told President Bush of the conundrum facing him and the coalition — that the insurgency required forceful action, but that any such action could further alienate the population, thus fueling the insurgency. In public, however, Allawi joined with Bush in insisting that Iraq was making progress and in blaming the press for making too much of the negative. Fourteen or fifteen of Iraq’s eighteen provinces, Allawi asserted, were “completely safe,” and the others had only “pockets of terrorism.” And this threw editors and reporters on the defensive. “At the moment, there’s real sensitivity about the perceived political nature of every story coming out of Iraq,” a Baghdad correspondent for a large US paper told me in mid-October. “Every story from Iraq is by definition an assessment as to whether things are going well or badly.” In reality, he said, the situation in Iraq was a catastrophe,” a view “almost unanimously” shared by his colleagues. But, he added, “Editors are hypersensitive about not wanting to appear to be coming down on one side or the other.”</p>
<p>Allawi’s visit to the United States was part of an intensive campaign by the Bush administration to manage the flow of news out of Iraq. As a matter of policy, any journalist wanting to visit the Green Zone, that vast swath of Baghdad that is home to US officialdom, had to be escorted at all times; one could not simply wander around and chat with people in bars and cafés. The vast world of civilian contractors — of Halliburton’s Kellogg, Brown &amp; Root, of Bechtel, and of all the other private companies responsible for rebuilding Iraq — was completely off-limits; employees of these companies were informed that they would be fired if they were caught talking to the press. During the days of the Coalition Provisional Authority, its administrator, L. Paul Bremer, and the top military commander, Ricardo Sanchez, gave very few interviews to US correspondents in Baghdad. They did, however, speak often via satellite with small newspapers and local TV stations, which were seen as more open and sympathetic. “The administration has been extremely successful in going around the filters, of getting their message directly to the American people without giving interviews to the Baghdad press corps,” one correspondent said.</p>
<p>The insurgents have done their part as well. In no prior conflict — not in Vietnam, nor in Lebanon, nor in Bosnia — have journalists been singled out for such sustained and violent attack. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, thirty-six journalists have been killed in Iraq since the start of the war — nineteen at the hands of the insurgents. Two French journalists seized in August remain missing. Until this fall, many journalists at least felt safe while in their heavily guarded hotels. Then, in October, Paul Taggart, an American photographer, was seized by four gunmen after leaving the Hamra Hotel complex, one of the main residences for Western journalists. He was eventually released, but it was discovered that the captors had a floor plan of the hotel with the name of every journalist in every room. Facing such perils, many correspondents packed up and left.</p>
<p>2.</p>
<p>A number stayed, however, and, at considerable risk, set out to describe the Iraqi maelstrom. Leading the way were three top U.S. newspapers–the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times — backed by, among others, NPR, Knight Ridder, and the Associated Press. The newspapers, in particular, seemed driven by a sense that they had somehow let down their readers during the run-up to the war, that they had not sufficiently scrutinized the administration’s case for war, and they now seemed determined to make up for it. The New York Times, for one, maintained a staff of forty to fifty people in Baghdad, including four or five reporters plus assorted drivers, housekeepers, security guards, and “fixers,” those invaluable interpreter/journalists who help visiting reporters understand who’s who, arrange interviews, and make sense of it all. With more and more of the country off-limits to Western reporters, these fixers were increasingly sent out into the field to find out what was going on, and some emerged as enterprising reporters in their own right.</p>
<p>In early October, the New York Times‘s Edward Wong, accompanied by a fixer and a photographer, <a href="http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/10/03/8570803" type="external">spent a day being guided</a> through the streets of Baghdad’s Sadr City by a mid-level aide to Moqtada al-Sadr. At the time, US warplanes were pounding the district on a nightly basis, but Wong — whose itinerary included a kebab lunch at the aide’s home, a street that had recently been bombed, and a hospital where the wounded were being treated — found that the strikes were not having their intended effect. “Loyalty to [Sadr] burns fierce here” in Sadr City, “a vast slum of 2.2 million people, despite frequent American raids and almost nightly airstrikes,” he wrote on October 3. “The American military has stepped up its campaign to rout the Mahdi Army, Mr. Sadr’s militia, on its home turf here, to drive him to the bargaining table. But it is often impossible here to distinguish between civilians and fighters.”</p>
<p>After Prime Minister Allawi asserted that most of Iraq was safe, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50259-2004Sep25.html" type="external">the Washington Post’s Rajiv Chandrasekaran</a> — seeking a statistical measure — got hold of the daily security reports of Kroll, a private firm working for the US government. These reports showed that Iraq was suffering an average of seventy attacks a day by insurgents, up from the forty to fifty that had occurred before the handover of political authority in late June. What is more, the reports showed, the attacks were occurring not only in the Sunni Triangle but in every province of Iraq. “In number and scope,” Chandrasekaran wrote on the Post‘s front page, “the attacks compiled in the Kroll reports suggest a broad and intensifying campaign of insurgent violence that contrasts sharply with assessments by Bush administration officials and Iraq’s interim prime minister that the instability is contained [in] small pockets of the country.” (Since he wrote, the number of attacks has increased to more than one hundred a day.)</p>
<p>In the face of Bush administration efforts to portray the Iraqi insurgency as made up exclusively of foreign fighters led by the Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, several US news organizations offered a more nuanced look. <a href="http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/world/9833731.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp" type="external">The AP’s Jim Krane</a>, for instance, reported in early October that the insurgents seemed to consist of four main groups, including not only “hardcore fighters” aligned with Zarqawi but also conservative Iraqis seeking to install an Islamic theocracy, Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army, and “Iraqi nationalists fighting to reclaim secular power lost when Saddam Hussein was deposed in April 2003.” This last group, Krane wrote, was the largest. In other US wars, he noted, “the enemy was clear.” In Iraq, “the disorganized insurgency has no single commander, no political wing and no dominant group.” As a result, “US troops can’t settle on a single approach” to the fighting.</p>
<p>In Washington, too, the press uncovered many significant stories about US policy in Iraq. In one five-day period (October 22 to October 26), the Washington Post‘s front page featured stories on</p>
<p>* a poll showing that US-backed political figures were losing ground to religious leaders;</p>
<p>* how the war in Iraq had diverted energy and attention from the fight against al-Qaeda;</p>
<p>* how the CIA was secretly moving detainees out of Iraq–a “serious breach” of the Geneva Conventions; and</p>
<p>* administration plans to ask for an additional $70 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.</p>
<p>The biggest bombshell, though, <a href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/10/25/MNGT69FMIH1.DTL" type="external">came on October 25</a>, when the Times, in a two-column story on its front page, reported that nearly 380 tons of high-grade explosives had disappeared from a bunker south of Baghdad, and that this had likely occurred after the US invasion. The story was quickly seized on by John Kerry, who for the remaining days of the campaign cited it as further evidence of the administration’s mishandling of Iraq. On the day before the election, CNN analyst William Schneider said that the missing-explosives story seemed to be an “important” factor in a last-minute turning of the polls away from Bush.</p>
<p>3.</p>
<p>In the end, of course, the voters did not so turn. And leaving aside any possible problems with the polls themselves, it’s clear that all those stories in the Times and the Post, and the discussion they generated, did not have the impact on the public that Schneider and many others had predicted. Understanding why requires a look at some of the constraints under which reporters at even the most aggressive papers worked. Just as reporters confronted physical no-go zones into which they could not venture, they also faced journalistic ones posing many perils.</p>
<p>Civilian casualties was one. Getting at this posed a number of obstacles for journalists, the most obvious being the lack of reliable figures. The US military does not offer information about civilian casualties, and the estimates by private groups vary wildly. At the conservative end, <a href="http://www.iraqbodycount.net/" type="external">Iraq Body Count</a>, which offers on its Web site a running total based on news reports, places the number of civilian dead from military combat at between 14,300 and 16,500. At the upper end, a team of public health researchers from Johns Hopkins University, using mortality estimates from both before and after the war, has estimated that 100,000 civilians have died either directly or indirectly as a result of the war. This finding, published by <a href="http://www.epic-usa.org/Default.aspx?tabid=424" type="external">the British medical journal The Lancet</a> in late October, was questioned by many other groups, including Human Rights Watch, which said that the real figure was probably much lower but still unacceptably high.</p>
<p>Amid such conflicting estimates, journalists — unable to visit most of the sites where civilian deaths occur — have been exceedingly cautious. A correspondent for a major U.S. paper described for me the dilemma he faced in a place like Falluja (this was before the current U.S. offensive). His paper, he said, has an Iraqi staffer in the city, and after each US bombing he would go to the scene and report back that a certain number of civilians had died. “But,” the correspondent said, “I want to see it myself.” He elaborated: “If you get a press release from the US military saying it dropped four five-hundred-pound bombs on insurgents in Fallujah, and we know from our people that twelve people were killed, and they say it was Zarqawi’s men, we’ll print what they say — that it was Zarqawi. Al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya every night run interviews with hospital directors, who say a man, his wife, and their three children were killed. The U.S. military says that the director’s been threatened. I don’t know. It’s very frustrating because we can’t go in. You’re left with ‘he said/she said.'” Here, then, is another of those journalistic conventions — the need for “balance” — that deters papers from getting at one of the war’s most disturbing dimensions.</p>
<p>Needless to say, the insurgents themselves have ruthlessly killed many civilians, in attacks that often target them. An admirable bid to weigh all this was made by <a href="http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9753603.htm" type="external">Nancy Youssef of Knight Ridder</a>. Youssef learned that the Iraqi Health Ministry had since early April been gathering statistics on civilian casualties from hospitals in fifteen of Iraq’s eighteen provinces. Youssef obtained the numbers through September 19 and totaled them up. The number of dead came to 3,487, of which 328 were women and children. Another 13,720 Iraqis had been injured. Hospital officials believed that most of the dead were civilians, and Youssef, analyzing the circumstances of their death, was able to see a pattern, which she described in her lead: “Operations by US and multinational forces and Iraqi police are killing twice as many Iraqis — most of them civilians — as attacks by insurgents.” Iraqi officials, she added, “said the statistics proved that US airstrikes intended for insurgents also were killing large numbers of innocent civilians. Some say these casualties are undermining popular acceptance of the American-backed interim government.”</p>
<p>After Youssef’s report appeared, other news organizations began clamoring for similar numbers. Within days, the interim government ordered the Health Ministry to stop issuing them. The silence again set in.</p>
<p>4.</p>
<p>The gingerly approach to civilian casualties in the U.S. press is part of a much larger hole in the coverage, one concerning the day-to-day nature of the U.S. occupation. Most of the soldiers in Iraq are young men who can’t speak Arabic and who have rarely traveled outside the United States, and they have suddenly been set down in a hostile environment in which they face constant attack. They are equipped with powerful weapons and have authority over a dark-skinned people with alien customs. The result is constant friction, often leading to chronic abuses that, while not as glaring as those associated with Abu Ghraib, are no less corrosive in their effect on local sentiment.</p>
<p>One journalist who has seen this firsthand is Nir Rosen. A twenty-seven-year-old American freelance reporter, Rosen speaks Arabic (a rare skill among Western reporters in Iraq), has a dark complexion (allowing him to mix more easily with Iraqis), and prefers when in Iraq to hang out with locals rather than with other journalists. (In the late spring, he managed to get inside Falluja at a time when it was a death trap for Western reporters; he described his chilling findings <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040705fa_fact" type="external">in the July 5 issue of The New Yorker</a>.) Seeing Iraq from the perspective of the Iraqis, Rosen got a glimpse of how persistently and routinely American actions alienated them. “People have to wait three hours in a traffic jam because a US army convoy is going by,” he notes. “Guns are pointed at you wherever you go. People are constantly shouting at you. Concrete walls are everywhere. Violence is everywhere.”</p>
<p>In October 2003, Rosen spent two weeks embedded with a US Army unit near the Syrian border. In sweeps through neighborhoods, he said, the Americans used Israeli-style tactics — making mass arrests in the hope that one or two of those scooped up will have something useful for them. “They’ll hold them for ten hours in a truck without food or water,” he told me. “And 90 percent of them are innocent.” <a href="http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=3912" type="external">Writing of his experience in Reason magazine</a>, Rosen described how a unit he accompanied on a raid broke down the door of a house of a man they suspected of dealing in arms. When the man, named Ayoub, did not immediately respond to their orders, they shot him with nonlethal bullets. “The floor of the house was covered with his blood,” Rosen wrote. “He was dragged into a room and interrogated forcefully as his family was pushed back against their garden’s fence.” Ayoub’s frail mother, he continued, pleaded with the interrogating soldier to spare her son’s life, protesting his innocence: “He pushed her to the grass along with Ayoub’s four girls and two boys, all small, and his wife. They squatted barefoot, screaming, their eyes wide open in terror, clutching one another as soldiers emerged with bags full of documents, photo albums and two compact discs with Saddam Hussein and his cronies on the cover. These CDs, called The Crimes of Saddam, are common on every Iraqi street and, as their title suggests, they were not made by Saddam supporters. But the soldiers couldn’t read Arabic and saw only the picture of Saddam, which was proof enough of guilt. Ayoub was brought out and pushed on to the truck.” After holding Ayoub for several hours in a detention center, the soldiers determined that he was innocent, and they later let him go.</p>
<p>Rosen believes that such encounters are common. The American soldiers he saw “treat everybody as the enemy,” he said, adding that they can be very abusive and violent. “If you’re a boy and see soldiers beating the shit out of your father, how can you not hate the Americans?” He added: “Why doesn’t anybody write about this in the New York Times or the Washington Post? The AP always has people embedded — why don’t they write about it?”</p>
<p>One reason, he suggests, is that embedded journalists who write negatively about the US military find themselves “blacklisted.” It happened to Rosen: a series of stories he wrote for Asia Times about his experience while embedded elicited an angry letter from the commander and the public affairs officer of the unit he accompanied, and he has not been allowed to become embedded since. Other correspondents told me of similar experiences.</p>
<p>Another reason why news organizations don’t write about such matters is suggested in the recently released DVD version of Michael Moore’s movie Fahrenheit 9/11. It contains as an added feature an interview with Urban Hamid, a Swedish journalist who in late 2003 accompanied an American platoon on a raid in Samarra. Hamid’s experience was similar to Nir Rosen’s, with the difference that he caught his on tape. In it, we see soldiers using an armored personnel carrier to break down the gates of a house. We see the soldiers rush in with their rifles pointed ahead, and terrified women rushing out. An elderly man on crutches is rousted up and a plastic bag is placed over his head. The soldiers go through the family documents, trying to determine if this man is connected with the insurgency, but because they don’t speak Arabic they can’t really tell. Nonetheless, they take him to a detention center, where he joins dozens of others, their heads all sheathed in plastic. Celebrating the arrests, the soldiers take pictures of one another with their “trophies.” One soldier admits that he’s surprised they didn’t find more weapons. “The sad thing for these guys is that we’ll probably let them go because their names don’t match up,” he says.</p>
<p>In the interview, Hamid says he asked many Iraqis if they’d heard of things like this, and they all told him “of course.” “It’s preposterous,” he says, “to think there is any way you win somebody’s hearts and minds by imposing such a criminal and horrible policy.” Hamid says that he tried to sell his tape to “mainstream media.” First he approached the “Swedish media” but got no response. He then approached the “American media,” with the same result. “It’s obvious,” he says, “that the mainstream media exercise some kind of self-censorship in which people know that this is a hot potato and don’t touch it, because you’re going to get burned.”</p>
<p>5.</p>
<p>Is self-censorship among US news organizations as widespread as Hamid says? The group he’s referring to, of course, is television news, and it’s here that most Americans get their news. For six weeks before the election I watched as much TV news as I could, constantly switching from one station to another.</p>
<p>Viewing the newscasts of the traditional networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — I was surprised at how critical of Bush policy they could be. When Prime Minister Allawi claimed that fifteen of Iraq’s eighteen provinces were fit for elections, Charles Gibson on ABC’s World News Tonight asked Pentagon correspondent Martha Raddatz if this was true. “I can give you a two-word answer from a military commander I spoke to today,” Raddatz replied. “He said, ‘no way.’ And one other commander said, ‘Maybe nine, ten, of the eighteen, and that’s being generous.'” On many nights, the networks aired “mayhem reels” out of Iraq, two minutes’ worth of cars afire, blood stains on payments, bodies being carried from rubble. In addition to relaying scoops from the daily press, the networks broke some stories of their own. On the Sunday before the election, for instance, 60 Minutes ran a hard-hitting segment about a unit of the Oregon National Guard in Iraq that lacked such basic equipment as the armored plating needed to protect soldiers in Humvees from roadside bombs. Such reports appeared often enough to reinforce longstanding conservative complaints that the networks are inherently “liberal.”</p>
<p>Yet even these “liberal” outlets had strict limits on what they would show. On September 12, for instance, a group of American soldiers patrolling Haifa Street, a dangerous avenue in central Baghdad, came under fire. Another group of soldiers in two Bradley fighting vehicles came to rescue them. They did, but one of the vehicles had to be abandoned, and a jubilant crowd quickly gathered around it. A banner from a group associated with Zarqawi was produced and placed on the vehicle. Arab TV crews arrived to record the event. At one point, two US helicopters showed up and made several passes over the vehicle. With the crowd fully visible, one of the helicopters launched a barrage of rockets and machine-gun rounds. The vehicle was destroyed, and thirteen people were killed. Among them was Mazen al-Tumeizi, a Palestinian producer for the al-Arabiya network who was doing a TV report in front of the Bradley. Hit while on camera, his blood spattering the lens, Tumeizi doubled over and screamed that he was dying.</p>
<p>The video of Tumeizi’s death was shown repeatedly on al-Arabiya and other Arabic-language networks. On American TV, it aired very briefly on NBC and CNN, then disappeared. On most other networks, it appeared not at all. Here was a dramatic piece of footage depicting in raw fashion the human toll of the fighting in Iraq, yet American TV producers apparently feared that if they gave it too much time, they would, in Urban Hamid’s phrase, get burned. (I still have not heard of a single instance in which the killing of an American in Iraq has been shown on American TV.)</p>
<p>This fear seems especially apparent on cable news. Given the sheer number of hours CNN, MSNBC, and Fox have to fill, it’s remarkable how little of substance and imagination one sees here. CNN still bills itself as “the most trusted name in news,” but one wonders among whom.Its breakfast-time show, American Morning, offers a truly vapid mix of bromides and forced bonhomie. In mid-October, with a grinding war and bruising electoral campaign underway, the show spent a week in Chicago, providing one long, breathless promo for the city. Every hour or so, correspondent Brent Sadler would produce an update from Baghdad. For the most part, he offered rip-and-read versions of U.S. press releases, with constant references to “precision strikes” aimed at “terrorist targets” and “Zarqawi safehouses.” Not once did I see Sadler make even a stab at an independent assessment.</p>
<p>For analysis, CNN leaned heavily on safe, establishment-friendly voices, including many of the same retired military officers who appeared in the run-up to the war. On October 15, for instance, former General George Joulwan discussed with Wolf Blitzer the need for Americans to do a better job of explaining to Muslims how much they’d done for them over the years. Blitzer agreed: “I don’t think a lot of Muslims understand that over the past fifteen years, every time the U.S. has gone to war, whether in Kuwait, or Somalia, or Kosovo, or Bosnia, or Afghanistan or Iraq, it’s to help Muslims.” Joulwan: “We’ve saved tens of thousands of them. We need to understand that, and so do our Muslim friends.”</p>
<p>Thankfully, not everything on CNN descended to this level. The network’s reporting on the election in Afghanistan was crisp and informative, thanks largely to Christiane Amanpour’s sharp reports. Aaron Brown’s nightly show, while often slow-paced, offered a sober look at serious issues. And occasionally a truly stellar bit of reporting poked through, as when Jane Arraf, breaking loose from her embed with a US unit laying siege to Samarra, found that many of the claims she’d been fed were untrue. “The US said more than one hundred insurgents were killed, but residents saw it differently,” Arraf reported. The signs of destruction all around her, she stated that “it was hard to find anyone who believes any of the people in hospitals are insurgents.”</p>
<p>Rare on CNN, such reports are almost entirely absent from Fox News. The channel continues to insist that it is “fair and balanced,” but hardly anyone takes this seriously anymore. Still, I was not prepared for just how blatant and pervasive its bias was. This was apparent throughout the presidential campaign, with George Bush forever portrayed as resolute, principled, and plainspoken, and John Kerry as equivocating, elitist, and French.</p>
<p>The slant was evident in the coverage of the war as well. Whenever news about Iraq came on, the urgent words “War on Terror” appeared on the screen, thus helping to frame the war exactly as the President did. “Did the President and his administration take their eye off the ball in the war on terror?” Brit Hume asked one night. For an answer, Hume spoke with Richard Miniter, the author of Shadow War: The Untold Story of How Bush Is Winning the War on Terror. No bias there. After the Washington Times reported the discovery in Iraq of a computer disk belonging to a Baath Party official that contained data showing the layout of six schools in the United States, Fox asked, “Can your school be a potential terrorist target?” This time, Fox turned to Jeffrey Beatty, a former Delta Force commander who, it so happens, runs an antiterrorist consulting firm. In fact, Beatty said, schools are potential terrorist targets, and they had better take precautionary measures now. On The O’Reilly Factor, the central question for weeks was “Should CBS fire Dan Rather?” Bill O’Reilly spent far more time dissecting Rather’s mistakes at CBS than he did analyzing Bush’s deeds in Iraq.</p>
<p>And that’s how Fox wants it. The most striking feature of its coverage of the war in Iraq was, in fact, its lack of coverage. A good example occurred on the Saturday before the election. That morning, the US military announced that eight Marines had been killed and nine others wounded in attacks in the Sunni Triangle. It was the highest US death toll in nearly seven months. After reading the news on the Web, I tuned in to Fox’s 11 AM news summary. It made no mention of the dead Marines. The next hour was taken up by a feverish program on hot stock picks. Then came the noon newscast. After spending ten minutes on the Osama bin Laden tape, the presidential campaign, and the tight race in Ohio, it finally got around to informing viewers of the Marines’ deaths. It then spent all of twenty seconds on them. As it turned out, that Saturday was a particularly bloody day in Iraq, with a series of bombings, mortar attacks, and ambushes throughout the country. Viewers of Fox, however, saw little of it.</p>
<p>This formula has proved very popular. The O’Reilly Factor is currently the top-rated cable news show, and Fox’s prime-time audience is on average twice as large as CNN’s. That audience still trails far behind that of the traditional networks, but Fox has much more time to fill, and it does it with programming that is far more overtly ideological than anything else on TV. Its constant plugging of Bush, its persistent jabs at Kerry, its relentless insistence that Iraq is part of the war on terror and that both wars are going well — all have had their effect. According to election-day exit polls, 55 percent of voters regarded the Iraq war as part of the war on terrorism, as opposed to 42 percent who saw it as separate. And 81 percent of the former voted for George Bush.</p>
<p>In some ways, the coverage of the war featured a battle as fierce as the political one between Democrats and Republicans, with the “red” medium of Fox slugging it out with the “blue” outlets of the Times and the Post, CBS and ABC. CNN seemed somewhere in between, careening wildly between an adherence to traditional news values on the one hand and a surrender to the titillating, overheated, nationalistic fare of contemporary cable on the other. In the end, CNN — influenced by Fox’s success — seemed firmly in the latter camp. It offered the superficiality of Fox without any of its conviction. This hollowing out of CNN was, in a sense, an enormous victory for the Bush campaign. Overall, in analyzing the reasons for Bush’s triumph, the impact of Fox News should not be overlooked.</p>
<p>Now, with President Bush preparing for a second term, what can we expect from the press in Iraq? The initial signs, from Falluja, are not encouraging. Even allowing for the constraints imposed by embedding, much of the press seemed unduly accepting of US claims, uncritically repeating commanders’ assertions about the huge numbers of insurgents killed while underplaying the devastation in the city. And little attention was paid to the estimated 200,000 residents said to have fled Falluja in anticipation of the fighting. Amid US claims that the city had been “liberated,” these refugees seemed invisible. But, in light of the coverage in recent months, this should have come as no surprise.</p>
<p>— November 16, 2004</p>
<p>Michael Massing, a contributing editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, writes frequently on the press and foreign affairs. He is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1590171292/nationbooks08" type="external">Now They Tell Us, The American Press and Iraq</a>, based on his articles on press coverage of the Iraq war in <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/" type="external">The New York Review of Books</a>. This article will appear in the December 2 issue of that magazine.</p>
<p>Copyright C2004 Michael Massing</p>
<p>This article appears in the December 16 issue of The New York Review of Books.</p>
<p>Read regular dispatches by Tom Engelhardt at <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external">Tomdispatch.com</a>, a web log of The Nation Institute.</p>
<p /> | Iraq, the Press and the Election | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2004/11/iraq-press-and-election/ | 2004-11-22 | 4 |
<p>DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Pistons have signed guard Dwight Buycks to a multiyear contract.</p>
<p>The team did not announce terms of the deal Friday. Buycks was previously signed by the Pistons as a two-way player. He has appeared in eight games with Detroit this season, averaging 8.8 points, 2.4 assists, 1.6 rebounds and 15.1 minutes per game.</p>
<p>Since point guard Reggie Jackson was sidelined Dec. 26 by <a href="" type="internal">an ankle injury</a> , Buycks has been in the regular rotation. For his career, he has averaged 5.9 points in 28 NBA games for the Raptors, Lakers and Pistons.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP NBA: <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball</a></p>
<p>DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Pistons have signed guard Dwight Buycks to a multiyear contract.</p>
<p>The team did not announce terms of the deal Friday. Buycks was previously signed by the Pistons as a two-way player. He has appeared in eight games with Detroit this season, averaging 8.8 points, 2.4 assists, 1.6 rebounds and 15.1 minutes per game.</p>
<p>Since point guard Reggie Jackson was sidelined Dec. 26 by <a href="" type="internal">an ankle injury</a> , Buycks has been in the regular rotation. For his career, he has averaged 5.9 points in 28 NBA games for the Raptors, Lakers and Pistons.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP NBA: <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball</a></p> | Pistons sign Buycks to multiyear deal | false | https://apnews.com/amp/bac6a8820a0d46b3807d93d5da8d73b6 | 2018-01-13 | 2 |
<p>When Kid Rock was accused of violating federal campaign finance laws, the musician reacted in the most Kid Rock way imaginable: by offering up a "go f*** yourselves" to his accusers.</p>
<p>Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, has flirted with running for U.S. Senate in Michigan as a challenger to Democrat Debbie Stabenow, though the rocker denies ever officially declaring a run and has yet to file his suspected candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission.</p>
<p>Liberal watchdog group Common Cause is calling foul, filing a compliant with the FEC and the Department of Justice, on Friday.</p>
<p>"In a complaint filed today with the Federal Election Commission and Department of Justice, Common Cause accuses Kid Rock of violating federal election laws by acting as a Senate candidate while failing to register his candidacy, comply with contribution restrictions and publicly disclose contributions to his campaign," <a href="http://www.commoncause.org/press/press-releases/KidRockComplaint.html" type="external">says</a> a release posted on Common Cause's official site.</p>
<p>"Regardless of whether Kid Rock says he's only exploring candidacy, he's selling 'Kid Rock for Senate' merchandise and is a candidate under the law. This is campaign finance law 101," said Common Cause Vice President for Policy and Litigation Paul S. Ryan.</p>
<p>In response, Ritchie blasted the "fake news" reports of his alleged infractions and kindly suggested his opponents go f*** themselves.</p>
<p>"I am starting to see reports from the misinformed press and the fake news on how I am in violation of breaking campaign law," the rocker <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/kid-rock-responds-to-campaign-law-violation-claims-go-f-k-yourselves/" type="external">told</a> TheWrap via a statement. "#1: I have still not officially announced my candidacy. #2: See #1 and go f*** yourselves."</p>
<p>Straight forward enough.</p>
<p>The Devil Without a Cause singer also wished "everyone else" a happy Labor Day and, dialing up the Troll Level, praised Michigan — that state he just denied running for Senate in.</p>
<p>"Everyone else, Have a great Labor Day (I will be spending mine WORKING in one of the greatest cities in America – Grand Rapids, Michigan!!) Rock on!" he said.</p>
<p>If Ritchie were to make a run, the numbers are in his favor to win. According to a Delphi Analytica poll <a href="" type="internal">released</a> at the end of July, Ritchie found himself eight points ahead of incumbent Senator Stabenow, 54% to 46%.</p> | Kid Rock BLASTS Campaign Law Violations Claims In Most Kid Rock Way Ever | true | https://dailywire.com/news/20586/kid-rock-blasts-campaign-law-violations-claims-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2017-09-04 | 0 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />The front page of USA Today touts an article intended to send what I suppose is a counter-intuitive message: The big corporations aren’t the ones gaming the system—it’s YOU.</p>
<p>That’s quite literally the message, given that the teaser on the front page reads, “90 Percent of Tax Breaks Go to Individuals: Value of Individual Tax Breaks Rise Seven Times Faster Than Corporations.” But the article by Gregory Korte ( <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2013-09-16-Biggest-beneficiary-of-of-federal-tax-breaks--You_ST_U.htm" type="external">9/16/13</a>) delivers that message by taking a curious view of the research that it is based on.</p>
<p>In USA Today‘s telling, the $1.2 trillion in tax expenditures (deductions and credits) are</p>
<p>not all corporate tax giveaways and special-interest handouts: More than 90 percent of federal tax breaks go to individual taxpayers.</p>
<p>Now you might find it surprising that you were getting all these gifts. But you have to understand what they are. As Korte reports:</p>
<p>Non-taxable Social Security benefits will save retired and disabled people $32.9 billion, up 59 percent since 2009. Employees will save $212.8 billion because their employer-provided health benefits aren’t taxed, a 47 percent increase from 2009.</p>
<p>Social Security is in theory a program that puts some of your income—which you have already paid taxes on—into an insurance fund that you can draw on if you live to retirement age; it’s not clear that allowing (some of) this return of your own money qualifies as a “giveaway.”</p>
<p>And the fact that your boss doesn’t pay taxes on the cost of your healthcare premiums (which went up around 41 percent from 2003 to 2009, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/02/AR2010120200169.html" type="external">according to one study</a>) probably doesn’t feel like much of a perk to most workers. It’s worth noting that in most industrialized countries, health insurance is considered a government obligation to the population in general, not a special benefit to particular individuals.</p>
<p>The piece is “balanced” in the way that mainstream journalism so often can be—in other words, not in a good way. William McBride of the “business-oriented” Tax Foundation is of the view that, in the paper’s paraphrase, “some popular low-income tax benefits like the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit are, in some ways, worse than welfare spending.”</p>
<p>That point of view—that the poor are taking advantage of the system—is the “balance” for Steve Wamhoff, legislative director for the progressive Citizens for Tax Justice, who argues that we’re focusing on the wrong tax breaks: “If you have a spending program and 68 percent of that money goes to the richest 1 percent, most people would think that’s pretty bad.”</p>
<p>Now, that comment is interesting, because it does a better job of conveying one of the main points of the research that forms the basis for the USA Today: Yes, tax expenditures are broadly felt, but the benefits tend to disproportionally flow upwards.</p>
<p>That <a href="http://nationalpriorities.org/en/analysis/2013/big-money-tax-breaks/exposing-big-money-tax-breaks/" type="external">research</a>, by the National Priorities Project, finds that there are over $1 trillion in tax breaks for individuals,</p>
<p>but all individuals do not benefit equally. Ten major tax breaks that together total more than $750 billion in tax savings in 2013 are tilted heavily in favor of the top income earners; according to the Congressional Budget Office, 17 percent of the benefits from these major tax breaks go to the top 1 percent of households.</p>
<p>An accompanying graph shows how the playing field is tilted; the lower rate on capital gains and dividends, for instance, amounts to $83 billion a year, and 68 percent of those benefits go to the top 1 percent.</p>
<p>That’s a very different message than saying that everyone’s gaming the system—gobbling up more of the “goodies” than corporations.&#160; The truth is that the most important breaks are going to those who need them the least.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Who’s Getting the Tax Breaks? You Are, Says USA Today | true | http://fair.org/blog/2013/09/16/whos-getting-the-tax-breaks-you-are-says-usa-today/ | 2013-09-16 | 4 |
<p>Rep. Charlie Crist was just sworn into office and he has already missed a key vote in the U.S. Congress that objects to the passage of Resolution 2334, an anti-Israeli United Nations Security Council measure.</p>
<p>Unbelievable.</p>
<p>Crist was in DC being sworn in on Jan. 5, but for some reason, could not make it to House floor to cast this vote.</p>
<p>Here is what Crist stated regarding his missed vote:</p>
<p>“This evening, I planned to vote in favor of H. Res. 11, but was unfortunately delayed in arriving to the House floor,…”As a cosponsor of this measure, I believe it is vital that the United Nations Security Council be sent a clear message that biased, one-sided resolutions targeting Israel are unacceptable and only make it more difficult for negotiations to resume between Israelis and Palestinians.”</p> | Charlie Crist Missed Key Pro-Israel Vote | true | http://shark-tank.com/2017/01/06/charlie-crist-missed-key-pro-israel-vote/ | 0 |
|
<p />
<p>The Virginia Supreme Court on March 2, 2017, heard oral arguments in a lawsuit that challenges the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the Fairfax County School District’s nondiscrimination policy.</p>
<p />
<p>The Washington Times <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/2/transgender-bathroom-case-to-be-heard-by-virginias/" type="external">reported</a> Daniel Schmidt, a lawyer for the Liberty Counsel who represents Traditional Values Coalition President Andrea Lafferty and an unnamed minor and his parents, told the court the Dillon Rule prohibits school boards from adding LGBT-specific provisions to their nondiscrimination policies unless the Virginia General Assembly were to pass a law allowing them to do so.</p>
<p>“The state law does not permit local municipal governments, including the school board of Fairfax County, to enact laws that are more extensive than state laws on discrimination,” said Schmidt, <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/2/transgender-bathroom-case-to-be-heard-by-virginias/" type="external">according to the Washington Times.</a> “The Virginia Human Rights Act doesn’t include sexual orientation or gender identity, and by including that in the school nondiscrimination policy, they have exceeded the bounds of what they’re authorized to do.”</p>
<p>Members of the Fairfax County School Board added sexual orientation and gender identity to the district’s nondiscrimination policy in November 2014 and May 2015 respectively.</p>
<p>Elizabeth Schultz, a Republican who represents the Springfield District, is the only member of the school board who voted against the inclusion of gender identity in the district’s nondiscrimination policy. The Traditional Values Coalition endorsed her 2015 re-election campaign.</p>
<p>Attorney General Mark Herring in <a href="" type="internal">a 2015 opinion</a> wrote that state law does allow school boards to ban anti-LGBT discrimination in their respective districts. Liberty Counsel Chair Mat Staver in a statement described the school board’s decision to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the district’s nondiscrimination policy as a “lawless act” that “violates state law and harms children.”</p>
<p>“This is a matter of statewide and national concern,” he said.</p>
<p>The U.S. Supreme Court on March 28 is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender student who alleges the Gloucester County School District’s policy that prohibits him from using the boys bathroom or locker room violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. President Trump last week rescinded guidance on how public schools should accommodate trans students.</p>
<p>Robert Rigby, Jr., president of FCPS Pride, a group that represents LGBT employees of the Fairfax County School Board, told the Washington Blade he remains “assured that Fairfax County Schools will continue to defend its inclusive nondiscrimination and anti-bullying policies.” He also sharply criticized Lafferty and the Liberty Counsel for challenging the policy.</p>
<p>“We are appalled that Andrea Lafferty and her legal firm Liberty Counsel are suing for the right to, among other things, verbally harass LGBT students and staff with impunity,” Rigby told the Blade. “Some of these protections have existed in Fairfax County since 2000, and all students are safer because of them.”</p>
<p>Lafferty defended her decision to challenge the policy.</p>
<p>“There have been attempts at compromise, but the school district really has not gone along with that,” <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/2/transgender-bathroom-case-to-be-heard-by-virginias/" type="external">she told the Washington Times.</a> “And what you’ll find from the politicized, transgender community is they don’t even want to use the unisex bathroom or family bathrooms, they want men who are confused and think they are women to be able to use the women’s bathroom.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Andrea Lafferty</a> <a href="" type="internal">bisexual</a> <a href="" type="internal">Daniel Schmidt</a> <a href="" type="internal">Dillon Rule</a> <a href="" type="internal">Elizabeth Schultz</a> <a href="" type="internal">Fairfax County School Board</a> <a href="" type="internal">Fairfax County School District</a> <a href="" type="internal">FCPS Pride</a> <a href="" type="internal">Gavin Grimm</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jr.</a> <a href="" type="internal">lesbian</a> <a href="" type="internal">Liberty Counsel</a> <a href="" type="internal">Mark Herring</a> <a href="" type="internal">Mat Staver</a> <a href="" type="internal">Robert Rigby</a> <a href="" type="internal">Title IX</a> <a href="" type="internal">Traditional Values Coalition</a> <a href="" type="internal">transgender</a> <a href="" type="internal">Virginia General Assembly</a> <a href="" type="internal">Virginia Supreme Court</a></p> | Va. Supreme Court hears Fairfax school district lawsuit | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2017/03/03/va-supreme-court-hears-fairfax-school-district-lawsuit/ | 3 |
|
<p />
<p>Part of the drive for many to enroll in insurance under the Affordable Care Act was to avoid getting hit with a penalty for failing to comply with the law. But a new report out from the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation finds that nearly 90% of the 30 million Americans without insurance will be exempt from the tax.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The ACA mandates every individual in the country have insurance or face a fine of $95 a year or 1% of their annual income for failing to comply. This amount will hit $695 per adult in 2016, or 2% of family income, capped at $2,085.</p>
<p>The report finds that 4 million people are expected to pay this fine in 2016, down from previous projections of 6 million. In the law’s first year of open enrollment, 8.02 million people enrolled in coverage on state and federal exchanges. There are more than 316 million people living in the U.S. according to recent Census estimates.</p>
<p>The law originally provided exemptions for certain groups of people, including illegal immigrants. But exemptions have since broadened to include hardships such as domestic violence, property damage and having a health plan cancelled when the law kicked in on Oct. 1, 2013. The ACA mandates that every plan include 10 essential health benefits, including ambulatory services and prescription drug costs.</p>
<p>While the numbers are lower than projected for those paying fines, Manhattan Institute scholar Yevgeniy Feyman says the IRS will likely be lax in enforcing these penalties in year one.</p>
<p>“A lot of people don’t know they have to pay them because a lot of people aren’t informed about the ACA,” Feyman says. “People may even go and pay if they don’t need to. I think the IRS will use broad discretion because it will be harder scrutinizing people.”</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The penalties go partly toward funding the ACA’s subsidy program, which provides premium tax credits for people making up to 400% of the federal poverty level. In 2014, that was $45,000 for an individual and $94,000 for a family of four. In year one of the ACA, 9 in 10 people who enrolled on the federal exchange, Healthcare.gov, received subsidies to lower their premium payments.</p>
<p>“Subsidy funding comes much more from cuts to Medicare advantage, and also penalties from businesses under the employer mandate, and the Cadillac tax which begins in 2018,” he says. “There are more sources of funding aside from penalizing the uninsured.”</p>
<p>And while Feyman says the individual mandate tax will be an impetus for people to enroll in coverage, it isn’t the only sticking point for the uninsured.</p>
<p>“I think the bigger force pushing people to enroll is the limited [time frame] for open enrollment,” Feyman says. “Also relative to what it was pre-ACA; it’s now less costly to remain uninsured. You don’t get rated based on your risk or health status [as the law makes this illegal]. If you want to get insurance after you are sick, you won’t pay more.”</p> | ObamaCare: Penalties vs. Subsidies | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/08/08/obamacare-penalties-vs-subsidies.html | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
<p />
<p>TOM: Well, like the goldfish my brother once swallowed, these things all come out eventually.</p>
<p>RAY: Actually, are you sure it went into the engine? If the spark plug blew out because it was improperly tightened, the tip also could have blown out. It could have hit the underside of the hood and dropped to the ground.</p>
<p>TOM: That may be why you can’t find it – it isn’t in there!</p>
<p>RAY: If you’re pretty sure it fell in there, then I’d look for a shop with a borescope. A borescope allows the mechanic to snake an optical tube through a small opening – in this case, the spark-plug hole – and look inside an otherwise mysterious, dark space.</p>
<p>TOM: If he sees the piece in there, he can try any creative way he can think of to remove it. A magnet won’t help you, in this case, because of the particular metals involved.</p>
<p>RAY: But at times, we’ve been able to remove foreign objects from cylinders using a coat hanger with a blob of silicone adhesive on the end. Or sometimes, by blowing compressed air into the cylinder, you can force the piece out.</p>
<p>TOM: If the piece is clearly metallic, like the electrode, it’s likely to do some damage to a valve if you run the car. In that case, it makes sense to remove the head and get the thing out.</p>
<p>RAY: Right. Otherwise, you’ll end up paying to have the head removed and paying for a valve job.</p>
<p>TOM: If it’s something that’s small and appears destructible, like a piece of porcelain, then you can start up the car, and let the piston crush it and send the remnants out the tailpipe (see goldfish, above).</p>
<p>RAY: And if you can’t find it – so you aren’t even certain what, if anything, is in there – then you probably need to take a chance and try starting up the car.</p>
<p>TOM: I’d let your mechanic do this. If it makes loud, frightening noises, he’ll shut it off immediately to limit any damage, then he’ll run a credit check on you and, if you pass, give you an estimate for some serious engine work.</p>
<p>Got a question about cars? Email Click and Clack by visiting the Car Talk website at <a href="http://www.cartalk.com" type="external">cartalk.com</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Spark plug piece fell into engine – or did it? | false | https://abqjournal.com/297512/spark-plug-piece-fell-into-engine-ndash-or-did-it.html | 2013-11-09 | 2 |
<p>By Lois Beckett, ProPublica</p>
<p>How many Americans have been shot over the past 10 years? No one really knows. We don’t even know if the number of people shot annually has gone up or down over that time.</p>
<p>The government’s own numbers seem to conflict. One source of data on shooting victims suggests that gun-related violence has been declining for years, while another government estimate actually shows an increase in the number of people who have been shot. Each estimate is based on limited, incomplete data. Not even the FBI tracks the total number of nonfatal gunshot wounds.</p>
<p>“We know how many people die, but not how many are injured and survive,” said Dr. Demetrios Demetriades, a Los Angeles trauma surgeon who has been studying nationwide gunshot injury trends.</p>
<p />
<p>While the number of gun murders hasdecreased in recent years, there’s debate over whether this reflects a drop in the total number of shootings, or an improvement in how many lives emergency room doctors can save.</p>
<p>Doctors and researchers have been advocating for better gun injury data since the late 1980s. But <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/republicans-say-no-to-cdc-gun-violence-research/" type="external">fierce political battles</a> over gun violence research — including <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/republicans-say-no-to-cdc-gun-violence-research/" type="external">pressure</a> from congressional Republicans that put an end to some government-funded studies on firearms — has meant that we still don’t know <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/meet-the-doctor-who-gave-1-million-to-keep-his-gun-research-going/" type="external">many basic facts</a> about gun violence in America.</p>
<p>“In the absence of real data, politicians and policymakers do what the hell they want,” Dr. David Livingston, the director of the New Jersey Trauma Center at University Hospital in Newark. said “They do what the hell they want anyway,” he added, “but in the absence of data, they have nobody to call them on it.”</p>
<p>An initial push to create a national database of firearm injuries in the late 1980s and early 1990s was <a href="http://www.joycefdn.org/assets/1/7/creating_NVDRS.pdf" type="external">slowed by the political fight</a> over Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding for gun research, according to a <a href="http://www.joycefdn.org/assets/1/7/creating_NVDRS.pdf" type="external">history of the project</a> written by researchers who worked on it. To make the effort more <a href="http://www.joycefdn.org/assets/1/7/creating_NVDRS.pdf" type="external">politically viable,</a> as well as more scientifically rigorous, researchers decided to collect data on all violent deaths, not just firearm deaths.</p>
<p>And to <a href="http://www.joycefdn.org/assets/1/7/creating_NVDRS.pdf" type="external">cut costs</a>, they decided to focus only on fatal injuries. Even that more limited effort has languished without full congressional funding — the database currently covers fewer than half of all states.</p>
<p>Most discussions of crime trends in America look back 20 years, to 1993, when violent crime of all kinds hit its peak. Compare 1993 to today, and the <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/07/gun-homicide-rate-down-49-since-1993-peak-public-unaware/" type="external">picture looks bright</a>: The number of murders is down nearly 50 percent, and other kinds of violent crime have dropped even further.</p>
<p>The Department of Justice has estimates of nonfatal shootings that suggest a similar trend: Its <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fv9311.pdf" type="external">National Crime Victimization Survey</a> shows a decline, from an average of about 22,000 nonfatal shootings in 2002, to roughly 12,000 a year from 2007 to 2011, according to a Department of Justice statistician.</p>
<p>But over the same time period, CDC estimates show that the number of Americans coming to hospitals with nonfatal, violent gun injuries has actually gone up: from an estimated 37,321 nonfatal gunshot injuries in 2002 to 55,544 in 2011.</p>
<p>The contrast between the two estimates is hard to clear up, since each data source has serious limitations.</p>
<p>Experts say that household data-gathering efforts, like the National Crime Victimization Survey, likely miss the Americans who are most likely to be victims of gun violence.</p>
<p>Shooting victims are “disproportionately young men of color who are living unstable lives and often involved in underground markets or criminal activity, and this is a group that is incredibly difficult to survey,” said Philip Cook, a gun violence expert at Duke University. “A lot of them are in jail at any point in time, or if they’re not in jail, they have no stable address.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the CDC numbers are based on a representative sample of 63 hospitals nationwide, and the margin of error for each estimate is very large. The CDC’s best guess for the number of nonfatal intentional shootings in 2012 is somewhere between 27,000 and 91,000.</p>
<p>“Uncertainty in the estimates <a href="http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1776998" type="external">precludes definitive conclusions</a>,” one group of medical researchers explained in a back-and-forth in a journal on internal medicine last year.</p>
<p>The FBI also gathers data on gun crime from local police departments, but most departments do not track the number of people who are shot and survive. Instead, shootings are counted as part of the broader category of “aggravated assault,” which includes a range of gun-related crimes, from waving a gun at threateningly to actually shooting someone.</p>
<p>There were about 140,000 firearm aggravated assaults nationwide in 2012, according to the FBI’s report. How many of those assaults represent someone actually getting shot? There’s no way to tell.</p>
<p>The lack of a clear number of nonfatal shootings has caused confusion.</p>
<p>A frequently cited 2012 Wall Street Journal <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324712504578131360684277812" type="external">article</a> attributed the falling murder rate to advances in trauma care: “In Medical Triumph, Homicides Fall Despite Soaring Gun Violence.” The article based its conclusion — that “America has become no less violent” over the past two decades — on the CDC’s shooting estimates.</p>
<p>The article did not cite the <a href="http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-12-12/news/bal-is-gun-violence-really-soaring-in-baltimore-signs-point-to-no-20121212_1_gun-violence-baltimore-police-shock-trauma" type="external">other estimates</a> of gun violence that show <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fv9311.pdf" type="external">shootings</a> <a href="http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/The-312/December-2012-1/Trauma-Care-and-Death-as-the-Ultimate-Data-Point/" type="external">trending</a> down, or the level of uncertainty in the CDC’s own data.</p>
<p>Livingston, the Newark trauma surgeon, said that it’s “very nice” when journalists give trauma surgeons credit for saving more lives. “I think that improvements in trauma care clearly have made a great difference,” he said. “On the other hand, if you don’t know the extent of all of the patients, and all of the data, you can make some erroneous conclusions.”</p>
<p>At University Hospital, which treats the vast majority of shooting victims from Newark and surrounding towns, Livingston and other doctors decided to do their own research.</p>
<p>“It’s easy to count dead people. But counting people who are merely injured? The data was all over the place, and, frankly, terrible,” Livingston said.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24368351" type="external">paper</a> published early this year, they looked back at their own hospital’s records and logged every gunshot wound patient from 2000 to 2011.</p>
<p>What they found was that the number of patients injured by guns had actually held roughly steady over the past decade. But the injuries were getting worse. The percentage of patients who came in with multiple bullet wounds had increased from only 10 percent in 2001 to 23 percent in 2011. The incidence of brain and spinal cord injuries almost doubled.</p>
<p>And though trauma care has advanced over the past decade, the mortality rate for gunshot wound patients in Newark had actually increased, from 9 percent to 14 percent.</p>
<p>With more severe gunshot injuries came <a href="http://links.lww.com/TA/A321" type="external">increased costs</a>. The researchers estimated the total cost over 10 years for their hospital was at least $115 million — and three quarters of that was unreimbursed, which meant that taxpayers ultimately paid the bills.</p>
<p>In total, the hospital had treated an average of 527 patients with intentional violent gunshot injuries each year: “unrelenting violence,” as the researchers termed it.</p>
<p>Are the trends that the Newark researchers observed an anomaly? Or are gunshot wound injuries across the county becoming more severe, as they have at this one hospital? The Newark researchers looked for national data and could not find it.</p>
<p>After the <a href="http://apps.americanbar.org/poladv/letters/107th/health092601senate.html" type="external">American Bar Association</a> and medical and public health groups collaborated on an <a href="http://www.joycefdn.org/assets/1/7/creating_NVDRS.pdf" type="external">extensive campaign</a> — with the message, “what we don’t know is killing us” — Congress did approve funds to begin building a National Violent Death Reporting System in 2002. The push was inspired by a successful effort to track highway vehicle accidents, which experts say has helped reduce the number of deaths from car crashes.</p>
<p>But until last year, the system had only received enough congressional funding to collect detailed data on deaths in 18 states. Then after the Sandy Hook shootings, Congress approved an additional nearly $8 million for database, though that still isn’t enough to detail violent deaths in all 50 states.</p>
<p>President Obama has asked for enough funding next year — <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/fmo/topic/Budget%20Information/appropriations_budget_form_pdf/FY2015_CJ_CDC_FINAL.pdf" type="external">$23.5 million</a> — to allow the CDC to finally begin to collect violent death data nationwide.</p>
<p>As for tracking the number of Americans who are violently injured and survive, CDC spokeswoman Courtney Lenard, said simply, that “is something that may be considered in the future.”</p>
<p>Funding a CDC effort to track nonfatal violence is not the only path to getting a better answer. Livingston and Demetriades, the Los Angeles trauma surgeon, suggested that independent medical associations could also help collect national nonfatal gun injury data, supported by government funding, and perhaps by legislation. In order to get a clear picture of gun violence, injury data from hospitals should be combined with local law enforcement data about crimes, they said.</p>
<p>Another solution might be better FBI data. “In my opinion, the FBI’s UniformCrime Reports system should be changed so that it tracks nonfatal gunshot woundings in criminal assaults,” said Daniel Webster, a gun violence researcher at Johns Hopkins University.</p>
<p>“If the FBI could get local agencies to include nonfatal criminal shootings into its UCR system, you have the capacity to track information that hospitals couldn’t — distinguishing domestic shootings, from gang shootings, from robbery shootings.”</p>
<p>An FBI spokesman said that changes in data collection practices could be made through congressional mandate or through the Criminal Justice Information Services Division Advisory Process, which would require buy-in from an advisory board of local, state and national law enforcement representatives.</p>
<p>In the past, changes to UCR data collection methods have been rare, the spokesman said. But several changes have been made in recent years, including <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/recent-program-updates/new-rape-definition-frequently-asked-questions" type="external">changing the definition of rape</a>, and changing how <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/data-collection-manual" type="external">data about hate crimes</a> is collected.</p>
<p>Cook, the Duke University researcher, said that the first step should be to find out why CDC data shows a different trend than other measures, and clarifying whether the ways hospitals collect data — or changes in the willingness of patients with minor gunshot wounds to come to the hospital for treatment — might explain the disparity.</p>
<p>“We have a variety of other evidence that gun violence is going down,” Cook said. “By Occam’s razor, I’d have to believe that the simplest explanation is that the nonfatal woundings are going down, too.”</p>
<p /> | Why Don't We Know How Many People Are Shot Each Year in America? | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/why-dont-we-know-how-many-people-are-shot-each-year-in-america/ | 2014-05-14 | 4 |
<p>Felony domestic violence charges against former <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/San-Francisco-49ers/" type="external">San Francisco 49ers</a> cornerback Tramaine Brock were dismissed on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The Santa Clara District Attorney’s office declared that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the case because the alleged victim declined to cooperate.</p>
<p>Brock, 28, was arrested on April 6 on suspicion of felony domestic violence and booked into Santa Clara County Jail. His bail was set at $50,000 and he was released from jail and by the 49ers the following day.</p>
<p>Santa Clara police found “visible injuries” on Brock’s girlfriend after responding to a domestic violence call, according to the Sacramento Bee. Police described the woman’s injuries as “minor” and she received no medical attention.</p>
<p>Brock can sign with any NFL team, although he could still face punishment under the league’s policy on personal conduct.</p>
<p>The 5-foot-10, 197-pound Brock, who started all 31 games he played for the 49ers over the past two seasons, recorded 59 tackles, an interception and 14 passes defensed in 2016. He has played his entire seven-year NFL career in San Francisco after joining the team as an undrafted free agent in 2010.</p> | San Francisco 49ers CB Tramaine Brock has felony domestic violence charges dismissed | false | https://newsline.com/san-francisco-49ers-cb-tramaine-brock-has-felony-domestic-violence-charges-dismissed/ | 2017-08-09 | 1 |
<p>Photo by Dorothea Lange, courtesy Wikimdia Commons</p>
<p />
<p>People live longer during <a href="" type="internal">depressions</a>. A new analysis in <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/current" type="external">PNAS</a> finds that life expectancy of Americans during the <a href="" type="internal">Great Depression</a> increased by a whopping 6.2 years—from 57.1 in 1929 to 63.3 years in 1932. This was true for men and women of all races, all age groups, and all causes of death—except <a href="" type="internal">suicide</a>.</p>
<p>The researchers analyzed mortality rates from the six most prevalent causes of death in the 1930s: cardiovascular and renal diseases; <a href="" type="internal">cancer</a>; <a href="" type="internal">influenza</a> and pneumonia; tuberculosis; motor vehicle traffic injuries, and suicide.</p>
<p>Health overall improved during the four years of the Great Depression, as well as during recessions in 1921 and 1938. Conversely, death rates rose during periods of strong economic expansion, such as 1923, 1926, 1929, and 1936-1937.</p>
<p>Why the counterintuitive results?</p>
<p>Well, the study didn’t tackle this question. Though the researchers have a few hunches. All related to the fact that working conditions are different during economic expansions and recessions:</p>
<p>So, extreme ambition, cut-throat rivalry, pointless materialism, workalholicism, and general slavery to the almighty boss and his henchman the dollar is deadly to human life? &#160;</p>
<p /> | Death Declines During Depressions | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/09/death-declines-during-depressions/ | 2009-09-28 | 4 |
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>The 5th conference of the World Parks Congress convened last Monday, with the goal of increasing the number and percentage of protected natural areas worldwide. The meeting was marked by controversy regarding the <a href="http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/22168/story.htm" type="external">overlap of land protection and native peoples’ rights</a>. Former South African President Nelson Mandela welcomed the delegates to the conference in Durban, South Africa. Mandela and other speakers lauded the Congress for its plans to address poverty and impoverished peoples’ search for food as a contributing factor in environmental degradation. Scientists believe that the over-harvesting of foods in protected areas threatens ecosytems and biodiversity. But the Indigenous Peoples Caucus, representing about 150 groups worldwide, urged conference attendees to break from traditional western perceptions of land use and permit native tribes to stay on their land.</p>
<p>Past conservation efforts have driven tribes from their land, a practice which the Indigenous People’s Caucus argues is <a href="http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=561&amp;fArticleId=233962" type="external">unjust</a> and does not respect native peoples’ ability to live sustainably off their land. The Associated France-Presse reports:</p>
<p>“The Indigenous Peoples Caucus issued a declaration at the start of the event requesting special attention to their ‘expulsion and exclusion’ from protected areas.</p>
<p>‘According to international laws, we have a right not to be forcibly removed from our land,’ [spokewoman Joji] Carino said.”</p>
<p>The groups demanded that the 2,500 conference delegates provide them with open access to and management of their ancestral lands. Some tribes in the caucus were removed from their ancestors’ lands, while others have no say in their management. Reuters reports that the conference’s <a type="external" href="">is “Benefits Beyond Boundaries” and aims to encourage conservation in areas beyond park borders as well as attempt to alleviate rural poverty by employing rural workers in ecotourism and other conservation efforts — but Indigenous tribes, apparently, aren’t seen as the priority that rural workers are.</a></p>
<p><a type="external" href="">The Caucus was further enraged by conservationist Richard Leakey’s comments that</a> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,13369,1040241,00.html" type="external">conservation was more important</a> than the rights of indigenous people, the London Guardian reports. Indigenous groups believe their fight for justice can coincide with land preservation, and were angered by Leakey’s suggestion to provide “compensation” instead of allowing the tribes to manage their lands:</p>
<p>“‘Leakey’s taking us back to the colonial era ,'” said Edward Porokwa, of Tanzania’s Masai.</p>
<p>The World Conservation Union’s Congress will end on September 17th. In addition to its aims to fight poverty, the Congress has an agenda of protecting wetlands, improving marine protection, and working with mining and drilling companies to support conservation efforts. According to a World Conservation Union Report, 19 million square miles, or 11 percent, of the world’s lands are now protected — up from just 2 million square miles in 1962. But at least 700 highly threatened species <a href="http://www.nature.com/nsu/nsu_pf/030908/030908-13.html" type="external">still lack protection</a>, the report says.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Cruel Conservation? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2003/09/cruel-conservation/ | 2003-09-15 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Walmart.com offered a 42-inch JVC TV for $300 on Nov. 1. Banana Republic and Pottery Barn discounted virtually their entire nonclearance inventory 15 percent to 40 percent in October. And last week, Target offered an unprecedented $200 credit on any used, functioning iPad with a new iPad purchase.</p>
<p>The early bargains are partly a reflection of the uncertain economy, as well as a compressed shopping season between this year’s late Thanksgiving and Christmas.</p>
<p>But they also show how retailers are working harder to get shoppers’ attention in an age of intensifying online competition.</p>
<p>“Every year the promotions start earlier and get more sensational,” said Sean Naughton, an analyst for Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Some attribute the early specials to consumer sentiment sliding in October to its lowest since the end of last year. Others point to reasons other than economics. Americans are procrastinating less, according to the National Retail Federation.</p>
<p>About 22 percent of U.S. consumers say they start their holiday shopping in October.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Nervous retailers jump-start early deals to woo shoppers | false | https://abqjournal.com/299244/nervous-retailers-jumpstart-early-deals-to-woo-shoppers.html | 2013-11-11 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>BARCELONA, Spain — Spain moved Monday to put Catalonia’s secessionist leaders on trial for alleged crimes that carry maximum sentences of decades in prison, and some of the ousted government figures went to the Belgian capital, where an official said they might be able to request asylum.</p>
<p>As Catalonia spent its first working day under the direct rule of Madrid, following its regional parliament’s unsuccessful efforts to create a new country, Spain was venturing into new political terrain amid an unprecedented crisis.</p>
<p>An early regional election on Dec. 21 is on the horizon, when both separatists and unionists will present candidates, but before that the country is likely to endure weeks of political uncertainty.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Cranking up the tension, Spain’s state prosecutor said he would seek rebellion, sedition and embezzlement charges against members of the region’s secessionist government.</p>
<p>Chief prosecutor Jose Manuel Maza said he would ask judges for preventive measures against the politicians and the governing body of the Catalan parliament that allowed a vote to declare independence on Friday. Maza didn’t specify if those measures would include their arrest and detention before trial.</p>
<p>The rebellion, sedition and embezzlement charges carry maximum sentences of 30, 15 and six years in prison, respectively. It wasn’t immediately clear when judges would rule on the prosecutors’ request.</p>
<p>Those facing charges include ousted regional leader Carles Puigdemont, and his No. 2, Oriol Junqueras, as well as Catalan parliamentary speaker Carme Forcadell — high-profile figures in the region of 7.5 million people and its capital, Barcelona.</p>
<p>Puigdemont’s whereabouts was a mystery early Monday. The uncertainty continued the game of political cat-and-mouse with which the Catalan leader has tormented the national government since he announced almost two months ago that Catalonia would hold an independence referendum on Oct. 1 — a ballot the government rejected as illegal.</p>
<p>It later emerged Puigdemont had traveled to Brussels, a trip that was confirmed by Spanish officials and a Catalan member of the European Parliament, though Puigdemont was not seen in public.</p>
<p>Belgian Asylum State Secretary Theo Francken said over the weekend that it would “not be unrealistic” for Puigdemont to request asylum. Spanish media reported that five other members of Puigdemont’s government went with him to the Belgian capital.</p>
<p>Belgian lawyer Paul Bekaert told VRT network that Puigdemont had consulted him, adding “he is not in Belgium to specifically ask for political asylum. That is not decided yet.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Belgium allows asylum requests by citizens of other European Union nations, and in the past, some Basque separatists were not extradited to Spain while they sought asylum, causing years of friction.</p>
<p>Still, it would be exceptional for Belgium to grant asylum to another EU citizen based on arguments that repression would endanger the full exercise of one’s rights.</p>
<p>By targeting Puigdemont and some of his entourage, Spanish authorities apparently hoped to send a message that attempts to break up Spain will not be tolerated. The country has 17 autonomous regions, including Catalonia, but the constitution says Spain is “indivisible.”</p>
<p>After Catalonia’s regional parliament proclaimed independence from Spain in a secret ballot on Friday the Spanish government fired the government and regional police chief, dissolved the legislature and called the early election.</p>
<p>Puigdemont has vowed a peaceful and “democratic opposition” to his Cabinet’s dismissal.</p>
<p>The prosecutor’s announcement in Madrid came as Catalonia’s civil servants returned to work for the first time since Spain imposed direct control on Friday. There were no immediate signs of open disobedience and separatist parties agreed to run in the new elections, in a move that implies acknowledging that they can’t deliver a viable independent state.</p>
<p>In addition to the rebellion charges, Spain’s government has said the fired leaders could be charged with usurping others’ functions if they refuse to leave their government jobs.</p>
<p>The Catalan parliament was formally dissolved Monday and Forcadell, its speaker, was to head a transitional committee of lawmakers until the regional election is held.</p>
<p>Both parties in the coalition that ruled Catalonia until its government was disbanded last week indicated they were ready to contest the early regional election, dismissing fears the pro-independence parties might boycott the ballot to deny it legitimacy. Puigdemont’s center-right PDeCAT party vowed to defeat pro-union political forces in Catalonia.</p>
<p>As dozens of journalists, curious onlookers and bemused tourists gathered in the square outside the Gothic government palace in central Barcelona, residents expressed confusion about who was actually in charge of Catalonia.</p>
<p>“I don’t know — the Catalan government says they are in charge, but the Spanish government says they are,” said Cristina Guillen, an employee at a nearby bag shop. “So I have no idea, really.</p>
<p>“What I really think is that nobody is in charge right now,” she said.</p>
<p>At least one portrait of Puigdemont was still hanging on a wall inside the Catalan government’s Generalitat building.</p>
<p>Spanish authorities said deposed officials would be allowed to take their personal belongings from official buildings. Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said Monday that the government was giving the separatist politicians “a few hours” to do so because the goal was “to recover normality in a discreet way and under the principle of minimal intervention” by central authorities.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Casert reported from Brussels. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Elena Becatoros in Barcelona and Carlo Piovano in London contributed to this report.</p> | Spain seeks rebellion charges against fired Catalan leaders | false | https://abqjournal.com/1085241/spain-seeks-rebellion-charges-against-fired-catalan-leaders.html | 2017-10-30 | 2 |
<p />
<p>A study, carried out by two professors at MIT, examined more than a million different credit card offers that consumers received in the mail from 1999 to 2011. After analyzing the marketing materials, the card offers, and the financial standing of the consumers who received these offers, the results showed that&#160; <a href="http://www.moneytips.com/new-credit-card-data/248" type="external">credit card offers Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;are often tailored to the individual in subtle ways.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Individuals who received offers that highlighted the&#160; <a href="http://www.moneytips.com/best-rewards-credit-cards" type="external">rewards programs Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;and used images of tropical&#160; <a href="http://www.moneytips.com/buy-your-own-private-island" type="external">islands Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;and other exotic destinations were usually those consumers who were financially stable and had a history of making good financial decisions. Consumers who received offers advertising&#160; <a href="http://www.moneytips.com/what-consumers-want-in-a-credit-card/180" type="external">low interest rates Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;were most likely those that credit card companies considered less financially sound.</p>
<p>As well as this basic analysis, it also appeared that credit card companies had targeted perceived weaknesses when sending out card offers. Those consumers that they believed to be not as financially savvy were often sent offers for credit cards containing complex rewards programs with higher&#160; <a href="http://www.moneytips.com/late-credit-card-payment-ask-for-forgiveness" type="external">fees Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;and rates.</p>
<p>The card offers sent to those consumers that the companies considered to be more educated had more&#160; <a href="http://www.moneytips.com/law-saves-billions-in-credit-card-fees" type="external">upfront fees Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;and interest rates, but the late fees were lower, and many offered the option of redeeming points for airline miles.</p>
<p>If you want more credit, check out MoneyTips' list of&#160; <a href="http://www.moneytips.com/creditcards.html" type="external">credit card offers Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>This article was provided by our partners at&#160; <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.moneytips.com_credit-2Dcard-2Dcompanies-2Dtailor-2Doffers-2Dto-2Dconsumers_438&amp;d=DQMFaQ&amp;c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&amp;r=uCXtHF24dZ3113BjoaYTxHq6KVC8JfyZuAjm-D--z2s&amp;m=mUM2yyUGn36K1WJpVe7ykj-m8uMZ8hfx4j2veC7FPU8&amp;s=vWXPGzx_AR2Ig6Z54zbsW7N7eJJOW_N59AeIQj8ZIDI&amp;e=" type="external">moneytips.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.moneytips.com_late-2Dcredit-2Dcard-2Dpayment-2Dask-2Dfor-2Dforgiveness&amp;d=DQMFaQ&amp;c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&amp;r=uCXtHF24dZ3113BjoaYTxHq6KVC8JfyZuAjm-D--z2s&amp;m=mUM2yyUGn36K1WJpVe7ykj-m8uMZ8hfx4j2veC7FPU8&amp;s=aB2_sHM3JTrrst8PO3ISuX8ZQCJpmfxUzS-DbWiq0eo&amp;e=" type="external">Late Credit Card Payment? Ask For Forgiveness Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.moneytips.com_law-2Dsaves-2Dbillions-2Din-2Dcredit-2Dcard-2Dfees&amp;d=DQMFaQ&amp;c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&amp;r=uCXtHF24dZ3113BjoaYTxHq6KVC8JfyZuAjm-D--z2s&amp;m=mUM2yyUGn36K1WJpVe7ykj-m8uMZ8hfx4j2veC7FPU8&amp;s=v2uOuPGcK_yZs8pGQ807Gm7bUIxpIfKohGa0D_GY3ts&amp;e=" type="external">Law Saves $Billions In Credit Card Fees Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.moneytips.com_4-2Drules-2Dcredit-2Dcard-2Dusers-2Dshould-2Dknow_112&amp;d=DQMFaQ&amp;c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&amp;r=uCXtHF24dZ3113BjoaYTxHq6KVC8JfyZuAjm-D--z2s&amp;m=mUM2yyUGn36K1WJpVe7ykj-m8uMZ8hfx4j2veC7FPU8&amp;s=ZN0292zZ34b6_uemqPZwiLmWrruTGd2etXQ7bR_Xz9o&amp;e=" type="external">4 Rules Credit Card Users Should Know Opens a New Window.</a></p> | Credit Card Companies Tailor Offers To Consumers | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/09/07/credit-card-companies-tailor-offers-to-consumers.html | 2016-09-07 | 0 |
<p>Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (EEP) will report its next earnings on Nov 01 AMC. The company reported the earnings of $0.24/Share in the last quarter where the estimated EPS by analysts was $0.24/share.</p>
<p>Many analysts are providing their Estimated Earnings analysis for Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. and for the current quarter 7 analysts have projected that the stock could give an Average Earnings estimate of $0.2/share. These analysts have also projected a Low Estimate of $0.15/share and a High Estimate of $0.25/share.</p>
<p>In case of Revenue Estimates, 4 analysts have provided their consensus Average Revenue Estimates for Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. as 637.18 Million. According to these analysts, the Low Revenue Estimate for Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. is 620.87 Million and the High Revenue Estimate is 667.8 Million. The company had Year Ago Sales of 1.25 Billion.</p>
<p>These analysts also forecasted Growth Estimates for the Current Quarter for EEP to be 42.9%. They are projecting Next Quarter growth of 18.8%. For the next 5 years, Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. is expecting Growth of 14.2% per annum, whereas in the past 5 years the growth was -3.04% per annum.</p>
<p>When it comes to the Analysis of a Stock, Price Target plays a vital role. Analysts reported that the Price Target for Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. might touch $20 high while the Average Price Target and Low price Target is $17.18 and $16 respectively.</p>
<p>The Relative Volume of the company is 1.37 and Average Volume (3 months) is 1.43 million. The company’s P/E (price to earnings) ratio is 16.84 and Forward P/E ratio of 14.92.</p>
<p>The company shows its Return on Assets (ROA) value of 1.5%. The Return on Equity (ROE) value stands at 9.5%. While it’s Return on Investment (ROI) value is 2.9%.</p>
<p>While looking at the Stock’s Performance, Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. currently shows a Weekly Performance of -8.91%, where Monthly Performance is -13.3%, Quarterly performance is -11.9%, 6 Months performance is -24.54% and yearly performance percentage is -47.84%. Year to Date performance value (YTD perf) value is -50.63%. The Stock currently has a Weekly Volatility of 3.84% and Monthly Volatility of 3.01%.</p> | Revenue Estimates Analysis Of Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (EEP) | false | https://newsline.com/revenue-estimates-analysis-of-enbridge-energy-partners-l-p-eep/ | 2017-11-28 | 1 |
<p>"Clinton lost Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by a total of about 107,000 votes. Their 46 electoral votes would have given her the presidency."</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton’s loss has been called many things: a <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/442039/voters-reject-progressive-agenda-rightward-shift-historic" type="external">repudiation</a> of progressivism, a <a href="https://spectator.org/obamacare-repeal-trump-has-a-mandate" type="external">mandate</a> to repeal Obamacare, the <a href="http://thefederalist.com/2016/11/14/left-needs-get-multiculturalism/" type="external">failure</a> of multiculturalism, the <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2016/11/17/intraparty_fratricide_looms_over_republicans_395945.html" type="external">beginning</a> of a GOP crackup, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-win-democratic-party-2016-11" type="external">shattering</a> of the Democratic Party and so on.&#160;</p>
<p>It’s tempting to find such deep meanings in presidential elections. So much is invested in them and so much is at stake. But the immediate lessons we draw from them are often different than history’s judgment. Consider the 1964 election, when Republicans won just six states and it looked as if the GOP, torn apart by a war between its far-right wing and the establishment, would be in the wilderness for decades. Yet Republicans won five of the next six presidential elections, including a nearly clean sweep in 1972, when the Democratic candidate won only one state.</p>
<p>Donald Trump’s win was nothing like that blowout. Clinton lost Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by a total of about 107,000 votes. Their 46 electoral votes would have given her the presidency. If she had won those states and 120,000 more votes in Florida, we would be discussing a comfortable Clinton win. In other words, fewer than 250,000 votes were the difference between two radically different narratives and interpretations.</p>
<p>So the basis for claiming that there is a deep meaning to what just happened is weak indeed. Most of the election’s meaning is yet to be determined, based on what the Trump administration becomes and how we respond. With those caveats in mind, there are some takeaways that seem likely to endure, even if they don’t hold up as main points in the years to come.</p>
<p>The defection of the white working class from Democrats was real, especially in the crucial states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In those states, the <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/11/17/a_deep_dive_into_the_trump_and_clinton_coalitions_132367.html" type="external">most important factor</a> in Trump’s improvement on Mitt Romney’s performance was the shift among people with only a high school education, and among people with some college but not a bachelor’s degree. The effect wasn't so much that it drove up turnout. Instead, it flipped just enough votes to turn the election. In Wisconsin, for example, Trump got roughly the same number of votes as Romney, but Clinton got about 230,000 fewer than Obama in 2012. In Michigan, she got nearly 300,000 fewer votes than Obama.</p>
<p>Trump’s pose as the voice of the working class played a role in the defections. But the shift wasn't only about economic pain. It was also about the growing cultural divide between rural and urban America. Katherine Cramer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin, calls it “the politics of resentment” in a recent book focused on Wisconsin. <a href="http://www.press.uchicago.edu/dam/ucp/books/pdf/course_intro/978-0-226-34911-4_course_intro.pdf" type="external">She notes</a> that “in a politics of resentment, people intertwine economic considerations with social and cultural considerations in the interpretation of the world they make with one another.”</p>
<p>The Clinton campaign’s air of entitlement hurt the candidate badly on this front. It wasn't just her “basket of deplorables” comment. It was that she didn't show up at all in Wisconsin and hardly at all in Michigan. And she disappeared from the trail altogether for stretches, letting Trump set fire to his own campaign, supposedly, while she ran up the score on the fundraising front. The New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/us/politics/hillary-clinton-fundraising.html?_r=0" type="external">reported in early September</a> that Clinton had spent much of the summer partying with the “ultrarich” in the Hamptons, Beverly Hills and other enclaves of privilege.</p>
<p>“Mrs. Clinton, who has promised to ‘reshuffle the deck’ in favor of the middle class and portrayed Mr. Trump as an out-of-touch billionaire, has almost exclusively been fielding the concerns of the wealthiest Americans,” the Times noted.</p>
<p>Raking in big checks, fortifying its war chest and taking comfort in the polling, the campaign displayed no sense of urgency about its legislative agenda. In the end, Clinton ran a slightly enhanced version of Jeb Bush’s “ <a href="http://mashable.com/2016/02/04/jeb-bush-awkward-moments/#44TsPdE0mkqB" type="external">please clap</a>” campaign: she was a candidate with a stellar resume and more money than she could use, but without a compelling message. That vacuum was reflected in the turnout and in the <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/behind-trumps-victory-divisions-by-race-gender-education/" type="external">lack of enthusiasm</a> among Clinton’s base. While Obama won the African-American vote by 87 points in 2012 and the Hispanic vote by 44 points, Clinton won those voters by 80 points and 36 points, respectively.</p>
<p>“We don’t vote against somebody,” as Leslie Wimes, president of the Democratic African-American Women Caucus, <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/hillary-clinton-florida-black-voters-228822" type="external">told Politico</a>. “We vote for somebody.”</p>
<p>Motivation was never an issue on the other side. It hardly mattered to Republicans that much of Trump’s campaign was built on traditionally Democratic issues, such as his opposition to trade deals and his ambitious infrastructure plans. His supporters were ready to accompany Trump, a perfect vehicle for their resentments, on whatever path he barreled down. The depth of the resentment on the Right occasionally broke through in scenes from his rallies: the vibe of barely suppressed mayhem, sometimes breaking out into violence. It was evident, too, in the code-red alarms going off in the right-wing media throughout the campaign.</p>
<p>One small example: In early September, an anonymous writer in Claremont Review of Books made the case for Trump based on the fact that he had “the right stances on the right issues—immigration, trade, and war—right from the beginning.” The essay was titled “ <a href="http://www.claremont.org/crb/basicpage/the-flight-93-election/" type="external">The Flight 93 Election</a>”—a nod to the perceived urgency of the situation. It began: “Charge the cockpit or you die. You may die anyway. You—or the leader of your party—may make it into the cockpit and not know how to fly or land the plane. There are no guarantees.” The essay touched a nerve and went viral in conservative circles. Rush Limbaugh <a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2016/09/07/the_shaming_of_the_never_trumpers" type="external">devoted an hour</a> of his show to discussing and recommending it.</p>
<p>Clinton often <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/magazine/hillary-clinton-campaign-final-weeks.html" type="external">told supporters</a> that she was the only thing between them and the apocalypse. Now, in the aftermath of the event, some questions present themselves. Is the Democratic coalition salvageable? What will the election of 2020 look like? 2024? What we will make, by then, of what just happened? Will Trump’s narrow victory look like an aberration—or the dawn of a new era? Who or what can stop the men who have just charged the cockpit?</p>
<p>The election’s meaning will emerge as such questions are confronted and answered over the next few months, years and decades. It will evolve from the tension between Trump’s agenda and our pushback. There are no guarantees.&#160;</p>
<p>Theo Anderson, an In These Times writing fellow, has contributed to the magazine since 2010. He has a Ph.D. in modern U.S. history from Yale and writes on the intellectual and religious history of conservatism and progressivism in the United States. Follow him on Twitter @Theoanderson7 and contact him at [email protected].</p> | How an Entitled Clinton and the “Politics of Resentment” Gave Us Trump | true | http://inthesetimes.com/article/19666/how-an-entitled-clinton-and-the-politics-of-resentment-gave-us-trump | 2016-11-23 | 4 |
<p>In a small study, 10 severely obese patients with uncontrolled type 1 diabetes who underwent bariatric surgery lost weight and had improved glycemic control and a better metabolic profile 3 years later. The results were published online February 20 in a letter to the editor in Diabetes Care.</p>
<p>The weight loss was “remarkable and sustained,” note the authors, led by Stacy A. Brethauer, Maryland, from Cleveland Clinic, Ohio.</p>
<p>Dr. Brethauer told Medscape Medical News that physicians may be reluctant to refer obese patients with type 1 diabetes for bariatric surgery, “because of the thought that maybe it wouldn’t help — there’s just going to be no chance their pancreas will recover.</p>
<p>“[However], what this paper shows is that some patients with type 1 diabetes would benefit from these operations — [not just] in terms of their quality of life but also their glucose control,” he added.</p>
<p>Patients with type 2 diabetes typically develop worsening insulin resistance with weight gain and a growing body of evidence suggests that some of these individuals can achieve diabetes remission after losing weight with bariatric surgery, Dr. Brethauer noted.</p>
<p>Those with type 1 diabetes may also become obese, and although they may not achieve diabetes remission, they might require less insulin therapy after bariatric surgery, he explained.</p>
<p>Fewer than 10 cases of type 1 diabetic patients who’ve had bariatric surgery have been published, but in all instances they lost a significant amount of weight and improved their glucose control.</p>
<p>In this series, Dr. Brethauer and colleagues examined clinical outcomes and metabolic parameters in morbidly obese individuals with uncontrolled type 1 diabetes who had undergone bariatric surgery at their center from 2005 to 2012. Each had an average of 10 comorbidities, including cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, gastroesophageal reflux, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia.</p>
<p>“The findings of this study, which is the largest case series to date, indicate that bariatric surgery leads to a remarkable and sustained weight loss in severely obese patients with type 1 diabetes and results in significant improvement in their glycemic status and comorbid conditions,” the authors summarize.</p>
<p>“Longer follow-up studies in a larger cohort” are required, they conclude.</p>
<p /> | Bariatric surgery an option for Type 1 diabetics | false | http://natmonitor.com/2014/03/05/bariatric-surgery-an-option-for-type-1-diabetics/ | 2014-03-05 | 3 |
<p>President Donald Trump, in a series of early morning tweets Thursday, denied reports that he’d made a deal Wednesday night with Democrats on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and that the wall at the Mexican border is “already under construction.”</p>
<p>He also asked, though, if anybody “really” wants to deport the nation’s dreamers, a nickname for people brought to the United States illegally by their parents.</p>
<p>No deal was made last night on DACA. Massive border security would have to be agreed to in exchange for consent. Would be subject to vote.</p>
<p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/908272007011282944" type="external">September 14, 2017</a></p>
<p>The WALL, which is already under construction in the form of new renovation of old and existing fences and walls, will continue to be built.</p>
<p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/908274366739345409" type="external">September 14, 2017</a></p>
<p>Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in the military? Really!…..</p>
<p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/908276308265795585" type="external">September 14, 2017</a></p>
<p>…They have been in our country for many years through no fault of their own – brought in by parents at young age. Plus BIG border security</p>
<p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/908278070611779585" type="external">September 14, 2017</a></p>
<p>Wednesday night, however, Democratic leaders said a deal had been reached with Trump to protect DACA recipients, and that the legislation would not include a border wall.</p>
<p>In a statement following their working dinner with Trump at the White House, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Pelosi reported that they had come to an agreement with Trump about protecting the estimated 800,000 young adults who remain in the United States under the DACA program, established by the Obama administration in June 2012.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, Trump announced that he would end the program, after giving Congress a six-month period to work on codifying it on law. President Barack Obama, while signing the executive order, had said that the measure was a temporary one to help protect dreamers from deportation.</p>
<p>Late Wednesday night, however, the White House did not mention that there was a deal excluding the border wall, and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted that excluding the wall was “certainly not agreed to.”</p>
<p>“President Donald Trump had a constructive working dinner with Senate and House Minority Leaders, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi as well as administration officials to discuss policy and legislative priorities,” the White House statement said. “These topics included tax reform, border security, DACA, infrastructure and trade. This is a positive step toward the president’s strong commitment to bipartisan solutions for the issues most important to all Americans. The administration looks forward to continuing these conversations with leadership on both sides of the aisle.”</p>
<p>On Wednesday, however, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/texas-democratic-congressman-on-meeting-with-trump/" type="external">told CBS News</a> that the president’s immigration plan includes provisions that are similar to the Dream Act, whose failure to become law led to Obama’s DACA program. His plan also includes funding for border security, but not for a wall, said Cuellar.</p>
<p>“The president also, did say also that the wall doesn’t necessarily have to be with DACA, it can be somewhere else so he’ll give that a shot somewhere else but to tie it in, I think we are all on the same page that we are not going to tie the wall to DACA,” Cuellar said.</p>
<p>White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short confirmed to CNN that Trump and Democrats did agree to fix DACA through Congress, but he panned the Democrats’ claim that a deal was made as “intentionally misleading,” reports <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/13/politics/chuck-schumer-nancy-pelosi-donald-trump/index.html?sr=twCNN091417chuck-schumer-nancy-pelosi-donald-trump0653AMVODtop" type="external">CNN</a>.</p> | Trump: 'No Deal Made' With Dems on DACA | false | https://newsline.com/trump-no-deal-made-with-dems-on-daca/ | 2017-09-14 | 1 |
<p>Five members of Mexico's Los Zetas drug cartel, including one of the group's top commanders, have been arrested.</p>
<p>A military release said the arrests of Zetas commander William de Jesus Torres Solorzano and four other cartel members took place in Puebla, central Mexico, <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/americas/commander-of-mexicos-zetas-drug-cartel-detained" type="external">according to The National</a>. Solorzano also goes by the nicknames "El W" and "The Worm Eater."</p>
<p>Marines arrested Solorzano, who was accompanied by a woman, after seeing a gun in the waistband of his pants, <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/07/25/zetas-cartel-member-arrested-in-mexico/" type="external">reported EFE</a>. Solorzano and the woman got into separate vehicles and&#160;"navy personnel proceeded to conduct a routine inspection on the chance that a crime was going to be committed,"&#160;the Mexican Navy Secretariat said. A handgun, rifle, dollars, pesos, ammunition clips, a hand grenade and a bag of white powder "with the characteristics of cocaine" were found in the cartel commander's vehicle. The woman's vehicle contained what appeared to be cocaine and a grenade.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/mexico/120614/gregorio-villanueva-salas-zetas-drug-cartel-chief-arrested" type="external">Gregorio Villanueva Salas: Zetas drug cartel chief arrested (VIDEO)</a></p>
<p>EFE also said Solorzano told marines there were other Zetas members at a nearby house. Felipe de Jesus Cortes Sanchez and German de Jesus Jimenez Lopez, who was the subject of a 1.5 million-peso ($110,000) reward offered by the Attorney General's Office, were arrested at the house with firearms, ammunition clips and hand grenades in their possession. Two others were also arrested at the house and marines seized four vehicles, $830,000, 950,000 pesos ($69,000), two rifles, three handguns, 14 ammunition clips, eight hand grenades, 203 rounds of ammunition, a 1 kg bag of white powder, a smaller bag of white powder and other items.</p>
<p>Most of northern and eastern Mexico is under the control of Los Zetas, which was founded by ex-anti drug commandos who regularly decapitate and dismember their enemies, according to The National. The cartel members were originally enforcers for the Gulf Cartel, but turned on their employers and took over their turf, which has key routes for smuggling drugs into the US.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/120612/mexico-zetas-drug-cartel-accused-laundering-mone" type="external">Mexico Zetas drug cartel accused of laundering money through US horse racing operation</a></p> | Zetas commander arrested in Mexico | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-07-25/zetas-commander-arrested-mexico | 2012-07-25 | 3 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Both candidates have pasts that would disqualify them in normal times. There are serious concerns about finances involving their supposed charitable foundations and their treatment of the many women who have made claims of sexual abuse — in Trump’s case against him, in Clinton’s, against her husband.</p>
<p>Yes, there are six other minor party presidential candidates on this state’s ballot, including former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson on the Libertarian ticket. His appalling lack of knowledge on foreign affairs (his “Aleppo moment”) and his track record as governor likewise disqualify him. Like the other minor party candidates, including Green candidate Jill Stein, Johnson has zero chance of winning, so if you vote for him, you do so as a protest.</p>
<p>So, voters are left with the choice between a bombastic, crude and undisciplined demagogue — a true megalomaniac — and a corrupt, secretive, reflexive liar whose mannerisms and policy positions shift depending on the crowd to whom she is speaking.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The “Never Trump” and “Never Hillary” columns are both exceedingly long — and got even longer for Clinton on Friday when the FBI in a stunning move announced it was reopening its investigation into her private email server.</p>
<p>Because of all this, it’s hard to forecast what either candidate’s administration would be like. But there is much to be worried about:</p>
<p>Foreign policy</p>
<p>Trump wants to expand the network of walls between the U.S. and Mexico to cover the entire border, has troubling ideas about Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggests that perhaps countries like Japan should get nuclear weapons and has questioned the value of NATO.</p>
<p>Clinton favors open borders, and her reset with Russia and this administration’s policies have been an utter failure that left a vacuum Putin was quick to fill. She says that North Korea will not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon — when it probably has close to 20 — and that the United States will not have ground troops in Iraq — when hundreds are already there.</p>
<p>Speech and transparency</p>
<p>Trump has bullied journalists covering his campaign, threatened to sue people who have spoken up against him and has said he will seek the prosecution of his opponent should he win. In a break with tradition, he has refused to release his income tax returns and hasn’t been willing to say he will accept the outcome of the election — an underpinning of Democracy.</p>
<p>Clinton’s litmus test for Supreme Court nominees would include expanded executive power and overturning Citizens United, which affirms the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of political speech. She has gone for long periods without conducting a press conference and has kept secret the transcripts of speeches she gave to bankers and financiers for which she was paid more than $21 million between April 2013 and March 2015.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Committee to Protect Journalists says the situation is bad in the United States now — not just in Third World dictatorships — and won’t improve regardless of who wins.</p>
<p>Economy</p>
<p>Neither candidate’s plans would be good for the economy or the national debt.</p>
<p>Trump would impose tariffs on China, Mexico and other trade partners, lower income and corporate tax rates, and reduce federal spending in part by eliminating the Departments of Energy and Education. In typical Trump fashion, he earlier promised to cut military spending but now says he’ll rebuild the military by cutting waste and bureaucracy (the mantra of nearly every politician who lacks a plan). His populist message may appeal to some, but much of it is fantasy based. Some have estimated that his proposals would increase the national debt by trillions.</p>
<p>Clinton would offer tax cuts to the middle class and small businesses, increase short-term capital gains taxes significantly, increase the minimum wage and create a completely new entitlement program by mandating free college tuition. She says higher income groups should pay their “fair share.” She should know, having with Bill raked in about $230 million, mostly by giving speeches, since he left the White House, according to Forbes Magazine. Hers is a formula for more of the economic stagnation and lousy high-wage job creation the nation has seen for the past eight years. She was all for the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement — until she was against it. Quite a flip for something she once referred to as the “gold standard.” But that’s Hillary.</p>
<p>Abortion</p>
<p>Trump’s views on abortion have flip-flopped over the years. He currently says he is opposed to abortion except for rape, incest and life of the mother and is against the use of government funds to pay for abortions. He also came down strongly against late-term abortion during the final debate.</p>
<p>Clinton is a long-time strong supporter of Planned Parenthood, legalized abortion at any point in a pregnancy and government funding for the procedure, including late-term abortions.</p>
<p>Views of the populace</p>
<p>When he announced his candidacy, Trump criticized Mexican immigrants saying, “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”</p>
<p>Commenting on Trump supporters, Clinton said, “…you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it.”</p>
<p>At heart, both of them view the American people as chumps who are necessary for their own accumulation of power.</p>
<p>Obamacare</p>
<p>It is imploding. Hillary supports and wants to fix it. Trump says he wants to repeal, but it’s not clear what he would do.</p>
<p>Twice during this long and dreadful campaign season — before and after the primary election — the Journal has recommended Trump withdraw from the race and let a serious candidate who could offer America a real choice run against Clinton. But he stayed the course and has remarkably remained strong enough to often be within the margin of error in national polls.</p>
<p>In a speech last month, Clinton wondered aloud: “Why aren’t I 50 points ahead?” Based on Trump’s sordid record as a celebrity, his treatment of women and the unsettling comments he regularly makes as a candidate, that’s a good question.</p>
<p>But the answer is easy. She, too, is an awful candidate. A large part of the U.S. public views Clinton as someone whose first response is to lie and whose many dubious actions over the decades reveal a feckless politician whose first priority is herself and her various personal enterprises. The Wikileaks disclosures of collusion by some in the media, along with complicity and dirty tricks by the Clinton machine — such as hiring agitators to disrupt rallies and disparaging Bernie Sanders, Jews, evangelicals, Hispanics and Catholics — make Nixon look like a Sesame Street character.</p>
<p>Her private email server that was a security risk to the nation and her many lies to cover the political damage are perfect insight into her. To paraphrase Trump, she has lots of experience, but it’s mostly bad.</p>
<p>Yet with two very poor choices, is Trump perhaps worse because he seems unstable, unpredictable and often doesn’t seem grounded in reality?</p>
<p>And if Clinton prevails? Is she less likely than Trump to do something crazy? She is viewed by many on the left as more likely to start a shooting confrontation with Russia. An April profile in The New York Times Magazine states, “For all their bluster about bombing the Islamic State into oblivion, neither Donald J. Trump nor Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has demonstrated anywhere near the appetite for military engagement abroad that Clinton has.”</p>
<p>In either case, the nation can only hope Congress can hold the winner in check.</p>
<p>The Journal has not withheld a presidential endorsement in recent memory. But given their records, it isn’t possible to recommend any of the candidates. Still, it’s important to vote, making your best judgment. And, there are many other races to be decided.</p> | Editorial: No good choice for president | false | https://abqjournal.com/878275/editorial-no-good-choice-for-president.html | 2016-10-30 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>DIXON: Gets six years in plea deal</p>
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — A man whose mother was dragged to death by his truck in 2013 as he fled police following a domestic dispute with his ex-girlfriend has been convicted of homicide by vehicle.</p>
<p>In a plea agreement, Rocky Dixon, 26, pleaded guilty Wednesday in state District Court in Santa Fe and will be sentenced Sept. 2 to a six-year prison term, said Assistant District Attorney Peter Valencia.</p>
<p>Dixon also pleaded guilty to assault on a household member and possession of cocaine, but those sentences will run concurrently with the homicide conviction, Valencia said. It will be left to a judge at sentencing to determine if Dixon is deemed a serious violent offender and if so, he will be required to serve a minimum of 85 percent of the six years.</p>
<p>Dixon’s mother, Patsy, died at an Albuquerque hospital several weeks after she was dragged almost 50 feet during the March 3 incident. She was found on Popay Road off NM 68 on the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. Authorities said at the time that officers from the pueblo had responded to a domestic dispute at the home of Dixon’s ex-girlfriend and were trying to check records on Dixon’s license plate and that his mother, 59, may have tried to block their view.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Dixon drove away and his mother either was struck or grabbed onto the rear of the truck, authorities said. Dixon was arrested several weeks later when Rio Arriba County deputies got a tip that he was in a home in Hernandez in the Española area. Deputies chased Dixon by foot and found him hiding in a bosque near the Rio Grande, a sheriff’s office spokesman said.</p>
<p>Dixon was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in connection with the August 2009 shooting death of Ivan Garcia at a Sonic Drive-In Española in what was described as a gang-related fight, but he was acquitted in a 2010 jury trial.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Guilty plea entered in dragging death of suspect’s mother | false | https://abqjournal.com/441751/man-convicted-of-homicide-in-dragging-death-of-his-mother.html | 2014-08-06 | 2 |
<p>TD Bank reported adjusted earnings Thursday that missed analysts' estimates as a decline in wholesale banking and a rise in insurance claims offset gains from its stake in TD Ameritrade and its U.S. and Canadian operations.</p>
<p>The Toronto-based bank reported net income of C$2.71 billion ($2.1 billion), or C$1.42 a share, compared with C$2.3 billion, or C$1.20 a share this time last year. Adjusted net income rose 11% to C$2.6 billion, or C$1.36 a share.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were predicting C$1.39 a share.</p>
<p>Net income in the bank's Canadian retail division rose 11% to C$1.66 billion. Net income in the bank's U.S. retail division rose 11% to C$776 million.</p>
<p>Net income from the bank's wholesale banking division was C$231 million, down 2.9% from C$238 million a year ago. The drop in wholesale banking was "not particularly concerning," said Riaz Ahmed, TD's chief financial officer, in an interview. He said the drop was largely due to lower trading activity from low volatility in markets.</p>
<p>TD's total revenue rose 6% to C$9.27 billion. The bank also increased its credit-loss provision by 5.5% to C$578 million. Noninterest expenses fell by under half a percent to C$4.83 billion and insurance claims and related expenses rose 5% to C$615 million. The bank said last month it expected the Ameritrade division -- in which it owns more than a 40% stake -- to help earnings for the quarter. The division helped earnings by C$105 million, up 13% from a year ago.</p>
<p>Housing demand and the economy have helped Canadian banks in recent months. TD, the sixth largest bank in North America and second largest bank in Canada, closed a deal in September to buy Scottrade Bank for a reported $1.4 billion in cash.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Shares in TD were unchanged in premarket trading.</p>
<p>--Vipal Monga contributed to this article</p>
<p>Write to Allison Prang at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>November 30, 2017 09:02 ET (14:02 GMT)</p> | TD Earnings Helped By Ameritrade Stake, but Bank Misses Estimates | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/11/30/td-earnings-helped-by-ameritrade-stake-but-bank-misses-estimates.html | 2017-11-30 | 0 |
<p>The chain of violence and corruption that connects the United States with Iraq includes an airport in the west of Ireland. For more than two years, as reported previously in Counterpunch, the Irish peace movement has been trying to break the chain. Having failed, so far, to do that, campaigners now hope to turn Shannon Airport into the weakest link.</p>
<p>A group of activists, including several of the ‘Pitstop Ploughshares’ who face trial next month for their ‘disarmament’ of a US Navy plane in 2003, have called for American military war resisters to seek official refuge while their planes refuel and they are let wander through the lounges of this relatively small civilian airport.</p>
<p>Ireland is said to be a neutral country: it is not, in any case, a member of NATO, nor was its inclusion in the Coalition of the Willing ever frankly admitted either by US or Irish government officials. However, its facilities have played a considerable and growing role in the US war and occupation. Last year, 158,549 US troops passed through the airport on 1,502 flights ­ mainly civilian charter aircraft. Those troop numbers were 26 per cent higher than in 2003. In addition, Irish officials granted permission for 753 military aircraft to land, and 816 aircraft carrying munitions.</p>
<p>The invitation for some of these troops effectively to desert comes from members of the Irish parliament and even a former Irish army commandant, Ed Horgan — who made it clear he wouldn’t make such a suggestion lightly. And those making the call realise that it is not abstract rhetoric: it is estimated that more than 5,500 soldiers have left their ‘duties’ in the current wars, including highly publicised cases like the imprisoned Camilio Mejia, the exiled Jeremy Hinzman (seeking refuge in Canada) and Kevin Benderman, seeking conscientious-objector status after 10 years in the army because of what he witnessed on his first tour of duty in Iraq.</p>
<p>Irish and international law on refugees makes it clear that soldiers are not excluded from making asylum applications, which can be made to any Irish police officer (Garda) or immigration official. Soldiers who face being forced to obey “unlawful orders” are explicitly mentioned in the refugee statutes. The Geneva Conventions state that soldiers need not perform duties that offend their political, religious or moral principles.</p>
<p>“American soldiers are being required to commit acts so gratuitously offensive to themselves and their families that they will never be able to speak of them,” said activist Michael Birmingham, who has spent much of the last two years in Iraq, as well as meeting soldiers who have returned home to the US.</p>
<p>The activists are working to ensure that the ‘invitation’ to Ireland becomes widely known among US soldiers — and that Irish officials at Shannon Airport perform as the law requires them to do in giving individuals the right to have their asylum claims heard. Any soldiers who do make a claim will find a supportive network of legal and logistical support in Ireland.</p>
<p>Damien Moran, one of the Pitstop Ploughshares, said: “The offer of sanctuary in Ireland is deeply rooted in our traditions of neutrality and hospitality.”</p>
<p>HARRY BROWNE lectures in Dublin Institute of Technology and writes for Village magazine. He can be contacted at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p> | Soldiers: Seek Asylum in Ireland | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/02/08/soldiers-seek-asylum-in-ireland/ | 2005-02-08 | 4 |
<p>Iraqi officials are attributing the deaths of 29 people in Duwailiya, in Diyala province north of Baghdad, to al-Qaida militants who disguised themselves in military uniforms and surrounded the village before opening fire Tuesday on men, women and children. This latest report follows other news of widespread violence as the U.S. troop "surge" continues.</p>
<p>BBC:</p>
<p>In Baghdad at least 10 people, including four soldiers, were killed in a suicide car bomb targeting an Iraqi army convoy passing through Zayouna district.</p>
<p>Another car bomb exploded near the Iranian embassy in central Baghdad, killing four people.</p>
<p />
<p>The attacks came as funerals were being held for victims of Monday's massive lorry bombing in Kirkuk in northern Iraq.</p>
<p>At least 85 people were killed and more than 180 wounded.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6902349.stm" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Al-Qaida Blamed for Iraq Village Massacre | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/al-qaida-blamed-for-iraq-village-massacre/ | 2007-07-17 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>President Barack Obama on Wednesday created new national monuments in a sacred tribal site in southeastern Utah and in a swath of Nevada desert, after years of political fights over the fate of the areas.</p>
<p>The designations further cement Obama’s environmental legacy as one of the most consequential – and contentious – in presidential history. He now has invoked his executive power to create national monuments 29 times during his tenure, establishing or expanding protections for more than 553 million acres of federal lands and waters.</p>
<p>Environmental groups have praised the conservation efforts, but critics say they amount to a federal land grab. Some worry that the new designations could fuel another armed protest by antigovernment forces inspired by the Cliven Bundy family, such as the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon this year.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Obama’s newest designations include two sprawling Western landscapes that are under threat, yet also where local residents are deeply divided on how the land should be used.</p>
<p>In Utah, where the federal government owns roughly two thirds of the land, the designation of another 1.35-million acres to create the Bears Ears National Monument undoubtedly will prove polarizing.</p>
<p>For the first time, Native American tribes will offer management input for a national monument through an inter-tribal commission. Five tribes that often have been at odds in the past – the Hopi, Navajo, Uintah and Ouray Ute, Ute Mountain Ute and Pueblo of Zuni – will together have responsibility for protecting an area that contains well-preserved remnants of ancestral Pueblo sites dating back more than 3,500 years.</p>
<p>“We have always looked to Bears Ears as a place of refuge, as a place where we can gather herbs and medicinal plants, and a place of prayer and sacredness,” Russell Begaye, president of the Navajo Nation, said in a call with reporters Wednesday. “These places – the rocks, the wind, the land – they are living, breathing things that deserve timely and lasting protection.”</p>
<p>While many environmentalists and archaeologists supported their monument, most Utah politicians opposed the site’s unilateral protection. Instead, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, and a fellow Utah Republican, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, devoted three years to drafting a land-use bill that would have protected a large portion of the site but would have allowed some development. The bill stalled in the House.</p>
<p>In a statement Wednesday, Chaffetz said he was “outraged” by the designation, saying Obama’s decision “politicizes a long-simmering conflict.”</p>
<p>“The midnight monument is a slap in the face to the people of Utah, attempting to silence the voices of those who will bear the heavy burden it imposes,” he said, vowing to work with the Trump administration to try to repeal the decision. “It does not have the support of the governor, a single member of the state’s congressional delegation, nor any local elected officials or state legislators who represent the area.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada has been a site of contention for more than 15 years. As Las Vegas sought to expand, local, state and federal managers agreed to protect species such as the imperiled desert tortoise in Gold Butte. But they did little for either the animals or the actual sagebrush steppe and Mojave Desert in the roughly 300,000-acre area marked by fossilized sand dunes and panels of petroglyphs that tower over the landscape.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Though all the legal grazing permits in the area northeast of the Las Vegas were sold more than a decade ago as part of a deal with environmental groups and county officials, a single family – headed by cattle rancher Cliven Bundy – refused to recognize federal officials’ authority over the government land. The Bundys engaged in an armed standoff with Bureau of Land Management officials in 2014; several still await trial for the confrontation. Their followers occupied the Malheur refuge in January.</p>
<p>In a statement, Obama said Wednesday’s designations “protect some of our country’s most important cultural treasures, including abundant rock art, archaeological sites, and lands considered sacred by Native American tribes. Today’s actions will help protect this cultural legacy and will ensure that future generations are able to enjoy and appreciate these scenic and historic landscapes.”</p>
<p>Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who has put more than 5 million acres of federal land in his home state off limits to development, pressed relentlessly for Obama to invoke his executive authority on behalf of Gold Butte. Reid intensified his campaign when the Bundys were jailed earlier this year for a takeover at the Oregon wildlife refuge, arguing that any pushback would be minimized while they were incarcerated.</p>
<p>“Gold Butte is a fascinating place full of natural wonders,” Reid said in a statement Wednesday. “Protecting Gold Butte ensures that generations of people will continue to have the opportunity to experience Nevada’s natural beauty. We’ve done something lasting and historic today.”</p>
<p>Obama on Wednesday created both sites using his authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives president power to designate national monuments without approval from Congress. But Republicans have raised the prospect of curtailing the law when they control both the executive and legislative branches next year.</p>
<p>How their effort fares could determine not only what safeguards persist for the landscape, rock carvings and other archaeological sites in Bears Ears and Gold Butte, but what power future presidents can wield over the nation’s most ecologically and historically significant federal holdings.</p>
<p>Kristen Brengel, vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, said in an interview that she and others “just hope the American public rejects” efforts to curtail the act. Both Bishop and the congressman Donald Trump has tapped to head the Interior Department, Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., support changes.</p>
<p>“It’s a wonderful law that allows the president to make quick decisions to protect areas when they need it,” Brengel said. “Why would we want to destroy that?”</p>
<p>BLM officials have documented acts of vandalism and looting in Bears Ears, but Bishop said he does not view it as being “in imminent danger.” He met on Dec. 5 with members of Trump’s transition team to discuss whether the next administration would consider overturning any designation Obama made in the area.</p>
<p>The Antiquities Act “does not prohibit a president from abolishing or modifying the terms of a previously declared monument which has not been ratified by Congress,” Bishop said in a statement after the meeting.</p>
<p>In a few instances, presidents have modified the size of monuments established by their predecessors: Woodrow Wilson slashed nearly half the acreage of Mount Olympus National Monument, which Theodore Roosevelt had established. But in 1938, the U.S. attorney general wrote a formal opinion saying the Antiquities Act authorized a president to establish a monument but did not grant a president the right to abolish one.</p>
<p>According to John Leshy, a former Interior solicitor general who now teaches at the University of California Hastings College of Law, neither the unilateral modification nor abolishment of a national monument “has been tested in court.” Congress, though, can potentially do both of those things.</p>
<p>“We do not see that the Trump administration has authority to undo this,” Christy Goldfuss, managing director at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said Wednesday.</p>
<p>Only Franklin D. Roosevelt has used the Antiquities Act more than Obama. And the president is likely to either match Roosevelt’s record with a 30th designation, according to several individuals briefed on the White House’s plans, or possibly to exceed it by doing two more before leaving office Jan. 20.</p>
<p>Administration officials are eyeing an expansion of the California Coastal National Monument and Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument as well as the establishment of one monument in South Carolina and two in Alabama to commemorate the Reconstruction and civil rights eras, respectively.</p>
<p>Yet given Republicans’ presidential and congressional victories last month, several proposals are likely to remain unrealized. Some activists are disappointed that Obama may not designate the Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument, which would stretch more than a million acres and protect the area from new uranium mining. The monument has been supported by Native American tribes and, according to polling, a majority of Arizonans. But the state’s two GOP senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, have so far opposed it, in part because of concerns it would prevent public access and complicate forest-thinning efforts necessary to prevent wildfire hazards.</p>
<p>Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee and supporter of the Grand Canyon designation, noted that Congress has considered more than a dozen pieces of legislation aimed at curtailing, restricting or eliminating the president’s authority under the Antiquities Act. Until now, the threat of an Obama veto effectively blocked those efforts. That won’t be the case going forward.</p>
<p>“That battle will come. I don’t see it going away,” Grijalva said. And it will set up a key question for Trump: “How willing is this new president to give up power?”</p>
<p>monuments-1stld-writethru</p> | With new monuments in Nevada, Utah, Obama adds to his environmental legacy | false | https://abqjournal.com/917171/with-new-monuments-in-nevada-utah-obama-adds-to-his-environmental-legacy.html | 2016-12-28 | 2 |
<p>On Thursday, the Vatican’s top legal official pointed out that Pope Benedict XVI won’t be implicated in any of the sex abuse cases currently under investigation, as he is technically a head of state. Also, the Vatican would like The New York Times to “reconsider its attack mode” regarding the pope.</p>
<p>Reuters via Yahoo News:</p>
<p>Dalla Torre outlined the Vatican’s strategy to defend the pope from being forced to testify in several lawsuits concerning sexual abuse which are currently moving through the U.S. legal system.</p>
<p>“The pope is certainly a head of state, who has the same juridical status as all heads of state,” he said, arguing he therefore had immunity from foreign courts.</p>
<p />
<p>Lawyers representing victims of sexual abuse by priests in several cases in the United States have said they would want the pope to testify in an attempt to try to prove the Vatican was negligent.</p>
<p>But the pope is protected by diplomatic immunity because more than 170 countries, including the United States, have diplomatic relations with the Vatican. They recognize it as a sovereign state and the pope as its sovereign head.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100401/ts_nm/us_pope_abuse" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Vatican: Pope Has Immunity in Abuse Cases | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/vatican-pope-has-immunity-in-abuse-cases/ | 2010-04-01 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>PHOENIX — Authorities say a Scottsdale man has been sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation and 160 hours of community restitution for false voter registration.</p>
<p>The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office says 38-year-old Alan Faygenblat electronically filed a fraudulent voter registration application with the county Recorder’s Office last September.</p>
<p>Faygenblat says he wanted to prove a point and show that the county’s voter registration process is flawed.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say Faygenblat falsely claimed he was currently a citizen of the United States and was born in New York.</p>
<p>By providing false information, prosecutors say Faygenblat was able to obtain a voter registration card and posted the details of his actions on social media.</p>
<p>They say an investigation confirmed Faygenblat was not a United States citizen, but rather a legal resident from Israel.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Scottsdale man gets probation for false voter registration | false | https://abqjournal.com/954506/maricopa-county-man-sentenced-for-false-voter-registration.html | 2017-02-21 | 2 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>During President Reagan’s two administrations, Elliott Abrams held three senior State Department positions, as Assistant Secretary of State for, first, International Organization Affairs, then Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and finally Inter-American Affairs. In the last two of these posts, Abrams was at the center of the ideological battles of the Cold War’s endgame; and the fact that the history of the late eighties and early nineties wholly vindicated his analysis of world politics did little to assuage the venom of Mr. Abrams’s enemies, who did not take kindly to the revelation that he had been comprehensively right, and they comprehensively wrong, about the central moral and strategic questions of U.S. foreign policy. But, as someone once said somewhere, there are gentler callings than high public office in these United States.</p>
<p>Mr. Abrams, a graduate of Harvard College, the London School of Economics, and the Harvard Law School, is now a senior fellow of the Hudson Institute, under whose auspices he recently published a study entitled Security and Sacrifice: Isolation, Intervention, and American Foreign Policy. We talked about his book, and his views on the current scene, in a conversation at the Center’s offices in late May.</p>
<p>George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. and holds EPPC’s William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies.</p> | Arguments as Old as America | false | https://eppc.org/publications/arguments-as-old-as-america/ | 1 |
|
<p>George Bush is busy inventing the wheel. And what a fine group he has assembled to help him accomplish the task. It is safe to say that all the designers he is employing have some notion of what a wheel should look like although it is unlikely any of them has any first hand experience in designing such a device.</p>
<p>The “wheel” that Mr. Bush hopes to leave behind as part of his not inconsiderable legacy is developing a way to insure that foodstuffs and other products imported into the United States are safe. Mr. Bush believes the wheel is needed because he has been told that many products and some produce sold in this country are not from here. He has learned that imports from foreign countries are not subject to the rigorous controls imposed on domestic produce and products. Mr. Bush was no doubt incredulous at first, but persuaded when his instructors gave him examples of the problem.</p>
<p>They told him about the 1.5 million Fisher Price toys painted with lead paint that were made in China and sold in the United States. They told him about the pet food from China contaminated with melamine, a chemical used in plastics, fertilizers and flame-retardants. They told him about the Chinese toothpaste manufacturer which, modeling itself after a few Austrian wine producers (who in 1985 added a touch of antifreeze to their wines in an unsuccessful bid to enhance the flavor) added the same substance, diethylene glycol, to toothpaste in order to help it stay moist. The most interesting thing they told him about was that in China carbon monoxide has been used on decomposed fish to make them look fresh.</p>
<p>Learning of these events, Mr. Bush acted with his customary mindless swiftness. He created a panel of cabinet officials by Executive Order, and baptized them the “Interagency Working Group on Import Safety.” The experts on the panel, all of whom eat food and brush their teeth, and many of whom have pets and children, include Condoleeza Rice, Michael Chertoff, Alberto R. Gonzales, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns (who may actually know something about the subject), Carlos Gutierrez, Commerce Secretary and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. The group is chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Michael Leavitt. Other members will be added by Mr. Leavitt. The president wants recommendations on how to deal with this problem within 60 days unless its chairman decides it needs more time.</p>
<p>What Mr. Bush did not know, and no one told him, is that there are two agencies already doing what the Interagency Group has been asked to do-the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (C.P.S.C.) C.P.S.C. has a mission statement that says its mission is “to protect the public from the unreasonable risk of injury or death from 15,000 types of consumer products in and around the home.” The F.D.A.’s Mission Statement says the agency is</p>
<p>“responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of . . . our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation.” It is also responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make . . . foods more effective, safer, and more affordable. . . .”</p>
<p>Without wanting to quibble over how the agency plans to make food more “effective” its mission (and the C.P.S.C.’s mission) is remarkably similar to the charge given the Interagency Working Group. The Group’s Mission is to identify actions and appropriate steps that can be pursued, within existing resources</p>
<p>“to promote the safety of imported products. . . .” and to review or assess current procedures aimed at ensuring the safety of products exported to the U.S. and identify the safety of imported products.”</p>
<p>The F.D.A. and the C.P.S.C. are shrinking agencies. In hearings before the House Oversight Committee, William Hubbard, a former top official at the F.D.A., said that the F.D.A. has lost 200 food scientists and 700 field inspectors over the preceding five years while in that same period imports of food have almost doubled. The C.P.S.C. full time staff is now half of what it was in 1980 and Thomas Moore, a veteran Commissioner says it may soon be at a point where it cannot protect the public.</p>
<p>The two agencies have been run by professionals whose work is being hamstrung by budget cuts imposed by an administration that understands the peril of having people who are actually knowledgeable about something, make decisions. The professionals are being replaced by a committee consisting of amateurs who will make decisions on matters about which they know nothing about. That’s one way to govern. There’s probably another.</p>
<p>CHRISTOPHER BRAUCHLI is a laywer in Boulder, Colorado. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Bush Solution: Put Gonzo on It | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/08/16/bush-solution-put-gonzo-on-it/ | 2007-08-16 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The Arizona Daily Sun reports ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1PqETA7)" type="external">http://bit.ly/1PqETA7)</a> that the ski resort had to delay operations for two and a half hours Sunday morning.</p>
<p>Crews turned on backup generators to get lifts moving but then had to test them.</p>
<p>Resort managers say the generators restored power to all lifts by 11 a.m. except for Agassiz, which was still being tested.</p>
<p>The resort gave a 25 percent discount on lift tickets as a result.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Snowbowl officials say a tree falling in a power line was the cause of the outage.</p>
<p>Arizona Public Service utility was expected to restore power in the afternoon.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Arizona Daily Sun, <a href="http://www.azdailysun.com/" type="external">http://www.azdailysun.com/</a></p> | Arizona Snowbowl running on backup power due to outage | false | https://abqjournal.com/697295/arizona-snowbowl-running-on-backup-power-due-to-outage.html | 2 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The study was released as part of an announcement that Mayor Richard Berry and leaders of area Native American tribes will soon form a task force to address the disproportionate number of Native Americans living on Albuquerque streets, where they are prone to violence and separated from services like drug and alcohol counseling.</p>
<p>The recent savage beating deaths of two Navajo men in a vacant lot near Central Avenue and 60th Street, which received national attention, has invigorated discussion of the trials faced by the homeless, and particularly those who travel from Native American reservations and end up on city streets.</p>
<p>The study found that, even though Native Americans make up only 4.6 percent of the city’s population, 13 percent are chronically homeless. In addition, more Native Americans reported being physically attacked on the streets than their non-Native counterparts, according to the study.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The study considered 1,050 homeless people considered at risk and “medically vulnerable.” Of them, 328 have been provided housing as part of Albuquerque Heading Home, and were provided access to employment and health, including mental health, treatment.</p>
<p>Of the 1,050 people, 136 are Native American. Of them, 36 Native Americans have been provided housing through the initiative.</p>
<p>The seven-page study was an analysis of a nonscientific survey conducted by Albuquerque Heading Home. It found that Native Americans experience worse effects of homelessness than their non-Indian peers in every indicator it examined, including that Native Americans:</p>
<p>The survey also concluded that Native Americans are less likely to have health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, or Social Security benefits. Also, it found that chronically homeless Native Americans are more likely to be women.</p>
<p>Analysts suggested using profits from the Native American casinos and pueblos, which are federally funded, to fund resources, scholarships and programs to combat chronic “urban Native American homelessness,” according to the study.</p>
<p>The study said that Native Americans leave reservations and pueblos to pursue education, employment or other opportunities, a phenomenon analysts said is often not successful.</p>
<p>A Mayor’s Office spokeswoman said more information about the task force, including how often it will meet and who will be on it, will be released in the coming weeks. An adviser to Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly, who heads the state’s largest tribal government and reservation, did not respond to a request for comment Friday.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Study looks at Native Americans | false | https://abqjournal.com/439772/study-looks-at-native-americans.html | 2 |
|
<p>Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton gave a terrifying big-government pitch on Thursday evening: Vote for me so I can have the "power" to "shape" your children "for the next four years of their lives"!</p>
<p>"As [Michelle Obama] said, the choice in this election is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four years of their lives," tweeted Hillary.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS" type="external">@FLOTUS</a> said, the choice in this election is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four years of their lives.</p>
<p>First of all lady, get back to bed and stay away from everyone's kids. You have pneumonia.</p>
<p>I want you far away from my children. You have pneumonia. <a href="https://t.co/eVJutjHxa3" type="external">https://t.co/eVJutjHxa3</a></p>
<p>But on a serious note, just because the former secretary of state has used such language before, as her book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Takes-Village-Tenth-Anniversary/dp/1416540644" type="external">It Takes a Village</a> echoes, it doesn't make it any less disturbing—especially to those of us who hold conservative, small government values.</p>
<p>Hillary's policies reflect this very sentiment, as do President Obama's. We can take a look at the Obama Administration's latest mandate within our public school system to indoctrinate children with anti-science leftist transgender ideology as evidence. Schools are literally being threatened with lawsuits and revoked funding if they don't capitulate and allow boys into girls' facilities, or, say, allow boys on a girls' overnight event, even.</p>
<p>The truth is, Hillary, just as Obama, wants the state to rear your children. This way they won't commit thought crimes and adhere to the wrong side of aisle. Besides, more children with views which dissent from the left may be the result if the government lets you raise you own children without their full involvement. The horror! More conservatives!</p>
<p>Conservatives on Twitter sounded off on Hillary's request for the "power" to "shape" their children. It wasn't to good for Hill.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton" type="external">@HillaryClinton</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS" type="external">@FLOTUS</a> I don't want you or anyone else shaping my children. That's not your job. <a href="https://t.co/IZUnnTLKkH" type="external">https://t.co/IZUnnTLKkH</a></p>
<p>. <a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton" type="external">@HillaryClinton</a> LEAVE PEOPLE'S CHILDREN ALONE.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton" type="external">@HillaryClinton</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS" type="external">@FLOTUS</a> I wouldn't leave u within 100 miles of my children!</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton" type="external">@HillaryClinton</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS" type="external">@FLOTUS</a> you can both stay far FAR away from my children, thank you.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton" type="external">@HillaryClinton</a> Lady, I don't want or need your "village" to raise my child.</p> | The Hillary Tweet That Should Terrify All Parents | true | https://dailywire.com/news/9192/hillary-tweet-should-frighten-all-parents-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2016-09-15 | 0 |
<p>This week, the nuanced -- and sometimes not so nuanced -- world of diplomatic insults: we hurl a few your way, courtesy of Hugo Chavez, Hillary Clinton and Winston Churchill. Then, news of languages that include a large amount of tongue clicks: linguists have figured out how to decipher and classify click from clack, as it were. Then, the Norwegian for silly season (it involves cucumbers). Finally, many French fans of Harry Potter novels read the books in English.</p> | The World in Words 64: Diplomatic insults, click languages, Harry Potter in France, and cucumber season | false | https://pri.org/stories/2009-07-31/world-words-64-diplomatic-insults-click-languages-harry-potter-france-and | 2009-07-31 | 3 |
<p>Time magazine ( <a href="http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20130826,00.html" type="external">8/26/13</a>) dedicated a special issue to the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington. There were remembrances from assorted people, lots of photos, and a website, “ <a href="http://content.time.com/time/onedream/" type="external">time.com/onedream.</a>” It was all very glossy and lovely—and a bit rich from a magazine that employs no black correspondents (Journal-isms, <a href="http://mije.org/richardprince/time-losing-only-black-correspondent" type="external">8/19/13</a>).</p>
<p>But corporate media’s engagement of King has long had an air of unreality about it, as the antiwar and anti-capitalist ideas that for him and others in the civil rights movement were integrally connected with racial equity are ignored or worse. After his 1967 “Beyond Vietnam” speech, the Washington Post ( <a href="http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_beyond_vietnam_4_april_1967/" type="external">4/6/67</a>) sniffed that “King has diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people.”</p>
<p>Corporate media don’t like to recall the Martin Luther King who called for a “radical restructuring of society.”</p>
<p>Forty-one years later, David Gergen (CNN, <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/04/acd.02.html" type="external">4/4/08</a>) was dismayed that then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton even mentioned poverty at a King holiday event. He’d hoped she would “rise to the occasion and talk about how wonderful it is, 40 years later, that both an African-American and a woman are now competing in the way they are.” The desire to talk only about how wonderful things are helps explain elite media’s tendency to foreground the parts of “I Have a Dream” that celebrate the end of de jure segregation, but set aside King’s insistence that segregation’s end did not mean the end of grievous inequality.</p>
<p>That willful myopia is transparent when right-wingers pretend King opposed affirmative action (Extra!, <a href="" type="internal">5/95</a>), but equally evident when liberal pundits muse whether the election of a black president might signal the realization of King’s dream. Racism as part of an inglorious past, media can handle; racism in the present day, tangled up in issues from healthcare to housing to the effects of the recession—that they’d just as soon not confront.</p>
<p>Timidity marked anniversary coverage of the 1963 march—much of it on the order of “Great Strides, Further to Go” (Tampa Bay Times, 8/25/13). The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (8/25/13), for example, asked readers to consider that the civil rights movement’s efforts “to open the schoolhouse doors” are today “so widely embraced that schools are closed in the middle of each January to celebrate [the movement’s] aspirations.” Besides the layer of gloss that puts on the protracted fight it took to establish the King holiday, it seems a perverse choice for celebration, given that US schools are actually more segregated today than in the last 40 years (UCLA Civil Rights Project, <a href="http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/news/crp-in-the-news/crp-in-the-news-2012/media-coverage-of-201ce-pluribus...-separation201d" type="external">9/19/12</a>). To assess the resolutely antiwar leader’s vision, CBS’s Face the Nation ( <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3460_162-57600016/face-the-nation-transcripts-august-25-2013-powell-lewis-mccaul-and-reed/?pageNum=2" type="external">8/25/13</a>) invited the one person who did the most to deceive the nation into invading Iraq. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell opined:</p>
<p>Increasingly, if you have education, if you have the background, if you have the right grooming in your family and you apply yourself and you have ambition, you can rise to any height you want to in this country.</p>
<p>On Meet the Press ( <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/52839632/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts/t/august-john-lewis-cory-booker-bobby-jindal-raul-labrador-sheryl-wudunn-al-sharpton-david-brooks-doris-kearns-goodwin/#.UkyNJFMXI3h" type="external">8/25/13</a>), New York Times columnist David Brooks offered his own reckoning of the March and the movement’s message:</p>
<p>You go after your opponents, you go relentlessly after them, but you always do it with superior emotional discipline and self-control, and you force them, the racists in that case, to display their own evil. And you transfer the whole debate that way by a superior dignity, and that was part of what the march did. It took a strategy that was deeply thought through and it expressed it to the nation, and it showed how you make social change.</p>
<p>You’d look long for a clearer indictment of the current state of media debate than the country’s “serious” news programs’ reduction of the struggle for economic and social justice to questions of dignity and “grooming.”</p>
<p>Media can report the reality of white privilege without patronizing pablum. A video circulating on social media earlier this year turned out to be a 2010 episode of ABC’s What Would You Do? ( <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/bike-theft/story?id=10556016" type="external">5/7/10</a>) in which producers staged an experiment: A young white man pretended he was trying to break the lock on a chained bicycle. Scores of passersby noticed, but only a single couple intervened over the course of an hour. When a similarly dressed black man did the same, he was quickly confronted by an accusing crowd, with bystanders immediately jumping on the phone to summon police. Comments suggested the episode retained the power to capture the combined matter-of-factness and gut punch of discrimination, and to properly associate it with recognizable people rather than caricatures.</p>
<p>In an experiment staged by ABC News, passerby had very different reactions to black and white men “stealing” a bike.</p>
<p>ABC’s Primetime Live did other work like this, having equally credentialed black and white people apply for jobs and look for apartments ( <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyL5EcAwB9c" type="external">9/26/91</a>), for example, letting viewers see for themselves how friendly tones hardened and openings unaccountably closed when the person asking was black. It’s not the only way to get at the issue, of course, but consistent exploration of racism’s lived reality would certainly add dimension to news about, say, African-Americans being specifically targeted by unscrupulous lenders, and encourage viewers to make the leap from acknowledging a few bad apples to seeing a more systemic problem, with life-altering repercussions.</p>
<p>Instead, media coverage of racism detects only incident after anecdotal incident, with no pattern to be made from the pieces. We read a story like that of corporate retailer Wet Seal, where Nicole Cogdell, a successful black store manager, was fired days after a site visit by a vice president who complained to Cogdell’s boss, “I wanted someone with blonde hair and blue eyes”—and wrote an email reading, “African-Americans dominate—huge issue” (FAIR Blog, <a href="" type="internal">12/4/12</a>). CNN’s report ( <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1209/03/cnr.06.html" type="external">9/3/12</a>) gave the retailer the last word: “Again, Wet Seal says they do not discriminate on the basis of race and African-Americans are well-represented within their company.” When the company settled a $7.5 million class-action lawsuit in May 2013, based on what the E.E.O.C. called “unusually blatant evidence of racial discrimination,” (New York Times, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/business/eeoc-finds-race-bias-in-firing-at-wet-seal-store.html?_r=0" type="external">12/3/12</a>), CNN had nothing to say.</p>
<p>Or we may read about Meridian, Mississippi (Colorlines, <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/05/good_news_in_miss_school-to-prison_pipeline_closed.html" type="external">5/31/13</a>), where the Justice Department had to intervene with the public school district to reform discipline practices leading to “excessive suspensions and expulsions of mostly young black students for trivial infractions like wearing the wrong colored socks.” A DoJ representative told Colorlines that Meridian was “just the tip of the iceberg” in terms of school systems that unlawfully channel black kids out of school and into the criminal justice system. But most people didn’t see even the tip; one-day stories in the New York Times and Washington Post (1/17/13) elicited no follow-up.</p>
<p>Rutgers professor Nancy DiTomaso offered media a chance to address racial discrimination’s less overt forms, with research on how “seemingly innocuous networking” drives inequality in the United States (New York Times, <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/how-social-networks-drive-black-unemployment/" type="external">5/5/13</a>). In job seeking, DiTomaso noted, “white Americans tend to help other whites, because social resources are concentrated among whites.” Thus, inequality is reproduced not through illegal exclusion, but through perfectly legal inclusion, “more insidious and largely immune to legal challenges.” Favoritism, DiTomaso reported,</p>
<p>is almost universal in today’s job market. In interviews with hundreds of people on this topic, I found that all but a handful used the help of family and friends to find 70 percent of the jobs they held over their lifetimes.</p>
<p>That provides an excellent opening to explore modern iterations of white privilege: how “good” people can act in a legal way that nevertheless shuts doors on people of color, whatever the “content of their character.” It’s a complex problem that doesn’t call for simplistic finger-pointing. But does that mean it doesn’t call for intervention? The subdued response that DiTomaso’s work received despite being written up in the Times—one piece on NPR ( <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/05/06/181636285/op-ed-how-favoritism-is-driving-minority-unemployment" type="external">5/6/13)</a>, a mention in a Washington Post movie review ( <a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-07-26/opinions/40862528_1_oscar-grant-white-privilege-fruitvale-station" type="external">7/26/13</a>)—would suggest as much.</p>
<p>It isn’t, then, that media don’t tell these stories, to one extent or another. What they don’t do is connect the acknowledgement of racially discriminatory systems and practices with a conversation about what it would take to unmake them. Despite the summary firing of the non–“blonde and blue-eyed,” the targeting of black people for toxic loans, the disparate drug sentencing based on non-science, the unconstitutional harassment of black men by police, the differing approaches of doctors to black and white patients, the yawning pay gaps between black and white workers, etc.—when the debate turns to responsive or remunerative action, media reopen the question of whether there’s really anything to fix. Stories about affirmative action scarcely mention the discrimination to which it responds (Extra!, <a href="" type="internal">1/99</a>), leaving it a matter of claims and counterclaims, and our understanding of racism is not advanced beyond images of Bull Connor and firehoses.</p>
<p>The King who media don’t like to recall argued for expanding the racial justice fight to a “radical restructuring of society” that would also engage militarism, materialism and imperialism. Elite media show as little receptivity to that message today as 50 years ago, and equally little interest in hearing from representatives of today’s racial and economic justice movement, who would surely upset their vision of the fight for equality as simple, and largely won.</p>
<p>Sidebar:</p>
<p>MLK and ‘True Heroes’</p>
<p>“Some of the people I admire most took on the government—men and women who led the civil rights movement: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. They are true heroes. I’m not ready to put Edward Snowden in that category…. The people who led the civil rights movement were willing to break the law and suffer the consequences…. I think what we have in Edward Snowden is just a narcissistic young man who has decided he is smarter than the rest of us.” —CBS’s Bob Schieffer (Face the Nation, <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/schieffer-destroys-edward-snowden-i-dont-remember-martin-luther-king-jr-or-rosa-parks-hiding-in-china/" type="external">6/16/13</a>) on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden</p>
<p>“Nothing can be more destructive of our fundamental democratic traditions than the vicious effort to silence dissenters.” —Martin Luther King ( <a href="http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/kingweb/publications/speeches/unpub/670225-001_The_Casualties_of_the_War_in_Vietnam.htm" type="external">2/25/67</a>)</p> | Dreaming Away the Reality of Racism | true | http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/dreaming-away-the-reality-of-racism/ | 2013-10-01 | 4 |
<p>By Scott Malone</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">General Electric</a></p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">China</a></p>
<p>The largest U.S. conglomerate said on Friday it expects earnings to rise at a double-digit percentage rate next year, following peer <a href="" type="internal">United Technologies</a> Corp in trying to assuage investors' fears about Europe's brewing debt crisis.</p>
<p>"We continue to successfully navigate a volatile global economy," Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said in a statement.</p>
<p>Investors took heart in the company's 16 percent growth in industrial equipment orders -- an important indicator of future revenue, and in the 25 percent rise in international sales. GE has been counting on strong demand in rapidly developing economies to offset weak U.S. and European demand.</p>
<p>"They can see enough of their industrial sales coming out of orders and backlog that they can say that with some comfort," said Jack De Gan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. "The revenue number was strong and the organic growth rate in industrial was strong. Those are telling and they give us a little bit of a look into next quarter and beyond."</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^</p>
<p>For a graphic on the manufacturing sector: http://r.reuters.com/bed54s</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^</p>
<p>The report comes amid a wave of generally strong earnings reports from big U.S. manufacturers. Also on Friday, <a href="" type="internal">Honeywell International</a> Inc reported a 45 percent profit rise. Fellow blue chips <a href="" type="internal">Caterpillar</a> Inc and <a href="" type="internal">3M</a> Co will report next week.</p>
<p>Still, investors remain concerned whether Europe's crisis could drag down global demand by shaking the financial system.</p>
<p>"Possible concerns going forward are going to be related to Europe and what impact that may have, not just there but on global growth in general," said Perry Adams, vice president and senior portfolio manager at Huntington Private Financial Group in Traverse City, Michigan. "There's elevated uncertainty."</p>
<p>GE shares moved little in premarket trading, down 12 cents at $16.51.</p>
<p>BUYS BACK BUFFETT STAKE</p>
<p>The world's biggest maker of jet engines and electric turbines reported third-quarter earnings attributable to common shareholders of $2.34 billion, or 22 cents per share, compared with $1.98 billion, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier.</p>
<p>The results included an 8-cent-per-share charge to buy back the preferred shares the company had sold to Warren Buffett's <a href="" type="internal">Berkshire Hathaway</a> Inc during the financial crisis.</p>
<p>Buying back the Buffett stake, which carried a preferred dividend, will boost GE's annual earnings by 3 cents per share in the coming years.</p>
<p>Factoring out one-time items, profit came to 31 cents per share, meeting analysts' average forecast, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.</p>
<p>Revenue was little changed at $35.37 billion, above the $34.94 analysts had forecast.</p>
<p>GE's weak point on profit remained its big energy infrastructure division, where earnings slipped 9 percent despite a 30 percent rise in revenue, reflecting pricing pressure on wind turbines. The company has said that business will resume profit growth next year.</p>
<p>"That's bottoming out. It will start to turn up probably in the next quarter but definitely in 2012," said Harbor's De Gan. "It's a margin issue. Margins have contracted because wind is just so terrible."</p>
<p>GE shares were down 1.5 percent at $16.38 in premarket trading. Before today, they had fallen about 9 percent so far this year, while the <a href="" type="internal">Dow Jones</a> industrial average has declined less than 1 percent.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston, additional reporting by Nick Zieminski, Edward Krudy and Ryan Vlastelica in New York, editing by Maureen Bavdek and Derek Caney)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | GE profit up 18 percent, driven by foreign growth | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/10/21/ge-profit-up-18-percent-driven-by-foreign-growth.html | 2016-01-29 | 0 |
<p>“Pity the Billionaire,” the new book by Harper’s Magazine columnist Thomas Frank, surveys the politics of the last three years to determine why the American right survived and thrived after an economic crash caused by a 30-year love affair with the so-called free-market that it procured. Salon speaks to Frank by phone. –ARK</p>
<p>Salon:</p>
<p>Early in the book, you describe the moment in the spring of 2009 when free-market economics had been so thoroughly discredited that Newsweek could run a cover story proclaiming, “We’re all socialists now.” What happened? Why did that moment dissipate?</p>
<p>I saw that cover so many times [at Tea Party events]. For these people, that rang the alarm bell. I think the AIG moment [when the bailed-out insurance behemoth used taxpayer relief to dole out huge bonuses to its executives] was in some ways the high point of the crisis, when [the politics] could have gone either way. There was this amazing public outrage, and that for me was the turning point. Newsweek had another cover, “Thinking Man’s Guide to Populism,” and I remember this feeling around the country, that people were just furious. Somehow the right captured the sense of anger. They completely captured it. You could say they had no right to it, but they did. And one of the reasons they were able to do it was because the liberals were not interested in that anger.</p>
<p />
<p>I’m speaking here of the liberal culture in Washington, D.C. There was no Occupy Wall Street movement [at that time] and there was only people like me on the fringes talking about it. The liberals had their leader in Barack Obama … they had their various people in Congress. But these people are completely unfamiliar with populist anger. It’s an alien thing to them. They don’t trust it, and they have trouble speaking to it. I like Barack Obama, but at the end of the day he’s a very professorial kind of guy. The liberals totally missed the opportunity, and the right was able to grab it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.salon.com/2011/12/28/the_rise_of_utopian_market_populism/" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Thomas Frank on 'Utopian Market Populism' | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/thomas-frank-on-utopian-market-populism/ | 2011-12-29 | 4 |
<p>As Chicago high schools prepared for the second round of CASE tests, Catalyst checked developments at Curie High School, whose scores on the Tests of Achievement and Proficiency (TAP) generally are a few points above citywide averages. The school system is developing the Chicago Academic Standard Exams to help ensure that teachers are teaching and students are learning the academic standards adopted by the Reform Board in 1997. The first tests, for second-semester freshman courses, were piloted last spring. Exams for first-semester courses for both freshmen and sophomores were piloted in January. Written by a dozen Chicago teachers, the exams eventually may count toward course grades and admission to special programs.</p>
<p>Four days into the post-holiday blizzard, Juan Troncoso’s English teacher at Curie High School has not returned to school, and Juan, a freshman, is getting worried. He wants to prepare for the upcoming CASE exams, but isn’t sure what to study.</p>
<p>“I’m just waiting for the teacher to come,” says Juan. “Hopefully she comes Monday.”</p>
<p>Teachers are uneasy, too.</p>
<p>All week, another English teacher Sarah Levine has been reviewing the board-assigned literature with her students, going over terms and working on analysis. But she isn’t sure what they will find on the CASE. She’s concerned that her students may not remember details of a text they read last quarter, but she is hopeful that the CASE will test higher-level thinking skills, the skills she feels she is supposed to be teaching. “I’m depending on them to focus on argument skills and writing skills—not just recall,” she says.</p>
<p>Recalling the multiple-choice questions from the freshman tests piloted last spring, English Department Chair Vera Wallace sees the CASE pushing teachers away from higher-order thinking skills. If a large proportion of the questions ask students to recall facts or draw simple inference, she says, the test result won’t show whether a student is capable of higher-level thinking. She worries that such an exam might encourage teachers to teach more facts and fewer skills.</p>
<p>For Curie, says Wallace, the challenge is incorporating the board-assigned texts into a thematic curriculum that stresses concepts like discrimination, and love and hate. That has been especially difficult at the freshman level, where texts range from Romeo and Juliet to The Pearl.</p>
<p>Philip Hansen, the board’s chief accountability officer, notes that exams in every subject have “constructed-response” sections, which require students to write a short essay or explanation. He also says that once the underlying programs of study are in place, teachers will see they have time for other activities. “As teachers move along this process, they will find it doesn’t take 40 weeks to teach the standards. There is that flexibility where teachers can do other work.”</p>
<p>Up in Curie’s Math Department, teachers have been going over practice tests in algebra and geometry all week, but not many are optimistic their students will do well. David Drymiller sits at his desk and shakes his head; he says the sample algebra test the board supplied is too hard. “Each problem is layered; each question tests five or six concepts,” he explains. “If students miss one of those ideas, they don’t know where to begin.”</p>
<p>Telkia Rutherford, the board’s manager of mathematics support, says that to improve student performance on the algebra exam, teachers need to develop an integrated curriculum that includes geometric concepts, probability and statistics.</p>
<p>Too difficult?</p>
<p>Margaret Small promotes just such a program, the Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP), but she, too, believes the sample algebra exam is too difficult. There are too many questions, and the equations are more complex than necessary to test each skill, she says. Developed with funding from the National Science Foundation, IMP is a four-year curriculum aimed at mixed-ability classes. “We’ve spent three months getting students talking, thinking, believing they can solve problems,” she says. “Then they’ll take this and think, ‘I can’t do math.'” Small believes that the exam should be designed like a driver’s test, measuring basic skills without being tricky or complex.</p>
<p>Last spring, only 25 percent of CPS freshmen passed the test.</p>
<p>Accountability Officer Hansen attributes that to a numberof factors: The programs of study were still in draft form; the exams carried no value for students; the exams were given the last week of school. “This year teachers have a better understanding of the expectations,” he says, adding that he expects better results.</p>
<p>In Curie’s Social Studies Department, Robert Zell is up in arms. Zell, a World Studies teacher, contends the board has “shirked its duty on the CASE.” He says it provided only a broad outline of the material to cover, a few sample questions and no inservice training. Plus, he says, he has only a history book while the board wrote a curriculum that goes beyond history. “I’m putting up an overhead and showing students the areas that will be on the test, and I’m telling them, we didn’t cover this because sources weren’t available.”</p>
<p>Pushing their lunches aside, other social studies teachers say the outline the board provided has far too much material to cover in depth. Department Chair Raymond Garson agrees that the board should establish standards and help schools reach them. “But they need to focus more,” he says. “What areas specifically are we going to cover?”</p>
<p>“There’s always been a large amount of material,” says Barbara McCarry, the board’s coordinator of social science support. “We need to figure out what teachers used to cover that they are now skipping, and what they are now adding. Next year, we’ll enter the new millennium. We’ll have the whole 20th century to decipher.”</p>
<p>Last spring, McCarry met with social studies teachers from across the city to get their reaction to the proposed course of studies. She said she’ll have another meeting to review how the first semester went.</p>
<p>Last year, social studies teachers said that sophomores did not arrive with a good understanding of history before the Civil War; as a result, the sophomore curriculum now includes brief reviews of earlier material. Another result of McCarry’s meeting with teachers is that World Studies takes a regional approach, and its exam gives students the option of writing on Africa or on Europe for each constructed-response question.</p>
<p>While Zell says he did not receive enough preparatory materials, the Office of Student Assessment says it sent a variety to every school. They included programs of study, a chart showing how many questions would be asked in each category and sample test questions. According to Hansen, a total of $850,000 was allotted to high schools for new textbooks this year.</p>
<p>Down in Curie’s Science Department, the concern is that the exam will require too much intuitive and critical thinking. Chemistry teacher Steve Samuels says that many students do not arrive with the ability to think step by step through a problem. Yet he believes CASE may lead classes in the right direction. “It’s difficult for our students to think intuitively,” he says. “But hopefully, I’ll see a question, and I’ll think, ‘I should have thought about teaching that way.'”</p>
<p>Once testing is under way, Samuels says he is pleased with the chemistry test. “It was well-written,” he explains. “I was impressed.” Although he is not yet sure how his students did, he says his class covered all the material that was on the exam.</p>
<p>Grading</p>
<p>Algebra teacher Drymiller says the exam was, as he expected, very difficult. He says terminology was a problem, too. He cites a question in which students were given an equation and asked to make it a “real life” problem, a direction many of his students didn’t understand.</p>
<p>Zell is trying to determine how some of the questions on the World Studies exam connect to the program of study. “That’s what we’ll spend some of our common planning time doing,” he says. “We’ll figure it out so we’re better prepared next time.” He hopes the board will provide a study guide next semester.</p>
<p>Levine says that on the English test, the constructed-response question did require students to do some analysis. But she takes issue with how the question was asked, contending it wasn’t clear to students what they were supposed to do. She says it also included words that students did not understand, such as “grapples.”</p>
<p>With the testing winding down, teachers are beginning to think about the next step—grading. The board has assigned each school a time to bring the multiple-choice sections in for immediate scoring. Teachers should have the scores in time for first-semester grades, which must be recorded by Jan. 29, a five-day extension from the original date. This year, schools may decide how to use the results. At Curie, the Math Department has decided not to figure them into grades. The English Department is allowing each teacher to decide individually.</p>
<p>Schools are grading the constructed-response questions on their own, using rubrics, or guides, provided by the board. Teachers may grade their own students, an issue that the board has struggled with. While that raises questions of validity, says Hansen, it also allows teachers to see the strengths and weaknesses of their students. The grading rules may change once CASE counts for something, he adds.</p>
<p>At Curie, each department is deciding on its own how to organize the process. In the Math Department, Chair Maryann Blaszak plans to have each teacher select a question and grade it across all classes. “That way, no teacher will say, ‘Well, I like Johnny Jones, and his answer is wrong, but I’m still going to give him a four,'” she explains. Blaszak set aside time on the testing days for grading, but she suspects teachers will not finish and may have to do it during free periods or take the work home.</p>
<p>Juan takes no chances</p>
<p>During the first pilot, the board did not require that teachers grade the constructed-response questions. As a result, according to Susan Ryan in the Office of Student Assessment, many of the tests were never graded.</p>
<p>As Catalyst goes to press, Curie teachers are still grading tests, and Juan Troncoso is waiting for his scores. Not all students are so concerned, he says. But a low score on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills landed Juan in summer school last year, and he isn’t taking any chances that a low score on CASE could send him back. This year, he wants a vacation.</p> | CASE at Curie: One school’s experience with test trials | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/case-curie-one-schools-experience-test-trials/ | 2005-07-26 | 3 |
<p>The Independent</p>
<p>Strange things happen when a reporter strays off his beat. Vast regions of the earth turn out to have different priorities. The latest conspiracy theory for the murder of ex-Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri–that criminals involved in a bankrupt Beirut bank may have been involved–doesn’t make it into the New Zealand Dominion Post.</p>
<p>And last week, arriving in the vast, messy, unplanned city of Sao Paulo, it was a Brazilian MP corruption scandal, the bankruptcy of the country’s awful airline Varig–worse, let me warn you, than any East European airline under the Soviet Union–and Brazil’s newly nationalised oil concessions in Bolivia that made up the front pages.</p>
<p>Sure, there was Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s long letter to President Bush–“rambling”, the local International Herald Tribune edition called it, a description the paper’s headline writers would never apply to Mr Bush himself–and a whole page of Middle East reports in the Folha de Sao Paulo daily about the EU’s outrageous sanctions against the democratically elected government of “Palestine”–all, alas, written from wire agencies.</p>
<p>But then in steps Brazil with its geographical immensity, its extraordinary story of colonialism and democracy, the mixture of races in Sao Paulo’s streets–which outdoes the ethnic origins of the occupants of any Toronto tram–and its weird version of Portuguese; and then suddenly the Middle East seems, a very long way away.</p>
<p>Brazil? Sure, the Amazon, tropical forests, coffee and the beaches of Rio. And then there’s Brasilia, the make-believe capital designed–like the equally fake Canberra in Australia and fraudulent Islamabad in Pakistan–so that the country’s politicians can hide themselves away from their people.</p>
<p>One thing the country shares with the Arab world, it turned out, is the ever constant presence and influence and pressure of the US–never more so than when Brazil’s right-wing rulers were searching for commies in the 1940s and 50s. They weren’t hard to find.</p>
<p>In 1941, a newly belligerent America–plunged into a world war by an attack every bit as ruthless as that of 11 September 2001–had become so worried about the big bit of Brazil that juts far out into the Atlantic, that it set up military bases in the north of the country without waiting for the authorisation of the Brazilian government. Now what, I wonder, does that remind me of?</p>
<p>Well, Washington needn’t have worried. The sinking of five Brazilian merchant ships by German U-boats provoked huge public demonstrations that forced the right-wing and undemocratic Getulio Vargas government to declare war on the Nazis. Hands up those readers who know that more than 20,000 Brazilian troops fought on our side in the Italian campaign right up to the end of the Second World War. Even fewer hands will be raised, I suspect, if I ask how many Brazilian troops were killed. According to Boris Fausto’s excellent history of Brazil, 454 died in combat against the Wehrmacht.</p>
<p>The return of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force helped to bring democracy to Brazil. Vargas shot himself nine years later, leaving a dramatic suicide note which suggested that “foreign forces” had caused his country’s latest economic crisis. Crowds attacked the US embassy in Rio.</p>
<p>Well, it all looks very different today when a left-wing Brazilian leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva–who also found himself threatened by “foreign forces” after his popular election–is trying to make sense of the Bolivian nationalisation of Brazil’s oil conglomerates, an act carried out by Lula’s equally left-wing chum up in La Paz, Evo Morales.</p>
<p>I have to say that the explosion inside Latin America’s fashionable leftist governments does have something in common with meetings of the Arab League–where Arab promises of unity are always undermined by hateful arguments. No wonder one of Folha’s writers this week headlined his story “The Arabias”.</p>
<p>But can I let that place leave me? Or does the Middle East have a grasp over its victims, a way of jerking their heads around just when you think it might be safe to immerse yourself in a city a world away from Arabia? After two days in Brazil, my office mail arrives from the foreign desk in London and I curl up on my bed to go through the letters. First out of the bag comes Peter Metcalfe of Stevenage with a photocopied page from Lawrence of Arabia’s “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”. Lawrence is writing about Iraq in the 1920s, and about oil and colonialism.</p>
<p>“We pay for these things too much in honour and innocent lives,” he says. “I went up the Tigris with one hundred Devon Territorials … delightful fellows, full of the power of happiness and of making women and children glad. By them one saw vividly how great it was to be their kin, and English. And we were casting them by thousands into the fire to the worst of deaths, not to win the war but that the corn and rice and oil of Mesopotamia might be ours.”</p>
<p>My next day’s Brazilian newspaper shows an American soldier lying on his back in a Baghdad street, blasted to death by a roadside bomb. Thrown into the fire to the worst of deaths, indeed. Ouch.</p>
<p>Then in my mail bag comes an enclosure from Antony Loewenstein, an old journalistic mate of mine in Sydney. It’s an editorial from The Australian, not my favourite paper since it’s still beating the drum for George W on Iraq. But listen to this:</p>
<p>“Three years ago … elite Australian troops were fighting in Iraq’s western desert to neutralise Scud missile sites. Now, three years later, we know that at the same moment members of our SAS were risking their lives and engaging with Saddam Hussein’s troops, boatloads of Australian wheat were steaming towards ports in the Persian Gulf, where their cargo was to be offloaded and driven to Iraq by a Jordanian shipping company paying kickbacks to–Saddam Hussein.”</p>
<p>And I remember that one of the reasons Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard gave for going to war against Iraq–he’s never once told Australians that we didn’t find any weapons of mass destruction–was that Saddam Hussein’s regime was “corrupt”. So who was doing the corrupting? Ho hum.</p>
<p>So I prepare to check out of the Sao Paulo Maksoud Plaza hotel. Maksoud? In Arabic, this means “the place you come back to”. And of course, the owner turns out to be a Brazilian-Lebanese. I check my flying times. “Sao Paulo / Frankfurt/ Beirut,” it says on my ticket.</p>
<p>Back on the inescapable beat.</p>
<p>ROBERT FISK is a reporter for The Independent and author of <a href="" type="internal">Pity the Nation</a>. He is also a contributor to CounterPunch’s collection, <a href="http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Bookshop.html" type="external">The Politics of Anti-Semitism</a>. Fisk’s new book is <a href="" type="internal">The Conquest of the Middle East</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | US Military Bases in Brazil | true | https://counterpunch.org/2006/05/13/us-military-bases-in-brazil/ | 2006-05-13 | 4 |
<p />
<p>IMAGE SOURCE: TILE SHOP HOLDINGS.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>What:Shares ofTile Shop Holdings rose nearly 16% Tuesday after the company announced stronger-than-expected first-quarter 2016 results.</p>
<p>So what:Quarterly revenue increased 16.1% year over year, to $84.7 million, driven by a combination of new stores and 13.2% comparable-store sales growth. Gross margin also increased 60 basis points to 70.5%, thanks to improved margin on customer delivery revenue and inventory control process improvements. That translated to adjusted net income of $7.2 million, up from $4 million in last year's first quarter, and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.14, up from $0.08 per share in the same year-ago period.</p>
<p>Analysts, on average, were expecting adjusted earnings of just $0.11 per share on revenue of $80 million.</p>
<p>Tile Shop Holdings CEO Chris Homeister called it a "tremendous start to 2016" and said that "[o]ur continued efforts against our key initiatives concluded with another quarter of very strong results and significant momentum for our business."</p>
<p>Now what:As a result, Tile Shop also increased its full-year outlook, calling for revenue of $320 million to $329 million (up from previous guidance for $312 million to $325 million), comparable-store sales growth in the mid to high single digits (up from low to mid single digits previously), gross margin of 70% (up from 69% to 70%), and adjusted earnings per share of $0.40 to $0.45 (compared to previous guidance of $0.37 to $0.43). By comparison, analysts' consensus estimates called for full-year 2016 revenue of $320.7 million, and earnings of $0.41 per share.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>In the end, this is a cut-and-dried case of Tile Shop continuing to deliver on its strategic initiatives and outperforming expectations. Given appeased concerns of slowing growth and on the heels of a <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/02/17/tile-shop-holdings-inc-delivers-a-solid-first-year.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">solid first year under Homeister Opens a New Window.</a>, who took the reins at the beginning of 2015, I think investors are right to celebrate the continued momentum Tile Shop demonstrated today.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/19/why-tile-shop-holdings-inc-stock-popped-today.aspx" type="external">Why Tile Shop Holdings, Inc. Stock Popped Today Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSymington/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Steve Symington Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tile Shop Holdings. 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 Tile Shop Holdings, Inc. Stock Popped Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/09/why-tile-shop-holdings-inc-stock-popped-today.html | 2016-04-19 | 0 |
<p>There are times when Mary Deng thinks her only child is still alive, that he's going to come home, that he didn't die more than four years ago in a brutal fraternity hazing ritual.&#160;</p>
<p>Then reality intrudes.</p>
<p>"I feel like there's a cat clawing and scratching at my heart, hurting me persistently and relentlessly," Deng wrote. "I wake up and I pray for deliverance."</p>
<p>The grieving mom wrote of her anguish in a statement that will be delivered Monday at the sentencing of four men charged in her son's 2013 death in the Pocono Mountains. The fraternity itself, convicted of involuntary manslaughter following a trial, will also be sentenced.</p>
<p>A grand jury said fraternity members at Baruch College, a campus of the City University of New York, physically abused freshman pledge Chun "Michael" Deng, and then tried to cover it up as the 19-year-old lay dying in their rented house in the Poconos. Police charged 37 people with crimes ranging from aggravated assault to hazing to third-degree murder.</p>
<p>The four defendants to be sentenced Monday, Kenny Kwan, Charles Lai, Raymond Lam and Sheldon Wong, all of the New York City borough of Queens, pleaded guilty to felony manslaughter and hindering apprehension charges. They face 22 to 36 months in prison under standard sentencing guidelines, but could get less time if the judge imposes a sentence at the lower end of the range.</p>
<p>"Whatever I'm going to argue at sentencing does not mitigate the loss suffered by the Deng family," said Jim Swetz, the attorney for Lai, 27. "Michael Deng should not have lost his life. This was totally unnecessary. But we have to emphasize one thing: Nobody intended for that young man to die."</p>
<p>Deng was blindfolded, forced to wear a heavy backpack and then repeatedly tackled during a hazing ritual known as glass ceiling. He fell unconscious and was carried inside the house while fraternity members changed Deng's clothes, did a Google search of his symptoms and hid banners and other fraternity memorabilia in an attempted cover-up, prosecutors said. Three fraternity members eventually took Deng to the hospital, where he died a day later.</p>
<p>In the wake of Deng's death, Baruch banned Pi Delta Psi and suspended pledging activities for all fraternities and sororities in the college's tiny Greek community. The moratorium remains in place.</p>
<p>"Sadly, deaths and injuries as a result of hazing remain a national problem, and the ramifications are frequently devastating. Our thoughts continue to be with Michael Deng's family as justice is served for those who were involved," said Baruch President Mitchel B. Wallerstein.</p>
<p>Prosecutors are seeking the maximum penalty against the national fraternity, including a fine of more than $110,000 and a 20-year ban from Pennsylvania. Prosecutors also want the fraternity to notify every college where it has a chapter around the country of its conviction and sentence.</p>
<p>Pi Delta Psi has engaged in "illegal hazing ... throughout its history," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.</p>
<p>The fraternity plans to appeal its conviction. Its attorney, Wes Niemoczynski, said the district attorney's office is seeking to destroy Pi Delta Psi.</p>
<p>"They're asking for a death penalty," he said.</p>
<p>Founded as an Asian-American cultural fraternity in 1994, Pi Delta Psi has 25 chapters in 11 states - including one at Penn State University - and Washington, D.C. The fraternity has said its Baruch College chapter performed an unsanctioned ritual.</p>
<p>The Deng family has sued dozens of criminal defendants, including the fraternity, for civil damages. Three of the cases have settled.</p>
<p>Even with the passage of time, Mary Deng has been unable to process her son's death, said the family's attorney, Douglas Fierberg.</p>
<p>"She's made appointments at doctor's offices to check to see if Mike's death is real," he said. "She essentially lives somewhere between dream and reality."</p>
<p>There are times when Mary Deng thinks her only child is still alive, that he's going to come home, that he didn't die more than four years ago in a brutal fraternity hazing ritual.&#160;</p>
<p>Then reality intrudes.</p>
<p>"I feel like there's a cat clawing and scratching at my heart, hurting me persistently and relentlessly," Deng wrote. "I wake up and I pray for deliverance."</p>
<p>The grieving mom wrote of her anguish in a statement that will be delivered Monday at the sentencing of four men charged in her son's 2013 death in the Pocono Mountains. The fraternity itself, convicted of involuntary manslaughter following a trial, will also be sentenced.</p>
<p>A grand jury said fraternity members at Baruch College, a campus of the City University of New York, physically abused freshman pledge Chun "Michael" Deng, and then tried to cover it up as the 19-year-old lay dying in their rented house in the Poconos. Police charged 37 people with crimes ranging from aggravated assault to hazing to third-degree murder.</p>
<p>The four defendants to be sentenced Monday, Kenny Kwan, Charles Lai, Raymond Lam and Sheldon Wong, all of the New York City borough of Queens, pleaded guilty to felony manslaughter and hindering apprehension charges. They face 22 to 36 months in prison under standard sentencing guidelines, but could get less time if the judge imposes a sentence at the lower end of the range.</p>
<p>"Whatever I'm going to argue at sentencing does not mitigate the loss suffered by the Deng family," said Jim Swetz, the attorney for Lai, 27. "Michael Deng should not have lost his life. This was totally unnecessary. But we have to emphasize one thing: Nobody intended for that young man to die."</p>
<p>Deng was blindfolded, forced to wear a heavy backpack and then repeatedly tackled during a hazing ritual known as glass ceiling. He fell unconscious and was carried inside the house while fraternity members changed Deng's clothes, did a Google search of his symptoms and hid banners and other fraternity memorabilia in an attempted cover-up, prosecutors said. Three fraternity members eventually took Deng to the hospital, where he died a day later.</p>
<p>In the wake of Deng's death, Baruch banned Pi Delta Psi and suspended pledging activities for all fraternities and sororities in the college's tiny Greek community. The moratorium remains in place.</p>
<p>"Sadly, deaths and injuries as a result of hazing remain a national problem, and the ramifications are frequently devastating. Our thoughts continue to be with Michael Deng's family as justice is served for those who were involved," said Baruch President Mitchel B. Wallerstein.</p>
<p>Prosecutors are seeking the maximum penalty against the national fraternity, including a fine of more than $110,000 and a 20-year ban from Pennsylvania. Prosecutors also want the fraternity to notify every college where it has a chapter around the country of its conviction and sentence.</p>
<p>Pi Delta Psi has engaged in "illegal hazing ... throughout its history," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.</p>
<p>The fraternity plans to appeal its conviction. Its attorney, Wes Niemoczynski, said the district attorney's office is seeking to destroy Pi Delta Psi.</p>
<p>"They're asking for a death penalty," he said.</p>
<p>Founded as an Asian-American cultural fraternity in 1994, Pi Delta Psi has 25 chapters in 11 states - including one at Penn State University - and Washington, D.C. The fraternity has said its Baruch College chapter performed an unsanctioned ritual.</p>
<p>The Deng family has sued dozens of criminal defendants, including the fraternity, for civil damages. Three of the cases have settled.</p>
<p>Even with the passage of time, Mary Deng has been unable to process her son's death, said the family's attorney, Douglas Fierberg.</p>
<p>"She's made appointments at doctor's offices to check to see if Mike's death is real," he said. "She essentially lives somewhere between dream and reality."</p> | Mom on son's hazing death: Feels like 'cat clawing at heart' | false | https://apnews.com/7529cf4112fb4fd190533bb7fac560ac | 2018-01-07 | 2 |
<p>All the speculation raging about whether President Donald Trump will try to use a recess appointment to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions is moot —&#160;Senate Republicans have long been committed to blocking it, <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/senate-gop-blocking-trump-from-all-recess-appointments/article/2629853" type="external">the Washington Examiner reported.</a></p>
<p>Using pro-forma sessions, all it takes is for one Republican senator to quickly gavel in the chamber and gavel out —&#160;no business is conducted.</p>
<p>“The whole thing takes 20 seconds,” said Cornell Law professor Josh Chafetz told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/07/27/how-trump-could-replace-jeff-sessions-in-a-recess-appointment-and-how-republicans-can-prevent-that/?" type="external">The Washington Post.</a></p>
<p>Therefore, technically, the Senate is never in recess —&#160;which has to last 10 days for the president to be allowed to make an appointment.</p>
<p>“Junior senators long ago picked two dates when they’re on the hook to be in D.C. to gavel in and out,” a GOP senator told the Examiner, adding that Republicans made a pact in January to not let Trump make any recess appointments.</p>
<p>Sen <a href="https://twitter.com/BenSasse" type="external">@BenSasse</a> on the floor to POTUS: “If you’re thinking about making a recess appointment to replace the attorney general, forget about it”</p>
<p>— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) <a href="https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/890617144290951168" type="external">July 27, 2017</a></p>
<p>Even if Republicans changed their mind —&#160;unlikely given the climate surrounding Sessions — Senate Democrats would insist on pro-forma sessions before adjourning.</p> | Senate GOP Already Set to Block Trump on Recess Appointments | false | https://newsline.com/senate-gop-already-set-to-block-trump-on-recess-appointments/ | 2017-07-27 | 1 |
<p>Billy Batson and Shazam may not be household names just yet, but they will be soon — thanks in part to DC Comics, Zachary Levi — who will play Shazam — and Andi Mack star Asher Angel who will be playing Shazam’s alter ego Billy Batson. You see, Billy Batson is an average every day kid — an orphan, who, upon finding the magic wizard speaks the word Shazam and becomes the massive muscular and kind red dressed superhero. Asher Angel came on to discuss how he felt getting the news (in a word — SHOOK!). He talked about how he felt keeping the news secret for two weeks (he admits — it was very very hard) and how excited he felt seeing the news finally coming out in Variety. He discusses it with Shira Lazar and Ryan Mitchell — and they are excited to get into it!</p>
<p>We have a little treat too — we see Asher Angel saying the magic word that transforms him into the powerful hero — SHAZAM! Get used to it now! Watching this kid shout this word is going to be a big deal sooner rather than later. They then discuss Zachary Levi and how lucky he is to be working with Asher. Wonderful.</p>
<p>We also discuss Andi Mack, Asher Angel’s hit show — and about how people relate to it because it’s a reflection of real life. Ryan Mitchell discusses the LGBTQ plot on the show, how its similar to Degrassi and more. Make sure to watch it!</p>
<p>Want more stories like these? Check out these other cut downs from Circa Pop Live.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Ellington Ratliff remembers when he first realized he was famous and it was great</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Taylor Swift reported Perez Hilton and Iman Crosson has NO pity</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Matty Cardarople Discusses Being Keith on Stranger Things</a></p> | Asher Angel teases his upcoming role in DC's Shazam- it's going to be great guys | false | https://circa.com/story/2017/11/13/hollywood/asher-angel-teases-his-upcoming-role-in-dcs-shazam-its-going-to-be | 2017-11-14 | 1 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Throughout the day, the White House proceeded to demonstrate why this is so.</p>
<p>The death toll is approaching 1,000 in the Egyptian military’s crackdown, the Edward Snowden case is straining international relations and new questions are emerging about privacy violations at the National Security Agency. But Obama, who just returned from a nine-day, six-golf-round vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, remained out of sight at the White House.</p>
<p>Obama’s press secretary, Jay Carney, was away, so the task of representing the White House to the outside world fell to one Josh Earnest, a deputy press secretary who lived up to his surname on Monday. For an hour, reporters quizzed him on the news of the day, and Earnest, his face burned by the Vineyard sun except where his sunglasses had been, responded by reading from a binder full of bromides.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“As you’ve heard the president talk about quite a bit, the economic interests of middle-class families is his top domestic priority,” Earnest informed the assembled reporters.</p>
<p>“The president believes and understands that his chief responsibility as president of the United States is the national security of the United States of America and her citizens,” he announced.</p>
<p>Right, right, but what about all the people being killed in Egypt?</p>
<p>“What you’re asking is a pretty broad question,” Earnest said, “because we’re talking about a large number of people in a large country, under a lot of different circumstances.”</p>
<p>This is not to pick on Earnest, a genial product of Kansas City, Mo., who is well-liked by the White House press corps. He was doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing: trying to get the president through the August doldrums without making news. And that’s the problem.</p>
<p>Since the earliest days of the republic, Washington has been a sleepy town in August. Lawmakers once fled the capital to avoid heat and malaria; now they do it for fundraising and boondoggles. In 2002, President George W. Bush delayed making the case for war in Iraq until the fall because, his chief of staff said at the time, “you don’t introduce new products in August.”</p>
<p>But it no longer works to push the snooze button throughout the month. August of 2001 was when the Bush administration failed to connect the dots that could have warned of the Sept. 11 attacks. August of 2009 was when the tea party movement rallied opposition to Obamacare.</p>
<p>By now it should be obvious that running the country is not an 11-month job, yet the administration is still operating under the old ways.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Obama is holding an event this week to honor the Miami Dolphins team that won the Super Bowl – in 1973. “This is an opportunity for them to get the kind of White House visit that contemporary Super Bowl-winning teams get to enjoy,” Earnest explained Monday. “I can tell you, the president is certainly looking forward to it.”</p>
<p>He is also, Earnest disclosed, looking forward to a bus trip at the end of the week, during which he will talk about paying for college. “I think it is going to be, hopefully, both fun and informative,” the spokesman said, tipping the reporters off to the fact that Obama believes that “never has a college education been more critical to the economic success of middle-class families in this country.”</p>
<p>“What’s the fun part?” NBC’s Chuck Todd asked.</p>
<p>“Getting on a bus for a couple of days and seeing America? Sounds pretty good to me,” the earnest man at the microphone replied.</p>
<p>Best of all, he said, “the current plan is for the vice president to join the president in his hometown of Scranton. So that should be fun.”</p>
<p>Reporters agreed: Biden is fun. “OK. See? We’re lots of fun,” Earnest said.</p>
<p>Less fun is all the other stuff going on in the world while the president is feting long-retired football players: an Egyptian military ignoring Obama’s calls for restraint and an NSA committing thousands of privacy violations, undermining the president’s claim that surveillance programs aren’t being abused.</p>
<p>On the NSA, Earnest offered the platitude that “there is an important balance for us to strike.” On U.S.-Egypt ties, he attested that “we certainly value that relationship. I think it’s fair to say that the Egyptian government does as well.”</p>
<p>But not enough to heed Obama’s demands. Or maybe they just aren’t paying attention. It’s August, after all.</p>
<p>E-mail: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group.</p>
<p /> | The presidency not an 11-month job | false | https://abqjournal.com/251349/the-presidency-not-an-11month-job.html | 2 |
|
<p />
<p>As the White House works <a href="" type="internal">hammers out</a> draft legislation for immigration reform, a sharp divide between moderate republicans and the Tea Party is hardening in Congress. The Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman and DC bureau chief David Corn discuss the GOP’s divide over immigration on MSNBC’s <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3036697/#50879025" type="external">Hardball</a>:</p>
<p />
<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 Hardball: The Great Republican Immigration Divide | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/corn-hardball-gop-immigration-divide/ | 2013-02-21 | 4 |
<p>Having written about <a href="http://select.nytimes.com/pages/timesselect/index.html" type="external">TimesSelect</a>, the New York Times' premium-content website service that put the paper's popular op-ed columnists behind a pay subscription wall, I continue to get e-mails from people commenting on it. (Rough guess: about 9-to-1 against.)Stephen Miller is one of those correspondents who thinks it's a bad idea, and he points out that he's removed links to the columnists from his news and politics website, <a href="http://www.dvmx.com/" type="external">DVMX.com</a>. "I regret that we can no longer drive traffic to the columns of Krugman, Herbert, Rich, and Dowd," he says. Miller makes what I think is a good point. It would be better if news publishers, in deciding what content to charge a fee for (if they feel that they have to do it), chose only to quarantine professionally related material -- content that people feel helps them make money (e.g., real estate). That makes sense. Consumers are more likely to pay for information that they believe can help them; often, they may be able to expense it to an employer. On the other hand, there's not much of a personal-finance connection to op-ed columnists. People read them to be better informed about world events; reading Maureen Dowd isn't going to save or earn anyone anything. As Miller suggests, putting a price tag on such content may be counterproductive.</p> | TimesSelect: Wrong Content Targeted for Fee? | false | https://poynter.org/news/timesselect-wrong-content-targeted-fee | 2005-11-15 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Reports issued by an Indonesian official state that one of the Indonesian woman who is one of the suspects in the killing of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un's half-brother said that she was paid $90 for what she thought was a prank.</p>
<p />
<p>The suspects who goes by the name Siti Aisyah urged the authorities that she did not want her parents to see her in custody, this was revealed by Andriano Erwin who is Indonesia's deputy ambassador to Malaysia. The country recently revealed that VX nerve agent was used in the unfortunate killing that claimed Kim Jong Nam's life.</p>
<p />
<p>It's without a doubt that the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, which took place on the 13th of February was a well-planned hit. After the two women went behind him and appeared to be smearing something onto his face, Kim was pronounced dead within hours of the attack.</p>
<p />
<p>The 25-year-old suspect said that she was duped into the attack. However, the Malaysian police said that she and the other Vietnamese woman who's also in custody knew that they were assassinating Kim.</p>
<p />
<p>There has been speculation that North Korea was behind the assassination after the revelation that VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim.</p>
<p />
<p>The VX nerve agent, which is banned under international treaties, is a thick, oily poison that was almost certainly produced in sophisticate state weapons lab. It's no coincidence that North Korea never signed that treaty since it was busy developing a complex chemical weapons program. There's a likelihood that Kim Jong Nam may have been seen as a potential rival in the country's dynastic dictatorship.</p>
<p />
<p>Though Malaysia has not yet directly accused the North Korean government of being behind the attack, officials have said that four North Korean men provided the two women with the poison, the four later fled the country after the assassination.</p>
<p />
<p>The police authorities confirmed on Saturday that a raid had been carried out on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur as part of the investigation.</p>
<p>The VX nerve agent is extremely poisonous and an amount no larger than a few grains of salt is enough to kill. It's an odorless chemical that can be inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through the skin. After which it can cause mild range of symptoms from headaches to blurred vision. If one is exposed enough, it can cause convulsions, paralysis, respiratory failure and death.</p>
<p />
<p>Source : <a href="http://www.news.com.au/world/asia/indonesian-killer-accused-of-murdering-kim-jong-nam-was-paid-just-90-for-the-assassination/news-story/d2593f2a78000f0af6c8ec93bb2ec1d7" type="external">news.com.au/world/asia/indonesian-killer-accused-of-murdering-kim-jong-nam-was-paid-just-90-for-the-assassination/news-story/d2593f2a78000f0af6c8ec93bb2ec1d7</a></p> | Kim Jong Nam Assassin Got Paid $90 " I Was Told It's Just A Prank " | true | http://thegoldwater.com/news/1480-Kim-Jong-Nam-Assassin-Got-Paid-90-I-Was-Told-It-s-Just-A-Prank | 2017-02-25 | 0 |
<p>Sitting in a classroom above a gun range, a woman hesitantly says she isn’t sure she could ever shoot and kill someone, even to protect herself. Couldn’t she just aim for their leg and try to maim them?</p>
<p>Her instructor says self-defense is not about killing someone, but is instead about eliminating a threat.</p>
<p>If the gun gets taken away by a bad guy, the instructor says, “I promise you they’re not going to be having any sympathy or going through the thought process you are.”</p>
<p>Gently she adds that if the student isn’t comfortable with the lethal potential of the gun, buying one might not be for her.</p>
<p>Marchelle Tigner, known to her students and others as “Tig,” is on a mission: to train at least 1 million women how to shoot a firearm. She had spent no time around guns before joining the National Guard. Now, as a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault, she wants to give other women of color the training she hadn’t had.</p>
<p>“It’s important, especially for black women, to learn how to shoot,” Tigner said, noting that black women are more likely to be victims of domestic violence. “We need to learn how to defend ourselves.”</p>
<p>It’s hard to find definitive statistics on gun ownership, but a study by the Pew Research Center released this month indicated that just 16 percent of “non-white women” identified themselves as gun owners, compared with about 25 percent of white women.</p>
<p>Other Pew surveys in recent years have shown a growing acceptance of firearms among African-Americans: In 2012, one found that less than a third of black households viewed gun ownership as positive; three years later, that number had jumped. By then, 59 percent of black families saw owning guns as a necessity.</p>
<p>Few states track gun permits by race or gender. But a recent study by gun-rights advocate and researcher John Lott showed that black women outpaced other races and genders in securing concealed carry permits between 2000 and 2016 in Texas, one of the few states that keep detailed demographic information.</p>
<p>Philip Smith founded the National African American Gun Association in 2012 during Black History Month to spread the word that gun ownership was not something reserved for whites. He figured it would ultimately attract about 300 members, a number achieved in its first month. It now boasts 20,000 members in 30 chapters across the country.</p>
<p>“I thought it would be the brothers joining,” Smith said. But instead, he found something surprising — more black women joining, most of them expressing concerns about living either alone or as single parents and wanting to protect themselves and their homes.</p>
<p>In recent months, he said politics also have emerged as a reason why he finds more blacks interested in becoming gun owners.</p>
<p>“Regardless of what side you’re on, in the fabric of society right now, there’s an undertone, a tension that you see that groups you saw on the fringes 20 years ago are now in the open,” he said. “It seems to me it’s very cool to be a racist right now, it’s in fashion, it’s a trend.”</p>
<p>On top of that, the shootings of black men and boys around the country have left Smith and others concerned that racism can make a black person a perceived threat, even when carrying a firearm legally. He and his organization take pains to coach members on what to do when stopped by police, but not everyone is comforted.</p>
<p>“It’s disheartening to think that you have everything in order: Your license to carry. You comply. You’re not breaking the law. You’re not doing anything wrong. And there’s a possibility you could be shot and killed,” said Laura Manning, a 50-year-old payroll specialist for ADP from Atlanta. “I’m not going to lie. I’m just afraid of being stopped whether I have my gun or not.”</p>
<p>At the training session in Lawrenceville, a town just outside Atlanta, about 20 students gathered on a recent Saturday morning to go over basic safety lessons and instructions. They started with orange plastic replica guns as Tigner demonstrated proper stance and grip.</p>
<p>They are taught not to put a finger on the trigger until it’s time to shoot and to keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. Tigner plays to their protective instincts by telling them always to know what is beyond their target so they don’t accidentally shoot a young child or another innocent bystander.</p>
<p>After about an hour in the classroom, the women walked downstairs and into the Bull’s Eye Indoor Gun Range. Some flinched as the crack of gunfire blasted from a series of bays. They were each shown how to load a magazine and given the chance to do it themselves — several of them struggling to get the bullets into the spring-loaded magazine with their long fingernails. Then they took turns firing a Glock 19 semi-automatic 9mm at targets about 5 yards down range.</p>
<p>“The bad guy’s dead. He’s not getting back up,” Tigner tells one student who beams with pride as they look over a target riddled with bullet holes.</p>
<p>Jonava Johnson, another student, says it took her a long time to decide to get a gun. For years she was afraid of them after an ex-boyfriend from high school threatened her and shot and killed her new boyfriend in front of her. She was just 17.</p>
<p>Flash forward about 30 years and her daughter was sexually assaulted in their home. At the time, she thought about getting a gun for protection but decided to get a guard dog instead. But she has since changed her mind.</p>
<p>“I think that’s the way it’s always been in the black community: It was never OK for us” to own a gun, said Johnson, 50. But now? “I hope I never have to kill anybody, but if it comes down to me or my children, they’re out.”</p> | Black Women Picking Up Firearms for Self-Defense | false | https://newsline.com/black-women-picking-up-firearms-for-self-defense/ | 2017-07-24 | 1 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>SANTA FE — The new Sports Authority store in Santa Fe, anchoring the western end of the Santa Fe Place mall, quietly opened its doors for business earlier this month.</p>
<p>The store is leasing 39,000 square feet previously occupied by Mervyns, which closed in 2008.</p>
<p>Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., Sports Authority has more than 475 stores in 43 states, with 20 new stores expected to open this year, he said, adding that Santa Fe is leading that latest wave. The chain’s only other presence in New Mexico is two stores in Albuquerque: at Winrock Center and on Alexander Avenue NE just off Montaño.</p>
<p>Santa Fe’s store at 4250 Cerrillos Rd. will reflect the chain’s redesign of brighter colors, a simpler layout and a “store within the store” concept that should help customers find what they’re looking for, said John McKenna, a public relations account executive working with the chain.</p>
<p>“We continually evaluate our store locations to ensure we are situated in the most convenient areas and that the locations we have provide the best shopping experience possible for our customers,” a corporate spokesman said in response to the question of why the chain chose to open a store in Santa Fe.</p>
<p>Sports Authority carries sporting goods, recreational items, fitness equipment and camping gear, along with outdoor and exercise apparel. Its hours are 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Sports Authority opens quietly at mall in SF | false | https://abqjournal.com/181894/sports-authority-opens-quietly-at-mall-in-sf.html | 2013-03-25 | 2 |
<p>The final version of the Volcker rule to ban banks from gambling with their own money is "significantly different" from the originally proposed version, making its impact on the markets difficult to gauge, a top U.S. securities regulator said on Monday.</p>
<p>Regulators will release the long-awaited final version of the Volcker rule on Tuesday, following two years of consultation over a rule which Wall Street sees as one of the harshest elements of the post-financial crisis crackdown.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"The proposal that went out over two years ago was largely just a series of questions," U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Republican member Daniel Gallagher told reporters on the sidelines of an event sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, held in Frankfurt.</p>
<p>"The final rule-making that you'll see is, I think, significantly different than that proposal, such that it should have been re-proposed so that the public could comment and tell us whether we were getting it right."</p>
<p>Three of the five regulators involved - the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission - are slated to vote on the final rule at public meetings.</p>
<p>The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the SEC will not conduct public meetings. At the SEC, the five commissioners are voting on paper ballots behind closed doors and will release the vote and public statements on Tuesday morning.</p>
<p>Gallagher told reporters he had already cast his vote, but declined to say how he voted. Both he and his Republican SEC colleague Michael Piwowar are widely expected to dissent.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The Volcker rule, required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, would force banks to curb their proprietary trading and significantly scale back their investments in hedge funds and private equity funds.</p>
<p>The measure has proven to be a lightning rod for controversy, with banks fearing it will erode their profits and stifle their ability to hedge market risks and engage in legitimate trading activities like market-making.</p>
<p>Gallagher has been among the vocal critics of the Volcker rule, saying the proposal was flawed and could not be adopted in its current form.</p>
<p>Gallagher's comments are likely to help fuel Wall Street's desire to challenge the rule in court after it is released.</p>
<p>Federal laws that govern rulemaking in the U.S. require regulators to re-propose a rule and collect fresh public comments if a final version differs drastically from the one that was first proposed.</p>
<p>Gallagher raised this concern, saying: "My strong guess is that the Volcker rule will be revisited." He did not elaborate on what such a review would look like.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Eva Taylor and Sakari Suoninen in Frankfurt; Writing by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Karey Van Hall and Krista Hughes)</p> | SEC Official: Final Volcker Rule 'Significantly Different' | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2013/12/09/sec-official-final-volcker-rule-significantly-different.html | 2016-03-02 | 0 |
<p>Wall Street JournalEmily Nelson explains why it's so important for Dan Rather to beat Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings to Bagdhad: "For the three veteran TV anchors from the traditional broadcast networks, reporting from the Iraqi capital, perhaps with a toppled statue in the background, would provide a fitting coda to their careers. ...For Mr. Rather, the stakes are particularly high. Viacom Inc.'s CBS is in third place behind General Electric Co.'s NBC and Walt Disney Co.'s ABC." &gt; <a href="http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=televisionNews&amp;storyID=2548958" type="external">Rather, CBS crew confronted outside of Baghdad by men with rifles (HR)</a> &gt; <a href="http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/101/living/Seeking_Baghdad_Connection_+.shtml" type="external">"Connection" host Gordon to do show from Baghdad for two weeks (BG)</a></p> | Rather is really determined to report from Baghdad | false | https://poynter.org/news/rather-really-determined-report-baghdad | 2003-04-11 | 2 |
<p>HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The Hollywood film on the life of the founder of the Barnum &amp; Bailey circus is stirring new interest in the man, P.T. Barnum, who besides his turn as a master showman was a state legislator, philanthropist and mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut.</p>
<p>There’s been an increase in visitors to Bridgeport’s Barnum Museum since “The Greatest Showman” started playing last month in theaters. Museum director Kathy Maher said the museum has had to add guides.</p>
<p>The Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota, Florida, also has seen more people taking interest in Barnum and asking to speak with their historian, spokeswoman Alice Murphy said.</p>
<p>Maher said producers of the film took some advice from the museum for props and set designs. But she said the filmmakers at 20th Century Fox advised they were seeking to capture Barnum’s spirit, and not do a documentary, so she was prepared to see the movie take some liberties with his life story.</p>
<p>“We are here to deliver the authentic. That’s what museums do,” she said. “That’s not what Hollywood does. Their mission is to make people happy. Nailed it.”</p>
<p>Still, circus historians have found sport in picking apart where the man as depicted by a singing and dancing Hugh Jackman diverges from the true story of Phineas Taylor Barnum.</p>
<p>“I thought it was fun entertainment. It was a romp. But it has absolutely nothing to do with the historic Barnum,” said Arthur Saxon, author of “P.T. Barnum: The Legend and the Man.”</p>
<p>For one, Saxon said, Barnum grew up in Bethel, Connecticut, as the grandson of one of the most prosperous people in town despite the film’s portrayal of humble beginnings. He also took issue with the ringleader’s uniform worn by Jackman — something he said Barnum never wore — and scenes that had the champion of liquor reform drinking champagne or whisky.</p>
<p>The film highlights Barnum’s hiring of people with disabilities as circus performers, a practice that’s especially suspect for a modern-day audience. Saxon said individuals such as Tom Thumb often became well off and in his research on Barnum he never came across any employee who had a negative thing to say about Barnum.</p>
<p>Near the film’s end, it depicts an 1865 fire that destroyed Barnum’s American Museum in New York City. It shows Barnum running into the building to save a fictional partner, but at the time he was actually on the floor of the Connecticut legislature, as a representative for the town of Fairfield, speaking out on a scheme to monopolize railroads, Maher said.</p>
<p>Among those seeking to set the record straight is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which called on Thursday for the Bridgeport museum to address the circus’s history of exploiting elephants.</p>
<p>Later this month, Maher is presenting a talk at the Barnum Museum on what inspired the film. The museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is home to thousands of artifacts. It was completed in 1893 and has been dealing with repairs and preservation work since it was struck by a tornado in 2010. It’s still trying to raise money for improvements.</p>
<p>“My hope is the movie will illuminate the museum situation to a broad range of people through the state, the country, and even globally,” she said.</p>
<p>HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The Hollywood film on the life of the founder of the Barnum &amp; Bailey circus is stirring new interest in the man, P.T. Barnum, who besides his turn as a master showman was a state legislator, philanthropist and mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut.</p>
<p>There’s been an increase in visitors to Bridgeport’s Barnum Museum since “The Greatest Showman” started playing last month in theaters. Museum director Kathy Maher said the museum has had to add guides.</p>
<p>The Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota, Florida, also has seen more people taking interest in Barnum and asking to speak with their historian, spokeswoman Alice Murphy said.</p>
<p>Maher said producers of the film took some advice from the museum for props and set designs. But she said the filmmakers at 20th Century Fox advised they were seeking to capture Barnum’s spirit, and not do a documentary, so she was prepared to see the movie take some liberties with his life story.</p>
<p>“We are here to deliver the authentic. That’s what museums do,” she said. “That’s not what Hollywood does. Their mission is to make people happy. Nailed it.”</p>
<p>Still, circus historians have found sport in picking apart where the man as depicted by a singing and dancing Hugh Jackman diverges from the true story of Phineas Taylor Barnum.</p>
<p>“I thought it was fun entertainment. It was a romp. But it has absolutely nothing to do with the historic Barnum,” said Arthur Saxon, author of “P.T. Barnum: The Legend and the Man.”</p>
<p>For one, Saxon said, Barnum grew up in Bethel, Connecticut, as the grandson of one of the most prosperous people in town despite the film’s portrayal of humble beginnings. He also took issue with the ringleader’s uniform worn by Jackman — something he said Barnum never wore — and scenes that had the champion of liquor reform drinking champagne or whisky.</p>
<p>The film highlights Barnum’s hiring of people with disabilities as circus performers, a practice that’s especially suspect for a modern-day audience. Saxon said individuals such as Tom Thumb often became well off and in his research on Barnum he never came across any employee who had a negative thing to say about Barnum.</p>
<p>Near the film’s end, it depicts an 1865 fire that destroyed Barnum’s American Museum in New York City. It shows Barnum running into the building to save a fictional partner, but at the time he was actually on the floor of the Connecticut legislature, as a representative for the town of Fairfield, speaking out on a scheme to monopolize railroads, Maher said.</p>
<p>Among those seeking to set the record straight is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which called on Thursday for the Bridgeport museum to address the circus’s history of exploiting elephants.</p>
<p>Later this month, Maher is presenting a talk at the Barnum Museum on what inspired the film. The museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is home to thousands of artifacts. It was completed in 1893 and has been dealing with repairs and preservation work since it was struck by a tornado in 2010. It’s still trying to raise money for improvements.</p>
<p>“My hope is the movie will illuminate the museum situation to a broad range of people through the state, the country, and even globally,” she said.</p> | ‘Greatest Showman’ film stirs new interest in PT Barnum | false | https://apnews.com/e53ccd02557048b88165b1701eab7712 | 2018-01-20 | 2 |
<p>No matter how fast Oscar&#160;Pistorius may be able to run,&#160;he still&#160;can't hide. &#160;</p>
<p>The&#160;27-year-old South African athlete beat the charge of murder for the killing of&#160;his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. But he was found guilty of negligent homicide, and his&#160;sentencing hearing is underway this week.</p>
<p>"The defense started off trying to push for a more lenient sentence for Oscar Pistorius. So they've been calling witnesses, three&#160;today and one more to go tomorrow," says&#160;South African reporter Nastasya Tay, who's&#160;been in the courtroom every day of the trial since it began last March.</p>
<p>Prison official&#160;Joel Maringa, a social worker in South Africa's notoriously crowded&#160;jails and one of Pistorius' witnesses, was the first to make a recommendation: three years of correctional supervision:&#160;"That's in effect house arrest," Tay says. "No guns, no booze, no drugs&#160;and he would be at the house and only allowed to go out to do work."&#160;</p>
<p>Maringa also suggested&#160;16 hours of community service a month, "doing something like cleaning a local museum or scrubbing floors in a hospital." If that sounds lenient to you, you're in tune with a lot of South Africans. Tay says there were "lots of shocked faces in the courtroom today."</p>
<p>Prosecutor Gerrie Nel called Maringa's suggestions&#160;"shockingly inappropriate."&#160;Now the prosecution will have its&#160;opportunity in the coming days to push for a much tougher sentence.</p>
<p>"Reeva&#160;Steenkamp's parents, Barry and June, were in the courtroom today and they looked pretty stricken when they heard that testimony from that prison official,"&#160;Tay says. The Steenkamps are expected to give a victim's impact statement later this week, which will&#160;detail the effect of their daughter's&#160;killing on the Steenkamp family.&#160;"That's going to be a pretty emotional day coming up later this week," Tay says.</p>
<p>But another defense witness, psychologist Lore Hartzenberg,&#160;portrayed&#160;Pistorius as another victim of Steenkamp's death.</p>
<p>"We are left with a broken man who has lost everything" Hartzenberg&#160;said. "He has lost his love relationship with Miss Steenkamp. He has lost his moral and professional reputation. He has lost friends. He has lost his career, and therefore his earning potential and also his financial independence. On an emotional level, his self-perception, his self-worth and identity have been damaged."</p>
<p>The judge&#160;is&#160;expected to hear&#160;several more days of testimony, sentence recommendations&#160;and victim impact statements before deciding what punishment is just.</p> | Oscar Pistorius' arguments for a lenient sentence have shocked some South Africans | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-10-13/oscar-pistorius-arguments-lenient-sentence-have-shocked-some-south-africans | 2014-10-13 | 3 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Many summer jobs have flexible hours and can include evening and weekend hours as opposed to a traditional 8-to-5 job. A summer job or volunteer opportunity may be the chance for you to “job shadow” and see if you want to pursue a career in that field. You can make extra money if you pick up a second job during the summer months, and be able to build up your work experience at the same time.</p>
<p>Whether you are working, interning or volunteering this summer, keep a list or journal of your job responsibilities and daily activities. As you update your résumé, you can review the list and then identify applicable skills and experiences to highlight. For example, you may work as a part-time office assistant during the summer and be able to add effective communication with co-workers and word processing skills to your résumé.</p>
<p>As fall rolls around, don’t forget to update your résumé and cover letter with your summer jobs and opportunities. You may be hesitant to include summer jobs because your employment history looks choppy or you are concerned that you will be looked at as a “job hopper.” However, it is far more important to include the skills and experience you have gained than to leave it off completely.</p>
<p>There are many ways to list summer work and make it a selling point on your résumé. For temporary work, you need to note both the temporary agency you were employed by as well as the companies where you were placed under your job history or work experience section. If the job was seasonal, highlight how you assisted a company during a peak season and quickly learned all the aspects of the job.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>If you have had an internship that directly applies to a job opportunity or have had multiple internships in the past, you can create a separate “Internships” section for your résumé. You can also include internships under “Work Experience.”</p>
<p>Volunteer work, any time of the year, is important to include on your résumé. Some résumé styles include volunteer work under a separate heading, but you can also integrate it with your work experience if you haven’t held many jobs. Just be clear on the nature of the work for each volunteer job, and tailor it as much as possible as it relates to the job you are applying for.</p>
<p>Use your résumé to highlight your summer jobs and then use these points to market yourself during future interviews. Focus on your accomplishments during your job and assignments rather than concentrating on the temporary and seasonal nature of the work and merely labeling it as “summer work.” At the end of the summer, remember to ask if your supervisors or managers if they would be willing to be a reference for you in the future or provide a letters of recommendation. You never know when a current job, no matter what kind of work it is, will lead to future opportunities.</p>
<p>This is a regular column written by the N.M. Department of Workforce Solutions. For more information, go to <a href="http://www.dws.state.nm.us" type="external">www.dws.state.nm.us</a>.</p> | Strengthen résumé with experiences | false | https://abqjournal.com/252742/strengthen-reacutesumeacute-with-experiences.html | 2013-08-25 | 2 |
<p>New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is touting the budgetary benefits of Medicaid expansion under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.</p>
<p>The potential Republican presidential contender, who has been a vocal critic of Obama's signature health care program, said Tuesday during a town hall event that Medicaid expansion has helped save New Jersey taxpayers significant money and benefited low-income residents as well as the state's bottom line.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"Expanding Medicaid was the right decision for New Jersey," he told the audience of about 450 people gathered at the Van Derveer Elementary School Gymnasium in Somerville for what he said was his 130th town hall meeting.</p>
<p>Christie has been touring the state, promoting his budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which calls for cutting the state's charity care aid for hospitals to $502 million from $650 million. Most other spending would remain flat.</p>
<p>Christie says that cut is possible because, with more residents now insured, verified charity care cases are down 43 percent. That means fewer uninsured residents need to visit hospital emergency rooms for primary care.</p>
<p>Christie declined to have the state run an insurance exchange or use state money to promote the program, but he agreed to include more low-income residents in NJ FamilyCare, the state's Medicaid program. Most of that cost is picked up for now by the federal government.</p>
<p>An additional 250,000 people have signed up for coverage through the federally run health insurance exchange.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>When he presented the governor's budget plans to reporters last month, State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff described the Medicaid money as "a blessing for providing appropriate care to our most vulnerable populations."</p>
<p>Christie also addressed his administration's much-criticized settlement with Exxon Mobil Corp. for the first time Tuesday. He said it was a very good deal for the state.</p> | Christie, at town hall meeting, touts budgetary benefits of Medicaid expansion in New Jersey | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/03/10/christie-at-town-hall-meeting-touts-budgetary-benefits-medicaid-expansion-in.html | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Nov. 5, 2012</p>
<p>By John Hrabe</p>
<p>Just a day before the election, California Democrats seem intent on self-destruction. Liberal activist Molly Munger has been trashing Jerry’s tax hike. <a href="http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/10/brad_sherman_howard_berman_fig.php" type="external">Brad Sherman and Howard Berman</a> have spent more than $13 million in their battle to the death. And Rep. Pete Stark has engaged in a “ <a href="http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2012/11/01/shocked-dem-leader-says-pete-stark-resorting-to-defamation-of-fellow-dem-swalwell-in-house-battle/" type="external">defamation</a>” campaign against fellow Democrat Eric Swalwell.</p>
<p>Scott Lay, <a href="http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/nooner/2012-10-26.html" type="external">publisher of Around the Capitol, recently observed</a>, “The governor’s tax increase has a very uphill battle at this point, after a hammering from the No on 30 campaign and mixed messages associated with Molly Munger’s Proposition 38.”</p>
<p>“How Molly Munger can live with herself — after virtually every independent political analyst in California advised her that she would crush school finances by going ahead with her self-indulgent ballot measure — we have no bloody idea,” <a href="http://www.calbuzz.com/2012/10/how-molly-munger-could-kill-school-finance/" type="external">lamented CalBuzz’s</a>dynamic duo Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine.</p>
<p>But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. California Democrats haven’t quite perfected some of the California GOP’s finest circular firing squad techniques.</p>
<p>5. Draw Clear Ideological Battle Lines: “You’re Either With Us or Against Us”</p>
<p>All parties have battles between party purists and moderates. What makes the California GOP so special? The California GOP has a particular knack for turning its ideological differences into organized grassroots fights.</p>
<p>When infighting reaches the level of your grassroots youth organization, you know it’s a serious problem. For years, California Republicans had not one but two young Republican clubs, the California Young Republicans and the Young Republican Federation of California. The state wasn’t overrun with baby elephants, thereby justifying two clubs.</p>
<p>The second young Republican group was the result of an ideological split between conservative activists and the liberal Bill Thomas machine. In 2011, the two clubs finally reunited, but not without one last stand from the former Thomas-ites.</p>
<p>This feud groomed an entire generation of GOP activists in the tradition of party feuding. How many of the party’s problems were compounded by the young Republican divide? How much resentment dates back to meaningless endorsement votes by the Y’s? Conflict causes grudges and, in turn, more conflict.</p>
<p>For Democrats, Gov. Jerry Brown has sown the seeds of a similar intra-party ideological divide. On pensions, the death penalty and school funding, Brown has staked out moderate ground, which should offend younger liberal activists. In a desperate effort to save Prop. 30, Brown has even courted the state’s business community with a recent appearance <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2012/10/brown-turns-to-business-leaders-in-latest-prop-30-pitch.html" type="external">“at the headquarters of the Bay Area Council in San Francisco.”&#160;</a>The Occupy crowd within the Democratic Party can’t embrace Brown’s solicitation of big business.</p>
<p>Brown has moved so far to the right it’s unlikely that his younger self would approve. Brown once persuaded his father to stay the execution of a convicted rapist. In 2010, the former seminarian <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/05/4883699/jerry-brown-sidesteps-death-penalty.html" type="external">proclaimed</a>, “There’s probably no person in America who has fought to enforce the death penalty more than I have.” This brash George W. Bush-style rhetoric can’t sit well with liberal Democrats, nor can Brown’s budget cuts. How can liberals accept Brown state budgets that spend more on prisons than schools?</p>
<p>The top-two primary will result in more “moderate versus liberal” Democratic general elections. In the Bay Area, Sally Lieber, a former three-term Assemblywoman, is <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county-times/ci_21788963/hill-lieber-square-off-peninsula-state-senate-race" type="external">doing her best to win a State Senate seat</a>against the moderate, pro-business Assemblyman Jerry Hill. &#160;Moving forward, the Democrats’ litmus test could be Prop. 30 and Prop. 38. Did you back the moderate measure or stand up for schools?</p>
<p>4. Offend a Key Voting Bloc</p>
<p>The California Republican Party’s downfall is inextricably linked to its poor standing with Latino voters. &#160;It’s perfectly reasonable to disagree about immigration policy, but you can’t ignore the cost of that position.&#160; Just compare California to Florida, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than half a million voters. Although Florida Republicans are outnumbered, they hold more than two-thirds of the seats in both <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Legislature" type="external">houses of the state legislature.</a>One savvy California political consultant told me that’s all because the Florida GOP courted Latino voters.</p>
<p>How do Democrats match that act? Can Democrats really offend a key voting bloc like California Republicans did with the Latino community? It’s tough to see a comparable scenario. But, it’s worth pointing to Brown’s latent sexism in his treatment of Munger. Brown’s first response to Munger was to dispatch his wife as an intermediary. Gust is a power player in her own right, but she doesn’t hold any official position.</p>
<p>Male donors aren’t passed off to a spouse, why was Molly? Can anyone say gender didn’t play a role in how the Brown team responded to Munger’s insurrection?&#160; If Brown was serious about avoiding the 30 vs. 38 battle, why didn’t he personally call Munger?</p>
<p>The California Democratic Party has been no better than Brown in supporting women. The party has few high-ranking Democratic women in leadership positions. Governor, Lt. Governor, Controller, Treasurer, Superintendent of Schools, Insurance Commissioner, California Democratic Party Chair, Speaker of the Assembly, Senate President Pro Temp and the mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco: man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man, man. Women hold just four of the highest positions: Secretary of State, Attorney General, Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore and Senate Majority Leader.</p>
<p>3. Use the Party Machine to Defeat Republican Candidates</p>
<p>The California Republican Party has a long history of officials using the party machine to exact revenge. Between meaningless party resolutions and votes to censor party officers, there are just too many examples to recount them all. The most recent example of party machinery working against Republican officials is occurring in the congressional battle between Rep. Gary Miller and State Sen. Bob Dutton. According to <a href="http://blog.pe.com/cassie-macduff/2012/10/23/california-gop-sends-out-hit-piece-on-bob-dutton/" type="external">the Press Enterprise’s Cassie MacDuff</a>:</p>
<p>“With two Republicans running against each other for the vacant 31st Congressional District seat, the California Republican Party has taken sides.</p>
<p>“A mailer showing a snoozing state Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, hit mailboxes this week. It paints him as a “big spender” who needs to ‘wake up.’ The CRP sent out at least three other mailers supporting Dutton’s foe — Rep. Gary Miller, R-Rancho Cucamonga — who was faced with having to run against another fellow Repub in his home district (in and around Diamond Bar), or move east to the new district (Rancho Cucamonga to Redlands) and take on Dutton. He took on Dutton.”</p>
<p>By using the party machine to exact revenge, you force people to take a side publicly. Only one official Democratic organization has endorsed Prop. 38: the <a href="http://www.prop38forlocalschools.org/blog-and-videos/endorsement-update-26-sept.aspx" type="external">Santa Monica Democratic Club.</a> If Democrats want to really cause intra-party chaos, they should use the party machine to punish these renegades. De-charter the organization. Refuse to reappoint the party members. This mutiny can’t go unpunished, if Democrats want their circular firing squad to lock and load.</p>
<p>The Stark vs. Swalwell battle has gone down this path. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci <a href="http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2012/11/01/shocked-dem-leader-says-pete-stark-resorting-to-defamation-of-fellow-dem-swalwell-in-house-battle/" type="external">reports</a>, “The president of a major East Bay Democratic Club has expressed revulsion at what he calls the ‘defamation’ campaign being run by Democratic East Bay Rep. Pete Stark, 81, who’s seeking his 21st term in a close contest against Democratic Alameda County prosecutor Eric Swalwell, 31.”</p>
<p>2. Scare Away Donors</p>
<p>The California Republican Party’s finances mirror the state’s. Both go through boom and bust cycles: the party waits for <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/State-GOP-split-as-convention-nears-3294186.php" type="external">one wealthy benefactor</a> or rich gubernatorial candidate to infuse it with cash in much the same way that California has relied on windfall profits from tech companies. Both need a broad base of support for long-term financial stability.</p>
<p>California’s many unions fund the Democratic Party. How on earth could Democrats scare them away? Prop. 30’s failure could set off a mad scramble among unions for precious state dollars. If Brown’s measure loses, there won’t be enough money to keep everyone happy. Education leaders could regret their decision to back Brown’s tax increase. Higher education already has broken ranks with legislative leaders. Should the tax increase fail, budget animosity will increase.</p>
<p>1. Losing Just Proves We Were Right!</p>
<p>The most important factor to a successful circular firing squad is interpreting your party’s losses as proof that you were right in the ideological fight. Loss isn’t a reason to change positions, tactics or your losing approach. It’s just proof those other guys screwed up.</p>
<p>Again, it doesn’t matter which side you’re on. Party purists and centrists selectively use party losses to reaffirm their moral superiority and self-righteousness. Look at the California GOP’s track record of failed US Senate nominees. In 2000, Tom Campbell proved voters wouldn’t embrace a moderate Republican. In 2006, Dick Mountjoy proved that conservative Republican candidates lose statewide elections. In 2010, Carly Fiorina was too conservative. In 2012, Elizabeth Emken was too moderate.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, look for similar recriminations from Democrats as they continue to take aim at one another.</p>
<p>John Hrabe’s first piece on Democratic circular firing squads is <a href="" type="internal">here</a>.</p> | Top 5 tips for Democrats’ circular firing squad | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2012/11/05/top-5-tips-for-democrats-circular-firing-squad/ | 2018-11-20 | 3 |
<p>President Obama....recklessly plotting to defriend Israel.&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/6599549519/in/photostream"&gt;The White House&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
<p />
<p>Late into Thursday night’s <a href="" type="internal">Republican presidential debate</a> at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, the conversation <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXZ3i6Zj4PA" type="external">inevitably</a> turned to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. <a href="" type="internal">Occasional</a> front-runner Mitt Romney took that as his cue to talk as little about the peace process as possible and play up President Barack Obama’s supposed foreign policy weakness as much as possible.</p>
<p>“The Palestinians want to eliminate Israel,” Romney said, painting things with a <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2008/11/mccains_shameful_slur.html" type="external">really</a>, <a href="http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2015536,00.html" type="external">really</a>, <a href="" type="internal">really</a> broad brush. He went on to criticize President Obama for supposedly having said “nothing” during his September speech at the United Nations&#160;“about thousands of rockets being rained in on Israel from the Gaza Strip.” Well, that is <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/09/21/text-of-obamas-speech-at-u-n/" type="external">not true</a>. (Romney also&#160; <a href="" type="internal">repeated his claim</a> that the president has tossed Israel under the proverbial bus.)</p>
<p>Newt Gingrich wasn’t far behind in attacking Obama, insisting that the Washington response to Palestinian “acts of war” was yet another contemptible example of the current administration’s fecklessness abroad and at home. Here’s video from the debate:</p>
<p />
<p>Let’s get this out of the way quickly: Here’s the president— delivering <a href="http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&amp;b=2818295&amp;ct=11229265" type="external">that speech</a> to the UN General Assembly that Romney was talking about—addressing all those rockets “from the Gaza Strip”:</p>
<p>America’s commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable…[S]o we believe that any lasting peace must acknowledge the very real security concerns that Israel faces every single day. Let us be honest with ourselves: Israel is surrounded by neighbors that have waged repeated wars against it. Israel’s citizens have been killed by rockets fired at their houses and suicide bombs on their buses. Israel’s children come of age knowing that throughout the region, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saudi/etc/textbooks.html" type="external">other children are taught to hate them</a>. Israel, a small country of less than eight million people, look out at a world where leaders of much larger nations <a href="" type="internal">threaten to wipe it off of the map</a>.&#160; The Jewish people carry the burden of centuries of exile and persecution, and fresh memories of knowing that six million people were killed simply because of who they are. Those are facts. They cannot be denied.</p>
<p>Now, check out <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/Economy/story?id=6618199&amp;page=5#.TyIeTuZjHUQ" type="external">then-Sen. Obama in July 2008</a>, waxing personal about rockets being launched at Israeli civilians:</p>
<p>If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that. I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.</p>
<p>There you have it: Barack Obama saying something about all those rockets.</p>
<p>Also, it should be fairly obvious by now that Barack Obama is not planning on defriending Israel. Despite talk of the “ <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2059206/Obama-facing-Jewish-backlash-Israeli-PM-Benjamin-Netanyahu-remark-Sarkozy.html" type="external">Jewish backlash</a>” that supposedly resulted from <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2011/0520/What-s-so-shocking-about-Obama-mentioning-1967-borders" type="external">Obama’s mention of 1967 borders</a> last year, the Obama administration has been rock-steady on military aid and sales, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2011/sep/21/obama-administration-israel" type="external">played it super-safe</a> on the Palestinian bid for statehood, and expressed Washington’s “ <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2011/05/201152214281951998.html" type="external">ironclad</a>” commitment to Israel’s security <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-defends-policy-toward-israel-in-speech-to-jewish-group/2011/12/16/gIQAJsL4yO_story.html" type="external">time</a> and <a href="http://nationalinterest.org/blog/jacob-heilbrunn/obama-good-friend-israel-5906" type="external">time</a> <a href="" type="internal">again</a>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, if Israelis are supposed to be living in fear of President Obama not caring about existential threats coming their way, then, according to plenty of recent polling, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/28/us-israel-usa-obama-idUSTRE78R11Z20110928" type="external">somebody forgot</a> <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/69643.html" type="external">to tell the Israelis</a>.</p>
<p /> | GOP Candidates: Obama Keeps Snubbing Israel! | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/01/gop-candidates-obama-keeps-snubbing-israel-cnn-debate/ | 2012-01-27 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Taos County sheriff’s deputies say a woman reported shots being fired at her car Saturday afternoon.</p>
<p>According to the caller, she along with her husband and child were heading toward their home when neighbor Joseph Ferrara allegedly shot at them.</p>
<p>Deputies say Ferrara, who appeared unarmed, refused to leave his home.</p>
<p>He admitted to firing a weapon but denied shooting at anyone.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Deputies say he surrendered peacefully after an hour. Two handguns were recovered from his property.</p>
<p>He has been booked on one count each of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and negligent use of a weapon.</p>
<p>It wasn’t immediately clear Sunday if he had an attorney.</p> | Taos man accused of shooting at neighbor driving car | false | https://abqjournal.com/878285/taos-man-accused-of-shooting-at-neighbor-driving-car.html | 2 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clerical workers and longshoremen at the nation’s largest port complex will return to work Wednesday, eight days after they walked out in a crippling strike that prevented shippers from delivering billions of dollars in cargo across the country.</p>
<p>“I’m really pleased to tell all of you that my 10,000 longshore workers in the ports of LA and Long Beach are going to start moving cargo on these ships,” said Ray Familathe, vice president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. “We’re going to get cargo moved throughout the supply chain and the country and get everybody those that they’re looking for in those stores.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Negotiators reached a tentative agreement to end the strike late Tuesday, less than two hours after federal mediators arrived from Washington, D.C. No details about the terms of the deal were released, though a statement from the workers’ union said it had won new protections preventing jobs from being outsourced.</p>
<p>Days of negotiations that included all-night bargaining sessions suddenly went from a stalemate to big leaps of progress by Tuesday. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the sides were already prepared to take a vote when the mediators arrived.</p>
<p>At issue during the lengthy negotiations was the union’s contention that terminal operators wanted to outsource future clerical jobs out of state and overseas — an allegation the shippers denied.</p>
<p>Shippers said they wanted the flexibility not to fill jobs that were no longer needed as clerks quit or retired. They said they promised the current clerks lifetime employment.</p>
<p>The strike began Nov. 27, when 450 members of the union’s local clerical workers unit walked off their jobs. The clerks had been working without a contract for more than two years.</p>
<p>The walkout quickly closed 10 of the ports’ 14 terminals when some 10,000 dockworkers, members of the clerks’ sister union, refused to cross picket lines.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Even though the deal was reached soon after their arrival, the federal mediators said they had little to do with the solution.</p>
<p>“In the final analysis, it worked. The parties reached their own agreement, said George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. “There is no question in my mind that collective bargaining is the best example of industrial democracy in action.”</p>
<p>During the strike, both sides said salaries, vacation, pensions and other benefits were not a major issue.</p>
<p>The clerks, who make an average base salary of $87,000 a year, have some of the best-paying blue-collar jobs in the nation. When vacation, pension and other benefits are factored in, the employers said, their annual compensation package reached $165,000 a year.</p>
<p>“We know we’re blessed,” one of the strikers, Trinnie Thompson, said during the walkout. “We’re very thankful for our jobs. We just want to keep them.”</p>
<p>Union leaders said if future jobs were not kept at the ports, the result would be another section of the U.S. economy taking a serious economic hit so that huge corporations could increase their profit margins by exploiting people in other states and countries who would be forced to work for less.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Combined, the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports handle about 44 percent of all cargo that arrives in the U.S. by sea. About $1 billion a day in merchandise, including cars from Japan and computers from China, flow past its docks.</p>
<p>Shuttering 10 of the ports’ 14 terminals kept about $760 million a day in cargo from being delivered, according to port officials. The cargo stacked up on the docks and in adjacent rail yards or, in many cases, remained on arriving ships. Some of those ships were diverted to other ports along the West Coast.</p>
<p>After the deal was reached, the ports’ management said they were “delighted that the terminals will be operating again, that the cargo will be flowing.”</p>
<p>The clerks handle such tasks as filing invoices and billing notices, arranging dock visits by customs inspectors, and ensuring that cargo moves off the dock quickly and gets where it’s supposed to go. The $1 billion a day in cargo that moves through the busy port terminals is loaded on trucks and trains that take it to warehouses and distribution centers across the country.</p>
<p>Villaraigosa, who had been calling for the two sides to reach a deal for days, said he was pleased by the resolution.</p>
<p>“I think it’s appropriate to say ‘mission accomplished,'” he said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP writer Andrew Dalton contributed to this report.</p> | Deal Ends Crippling Strike at L.A. Ports | false | https://abqjournal.com/151097/deal-ends-crippling-strike-at-l-a-ports.html | 2 |
|
<p>Asian shares were mostly lower Monday as investors awaited the release of a preliminary manufacturing survey from China this week that might show renewed weakness in the world's second-largest economy.</p>
<p>KEEPING SCORE: Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.7 percent to 16,200.73 as the yen regained some strength against the U.S. dollar. South Korea's Kospi fell 1 percent to 2,032.97 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.2 percent to 24,006.28. Sydney's S&amp;P/ASX 200 lost 0.9 percent to 5,386.80. Shares in Southeast Asia also fell. New Zealand bucked the trend.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>THE QUOTE: "All eyes will be on China's HSBC flash PMI after the recent spate of soft data, especially industrial production and property prices last week," Mizuho Bank said in a commentary. HSBC's gauge of China manufacturing is due Tuesday.</p>
<p>NZ VOTE: Trading in energy companies pushed New Zealand's stock market higher following an election victory Saturday for the ruling National Party. The benchmark NZX 50 index was up 1.3 percent. Energy companies all posted gains of more than 5 percent. The losing Labour Party had promised to intervene in the energy market with a new government agency. The policy was aimed at lowering prices for consumers, but would likely also have lowered the valuations of power companies.</p>
<p>CURRENCIES: The yen has been trading at six-year lows as the dollar has surged in anticipation the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next year while Bank of Japan maintains easy monetary policy. However on Monday the dollar was slightly lower, at 108.83 yen, after closing Friday at 109.05 yen. The euro rose to $1.2854 from $1.2831.</p>
<p>G-20 PLEDGE: A pledge of further stimulus from finance chiefs of the Group of 20 industrial nations over the weekend appeared to fall flat amid deepening concern over faltering recoveries in major economies apart from the U.S. Finance chiefs from the G-20, representing about 85 percent of the global economy, said Sunday they are close to reaching a goal set in February of boosting world GDP by more than $2 trillion over the next five years, and will focus on infrastructure investment to help reach the target. But they also warned that despite improving economic conditions in some key economies, growth remains uneven and below the pace necessary to generate critically needed jobs.</p>
<p>ENERGY: Benchmark crude oil slipped 22 cents to $91.43 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 33 cents to close at $91.65 a barrel on Friday.</p> | G20 stimulus pledge falls flat as Asian shares slip on jitters over China, Japan, Europe | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/09/21/g20-stimulus-pledge-falls-flat-as-asian-shares-slip-on-jitters-over-china-japan.html | 2016-03-06 | 0 |
<p>Who would think Tea Partiers would do anything suspicious like enter a courthouse where the ballots were stored through a mysteriously ajar door and accidentally lock themselves in with all of the ballots? Why, that would be election tampering! Surely a teabagger like Chris McDaniel or a staffer wouldn't do something like that, right?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/06/04/tea-party-official-locked-inside-courthouse/9963579/" type="external">Clarion-Ledger</a>:</p>
<p>The Hinds County Sheriff's Department is investigating why three people, including a high-ranking Chris McDaniel campaign official, were found locked in the Hinds County Courthouse in Jackson hours after an election official says the building was closed early Wednesday morning.</p>
<p>Hinds County Sheriff's Department spokesman Othor Cain said investigators are trying to figure out how Janis Lane, Scott Brewster and Rob Chambers entered the courthouse. They were inside until about 3:45 a.m., Cain said.</p>
<p>Brewster is a former coordinator of presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's Mississippi operation and is currently McDaniel's campaign coalition coordinator.</p>
<p>"There are conflicting stories from the three of them, which began to raise the red flag, and we're trying to get to the bottom of it," Cain said. "No official charges have been filed at this point, but we don't know where the investigation will lead us."</p>
<p>But wait! There's more. There's always more with these yahoos.</p>
<p>McDaniel campaign spokesman Noel Fritsch issued a statement late Wednesday saying the campaign "sent people to the Hinds courthouse to obtain the outstanding numbers and observe the count." The statement reiterated the people were allowed in by "uniformed personnel" and then being locked inside.</p>
<p>"Predictably, a close Cochran ally wants to make hay out of this. Sadly, the Cochran campaign wants to make this election about anything but issues. Mississippians deserve better than this sort of distraction politics," Fritsch said in the statement.</p>
<p>Cochran campaign spokesman Jordan Russell said, "It is astonishing that the same people who are up to their eyeballs in four felons breaking into a nursing home are also up to their eyeballs in potentially breaking in somewhere else again."</p>
<p>"And this time they can't deny that a paid staffer is involved," Russell said. "At some point you got to say enough is enough. How many more arrests of allies and McDaniel team members before we can say this has gone too far?"</p>
<p>Tell me more about observing the count when everyone had left for the night and these folks were still in the building?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.wapt.com/politics/tea-party-official-calls-for-help-after-being-locked-inside-courthouse/26328814#ixzz33kJF1Kbn" type="external">WAPT News</a>:</p>
<p>Election officials said they had wrapped up and gone home by about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.</p>
<p>Hinds County Election Commissioner Connie Cochran said security employees told her that Lane, Rob Chambers and Scott Brewster went to the courthouse about 12:30 a.m. to observe the election process.</p>
<p>What were they observing if everyone left an hour before they arrived? And then there was the convenient unlocked door.</p>
<p>The three walked around the building until they found an unlocked door, which locked behind them once they went inside, Cochran said. The trio claimed they walked around the courthouse for about 90 minutes looking for a way to get out and then called Perry, Cochran said.</p>
<p>The Hinds County Sheriff's Office sent deputies to the courthouse after receiving the call from Perry. Othor Cain, the department's spokesman, said the ballots were locked up, but Perry told the newspaper that not all of the precinct information was sealed because the process of counting affidavit ballots was to continue Wednesday.</p>
<p>Something stinks to high heaven here. If Mississippi voters elect McDaniel, they deserve whatever crimes he inflicts on them.</p>
<p />
<p /> | McDaniel Staffer 'Accidentally' Locked In Courthouse With Mississippi Ballots | true | http://crooksandliars.com/2014/06/mcdaniel-staffer-accidentally-locked | 2014-06-05 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Think threats to shut off your electricity or to charge you with a crime unless you make good on a bogus bill or a fictitious fine.</p>
<p>But what happens if the scammer is able to back up his or her threat? What if you are faced with an all-too-real choice of paying several hundred dollars to regain access to your personal computer?</p>
<p>That is precisely what happened to Mike and Sue of Albuquerque, who became victims of what is known as “ransomware,” a malware program that encrypts your files and essentially locks down your computer until you agree to pay for a “private key” to decrypt them.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>I first heard from Sue on Dec. 5, when she called to tell me her laptop had frozen and was displaying a large notice on her screen purportedly from the U.S. Department of Justice. In essence, it said her files had been encrypted and that the only way to regain access to her computer was to pay $300 to obtain the private key necessary to decrypt them.</p>
<p>To the best of their knowledge, their computer became infected while checking email, though they don’t recall clicking on any unfamiliar links – a common way of downloading the malware program.</p>
<p>Given the reference to the Justice Department, Sue thought a call to the FBI was in order. The FBI wasn’t particularly helpful, she says, suggesting only that she take her computer somewhere to “clean it out.”</p>
<p>What happened to Mike and Sue is consistent with other reports of ransomware attacks, which are heralded by ominous notices on frozen computer screens. In some cases, the notice is accompanied by a blue-and-white shield and a clock that counts down the hours, minutes and seconds remaining before the key to unlock your computer is destroyed.</p>
<p>While there are some reports suggesting otherwise, it appears payment does restore access to your computer and its files, according to published reports.</p>
<p>Historically, ransomware has been around for some time, dating back in some cases to the late 1980s. In the past few months, however, a particularly virulent strain known as CryptoLocker has emerged.</p>
<p>And unlike previous ransomware that was intended to trick you into thinking your files were encrypted, this one actually makes good on its promise.</p>
<p>Dell SecureWorks, a security service provider, reported last month that CryptoLocker ransomware has infected as many as 250,000 computers during the past three months alone.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Based on those numbers, Lee Mathews, a former computer networks administrator who writes a blog for Geek.com, projects that the people behind CryptoLocker may have made as much as $30 million during that time period based on even the most conservative estimates.</p>
<p>Is there anything that can be done to prevent it?</p>
<p>US-CERT, the Department of Homeland Security’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team, suggests the following measures:</p>
<p>Should your computer become infected with CryptoLocker malware, US-CERT recommends you immediately disconnect it from wired or wireless networks to curtail the spread of encryption.</p>
<p>At that point, it suggests you work with a reputable security expert to remove the malware from your system. Once it has been removed, US-CERT says you should change all online account and network passwords, if possible.</p>
<p>As it turns out, Mike and Sue may have been luckier than most, since they have a friend in the computer-repair business who was willing to work with them to remove it.</p>
<p>Still, they ended up going 10 days to two weeks without access to their computer.</p>
<p>“We were basically without any email service of any kind for over a week,” Mike told the Journal last week.</p>
<p>Nick Pappas is assistant business editor at the Albuquerque Journal and writes a blog called “Scammed, Etc.” Contact him at <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a> or 505-823-3847 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-800-678-1508.</p>
<p /> | Scammer malware holds your computer for ransom | false | https://abqjournal.com/331096/scammer-malware-holds-your-computer-for-ransom.html | 2 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani speaks before a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 25, 2015. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, right, and Vice President Joe Biden, listen. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — Trying to repair relations with the U.S., Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told Congress on Wednesday that his country owes a “profound debt” to the more than 2,200 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>In a speech to a joint meeting of Congress, Ghani also thanked the U.S. for development aid and other civilian assistance. And he promised he will be a good steward of continued U.S. assistance to his country as it works to rebuild while struggling against a stubborn insurgency.</p>
<p>“We owe a profound debt to the soldiers who have lost limbs to buried bombs, to the brave veterans, and to the families who tragically lost their loved ones to the enemy’s cowardly acts of terror,” Ghani said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We owe a profound debt to the many Americans who have come to build schools, repair wells, and cure the sick. And we must acknowledge with appreciation that at the end of the day it is the ordinary Americans whose hard-earned taxes have over the years built the partnership that has led to our conversation today.”</p>
<p>Hours before Ghani spoke, at least six people were killed and more than 30 were wounded in a suicide car bombing near the presidential palace in Kabul.</p>
<p>Ghani is untested as a leader, yet he received a warm reception from both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill. The reason: He’s not former Afghan President Hamid Karzai.</p>
<p>Lawmakers have been critical about U.S. troop involvement in America’s longest war, wasteful spending in Afghanistan and Karzai’s anti-American rhetoric.</p>
<p>Toward the end of his tenure, Karzai did not think the U.S. was holding Afghanistan’s interests front and center. He repeatedly railed against the thousands of civilians being killed and said the war against terrorists should not be fought in the villages of his country. U.S. officials and lawmakers did not think Karzai’s comments were appropriate given that 2,200 U.S. servicemen and women had been killed and billions of U.S. tax dollars had been spent during the conflict.</p>
<p>Still, despite being weary of war, lawmakers from both parties praised the White House announcement Tuesday to slow the pace of the U.S. troop withdrawal.</p>
<p>In a shift from his previous plan, Obama said the U.S. would leave its 9,800 troops in Afghanistan in place rather than downsizing to 5,500 by year’s end. The size of the U.S. footprint for next year is still to be decided, Obama said, but he brushed aside any speculation the withdrawal will bleed into 2017. That means the slowdown won’t jeopardize his commitment to end America’s involvement in Afghanistan before leaving office.</p>
<p>Deficiencies in the Afghan security forces, heavy casualties in the ranks of the army and police, a fragile new government and fears that Islamic State fighters could gain a foothold in Afghanistan combined to persuade Obama to slow the withdrawal.</p>
<p>Ghani drew laughter when he talked about his time living in New York. “I ate corned beef at Katz’s, New York’s greatest, greasiest, pickle-lined melting pot,” he said.</p>
<p>Ghani’s speech contrasted with the one received by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke to lawmakers earlier this month. Some Democrats skipped his speech, in which he warned the U.S. that an emerging international agreement the U.S. was trying to reach with Tehran would pave Iran’s path to developing nuclear weapons.</p> | Afghan president says his country owes ‘profound debt’ to US | false | https://abqjournal.com/559944/afghan-president-says-his-country-owes-profound-debt-to-us.html | 2 |
|
<p>Jan. 15 (UPI) — Tearing down the infrastructure from aging North Sea oil and gas fields could generate a stream of revenue for the industry as a whole, a consultant group said.</p>
<p>Royal Dutch Shell started the process of taking down legacy operations at the Bravo production platform in the North Sea last year. The Bravo platform supported Brent oil field development, but was closed down in 2014.</p>
<p>Field maturation has forced the idling of several production platforms and Shell is in the midst of a multi-million-dollar plan to take them down. The British government estimated it could cost about $77.3 billion to decommission offshore infrastructure.</p>
<p>Energy consultancy Westwood Group said up to $100 billion in spending on decommissioning is expected for Western Europe over the next 20 years. That represents a significant source of revenue for the industries like port operators that can handle the challenge for a maturing North Sea basin.</p>
<p>At least 4 million tons of infrastructure will be pulled down from Western European waters by 2040, taken onshore and dismantled and Westwood said it’s not reasonable to expect what’s already on hand to take it all apart.</p>
<p>Ports from Scotland south, therefore, could find ways to dismantle or recycle the tonnage at a profit.</p>
<p>“The supply chain stands to benefit from meaningful revenue streams and is gearing-up accordingly,” <a href="https://www.westwoodenergy.com/news/westwood-insight/westwood-insight-decommissioning-challenge-accepted/" type="external">the report</a> read. “However, in a volatile and weakened commodity price environment, the key challenge is for the supply chain to present efficient, cost effective solutions to the exploration and production operators, while still being able to achieve reasonable profitability.”</p>
<p>Some of the smaller rigs have already been dismantled as some of the oil and gas fields in the British waters of the North Sea reach the end of the production lifespan.</p>
<p>With decommissioning of some of the aging infrastructure in the North Sea under way, a trade group is making plans for what to do with all the paperwork. Trade group Oil &amp; Gas U.K. said <a href="https://www.upi.com/North-Sea-decommissioning-sparks-paperwork-questions/8001515071531/" type="external">last week</a> the paperwork alone could present logistical problems as the industry decides what to do with the “thousands of boxes of physical records.”</p>
<p>Shell started a 60-day consultation period for its plans to decommission three of its Brent production platforms in the North Sea in early February 2017, <a href="https://www.upi.com/Brent-decommissioning-opaque-environmentalists-say/4541491825474/" type="external">sparking concerns</a> from environmental groups. Lang Banks, the Scottish director of environmental group WWF, said that, by his read, the outline from Shell lacked “qualitative judgments and opinions” from experts, including some of the engineers at the Dutch supermajor.</p> | North Sea industries could adapt and thrive during oil field maturation | false | https://newsline.com/north-sea-industries-could-adapt-and-thrive-during-oil-field-maturation/ | 2018-01-15 | 1 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Now there is growing sentiment along the U.S.-Mexico border that vigilance has gone overboard and is hurting law-abiding businesses. American banks, wary of the potential for massive penalties, have closed Mexican accounts or saddled customers with new restrictions.</p>
<p>The challenge is particularly acute for Mexican companies whose customers pay dollars. In Mexico, banks refuse to take their greenbacks even after the government lifted 4-year-old caps on cash deposits of the U.S. currency in September.</p>
<p>Roberto Castro, chief executive of one of the largest Mexican pharmacy chains on the U.S. border, compares the approach to chemotherapy.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“You kill the bad cells but you also kill the good cells,” said Castro, whose father founded Farmacias Modernas de Tijuana SA, known as Farmacias Roma, in 1964. “They need to be more targeted in their strategies to combat money laundering.”</p>
<p>Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain, both Arizona Republicans, called for hearings in February, saying security concerns should be balanced against the need for access to banks in border communities. California’s Imperial Valley Press editorialized that border banking may become “a niche operation, where choices become very limited.”</p>
<p>U.S. regulators are warning banks against being indiscriminate. Two Treasury Department agencies urged them in November to avoid closing accounts of entire categories of customers and recommended a case-by-case review.</p>
<p>“We do not tell banks how to conduct their business,” Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry told bankers at a conference on Monday. “We certainly do not direct them to provide services to some customers and not to others.”</p>
<p>In Mexico, businesses cheered when President Enrique Pena Nieto scrapped $14,000 monthly caps on dollar deposits in Mexican banks, saying the anti-money laundering measure hurt law-abiding companies. Relief turned to dismay when businesses learned banks didn’t want their greenbacks anyway.</p>
<p>Mexican Sen. Marco Antonio Blasquez said bank executives told him they worry a surge in dollar deposits would alarm U.S. regulators and banks with whom they partner.</p>
<p>“The Mexican banking system is scared,” Blasquez told about 200 business owners at Tijuana Chamber of Commerce offices in January.</p>
<p>Mexicans like Hugo Torres, whose storied Rosarito Beach Hotel is popular with Americans, have had to be creative. In 2013, Bank of America closed his account in San Diego after 25 years without explanation. He scatters dollars among Mexican banks in small amounts.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We have something like 10 banks,” he said. “This has gone overboard.”</p>
<p>Major U.S. banks won’t say how many accounts they closed on the border. JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co. says its U.S. branches shut fewer than 5,000 business accounts of companies based outside the country with up to $20 million in annual sales since 2013 but wouldn’t say how many were based in Mexico.</p>
<p>Business chambers say they fielded many complaints in the last two years. “I hear about it all the time, but it’s all anecdotal,” said Richard Dayoub, president of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce.</p>
<p>The Mexican Banks Association, the country’s main industry group, didn’t respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>Roma found a workaround, but Castro says it sacrificed millions of dollars a year. The family-owned company, which doesn’t disclose revenue or profits, does 21 percent of sales in dollars, largely in cash. American retirees who live on Mexico’s beachfront and Southern Californians come for medications that Castro says are priced 40 percent lower than U.S. pharmacies.</p>
<p>Roma no longer pays suppliers and employees in dollars, as it did when it opened its first store in the Mexican city bordering San Diego, but landlords still insist on payment in U.S. currency.</p>
<p>“Being from Tijuana, you grow up thinking in dollars,” Castro says. “I speak in dollars. If you ask how much something weighs, I answer in pounds. If you ask about the weather, I answer in Fahrenheit. We have the American chip.”</p>
<p>When Mexico limited dollar deposits, Roma was among a cadre of large companies that was able to negotiate exemptions. But it came with a price.</p>
<p>Roma’s pact with HSBC’s Mexican unit deeply cut into profits because the bank dictated less favorable exchange rates on dollar-paying customers, Castro said. Roma also had to limit individual dollar sales to $250, upgrade computer systems and train employees on reporting requirements.</p>
<p>HSBC ended exemptions for Roma and other Mexican companies in December 2012, when it got hit with the $1.9 billion money-laundering fine in the U.S.</p>
<p>Roma suddenly had nowhere to put its dollars. Its U.S. bank, which Castro asked not be named to preserve its relationship, agreed to take them but only for a few months. Armored truck companies charging 5 percent commission shuttled loads of hundreds of thousands of dollars to San Diego, startling U.S. border inspectors.</p>
<p>Roma found another Mexican bank, Grupo Financiero Banorte SA, to accept unlimited dollar deposits under similar terms it negotiated with HSBC. The agreement crimps profits, but Roma feels it has no choice.</p>
<p>Last year, Roma’s U.S. bank limited deposits to $20,000 a month, a pittance for a chain of 52 stores. For Castro’s father, also Roberto, it’s as if the U.S. currency is poison.</p>
<p>“Who wouldn’t want dollars? But it seems like they are being treated like drugs,” he said.</p> | Dollars can be a dirty word at banks on US-Mexico border | false | https://abqjournal.com/552190/dollars-can-be-a-dirty-word-at-banks-on-us-mexico-border.html | 2 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.