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<p>The decision by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks adds Texas to the list of Republican-controlled states that have been thwarted in efforts to cut off Medicaid dollars to the nation’s largest abortion provider. But Texas could still prevail — the court order is not a ruling but effectively a delay that buys Planned Parenthood at least a few more weeks.</p>
<p>Planned Parenthood would have lost the funding Saturday had Sparks not intervened. Faced with that tight deadline, Sparks postponed the ouster until Feb. 21, giving him more time to decide whether Texas can exclude about two dozen clinics that serve about 11,000 low-income women.</p>
<p>“It’s unconscionable, in my opinion,” said Ken Lambrecht, president of Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, while testifying earlier this week at the start of a three-day hearing in Austin.</p>
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<p>Other federal courts have stopped states that tried similarly tried dropping Planned Parenthood, including Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Kansas. All cited heavily edited videos that claimed to show Planned Parenthood officials profiting from sales of fetal tissue for medical research. Planned Parenthood has denied wrongdoing, and investigations in 13 states didn’t result in criminal charges.</p>
<p>Planned Parenthood receives about $4 million in reimbursements to provide non-abortion services such as cancer screenings and testing for sexually transmitted diseases. State health officials say Planned Parenthood provides services to only a fraction of the more than 4 million Medicaid patients in Texas.</p>
<p>No public money is used in Texas is used for abortion, but Republican lawmakers in statehouses and Congress have accelerated efforts to try to weaken Planned Parenthood in the wake of the videos.</p>
<p>Sparks is the same judge who put on hold new Texas rules requiring the burial or cremation of fetal remains.</p>
<p>He began the hearing on Planned Parenthood this week by scolding attorneys for lingering on the videos, which he said amounted to “baloney” in regards to the issue at stake.</p>
<p>Sparks told attorneys he instead wanted to know about the type of Medicaid services Planned Parenthood provides and how many clinics would be impacted.</p>
<p>It’s a continuation of Texas’ battle against Planned Parenthood. In 2011, it kicked the organization out of the state women’s health program, which Republican leaders say is more robust due to the move. Last year, state health officials gave $1.6 million in taxpayer funding to the nonprofit of a prominent anti-abortion activist to help increase access to women’s health care, a contract that was criticized by Planned Parenthood.</p>
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<p>Follow Paul J. Weber on twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/pauljweber" type="external">www.twitter.com/pauljweber</a></p> | Judge blocks Texas from cutting off Planned Parenthood funds | false | https://abqjournal.com/931699/judge-blocks-texas-from-cutting-off-planned-parenthood-funds.html | 2 |
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<p>HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — NASA is remembering 17 astronauts who were killed in the line of duty and dozens more who have died since the agency’s beginning.</p>
<p>Dozens of people attended a remembrance ceremony Thursday at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville.</p>
<p>The memorial honored astronauts killed in three accidents plus 40 others who were part of the astronaut corps and have died.</p>
<p>Five-time shuttle astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson lit a candle of remembrance. He was friends with all 14 astronauts killed aboard shuttles.</p>
<p>The memorial comes a day after the 29th anniversary of the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, in which seven astronauts died in 1986.</p>
<p>Seven more astronauts were killed aboard the shuttle Columbia in February 2003, and three astronauts died during ground testing of Apollo 1 in January 1967.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | NASA remembering 17 astronauts killed in the line of duty | false | https://abqjournal.com/533472/nasa-remembering-17-astronauts-killed-in-the-line-of-duty.html | 2 |
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<p>With his implausible campaign promises, sordid history of fraud, and penchant for gilded furniture, Donald Trump has earned a reputation as grafter in chief. But that title also applies to Andrew Jackson, a man who even in death has conned a country into venerating&#160;him.</p>
<p>Recently, the mainstream press and Trump’s acolytes have evoked Old Hickory as an illustrative antecedent, either likening Trump’s rise to Jackson’s grassroots appeal or trying to preserve Jackson’s legacy by dismissing any similarities between the two.</p>
<p>Former Breitbart News chief <a href="" type="internal">Steve Bannon</a>&#160; <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/17/steve-bannon-pushed-trump-to-go-full-andrew-jackson.html" type="external">called</a> Trump’s pseudo-populist speeches “Jacksonian.” Other <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/03/23/newt-gingrich-like-andrew-jackson-donald-trump-is-intensely-american-president.html" type="external">supporters</a> have marshaled the nineteenth-century slave-trader’s reputation to galvanize the Right’s current insurgency.</p>
<p>Trump has encouraged such comparisons. Upon taking office, he <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/316115-trump-hangs-portrait-of-andrew-jackson-in-oval-office" type="external">hung</a> Jackson’s portrait in the Oval Office, calling him “an amazing figure in American history — very unique in so many ways.” A week before the 180-year&#160;anniversary of the end of Jackson’s second term, the administration posted a picture of Trump saluting Jackson’s grave, <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/842154802058543105" type="external">captioned</a>, “We build on your legacy.” Two weeks later, the president visited Jackson’s Hermitage Plantation, <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/03/15/trump_andrew_jackson_defied_an_arrogant_elite_--_i_know_the_feeling_andrew.html" type="external">eulogizing</a>, “Jackson first confronted and defied an arrogant elite.&#160;.&#160;.&#160;. Oh, I know the feeling, Andrew.”</p>
<p>Other segments of the media have resisted this analogy, rushing to protect Jackson’s supposedly hallowed legacy from Trump’s grimy hands. <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/andrew-jackson-donald-trump-populist-president-history-214705" type="external">Politico</a> called the comparison “outrageous,” arguing that Jackson, more than any other politician, “secured the future of democracy in America.” <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/05/historians-throw-water-comparisons-trump-andrew-jackson/97462252/" type="external">USA Today</a> recruited a few historians to suggest that “in terms of foreign relations, [Jackson] was remarkably pacifist, not the brash-talking, fist-shaking, America-first contrarian that Trump seems to embody.” The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-is-trying-to-compare-himself-to-andrew-jackson-wrong-andrew/2017/02/08/483d77a8-ee1f-11e6-b4ff-ac2cf509efe5_story.html?utm_term=.67d8a7470d2b" type="external">Washington Post</a>&#160;chimed in to argue that, despite the “ostentatious admiration for Jackson,” Trump’s advisers are wrong to compare the two.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/20/us/politics/donald-trump-andrew-jackson.html?_r=0" type="external">New York Times</a>, on the other hand, saw&#160;a “direct parallel” between Jackson and Trump, citing the former’s calls to clear out the “giant Augean stable” and the latter’s promises to “drain the swamp.” The <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/trump-and-andrew-jackson/508973/" type="external">Atlantic</a> acknowledged a few superficial resemblances — both complained of a “corrupt bargain” and “rigged” elections — while noting that Jackson’s <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/a-historical-precedent-for-trumps-attack-on-judges/516144/" type="external">attack</a> on a judge was “on constitutional, rather than political and personal, grounds.”</p>
<p><a href="http://time.com/4591408/time-poy-donald-trump-andrew-jackson-jon-meacham/" type="external">Time</a> skirted the analogy entirely, citing Jackson’s experience in the Senate and military, as well as his reputation as a braver, self-made man. Jon Meacham, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Jackson biography <a href="http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/112695/american-lion-by-jon-meacham/9780812973464/" type="external">American Lion</a>, called the comparison “imprecise” but conceded that Trump’s assumption of office was “unquestionably Jacksonian.”</p>
<p>Elite chroniclers of American history tend to have a cult-like fondness for charismatic leaders like Jackson. But whether they are eager to prove or disprove the alleged resemblance between the seventh president and the forty-fifth, they rarely acknowledge Jackson’s violent anti-egalitarianism.</p>
<p>That, more than anything, is his true legacy.</p> | Jacksonian Slavocracy | true | https://jacobinmag.com/2017/04/trump-jackson-bannon-indian-removal-act/ | 2018-10-03 | 4 |
<p>SYDNEY (AP) - Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza has been given a wildcard entry to play in the Sydney International next week after being forced to retire from her first match of the season in Brisbane because of leg cramps.</p>
<p>Sydney International organizers said the addition of No. 2-ranked Muguruza brings a seventh major winner to the tournament, held in the week before the Australian Open.</p>
<p>Muguruza retired from her Brisbane International opener with leg cramps while leading in the third set.</p>
<p>She'll join Venus Williams, U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and other former Grand Slam winners Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber and Sam Stosur in the Sydney draw.</p>
<p>"This wildcard is a very valuable opportunity for me get back on the court and hopefully play a few more matches before the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne," said Muguruza, who briefly held the No. 1 ranking in September and was awarded the WTA Player of the Year for 2017.</p>
<p>SYDNEY (AP) - Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza has been given a wildcard entry to play in the Sydney International next week after being forced to retire from her first match of the season in Brisbane because of leg cramps.</p>
<p>Sydney International organizers said the addition of No. 2-ranked Muguruza brings a seventh major winner to the tournament, held in the week before the Australian Open.</p>
<p>Muguruza retired from her Brisbane International opener with leg cramps while leading in the third set.</p>
<p>She'll join Venus Williams, U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and other former Grand Slam winners Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber and Sam Stosur in the Sydney draw.</p>
<p>"This wildcard is a very valuable opportunity for me get back on the court and hopefully play a few more matches before the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne," said Muguruza, who briefly held the No. 1 ranking in September and was awarded the WTA Player of the Year for 2017.</p> | Muguruza accepts Sydney wildcard after early Brisbane exit | false | https://apnews.com/amp/4e2370c5c2b44a5fa2fcb2c68d88891d | 2018-01-04 | 2 |
<p>DANDRIDGE, Tenn. — Roy A. Dobyns, the eighth president of Bluefield College, died Nov. 12 in a Dandridge, Tenn., nursing home. He was 82.</p>
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<p>Dobyns was president of the Baptist-affiliated school from 1989 until he retired in 1996, a period of enrollment growth for the school in southwest Virginia. During his tenure the number of students doubled, to an all-time high of 853. Much of the growth occurred following the addition of an adult degree completion program in 1991.</p>
<p>Also during Dobyns’s tenure, Bluefield launched its 75th Anniversary Campaign, a fundraising effort which garnered $7.5 million for a science center, two parking lots, a campus roadway, an expansion of the Student Activities Center, renovations to Lansdell Hall, and additional investments in faculty and students.</p>
<p>Dobyns’s career included stints on the staff of Carson Newman University in Jefferson City, Tenn., Clayton State University in Morrow, Ga., Georgetown (Ky.) College, McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La., and Louisiana College in Pineville, La.</p>
<p>He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Kathryn Dobyns, and three sons. A funeral service will be held Nov. 15 at First Baptist Church in Jefferson City.</p> | Former Bluefield College president Roy Dobyns, whose tenure saw enrollment growth, dies at 82 | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/formerbluefieldcollegepresidentroydobynswhosetenuresawenrollmentgrowthdiesat82/ | 3 |
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<p>Say what you will about the Kardashian-West clan, North West is the <a href="" type="internal">mini style and life icon</a> that I have been spending my life looking for. Here is why: the girl refuses to have her diaper changed without shoes on. Excuse me? Let’s check in with <a href="http://www.vogue.com/13253319/kim-kardashian-kids-line/" type="external">her mom</a> about this one:</p>
<p>“Every day she wakes up and says ‘shoes.’ You have to bargain with her — before you change her diaper she needs a pair of shoes on.”</p>
<p>This child. I have a feeling she’s going to grow up to be the world’s most particular human, but I don’t care. The fussiness in requiring that you wear SHOES before having someone unceremoniously wipe the poop from your tush. The gall! The audacity! &#160;I am glad she is not my child but I am very glad she exists.</p>
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<p>[ <a href="http://www.vogue.com/13253319/kim-kardashian-kids-line/" type="external">Vogue</a>]</p> | North West Insists On Wearing Shoes Before Changing Her Diaper | true | http://thefrisky.com/2015-04-09/north-west-insists-on-wearing-shoes-before-changing-her-diaper/?utm_source%3Dsc-fb%26utm_medium%3Dref%26utm_campaign%3Dnorth-west | 2018-10-07 | 4 |
<p>Stock splits tend to come after a company produces strong returns in terms of share price appreciation, and chemical giant PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) has an impressive history of splitting its stock on multiple occasions while also producing solid dividend income. Yet even with double-digit percentage returns that go back for decades, PPG investors had to wait a long time before seeing its recent stock split. Shareholders want to know whether another split might be in the works, or if they'll face a similar wait in the future.</p>
<p>Let's take a look at PPG Industries' stock split history to see whether shareholders should anticipate another event in the near future.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The history of PPG Industries' stock splits is a long one, going back half a century:</p>
<p>Data source: PPG Industries investor relations.</p>
<p>As you can see, PPG hasn't hesitated to split its shares when the time has been right. With the exception of its most recent stock split, PPG tended to look at a stock split when its share price started to approach the $75 to $100 range. Like many stocks during the late 20th century, PPG seemed uncomfortable with the idea of having a triple-digit share price. Yet PPG was in some ways even more willing to make split announcements, as unlike many of its peers, PPG didn't necessarily wait until its stock had actually eclipsed the $100 per share mark before pulling the trigger on a stock split.</p>
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<p>More recently, though, PPG has adopted a more conservative approach toward stock splits. When the shares reached the $80 mark in 2007, PPG chose not to push for a split, perhaps anticipating the damage the ensuing financial crisis and market meltdown would do. Following the economic recovery, PPG saw its shares soar into the triple digits, yet it once again chose not to take action for several years.</p>
<p>Only last year did PPG decide to pull the trigger on a stock split. With its stock climbing well above $200 per share, PPG took action to reduce its share price back toward the low triple digits. In its announcement, the chemical manufacturer said the split "reflects the PPG Board of Directors' continued confidence in the long-term growth and financial performance of the company." It also cited the belief that a split would "make the company's stock easier to trade, more affordable, and potentially more attractive to new investors, and is therefore expected to expand the company's shareholder base."</p>
<p>In order to generate another stock split, PPG shares will have to rise in value significantly from current levels. But there are a couple of catalysts that could lead to such a result.</p>
<p>First, PPG's work toward bolstering its overall business has helped it successfully weather tough industry conditions since its last split. The company produces coatings for many different customer industries, including products to fight corrosion in automobiles and marine vessels, food container technology, and protective coverings for eyewear. The construction industry is the most important user of PPG products, and weakness in construction across the globe has slowed PPG's potential growth. Yet the company has worked hard to position itself for an eventual rebound in the global macroeconomic climate, with its late 2014 acquisition of Mexico's Comex being just one way in which PPG is fighting to get a bigger share of the world market.</p>
<p>Also, merger and acquisition activity in the coatings sector could raise interest in PPG. Earlier this year, rivals Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) and Valspar (NYSE: VAL) announced plans to merge, creating a colossus in the residential paint and coatings market, but also potentially making the post-merger entity more competitive against PPG in its industrial coatings business as well. If Akzo Nobel chooses to look toward PPG as a way to answer back against Sherwin-Williams' buy, then a merger between the two could help lift shares of both companies.</p>
<p>Having just split its shares a year ago, PPG investors can't count on another split anytime soon. However, the prospects for the coatings specialist look strong, and a recovery in the global economy could give the stock the lift it needs to get on track toward another stock split at some point in the future.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early, in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2691&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Sherwin-Williams. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | PPG Industries' Stock Split History: Why Investors Might Not See Another Split for a Long Time | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/08/17/ppg-industries-stock-split-history-why-investors-might-not-see-another-split.html | 2016-08-17 | 0 |
<p>Oriental DreamWorks has unveiled five new movie projects and promoted Peilin Chou to the post of chief creative officer.</p>
<p>The company announced Tuesday that it’s developing “Over the Moon,” a modern-day retelling of the Chinese myth about a mysterious moon goddess, with Audrey Wells writing and Janet Yang executive-producing. It’s also developing an untitled Chinatown project as a comedic adventure with supernatural elements, with Alan Yang, co-creator of&#160; “Master of None,” executive-producing.</p>
<p>Oriental DreamWorks also said it’s developing superhero project “The Monkey King,” written by&#160;Ron Friedman and Steve Bencich; the comedy “Illumikitty,” about a feline plot for world domination, written by Jenny&#160;Bicks; and the animated comedy “Lucky,” written by&#160;Rita Hsiao (“Mulan”).</p>
<p>Oriental DreamWorks is backed by DreamWorks Animation, CMC Capital Partners, Shanghai Media Group, and Shanghai Alliance Investment Limited. Warner Bros. is <a href="http://variety.com/2017/biz/asia/oriental-dreamworks-warner-in-talks-to-buy-universal-stake-reports-1202546527/" type="external">reportedly in talks</a> to buy Universal’s 45% stake in the company, which Universal&#160;inherited when Comcast acquired DreamWorks Animation last year. There has also been speculation that Oriental DreamWorks is set to restructure; its workforce has already <a href="http://variety.com/2017/film/asia/china-oriental-dreamworks-heads-for-closure-1202006264/" type="external">dropped in number by more than half</a>.</p>
<p>Chou, previously the head of creative, will be responsible for shaping the animation studio’s overall creative direction and overseeing all of its animated feature films, including the previously announced “Everest,” which will be distributed by Universal Pictures in 2019.</p>
<p>“We are very excited that Peilin Chou is taking on this role as we expand our slate and commit to bringing audiences worldwide the highest quality in animated entertainment,” said&#160;Li Ruigang, chairman of Oriental DreamWorks and&#160; CMC Capital Partners. “I know she will make a tremendous contribution to Oriental DreamWorks. Peilin’s extensive experience in creating successful global content, and her cultural connection and passion for China, make her uniquely qualified to lead the global mission of ODW.”</p>
<p>Chou will be based in Shanghai and New York. Oriental DreamWorks co-produced the first American-Chinese animated co-production, “Kung Fu Panda 3” (pictured), which grossed more than $500 million at the worldwide box office.</p> | Oriental DreamWorks Unveils Five Projects, Promotes Peilin Chou | false | https://newsline.com/oriental-dreamworks-unveils-five-projects-promotes-peilin-chou/ | 2017-09-26 | 1 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Christopher Roybal, 35, the accused leader of an Albuquerque-based drug ring, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Tuesday for his conviction on cocaine trafficking and money laundering charges.</p>
<p>Roybal also is required to pay a $184,080 under the terms of his plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release.</p>
<p>Roybal was one of 19 defendants charged in Dec. 2012, with drug trafficking and money laundering charges in a 60-count indictment. The indictment was added to twice, adding witness tampering charges and a heroin trafficking charge.</p>
<p>The FBI, IRS and Albuquerque Police Department with assistance from the DEA, the HIDTA Region I Narcotic Task Force and the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office investigated the case.</p>
<p>It was code-named "Operation Rain Check," designated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force program. OCDETF is a nationwide Department of Justice program that combines the resources and expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.</p>
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<p>The original indictment charged Roybal and ten others, with conspiracy to distribute large quantities of cocaine in New Mexico between Aug. 2011 and Dec. 2012. It also charged Christopher Roybal and nine others with conspiracy to distribute marijuana between Oct. 2011 and Dec. 2012. Additionally, the indictment included three separate money laundering conspiracies, 22 money laundering offenses, and 18 "telephone counts," offenses alleging the use of a communications device to facilitate a drug trafficking offense.</p>
<p>The indictment was superseded in May 2014, to add a new charge against George Roybal, 53, of Albuquerque, alleging that he threatened an FBI informant to prevent the informant from testifying at the trial of this case which was then scheduled to begin on May 19, 2014. It was superseded again in Sept. 2014, to add two new charges alleging another defendant attempted to murder an FBI informant to prevent that informant from testifying at the trial of this case which was then scheduled to begin on Nov. 10, 2014, and with distributing heroin in Bernalillo County, N.M., in May 2014.</p>
<p>In entering his guilty plea, Christopher Roybal admitted that between Aug. 2011 and Dec. 2012, he conspired with others to distribute kilogram quantities of cocaine in Albuquerque and Las Vegas, N.M. He also admitted participating in three conspiracies that laundered the proceeds of his drug trafficking organization.</p>
<p>With the exception of one defendant who is participating in a pretrial diversion program under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office, all 18 defendants have entered guilty pleas, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.</p> | Accused head of NM drug ring gets 14 years | false | https://abqjournal.com/619604/accused-ringleader-of-nm-drug-ring-gets-14-years.html | 2015-07-28 | 2 |
<p>On Sunday, the Islamic State, or ISIS, released at least five videos calling on Palestinians to continue stabbing more Jews, <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.in/isis-unleashes-propaganda-videos-against-israelis-incites-palestinians-behead-jews-651123" type="external">reports</a> International Business Times (IB Times). The videos play into a culture of indoctrination and incitement pervasive in East Jerusalem.</p>
<p>ISIS fighters demanded that Palestinians “bring back horror to the Jews with explosions, burning and stabbings.” The propaganda films invoke early Islamic history and scriptural language to exalt the indiscriminate killing of Jews, in particular an inflexible brand of Koranic exegesis that self-prophesies apocalyptic destruction. “Time is running out, and this life is what Allah has given to us and we must offer it back in his service," <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.in/isis-unleashes-propaganda-videos-against-israelis-incites-palestinians-behead-jews-651123" type="external">said</a> an ISIS militant.</p>
<p>Sprung from the wells of the embattled region of Deir ez-Zor in Syria, the religious Kool-Aid is an anathema to the prospect of deescalating the eruption of violence in Jerusalem. IB Times <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.in/isis-unleashes-propaganda-videos-against-israelis-incites-palestinians-behead-jews-651123" type="external">notes</a>, “the release of the videos is important, as this is the first time that the Isis has directly involved itself in the current Israeli-Palestinian violence.”</p>
<p>Reading from a script that has become all too common, one ISIS fighter hoped for more “lone wolf” attacks against the Jews, a people marked as “God’s enemies.” The videos are metastasizing quickly across social media platforms. “ISIS released the videos on Sunday and its supporters have been sharing the videos under the hashtag "#The_slaughter_of_Jews" (#نحر_اليهود)," reported IB Times.</p>
<p>At the forefront of indoctrination, ISIS has occasionally inspired the agitated, aggrieved, and sexually repressed all across the world to commit egregious acts of violence against innocents in exchange for some elusive cause and perhaps a few virgins in the afterlife. Palestinian scholar Bassam Tawil insists there’s a causal relationship between the proliferation of ISIS and the Palestinian crusade of psychotic stabbings.</p>
<p>“By now, it has become clear that our young Palestinian men and women have learned a lot from the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group,” writes Tawil in an editorial for the Gatestone Institute, The current wave of stabbings of Jews in Israel is an attempt to imitate Islamic State terrorists, who have been using knives to behead many Muslims and non-Muslims. In most attacks, the Palestinian terrorists focused on the victims' throats and necks. They are trying to replace Islamic State jihadis as the chief "butchers" of humans in the Middle East.”</p>
<p>"This is not an intifada. This is a brutal killing spree targeting Jews of all ages, including a 13-year-old boy, a 72-year-old woman and a 78-year-old man."</p>
<p>Palestinian scholar Bassam Tawil</p>
<p>The copy-cat phenomenon has resulted in innumerable deaths, costing the lives of mothers and children, some as young as two years old. The idea that butchering an infant is tantamount to “resistance” is an insult to both reason and human dignity. As the Wall Street Journal’s Brett Stephens <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/palestine-the-psychotic-stage-1444692875" type="external">affirms</a>, “Today in Israel, Palestinians are in the midst of a campaign to knife Jews to death, one at a time. This is psychotic. It is evil. To call it anything less is to serve as an apologist, and an accomplice.”</p>
<p>This is not a political discussion about governments or policies, but an exercise in human compassion. The indiscriminate slashing of Jewish faces opens old wounds and infects the Jewish psyche with painful reminders of genocide. Tawil <a href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6712/palestinians-islamic-state?utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter" type="external">laments</a>, “we have turned the conflict with Israel into a jihadi war, the goal of which is to slaughter Jews, erase their history and expel them from this part of the world. This is not an intifada. This is a brutal killing spree targeting Jews of all ages, including a 13-year-old boy, a 72-year-old woman and a 78-year-old man.”</p>
<p>Abounding with violence and incitement, the Palestinian territories are degenerating into the drudges of disorder. Harangued by ISIS, Wahhabism-inspired provocations, Palestinian attackers are flourishing in the fertile ground of hatred and anti-Semitism. To make matters worse, the Palestinian leadership encourages this maladaptive impulse, complacently fueling the fire as an agent of chaos. “How can our leaders in Ramallah accuse Jews of "contaminating" the Aqsa Mosque with their "filthy feet" at a time when our youths burn a religious site such as Joseph's Tomb? Palestinian Authority security forces, which maintain a tight grip on Nablus, did nothing to prevent the arson attack,” <a href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6712/palestinians-islamic-state?utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter" type="external">says</a> Palestinian scholar Tawil.</p>
<p>This “Palestinian blood fetish” as Brett Stephens <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/palestine-the-psychotic-stage-1444692875" type="external">calls</a> it, is sanitized by Western media outlets as “resistance against occupation.” “Palestinians have despaired at the results of the peace process—never mind that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas just declared the Oslo Accords null and void. Israeli politicians want to allow Jews to pray atop the Temple Mount—never mind that Benjamin Netanyahu denies it and has barred Israeli politicians from visiting the site. There’s always the hoary “cycle of violence” formula that holds nobody and everybody accountable at one and the same time,” <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/palestine-the-psychotic-stage-1444692875" type="external">writes</a> Stephens.</p>
<p>Beneath the malicious masquerade of obfuscations, apologetics, and justifications is indoctrination, in its purest form. "President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian leaders are <a href="http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6647/abbas-palestinians-murder" type="external">lying to us</a> -- and the rest of the world -- when they describe the stabbing attacks against Jews as a "peaceful popular resistance,” cries Tawil, “This is not a struggle against "occupation" or a wall or a checkpoint. It is time to recognize that this is an Islamic State-inspired jihad to slaughter as many Jews as possible and wipe Israel off the face of the earth.”</p> | ISIS Indoctrination Incites Palestinian Copy-Cat Killers | true | https://dailywire.com/news/497/isis-indoctrination-incites-palestinian-copy-cat-joshua-yasmeh | 2015-10-19 | 0 |
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<p>Regular readers of this site know that I’m pretty fair when it comes to my viewpoints on police. &#160;Sure, I will lambaste a crooked cop who bullies the innocent and hides behind his shield when violating the civil rights of the innocent but I will also defend the officers who get railroaded based on some trumped up race card because the 280 pound attacker trying to beat him to death happened to be a different color than him.</p>
<p>But sometimes a situation occurs that makes me despise the entire profession because not only does some rogue crooked cop do something reprehensible but it is followed by an organizational stone wall for justice as the officer’s higher ups circle the wagons around him.</p>
<p>In Racine, Wisconsin such an event took place.</p>
<p>Police were called in after a puppy had defecated on a neighbors yard. &#160;The owner of the dog, Kurt Hanson, and the neighbor exchanged heated words with Hanson allegedly making threats. &#160;The police came in and a two hour standoff resulted.</p>
<p>During that standoff Hanson started making wild threats like shooting the officers with armor piercing crossbow bolts and sending this dog to attack them.</p>
<p>Let me just say that Hanson sounds like a nut job, but that his puppy did not deserve what follows in this video.</p>
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<p>Whiskey Tango Foxtrot you scum sucking cop bastards?!?!?!</p>
<p>That puppy weighed all of five pounds soaking wet and it was walking away from you and you tough guys had to put two rounds into it. &#160;You “heroes” were cowering behind your armored vehicle and felt like putting down the puppy…real battle hardened badasses you are now.</p>
<p>You’re sick sick bastards and deserve to lose your badges and your livelihood if not your freedom.</p>
<p>Had this been ANYONE else who just murdered an innocent puppy walking away from them, at the very least they would be locked away in a psych ward to deal with their mental issues; as animal cruelty is a clinical marker for psychopathic personality disorder.</p>
<p>And if these “hero” cops are scared crapless by THIS dog:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Then they are unfit to defend and serve.</p>
<p>Next time, when they shoot a 3 year old toddler dead in yard, are they going to try and cover it up by planting a knife on him?</p>
<p>These sick bastards don’t deserve to be getting paychecks funded by the taxpayers of Racine and should be dismissed immediately.</p>
<p>Yet, it isn’t just the officers that perpetrated this heinous act that are guilty but also those complicit in trying to defend the officers actions. &#160;People like Racine’s Police Chief Howell. &#160;In emails that Howell has sent to concerned citizens about the incident (his officers executing the puppy) he defends his officers by explaining how letting slip the puppy of war “changed the dynamic”:</p>
<p>&#160;After several hours of dialogue with crisis negotiators, the barricaded subject ultimately made good on his threat to introduce the dog into the active standoff and that after the dog was released, the dynamics of this encounter changed.</p>
<p>Are you friggin kidding me?</p>
<p>The way this bumbling idiot is trying to spin it makes the puppy seem like this:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>But it wasn’t. &#160;It was a scared little puppy who turned away from the officers and tried to waddle back to the safety of its home.</p>
<p>The reward it received was two bullets in the back from Howells jackbooted puppy extermination team.</p>
<p>Howell wasn’t done either. &#160;He continued on saying:</p>
<p>Officers, who for over three hours were focused on peacefully resolving this crisis through dialogue, were now forced to deal with the distraction and unpredictability of having the subject’s dog moving through the scene of this active encounter at a critical time.</p>
<p>Again, are you kidding me?</p>
<p>The distraction that you might trip over this puppy? &#160;Or that your officers would be so distracted by how cute and cuddly this innocent puppy was they couldn’t do their job correctly?</p>
<p>Read the subtext of what Howell just said: The puppy was an&#160;inconvenience&#160;so my officers rightly murdered it.</p>
<p>I say again, if Hanson had threatened to send his son out there to kill the cops and then pushed his three year old toddler out&#160;the door&#160;would the cops have just opened &#160;fire because “the dynamic has changed?”</p>
<p>This whole situation stinks from the bottom to the top. &#160;These trigger happy badge jockey’s got their rocks off shooting&#160;this puppy&#160;and then their boss is going to the mat in order to ensure that they get away with it.</p>
<p>And THESE are the only guys who gun controllers think should be armed?</p>
<p>These trigger happy puppy killers are the reason we have the 2nd Amendment. &#160;Because when these officers get bored with using their badges to kill innocent puppies it is a short step before they start killing innocent people.</p>
<p>And if the brass is going to circle the wagons to protect their psychopathic officers then Racine needs to clean house from top to bottom.</p>
<p>These men are unfit to protect and serve if they have to shoot a puppy in the back because they can’t handle that “dynamic.”</p>
<p>If you live in Racine…hell, if you live in the state of Wisconsin, make your voices heard and don’t let this tragedy stand.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>For those of you who want to reach out and tell Chief Art Howell exactly how disgusted you are with both him and his officers you can contact him via email at:&#160;[email protected]&#160;or call him at&#160; (262) 635-7714</p>
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<p>We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.</p> | Out of Control Police Execute Innocent PUPPY That Was Walking Away From Them | true | http://bulletsfirst.net/2014/11/17/control-police-execute-innocent-puppy-walking-away/ | 0 |
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<p>While it is true that a special session only became necessary because the Legislature could not come to an agreement among a majority of its members and the governor, the negotiation, passage and signing of the special session bills are a prime example of how effective policymakers in New Mexico can be when we all agree on the importance of something and are willing to compromise on a solution to fix it.</p>
<p>I am retired now, and so, since July 1 I have spent day after day traveling around New Mexico, beginning in the district I represent.</p>
<p>In each community I visit, and with most of the people I speak with, several recurring themes emerge. Communities in every corner of the state, many of them small, rural ones, have educational facilities and state and local highways, bridges and roads in dire need of repair or replacement and small businesses just trying to survive.</p>
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<p>Community leaders also repeatedly identify a need to improve infrastructure delivery for clean water, wastewater and solid waste systems, and good public health care and health care facilities as important.</p>
<p>The state of New Mexico can do a lot more to help these people and their communities!</p>
<p>We have a capital outlay system that begs for meaningful reform. Millions of unspent dollars languish in state coffers that realistically are not sufficient to complete a phase or an entire project, and no other alternative exists but to claw back or revert these funds.</p>
<p>These funds could be put to use improving roads, schools and public water systems.</p>
<p>More could be done to encourage people to take advantage of free or low-cost preventive health care services, which would lead to lower health care costs and healthier lifestyles.</p>
<p>These are a few steps we can take, some simple and others more complex, to continue assisting New Mexico with its immediate problems and simultaneously move toward solving issues that hold back our efforts to improve our health, safety and the economy.</p>
<p>This fundamental approach will prepare us for a more robust economy, a skilled, healthy and happy workforce gainfully employed and the basis to keep our children living and working in the state.</p>
<p>Taking these steps will require united leadership, the kind dedicated to planning for the future and not the next election. New Mexicans expect leadership with vision to inform them what we are doing and the courage to complete that vision, regardless of political consequences.</p>
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<p>We must begin by reforming our capital outlay process, to require better project evaluation and prioritization and more efficient distribution of funds.</p>
<p>While we have made progress over the years, the time is right to have meaningful discussions about tax reform and how best to share precious resources like water. Smart, sustainable revenue streams will have to be established in order to fund infrastructure, like roads, rather than financing this infrastructure with 40 percent of every tax dollar going toward servicing debt.</p>
<p>I am from northeastern New Mexico, and so while I understand that area best, my 25 years as a state senator and my recent travels around the state have shown me that almost all New Mexicans are interested in the same basic things: better infrastructure, particularly schools and roads; an education system that prepares our children for college and high-wage jobs; reliable health care; adequate water resources; and an economy that helps our small businesses grow and thrive.</p>
<p>In the past, New Mexico policymakers have been able to address crises that confronted us, but we must look at our processes to head issues off before they become a crisis. We should begin to use smarter, wiser and more efficient practices to meet today's needs.</p>
<p>These goals are attainable: They simply require vision, dedication, united leadership and courage. It will not always be easy to summon these traits within ourselves, but that's what will be required if we are to realize the bright future for New Mexico we all know lies within our reach.</p>
<p /> | State faces huge needs for infrastructure | false | https://abqjournal.com/625466/state-faces-huge-needs-for-infrastructure.html | 2 |
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<p>Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, delivered a 30-page package to all 232 House Republicans on Wednesday that offers a point-by-point rebuttal to the expected standards that House Speaker John Boehner and other leaders plan to circulate this week among GOP members.</p>
<p>Responding to President Barack Obama's renewed call for immigration legislation and the positive signals from House GOP leaders, Sessions said Republicans "must end the lawlessness - not surrender to it - and they must defend the legitimate interests of millions of struggling American workers."</p>
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<p>The package, including a memo from Sessions, an analysis from his staff on the Senate Budget and Judiciary committees and a summary of opposition from conservatives, was delivered shortly before House Republicans left Washington for their annual retreat in Cambridge, Md.</p>
<p>High on the retreat's agenda is immigration, which Republican leaders hope to tackle this election year despite strong opposition from some members. The starting point is a statement of principles that is expected to focus on border and interior security, legalization for some of the 11 million immigrants living here illegally and ensuring that Obama enforces any law, according to lawmakers, congressional aides and outside advocates, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the principles being drafted.</p>
<p>"We're going to outline our standards, principles of immigration reform and have a conversation with our members, and once that conversation's over, we'll have a better feel for what members have in mind," Boehner told reporters this week.</p>
<p>Separately, several lawmakers are working on legislation dealing with children of parents in the United States illegally, visas for guest workers and legalization that would require immigrants to pay fines and back taxes.</p>
<p>Republicans insist that the party must pass reforms and address the issue of illegal immigrants to be competitive in presidential elections.</p>
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<p /> | House GOP leaders face challenge on immigration | false | https://abqjournal.com/344892/house-gop-leaders-face-challenge-on-immigration.html | 2 |
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<p>Apple Inc.'s plan for autonomous vehicles calls for putting more-senior engineers in all of its cars than some of its rivals are using for road tests, a move that suggests the company is still in the early phases of testing its technology, analysts say.</p>
<p>In a permit issued April 14 by the state of California, obtained Friday through a public-records request, Apple identifies six employees, including roboticists who worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, who will be in the front seat of three Lexus sport-utility vehicles outfitted with technology to make them autonomous.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The road tests are critical for Apple as it tries to catch up in the race to develop self-driving cars. Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo has been testing autonomous vehicles on roads since 2009, with senior engineers in the front seat for many early tests.</p>
<p>At stake is a reshuffling of the auto industry and the $2 trillion in annual revenue tied to it, according to estimates by Deloitte. Traditional auto makers such as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co., as well as Silicon Valley companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Tesla Inc., are investing heavily in self-driving technology.</p>
<p>Though Apple has been working since at least 2014 on self-driving cars -- an effort dubbed Project Titan -- it has been guarded publicly about people working on the project.</p>
<p>Shilpa Gulati, the first person named on the Apple permit, has been in the field since at least 2009, when she was part of a team working in Antarctica on a NASA-funded project to develop an autonomous vehicle to explore one of Jupiter's moons.</p>
<p>She later worked on self-driving cars at Robert Bosch GmbH, a German technology and auto-parts supplier. According to her LinkedIn page, she is a manager working on special projects at a "Silicon Valley company," where she built a team of about 30 researchers and engineers.</p>
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<p>The permit also names three engineers who worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Paul Hebert, who has designed a robot that could unlock a door; Jeremy Ma, who focused on algorithms for detecting three-dimensional objects; and Victor Hwang, who has worked on motion-planning algorithms for robots, according to their LinkedIn pages, which list them as working at Apple.</p>
<p>Rivals such as Waymo and Uber have more vehicles on the road than Apple. Waymo, for example, mainly relies on technicians for testing, industry watchers say. For Apple, keeping engineers close to the technology could allow them to make quicker improvements, said Jeremy Carlson, an automotive analyst with research firm IHS Markit.</p>
<p>Apple declined to comment on its autonomous-driving plans or employees named in the document. The drivers named in the permit didn't reply to requests for comment.</p>
<p>The employees named in the permit are among an estimated 1,000 people working on Project Titan, according to people familiar with the effort. Their experience in robotics and camera vision from their work on space programs would be valuable to a self-driving program. Ms. Gulati, for example, has researched making autonomous wheelchairs move more gracefully, work that would be applicable in a car program.</p>
<p>"The fundamental problems of controlling a wheelchair overlap a great deal with the fundamental problems of controlling a car," said Benjamin Kuipers, the University of Michigan professor who oversaw Ms. Gulati's wheelchair research when she was a Ph.D. student at the University of Texas.</p>
<p>Hiring experts with self-driving car experience has become fiercely competitive and expensive in recent years. Sebastian Thrun, the so-called godfather of Google's self-driving car project, created a stir last fall when he told Recode that experienced autonomous-vehicle researchers were valued at $10 million each, based on GM's acquisition of Cruise Automation Inc., which had about 40 employees, and Uber's acquisition of Ottomotto LLC, which had about 70 employees.</p>
<p>Ms. Gulati brought to Apple her experience in robotics and time spent at a key automotive supplier. A graduate of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, she went from working on the NASA-funded Jupiter project to joining a Bosch team that developed algorithms for a car that could drive on highways, her personal website says.</p>
<p>In a 2013 Bosch marketing video, she is featured riding in a BMW car retrofitted with sensors and computers to make it drive autonomously.</p>
<p>Apple listed Bosch for the first time as one of its top 200 suppliers in 2016 and included an address for a Bosch facility focused on automotive electronics and mobility solutions.</p>
<p>The permit also includes a 10-page training plan for test drivers, outlining moments when they might need to take control of a vehicle on the road. Each driver is given two practice runs and three trials to pass tests such as responding to a vehicle's rapid acceleration by tapping the brakes.</p>
<p>Write to Tripp Mickle at [email protected] and Tim Higgins at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>April 24, 2017 10:20 ET (14:20 GMT)</p> | Apple Permit Reveals Self-Driving Car Testers With NASA Experience | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/04/24/apple-permit-reveals-self-driving-car-testers-with-nasa-experience.html | 2017-04-24 | 0 |
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<p>ROSWELL, N.M. - A former New Mexico dairy worker has pleaded no contest in an animal cruelty case.</p>
<p>Cesar Morales-Iniguez entered his pleas Monday before a state district judge in Chaves County. The judge suspended a 364-day jail sentence pending the defendant's successful completion of probation.</p>
<p>Morales-Iniguez was one of four Winchester Dairy workers charged last year after undercover video showed them whipping cows with chains and wire cables and kicking and punching the animals.</p>
<p>Another worker received the same sentence in December after pleading no contest to animal cruelty charges. Cases are pending against two more workers.</p>
<p>The dairy near Roswell ceased operations in September 2014 after an undercover investigation by Los Angeles-based Mercy For Animals.</p>
<p>Winchester Dairy subsequently halted milking operations, stopped shipments to all vendors and dispersed thousands of cows to other dairies.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Former worker sentenced in New Mexico dairy abuse case | false | https://abqjournal.com/736645/former-worker-sentenced-in-new-mexico-dairy-abuse-case.html | 2 |
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<p>Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's popularity rating has plummeted to 30 percent in the wake of massive protests across the country.</p>
<p>The drop is the sharpest for a Brazilian leader in more than 20 years, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/29/brazil-protests-rousseff-idUSL2N0F503Y20130629" type="external">Reuters reported.</a></p>
<p>GlobalPost video: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/brazil/130627/video-rio-brazil-protests-why-marching" type="external">On Location Brazil — Why they're still marching</a></p>
<p>It's also a <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/world/popularity-rating-of-brazil-president-plummets-1.5593019" type="external">marked downturn</a> from the 57 percent of Brazilians who rated Rousseff's government as "great/good" three weeks ago before the demonstrations began June 6.</p>
<p>The protests initially targeted transportation fares but quickly expanded to a variety of issues including government corruption, high taxes, poor public services and the billions being spent on the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.</p>
<p>According to the Datafolha poll, 81 percent of respondents <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323873904578575252729193648.html" type="external">support the protests</a>.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/brazil/130625/brazil-protests-rio-favela-police-operation-leaves-nine-dead" type="external">Brazil protests: Rio favela police operation leaves nine dead</a></p>
<p>However, most Brazilians disagreed that transportation should be free, as protesters have demanded.</p>
<p>Rousseff recently unveiled a <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/world/popularity-rating-of-brazil-president-plummets-1.5593019" type="external">series of steps</a> to address the concerns, including $23 billion in transportation investments and a plan to hold a popular vote on political reform.</p>
<p>First elected in 2010, Rousseff is up for re-election next year.</p>
<p>Also on Saturday, social networks were abuzz with rumors of a <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/brazil-president-dilma-rousseff-meets-youth-protesters-as-rumours-mount-of-general-strike-8679633.html" type="external">general strike</a> Monday, with posts saying it would hit every state.</p> | Brazil President Rousseff's popularity falls to 30 percent | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-06-30/brazil-president-rousseffs-popularity-falls-30-percent | 2013-06-30 | 3 |
<p>Jan 24 (Reuters) - Klcc Property Holdings Bhd:</p> * QTRLY REVENUE 352.1 MILLION RGT
<p>* QTRLY NET PROFIT 345.5‍​ MILLION RGT VERSUS 347.1 MILLION RGT ‍​</p> * YEAR AGO QTRLY REVENUE 344.7 MILLION RGT
<p>* DECLARED DIVIDEND 5.30 SEN PER STAPLED SECURITY FOR QUARTER ENDED 31 DEC 2017‍​ Source text :( <a href="http://bit.ly/2DAgOdB" type="external">bit.ly/2DAgOdB</a>) Further company coverage: ([email protected])</p> Our Standards:
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<p>SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=FB.O" type="external">FB.O</a>) Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that his company made mistakes in how it handled data belonging to 50 million of its users and promised tougher steps to restrict developers’ access to such information.</p>
<p>The world’s largest social media network is facing growing government scrutiny in Europe and the United States about a whistleblower’s allegations that London-based political consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed user information to build profiles on American voters which were later used to help elect U.S. President Donald Trump in 2016.</p>
<p>Zuckerberg, in his first public comments since the scandal erupted at the weekend, said in a post on Facebook that the company “made mistakes, there’s more to do, and we need to step up and do it.”</p>
<p>He did not elaborate on what the mistakes were, but he said the social network plans to conduct an investigation of apps on its platform, restrict developer access to data, and give members a tool that lets them more easily disable access to their Facebook data.</p>
<p>He did not explicitly apologize for the improper use of data, and his plans did not represent a big reduction of advertisers’ ability to use Facebook data, which is the company’s lifeblood.</p>
<p>Facebook shares pared gains on Wednesday after Zuckerberg’s post, closing up 0.7 percent. The company has lost more than $45 billion of its stock market value over the past three days on investor fears that any failure by big tech firms to protect personal data could deter advertisers and users and invite tougher regulation.</p> ‘SCAPEGOAT’
<p>On Tuesday, the board of Cambridge Analytica suspended its Chief Executive Alexander Nix, who was caught in a secret recording boasting that his company played a decisive role in Trump’s victory.</p>
<p>But the academic who provided the data disputed that on Wednesday.</p> Slideshow (6 Images)
<p>“I think what Cambridge Analytica has tried to sell is magic, and they’ve made claims that this is incredibly accurate and it tells you everything there is to tell about you. But I think the reality is it’s not that,” psychologist Aleksandr Kogan, an academic at Cambridge University, told the BBC in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Kogan, who gathered the data by running a survey app on Facebook, also said that he was being made a scapegoat by Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. Both companies have blamed Kogan for alleged data misuse.</p>
<p>Only 300,000 Facebook users responded to Kogan’s quiz, but that gave the researcher access to those people’s Facebook friends as well, who had not agreed to share information, producing details on 50 million users.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=FB.O" type="external">Facebook Inc</a> 169.39 FB.O Nasdaq +1.24 (+0.74%) FB.O
<p>Facebook has said it subsequently made changes that prevent people from sharing data about friends, and maintains that no data breach occurred because the original users gave permission. Critics say that it essentially was a breach because data of unsuspecting friends was taken.</p>
<p>Facebook banned Cambridge Analytica from using any of Facebook’s services on Friday.</p>
<p>Zuckerberg said the company “will restrict developers’ data access even further to prevent other kinds of abuse” and that the company is working with regulators as they investigate what happened.</p>
<p>Many analysts have now raised concerns that the incident will have a negative impact on user engagement with Facebook, potentially reducing its clout with advertisers.</p>
<p>DZ Bank was the third Wall Street brokerage this week to make a rare cut in price targets for Facebook on Wednesday.</p>
<p>“Investors now have to consider whether or not the company will conclude that it has grown in a manner that has proven to be untenable or whether it needs to significantly improve how it is managed,” said Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-facebook-cambridge-analytica-leave-eu/what-are-the-links-between-cambridge-analytica-and-a-brexit-campaign-group-idUSKBN1GX2IO" type="external">What are the links between Cambridge Analytica and a Brexit campaign group?</a>
<a href="/article/us-facebook-brazil-cambridge-analytica/brazil-prosecutors-open-investigation-into-cambridge-analytica-idUSKBN1GX35A" type="external">Brazil prosecutors open investigation into Cambridge Analytica</a>
<a href="/article/us-facebook-cambridge-analytica-kogan/academic-in-facebook-storm-worked-on-russian-dark-personality-project-idUSKBN1GX2F6" type="external">Academic in Facebook storm worked on Russian 'dark' personality project</a>
<p>Facebook shares are down more than 8 percent since Friday. The company has risen more than 550 percent in value in the past five years.</p>
<p>Reporting by Dustin Volz in Washington and Kate Holton in London; Writing by Susan Thomas; Editing by Bill Rigby</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday and forecast at least two more hikes for 2018, highlighting its growing confidence that tax cuts and government spending will boost the economy and inflation and spur more aggressive future tightening.</p> Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meetings in Washington, U.S., March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein
<p>In its first policy meeting under new Fed chief Jerome Powell, the U.S. central bank indicated that inflation should finally move higher after years below its 2 percent target and that the economy had recently gained momentum.</p>
<p>The Fed also raised the estimated longer-term “neutral” rate, the level at which monetary policy neither boosts nor slows the economy, a touch, in a sign the current gradual rate hike cycle could go on longer than previously thought.</p>
<p>“The economic outlook has strengthened in recent months,” the Fed said in a statement at the end of a two-day meeting in which it lifted its benchmark overnight lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 1.50 percent to 1.75 percent.</p>
<p>Powell, who took over from former Fed chief Janet Yellen in early February, said the central bank was staying on a path of gradual rate increases but needed to be on guard against inflation.</p> Related Coverage
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<a href="/article/us-usa-fed-taxation/as-trump-stimulus-fades-fed-sees-tight-monetary-policy-on-the-horizon-idUSKBN1GX36H" type="external">As Trump stimulus fades, Fed sees tight monetary policy on the horizon</a>
<a href="/article/us-usa-fed-fomc-text/fomc-statement-from-march-20-21-meeting-idUSKBN1GX2OJ" type="external">FOMC statement from March 20-21 meeting</a>
<p>“We are trying to take the middle ground here,” Powell said in a press conference after the end of the policy meeting, adding that there were no signs the economy was on the cusp of accelerating inflation.</p>
<p>The rate hike was widely expected. All 104 economists polled by Reuters from March 5-13 said the Fed would increase borrowing costs this week.</p>
<p>U.S. stocks rose after the policy statement before paring gains to close lower. U.S. Treasury yields fell and then recovered. The dollar .DXY recorded its steepest one-day loss in nearly two months against a basket of currencies.</p>
<p>“The guidance in terms of the future rate hikes is a touch more hawkish than originally expected. 2019 looks like we’re going to get a faster pace of rate hikes,” said Matt Miskin, market strategist at John Hancock Investments.</p>
<p>“This a new Fed chairman starting with a bit of a hawkish tone as he takes leadership.”</p> Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meetings in Washington, U.S., March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein CONFIDENCE IN THE ECONOMY
<p>The rate hike was the latest step away from years of stimulating the world’s largest economy in the wake of the 2007-2009 financial crisis and recession. The Fed tightened policy three times last year.</p>
<p>The combination of $1.8 trillion in expected fiscal stimulus from the Trump administration and recent hints of price and wage pressures had prompted some Fed officials to speculate more Americans could be drawn into an already tight labor market.</p>
<p>Some even worried inflation could rise well above the Fed’s target if the economy got too hot.</p> Slideshow (5 Images)
<p>Policymakers were largely split on Wednesday as to whether a total of three or four rate hikes would be needed this year. They predicted rates would rise three times next year and two times in 2020, a further indication of their view that the economy is on solid footing.</p>
<p>“The Fed seems to be gaining confidence,” said Brian Coulton, an economist at Fitch Rating in London.</p>
<p>Fed policymakers projected U.S. economic growth of 2.7 percent in 2018, an increase from the 2.5 percent forecast in December, and also marked up growth for next year. The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation was expected to end 2018 at 1.9 percent, unchanged from the previous forecast, but it is seen rising a bit above the target next year.</p>
<p>The U.S. unemployment rate by the end of 2018 is expected to edge down to 3.8 percent, indicating the Fed sees more room for the labor market to run. Fed officials predicted the longer-run rate would settle at 4.5 percent, slightly lower than the forecast from December.</p>
<p>U.S. joblessness stood at 4.1 percent last month.</p>
<p>While recent home sales and retail spending data have been on the weak side, the overall economic picture has brightened after growth accelerated to 2.3 percent last year.</p>
<p>Before the meeting, analysts were split over whether the Fed, which is wary of an early misstep under its new leadership, would raise policy tightening expectations until more price pressures are clearly evident. There are also looming outside risks to the economy such as a possible global trade war.</p>
<p>“This is a new risk (that) had been probably a low-profile risk, but which has become ... a more prominent risk to the outlook,” Powell said, adding, however, that the trade tensions had not affected the Fed’s expectations for the economy.</p>
<p>Reporting by Jonathan Spicer and Jason Lange in Washington; Additional reporting by Daniel Bases in New York and Ann Saphir in San Francisco; Editing by Paul Simao</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - Experts removed explosive device components on Wednesday from the home of a Texas man who police say carried out a three-week bombing spree that came to an end earlier in the day when he blew himself up as police closed in on his vehicle.</p>
<p>Officials identified the bomber as Mark Conditt, 23, an unemployed man from the Austin suburb of Pflugerville, who had been charged on Tuesday night with unlawful possession and transfer of a destructive device.</p>
<p>Hours later, police tracked Conditt to a hotel about 20 miles (32 km) north of Austin. They were following his vehicle when he pulled to the side of the road and detonated a device, killing himself, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told reporters near the scene.</p>
<p>Police cautioned that he may have planted or mailed other bombs, asking the public to remain vigilant, but his death came as a relief to Austin, a fast-growing city of 1 million people. In addition to killing two people in the area, the bombings that began on March 2 injured at least five others.</p> Texas blast suspect Mark Anthony Conditt is seen in this undated handout photo released by Austin Community College in Austin, Texas, U.S. March 21, 2018. Austin Community College/Handout via REUTERS
<p>Experts from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) scoured Conditt’s home, where they discovered bomb parts similar to those used in the attacks.</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t call it a bomb-making factory, but there’s definitely components consistent with what we’ve seen in all these other devices,” Fred Milanowski, special agent in charge of the ATF’s Houston field division, told reporters.</p> Slideshow (28 Images)
<p>Investigators detained two of Conditt’s roommates who lived at the home, the Austin Police Department said. One was questioned and released and the other was still being questioned. Police said their names would not be released because they were not under arrest.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-texas-blast-fbi/fbi-asks-delivery-companies-to-be-more-careful-handling-suspicious-packages-idUSKBN1GX2XB" type="external">FBI asks delivery companies to be more careful handling suspicious packages</a>
<a href="/article/us-texas-blast-fedex/fedex-evidence-helped-identify-texas-bombing-suspect-memo-idUSKBN1GX2AR" type="external">FedEx evidence helped identify Texas bombing suspect: memo</a>
<p>During his three-week campaign, the bomber left three parcels on doorsteps, activated another by trip wire, and sent at least two via FedEx, one of which blew up on a conveyer belt in a sorting facility on Tuesday. The other was recovered before it exploded.</p>
<p>FedEx said it had supplied investigators with “extensive evidence,” though officials have yet to publicly detail how or when they identified Conditt as the suspect. The criminal charge and arrest warrant were filed on Tuesday night.</p>
<p>Reporting by Jonathan Herskovitz; Additional reporting by Jim Forsyth in San Antonio, Texas, Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Mark Hosenball in Washington, and Jonathan Allen and Gina Cherelus in New York; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Rosalba O'Brien</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SANTIAGO (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday his agency has prepared U.S. investment restrictions on China for President Donald Trump to consider as part of his upcoming announcements on intellectual property actions against Beijing.</p> U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin speaks to the media next to Chile's Finance Minister Felipe Larrain (not in the picture), during a meeting at La Moneda Presidential Palace in Santiago, Chile March 21, 2018. REUTERS/ Rodrigo Garrido
<p>“We have worked on options for his consideration,” Mnuchin told Reuters in an interview.</p>
<p>Trump plans to announce his decisions in the investigation into China’s intellectual property practices on Thursday..</p>
<p>The president is widely expected to impose tariffs on some $60 billion worth of Chinese technology products and other goods to try to force policy changes in Beijing.</p>
<p>Key focuses of the probe are Chinese joint venture requirements for foreign firms that effectively force them to transfer technology to their Chinese partners. It also has targeted a Chinese drive to gain control of U.S. intellectual property through acquisitions of U.S. technology firms by state controlled firms and investment funds.</p>
<p>Investment restrictions on Chinese companies and tariffs were among the tools to punish China recommended by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer earlier on Wednesday at a congressional hearing.</p>
<p>“I’m not going to get into any specifics of what we may do or may not do,” Mnuchin said. “We would be the lead agency on managing any investment restrictions or licensing.”</p> OPEN TO TALKING, LISTENING
<p>But Mnuchin also told Reuters that the administration would keep a dialogue open with senior government officials in Beijing to try to open China’s economy to U.S. companies and help shrink a gaping U.S. trade deficit.</p>
<p>“Our objective is to reduce it by us selling more goods to them, not us importing less goods,” Mnuchin said. “So I think to the extent they open up their markets on a free and fair reciprocal basis, we’ll reduce the trade deficit. That’s our objective.”</p>
<p>He said that he welcomed the promotion of Liu He to China’s vice premier in charge of financial and economic policy and looked forward to further discussions with him.</p>
<p>Mnuchin added that he welcomed recent comments from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledging more actions to open China’s economy further.</p>
<p>“I think when the president makes his decision, we’re going to move forward with that decision, but we’ll be open to listening to commitments that they may be willing to make,” Mnuchin said.</p>
<p>Mnuchin said smaller, private discussions with high-ranking Chinese officials will likely prove more productive than the large, public U.S.-China dialogues, such as the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue meetings last July.</p>
<p>But the Treasury took pains on Sunday to make clear that there had been no changes to U.S. policy towards China after a senior Treasury official said that the CED process had been canceled, a statement later retracted.</p>
<p>Mnuchin was in Santiago for a meeting with Chile’s newly inaugurated president, Sebastian Pinera, after participating in a G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Buenos Aires.</p>
<p>At the G20, Mnuchin emphasized that the United States does not want to start a trade war with China or any other trading partners, but was defending U.S. interests against longstanding unfair trading practices.</p>
<p>Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by G Crosse and James Dalgleish</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | BRIEF-Klcc Property Holdings Says Qtrly Net Profit 345.5 Mln RGT Zuckerberg says Facebook made mistakes on user data, vows curbs Fed lifts rates, signals tougher stance as economy strengthens Texas bombing suspect blows self up on roadside as police close in Treasury has prepared China investment restriction options: Mnuchin | false | https://reuters.com/article/brief-klcc-property-holdings-says-qtrly/brief-klcc-property-holdings-says-qtrly-net-profit-3455-mln-rgt-idUSFWN1PJ0D0 | 2018-01-24 | 2 |
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<p>Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn and RJ Mitte in the pilot episode of “Breaking Bad.” (Courtesy of Doug Hyun/AMC)</p>
<p>For eight years, Fusion Theatre Company has collaborated with the Albuquerque Museum for its “Page to Stage: Third Thursday” series.</p>
<p>The event is always in collaboration with a current exhibit at the museum.</p>
<p>On Thursday, July 20, Fusion will present a staged reading of the pilot episode for the Emmy Award-winning TV drama “Breaking Bad.”</p>
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<p>The reading is in conjunction with the museum’s exhibit “Hollywood Southwest: New Mexico in Film &amp; Television.”</p>
<p>Walter White, played by actor Bryan Cranston, from the pilot episode of “Breaking Bad.” (Courtesy of Doug Hyun/AMC)</p>
<p>“The reading is a rare opportunity for the public to experience the deeply literate and passionate writing that helped set this pilot episode into full production,” says Dennis Gromelski, Fusion executive director. “The narrative descriptions of the settings and scenes will be read, providing an exquisite glimpse into the mind of the creator.”</p>
<p>The reading is directed by co-founder Laurie Thomas and features 25 local actors and luminaries involved with the production of the TV series.</p>
<p>Gromelski says “Breaking Bad” series creator Vince Gilligan’s writing is incredible in the pilot.</p>
<p>“Albuquerque is front and center of that,” he says. “This reading is helping create a celebratory event for the film industry in Albuquerque.”</p>
<p>Getting from page to stage had a journey of its own.</p>
<p>Gromelski says Albuquerque city film liaison Ann Lerner helped out with getting approval with the script from Sony Pictures.</p>
<p>“Ann is amazing, and whenever I have an idea, I throw it by her,” he says. “She did all the hard work, and we got the blessing from everyone involved.”</p>
<p>Previous events have included a piece on Mabel Dodge Luhan and the exhibit that the museum had running in January.</p>
<p>“It was very pertinent to New Mexico,” he says. “The museum has a staff in place that really cares. They are interested in the secondary programming that runs with the main exhibits. It’s really neat. I think the events make visitors want to see the exhibits again. It’s a great collaboration.”</p>
<p>Gromelski is expecting the event to have about 500 tickets. To reserve a place, visit <a href="http://cabq.gov" type="external">cabq.gov</a>. The event is free, but a ticket is required for admission.</p>
<p /> | ‘Page to stage’: Museum hosts staged reading of pilot episode of ‘Breaking Bad’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/1032211/page-to-stage.html | 2017-07-14 | 2 |
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<p>The teens are being held in the death of 17-year-old Ivan Mejia, a senior at Wylie East High School, northeast of Dallas. Mejia's death comes two years after another Wylie East student was killed, and a fellow teenager was sentenced in that case.</p>
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<p>Authorities said in court Monday that the boys choked Mejia to death, and that the victim and one of the boys appeared to be involved with the same girl, local media reported. A judge in suburban Collin County ordered that the teens be kept in detention.</p>
<p>A 911 call Saturday about a car veering off a highway led police to a wooded area in Garland, south of Wylie, where authorities say they spotted the teens. Police said that when the two were interrogated, the boys said they were trying to get rid of Mejia's body.</p>
<p>Police say Mejia had been killed on a road behind the Wylie school.</p>
<p>The two boys, who are juniors at Wylie East, were not identified because they are juveniles. They were being held in Collin County juvenile detention and face murder charges, Wylie Police Sgt. Donna Valdepena said Monday.</p>
<p>She said it was clear Mejia had been targeted by the boys and that there could be other potential suspects in his death.</p>
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<p>"This was planned," Valdepena said. "We do have evidence that it was pre-planned."</p>
<p>Mejia was remembered by friends for his ambition to help others and to one day join the Marines.</p>
<p>Enrique Hernandez, a 17-year-old resident of nearby Frisco, Texas, went to church with Mejia and remembers seeing him wear his ROTC uniform.</p>
<p>"He had trained to go to the Marines and was awaiting his shipment date," Hernandez said in an email. "He had previously promised his mom that he would come back from the Marines safely."</p>
<p>Hernandez said Mejia was someone who worried about others and was quick to lend a helping hand.</p>
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<p>"He had so many people he could help and he tried to help them all," Hernandez said.</p>
<p>Wylie East student Nahum Martinez, 15, was fatally shot two years ago and left near a storm drain. A 15-year-old teen involved in trying to hide Martinez's body was given 15 years in prison last year.</p>
<p>Valdepena said police were not concerned about the safety situation at Wylie East.</p>
<p>Ian Halperin, a spokesman for the Wylie school district, said the high school would make counselors available for students when they return from spring break next week.</p>
<p>"The entire Wylie ISD community is shocked and saddened by this senseless act," Halperin said. "We are cooperating with the police as they investigate, and we hope they will be able to provide us with some understanding of how this tragedy unfolded."</p>
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<p /> | Two Texas teens held in killing of classmate | false | https://abqjournal.com/366034/two-texas-teens-held-in-killing-of-classmate.html | 2 |
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<p>MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Senate was scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to confirm the administrators of the state agencies that run elections and oversee ethics laws that office holders, candidates and lobbyists have to follow.</p>
<p>Here’s a look at the issues at play in the fight between the current leaders of the Ethics and Elections commissions who are trying to save their jobs and Republican senators who say they’re going to oust them.</p>
<p>THE KEY PLAYERS: Michael Haas is administrator of the Elections Commission, a post he’s held since May 2016. Brian Bell leads the Ethics Commission, a position he’s had since July 2016. Both Haas and Bell previously worked for the now-disbanded Government Accountability Board, which was involved with secret John Doe investigations into Republican Gov. Scott Walker and conservative groups. Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, along with other top Republicans, has called for Haas and Bell to resign, saying they’ve lost confidence in their ability to be nonpartisan in part because of their past employment with the GAB.</p>
<p>THEIR JOBS: Haas and Bell were both hired by the commissions, each comprised of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. The Legislature created the bipartisan commissions after voting to disband the GAB in 2015 over anger with how it conducted the John Doe investigations.</p>
<p>ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORT: The call for Bell and Haas to resign came after Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel released his report last month into the leak of secret information obtained during the John Doe investigations. Schimel determined the leak came from the GAB, but he couldn’t determine who was behind it. Neither Bell nor Haas were among the nine people Schimel recommended be disciplined for their roles in the leak. Fitzgerald had previously said when Haas was appointed in 2016 that he might not get confirmed due to concerns about his past work at the GAB.</p>
<p>THE CASE AGAINST THEM: Critics of Haas point to his work for the old GAB as an attorney where he helped review court filings in lawsuits over the John Doe investigations. Haas never worked on the probes themselves. Both Bell and Haas have also been criticized for their handling and storage of documents collected during the probes and compliance with a Wisconsin Supreme Court order requiring all of the information to be turned over to the court. Fitzgerald and other Republicans say they have lost confidence in Bell and Haas.</p>
<p>THE CASE FOR THEM: Both bipartisan commissions stand behind Bell and Haas, saying their work has been exceptional and they’ve seen no signs of partisan bias. The Elections Commission argues now is not the time to change who administers elections, given that this is an election year and Russian hackers targeted the state’s system in 2016. In a letter to lawmakers last week, the Ethics Commission cited Bell’s past military record and other public service and said he is committed to leading the agency in a “fair, non-partisan, and decent manner.” Both Bell and Haas have been publicly defending themselves, saying they’re being unfairly tainted by anger over the old GAB. Bell has been critical of the former GAB, saying he left the agency in 2015 in part because of inconsistent, subjective and biased enforcement of the law.</p>
<p>CONFIRMATION VOTE: The Senate is controlled by Republicans 18-13 with two vacancies. Republicans could lose two votes and still have enough to reject confirmation of both Bell and Haas. Bell has said if the Senate rejects his confirmation, he believes he will be out of a job. But Elections Commission Chairman Mark Thomsen, a Democratic attorney, says a vote rejecting Haas would not force him out. Thomsen says only the commission can hire and fire its administrator and he’s open to a legal fight to resolve the issue.</p>
<p>THE LATEST: The Ethics Commission said Monday it completed an investigation into Bell and “there is not a scintilla of evidence that Commission Administrator Brian Bell has ever performed any of his governmental duties in a partisan manner.” Bell also defended himself Sunday in a response to a series of questions from Republican state Sen. Tom Tiffany about his role handling records from the John Doe investigation inherited from the old GAB. Haas told Tiffany he only heard about his questions through media reports Monday and he would not have time to thoughtfully answer them unless Tuesday’s vote was delayed. Thomsen renewed his call for Haas to be confirmed.</p>
<p>___</p>
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<p>___</p>
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<p>MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Senate was scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to confirm the administrators of the state agencies that run elections and oversee ethics laws that office holders, candidates and lobbyists have to follow.</p>
<p>Here’s a look at the issues at play in the fight between the current leaders of the Ethics and Elections commissions who are trying to save their jobs and Republican senators who say they’re going to oust them.</p>
<p>THE KEY PLAYERS: Michael Haas is administrator of the Elections Commission, a post he’s held since May 2016. Brian Bell leads the Ethics Commission, a position he’s had since July 2016. Both Haas and Bell previously worked for the now-disbanded Government Accountability Board, which was involved with secret John Doe investigations into Republican Gov. Scott Walker and conservative groups. Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, along with other top Republicans, has called for Haas and Bell to resign, saying they’ve lost confidence in their ability to be nonpartisan in part because of their past employment with the GAB.</p>
<p>THEIR JOBS: Haas and Bell were both hired by the commissions, each comprised of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. The Legislature created the bipartisan commissions after voting to disband the GAB in 2015 over anger with how it conducted the John Doe investigations.</p>
<p>ATTORNEY GENERAL REPORT: The call for Bell and Haas to resign came after Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel released his report last month into the leak of secret information obtained during the John Doe investigations. Schimel determined the leak came from the GAB, but he couldn’t determine who was behind it. Neither Bell nor Haas were among the nine people Schimel recommended be disciplined for their roles in the leak. Fitzgerald had previously said when Haas was appointed in 2016 that he might not get confirmed due to concerns about his past work at the GAB.</p>
<p>THE CASE AGAINST THEM: Critics of Haas point to his work for the old GAB as an attorney where he helped review court filings in lawsuits over the John Doe investigations. Haas never worked on the probes themselves. Both Bell and Haas have also been criticized for their handling and storage of documents collected during the probes and compliance with a Wisconsin Supreme Court order requiring all of the information to be turned over to the court. Fitzgerald and other Republicans say they have lost confidence in Bell and Haas.</p>
<p>THE CASE FOR THEM: Both bipartisan commissions stand behind Bell and Haas, saying their work has been exceptional and they’ve seen no signs of partisan bias. The Elections Commission argues now is not the time to change who administers elections, given that this is an election year and Russian hackers targeted the state’s system in 2016. In a letter to lawmakers last week, the Ethics Commission cited Bell’s past military record and other public service and said he is committed to leading the agency in a “fair, non-partisan, and decent manner.” Both Bell and Haas have been publicly defending themselves, saying they’re being unfairly tainted by anger over the old GAB. Bell has been critical of the former GAB, saying he left the agency in 2015 in part because of inconsistent, subjective and biased enforcement of the law.</p>
<p>CONFIRMATION VOTE: The Senate is controlled by Republicans 18-13 with two vacancies. Republicans could lose two votes and still have enough to reject confirmation of both Bell and Haas. Bell has said if the Senate rejects his confirmation, he believes he will be out of a job. But Elections Commission Chairman Mark Thomsen, a Democratic attorney, says a vote rejecting Haas would not force him out. Thomsen says only the commission can hire and fire its administrator and he’s open to a legal fight to resolve the issue.</p>
<p>THE LATEST: The Ethics Commission said Monday it completed an investigation into Bell and “there is not a scintilla of evidence that Commission Administrator Brian Bell has ever performed any of his governmental duties in a partisan manner.” Bell also defended himself Sunday in a response to a series of questions from Republican state Sen. Tom Tiffany about his role handling records from the John Doe investigation inherited from the old GAB. Haas told Tiffany he only heard about his questions through media reports Monday and he would not have time to thoughtfully answer them unless Tuesday’s vote was delayed. Thomsen renewed his call for Haas to be confirmed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/sbauerAP" type="external" /> <a href="https://twitter.com/sbauerAP" type="external">https://twitter.com/sbauerAP</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Sign up for the AP’s weekly newsletter showcasing our best reporting from Texas and the Midwest at <a href="http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv" type="external" /> <a href="http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv" type="external">http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv</a></p> | Wisconsin Senate set to vote on Ethics, Elections leaders | false | https://apnews.com/4d7b93ce6dd44626bb31d746c9b4b34b | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
<p>In his first term, President Franklin Roosevelt denounced “the economic royalists.” He drew the line against the heartless rich: “They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred.”</p>
<p>What a different Democratic president we have today.</p>
<p>For two years — from putting Wall Street operatives at the top of his economic team to signaling that he’ll go along with extension of Bush tax cuts for the wealthy — Barack Obama has increasingly made a mockery of hopes for a green New Deal.</p>
<p>The news from the White House keeps getting grimmer. Since the midterm election, we’re told, Obama has concluded that he must be more conciliatory toward the ascendant Republican leadership in Congress — and must do more to appease big business.</p>
<p>Fifteen days after the election, the Washington Post reported that Obama — seeking a replacement for departing top economic adviser Lawrence Summers — “is eager to recruit someone from the business community for the job to help repair the president’s frayed relationship with corporate America.”</p>
<p>The last thing we need is further acquiescence to the economic royalists. What we need is exactly the opposite: leadership to push back against the Republican Party’s right-wing ideologues and the forces they represent.</p>
<p>We need principled backbones in high places — and much stronger progressive activism at the grassroots.</p>
<p>In moral and electoral terms, the status quo is indefensible. Economic realities include high unemployment, routine home foreclosures, huge tax breaks for large corporations, and widening gaps between the wealthy and the rest of us — in tandem with endless war and runaway military spending.</p>
<p>Escalation of warfare in Afghanistan is running parallel to escalation of class war — waged from the top down — in Washington. The presidentially appointed co-chairs of the deficit commission, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, are pushing scenarios that would undermine Social Security.</p>
<p>Let’s get a grip on matters of principle.</p>
<p>More and more warfare in Afghanistan? Extending massive tax cuts for the wealthy? Promoting plans to slash Social Security and Medicare? Pretending that “clean coal” is not an oxymoron? Failing to uphold habeas corpus and other precious civil liberties? . . .</p>
<p>The best way to fight the Republican Party is to stop giving ground to it.</p>
<p>The best way to defeat right-wing xenophobic “populism” is to build genuine progressive populism. In the process, we can draw on the spirit of the New Deal.</p>
<p>Back in the 1930s, millions of progressive activists — under all sorts of names — fought for economic equity, while FDR became willing to make common cause with them. Today, our scope of understanding has grown to include more dimensions of social justice and ecological imperatives.</p>
<p>These days, progressives have plenty of reasons to feel discouraged. But we have a lot more good reasons to rededicate ourselves to the vital tasks ahead.</p>
<p>A much better world is possible.</p>
<p>Si se puede!</p>
<p>NORMAN SOLOMON is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Made Love, Got War</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Wooing the Economic Royalists | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/11/18/wooing-the-economic-royalists/ | 2010-11-18 | 4 |
<p>A decade ago, just after the start of the war, a young Iraqi named Nechirban Yousif decided to go home.</p>
<p>He'd been living in Britain after fleeing Saddam Hussein's regime in 1998 but his family remained in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and he wanted to visit them.</p>
<p>Yousif has spent the past 10 years going back and forth between Britain and Iraq many times.</p>
<p>He says the war has changed many things including how he identifies himself.</p>
<p>"I'm Sunni, Kurdish," Yousif says. "When I come in 1998 [to Britain] they asked me are you Sunni or Shiite. I didn't know what means Sunni or Shiite. You didn't hear in Iraq he was Sunni or Shiite or Arabic…Iraqi is Iraqi."</p>
<p>Anchor Marco Werman spoke more with Yousif about his struggles with his Iraqi identity.</p> | 10 Years After the Invasion, One Iraqi Struggles With His Identity | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-03-19/10-years-after-invasion-one-iraqi-struggles-his-identity | 2013-03-19 | 3 |
<p>Q: Did Hollywood celebrities threaten to strike until President Donald Trump resigns?</p>
<p>A: No. That story was made up by a “HYBRID site of news and satire.”</p>
<p />
<p>Are eminent Hollywood celebrities preparing for a massive strike in Hollywood until Trump resigns?</p>
<p>Months after it first appeared online, Facebook users are still encountering a fake news story that says “Hollywood celebrities … are calling for an all-out strike that would span the entire movie industry in the hopes that such a move would urge” President Donald Trump to resign.</p>
<p>The bogus story claims that a spokesperson for a group called “Refuse Racism” told the New York Times that, “we’re calling for a general strike that would include every single person involved in making motion pictures in Hollywood, starting with the actors and celebrities themselves and encompassing companies in charge of making props, movie memorabilia and even souvenir shops.”</p>
<p>Facebook users have recently reported a <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pOeif_LXKAYJ:patriothangout.com/celebriti-jt-call/+&amp;cd=1&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us" type="external">version of the hoax</a> that was published on PatriotHangout.com. But it <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:OJiqBgs27bAJ:therightists.com/celebrities-call-for-a-massive-all-round-strike-in-hollywood-until-the-fascist-trump-resigns/+&amp;cd=1&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us" type="external">originated in January</a> at TheRightists.com, a “HYBRID site of news and satire.” The website says on its “ <a href="http://therightists.com/about-us/" type="external">about us</a>” page that “part of our stories already happens [sic], part, not yet. NOT all of our stories are true!”</p>
<p>In this case, TheRightists.com based its fake story on a <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2017/01/05/celebrities-call-month-resistance-fight-fascist-trump/" type="external">Breitbart.com article</a> about a protest of then President-elect Trump that was supported by TV and film stars and activists.</p>
<p>Breitbart.com, Jan. 5: Rosie O’Donnell, Debra Messing, Ed Asner and Michael Shannon are among the dozens of artists, entertainers, and activists who have attached their names to an effort calling for a month-long protest to stop President-elect Donald Trump.</p>
<p>“No! In the Name of Humanity We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America!” reads a full-page ad placed in the New York Times on Wednesday by the group Refuse Fascism.</p>
<p>“Donald Trump, the President-elect, is assembling a regime of grave danger,” the ad says. “Millions of people in the US and around the world are filled with deep anxiety, fear, and disgust. Our anguish is right and just. Our anger must now become massive resistance — before Donald Trump is inaugurated and has the full reins of power in his hands.”</p>
<p>That was all included in the version published by TheRightists.com, although the group’s name was changed from “Refuse Fascism” to “Refuse Racism.”</p>
<p>From there, the news and satire hybrid goes on to fabricate details about a Hollywood strike.</p>
<p>TheRightists.com, Jan. 6: Asked to elaborate on why the group is targeting Hollywood out of all the industries in the country as their bargaining chip, the spokesperson argued that Hollywood “is, simply put, the base of the entire modern American culture. It is the foundation of the country, so to speak, the glue that’s holding it together. And think about what happens when you destroy the foundation of a house. It comes crashing down, right? Well, that’s exactly what’s going to happen to America unless Donald Trump realizes how real the danger of that actually is, and chooses to step down as President of his own free will. And while we’re on the subject, between you and me – nobody wants Hollywood to stop doing its thing, but this is a necessary move.”</p>
<p>“Besides, it’s not like the billionaire-businessman-turned-president hasn’t ventured into movies in his day, right? So, he’ll understand firsthand what’s going to happen if Hollywood goes to strike. Without the work of Hollywood and the lifestyle promoted by it, there will literally be no more America to rule for Trump. So, in effect, it’s not us that are going to force Donald Trump to resign his office; it’s the people of America who are going to make him do it, because the God’s honest truth is – without Hollywood, there is no America. It’s like trying to run Nazi Germany without Hitler at the forefront – it just becomes pointless,” the spokesperson concluded.</p>
<p>As Breitbart.com reported, the <a href="https://refusefascism.org/wp-content/uploads/nyt-no-16-1-4.pdf" type="external">ad from RefuseFascism.org</a> only called for “a month of resistance that reaches a crescendo” before Trump’s inauguration as president. It encouraged “each and every one who opposes what this regime stands for, and what it will do, to take part in and actively build, this resistance and refusal.”</p>
<p>The latest version of the hoax from PatriotHangout.com changes Trump’s title from president-elect to president, but otherwise recycles the same story from early January. That is a <a href="" type="internal">common tactic</a> that we see from sites that pass along fake news stories.</p>
<p>Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations <a href="http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/factcheck-org-to-work-with-facebook-on-exposing-viral-fake-news/" type="external">working with Facebook</a>&#160;to help identify and label viral fake news stories flagged by readers on the social media network.</p>
<p>PatriotHangout.com. “ <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:pOeif_LXKAYJ:patriothangout.com/celebriti-jt-call/+&amp;cd=1&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us" type="external">Celebrities Just Called For A TOTAL HOLLYWOOD STRIKE UNLESS TRUMP</a> … .” Accessed 22 May 2017.</p>
<p>Eli The. “ <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:OJiqBgs27bAJ:therightists.com/celebrities-call-for-a-massive-all-round-strike-in-hollywood-until-the-fascist-trump-resigns/+&amp;cd=1&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us" type="external">Celebrities Call For A Massive, All-Round Strike In Hollywood ‘Until The Fascist Trump Resigns</a>.’ ” TheRightists.com. 5 Jan 2017.</p>
<p>Dmitry, Baxter. “ <a href="http://yournewswire.com/hollywood-strike-trump-resign/" type="external">Celebrities Call For ‘Total Hollywood Strike’ Until Trump Resigns</a>.” YourNewsWire.com. 9 Jan 2017.</p>
<p>Hudson, Jerome. “ <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2017/01/05/celebrities-call-month-resistance-fight-fascist-trump/" type="external">Celebrities Call for ‘Month of Resistance’ to Fight ‘Fascist’ Trump</a>.” Breitbart.com. 5 Jan 2017.</p>
<p>Johnson, Ted. “ <a href="http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/rosie-odonnell-debra-messing-donald-trump-fascism-1201952809/" type="external">Rosie O’Donnell, Debra Messing Among Celebrities Signing Anti-Trump ‘Fascist’ Warning</a>.” Variety. 4 Jan 2017.</p>
<p>RefuseFascism.org. “ <a href="https://refusefascism.org/wp-content/uploads/nyt-no-16-1-4.pdf" type="external">No! In the Name of Humanity We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America</a>!” Advertisement. 4 Jan 2017.</p> | Hollywood Strike Hoax | false | https://factcheck.org/2017/05/hollywood-strike-hoax/ | 2017-05-24 | 2 |
<p>Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-24/google-rolls-out-its-biggest-crackdown-on-youtube-hate-speech" type="external">reports</a>:</p>
<p>Starting on Thursday, Google will police YouTube like it never has before, adding warnings and disabling advertising on videos that the company determines crosses its new threshold for offensive content. YouTube isn’t removing the selected videos, but is instead setting new restrictions on viewing, sharing and making money on them. A note detailing the changes will go to producers of the affected videos on Thursday, according to a spokeswoman for the Alphabet Inc. company.</p>
<p>Videos tagged by its new policy won’t be able to run ads or have comments posted, and won’t appear in any recommended lists on the video site. A warning screen will also appear before the videos, which will not be able to play when embedded on external websites. YouTube will let video creators contest the restrictions through an appeals process, a spokeswoman said.</p>
<p>“YouTube doesn’t allow hate speech or content that promotes or incites violence,” the Thursday letter to YouTube creators reads, according to a copy viewed by Bloomberg News. “In some cases, flagged videos that do not clearly breach the Community Guidelines but whose content is potentially controversial or offensive may remain up, but with some features disabled.”</p>
<p>With the ability to comment, share, or even upvote a video, the audience for the remaining clips should plummet.</p> | Google Cracks Down On Extremist YouTube Videos | true | http://joemygod.com/2017/08/24/google-cracks-extremist-youtube-videos/ | 2017-08-24 | 4 |
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<p>But the court should leave the door open for a quick resolution of the controversy, the U.S. Solicitor General’s office argued.</p>
<p>Texas claims groundwater pumping in southern New Mexico is draining the Rio Grande, depriving water users in Texas of their rightful supply under the Rio Grande Compact, an interstate deal dividing up the river’s water. New Mexico claims it is delivering all the water that is required under the compact, and the Supreme Court has no business even considering Texas’ argument.</p>
<p>The federal lawyers did not take sides in the argument, but they suggested the dispute between the two states raised serious questions that need the help of the highest court in the nation to resolve. The U.S. government is involved because the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation operates Elephant Butte Reservoir, which is responsible for delivery of much of the water involved in the dispute.</p>
<p>At issue is a procedural question: Should the Supreme Court take up Texas’ complaint, or, as New Mexico’s attorneys have argued, leave it for other courts to decide? If the court sides with Texas, it could launch a lengthy and expensive battle over how the Rio Grande’s water should be shared. A similar case between Arizona and California took 11 years to resolve.</p>
<p>If the court sides with New Mexico, Texas’ claims would be halted in their tracks or diverted to lower state and federal courts.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Solicitor General’s brief suggests a middle ground. The Supreme Court should take up the case, as Texas has requested, but it should adopt a procedural approach that gives New Mexico a chance to quickly move for dismissal, allowing an early ruling on some of the case’s central issues.</p>
<p>State officials Tuesday said they were still reviewing the 33-page federal brief and declined detailed comment. But Phil Sisneros, spokesman for Attorney General Gary King, said the state’s lawyers were encouraged by the federal suggestion that the Supreme Court consider the possibility of issuing a quick ruling on New Mexico’s claims that the Texas claim is baseless.</p>
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<p /> | Federal lawyers suggest resolution of water fight with Texas | false | https://abqjournal.com/317783/federal-lawyers-suggest-resolution-of-water-fight-with-texas.html | 2013-12-11 | 2 |
<p>If you have dreams of making millions when your racehorse wins the Kentucky Derby, or financing a round-the-world cruise by selling an antique bracelet or buying a new car courtesy of those musty baseball cards you bought years ago, brace yourself.</p>
<p>Investing in racehorses, jewelry or collectibles can be fun but don't count on them&#160; to make you rich, experts say. Here's why:</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Racehorses</p>
<p>Owning a racehorse can be exciting, but most don't run at the Kentucky Derby and command huge stud fees afterwards.</p>
<p>"Anyone familiar with horses knows how expensive and high maintenance they are," says Albert Lu, managing director of WB Advisors, a registered financial adviser and precious metals dealer in Houston, Texas.</p>
<p>"As an investment, they do not make sense for the vast majority since the buyer must quantify the potential return and has a very limited window to capture profits. Persons with specialized knowledge in this area may reap huge rewards but this is a very limited class of investor."</p>
<p>Just a small selection of expenses you should expect to encounter along the way, in addition to the initial purchase fee: training, boarding, transportation and vet bills.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Jewelry</p>
<p>Unless you're Elizabeth Taylor, Lu says, "investing in jewelry makes little sense. The mark-ups are high and items are difficult to value and sell. Investors interested in rare metals should invest in them directly.</p>
<p>"Only a limited class of investors possess the knowledge and financial resources to justify this type of investing. "</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is that tastes vary widely and what you think is drop-dead gorgeous may do nothing for potential buyers. Also, while sentimental value may be priceless, it doesn't always mean monetary value.</p>
<p>Baseball Cards and Other Collectibles</p>
<p>"Baseball cards, collectibles, and artwork. These are things that you should feel free to buy if they interest you, but it's hard to call them an 'investment' unless buying and selling them is your primary business," says William Hammer, a certified financial planner in Melville, N.Y., and co-founder and president of Hammer Wealth Group.</p>
<p>"You need to know a lot about these niche markets to do well, and you can get burned because of factors beyond your control.</p>
<p>"For example, you paid $25 five years ago for your 2002 Johnny Baseball rookie card. It was worth $250 last month, but it's only worth $50 now that he tested positive for steroids this week."</p>
<p>What to do Instead?</p>
<p>So if you're not going to have a fling with unconventional investments, where should you look instead?</p>
<p>"I have one uncommon investment idea -- invest in your earning power," Hammer says. "Get a new certification, obtain new skills, or go to some high-level courses that make you more valuable in the marketplace. I'd think that your investment would be a lot lower risk and higher reward."</p>
<p>Lu agrees. "Although it is not exciting, using free cash to expand one's skill set through training or other means is a good way to increase cash flows in the future, which is the ultimate aim of investing," he adds.</p>
<p>"Warren Buffett often reminds us that investors should look for companies with a "durable competitive advantage" over its competitors. We should also strive to create this advantage for ourselves in our careers by investing to develop our unique characteristics into marketable traits."</p> | Unconventional Investment Ideas — and Reasons to be Cautious | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2012/07/09/unconventional-investment-ideas-and-reasons-to-be-cautious.html | 2016-03-03 | 0 |
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<p>Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy announces a collective bargaining agreement between the state of Connecticut and home-based childcare providers in January 2014. Home-based childcare providers and other "partial state employees" could soon lose union benefits in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Harris v. Quinn &#160; (Dannel Malloy / <a href="https://flic.kr/p/jfWyYJ" type="external">/ Creative Commons&gt;</a></p>
<p><a href="https://flic.kr/p/jfWyYJ" type="external">On June 30, the Supreme Court ruled in Harris v. Quinn that home healthcare workers in Illinois who declined to join the Service Employees International Union representing them did not have to pay a “fair share” provision for the benefits they’ve reaped from the organization. Technically speaking, the Supreme Court only considered Illinois care employees in its decision; however, activists fear that the ruling has potential consequences in a</a> <a href="" type="internal">variety of sectors</a>—and care workers in other states are watching the fallout especially closely.</p>
<p>Those in Connecticut have particular cause for concern. The day after the Harris v. Quinn decision was announced, the first-ever contract for 6,500 home care staff in the state came into effect. And the similarities between the situation in Connecticut and the one in Illinois are not lost on the Connecticut care workers’ union, SEIU1199, or its potential foes.&#160;</p>
<p>In Illinois, the workers in question were considered “partial public employees,” because they receive payment through Medicaid but take care of clients—often their own family members—in the clients’ own homes. This was prompted by a 2009 executive order from Gov. Pat Quinn (D) classifying home care workers as state employees for the sole purpose of unionization, but excluding them from other state benefits. From the Supreme Court’s perspective, this discrepancy was enough to exempt them from paying administrative costs for their protection; fully public employees are still obligated under Abood v. Detroit Board of Education to do so.</p>
<p>In 2011, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (D) <a href="http://www.governor.ct.gov/malloy/lib/malloy/eo_10_personal_care_attendant_quality_home_care_workforce_council.pdf" type="external">issued a similar order to Quinn’s</a> 2009 decree giving home care workers the right to bargain collectively. Though the conservative Yankee Institute for Public Policy and assorted individual consumers of home care services were quick to challenge Malloy’s order, the Connecticut Superior Court upheld it. The next year, the Connecticut legislature codified and expanded the order, <a href="http://www.cga.ct.gov/2012/act/pa/2012PA-00033-R00HB-05312-PA.htm" type="external">specifying that</a> consumers can hire and fire their unionized personal care attendants. And like those in Illinois, those attendants do not receive any of the same benefits as state workers, though they are state-funded.</p>
<p>"Personal care attendants shall not be considered state employees,” the law explains. “They shall be exempt from any and all provisions of the general statutes creating rights, obligations, privileges or immunities to state employees as a result of or incident to their state service."</p>
<p>Moshe Marvit, an attorney and fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank focused on labor and employment issues, has written extensively about Harris <a href="" type="internal">for In These Times</a>. About Connecticut’s decree, he tells In These Times now, “That sounds awfully similar to the Illinois law, so I would think that Harris would apply.” Indeed, since the ruling, Republican lawmakers in the state have begun clamoring in favor of that interpretation.</p>
<p>Such an extension could be devastating for the nascent union. Although Communications Director Jennifer Schneider reports that SEIU Local 1199 NE has about 2,400 members, its contract covers all 6,500 of Connecticut’s home care workers—and the local will rely on all their “fair share” fees to keep things running smoothly.</p>
<p>This is especially important, union leaders say, because the new contract is a vital part of improving prospects for home care providers.</p>
<p>Schneider says that the agreement includes a 50-cents-per-hour raise that will take effect for all workers by early August; restoration of a wage cut from last year; a labor/management committee; an anti-discrimination clause; a grievance procedure; paid time off; orientation and training; and a joint working group that will make recommendations and issue a report in 2015 on the best ways to provide workers’ compensation. &#160;The contract also initiates a study of healthcare options for the workers, hundreds of whom have already gained access to health insurance through the Affordable Care Act thanks to union outreach and education, according to an SEIU statement.</p>
<p>And workers are confident that these improvements will extend to their clients, too. In a press release issued by the union the day of the Supreme Court decision, home care provider Betsey Wingate said, “Before we formed our union no one knew how difficult it was for consumers to find people to take care of them because the pay was so low and undependable.“</p>
<p>Wingate felt determined that care staff could overcome Harris’ potentially detrimental effect on the union’s progress. She continued, “When home care workers united and told our stories we made some real changes. I finally felt like I wasn’t alone and I had the power to make a difference in my life and my family’s life.&#160; That isn’t going to stop because of this court decision. We won’t go back to those days. I’m going to keep fighting and stay united with my fellow home care workers.”</p>
<p>State Attorney General George Jepsen issued a statement immediately after the Harris ruling saying his office had filed an amicus brief in support of the union's position in the Harris case. He is reviewing the decision to see "what effect, if any, that Harris v Quinn may have on home healthcare workers in the state of Connecticut."</p>
<p>For now, Schneider says the contract is so new that, “Even our membership dues haven't taken effect yet, much less administrative costs. At this point we don't know how it's going to affect fair share fees for workers in Connecticut.”</p>
<p>Update: On July 18, SEIU Local 1199 NE released the following statement:</p>
<p>The Harris v. Quinn decision applies to workers in Illinois and does not&#160;involve this bargaining unit. &#160;But, because of the uncertainty created by&#160;the decision, we have decided not to collect fair-share fees. &#160;We are&#160;determined to work together with the state and our allies to make whatever&#160;changes are necessary to strengthen and improve our state’s home care&#160;system, so that home care workers can continue to have a strong voice for&#160;good jobs and quality home care.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Harris v. Quinn Threatens Fair Share Dues in Connecticut (Updated) | true | http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/16959/harris_v._quinn_em_threatens_fair_share_dues_in_connecticut | 2014-07-14 | 4 |
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<p>Among the president’s proposals are initiatives aimed at school safety and access to information for law enforcement.</p>
<p>Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Winston Brooks will participate in a conference call on Friday with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, APS spokesman Rigo Chavez tells ABQJournal.com. Until then, Chavez said, Brooks won’t comment publicly on the Obama administration’s proposals.</p>
<p>Likewise, the New Mexico Sheriff’s Association has been in meetings yesterday and today and plans to release a statement tomorrow, said Jack Levick, the association’s director.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston declined to comment through a spokesman.</p>
<p>ABQJournal.com is awaiting comment from Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz and state Department of Public Safety Secretary Gorden Eden.</p>
<p>Pick up a copy of tomorrow’s paper for a story that’s shaping up to include local reaction to Obama’s proposals, how they may affect New Mexico and a primer on New Mexico gun laws.</p> | Some NM Officials Still Digesting Obama’s Gun Violence Proposals | false | https://abqjournal.com/160872/many-in-nm-still-digesting-obamas-gun-violence-proposals.html | 2013-01-16 | 2 |
<p>I am literally speechless.</p>
<p>I have accepted the call to be the interim pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Fellowship in Lexington, S.C.</p>
<p>I am speechless because even on this blog, I have expressed my doubts about being able to find a job as a preacher in a Baptist church. Would I be considered too young? Would I be considered too controversial because I am a woman? Would there be a congregation who would be willing to take those risks?</p>
<p>Yes, there is.</p>
<p>There are moderate Baptists who see it as their mission and purpose to actively live out their beliefs. I am so glad I found some close to my new home in Columbia.</p>
<p>As I met and heard their story, I realized our stories were not that different. They, too, had found themselves wandering, looking for a place to create an open and welcome space for people in need. I can’t wait to journey with them as I finish seminary. I can’t wait to preach regularly and share table fellowship with this great group of individuals!</p> | On accepting a call to pastor | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/on-accepting-a-call-to-pastor/ | 3 |
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<p>The Tuesday Morning Massacre at Donald Trump’s White House rocked the political media. In the matter of a few hours Trump had <a href="" type="internal">fired the Secretary of State</a> Rex Tillerson, Steve Goldstein, the State Dept spokesman whose announcement of Tillerson’s firing <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCPolitics/status/973595043360632832" type="external">contradicted</a> the White House story, and Trump’s personal assistant, John McEntee, whose dismissal was due to an investigation for “ <a href="https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/973573562484318209" type="external">serious financial crimes</a>“ (He was then immediately hired by Trump’s 2020 campaign).</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NewsCorpse/posts/2072488272765957" type="external" /></p>
<p>However, over on Fox News the presidential pandemonium was given a much more positive spin. It didn’t represent the turmoil that everyone else was seeing. It was merely, as Fox political editor Chris Stirewalt said, “Trump being Trump.” In an interview (video below) with anchor Sandra Smith, Stirewalt dutifully pardoned the President for any malfeasance in office or mismanagement.</p>
<p>Smith: “Does this add to the speculation of disarray inside the West Wing? Or should one just decide that this is the way the President works?” Stirewalt: “Well, both things could be true. Disarray may be the methodology. If disarray is a methodology, then perhaps that is Trumpism. But let’s also remember if we put this in context of what else is going on, we saw Donald Trump govern in 2017 as a very traditional kind of Republican president. In 2018 we’re seeing Trump being Trump. […] And so I think we are seeing here, maybe not disarray, but instead this real pivot back to core nationalist, populist Trumpism.”</p>
<p>See? It’s just Trump executing his plan perfectly. It’s all unfolding exactly the way he wants it to. Nothing out of order, or out of the ordinary. He is just “pivoting” back to his “core nationalist, populist Trumpism,” whatever the hell that is.</p>
<p>If those remarks weren’t ludicrous enough, Stirewalt also had to assert that last year Trump was “very traditional.” In what dystopian nightmare? 2017 was a year filled with lying, hypocrisy, and a policy agenda that was either preposterous or dangerous or both. It was the year that he tried (and failed) to repeal ObamaCare. He rescinded DACA by executive action. He pushed through a tax bill that enriched corporations and his wealthy pals to the detriment of everyone else.</p>
<p>And his personnel management was a historical disaster. There was a forty-plus percent turnover in top presidential posts. And just to put a fine point on Trump’s deranged perspective, <a href="https://twitter.com/axios/status/973551970844905477" type="external">he had this to say</a> regarding his recent staff shake-up: “I’m really at a point where I’m close to having the Cabinet, and other things, that I want.” He’s been in office for more than a year and he’s just now getting to that point? God help us all if he ever actually gets there.</p>
<p>But leave it to Fox News to sugar-coat Trump’s incompetence. And it didn’t take them an hour to develop this public relations propaganda spiel. Just think what they’ll be saying by this evening when Sean Hannity goes on the air. By then Trump will be heralded as the most brilliant national leader of the millennium. And sadly, way too many glassy-eyed Fox News disciples and Trump cultists will believe it.</p>
<p>How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QSSMOES/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00QSSMOES&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=newscorpsecom-20&amp;linkId=TLI6JC2OYE22MUTS" type="external">Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.</a> Available now at Amazon.</p>
<p /> | Fox News Excuses Tillerson Mess, White House Chaos By Saying that ‘Disarray is Trumpism’ | true | http://newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p%3D13072 | 4 |
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<p>HOUSTON (AP) — The NFL and the players' union announced a series of changes Friday to the way potential concussions are handled during games following an ugly incident in which Texans quarterback Tom Savage was allowed to return to the field after a hit left him on the ground, arms shaking.</p>
<p>Among the changes is the addition of an expert watching games from a central location with the authority to alert sideline medical teams to look into an incident. And if a player shows signs of a seizure or similar responses, as Savage did, they will be removed from the game and cannot return.</p>
<p>The NFL has been under increased scrutiny the past several years over player safety when it comes to head injuries. A $1 billion settlement of concussion-related claims from more than 20,000 former players took effect earlier this year, resolving thousands of lawsuits that accused the NFL of hiding what it knew about the risks of repeated concussions.</p>
<p>The jarring injury to Savage prompted a joint review of concussion protocol by the NFL and the NFL Players Association. He was hurt in the second quarter of Houston's 26-16 loss to San Francisco on Dec. 10 when he was driven to the ground on a hit by Elvis Dumervil. Replays showed Savage looking dazed after his head hit the ground with both of his arms shaking and lifted upward. He was taken to the medical tent where he stayed for less than three minutes before returning to the bench and going back in for the next series.</p>
<p>Savage threw two incompletions on that drive, and Houston's team doctor approached him after he returned to the sideline at the end of that possession. He was evaluated again and taken to the locker room after it was determined that he did have a concussion.</p>
<p>The NFL said the Texans would not be fined for the incident. The review determined that the medical staff followed protocol but his return to the game was "unacceptable." Medical staff didn't see slow-motion video where Savage's "fencing posture," indicative of a concussion, until after they did their initial evaluation, the review found. Texans medical staff later identified symptoms that weren't present during the first evaluation.</p>
<p>"I think we handled it the way it was supposed to be handled," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said. "I think just speaking for us here at the Texans it's always about trying to do the right thing, doing the right thing by the player, doing the right thing by the rules. That's what we try to do."</p>
<p>O'Brien said he was glad to see that improvements to the protocol were made in the wake of Savage's injury.</p>
<p>"I think there's a lot of things that can be improved," he said. "I think anything where you can help — obviously the safety of the player in this game is the most important thing (and) I think anything like that helps when you try to improve that process."</p>
<p>The Seattle Seahawks were fined $100,000 earlier this month for not properly following protocol with quarterback Russell Wilson during a game in November. Seattle was the first team to be fined for a violation of the protocol. In addition to the fine, Seattle's medical staff and coaches were required to attend training on the protocol.</p>
<p>Among the changes detailed by the NFL and NFLPA (all of them already implemented):</p>
<p>— Using a centralized, unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant at the league office to monitor feeds of all games and contact the team medical staff on the sidelines if they see anything that deserves further evaluation.</p>
<p>— If players show signs of a seizure or fencing responses, like Savage did, they will be removed from the game and cannot return.</p>
<p>— Players who stumble or fall when trying to stand will require a concussion evaluation in the locker room.</p>
<p>— Officials, teammates and coaches have been told to take injured players straight to the medical staff for evaluation if a concussion evaluation is warranted.</p>
<p>— All players who are evaluated for concussions on game day must have a follow-up evaluation the next day by a member of the medical staff.</p>
<p>— A third, unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant will be added to all playoff games including the Super Bowl to step in if one of the other two are away from the sideline tending to an injured player.</p>
<p>Dr. Hunt Batjer is a neurosurgeon and a former co-chairman of the NFL committee on head, neck and spine injuries who currently serves as the chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He said that the addition of the consultant watching all games and the move to immediately take any players who show signs of seizures or fencing responses out of the game were positive steps.</p>
<p>He said he still believes more should be done to protect players.</p>
<p>"When a player has a suspicious either helmet-to-helmet or helmet-to-playing-surface hit and he's down on the field and play is stopped because of that play then that person should be escorted to the locker room for a full exam," Batjer said. "So that should be added to this."</p>
<p>Batjer believes that the game will eventually be made safer when parents decide that it's too dangerous for their children to play.</p>
<p>"The biggest lever that could be used is to say: 'We as American parents do not believe the safeguards are in place to protect our kids and therefore they're not playing,'" he said. "Those are the forces in my mind that will really push this forward."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL</p>
<p>HOUSTON (AP) — The NFL and the players' union announced a series of changes Friday to the way potential concussions are handled during games following an ugly incident in which Texans quarterback Tom Savage was allowed to return to the field after a hit left him on the ground, arms shaking.</p>
<p>Among the changes is the addition of an expert watching games from a central location with the authority to alert sideline medical teams to look into an incident. And if a player shows signs of a seizure or similar responses, as Savage did, they will be removed from the game and cannot return.</p>
<p>The NFL has been under increased scrutiny the past several years over player safety when it comes to head injuries. A $1 billion settlement of concussion-related claims from more than 20,000 former players took effect earlier this year, resolving thousands of lawsuits that accused the NFL of hiding what it knew about the risks of repeated concussions.</p>
<p>The jarring injury to Savage prompted a joint review of concussion protocol by the NFL and the NFL Players Association. He was hurt in the second quarter of Houston's 26-16 loss to San Francisco on Dec. 10 when he was driven to the ground on a hit by Elvis Dumervil. Replays showed Savage looking dazed after his head hit the ground with both of his arms shaking and lifted upward. He was taken to the medical tent where he stayed for less than three minutes before returning to the bench and going back in for the next series.</p>
<p>Savage threw two incompletions on that drive, and Houston's team doctor approached him after he returned to the sideline at the end of that possession. He was evaluated again and taken to the locker room after it was determined that he did have a concussion.</p>
<p>The NFL said the Texans would not be fined for the incident. The review determined that the medical staff followed protocol but his return to the game was "unacceptable." Medical staff didn't see slow-motion video where Savage's "fencing posture," indicative of a concussion, until after they did their initial evaluation, the review found. Texans medical staff later identified symptoms that weren't present during the first evaluation.</p>
<p>"I think we handled it the way it was supposed to be handled," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said. "I think just speaking for us here at the Texans it's always about trying to do the right thing, doing the right thing by the player, doing the right thing by the rules. That's what we try to do."</p>
<p>O'Brien said he was glad to see that improvements to the protocol were made in the wake of Savage's injury.</p>
<p>"I think there's a lot of things that can be improved," he said. "I think anything where you can help — obviously the safety of the player in this game is the most important thing (and) I think anything like that helps when you try to improve that process."</p>
<p>The Seattle Seahawks were fined $100,000 earlier this month for not properly following protocol with quarterback Russell Wilson during a game in November. Seattle was the first team to be fined for a violation of the protocol. In addition to the fine, Seattle's medical staff and coaches were required to attend training on the protocol.</p>
<p>Among the changes detailed by the NFL and NFLPA (all of them already implemented):</p>
<p>— Using a centralized, unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant at the league office to monitor feeds of all games and contact the team medical staff on the sidelines if they see anything that deserves further evaluation.</p>
<p>— If players show signs of a seizure or fencing responses, like Savage did, they will be removed from the game and cannot return.</p>
<p>— Players who stumble or fall when trying to stand will require a concussion evaluation in the locker room.</p>
<p>— Officials, teammates and coaches have been told to take injured players straight to the medical staff for evaluation if a concussion evaluation is warranted.</p>
<p>— All players who are evaluated for concussions on game day must have a follow-up evaluation the next day by a member of the medical staff.</p>
<p>— A third, unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant will be added to all playoff games including the Super Bowl to step in if one of the other two are away from the sideline tending to an injured player.</p>
<p>Dr. Hunt Batjer is a neurosurgeon and a former co-chairman of the NFL committee on head, neck and spine injuries who currently serves as the chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He said that the addition of the consultant watching all games and the move to immediately take any players who show signs of seizures or fencing responses out of the game were positive steps.</p>
<p>He said he still believes more should be done to protect players.</p>
<p>"When a player has a suspicious either helmet-to-helmet or helmet-to-playing-surface hit and he's down on the field and play is stopped because of that play then that person should be escorted to the locker room for a full exam," Batjer said. "So that should be added to this."</p>
<p>Batjer believes that the game will eventually be made safer when parents decide that it's too dangerous for their children to play.</p>
<p>"The biggest lever that could be used is to say: 'We as American parents do not believe the safeguards are in place to protect our kids and therefore they're not playing,'" he said. "Those are the forces in my mind that will really push this forward."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL</p> | NFL changes concussion protocol after Savage incident | false | https://apnews.com/amp/5e2a8157eeec416fb808ccde2a393778 | 2017-12-29 | 2 |
<p>Yesterday&#160;FBI Director James Comey described Hillary Clinton’s email communications as Secretary of State as “extremely careless.” His statement undermined the defenses Clinton put forward, stating the FBI found 110 emails on Clinton’s server that were classified at the time they were sent or received; eight contained information classified at the highest level, “top secret,” at the time they were sent. That stands in direct contradiction to Clinton’s repeated insistence she never sent or received any classified emails.</p>
<p>All the elements necessary to prove a felony violation were found by the FBI investigation, specifically of Title 18 Section 793(f) of the federal penal code, a law ensuring proper protection of highly classified information. Director Comey said that Clinton was “extremely careless” and “reckless” in handling such information. Contrary to the implications of the FBI statement, the law does not require showing that Clinton intended to harm the United States, but that she acted with gross negligence.</p>
<p>The recent State Department Inspector General (IG) report was clear that Clinton blithely disregarded safeguards to protect the most highly classified national security information and that she included on her unprotected email server the names of covert CIA officers. The disclosure of such information is a felony under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.</p>
<p>While the FBI is giving Clinton a pass for not “intending” to betray state secrets, her staff has said Secretary Clinton stated she used her private email system because she did not want her personal emails to become accessible under FOI laws. This is damning on two counts – that she intended to disregard the protection of security information, and that she had personal business to conceal.</p>
<p>This is not the end of the Clinton email issues. Department of Justice officials filed a motion in federal court on June 29th requesting a 27-month delay in producing correspondence between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s four top aides and officials with the Clinton Foundation and Teneo Holdings, a public relations firm that Bill Clinton helped launch.</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton deleted 30,000 emails claiming they were ‘personal’. This is equal to the volume of her emails designated as department business. If half of an employee’s email volume is for their personal business, they are not using their time for their job.</p>
<p>If Secretary Clinton was conducting personal business for her family Foundation through the Secretary of State’s Office, this is a matter the American public deserves to know about. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton routinely granted lucrative special contracts, weapons deals and government partnerships to Clinton Foundation donors. The Secretary of State’s office should not be a place to conduct private back room business deals.</p>
<p>The blurring of the lines between Clinton family private business and national security matters in the Secretary of State Office underscores evidence on many other fronts that Hillary Clinton is serving the 1%, not we the people.</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton’s failure to protect critical security information is not the only thing in her tenure as Secretary that deserves the term reckless, including her decision to pursue catastrophic regime change in Libya, and to support the overthrow of democratically elected governments in Ukraine and Honduras.</p> | Why Hillary Clinton Should be Prosecuted for Reckless Abuses of National Security | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/07/06/why-hillary-clinton-should-be-prosecuted-for-reckless-abuse-of-national-security/ | 2016-07-06 | 4 |
<p />
<p>A spring snowstorm <a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1607176,00.html" type="external">dumped</a> more than a foot of snow on New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine last night, leaving more than 100,000 homes without power.</p>
<p>Meteorologist Butch Roberts of the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine, said, “We had Easter on December 25th. People had crocuses coming out and blooms on bushes. And now we have Christmas, with all this snow. It’s a little topsy-turvy.”</p>
<p>Spring is notoriously unpredictable in New England, but National Weather Service <a href="http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/climatenormals/clim81/NHnorm.pdf" type="external">data</a> [PDF] suggests that major snowfalls are highly <a href="http://www.intellicast.com/Almanac/Northeast/April/" type="external">unusual</a>.</p>
<p /> | Weird Weather Watch: April Showers Snowstorms | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/04/weird-weather-watch-april-showers-snowstorms/ | 2007-04-05 | 4 |
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Buffalo Wild Wings will stop airing TV commercials featuring comedian Steve Rannazzisi, who said this week that he lied about being in the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11 attacks.</p>
<p>"Upon careful review, we have decided to discontinue airing our current television commercials featuring Steve Rannazzisi," the Minneapolis company said in a statement Thursday.</p>
<p>The New York Times first reported Rannazzisi's admission earlier this week. Rannazzisi, who is also a star on the FXX show "The League," has said in the past that he was working as an account manager for Merrill Lynch on the 54th floor of one of the World Trade Center towers when it was hit with a plane. He and described the "pandemonium" he witnessed when he ran out into the street.</p>
<p>In an interview with comedian Marc Maron, Rannazzisi also said six of the 10 members on a basketball team he played on died.</p>
<p>This week, Rannazzisi said on Twitter he was in fact working in another part of the city, and not at the World Trade Center.</p>
<p>"I don't know why I said this," he wrote. "This was inexcusable."</p>
<p>A representative for Rannazzisi, Matthew Labov, said Thursday the actor had no comment following the decision by Buffalo Wild Wings.</p>
<p>Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. said it started airing the most recent ads featuring Rannazzisi in August, after featuring him in ads around March Madness earlier this year.</p>
<p>Sally Smith, CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings, had said Wednesday in an interview with Yahoo Finance that Rannazzisi was selected for the company's marketing because "The League" fit with its image. When working with public figures, she said companies have to consider how to vet them.</p>
<p>"There's always a risk and there's always things that you need to be aware of," Smith said.</p>
<p>Comedy Central also planned to air a stand-up special starring Rannazzisi this weekend. The channel said Wednesday it was evaluating how to proceed, and said it had nothing further to add Thursday.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>AP Television Writer Lynn Elber contributed from Los Angeles.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Candice Choi at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/candicechoi" type="external">www.twitter.com/candicechoi</a></p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Buffalo Wild Wings will stop airing TV commercials featuring comedian Steve Rannazzisi, who said this week that he lied about being in the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11 attacks.</p>
<p>"Upon careful review, we have decided to discontinue airing our current television commercials featuring Steve Rannazzisi," the Minneapolis company said in a statement Thursday.</p>
<p>The New York Times first reported Rannazzisi's admission earlier this week. Rannazzisi, who is also a star on the FXX show "The League," has said in the past that he was working as an account manager for Merrill Lynch on the 54th floor of one of the World Trade Center towers when it was hit with a plane. He and described the "pandemonium" he witnessed when he ran out into the street.</p>
<p>In an interview with comedian Marc Maron, Rannazzisi also said six of the 10 members on a basketball team he played on died.</p>
<p>This week, Rannazzisi said on Twitter he was in fact working in another part of the city, and not at the World Trade Center.</p>
<p>"I don't know why I said this," he wrote. "This was inexcusable."</p>
<p>A representative for Rannazzisi, Matthew Labov, said Thursday the actor had no comment following the decision by Buffalo Wild Wings.</p>
<p>Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. said it started airing the most recent ads featuring Rannazzisi in August, after featuring him in ads around March Madness earlier this year.</p>
<p>Sally Smith, CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings, had said Wednesday in an interview with Yahoo Finance that Rannazzisi was selected for the company's marketing because "The League" fit with its image. When working with public figures, she said companies have to consider how to vet them.</p>
<p>"There's always a risk and there's always things that you need to be aware of," Smith said.</p>
<p>Comedy Central also planned to air a stand-up special starring Rannazzisi this weekend. The channel said Wednesday it was evaluating how to proceed, and said it had nothing further to add Thursday.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>AP Television Writer Lynn Elber contributed from Los Angeles.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Candice Choi at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/candicechoi" type="external">www.twitter.com/candicechoi</a></p> | Buffalo Wild Wings ending ads after actor lied about Sept 11 | false | https://apnews.com/amp/1bdfc658c37f4e83b577ca33de4a2e90 | 2015-09-18 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Welcome to OnSale at FOXBusiness, where we look at cool stuff and insane bargains.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>This website has great deals for the last-minute traveler, and hitch a ride and save some green with this new app. Canon’s got some new cameras for back-to-school snapshots and this popular site is now selling favorite beauty brands.</p>
<p>Fares for the Frugal</p>
<p>Looking for last minute summer getaway deals? You’ll want to check out <a href="http://www.cheapoair.com" type="external">CheapOAir Opens a New Window.</a>. The site is offering 40% to 65% savings on Labor Day travel. And the promo code NY15 will get you up to $15 off service fees.</p>
<p>CheapOAir helps you find domestic and international flights according to budget, and includes business and first-class deals, last-minute flights and student travel discounts. Most of these categories have their own discount codes to help you save extra money. You can also search for hotels, cars and vacation packages. You can even search among a list of hot hotel deals, with a list of four-star accommodations for $99 or less per night. <a href="http://www.cheapoair.com" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to start booking your last-minute travel plans.</p>
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<p>If you’re more of a road trip kind of traveler, or want to stick to a budget while meeting some new people, you’ll want to check out Ridejoy. If you’re in need of a ride to a nearby attraction, city or town, and you live along the west coast, you can sign into Ridejoy. Just list your travel plans, see matches of other Ridejoy-ers going the same direction and then help you determine costs for splitting trip expenses.</p>
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<p>Picture Day</p>
<p>Just in time for the start of a new school year, Canon will be placing its new PowerShot cameras in stores next month.</p>
<p>The PowerShot XS500 IS and XS10 IS are both “super zoom” cameras guaranteed to make you feel like a professional photographer (and create prints like one, too). The SX500 IS model is priced at $329.99 and the SX160 IS will sell for $229.99. See what other deals the camera company has in store at <a href="http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PromoDesc_10051_10051_-1" type="external">Canon.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>One Stop Beauty Shop</p>
<p>Fans of the colorful site Beautylish, which specializes in beauty and makeup tips, will be happy to know that the site just launched its very own e-commerce segment.</p>
<p>The site will now sell limited items from selected brands, big-name beauty products and also drug store favorites. That’s free ideas and a range of product price points, all at Beautylish.com. <a href="http://www.beautylish.com/shop" type="external">Sign up here Opens a New Window.</a> to be included in exclusive monthly offerings.</p>
<p>Know of a killer deal or insane bargain? Email the goods to [email protected] or <a href="http://twitter.com/onsale_foxbiz" type="external">follow us on Twitter Opens a New Window.</a> and share the wealth. &#160;</p> | Find Cheap Flights and Beauty Buys Online | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/08/22/find-cheap-flights-and-beauty-buys-online.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p><a href="/topics/hillary-clinton/" type="external">Hillary Clinton</a> will warn the country Thursday about the dangers of the “alt-right” — the ultraconservative nationalist movement that she says is little more than modern-day racism and has hitched itself to the campaign of <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Donald Trump</a>.</p>
<p>The criticism, which comes from civil rights leaders as well as <a href="/topics/hillary-clinton/" type="external">Mrs. Clinton</a>, has dogged <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> almost from the start of his campaign, but the barbs sharpened last week after the Republican presidential candidate tapped Breitbart News chief Stephen K. Bannon to be campaign CEO.</p>
<p>As <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> critics tell it, the Republican nominee — with his tough talk on ousting illegal immigrants, accusing Mexicans of serious crimes and vowing to halt admission of Muslims into the U.S. — has given hope and comfort to a fringe movement that is desperate for legitimacy.</p>
<p>“This term ‘alt-right’ is simply a rebranding … of white nationalism, and it is an attempt to give respectability to hateful ideas: white supremacy, rabid racism, anti-Semitism and so on that has long been considered unacceptable in the American mainstream,” said Heidi Beirich, head of Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center.</p>
<p>The project tracks what it deems hate organizations and puts many pro- <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> groups on that list.</p>
<p>Those who are part of the alt-right, which has existed primarily online and has an unknown number of followers, say the attacks against <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> are misplaced.</p>
<p>“ <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Donald Trump</a> has his own views of things, and it is a complete accident as far as he is concerned that people who are described as ‘alt-right’ happen to support him,” said Jared Taylor, founder and editor of the American Renaissance, a white nationalist online website.</p>
<p>The “alt-right” movement — short for “alternative right” — resembles the tea party. Each grew out of a disdain for leftist politics, doubts about the military adventurism of the Bush administration and the sense that the conservative Republican Party establishment had grown stale and lost its way.</p>
<p>But members of the alt-right tend to be younger than tea partyers. Instead of focusing on the national debt and fiscal issues, they have zeroed in on cultural and biological preservation of a white America.</p>
<p>“I would say that my ultimate dream would be something akin to Zionism, and that would be a homeland of our own,” said Richard Spencer, head of the National Policy Institute who is credited with coining the term “alternative right” in 2008. “So it would be a state that is for all white people around the world — much like Israel is a state for all Jews from around the world.”</p>
<p>It’s a dream, he said, “akin to a leftist dreaming about communism,” but a goal worth setting for a movement that is still trying to find its place in politics.</p>
<p>“I hate to say this, but I actually think there is an analogy between the Black Lives Matter movement and the alt-right,” he said. “The Black Lives Matter movement is an ‘identitarian’ movement for blacks; we are an ‘identitarian’ movement for whites.”</p>
<p><a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> has struggled to handle questions about his dealings with some of the more radical elements among his supporters. His campaign had to disavow a convention delegate who was a self-described white nationalist, and the candidate himself seemed to demur when asked about support from members of the Ku Klux Klan. <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> later said he rejected their support.</p>
<p><a href="/topics/hillary-clinton/" type="external">Mrs. Clinton</a> will target <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> in a speech in Nevada, on the same day that the Republican nominee was expected to lay out his immigration policy. The immigration speech has been postponed as <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> and his team try to fine-tune his stances.</p>
<p>In the meantime, members of the alt-right are enjoying attention they are receiving as a result of the Clinton critique. They say the Democratic presidential nominee is helping them reach a broader audience.</p>
<p>They also have celebrated the Trump campaign’s decision to hire Mr. Bannon, who has been criticized for pandering to the alt-right during his time at the conservative Breitbart website.</p>
<p>“Bannon is not alt-right himself, but he has these elective affinities of the alt-right,” Mr. Spencer said. “So the fact that he is in charge of the Trump campaign means that <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> is going to be <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a>. <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Trump</a> is going to touch on alt-right ideas, he is going to touch on nationalist ideas, he is going to touch on these big things.”</p>
<p>Mr. Taylor said the exposure could help his group efforts to “wake more and more white people up to the crisis that they face as white people” and “for them to understand that whites have legitimate group interests.”</p>
<p>“Every other racial group is quite relentlessly pushing those interests,” he said. “Hispanics want the country to be more Hispanic. Blacks want advantages of one sort or another, Asians are discovering how useful it is to press explicitly racial demands, and if whites are the only group that is not doing this, this is unilateral disarmament and unilateral disarmament means inevitable defeat.”</p>
<p>Ben Shapiro, a conservative commentator who has worked for Breitbart and has emerged as a vocal critic of the alt-right, said he agrees that political correctness and attacks on white people are wrong but disagrees with the way the alt-right responds.</p>
<p>“If I see racism, I say, ‘Don’t be racist,’” he said. “They say, ‘Why can’t I be racist?’”</p>
<p>He also said <a href="/topics/donald-trump/" type="external">Mr. Trump</a> is more aligned with the alt-right than he is with the conservative movement “because he does not believe in constitutional limitations” and thinks that “America requires closed borders and closed trade.”</p>
<p>“The heart is getting ripped out of the conservative movement by these people, and people are going along with it because they are so willing to stop <a href="/topics/hillary-clinton/" type="external">Hillary Clinton</a>,” he said.</p>
<p>Moving forward, Mr. Spencer said, he envisions white identity political organizations and a white congressional caucus that can help respond to the nation’s changing demographics and the expectation that the U.S. will become majority-minority over the next 50 years.</p>
<p>“European identity politics is a historic inevitability,” he said. “Whether it happens with the alt-right or through some other medium, it will happen, and what I mean by that is you can’t expect white people to become a minority in a multiracial country and not have a sense of themselves and not to be active in support of their people in some way, shape or form. So European identity politics is coming — period.”</p>
<p>Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. <a href="https://goo.gl/forms/xGjXcUKYsKxMeCUl1" type="external">Click here for reprint permission</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Clinton to stoke fears of ‘alt-right’ as ultraconservative nationalist movement latches on to Trump | true | http://washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/24/clinton-to-stoke-fears-of-alt-right-as-ultraconser/ | 2016-08-24 | 0 |
<p>Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday:</p>
<p>Hormel Foods Corp., down $1.83 to $32.09</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Spam maker's third-quarter profit and sales fell short of Wall Street forecasts as its turkey business continues to struggle.</p>
<p>J.M. Smucker Co., down $11.34 to $107.51</p>
<p>The food company cut its profit forecast after a weak first quarter that included disappointing sales of Folgers coffee.</p>
<p>Guess Inc., up $2.38 to $14.86</p>
<p>The clothing company raised its forecasts for the year after a strong second-quarter report.</p>
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<p>G-III Apparel Group Inc., up $1.88 to $26.98</p>
<p>The clothing and accessories maker announced a joint venture for its DKNY and Donna Karan brands in China.</p>
<p>Dollar Tree Inc., up $4.18 to $78.50</p>
<p>The discount retailer raised its annual forecasts after a key sales measurement improved in the second quarter.</p>
<p>Signet Jewelers Ltd., up $8.65 to $60.54</p>
<p>The jewelry company beat Wall Street expectations in the second quarter and will buy online jewelry retailer R2Net for $328 million.</p>
<p>Beacon Roofing Supply Inc., up $3.90 to $43.54</p>
<p>The company said it will buy Allied Building Products, a unit of CRH plc, for $2.63 billion.</p>
<p>Michaels Cos., up $1.66 to $21.27</p>
<p>The arts and crafts store posted a larger profit than analysts expected and raised the low end of its profit forecast.</p> | Signet Jewelers and Dollar Tree climb while Hormel tumbles | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/08/24/signet-jewelers-and-dollar-tree-climb-while-hormel-tumbles.html | 2017-08-24 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Image Source: Motley Fool.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The first couple of weeks of September have been rough for supermarkets. Here's how four of the biggest pure-play grocery stocks have done so far.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/SFM" type="external">SFM Opens a New Window.</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Down an average of 9% through Sept. 12, these stocks have fallen on concerns about food deflation, after bothSprouts Farmers Market(NASDAQ: SFM) andSupervalu (NYSE: SVU) issued warnings last week and lowered their full-year guidance.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, Sprouts noted "a prolonged deflationary environment, competitive landscape, and industry dynamics" as it sharply cut its full-year predictions for comparable sales and EPS.The company now expects EPS in the $0.83 to $0.86 range, down from a priorflat-growth forecast of $0.96 to $0.98.</p>
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<p>Supervalu echoed its organic food peer the next day, citing "deeper levels of deflation" when it lowered its adjusted EBITDA forecast by 5%.</p>
<p>Then on Friday, Kroger(NYSE: KR), which has been the closest thing to a bulletproof stock in the industry, posted its slowest comparable-store sales growth in six years at 1.7%, which it attributed in part to 1.5% food deflation.As a result of deflation, Kroger lowered its full-year EPS forecast to a $2.10 to $2.20 range from $2.19 to $2.28.</p>
<p>Lower prices at the grocery store are good news for consumers, but the fall in commodity food prices has forced the supermarket industry to engage in heavy promotions, cutting into its already narrow profit margin.</p>
<p>Prices on eggs, dairy, and beef in particular have fallen sharply; egg prices are expected to be down 14% to 15% this year after spiking last year due an avian flu outbreak, and beef prices should be down 3% to 4% after several years of inflation.</p>
<p>Restaurants compete with supermarkets for consumers' food budgets, so one might expect that what's good for one industry would be bad for the other -- but that's not the case with food deflation.</p>
<p>Lower commodity prices allow restaurants to save on expenses, but they also result in lost business to grocery stores, where consumers can take advantage of those lower prices. The trend has led analysts to call for a "restaurant recession," and many fast-food chains posted suddenly slowing comparable-sales growth in the last quarter.</p>
<p>While there are several theories for what's behind slowing sales growth at restaurants -- including overexpansion and early warnings of a broader economic slowdown -- executives at chains includingMcDonald's(NYSE: MCD),Wendy's, andJack in the Boxhave also cited food deflation as a cause of slowing sales growth.</p>
<p>McDonald's, which has more than 14,000 domestic locations, saw comparable-store sales growth in the U.S. decelerate all the way from 5.4% in the first quarter to 1.8% in the second, which management attributed to "softening industry growth." A version of that trend played out across much of the industry: Nation's Restaurant News reported a 1.7% decline in comparable sales in the quarter.Pizza was the only segment that grew, as delivery concepts likeDomino'sandPapa John'scontinued to post strong growth, a sign that delivery may be immune from the macroeconomic environment.</p>
<p>For long-term investors, the best strategy may just be to sit tight. Commodity food costs are notoriously difficult to forecast as they can be affected by factors like weather and disease in addition to the normal vicissitudes of supply and demand, and there's evidence that the market has already priced in the deflationary environment, following last week's announcements by Supervalu and Sprouts. At Kroger, shares actually rose modestly after its Friday morning earnings report even though it lowered its guidance for the year.</p>
<p>The picture for restaurants looks less clear. General economic data on job growth and retail sales remain solid, indicating that the nation is not slipping into a recession, and slower sales growth nearly across the board at restaurants suggests that lower prices at the grocery store are a likely culprit. While sales growth may be slower, the good news here is that restaurants are saving on food costs, helping to boost their bottom lines.</p>
<p>Negative headlines may prevail in the coming months, but stocks with momentum like Kroger and McDonald's should continue to outperform their industries despite those headwinds.</p>
<p>John Mackey, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFHobo/info.aspx" type="external">Jeremy Bowman Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Whole Foods Market. The Motley Fool owns shares of Papa John's International. The Motley Fool is short Domino's Pizza. The Motley Fool recommends SuperValu. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Food Deflation Is Bad News for Restaurants and Supermarkets | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/09/13/food-deflation-is-bad-news-for-restaurants-and-supermarkets.html | 2016-09-13 | 0 |
<p>Due to the inaction of state and federal officials, thousands of people in Flint have been exposed to unsafe levels of lead in their water. Now a group of union plumber are taking matters into their own hands.</p>
<p>On Saturday, 300 plumbers from unions across the country descended on Flint to <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/01/some_of_the_highest_lead_level.html" type="external">install new faucets and water filters for free</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://up.anv.bz/latest/anvload.html?key=eyJtIjoiZ3JheSIsInAiOiJkZWZhdWx0IiwidiI6IjM0MTM3MDEiLCJwbHVnaW5zIjp7ImRmcCI6eyJjbGllbnRTaWRlIjp7ImFkVGFnVXJsIjoiaHR0cDovL3B1YmFkcy5nLmRvdWJsZWNsaWNrLm5ldC9nYW1wYWQvYWRzP3N6PTY0MHg0ODAmaXU9LzMwMTcyMTcxNS9XSlJUJmNpdV9zenMmaW1wbD1zJmdkZnBfcmVxPTEmYWRfcnVsZT0xJnZwb3M9cHJlcm9sbCZlbnY9dnAmb3V0cHV0PXhtbF92YXN0MiZ1bnZpZXdlZF9wb3NpdGlvbl9zdGFydD0xJmNvcnJlbGF0b3I9Jyt0cysnJmNtc2lkPTcyMzUmdmlkPUFOVl9HUlRWXzM0MTM3MDEifX0sImFuYWx5dGljcyI6eyJwZGIiOjEzMjU0MTQ2fX19" type="external">Anvato Universal PlayerEdit descriptionup.anv.bz</a> <a href="http://up.anv.bz/latest/anvload.html?key=eyJtIjoiZ3JheSIsInAiOiJkZWZhdWx0IiwidiI6IjM0MTM3MDEiLCJwbHVnaW5zIjp7ImRmcCI6eyJjbGllbnRTaWRlIjp7ImFkVGFnVXJsIjoiaHR0cDovL3B1YmFkcy5nLmRvdWJsZWNsaWNrLm5ldC9nYW1wYWQvYWRzP3N6PTY0MHg0ODAmaXU9LzMwMTcyMTcxNS9XSlJUJmNpdV9zenMmaW1wbD1zJmdkZnBfcmVxPTEmYWRfcnVsZT0xJnZwb3M9cHJlcm9sbCZlbnY9dnAmb3V0cHV0PXhtbF92YXN0MiZ1bnZpZXdlZF9wb3NpdGlvbl9zdGFydD0xJmNvcnJlbGF0b3I9Jyt0cysnJmNtc2lkPTcyMzUmdmlkPUFOVl9HUlRWXzM0MTM3MDEifX0sImFuYWx5dGljcyI6eyJwZGIiOjEzMjU0MTQ2fX19" type="external" />Many Flint residents needed new faucets because their existing faucets were so old they could not accommodate water filters provided by the state.</p>
<p>The effort was coordinated by the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, known as the <a href="http://ua.org/flint" type="external">United Association</a>. The fixtures were donated by the <a href="https://www.safeplumbing.org/" type="external">Plumbing Manufacturers International</a>.</p>
<p>For some in Flint, however, even new faucets with modern water filters won’t be enough to fully abate the lead contamination. New tests released recently revealed that, in some Flint homes, the levels of lead “exceed the ability of filtration systems handed.” The filters can safely remove up to 150 parts per billion of lead. Some Flint homes were <a href="" type="internal">found to have lead levels of more than 4,000 parts per billion</a>.</p>
<p>Residents of Flint, however, are still encouraged to use the filters. For most homes, they will work.</p> | 300 Union Plumbers Spent The Weekend Installing Water Filters For Flint Residents For Free | true | http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/02/01/3744770/hundreds-of-union-plumbers-spent-the-weekend-installing-water-filters-for-flint-residents-for-free/ | 2016-02-01 | 4 |
<p>On Saturday, well-known pollster and Fox contributor Frank Luntz allegedly had <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/i-never-thought-this-would-be-america-frank-luntz-says-he-was-attacked-by-anti-trump-protesters/" type="external">red paint thrown on him</a> by an anti-Trump protester. Luntz issued two tweets regarding the incident:</p>
<p>Marriott Marquis lobby is full of drunk, angry protesters harassing paying customers. If you're still in DC, avoid this area. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomensMarch?src=hash" type="external">#WomensMarch</a> <a href="https://t.co/Nkmcqx1Yk8" type="external">pic.twitter.com/Nkmcqx1Yk8</a></p>
<p>I got red paint thrown on me and called a "fascist MF'er" by a protester here. The <a href="https://twitter.com/Marriott" type="external">@Marriott</a> let it happen. Shame on them. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomensMarch?src=hash" type="external">#WomensMarch</a></p>
<p>On Sunday, appearing on Fox &amp; Friends, Luntz doubled down on his story, asserting, “A woman walked up to me in the Marriott Marquis and she shouted, ‘you fascist,’ and then two other words that would get me fired from your network. And she threw this red confetti glitter right in my eyes and she picked up another handful and she no further than 6 inches away and I was covered with this stuff.”</p>
<p>He added, “Since when do you have the right or ability to attack someone in a private setting? I never thought this would be America. I never thought this would happen in this country.”</p>
<p>Of course, as usual, anti-Trump protesters display their ignorance; Luntz may not be the biggest fan of Trump, especially since in August 2015 Trump <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4856Odve8X4" type="external">called him</a>, “a dunce, as far as I’m concerned. I mean, you know, this guy is a major loser.”</p>
<p>Video of Luntz speaking about the incident starting at 2:05 of the video <a href="http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/01/22/frank-luntz-recounts-hotel-assault-trump-inauguration-protester-washington-marriott" type="external">here</a>.</p> | Fox News Contributor Says He Was Attacked By Anti-Trump Protesters | true | https://dailywire.com/news/12684/fox-news-contributor-says-he-was-attacked-anti-hank-berrien | 2017-01-23 | 0 |
<p>(Buzz Feed) – As President Barack Obama flew into Atlantic City Wednesday to survey storm damage, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney declared, when asked about Mitt Romney’s comments on FEMA funding, that “it’s not a time for politics.”</p>
<p>“This is a time to focus on what was a devastating storm and the terrible aftermath of that storm,” Carney said. “New Jersey was by many measures the hardest hit state, I believe that’s correct. It is entirely appropriate for the president to visit New Jersey and receive updates on the efforts there to recover and to view first hand the damage inflicted by Sandy. This is not a time for politics.”</p>
<p>Just as Carney was speaking those words, Vice President Joe Biden was in Florida and seemingly missed the memo, returning to a campaign schedule and vigorously attacking the Romney-Ryan ticket.</p>
<p>Biden prefaced his remarks saying that he was going to give voters “the whole load,” because he was angry with the Republicans’ statements over the past few days. He accused Romney of trying to scare the “living devil” out of voters in Ohio with his auto-bailout ad, saying union members called their unions representatives to ask if the erroneous report that Jeep was moving jobs China was true.</p>
<p>“What a cynical, cynical thing to do,” Biden added.</p>
<p>And, Biden wasn’t just campaigning for Obama — he joked with a Republican at a Florida restaurant that “after it’s all over when your insurance rates go down, then you’ll vote for me in 2016.”</p>
<p>As both campaigns struggle with the politics of a natural disaster, some of the contradictions may be inevitable. These are political campaigns geared toward a re-election just six days away. President Obama’s posture is simple: He has a job to do, and he’s doing it. The Vice President’s job is, as is often the case, less clear.</p>
<p>http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/as-biden-attacks-romney-white-house-says-its-no</p> | As Biden Attacks Romney, White House Says It’s ‘Not A Time For Politics’… | true | http://teaparty.org/as-biden-attacks-romney-white-house-says-its-not-a-time-for-politics-15096/ | 0 |
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<p>Communist agitator <a href="https://twitter.com/SunsaraTaylor" type="external">Sunsara Taylor</a> - a member of Refuse Fascism and the Revolutionary Communist Party (RevCom) - described President Donald Trump as “more dangerous than [Adolf Hitler] ever could’ve been” in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Taylor sounded the alarm "in the name of humanity" over what she saw as an existential threat to all people:</p>
<p>“We’re facing an emergency. Humanity is facing an emergency. A fascist regime has seized the reins of power in the most powerful… the sole superpower of the world. Trump and Pence are operating out of Hitler’s playbook, only they have nuclear weapons.”</p>
<p>Taylor called on Americans to join a “resistance” - a term regularly hyped by CNN, The New York Times, and similarly political and partisan news media outlets - against the “Nazi” Trump administration.</p>
<p>Joining a narrative advanced by MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, CNN’s Chris Cuomo, and ABC’s Jonathan Karl, Taylor warned of alleged intentions of Trump to shut down voices of political opposition via violations of First Amendment protections for a free press.</p>
<p>Read Resist Fascism’s “manifesto” below:</p>
<p>Donald Trump and Mike Pence have assembled a vicious cabal that has put forth positions and begun initiatives which demonstrate that they fully intend to shred political and social norms with catastrophic consequence. Because Trump has his finger on the nuclear trigger, the Trump/Pence regime is more dangerous to the world than even Hitler.</p>
<p>Fascism has direction and momentum. Dissent is piece by piece criminalized. The truth is bludgeoned. Group after group is demonized and targeted along a trajectory that leads to real horrors. All of this has already begun under the Trump Regime. History has shown that fascism must be stopped before it becomes too late.</p>
<p>Millions of people, outraged by this regime, took to the streets delivering a stinging rebuke to Trump the day after the inauguration. Protest and resistance continues against the many attacks on the people by the Trump/Pence administration. This must grow broader, deeper, and more determined. This resistance is righteous and necessary, but it is not sufficient. We must recognize that the character of fascism is that it can absorb separate acts of resistance while continually throwing the opposition off balance by rapidly moving its agenda forward. The Trump/Pence regime will repeatedly launch new highly repressive measures, eventually clamping down on all resistance and remaking the law … IF THEY ARE NOT DRIVEN FROM POWER.</p>
<p>Political and media observers should note the parallels between the narratives pushed by transparent communists such as Taylor and the aforementioned news media outlets ("mainstream media") and personalities.</p>
<p>Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p> | Communist To Carlson: Trump 'More Dangerous Than Hitler' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/13738/communist-carlson-trump-more-dangerous-hitler-robert-kraychik | 2017-02-22 | 0 |
<p />
<p>UPDATE: By the weekend of October 15th, the Zuccotti campers had adopted this new plan for the park and reorganized themselves accordingly.&#160;</p>
<p>As the Occupy Wall Street movement has caught fire over the past week, reporters and pundits keep asking whether the occupiers can unite around a common goal. Will they tackle income inequality, corporate control of politics, Wall Street reforms? Maybe. But the first order of business is much more basic: figuring out how to organize and maintain their impromptu campground.</p>
<p>Prosaic as it may seem, getting a handle on the chaos in Zuccotti Park is an important test case for whether the disparate voices of Occupy Wall Street can work together. For more than two weeks, protest leaders collaborated with city planners, urban geographers, and technology whizzes to create a new, detailed urban plan for the park, with an eye toward safety, public relations, and traffic flow.</p>
<p>The collaborators included Jake DeGroot, a techie with experience creating computerized stage and concessions layouts for concert and event planners; Mike Esperson, a former Haiti relief worker who has worked in refugee camps; Daniel London, a doctoral student in history at City University of New York who obtained the original architectural plan for the park; and Katie Gill, a geographer with training in city planning who specializes in how people navigate urban spaces.</p>
<p>Their plan is an attempt to make Zuccotti Park cleaner, more welcoming, and ultimately more likely to endure as the nexus of a national protest movement. As historian London puts it: “Just like Boston was the ‘City on the Hill’ in its own time, right now the eyes of the world are on Zuccotti Park, and we need to create a space that will inspire them as well as serve our own needs.” Here’s an interactive map of the proposal, which park residents may vote on next week.&#160;Click an area of the map to see what’s planned there.&#160;Map image source: Courtesy Occupy Wall Street Planning Group Members.</p>
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<p /> | Map: Protesters’ Long-Term Plans for Occupying Zuccotti Park | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/zuccotti-park-map-protest-plan/ | 2011-10-13 | 4 |
<p>Corrects last paragraph. More than one percent, not more than a tenth</p>
<p>By Tim Hepher and Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>GENEVA/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The <a href="" type="internal">European Union</a> filed an appeal against an aircraft subsidies ruling on Friday just hours after calling it a victory, a tactical move in a transatlantic game of global trade chess.</p>
<p>Europe's appeal came after the World Trade Organization ruled <a href="" type="internal">Boeing</a> had received at least $5.3 billion in subsidies that were against the WTO rules, hailed as a "crystal-clear" win by the <a href="" type="internal">European Commission</a>.</p>
<p>Washington has also claimed victory in the verdict by comparing it to recent WTO condemnation of what the U.S. says are even larger European subsidies to Airbus.</p>
<p>Together the cases represent the world's largest trade dispute.</p>
<p>Appeals by both sides are common in the WTO system, but players often wait until the last available opportunity to do so. Sources familiar with the matter said the EU's appeal the latest was made quickly in order to close that gap.</p>
<p>Both sides have 30 days to appeal, but once one side appeals, the other must decide whether to respond in 5 days.</p>
<p>"It is pure tactics," said a source close to the case.</p>
<p>To see what happens next over the $2 trillion plane market and 100,000 affected jobs, all eyes are on a wooden letterbox.</p>
<p>A modern trade war is waged with a combination of electronic communications, light footwork and almost balletic stagecraft on the shores of Lake Geneva, home to the 153-nation WTO.</p>
<p>DIPLOMATIC DANCE</p>
<p>Like most diplomatic dance steps in a city hosting over 20 international organizations, even the most apparently trivial move, like the timing of Friday's EU appeal, is quickly scanned for anything political.</p>
<p>By narrowing the nine-month gap between the two competing cases, the EU may reduce the vulnerable period during which the nerve of member states could wobble once the WTO gives its verdict on appeals in the case against Airbus next month.</p>
<p>Washington has already said Airbus must rapidly repay or restructure disputed European loans after that verdict.</p>
<p>In the case the EU is appealing on Friday, the United States could now respond with its own early appeal, or try to slow proceedings down by calling for a WTO hearing to discuss technical matters such as how to handle confidential data.</p>
<p>The dispute over aircraft subsidies is the largest case ever handled by the WTO, set up in 1995 to police global trade.</p>
<p>Rulings on the case run to 2,000 pages. If allowed to run their course, the mutual subsidy complaints could trigger sanctions and a possible trade war, but most analysts say that point is years off and may be prevented through negotiation.</p>
<p>"The reality is that ... settlement of this dispute could yet be years off," said aviation expert Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at <a href="" type="internal">BGC Partners</a> in London.</p>
<p>The case has kept dozens of lawyers, diplomats, lobbyists and trade delegates active for six years, not only from the United States and Europe but other countries indirectly affected like Australia, <a href="" type="internal">China</a>, Brazil, Canada, Japan and Korea.</p>
<p>One source involved in the case estimated the total cost of the proceedings so far at tens of millions of dollars, reaching possibly $60 million for just one side alone -- more than one percent of the subsidies identified in the most recent finding.</p>
<p>(Additional reporting, Robin Bleeker; Editing by Andrew Callus)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Corrected: EU files tactical appeal in Boeing trade spat | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/04/01/corrected-eu-files-tactical-appeal-in-boeing-trade-spat.html | 2016-01-28 | 0 |
<p>Photo courtesy Nonesuch</p>
<p />
<p>National borders not only make traveling to my summer compound in Monaco incredibly bothersome (ahem!), they also really gum up CD release schedules. Especially here in the United States of Kiss My Ass, where great music from around the world often gets delayed for months, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robyn_%28album%29" type="external">if not years</a>. Either labels are scared that us slack-jawed yokels just won’t get it, or I guess they need a couple extra months to form brilliant marketing strategies? Whatever, it makes me mad, since we do have the internet in America, and an internationally-savvy press, desperate to jump on the Next Big Thing, isn’t going to wait for a release date 90 days away, so then anybody reading that review has to go searching around for a little Rapidshare RAR file. Who would be so thoughtless? <a href="" type="internal">Oh</a>. Well, to make up for it, I’ll act as your release-date alarm system: Malian duo Amadou &amp; Mariam’s Welcome to Mali is finally out today here in the Homeland. Hooray! That means you can give them money on iTunes and everything. Welcome to Mali was for a while the highest-ranking album of 2008 on <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2008.shtml" type="external">Metacritic</a>, although the site has since moved it to the 2009 list out of respect for our flag, I guess (where it’s currently tied with <a href="" type="internal">Animal Collective</a> for best-reviewed album of this year). Back in November (I know, I’m sorry) I <a href="" type="internal">gave the album an enthusiastic review</a>, and I only like it more now; its mishmash of styles and traditions feels both guilelessly celebratory and deeply respectful, even moving. Plus I’m a sucker for that Afropop guitar sound.</p>
<p>After the jump, the oddly affecting video for the Damon Albarn-produced “Sabali,” a more electronic-based track than the rest of the album. You can also isten to the whole album at their <a href="http://www.amadou-mariam.com/" type="external">web site</a>.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Friendly Reminder: Amadou & Mariam Album Out Today | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/03/friendly-reminder-amadou-mariam-album-out-today/ | 2009-03-24 | 4 |
<p>President Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of congress.</p>
<p>Earlier today, The White House publicly announced that President Obama would be speaking before a Joint Session of Congress on September 7th. Later in the day, John Boehner’s office informed the President that September 7th will not work and denied that any Joint Session had been approved by the GOP.</p>
<p>Here is the letter that The White House sent to Congressional leaders.</p>
<p>Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. Leader:),</p>
<p>“Our Nation faces unprecedented economic challenges, and millions of hardworking Americans continue to look for jobs. As I have traveled across our country this summer and spoken with our fellow Americans, I have heard a consistent message: Washington needs to put aside politics and start making decisions based on what is best for our country and not what is best for each of our parties in order to grow the economy and create jobs. We must answer this call. Therefore, I respectfully request the opportunity to address a Joint Session of Congress on September 7, 2011, at 8:00 p.m. It is my intention to lay out a series of bipartisan proposals that the Congress can take immediately to continue to rebuild the American economy by strengthening small businesses, helping Americans get back to work, and putting more money in the paychecks of the Middle Class and working Americans, while still reducing our deficit and getting our fiscal house in order. It is our responsibility to find bipartisan solutions to help grow our economy, and if we are willing to put country before party, I am confident we can do just that.”</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Boehner then sent a reply stating that a Joint Session speech needs to be moved a day later to September 8th instead, to allow for security sweeps. Here is that letter.</p>
<p>“Thank you for your letter requesting time to address a Joint Session of Congress next week. I agree that creating a better environment for job creation must be our most urgent priority. For months, the House has been implementing an agenda designed to reduce economic uncertainty, remove unnecessary government barriers to private-sector job creation, and help small businesses, and we welcome the opportunity to hear your latest proposals. As your spokesperson today said, there are considerations about the Congressional calendar that must be made prior to scheduling such an extraordinary event. As you know, the House of Representatives and Senate are each required to adopt a Concurrent Resolution to allow for a Joint Session of Congress to receive the President. And as the Majority Leader announced more than a month ago, the House will not be in session until Wednesday, September 7, with votes at 6:30 that evening. With the significant amount of time – typically more than three hours – that is required to allow for a security sweep of the House Chamber before receiving a President, it is my recommendation that your address be held on the following evening, when we can ensure there will be no parliamentary or logistical impediments that might detract from your remarks. As such, on behalf of the bipartisan leadership and membership of both the House and Senate, I respectfully invite you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday, September 8, 2011 in the House Chamber, at a time that works best for your schedule. We look forward to hearing your ideas and working together to solve America’s jobs crisis.”</p>
<p>Does that reasoning sound weak to you? It does to me. If the President were to speak on September 7th, his remarks would come at the exact time of the Republican Presidential debate in California at the Reagan Library. So, this really looks like that the Republicans in Congress are blocking the President from unveiling an important plan to bring jobs back to Americans all so that Republicans can send their message of wanting to kill government and the economy to the nation.</p>
<p>But Congressional Republicans are also doing something unprecedented by rejecting the request of a sitting President to address Congress. “The Senate Historical Office knows of no instance in which Congress refused the president permission to speak before a Joint Session of Congress,” said Betty K. Koed, an associate historian for the U.S. Senate. “From 1800 to 1913, presidents chose not to address Congress in person. Since 1913, every president has appeared before Congress at least once during his term(s) in office. Permission to speak in a joint session is given by resolution of the House and Senate, and arrangements are made through the leadership offices of each chamber.”</p>
<p>It has been rumored that President Obama is going to go big in his jobs plan. And apparently, the GOP doesn’t want to be upstaged by President Obama. They think they’re more important than the Commander In Chief. President Obama should be able to speak before a Joint Session of Congress on whatever date he requests. And by refusing to grant the request, Congressional Republicans are purposefully disrespecting a United States President. Of course, they’ve been disrespecting President Obama since the day he took office, so this shouldn’t be a surprise. President Obama should play some hardball of his own and speak to the nation from the Oval Office. To hell with Congressional Republicans.</p> | In Unprecedented Move, Republicans Refuse To Allow President Obama To Speak Before Joint Session Of Congress | true | http://addictinginfo.org/2011/08/31/in-unprecedented-move-republicans-refuse-to-allow-president-obama-to-speak-before-joint-session-of-congress/ | 2011-08-31 | 4 |
<p>Klein reveals that this plot started in the Obama White House just weeks after Donald Trump won the 2016 election.&#160; Klein explains,</p>
<p>“Susan Rice was invited to come to a dinner party and give the President (Obama) a plan, and her plan was to unmask the names of Donald Trump associates who had been inadvertently picked up by electronic intercepts by the National Security Agency (NSA). &#160;&#160;The names of these Americans were supposed to remain confidential.&#160; She (Susan Rice) suggested they would be unmasked, meaning they would become public, and they would be distributed widely throughout the intelligence community.&#160; Inevitably, therefore, she admitted those names would be leaked to the mainstream media (MSM), and the story would begin that there was collusion between Donald Trump and the Russians.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>This, of course, was always a fairytale because we have had an investigation going on for more than a year and a half, and no one has come up with a scintilla of evidence to prove that…</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>She (Susan Rice) wasn’t doing anything illegal, but clearly she was doing something unethical, to put it mildly, because President Obama and his national security advisor were using the intelligence community as a weapon against their political enemy Donald Trump.”</p>
<p>So, will anyone be investigated? Klein says,</p>
<p>“I honestly don’t believe that there is going to be an investigation of Barack Obama, the former President.&#160; I do think, however . . . that there is a lot of pressure on Jeff Sessions to investigate Hillary Clinton and her connections with the Russians in commissioning that famous, or infamous, “Russian Dossier” that we all know about that accused Donald Trump of all kinds of sexual misconduct and collusion with the Russians, almost all of which has been disproved as disinformation from the Russians.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>We do know that she (Hillary Clinton) actually authorized the purchase of this dossier and used campaign funds to pay her law firm to actually launder that money and use it to buy this dossier.&#160; That’s against the law because you are supposed to acknowledge and say what your campaign funds are used for, and they are supposed to be used only for the campaign.”</p>
<p>Another big bomb Klein drops in his new book “All Out War” is his publishing of FBI documents warning of violence coming from Antifa and other left-wing groups, which Democrats support.&#160; Klein says,</p>
<p>“In the FBI report that I have reproduced in full in my book, it says that these violent left wing groups traveled to Europe, met with representatives of al-Qaida and the Islamic State, or ISIS.&#160; They also went to Syria and got bomb making instructions and toxic chemical instructions.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The FBI has followed these people and continue to follow these people now that they are back in America, and (the FBI) believes that when the 2018 mid-term elections come, things are going to get hotter and hotter in this country politically and that these groups are going to become more and more violent.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The FBI has said in this document, I have in this new book, that these left-wing groups, like Antifa, represent the greatest threat to law enforcement since the 1970’s and the Weather Underground.”</p>
<p>Full interview below</p> | FBI Warns Of Growing Threat Of Left-Wing Violence | false | https://studionewsnetwork.com/articles/fbi-warns-growing-threat-left-wing-violence/ | 2017-11-26 | 3 |
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<p>No matter what level her students are at when they enter her classroom, she works with them to get them to grade level and reach their fullest potential. “I make my students answer a basic math flashcard before they can come into the classroom,” she says. “They get upset with me, (but, they’re) going to learn the basics AND they’re going to learn geometry. …” I am thankful for teachers like Isis for dedicating themselves to our students and making a difference in the lives of our kids.</p>
<p>Our teachers in New Mexico are making a difference outside the classroom as well. Across the state, teachers are coming together to share ideas and best practices that put our kids first and make our schools stronger. Groups like my Secretary’s Teacher Advisory – volunteer educators looking for opportunities to give feedback, share ideas, improve professional development and communicate with policy makers – are at the forefront of helping us improve education in New Mexico.</p>
<p>Because of groups like this, we were able to bring 300 teachers together last year for our first teacher’s summit. A member of the advisory said, “I was super impressed that our vision of getting teachers to start the school year off on a positive, energizing way seemed to work!” After the summit another educator said, “I learned so much and I feel empowered to move forward this next year. Thank you so much for the N.M. Teachers Summit.” And good things are happening for our students because of this summit. Thanks to our continuing partnerships with educators, this year more than three times last year’s number will be able to participate — 1,000 educators registered in only 72 hours!</p>
<p>The Teacher Leader Network is another powerful resource for strengthening partnerships with our educators. Teachers in the network are making sure their colleagues know the latest news in education, and they’re empowered to seek answers. One member told us, “I am happy to be working on making N.M. a better place for kids to get an education.” These educators are making a difference, and I am so excited about what they are doing.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>We’re also facilitating more professional collaboration and development between our teachers themselves. The New Mexico Dream Team is another group making great strides to help their colleagues and help students improve. The Dream Team is a group of teachers creating instructional reading supports for teachers across the state.</p>
<p>We’re also working to ensure that we’re listening to our teachers. We recently announced changes to the teacher evaluation system that were created with support and input from teachers across the state. The changes in teacher evaluations are a result of informed teachers bringing their voice and recommendations to the Public Education Department. Specific changes were proposed by members of TeachPlus, an organization of New Mexico educators.</p>
<p>New Mexico’s teachers are among our strongest assets in building a brighter future for our children in communities large and small across the state. As we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, join us in reflecting on how important our teachers are to us all – and to keep doing all we can to continue supporting our teachers as they give our kids the skills they need to reach for their dreams.</p> | Teachers should be celebrated | false | https://abqjournal.com/1000002/teachers-should-be-celebrated.html | 2 |
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<p>Illicit sex is never a good thing. Case in point would be saga of now ex-teacher Erin Elizabeth McAuliffe.</p>
<p>If convicted of the four charges pending, it’s a good bet that the comely 25-year-old math teacher will never stand in-charge of a classroom ever again. At least not in the United States.</p>
<p>As reported by <a href="http://wncn.com/2017/06/09/rocky-mount-teacher-accused-of-having-sexual-contact-with-3-students/" type="external">WNCN-TV</a>, the former employee of the Rocky Mount (North Carolina) Preparatory School is accused of sexually assaulting two 17-year-old students as well as another 16-year-old at the school.</p>
<p>Arrested late last week, McAuliffe was charged with four sex crimes in total: three counts of sexual activity with a student and one count of indecent liberties with a minor, <a href="http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/News/2017/06/09/Rocky-Mount-Prep-teacher-accused-of-sexual-contact-with-students.html" type="external">the Rocky Mount Telegram reports</a>.</p>
<p>The news portal <a href="http://heavy.com/news/2017/06/erin-mcauliffe-rocky-mount-prep-carolina-teacher-photos-facebook-pictures/" type="external">Heavy.com</a> is reporting;</p>
<p>McAuliffe is a Rocky Mount, North Carolina, native, who graduated from Rocky Mount High School in 2010, according to her Linkedin profile <a href="https://www.facebook.com/erin.mcauliffe.75" type="external">and Facebook page.</a></p>
<p>After high school, McAuliffe went to Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She was a member of the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority and the math club, according to her Linkedin profile.</p>
<p>McAuliffe graduated in 2014 with a degree in mathematics. She began pursuing a master’s degree in mathematics at East Carolina University’s Graduate School in 2016, according to her Facebook page. It is not clear if she is still a student there.</p>
<p>According to her resume, at Rocky Mount, McAuliffe taught math III, advanced functions and pre-calculus. She also offered “after-school tutoring to help struggling students improve their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.”</p>
<p>McAuliffe also worked to “develop alternate enrichment activities and modifications in student programs to increase student understanding.”</p> | NC school teacher busted for having sex with three teens | true | http://conservativefiringline.com/nc-school-teacher-busted-sex-three-teens/ | 2017-06-12 | 0 |
<p>As Venezuela descends into chaos, its people are ramping up protests and demonstrations against the socialist government.</p>
<p>New blood has been spilled as college student Jairo Ortiz was shot and killed during a protest Thursday in Carrizal, outside the capital city of Caracas, according to <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04/protester-shot-dead-venezuela-marches-continue-170407155332273.html" type="external">Al Jazeera</a>. Some are speculating that he was shot by "security forces."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/04/07/college-student-dies-during-venezuela-protest.html" type="external">Fox News</a> reports that the protests became more fervent after "a Supreme Court ruling nullifying congress." Despite the ruling being "walked back," Venezuelans have continued to demand change.</p>
<p>Henrique Capriles, the leader of the opposition forces, has now been banned from running for president for 15 years, according to the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/d2a3102d6bf044529c6906d785523dee/College-student-dies-during-Venezuela-protest" type="external">Associated Press</a>. The AP adds that following the ruling, Capriles "urged supporters to take to the streets, beginning with a previously scheduled demonstration Saturday, to defend their political rights and demand the removal of President Nicolas Maduro."</p>
<p>"When the dictatorship squeals it's a sign we're advancing," he said in a speech surrounded by other leading opposition figures, many of whom themselves have been targeted. "The only one who is disqualified here is you, Nicolas Maduro."</p>
<p>Late Friday night, state human rights ombudsman, Tarek Saab, sent out several <a href="https://twitter.com/tarekwiliamsaab/status/850192793829916672" type="external">tweets</a> regarding the shooting death of Jairo Ortiz:</p>
<p>"Ante el vil asesinato del joven Jairo Ortiz, manifestamos nuestra firme condena a tan despreciable hecho e informamos que ... En tal sentido garantizamos a la comunidad nacional que este grave delito no quedara impune y merecerá todo el peso de la ley."</p>
<p>This translates to:</p>
<p>"Before the vile murder of the young Jairo Ortiz, we express our firm condemnation [of] such [a] despicable fact and ... we guarantee to the national community that this serious crime will not go unpunished, and will deserve the full weight of the law."</p>
<p>The socialist government of Nicolas Maduro is deeply corrupt. As Al Jazeera notes, Venezuela is "suffering from triple-digit inflation, shortages of basic foods and medicines, and one of the world's highest murder rates."</p>
<p>Until Maduro – and those like him – release their grip on the Venezuelan people, demonstrations and violence will continue as the nation tears apart at the seams.</p> | Protester Against Socialism Killed In Venezuela | true | https://dailywire.com/news/15247/protester-against-socialism-killed-venezuela-frank-camp | 2017-04-08 | 0 |
<p>Published time: 24 Nov, 2017 08:20</p>
<p>Russia’s government approved on Thursday a plan to introduce a profit-based tax on the oil industry, expected to come into force on January 1, 2019, later than previously thought.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/business/407622-russia-inflation-economy-putin/" type="external" /></p>
<p>Currently, the tax regime for the oil industry stipulates that oil companies pay the so-called <a href="https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/0-527-3028?transitionType=Default&amp;contextData=%28sc.Default%29&amp;firstPage=true&amp;bhcp=1" type="external">mineral extraction tax</a> (MET), which is calculated on the basis of the volumes of oil and gas extracted. The oil extraction tax is adjusted to reflect the fluctuations in global oil prices and the depletion and volume of oil reserves.</p>
<p>But Russian companies have been <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/russia-oil-tax/russian-government-approves-profit-based-oil-tax-but-launch-delayed-idUSL8N1NT4CM?rpc=401&amp;" type="external">lobbying</a> for taxation to be based on profits, arguing that this will boost oil production and better reflect costs for extraction.</p>
<p>The new tax regime is expected to be approved by Russia’s Parliament in the first quarter of 2018 and enter into force on January 1, 2019, the energy ministry said, without specifying how much the new tax rate would be.</p>
<p>The tax will concern four types of fields—new fields in Eastern Siberia and Western Siberia, some depleted fields in Western Siberia, and fields that benefit from lower export duties.</p>
<p>The tax will first apply only to some pilot projects developed by Russian oil companies, the energy ministry said.</p>
<p>Initially, Russia <a href="https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Will-Russia-Ditch-Its-Ambitious-Oil-Tax-Reform.html" type="external">planned</a> to be able to introduce the tax reform in 2018, but disagreements among various players and ministries have been stifling progress on the reform. Most industry analysts concur that Russia’s current oil taxation regime is inefficient, and stymies the development of new fields in Eastern Siberia and other largely untapped regions, as well as the enhancement of production from brownfield projects in Western Siberia.</p>
<p>Commenting on the plan approved today, Deputy Energy Minister Alexey Teksler said in the ministry’s statement that the tax overhaul was an important step to solving Russia’s problem with keeping production levels, including in mature fields in Western Siberia. The new tax regime takes into account both the interests of the industry and the budget, Teksler said.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Russia-Approves-Profit-Based-Oil-Tax-For-2019.html" type="external">article</a> was originally published on&#160; <a href="https://oilprice.com/" type="external">Oilprice.com</a></p> | Russia approves profit-based oil tax for 2019 | false | https://newsline.com/russia-approves-profit-based-oil-tax-for-2019/ | 2017-11-24 | 1 |
<p>So I know that the passage of Proposition 8 banning gay marriage in California and the recently de-gaying of Grey’s Anatomy may seem like small potatoes next to the election of our nation’s first black president, but I’m having a glass-is-half-empty week.</p>
<p>I was an Obama supporter from the beginning, from the first time I saw him speak, I knew he had my vote. He inspired me and made me believe that this country could be something great, that he could lead us to be a nation that I could be proud to claim as my own. When he won the SC primary, I saw him give his speech here in Columbia and felt politically empowered to the point of tears. When the west coast polls closed on Tuesday night and the news announced his victory, I was overwhelmed with joy, not just with his win, but with the fact that the majority of Americans chose to appoint him as our leader. I was truly proud to be an American for the first time in my adult life.</p>
<p>Then I checked the results of Florida’s Amendment 2 vote and California’s Proposition 8, both banning gay marriage in their respective states. While I didn’t expect a victory in FL, I was surprised and saddened to learn that California passed their ban. Then the next day, I learned that one of my favorite characters on one of my favorite TV shows had been written off because ABC execs were uncomfortable with the overt nature of her relationship with another woman. I want to be so excited about the direction American politics is taking, but I can’t help being worried about the lack of progress for GLBT rights and visibility, and these issues have been nagging at my mind all week.</p>
<p>Why is it that Americans will elect a man who supports civil unions that are exactly the same as marriages in all legal terms, but to call it “marriage” is still political suicide? How is it that soccer moms across the country will watch Ellen Degeneres every day, and clap when their favorite lesbian marries her girlfriend, but when two fictional lesbian characters have a sexual relationship on a notoriously sexually explicit TV show, the American public can’t handle it? Why did 61% of Californians vote for Obama, but only 48% voted against banning gay marriage? Why can a show like Will and Grace, which featured prominent gay characters be so incredibly popular for so many years, but when a show tries to take a serious look at a lesbian relationship without reducing its portrayal to stereotypes and jokes, network execs think they’ve gone too far and back-peddle?</p>
<p>It warms my heart to see that the American public has re-embraced Ellen after her career-killing coming out so many years ago. But let’s face it, Ellen is rarely political and very family-friendly. She’s popular because she’s hilarious and talented enough that people like her in spite of her sexual orientation. She and her gorgeous wife (until tuesday…now partner?) are the perfect portrait of hetero-normative lesbian bliss….which is fine, but it’s also more easily acceptable to the “I’m not homophobic… I have gay friends… I watch Ellen” crowd.</p>
<p>Will and Grace was entertaining, and although it occasionally tackled issues of homophobia, it was mainly comedic and pandered to stereotypes in order to get laughs. If viewers can laugh at gay characters, they become more palatable and less threatening to people’s prejudices. My parents loved watching Will and Grace long before they ever came close to accepting gay people.</p>
<p>And then there was Callica….Callie Torres and Erica Hahn, two female doctors on Grey’s Anatomy who considered themselves straight until they fell in love with each other. While there were certainly problems with the way Shonda Rhimes handled the development of their romance (that’s another blog entirely), this was the first attempt on network TV (in other words, aside from Showtime’s Queer as Folk and the L Word) to deal with a lesbian relationship seriously and as a recurring plot. The problem? Too explicit. It’s ok for straight characters on the show to routinely rip each other’s clothes off, talk casually about sex, and change partners as frequently as they change their scrubs, but the mere discussion of lesbian sex, couched in extremely vague terms, a few tame kisses, and a fully-clothed scene in bed followed by Erica’s declaration that she is “so extremely gay,” is too explicit.</p>
<p>The lives and relationships of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people deserve to be represented in television just as much as those of straight people, and in equal terms. Moreover, the desexualization of lesbians in contrast to the hyper-sexualization of gay men is based on stereotypes as well and must stop. Straight people who watch Ellen and go have sex with their opposite-gender spouse need to realize that when Ellen goes home to Portia, they have sex too, and those two sexual relationships should be treated equally.</p>
<p>Visibility is important, and Will and Grace, Ellen, Rosie, Portia, and all of the other shows and celebrities who deal publicly with gay themes and GLBT rights issues are essential steps toward equality and inclusion. But I think those on the political left often fail to acknowledge the homophobia that this visibility obscures because it’s easier to point to more overt and violent examples of anti-gay discrimination. Moreover, we let our progressive peers (like all of those Californians who voted for Obama and in favor of the gay marriage ban) get away with homophobia because it’s not as obvious as those people committing hate crimes and protesting pride parades.</p>
<p>So why is this all important…..because a significant portion of those we call allies in the struggle to make this country a better place are the very people keeping us from achieving legal steps toward GLBT equality. We can assume that right wing fundamentalists aren’t going to be voting for equality anytime soon, but the “moveable middle”–our most powerful potential allies–aren’t giving us much help either.</p>
<p>The fact is that the majority of Americans, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum, are homophobic. They think GLBT people do not deserve to have the same rights as they do, and they are uncomfortable taking us seriously and seeing us in the same sexual terms that they see themselves and other heterosexuals. As far as we have come in our fight for gay rights, I think we have taken for granted many of the victories we’ve had in recent years in both legal and cultural realms, and this election serves as a painful reminder of how far we have left to go.</p>
<p>BETH SHEROUSE is a Graduate Assistant in the Department of History at the University of South Carolina, a Board Member of Sean’s Last Wish and a Volunteer Coordinator with South Carolina Equality.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | The Gay Glass is Half Empty | true | https://counterpunch.org/2008/11/07/the-gay-glass-is-half-empty/ | 2008-11-07 | 4 |
<p>We are witnessing something unprecedented in our life time: An entire country, <a href="" type="internal">Venezuela</a>, is shutting down before our eyes.</p>
<p>Here’s the latest on the increasing desperate situation in <a href="" type="internal">Venezuela</a>, from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/28/world/americas/venezuela-economic-government-collapse.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=photo-spot-region&amp;region=top-news&amp;WT.nav=top-news&amp;_r=0" type="external">The New York Times</a>, May 28, 2016:</p>
<p>(1) Electric blackouts: Electricity is being rationed. To save electricity:</p>
<p>(2) Water shortage: Water is also being rationed. As an example, water arrives just once a week, on Thursdays, to the neighborhood of San Antonio de los Altos. But the water is a brownish color and is making people sick. Many Venezuelans say they have gotten skin irritations from showering or from the inability to bathe and wash their sheets and towels.</p>
<p>(3) Food shortages:</p>
<p>(4) Many people cannot make international calls from their phones because of a dispute between the government and phone companies over currency regulations and rates.</p>
<p>(5) There is little traffic in the capital, Caracas, because so few people, either for lack of money or work, are going out. Buildings downtown, including government buildings, are empty.</p>
<p><a href="https://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/venezuela-hospital.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>Scene in a Venezuelan hospital</p>
<p>(6) Public health crisis: People are dying in hospitals, from electric blackouts, broken medical machines (X-ray, dialysis, scanning, incubators), and chronic shortages of medicine (antibiotics, intravenous solutions), bandages, soap, gloves, beds, water (doctors preparing for surgery at the University of the Andes Hospital in Mérida clean their hands with bottles of seltzer water), and even food. Whatever supplies there are are stolen by hospital staff to sell on the black market. The government can no longer afford to buy imported medicine. Patients are asked to bring their own blankets, sheets, pillows and toilet paper. The result: the rate of death among babies under a month old increased more than a hundredfold in public hospitals run by the Health Ministry, from 0.02% in 2012 to to over 2% in 2015; the rate of death among new mothers in those hospitals increased by almost five times in the same period.( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/16/world/americas/dying-infants-and-no-medicine-inside-venezuelas-failing-hospitals.html?version=meter+at+4&amp;contentId=&amp;mediaId=&amp;referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.spiritdaily.com%2Fnews-links%2Fvenezuela-uncharted-territory&amp;priority=true&amp;action=click&amp;contentCollection=Americas&amp;module=RelatedCoverage&amp;region=EndOfArticle&amp;pgtype=article" type="external">Source</a>)</p>
<p>Venezuela’s socialist government blames the problems on an “economic war” being waged by elites who are hoarding supplies, as well as the U.S. government’s efforts to destabilize the country.</p>
<p>President <a href="" type="internal">Nicolás Maduro</a>, who succeeded Hugo Chávez, rejected the political opposition’s call for accepting international aid and described the move as a bid to undermine him and privatize the hospital system. Instead, Maduro insisted that “I doubt that anywhere in the world, except in Cuba, there exists a better health system than this one.”</p>
<p>But most economists agree that Venezuela is suffering from years of economic mismanagement, including <a href="" type="internal">over-dependence on oil</a> and price controls that led many businesses to stop making products. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, yet when oil prices were high, the government saved little money for hard times. Now, oil prices have collapsed — they are around a third what they were in 2014.</p>
<p><a href="https://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/sean_penn_hugo_chavez_not_a_dictato.png" type="external" /> Meanwhile, Sean Penn, buddy of the late Hugo Chavez, is still no where to be seen in <a href="" type="internal">Venezuela</a>. He’s in France, screening his new movie, The Last Face, at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie, directed by Penn, has been booed by audiences and savaged by critics.</p>
<p>See also:</p>
<p>~Eowyn</p>
<p>Dr. Eowyn’s post first appeared at <a href="https://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2016/05/28/venezuela-is-shutting-down/" type="external">Fellowship of the Minds</a></p>
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<p /> | Venezuela is shutting down | true | http://dcclothesline.com/2016/05/29/venezuela-is-shutting-down/ | 2016-05-29 | 0 |
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<p>In between are some waltzes.</p>
<p>“Some of the waltzes are directly Viennese and others are inspired by Vienna,” said violinist Ida Kavafian.</p>
<p>One of the waltzes is “Caprice Viennois,” a bon-bon written by the famous Viennese violinist Fritz Kreisler, known for his expressive phrasing.</p>
<p />
<p>Another, Kavafian said, is a light-hearted waltz in a different style by Dimitri Shostakovich and arranged for two violins and piano.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The program closes with the first movement of the Piano Quartet in G minor by Mozart, who had lived in Vienna. Some consider it the first major work for piano quartet in the chamber music repertoire.</p>
<p>Besides Kavafian, the performers on the program are Guillermo Figueroa on violin and viola, Anne-Marie McDermott on piano and Peter Wiley on cello.</p>
<p>Kavafian said the concert also is a way for musician friends to play together.</p>
<p>For example, she said, that she and Figueroa, artistic director of Albuquerque’s Figueroa Music and Arts Project, go back to the 1960s when they were students at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, a Michigan institution that has nurtured young talent for many years.</p>
<p>At Interlochen, Kavafian said, she and Figueroa “learned to follow their passion for music, realized that there were others their age that also wanted to do so, and where they set the foundation for what was to become a life in music.”</p>
<p>Their friendship continued at the Juilliard School, where they studied with the same teacher, Oscar Shumsky, who was a disciple of Kreisler’s.</p>
<p>Kavafian said that Shumsky taught her and Figueroa “in the unique old-school style of the great 20th-century violinists, a style that they are passing on to their colleagues and their students.”</p>
<p>Kavafian is artistic director of Music from Angel Fire, a festival celebrating its 30th season this summer.</p> | Music, waltzes at Robertson & Sons | false | https://abqjournal.com/241859/music-waltzes-at-robertson-amp-sons.html | 2013-08-04 | 2 |
<p>Republican presidential candidate <a href="/topics/ben-carson/" type="external">Ben Carson</a> said running against <a href="/topics/hillary-rodham-clinton/" type="external">Hillary Rodham Clinton</a> in the 2016 presidential election would be “a dream come true” because of her disastrous progressive policies.</p>
<p>“If <a href="/topics/hillary-rodham-clinton/" type="external">Hillary</a> is the candidate, which I doubt, that would be a dream come true,” <a href="/topics/ben-carson/" type="external">Mr. Carson</a>, a retired neurosurgeon, said during the first GOP debate Thursday night. “She is the epitome of the center-progressive movement.”</p>
<p><a href="/topics/ben-carson/" type="external">Mr. Carson</a> was responding to a question about how he would campaign against <a href="/topics/hillary-rodham-clinton/" type="external">Mrs. Clinton</a>’s expected “rich versus poor” line of attack against the eventual GOP nominee.</p>
<p>“She counts on the fact that people are uninformed, the [Saul] Alinsky model, taking advantage of ‘useful idiots,’” <a href="/topics/ben-carson/" type="external">Mr. Carson</a> said. “I just happen to believe that people are not stupid.”</p>
<p>He said he would “help people understand that it is the progressive movement that is causing the problems.”</p>
<p>“You look at the national debt, and how it’s being driven up,” he said. “If I was trying to destroy this country, what I would do is find a way to drive wedges between all the people, drive the debt to an unsustainable level, and then step off the stage as a world leader and let our enemies increase while we decreased our capacity as a military … and that’s what she’s doing.”</p>
<p>Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. <a href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.7280?icx_id=/news/2015/aug/6/ben-carson-says-campaign-against-hillary-clinton-w/" type="external">Click here for reprint permission</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Ben Carson says campaign against Hillary Clinton would be his ‘dream’ | true | http://washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/6/ben-carson-says-campaign-against-hillary-clinton-w/ | 2015-08-06 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>We're now officially less than five months away from Election Day, and voters are turning their attention to where the candidates stand on specific issues. Among the issues expected to garner a lot of attention this election season is what should be done with healthcare in America.</p>
<p>Outgoing President Barack Obama could wind up being most remembered for his implementation of The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare as it's best known. Obamacare wound up turning the prior healthcare system on its head by making health insurance plans as transparent as possible within an online marketplace. It also disallowed insurers from turning away consumers with pre-existing conditions and required that plans on Obamacare exchanges meet new, beefed-up minimum benefit requirements.</p>
<p>In turn, consumers saw their obligations increase via the individual mandate. This essentially means consumers need to purchase insurance or face a penalty come tax time. In 2016, this penalty had grown to the greater of $695 or 2.5% of modified adjusted gross income. Overall, about 12.7 million people were enrolled in Obamacare by the end of the most recent enrollment period for 2016, and a near-equal amount found coverage via Medicaid under the Medicaid expansion in 31 states.</p>
<p>Democratic Party presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton. Image source: Flickr user Evan Guest.</p>
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<p>But is Obamacare right for America? That was the roundabout question posed by national pollster Gallup to more than 1,500 Americans last month.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/191504/majority-support-idea-fed-funded-healthcare-system.aspx" type="external">Gallup's poll Opens a New Window.</a> sought Americans' opinions on the three remaining presidential candidates' healthcare plans, giving respondents the choice of answering whether they "favored," "opposed," or had "no opinion" on each candidate's plan. Here's a quick refresher on what each candidate has pledged to do:</p>
<p>With these proposals in mind, Gallup asked consumer to rate the following three proposals:</p>
<p>The results?</p>
<p>Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Image source: Flickr user Evan Guest.</p>
<p>According to Gallup, 48% favored keeping the Affordable Care Act, while 49% opposed it. This probably comes as no big surprise, given Obamacare's low favorability numbers since it was first signed into law in March 2010.</p>
<p>Some 51% of respondents favored repealing Obamacare, while 45% opposed the idea. In other words, Trump's healthcare proposal would appear to have a little more steam than Clinton's.</p>
<p>However, the overwhelming favorite was the single-payer plan offered by Bernie Sanders. Overall, 58% of respondents favored the idea, with just 37% opposing it and another 5% having no opinion.</p>
<p>In a separate question, Gallup asked respondents to choose between putting a single-payer system in place versus keeping Obamacare in place, and single-payer won by an even broader margin -- 64% to 32%.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Are Americans right to believe that a single-payer system is their best option? On one hand, Sanders' proposal certainly has its benefits.</p>
<p>To begin with, providing insurance to everyone with a federally funded program means cutting the connection between insurance and employment. In other words, Americans would not have to fear losing their insurance when they lose their jobs. The single-payer system would essentially make health insurance a right, rather than a privilege.</p>
<p>Medicare-for-All, as proposed by Sanders, would also allow the federal government to negotiate prescription drug prices. Drugmakers in the U.S. have incredible pricing power, as they get little pushback from insurers and enjoy long patent protection periods. With the federal government in the consumer's corner, drug developers could find their pricing power and margins stymied.</p>
<p>Sanders' progressive ordinary income tax bracket reforms would also accomplish something a majority of Americans would like to see: the rich paying more. Sanders' progressive income tax reforms tend to focus on a mid-single-digit percentage of the population that's considered well-to-do, which means little change for the working-class American.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>But there are concerns, too. For starters, the healthcare system is already under an unbelievable amount of strain, given the addition of enrollees thanks to Obamacare and the expansion of Medicaid, and this doesn't even take into account the tens of millions who are still uninsured. Suddenly passing a single-payer program could crush existing healthcare infrastructure and slow treatment options to a crawl as tens of millions of new patients are accepted into the system.</p>
<p>Another concern with Sanders' Medicare-for-All proposal would be higher costs passed along from business. The employer tax of 6.2% could be a tough pill for businesses to swallow. My guess is we'd see businesses pass along higher costs to the consumer to cover this healthcare obligation -- or worse, we'd see employees having their hours cut or getting laid off.</p>
<p>Single-payer could also be a concern for investors in the healthcare sector. The biggest factor here would be the federal government exerting its power to drive down or cap pricing for drug developers and device makers. Pricing power is what makes the U.S. market such an attractive place to do business for drugmakers, and without it we could witness substantial margin contraction. It's also possible we could see job cuts and investments in overseas countries if a single-payer, federally funded healthcare system were put in place.</p>
<p>Regardless of who winds up in the Oval Office following the November election, they'll have to work with Congress if they expect to effect any change on our current healthcare laws -- and frankly, that's no guarantee. Nonetheless, since we're talking about your healthcare premiums and healthcare investments here, you'll want to pay attention to how public opinion is shifting, as well as how the candidates' opinions on healthcare reform are evolving. Whichever candidate takes office could very well have a direct impact on your wallet!</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/19/americans-overwhelmingly-prefer-this-presidential.aspx" type="external">Americans Overwhelmingly Prefer This Presidential Candidate's Healthcare Plan, Study Shows Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/tmfultralong.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TMFUltraLong" type="external">@TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days 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> | Americans Overwhelmingly Prefer This Presidential Candidate's Healthcare Plan, Study Shows | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/06/19/americans-overwhelmingly-prefer-this-presidential-candidate-healthcare-plan.html | 2016-06-19 | 0 |
<p>After a very long day in American political history, the House of Representatives, led by a majority of Democrats, passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act, avoiding the fiscal cliff</p>
<p>Tonight, the U.S. House of Representatives finally passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act, 257-167 led by a majority of Democrats and a split Republican leadership.</p>
<p>Only 85 Republicans supported passage of the measure.</p>
<p>Indeed, the Republicans tangled with one another most of the day, with Eric Cantor, the Republican Majority Leader coming out early in the day against the bill. &#160;Speaker John Boehner voted for the bill tonight, a deviation from the traditional practice that Speakers do not vote on most bills, except when they choose to demonstrate the importance of a measure.</p>
<p>The Speaker was joined by former Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, who also voted for the bill.</p>
<p>President Barack Obama made a statement after the vote, summing up his priorities by stating that “a&#160;central promise of my campaign for President was&#160;to change the tax code because it is too skewed toward the wealthy at the expense of working middle-class Americans. And tonight we have done that.”</p>
<p>Vice-President Joe Biden negotiated a compromise measure with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that was sent to the House of Representatives early this morning.</p>
<p>Americans should prepare themselves for the fiscal battles to come: &#160;the debt ceiling crisis has been dubbed the “St. Valentine’s Cliff” and the mandatory sequestration cuts are now called the “St. Patrick’s Day Cliff” in reference to their timing on Congress’ legislative calendar.</p>
<p>Good night from The New Civil Rights Movement.</p>
<p />
<p>Tagged as: <a href="" type="internal">congressman paul ryan</a>, <a href="" type="internal">economics</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Fiscal Cliff</a>, <a href="" type="internal">fiscal crisis</a>, <a href="" type="internal">House Republican Caucus</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Majority Leader Eric Cantor</a>, <a href="" type="internal">President Barack Obama</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Speaker John Boehner</a>, <a href="" type="internal">St. Patrick's Day Cliff</a>, <a href="" type="internal">St. Valentine's Day Cliff</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Vice President Joe Biden</a></p>
<p>Friends:</p>
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<p>In defense of allowing guys into the girl's locker rooms, on his verified twitter feed Thursday, CNN's Chris Cuomo declaratively stated that a 12-year-old girl who doesn't consent to looking at a penis is "the problem." Or maybe the problem is "her overprotective and intolerant dad."</p>
<p />
<p>After the backlash hit, Cuomo apparently deleted the above tweet and claimed, "This isn’t about a scared girl. It is about an overprotective parent who is afraid without basis.”</p>
<p>And that is what you call a distinction without a difference.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether or not Cuomo is blaming the child, what kind of sick freak believes there is something wrong with, or broken inside of, a 12-year-old girl who does not consent to being exposed to a penis?</p>
<p>You see, Cuomo's highest value is not what this child agrees to or does not agree to be exposed to herself, his highest value is allowing guys into the girl's locker room.</p>
<p>And what if it's just a locker room for females of all ages? Are we going to allow this 12-year-old to be exposed to a grown man's penis?</p>
<p>In Cuomo's twisted mind, this is not an issue of whether or not this young girl (or anyone) should have the right to CONSENT to this kind of exposure, but whether or not she has been raised properly, trained correctly, indoctrinated accordingly…</p>
<p>Through his own moral fascism and emotional blackmail, Cuomo is abusing his national media power as a means to declare any parent who wishes to shield their young children from the sight of a strange penis as a bigot.</p>
<p>Moreover, any child who refuses to consent to such a thing, Cuomo is declaring that child damaged, an other, a freak, a weirdo, a victim of phobic parenting.</p>
<p>This is demonic thinking, an upside-down crucifix of the rules of healthy parenting…</p>
<p>A 12-year-old made uncomfortable by the sight of a strange penis is unquestionably a healthy, normal child.</p>
<p>A parent who wishes to protect their child from such an unhealthy sight is unquestionably a mature, caring and responsible parent.</p>
<p>But not according to Cuomo…</p>
<p>You see Cuomo has a political and social agenda, and in order to enact it…</p>
<p>Chris Cuomo will decide when your child's innocence should be punctured.</p>
<p>Chris Cuomo will decide when your child is exposed to sexuality.</p>
<p>On some level, against her CONSENT, Chris Cuomo believes 12-year-old girls should have no choice in this matter. If she's scared, whatever is wrong with her must be fixed until she is not, until she "agrees."</p>
<p>And there is no question that Cuomo is damn sure in favor of using the power of the national media and the State to, not only take away your rights as a parent, but your 12-year-old daughter's ability to CHOOSE what is and is not a safe and comfortable environment for her.</p>
<p>Man alive, the media is evil.</p>
<p>Follow John Nolte on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/NolteNC" type="external">@NolteNC</a>. Follow his Facebook Page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JohnNolteNC/?skip_nax_wizard=true" type="external">here</a>.</p> | What About Consent? Chris Cuomo's Depraved Beliefs About Little Girls and Penises. | true | https://dailywire.com/news/13831/what-about-consent-chris-cuomos-depraved-beliefs-john-nolte | 2017-02-24 | 0 |
<p>Risk can mean different things to different people. For some investors, it's simply the likelihood that a stock purchase will decrease in value. There's a reason why " <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2006/10/12/never-lose-money.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=06763a2a-fd24-11e7-9a97-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">don't lose money Opens a New Window.</a>" is Warren Buffett's No. 1 rule. The loss of capital hurts returns, mainly by removing the chance that cash had to compound over the long term.</p>
<p>Other investors equate risk with volatility, since a stock that posts wild price swings might not be a reliable source of funds that you can tap when you're looking to sell.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Whichever way you define risk, your goal is likely the same: To minimize it without sacrificing the potential for solid returns. With that in mind, let's look at a few stocks that are ideal for more conservative investors.</p>
<p>The restaurant business is famous for generating bankruptcies due to its high fixed costs and low profit margins. But with over 36,000 locations -- and decades of market leadership under its belt -- it's safe to say that McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) has found an approach that works.</p>
<p>The fast-food titan is just emerging from an unusually difficult operating stretch. Customer traffic declined for nearly three consecutive years beginning in 2013, and the slump hurt both sales and profits. Yet Mickey D's logged impressive financial results through these hard times. In fiscal 2016, it converted $4.2 billion, or 90%, of its earnings into free cash flow. Management directed a large chunk of that cash toward dividends and stock repurchases, which helped lift shareholder returns.</p>
<p>McDonald's operating trends <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/31/5-big-numbers-from-mcdonalds-incs-sizzling-quarter.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=06763a2a-fd24-11e7-9a97-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">are improving today Opens a New Window.</a>. Customer traffic is rising and the fast food giant is winning back lost market share. At the same time, shareholders can count on a long-term <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/01/04/this-is-the-real-reason-to-love-mcdonalds-stock.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=06763a2a-fd24-11e7-9a97-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">boost in profitability Opens a New Window.</a> to supercharge earnings growth during the expansion -- while protecting investor returns in those inevitable down years.</p>
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<p>Large tech companies aim to produce services and devices that millions of people use daily. Unfortunately, the lightning-fast pace of change in the industry always threatens to turn last year's leading brand into a faint memory this year.</p>
<p>Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) doesn't have that problem. As of late October, the consumer products giant dominated the market for toothpaste and toothbrushes just as it has for years. It was responsible for a whopping 44% of worldwide sales of toothpaste and 33% of the toothbrush market in the fiscal third quarter.</p>
<p>Weak industry conditions have knocked Colgate-Palmolive off its long-term target of between 4% and 7% organic growth. The company is still expecting to increase sales in fiscal 2017, though, even as rising prices help profitability reach new highs. That predictable, steady operating improvement helps explain why shares <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/01/10/why-colgate-palmolive-stock-gained-15-in-2017.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=06763a2a-fd24-11e7-9a97-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">closely tracked the market last year Opens a New Window.</a> while delivering income investors a solid dividend payment as well.</p>
<p>Like most retailers, Costco Wholesale's (NASDAQ: COST) business took a hit during the recession that impacted the economy about a decade ago. Comparable-store sales dropped 4% in fiscal 2009, compared to an 8% increase in the prior year. However, the warehouse giant's earnings growth barely missed a beat during that difficult time. Net income dipped just slightly, to $1.8 billion from $2 billion the year before. By fiscal 2010, earnings were up to $2.2 billion.</p>
<p>Shareholders can thank Costco's annual subscription fees for that market-thumping performance. Since the company generates most of its income from membership dues rather than product markups, its earnings are <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/24/costcos-business-today-in-3-charts.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=06763a2a-fd24-11e7-9a97-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">far less volatile Opens a New Window.</a> than rivals'. Its gross profit margin is already close to zero, after all, so there's little risk that profits will dive, as they have recently for Kroger, for example, during a pricing war. This stability is a key way that Costco earns its premium stock valuation, year after year.</p>
<p>With many stocks setting profit records these days, it's tempting to focus only on the potential for more gains ahead. But you can lower your portfolio's risk by choosing businesses, like Costco, that perform well regardless of their industry conditions.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Costco WholesaleWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=2200e5a1-3f0f-4844-bf9c-dcd4d6847083&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=06763a2a-fd24-11e7-9a97-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Costco Wholesale wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=2200e5a1-3f0f-4844-bf9c-dcd4d6847083&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=06763a2a-fd24-11e7-9a97-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of January 2, 2018</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSigma/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=06763a2a-fd24-11e7-9a97-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Demitrios Kalogeropoulos Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Costco Wholesale and McDonald's. The Motley Fool recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=06763a2a-fd24-11e7-9a97-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Hate Risk? You'll Love These 3 Stocks | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/04/19/hate-risk-youll-love-these-3-stocks.html | 2018-01-28 | 0 |
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<p>4:00 p.m.</p>
<p>Stocks are ending modestly higher on Wall Street, led by energy companies as the price of crude oil climbs.</p>
<p>Oil rig operator Transocean jumped 5.7 percent Wednesday, one of the biggest gains in the Standard &amp; Poor’s 500 index.</p>
<p>The price of crude oil rose 2.6 percent to $51 a barrel in New York.</p>
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<p>Among banks, Morgan Stanley and M&amp;T Bank each rose 1.9 percent after reporting earnings that beat analysts’ forecasts.</p>
<p>The Dow Jones industrial average rose 40 points, or 0.2 percent, to 18,202.</p>
<p>The S&amp;P 500 index rose 4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,144. The Nasdaq composite edged up 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,246.</p>
<p>Bond prices didn’t move much. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 1.74 percent.</p> | Markets Right Now: Stocks end modestly higher | false | https://abqjournal.com/870254/markets-right-now-stocks-open-slightly-higher.html | 2016-10-19 | 2 |
<p>President <a href="" type="internal">Barack Obama</a> will announce three more executive actions Monday to help veterans find work as he pushes Congress to pass tax credits for veterans to spur hiring, a <a href="" type="internal">White House</a> official said.</p>
<p>Obama will make the announcement at noon in the White House Rose Garden, where he will be joined by leading veterans' associations to pressure lawmakers to pass two tax credits the president proposed in his jobs bill.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Unemployment among veterans is well above the national average of 9 percent and more are expected to enter the labor force after Obama decided to pull out the remaining 40,000 U.S. troops in <a href="" type="internal">Iraq</a> by the end of the year.</p>
<p>The Returning Heroes Tax Credit provides firms that hire unemployed veterans with a maximum credit of $5,600 per veteran. The Wounded Warriors Tax Credit offers firms that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities with a maximum credit of $9,600 per veteran.</p>
<p>Congressional Republicans have balked at passing Democrat Obama's $447 billion jobs package in its entirety because it is paid for by raising taxes on wealthier Americans.</p>
<p>But parts of the package are expected to gain bipartisan support eventually and become law.The three executive announcements that Obama will make include a new online service to help veterans find work; creating a veterans job bank; and a veterans "gold card" granting them special services and care at career centers, the White House official said.</p>
<p>Unemployment among veterans who have served since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States stands at 235,000, or 11.7 percent, versus a national jobless rate in September of 9.1 percent.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Obama to Unveil New Job Help for Veterans | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/11/07/obama-to-unveil-new-job-help-for-veterans.html | 2016-01-29 | 0 |
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<p>While students around the country join&#160; <a href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/09/emma-sulkowicz-campus-sexual-assault-activism.html" type="external">Emma Sulkowicz’s</a> fight against flawed campus sexual assault policies, a new song by popular duo Play-N-Skillz&#160;is glorifying rape culture to the catchy tune of telling women to quit resisting and drink up already. The video, which came out in late October, has already been viewed more than 600,000 times.&#160;</p>
<p>Sample lyrics include: “A shot of vodka? I can’t. Tequila? I can’t. After party? I can’t. Girl-on-girl? I can’t. Literally I can’t. Literally I can’t.”</p>
<p>This back and forth banter is repeatedly met with a resounding:&#160;“Oh my god. Shut the fuck up!”&#160;</p>
<p>On the surface, “Literally, I Can’t” is a weak, and late,&#160;attempt to poke fun at an internet-established <a href="http://jezebel.com/help-your-girlfriend-is-literally-dying-because-she-ca-1546633449" type="external">joke</a> about a woman’s inability to utter concrete sentences to describe their unbridled excitement/disgust/horror/delight. But the result is an incredibly offensive mantra with an equally repugnant video starring fratty dudes in “STFU” varsity jackets, imploring the prude sorority girls of LIC to give in and let loose.</p>
<p>Lovely, no? As for a purely musical assessment, the song is just insufferable. Envisioning bros singing along to it, red Solo cups at the ready, is eye roll-inducing. But when you recall that Sulkowicz&#160;is still out there <a href="http://gothamist.com/2014/09/03/student_shames_columbia_with_perfor.php" type="external">literally</a>&#160;carrying&#160;the weight of the issue, that’s when it gets truly heartbreaking.&#160;</p>
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<p><a href="http://mashable.com/2014/11/07/literally-i-cant-video/" type="external">(h/t Mashable)</a></p>
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<p /> | Oh Great, Here’s a Hit Song Demanding Women Shut Up and Drink | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/11/literally-i-cant-song-rape/ | 2014-11-10 | 4 |
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<p />
<p>Eight wrestlers were expected to advance to today’s semifinal round of the state tournament at the Santa Ana Star Center – only five did.</p>
<p>But while the Cardinals will have a steep climb in order to crack the top three in the Class A-3A tourney, Martinez was completely at ease, taking his team’s less-than-ideal prognosis in stride.</p>
<p>That’s because, roughly three weeks ago, Martinez received news a father never wants to hear: His youngest son, Daniel Martinez, 20 – a five-time state champion from Robertson – was given a diagnosis of testicular cancer, which had spread to his back and lungs. Since then, Martinez said nothing would be the same.</p>
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<p>“What you used to think was important isn’t so important right now,” he said. “Right now my family is what’s important. We do our best at this sport – but this is just a sport. My youngest boy is sick. I lost my mom over the summer and lost my dad last year.</p>
<p>“(Wrestling) is a small thing in my life right now – my family is more important.”</p>
<p>Martinez said Daniel, during his first season wrestling at New Mexico Highlands, received the diagnosis after a sharp pain in his back wouldn’t go away. “We just thought he strained something – but it was cancer,” Martinez said.</p>
<p>He added that Daniel is currently undergoing chemotherapy and is responding to treatment.</p>
<p>“Daniel is doing all right, for now,” Martinez said. “He had chemo 26 hours the first week. This week he went for five hours. Next week he goes for five more hours, and then he starts the five-day rotation again. It’s a 12-week cycle.”</p>
<p>And as a show of support, Martinez’s other two sons – both four-time state champions from Robertson, Adam and Jake – will be sporting new hairdos while refereeing at the state tourney. “They shaved their heads so he wouldn’t feel alone,” Martinez said, “and when he totally loses his hair, they said they would do it, too.”</p>
<p>Robertson’s 120-pounder Rico Montoya dedicated his state tournament meet to Daniel, as well.</p>
<p>“What Daniel is going through is really hard for me because he’s a big inspiration – I want to be the next five-time state champion from Robertson,” he said. “He’s helped me a lot – a lot of what I know is because of Daniel. Me and my family took it hard when we found out. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for coach Martinez.</p>
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<p>“We’re all praying for Daniel, and we’ll all be fighting for him tomorrow.”</p>
<p>Montoya (40-1) will face Silver’s Ryan Morales (40-1) in the semis.</p>
<p>HORSEMEN IN DRIVER’S SEAT: St. Mike’s coach Joaquin Garcia had no complaints after Day 1.</p>
<p>Ten of 14 wrestlers qualified for the semifinal round, with his Horsemen sitting in first place – 2.5 points ahead of Cobre (59) and 3.5 points up on Silver (58). Now all that’s left to do is keep the momentum rolling, he said.</p>
<p>“It’s going to be a dogfight – everyone is going to have to wrestle their tails off tomorrow,” he said. “It’s going to come down to the very end.”</p>
<p>Both the Fighting Colts and Indians advanced 10 wrestlers into the semis.</p>
<p>TAPIA PULLS OFF UPSET, LEADS JAGS TO SEMIS: Capital coach Marcos Gallegos is so confident in the abilities of his 106-pounder, Jose Tapia, that he would match him up against anyone in the state.</p>
<p>Well, he got his wish.</p>
<p>The Jaguars coach opted to not have Tapia seeded at the tourney, which meant the eighth-grader would square off against the top seed, Toshio Herrera of Miyamura, in the quarterfinals. And just as Gallegos predicted: success. Tapia earned a 4-3 decision to advance to today’s semifinals, along with two teammates – 138-pounder Isaiah Anaya (29-0) and 145-pounder Ernesto Salvidrez (33-0). Anaya and Salvidrez recorded pins in the quarterfinals.</p>
<p>“It was a conscious effort to get a tough matchup he could win early on to take some pressure off him,” Gallegos said. “(Facing Herrera) in the quarters was exactly what we wanted … and he wrestled tough.”</p>
<p>With three Jaguar wrestlers in the semis, Capital sits eighth with 61 points.</p>
<p>‘TOPPERS OFF TO FAST START: After Day 1 of the state tournament, Los Alamos coach Bob Geyer said this is the best showing his team has had since joining the program roughly nine years ago, with the Hilltoppers sitting in fifth with 74.5 points.</p>
<p>The Hilltoppers advanced four wrestlers to today’s semifinals: 152-pounder Lane Saunders (33-7), 160-pounder Cory Geyer (36-4), 170-pounder Arnaldo Ortiz (19-3) and 182-pounder Brian Geyer (38-4).</p>
<p>“A top-five finish is within reach but this is about fun right now,” Geyer said. “Like I told the kids, ‘I’d love to be in the top five this year, but if we don’t get wins, that’s fine. If we get wins, that’s great.’</p>
<p>“But don’t get me wrong, if we get the wins, we’ll take them.”</p>
<p>Española Valley 120-pounder James Vigil (32-7), Santa Fe 113-pounder Adrian George (46-2) and Santa Fe 138-pounder Alex George (44-5) also qualified for the semis.</p>
<p>For a complete list of area wrestlers in today’s semifinals, visit the “Northern Exposure” sports blog at <a href="http://www.journalnorth.com" type="external">www.journalnorth.com</a>.</p> | Cardinal coach Martinez’s son has cancer | false | https://abqjournal.com/171843/cardinal-coach-martinezs-son-has-cancer.html | 2013-02-23 | 2 |
<p>Columbia Journalism Review The paper has been reinvented time and again throughout its long history, notes Michael Shapiro in his CJR cover story. Recent downsizing has forced editor Amanda Bennett to try to reinvent the paper once again. "This attempt, however, would be carried out in an altogether more difficult time for the American newspaper. It was as if a dark cloud had descended over the news business, a mood exacerbated by the journalistic inclination to see the worst in things."</p> | Reinvention isn't a novel idea at the Philadelphia Inquirer | false | https://poynter.org/news/reinvention-isnt-novel-idea-philadelphia-inquirer | 2006-03-01 | 2 |
<p>(Screenshot via YouTube.)</p>
<p>“Orphan Black” star Jordan Gavaris has come out as gay.</p>
<p>In an interview with <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2017/06/jordan-gavaris-explains-it-all.html" type="external">Vulture</a>, Gavaris, who plays Sarah’s gay brother Felix in the sci-fi series, explained he had never publicly come out because no one had asked.</p>
<p>“I guess that’s where I’m at in terms of coming out publicly: I had this position when I started on the show that it shouldn’t matter. And I believe that. I hope that one day, the world gets to a place where you don’t need to politicize your sexuality any more than someone needs to politicize their race — that we can just act and we can exist in this Zeitgeist, telling stories about one another. And that no one’s afraid, maybe, to come out,” Gavaris continued.</p>
<p>The 27-year-old explained he felt awkward coming out to his parents at 19 because it was a confession that he wanted to be sexual.</p>
<p>“At 19 I thought it was gross. I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is gross. I have to tell them this thing and now they’re going to know that I’m interested in these guys and I want to date these guys and I want to sleep with these guys. This is so weird. Now they know I’m sexually active,'” Gavaris says.</p>
<p>Gavaris went on that he understands being gay will cost him acting parts but he says that other roles will open up for him.</p>
<p>“This is a tricky thing to say and I’ve never actually said it out loud before, but I do believe that jobs will be lost and I do believe jobs will be gained. Maybe not even for the right reasons. There’s been a lot of conversation in the industry about hiring openly gay actors for gay parts, and I think that’s really important. But frankly, I’m not interested in doing any kind of work where I couldn’t bring myself in totality to the character,” Gavaris says.</p>
<p>“Orphan Black” airs its final season on Saturdays at 10 p.m. on BBC America.</p>
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<p><a href="" type="internal">Jordan Gavaris</a> <a href="" type="internal">Orphan Black</a> <a href="" type="internal">Vulture</a></p> | ‘Orphan Black’ star Jordan Gavaris comes out as gay | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2017/06/15/orphan-black-star-jordan-gavaris-comes-gay/ | 3 |
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<p>CINCINNATI (AP) — The last of the Doolittle Raiders from World War II will make their final toast together in a Nov. 9 ceremony at the national Air Force museum in southwest Ohio.</p>
<p>An Air Force museum spokesman told The Associated Press today that all four remaining survivors of the 1942 bombing attack on Japan plan to participate. All are in their 90s.</p>
<p>By tradition, the Raiders reunite each year and toast “those who have gone” from the original 80. They use special silver goblets with engraved names. For years, the plan was for the last two survivors to make the final toast. However, after Maj. Thomas Griffin of Cincinnati died in February at age 96, it was decided to have a final ceremony this year because of the survivors’ advancing ages.</p>
<p>The toast ritual grew from reunions led by Lt. Col. James “Jimmy” Doolittle, who commanded the mission credited with helping change the course of the war in the aftermath of Japan’s Pearl Harbor attack and a string of Japanese successes in the Pacific region.</p>
<p>“While the attack itself caused little actual damage to the Japanese war industry, the psychological impact on the Japanese military and the American public proved to be immense,” retired Lt. Gen. Jack Hudson, the museum director, said in a statement. He said the museum is “deeply honored” to host the final toast.</p>
<p>Expected in Ohio are Lt. Col. Richard Cole of Comfort, Texas; Lt. Col. Edward Saylor of Puyallup, Wash.; Master Sgt. David Thatcher of Missoula, Mont., and Lt. Col. Robert Hite of Nashville, Tenn. Hite has missed reunions in recent years because of health issues, but museum spokesman Rob Bardua said his family plans to make every effort to get him to the ceremony.</p>
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<p>Cole will turn 98 on Saturday. He is a native of Dayton and the oldest of the surviving Raiders.</p>
<p>Acting Air Force Secretary Eric Fanning and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III plan to attend the invitation-only event. There will be public events including a wreath-laying ceremony and a B-25 flyover.</p>
<p>Cole, Saylor and Thatcher reunited in April at Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle, where they had trained for their top-secret mission. Last year, the Raiders had a 70th anniversary reunion at the National Museum of the Air Force near Dayton. It included survivors and relatives of the crew of the USS Hornet, the carrier that launched the land-based B-25 bombers for the attack. Survivors and relatives of Chinese villagers who helped Raiders elude Japanese capture also attended.</p>
<p>The 16 planes lacked fuel to reach safe bases after the raid. Three Raiders died off China, three were executed by the Japanese and another died in captivity.</p>
<p>The goblets have names engraved twice, to be read right-side-up for the living, and upside-down for the deceased. The city of Tucson presented the Raiders with the goblets in 1959. Doolittle died in 1993.</p> | Last of WWII Doolittle Raiders to hold final toast | false | https://abqjournal.com/258189/last-of-wwii-doolittle-raiders-to-hold-final-toast.html | 2013-09-05 | 2 |
<p>The father of fake news, former CBS journalist Dan Rather, bemoaned the fact that Americans don’t trust the media — ignoring his own seismic scandal at CBS News that forced him to resign.</p>
<p>Speaking on NBC’s Today on Tuesday, Rather fielded a question from host Savannah Guthrie about Americans' growing mistrust in the media.</p>
<p>“There’s a recent poll that said nearly half of people think the media make up stories. The media itself is under fire,” Guthrie said. “What do you think the media needs to do better to enhance its own credibility?”</p>
<p>“We need to do a better job, we need to do our job,” Rather responded. “Our job is to bear witness, to be honest brokers of information, to be as accurate and fair as we possibly can.”</p>
<p>Rather, who had a strong reputation for his liberal bias while at CBS News, used people’s distrust of the media to attack President Donald Trump.</p>
<p>“I think most of the public understands that we’re under attack by very powerful people, including the president, for their own partisan, political, and ideological reasons,” Rather continued.</p>
<p>WATCH:</p>
<p>Rather, who has a <a href="http://archive.mrc.org/projects/rather20th/welcome.asp" type="external">well-documented history</a> of distorting the news, resigned after a hit piece he ran at CBS News which used forged documents to attack President George W. Bush right before the presidential election.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://archive.mrc.org/profiles/rather/crisis.asp" type="external">Media Research Center</a> provides a summary of the scandal that ended with Rather's resignation:</p>
<p>On September 8, 2004, Dan Rather cited “exclusive information, including documents” to justify major CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes stories alleging that George W. Bush shirked his duties when he was in the Texas Air National Guard in the 1960s and 1970s. Within a few hours of those documents being posted on CBS News’ Web site, however, typography experts voiced skepticism that the documents had actually originated with their alleged author and Bush’s former commanding officer, the late Lt. Colonel Jerry Killian.</p>
<p>As the evidence mounted, Rather stubbornly clung to the idea that his story was bulletproof, and he derided critics as partisans and Internet rumormongers. When he “apologized” on September 20, Rather would not concede that the documents were forgeries, only that he and CBS could “no longer vouch for their authenticity.” On November 23, 2004, CBS announced that Rather would soon be leaving his job as anchor of the CBS Evening News. An investigative report released on January 10, 2005 faulted CBS’s rush to put the flawed story on the air and their “stubborn” defense in the days that followed, but oddly decided that they could not blame partisan bias.</p> | WATCH: Fake News Legend Dan Rather Can't Believe Americans Think Media 'Makes Up Stories' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/23306/watch-fake-news-legend-dan-rather-cant-believe-ryan-saavedra | 2017-11-08 | 0 |
<p>BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. — When TV news rivals <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/index.html" type="external">Greta Van Susteren</a> and <a href="" type="external">Rachel Maddow</a> are beating the same political drum, something is very wrong in Washington.</p>
<p>The Barack Obama administration finds itself under attack from both the left and the right this week as it struggles to deal with three major scandals: the news that the Department of Justice had staged an unprecedented raid on The Associated Press’ phone records; the revelation that the Internal Revenue Service has been targeting right-wing groups; and the ongoing fallout from the September attack in Benghazi, Libya.</p>
<p>It is the AP story that has most galvanized the media, threatening to disrupt the generally sympathetic coverage that the White House has enjoyed from large swaths of the press.</p>
<p>Everyone from CNN to Fox News took aim at the Justice Department for its wide-ranging subpoena of the AP’s phone records, thought to be an attempt to find the source of a leak regarding a foiled terrorism plot in Yemen on the first anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death.</p>
<p>Attorney General Eric Holder is due today to face tough questions on issues like the AP phone records affair by the <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/130515/us-attorney-general-eric-holder-questioned-lawma" type="external">Republican-led House Judiciary Committee</a>.</p>
<p>But the grilling is already well under way.</p>
<p>The AP’s president, Gary B. Pruitt, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/05/13/doj-seizes-ap-phone-records/2156819/" type="external">sent a letter to Holder</a>, saying there could be “no possible justification” to what it called “a massive and unprecedented intrusion by the Department of Justice into the newsgathering activities of The Associated Press.”</p>
<p>Fox News quoted House Speaker John Boehner’s office as saying “ <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/13/lawmakers-rip-justice-department-over-ap-phone-record-grab/" type="external">they better have a damned good explanation</a>” for the records grab.</p>
<p>CNN’s John King, who worked for the AP early in his career, <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/journos-fume-over-doj-raid-on-ap-91295_Page2.html#ixzz2TIRGnkpl" type="external">was equally blunt</a>:</p>
<p>“This is very chilling,” he said. “The government gets angry about leaks of classified information. I understand that ... But did they cross a line here? Did they do something inappropriate here, did they possibly do something that went over legal barriers here?”</p>
<p>CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin maintained that the seizure was legal, if inadvisable.</p>
<p>"I have never heard of a subpoena this broad," Toobin said. " <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/13/us/justice-ap-phones/index.html" type="external">It's legal, as far as I can tell</a>. The administration isn't violating the First Amendment. But they are certainly doing more than has ever been done before in pursuing the private information of journalists. And we'll see if there's any political check on them, because there doesn't appear to be any legal check on what they're doing."</p>
<p>Toobin did acknowledge that the Obama administration has been “incredibly aggressive” in prosecuting leakers. In fact, as CNN’s White House correspondent Jessica Yellin remarked at a press conference Tuesday, this White House “has prosecuted more people for leaks than every other president put together.”</p>
<p>This is true; over the last hundred years, there have been 10 prosecutions of officials for leaking information, journalist Steve Coll <a href="http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=2013-04-01#folio=054" type="external">writes in the New Yorker</a>. “Six of them have occurred on the watch of Attorney General Eric Holder.”</p>
<p>There certainly was pushback from the media. White House spokesman Jay Carney and Holder faced unusually rough handling at the hands of reporters at twin press conferences Tuesday, as the pair played hot potato with responsibility for the scandal.</p>
<p>Carney sought to distance the White House from the matter:</p>
<p>“We are not involved at the White House in any decisions made in connection with ongoing criminal investigations, as those matters are handled appropriately by the Justice Department — independently,” the White House spokesman told reporters.</p>
<p>The Department of Justice was doing its own dance. Holder defended the DOJ’s actions, saying that the leak on the plot in Yemen was “if not the most serious” leak he has ever seen, then “among the top two or three,” and that it “put the American people at risk.”</p>
<p>That having been said, he promptly revealed that <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/holder-cites-very-serious-leak-for-ap-records-subpoena/2013/05/14/1ecd2c02-97e9-4554-ac66-746dd26a24b3_video.html" type="external">he had recused himself</a> from the decision to go after the AP.</p>
<p>That left Deputy Attorney General James Cole holding the bag.</p>
<p>He, too, defended DOJ, saying in a letter to the AP’s Pruitt that the Department of Justice had balanced the public's right to know with national security.</p>
<p>"The subpoenas were limited to a reasonable period of time and did not seek the content of any calls," <a href="http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/national/associated-press-phone-records-deputy-attorney-general-defends-ap-subpoenas#ixzz2TLmi6GWe" type="external">Cole wrote</a>.</p>
<p>The AP rejected the DOJ’s attempts at justification and denied that it had jeopardized the nation’s security.</p>
<p>“We held that story until the government assured us that the national security concerns had passed,” wrote Pruitt, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/14/ap-doj-letter-secret-probe-concerns_n_3275490.html" type="external">in a letter to the DOJ</a>. “Indeed, the White House was preparing to publicly announce that the bomb plot had been foiled.”</p>
<p>Taxman targeting the Tea Party?</p>
<p>The furor over freedom of the press almost drowned out another, possibly even more serious abuse-of-power scandal: the revelation that the IRS had been targeting right-wing groups for audits.</p>
<p>On Friday, top IRS official Lois Lerner, who heads the agency’s exempt organizations division, told reporters IRS staffers had singled out conservative organizations with "Tea Party" or "patriots" in their name that were seeking tax-exempt nonprofit status, subjecting them to extra scrutiny to see if they were abusing the tax law as it relates to political activity.</p>
<p>Everyone from former presidential candidate and archconservative Rick Santorum to President Obama himself rushed to condemn the IRS for its misplaced fervor.</p>
<p>Obama called the news “outrageous,” while Santorum, who heads a conservative grassroots organization called “ <a href="http://www.patriotvoices.com" type="external">Patriots Voices</a>,” used it as a fundraising gimmick.</p>
<p>“There's no denying it. We are living under one of the most troubled administrations of the past century,” wrote Santorum in a mass mailing, urging supporters to contribute generously to stop the White House.</p>
<p>Lerner herself apologized for the IRS’ use of “inappropriate criteria” to target certain groups, earning this <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-irs-scandal-carries-echoes-of-watergate/2013/05/13/78f03660-bbf1-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html" type="external">scathing reply from conservative columnist George Will</a>:</p>
<p>“No, using the salad fork for the entree is inappropriate. Using the Internal Revenue Service for political purposes is a criminal offense.”</p>
<p>He may be right. The government has launched a criminal investigation into the actions of the IRS; the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration issued a report on the IRS efforts on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Obama called the report’s findings “ <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/politics/130514/holder-orders-probe-irs-handling-tea-party-groups" type="external">intolerable and inexcusable</a>,” while CNN’s Wolf Blitzer repeatedly used words like <a href="http://uneditedpolitics.com/cnns-wolf-blitzer-irs-report-very-very-damning-51413/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=cnns-wolf-blitzer-irs-report-very-very-damning-51413" type="external">“damning” and “explosive”</a> when he talked about it on air Tuesday evening.</p>
<p>Even Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart ripped into the administration on Monday night.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>The irrepressible and relentlessly liberal host of "The Daily Show" complained bitterly that the administration’s actions had given credibility to ”the full-blown right-wing victimization complex” of conservatives. He accused the White House of managerial incompetence when it tried to do good, but “when government wants to flex its more malevolent muscles you’re fucking Iron Man.”</p>
<p>About the only good news for the Obama administration seems to be that last week’s big scandal — the alleged “cover-up” over the response to the attack in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11, 2012, has faded into the background a bit.</p>
<p>As recently as last week the Republicans were intent on portraying Benghazi as a scandal on the scale of Watergate.</p>
<p>Indeed, comparisons with the incident that ultimately drove President Richard Nixon from office have been cropping up more and more frequently.</p>
<p>Will wrote in the Washington Post that the IRS scandal had “echoes of Watergate,” and hinted that it should have the same outcome:</p>
<p>“Forty years ago this week … the Senate Watergate hearings began exploring the nature of Richard Nixon’s administration. Now the nature of Barack Obama’s administration is being clarified as revelations about IRS targeting of conservative groups merge with myriad Benghazi mendacities,” he wrote.</p>
<p>He was not the only one.</p>
<p>“Is Obama worse than Nixon?” lawyer James Goodale asked <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/14/is-obama-worse-for-press-freedom-than-nixon.html" type="external">in The Daily Beast</a>.</p>
<p>“The day the Obama administration <a href="" type="external">went all Nixon on us</a>,” Will Bunch of The Huffington Post writes.</p>
<p>The White House <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/14/besieged-white-house-rejects-obama-nixon-parallels/" type="external">rejects the comparison</a>, but Obama defenders are scarce on the ground these days.</p>
<p>With the bitter gridlock in Washington these days, many would welcome almost anything that helps bridge the political chasm between left and right.</p>
<p>But a united front in attacking the White House is probably not what anyone had in mind.</p> | The Associated Press, IRS scandals build unlikely bridge over bipartisan divide | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-05-15/associated-press-irs-scandals-build-unlikely-bridge-over-bipartisan-divide | 2013-05-15 | 3 |
<p>Walk down the aisles of your local grocery store or big box retailer, and you are faced with a sometimes overwhelming selection of thousands of products. But even then, that is only a small subset of the more than one million items available to consumers each year.</p>
<p>In this <a href="http://www.fool.com/podcasts/industry-focus?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Industry Focus: Consumer Goods Opens a New Window.</a>segment, the cast considers the challenges of competing in an environment with seemingly limitless consumer options and what that implies for consumer staples manufacturers like UnileverandProcter &amp; Gamble.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>A full transcript follows the video.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2667&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>This podcast was recorded on Oct. 12, 2016.</p>
<p>Vincent Shen: I really wanted to hammer the point home in terms of how important these efforts can be for companies by stepping back a little bit and giving a little bit of a big picture context and calling out some numbers that I think can put things into perspective. For example, in 2008 research from the Food Marketing Institute the typical U.S. grocery store, or supermarket, stocked about 47,000 different products. That is up 50% from the previous decade and about five-fold since 1975. Keep in mind that a Wal-MartSupercenter, for example, their SKU numbers for a store that size is well over 100,000. And then if you go a step further, researching the case at any one time in the United States, there are at least one million products on the market for consumers to purchase. So that research might be a few years old now, so with some of the other trends that we've seen, you can imagine that number is likely much larger than one million at this point with customization, for example.</p>
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<p>So the sobering reality I think for a lot of retailers, be it Unilever or Procter &amp; Gamble, is that consumers only use about 340 unique items in a year out of that one million-plus. And making sure that you are maximizing your profitability, maximizing your product mix and what is on store shelves, to boost your revenue and make sure that that small subset of items that each consumer uses includes products from your portfolio, is just really important. Is there any other thoughts that you wanted to leave our listeners with, Asit?</p>
<p>Asit Sharma: Just one last thought. And by the way, those are some mind-boggling statistics and I think that really visually gives us an idea of how much supply there is out there of product and why it's a great idea to reduce as much as you can if you're a manufacturer.</p>
<p>My last point is that we see the Pareto Principle in life a lot, which is 80% of outputs are due to 20% of inputs. See that in so many different spheres of life, and manufacturers have found this to be very true ... SKU and brand rationalization, that a lot of times it's just a few products that are really driving your sales and your profits, so why wouldn't you put in the effort to pare those down and optimize your profit and optimize your cash flow? As investors, we should be looking for the companies which are actively trying to perform this exercise. And the two companies we've mentioned today are really into this. Their management talks about these concepts almost every conference call, we see it in the numbers, and it's a great way to evaluate a consumer goods company. Are they paying attention to the proliferation of products that they've got, and are they trying to make themselves more efficient as time goes on?</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFfinosus/info.aspx" type="external">Asit Sharma Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFJourneyMan/info.aspx" type="external">Vincent Shen Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Procter &amp; Gamble and Unilever. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Sobering State of Retail: Why Less Is Almost Always More | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/10/30/sobering-state-retail-why-less-is-almost-always-more.html | 2016-10-30 | 0 |
<p>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday afternoon's drawing of the North Carolina Lottery's "Pick 4 Day" game were:</p>
<p>1-3-4-0, Lucky Sum: 8</p>
<p>(one, three, four, zero; Lucky Sum: eight)</p>
<p>RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Friday afternoon's drawing of the North Carolina Lottery's "Pick 4 Day" game were:</p>
<p>1-3-4-0, Lucky Sum: 8</p>
<p>(one, three, four, zero; Lucky Sum: eight)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Pick 4 Day' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/88097b7db3d7445d9e1529b54de7e53a | 2018-01-05 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Several “incendiary devices” were thrown at a gay club in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 28, 2017. (Image by Nicolas Raymond; courtesy Flickr)</p>
<p />
<p>El Vocero, a Puerto Rican newspaper, <a href="http://www.elvocero.com/ley-y-orden/lanzan-bombas-incendiarias-a-discoteca-en-santurce/article_72bf55a4-bcab-11e7-be3b-5f0864605c44.html" type="external">reported</a> “several individuals who were dressed in black” threw “incendiary devices” at Circo Bar — which is located in the Santurce neighborhood of the U.S. commonwealth’s capital of San Juan — at around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.</p>
<p>El Vocero <a href="http://www.elvocero.com/ley-y-orden/lanzan-bombas-incendiarias-a-discoteca-en-santurce/article_72bf55a4-bcab-11e7-be3b-5f0864605c44.html" type="external">reported</a> the devices did not cause significant damage to the club. A police spokesperson told the newspaper that no arrests have been made and the motive behind the attack remains unclear.</p>
<p>Pedro Julio Serrano, founder of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, a Puerto Rican LGBT advocacy group, on Sunday urged authorities to investigate whether the attack was a hate crime.</p>
<p />
<p>The attack took place less than six weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico.</p>
<p>More than 70 percent of the island’s 3.4 million residents remain without electricity. Roughly 20 percent of Puerto Ricans <a href="http://estatus.pr/" type="external">still do not have access to running water.</a></p>
<p>San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz — who supports LGBT rights in the U.S. commonwealth — remains among the most vocal critics of the federal and Puerto Rican governments’ response to Maria.</p>
<p>Governor Ricardo Rosselló on Sunday urged the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority to cancel a controversial $300 million contract it signed with a Montana company to help rebuild the island’s power infrastructure. Ricardo Ramos, executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, which is known by the acronym PREPA, a few hours announced it had cancelled the contract with the company that is based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown of Whitefish, Mont.</p>
<p>Pedro Julio Serrano, founder of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, a Puerto Rican LGBT advocacy group, shows his tattoo that pays tribute to the LGBT Puerto Ricans who died inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., during an interview in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 7, 2016. He has urged authorities to investigate the throwing of “incendiary devices” at a gay nightclub as a hate crime. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Carmen Yulín Cruz</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">Hurricane Maria</a> <a href="" type="internal">Pedro Julio Serrano</a> <a href="" type="internal">Puerto Rico</a> <a href="" type="internal">Puerto Rico Para Tod@s</a> <a href="" type="internal">Ricardo Ramos</a> <a href="" type="internal">Ricardo Rosselló</a></p> | ‘Incendiary devices’ thrown at Puerto Rico gay club | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2017/10/30/incendiary-devices-thrown-puerto-rico-gay-club/ | 3 |
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<p>SEE ALSO:&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Philippines Typhoon coincide with Man-Made Microwave Pulses</a></p>
<p>“Every&#160;conceivable&#160;type of weapon is being examined or explored by various individuals, if not with the support of their government.” – Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen (1997-2001)</p>
<p>Shawn Helton <a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-5r9" type="external">21st Century Wire</a></p>
<p>Do you believe that weather weapons exist?</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=674" type="external">United States&#160;Department of Defense transcript from April, 28th 1997</a>, then Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, shocked the public by admitting that weaponized weather has been created through the use of “electromagnetic waves.” The Weather Modification Association <a href="http://www.weathermodification.org/" type="external">has admitted that governments have been altering the weather since at least 1950</a>.</p>
<p>The aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), has been truly tragic as the situation has descended into total chaos, however, one cannot ignore the bizarre weather anomalies leading up to the “world’s biggest storm“.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> Weather Manipulation: Weather modification technology exists and could be weaponized.</p>
<p>In the past week, independent weatherman ‘Dutchsinse’ shot several YouTube&#160;videos dissecting the typhoon system passing through the Philippines, believing it to be&#160;produced by&#160;weather manipulation, <a href="" type="internal">specifically microwave &#160;pulse technology.&#160;</a></p>
<p>Weather modification technology and geo-engineering would be a powerful weapon if deployed for strategic ends. If this is the case, what would be the geopolitical motive?</p>
<p>In August of 2013, while the situation in Syria was reaching a boiling point over <a href="" type="internal">false chemical weapons allegations</a>, Secretary of Defense&#160;Chuck Hagel met with&#160;Filipino&#160;President Benigno Aquino&#160;to discuss the expansion of the U.S. military in the Philippines. The Obama administration had already been negotiating a deal to secure space for the US military to conduct military maneuvers at several locations in the area. This military deal was met with harsh backlash from the public as Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin of the&#160;Philippines was looking to finalize the deal:</p>
<p>“We’d want them near disaster-prone areas so they can help out if problems occur“.</p>
<p>The Philippines was a U.S. colony from 1898 to 1946 and had shut down the last U.S. base in 1991, through a Senate vote.</p>
<p>Filipino officials have stated that the United States has been attempting to procure an old airport to use as a drone base. The&#160;Daniel Romualdez&#160; Airport which has been completely destroyed in <a href="http://gulfnews.com/news/world/philippines/eight-filipinos-die-in-stampede-at-rice-warehouse-1.1254634" type="external">&#160;the aftermath Haiyan&#160;has been placed under control by military and police since last Monday</a>.</p>
<p>Will the airport remain in U.S.control under the guise of humanitarian oversight?</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/h/globalnation.inquirer.net/files/2013/08/300x300xUS-PH-military-presence-300x300.jpg.pagespeed.ic.-NdgzDxLak.webp" type="external" />IMAGE: Skulls &amp; Stripes burn over the U.S. military’s presence in the&#160;Philippines.</p>
<p>House Representative from the&#160;Akbayan&#160;Partylist,&#160;Walden Bello,&#160;was very outspoken in early September, condemning the actions of the Obama administration and their pursuit to strike Syria:</p>
<p>“Not only must President Aquino not repeat what his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, did with respect to Iraq, which was to join George W. Bush’s notorious “Coalition of the Willing.” He must forcefully register our country’s opposition to Mr. Obama’s dangerous plan, and here he can take a cue from the British Parliament, which has repudiated Prime Minister Cameron’s effort to drag Britain behind the American strike.”</p>
<p>Continuing, Bello added:</p>
<p>“Secondly, a US attack on Syria directly contradicts the national interest of the Philippines, which is bound up with the welfare of our OFWs. It will put at risk the lives of the several thousand OFWs that remain in Syria.</p>
<p>It’s clear from the statements above that there were those within the&#160;Filipino government strongly opposed to Western intervention in Syria.</p>
<p>Was the typhoon a ‘soft war’ strategy of&#160;tension technique&#160;employed on the&#160;Philippines, to pressure them into supporting future destabilization campaigns directed by the West?</p>
<p>Then there’s the question of the <a href="" type="internal">Trans Pacific Partnership in all its intellectual and economic power grabbing</a>. The TPP, said to consolidate over forty percent of world trade once its fully implemented, effectively putting an end to national sovereignty.</p>
<p>Wikileaks recently <a href="http://wikileaks.org/tpp/" type="external">revealed documents exposing the TPP deal</a> with twelve other countries being involved.</p>
<p>Philippines&#160;Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo has stated that the&#160;Filipino <a href="http://www.philstar.com/business/2013/11/11/1255214/phl-seeks-flexibility-tpp-membership" type="external">Constitution has certain limitations on how they can conduct business with foreign&#160;entities</a>. This could be a major stumbling block for the U.S. as they would also like to lay claim to territory for RIMPAC (the Rim of the Pacific shared naval exercises) in addition to the TPP deal.</p>
<p>Domingo further explained the pressure to be a part of TPP:</p>
<p>“It (TPP) is something we have to engage in. We have no choice because the US is our second largest trading partner and many of our neighbors will become members of&#160; TPP. If they have duty-free access, for example, in the US and we don’t, it will really handicap the Philippines and affect us in a significant way.”</p>
<p>Was the Syrian intervention, the&#160;TPP, or &#160;RIMPAC&#160;the motive for the use secretive technology to politically punish or coerce the Philippines?</p>
<p>Western interests and in particular the U.S., stand to lose quite a bit if they cannot implement their military and economic plans, any delay could cause a serious rift between countries and their ‘corporate elect’ leaders.</p>
<p>In 2012, Iran’s chief&#160;meteorologist&#160;Hassan Mousavi <a href="http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/iran-accuses-u-s-of-using-weather-weapons/" type="external">claimed that the West was launching a climate war</a>against the southern region of Iran, deliberately causing a drought.</p>
<p>Dutchsinse takes us through a step by step of weather modification below…</p>
<p />
<p>READ MORE ABOUT WEATHER WEAPONS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire HAARP Files</a></p> | Did the Philippines become a target of Weather Weapons? | true | http://21stcenturywire.com/2013/11/16/did-the-phillipines-become-a-target-of-weather-weapons/ | 2013-11-16 | 4 |
<p>Throughout his presidential campaign, President Trump took aim at <a href="" type="internal">NAFTA</a>, the <a href="" type="internal">Trans-Pacific Partnership</a>&#160;and other U.S. trade agreements. One year into his administration, America is officially out of the TPP, and Trump is renegotiating NAFTA. Yet another trade deal — the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences — is also now on life support.</p>
<p>Better known as GSP, the program is supposed to <a href="https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/266/~/generalized-system-of-preferences-%28gsp%29" type="external">encourage economic development</a> by offering poor countries a patchwork framework to export tariff-free into the U.S. market. It expired on Dec. 31, 2017. The GSP is far from perfect, and the program could stand a rethink. But ending it abruptly would also cause harm, including to U.S. interests.</p>
<p>So what exactly is the GSP and what do you need to know?</p>
<p>1. The U.S. GSP program isn’t particularly big</p>
<p>Relatively few U.S. imports benefit from the GSP. In 2016, the GSP <a href="https://www.usitc.gov/documents/dataweb/ave_table_1891_2016.pdf" type="external">covered</a> only $19 billion, or less than 3 percent, of U.S. imports that could face a tariff.</p>
<p>The U.S. <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33663.pdf" type="external">program</a> dates to the Trade Act of 1974. Under the GSP, the U.S. government selects a group of poor countries and a set of products, and it offers these countries lower-than-normal tariffs than it applies to imports from all other World Trade Organization countries.</p>
<p>[ <a href="" type="internal">Donald Trump’s solar and washer tariffs may have now opened the floodgates of protectionism</a>]</p>
<p>Imports from China and some developing countries are ineligible for GSP benefits. But top <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33663.pdf" type="external">exporters</a> under the program include India and Brazil, major emerging economies that the Trump administration has accused of <a href="https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2017/december/opening-plenary-statement-ustr" type="external">problematic</a> trade policies. Nonetheless, 90 percent of Indian/Brazilian exports to America face normal U.S. tariffs and would remain unaffected by changes to the GSP program.</p>
<p>2. GSP is not generous, partly by design</p>
<p>Many factors limit the trade coming in under the GSP. For nearly half of all the goods America imports, the normal tariffs are zero — there isn’t a lower tariff to offer.</p>
<p>The other half of products is where the GSP program’s limits kick in. Because the U.S. government unilaterally determines where to give zero tariffs under the GSP, exclusion of certain products and countries can be subject to domestic politics. Trade economist <a href="https://tinyurl.com/ya9yvxaa" type="external">Emanuel Ornelas</a> reports only about half of eligible products end up part of the program.</p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/twec.12216/abstract" type="external">Left out</a> are goods that many poor countries would be keen to export, such as agriculture and relatively lower-skilled manufacturers like clothing. From a development perspective, GSP tariffs of zero would provide big benefits for poor country exporters; many of these goods face relatively high normal U.S. tariffs.</p>
<p>But they are kept out of the GSP because of strong American domestic political pressure. Instead, noncontroversial products — like gold necklaces — end up topping the program’s import list.</p>
<p>Access to the zero tariff under the GSP also has costs. In addition to paperwork, foreign companies must use enough locally sourced inputs — even if of dubious quality — to comply with “rules of origin” requirements. IMF economist <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/caje.12131/abstract" type="external">Shushanik Hakobyan</a> has found that poor countries frequently don’t bother to utilize the GSP because compliance costs are too large.</p>
<p>3. Political economists have long been skeptical of GSP’s benefits</p>
<p>Another major concern with the GSP is its uncertainty. The U.S. program has always been <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33663.pdf" type="external">temporary</a> and sometimes suffers periods of nonrenewal. But even when operational, products and country eligibility are always at the discretion of the U.S. government. Furthermore, a country can export only a limited amount of any product under the GSP. The cap was $180 million in 2017, and no more than 50 percent of a product can derive from a single country.</p>
<p>[ <a href="" type="internal">What is NAFTA, and what would happen to U.S. trade without it?</a>]</p>
<p>These combined “unknowns” tend to limit the economic development benefits of any “trade-instead-of-aid” program. And research <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.20140068" type="external">indicates</a> companies invest too little for export when uncertain of the future tariff they face.</p>
<p>But there is a second, systemic worry about all the one-way tariff preference programs that countries like the United States began to offer in the 1970s. Richer countries kept products with high trade barriers — like clothing, footwear and agriculture — ineligible for the GSP. And the “one-way” part of the GSP meant poor countries got away with refusing to offer to reduce their own trade barriers in return.</p>
<p>The result was a stalemate. And because of this, Arvind Subramanian and Shang-Jin Wei <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022199606001140" type="external">find</a> poor countries were not able to expand exports for decades. Most also didn’t begin lowering their own import tariffs until the 1990s. A further legacy is that trade liberalization by countries like India and Brazil remains highly <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/chadpbown/Bown-Crowley-HB.pdf" type="external">incomplete</a>, lending <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/937031468179955550/What-s-left-for-the-WTO" type="external">some legitimacy</a> to the Trump administration’s misgivings.</p>
<p>4. Ending GSP could nevertheless prove locally disruptive</p>
<p>Because GSP coverage is small, even immediate termination is unlikely to impact the overall U.S. economy. Nevertheless, it would hurt poor countries as well as some U.S. interests.</p>
<p>Two sets of empirical studies illustrate the supply chain linkages. Emily Blanchard and Xenia Matschke <a href="http://voxeu.org/article/tilting-playing-field-multinational-firms-and-preferential-market-access" type="external">find</a> the United States applies lower tariffs toward imports from subsidiaries of U.S. multinational companies under the GSP. And in a cross-country examination of GSP-type programs, Blanchard, Robert Johnson and I <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/chadpbown/BBJ-GVCs.pdf" type="external">document</a> countries like the United States as offering lower tariffs to imports that contain high levels of U.S. content arising through global value chains.</p>
<p>But the implication is that eliminating the GSP and raising U.S. tariffs on poor country exports would reach back through supply chains to harm Americans. Anytime President Trump cuts off sales by foreigners to America, those foreigners will no longer buy the parts and components currently supplied by U.S. companies and workers.</p>
<p>Will the GSP be revived? Or will Trump kill it off for good?</p>
<p>Earlier administrations — including under President Barack Obama — also allowed the GSP to expire. Yet in each case, the program eventually was renewed. After an initial period of silence, the Trump administration has most recently <a href="https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/gsp/FAQs-on-GSP-Expiration-January-2018.pdf" type="external">stated</a> it “supports congressional action to renew the GSP program and is working with Congress toward this end.”</p>
<p>[ <a href="" type="internal">Trump is a new kind of protectionist — he operates in stealth mode</a>]</p>
<p>This time could be different. Trump’s trade policy to date — evidenced by his <a href="https://piie.com/blogs/trade-investment-policy-watch/trumps-renegotiation-could-take-free-out-naftas-trade" type="external">NAFTA</a> renegotiations and threats to WTO <a href="" type="internal">judicial</a> independence — reflects his clear skepticism of prior U.S. deals.</p>
<p>politics</p>
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<p>Orlando Shooting Updates</p>
<p>News and analysis on the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.</p>
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<p>A considered overhaul of the GSP is in order, as is the need to re-engage major emerging economies like India and Brazil to take on additional responsibility in the WTO system.</p>
<p>But is the Trump administration really committed? The worry is that failing to revive the GSP is just another way to raise tariffs and add one more brick to an increasingly higher and broader protectionist wall.</p>
<p><a href="https://piie.com/experts/senior-research-staff/chad-p-bown" type="external">Chad P. Bown</a>&#160;is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former lead economist at the World Bank. With Soumaya Keynes, he hosts&#160; <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/trade-talks-piie/id1270804213" type="external">Trade Talks</a>, a weekly podcast on the economics of international trade policy. Follow him on Twitter @ChadBown.</p> | What is GSP and why does it matter for U.S. trade? | false | http://washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/01/25/what-is-gsp-and-why-does-it-matter-for-u-s-trade/ | 2018-01-25 | 3 |
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<p>On the one hand, the Utah State Aggies still have plenty to prove before some around the Mountain West consider them legitimate title contenders.</p>
<p>After all, the team enters its third season in the league having never finished better than a No. 5 seed in the MWC Tournament and now must move forward without the services of legendary, though now retired, head coach Stew Morrill.</p>
<p>But on the other hand, the Aggies were picked third in the preseason media poll and return five starters, including potential MWC Player of the Year forward Jalen Moore (15.2 points per game, 6.7 rebounds) and potential all-leaguers in guard Chris Smith (12.6 ppg) and center David Collette (12.8 ppg).</p>
<p />
<p>"Offensively, I think we're a pretty complete team," first-year head coach and 14-year Morrill assistant Tim Duryea said. "We can stretch teams from the rim to the 3-point line, and we can stretch you from sideline to sideline because we're a team that can put the ball on the floor and make plays. We're not just a bunch of catch and shoot guys."</p>
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<p>Although they're not bad at that, either. Utah State led the MWC in 3-point shooting a season ago at 42 percent in conference games.</p>
<p>Moore, the slender 6-foot-8 small forward maybe best known by league fans for his impressive Afro, is the most dangerous weapon in the arsenal.</p>
<p>"I think he has the physical ability to be as good as any player in the league," Duryea said. "And that really comes from his versatility. - How many guys in the same game can score on a tip-dunk, can score on a jump hook from the block and can make three or four 3-pointers? Those guys are limited."</p>
<p>But just because Duryea has the most well-stocked cupboard of returning players in the league, the last thing he wants the program to do in his first season is get caught standing pat.</p>
<p>"He expects a lot out of us," said Smith. "He's demanding."</p>
<p>Senior guard Darius Perkins says there's a treadmill on the side of the practice court players have to run on if they aren't meeting expectations in practice.</p>
<p>"It's more of a symbol," Perkins said, "a reminder that if you aren't doing what you're supposed to do - especially the little things - there will be a consequence."</p>
<p>Duryea says they aren't trying to reinvent the wheel, but he certainly isn't about to stop the program from evolving.</p>
<p>"I wouldn't say we're trying to forge some certain identity or brand," Duryea said. "We just really want to be known as a winning basketball team that can win in March."</p>
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<p /> | MWC hoops: Utah State's 1st-year coach looks to take the next step | false | https://abqjournal.com/668401/firstyear-coach-looks-to-take-the-next-step.html | 2 |
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<p>Authorities need help in determining the identity of and finding a man who has used obsolete purchase orders from the city of Las Cruces to buy tools and other equipment from a home improvement store, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News.</p>
<p>The newspaper said that Las Cruces Crime Stoppers is offering $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest of the man. Anyone with information on the identity of the man is asked to call 800-222-TIPS (8477) or send a tip via text message to LCTIPS (528477).</p>
<p>The man, on at least two occasions in May and June, used the purchase orders to buy several generators and other equipment at the Lowe’s Home Improvement store on North Main Street, the <a href="http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_15680967" type="external">Sun-News</a> reported. The man was last seen driving a white, newer model pickup with an extended cab and tinted windows.</p>
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<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Man Sought for Using Obsolete Purchase Orders From City of Las Cruces | false | https://abqjournal.com/8742/man-sought-for-using-obsolete-purchase-orders-from-city-of-las-cruces.html | 2 |
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<p><a href="http://www.idg.com/www/rd.nsf/rd?readform&amp;t=search&amp;q=IBM" type="external">IBM Opens a New Window.</a> on Wednesday said it has signed a deal to buy Lombardi, an Austin, Texas, BPM (business process management) vendor. Terms were not disclosed.</p>
<p>BPM software helps companies develop, implement and manage business processes, such as the steps involved in hiring help or buying supplies.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>IBM's WebSphere product portfolio already includes a wide range of BPM software, as Lombardi itself once <a href="http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&amp;q=cache:bgv10N90wHYJ:www.lombardisoftware.com/downloads/5_Point_IBM_BPM_Test.pdf+Lombardi+IBM&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=us&amp;pid=bl&amp;srcid=ADGEESht6PYm5m1BYKbd06BwQMMc6mGcJ8OyAFr4cf9ViMknwk4mZ0Jui75B6rKc8SlM_BYnh1PQ2A7vxuYdfxEdKsNTDMK0wQHu6AapTBd36tbwzTn1DzsBgO8_2mHg7yI08_oOU3V8&amp;sig=AHIEtbS2tVxKviqv61oCH40oo3gZaXgdYw" type="external">pointed out Opens a New Window.</a> in a competitive white paper that portrayed its technology as easier to use and deploy.</p>
<p>There is "a great fit" in IBM's portfolio for Lombardi's Teamworks and Blueprint software products, which already support WebSphere, Lombardi CEO Rod Favaron said in a <a href="http://blog.lombardi.com/a-message-from-rod-favaron-ceo-of-lombardi/" type="external">blog post Opens a New Window.</a>Wednesday.</p>
<p>"We also have many joint customers and partners so we understand the types of expanded product and service offerings that are needed to drive enterprise level success with BPM," he added.</p>
<p>The pending acquisition is one of more than 90 IBM has made since 2003.</p>
<p>Executives from both companies are expected to discuss the deal further in a conference call later Wednesday.</p>
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<p>(More to follow.)</p>
<p>More from IDG:</p> | IBM buying BPM vendor Lombardi | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2009/12/16/ibm-buying-bpm-vendor-lombardi.html | 2016-03-18 | 0 |
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<p>Dallas Mavericks star small forward Harrison Barnes was surprised by the packed house during a regular season game. He usually only sees this type of excitement and attendance during a finals game, he told FoxBusiness.com.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But this wasn’t just any game. The team was playing 1,000 miles south of its home court, in Mexico City’s Arena. It was all part of an effort to tap into a fast-growing market for the NBA, one the league believes has huge growth potential and could become an important money maker.</p>
<p>“I think it’s great that the NBA has grown this much to be able to be here in Mexico City,” Barnes said. “To see the excitement that’s here, it’s great to be a part of it.”</p>
<p>The NBA hosted a game on Thursday in Mexico’s Ciudad de Mexico arena and will have another one on Saturday. It’s the fourth and fifth time the NBA has hosted a regular season game in Mexico. Three teams – the Mavericks, the Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs – are in Mexico City for the two games.</p>
<p>Mexico has become a major market ripe for expansion for the NBA. Raul Zarraga, the managing director of NBA Mexico, told FoxBusiness.com that TV viewership and online streaming are both growing south of the border.</p>
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<p>“We are seeing increases,” Zarraga said. “It's impressive how we are growing year after year.”</p>
<p>Right now, there are half a million fans in Mexico who watch games streamed online. Across all platforms, 4 million viewers watched the NBA finals online in 2016, Zarraga said.</p>
<p>“We closed the last year with double digit increase in [streaming] subscriptions,” Zarraga said. “We are 1 or 2 percent higher this season.”</p>
<p>As the NBA moves beyond traditional channels such as cable and broadcast TV, the league is banking on Mexico to help it become a global empire. Home to 122 million residents, Mexico is Latin America’s largest Spanish-speaking economy.</p>
<p>And many Mexicans – to the surprise of some – are avid basketball fans.</p>
<p>Although Mexico is more often associated with soccer, basketball has a long history in towns and cities in Mexico's Pacific Coast region.&#160;In many parts of the country, there are more basketball courts than soccer fields.</p>
<p>“Basketball is already the second-most watched sport in Mexico,” Arnon de Mello, vice president and managing director of NBA Latin America, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2017/01/12/nba-tapping-into-growing-mexican-market/96480206/" type="external">told USA Today Opens a New Window.</a>. “It’s growing tremendously.&#160;And there are more basketball courts in this country than any other sport.”</p>
<p>To capitalize on this growing fan base, the league has also brought its online store to Mexico, where it sells jerseys, clothing, and team memorabilia.</p>
<p>“We call that NBA Tienda,” Zarraga said. “We are growing [sales with] double-digit growth.”</p>
<p>This week in Mexico, while his teammates gathered by the sideline, Deron Williams, the Mavericks starting point guard, told FoxBusiness.com that although he thinks it’s great that the NBA is working to bring games to fans outside the U.S., it may be a challenge to take the next step of creating a new, international franchise.</p>
<p>“It would be tough, travel-wise, for teams,” he said. “We came from Minnesota. All in all, it was about 10 hours [for us]. The NBA wants to be global, but it would be tough to have teams in different countries, logistically.”</p>
<p>But Zarraga isn’t deterred.</p>
<p>“I'm optimistic,” he said. “There's a lot of room to grow.”</p> | NBA Looks to Mexico to Grow Its Global Empire | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/01/13/nba-looks-to-mexico-to-grow-its-global-empire.html | 2017-01-16 | 0 |
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<p>In a carefully worded statement, the National Transportation Safety Board said the 8-inch cast iron and plastic main under the street "failed the pressure test," which showed that the low-pressure pipe had a leak "adjacent to" 1646 Park Ave., one of the destroyed buildings.</p>
<p>While the NTSB report will undoubtedly focus more scrutiny on that 127-year-old pipeline, experts said it was still unclear what caused it to crack and when the fracture occurred. A cracked water main pipe was also found in front of one of the buildings.</p>
<p>The NTSB statement didn't address what could have ignited the blast, something FDNY fire marshals are trying to determine.</p>
<p>Eight people died as a result of the explosion and fire on March 12 at 1644 and 1646 Park Ave., and more than 70 people have been displaced. Tuesday, the FDNY declared the fire under control.</p>
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<p>NTSB investigators planned to remove segments of the gas main and pieces of the service lines recovered in the basements of the two buildings for further forensic tests at the agency's laboratory in Washington. The NTSB didn't say that the building service lines had shown any evidence of leaks. Tests on service lines to buildings next to the destroyed structures continued "with no significant findings to date," and Con Edison was working to restore gas service to those structures, the agency statement said.</p>
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<p /> | NTSB: East Harlem gas main cracked | false | https://abqjournal.com/370986/ntsb-east-harlem-gas-main-cracked.html | 2 |
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<p>Sept. 5 (UPI) — Police in a small town in southeastern Pennsylvania said a prankster has taken their love for <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Stephen_King/" type="external">Stephen King</a>‘s horror novel It a little too far.</p>
<p>The Lititz Borough Police Department posted photos on its <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LititzBoroughPoliceDepartment/photos/pcb.2065659250126418/2065659133459763/?type=3&amp;theater" type="external">Facebook account</a> Tuesday showing helium-filled red balloons tied to sewer grates throughout town.</p>
<p>The force believes the prank is tied to the release of a new film adaptation of It, in which a shape-shifting monster — usually seen in the form of a terrifying clown holding balloons — lives in the sewers and terrorizes children in Maine. The new film is set to hit theaters Thursday.</p>
<p>“A certain movie is coming to theaters in two days, and a local prankster took it upon themselves to promote the movie,” the Facebook post read. “We give points for creativity, however we want the local prankster to know that we were completely terrified as we removed these balloons from the grates and we respectfully request they do not do that again.”</p>
<p>The department’s post ends with the phrase “you’ll float too,” a tag line from the movie’s trailers.</p> | Pennsylvania police discover 'It'-inspired balloons tied to sewer grates | false | https://newsline.com/pennsylvania-police-discover-it-inspired-balloons-tied-to-sewer-grates/ | 2017-09-05 | 1 |
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<p>The streets were calm in the morning, but authorities remained on edge against the possibility of another outbreak of looting and arson.</p>
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<p>The city was under a 10 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew, all public schools were closed, and the Baltimore Orioles canceled their Tuesday night game at Camden Yards. National Guardsmen in helmets with face shields surrounded City Hall, standing behind bicycle-rack barriers.</p>
<p>"We're not going to have another repeat of what happened last night," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan vowed after a visit to a West Baltimore neighborhood where cars were burned and windows smashed. "We're going to make sure we get Baltimore back on track."</p>
<p>Hogan said there are "a couple of thousand" National Guardsmen and police officers in Baltimore, with more on the way.</p>
<p>It was the first time the National Guard was called out to quell unrest in Baltimore since 1968, when some of the same neighborhoods burned for days after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.</p>
<p>At the White House, President Barack Obama called the deaths of several black men around the country at the hands of police "a slow rolling crisis." But he added that there was "no excuse" for the violence in Baltimore, and said the riots should be treated as criminals.</p>
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<p>"They aren't protesting. They aren't making a statement. They're stealing," Obama said.</p>
<p>As firefighters doused smoldering fires, political leaders and residents called the violence a tragedy for the city and lamented the damage done by the rioters to their own neighborhoods.</p>
<p>Hundreds of volunteers helped shopkeepers clean up as helmeted officers blocked a stretch of North Avenue in the neighborhood where Freddie Gray, 25, was arrested earlier in this month in a case that has become the latest flashpoint in the national debate over the police use of deadly force against black men.</p>
<p>Hardware stores donated trash bags and brooms, and city workers brought in trucks to haul away mounds of trash and broken glass.</p>
<p>With schools closed, Blanca Tapahuasco brought her three sons, ages 2 to 8, from another part of the city to help sweep the brick-and-pavement courtyard outside a looted CVS pharmacy.</p>
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<p>"We're helping the neighborhood build back up," she said. "This is an encouragement to them to know the rest of the city is not just looking on and wondering what to do."</p>
<p>CVS store manager Haywood McMorris said the destruction didn't make sense: "We work here, man. This is where we stand, and this is where people actually make a living."</p>
<p>The rioting started in West Baltimore on Monday afternoon - within a mile of where Gray was arrested - and by midnight had spread to East Baltimore and neighborhoods close to downtown and near the baseball stadium.</p>
<p>The rioters set police cars and buildings on fire, looted a mall and liquor stores and hurled rocks, bottles and cinderblocks at police in riot gear. Police responded occasionally with pepper spray or cleared the streets by moving in tight formation, shoulder to shoulder.</p>
<p>At least 15 officers were hurt, including six who were hospitalized, police said. There were 144 vehicle fires, 15 structure fires and nearly 200 arrests, the mayor's office said.</p>
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<p>"They just outnumbered us and outflanked us," Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said. "We needed to have more resources out there."</p>
<p>The governor had no immediate estimate of the damage.</p>
<p>The rioting was the worst such violence in the U.S. since the turbulent protests that broke out over the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed black 18-year-old who was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, last summer.</p>
<p>"I understand anger, but what we're seeing isn't anger," Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake lamented. "It's disruption of a community. The same community they say they care about, they're destroying. You can't have it both ways."</p>
<p>State and local authorities found themselves responding to questions about whether their initial response had been adequate.</p>
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<p>Rawlings-Blake waited hours to ask the governor to declare a state of emergency, and the governor hinted she should have come to him earlier.</p>
<p>"We were all in the command center in the second floor of the state House in constant communication, and we were trying to get in touch with the mayor for quite some time," Hogan said at a Monday evening news conference. "She finally made that call, and we immediately took action."</p>
<p>Asked if the mayor should have called for help sooner, however, Hogan replied that he didn't want to question what Baltimore officials were doing: "They're all under tremendous stress. We're all on one team."</p>
<p>Rawlings-Blake said officials initially thought they had gotten the unrest under control.</p>
<p>Maryland National Guard spokesman Lt. Charles Kohler said that about 2,000 members would be deployed through the day and that the force could build to 5,000.</p>
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<p>"We are going to be out in massive force, and that just means basically that we are going to be patrolling the streets and out to ensure that we are protecting property," said Maj. Gen. Linda Singh, adjutant general of the Maryland National Guard.</p>
<p>Also, State Police said they were putting out a call for up to 500 additional law enforcement officers from Maryland and as many as 5,000 from around the mid-Atlantic region.</p>
<p>Attorney General Loretta Lynch, in her first day on the job Monday, said she will send Justice Department officials to the city in the coming days. And the governor said he is temporarily moving his office from Annapolis to Baltimore.</p>
<p>Gray was arrested April 12 after running away at the sight of police, authorities said. He was held down, handcuffed and loaded into a police van. Leg cuffs were put on him when he became irate inside. He died of a spinal cord injury a week later.</p>
<p>Authorities said they are still investigating how and when he suffered the injury - during the arrest or while he was in the van, where authorities say he was riding without being belted in, a violation of department policy. Six officers have been suspended with pay while the investigation continues.</p>
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<p>While they are angry about what happened to Gray, his family said riots are not the answer.</p>
<p>"I think the violence is wrong," Gray's twin sister, Fredericka Gray, said late Monday. "I don't like it at all."</p>
<p>In 1968, when Baltimore and many other U.S. cities erupted in flames over the assassination of King, the state of Maryland called up 6,000 Guardsmen to restore order in the city, and 2,000 active-duty federal troops were sent in, too.</p>
<p>Standing in front of the burned-out CVS drugstore Tuesday, the mayor lamented that the neighborhood was still recovering from the riots of the 1960s.</p>
<p>"We worked so hard to get a company like CVS to invest in this neighborhood," she said. "This is the only place that so many people have to pick up their prescriptions."</p>
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<p>Associated Press writers Juliet Linderman and Jeff Horwitz contributed to this report.</p> | National Guard called in to keep the peace in Baltimore | false | https://abqjournal.com/576168/national-guard-called-in-to-keep-the-peace-in-baltimore.html | 2 |
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<p>But just as I thought I had this column sewn up, a young, “wild” horse nibbled at my pocket near sunset on a Placitas mesa and a 9-year-old boy died after allegedly being kicked by his mother in their Albuquerque home.</p>
<p>The stories – all three raising questions with me about human responsibilities – merged in my head as the year ran out.</p>
<p>With political gridlock more familiar than government progress, agreement on a big state tax package in Santa Fe and a federal budget deal in Washington were hopeful signs in 2013.</p>
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<p>New Mexico’s annual legislative session ended March 16 with passage of the tax package, reducing burdens on business and offering aid to TV and film productions. Democratic legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Susana Martinez called it a compromise and it became known as a “jobs bill” in economically challenged New Mexico.</p>
<p>Congress last month approved a bipartisan deal that fell short of full reckoning with a continuing federal budget crisis but represented a break from political impasse and at least temporarily prevented another government shutdown.</p>
<p>Actually, the more important word here might be “compromise” – an often disparaged concept that becomes more practical when voters and political institutions are narrowly divided. Working together, now and then, can get you off the dime.</p>
<p>And again, the word “responsibility” comes to mind.</p>
<p>“It wasn’t a victory for one political party or for another,” Gov. Martinez said after the Legislature’s adjournment in Santa Fe. “It was a victory for New Mexico.”</p>
<p>” ‘Compromise’ is not a dirty word,” Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., said after she and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., saw their federal budget agreement adopted by both chambers and headed for the president’s signature.</p>
<p>William Hoagland, a top budget aide to now former Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and a senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C., wrote in December, “The chairs of the House and Senate budget committees achieved what many thought impossible only a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>“They found common ground among very diverse and politically opposite versions of budgets,” Hoagland wrote in an essay, published in U.S. News and World Report.</p>
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<p>“Even if the agreement falls short of addressing the fundamental federal budgetary challenges that confront the country’s future, and it does, it nonetheless demonstrates that two very different political philosophies can still find common cause in a polarized country and a divided Congress,” Hoagland said.</p>
<p>Which brings me, in admittedly circuitous fashion, to the hopeful young horse I encountered on a Placitas hilltop Sunday evening and 9-year-old Omaree Varela, whose death I read about in that morning’s Journal.</p>
<p>My path on a late Sunday afternoon walk intersected with that of a longtime Placitas couple also out on a walk on public land we’re still lucky to have as our backyard. A half-dozen of the area’s free-roaming horses stood at the same grass-bare trail crossing, maybe waiting for the stallion to lead them to a place where someone provides hay.</p>
<p>We stood and talked while our dogs sat quietly and the small band of horses milled around us, winter sun dropping between Mount Taylor and Cabezon, leaving some last warmth and golden light.</p>
<p>Of course, we talked about the hot local debate over the future of the ever-growing numbers of the horses on drought- and animal-depleted range – horses that we can’t even agree on what to call.</p>
<p>Some insist they are wild; others say they’re feral. “Free-roaming horses” has become the politically correct term, safest in all company.</p>
<p>A soft-coated, brown foal sidled up behind me and nibbled tentatively, almost politely, at my pocket, unsure of my reaction. It was a baby bite, more amusing than annoying.</p>
<p>Another foal stood nearby and a mare, possibly its mother, looked pregnant.</p>
<p>I turned to say “Heh, baby” to the nibbling young horse and saw in its eyes the same look of innocence and hope that all babies seem to have.</p>
<p>I found myself wishing I could assure him of a decent future.</p>
<p>On Monday, I was back in the newsroom with a bunch of editors and reporters shaking their heads and asking how a 9-year-old boy could be so coldly abused.</p>
<p>His future had been answered, never really having started.</p>
<p>People who never knew him asked how it could be prevented from ever happening again.</p>
<p>UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to John Robertson, the Journal’s politics editor, at <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a> or 823-3911. Go to <a href="" type="internal">www.abqjournal.com/letters/new</a> to submit a letter to the editor.</p>
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<p /> | A prayer for politics, children and free-roaming horses | false | https://abqjournal.com/329582/a-prayer-for-politics-children-and-freeroaming-horses.html | 2 |
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<p>In 2009 the US Army piloted a yearlong program allowing immigrants with certain language skills or medical training to enlist in the military and receive citizenship by the end of basic training –that’s just 10 weeks. The program was a wild success, enlisting nearly 1,000 people with thousands more on the wait list.</p>
<p>The program has been brought back for a second trial period this October. Already, about 200 people have enlisted. One of them is Yoon Young Kim, a South Korean national. He joined the Army just a few weeks ago. He’s set to leave for basic training in April. By the end of summer 2013, he’s scheduled to raise his hand again to swear another oath, this time as a U.S. citizen.</p>
<p>When Kim came to the U.S. eight years ago to study nursing he never thought he’d be enlisting in the U.S. military. Certainly not at age 32. He worries about his English and keeping up physically with a bunch of 20-year-olds at boot camp.</p>
<p>“Mentally, probably I’m better than them but physically I’m weak,” says Kim. “So right now I’m trying to work on myself for push-ups, sit-ups and running.”</p>
<p>Before enlisting, Kim was getting frustrated trying to find a job in nursing. His visa was running out. That’s why he leaped at the chance at fast track citizenship with the U.S. Army.</p>
<p>Immigrants fighting for the American military is nothing new. Substantial number of people who have served in the military during wartime in past wars has been immigrants. While immigrants have fought in wars since 1775, things changed after 9/11. A new federal rule required legal immigrants to have a green card to be able to enlist. Suddenly the Army was forced to turn away thousands of qualified applicants.</p>
<p>“I would get calls from people in the military,” says immigration attorney and retired Army lieutenant colonel, Margaret Stock. They would say “‘hey, how come Tanya so and so just walked into the recruiters office and she’s got U.S. high school diploma and speaks three languages and has got high test scores but I’m not allowed to let her in because she’s not got a green card,’ and they’d call me to try and get her a green card.”</p>
<p>And then an idea came to Stock. What if the military took advantage of a legal loophole? Stock discovered the loophole in a statute passed by Congress. “They put an exception in the statute,” says Stock, “that a person who didn’t meet the normal criteria could voluntary enlist if the person’s enlistment was vital to the national interest.”</p>
<p>That loophole became the Military Accessions Vital to The National Interest—or MAVNI—program. The US military today has missions all over the world and recruiting men and women who speak the local language and know the local culture is vital. Yoon Young Kim hopes his Korean language skills might be useful in monitoring North Korea.</p>
<p>It turns out many other Koreans are as ready as Kim. While there are 44 desired languages on the MAVNI recruitment list from Russian and Hindi to smaller Filipino dialects like Cebuano or Moro, Korean speakers have signed up in droves. The force behind this swell of enthusiasm is James Hwang. If you have a question about the MAVNI program he’s the person to contact.</p>
<p>“I got almost more than 100 emails per day,” says Hwang who is a civilian. He always wanted to serve in the Army but when he visited a recruiter years ago without a green card, he was turned away. Then he heard about MAVNI and made it his mission to spread word about the program to other Koreans. He hosts info sessions in his home and fields questions on Facebook. He is even responsible for two MAVNI marriages. Why does he do it?</p>
<p>“There were many people before this program who were on a non-immigrant visa for many years,” says Hwang. “They didn’t really have very much hope for becoming a permanent resident because of the backlog of the US immigration system.”</p>
<p>Hwang’s effort has led to an overwhelming number of Koreans applying.</p>
<p>“The Korean community got so enthusiastic and mobilized about the program,” says attorney Margaret Stock, “that if we had let the program run first come first serve we probably would’ve ended up with 800 Korean language speakers and nobody from any other language groups.”</p>
<p>The Army ended up putting a quota on Korean speakers. Stock is happy that MAVNI is so popular. But she says the program shouldn’t really exist. What MAVNI really points out is a broken immigration system.</p>
<p>“If our nation had comprehensive immigration reform—if we had a legal immigration system that worked—we wouldn’t need a program like MAVNI,” says Stock. “We could just draw on the population of people living in the US with green cards.”</p>
<p>Yoon Young Kim, though, smiles at his good fortune. He was one of the last Korean citizens to enlist before the Korean language quota was met last month. Of course not everyone understood his decision to serve. When he told his parents in South Korea that he was going to join the Army they were shocked. In fact, they told him not to join. But Kim was determined. “I just said, ‘Mom and Dad, I’m not applying to the US military to die. I’m applying to live, to survive.’”</p> | Join the Army, Speak a Language and Become a Citizen | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-12-17/join-army-speak-language-and-become-citizen | 2012-12-17 | 3 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Tennessee_floods"&gt;Kaldari&lt;/a&gt;/Wikimedia Commons</p>
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<p>This <a href="http://grist.org/news/congress-backtracking-on-law-that-aimed-to-reduce-flood-risks/" type="external">story</a> first appeared on the <a href="http://grist.org" type="external">Grist</a> website and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.</p>
<p>Demolishing coastal habitats and replacing them with buildings is just asking for trouble. Mangroves, sand dunes, and other coastal ecosystems can <a href="http://grist.org/news/heres-an-easy-way-to-protect-coastal-communities-from-rising-seas-and-storms/" type="external">buffer rising tides and storm surges</a>. Homes, driveways, and roads, on the other hand ” well, they just flood.</p>
<p>Yet since the late 1960s, the federal government has been promoting the construction of homes in flood-vulnerable coastal areas through the National Flood Insurance Program. Under the NFIP, taxpayers <a href="http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/commercial_coverage/policy_rates.jsp" type="external">subsidize the costs of insuring homes</a> in flood-prone neighborhoods. The program has led to the demolition of coastal habitats and the construction of flood-vulnerable homes in coastal areas around the country.</p>
<p>Fortunately, lawmakers came to understand the folly of the nation’s ways. Last year, <a href="http://scorecard.lcv.org/roll-call-vote/2012-262-flood-insurance-reform" type="external">by a 412 to 18 margin</a>, Congress did something unusual: It passed a bill that went on to become law. The bill started raising flood insurance rates to something resembling market prices.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, now Congress wants to backtrack. Seems members didn’t comprehend the scale of the problem they were trying to fix. The issue of unsuitable homes built on flood plains is so entrenched that the new law led to <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303902404579149391648431838" type="external">severe economic impacts</a> for homeowners who were forced to foot greater shares of the insurance bills needed to protect their properties.</p>
<p>“All the houses, all the stores, all the businesses” everything has to be raised six, eight, ten feet high,” Mike O’Reilly, a resident of New York’s Broad Channel Island, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57605135/homeowners-protest-new-flood-insurance-rate-hikes/" type="external">told CBS News</a> during a protest last month that took place on land that was inundated after Superstorm Sandy struck the region. “If you don’t comply with this impossible task, the insurance premiums are going to up $20,000-$30,000 a year.”</p>
<p>Reacting to widespread anger, Congress is now scrambling to undo the program changes that it once so heartily supported.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/10/30/the_1_percents_flood_insurance_scam/" type="external">Here is Salon‘s summary</a> of the 2012 legislation:</p>
<p>The Biggert-Waters…reform legislation forced the creation of new FEMA maps to determine who needed flood insurance. It also allowed higher annual premium increases “to 20 percent from 10 percent” so premiums could gradually come more in line with actuarial realities. And for high-risk homes built before flood maps were adopted, which enjoyed generous subsidies, flood insurance rates would increase 25 percent a year, until they reached a level commensurate with the actual risk. If the homes changed hands, they would immediately move to the risk-adjusted rates. Over time, subsidies for 1.1 million policyholders, 20 percent of the program, would be phased out.</p>
<p>And here is its summary of Congress’s new effort to undo its own legislation:</p>
<p>[A] deal…would delay the changes to the program by four years. It would force FEMA to conduct an “affordability study” to ensure that homeowners wouldn’t pay undue costs, and would allow reimbursement to policyholders who successfully appeal a change to flood maps that increase their rates.</p>
<p>In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the federal government is <a href="http://grist.org/news/chris-christie-slams-selfish-homeowners-blocking-coastal-protection-measures/" type="external">spending billions of dollars buying up coastal homes in New Jersey</a>. Those homes will be replaced with flood- and storm-buffering sand dunes like those that used to line the shore. As Congress looks for a fair way to fix 45 years of irresponsible home building promoted by the NFIP, more neighborhood-eliminating projects like these might need to be considered.</p>
<p /> | Congress Backtracks on Law Aimed to Reduce Flood Risks | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/congress-backtracks-law-aimed-reduce-flooding/ | 2013-11-02 | 4 |
<p>This <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175204/" type="external">story</a> first appeared on the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external">TomDispatch website</a>.</p>
<p>In the nineteenth century, it was a fort used by British forces. In the twentieth century, Soviet troops moved into the crumbling facilities. In December 2009, at this site in the Shinwar district of <a href="/politics/2010/01/obama-afghanistan-stoner-cops" type="external">Afghanistan</a>’s Nangarhar Province, U.S. troops joined members of the Afghan National Army in preparing the way for the next round of foreign occupation. On its grounds, a new <a href="/military-maps" type="external">military base</a> is expected to rise, one of hundreds of camps and outposts scattered across the country.&#160;</p>
<p>Nearly a decade after the Bush administration launched its invasion of Afghanistan, TomDispatch offers the first actual count of American, NATO, and other coalition bases there, as well as facilities used by the Afghan security forces. Such bases range from relatively small sites like Shinwar to mega-bases that resemble small American towns. Today, according to official sources, approximately 700 bases of every size dot the Afghan countryside, and more, like the one in Shinwar, are under construction or soon will be as part of a&#160; <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175157/tomgram:_nick_turse,_in_afghanistan,_the_pentagon_digs_in" type="external">base-building boom</a> that began last year.</p>
<p>Existing in the shadows, rarely reported on and little talked about, this base-building program is nonetheless staggering in size and scope, and heavily dependent on supplies imported from abroad, which means that it is also extraordinarily expensive. It has added significantly to the already long secret list of Pentagon property overseas and raises questions about just how long, after the planned beginning of a drawdown of American forces in 2011, the U.S. will still be garrisoning Afghanistan.</p>
<p>400 Foreign Bases in Afghanistan</p>
<p>A spokesman for the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) tells TomDispatch that there are, at present, nearly 400 U.S. and coalition bases in Afghanistan, including camps, forward operating bases, and combat outposts. In addition, there are at least 300 Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP) bases, most of them built, maintained, or supported by the U.S. &#160;A small number of the coalition sites are mega-bases like Kandahar Airfield, which boasts one of the busiest runways in the world, and Bagram Air Base, a former Soviet facility that received a makeover, complete with Burger King and Popeyes outlets, and now serves more than 20,000 U.S. troops, in addition to thousands of <a href="/photoessays/2010/01/afghanistan-photos-bomb-cleanup" type="external">coalition forces</a> and civilian contractors.&#160;</p>
<p>In fact, Kandahar, which housed 9,000 coalition troops as recently as 2007, is expected to have a population of as many as 35,000 troops by the time President Obama’s surge is complete, according to Colonel Kevin Wilson who oversees building efforts in the southern half of Afghanistan for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. On the other hand, the Shinwar site, <a href="http://www.isaf.nato.int/en/article/news/afghan-national-army-isaf-hold-contractor-rodeo.html" type="external">according to</a> Sgt. Tracy J. Smith of the U.S. 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, will be a small forward operating base (FOB) that will host both Afghan troops and foreign forces.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0805089195/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external" />Last fall, it was reported that more than $200 million in construction projects—from barracks to cargo storage facilities—were planned for or in-progress at Bagram. Substantial <a href="http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/12/airforce_military_construction_122709/" type="external">construction funds</a> have also been set aside by the U.S. Air Force to upgrade its air power capacity at Kandahar. For example, $65 million has been allocated to build additional apron space (where aircraft can be parked, serviced, and loaded or unloaded) to accommodate more close-air support for soldiers in the field and a greater intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability. Another $61 million has also been earmarked for the construction of a cargo helicopter apron and a tactical airlift apron there.&#160;</p>
<p>Kandahar is just one of many sites currently being upgraded. Exact figures on the number of facilities being enlarged, improved, or hardened are unavailable but, according a spokesman for ISAF, the military plans to expand several more bases to accommodate the increase of troops as part of Afghan War commander Stanley McChrystal’s surge strategy. In addition, at least 12 more bases are slated to be built to help handle the 30,000 extra American troops and thousands of NATO forces beginning to arrive in the country.&#160;</p>
<p>“Currently we have over $3 billion worth of work going on in Afghanistan,” says Colonel Wilson, “and probably by the summer, when the dust settles from all the uplift, we’ll have about $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion worth of that [in the South].”&#160; By comparison, between 2002 and 2008, the Army Corps of Engineers spent more than $4.5 billion on construction projects, most of it base-building, in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>At the site of the future FOB in Shinwar, more than 135 private construction contractors attended what was termed an “Afghan-Coalition contractors rodeo.” According to Lieutenant Fernando Roach, a contracting officer with the U.S. Army’s Task Force Mountain Warrior, the event was designed “to give potential contractors a walkthrough of the area so they’ll have a solid overview of the scope of work.” The construction firms then bid on three separate projects: the renovation of the more than 30-year old Soviet facilities, the building of new living quarters for Afghan and coalition forces, and the construction of a two-kilometer wall for the base.</p>
<p>In the weeks since the “rodeo,” the U.S. Army has announced additional plans to upgrade facilities at other forward operating bases. At FOB Airborne, located near Kane-Ezzat in Wardak Province, for instance, the Army intends to put in reinforced concrete bunkers and blast protection barriers as well as lay concrete foundations for Re-Locatable Buildings (prefabricated, trailer-like structures used for living and working quarters). Similar work is also scheduled for FOB Altimur, an Army camp in Logar Province.</p>
<p>The Afghan Base Boom</p>
<p>Recently, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Afghanistan District-Kabul, announced that it would be seeking bids on “site assessments” for Afghan National Security Forces District Headquarters Facilities nationwide. The precise number of Afghan bases scattered throughout the country is unclear.&#160;</p>
<p>When asked by TomDispatch, Colonel Radmanish of the Afghan Ministry of Defense would state only that major bases were located in Kabul, Pakteya, Kandahar, Herat, and Mazar-e-Sharif, and that ANA units operate all across Afghanistan. Recent U.S. Army contracts for maintenance services provided to Afghan army and police bases, however, suggest that there are no fewer than 300 such facilities that are, according to an ISAF spokesman, not counted among the coalition base inventory.</p>
<p>As opposed to America’s fast-food-franchise-filled bases, Afghan ones are often decidedly more rustic affairs. The police headquarters in Khost Farang District, Baghlan Province, is a good example. According to a detailed site assessment conducted by a local contractor for the Army Corps of Engineers and the Afghan government, the district headquarters consists of mud and stone buildings surrounded by a mud wall. The site even lacks a deep well for water. A trench fed by a nearby spring is the only convenient water source.</p>
<p>The U.S. bases that most resemble austere Afghan facilities are combat outposts, also known as COPs. Environmental Specialist Michael Bell of the Army Corps of Engineers, Afghanistan Engineer District-South’s Real Estate Division, <a href="http://www.aed.usace.army.mil/AES/flash/TopRight.swf" type="external">recently described</a> the facilities and life on such a base as he and his co-worker, Realty Specialist Damian Salazar, saw it in late 2009:</p>
<p>“COP Sangar… is a compound surrounded by mud and straw walls. Tents with cots supplied the sleeping quarters… A medical, pharmacy and command post tent occupied the center of the COP, complete with a few computers with internet access and three primitive operating tables. Showers had just been installed with hot [water]… only available from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m…</p>
<p>“An MWR [Morale, Welfare and Recreation] tent was erected on Thanksgiving Day with an operating television; however, the tent was rarely used due to the cold. Most of the troops used a tent with gym equipment for recreation… A cook trailer provided a hot simple breakfast and supper. Lunch was MREs [meals ready to eat]. Nights were pitch black with no outside lighting from the base or the city.”</p>
<p>What Makes a Base?</p>
<p>According to an official site assessment, future construction at the Khost Farang District police headquarters will make use of sand, gravel, and stone, all available on the spot. Additionally, cement, steel, bricks, lime, and gypsum have been located for purchase in Pol-e Khomri City, about 85 miles away.&#160;</p>
<p>Constructing a base for American troops, however, is another matter. For the far less modest American needs of American troops, builders rely heavily on goods imported over extremely long, difficult to traverse, and sometimes embattled supply lines, all of which adds up to an extraordinarily costly affair. “Our business runs on materials,” Lieutenant General Robert Van Antwerp, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, <a href="http://www.aed.usace.army.mil/AES/flash/TopRight.swf" type="external">told</a>an audience at a town hall meeting in Afghanistan in December 2009. “You have to bring in the lumber, you have to bring in the steel, you have to bring in the containers and all that. Transport isn’t easy in this country—number one, the roads themselves, number two, coming through other countries to get here—there are just huge challenges in getting the materials here.”</p>
<p>To facilitate U.S. base construction projects, a new “virtual storefront”—an online shopping portal—has been launched by the Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). The Maintenance, Repair and Operations Uzbekistan Virtual Storefront website and a defense contractor-owned and operated brick-and-mortar warehouse facility that supports it aim to provide regionally-produced construction materials to speed surge-accelerated building efforts.&#160;</p>
<p>From a facility located in Termez, Uzbekistan, cement, concrete, fencing, roofing, rope, sand, steel, gutters, pipe, and other construction material manufactured in countries like Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan can be rushed to nearby Afghanistan to accelerate base-building efforts. “Having the products closer to the fight will make it easier for warfighters by reducing logistics response and delivery time,” <a href="http://www.dla.mil/DLAPublic/DLA_Media_Center/PressRelease/PressReleasePrintable.aspx?ID=572" type="external">says</a> Chet Evanitsky, the DLA’s construction and equipment supply chain division chief.</p>
<p>America’s Shadowy Base World</p>
<p>The Pentagon’s most recent inventory of bases lists a total of 716 overseas sites. These include facilities owned and leased all across the Middle East as well as a significant presence in Europe and Asia, especially Japan and South Korea. Perhaps even more notable than the Pentagon’s impressive public <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174994/nick_turse_putting_the_pentagon_on_the_auction_block" type="external">foreign property portfolio</a> are the many sites left off the official inventory. While bases in the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175159/tomgram:_nick_turse,_out_of_iraq,_into_the_gulf/" type="external">Persian Gulf countries</a> of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates are all listed, one conspicuously absent site is Al-Udeid Air Base, a billion-dollar facility in nearby Qatar, where the U.S. Air Force <a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/12/us-military-joins-cias-drone-war-in-pakistan/" type="external">secretly oversees</a> its on-going unmanned drone wars.</p>
<p>The count also does not include any sites in Iraq where, as of August 2009, there were still <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=8448762" type="external">nearly 300 American bases and outposts</a>. Similarly, U.S. bases in Afghanistan—a significant percentage of the 400 foreign sites scattered across the country—are noticeably absent from the Pentagon inventory.</p>
<p>Counting the remaining bases in Iraq—as many as 50 are slated to be operating after President Barack Obama’s August 31, 2010, deadline to remove all U.S. “combat troops” from the country—and those in Afghanistan, as well as black sites like Al-Udeid, the total number of U.S. bases overseas now must significantly exceed 1,000. Just exactly how many U.S. military bases (and allied facilities used by U.S. forces) are scattered across the globe may never be publicly known. What we do know—from the experience of bases in Germany, Italy, Japan, and South Korea—is that, once built, they have a tendency toward permanency that a cessation of hostilities, or even outright peace, has a way of not altering.&#160;</p>
<p>After nearly a decade of war, close to 700 U.S., allied, and Afghan military bases dot Afghanistan. Until now, however, they have existed as black sites known to few Americans outside the Pentagon. It remains to be seen, a decade into the future, how many of these sites will still be occupied by U.S. and allied troops and whose flag will be planted on the ever-shifting British-Soviet-U.S./Afghan site at Shinwar.</p> | America’s Shadowy Base World | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/02/americas-shadowy-base-world/ | 2010-02-09 | 4 |
<p><a href="http://pienews.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Dept.jpg" type="external" />WASHINGTON (AP) - The Education Department on Thursday took the unprecedented step of releasing the names of the 55 colleges and universities currently facing a Title IX investigation over their handling of sexual abuse complaints. The release came two days after a White House task force promised greater government [?]</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/05/01/ed-dept-55-schools-face-sex-assault-investigation" type="external">Click here to view original web page at www.usnews.com</a></p>
<p /> | Dept of Ed To Investigate 55 Colleges Over Handling Of Sex Assault Complaints | true | http://politicalillusionsexposed.com/55-colleges-universities-face-investigation-over-handling-of-sex-abuse-complaints/ | 0 |
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<p>Airbus SE (AIR.FR) said Thursday that second-quarter profit fell 34%, hampered by lower aircraft deliveries and that it further cut production plans for its flagship A380 superjumbo amid slack demand.</p>
<p>Net income fell to 895 million euros ($1.1 billion) from EUR1.36 billion the year prior, the Toulouse, France-based company said. Sales fell 5% to EUR15.7 billion.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Airbus has had difficulty getting its popular A320neo single-aisle planes out the door amid continued engine-delivery problems from United Technologies Corp.(UTX). Qatar Airways (QAIR.YY) has walked away from some A320neo orders and four A350 long-range jets because of delays.</p>
<p>"We are facing challenges due to ongoing engine issues, but we have a clear road map in place and have maintained our full-year guidance," Airbus Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders said. He added that meeting full-year targets of delivering about 720 planes is dependent on engine supply.</p>
<p>Airbus stuck to full-year guidance, including free cash flow, before deals and customer financing, roughly equal to last year's EUR1.4 billion. The plane maker had about EUR2 billion in cash outflow in the first six months of 2017.</p>
<p>However, the company also faces weak demand for some big planes. United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) said this month that it would delay taking some of Airbus's A350 planes. In May, Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) put off taking some of those twin-engine long-range jets.</p>
<p>Lack of demand for the biggest planes has hit the Airbus A380 superjumbo particularly hard. The company said it would cut output to eight aircraft in 2019. It curtailed production plans last year for the planes but hasn't won more orders. At that production rate, Airbus loses money on each A380 it builds.</p>
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<p>Airline customers have shied away from the A380 and Boeing's 747-8 jumbo jet, worried about filling the big planes. Boeing has signaled it might cease producing the iconic 747.</p>
<p>On Thursday, the European aircraft maker couldn't match Boeing Co. (BA), which had reported strong second-quarter results on Wednesday, including $4.5 billion in free cash flow, propelling its stock 9.9% on the day to close at a record $233.45.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>July 27, 2017 01:54 ET (05:54 GMT)</p> | Airbus Profit Falls on Lower Deliveries | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/27/airbus-profit-falls-on-lower-deliveries.html | 2017-07-27 | 0 |
<p>Dollar slips as policy makers kick off two-day meeting</p>
<p>All three main U.S. stock indexes ended at all-time highs on Tuesday, as Federal Reserve policy makers began a two-day policy meeting in which they're expected to finalize the details of their plan to begin slowly shrinking the central bank's $4.5 trillion balance sheet.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.45 points, or 0.2%, to close at 22,370.80, extending its win streak to eight sessions and notching its 41st record close of the year.</p>
<p>The S&amp;P 500 index rose 2.78 points, or 0.1%, to 2,506.65, closing at a record for the 36th time this year. Tuesday's gain is its sixth in the past seven sessions.</p>
<p>The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 6.68 points to 6,461.32, a gain of 0.1%. The tech-heavy index set a record for the 49th time in 2017 and is currently up 20% year-to-date.</p>
<p>Telecoms stocks were the biggest gainers of the day, up 2.3%. Financial were among the best performers, with the sector up about 0.8%.</p>
<p>"Markets are paying attention to what they should be paying attention and that is earnings growth," said Karyn Cavanaugh, senior market strategist at Voya Financial.</p>
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<p>Cavanaugh didn't rule out pullbacks in the near future, but noted that investors should not worry about the Federal Reserve's plan to reduce its balance sheet.</p>
<p>"Any reduction in the Fed balance sheet will be gradual and it is happening on the backdrop of improving economy in the U.S. and globally. But at the same time, we don't know how the market will react because we have never had this situation before," Cavanaugh said.</p>
<p>The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to say it will start reducing its $4.5 trillion portfolio of government securities when it releases its policy update on Wednesday. Rates are forecast to stay on hold, but traders will be looking hints if more hike are coming later in the year.</p>
<p>Read:Fed's balance-sheet unwind will be moment of truth for financial markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-balance-sheet-unwind-will-be-moment-of-truth-for-financial-markets-2017-09-18)</p>
<p>The dollar gave up some of its recent gains ahead of the Fed meeting, with the ICE Dollar Index down 0.3% at 91.78 on Tuesday.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump gave his first address to the United Nations General Assembly (http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2017/09/19/president-donald-trump-speaks-to-the-united-nations-live-blog-and-video/), and at one point stated that the U.S. was "ready, willing and able" to act against North Korea militarily, and that the U.S. would "totally destroy" the country if necessary. Markets were little impacted by the speech.</p>
<p>Other economic news: Housing starts slipped (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/housing-starts-dip-in-august-but-permits-surge-in-sign-of-optimism-2017-09-19)0.8% to an annual rate of 1.18 million in August from an upwardly revised 1.19 million in July. Permits to build new homes jumped 5.7% to a 1.3 million rate, matching the level in January and marking the second highest amount since 2007.</p>
<p>The import-price index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cost-of-imported-goods-surge-in-august-led-by-fuel-2017-09-19)jumped 0.6% last month to match the biggest increase since January, largely due to higher oil prices.</p>
<p>See:MarketWatch's economic calendar (http://www.marketwatch.com/economy-politics/calendars/economic)</p>
<p>Stock movers: Shares of Best Buy Co Inc.(BBY) dropped 8% after its earnings outlook fell short of expectations.</p>
<p>AutoZone Inc.(AZO) fell 5% despite the auto parts retailer reporting earnings and revenue that beat forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/autozones-stock-rallies-after-profit-and-sales-rise-above-expectations-2017-09-19). The auto parts retailer said its same-store sales grew at 1% instead of 1.6% increased forecast by analysts.</p>
<p>Shares of Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) rose 0.7% after the company and Plains All American Pipeline LP(PAA) said late Monday they will drop a deal for Valero to acquire two California distribution terminals (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/valero-plains-all-american-drop-deal-after-california-lawsuit-2017-09-18) after interference from the state's attorney general.</p>
<p>Michael Kors Holdings Ltd.(KORS) shares jumped 3.4% after Oppenheimer analysts upgraded the stock to outperform from perform.</p>
<p>Other markets: Asian markets closed mixed, while European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-slip-as-traders-wait-for-fed-rate-update-2017-09-19) ended with modest gains.</p>
<p>Oil prices gave up gains to trade lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-resumes-climb-on-talk-of-extended-production-cut-2017-09-19), and gold inched higher (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-stalls-at-three-week-low-as-feds-signals-on-late-year-policy-awaited-2017-09-19) but most other metals declined.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 19, 2017 16:35 ET (20:35 GMT)</p> | MARKET SNAPSHOT: Stock Market Edges To New Round Of Records As Investors Await Fed | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/19/market-snapshot-stock-market-edges-to-new-round-records-as-investors-await-fed.html | 2017-09-19 | 0 |
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<p>A ship full of corporate Democrats takes on water. &#160; (Image: YouTube)</p>
<p>It always amazes me how so many of us fight to ensure that we keep doing the same thing, even when it clearly doesn’t work. Two examples stand out.</p>
<p>The first is “trickle-down economics”—the idea that if we just cut the taxes on the wealthy and big corporations, we’ll free them up to innovate, invest and create wealth, which will then trickle down to the rest of us. This idea has driven our economic debate and policies since Ronald Reagan brought it front and center in 1980. It’s the essence of President Trump’s tax and economic plans. The problem is, it doesn’t work. Never has.</p>
<p>The 1950s through the early 1970s saw sustained economic growth and widening prosperity in the United States. During that period, corporate taxes were at 50 percent and the top tax bracket on the rich was more than double what it is now. During those same years, not only did the economy grow substantially, but the main beneficiaries of that growth were working people and the middle class, whose incomes and wealth grew far more, proportionately, than those of the rich.</p>
<p>Since then, through nearly 40 years of tax-cutting trickle down, the results have been starkly different: An economy that’s nearly three times bigger, with extraordinary increases in overall wealth, yet the vast majority of Americans treading water or going backwards. Trickle down hasn’t, doesn’t and won’t happen. But that hasn’t shaken the confidence of its many proponents.</p>
<p>The second example is: the strategy of the Democratic Party.&#160;(I’m a Democrat).</p>
<p>Once aligned with labor unions and working people, with helping the poor and vulnerable, with fighting for rural as well as urban prosperity, it has steadily morphed into the party of the elite, the highly-educated, the technically-competent and the well-to-do. As an alternative to the Republicans’ full-on embrace of the rich and powerful, we Democrats have been a miserable failure. Our messages and our messengers—with too many words and too much nuance—have further befuddled and alienated so many people. That’s especially true in Southwest Virginia and other predominantly rural parts of the state.</p>
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<p>Ronald Reagan sells&#160;"trickle-down economics" back in 1981. (Image: Wikipedia)</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>For a moment following the election of Trump, it seemed that the Democratic Party might be ready for a little soul searching; that given not only Clinton’s electoral loss, but the decade-long hemorrhaging of Democratic seats from state houses to Congress, it was time for some candid self-examination; that if regions (like the Fighting 9th here in Virginia) began to receive sustained attention, resources and respect, we might rekindle the progressive streak that had once been a part of its politics.</p>
<p>You’d think. But much like the continued embrace of trickle down in spite of its demonstrative failures, the Democratic Party continues to marginalize large swaths of the country, including the 9th District of Virginia and countless other rural communities.</p>
<p>It was in this context that Michael Hudson, a veteran and IT guy from Blacksburg, Va., and I reached out to a small group of Southwest Virginians last December in hopes of changing the debate. “Progressive 9th” as we call ourselves, also includes farmers, students, small business owners, school teachers, academics and activists, from eight different counties, spanning much of the district.</p>
<p />
<p>Virginia's 9th Congressional&#160;District has been in the southwestern part of the state for over a century.&#160;These are the state's district&#160;boundaries&#160;as defined after the 2010 Census.&#160;(Source:&#160;U.S. Geological Survey)</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>As described in the August 28 Roanoke Times editorial “ <a href="http://www.roanoke.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-meet-the-rural-liberals-making-a-case-for-rural/article_29d52fac-3b1d-559e-93e6-28d73e611a9b.html" type="external">The Rural Liberals</a>,” this group has written a <a href="https://ruralprogressivepolitics.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/rural-progressive-platform1.pdf" type="external">Rural Progressive Platform</a>, released in June. We wrote it to confront the failings of both parties, but also to assert that what we most value—a healthy landscape, meaningful and dignified livelihoods, and strong communities—are “progressive” values in the truest sense of the word.</p>
<p>The platform is neither comprehensive nor prescriptive. We’re not seeking endorsements. Rather we offer it as a discussion starter—to begin to rethink not only our language, but our understanding and priorities.</p>
<p>You’ve probably heard it said that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different result.” Like pushing trickle-down policies that have failed for four decades; like Democratic strategy that ignores the very communities we need to win back. I don’t know if that’s insanity, but I’m pretty sure it’s flat out stupid.</p>
<p>For Democrats wanting to transform their party, rather than give up on it—like many of us in Progressive 9th—the platform could be a good place to start. For independents and others who just want more honest and productive&#160;debate, it might also be of interest.</p>
<p>(“ <a href="http://www.roanoke.com/opinion/commentary/flaccavento-rebuild-democratic-party-start-in-rural-america/article_2df2eb5f-04ba-5d0d-b17b-d1e86f7e97ed.html" type="external">Rebuild Democratic Party? Start in Rural America</a>” was originally published in the <a href="http://www.roanoke.com" type="external">Roanoke Times</a> and is reposted on Rural America In These Times with permission from the author.)&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Below is the&#160;Rural Progressive Platform, drafted in June 2017&#160;by southwestern Virginia’s Progressive 9th, unedited and&#160;in its entirety:</p>
<p>A Rural Progressive Platform must be built upon three central elements: land, livelihood and community. Over generations, these three pillars of rural life have shaped the economies and cultures of much of the countryside; they have forged our commitment to self-reliance and belief in hard work. Though much of rural America has changed greatly over the past several decades, land, livelihood and community continue to shape the way we see the world, ourselves, and therefore our politics.&#160;</p>
<p>What follows here is a framework for Progressive Values within a rural context, particularly that of Central Appalachia. It frequently uses “us” and “we”, not to stereotype or diminish others—“them”—but because we write from our own experience, in our own words. This platform is not intended to be comprehensive, but should be understood as a background document from which rural progressives can develop more focused and fully developed positions, or platforms better suited to their particular regions. It is accompanied by a one-page summary, which we hope will help spread the ideas more widely.</p>
<p>Our land</p>
<p>In southwest Virginia, our forests provide lumber for building, wood for heating, deer and turkey for food and ginseng for a little bit of cash. Cattle and sheep graze on lush pastures, while narrow strips of bottomland have grown tobacco, produce and home gardens. Creeks and rivers offer bass, trout and perch, as well as irrigation for crops. And underneath all of this, in some parts of our area has been coal, which historically provided well-paying jobs and a good chunk of the tax base for many local services.</p>
<p>In Kansas, they have prairies; in Louisiana, bayous. Though each place is different, rural regions share a sense that nature is part of how we meet our needs, feed ourselves, create jobs and livelihoods. That the mountains, forests, valleys and streams are a practical part of our lives and economies. No doubt this is at least part of why we look at a chainsaw or a rifle so differently from most city folks. Yet it’s also true that many urban communities have begun to revitalize and rebuild their own land base, whether as community gardens, farms or public parks. The time is right for rural and urban folks to come together around the idea of working landscapes that respect the environment while helping people meet their needs.</p>
<p>Our livelihoods</p>
<p>There are “environmentalists” in rural communities and small towns across Appalachia, the Midwest and every other part of the country. Nevertheless, because the environmental movement has emerged most strongly in cities or suburbs, its focus has been on protecting the environment, more so than using it well to meet people’s needs. It often seems that environmentalists forget just how much everyone depends upon the food, materials and energy that primarily come from rural areas, thanks to the work that rural folks do. Raising food, cutting logs, mining coal or minerals, drilling for gas—these are some of the jobs we do, along with the mechanics, the welders and carpenters, the engineers and the truck drivers that finish the work and get these products to market. If we seem to resent people telling us how to manage our land, it’s because we do a lot of the work that enables so many others to eat well, be warm and live comfortably.</p>
<p>Of course our jobs are far more diverse now, and many rural people no longer even raise a garden, let alone work in the outdoors. But the sense of ‘livelihood’, of taking care of our own needs through hard, sometimes dangerous work, of being self-reliant, that sense is still strong in most rural people, still part of what we believe and what we want. We’re encouraged to see that an increasing number of people in cities, especially young people, are yearning to work with their hands, to learn how to raise food or live closer to the land.</p>
<p>Our community</p>
<p>In rural places, family and neighborliness are the starting point for community. And church. Small towns and rural places, like many bigger cities, have seen community eroded by empty storefronts, consolidated schools, addiction and more. Even so, we still tend to set down roots in our place, so when we’re told to just ‘move to where the jobs are’, we think it’s a choice we shouldn’t have to make. We believe that a caring local community offers the best means to support and help our neighbors.</p>
<p>It’s true that too often we’ve not welcomed people who look or act differently from our norms. But not always. After 911 and Katrina, many first responders traveled from rural towns to New York and New Orleans. For years, the UMWA offered help to Chinese miners in their struggles to make their coalmines safer. We can be neighborly to others, far away. But we need to believe that our own communities are valued and respected, not dismissed or ridiculed.</p>
<p>If land, livelihood and community are central to rural identity and culture, what would a progressive platform look like in these places? How should it be different from the progressive ideas and language that we usually hear? What are some examples of public policies to support these values?</p>
<p>Rural Progressive values and the land</p>
<p>We love the land and all it has to offer. However, we want people who don’t live from the land, who experience nature mostly through tourism or recreation, to understand this: It’s hard to make a living from the land without harm, without impact. Farmers understand this, as do fishermen, hunters, loggers and miners. Those of us who farm, fish or hunt see ourselves as good stewards, because we know that our livelihoods depend on healthy land.</p>
<p>If we’re going to do a better job sustaining the environment while still meeting people’s needs, progressive policies must make partners of those who live from the land, rather than just regulating and restricting what happens in the countryside. Progressive policies should make major investments in the most promising rural sustainable businesses, particularly in communities historically dependent on coal. Rebuilding local economies so that people can care for themselves and their families should be as much of a priority as protecting the environment. We need to see that we are truly in this environment thing together, sharing the challenges equally.</p>
<p>Policy examples:</p>
<p>Rural Progressive values and livelihoods</p>
<p>We say without hesitation that working men and women must be at the center of a Rural Progressive platform and must form the foundation of the broader progressive movement. Working folks in rural Appalachia and urban Baltimore might look different, but in city and country alike working people often do work that is physically demanding, work that requires a practical intelligence, and jobs that so many others have come to take for granted. We think it’s long past due that rural and urban workers share in the wealth our work creates, and be respected by politicians with their actions, not just their words.</p>
<p>We come from generations of resourceful people, folks “who were poor but didn’t know it” because they made the most out of what they had. A Rural Progressive platform should thus be built on responsibilities at least as much as rights, with policies that help people help themselves, and build on our strengths and assets.</p>
<p>Policy examples:</p>
<p>Rural Progressive values and community</p>
<p>We’ve not yet given up on community—real community, built around a place. We need progressive economic, tax and trade policy that supports healthy, self-reliant local communities, instead of polices that suck the life out of our businesses, homes and downtowns. Strengthening local communities should be a central goal of progressive policies.</p>
<p>Policy examples:</p>
<p>Rural citizens believe in fairness and understand that some people start with advantages that ordinary people just don’t have. After all, Jesus honored the widow, who gave in spite of her poverty, and rebuked the Pharisees, who gave only from their surplus. It seems fair, then, to ask more of those with wealth and privilege, to oppose policies that further their economic or political power, and to protect and care for those who are struggling.</p>
<p>Policy examples</p>
<p>Like what you’ve read? <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/itt-subscription-offer?refcode=WS_RAITT_Article_Footer&amp;noskip=true" type="external">Subscribe to In These Times magazine</a>, or <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/support-in-these-times?refcode=WS_RAITT_Article_Footer&amp;noskip=true" type="external">make a tax-deductible donation to fund this reporting</a>.</p> | A Rural Progressive Platform: To Fix Stuff Democrats Have to Stop Being Stupid | true | http://inthesetimes.com/rural-america/entry/20551/rural-america-progressive-politics-central-appalachia-corporate-economics | 2017-09-26 | 4 |
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<p />
<p>The 193-member General Assembly elected 14 members to 47-nation council, the U.N.’s main body charged with promoting and protecting human rights.</p>
<p>Russia, which received 112 votes, lost its regional seat to Hungary, with 144 votes, and Croatia with 114 votes.</p>
<p>Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin played down the importance of the loss.</p>
<p>“It was a very close vote and very good countries competing, Croatia, Hungary. They are fortunate because of their size, they are not exposed to the winds of international diplomacy. Russia is very exposed. We’ve been on council a number of years, I’m sure next time we’ll get in,” he said.</p>
<p>Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China, Brazil, Rwanda, Hungary, Cuba, South Africa, Japan, Tunisia, the U.S. and U.K. also won seats on the council. Guatemala was the only country running for a seat beside Russia to not be elected.</p>
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<p>Human rights groups had called for countries to reject the candidacies of Russia and Saudi Arabia, which has been accused of indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Yemen. Saudi Arabia’s election, however, was a foregone conclusion since it was running unopposed for its regional seat.</p>
<p>“In rejecting Russia’s bid for re-election to the Human Rights Council, U.N. member states have sent a strong message to the Kremlin about its support for a regime that has perpetrated so much atrocity in Syria,” said Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch. “Next year, U.N. member states should make sure that all regional groups have real competition so no one is guaranteed victory.”</p>
<p>Britain’s Human Rights Minister Baroness Anelay said she was delighted with her country’s re-election to the council.</p>
<p>“The UK has been a strong advocate of the vital work of the Council since its inception, and we are honored to continue to serve as a member,” Anelay said in statement.</p> | Russia voted off UN Human Rights Council | false | https://abqjournal.com/877510/russia-voted-off-un-human-rights-council.html | 2 |
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<p>Oil prices turned higher late Monday afternoon to settle above $50 a barrel for the first time in more than two months.</p>
<p>U.S. crude futures rose 46 cents, or 0.93%, to settle at $50.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global benchmark, rose 13 cents, or 0.25%, to $52.65 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>U.S. crude futures gained nearly 9% in July for their largest monthly percentage gain since April 2016. Rapidly declining supplies of oil in U.S. storage tanks and Saudi Arabia's commitment to limit its exports helped convince many traders and investors that the supply glut that has weighed on the market for three years is waning.</p>
<p>Monday's move is the latest sign of renewed confidence in the oil market.</p>
<p>"Everyone has been so, so bearish. Now it's the perfect recipe for a contrarian rally," said Mark Benigno, co-director of energy trading at INTL FCStone.</p>
<p>Oil prices have languished below $50 since late May, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major exporters disappointed many investors by not agreeing to deeper output cuts. Investors who had bet that the production cut agreement would send oil prices climbing toward $60 a barrel began to give up hope. Oil prices tumbled into bear market territory in June.</p>
<p>A confluence of factors helped lift prices Monday, after they initially edged lower.</p>
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<p>The prospect of a rapid increase in U.S. production has weighed on the market this year, but the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Monday that its monthly figures showed that U.S. oil output in May wasn't as high as preliminary weekly figures indicated. That's the second month in a row that the monthly figures have fallen short of weekly data.</p>
<p>And momentum-focused traders were likely pulled in as oil prices broke through key technical levels late in the day Monday. Automated systems that follow momentum have grown especially influential in the market this year. While some analysts and brokers have blamed them at times for selloffs and depressed prices, they also likely contributed to the sharp rise Monday afternoon, brokers said.</p>
<p>"Once it got going and took out some levels, from a price standpoint you can see the algos kicking in," said Michael Hiley, a trader at LPS Futures LLC.</p>
<p>Analysts and brokers said oil was also pulled higher in part by rising gasoline prices on the final day of the August gasoline futures contract. An outage at Europe's largest oil refinery Sunday also boosted fuel prices. Gasoline futures rose 2.97 cents, or 1.77% to $1.7058 a gallon. Diesel futures rose 1.22 cents, or 0.74%, to $1.6519 a gallon.</p>
<p>Still, some cautioned that the rally may sputter. While the continuing pullback in U.S. oil supplies and drilling activity has supported views that the shale boom is plateauing, many shale producers will likely be more profitable with oil prices above $50, and that could lead to higher output.</p>
<p>Sarah McFarlane, Jenny W. Hsu and Dan Molinski contributed to this article.</p>
<p>Write to Alison Sider at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>July 31, 2017 16:52 ET (20:52 GMT)</p> | Oil Prices Settle Above $50 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/31/oil-prices-settle-above-50.html | 2017-07-31 | 0 |
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<p>Lance Sigmon of the Allen Sigmon Real Estate Group. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Lance Sigmon, principal at Allen Sigmon Real Estate Group, is a regular guy. He’s the kind of guy who immediately makes you feel like you have been friends for years.</p>
<p>Sigmon is a father of four, happily married and doing a job he loves. “I always had visions of real estate being a job where I just kick around in my robe and slippers and collect checks every month.”</p>
<p>The reality is obviously much different, but every day he gets closer to that vision.</p>
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<p>For now, his 7-year-old daughter is lying on the couch in his office while he is interviewed. He is surrounded by trophies from hunting trips that are fond memories for him. His Eagle Scout flag sits on the table behind him, and he speaks passionately about the pastoral cowboy painting dominating the far wall of his office.</p>
<p>But when he talks about his love for his desk as the first new piece of furniture he ever bought, one understands, Lance Sigmon is a man who never does anything halfway.</p>
<p>You have a pretty big family. What is that like?</p>
<p>We’ve had a great life. We had our kids young. They (twin boys) were born three days before I finished finals for my bachelor’s degree, and I remember studying in the hospital, and I’d have one baby in one arm and a textbook in the other. And then I’d leave my wife and go take a final and then come back. It was probably the hardest week of my life, but we love being young parents.</p>
<p>You grew up on a farm in La Jara, Colo.?</p>
<p>Yeah. But then when I was in elementary school, we moved down to Bernalillo and we still raised animals and I would go back in the summers and work with my grandparents on the farm. And we would raise animals and do 4-H and compete in that. So from being a young boy, from 7 years old, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have to wake up early and go out and take care of sheep or cows or chickens or a pig, we’ve had one of everything – turkeys, we’ve had it all.</p>
<p>What do you do for fun?</p>
<p>Brad Allen and Lance Sigmon of the Allen Sigmon Real Estate Group. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Well, I love spending time with my family, and that’s on different levels. For me and my boys, I love hunting and fishing, ’cause there is just something about being in nature with my boys around a campfire, telling some stories, with some truth and some lies. Embellishment is a great quality for a fireside story.</p>
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<p>My girls are spectacular, and they love beaches. I didn’t grow up on the beach, but for spring break we rented a beach house in Mexico and we did snorkeling with turtles and spear-fishing. And the last night, the caretakers of the house cooked up all of the fish we had caught.</p>
<p>Plus, my family, we love wild game. So I have grinders and dehydrators and meat slicers. We have all of the processing equipment. So we make different jerky recipes. We take bacon and mix it in with our burgers. We love just being out there and cooking together.</p>
<p>Where did you attend college?</p>
<p>I went to Ricks College in southeastern Idaho, which is now known as Brigham Young University Idaho. I attended a year there, and then I went on a mission for the (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) to southern Argentina for two years.</p>
<p>So all the way at the bottom of Patagonia. Ah man, it was awesome. Just natural resource-wise, it’s amazing. The mountain range between Chile and Argentina looks like a postcard. It is beautiful. And there’s these blue alpine lakes up there, these glacial lakes. Then you have Patagonia, which is kind of the middle part that’s just like barren desert. Then you have the eastern side which is on the coast, and we would see penguins and all kinds of stuff.</p>
<p>What did you do after your mission?</p>
<p>Then I came back to the United States, and I finished my schooling at Ricks. But when I came back, they made an announcement that said, “Hey, we are going to accredit this school and offer four-year degrees and we are going to change the name to Brigham Young University Idaho.”</p>
<p>So I just stayed there. I have two degrees on the wall, one from Ricks College and one from BYU Idaho, which, I never left campus. So I lived there until then but after I graduated, we came down here and I was a partner with a pest control company, Preventive Pest Control here in town.</p>
<p>And so while I was in the pest control business, the woman who sold my wife and I our house, the broker, her name is Kate Southard. Great woman, I love Kate. She said, “You gotta be in the real estate business. You need to get your license.”</p>
<p>So after we bought our house, I referred her another client who bought his house through her and as a gift for that referral, she paid for my tuition to go to real estate school.</p>
<p>And so I sat down and told my wife I want to get out of this (pest control) business and go into real estate but I don’t know if I want to do residential or commercial real estate.</p>
<p>Well, when we moved back here, we lived with my in-laws. And while we were there, we attended church with guys named Roger Cox and Brad Allen. They were two guys in the commercial real estate business. And so I talked with my wife about it and, you know, we had a young family and it’s all commission so there is an element of risk there, but I had saved up my money.</p>
<p>And she has always been supportive. She has been my biggest cheerleader. She has been a wonderful companion, and she was like, “OK, let’s do it.” And after (talking and praying), we felt like commercial real estate was the path to go down. So I went over to Roger Cox and Associates where Brad Allen was the president, and I said, `I would like to come and do commercial real estate with you guys, will you have me?’ And he said, “Absolutely. Come on over.” And so that is how it started.</p>
<p>And how long were you at Roger Cox and Associates?</p>
<p>I was there (from 2004) until 2011.</p>
<p>What was the impetus to split off and start your own company?</p>
<p>So the reason that I wanted to go work for Roger Cox and Associates was because Roger Cox, in my mind, was the man. He had done everything that I wanted to do. … Roger had brokered a ton of real estate. He was a very successful broker. But he had also developed a bunch of real estate which I wanted to do badly. But how would you even learn how? You need a mentor. So I went there, and I worked hard. Brad and I started partnering on things after I had been there for a while. And I found an excellent partner in Brad. We both had the same mentality, the same goals.</p>
<p>So for those seven years, I brokered, and looked for opportunities together with Brad. And we had a great relationship with Roger. He was our partner, our mentor. In a lot of ways, I feel like he treated me almost like a son. And it was a wonderful relationship.</p>
<p>So I (was) in my 30s, and Roger (was) in his 80s. Brad and I have these visions of expanding and growing the empire. But there came a time when we realized that if we were going to grow, we need to do that on our own.</p>
<p>We left with Roger’s blessing, still partners on things. There was no animosity, no hard feelings.</p>
<p /> | One-on-One with Lance Sigmon | false | https://abqjournal.com/1012968/111111-no-headline-9.html | 2 |
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<p>MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s president has denied a tweet by Justin Bieber saying the singer met with the leader and his family prior to a show.</p>
<p>It was the latest sour note in Bieber’s controversy-filled Latin American tour.</p>
<p>President Enrique Pena Nieto’s office put out a tweet late Monday that read “@Presidenciamx denies meeting between President @EPN with the singer @justinbieber.”</p>
<p>That was a response to a tweet from Bieber’s official account saying: “just met some amazing mexican beliebers and the presidente of mexico and his familia.”</p>
<p>Apparently, Bieber was confused about whether the president was there or not.</p>
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<p>Early Tuesday, Bieber wrote in a tweet: “correction. I met the presidente’s family and all their friends in the private meet and greet with all their security. They were very nice.”</p>
<p>The 19-year-old pop sensation faces two criminal complaints and demands for refunds in Argentina, in addition to trouble with Brazilian police for allegedly spraying graffiti in that country.</p>
<p>Bieber angered Argentines by abandoning a concert after less than an hour and not showing up for a photo-op that some fans paid hundreds of dollars extra for. The singer’s manager, Scooter Braun, said Bieber came down with food poisoning after a concert Saturday, and despite eight hours of intravenous fluids, insisted on trying to do Sunday’s concert against doctors’ advice.</p>
<p>One Argentine lawyer is accusing Bieber of sending bodyguards to attack a photographer outside a Buenos Aires nightclub.</p>
<p>Another accuses him of defiling the national symbol by dragging two Argentine flags off stage with his feet and a microphone stand before 45,000 “beliebers” during the first of two concerts in River Plate stadium.</p> | Mexican president denies meeting Justin Bieber | false | https://abqjournal.com/304645/mexican-president-denies-meeting-justin-bieber.html | 2013-11-20 | 2 |
<p>UPDATE 7:45 PM PDT</p>
<p>Holt asks Trump what he meant by not having the presidential look about Hillary. Trump says she needs more stamina.</p>
<p>Hillary says "after he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a ceasefire, a release of dissidents, an opening of new opportunities in nations around the world, or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a Congressional committee, he can talk about stamina." Trump says Hillary has experience, but it's bad experience. Cheers for both.</p>
<p>Hillary says Trump tried to switch from looks to stamina. He says he has called women pigs and dogs, and said pregnancy is an inconvenience to employers, and she rips his addiction to beauty contests. She cites a Hispanic woman Trump supposedly called a housekeeper.</p>
<p>Trump cites Rosie O'Donnell and rips her. He says he wouldn't mention her family, skips the Clinton hit. He says she's being mean.</p>
<p>Hillary says she'll support the outcome of this election, and that Trump is planting doubts about the election. Trump says he wants to make America great again. He says if Hillary wins, he'll absolutely support her.</p>
<p>UPDATE 7:30 PM PDT</p>
<p>Holt asks about how to stop homegrown terrorism.</p>
<p>Trump immediately says that Hillary is talking about taking out ISIS. But Hillary and Obama created a vacuum the way they got out of Iraq. They shouldn't have been in, but they got out in disastrous fashion. She talks about taking them out, but they wouldn't have been formed if they left some troops behind in Iraq. Trump says we should have "taken the oil." Again, he has no idea what he's saying about this. He calls Libya another one of Trump's disasters.</p>
<p>Trump should have gone with immigration there. He didn't. Missed opportunity.</p>
<p>Hillary calls on the fact-checkers. She says Trump supported the invasion. He advocated for Libyan invasion. That's true. She says that it was Bush's fault that we got out early. This is eminently false.</p>
<p>Hillary says we're working with NATO and Muslim allies to fight terrorism. She says Trump has insulted Muslims abroad and at home.</p>
<p>Trump says we have an enormous mess under Hillary's direction. He says the Iran deal is "another beauty" and says they'll be a major power thanks to Hillary. True. Trump now moves to defend on NATO comments -- another giant fail. Why isn't he on attack?</p>
<p>Holt says Trump didn't support the Iraq war. Trump says the media's lying about him. Holt says the record shows otherwise. Hillary grinning like a ghoul while Trump talks about how he's besties with Sean Hannity who fought with him over the Iraq war.</p>
<p>Trump says his strongest asset is his temperament. Hillary is almost laughing out loud now. Trump says Hillary was totally out of control when she addressed the unions.</p>
<p>Hillary says, "Well, okay." The audience laughs. Brutal.</p>
<p>She ignores the meltdown, talks about NATO. Then she brags about the Iran deal. She says Trump would have blown the Iranians out of the water for seizing American sailors. He says that wouldn't start a war, and he's totally right.</p>
<p>She rips him over his policy on nuclear proliferation. She says he can't handle twitter let alone nukes.</p>
<p>Trump says it's an old line. She says it's a good line.</p>
<p>Trump says other countries should pay us. "We lose on everything." He says if these other countries don't pay their fair share -- Japan can't be defended by us. They may have to defend themselves. "As far as the nuclear is concerned, it is the single greatest threat."</p>
<p>Trump says that Hillary is cavalier about how she talks about Russia. He says that Russia is upgrading capacity. He says we're not keeping up. He says we should get rid of nuclear weapons, but says he can't take anything off the table. He says China should solve North Korea. He says the worst deal is the Iran deal -- he says Iran has power over North Korea. He mentions Yemen. Now he's babbling.</p>
<p>Hillary says words matter when you run for president. She says we have mutual defense treaties and we will honor them. It is essential that America's word be good. He says many countries question our commitment, but she wants to speak on behalf of the American people that our word is good. She adds, "It's important that we look at the entire global situation. There's no doubt we have other problems with Iran, but I'd rather deal with those other problems having put that lid on."</p>
<p>Trump says Hillary can't defeat ISIS. He says he wants to help our allies, but we are losing money. "We cannot be the policeman of the world...they're not paying us what we need." Wow.</p>
<p>UPDATE 7:15 PM PDT</p>
<p>Holt asks Trump about birtherism. Trump mentions Sidney Blumenthal and Patty Doyle's connections to birtherism. Trump says he wants to get on to defeating ISIS, he wants to get on to a strong border. Holt repeats the question: why didn't he stop his birtherism after 2011? Trump says nobody was pressing it or caring much about it, but he got Obama to produce the birth certificate. Trump says he won't apologize for pushing birtherism. Trump says he's developed great relationships with the African-American community. He says he came to the anti-birther conclusion because blacks wanted him to do so.</p>
<p>Hillary says, "Just listen to what you heard." Hillary says Trump knew the question was coming, so he tried to put the racist birther lie to bed. She says it can't be dismissed that easily. She says Trump started his political activity based on this racist lie. She then goes back to 1973 and pushes the lawsuits on racial discrimination. She quotes Michelle Obama at the DNC saying "when they go low, we go high, and Barack Obama went high."</p>
<p>Trump defends his business record again. He's spent far more time defending himself than she has. That's a flip from early in the debate.</p>
<p>Holt asks about cyberattacks.</p>
<p>Hillary says that cyberwarfare will be a big challenge. Hillary immediately cites Russian cyberattacks. Hillary says Trump is very warm toward Putin. She says Putin's playing a tough, long game. She says cyberattackers will be hacking into personal files, and we've learned that this is one of their preferred methods. She once again points out Trump's comments about Putin hacking Americans.</p>
<p>Trump says he was endorsed by 200 admirals and generals to lead the country. Trump says he was also endorsed by ICE. He says he'll take the admirals and the generals over the political hacks who have led our country so brilliantly. He agrees with some of what Hillary says. Trump says it might not have been Russia that hacked the DNC. He said it could be somebody sitting on their bed who weighs 400 lbs. What is he doing? Trump says his son is great with computers -- "the security aspect of cyber is very tough...but we are not doing the job we should be doing."</p>
<p>Hillary talks about defeating ISIS online. She says she helped take out Bin Laden.</p>
<p>UPDATE 7:00 PM PDT</p>
<p>Hillary says that Trump keeps talking down the black community. She says there are good ways of doing it. She says stop and frisk was found to be unconstitutional, because it was ineffective. Hillary says crime declined, but too many Hispanic and black people ended up in jail for non-violent offenses. She's stuttering her way through an answer on gun control.</p>
<p>Holt asks Hillary if police are implicitly biased. She says everyone is implicitly biased. She says we jump to conclusions about each other. We need to ask hard questions about "why am I feeling this way?" She says she wants funding for retraining on implicit bias.</p>
<p>Trump disowns the NRA and says no-fly, no-buy on guns. Well done, guys.</p>
<p>Trump says Hillary probably believes in stop-and-frisk. Hillary says if we're going to talk about mayor, murders have dropped in New York City. Trump says she's wrong. <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/nyc-officials-tout-new-low-in-crime-but-homicide-rape-robbery-rose-1451959203" type="external">He's correct.</a></p>
<p>Trump says the community in the inner cities has been abused in order to get votes among Democrats. Trump says he just left Detroit and Philadelphia -- Hillary decided to stay home, and that's okay -- he says they're upset with what their politicians have told them and what they've done. Hillary says Trump criticized her for preparing for the debate, and she prepared to be president.</p>
<p>UPDATE 6:50 PM PDT</p>
<p>Hillary attacks his business record. She talks about dishwashers, painters, architects who have been victimized by Trump. She says he chiseled people; he collapses and says he didn't pay people with whose work he wasn't satisfied. She says he's taken business bankruptcy six times. She says he calls himself the king of debt, says that Trump would try to negotiate down the national debt of the United States. She says sometimes there's not a direct transfer of skills from business to government, sometimes it's a bad transfer.</p>
<p>Trump: it's all words, it's all sound bites, I built a great company. He says he's opening a hotel near the White House -- if he doesn't get there one way, he'll get there another. He's saying he can run the country the same way he ran his business.</p>
<p>Holt moves onto race.</p>
<p>Holt asks how to heal the racial divide. Hillary says that race remains a significant challenge in the country. She says race still determines too much. It determines where people live and what kind of education they can get and it determines how they're treated in the criminal justice system. She says police officers want reform, too -- but doesn't say what kind of reform she wants. She talks about the gun epidemic.</p>
<p>Trump says that Hillary doesn't want to use a couple of words: law and order. We need law and order -- if we don't have it, we won't have a country. He says when he looks what's happening in Charlotte, when he looks throughout the country. He says he received the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police, from other police groups. Trump says many blacks are living in Hell. He says Chicago looks like a war-torn country. He says we have to stop the violence, bring back law and order. Trump also calls for gun control in major cities, and then links the issue to illegal immigration. He says the police are afraid to do anything -- we must protect our inner cities, because African-American communities are being decimated by crime. Trump says felons shouldn't have guns.</p>
<p>Trump says he agrees with Clinton that we need a better relationship between police and the community. He says bad things are happening, and we need law and order. Again.</p>
<p>UPDATE 6:40 PM PDT</p>
<p>Holt asks Trump about tax returns. Trump blames the audit. Holt fact-checks him. Trump keeps repeating his talking point. He then says that Hillary should have released her emails. He asks why she deleted 33,000 emails.</p>
<p>Hillary says it's an example of bait-and-switch. Everybody releases tax returns. She says he's not as rich as he says he is, or not as charitable. He says we don't know all of his business dealings.</p>
<p>He says it makes him smart not to pay taxes.</p>
<p>She continues that Trump isn't enthusiastic about people seeing what's in the tax returns. He says the financial disclosure statements don't give all the details. He says it seems to her that Americans deserve to see it. Hillary says Trump is hiding something. Which is undoubtedly true. She asks who Trump owes money to.</p>
<p>Hillary says she made a mistake using a private email. She says it's a mistake and she takes responsibility.</p>
<p>Trump says her emails were done purposefully. He says when your staff takes the Fifth Amendment, when you have the man who set up the server taking the Fifth -- that's disgraceful. Then he babbles about his business record. Trump says he'll hand over a list of banks that have lent him money.</p>
<p>Trump says it would be one thing if we were indebted if we had good infrastructure, but we're a mess. Trump says we're a debtor nation and we need new roads, tunnels, hospitals -- it's been squandered on her ideas. She says he should have paid his income tax, then.</p>
<p>UPDATE 6:30 PM PDT</p>
<p>Hillary's playing Trump's game now, whining about trade, too. She says she'll appoint a special prosecutor on trade. Trump slams NAFTA. Trade is the worst thing that ever happened -- according to both candidates. But she appears to be getting under his skin, even as he gets aggressive. She says she was in favor of TPP, but now she's not. Weak.</p>
<p>Hillary looks wishy-washy. Trump says Hillary will approve one of the biggest tax increases in history. He says her regulations are a disaster, and he defends his tax cut as the biggest since Reagan. He says Hillary will regulate businesses out of existence -- and then turns and addresses Lester Holt and says people like his regulatory cuts. He says he'll cut taxes, and she'll raise them.</p>
<p>Hillary says she assumes there would be charges and claims -- Trump says, "facts" -- and Hillary says her website is a fact-checking website. Hillary says she'd tax the wealthy and corporations. Trump says her website has all her answers -- would MacArthur like that? Suddenly Trump is attacking her on her inability to fight ISIS, and he says she's been fighting ISIS her entire adult life.</p>
<p>Trump returns to the theme of taxes being too high. He says we have no leadership on the economy, and it begins with Hillary Clinton. Hillary says she'll be blamed for everything, and Trump says, "Why not?" Hillary accuses Trump of saying "crazy things." Trump says there's nothing crazy about bringing companies back to our country.</p>
<p>Hillary again returns to "Trumped-up trickle-down." Fail. Utter failure. Total and utter failure. Failure of failures. She is SO bad at this.</p>
<p>Trump says Hillary is all-talk, no action. He says she's made bad decisions. He says we've had the worst revival of an economy since the Great Depression, and he says we're in a bubble. Trump says we'd better be awfully careful, and a Fed doing political things. Trump says the day Obama leaves, they'll raise interest rates. He says the Fed is more political than Clinton.</p>
<p>UPDATE 6:20 PM PDT</p>
<p>Lester Holt, looking pretty happy, jumps in with both feet. He begins by introducing the candidates -- it's just like Trump's wedding! Hillary's wearing Communist red, Trump's looking calm, as though Kellyanne Conway has drugged him heavily.</p>
<p>Holt asks Hillary why she's a better choice to create jobs. Hillary says the central question in the election is what kind of country we want to be, and what kind of future we want to build. She invokes her granddaughter, because she's a WOMANZ. She then begins to drone about equal pay and profit sharing. She's the most boring woman on earth, and she's showing her chops. She asks who can shoulder the imense responsibilities of the presidency -- a knock on Trump's capacity.</p>
<p>Trump says jobs are fleeing the country, moving to Mexico and China. He complains about devaluing the currency, which of course is sillytalks, but hey, it's a narrative. He then says that he agrees with Hillary on childcare. He complains some more about free trade. Finally, at the tail end, he says he's for tax cuts. Nice to hear at least a bit of occasional conservatism.</p>
<p>Hillary says Trump's plan is Trumped-up trickle-down. My God. She's horrifying.</p>
<p>She then says that she grew up a poor black child in Alabama. As opposed to Trump, who grew up in the lap of luxury.</p>
<p>Trump hits back on his business record, and then she complains about green energy and Trump's failure to understand climate change. She also whines about Bush.</p>
<p>Trump strikes back by pointing out the failures of the Obama green economy and his failures in terms of debt. Trump again hits her on why she hasn't been doing anything about this stuff for thirty years.</p>
<p>Hillary cites her husband's record.</p>
<p>ORIGINAL</p>
<p>So it begins.</p>
<p>Will Trump crap himself? Will Hillary keel over? Will Trump vomit on a Mexican baby? Will Hillary eat a live fetus?</p>
<p>Watch here for all the updates.</p> | LIVEBLOGGING THE DEBATE: Trump v. Hillary, Round 1 | true | https://dailywire.com/news/9479/liveblogging-debate-trump-v-hillary-round-1-ben-shapiro | 2016-09-26 | 0 |
<p>FOX Business: Capitalism Lives Here</p>
<p>The markets pushed higher in volatile action on Thursday as Wall Street looked to bounce back from a three-session slump.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Today's Markets</p>
<p>As of 2:20 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 42.2 points, or 0.27%, to 15513, the S&amp;P 500 rose 8.1 points, or 0.48%, to 1699 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 19.9 points, or 0.54%, to 3674.</p>
<p>The Dow and S&amp;P 500 both slide for the third day in a row on Wednesday, the longest losing streak for the stock-market barometers since June. The mood was initially lighter on Wall Street Thursday after China posted bigger-than-expected increases in exports and imports.&#160;However, the rosy sentiment faded in morning action.</p>
<p>Exports from the world's second-biggest economy jumped 5.1% on a year-to-year basis. Imports, meanwhile, surged 10.9%. There have been worries that China's economic growth will slow down too quickly, and hinder expansion in the broader world economy as a result. However, these data pointed to stabilization, according to economists.</p>
<p>"The positive surprise from China’s July trade data, with both export and import growth exceeding consensus expectations, caught everyone’s attention," economists at Japan-based Nomura wrote in an email to clients.</p>
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<p>On the U.S. front,&#160;the number of individuals applying for first-time jobless benefits rose to 333,000 last week from an upwardly-revised 328,000 the week prior. Economists expected claims to rise to 336,000 from an initially reported 326,000. The four-week moving average, which helps smooth volatility in the weekly readings, fell to its lowest level since November 2007.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) revealed in a regulatory filing that the U.S. Justice Department has launched parallel civil and criminal probes into sales of mortgage-backed securities by the biggest U.S. bank by assets.</p>
<p>U.S. oil prices dipped 19 cents, or 0.18%, to $104.18 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline rose 0.15% to $1.875 a gallon. Gold ticked up $2.60, or 0.2%, to $1,288 a troy ounce.</p>
<p>Foreign Markets</p>
<p>The Euro Stoxx 50 climbed 0.8% to 2817, the English FTSE 100 rose 0.4% to 6537 and the German DAX rallied 0.91% to 8335.</p>
<p>In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 slid 1.6% to 13606 and the Chinese Hang Sent ticked up 0.31% to 21656.</p> | Stocks Swing Higher in Choppy Trade | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2013/08/08/wall-street-bounces-back-amid-upbeat-data.html | 2016-03-06 | 0 |
<p>The late French philosopher is squatting in the corridor. He is gazing, with his one good eye, through a keyhole out at the world. Perched forward, squinting, he is aware solely of the aperture and what he sees through it; he is simply his own acts. Suddenly, footsteps. Many footsteps. They are looking at him. His biographers. His commentators. Reviewers of his biographers and commentators. Shall Jean-Paul Sartre's specter be shamed?</p>
<p>In the "keyhole" passage of Being and Nothingness, perhaps the most renowned in this existential tome, Sartre sought to describe how we are "constituted" by the consciousness of an "Other." A voyeur, suddenly aware that he may be observed peering through his peephole in a hallway, becomes, in Sartre's example, an object in the world for someone else. As a consequence of "the Look of the Other," he finds his self-grounding and freedom escaping him, for he is no longer simply his own acts. And in this situation he feels shame "in the recognition of the fact that I am indeed the object which the Other is looking at and judging."</p> | Looking at Sartre | true | https://dissentmagazine.org/article/looking-at-sartre | 2018-03-20 | 4 |
<p>This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (September 1, 2017).</p>
<p>Wells Fargo &amp; Co. said its sales-practices scandal was far broader than it had previously acknowledged, ensuring that the bank will continue to face scrutiny about a problem that has weighed on it for nearly a year.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Wells Fargo said Thursday that 3.5 million "potentially unauthorized" customer accounts were opened as a result of improper sales tactics, a 67% increase over the 2.1 million figure it made public last fall.</p>
<p>The disclosure, made at the conclusion of a review of the misconduct, comes against a backdrop of fresh missteps within Wells Fargo's consumer-lending operations and significant underperformance in the stock market compared with its big-bank peers.</p>
<p>The sales scandal erupted last September when the San Francisco bank admitted that employees opened customer accounts using fictitious or unauthorized information to meet lofty sales goals. The revelation led to congressional hearings, the abrupt retirement of its then-CEO and a decision by the bank's board to claw back tens of millions of dollars in compensation from some top executives.</p>
<p>Wells Fargo said Thursday that it is providing $3.7 million in additional customer refunds as a result of the revised count of fake accounts.</p>
<p>"We apologize to everyone who was harmed by unacceptable sales practices that occurred in our retail bank," Wells Fargo Chief Executive Timothy Sloan said in a statement. "Today's announcement is a reminder of the disappointment we caused to customers and stakeholders," he added on a media call.</p>
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<p>The latest disclosure is likely to keep the bank in the regulatory spotlight and boost the possibility of future congressional hearings, analyst Jaret Seiberg of Cowen Group Inc. wrote in a client note.</p>
<p>Although Wells Fargo agreed to a $185 million settlement with regulators last September, the sales-practices issues have sparked a number of federal and state investigations, including from the Justice Department.</p>
<p>Mr. Sloan, who took over from John Stumpf late last year, said on the media call that there aren't any updates on those investigations. The bank has said it is cooperating with the inquiries; Mr. Sloan declined to comment on conversations with regulators in light of its latest update. He also said the new account figures aren't likely to upend an agreement to pay $142 million to customers to settle a class-action suit.</p>
<p>Soon after the bank's announcement, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D, Mass.), a frequent Wells Fargo critic, wrote on Twitter that the latest information is "unbelievable" and that the bank's "massive fraud is even worse than we thought."</p>
<p>She reiterated her earlier call for the Federal Reserve to remove all Wells Fargo board members who served during the problem periods and for further congressional hearings.</p>
<p>The bank's board has said the practices leading to the unauthorized accounts went as far back as 2002.</p>
<p>Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee had already called for such hearings to examine issues that have recently emerged at the bank in regard to insurance products. So far, Republicans, who control both houses of Congress and committee leadership posts, haven't said if they would agree to the request.</p>
<p>Mr. Sloan said Thursday that the bank is continuing to reach out to all stakeholders and "respond to questions and concerns that they have."</p>
<p>The bank called the completion of the review, conducted by an unnamed third party, "an important milestone," a view echoed by others. The fact that Wells Fargo is putting the scandal behind it "is a positive in our view," wrote Keefe, Bruyette &amp; Woods analyst Brian Kleinhanzl, adding that "we now expect the trickle of new information to slow considerably."</p>
<p>Still, many investors remain wary. Wells Fargo's stock fell Thursday, lagging behind peers.</p>
<p>That continued a woeful period since the scandal unfolded. Over the past year, the bank's shares are barely changed. Meanwhile, its three big-bank rivals -- J.P. Morgan Chase &amp; Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. -- have notched an average gain for the period of around 40%. The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index is up about 28%.</p>
<p>Now isn't the time to buy Wells Fargo stock due to the poor sentiment surrounding the bank and drags on its business, said Christopher Walsh, an analyst at Buckingham Research Group.</p>
<p>Separately Thursday, regulatory filings from Vanguard Group showed it cast ballots earlier this year against Wells Fargo nonexecutive chairman Stephen W. Sanger and two other directors. In mid-August, Wells Fargo said that Elizabeth Duke, its current vice chairman, would succeed Mr. Sanger as chairman on Jan. 1.</p>
<p>Aside from the management and political upheaval, the sales scandal has also affected the bank's underlying consumer business.</p>
<p>The growth rate for new checking and credit-card accounts, for example, has fallen since last year's scandal to a year-over-year rate of about 1% to 2% in 2017's second quarter, Bernstein banking analyst John McDonald said in a recent report. That is compared with growth of 5% to 6% in 2016.</p>
<p>Mr. McDonald said that will hit revenue, weighing on card fees, net-interest income and deposit service charges.</p>
<p>In light of this, Wells Fargo has been forced to cut expenses, even as it tries to revive growth. Yet other issues have surfaced as the bank dug into the sales-practices scandal, adding to concerns.</p>
<p>Wells Fargo said in July it would reimburse customers for around $80 million due to problems in its auto-lending unit. These led to as many as 570,000 borrowers being improperly charged for insurance policies.</p>
<p>The bank also recently disclosed problems for so-called guaranteed asset protection products sold through car dealerships. Those could result in refunds to customers in certain states.</p>
<p>The auto-related matters already have brought fresh regulatory scrutiny and related class-action suits. As well, problems have come to light in recent months over policies and processes with mortgage customers where Wells Fargo required them to pay fees for extensions of interest-rate lock periods. Wells Fargo also said it is looking into practices with certain consumer "add-on" products like identity theft and debt protection, among other issues.</p>
<p>Wells Fargo said the increase in its estimate of potentially unauthorized accounts was partially due to it refining the analysis and methodologies used by an outside firm examining the problems. As a result, the number of potentially unauthorized accounts in the original 2011 to 2015 period grew to 2.55 million from 2.1 million.</p>
<p>After last fall's congressional hearings, the bank also said it would extend the time period under review to January 2009. That added 981,000 accounts that were potentially unauthorized.</p>
<p>The analysis also found around 528,000 potentially unauthorized online bill-pay enrollments, and the bank said it would refund an additional $910,000 to customers who incurred fees or charges.</p>
<p>Wells Fargo added that out of the 3.5 million total potentially bogus accounts, around 190,000 incurred fees and charges, up from 130,000 previously identified.</p>
<p>Write to Emily Glazer at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 01, 2017 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)</p> | Wells Fargo Raises Its Tally of Fake Accounts -- WSJ | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/01/wells-fargo-raises-its-tally-fake-accounts-wsj.html | 2017-09-01 | 0 |
<p>Tunisian opposition leader Mohamed Brahmi, shot dead Thursday, was killed using the same gun used to assassinate Chokri Belaid six months ago, <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jtVJeL9HXCsYQWqZxrBvvfD-l15g?docId=CNG.a25a9ce83029a0822949af437f633319.691" type="external">according to a government report</a>.</p>
<p>Belaid, leader of the Unified Democratic Nationalist party, was shot by a hooded gunman at close range outside his home in the Tunisian capital by a man who fled on a motorcycle on February 6.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jtVJeL9HXCsYQWqZxrBvvfD-l15g?docId=CNG.a25a9ce83029a0822949af437f633319.691" type="external">Tunisia's Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou told</a> a news conference Friday,&#160;"The same&#160;9 mm&#160;automatic weapon that killed Belaid also killed Brahmi."</p>
<p>An autopsy reportedly showed that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/27/world/middleeast/tunisia-assassination.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;smid=tw-nytimesworld" type="external">Brahmi, a member of the secular coalition called the Popular Front, had been hit</a> with 14 bullets from a 9 mm weapon, six of which hit his upper body.</p>
<p>The killing of Brahmi, a secularist politician involved in drafting Tunisia’s new constitution, has sparked huge anti-government protests which threaten to further disrupt the nation’s transition to democracy.</p>
<p>The government says the main suspect is a hardline Islamic Salafist, Boubaker Hakim, already being sought on suspicion of smuggling weapons from Libya.</p>
<p>Ben Jeddou said Hakim was "among the most dangerous terrorists, who is being hunted internationally."</p>
<p>Tunisia's public security chief Mustapha Taieb Ben Amor said 14 radical Islamist suspects, including four already in prison, were implicated in the deaths of Belaid and Brahmi.</p>
<p>Tunisian officials said the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/27/world/middleeast/tunisia-assassination.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;smid=tw-nytimesworld" type="external">suspects were part of a jihadist</a> cell linked to Al Qaeda.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, thousands of protesters amassed in the Tunisian capital Tunis on Friday, a day after Brahmi was murdered.</p>
<p>All flights in and out of the country were cancelled, while <a href="http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-286307/" type="external">shops and banks closed</a> their doors.</p>
<p>Both killings prompted violent protests against the Islamist-led <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/26/us-tunisia-death-idUSBRE96O0M320130726" type="external">Ennahda government</a>in the capital and other cities.</p> | Same gun used in killings of Tunisian opposition leaders Belaid and Brahmi | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-07-26/same-gun-used-killings-tunisian-opposition-leaders-belaid-and-brahmi | 2013-07-26 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Check out <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/authorities-investigate-bluff-collapse-at-we-energies-plant-132929538.html" type="external">this photo</a> that Mark Hoffman of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal snapped on Monday of a dam collapse at a coal ash pond:</p>
<p>Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinal</p>
<p>The Journal Sentinel reports that a large section of a bluff used to contain coal ash at the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant broke on Monday, dumping ash and dirt into Lake Michigan. As you can see in the photo, a truck and some heavy machinery were also pushed into the lake. One of the first responders in the area noted that the debris “stretched 120 yards long and 50 to 80 yards wide at the bottom.” A spokesman for the company told the paper that the dam probably did contain coal ash, but said that they’d stopped dumping it there “several decades ago.”</p>
<p>The spill calls to mind the catastrophic dam break at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tennessee, back in December 2008. That spill dumped 1.1 billion gallons of coal slurry, and prompted the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider how coal waste is handled. Although the EPA <a href="" type="internal">was on course</a> to reclassify coal leavings as “hazardous waste” that needed special handling, that rule has been stuck in bureaucratic wrangling for more than two years. So for now, it’s still perfectly legal to store coal ash waste in retention ponds that are likely not lined or particularly well maintained.</p>
<p /> | Coal Ash Spills in Lake Michigan | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/coal-ash-spills-lake-michigan/ | 2011-11-01 | 4 |
<p />
<p>By <a href="" type="internal">Mónica Guzmán</a></p>
<p>Nine-year-old Kayla Becker knows the Pledge of Allegiance by heart. She says it once a week at school. She can't sing the national anthem from memory, but when she drew the picture of the American flag that won a $25 gift certificate to Toys "R" Us, she knew the 13 stripes stood for the 13 colonies, and the 50 stars for the 50 states.</p>
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<p>"I just don't know about the red, white and blue," she says. "I don't know why they picked those colors."</p>
<p>Kayla lives with her grandparents in a Gulfport condominium. Michael Baggs, her grandfather, served with the Marines. On the back of one of their cars is a ribbon-shaped sticker that reads, "Freedom is Not Free."</p>
<p>Kayla was too young to remember much about Sept. 11, 200l. She doesn't know where she was that day or why that should matter. Her generation will be touched by that day in ways that can't yet be known. No one can say whether Kayla will adopt the same political skepticism that has touched every generation since Vietnam, or grow up into the new wave of patriotism still surging from the rubble of the nation's most recent shared tragedy.</p>
<p>Gulfport veterans say things have changed since they were kids, many of them growing up in the proud years after World War II, many of them saying the Pledge of Allegiance every day. It all depends on how kids are raised -- both by their parents and their country.</p>
<p>Clarence Nelson, quartermaster at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10174, remembers when John F. Kennedy Jr. saluted his father's flag-draped coffin as it passed by.</p>
<p>"And it just sends goose pimples up my arm," he says. "Look at this little kid, you can tell the way he was raised. ... They're not raised that way today."</p>
<p>Patriotism seems to come and go with national moods, victories and defeats. These veterans say it's important because it brings all Americans together. And the symbol of that unity is the flag.</p>
<p>"It's one of the strongest unities you can have, is the American flag," says Tommy Teal, 62, commander of the VFW post and a Vietnam veteran.</p>
<p>Maybe that kind of unity really can be taught. Or maybe it only comes with national circumstance. Andy Anderson American Legion Post 125 Cmdr. Don Phipps, 65, firmly believes it starts at home. His grandkids, Elizabeth, 12, Emily, 7, and Josh, 6, visit the legion regularly. They know to salute the flag around grandpa. He would like to see every parent teach the same.</p>
<p>"And I'm sure that they would grow up to be better citizens, because it's under that flag, that's the reason we have the freedom to be here today," he says.</p>
<p>The attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, gave more relevance to his cause. "United We Stand" gave it a motto.</p>
<p>Nelson, too, is making sure his grandkids -- all 11 of them -- respect the flag and the country, no matter what happens in the rest of the country.</p>
<p>When Nelson's 3-year-old granddaughter Stalicia bumped into the china cabinet on Sunday, sending a small American flag to the floor, she knew Grandpa was not going to like it.</p>
<p>"And she said, ‘Uh-oh!' like she knows it's not supposed to fall on the floor," he says. Nelson picked up the flag, wiped it off, and put it back in its place.</p>
<p>He didn't get mad, he says.</p>
<p>"But she knows 'the look.'"</p> | Veterans' Hope: A New Generation of Allegiance | false | https://poynter.org/news/veterans-hope-new-generation-allegiance | 2005-06-30 | 2 |
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<p>The resemblance to a cruise ship isn’t accidental, says James E. Beyer, senior vice president for design and construction at MGM Resorts International, the gambling empire that has built the $1.4 billion complex in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Original design sketches resembled a ship, and the idea carried through into the way the finished product lifts people above the river and seems to be in forward motion, and even into the built-in furniture of its hotel-room design.</p>
<p>Edward Abeyta, of the Dallas-based HKS firm, which oversaw the design, says the architects were also inspired by the monumentality of Washington’s memorials, especially the Washington Monument, and the capital city’s street plan, in which avenues are always meeting streets at sharp angles, creating nodal points for statues and parks. One edge of the knife-blade-shaped hotel tower is aligned with the National Mall, too far away to be anything but a subliminal reference. But anyone who studies the razor-edges of the tower, a glass-clad structure shaped like a parallelogram, will detect a reference to the sharp corners of I.M. Pei’s National Gallery of Art.</p>
<p>Cruise ships are highly efficient machines for monetizing consumption, and that is also the purpose of this structure, which features not just a 125,000-square-foot casino (equal to the gallery space at New York’s Museum of Modern Art), but also 15 dining areas, a spa, convention rooms, a 3,000-seat theater and a shopping complex. It may not surf the wine-dark sea, but it is just as self-contained as one of Disney’s or Carnival’s floating entertainment mills, or any of the all-inclusive mega-resorts of Cancun.</p>
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<p>Once you’re aboard, there’s little reason to leave. Spectacle surrounds you, dangling crystals and undulating ceilings, a giant chocolate fountain constantly circulating two tons of sweet liquid death, video displays bringing a simulacrum of nature indoors, art and ornament commissioned from local creators, and, of course, people, who are an essential part of this weird phantasmagoria. Wealth and class become part of the scenic drama, too, with separate VIP entrances to the casino, and also to the theater, where the proles can look through windows as they come up the poor-man’s escalators and watch the VIPs drinking in their own social spaces.</p>
<p>Luxury and fantasy have been the essence of casino architecture at least since the early 19th century, when European backwaters sought to attract and fleece the aristocracy and bourgeoisie alike. Casino design served multiple purposes: to amuse idle blue bloods, gild over the ugly manipulation of greed at the heart of gambling, and to give the nouveaux riches a sense of belonging to the aristocratic realm for which they pine. As Dostoevsky reminds us in “The Gambler,” the entire milieu was fake and designed to attract fakers, and the biggest fakery of all was the pretense that this was all respectable.</p>
<p>National Harbor isn’t just a casino but a “destination resort.” This means several things. It isn’t the sort of place where the riffraff feed quarters into one-arm bandits. There are plausible reasons to go there (to eat, people-watch, shop) that don’t involve gambling. And best of all, many of those who do gamble will go home, at the end of the day, to places far from D.C. So the local economic benefits of the casino, which include employment and tax revenue, may outweigh the social costs of gambling, which will fly home to Pennsyltucky or Abu Dubai with the problem gamblers. It’s a win-win, or, as Donald Trump says, a win, win, win.</p>
<p>The building that sits on the low bluffs of the Potomac like Fitzcarraldo’s landlocked steamboat serves many functions, and if one can’t call it beautiful – it is too big, strangely sterile and ungainly, and its real purpose too genuinely transparent – it is nevertheless a fascinating structure. Think of it as a machine. Abeyta, the architect, refers to the casino as “the chassis,” which is centrally located along the spine of the rectangular building. VIP visitors access it from a valet parking porte-cochere at one end, while “self-park” visitors enter through the elevators at the opposite end. The casino gives access both to the outdoor west terrace and, to the east, the “Conservatory,” a large atrium that ties together the hotel, shopping, meeting rooms and access to the theater.</p>
<p>If this were any ordinary building, you would be able to see through the casino so that the logic of the building, all carefully laid out along the “keel” line of the boat, made sense. But the interior of the casino (designed by KNA Design) has been filled up and discombobulated with so much stuff – bars, lounges, gaming tables and partitions – that there is no direct view. This is intentional, because casinos are designed to disorient, delay and distract.</p>
<p>The German critic Walter Benjamin said, “Gambling converts time into a narcotic,” which explains why casinos tend to want to eliminate any indications of the passage of time, such as clocks or windows (this one actually has a few glimpses of natural light). But modern casinos also turn architecture into a narcotic, and this is no exception. The ceiling and surfaces of the gambling area use textures and materials the way social media uses news, clickbait and cat videos, with seemingly endless variety, no particular organization, but always the promise of more and different around the corner. It is a disordered gathering place for all the cultures of the world (the range of references and allusions on the video-gaming machines is dizzying) and there is a strange cosmopolitanism to the place.</p>
<p>The casino has one section devoted to Asian gambling, which MGM’s Beyer says is distinctly different in feeling (less about “blowing off steam” in the American sense, and more philosophically obsessive, like a spiritual pursuit), and in the games preferred (baccarat, especially). The restaurants offer everything from Vietnamese banh mi to tacos. A sculpture by a Chinese artist that greets VIP visitors to the casino posits this cosmopolitanism as a game of lighthearted fisticuffs played out on the field of money: Liao Yibai’s “Fighting Cash” is a polished stainless-steel work that shows Chairman Mao and Benjamin Franklin boxing between two curling bills of Chinese and American currency.</p>
<p>It’s remarkable that the art is forthright about the dark side of all this, reminding visitors that China is going to eat America’s lunch, if it hasn’t already. The plebes who come through the opposite casino entrance encounter an equally bracing sculpture, by Bob Dylan, who has welded together the detritus of machinery, metal chains and hand tools to make a hellish portal of America’s lost industrial greatness. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here, of reopened coal mines or new auto plants, and connect your electronic cash vein to the digital wheel of fortune, and dream a while as you get poorer and poorer and poorer.</p>
<p>But gambling is a powerfully adaptive metaphor, reconfiguring its meaning to each new age and place. In America, it once stood for our dream of making no little plans, building big, taking risks and bluffing through every difficulty. Advertisements for MGM’s new facility borrow that rhetoric. “It is very easy to think small … if you are going to do something, don’t stop halfway …” reads an MGM newspaper ad, conflating the real estate developer’s mantra with the gambler’s folly. But today, the dreams that fire the chassis don’t have the same luster, the same hope. It is the dream of escape, of delay, of holding off the inevitable as long as possible.</p>
<p>Still, that’s powerful stuff, fuel enough to make it seem as if this chic metal ship is actually going somewhere. And so the boat glitters on the hill, its tower beckoning to passersby on the Beltway, its giant video screens promising a new divertissement every night. Of course, the ship seems to be plowing its way uphill to no avail, and when you get off, the world won’t be any better than it was when you got on. But no expense has been spared to make the world twinkle while you’re there, and even though we all know it’s a lie, no one is fussing much about lies these days. Enjoy the illusion while it lasts.</p>
<p>maryland-mgm-comment</p> | MGM’s $1.4 billion casino is a cruise ship to nowhere | false | https://abqjournal.com/905301/mgms-1-4-billion-casino-is-a-cruise-ship-to-nowhere.html | 2016-12-08 | 2 |
Subsets and Splits