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<p>&lt;img class="size-full wp-image-44064 aligncenter" src="http://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Trans-Child-Bill.jpg" alt="Trans Child Speaks Against Bathroom Bill" width="1200" height="627" srcset="https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Trans-Child-Bill.jpg 1200w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Trans-Child-Bill-300x157.jpg 300w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Trans-Child-Bill-768x401.jpg 768w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Trans-Child-Bill-1024x535.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /&gt;</p>
<p>Early childhood is an exhilarating time of discovery, gross habits, and constantly sticky fingers. It is not the time, however, to declare yourself the opposite sex (see&#160; <a href="" type="internal">‘Mother’ Shamelessly Exploits Her Struggling Trans Child to Get Likes on Facebook</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Minnesota Schools to ‘Segregate’ Students Uncomfortable with Trans Bathrooms.</a>). But don’t take my word for it. Just peek the <a href="" type="internal">suicide and depression statistics</a>.</p>
<p>Such facts are even more disturbing when you see stories like this. A set of cautiously titled “parents” are helping their 7-year-old transition, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/health/trans-youth-texas-bathroom-bill/index.html" type="external">speaking out against</a> a bathroom bill in the process. It all started way earlier in his life:</p>
<p>One of the most eloquent opponents of Texas’ proposed gender bathroom law began identifying as a girl four years ago, when she was age 3.</p>
<p>It was at that age Frank and Rachel Gonzales started to realize their child, Libby, wasn’t living the life she was born to live</p>
<p>It was sometime around January 2016 when she asked her mom if Santa could turn her into a girl next Christmas.&#160;“At that point I said, ‘You don’t have to wait until next Christmas, it’s January. Let’s go shopping,’ ” Rachel recounted. That was the weekend her son became her daughter.</p>
<p>&lt;img class=" aligncenter" src="http://media0.giphy.com/media/4CP58gxwbBy2Q/giphy.gif" width="415" height="205" /&gt;</p>
<p>“It’s not something that we immediately jumped on board with,” Frank said, talking about his daughter’s transition. “We were very cautious; we were very hesitant, maybe too hesitant in hindsight, to accept her in her authentic self. In her authentic life.”</p>
<p>Under the proposed law, more commonly known as the Texas Bathroom Bill, trans men, women and children like Libby, would be required to use the restroom based on the gender that’s on their birth certificate, not how they identify.</p>
<p>The Gonzaleses believe the law would make their daughter less safe.</p>
<p>All her parents want is what any parent wants for their child, the best.</p>
<p>Question for these parents: does a life full of hormone treatments and maimed penis sound like “the best?” No, seriously, please enlighten my bigoted self. I’ll wait.</p>
<p>&lt;img class=" aligncenter" src="https://media.tenor.com/images/6552a36cf164a301144df924ec672652/tenor.gif" width="414" height="272" /&gt;</p>
<p>While we’re waiting for tolerant mommies and daddies to untwist themselves from their logic pretzel, take a gander at this other misunderstood soul below.</p>
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<p>NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST?&#160; <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/louder-with-crowder/id929121341?mt=2" type="external">FIX THAT</a>! IT’S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH&#160; <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/louder-with-crowder/id929121341?mt=2" type="external">ITUNES&#160;HERE</a>&#160;AND&#160; <a href="https://soundcloud.com/louderwithcrowder" type="external">SOUNDCLOUD&#160;HERE</a>.</p>
<p /> | Child Abuse? Parents Encourage 7-Year-Old “Transgender” Boy to Live as a “Her” | true | https://louderwithcrowder.com/parents-7-year-old-trans-child/ | 2017-08-03 | 0 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Raj Shah, the campaign spokesman for Republican governor candidate Susana Martinez, was arrested on an aggravated DWI charge in Albuquerque early Sunday morning.</p>
<p>Shah, 25, was pulled over by State Police just after midnight in a silver BMW near the intersection of San Mateo and Osuna and arrested several minutes later, state Department of Public Safety spokesman Peter Olson said.&#160;</p>
<p>More details on the arrest were not available Sunday evening. As of Sunday evening, Shah was in the Metropolitan Detention Center on a $5,000 bond.</p>
<p>The Martinez campaign took quick action after it found out about the arrest Sunday afternoon.</p>
<p>“Raj Shah … was immediately terminated,” said Ryan Cangiolosi, Martinez’s campaign manager.</p>
<p>Shah had moved to New Mexico a little more than a week ago to work for Martinez’s campaign. He had formerly worked for the Connecticut U.S. Senate campaign for Republican Rob Simmons, who bowed out of the state’s August Republican primary after losing the state nominating convention vote. Shah has also worked for the Republican National Committee.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Susana Martinez Spokesman Charged With DWI | false | https://abqjournal.com/8345/susana-martinez-spokesman-charged-with-dwi.html | 2 |
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<p>Oct. 12 (UPI) — The British government said Thursday it would spend more than $3 billion on new energy systems that could help it meet obligations for a low-carbon economy.</p>
<p>The British government is legally bound to a commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which are counted as the main contributors to climate change, by 80 percent of their 1990 levels by 2050. The government said Thursday it would invest and spend around $3.1 billion through 2021 on new energy systems, nuclear power and renewable energy strategies to help meet its 2050 target.</p>
<p>British Minister for Climate Change and Industry Claire Perry said that emissions last year were 42 percent lower than the 1990 benchmark and 6 percent lower than in 2015. At the same time, British gross domestic product increased 67 percent from 1990.</p>
<p>“On a per person basis, this means that we have reduced emissions faster than any other Group of Seven nation and led the G7 group in growth in national income over the period,” she said in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-clean-growth-strategy" type="external">a statement</a>.</p>
<p>The measure drew praise from the fossil fuels industry, which said the strategy was pegged in part to natural gas and the use of carbon, capture and storage, a technique designed to lower emissions from oil and gas production and power plants.</p>
<p>“Natural gas will continue to be a critical fuel for the U.K. in the transition to a low carbon economy,” Ken Cronin, the chief executive of the U.K. Onshore Oil and Gas trade group, said in <a href="http://www.ukoog.org.uk/about-ukoog/press-releases/210-ukoog-response-to-the-clean-growth-strategy" type="external">a statement</a>. “As the report makes clear, the reforming of methane with carbon capture and storage is likely to be the primary means of producing low carbon hydrogen, which has great potential to decarbonize heating, transport and industry and improve air quality.”</p>
<p>About a third of the total spending plan goes toward carbon, capture and storage. To meet the benchmarks outlined in the Paris climate agreement, the International Energy Agency said CCS “will not be optional.”</p>
<p>After the British Parliament backed a measure that gave clarity for the path out of the European Union in September, Buskut Tuncak, a U.N. special envoy on hazardous substances, told the U.N. Human Rights Council that London <a href="https://www.upi.com/Brexit-a-step-away-from-pollution-commitments-UN-envoy-says/7851505381921/" type="external">risks stepping away</a> from some of the highest environmental standards in the world as it leaves the EU.</p>
<p>In July, however, the British government <a href="https://www.upi.com/Energy-News/2017/07/26/Britain-to-start-taking-gas-diesel-vehicles-off-roads-in-2040/4471501065781/" type="external">unveiled plans</a> to ban all new gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles from its roads beginning in 2040. For power on the British grid, data show the share of electricity generated by renewable resources was 26.6 percent in the first quarter, up 1 percent from the same period last year.</p> | British government unveils green spending plans | false | https://newsline.com/british-government-unveils-green-spending-plans/ | 2017-10-12 | 1 |
<p />
<p>I’ve pulled out some highlights from a conference call press briefing today by Council on Foreign Relations South Asia expert Daniel Markey. Markey <a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20070701faessay86407/daniel-markey/a-false-choice-in-pakistan.html" type="external">served</a> on the State Department’s Policy Planning staff from 2003 to 2007.</p>
<p>It’s a bad day for Pakistan, a bad day for the U.S., and I think we’ll be paying the price for it for a while.</p>
<p>Who Did It: With regard to who did this: all indications from any kind of intelligence and semi intelligence would be it’s al Qaeda – it’s one of the militant groups operating or based in Pakistan’s tribal areas. Baitullah Mehsud, one of the militant leaders in conflict with the state of Pakistan has expressed the desire to hit various political candidates including Bhutto, he is a potential candidate. You can’t rule anybody out.</p>
<p>Most Pakistanis who have been watching Pakistani politics unfold believe [President Pervez] Musharraf has great enough animosity that someone affiliated or within the Pakistani government might have perpetrated that. That doesn’t strike me as a realistic assessment of what really happened. [But whatever the reality], the widespread belief has its own political ramifications. Domestically within Pakistan, it is likely to throw off the election process. …</p>
<p>Domestic Political Dynamics: In terms of winners and losers, within [Bhutto’s] Pakistan People’s Party, who is likely to emerge with the mantle of party leadership at this stage?</p>
<p>One of the problems of having a dynastic leadership in Benazir [Bhutto] and before that her father, is there is no obvious candidates for who takes over. She has not anointed a successor and has not made clear who takes over despite the fact that she has obviously been in danger for some time [Bhutto survived an earlier attack in October in which some 140 of her supporters were killed]. At best, we’ll see jockeying within the party and at worst we could see the destruction of the party.</p>
<p>The life’s blood [of the party] is money; you need that to run candidates around the country, to maintain the organization, and Bhutto’s husband who may have now reached Karachi from Dubai, has been the money man. That puts him in an important position to decide who her successor might be.</p>
<p>If the PPP goes down, other parties go up: the PLMN of Nawaz Sharif continues to be an important power player. How this influences Musharraf and the perception of his party, many people hold him accountable or at least negligent for allowing this to happen. [So this hurts him].</p>
<p>Blow to U.S. Policy : With regard to the US and India and other players, it is a significant blow. A blow in the immediate term, in that it raises the stakes in terms of street protests and violence.</p>
<p>One way Pakistan could melt down, in a worst case scenario, is if the street violence gets out of hand and the army is unable to control it. But I don’t think that is likely to happen. This sort of tragic event however makes that really bad outcome more likely to materialize.</p>
<p>More broadly, this is a major loss for Washington: elections scheduled for early January had the potential to take the country forward towards more manageable civilian partnership towards ruling the country. Benazir would have been a significant part of that, despite all her flaws. She was a significant civilian leader who could have worked in part with Musharraf and the army to have manageable political process.</p>
<p>It is the path where the U.S. has essentially put a lot of its bets, and now [the Bush] administration is going to have to reassess that strategy and pick up the pieces.</p>
<p>Possible Successors … Her husband is incredibly corrupt. He is not a legitimate leader but influential. Others within her family: her brothers have been killed, eliminated from the scene. The Bhutto family children are not able to claim positions of leadership.</p>
<p>Others second tier leaders: what is interesting and tragic about the way Bhutto ran her party, the most charismatic of those second tier leaders, she sidelined because she found them to threaten her.</p>
<p>One would be: [Aftab Khan] Sherpao, the former Interior minister, who was just last week <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&amp;sid=akNUtSNBkQLE&amp;refer=home" type="external">attacked</a> in his hometown mosque. Sherpao, the leader of the PPPS, used to be a member of Bhutto’s party, the PPP. Now that she’s gone he may find himself in position to bring back old relationships and assume a party leadership position.</p>
<p>Another alternative possible leader of the PPP: the widely acclaimed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aitzaz_Ahsan" type="external">Aitzaz Ahsan</a>, the lawyer for Supreme Court chief justice Chaudhry, who has been kicked out and reinstated and removed again from the Judiciary. I believe Atzaz is under house arrest in Lahore.</p>
<p>Impact on Musharraf: The new [Pakistani] Army Chief [Lt. Gen. Ashfaq] <a href="http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hTk_HgkMo9gRVKMBNlbqKT7Nxnpg" type="external">Kiyani</a> is very much of a loyalist at this stage to Musharraf. He does not want to impose himself politically on the situation. They work in cooperation. If you did see a real break between Musharraf and Kiyani, it’s a conceivable fact that Musharraf no longer being the army chief really hurt him. But I think they are both on the same page at this point and don’t have too many reasons to break apart.</p>
<p>Street Violence and the Prospects for Further Destabilization in Pakistan: [Musharraf has learned that militant] groups once seen as helpful to Pakistani security are now recognized as the greatest threat to him, national security and Pakistan in general. So he has become prone to take more robust steps to attack the threat [from extremists and militants]. That is partially why violence has gone up in past year or so. The groups have seen themselves become the target and struck back.</p>
<p>The tragedy is that Pakistan may have waited too long [to strike militant groups]. And those groups may have become too strong to rein in. That may be what we are seeing now. […]</p>
<p>The big question is street violence and if the government can control it. We will begin to the see the response on the street as early as tomorrow.</p>
<p>Tomorrow morning Pakistani time, we’ll have a better sense of whether the PPP foot soldiers are being egged on by their leadership, who is pushing the PPP party agenda, and whether they are pushing loudly for a return to the streets or … if they are not saying anything. These are all things that need to be watched very seriously.</p>
<p>The cell phone lines between top PPP leaders will be burning up all through the night to determine who is likely to be the spokeperson and who is likely to get out in front. It is not obvious who will play that role. … There is likely to be a great deal of disagreement. It could lead to confusion within the party ranks and may compound the problem of street violence because nobody will be in charge, and nobody can turn it on or off to serve their goals.</p>
<p /> | Street Violence, Successors, and Stability: South Asia Expert Daniel Markey on Picking Up the Pieces After Bhutto Killing | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/12/street-violence-successors-and-stability-south-asia-expert-daniel-markey-picking-pieces/ | 2007-12-27 | 4 |
<p>One look at Majda’s face and I felt consumed by her overwhelming pain. For a month Majda has lived on edge, knowing how ill her father was in Gaza and knowing he may die before she would be allowed to enter into Gaza’s closed gates.</p>
<p>Majda told me it was not her father’s death that pained her as much as knowing how worthless his life and his dignity had become, not only to a world that continues to turn a blind eye to Gaza’s misery, not only to the Israelis who have hardened their hearts to the Palestinian suffering, not only to Egypt that continues to act as jailer of Gaza’s population, but even to the Palestinian leaders. His illness was exploited by Fatah and his death was exploited by Hamas.</p>
<p>Majda’s father was in need of kidney dialysis. For a month he was in severe pain. His suffering was prolonged as shortages of drugs and spare parts for equipment in Gaza’s Shifa hospital reached critical levels as a direct result of the imposed siege. If this was not enough for Majda’s father, and for the countless other patients who lingered in the Shifa’s corridors reeking of illness and death, Fatah had called for a strike in the health sector. In other words, medical staff were told by Fatah that they would only receive their salaries if they stayed home.</p>
<p>The decision of Fatah union leaders, representing teachers and health workers, to strike until the end of this year was designed to weaken Hamas’s support base in the besieged strip. However, Fatah’s decision has been criticized by many international observers, as it caused grave harm to Gaza’s medical patients and school children, while failing its objective of weakening the Hamas faction.</p>
<p>Many doctors and teachers heeded Fatah’s call and stayed home. After all, the siege has lead to basic food shortages, and whatever supplies were available in the market were sold only to the highest bidder. No one in his right mind in Gaza wants the risk of losing a salary.</p>
<p>And so, for one long month, Majda’s poor father, who could barely walk from the pain, was shoveled back and forth at Shifa looking for a doctor, looking for a working dialysis machine, waiting for the electricity to come back on, waiting for a shipment of medication to arrive. Without working elevators, he was carried around from floor to floor by his desperate sons. Majda cried at how little dignity this whole process had given him.</p>
<p>Majda’s father’s death is another reminder of the ongoing brutality of the siege that has kept her and her family apart for years. It is a reminder for her that the lives of those she loves in Gaza is under constant threat. It is a reminder that even under the most dire humanitarian situations, she is prevented from entering Gaza to see her family and they are prevented from ever coming out. It is a reminder that we have all failed to intervene to stop the wholesale destruction and collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in the world’s most densely populated strip of land.</p>
<p>Majda wept and her words came out broken: “Where else in the world do you have more than one million people locked up with little food and medicine and with no visitation rights?”</p>
<p>As I offered Majda my embrace, I thought of my own family in Gaza and I wondered whether my children will ever see their grandparents again. I wondered what it is that their loving grandparents have done in their life to be treated with such cruelty, so as to be deprived from the joy of being united with their first born son and their grandchildren?</p>
<p>Many families who are faced with an ailing father or a dying mother in Gaza are taking risks these days, paying suspicious gangsters and black market merchants a hefty fee so they can use the dangerous underground tunnels to travel from Egypt into Gaza – just to reunite with their loved ones. Others, like my family, are following the news daily looking for rays of hope that this siege will be lifted.</p>
<p>When Majda’s father died, the most that the Hamas officials in Gaza could do for him was to offer to burry him in Gaza’s new cemetery – they named it the Cemetery of the Martyrs of the Siege. When Majda told me that, she smiled with a bitterness I have never seen before – a kind of infectious bitterness that ran through my veins. I understood just what she meant.</p>
<p>There is no solace in the fact that another father, son, mother, loved one is killed by the siege. Death by neglect, death by malnutrition, death by poverty, death by medicine shortages or death by any other means is death. Naming the dead martyrs brings little comfort to their loved ones. An Arab poet once said “We died until death grew sick of us”. I wonder when will death grow sick of Gaza?</p>
<p>SAMAH SABAWI is a Palestinian-Canadian writer. She can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Gaza’s New Martyrs | true | https://counterpunch.org/2008/11/07/gaza-s-new-martyrs/ | 2008-11-07 | 4 |
<p>Mexico City.</p>
<p>“Que Se Mueran Los Emos!” (“That The Emos Should Die!”) the “punketos” howled and the bottles began to fly. One young man with an astonishing Mohawk whipped off his studded belt. Many of the youthful aggressors covered their faces with anti-Emo tee shirts that unaccountably featured slogans in English.</p>
<p>Halfway up a lamppost as the near-riot unfolded outside the Chopo “tianguis” or bazaar where Mexico City’s urban tribes have gathered on Saturday mornings for 28 years, a ten year-old kid flashed a finger and spat on the Emos below cringing behind a phalanx of police and mindlessly chanting their own name–“Emo! Emo!”–over and over again.</p>
<p>Who are these mysterious Emos and why have they been so violently excluded from the ranks of an urban tribalism that knits the city’s counter-culture youth into a loose federation of “punketos” (punks, both anarcho and otherwise), “darketos” (darks), “Goticos” (Goths), “skatos” (lovers of ska music), “metaleros” (ditto heavy metal), “ipoperos” (hiphoppers) and “cholos” (gangbangers), amongst other colorful “bandas”?</p>
<p>The Emos, vernacular for “Emotivos”, are purportedly susceptible to emotional outbursts although the prevalent emotion they display seems to be a profound melancholy–Emos worry their parents by sometimes describing themselves as “bi-polar.” Compared to their ferociously coiffed adversaries, the Emotivos appear to be a pretty punchless bunch. Many are very young–12 to 14 years–and dress androgynously in tube pants, muted colors. and “tennis” (sneakers.) Like punketos, the distinguishing feature that separates them from the pack is their hairstyle: a hank of lank hair tumbling over one eye–“El Fleco.”</p>
<p>Emos habitat is in comfortable middle and upper middle class neighborhoods like Coyoacan and the Condesa and their musical tastes are one notch above “fresa” (literally “strawberry”, a pejorative)–pop punk, post hardcore, and alternative rock. During the altercation outside the Chopo bazaar, several Emos grasped hand-written signs that read “I’m an Emo and so what?”</p>
<p>Seeking to explain why the Emos had been so roughly ejected from the Saturday tianguis, punkster Daniel R., 20, offered this assessment: “the Emos don’t stand for anything. They don’t have a philosophy or an ideology. They are not a tribe–they’re just a style.” But did that very unthreatening style justify the violence? “Actually, I think the Emos want to be beat up”</p>
<p>The anti-Emo pogram broke into the headlines last month (March) in the right-wing central Mexican city of Queretero when suspected Emos congregating in a downtown plaza were set upon by hundreds of punks, cholos, and related tendencies. The attack was reportedly instigated by a nameless 17 year-old who posted irate Internet messages crudely critiquing Emo dress and tastes in music. But the anti-Emos main gripe seemed to be that the Emotivos were always depressed. “If they’re so depressed why don’t they just kill themselves?” the instigator asked.</p>
<p>Spread anonymously on the Internet, the anti-Emo putsch soon became national phenomena. 80 anti-Emos were rounded up by police in the northern city of Durango. Anti-Emo demonstrations were staged in the states of Puebla, Jalisco, and Sinaloa. There are reportedly over a hundred anti-Emo videos now posted on YouTube including one entitled “How To Kill An Emo.”</p>
<p>The wave of intolerance touched Mexico City March 14 with a nasty scuffle on the plaza of the Insurgentes metro stop, a popular Emo hangout. With punks in pursuit, the “Granaderos”–Mexico City’s Swat Squad–had to step in to protect the Emo kids from certain massacre. To add a surreal tint to the proceedings, a flock of Hari Krishnas who often work the subway plaza, drummed and chanted as the melee swirled around them.</p>
<p>In order to stay alive, the Emos have had to find allies and at least one faction of Darketos have come to their defense. At a post-Chopo peace rally, a not-so-young young man who identified himself as “Morrigan” recalled how ten years ago, the “darkis” had to battle identical intolerance and accused the anti-Emos of being “poseur” punks who persecute Emos because they like to fight and not because they share punk “ideology.” “The anti-Emo tee shirts are the new swastikas,” Morrigan harangued the mostly Emo young gathered in a central city park. “Tolerencia!” the kids yelled back in unison. “Tolerance!”</p>
<p>An Emos team-up with the Darketos could lower the temperature of this contretemps between the urban tribes. The Darks, devotees of the night, have an “alliance of the obscure” with the Goticos, romantics in love with the notion of death, whose emblematic Charles Addams Neo-Vampira dress, replete with chains and ankhs and velvet cloaks, require a substantial investment in identity.</p>
<p>The roots of today’s urban tribes can be traced back to the “Chavas Bandas”, the legendary working class barrio youth gangs that first sprang to prominence in the rock and roll ’60s and ’70s here. Indeed, some of today’s tribalists are the sons and daughters of old chavas bandas gangbangers, says Pablo Jasso, a longtime observer of the urban counterculture.</p>
<p>Actually the chavas bandas did not fight each other as often as they fought the Mexico City police when the cops would try and break up impromptu street dances and confiscate the sound equipment of the “sonaderos.” Above all, the chavas bandas were “rock-and-rolleros”, a music that has now devolved into countless sub genres with which each of the contemporary tribes identifies.</p>
<p>In one sense, Jasso figures, the anti-Emo surge is generational with the older punks et al defending their turf from the next generation coming up. Nonetheless, in the logic of the street, the newcomers must do battle to win respect and the Emos are passive and do not fight back. Their reliance on police protection (with which city authorities had cursed them) during the Chopo brouhaha was one flashpoint for the cop-hating punks’ frontal attack.</p>
<p>Gay bashing also flashes its ugly head in the bashing of the Emos–the Emotivos often complain of being called “maricones” (faggots) by their persecutors. Members of the gay and lesbian community accompanied the Emos to the Chopo with small rainbow flags. “Even in our own homes, we are called maricones,” bitterly complains “El Ganja”, interviewed with his “ruca” (girlfriend) “Zoe” by the daily La Jornada youth reporter Cesar Arellano. “We are not maricones or Salvatruchas (a particularly violent Central American youth gang),” El Ganja insisted. “We don’t want to take over anything. We just want our own space to be who we are.”</p>
<p>Underlying the hostilities between the Emos and rival urban tribes is the class divide which yawns wide in Mexico City. The Emos spring from the loins of affluent families and are often enrolled in private schools and the high school system of the National Autonomous University (UNAM) in a country where only 17 per cent of young people will have a chance to go to college. The UNAM rejects 100,000 would-be students a year.</p>
<p>Kids with no education or employment options have a lot of time on their hands to get into trouble. Every year, a million young people enter the job market in an economy that creates only half that number of jobs. According to one UNAM study, three out of every ten young persons in the 15 to 29 year age range will head north to the U.S.–but now with the border virtually sealed, that safety valve has been shut down.</p>
<p>The pressure on the young is intense. One out of every three Mexican kids grows up in poverty. Young people between the ages of 15 and 29 account for a third of the prisoners in Mexico City lock-ups. Arrests of 12 and 13 year-olds have boomed 73 per cent in the past ten years. In the 14 months since Marcelo Ebrard has been mayor of the capital, 6520 young people have been arrested, about a third of the total busts. Violence is pandemic. Homicide is the second cause of youth deaths (accidents are first.) Suicide is third.</p>
<p>Despite their stylized depression, there have been no known Emo suicides–although some Emos deliberately cut their wrists as a form of body decoration. Most young Emos don’t even know of the suicide of Ian Curtis, lead singer with Joy Division, a favorite Emo band, says UNAM sociologist Hector Castillo, a drummer himself, who has interviewed members of the tribe/style,</p>
<p>Still, the Emos’ melancholic demeanor excites child psychologists who see early warning signs all over the place. The suicide motif has been drummed up by primetime trash TV “investigations”. Televisa is particularly attracted to Anorexia. The sensationalism draws a stern warning from National Autonomous University emeritus psychology professor Ileana Petra, citing the examples of two ten year-olds who separately hanged themselves after seeing TV news reports about teen-age suicides.</p>
<p>According to Dr. Petra, teen-age suicide is under-reported by as much as 40 per cent. The youngest pre-teen suicide victim she has counted was only eight. Most teen-age suicides are boys and the preferred mode of departure is hanging. Studies done by Mexico City health authorities reveal that an average 25 to 30 teen-age suicides have been recorded each year since 2000, around 12 per cent of the total suicides in the capital.</p>
<p>Urban tribalism is one survival mechanism for young people who crave an identity in a megalopolis of 23 million citizens. Yet despite their overwhelming numbers–the average age of a Mexican is 19 years–young people get little attention until they make trouble.</p>
<p>Despite their marginalization, the urban tribes have created a thriving counterculture that sets the youth musical agenda and generates lots of filthy capitalist lucre. For nearly 30 years, the Chopo tianguis has commerced in every new avatar of rock from Mexican metal to mariachi punk. Dozens of improvised stands sell cds and vinyl, skulls and bleached bones, incense, herbal elevants, crucifixes and ankhs, black lipstick and antique clothing for the dress-up set. Piercing parlors now dot the city’s public markets and alternative hair stylists fashion homemade Mohawks for those who want to join the tribe.</p>
<p>So which urban tribe do you belong to, a U.S. reporter old enough to be his great grandfather asked an unpierced kid with a goofy grin after the Emo rally? “Me? I suppose I’m a Mexica (Aztec),” the kid beamed shyly.</p>
<p>JOHN ROSS is in Mexico City, preparing to begin work on “El Monstruo”, a new book about–what else? Mexico City. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Mexico City’s Urban Tribes Go on the Warpath Against EMOS | true | https://counterpunch.org/2008/04/08/mexico-city-s-urban-tribes-go-on-the-warpath-against-emos/ | 2008-04-08 | 4 |
<p>Activists rally against gerrymandering outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday.Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP</p>
<p>Creatively drawn political maps designed to give one party an entrenched advantage could be in danger, if questioning by the Supreme Court’s swing justice on Tuesday is any indication.</p>
<p>The court heard a landmark challenge to <a href="" type="internal">partisan gerrymandering</a> in Wisconsin, a case whose outcome could strike down extreme gerrymandering or inspire more states to adopt it. Based on his questioning, Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court’s key swing vote, gave the impression that he was looking for a way to invalidate Wisconsin’s maps and possibly set an important precedent against this type of gerrymandering.</p>
<p>Kennedy was the first justice to ask a question in Tuesday’s opening arguments in the case, Gill v. Whitford. “Suppose the Court…decided that this is a First Amendment issue?” Kennedy asked Wisconsin’s solicitor general, implying that extreme partisan gerrymandering could violate the&#160; <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/06/does_partisan_gerrymandering_violate_the_first_amendment.html" type="external">right to free speech</a> by preventing those in the minority—in this case Wisconsin Democrats denied representation—from having an equal say in the political process.</p>
<p>Kennedy also seemed to suggest that the court could set a standard for when gerrymandering crosses a line. When Erin Murphy, who argued in favor of the Wisconsin Legislature, argued that state Democrats “have not come up with a workable standard to determine when a map is too political,” Kennedy responded that&#160;a manageable standard could be whether a map was drawn with the “overriding concern
” to “have a maximum number of votes for party X or party Y.” He asked whether such a scenario would violate the First Amendment or the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.</p>
<p>Kennedy questioned only the lawyers for the state of Wisconsin, rather than the plaintiffs. Generally, conservative justices aggressively question the liberal challengers and vice versa. That Kennedy focused his questions on the Wisconsin side suggested he had a problem with the maps the Legislature had drawn and was looking for a reasonable way to strike them down.</p>
<p>Then again, in a 2004 case from Pennsylvania, Kennedy was also looking for a “limited and precise rationale…to correct an established violation of the Constitution in some redistricting cases.”&#160;He didn’t find one in that case, ruling against Democrats challenging a Republican gerrymander in the state. But he signaled he would be open to striking down extreme partisan gerrymanders if the court could agree on a standard to do so, like in racial gerrymandering cases where it’s possible to prove a clear violation of the Voting Rights Act.&#160;</p>
<p>Voting rights advocates are hoping that time has come. The same lawyer who argued the Pennsylvania case before the Supreme Court, Paul Smith of the Campaign Legal Center, also represented the challengers in Wisconsin today. “Gerrymandering today is not your father’s gerrymandering,” Smith told the court, adding, “This is the last chance for the court to do something” before the problem gets much worse in 2020. &#160;</p>
<p>Republicans gained control of the Wisconsin Legislature in the 2010 election and redrew the state’s political maps, turning a purple state into a solidly red one at the state legislative and congressional level, even as voters across the state remained about evenly split. In 2012, Barack Obama carried Wisconsin by 7 points and Democratic legislative candidates received 51.4 percent of the statewide vote, but Republican candidates won&#160; <a href="http://archive.jsonline.com/blogs/news/182754381.html" type="external">60 of 99 seats</a>&#160;in the state assembly.</p>
<p>This wasn’t just a problem in Wisconsin. Following the 2010 election, Republicans had full control of&#160;the&#160; <a href="http://redistricting.lls.edu/who-partystate.php" type="external">redistricting process</a> for state legislative and US House seats in 21 states, compared with 8 states for Democrats. The result was that Republicans had a virtual lock on four times as many state legislative and US House seats as Democrats did. Republicans hold as many as&#160; <a href="https://www.apnews.com/fa6478e10cda4e9cbd75380e705bd380" type="external">22 additional House&#160;seats</a>&#160;because of partisan gerrymandering, according to an analysis by the Associated Press—nearly the same margin as the&#160;24 seats Democrats need to flip to&#160;take back the House. (During the 2012 election, Democratic House candidates won 1.4 million more votes nationally than Republicans, but the GOP won&#160; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/opinion/sunday/the-great-gerrymander-of-2012.html?pagewanted=all&amp;mcubz=0" type="external">33 more seats</a>.) According to a&#160; <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/8/24/16199564/democrats-2018-gerrymandering-problem" type="external">recent analysis</a>&#160;by Decision Desk HQ, Democrats are projected to win 54 percent of votes for the House in 2018 but pick up only 47 percent of seats.</p>
<p>In November 2016, following a challenge from state Democrats, a federal&#160;court panel in Wisconsin&#160; <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/16-1161-op-bel-dist-ct-wisc.pdf" type="external">struck down the state assembly maps</a>&#160;as “an unconstitutional political gerrymander” that was “intended to burden the representational rights of Democratic voters…by impeding their ability to translate their votes into legislative seats.”</p>
<p>To persuade Kennedy, plaintiffs in the case developed a test called the “ <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2457468" type="external">efficiency gap</a>” to measure the number of “wasted” votes for a party, such as when voters are placed in deep-red or deep-blue districts where they have no chance of influencing the outcome. The two scholars who developed the efficiency gap, Nicholas Stephanopoulos of the University of Chicago and Eric McGhee of the Public Policy Institute of California, found that “the plans in effect today” in states like Wisconsin “are the most extreme gerrymanders in modern history.”</p>
<p>Chief Justice John Roberts was skeptical of that test during Tuesday’s arguments. “The main problem for me,” he said, “is that in every case that comes before us, we will have to decide whether the Democrat wins or the Republican wins.” He dismissed the plaintiffs’ arguments against partisan gerrymandering as “sociological gobbledygook” and said that if the Supreme Court invoked the efficiency gap to strike down future gerrymanders, “the intelligent man on the street will say, ‘That’s a bunch of baloney. It must be because the Supreme Court preferred the Democrats over Republicans.’”</p>
<p>The court’s newest justice, Neil Gorsuch, compared the redistricting process to his “steak rub” which included “a pinch of this, and a pinch of that, but I’m not going to tell you how much of each.” His point was that the court could never agree on a workable standard to outlaw gerrymandering.</p>
<p>But earlier, liberal Justice Stephen Breyer said the court should be able to come to an agreement on a simple three-part test for invalidating partisan gerrymanders: Were the maps drawn under one-party control? Do they dramatically benefit one party over the other? Will that advantage last regardless of how the state swings politically to entrench one-party control? “I suspect that is manageable,” Breyer said.</p>
<p>All of that was true in Wisconsin, said Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The Wisconsin map “was the most partisan” map possible. “It worked,” she said, referring to Republicans’ huge legislative majorities. “If it was the most extreme map they could make, why isn’t that enough to prove…unconstitutional gerrymandering?”</p>
<p>Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg added that the case was not about minor technicalities but huge fundamental rights. “What’s really behind all of this?” Ginsburg asked. “The precious right to vote.” Partisan gerrymandering had “stack[ed] the legislature” against democracy, so that “the result is pre-ordained.”</p>
<p>This story has been updated.</p> | Anthony Kennedy’s Questioning Suggests Extreme Partisan Gerrymandering Could Be in Danger | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/10/anthony-kennedys-questioning-suggests-extreme-partisan-gerrymandering-could-be-in-danger/ | 2017-10-03 | 4 |
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<p>SHREVEPORT, La. — A report shows a helicopter clipped trees before crashing into a Louisiana lake.</p>
<p>The Feb. 15 accident killed the chopper’s owner, 54-year-old Terry Glenn Bailey, and his 57-year-old wife, Pamela Jo Bailey. They lived in Center, Texas.</p>
<p>The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report cites no cause of the crash at Wallace Lake in DeSoto Parish. It says clouds were low and Bailey was flying without a flight plan.</p>
<p>The report says the crash left a crater near lake’s edge, with debris scattered for 200 feet, and that at least part of the helicopter burned on the ground.</p>
<p>Bailey owned an oil service company.</p>
<p>The Federal Aviation Administration said the helicopter left Shreveport Downtown Airport and was headed to Center. The couple earlier visited the Horseshoe Casino in Bossier City.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Early report cites no cause for Louisiana helicopter crash | false | https://abqjournal.com/964528/early-report-cites-no-cause-for-louisiana-helicopter-crash.html | 2 |
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<p>Avon Products Inc. reported on Thursday a fourth-quarter loss that widened to $333.4 million, or 76 cents a share, from $330.7 million, or 75 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as restructuring costs, the per-share loss was 16 cents, missing the FactSet consensus for a per-share loss of 11 cents, as operating margin declined 2.8 percentage points to 58.7%. Revenue fell 20% to $1.61 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $1.85 billion, as beauty sales dropped 21% and fashion &amp; home sales declined 14%. Excluding the impact of currency moves, sales would have increased 3%. Average orders decreased 1%. The company said it expects the transformation plan announced in January to produce cost savings of $350 million after three years. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has tumbled 20% year to date through Wednesday, but was still up 5.2% over the past three months, while the S&amp;P 500 has lost 11% in three months.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Avon Products Reports Wider-than-expected Loss As Sales Miss | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/02/11/avon-products-reports-wider-than-expected-loss-as-sales-miss.html | 2016-02-11 | 0 |
<p>President Barack Obama will visit the demilitarized zone that separates North Korea from the South for the first time on Sunday.</p>
<p>The news came as the US, South Korea and Japan expressed concern over North Korea's plan to put a satellite into orbit on a rocket.</p>
<p>North Korea's Committee for Space Technology announced on March 16 that the country would send Kwangmyongsong-3, a polar-orbiting satellite, into space atop the domestically manufactured Unha-3 rocket, <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/NC22Dg01.html" type="external">Asia Times Online reported</a>.</p>
<p>However, the three Western nations are concerned that North Korea's rudimentary technology and limited experience in launching long-range rockets might result in a "catastrophic failure" that could cause it to crash near South Korean territory, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9157167/Crash-fears-over-North-Korean-satellite-trajectory.html" type="external">according to Britain's Daily Telegraph</a>.</p>
<p>They have also suggested that the launch of the Unha-3 rocket - scheduled for mid-April as part of celebrations to mark the 100th birthday of Kim Il-sung, North Korea's founder - is actually a test for a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, the paper reported.</p>
<p>The launch is to take place at the country's new aerospace facility at Tongchang-ri, close to the border with China in the far north-west of the country.</p>
<p>China has also expressed concern over the launch.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/120317/china-worried-over-north-korea-missile-launch" type="external">China worried over North Korea missile launch</a></p>
<p>However, the Telegraph wrote, Pyongyang told International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Maritime Organisation that the rocket will travel almost due south, with the propulsion stage of the rocket likely to fall into waters around 80 miles off the South Korean coast.</p>
<p>The rocket will also fly over Japan and Taiwan, before falling into the ocean an estimated 118 miles off the Philippines, the Telegraph wrote.</p>
<p>The US has warned North Korea that the rocket launch could jeopardize a food-aid agreement reached with Pyongyang in early March.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120316/north-koreas-rocket-launch-would-defy-un" type="external">North Korea's rocket launch would defy UN VIDEO</a></p>
<p>Meanwhile, CNN reported that Obama's visit to the heavily fortified DMZ would form part of a three-day trip to South Korea to participate in a summit meeting about nuclear security in Seoul.</p>
<p>The DMZ is considered one of the most dangerous places on earth, <a href="http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2012/03/21/obama-to-visit-korean-dmz-during-nuclear-security-summit/" type="external">according to VOA</a>, where heavily armed soldiers from North Korea and South Korea face each other 24/7, their countries locked in a technical state of war since the Korean War armistice in 1953.</p>
<p>VOA cited Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes as saying Tuesday that the president's DMZ visit was mainly to show support for the more than 28,000 US troops serving in Korea and to stress America's security alliance with South Korea.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120306/australian-economy-wayne-swan-mining-billionaires" type="external">Tough times for Australian billionaires</a></p> | Barack Obama to visit DMZ amid concern over North Korean rocket launch | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-03-21/barack-obama-visit-dmz-amid-concern-over-north-korean-rocket-launch | 2012-03-21 | 3 |
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<p>Dear Dr. Don,With the expectation that either inflation or government interference will destroy the value of money, where would you advise I invest several thousand in cash to preserve it? We are retired, both age 77.-Amelia Ration</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Dear Amelia,Purchasing power risk is a major concern when investing retirement savings. Too many investors just focus on risk to principal, investing conservatively so they know the value of their portfolio can't shrink, only to find out that it did shrink -- in terms of what the money can buy.</p>
<p>Currency exchange rates, interest rates and inflation are all interdependent. A weakening dollar can drive up the price of imports, result in increased commodity prices and portend future inflation.</p>
<p>How liquid do you need this investment to be? For liquid investments, investors should strike a balance among safety, convenience and yield. If you've got an intermediate to long-term investment horizon for this cash, then there are more investment opportunities.</p>
<p>I like the 20-year or 30-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPS, for protecting purchasing power over time.</p>
<p>The shorter term issues, including five-year and 10-year, may be more appropriate for your investment horizon, but you'll give up a fair amount of yield by investing in the shorter maturities. The five-year TIPS are currently priced to yield 0.1 percent plus inflation, and the 10-year TIPS are priced to yield 1.08 percent plus inflation. I'd suggest that an investor considering the five-year TIPS also take a look at the Series I Savings Bond, which currently pays zero percent plus inflation, but gives the owner the option to defer income taxes on the earnings until the bond is redeemed or matures.</p>
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<p>The problem with the longer-term securities in your portfolio is that you are likely to have to redeem them prior to them maturing. The securities vary in price with changes in the interest rate environment, so there's some risk to principal. There are also some tax considerations that you should discuss with your tax professional, mainly that you owe tax on the inflation earnings each year, but you only realize those earnings when you redeem the security. A plus is that you can buy these securities from the government using TreasuryDirect.</p>
<p>Another option is to invest in commodity or currency-linked certificates of deposit. You can learn more about these by reading the Bankrate features, "Index CD may boost returns but add risk," "Currency-linked CDs: too good to be true?" and "A little foreign change in your portfolio?" There's even an earlier Dr. Don column, "Are foreign deposits FDIC-insured?" that speaks to the difference between currency risk and the risk of bank failure.</p>
<p>Get more news, money-saving tips and expert advice by signing up for a free Bankrate newsletter.</p>
<p>Ask the adviser</p>
<p>To ask a question of Dr. Don, go to the "Ask the Experts" page, and select one of these topics: "Financing a home," "Saving &amp; Investing" or "Money." Read more Dr. Don columns for additional personal finance advice.Bankrate's content, including the guidance of its advice-and-expert columns and this Web site, is intended only to assist you with financial decisions. The content is broad in scope and does not consider your personal financial situation. Bankrate recommends that you seek the advice of advisers who are fully aware of your individual circumstances before making any final decisions or implementing any financial strategy. Please remember that your use of this Web site is governed by Bankrate's Terms of Use.</p> | A Safe Place to Park Retirement Cash | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2010/12/23/safe-place-park-retirement-cash-1069726352.html | 2016-03-17 | 0 |
<p>BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — South Sudan's armed opposition on Sunday accused government troops of violating a cease-fire just hours after it came into effect.</p>
<p>A statement by opposition spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel said government troops have been "bombarding" opposition positions in Yei county and launched an attack in Koch county Sunday morning that opposition forces "repulsed."</p>
<p>Gabriel said government troops also were en route to launch another attack in the Wau area. "It is a matter of time before they reach our positions," he said.</p>
<p>These are the first reported violations of the cease-fire that went into effect just after midnight. The warring sides agreed to the cessation of hostilities on Thursday after days of internationally mediated talks in neighboring Ethiopia.</p>
<p>South Sudan government spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told The Associated Press that "How can we violate the cease-fire? It just went into effect. ... We can only fire back in self-defense."</p>
<p>The East African country is entering its fifth year of civil war. No one knows how many tens of thousands of people have been killed. Parts of the nation are on the brink of starvation and two million people have fled to neighboring countries.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, the U.N. Security Council warned of "costs or consequences" for South Sudan's government and opposition if they undermine efforts to implement the 2015 peace deal. Consequences could include further sanctions.</p>
<p>Under the new agreement, the warring sides also committed to grant badly needed humanitarian access to conflict-affected areas and to release prisoners of war, political prisoners and abducted women and children.</p>
<p>South Sudan plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013, just two years after a long-fought-for independence from Sudan, when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, started battling those loyal to his former vice president, Riek Machar, a Nuer.</p>
<p>The U.N. and others have warned against ethnic violence and other abuses, including the recruitment of children as soldiers and the widespread use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.</p>
<p>BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — South Sudan's armed opposition on Sunday accused government troops of violating a cease-fire just hours after it came into effect.</p>
<p>A statement by opposition spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel said government troops have been "bombarding" opposition positions in Yei county and launched an attack in Koch county Sunday morning that opposition forces "repulsed."</p>
<p>Gabriel said government troops also were en route to launch another attack in the Wau area. "It is a matter of time before they reach our positions," he said.</p>
<p>These are the first reported violations of the cease-fire that went into effect just after midnight. The warring sides agreed to the cessation of hostilities on Thursday after days of internationally mediated talks in neighboring Ethiopia.</p>
<p>South Sudan government spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told The Associated Press that "How can we violate the cease-fire? It just went into effect. ... We can only fire back in self-defense."</p>
<p>The East African country is entering its fifth year of civil war. No one knows how many tens of thousands of people have been killed. Parts of the nation are on the brink of starvation and two million people have fled to neighboring countries.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, the U.N. Security Council warned of "costs or consequences" for South Sudan's government and opposition if they undermine efforts to implement the 2015 peace deal. Consequences could include further sanctions.</p>
<p>Under the new agreement, the warring sides also committed to grant badly needed humanitarian access to conflict-affected areas and to release prisoners of war, political prisoners and abducted women and children.</p>
<p>South Sudan plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013, just two years after a long-fought-for independence from Sudan, when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, started battling those loyal to his former vice president, Riek Machar, a Nuer.</p>
<p>The U.N. and others have warned against ethnic violence and other abuses, including the recruitment of children as soldiers and the widespread use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.</p> | 1st violations reported of South Sudan's new cease-fire | false | https://apnews.com/amp/61be95702c1a46b5bb135eed306e8e80 | 2017-12-24 | 2 |
<p>Carrie Underwood suffered an injury to her face that required 40 to 50 stitches after a fall in November, the singer revealed in a year-end message to fans. She also sustained a previously reported broken wrist in the fall, which took place on the steps to her home. She cautioned fans that she may look […]</p> | Carrie Underwood Reveals ‘Gruesome’ Facial Injury That Required 40-50 Stitches | false | https://newsline.com/carrie-underwood-reveals-gruesome-facial-injury-that-required-40-50-stitches/ | 2018-01-02 | 1 |
<p />
<p>Time Warner, which is in the process of being bought by AT&amp;T, reported an 11.47 rise in quarterly revenue, helped by the success of the "Harry Potter" spinoff "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them."</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The company's net income from continuing operations fell to $317 million, or $40 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 from $857 million, or $1.06 per share, a year earlier.</p>
<p>Excluding some items, the company earned $1.25 per share.</p>
<p>Revenue rose to $7.89 billion from $7.08 billion.</p>
<p>AT&amp;T's proposed acquisition of Time Warner for $85.4 billion was opposed by U.S. President Donald Trump during his election campaign.</p>
<p>However, AT&amp;T said last month it was confident the would be approved.</p>
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<p>(Reporting by Rishika Sadam and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)</p> | Time Warner Reports 11.47% Rise in Revenue | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/08/time-warner-reports-11-47-rise-in-revenue.html | 2017-02-08 | 0 |
<p>PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Kim Jong Un wants to turn the art of kimchi-making into a science. And the North Korean leader is putting his money where his mouth is.</p>
<p>On the outskirts of Pyongyang, surrounded by snow-covered farms and greenhouses, stands one of Kim’s latest pet projects, the Ryugyong Kimchi Factory, which produces 4,200 tons of the iconic Korean pickled vegetable dish a year. The shiny new facility replaces an older factory and opened in June last year after getting Kim’s final seal of approval, according to manager Paek Mi Hye.</p>
<p>The factory is intended to showcase Kim’s efforts to boost North Korea’s domestic economy and produce more, and better, consumer products. His strategy, known as “byungjin,” aims to simultaneously develop the national economy and North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.</p>
<p>North Korea’s repeated underground nuclear tests and launches of long-range missiles that could conceivably reach the U.S. mainland have brought more sanctions down on the North than ever before. But outside experts believe the country — while still struggling in many areas — is showing signs of modest economic growth and improved agricultural production. It could be just a year or two away from having an operational, nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile.</p>
<p>Video by Eric Talmadge</p>
<p>Applied science, according to the North’s policymakers, is absolutely essential on all fronts.</p>
<p>Kim has transformed the Pyongyang skyline with high-rise apartments to house his prized rocket scientists and nuclear engineers, and Paek repeatedly stressed while giving a tour of the facility to The Associated Press how even an ancient delicacy like kimchi can benefit from scientific innovation.</p>
<p>Paek, who accompanied Kim on his “on-the-spot guidance” visits, said the factory has 150 workers but is for the most part automated.</p>
<p>She said the primary objective of the factory is to operate in a “scientific manner at every stage.” In kimchi-making, that means inspections all along the production line to ensure quality and hygiene. The factory boasts of a one-of-a-kind “kimchi analyzer” to maintain the proper levels of saltiness and lactic acid — its signature ingredient.</p>
<p>Koreans North and South have been making kimchi for generations, often passing family recipes down from mother to daughter or mother-in-law to daughter-in-law.</p>
<p>In 2015, UNESCO added kimchi to its “intangible cultural heritage of humanity” list, noting that the traditional sharing of know-how and materials to prepare large quantities of kimchi for the winter months “boosts cooperation among families, villages and communities, contributing to social cohesion.”</p>
<p>Paek acknowledged that some people might resist giving up the cherished tradition of communal kimchi-making. “But they also recognize the quality and reliability of our factory-made product,” she said.</p>
<p>The factory produces eight kimchi products, from the very spicy staple “tong kimchi,” which has a red tint and is made of whole cabbages, to a milder variety designed for children. Its kimchi products are distributed to restaurants and grocery stores around Pyongyang.</p>
<p>“This is the model,” Paek said. “Other factories like ours are being planned in every province.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Talmadge is the AP’s Pyongyang bureau chief. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @erictalmadge.</p>
<p>PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Kim Jong Un wants to turn the art of kimchi-making into a science. And the North Korean leader is putting his money where his mouth is.</p>
<p>On the outskirts of Pyongyang, surrounded by snow-covered farms and greenhouses, stands one of Kim’s latest pet projects, the Ryugyong Kimchi Factory, which produces 4,200 tons of the iconic Korean pickled vegetable dish a year. The shiny new facility replaces an older factory and opened in June last year after getting Kim’s final seal of approval, according to manager Paek Mi Hye.</p>
<p>The factory is intended to showcase Kim’s efforts to boost North Korea’s domestic economy and produce more, and better, consumer products. His strategy, known as “byungjin,” aims to simultaneously develop the national economy and North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.</p>
<p>North Korea’s repeated underground nuclear tests and launches of long-range missiles that could conceivably reach the U.S. mainland have brought more sanctions down on the North than ever before. But outside experts believe the country — while still struggling in many areas — is showing signs of modest economic growth and improved agricultural production. It could be just a year or two away from having an operational, nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile.</p>
<p>Video by Eric Talmadge</p>
<p>Applied science, according to the North’s policymakers, is absolutely essential on all fronts.</p>
<p>Kim has transformed the Pyongyang skyline with high-rise apartments to house his prized rocket scientists and nuclear engineers, and Paek repeatedly stressed while giving a tour of the facility to The Associated Press how even an ancient delicacy like kimchi can benefit from scientific innovation.</p>
<p>Paek, who accompanied Kim on his “on-the-spot guidance” visits, said the factory has 150 workers but is for the most part automated.</p>
<p>She said the primary objective of the factory is to operate in a “scientific manner at every stage.” In kimchi-making, that means inspections all along the production line to ensure quality and hygiene. The factory boasts of a one-of-a-kind “kimchi analyzer” to maintain the proper levels of saltiness and lactic acid — its signature ingredient.</p>
<p>Koreans North and South have been making kimchi for generations, often passing family recipes down from mother to daughter or mother-in-law to daughter-in-law.</p>
<p>In 2015, UNESCO added kimchi to its “intangible cultural heritage of humanity” list, noting that the traditional sharing of know-how and materials to prepare large quantities of kimchi for the winter months “boosts cooperation among families, villages and communities, contributing to social cohesion.”</p>
<p>Paek acknowledged that some people might resist giving up the cherished tradition of communal kimchi-making. “But they also recognize the quality and reliability of our factory-made product,” she said.</p>
<p>The factory produces eight kimchi products, from the very spicy staple “tong kimchi,” which has a red tint and is made of whole cabbages, to a milder variety designed for children. Its kimchi products are distributed to restaurants and grocery stores around Pyongyang.</p>
<p>“This is the model,” Paek said. “Other factories like ours are being planned in every province.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Talmadge is the AP’s Pyongyang bureau chief. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @erictalmadge.</p> | Secret Sauce? Kim Jong Un applies science to kimchi-making | false | https://apnews.com/45849f213e3247c39280e1fa88d92fc6 | 2017-12-30 | 2 |
<p>The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the Republican health care bill has been released — so let the spinning begin.</p>
<p>Democrats overstate what the CBO said about the impact on those who now have health insurance, while the White House budget director oversells the impact on premiums.</p>
<p>In a video <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/" type="external">posted to his website</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/senatorsanders/videos/10155725604777908/" type="external">Facebook</a>&#160;on March 13,&#160;Sen. Bernie Sanders claimed that the GOP legislation would “throw 24 million Americans off of the health insurance that they currently have,” including “14 million who will lose that health insurance next year.”</p>
<p>Reps.&#160;Richard Neal of Massachusetts and Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, ranking members of the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees, respectively, <a href="https://democrats-waysandmeans.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/neal-pallone-statement-cbo-report-house-gop-health-care-repeal-bill" type="external">said in a joint statement</a> that the bill “would rip away health insurance from 24 million Americans over the next decade.”</p>
<p>But those claims go too far.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/costestimate/americanhealthcareact.pdf" type="external">analysis by the CBO and Joint Committee on Taxation</a> did say that 24 million fewer Americans would be insured under the American Health Care Act than under current law in 2026, and that 14 million fewer would be insured next year. But not all of them would have their insurance ripped away or would be losing “insurance that they currently have.” The numbers represent a complicated mix of some losing insurance, some deciding not to have it, others gaining it and others not having insurance&#160;in the future.</p>
<p>Let’s go through the CBO numbers.</p>
<p>In 2018, “14 million more people would be uninsured under the legislation than under current law,” most of that due to the American Health Care Act’s immediate elimination of the individual mandate to have insurance or pay a tax, CBO said. CBO doesn’t give specific numbers, but says that “[s]ome of those people would choose not to have insurance because they chose to be covered by insurance under current law only to avoid paying the penalties, and some people would forgo insurance in response to higher premiums.”</p>
<p>Six million of that 14 million reduction comes from a decrease in those insured in the nongroup market (including the ACA marketplaces), where those who don’t have employer or government insurance buy their own coverage. Five million comes from a reduction in Medicaid coverage, and 2 million is a decline in employer-based coverage.</p>
<p>So some people wouldn’t be thrown off insurance, but instead they’d make the decision not to have it. Others could be affected by higher premiums brought about by the GOP plan. CBO estimates premiums in the nongroup market would go up in 2018 and 2019, due to healthy people leaving that market since they are not required to have insurance. With fewer healthy people in the nongroup market, overall costs increase.</p>
<p>In subsequent years, circumstances change as the GOP plan’s age-based tax credits replace the Affordable Care Act’s income-based tax credits, beginning in 2020. The CBO expects the increase in premiums to be “more than offset” in 2020 by other factors, including more young people in the nongroup insurance pool.</p>
<p>Older and low-income Americans on the nongroup market could see substantially higher costs in future years under the GOP plan, as insurers would be allowed to charge older people more and the age-based tax credits wouldn’t be large enough to offset those premium increases. These factors mean that the makeup of the nongroup market — who buys coverage and who doesn’t — would be “significantly” different under the GOP plan than under current law, “particularly by income and age,” CBO said. By 2026, CBO estimates that 2 million fewer would have nongroup insurance under the Republican bill.</p>
<p>From 2018 to 2026, the further reduction in the number of the insured, compared with current law, “would stem in large part from changes in Medicaid enrollment,” CBO said.</p>
<p>By 2026, Medicaid enrollment would be 14 million lower under the GOP bill than under current law, and that’s due to the Republican changes to the Medicaid expansion and funding for the state-federal program for those with low incomes. “[S]ome states would discontinue their expansion of eligibility, some&#160;states that would have expanded eligibility in the future would choose not to do so, and per-enrollee spending in the program&#160;would be capped,” CBO said.</p>
<p>Certainly some of those who wouldn’t have Medicaid coverage under the Republican plan — but would have had it under the Affordable Care Act — could be described as having had their insurance taken away from them. The bill phases out the Medicaid expansion under the ACA beginning in 2020. It doesn’t eliminate that expanded coverage, with enhanced federal matching funds, for those who are enrolled before that time, but if those expansion enrollees have more than a month of a break in Medicaid coverage, they can’t re-enroll under the ACA terms.</p>
<p>The Commonwealth Fund has written about the problem of <a href="http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/in-the-literature/2015/jul/reducing-medicaid-churning" type="external">“churning”</a> in Medicaid, where people cycle in and out of coverage since eligibility is determined on monthly income. Seasonal work or changing jobs, for instance, can cause individuals to qualify some months but not others. The Commonwealth Fund <a href="http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/blog/2017/mar/why-millions-would-lose-coverage-under-affordable-care-act-repeal-bill" type="external">said</a> its survey data on gaps in coverage “indicate that millions of people with Medicaid will lose their coverage” under the GOP health care bill.</p>
<p>CBO agrees that this churn would occur, saying that it “projects that fewer than one-third of those enrolled as of December 31, 2019, would have maintained continuous eligibility two years later.”</p>
<p>Others who would not have Medicaid coverage under the GOP plan but would have it under current law are would-be future enrollees that CBO “projects would be made eligible as a result of state actions in the future under current law (that is, from additional states adopting the optional expansion of eligibility authorized by the ACA).” The CBO report (see Figure 1 on page 36) says that of the 14 million who wouldn’t have Medicaid coverage under the Republican bill in 2026, about 5 million would have been new enrollees from this future projected expansion.</p>
<p>And there are other complicating factors: CBO expects 7 million fewer people to have employer-provided coverage in 2026. That’s partly due to fewer employees signing up for coverage without an individual mandate enticing them to do so and partly due to fewer employers offering coverage because they no longer would face penalties for not providing it.</p>
<p>The continuous coverage provision of the Republican bill — which would allow insurers on the nongroup market to charge a 30 percent higher premium to those with a gap in coverage of more than 63 days — could induce about 1 million people to buy coverage in 2018 to avoid that charge in the future, CBO estimates. But in subsequent years, about 2 million fewer people would buy coverage because of this surcharge.</p>
<p>Here’s the CBO’s chart on the estimated changes in insurance coverage:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>The CBO estimates clearly show that 24 million fewer Americans would have insurance under the GOP bill, compared with current law. But that’s a figure that involves fluctuations in coverage. Not all of them would&#160;lose insurance “that they currently have,” as Sanders said, and some would choose not to be covered.</p>
<p>The Democrats weren’t alone in spinning the CBO report.</p>
<p>Mick Mulvaney, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the CBO report confirmed the GOP philosophy that a free market would reduce premiums. “The numbers that I’ve seen in the first glance is that the CBO says that premiums will go down by at least 10 percent with this plan,” Mulvaney told reporters in a briefing shortly after CBO released its report.</p>
<p>Premiums, on the nongroup market, will not “go down” from what they are right now. They will just be lower than what they would be under the ACA, on average, by 2026.&#160;Also, Mulvaney ignores two other important points: Average premiums will sharply increase in the first two years, and older Americans will see substantial increases in the short- and long-run.</p>
<p>The CBO report says that in 2018 and 2019 “average premiums for single policyholders in the nongroup market would be 15 percent to 20 percent higher than under current law.” But, by 2026, average premiums “would be roughly 10 percent lower than the estimates under current law.”</p>
<p>As for older Americans, the GOP plan would allow insurers to charge them up to five times as much as younger people. Under the ACA, the ratio was 3:1. That “would directly change the premiums faced by different age groups,” CBO said.</p>
<p>For example, CBO said that premiums would be “20 percent to 25 percent higher for a 64-year-old” by 2026, even though average premiums would be 10 percent lower compared with current law.</p> | Spinning the CBO Report | false | https://factcheck.org/2017/03/spinning-the-cbo-report/ | 2017-03-15 | 2 |
<p>Woke feminist writer and apparent racist Lara Witt took to Twitter on Saturday night to bash white people as "evil."</p>
<p>Lamenting a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/mar/18/my-mum-always-told-me-i-was-white-like-her-now-i-know-the-truth" type="external">post</a>from The Guardian about a mixed race woman being told she was white by her mother growing up, Witt, who has contributed useless and divisive works to <a href="http://www.teenvogue.com/contributor/lara-witt" type="external">Teen Vogue</a> and other feminist rags, made it clear that "whiteness" is evil.</p>
<p>The racist tweet quickly garnered attention, receiving over 1,000 retweets from fellow Twitter users.</p>
<p>By tweeting this, Witt is showcasing to the world just how "woke" she really is. The blogger will no doubt stack up some important Cool Points in the eyes of social justice leftists who love to fight vague, unidentified racism with anti-white racism.</p>
<p />
<p>But apparently, as <a href="https://heatst.com/culture-wars/feminist-writer-lara-witts-very-un-woke-twitter-history/" type="external">highlighted</a>by Heat Street, Witt is a master at stacking up leftist Cool Points.</p>
<p>For instance, she trashes men: 10 points!</p>
<p>She also engages in the ultimate leftist Cool act of Israel bashing: 25 points!</p>
<p>The woke feminist claims to be biracial and married to a white male, who is presumably inherently evil due to his skin ... as is she, partly?</p>
<p>As noted by Factual Feminist Christian Hoff Sommers:</p> | Feminist Writer: 'White People Are Evil' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/14579/feminist-writer-white-people-are-evil-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2017-03-20 | 0 |
<p>SWANTON, Vt. (AP) — Police in a Vermont town hit hard by recent flooding that forced a number of residents from their homes say they are patrolling around the clock to prevent looting in the affected areas.</p>
<p>Swanton Police say weekend flooding from the Missisquoi River forced the evacuation of between 25 and 30 homes in Swanton and five to 10 in Highgate.</p>
<p>Police Chief Leonard Stell tells <a href="http://www.mynbc5.com/article/swanton-police-patroling-flood-affected-areas-to-prevent-looting/15395037" type="external">MyNBC5</a> a few of the Swanton residents expressed concern that items could be stolen from their home while they’re gone.</p>
<p>No looting has been reported.</p>
<p>SWANTON, Vt. (AP) — Police in a Vermont town hit hard by recent flooding that forced a number of residents from their homes say they are patrolling around the clock to prevent looting in the affected areas.</p>
<p>Swanton Police say weekend flooding from the Missisquoi River forced the evacuation of between 25 and 30 homes in Swanton and five to 10 in Highgate.</p>
<p>Police Chief Leonard Stell tells <a href="http://www.mynbc5.com/article/swanton-police-patroling-flood-affected-areas-to-prevent-looting/15395037" type="external">MyNBC5</a> a few of the Swanton residents expressed concern that items could be stolen from their home while they’re gone.</p>
<p>No looting has been reported.</p> | Police patrol near flooded homes to prevent looting | false | https://apnews.com/4afb16efe2264752a566a2b79d90afc8 | 2018-01-19 | 2 |
<p>Republican and conservative politicians have voiced concerns about election fraud for years, citing <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/17/no-voter-fraud-isnt-myth-10-cases-where-its-all-to/" type="external">numerous cases</a> in which minimal, though still <a href="http://thefederalist.com/2016/10/13/voter-fraud-real-heres-proof/" type="external">alarming</a>, irregularities took place in various elections. In order to combat instances of fraud, Republicans in many states have pushed for stricter voter identification laws.</p>
<p>Democrats routinely dismiss the notion of fraud, and fight against the institution of more expansive voter ID laws, claiming such laws are simply a stealth voter-suppression campaign being executed by Republicans. According to Democrats, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/29/the-voter-fraud-myth" type="external">voter fraud doesn't exist</a> (until you need it to).</p>
<p><a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/activists-urge-hillary-clinton-to-challenge-election-results.html" type="external">New York Magazine</a> reported Tuesday that the director of the University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society, J. Alex Halderman, voting-rights attorney John Bonifaz, as well as several others, believe the elections in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin may have been manipulated:</p>
<p>Clinton received 7 percent fewer votes in counties that relied on electronic-voting machines compared with counties that used optical scanners and paper ballots. Based on this statistical analysis, Clinton may have been denied as many as 30,000 votes; she lost Wisconsin by 27,000.</p>
<p>While it’s important to note the group has not found proof of hacking or manipulation, they are arguing to the campaign that the suspicious pattern merits an independent review — especially in light of the fact that the Obama White House has accused the Russian government of hacking the Democratic National Committee.</p>
<p>In an article published on <a href="https://medium.com/@jhalderm/want-to-know-if-the-election-was-hacked-look-at-the-ballots-c61a6113b0ba#.p2x8gfxv6" type="external">Medium</a>, Halderman clarified his argument, citing Russian cyber attacks on Ukraine, as well as attempts to "breach state voter registration databases" in Arizona and Illinois, according to <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/russians-hacked-two-u-s-voter-databases-say-officials-n639551" type="external">NBC News</a>. However, he concedes that the results in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania were "probably not" the product of hacking.</p>
<p>Additionally, <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/demographics-not-hacking-explain-the-election-results/" type="external">FiveThirtyEight</a> published a piece on Wednesday, titled: "Demographics, Not Hacking, Explain The Election Results," in which Carl Bialik and Rob Arthur state that Halderman's claim "doesn't check out."</p>
<p>Regardless of the fact that no tangible evidence of hacking has been revealed, Green Party candidate, Jill Stein, started a <a href="https://jillstein.nationbuilder.com/recount" type="external">fundraiser</a> in order to have recounts conducted in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. In just four days, Stein has received $6.1 million. According to the official fundraising website, over 130,000 people have donated to the cause.</p>
<p>Now, the Clinton camp has joined ranks with Stein in the recount effort, according to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/26/politics/clinton-campaign-recount/" type="external">CNN</a>. The campaign's council, Marc Elias, said Clinton isn't participating in the recount in order to contest the election, but to "ensure that it is fair to all sides." Sure.</p>
<p>As of Sunday, Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton by approximately <a href="http://cookpolitical.com/story/10174" type="external">10,700 votes</a> in Michigan, <a href="http://cookpolitical.com/story/10174" type="external">22,500 votes</a> in Wisconsin, and <a href="http://cookpolitical.com/story/10174" type="external">68,000 votes</a> in Pennsylvania. Over 100,000 votes would need to be deemed fraudulent or miscounted for Clinton to have even a chance at turning all three states--which is what she would need to win the election. Such an outcome is nearly impossible.</p>
<p>Despite this, 130,000 people--the majority of whom are likely Democrats--seem to believe such an outcome is indeed possible. Democrats all across social media suddenly believe that fraud is not only a reality, but occurring on a massive scale. The Clinton campaign appears to believe this as well. Fraud is suddenly the progressive cause célèbre.</p>
<p>In order to avoid contradicting themselves, it's not voter fraud progressives are worried about--that would be an insane right-wing conspiracy theory--but hacking fraud for which no evidence has been found. That's a more reasonable position--and there's no place like home. There's no place like home.​ There's no place like home.​</p> | Hypocrisy: Fraud Doesn't Exist Until the Left Needs it to | true | https://dailywire.com/news/11112/hypocrisy-fraud-doesnt-exist-until-left-needs-it-frank-camp | 2016-11-27 | 0 |
<p>JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — A Chicago suburb has hired a national law firm to assist in collecting unpaid parking fines and other fees that have accumulated.</p>
<p>Unpaid fees in Joliet are estimated to be roughly $2 million.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theherald-news.com/2018/01/08/joliet-hires-law-firm-to-step-up-debt-collection/ahkd0f2/" type="external">The (Joliet) Herald-News</a> reports city officials have approved a one-year contract with the firm Linebarger Goggan Blair &amp; Sampson, which has offices nationwide. They start in March and will join two other local collection agencies. The focus will be unpaid ambulance fees, water bills and other money owed to Joliet.</p>
<p>City officials have said less than half of parking fines were collected between 2014 and 2016. Only about 4 percent of ambulance bills were collected in 2016.</p>
<p>Finance Director Jim Ghedotte hopes that using a bigger firm will help find people who have moved from Joliet.</p>
<p>JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — A Chicago suburb has hired a national law firm to assist in collecting unpaid parking fines and other fees that have accumulated.</p>
<p>Unpaid fees in Joliet are estimated to be roughly $2 million.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theherald-news.com/2018/01/08/joliet-hires-law-firm-to-step-up-debt-collection/ahkd0f2/" type="external">The (Joliet) Herald-News</a> reports city officials have approved a one-year contract with the firm Linebarger Goggan Blair &amp; Sampson, which has offices nationwide. They start in March and will join two other local collection agencies. The focus will be unpaid ambulance fees, water bills and other money owed to Joliet.</p>
<p>City officials have said less than half of parking fines were collected between 2014 and 2016. Only about 4 percent of ambulance bills were collected in 2016.</p>
<p>Finance Director Jim Ghedotte hopes that using a bigger firm will help find people who have moved from Joliet.</p> | Joliet hires national firm to help collect unpaid fines | false | https://apnews.com/0895c496f6bb4c398ef577cbd5c1eec2 | 2018-01-13 | 2 |
<p>New <a href="http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/02/03/gallup_obama_clinton_statistically_tied_in_national_poll.html" type="external">polls</a> show Barack Obama closing in on Hillary Clinton’s lead, nationally, in California and among women voters, which may be why either the Clinton campaign or some ally is engaging in that unsavory campaign tactic, the <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/02/breaking-news-p.html" type="external">push poll</a>.</p>
<p>The idea is to phone potential voters pretending to be a pollster, but to use the questions as a form of propaganda to push the voter toward your preferred candidate.</p>
<p>John McCain’s 2000 campaign was famously <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Push_poll" type="external">sunk</a> in South Carolina when mysterious “pollsters” asked voters if they would be “more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?”</p>
<p>If the appearance of Karl Rove politics in the campaign is eventually traced back to Clinton headquarters, it may not shock political observers. Both Clinton’s campaign manager and her husband are said to have <a href="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/08/14/hillary_the_rove_candidate_of.html" type="external">admired</a> Rove’s strategies in the past.</p>
<p />
<p>Los Angeles Times:</p>
<p>But a few minutes into the conversation Ed [one of those who received a push-poll telephone call] says he noticed a strange pattern developing to the questions. First of all, the “pollster” was only asking about four candidates, three Democrats — Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, who was still in the race at the time — and one Republican — John McCain.</p>
<p>Also, every question about Clinton was curiously positive, Coghlan recalls. The caller said things like, if you knew that Sen. Clinton believed the country had a serious home mortgage problem and had made proposals to freeze mortgage rates and save families from foreclosure, would you be more likely or less likely to vote for her?</p>
<p>Ed said, of course, more likely.</p>
<p>Every question about the other candidates was negative. If Ed knew, for instance, that as a state senator Obama had voted “present” 43 times instead of taking a yes or no stand “for what he believed,” would Ed be more or less likely to vote for him?</p>
<p>“That’s when I caught on,” said Coghlan. He realized then that he was being push-polled. That malicious political virus that is designed not to elicit answers but to spread positive information about one candidate and negative information about all others under the guise of an honest poll had arrived in Southern California within days of the important election.</p>
<p><a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/02/breaking-news-p.html" type="external">Read more</a></p> | 'Push Polling' Taints Campaign in California | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/push-polling-taints-campaign-in-california/ | 2008-02-04 | 4 |
<p />
<p />
<p>At Tuesday’s debate, Herman Cain was <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1110/18/sitroom.01.html" type="external">asked</a>by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, whether, like Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who recently negotiated the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas in exchange for setting a thousand of Palestinian prisoners free, he would be willing to make a similar decision. He said yes:</p>
<p>BLITZER: Could you imagine if you were president—we’re almost out of time—and there was one American soldier who had been held for years, and the demand was Al Qaeda or some other terrorist group, you have got to free everyone at Guantanamo Bay, several hundred prisoners at Guantanamo? Could you see yourself, as president, authorizing that kind of transfer?</p>
<p>CAIN: I could see myself authorizing that kind of transfer, but what I would do is, I would make sure that I got all of the information, I got all of the input, considered all of the options. And then the president has to be the president and make a judgment call. I could make that call if I had to.</p>
<p>This was a pretty disastrous answer, and not an entirely hypothetical possibility: US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2011-05-06/us/afghanistan.hostage.soldier_1_bowe-bergdahl-robert-bergdahl-haqqani-network?_s=PM:US" type="external">has been held</a> by the Afghan Taliban since 2009. Despite the fact that few of the remaining detainees at Gitmo have even had a trial, let alone been convicted of a crime, much of the country regards them all as guilty as a result of a decade of politicians asserting without qualification that they’re all guilty. That’s part of why Obama couldn’t close Gitmo even when there was a Democratic majority in Congress. Cain tried to <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1110/18/se.05.html" type="external">explain away</a> this answer in last night’s debate.</p>
<p>CAIN: The rest of the statement was quite simply, you would have to consider the entire situation. But let me say this first, I would have a policy that we do not negotiate with terrorists. We have to lay that principle down first. Now being that you have to look at each individual situation and consider all the facts. The point that I made about this particular situation is that I’m sure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to consider a lot of things before he made that. So on the surface, I don’t think we can say he did the right thing or not. A responsible decision-maker would have considered everything.</p>
<p>COOPER: But you’re saying you could—I mean, in your words, you’ve said that I could see myself authorizing that kind of a transfer. Isn’t that negotiating with, in this case, Al Qaeda?</p>
<p>CAIN: I don’t recall him saying that it was Al Qaeda-related.</p>
<p>Again, a disastrous answer—not only did Blitzer specifically ask about Al Qaeda, but Republicans have spent the last few years opposing the&#160;transfer of detainees to US federal court for trial, let alone their outright release. The idea of an American president negotiating for hostages isn’t entirely inconceivable—as Marcy Wheeler <a href="http://www.emptywheel.net/2011/10/19/ron-paul-shits-in-the-saint-ronnie-punch-bowl/?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=ron-paul-shits-in-the-saint-ronnie-punch-bowl" type="external">writes</a>, Ron Paul pointed out last night that Ronald Reagan sold arms to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages. But given the politics of Gitmo, particularly on the right, Cain’s answer was about as gaffe-tastic as it gets.&#160;</p>
<p>Cain’s problems are essentially two-fold here. One, he knows <a href="http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/10/15/this_is_herman_cains_foreign_policy" type="external">almost nothing about foreign policy</a>, let alone the domestic politics of Israel and the reason why Netanyahu could make such a decision. Shalit became such a potent symbol to Israelis in large part because Israel has compulsory service, which means that Shalit could literally be anyone’s child, anyone’s sibling, anyone’s parent. Things are different in the United States, where the burden of our incessant wars is borne by a relatively small part of the population, and military service is much more of an abstract concept.&#160;</p>
<p>The second is that Cain was obviously snowed by the preface of the question, “did Binyamin Netanyahu do the right thing.” It’s not accurate to say the GOP respects Netanyahu more than the man currently in the White House, it’s more like they regard him with a combination of awe and reverence. When Netayahu visited Congress in May the GOP treated him like he was a hybrid of Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan. Cain was operating off a simple principle that, in this particular case, failed him: Everything Israel does is beyond criticism, and everything Netanyahu does is awesome. Had the issue been something other than negotiating with Hamas for the release of prisoners, Cain probably would have been okay.&#160;</p>
<p>Photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/6256702520/sizes/m/in/photostream/" type="external">Gage Skidmore</a></p>
<p /> | Knowing Nothing About Foreign Policy Finally Gets Cain In Trouble | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/knowing-nothing-about-foreign-policy-finally-gets-cain-trouble/ | 2011-10-19 | 4 |
<p><a href="http://pienews.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Women.jpg" type="external" />(CNSNews.com) - The number of women 16 and older who were unemployed in the United States climbed by 60,000 in May, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In May, there were 4,519,000 unemployed women, 60,000 more than the 4,459,000 American women who were unemployed in [?]</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/unemployed-women-increased-60000-may" type="external">Click here to view original web page at www.cnsnews.com</a></p>
<p /> | Unemployed Women Increased by 60,000 in May | true | http://politicalillusionsexposed.com/unemployed-women-increased-by-60000-in-may/ | 0 |
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<p>As part of the horde of promises made during his 2008 campaign, President Obama declared his commitment to a more responsible, accountable and transparent government. Lambasting the Bush age which was full of executive orders, torture, lies and deceit, Obama vowed to make appropriate changes to change the direction of the ship.</p>
<p>But one needs to look no further than the treatment of Private Bradley Manning to understand the U.S. government’s true views and approach to transparency and accountability.</p>
<p>Manning is the individual accused of leaking information to Wikileaks and its affiliates, including videos and hundreds and thousands of diplomatic cables that pertained to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Late in July of 2010, he was moved from Kuwait to Quantico, Virginia, where he was held in a condition similar to solitary confinement, which was condemned by a UN Special Rapporteur prompting the resignation of State Department spokesperson Phillip Crowley.</p>
<p>Manning was charged with the Espionage Act, which has been executed six times under the Obama administration – more than under all other American presidents combined. The other five individuals charged under this legislation include Thomas Drake, Shamai Leibowitz, Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, Jeffery Sterling and John Kiriakou. For a president that talks about improving accountability and transparency, Obama has certainly shown a strong interest in prosecuting individuals dedicated to those same ideals.</p>
<p>On December 7, 2010, Bank of America, VISA, MasterCard, PayPal and Western Union imposed a financial blockade on the funding of Wikileaks, the whistleblower organization responsible for releasing the classified documents to the public. Although the U.S. government has found no lawful grounds for the blockade, it has taken no measures to ensure that freedom of speech or freedom of the press stipulations outlined in our First Amendment are responsibly and thoroughly upheld. The blockade has continued unchecked and unchallenged since its imposition.</p>
<p>Another troubling negotiation going on behind closed doors is the drafting of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, or TPP. The only information that the public has been able to access are leaked chapters of the agreement. Governments involved in the negotiations still have refused to publish even a sentence regarding the process of discussions now underway for about three years.</p>
<p>From the chapters that have leaked, what is evident is that the TPP represents far more than just a trade agreement. It is, more accurately, a treaty that will shift unprecedented power to transnational corporations by allowing them to overrule sovereign state jurisdictions through the use of international corporate-run tribunals.</p>
<p>Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez stated that the TPP chapter leaked in June of 2012 “outlined how it would allow foreign corporations operating in the United States to appeal key regulations to an international tribunal. The body would have the power to override U.S. law and issue penalties for failure to comply with its rulings.”</p>
<p>“It’s been branded as a trade agreement,” said Lori Wallach, the director of Global Trade Watch, “but really it is enforceable, corporate, global governance... The agreement requires that every signatory country conform all of its laws, regulations, and administrative procedures, to what are 26 chapters of very comprehensive rules, only two of which have anything to do with trade. The remaining 24 chapters…handcuff governments and limit regulation.”</p>
<p>Wallach went on to say that foreign investors would be able to privately enforce the treaty by “suing our government, and raiding our treasury.”</p>
<p>“We don’t need enforceable, corporate global governance. We need more democracy and we need more accountability. And this agreement is the antithesis,” she said.</p>
<p>As if the nature and content of these negotiations weren’t sinister enough, the intense secrecy surrounding them is just as unsettling. About 600 corporate advisers have security clearance to see the text and advise on the U.S. position, yet Senator Ron Wyden, who chairs the Trade Committee with jurisdiction over the TPP, has himself been denied access to the text, as has his staff.</p>
<p>Instead, the Trans-Pacific Partnership is being negotiated by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, who was appointed by President Obama himself. As one of Obama’s original campaign promises specifically laid out: “We will not negotiate bilateral trade agreements that stop the government from protecting the environment, food safety, or the health of its citizens, or give greater rights to foreign investors than to U.S. investors.”</p>
<p>If Obama and his administration genuinely cared about transparency in these negotiations and the execution of a responsible and accountable U.S. government more generally, he would issue an executive order and demand that Ron Kirk immediately hand over the TPP text to Sen. Wyden, if not opening it up to the American public completely.</p>
<p>But more likely, he will use the same tactics and skill that have gotten him two terms in the Oval Office: the ability to talk the talk, but not walk the walk.</p> | Obama Transparency Check: Wikileaks, the Espionage Act and the Trans-Pacific Partnership | true | http://occupy.com/article/obama-transparency-check-wikileaks-espionage-act-and-trans-pacific-partnership | 4 |
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<p>MURRIETA, Calif. (AP) - Rumors had swirled among anti-immigration activists near a U.S. Border Patrol station in Southern California that the agency would try again to bus in some of the immigrants who have arrived across the U.S.-Mexico border.</p>
<p>Instead, they got dueling anti- and pro-immigration rallies Friday.</p>
<p>The crowd of 200 outside the station in Murrieta waved signs and sometimes shouted at each other. One banner read: "Proud LEGAL American. It doesn't work any other way." Another countered: "Against illegal immigration? Great! Go back to Europe!"</p>
<p>Law enforcement officers separated the two sides and contained them on one approach to the station, leaving open an approach from the opposite direction.</p>
<p>It was not certain, however, that any buses would arrive on Friday. Because of security concerns, federal authorities have said they will not publicize immigrant transfers among border patrol facilities. By late afternoon many demonstrators were leaving.</p>
<p>Demonstrators from opposing sides confront each other on July 4, outside a U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta, Calif. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill</p>
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<p>Demonstrators yell to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer on July 4 outside a U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta, Calif. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill</p>
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<p>Demonstrators from opposing sides confront each other while being separated by Murrieta police officers on July 4 in Murrieta, Calif. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill</p>
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<p>A demonstrator that opposes illegal immigration, left, shouts at immigration supporters on July 4 outside a U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta, Calif. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill</p>
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<p>A pro-immigration demonstrator looks across a police line at the opposing side on July 4 outside a U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta, Calif. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill</p>
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<p>For the second time in a week, demonstrators confront each other over immigration in Murrieta, Calif. This protest occurred on July 4. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill</p>
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<p>Demonstrators shove each other on July 4 outside a U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta, Calif. Immigration remains in the spotlight with the arrival of migrants from Central America. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill</p>
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<p>Controversy continues to surround immigration policy, as demonstrators from opposing sides confront each other on July 4 in Murrieta, Calif. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill</p>
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<p>Demonstrators confront each other on the Fourth of July as Murrieta police officers look on outside a U.S. Border Patrol station in Murrieta, Calif. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill</p>
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<p>A Murrieta police sergeant talks to demonstrators as they confront each other over immigration on the Fourth of July in Murrieta, Calif. AP Photo by Mark J. Terrill</p>
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<p>Six people were arrested, five for interfering with police who were investigating a fight and one for disorderly conduct, police said. One of the five was a woman who jumped on an officer's back, but police did not give details on the actions of the rest.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Earlier last week</a>, the city became the latest flashpoint in the intensifying immigration debate when a crowd of protesters waving American flags blocked buses carrying women and children who were flown from overwhelmed Texas facilities.</p>
<p>Federal authorities had hoped to process them at the station in Murrieta, about 55 miles north of downtown San Diego.</p>
<p>"This is a way of making our voices heard," said Steve Prime, a resident of nearby Lake Elsinore. "The government's main job is to secure our borders and protect us - and they're doing neither."</p>
<p>Immigration supporters said the immigrants need to be treated as humans and that migrating to survive is not a crime.</p>
<p>"We're celebrating the 4th of July and what a melting pot America is," said Raquel Alvarado, a high school history teacher and Murrieta resident who chalked up the fear of migrants in the city of roughly 106,000 to discrimination.</p>
<p>"They don't want to have their kids share the same classroom," she said.</p>
<p>The city's mayor, Alan Long, became a hero to those seeking stronger immigration policies with his criticism of the federal government's efforts to handle the influx of thousands of immigrants, many of them mothers and children.</p>
<p>However, Murrieta's top administrative official tried to clarify Long's comments, saying he was only asserting the Border Patrol station was not an appropriate location to process the migrants and was encouraging residents to contact their federal representatives.</p>
<p>The July 3 statement by City Manager Rick Dudley, suggesting that protesters had come from elsewhere in Southern California, expressed regret that the busloads of women and children had been forced to turn around.</p>
<p>Long said by telephone Friday that there was talk of a protest up to two weeks before the July 1 confrontation and the intent of his press conference Monday "was to squelch people's rumors and to put people's nerves at ease."</p>
<p>He said forcing the buses to turn around was neither planned nor called for. "It's not reflective of our city. This controversial topic has turned us upside down," Long said. "It just happened to land on our doorstep, and we want to be part of a solution."</p>
<p>Some local leaders said the outrage among some area residents was justified, given the already stressed social services infrastructure and the stagnant regional economy.</p>
<p>Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone said they weren't concerned about the people on the buses. "It's the thousands more that will follow that will strain our resources and take away the resources we need to care for our own citizens," he said.</p>
<p>In recent months, thousands of children and families have fled violence, murders and extortion from criminal gangs in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Since October, more than 52,000 unaccompanied children have been detained.</p>
<p>The crunch on the border in Texas? Rio Grande Valley prompted U.S. authorities to fly immigrant families to other Texas cities and to Southern California for processing.</p>
<p>The Border Patrol is coping with excess capacity across the Southwest, and cities' responses to the arriving immigrants have ranged from welcoming to indifferent.</p>
<p>In the border town of El Centro, California, a flight arrived last week on Wednesday without protest.</p>
<p>In Nogales, Arizona, the mayor has said he welcomes the hundreds of children who are being dropped off daily at a large Border Patrol warehouse. Residents have donated clothing and other items for them.</p>
<p>In New Mexico, however, residents have been less enthusiastic.</p>
<p>At a town hall meeting last week, residents in Artesia spoke out against a detention center that recently started housing immigrants. They said they were afraid the immigrants would take jobs and resources from U.S. citizens.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Astrid Galvan in Tucson, Arizona, and Amy Taxin in Tustin, California, contributed to this report.</p>
<p>Copyright 2014 The Associated Press</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Contact author</a></p> | Straining Resources? A July 4th Clash Over Migrants | true | http://equalvoiceforfamilies.org/straining-resources-a-july-4th-clash-over-migrants/ | 4 |
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<p>Used to call me the Misfit cause I couldn’t do nothin’ right–least not in this world. Now they call me “Mr. President,” jest like Paw said they would. My brother Jeb, he said, “Daddy got you a job is all. It jest happens to be a real big ‘un.”</p>
<p>Yeah, I reckon so. But hell. Ain’t like I weren’t civilized and socialized as a young ‘un. I got my schoolin’ done and then my higher learnin’–Yale, Harvard–and you can be sure I raised holy hell a-ruttin’ and a-hollerin’ and a-drinkin’ so hard it’s a wonder I learned me anything a’tall.</p>
<p>But I growed up, some–the hard way. I flied me a plane clear ‘cross Texas durin’ the War ‘gainst the Indian Chinese. Tore into the cold earth for liquid gold–lucre is all; the black blood of Mammon that lubricationizes this sorry vale of tears. Even run me a baseball team. Quit drinkin’ too. A-yup. No thanks to them alchee-holic 2-steppers and their K-Mart religion: meetin’ secretly in dank basements every blessed afternoon a-whinin’ and a-cryin and a-kickin’ and a-screamin’ up every damn one of them god awful 12 steps. No sir. Not me. I answer to a much Higher Power…</p>
<p>I been saved–twicet. I been reborn. I remember the good Rev. Jimmy Swaggert–before he becomed a blubberin’ whoremonger–I remember him preachin’–on nation’l TV he preached–about them atheists and communists at the Harvard Divinity school, or mighta been the Harvard school of Guvment, same thing I reckon, he preached, “When we die, you can go to Harvard. Me, I wanna go to Heaven.” And it damn near brought the house down. Not a house of God directly, more a stadium like. But I felt the good word touch me even through the color TV box.</p>
<p>I got the callin.’ Look in my eyes, you’ll see. I got the callin.’ I see it, I see it all: Fire and Redemption, even for the Jews. Oh yes. Oh yes siree. Why, I got me a whole kitchen full-a Jews. Wolfowitz, aptly named I might say, and Perle, a man even the meanest, low-downest, orneriest killers at the Pentagon calls “the Prince-a Darkness” (and they ain’t far off the mark). Even got me that Ari Fishbaum speakin’ in tongues to the liberal communist Media. Think that was a accident?</p>
<p>Some folks, usually furriners and leftist intersexuals and A-rab terrorists and such, they think I take “orders” from fat ol’ Ariel Sharon. Huh. No more’n he takes “orders” from Pat Robertson, or gives ’em to Jerry Falwell. We’re all in this together. Yer with us or agin’ us, like I been sayin’ all along. Well, least since them World Train Towers got blowed up in New York City–and it weren’t me what called it “Hymie Town,” neither. Ask yer fancy-talkin’ adulterizin’ colored feller ’bout that ‘un.</p>
<p>When the Evil among us is destroyed, when the Rapture comes, them Jew-boys–gathered in Israel every last one of ’em by then; least that’s what’s written in The Book, and I ain’t talkin’ bout no egghead scholar book or the Baseball Encyclopedia neither; I’m talking bout the one true only book that matters–anyways, them Jew-boys’ll see the wickedness of their ways and fall a-weepin’ to the feet of Our Savior and beg His forgiveness and rise to Heaven with the rest of us Believers. And they won’t be ‘restricted’ when they get there. No. They’ll be treated jest as fine as if they was reglar baptized Christians.</p>
<p>There’re good Jews, I tell you. From Ari to Ariel, I only keep company with good Jews, the ones what’ll see the light when it shines upon them. It will–once we gather all the Jews, both good and bad, in the Holy Land, which might take some work, specially flushin’ ’em from cosmiccomican areas like Los Angelees and NYC, but Ariel Sharon and them AIPAC fellers,’ they’re studyin’ on it. They’ll find the way…</p>
<p>Ronnie Reagan, he knew what was comin.’ He saw the Apocalypse and prepared for it with the correct military hardware to put the communists and other evil ones to flame; trouble was, the folks around him, Georgie Schultz, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, James Baker III, Bill Casey, even my own Paw, they was more innerested in hedge-a-money in this life than heaven in the next. Now, I’m sure Ronnie had nothing ‘gainst hedge-a-money if it was gonna help bring on the reign of Heaven, but hedge-a-money for its own sake, for love-a nuthin’ more’n Riches n’ Power in this wicked world…that just don’t figure. Not to Ronnie, not to me.</p>
<p>My Pappy’s a good man, and when The Lord comes, I know Pappy’ll jump like a lamb into His arms; but he saw that hedge-a-money as a good thing in itself, not as a step toward Heaven, and that kinda thinking don’t make no sense to me, no sense a’tall.</p>
<p>Well, that don’t matter no how. There’s work to be done, and we’re a-goin’ do it. We got the firepower and we got the faith. Light all them heathens up like Roman candles, smoke ’em outta their holes, burn ’em, burn ’em all, like The Book says. My Paw told me it was Our Destiny, America’s Destiny, to do the work of the Lord. Well, that’s directly what we’re goin’ do.</p>
<p>Yeah. I know what yer thinkin’. I don’t like it any more than you do. I got nuthin agin’ the Iraqi people, personally. But it’s gotta be done –</p>
<p>“What Fun!”</p>
<p>“Shut up, Donald. Ain’t no enjoyment in this life.”</p>
<p>You’ll have to excuse the impermanence of my assistant, interjectifying like that in the middle of my…obsequy. “Rummy” didn’t mean no harm by it, I reckon. Rudeness is all. Rudeness and ign’rance. You see, Rummy don’t unnerstand that Saddam, like most fellers, Ossama too, would be a GOOD MAN if, if only he had…if only he had someone there to shoot him every day of his life.</p>
<p>ADAM ENGEL lives and writes in NYC. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | A Good Man is Hard to Misfit | true | https://counterpunch.org/2002/10/26/a-good-man-is-hard-to-misfit/ | 2002-10-26 | 4 |
<p>DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian state television and an official say two bombs have exploded in government-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs, wounding more than two dozen people.</p>
<p>The TV report said the first attack Sunday was a car bomb outside a school that wounded 27 passers-by.</p>
<p>A local official in Homs said Sunday's second blast was a bomb placed inside a taxi that wounded five students from Homs' Baath University on the busy Tijara Street. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to speak to journalists.</p>
<p>No one immediately claimed the bombings, though government-held neighborhoods in Homs have been targeted by repeated explosions that killed and wounded dozens over the past months.</p>
<p>Syria's civil war, now in its fifth year, has killed more than 220,000 people.</p>
<p>DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian state television and an official say two bombs have exploded in government-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs, wounding more than two dozen people.</p>
<p>The TV report said the first attack Sunday was a car bomb outside a school that wounded 27 passers-by.</p>
<p>A local official in Homs said Sunday's second blast was a bomb placed inside a taxi that wounded five students from Homs' Baath University on the busy Tijara Street. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to speak to journalists.</p>
<p>No one immediately claimed the bombings, though government-held neighborhoods in Homs have been targeted by repeated explosions that killed and wounded dozens over the past months.</p>
<p>Syria's civil war, now in its fifth year, has killed more than 220,000 people.</p> | 2 bombs hit central Syria city of Homs, wounding at least 32 | false | https://apnews.com/amp/83742565483241b8b0375d38bf10a002 | 2015-06-14 | 2 |
<p>Macom Technology Solutions Holdings Inc. announced Monday an agreement to buy cloud infrastructure company Applied Micro Circuits Corp. in a cash and stock deal that values Applied Micro at about $722.7 million. Under terms of the deal, Macom will pay $3.25 in cash and 0.1089 of its shares for each Applied Micro share outstanding. Based on Friday's closing prices, that values Applied Micro's stock at $8.36 each, a 15% premium. Applied Micro has about 86.45 million shares outstanding, according to FactSet. Macom expects the deal, which is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2017, to add to its adjusted earnings in fiscal 2017. "This transaction will create an industry powerhouse with the scale, deep customer relationships, innovative technology, and enabling products that will help deliver explosive growth in Enterprise and Cloud Data Centers," said Applied Micro Chief Executive Paramesh Gopi. Applied Micro's stock, which is currently halted until 7:45 a.m. ET for news, has run up 14% year to date, while Macom shares have climbed 15% and the S&amp;P 500 has gained 6.8%.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Macom Technology To Buy Applied Micro For 15% Premium | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/21/macom-technology-to-buy-applied-micro-for-15-premium.html | 2016-11-21 | 0 |
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<p>"It's not in this bill," said assistant city attorney Zachery Shandler, of the previous wording.</p>
<p>The ordinance will be heard at the first of three committee meetings on Monday, when it goes before the Public Works Committee. It then goes to the Finance Committee on Feb. 17 and the Public Safety Committee on Feb. 26, before a public hearing at the March 26, City Council meeting.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>An earlier version of the proposed ordinance was sponsored last year, by city councilor Chris Calvert. "When people feel hassled or not able to enjoy a certain space, then I think maybe we've gone too far in one direction," Calvert said in October.</p>
<p>That version, which would have pushed buskers off the Plaza and into the "protected speech" locations nearby, was dropped. Buskers already have to get a license from the city and meet certain rules.</p>
<p>"Street performers are professional entertainers whose livelihood comes from gratuities received," the latest version states.</p>
<p>The revised ordinance requires performers not block streets, alleys or building entrances and if a performer draws a crowd that obstructs a public way "a police officer may disperse the portion of the crowd that is creating the obstruction" but an officer shall not ask a performer to leave "unless other reasonable means of restoring the public safety have been exhausted," the ordinance states.</p>
<p>Performers also cannot infringe on permitted events such as Spanish Market and any busker performance at those events must be with written permission of the sponsor and the performer must have a special event vendor license.</p>
<p>Buskers would have to stay at least 150 feet away from each other and their sound level "shall not be plainly audible 100 feet away from the performance site." Street performances could take place between 8 a.m.and 9 p.m.</p>
<p>Police are empowered to enforce the ordinance and can issue a criminal citation if verbal warnings don't stop violations, or officers file a complaint with city administrators to have the performer's busker's license revoked. Police also can also temporarily seize a license if the performer is causing "any immediate danger to the public."</p>
<p>Performing without a license would be a petty misdemeanor and make the busker subject to arrest.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Latest proposal to regulate Santa Fe buskers drops 'designated protected speech locations' | false | https://abqjournal.com/348980/santa-fe-ordinance-buskers-enhance-city-character.html | 2014-02-06 | 2 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />May 16, 2013</p>
<p>By Wayne Lusvardi</p>
<p>Being the home of Hollywood and Disneyland, news in California always has an element of political theater and Fantasyland.&#160; This is certainly so for all the contradictory headlines about fracking — the hydraulic fracturing of deep underground rock formations to extract oil and gas using untappable pressurized water that is miles underground.</p>
<p>On the one hand, news headlines indicate fracking is about to be <a href="http://qz.com/82227/california-seems-likely-to-ban-fracking/" type="external">banned statewide</a> in California.&#160; On the other hand, there are reports that fracking could generate <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-17/california-fracking-fight-has-25-billion-taxes-at-stake.html" type="external">$25 billion of new tax revenues</a> per year for the state and <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-14/california-fracking-may-boost-state-economy-14-usc-says.html" type="external">boost the economy 14 percent</a>.</p>
<p>But as with everything in the man-made social world, there are multiple levels of reality depending on one’s social location.</p>
<p>On the one hand, there’s a good deal of opposition in the environmentalist community, with such headlines as,&#160; <a href="http://blog.sfgate.com/energy/2013/05/02/nearly-half-of-fracking-happens-in-places-short-on-water/" type="external">“Nearly Half of Fracking Happens in Places Short on Water.”</a> Yet, fracking <a href="http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/NaturalGas/6232714" type="external">doesn’t use fresh water</a> near the ground surface but otherwise untappable underground water over a mile deep.</p>
<p>And the environmenalist group Earthjustice, whose motto is, “Because the earth needs a good lawyer,” <a href="http://earthjustice.org/our_work/cases/2012/challenging-unregulated-fracking-in-california" type="external">described its actions</a>:</p>
<p>“As hundreds of California oil and gas wells undergo dangerous hydraulic fracturing without government oversight, environmental advocates, represented by Earthjustice, are in court to force the agency responsible for regulating the oil and gas industry to abide by the state’s foremost law that protects public health and the environment.</p>
<p>“The lawsuit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, charges that the California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) has failed to consider or evaluate the risks of fracking, as required by the California Environmental Quality Act. Although DOGGR is the state agency charged with regulating all oil and gas well activity in California, the agency admits it has not permitted or monitored its impacts and has never formally evaluated the potential environmental and health effects of the practice, even as it continues to approve new permits for oil and gas wells.”</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the anti-frack pack is unlikely to totally ban fracking as much as to regulate, tax, delay and sue the fracking industry at every opportunity imagined and real.&#160;The delays could cost the California economy, and the state treasury, billions a year.</p>
<p>On the other hand there are the fracking boomers.&#160; These are the oil companies, universities, oil patch <a href="" type="internal">economic development commissions</a>, economists and chambers of commerce that see fracking as a huge new source of economic growth and jobs.</p>
<p>They get fewer headlines or favorable press coverage.&#160; But headlines that <a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/government/2013/04/02/golden-state-fracking-pot-gold/" type="external">fracking could generate 2.5 million jobs in California by 2020</a> do grab everyone’s attention.</p>
<p>Yet is there another reality level of fracking that is not as apparent as that described by the fracking doomers and boomers?&#160;California-based free market economist <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntamny/2011/12/11/the-irrational-non-economic-exuberance-underlying-hydraulic-fracturing/" type="external">John Tamny</a> thinks so. Tamny says the excitement over fracking is “overdone,” even though he says government should get out of the way of the private sector fracking industry.</p>
<p>As Tamny explains it:</p>
<p>“That’s the case because contrary to the widely held belief that oil is scarce at the moment, the greater truth is that oil isn’t expensive as much as the dollar is cheap. Measured in the constant that is gold, an ounce of the yellow metal buys roughly the same amount of oil today as it did in 1971 when a barrel of oil traded for around $2.50. Far from an energy crisis rooted in a short supply of oil, we have at present a dollar crisis that is creating the false illusion of energy scarcity.”</p>
<p>Tamny’s fear is that the U.S. self-created weak value of the dollar is resulting in “some very stupid money chasing an oil illusion that will end in tears.”&#160; Tamny also infers that <a href="" type="internal">public pension systems</a> that heavily invest in the fracking revolution may end up in another investment bubble popping. As we found out during the 2007-09 Great Recession, taxpayers ultimately are on the hook for any shortfalls in pension-fund investment returns.</p>
<p>If Tamny is right, fracking is a game played in a gambling casino card room. It is likely that it will not last much longer after the Federal Reserve stops “quantitative easing” that potentially dilutes the value of the dollar. Bloomberg recently reported that <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-01/fed-seen-slowing-stimulus-with-qe-cut-by-end-of-this-year.html" type="external">the Fed could end</a>quantitative easing later this year.</p>
<p>If Tamny is right,&#160;then the potential end of the energy boom could be bad news for the California economy, public pension funds, local oil patch economies and the state budget.&#160;Instead of growing government, or relying on fracking, Tamny believes California should be devoting its resources to creating a more hospitable long-term business climate.</p> | CA governments need caution on fracking investments | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2013/05/16/ca-governments-need-caution-on-fracking-investments/ | 2018-05-20 | 3 |
<p>Verizon Communications Inc. needs to make a splash, and fast.</p>
<p>The U.S.'s largest wireless carrier by subscribers has had a busy start to the year, but it hasn't been enough. It unexpectedly brought back its unlimited wireless plans for the first time since 2011. The company rebranded its media and advertising unit as "Oath," housing AOL and eventually Yahoo -- with that deal expected to close in June. Verizon also declined to bid on the U.S. government's recent wireless airwaves auction.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>What the company didn't do was undertake a rumored big acquisition to improve its trajectory. That leaves Verizon in a familiar position: Growth is slowing on the top and bottom lines and its stock price is struggling. First-quarter results, out Thursday, likely won't change any of that.</p>
<p>Analysts polled by FactSet anticipate earnings of 96 cents a share, down 10 cents from a year earlier. Revenue is expected to have decreased 5.5% to $30.4 billion, which would mark the fourth consecutive quarterly decline after six years of growth. Verizon has said it expects earnings and sales will be roughly flat this year.</p>
<p>The company has opted for smaller digital deals in recent years to diversify itself from a saturated wireless market that has hurt subscriber growth. That pales in comparison to rival telecom giant AT&amp;T Inc., which bought DirecTV for nearly $50 billion in 2015 and reached a still-pending deal last year to acquire Time Warner Inc. for $85 billion.</p>
<p>In January, The Wall Street Journal reported Verizon was exploring a combination with Charter Communications Inc. Just this week, Lowell McAdam, Verizon's chief executive, told Bloomberg News that he would be open to deal talks with a handful of companies.</p>
<p>All of this comes as Verizon's main wireless business has struggled. Wireless service revenue dropped 5% in its fourth quarter and postpaid churn -- the rate at which contract customers canceled service -- increased to 1.1% from a year earlier, higher than usual. That came before Verizon said it would start offering unlimited plans again. And with more people now likely to opt for them, that raises questions about how Verizon's network will accommodate the burden of additional data traffic.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>These concerns help explain why Verizon's stock is down about 8% this year. It is one of the worst performers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, lagging behind AT&amp;T as well as smaller rivals Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc.</p>
<p>Yet Verizon's share price, which is little changed from where it traded three years ago, probably hasn't fallen far enough to warrant much attention from bargain hunters. Fetching 13 times projected earnings over the next 12 months, its forward multiple is roughly around its average in recent years.</p>
<p>This stock isn't ready to dial up gains just yet.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>April 20, 2017 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)</p> | Ahead of the Tape: Time for Verizon To Make Big Splash -- WSJ | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/04/20/ahead-tape-time-for-verizon-to-make-big-splash-wsj.html | 2017-04-20 | 0 |
<p>An August 17 article by Mark Helm of Hearst Washington Bureau about our House Speaker Dick Armey’s upcoming retirement casts some light on the way our Congress and Administration have been dealing with Cuba issues in recent years. By way of background recall:</p>
<p>(1) under House rules the House leadership–the Speaker and majority whip (Tom Delay, also from Texas)–determine when, where and how bills are voted on;</p>
<p>(2) bills have been introduced every year and have been pending for many years to repeal the Cuba embargo and Helms-Burton blockade–and have had very substantial, increasing support–but votes on the merits with full debate with one partial exception have never been allowed;</p>
<p>(3) the only other Cuba bills voted on have been on amendments to Administration budget requests for money to enforce the embargo and travel restrictions, which have to be voted on each year, and by substantial, increasing margins the travel enforcement money has been turned down in the Hou! se the last three summers and once in the Senate (where it comes up again soon, maybe next month);</p>
<p>(4) in November, 2000 a vote was finally forced on a bill which would allow medicine and nutritional food to be sold to Cuba, which passed in both chambers by large margins only to be gutted in conference by the addition of two provisions tacked on by Miami Congressman Diaz-Balart, apparently appointed to the conference committee by Armey and Delay, which prohibited normal use of credit in sales to Cuba and “codified” the unconstitutional travel restrictions (completely unrelated to the bill which had been voted on), which was then signed into law by Clinton in that form;</p>
<p>(5) regarding this maneuver Rep. Mark Sanford (R, SC) said his leadership had “behaved shamefully” and Sen. Max Baucus called the matter a “travesty of our democracy”;</p>
<p>(6) this summer the House also voted for amendments to the budget requests to end the credit restrictions and the limits on amounts which could! be given to Cuban family members and against amending the budget by ending the embargo, 200– 225.</p>
<p>This latter vote may not be an accurate measure of the full anti-embargo sentiment in the House because some members might have felt it was procedurally improper to do away with all the embargo laws on a budget request amendment, including the lengthy Toricelli (1992) and Helms-Burton (1996) provisions, without amending or repealing or addressing these laws directly.</p>
<p>In other words this vote appears to have been just another “show trial” by Congress to help present members keep their seats or a preliminary testing of the waters never intended to be legal. The Cuban people don’t have lobbyists or numerous people or powerful organizations working for them in the US Congress. Our Constitution provides that foreign affairs are supposed to be in the domain of the executive branch representing the nation as a whole. The August 17 Helm article, titled “Armey’s independence shows as time runs out,” quotes Armey as follows:</p>
<p>“He predicted the 42 year old Cuba trade embargo won’t last long because it’s losing support in Congress. Armey said his own past support for the embargo was based on his loyalty to two (Miami) Cuban-American House members, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Armey also said that House members whose districts could benefit from trade and travel to Cuba should vote against the embargo.”</p>
<p>In other words we are to believe that Armey’s personal loyalty to two House members out of 425–rather than his own policy considerations or his loyalty to the Administration–has brought about two additional unnecessary years of virtual prohibition of food and medicine and continued travel restriction. The question I have of Mr. Armey is this: how many innocent Cubans have become sick or died in the last two years because of your loyalty to your two Miami friends?</p>
<p>A binding vote with full debate on the merits of the embargo or the travel restrictions has still not happened and apparently is not in the cards this year again because of Armey and the well named Delay. Therefore Congresspersons cannot meaningfully vote against the embargo as Armey now suggests. The “demand” of the two Miami congresspersons is the same weak excuse Armey and then Senate majority leader Trent Lott gave for their maneuvering two years ago. Despite what Armey says, it’s obvious from what our President has said about Cuba issues and the way things work in Washington that Armey and Delay have been acting under the direction of the White House. It’s also clear that if Armey were running again, he wouldn’t be trying to take the hit for the Administration. Delay has been uncharacteristically quiet on Cuba issues this summer. He appears to be the choice for our next Speaker if the Republicans keep control of the House in November. If this happens it’s doubtful t! hat the Cuba embargo will be voted on until 2005 if ever.</p>
<p>This is another example of how the people who run this country are using Florida’s Cuban-Americans to take the political heat off themselves for their absurd, genocidal Cuba policy. The Florida Cuban-American community actually is relatively small, less than 9% of the state’s population, and according to the most recent polls I’ve seen, done by Florida International University about a year ago, Miami Cuban-Americans are about evenly divided on lifting the embargo and strongly in favor of lifting the travel restrictions.</p>
<p>Many years ago the two Miami districts in question were gerrymandered, so the two incumbents get to run uncontested there. They are part of the 85% of Congressional seats in this so-called democracy of ours which are uncontested or not seriously contested.</p>
<p>Tom Crumpacker is with the Miami Coalition to End the US Embargo of Cuba. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> New Print Edition of CounterPunch Available Exclusively to Subscribers:</p>
<p>War Talk As White Noise: Anything to Get Harken and Halliburton Out of the Headlines; First Hilliard, Then McKinney: Jewish Groups Target Blacks Brave Enough to Talk About Justice in the Middle East; Intimidation is the Name of the Game; Smearing “Insane” McKinney As Muslims’ Pawn; The Missing Terrorist? Calling Scotland Yard: “Where’s Atif?” They Never Booed Dylan!: Tape Transcript Shows Famed Newport Folkfest Dissing of Electric Dylan Not True. The Catcalls were for Peter Yarrow! New Shame from the Liffey Shrike</p>
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<p>FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A task force will soon release recommendations for saving a stalled Red River diversion project meant to protect Fargo and Moorhead, Minnesota, from chronic flooding. Here's a look at where the project stands:</p>
<p>HYBRID PLAN</p>
<p>North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton assembled the task force following a federal judge's decision to shut down the $2.2 billion project until it gets the necessary permits from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The 16-member group discussed numerous options.</p>
<p>The task force essentially narrowed its recommendations to three options, with the key differences being where to move a high-hazard dam that would hold back water in times of serious flooding. But Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney, who also chairs the Fargo-Moorhead Diversion Authority, said he expects the final plan to be a hybrid of those options.</p>
<p>"Every one of the options they discussed has ups and downs. Some have more impact, some cost more, some changes get new landowners involved, some affect Horace," Mahoney said. "So we're saying, hey, just give us the best one that meets the objectives."</p>
<p>Those objectives include receiving the DNR permits, maintaining federal funding and lowering the impacts to Richland (North Dakota) and Wilkin (Minnesota) counties, whose residents have sued to stop the project.</p>
<p>HORACE CHORUS</p>
<p>The possibility of realigning the dam and holding area would put a greater burden on the town of Horace, on the southwestern edge of the metropolitan area. Kory Peterson, the town's mayor, said he is telling people "not to get too excited" until they see a final proposal, but admits that many residents are worried.</p>
<p>"The citizens I have talked with, the common question I get is, how much more land does Horace need to give up for this project?" Peterson said. "We have talked with the diversion authority and they are aware they could be marching this thing further north than we're comfortable with."</p>
<p>Peterson said two of the three options favored by the task force would be especially devastating for commercial and light industrial development for Horace, but noted that the Minnesota DNR did not sign off on any of them. Another factor, Mahoney said, is that price of land goes up the closer the dam gets to Horace.</p>
<p>INCREASED COSTS</p>
<p>The one change that had unanimous approval with the task force was increasing the amount of water to send through the two cities, which would reduce the amount of water stored upstream. That is estimated at about $150 million.</p>
<p>Depending on what happens with the dam alignment, Mahoney said total cost of changes could range between $200 million and $400 million. Others believe that's a low estimate.</p>
<p>Dayton said he would be willing to seek funding for the project. Mahoney said he has talked to Burgum and other North Dakota lawmakers about lowering the costs through bonding or going through the state-owned Bank of North Dakota to decrease interest.</p>
<p>"We will find it somehow," Mahoney said. "The good news is the price of oil is going up."</p>
<p>DOUBLE DITCHES</p>
<p>Voters in Fargo and Cass County in 2016 overwhelmingly approved extending sales taxes through 2084 to help pay for the diversion, but some residents in neighboring West Fargo are leery about the possibility of paying more for changes.</p>
<p>West Fargo Mayor Rich Mattern said there's some resentment among residents who already paid for one flood control project, the Sheyenne River diversion, which was finished in 1992. Even so, Mattern said the city is on record as supporting the Fargo-Moorhead project.</p>
<p>"The bottom line is, we know Fargo needs flood protection. I think everybody will tell you that is the ultimate goal and we will support that," Mattern said. "Yes, there have been some bumps in the road. Are we over that? I don't know."</p>
<p>UNIQUE CHALLENGE</p>
<p>The Fargo-Moorhead area is unique because it sits in a flat lakebed with no topography to help control the river, which flows north into Canada. Residents dealt with major flooding for three straight years, starting in 2009. The first year was the worst, with the Red River hitting a record high-water mark of nearly 41 feet, or 23 feet above flood stage.</p>
<p>Construction began early last year on a control structure with three gates to regulate flows into the diversion channel, considered the first phase of the project. U.S. District Judge John Tunheim, of Minnesota, halted construction in September.</p>
<p>"Failure is not an option," Gov. Dayton said. "We have to come up with a solution that we can all live with."</p>
<p>FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A task force will soon release recommendations for saving a stalled Red River diversion project meant to protect Fargo and Moorhead, Minnesota, from chronic flooding. Here's a look at where the project stands:</p>
<p>HYBRID PLAN</p>
<p>North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton assembled the task force following a federal judge's decision to shut down the $2.2 billion project until it gets the necessary permits from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The 16-member group discussed numerous options.</p>
<p>The task force essentially narrowed its recommendations to three options, with the key differences being where to move a high-hazard dam that would hold back water in times of serious flooding. But Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney, who also chairs the Fargo-Moorhead Diversion Authority, said he expects the final plan to be a hybrid of those options.</p>
<p>"Every one of the options they discussed has ups and downs. Some have more impact, some cost more, some changes get new landowners involved, some affect Horace," Mahoney said. "So we're saying, hey, just give us the best one that meets the objectives."</p>
<p>Those objectives include receiving the DNR permits, maintaining federal funding and lowering the impacts to Richland (North Dakota) and Wilkin (Minnesota) counties, whose residents have sued to stop the project.</p>
<p>HORACE CHORUS</p>
<p>The possibility of realigning the dam and holding area would put a greater burden on the town of Horace, on the southwestern edge of the metropolitan area. Kory Peterson, the town's mayor, said he is telling people "not to get too excited" until they see a final proposal, but admits that many residents are worried.</p>
<p>"The citizens I have talked with, the common question I get is, how much more land does Horace need to give up for this project?" Peterson said. "We have talked with the diversion authority and they are aware they could be marching this thing further north than we're comfortable with."</p>
<p>Peterson said two of the three options favored by the task force would be especially devastating for commercial and light industrial development for Horace, but noted that the Minnesota DNR did not sign off on any of them. Another factor, Mahoney said, is that price of land goes up the closer the dam gets to Horace.</p>
<p>INCREASED COSTS</p>
<p>The one change that had unanimous approval with the task force was increasing the amount of water to send through the two cities, which would reduce the amount of water stored upstream. That is estimated at about $150 million.</p>
<p>Depending on what happens with the dam alignment, Mahoney said total cost of changes could range between $200 million and $400 million. Others believe that's a low estimate.</p>
<p>Dayton said he would be willing to seek funding for the project. Mahoney said he has talked to Burgum and other North Dakota lawmakers about lowering the costs through bonding or going through the state-owned Bank of North Dakota to decrease interest.</p>
<p>"We will find it somehow," Mahoney said. "The good news is the price of oil is going up."</p>
<p>DOUBLE DITCHES</p>
<p>Voters in Fargo and Cass County in 2016 overwhelmingly approved extending sales taxes through 2084 to help pay for the diversion, but some residents in neighboring West Fargo are leery about the possibility of paying more for changes.</p>
<p>West Fargo Mayor Rich Mattern said there's some resentment among residents who already paid for one flood control project, the Sheyenne River diversion, which was finished in 1992. Even so, Mattern said the city is on record as supporting the Fargo-Moorhead project.</p>
<p>"The bottom line is, we know Fargo needs flood protection. I think everybody will tell you that is the ultimate goal and we will support that," Mattern said. "Yes, there have been some bumps in the road. Are we over that? I don't know."</p>
<p>UNIQUE CHALLENGE</p>
<p>The Fargo-Moorhead area is unique because it sits in a flat lakebed with no topography to help control the river, which flows north into Canada. Residents dealt with major flooding for three straight years, starting in 2009. The first year was the worst, with the Red River hitting a record high-water mark of nearly 41 feet, or 23 feet above flood stage.</p>
<p>Construction began early last year on a control structure with three gates to regulate flows into the diversion channel, considered the first phase of the project. U.S. District Judge John Tunheim, of Minnesota, halted construction in September.</p>
<p>"Failure is not an option," Gov. Dayton said. "We have to come up with a solution that we can all live with."</p> | Report on Red River diversion changes due out this week | false | https://apnews.com/amp/e42a1eea22d346d09db661e3196e3e6f | 2018-01-15 | 2 |
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<p>A girl looks out of a bus window after her arrival by ferry with hundreds other migrants and refugees from the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos to the port of Elefsina, west of Athens, Monday, March 21, 2016. The number of stranded migrants in Greece exceeded 50,000 Monday as the number of daily arrivals showed no sign of dropping after an agreement aimed at limiting the number of refugees and migrants traveling to the European Union. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)</p>
<p>ATHENS, Greece - Greece's prime minister warned Monday that an international agreement to limit the number of refugees traveling to Europe could not be properly implemented unless smugglers on the Turkish coast are stopped.</p>
<p>Turkey's president, meanwhile, slammed European countries for their criticism of his country's record on human rights and media freedoms and accused them of failing to protect the rights of refugees.</p>
<p>The refugee agreement went into effect Sunday, under which Greek authorities will detain newly-arrived refugees and send them back to Turkey and the European Union will settle more refugees directly from Turkey and speed up financial aid to help Turkey care for the 2.7 million Syrian refugees it is hosting.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>On Monday, however, the two sides were still working out details of how the migrants will be sent back.</p>
<p>"We have to make an uphill effort because implementation of this agreement will not be an easy issue," Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said.</p>
<p>Tsipras met in Athens with EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and asked the EU to increase pressure on Turkey to crack down on smugglers.</p>
<p>Greek government figures released Monday said the number of stranded refugees in Greece now exceed 50,000 with no significant letdown in the number of daily arrivals.</p>
<p>"Unfortunately, yesterday, there was a high number of arrivals, some 1,500," Tsipras said. "If a reduction of (refugee) flows does not occur, we will not be able to evacuate the islands successfully so that the deal can start to be implemented fully."</p>
<p>Four migrants died Sunday while trying to reach Greece, two men off the island of Lesbos and two girls off the tiny islet of Ro, the coast guard said, as smugglers appeared to be opting for more overnight trips and increasingly dangerous routes.</p>
<p>Monitors from Turkey arrived Monday on the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios to help supervise the agreement and were to stay for at least one week.</p>
<p>Greece's conservative opposition criticized the Turkish arrivals, a controversial topic as Greece and Turkey have ongoing boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>In Istanbul, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey had agreed to the refugee deal with the EU to prevent Syrian refugees from being subjected to "derogatory treatment" as they piled up at closed European borders.</p>
<p>He also criticized Western countries for rejecting Turkish proposals for the creation of a no-fly zone or other secure zones in Syria, which he said would have prevented Europe's refugee crisis.</p>
<p>"All those who have not accepted a no-fly zone and a zone cleared of terror in Syria, and everyone who complains about the refugees are two-faced and hypocritical," the Turkish president said.</p>
<p>On the Greek mainland, army personnel expanded refugee shelters at sites in central and northern Greece - mostly at former army bases - so migrants who traveled to the Greek islands before the agreement came into effect could be resettled.</p>
<p>Ferries transporting them from the islands were using the port of Elefsina, west of Athens, instead of the main commercial port of Piraeus, to allow authorities to cope with the increased numbers of migrants.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>This version corrects to show that Erdogan spoke in Istanbul, not Ankara.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Gatopoulos at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/dgatopoulos" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/dgatopoulos</a></p> | Greece: Refugee deal 'uphill effort' as more keep arriving | false | https://abqjournal.com/743730/greece-refugee-deal-uphill-effort-as-more-keep-arriving.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>It seems that our current President has taken to heart a lesson Nazi Propaganda Guru Joseph Goebbels mastered in the first half of the century;&#160;that being:</p>
<p>Case in point:</p>
<p />
<p>For YEARS &#160;Obama was saying “if you like your plan you can keep your plan PERIOD”, yet on November 4th, when the State can no longer shield the people from the truth about the economic consequences of Obamacare he comes up with a new lie: “What we said was you could keep it IF IT HASN’T CHANGED since the law passed”</p>
<p>How the man doesn’t choke to death on spewing forth a lie so large is beyond me.</p>
<p>But it also highlights why anyone who believes in the right to keep and bear arms must not be lulled into the lies sweetly told by this man or his administration.</p>
<p>For years Obama lied about Obamacare in order to see it passed and once it took effect with horrific consequences he just spun another lie saying that we, the people, knew what we were in for.</p>
<p>With so much BS spewing from his mouth how can anyone honestly still believe him when he says something like this:</p>
<p />
<p>Oh yes Mr. President…you were on tv when you said that and yes everyone saw…oddly enough though you were on tv for 4 straight years lying about health care and yet somehow you think us too stupid to remember what you said.</p>
<p>What do you say when I call you out as a gun grabbing tyrant? &#160;“If you like the guns you own you can keep them PERIOD”?</p>
<p>Forgive me if I don’t take your word on that.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<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> | Why would I ever trust Obama when he says he won’t come after my guns? | true | http://bulletsfirst.net/2013/12/22/ever-trust-obama-says-wont-come-guns/ | 0 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal" />Aug. 6, 2012</p>
<p>By Wayne Lusvardi</p>
<p>The first wisdom of politics is that things often are not what they seem.&#160; This appears to be the case with the much ballyhooed report that former California State Parks Director Ruth Coleman <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/21/v-print/4646682/hidden-parks-funds-spark-outrage.html" type="external">“hid” $54 million</a> in the off-road vehicle recreation special fund.</p>
<p>A scandal broke out based on reports that the state was too broke to keep open 70 state parks while the Parks Department allegedly had $54 million or more in so-called “hidden” accounts.</p>
<p>In her <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/100639900/120720-Coleman-Resignation-Letter" type="external">resignation letter</a>, Coleman said that she was “unaware of the excessive balance” of $133 million in the Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund (see Item Nos. 111, 112, 113 in <a href="http://www.dof.ca.gov/reports_and_periodicals/documents/General_Fund_Loans_and_Obligations_July-2012.pdf" type="external">Department of Finance</a> report on special funds).&#160; If Coleman was “hiding” funds. as charged&#160; <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/21/v-print/4646682/hidden-parks-funds-spark-outrage.html" type="external">John Laird</a>, Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency:</p>
<p>* Why was the money hidden in plain sight in three accounts designated <a href="http://www.dof.ca.gov/reports_and_periodicals/documents/General_Fund_Loans_and_Obligations_July-2012.pdf" type="external">“Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund</a>,” under Fund No. 0263. Which was authorized under the: (a) “Budget Act of 2008 as amended by Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009, Third Ext. Session,” (b) the “Budget Act of 2009,” and (c) the “Budget Act of 2010 as amended by Chapter 13?”</p>
<p>* Why, on May 31, 2011, did <a href="http://www.atv.com/blog/2012/06/california-legislature-votes-to-raid-ohv-trust-fund.html" type="external">State Assembly Budget Committee No. 3 on Resources and Transportation</a> vote to raid the Off-Highway Fund to transfer the funds to the General Fund, as reported by many off-road vehicle recreation organizations?</p>
<p>* Why, on June 6, 2011, did the <a href="http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1487" type="external">Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility,</a> stacked with envious state park employees, publicly protest that Off-Road Vehicle fund manager Daphne Greene was not sharing her program’s surplus with its “impoverished agency”?</p>
<p>* Why, on May 6, 2011, did the State Parks Department issue a <a href="http://www.bidsync.com/DPX?ac=view&amp;auc=1747930" type="external">solicitation</a> for consulting real estate appraisal services through BidSync online bidding services for the acquisition of 415 acres of land to expand the Ocotillo Wells State Off Road Vehicle Park in Imperial County? The likely source of the funds for this land acquisition would have been the Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund.</p>
<p>* Why was the Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund reported to be a “Special Fund” instead of a “Trust Fund”? &#160;According to off-road organization attorney <a href="http://carnegiejournal.com/2012/03/08/theft-of-off-highway-vehicle-funds-from-the-ohv-trust-fund" type="external">Diana Tweedy</a>, Trust Funds do not have the same legal status as a Special Fund and cannot be transferred to the General Fund without a state constitutional amendment.</p>
<p>* How could the Off-Highway Fund be “hidden,” when it was re-authorized and amended so many times by the Legislature since 2008?&#160; How could it have been “hidden” if the state Assembly voted to raid the fund in 2011?&#160; How could the fund have been “hidden” if “Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility” brought it to the public’s attention way back in mid-2011?&#160; Why did State Parks initiate activities to expand existing state off-road vehicle parks in mid-2011 from the same fund, if the fund was “hidden?”</p>
<p>Perhaps the answer to these questions lies with off-roader attorney Diana Tweed’s “Legal Memo” that the Off-Highway Vehicle Fund was a Trust Fund that was funded from a share of gasoline taxes and user fees from state off-road recreation parks.</p>
<p>Which brings us to the second wisdom of politics: “What is alleged to be ‘hidden’ may be a ‘ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring" type="external">red herring’</a>&#160;meant to divert attention from what is really going on.” Just as smelly fish were used to throw hound dogs off the scent of a fox, so it is with political diversions.</p>
<p>The recent state park special fund scandal apparently is an old-fashioned <a href="http://www.dealernews.com/dealernews/article/cash-strapped-california-dips-ohv-cookie-jar" type="external">raid on highway funds.</a>&#160;Only in this case the highway funds are sitting in the accounts of the State Parks Department designated for land acquisition for off-road vehicle recreational parks.&#160; Then why is there what appears to be a cover-up?</p>
<p>While Coleman was allegedly hiding funds, cities and non-profit agencies were raising funds to keep state parks open in their regions so as not to deter tourist trade. How could politicians explain that they were exaggerating that the state was broke, and had no funds to keep all state parks open during an election year?&#160;&#160; What Gov. Jerry Brown is doing is purging “Special Funds” — also known as <a href="" type="internal">“political earmarks”</a>&#160;— and transferring those monies into the deficit-plagued “general gund.”</p>
<p>The Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Division is a section of the State Parks Department that is not dependent on general funds.&#160; It is self-sufficient and relies on a share of the gasoline taxes generated from the mileage of off-road vehicles and user fees from state off-road recreation parks.&#160; Technically, the Off-Highway Vehicle Trust Fund is not a “special fund,” but a trust fund, just as there is a highway trust fund.</p>
<p>Another apparent reason for the political diversion about “hidden funds” is that there has been an ongoing political and bureaucratic tug-of-war between <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jul/27/local/la-me-state-parks-20120727" type="external">“preservationists” and “off-roaders”</a> within the Parks Department and the state Legislature.&#160; Off-roaders also tend to be inclined toward being Republican.&#160; A question remains as to whether <a href="http://www.delalbright.com/Articles/ohv_commission_sued.htm" type="external">off-roaders</a> will find a basis to <a href="http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=438383" type="external">sue</a> the state over the transfer of these “hidden funds.”</p>
<p><a href="http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=3135" type="external">Coleman</a> is a registered Democrat with a long track record in state government.&#160; She will likely end up serving elsewhere in government after serving as the “sacrificial lamb” in this political charade.</p>
<p>Off-road attorney <a href="http://carnegiejournal.com/2012/03/08/theft-of-off-highway-vehicle-funds-from-the-ohv-trust-fund/" type="external">Diana Tweedy</a> sumed it up best:</p>
<p>“With hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid loans and the latest permanent and ongoing taking of OHV funds, off road enthusiasts are feeling the pinch. The general fund is supported with income and sales taxes paid by all the Californians. The diversion of OHV Trust Fund moneys to the General Fund is a second tax exclusively paid by off road enthusiasts on top of taxes they pay to the General Fund. These taxpayers are angry and will not put up with politics as usual unless something is done to address their grievances.”&#160;</p>
<p>“Due to hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid loans and the latest transfer of almost ten million dollars a year from the OHV Trust Fund, the mission of the OHV Program is in jeopardy. The transfers are interfering with Core Program objectives preventing the OHV Program from achieving its purpose. The loans must be paid back and the latest transfer must be revoked before the OHV Program can meet its objectives.&#160;</p>
<p>“Epilogue — In May 2012, the Assembly Budget Committee voted to take more money from the OHV trust fund. When will this ever stop?”</p>
<p>Californians just want to have fun. But the politicians just want more money to waste and are grabbing it wherever they can.</p> | Park fund scandal a ruse to grab gas tax funds from off-roaders | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2012/08/06/park-fund-scandal-a-ruse-to-grab-gas-tax-funds-from-off-roaders/ | 2018-08-20 | 3 |
<p>Imagine for just a moment that such a thing was possible; that you could jump into a wondrous machine, travel back in time to 2008, and then jump into the skin of, say, John McCain or Sarah Palin or Chuck Todd or Wolf Blitzer -- anyone with a national platform -- and knowing what you know now, issue this warning to the American people:</p>
<p>If Barack Obama is elected president, in just eight short years the following will be the result: Not only will race riots, domestic terror attacks, and anemic economic growth be a fact of life, but through government and media propaganda, these events will be normalized. What I mean by that is that as countrymen, as Americans, we will accept such things as normal, as the way things are, as life in our country today. And in the wake of this, Barack Obama will enjoy an approval rating of over 50%, and his successor, Hillary Clinton, running on his legacy, will be the heavy favorite to win the presidency.</p>
<p>If such a thing was possible, it would change … nothing, for you would be treated like Kevin McCarthy near the end of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," a man screaming the truth against a stream of unstoppable traffic populated with drivers alternately amused or outraged by your paranoid ravings. For the crime of shouting this truth, you would not only be denounced as insane, but as a virulent racist, a fear-mongering Klansman spewing evil in order to stop The First Black President.</p>
<p>And yet, here we are.</p>
<p>And those of us not anesthetized by Pokemon Go, "The Real Housewives of Wherever", the hypnotic, 24/7 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue_signalling" type="external">virtue-signaling</a> of cable news, our urban ivory towers, or the Velvet Bubble of Social Justice -- we see it, and although it is not a mad prediction but instead a terrifying reality, we are still treated as racist crazies for daring to point and shout.</p>
<p>It is just a fact that race riots are now commonplace. We expect them.</p>
<p>It is just a fact that race riots are now commonplace. We expect them. This wasn't true before Obama (unless you reach back 50 years).</p>
<p>It is just a fact that annual domestic terror attacks are now commonplace. We expect them. This wasn't true before Obama, ever.</p>
<p>It is just a fact that anemic economic growth is commonplace. We expect it. This wasn't true before Obama (unless you reach all the way back to the Depression).</p>
<p>Keep in mind that I am only focused on these three issues. I'm not even including the doubling of the national debt, an imploding Middle East, Russia on the march, a nuclear Iran, or the intentional losing of a hard-won victory in Iraq.</p>
<p>Yes, in the past, America has suffered through many failed presidents like Obama. One of the imperfections of democracy is the occasional bad choice. In my personal memory and in my autodidactic knowledge of our history, though, I am unaware of any time where the American people found this acceptable.</p>
<p>You can argue that due to Donald Trump's many flaws he should be losing the presidential election -- that this has nothing to do with anything. Fair enough.</p>
<p>But that doesn't explain Barack Obama's approval ratings, or a media more focused on Skittles than this week's double feature of Islamic terrorism and race riots.</p>
<p>One of the great comforts for those of us on the Right side of the aisle was knowing that no matter how charismatic the Democrat or biased the media, reality will always eventually expose Leftism as the objective failure it is.</p>
<p>Well, here we sit with bombs going off, two cities on fire and eight years of economic growth that doesn't average over 2% -- and the arsonist enjoys a 51% job approval rating.</p>
<p>Follow John Nolte on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/NolteNC" type="external">@NolteNC</a></p> | Obama's Legacy: Normalizing Race Riots and Domestic Terrorism | true | https://dailywire.com/news/9384/obamas-legacy-normalizing-race-riots-and-domestic-john-nolte | 2016-09-22 | 0 |
<p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrlunch/" type="external">Michael Pittman</a> / <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" type="external">CC BY-SA 2.0</a></p>
<p>In an <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/10/barack-obama-on-5-days-that-shaped-his-presidency.html" type="external">interview</a> with New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait, President Obama agreed with one of the most significant critiques of his drone war, that its precedent could encourage future presidents to engage comfortably in perpetual covert wars “all over the world” — just as he did.</p>
<p>As Obama put it, his precedent risks creating “institutional comfort and inertia with what looks like a pretty antiseptic way of disposing of enemies.” He said he looked at “the way in which the number of drone strikes was going up and the routineness with which, early in my presidency, you were seeing both DOD and CIA and our intelligence teams think about this. … And it troubled me, because I think you could see, over the horizon, a situation in which, without Congress showing much interest in restraining actions with authorizations that were written really broadly, you end up with a president who can carry on perpetual wars all over the world, and a lot of them covert, without any accountability or democratic debate.”</p>
<p>At The Intercept, Ryan Devereaux and Alex Emmons <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/10/03/obama-worries-future-presidents-will-wage-perpetual-covert-drone-war/" type="external">report</a> that “the alarming changes that Obama describes as over the horizon are already here.”</p>
<p />
<p>“What’s so interesting is that President Obama acknowledges this problem — that future presidents will be empowered to kill globally, and in secret. What he doesn’t acknowledge is how much of a role his administration had in making that a bizarre normal,” Naureen Shah, director of national security and human rights at Amnesty International, told The Intercept.</p>
<p>“There is something so strange about the person who many would say is very responsible for this situation actually acknowledging it and saying he tried to plan for it,” Shah added. “What we’ll be left with from the Obama administration is a far more dangerous precedent of secret, global killings than what we started with.”</p>
<p>From the very beginning of his presidency, Obama tightly embraced legal arguments, including the “state secrets privilege,” to deflect inquiries into the government’s&#160;use of lethal force in foreign countries; he fought vigorously for years to keep his rationale for assassinating an American citizen secret; he never explained how the U.S. came to kill that same American citizen’s 16-year-old son; and he has never once forced his premier intelligence agency to publicly answer for the deaths of non-Western civilians — of which there have been many — during an eight-year covert bombing campaign.</p>
<p>In the New York magazine interview, Obama gave human rights groups and “the left” credit for pushing him on issues of transparency in targeted killing — but at the same time indicated they had little impact on his own decisions.</p>
<p>“I’m glad the left pushes me on this,” Obama said. “I’ve said to my staff and I’ve said to my joint chiefs, I’ve said in the Situation Room: I don’t ever want to get to the point where we’re that comfortable with killing. It’s not why I wanted to be president, to kill people.”</p>
<p>“Do I think that the critiques are fair or fully informed?” the president went on to say. “Not always. Sometimes they are. Much of the time they’re not. To give you the most basic example: People, I think, don’t always recognize the degree to which the civilian-casualty rate, or the rate at which innocents are killed, in these precision strikes is significantly lower than what happens in a conventional war.”</p>
<p><a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/10/03/obama-worries-future-presidents-will-wage-perpetual-covert-drone-war/" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p>.</p>
<p>—Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a></p> | Obama Acknowledges Future Presidents May Wage Perpetual, Secret Drone War | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/obama-acknowledges-future-presidents-may-wage-perpetual-secret-drone-war/ | 2016-10-05 | 4 |
<p>Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced Monday that two major al-Qaida figures in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri, were killed by American and Iraqi forces Sunday morning.</p>
<p>U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top-ranking American military official in Iraq, said in a statement that the death of al-Baghdadi and al-Masri “is potentially the most significant blow to al-Qaida in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency.” –KA</p>
<p>The New York Times:</p>
<p>After Mr. Maliki’s press conference, the American military released a statement verifying that Mr. Baghdadi was killed in a joint raid between Iraqi and United States forces in the dark hours of Sunday morning near Tikrit, near Saddam Hussein’s hometown.</p>
<p />
<p>Also killed, according to Mr. Maliki and American officials, was Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, also known as Al Qeada in Mesopotamia, a largely Iraqi group that includes some foreign leadership.</p>
<p>Both men were found in a hole in the ground.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/world/middleeast/20baghdad.html?src=mv" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Two Top Al-Qaida Leaders Killed in Iraq | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/two-top-al-qaida-leaders-killed-in-iraq/ | 2010-04-19 | 4 |
<p>MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin views the continued strain on Russia’s relations with the United States as a major disappointment of the year, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Friday.</p>
<p>Ties between Moscow and Washington sank to a post-Cold War low following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the allegations of its meddling in the U.S. presidential election last year. The Kremlin’s hopes for warmer dealings under President Donald Trump have withered amid the Congressional and FBI investigations into alleged links between Trump’s campaign and Russia.</p>
<p>The two countries introduced tit-for-tat measures to rebuke each other all year, ranging from restrictions on embassy staff to legislation targeting state-owned media.</p>
<p>Asked about the Kremlin’s biggest disappointments of 2017, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that worsening relations with the U.S. were “certainly” on the list.</p>
<p>Russia has denied any interference in the U.S. election, and Peskov noted that the Kremlin is watching the ongoing U.S. investigations with “bewilderment.”</p>
<p>“It’s the U.S. internal business, but it certainly hurts bilateral relations and we regret that,” he said.</p>
<p>Peskov reiterated the Kremlin’s position that Russia seeks good relations with the U.S. based on “mutual trust and mutual respect,” but added that “it takes two to tango.”</p>
<p>Russian officials and lawmakers last week expressed dismay with the U.S. decision to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, including anti-tank missiles, warning the move would only fuel hostilities in eastern Ukraine.</p>
<p>Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon Friday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the U.S. approach to Ukraine’s conflict with Russia-backed separatist rebels wasn’t changing despite the decision to supply weapons to Ukraine.</p>
<p>“I don’t see an evolving U.S military role in Ukraine,” Mattis said. “Right now, we have some trainers there helping to train their army to NATO standards, and that has a lot to do with making certain it serves the needs of the Ukrainian people, in the way democracies’ armies do, so the U.S. military role remains the same.”</p>
<p>He said there was no plan to expand the U.S. footprint in Ukraine and also downplayed the potential effect of the new arms his country is supplying.</p>
<p>“As long as no one wants to invade Ukraine, hopefully it won’t have any big impact,” Mattis said. “They’re defensive weapons.”</p>
<p>MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin views the continued strain on Russia’s relations with the United States as a major disappointment of the year, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Friday.</p>
<p>Ties between Moscow and Washington sank to a post-Cold War low following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the allegations of its meddling in the U.S. presidential election last year. The Kremlin’s hopes for warmer dealings under President Donald Trump have withered amid the Congressional and FBI investigations into alleged links between Trump’s campaign and Russia.</p>
<p>The two countries introduced tit-for-tat measures to rebuke each other all year, ranging from restrictions on embassy staff to legislation targeting state-owned media.</p>
<p>Asked about the Kremlin’s biggest disappointments of 2017, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that worsening relations with the U.S. were “certainly” on the list.</p>
<p>Russia has denied any interference in the U.S. election, and Peskov noted that the Kremlin is watching the ongoing U.S. investigations with “bewilderment.”</p>
<p>“It’s the U.S. internal business, but it certainly hurts bilateral relations and we regret that,” he said.</p>
<p>Peskov reiterated the Kremlin’s position that Russia seeks good relations with the U.S. based on “mutual trust and mutual respect,” but added that “it takes two to tango.”</p>
<p>Russian officials and lawmakers last week expressed dismay with the U.S. decision to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, including anti-tank missiles, warning the move would only fuel hostilities in eastern Ukraine.</p>
<p>Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon Friday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the U.S. approach to Ukraine’s conflict with Russia-backed separatist rebels wasn’t changing despite the decision to supply weapons to Ukraine.</p>
<p>“I don’t see an evolving U.S military role in Ukraine,” Mattis said. “Right now, we have some trainers there helping to train their army to NATO standards, and that has a lot to do with making certain it serves the needs of the Ukrainian people, in the way democracies’ armies do, so the U.S. military role remains the same.”</p>
<p>He said there was no plan to expand the U.S. footprint in Ukraine and also downplayed the potential effect of the new arms his country is supplying.</p>
<p>“As long as no one wants to invade Ukraine, hopefully it won’t have any big impact,” Mattis said. “They’re defensive weapons.”</p> | Russia calls ongoing strain with US a major disappointment | false | https://apnews.com/23d8d833b9a94ed9baac0c0848dcf7c1 | 2017-12-29 | 2 |
<p />
<p>The Dylanologists</p>
<p>By David Kinney</p>
<p>SIMON &amp; SCHUSTER</p>
<p>It seems like everybody and their dog has a book about Bob Dylan, but The Dylanologists turns the spotlight on his most obsessive fans instead. Journalist David Kinney takes us into a world of zealous collectors who will snap up anything the great man has touched, nerds who obsessively trade and catalog bootleg recordings, and code breakers who pore over every quote and lyric for meaning. We learn about the travails of dedicating one’s life to an inaccessible hero and the emotional toll of having that hero regularly reinvent our favorite parts of himself. Through it all runs a tension between the Dylanologist’s compulsion to understand the “real” Bob and the artist’s steadfast desire to remain an enigma.</p>
<p>This review originally appeared in our May/June 2014 issue of Mother Jones.</p>
<p /> | Quick Reads: “The Dylanologists” by David Kinney | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/quick-reads-dylanologists-david-kinney/ | 2014-05-23 | 4 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakeratner/5525700966/"&gt;Jake Ratner&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external" />This <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175424/tomgram%3A_rebecca_solnit%2C_hope_for_the_hell_of_it/" type="external">story</a> first appeared on the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/" type="external">TomDispatch</a> website.</p>
<p>Recently, Nelson Mandela turned 93, and his nation celebrated noisily, even attempting to break the world record for the most people simultaneously singing <a href="http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=37460" type="external">“Happy Birthday.”</a> This was the man who, on trial by the South African government in 1964, stood a good chance of being sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead. Given life in prison instead, he was supposed to be silenced. Story over.</p>
<p>You know the rest, though it wasn’t inevitable that he’d be released and become the president of a post-apartheid South Africa. Admittedly, it’s a country with myriad flaws and still suffers from economic apartheid, but who wouldn’t agree that it’s changed? Activism changed it; more activism could change it further.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch, who’d amassed a vast media empire, banked billions of dollars, and been listed by Forbes as the world’s <a href="http://www.forbes.com/wealth/powerful-people/gallery/rupert-murdoch" type="external">13th most powerful</a> person, must have thought he had it made these past few decades. Now, his empire is crumbling and his crimes and corrosive influence (which were never exactly secret) are being examined by everyone. You never know what’ll happen next.</p>
<p>About 1,600 years ago, Boethius put it this way in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0140447806/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">The Consolations of Philosophy</a>, written while he, like Mandela, was in prison for treason: “As thus she turns her wheel of chance with haughty hand, and presses on, fortune now tramples fiercely on a fearsome king, and now deceives no less a conquered man by raising from the ground his humbled face.”</p>
<p>Still, that wheel didn’t just turn. It took some good journalism—thank you, reporters of the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/interactive/2011/jan/21/andy-coulson-interactive-timeline?intcmp=239" type="external">Guardian</a>!—to bring Murdoch to his knees. Just as it took some dedicated activism to break Mandela out of prison and overcome the apartheid era.</p>
<p>Everything changes. Sometimes you have to change it yourself.</p>
<p>Unpredictability is grounds for hope, though please don’t mistake hope for optimism. Optimism and pessimism are siblings in their certainty. They believe they know what will happen next, with one slight difference: optimists expect everything to turn out nicely without any effort being expended toward that goal. Pessimists assume that we’re doomed and there’s nothing to do about it except try to infect everyone else with despair while there’s still time.</p>
<p>Hope, on the other hand, is based on uncertainty, on the much more realistic premise that we don’t know what will happen next. The next thing up might be as terrible as a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRDpTEjumdo&amp;feature=related" type="external">giant tsunami</a> smashing 100 miles of coastal communities or as marvelous as a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/13/new-butterfly-northern-ireland-wood-white" type="external">new species of butterfly</a> being discovered (as happened recently in Northern Ireland). When it comes to the worst we face, nature itself has resilience, surprises, and unpredictabilities. But the real territory for hope isn’t nature; it’s the possibilities we possess for acting, changing, mattering—including when it comes to nature.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Burger King CEO Apologizes to Farmworkers</p>
<p>Not all hopes are created equal, and sometimes their failure is the good news. The mass murderer who rampaged through Norway last week hoped to change that country forever. Sophisticated when it came to plotting a massacre and building a bomb, he was naïve when it came to political cause and effect. He attacked the ruling Labor Party in its office headquarters and its youth summer camp. The consequences will almost certainly be the opposite of what he hoped for.</p>
<p>His bloodbath is unlikely to aid the advance of an anti-immigrant, anti-Islamic right-wing agenda. It will expose what is vicious about the far right in Europe and elsewhere, bring <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/25/us/25debate.html?ref=global-home" type="external">more careful scrutiny</a> to extremists at that end of the spectrum, and likely help discredit politicians who pander to them.</p>
<p>If we’re lucky, it might even have some repercussions in the United States, where demonizing immigrants and encouraging violence are common right-wing tactics (discredited a little in January when Tucson Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot and Sarah Palin was rebuked for <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/10/AR2011011006653.html" type="external">the map</a> on her Facebook page with crosshairs over Giffords’ district).</p>
<p>History’s pendulum tendencies always need to be factored in, and such assassins for the far right, like Timothy McVeigh before them, may do for that ideology what the Symbionese Liberation Army and Baader-Meinhof did for the left four decades ago. Think of a wheel of fortune.</p>
<p>Russell Pearce, the powerful Arizona state senator who created and promoted AB 1070, the 2010 state law punishing all brown-skinned immigrants (and people who resemble them), is up for recall on the November ballot. He will have to fight to be reelected in the special recall election (though a court challenge to the petitions has been mounted).</p>
<p>At a Tea Party event in May, Pearce dismissed the efforts that have now put his career on the line this way: “People know who these folks are, they’ve tried it before, they’re simply open-border anarchists who have no respect for the law. We’ll deal with it.”</p>
<p>Oh, and about that Tea Party which the media was romancing with stories inflating its scale and significance not so long ago: its national convention got cancelled for lack of attendance. Meanwhile, Palin’s documentary “The Undefeated” has been… well, <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/sarah-palin-movie-debuts-to-empty-theater-in-orange-county/241983/" type="external">defeated</a> at the box office, big time.</p>
<p>The wheel of fortune spins, and sometimes it even comes up our way. Sometimes we win. Look at the people who led that recall drive on Pearce. At one point, it seemed beyond unlikely. “Russell Pearce Recall Drive Supporters Face Uphill Battle,” said a <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/06/03/20110603mesa-russell-pearce-recall.html" type="external">typical headline</a> in the unsympathetic Arizona Republic. They persevered anyway. Which is why they won their special election. They turned the damn wheel themselves.</p>
<p>Hope is not about guarantees and certainties. You don’t know you’ll win, but you don’t know you’ll lose either, so why not try?</p>
<p>No one is more remarkable in this light than the <a href="http://www.ciw-online.org/" type="external">Coalition of Immokalee Workers</a>, a nearly two-decades-old organization of mostly immigrant and undocumented farmworkers in a particularly bleak part of Florida. They <a href="http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2009/03/politics-of-the-plate-the-price-of-tomatoes" type="external">pick tomatoes</a> at a rate of 32 pounds for 50 cents, meaning they have to pick more than two tons in a workday to walk out with the equivalent of a minimum wage. (Most US farmworkers make less than $1,000 per month, and thanks to a New Deal compromise three-quarters of a century old, they are not guaranteed a minimum wage, overtime pay, or the right to organize and bargain collectively.)</p>
<p>This tiny group of profoundly marginalized people decided to fight the biggest food corporations on earth—and they won. Ten years ago they started a campaign for <a href="http://www.ciw-online.org/101.html#cff" type="external">“fair food,”</a> pressuring the major buyers of those tomatoes to pay more. Within four years, with the help of college-student organizers and brilliant strategy, they got Taco Bell to meet all their demands, and by 2007 McDonald’s had fallen in line.</p>
<p>Florida growers managed to stop a penny-a-pound increase in payment, but Burger King (whose CEO personally <a href="http://www.ciw-online.org/BK_CIW_joint_release.html" type="external">apologized</a> to them) and Whole Foods got on board, and in 2010 food corporations Aramark and Sodexo signed on as well. They’re taking on <a href="http://ciw-online.org/TJ_point_by_point.html" type="external">Trader Joe’s</a> this summer, and given their track record…</p>
<p>Watch them. Or join them.</p>
<p>The News You Don’t Get</p>
<p>Speaking of the little-known Coalition of Immokalee Workers, you’re not likely to get a good picture of the state of the world right now from the mainstream media (which is why alternative media like TomDispatch.com matter so much). Mainstream outlets don’t cover a lot of what we might consider the good news and they don’t necessarily shed much light on the bad news, even when they notice it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0670021075/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external" />The Casey Anthony trial got infinitely more coverage in Florida than that state’s <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/20/2323475_florida-spurns-50-million-for.html#storylink=addthis" type="external">refusal</a> to accept $50 million from the federal government to prevent child abuse. Sometimes it seems that the more you read and watch the MSM, the less you know. They don’t add up the details to give you the big picture, and they often do a remarkably good job of distracting you from the issues that matter and the real machinations of power.</p>
<p>They are Goliath, not David, and their reporting on David’s victories (and Goliath’s failures and weaknesses) will never be particularly satisfactory. They are definitely not interested in popular power, except when it’s a color revolution far away.</p>
<p>And don’t forget to factor in media attention deficit disorder, whereby a terrible story will just sort of peter out because something hotter comes along. The reporters go home, and the readers are left hanging. In Japan this spring, news of the nuclear power plant crisis eclipsed news of the hundreds of thousands of displaced people, and there just haven’t been many updates. Heard anything about the <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-25/bp-violates-oil-pollution-law-in-claims-process-lawyers-say.html" type="external">BP spill</a> in the Gulf lately? It’s not over either. The biggest fire in New Mexico’s history—more than 160 square miles—has slipped from national coverage amid other weather disasters, and yet it’s still burning as I write.</p>
<p>The left-wing media is guilty of this too. You probably don’t even remember the last time you heard about East Timor. The mainstream media never spent inordinate amounts of time or space on it, but it was a big story on the left throughout the 1990s.</p>
<p>East Timor was then a war-ravaged, colonized corner of the Indonesian empire and it was in the news because of the way the Indonesian government had invaded and brutalized it from 1975 to 1999. Since its liberation in 2002, however, hardly anyone says anything about the democratic republic of East Timor. There are evidently other things that require our attention so much more.</p>
<p>When it stopped being one of the world’s most appalling tragedies, it fell off the media map. It got better, but few noticed. You can think of journalists and political analysts as doctors who treat the sick and not the well, but who forget that sickness is not therefore and inevitably the ubiquitous human condition.</p>
<p>You have to learn to tell the story yourself. For example, some weeks ago, the New York Times led the global media with a story suggesting that the sexual-assault-on-a-maid-in-a-New-York-hotel case against (now former) International Monetary Fund (IMF) director Dominique Strauss-Kahn was likely to be dropped. Actually, that turned out to be an overstatement. It hasn’t been, and there are as yet no indications that it will be.</p>
<p>If you accepted the Times interpretation, however, the prosecution, and maybe feminism and justice were already defeated. Tell the story a different way, however, and you might react differently as well: a man with, apparently, a long track record of barbaric behavior was outed and lost his (colossal) power as a result.</p>
<p>After all, Strauss-Kahn resigned from the IMF. And recently another alleged victim of his sexual violence stepped forward <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/04/dominique-strauss-kahn-tristane-banon-lawsuit" type="external">saying</a>, “I want to be heard because perhaps, finally, there’s a chance I will be listened to.” She was not alone. Thanks to what happened in New York, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/03/dominique-strauss-kahn-france-culture" type="external">sexual politics</a> in France changed, with assault and harassment charges suddenly on the rise now that women think they might have a chance of being listened to.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the dubious doings of the IMF, an organization that assaults whole nations economically, were further exposed. Think of the IMF as the global version of an inner-city lending or furniture-selling racket that lures in the desperate—people who need a small loan, poor countries that need a bailout—and bleeds them for years, bending them to its will.</p>
<p>Nor has it been a good year for the men who are accustomed to ruling the world, whether via a global string of tabloids, the IMF, or by holding dictatorial power in any of a string of Arab states. They are being held accountable in ways they clearly never anticipated. You can add the former and present tyrants of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and a few other countries to the list of men whom the wheel of fortune has knocked down or rocked lately, and you know that the rulers of countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are scared.</p>
<p>And here’s a hopeful story that didn’t get a lot of play: rebellious Egyptians prevented their interim government from <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13914410" type="external">taking an IMF loan</a>. Years earlier, Argentina had freed itself from the IMF and <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0127-03.htm" type="external">its imposition</a> of economic measures that favor international corporations (while immiserating ordinary citizens), thanks to <a href="http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/1537" type="external">loans</a> from oil-rich Venezuela. Freedom from the IMF, the World Bank, and the United States is, in fact, part of the remarkable achievement of Latin America in the past decade—and part of what you probably haven’t read much about.</p>
<p>It’s nice that the Arab Spring continues to get attention into the summer of its discontent, but hardly anyone adds up the amazing developments in South America over the past dozen years: a very successful revolution in slo-mo in which even <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/06/06/136994232/peruvians-hope-next-president-will-focus-on-the-poor" type="external">Peru</a> elected a progressive this summer. And yet the elected officials—including <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12103312" type="external">Brazil’s first woman president</a>, a former left-wing insurgent, political prisoner, and torture victim—are just the tip of the iceberg. <a href="http://www.indypendent.org/2010/11/17/ecuador-challenged-by-indigenous-movements/" type="external">Indigenous resurgences</a>, growing <a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/06/09/136855319/plans-for-dams-in-patagonia-draw-ire-from-chileans" type="external">popular</a> environmental and human rights movements, reborn civil societies, and a new <a href="http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/latin-america-rising/horizontalidad-where-everyone-leads" type="external">language</a> of political possibility matter more.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Climate of Resistance</p>
<p>You probably also haven’t heard much, if anything, about the <a href="http://ran.org/content/royal-bank-canada-steps-away-tar-sands-support-first-nation-rights" type="external">sixty-one First Nations</a>—as Canadians call them; we’d call them sovereign tribes—that have signed on to oppose building a tar-sands pipeline across western Canada. And speaking of climate change, you might not know that environmental activists in the US <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0615314384/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">have prevented</a> more than 100 coal-fired power plants from being built here, a signal victory when it comes to keeping more greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere, and so a signal victory for the climate movement.</p>
<p>If you were just reading your local newspaper or watching the TV news, you also might not know that a potentially massive action to <a href="http://www.tarsandsaction.org/" type="external">protest</a> the possibility of President Obama <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175417/tomgram%3A_bill_mckibben%2C_the_great_american_carbon_bomb/" type="external">approving</a> a new tar-sands pipeline that would stretch from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is taking place in Washington this August. Nor might you realize that antinuclear activists have been successful in preventing any new nuclear power plants from being completed in this country since the 1970s—by raising public awareness and safety standards high enough to make them unprofitable. Of course, they would always have been unprofitable if the private profiteers who build them had to pay for insurance and radioactive waste disposal (costs that you, dear taxpayer, are expected to pick up for them).</p>
<p>Mostly the news on climate change, when attention is paid, focuses on the fact that it’s here in terrifying form: heat waves, gigantic forest fires, torrential floods, record tornadoes, massive droughts, the increasingly usual faces of the apocalypse. By the way, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14252768" type="external">223 heat records</a> were just broken in the summer heat wave that has gripped North America, and that number is still rising.</p>
<p>What’s ignored is that we could do something about it, that people are doing something about it. Australia, for instance, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/10/australia-carbon-tax-modest-beginning" type="external">just passed</a> a stiff carbon tax, and while some climate activists don’t consider that a particularly constructive way to go, it is a case of a large nation trying to take a serious step to address a truly threatening problem.</p>
<p>More importantly, a host of small and not-so-small nongovernmental organizations across the world are doing a host of things about it. Speaking of surprises, recently Mayor Bloomberg of New York <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/162198/bloomberg-goes-beyond-coal" type="external">gave $50 million</a> to the Sierra Club’s <a href="http://beyondcoal.org/" type="external">Beyond Coal campaign,</a> about the biggest and most unexpected contribution to the climate-change campaign in this country.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Another World Is Here</p>
<p>It’s hard for me not to get distracted by victories that matter. There are not nearly enough of them and they’re not on the scale I… well, hope for, but they are evidence of what’s possible. Sometimes they’re tiny. There was a <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/15/BA071KAG50.DTL" type="external">traffic accident</a> the other day in my hometown, and the local newspaper said that the doctor who was killed was married with children. A day or two later, a bigger feature made it clear that the deceased man had left behind a husband as well as two children, and I was pleased to see that, amid a private tragedy, what was once extraordinary is now ordinary. Victory sometimes seems so quotidian that you have to look twice to notice it. And if you’re not careful, you’ll forget what heroic toil over so many decades transformed the world, making the impossible become ordinary.</p>
<p>Think of hope as something that requires care and feeding. You feed it by finding news sources that give you information about alternative movements, overseas developments, and new possibilities. You feed it by choosing companions who are neither apolitical nor defeatist. (Good place to find them: the climate movement.) Or you feed it by feeding your friends who do feel defeated or as if nothing they could do might matter. You feed it with a surly insurrectionary attitude: if you’re tempted to feel powerless and passive, remember that the bogeyman we call “they” wants you to feel that way. And then don’t.</p>
<p>Certainly, you feed hope by being aware of the big picture that the news doesn’t give you. For example, look at the past dozen years when it comes to putting a halt to or undermining free-trade agreements and organizations, and educating the public about how the innocuous-sounding term “free trade” means sabotaging local, regional, or even national control over labor, environmental, health, and economic conditions. Free-trade agreements free up corporations from regulations and laws, so that nothing impedes their profits.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=2007graeber-victory" type="external">Successes</a> against “free trade” are, by now, pervasive and generally too subtle for many people to notice. In 1999, five years after the Clinton administration brought us the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), to oppose corporate globalization was to be considered, at best, on the radical fringe and at worst (in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/01/opinion/foreign-affairs-senseless-in-seattle.html" type="external">the words</a> of super-rich New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman), part of a “Noah’s ark of flat-earth advocates, protectionist trade unions, and yuppies looking for their 1960s fix.” By 2008, however, free-trade agreements were so unpopular that Hillary Clinton felt <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=38185288" type="external">obliged to lie</a> during her presidential race, claiming she had always been against NAFTA.</p>
<p>In those same 1990s, the World Trade Organization was gearing up to run the world for the sake of the corporations—before, that is, it hit the first round of a <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175168/tomgram%3A__rebecca_solnit,_writing_history_in_the_streets/" type="external">buzz saw of protest</a> in Seattle in 1999. By 2003, it was clearly an organization in trouble and never became the powerhouse it was planned to be.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/1090/tomgram%3A__rebecca_solnit,_tank_girl_in_miami" type="external">The Free Trade Area of the Americas</a> that was supposed to put the whole hemisphere in corporate harness was stillborn, thanks to the amazing anti-corporate-globalization and anti-Washington-consensus mentalities existing in many Latin American nations (and governments as well). And in these years, the IMF and the World Bank became far more widely known, feared, and loathed, thanks to activists on the streets and in the media who made their exploitative natures visible.</p>
<p>In 2011, we live in a different world. The corporations still have way too much power and influence. But activists have undermined the institutions by which they sought to increase that power and the facts about their unholy penetration into policymaking have become a lot clearer and more widely known. That is at least a good foundation which sets us up to get to work on the big fight between profit and humanity (in part via revolts against <a href="http://www.alternet.org/water/148881/pittsburgh_bans_fracking_%28and_corporate_personhood%29_/" type="external">corporate personhood</a>—the endowing of corporations with citizens’ rights—across the country).</p>
<p>I don’t love the old anti-globalization movement slogan “another world is possible,” simply because that world has always been here—in acts of altruism, generosity, and democracy; in organizations, movements, and communities that embody the best of what humanity has to offer; in what’s still so valuable in older ways of being that are not yet lost; in the methods and the lives of groups ranging from small farmers to indigenous hunters and gatherers. We just need to be better at seeing what is already magnificent and heroic, nearby and far away, and know that alternatives are already here waiting, like so many invitations, to be taken up.</p>
<p>That’s certainly a foundation that hope can build on, but don’t think that’s hope. Hope lies in the future. Look at what’s already here. If 61 native nations oppose a tar-sands pipeline, it’s because they’ve survived the last 519 years of Euro-invasive attempts to eliminate their rights, their identities, and sometimes their lives. They’re still here. So are the Immokalee workers. And the feminists. And the climate-change activists. And Nelson Mandela. So are you. Do something hopeful about it, just for the hell of it. There’s no reason not to.</p>
<p>Rebecca Solnit’s most recent hopes were realized: she got through an entire essay without using the words “Obama” or “military.” On the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/3273/the_best_of_tomdispatch_rebecca_solnit" type="external">hope beat</a> for TomDispatch since 2003, her first round turned into the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1560258284/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Hope in the Dark</a>. Right now she’s hoping to get arrested in D.C. with 350.org over that tar-sands pipeline and hoping you’ll join her. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com <a href="https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:Join/signupId:43308/acctId:25612" type="external">here</a>.</p> | Burger King’s CEO Apologizes to Farmworkers | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/burger-king-ceo-apologizes-immokalee-workers/ | 2011-08-01 | 4 |
<p>By John O'Donnell</p>
<p>BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe is working to ramp up the fire-power of its bailout fund amid growing alarm over its slow handling of a debt crisis that threatens to derail a global economic recovery, but European policymakers disagree over the best course of action.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Many of the options to bolster the 440 billion euro <a href="" type="internal">European Financial Stability Facility</a> (EFSF) have catches, including opposition from countries like Germany, which fears a replay of its disastrous economic policies of the 1920s.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, euro zone officials played down reports on Monday of emerging plans to halve Greece's debts and recapitalize European banks to cope with the fallout, stressing that no such scheme is on the table yet.</p>
<p>HOW BIG MUST THE EURO ZONE FUND BE TO STOP THE CRISIS?</p>
<p>Rough calculations suggest the EFSF, which borrows its funds from the markets backed by guarantees from euro zone states, might cope with a bailout of Spain but that it would not have enough ammunition if Italy needed help.</p>
<p>The EFSF is already committed to providing 17.7 billion euros in emergency loans to Ireland and 26 billion to Portugal.</p>
<p>In addition, it takes over the remainder of Europe's contribution to an initial bailout of Greece, which is likely to require around 25 billion euros, and is expected to provide two-thirds of a 109 billion euro second bailout of Greece.</p>
<p>Taken together, the EFSF's current commitments total at least 142 billion euros, leaving it 298 billion euros.</p>
<p>A package for Spain might top 290 billion euros, according to some estimates, while a rescue bill for Italy could total almost 490 billion euros.</p>
<p>Some experts suggest doubling the EFSF. Others talk of boosting it to "several trillion." But the way to restore confidence, which will be determined by the reaction of stressed markets, goes beyond simple mathematics.</p>
<p>COULD TURNING THE EFSF INTO A BANK HELP?</p>
<p>One way of bolstering the EFSF's size, being proposed by the Center for European Policy Studies, a think tank in Brussels, is to turn it into a bank.</p>
<p>This means the Luxembourg-based vehicle could lend money to countries in difficulty and turn to the <a href="" type="internal">European Central Bank</a> to refinance such loans rather than having to rely solely on its limited capital base.</p>
<p>Banks typically lend roughly 10 times their capital, and experts who have drawn up this model believe the EFSF could do the same.</p>
<p>That would mean the 440 billion euros of capital in the facility could in theory be transformed into more than 4 trillion euros of fire-power.</p>
<p>But the reality is not that simple. The EFSF would only qualify to receive credit from the ECB that was as good as the collateral, for example Spanish government bonds, that it has to offer.</p>
<p>If the EFSF buys these from the Spanish government directly, then a market discount to reflect the risk of default has to be applied, in addition to the standard haircuts the ECB charges for collateral. This reduces the amount of credit the EFSF could get from the ECB.</p>
<p>But it is political opposition rather than technical hitches that pose the biggest and perhaps insurmountable hurdle.</p>
<p>At the core of these are concerns recently aired by German Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann that the ECB may already be overextending itself.</p>
<p>The euro zone's central banks and the ECB have a combined capital base of 82 billion euros. It has already lent 535 billion euros to banks and bought a further 150 billion euros of government bonds to prop up the market.</p>
<p>So far, Germany, the euro zone's chief paymaster, and the ECB are opposed to the idea, suggesting it has little chance of making it beyond the drawing board.</p>
<p>Last weekend, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he was looking into alternatives.</p>
<p>WHAT OTHER SCHEMES COULD BOLSTER THE EFSF'S FIRE-POWER?</p>
<p>One such alternative would be to use the EFSF to insure investors against future losses when they buy Italian or Spanish bonds.</p>
<p>The EFSF would issue "credit enhancements" for new bonds that could cover potential losses, cutting the risk for investors and making it easier for countries like Italy to tap markets.</p>
<p>Such a scheme would not help Greece, said <a href="" type="internal">Sony</a> Kapoor, a financial expert who has advocated the model, but would set up a "firewall" for Italy and Spain that would allow them tap money markets even if Greece were to default.</p>
<p>"This could take the form of the EFSF offering insurance against, say, the first 20 percent of any losses on these ... and would enable the EFSF to bring down the borrowing costs for Italy and Spain for the next 3 years or more," said Kapoor, the managing director of think tank Re-Define.</p>
<p>"Lowering the borrowing costs for Italy and Spain is a necessary step before any restructuring of Greek debt can be seriously contemplated."</p>
<p>"The options being discussed are primarily about policymakers, who believe that Italy and Spain are fundamentally solvent, calling the markets' bluff that they are not."</p>
<p>WHAT WOULD ACCELERATING THE INTRODUCTION OF A PERMANENT</p>
<p>MECHANISM ACHIEVE?</p>
<p>Unlike the current EFSF, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is permanent and has a pool of capital of 80 billion euros, paid in by countries in the same way as they do with the</p>
<p>ECB.</p>
<p>Starting the ESM in July next year, rather than July 2013 as planned, could reassure investors because it provides a second lever to support markets alongside the ECB.</p>
<p>But first, however, German <a href="" type="internal">chancellor Angela Merkel</a> and other leaders have to convince national lawmakers to back their pledge to allow the EFSF to extend loans to countries under attack from markets or buy sovereign bonds to prop up struggling states.</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Sakari Suoninen in Frankfurt and Annika Breidthardt in Berlin)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Q+A: What ideas is Europe mulling to solve its debt | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/09/26/qa-what-ideas-is-europe-mulling-to-solve-its-debt.html | 2016-01-29 | 0 |
<p>“Lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it … ”</p>
<p>Quran 24:35</p>
<p>“ <a href="" type="internal">And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives.</a>”</p>
<p>Judges 15:5</p>
<p>Olives and olives oil. Nothing symbolizes Palestinian land, identity and culture as they do. They are the hallmarks of national pride and the veritable heart of Palestine’s agricultural economy.</p>
<p>Although the subjugation and daily humiliation of occupation takes various forms in East Jerusalem and the West Bank—demeaning checkpoint searches; arrest and interrogation of minors; preventing ambulances from expeditiously transporting the sick to hospitals; the eviction of families and demolition of homes—few situations evoke more outrage and deep sadness as do the torching of olive orchards by vigilante settlers.</p>
<p>Last Friday was the official start of the olive harvest season in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as gunfire and real fire once again heralded its opening. Hundreds of trees were burned by settlers as Israeli soldiers looked on. Fire trucks were prevented from helping put out the blaze in what has become an annual ritual of despoiling land by those who have illegally settled on it.</p>
<p>To coincide with the beginning of the harvest, the international relief agency Oxfam released its report, “ <a href="" type="internal">The Road to Olive Farming: Challenges to Developing the Economy of Olive Oil in the West Bank</a>” in Jerusalem.</p>
<p>Oxfam indicates that Palestinian olive oil production contributes $100 million annually to some of the poorest, most disadvantaged families and communities in the West Bank. It is a primary source of revenue for the economy and nearly half of all agricultural land use is devoted to it. As one of the territory’s major exports, the extent to which olives and olive oil contributes to employment opportunities and income for 100,000 Palestinian farming families cannot be overstated.</p>
<p>Yet, the Israeli government deliberately prevents access to land where olive farms are located.</p>
<p>“Physical barriers such as checkpoints and road blocks have restricted the free movement of people and goods within the West Bank and obstructed access for Palestinian agricultural produce, including olives and olive oil, to internal, Israeli and international markets,” the report said.</p>
<p>It also concluded the Israeli government sanctions settler violence against the groves, which include stealing its fruits, torching or uprooting tens of thousands of trees and attacking farmers to intimidate them from harvesting their crops.</p>
<p>“Settler attacks and harassment against Palestinian olive farmers are common.”</p>
<p>And Friday was no exception. As the <a href="" type="internal">AFP</a> reported, settlers swooped down on the groves with automatic weapons, setting olive trees alight and chanting “Out, Out.”</p>
<p>Although this year’s violence has been characterized as one of the worst in recent history, yet nearly all assailants will likely go unprosecuted.</p>
<p>In a five-year study tracking 97 cases of Palestinian land vandalism, the Israeli human rights organization <a href="" type="internal">Yesh Din</a> (Volunteers for Human Rights) found that police investigations did not yield a single indictment. “The law enforcement authorities are not responding to the ongoing harm done to the livelihood of Palestinian families,” said lead researcher Yior Lavne.</p>
<p>Savaging the cultural heritage and economic viability of a people is an odious practice. Under any other circumstance, the deliberate, purposeful desecration of land and sabotage of livelihoods would be considered a war crime. It is time the international community call what happened in the West Bank last week just that.</p>
<p>Support Palestinian farmers through fair-trade <a href="http://www.holylandoliveoil.com/" type="external">purchase</a> of their olive oil.</p>
<p>RANNIE AMIRI is an independent Middle East commentator.</p> | Palestine’s Olive Harvest Horror | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/10/22/palestine-s-olive-harvest-horror/ | 2010-10-22 | 4 |
<p>California has already logged 1,000 wildfires this year. AP Photo/The Press-Enterprise, Stan Lim</p>
<p />
<p>The upcoming wildfire season could cost $400 million more to fight than the Forest Service and Interior Department have in their available budgets, according to a report those agencies released today.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1151304-flame-forecast-report-may-2014-copy.html" type="external">forecast</a> estimates that the Forest Service and Interior will need to spend a combined total of about $1.8 billion fighting wildfires this year (though the actual amount could be significantly higher or lower), while only $1.4 billion is available for that activity. The difference will have to be drawn out of the budget reserved for other activities, including fire-related work like clearing brush and controlled burns. In other words, the cost of fighting fires will take resources away from the very programs designed to keep fires in check.</p>
<p>The projected expenditures are the highest in several years, according to a <a href="http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2014/05/0075.xml&amp;contentidonly=true" type="external">statement</a> from the US Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service. After record-breaking drought in the West over the last year, this year’s fire season is expected to be especially frightful—by mid-April, California had <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/04/california_s_fire_season_is_basically_year_round_now.html" type="external">already tallied nearly 1,000 fires</a> for 2014 (without even counting fires occurring on federal land).</p>
<p>“With climate change contributing to longer and more intense wildfire seasons, the dangers and costs of fighting those fires increase substantially,” Interior Dept. Assistant Secretary Rhea Suh said in the statement.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>If you live in a wildfire-prone area, don’t panic—federal firefighters will still be hard at work across the country this summer. But this is a familiar song and dance for the Forest Service: The agency has had to borrow against itself for firefighting costs in 7 of the last 12 years. (Last year was especially bad, as the <a href="" type="internal">sequester slashed the fire prevention budget</a>.) The problem stems from the fact that firefighting costs have to be drawn out of the agency’s fixed operating budget, rather than a special emergency fund like the kind used by FEMA to pay for recovery from other natural disasters. When costs exceed that budget, <a href="" type="internal">preventative programs</a>—which likely do more to limit the devastation than firefighting itself—suffer.</p>
<p>“This is obviously not a sustainable approach to managing any budget,” especially with the high firefighting costs of recent years, said Nature Conservancy policy analyst Cecilia Clavet.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/02/26/obama-budget-would-change-wildfire-fighting-formula/" type="external">Budget legislation</a> recently introduced in Congress and backed by the White House aims to remedy the recurring problem by creating an emergency fund for federal firefighting agencies to tap when their costs go beyond the fixed budget. But that bill is still in its early stages, and in any case it would only take effect starting in fiscal year 2015, which begins in October—after the fire season has largely passed.</p>
<p /> | This Year’s Wildfires Could Incinerate the Nation’s Fire Budget | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/wildfires-budget-climate-change/ | 2014-05-01 | 4 |
<p>When CIA-agent Raymond Davis gunned down two Pakistani civilians in broad daylight on a crowded street in Lahore, he probably never imagined that the entire Washington establishment would spring to his defense. But that’s precisely what happened. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mike Mullen, John Kerry, Leon Panetta and a number of other US bigwigs have all made appeals on Davis’s behalf. None of these stalwart defenders of “the rule of law” have shown a speck of interest in justice for the victims or of even allowing the investigation to go forward so they could know what really happened. Oh, no. What Clinton and the rest want, is to see their man Davis packed onto the next plane to Langley so he can play shoot-’em-up someplace else in the world.</p>
<p>Does Clinton know that after Davis shot his victims 5 times in the back, he calmly strode back to his car, grabbed his camera, and photographed the dead bodies? Does she know that the two so-called “diplomats” who came to his rescue in a Land Rover (which killed a passerby) have been secretly spirited out of the country so they won’t have to appear in court? Does she know that the families of the victims are now being threatened and attacked to keep them from testifying against Davis? Here’s a clip from Thursday’s edition of The Nation”:</p>
<p>“Three armed men forcibly gave poisonous pills to Muhammad Sarwar, the uncle of Shumaila Kanwal, the widow of Fahim shot dead by Raymond Davis, after barging into his house in Rasool Nagar, Chak Jhumra.</p>
<p>Sarwar was rushed to Allied Hospital in critical condition where doctors were trying to save his life till early Thursday morning. The brother of Muhammad Sarwar told The Nation that three armed men forced their entry into the house after breaking the windowpane of one of the rooms. When they broke the glass, Muhammad Sarwar came out. The outlaws started beating him up.</p>
<p>The other family members, including women and children, coming out for his rescue, were taken hostage and beaten up. The three outlaws then took everyone hostage at gunpoint and forced poisonous pills down Sarwar’s throat.” (“Shumaila’s uncle forced to take poisonous pills”, The Nation)</p>
<p>Good show, Hillary. We’re all about the rule of law in the good old USA.</p>
<p>But why all the intrigue and arm-twisting? Why has the State Department invoked the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to make its case that Davis is entitled to diplomatic immunity? If Davis is innocent, then he has nothing to worry about, right? Why not let the trial go forward and stop reinforcing the widely-held belief that Davis is a vital cog in the US’s clandestine operations in Pakistan?</p>
<p>The truth is that Davis had been photographing sensitive installations and madrassas for some time, the kind of intelligence gathering that spies do when scouting-out prospective targets. Also, he’d been in close contact with members of terrorist organizations, which suggests a link between the CIA and terrorist incidents in Pakistan. Here’s an excerpt from Wednesday’s The Express Tribune:</p>
<p>“His cell phone has revealed contacts with two ancillaries of al Qaeda in Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Taliban of Pakistan (TTP) and sectarian Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), which has led to the public conclusion that he was behind terrorism committed against Pakistan’s security personnel and its people ….This will strike people as America in cahoots with the Taliban and al Qaeda against the state of Pakistan targeting, as one official opined, Pakistan’s nuclear installations.” (“Raymond Davis: The plot thickens, The Express Tribune)</p>
<p>“Al Qaeda”? The CIA is working with “ancillaries of al Qaeda in Pakistan”? No wonder the US media has been keeping a wrap on this story for so long.</p>
<p>Naturally, most Pakistanis now believe that the US is colluding with terrorists to spread instability, weaken the state, and increase its power in the region. But isn’t that America’s M.O. everywhere?</p>
<p>Also, many people noticed that US drone attacks suddenly stopped as soon as Davis was arrested. Was that a coincidence? Not likely. Davis was probably getting coordinates from his new buddies in the tribal hinterland and then passing them along to the Pentagon. The drone bombings are extremely unpopular in Pakistan. More then 1400 people have been killed since August 2008, and most of them have been civilians.</p>
<p>And, there’s more. This is from (Pakistan’s) The Nation:</p>
<p>“A local lawyer has moved a petition in the court of Additional District and Sessions … contending that the accused (Davis)… was preparing a map of sensitive places in Pakistan through the GPS system installed in his car. He added that mobile phone sims, lethal weapons, and videos camera were recovered from the murder accused on January 27, 2011.” (“Davis mapped Pakistan targets court told”, The Nation)</p>
<p>So, Davis’s GPS chip was being used to identify targets for drone attacks in the tribal region. Most likely, he was being assisted on the other end by recruits or members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban.</p>
<p>A lot of extravagant claims have been made about what Davis was up to, much of which is probably just speculation. One report which appeared on ANI news service is particularly dire, but produces little evidence to support its claims. Here’s an excerpt:</p>
<p>“Double murder-accused US official Raymond Davis has been found in possession of top-secret CIA documents, which point to him or the feared American Task Force 373 (TF373) operating in the region, providing Al-Qaeda terrorists with “nuclear fissile material” and “biological agents,” according to a report.</p>
<p>Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) is warning that the situation on the sub-continent has turned “grave” as it appears that open warfare is about to break out between Pakistan and the United States, The European Union Times reports…..The most ominous point in this SVR report is “Pakistan’s ISI stating that top-secret CIA documents found in Davis’s possession point to his, and/or TF373, providing to al Qaeda terrorists “nuclear fissile material” and “biological agents”, which they claim are to be used against the United States itself in order to ignite an all-out war in order to re-establish the West’s hegemony over a Global economy that is warned is just months away from collapse,” the paper added. (“CIA Spy Davis was giving nuclear bomb material to Al Qaeda, says report”, ANI)</p>
<p>Although there’s no way to prove that this is false, it seems like a bit of a stretch. But that doesn’t mean that what Davis was up to shouldn’t be taken seriously. Quite the contrary. If Davis was working with Tehreek-e-Taliban, (as alleged in many reports) then we can assume that the war on terror is basically a ruse to advance a broader imperial agenda. According to Sify News, the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, believes this to be the case. Here’s an excerpt:</p>
<p>“Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US envoy to Afghanistan, once brushed off Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s claim, that the US was “arranging” the (suicide) attacks by Pakistani Taliban inside his country, as ‘madness’, and was of the view that both Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who believed in this US conspiracy theory, were “dysfunctional” leaders.</p>
<p>The account of Zardari’s claim about the US’ hand in the attacks has been elaborately reproduced by US journalist Bob Woodward, on Page 116 of his famous book ‘Obama’s Wars,’ The News reported.</p>
<p>Woodward’s account goes like this: “One evening during the trilateral summit (in Washington, between Obama, Karzai and Zardari) Zardari had dinner with Zalmay Khalilzad, the 58-year-old former US ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the UN, during the Bush presidency.</p>
<p>“Zardari dropped his diplomatic guard. He suggested that one of the two countries was arranging the attacks by the Pakistani Taliban inside his country: India or the US. Zardari didn’t think India could be that clever, but the US could. Karzai had told him the US was behind the attacks, confirming the claims made by the Pakistani ISI.”</p>
<p>“Mr President,” Khalilzad said, “what would we gain from doing this? You explain the logic to me.”</p>
<p>“This was a plot to destabilize Pakistan, Zardari hypothesized, so that the US could invade and seize its nuclear weapons. He could not explain the rapid expansion in violence otherwise. And the CIA had not pursued the leaders of the Pakistani Taliban, a group known as Tehreek-e-Taliban or TTP that had attacked the government. TTP was also blamed for the assassination of Zardari’s wife, Benazir Bhutto.” (“Pakistan President says CIA Involved in Plot to Destabilize Country and Seize Nukes”, Sify News)</p>
<p>Zardari’s claim will sound familiar to those who followed events in Iraq. Many people are convinced that the only rational explanation for the wave of bombings directed at civilians, was that the violence was caused by those groups who stood to gain from a civil war.</p>
<p>And who might that be?</p>
<p>Despite the Obama administration’s efforts to derail the investigation, the case against Davis is going forward. Whether he is punished or not is irrelevant. This isn’t about Davis anyway. It’s a question of whether the US is working hand-in-hand with the very organizations that it publicly condemns in order to advance its global agenda. If that’s the case, then the war on terror is a fraud.</p>
<p>MIKE WHITNEY lives in Washington state and&#160; can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p /> | The CIA’s Killing Spree in Lahore | true | https://counterpunch.org/2011/02/24/the-cia-s-killing-spree-in-lahore/ | 2011-02-24 | 4 |
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<p>If your child just went back to school, chances are you spent at least one night last week elbowing other parents at Staples while hunting for school supplies.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>If there’s anything to be grateful for, be glad you were only fighting over $3 protractors and not $399 iPads.</p>
<p>At a time when everyone seems ‘iMad’ for Apple gadgets (sales of the new iPhone are <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/11/us-usa-apple-gdp-idUSBRE8891E720120911" type="external">expected to have a noticeable impact on U.S. GDP Opens a New Window.</a>, if you can believe it), it’s easy to imagine that the iPad will someday become a necessity for students.</p>
<p>That day may be closer than you think.</p>
<p>Thousands of public school districts across the country are taking serious steps toward making iPads an important tool in their curriculum – and at a rapid pace. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) sold almost a million iPads to education buyers in the K-12 market in the third quarter alone, doubling sales from a year ago, <a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/09/04/apples_ipad_now_definitively_replacing_pc_sales_in_education.html" type="external">according to an analyst at Needham &amp; Co. Opens a New Window.</a> By contrast, PC shipments in the education market reportedly fell 13.9% during the same period.</p>
<p>While schools have been testing iPads for awhile, many of them are now looking to deepen their investment. A school district in San Diego <a href="http://www.10news.com/news/31225263/detail.html" type="external">recently spent $15 million Opens a New Window.</a> expanding its iPad program, taking on 26,000 iPads in what was one of the biggest iPad deployments to date. The McAllen school district in Texas, which had only distributed 5,000 devices as of last April, <a href="http://www.mcallen.net/news/default/2012-06-18/district_named_by_forbes_among_world_s_best_for_ipad_rollout.aspx" type="external">will provide nearly 20,000 Opens a New Window.</a> to students this fall.</p>
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<p>The goal for many of these schools is to eventually have an iPad for every student. In an <a href="http://www.tuaw.com/2011/10/31/school-tech-directors-expect-ipads-to-increase/" type="external">October 2011 survey of 25 school technology directors Opens a New Window.</a>, more than a third said they expect to achieve a 1:1 ratio in the future, with most estimating a timeline of three to five years. Only 22% expect it to take more than five years.</p>
<p>But implementing iPads in an educational setting comes with its challenges, one being the cost. Schools aren’t getting huge discounts on their iPads – an iPad 2 bought in bulk costs $379 per unit as opposed to the normal $399.</p>
<p>Township High School District 214 in Illinois, which started with 350 iPads in 2009 and now has 2,550, said it is evaluating whether or not a wider rollout is feasible. Like other districts, District 214 is buying iPads with the funds traditionally allocated toward replacing desktops.</p>
<p>The school district is also mulling whether to start charging students a yearly fee of $50 to $125 to cover apps, digital books and insurance costs, says Keith Bockwoldt, the district’s technology director. He assures the fee isn’t too hefty – especially since students can use the device however they wish and get to keep it for good.</p>
<p>“We don’t want to put students inside a box,” he says.</p>
<p>Not everyone is convinced that the increasing adoption of iPads in schools is a good thing.</p>
<p>Matt Burns, a writer at TechCrunch and father of two who lives in Flint, Mich., says he’s nervous the iPad will become a crutch for teachers and students. While he sees value in digital learning, he worries that having instant access to information means there’s less of a need for students to truly internalize that information.</p>
<p>Flashy videos and interactive apps can make science courses more engaging, but those same features could undermine learning in subjects like reading, he adds.</p>
<p>“Too much technology can be dangerous,” he says.</p>
<p>Proponents of the iPad say is that the interactive device offers students a level of access and portability that not only enhances their learning, but keeps them in step with the broader technological current. A report by <a href="http://www.forrester.com/home#/The+FiveYear+Forecast+For+Tablets+2011+To+2016/-/E-PRE3184" type="external">Forrester Research Opens a New Window.</a> suggests that more than 112 million Americans, or a third of the U.S. adult population, will own a tablet by 2016.</p>
<p>“Kids are growing up with these devices already. If they’re coming to school and we’re not giving them devices to keep them engaged, we’re losing them,” says Bockwoldt.</p> | Glue, Scissors and an iPad | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/09/13/glue-scissors-and-ipad.html | 2017-02-08 | 0 |
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<p>Wyoming officials say the celebration of life for 22-year-old University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier will be Thursday in the Wyoming High School auditorium. The service is open to the public but not the media.</p>
<p>The Hamilton County coroner is trying to determine the cause of Warmbier’s death Monday. Warmbier was accused in January 2015 of trying to steal a propaganda banner at his hotel while visiting North Korea, tearfully confessed and was convicted of subversion.</p>
<p>Ohio’s Republican U.S. senator said Wednesday he had a secret meeting with North Korean officials in New York last December to press for Warmbier’s release. Sen. Rob Portman wouldn’t provide many details but said the diplomats indicated they would relay his request.</p>
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<p>The senator, from the Cincinnati area, said he planned to attend Warmbier’s funeral in Wyoming, a Cincinnati suburb. Also attending will be Ambassador Joseph Yun, the U.S. special envoy who traveled to Pyongyang to bring Warmbier back, and Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, the Department of State said.</p>
<p>At a candlelight vigil Tuesday on the University of Virginia campus, Warmbier’s girlfriend at the time of his detention described the loss of a soul mate. Alex Vagonis said she drew some peace from knowing Warmbier got home to Ohio before his death.</p>
<p>An organizer working with volunteers didn’t want them to speak to reporters on Wednesday morning as they decorated the route in the school’s colors for the final trip of the adventurous student, fondly remembered at his high school as popular, smart and active in sports.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, Jay Klein, a rising sophomore at DePauw University, recalled joining the Wyoming High soccer team as a freshman and getting to know Warmbier as one of the friendliest, most spirited seniors playing.</p>
<p>“Walking around the hallways at school, you don’t really expect seniors to come up to you as a freshman,” Klein said. “He was one of the only guys who would come up to me and ask me how my day was doing and that kind of thing.”</p>
<p>Klein said fellow players looked up to Warmbier on and off the field, admiring his light-hearted spirit, his passion for the game and his love for travel.</p>
<p>Molly Cain met Warmbier when he coached her 12-year-old son, Robby, at the Wyoming swim club. At the time, Robby was shy, Cain said, and Warmbier helped him come out of his shell.</p>
<p>“Once he started working with Otto, he couldn’t wait to go,” Cain said. “It was like, ‘Not only do I get to swim, I get to swim with someone I totally look up to who’s older than me, and he’s cool, and he’s fun, and he thinks I’m great!'”</p>
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<p>She said he was in tears after Warmbier died.</p>
<p>Warmbier’s family objected to an autopsy, so the Hamilton County coroner’s office conducted only an external examination of his body. Medical records have been reviewed, and his condition was discussed extensively by treating physicians at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was hospitalized after his June 13 return.</p>
<p>Wambier’s parents cited “awful, torturous mistreatment” by North Korea. Doctors last week said he suffered a “severe neurological injury” of unknown cause.</p>
<p>He was sentenced in March 2016 to 15 years in prison with hard labor. His family said it was told he had been in a coma since soon after his sentencing.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Sewell reported from Cincinnati. AP reporter Richard Lardner in Washington contributed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Dake Kang at <a href="http://www.twitter.com" type="external">http://www.twitter.com</a> and Dan Sewell at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/dansewell" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/dansewell</a></p> | Ohio city makes plans for North Korea-held student’s funeral | false | https://abqjournal.com/1021504/ohio-city-makes-plans-for-north-korea-held-students-funeral.html | 2017-06-21 | 2 |
<p>Image courtesy NOAA</p>
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<p>Arctic seabed stores of <a href="" type="internal">methane</a> are now destabilizing and venting vast stores of <a href="" type="internal">frozen methane</a>—a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/327/5970/1246" type="external">The paper</a>, in the prestigious journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/magazine.dtl" type="external">Science</a>, reports the permafrost under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf—long thought to be an impermeable barrier sealing in methane—is instead perforated and leaking large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Melting of even a fraction of the <a href="http://ethomas.web.wesleyan.edu/ees123/clathrate.htm" type="external">clathrates</a> stored in that shelf could trigger abrupt climate warming. Lead author Natalia Shakhova Shakhova of the <a href="http://www.iarc.uaf.edu/" type="external">International Arctic Research Center</a> tells U of Alaska Fairbanks:</p>
<p>“The amount of methane currently coming out of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf is comparable to the amount coming out of the entire world’s oceans. Subsea permafrost is losing its ability to be an impermeable cap.”</p>
<p>The East Siberian Arctic Shelf is a methane-rich area encompassing more than three-quarter million square miles of seafloor in the Arctic Ocean—three times larger than the nearby Siberian wetlands formerly considered the primary Northern Hemisphere source of atmospheric methane.</p>
<p>Shakhova’s research shows the East Siberian Arctic Shelf is already emitting 7 teragrams (1 teragram = 1.1 million tons) of methane yearly, about as much as the all the oceans of the world.</p>
<p>“Our concern is that the subsea permafrost has been showing signs of destabilization already,” says Shakhova. “If it further destabilizes, the methane emissions may not be teragrams, it would be significantly larger.”</p>
<p>From 2003 through 2008 the researchers took annual research cruises on the shelf, sampling seawater at various depths, and sampling the air above the ocean. Their findings:</p>
<p>In the shallow waters of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, methane doesn’t have enough time to oxidize, and more of it rises to the surface and escapes into the atmosphere. That fact, combined with the sheer amount of methane in the region, adds an extreme volatility to this uncalculated variable in the climate models.</p>
<p>“The release to the atmosphere of only one percent of the methane assumed to be stored in shallow hydrate deposits might alter the current atmospheric burden of methane up to 3 to 4 times,” says Shakhova. &#160;</p>
<p /> | Massive Methane Melt off Siberia | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/massive-methane-melt-siberia/ | 2010-03-05 | 4 |
<p>Photo Credit: Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com</p>
<p>While special counsel Robert Mueller is still investigating President Donald Trump’s decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey, three legal experts think they already have enough evidence to charge the president with obstruction of justice, which was a key charge in&#160; <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/richard-nixon-bill-clinton-faced-impeachment-obstruction-justice/story?id=47460022" type="external">the impeachment case against former President Richard Nixon</a>.</p>
<p>In&#160; <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/presidential-obstruction-of-justice-the-case-of-donald-j-trump-final.pdf" type="external">a new paper published by the Brookings Institute</a>, authors Norm Eisen, Barry Berke and Noah Bookbinder make a detailed case that Trump did indeed fire Comey with the intention of thwarting the investigation into Russia’s interference with the 2016 presidential election.</p>
<p>Specifically, they note that Trump’s own public statements might give prosecutors all the ammunition they need to prove the president had a corrupt intention in his decision to fire Comey, whose bureau was taking a lead role in the Russia investigation.</p>
<p>“President Trump’s behavior is certainly suggestive of corrupt intent with respect to the Russia and Flynn investigations,” they write. “For example, President Trump has articulated multiple, shifting rationales for Comey’s firing. The first explanation for terminating Comey, as articulated by the president in a May 10 tweet and in the Rosenstein memo, was that Comey had mishandled the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email, and had lost the confidence of his subordinates. Soon thereafter, President Trump reversed course and said… that the Russia investigation was on his mind when he made the decision to fire Comey.”</p>
<p>The experts also cite&#160; <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/trump-demanded-loyalty-from-fbi-director-james-comey-comey-demurred-and-then-he-was-fired-nyt/" type="external">Trump’s spurned demands of loyalty from Comey</a>, as well as&#160; <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/i-hope-you-let-this-go-bombshell-comey-memo-reveals-trump-asked-him-to-drop-flynn-investigation/" type="external">his request to drop the FBI’s investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn</a>, as possible motivations for firing the former FBI director that would amount to obstruction of justice.</p>
<p>However, even if Trump’s precise motivation for firing Comey cannot be determined, the paper notes that having mixed motives for making a decision does not preclude someone from having a corrupt intention.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/presidential-obstruction-of-justice-the-case-of-donald-j-trump-final.pdf" type="external">The entire paper can be found at this link</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Case for Trump's Impeachment Is Overwhelming: Report | true | https://alternet.org/news-amp-politics/case-trumps-impeachment-overwhelming-report | 2017-10-10 | 4 |
<p>Novartis AG (NOVN.EB) said on Tuesday that its third-quarter net profit increased as growth from two recently launched drugs, Cosentyx and Entresto, helped offset the negative impact of generic competition.</p>
<p>The Swiss pharmaceuticals company reported third-quarter net profit of $2.08 billion compared with $1.95 billion during the same period a year ago. Revenue for the quarter increased 2.4% to $12.41 billion, Novartis said.</p>
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<p>Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected net income for the quarter of $2.02 billion and sales of $12.34 billion.</p>
<p>Sales at Alcon, Novartis's eyecare unit, increased 6% to $1.5 billion, it said.</p>
<p>Novartis, which had announced a strategic review of Alcon in January, said that it has made progress in its evaluation of the possibilities for Alcon, and that the review shows that creating a "stand-alone company via a capital markets exit" could create additional value.</p>
<p>The company says a final decision will depend on continued Alcon sales growth and margin improvement over multiple quarters. It says that action is not likely before the first half of 2019.</p>
<p>The company confirmed its 2017 outlook and said that net sales are expected to be in line with the prior year on a constant-currency basis and core operating income is expected to be in line or show low single-digit decline.</p>
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<p>Write to Sonia Amaral Rohter at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>October 24, 2017 01:50 ET (05:50 GMT)</p> | Novartis 3Q Net Profit Rises as New Drugs Offset Generic Competition | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/10/24/novartis-3q-net-profit-rises-as-new-drugs-offset-generic-competition.html | 2017-10-24 | 0 |
<p>AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Jordan said on Sunday that it will permit a one-time crane drop of U.N. aid to tens of thousands of displaced Syrians stranded in harsh conditions along the Jordan-Syria border.</p>
<p>The kingdom sealed its border with Syria in 2016, after Islamic State extremists killed seven Jordanian border guards.</p>
<p>The closure ended regular U.N. aid shipments from Jordan to displaced Syrians struggling for survival in a remote stretch of desert.</p>
<p>Jordan alleges that the Rukban border camp has been infiltrated by the Islamic State group and that cross-border traffic endangers the kingdom. It insists that the U.N. deliver aid from war-ravaged Syria.</p>
<p>Jordan's Foreign Ministry said the kingdom would permit the use of a crane but only this once. A crane drop involves having a crane pick up a container with aid from the Jordanian side of the sealed border, lift it across and drop it off on the Syrian side.</p>
<p>The ministry's decision came after the United Nations submitted a plan for aid delivery from Syria.</p>
<p>U.N. refugee agency officials were not immediately available for comment.</p>
<p>AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Jordan said on Sunday that it will permit a one-time crane drop of U.N. aid to tens of thousands of displaced Syrians stranded in harsh conditions along the Jordan-Syria border.</p>
<p>The kingdom sealed its border with Syria in 2016, after Islamic State extremists killed seven Jordanian border guards.</p>
<p>The closure ended regular U.N. aid shipments from Jordan to displaced Syrians struggling for survival in a remote stretch of desert.</p>
<p>Jordan alleges that the Rukban border camp has been infiltrated by the Islamic State group and that cross-border traffic endangers the kingdom. It insists that the U.N. deliver aid from war-ravaged Syria.</p>
<p>Jordan's Foreign Ministry said the kingdom would permit the use of a crane but only this once. A crane drop involves having a crane pick up a container with aid from the Jordanian side of the sealed border, lift it across and drop it off on the Syrian side.</p>
<p>The ministry's decision came after the United Nations submitted a plan for aid delivery from Syria.</p>
<p>U.N. refugee agency officials were not immediately available for comment.</p> | Jordan OKs use of cranes to drop aid for displaced Syrians | false | https://apnews.com/amp/c199a577c7344bd2974cf06d274d636f | 2018-01-07 | 2 |
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<p>Taos’ Kyle Willis, second from left, and Santa Fe’s Hayden Hargrove (33) battle for a rebound during the Tigers win over Santa Fe Friday. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Prior to the start of the season, Taos coach Daniel Trujillo knew his team had the size and the skill to be considered among the best in Class 3A.</p>
<p>But what it lacked, he said, was a leader.</p>
<p>Now fast forward roughly a month and the Tigers have already had to deal with more than most teams in the state. First came the firing of Trujillo by the school’s superintendent Rod Weston for cutting a pair of players – and then came the reinstatement of all involved parties. But all the while, despite the uncertainty, the constant for the Tigers has been winning. And while Trujillo admits that he still has yet to see that one player step into the spotlight, he’s now starting to believe that he doesn’t need just one leader.</p>
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<p>“Everything we’ve been through may have quietly been an unplanned team-builder because we’re closer than we’ve ever been. … And we may not have an alpha but we got a group of guys that can lead together,” he said. “Our nine seniors, as a group, just want to leave a mark that won’t be erased. In order to do that, we have to do something really special.”</p>
<p>Santa Fe’s Julio Rivera, top, was called for an offensive foul after crashing into Taos’ Estevan Garcia (3) and Shane Willis Friday. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>On Friday in Santa Fe, that groupthink was put on full display as nine of 12 Tiger players scored, including four in double figures, to lead Taos (11-2) to a 75-57 rout over the host Demons (2-11) at the Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium in non-district play. Estevan Garcia paced the squad, going 6 for 6 from the field for 15 points. Kyle Willis followed with 13, and Shane Willis and Abran Trujillo rounded out Taos’ double-digit scorers with 11 apiece.</p>
<p>“Us seniors basically had to become leaders in a day,” Shane Willis said. “When we didn’t have coach to lead us, we learned to lead ourselves. … We got on each other in practice and in the game. And I agree with coach, what we went through did bring us closer.”</p>
<p>Balanced scoring and a tenacious Taos defense – which resulted in 15 Demons turnovers in the first half – gave the Tigers control of the opening two periods and a 37-30 halftime lead. Nine players scored for Taos, led by Garcia with eight points.</p>
<p>Taos went up by as many as 10 points late in the second quarter, but failed to build on its lead after going scoreless for the final 1:49 of the half. Meanwhile, Julio Rivera hit his fourth 3-pointer of the half to cut the Demons’ deficit to seven points prior to the intermission. Rivera was 4 for 5 from beyond the arch in the first half for 14 points, but was held to just one field goal in the second half.</p>
<p>The Tigers broke the game open in the third period after a Kyle Willis 3-pointer sparked a 12-0 run that gave Taos a 56-41 lead at the 3:21 of the third quarter. The Tigers then led by as many as 17 points in the final period to notch their third-straight win over a District 2-4 opponent this week, dispatching Los Alamos, Española Valley and now Santa Fe.</p>
<p>As for the Demons, who committed 22 turnovers against 13 for Taos, have now dropped five of their past six games. But Demons coach David Rodriguez isn’t ready to panic just yet.</p>
<p>“I was really disappointed in how we played,” he said. “A lot of those turnovers were unforced – they made no sense. … But my job is to teach smart basketball and right now it doesn’t look like I’m doing a very good job. … This group does have a tremendous attitude and work ethic, and there’s a lot of fight left in them.</p>
<p>“I know in my heart these kids will get there and we will be ready for district.”</p>
<p>Hayden Hargrove was the Demons’ other high scorer, going 5-for-8 from the floor for 16 points. Santa Fe finished the game, shooting 19 for 37 from the field, against 25-of-44 shooting for Taos.</p>
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<p /> | Tigers rely on steady seniors to be team leaders | false | https://abqjournal.com/334855/tigers-rely-on-steady-seniors-to-be-team-leaders.html | 2 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal">We Want Freedom: A Life in the Black Panther Party</a> Mumia abu Jamal, Boston, South End, 2004</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">The Head Negro in Charge Syndrome: The Dead End of Black Politics</a> Norman Kelley, New York, Nation Books, 2004</p>
<p>Mumia abu Jamal’s membership in the Black Panther Party was used by the prosecution in his murder trial as a reason to sentence him to death in 1981. This questionable conduct by the prosecution and bench was but one instance in his trial for the murder of a policeman that can only be characterized as a miscarriage of justice. Since he was sentenced, Jamal has sat on death row, written commentary for various radio stations and websites, received a couple honorary degrees, spoken via tape recordings to high school and college commencements, and written several books.</p>
<p>His most recent book, We Want Freedom, is a history of the Panthers. Like other party memoirs/histories (from David Hilliard, Elaine Brown, Bobby Seale, to name a few), Jamal’s book is partly autobiographical. Yet, unlike those books, it is mostly a political, critical history of the party. Another aspect of this book that sets it apart from those other Panther books is that it is the first history written by a party member who was not in the leadership; it is written by a foot soldier. Consequently, it tells a story somewhat different than those written by the leadership. With all due respect to the Panther leaders, things look different to the foot soldiers in most organizations and the Panthers weren’t any different in that regard (although the differences weren’t that great).</p>
<p>Mumia does a great job placing the Panthers in the proper historical context. He starts with a brief history of various slave rebellions, relates anecdotes and historical evidence of various black self-defense groups, and then writes about the influence of Malcolm X’s speeches and writings on the BPP’s founders, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. This is where Jamal places the Panthers-an organization whose legacy lies with those African-Americans historically opposed to their oppression by the white-skinned capitalist class.</p>
<p>Given his status as a minor light in the Party-indeed more of a worker than a leader-Mumia relates his story of the Panthers in their heyday. Furthermore, his story emanates from Philadelphia, not Oakland or New York, which is where most other histories and remembrances of the Panthers were written. Consequently, he highlights Party activities that merited little mention in those other books. The Revolutionary People’s Constitutional Convention in 1970, the success of the Panther’s community programs in Philly and throughout the country are but two such examples.</p>
<p>What is truly unique to Mumia’s book, though, is the fact that he addresses the role that the US government’s counterintelligence operation known as COINTELPRO played in the Party’s demise. One of the ongoing debates among leftist historians in the US is the importance of COINTELPRO. There are those who belittle its effect, blaming the failures of the organizers and leaders for the New Left’s collapse, while others tend to blame the government for everything-a process which often leads to a paranoiac fascination with conspiracies that wind in endless loops. Mumia spins a line between these two extremes and places the government’s manipulations of Panther personalities via various dirty tricks in their proper historical place (manipulations that fueled the split between the Oakland and New York wings). All the while, he does not let the reader forget that the FBI and other law agencies were intent on destroying the Black Panther Party by any means necessary.</p>
<p>Another important aspect of Mumia’s book is that he addresses the role women played in the Panthers. Although he acknowledges that the actions of several male members did not match the ideals of the Party in terms of treating women equally and not abusing them sexually, Jamal makes it clear that it was the goal of Panther leadership to have all of its members treat women the same as they would men. Jamal further emphasizes the leading roles various women played in the Party after Newton, Seale, Cleaver, and other leaders had been jailed, exiled, or murdered. These women not only answered the call, states Jamal, they led the Party to greater things, building the community programs and, in Oakland, creating an electoral political organization.</p>
<p>True to the cornerstone of Panther philosophy, Mumia’s history emphasizes the role class plays in US society. Indeed, one of the primary differences between the Black Panther Party and other nationalist organizations (organization that were termed reactionary nationalists by the Panthers and others on the left) was its insistence that the only true African-American nationalism had to be a revolutionary nationalism that based its thoughts in the economic history of Black Americans, from slavery to today’s situation of permanent lumpenism for much of Black America.</p>
<p>If one looks back at the mainstream civil rights movement that existed during the Black Panther Party’s time, they won’t find very many leaders who understood the role that class plays in US society. Indeed, one could argue that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was probably the only one. Unfortunately, Dr. King met his end as prematurely as many of the Panthers, thanks to COINTELPRO and the racism of US society. Also, like the Panthers, once he was gone, there was no one left who could truly carry on his work.</p>
<p>This is the underlying concept of Norman Kelley’s latest book, The Head Negro in Charge Syndrome: The Dead End of Black Politics. Kelley, the author of the Nina Halligan noir soul mystery series and a writer on the music business and African-American politics, argues quite convincingly that Black politics in America has become a politics devoid of content that not only fails to deliver, but can’t deliver the goods it promises. Furthermore, writes Kelley, the “post-civil-rights leadership has been politically co-opted and reduced to functional irrelevance.” This has occurred across the black political spectrum, from the NAACP to Louis Farrakhan, continues Kelley, leaving the supposed constituency of these groups and individuals with nothing but empty symbols like the Million-Man March and Al Sharpton’s 2004 political campaign.</p>
<p>Like Jamal, Kelley places the story he wishes to tell within the context of African-American history and the struggle for civil rights and liberation. Discussing the differences between WEB Du Bois and Booker T. Washington and the 1960s version of the NAACP and Black Power, Kelley makes the argument that the dichotomization of these differences created a situation that made it difficult for black America to move forward after legal segregation was outlawed. As King, Du Bois, and Huey Newton knew only too well, it was the racial nature of the class system (or maybe the class nature of the racial system) in the US that keeps African-Americans from a true equality. Yet, as Washington and the Nation of Islam (NOI) have pointed out in words and deeds, it is necessary for black America to create a somewhat self-reliant economy if it truly intends on destroying (or upending) that class system Unfortunately, writes Kelley, the attempts at self-reliance by the NOI have not translated into an economy that can sustain much more than those who adhere to the mosque.</p>
<p>Deservedly, Kelley saves his harshest words for those African-Americans who have given their soul to the Democrats. After discussing Jesse Jackson and the role he has tended to play since 1984, when he ran for the Democratic nomination and then, after failing to win it, campaigned for Walter Mondale in a losing campaign. Since then, Jackson’s politics have become not only more nebulous, but more right wing. In part because of this transition, he no longer seems able to rally very many folks to his various causes. Al Sharpton fares no better in Kelley’s eyes. In fact, Kelley goes so far as to label Sharpton’s 2004 campaign, the Scampaign.</p>
<p>Kelley offers some potential answers to the dilemma of 2004 America. One, which he suggests after a discussion of the positive role singer James Brown played in the 1960s with his release of “I’m Black and I’m Proud” and other songs, is the idea that black musicians and performers should use their creative and economic clout to create their own economy, instead of selling out to the Hip-Hop pimps and the global capitalists that they work for. Another suggestion from Kelley revolves around black people withholding their vote in a very public way in order to get some results from the white establishment. Although this reviewer has little faith in US electoral politics, perhaps such an endeavor would produce results if it were done in the right way. However, it might be more fruitful if another grassroots party were to arise from the ashes of the ill-fated Panthers.</p>
<p>RON JACOBS is author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1859841678/counterpunchmaga" type="external">The Way the Wind Blew: a history of the Weather Underground</a>, which is just republished by Verso. It can be purchased by calling 1 800 233 4830.</p>
<p>He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Panthers and the Rest | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/07/10/the-panthers-and-the-rest/ | 2004-07-10 | 4 |
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<p>As the holiday season approached, the administration of Istanbul High School – an academy in Muslim-majority Turkey partly funded by the German government – took a highly unusual step. It instructed, according to an email obtained by Germany’s DPA news service, that Christmas this year should be kept under wraps.</p>
<p>No teaching of Christmas customs.</p>
<p>No celebrations.</p>
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<p>And certainly no Christmas caroling.</p>
<p>In fact, German officials confirmed, the school’s choir canceled its traditional Christmas concert performance at Germany’s consulate in Istanbul.</p>
<p>The school, at which many classes are taught in German, is prestigious in Turkey and counts at least three Turkish prime ministers as alumni. German taxpayers pay about 1 million euros annually to support it, and news of the restrictions quickly sparked an uproar in the heart of Europe, where a debate about conservative Islam is raging.</p>
<p>German politicians and social media pundits were attacking the Islamic-tinged and authoritarian government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan for allegedly creating an environment in Turkey – the birthplace of Saint Nicholas – in which Christmas has become politically incorrect.</p>
<p>In a statement since taken down from its website, the school’s administration insisted that it had not instituted a Christmas ban. Rather, it was responding, it said, to actions by German teachers – about 35 of whom work at the school – that could seem to promote Christianity.</p>
<p>The school said it had taken steps after the German teachers dealt with “Christmas and Christianity in a way which the curriculum does not provide for” and that “viewed from the outside opens the door to [accusations] of manipulation,” according to German media outlets. In an email to The Washington Post, Volker Schult, the head of the school’s German department, declined to comment.</p>
<p>But plenty of other Germans were commenting.</p>
<p>On Sunday, Germany’s Foreign Ministry called the incident “regrettable,” even as social media pundits and politicians across the political spectrum fumed.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“The German government mustn’t accept the Christmas ban by the Turkish authorities,” Markus Söder, a member of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), told the daily Bild. He later added, “Erdogan is consciously breaking the bridges to Europe.”</p>
<p>Andreas Scheuer, the CSU’s secretary general, said in an interview with Funke media group that the school actions were infringing upon religious freedom.</p>
<p>Speaking to Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel on Sunday, Left Party lawmaker Sevim Dagdelen called on Berlin to summon the Turkish ambassador and to send an official protest to Ankara.</p>
<p>“It shows how far the AKP’s Islamist madness is going, if even Christmas is declared a taboo at a school, which is sponsored with German tax money,” Dagdelen said, referring to Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party.</p>
<p>As the incident appeared to be spiraling into a four-alarm fire in the 24-hour news cycle, however, the German foreign ministry sought to calm things down. On Monday, ministry spokesman Martin Schäfer emphasized the importance of long-standing German-Turkish cultural relations and said Germany stood firmly by Turkey’s side in the face of recent terrorist attacks.</p>
<p>He expressed surprise that the issue had created such a huge media echo.</p>
<p>“We let the media know yesterday that we found it hard to understand and were surprised that apparently the school administration gave the instruction not to talk about Christmas, sing Christmas songs and not to discuss the subject matter,” he said. “But this is not a Christmas ban. … Nobody in Turkey is banning anyone from celebrating Christmas.”</p>
<p>He added that there have been fresh talks between the school administration, and Turkish and German officials and that “the problem” is “likely to be resolved shortly,” Schäfer said.</p>
<p>“I’m very confident that the school will soon inform you that hopefully all misunderstandings will have been resolved and that, of course, teachers at this school, which is rich in tradition, will be able to talk about German Christmas customs,” he said.</p>
<p>Turkish politicians, meanwhile, pushed back on social media, arguing that the issue was being blown out of proportion.</p>
<p>Tweeting an image of brightly lit Christmas trees in Istanbul, AKP politician Mustafa Yeneroğlu, wrote: “Some examples of christmas ban pictures in #Turkey. Should I ask for ramadan images in GER?”</p>
<p>germany-christmas</p> | The school that ‘banned’ Christmas ignites an uproar in Germany | false | https://abqjournal.com/912095/the-school-that-banned-christmas-ignites-an-uproar-in-germany.html | 2 |
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<p>Aug. 13 (UPI) — Video released Sunday shows actor <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Tom_Cruise/" type="external">Tom Cruise</a> injuring himself during a stunt on the set of Mission: Impossible 6.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2017/08/13/tom-cruise-injured-mission-impossible-6-stunt/" type="external">video shows</a> Cruise, who normally performs his own stunts, leaping off a ledge and onto the roof of another building with wired support from a contraption above. But the jump was a little short and Cruise doesn’t make the jump, but instead appears to hurt his leg before pulling himself up onto the roof.</p>
<p>Cruise is then <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/08/13/tom-cruise-seen-limping-after-mission-impossible-6-stunt-goes-wrong.html" type="external">seen limping</a> on set, but didn’t appear to be seriously injured.</p>
<p>The 55-year-old movie star is well-known for performing risky stunts on the set of his movies.</p>
<p>In 2011, during the filming of Mission: Impossible 4, Cruise scaled the 2,723-feet tall Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, known as the tallest man-made structure in the world. The stunt was considered so risky that the initial insurance company for the movie didn’t want to insure the stunt. But Cruise wanted to do the stunt, so the insurance company was fired and a <a href="http://collider.com/tom-cruise-fired-mission-impossible-insurance-company-to-do-burj-khalifa-stunt/" type="external">new one was hired</a> to go through with the famous stunt.</p> | Video shows Tom Cruise injuring self while filming stunt on 'Mission: Impossible 6' | false | https://newsline.com/video-shows-tom-cruise-injuring-self-while-filming-stunt-on-mission-impossible-6/ | 2017-08-14 | 1 |
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<p>WASHINGTON — Congress’ top Republicans on Monday endorsed investigations into the CIA’s belief that Russia meddled in last month’s election to help Donald Trump win, suggesting potential battles ahead with the incoming commander in chief over Moscow and U.S. intelligence.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Trump said he would announce his choice for secretary of state Tuesday morning. He has chosen Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, two people close to Trump’s transition said Monday night, insisting on anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the decision ahead of that announcement.</p>
<p>Congressional GOP leaders steered toward a path contrasting starkly with the president-elect’s belittling dismissal of the CIA and his past praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The Russians are not our friends,” declared Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.</p>
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<p>The Senate’s intelligence panel, led by Richard Burr, R-N.C., will conduct a bipartisan inquiry, according to McConnell, who also expressed support for a related probe by the Armed Services Committee, chaired by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Though declining to say whether he believes Russia tried tilting the election toward Trump, McConnell said, “I hope that those who are going to be in positions of responsibility in the new administration share my view” about Moscow.</p>
<p>Shortly afterward, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., released a statement backing an investigation the House Intelligence Committee has already started on cyber threats posed by foreign countries and extremist groups. He called any Russian intervention “especially problematic because under President Putin, Russia has been an aggressor that consistently undermines American interests.”</p>
<p>Underscoring the possible collisions ahead between Trump and the men leading his party in Congress, McConnell and Ryan struck tones markedly more confrontational toward Russia than he has.</p>
<p>Trump on Sunday called the CIA’s contention “ridiculous” and blamed the disclosures concerning its assessment on Democrats who he said were embarrassed over losing last month’s election.</p>
<p>The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., released a letter Monday to National Intelligence Director James Clapper complaining that recent reports of the CIA’s conclusion clashed with Clapper’s prior statement that he lacked “good insight” about the connection between Russian hacking of Democratic campaign documents and their release by WikiLeaks. Nunes requested a briefing on the subject for this week.</p>
<p>The GOP leaders expressed their views after a weekend in which Trump also said he would not need daily intelligence briefings, a staple of presidents’ days for decades and a flouting of a convention common for presidential transitions.</p>
<p>The president-elect continued his cavalcade of meetings in his Trump Tower offices in New York on Monday with potential appointees for his new administration and other leading GOP, congressional and corporate figures. Among them was Carly Fiorina, who unsuccessfully vied with Trump this year for their party’s nomination.</p>
<p>Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, was there to discuss national security issues and is seen by some Trump advisers as a candidate to be director of national intelligence, overseeing the government’s 17 intelligence agencies. She chaired an external CIA advisory board under President George W. Bush but has not worked for the federal government.</p>
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<p>Fiorina said her conversation with Trump included “hacking, whether it’s Chinese hacking or purported Russian hacking.”</p>
<p>Others meeting with Trump included moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, No. 3 House GOP leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, another GOP presidential contender whom Trump defeated.</p>
<p>The campaign chairman for defeated Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton urged the Obama administration Monday to reveal what it knows about any Russian efforts to help Trump win. John Podesta, whose emails were stolen and posted online, said the administration “owes it to the American people” to release details of the intrusions, which included the hacking of Democratic Party files.</p>
<p>Podesta said the Clinton campaigns also supports a call by 10 of the 538 members of the Electoral College for Clapper to provide information that intelligence agencies have gathered on the subject.</p>
<p>All 10 are unlikely to vote for Trump when the Electoral College meets next Monday. Nine are Democrats, and Texas Republican Chris Suprun has said he won’t vote for Trump.</p>
<p>Other Democrats calling for congressional investigations of Russia’s role in the elections include House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.</p>
<p>“There must be no equivocation or ignoring the seriousness of the intelligence community’s conclusion about Russia’s actions,” she said.</p>
<p>McConnell said he has “the highest confidence” in U.S. intelligence agencies and said it “defies belief” that Senate Republicans would be reluctant to scrutinize Russian tactics. He recounted Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, said Baltic nation leaders are nervous about Moscow and pointedly praised NATO, the alliance that Trump criticized repeatedly during his campaign.</p>
<p>“I think we ought to approach all of these issues on the assumption that the Russians do not wish us well,” McConnell said.</p>
<p>In a nod to the Trump assertion about Democrats’ motives, Ryan said the congressional inquiries “should not cast doubt on the clear and decisive outcome of this election.”</p>
<p>As expected, Trump’s transition team formally announced he would name Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn, 56, to head the White House National Economic Council. The council provides policy advice to the president.</p>
<p>Trump’s team also said he’d picked Gen. John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security. Kelly is a former commander of U.S. Southern Command.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace and reporter Catherine Lucey contributed to this report.</p> | Top GOP leaders back congressional probes of Russia hacking | false | https://abqjournal.com/906903/trump-faces-an-early-test-with-republicans-over-russia.html | 2016-12-12 | 2 |
<p>By Nina Martin / ProPublicaThis piece originally ran on <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/why-north-carolinas-new-anti-lgbt-law-is-a-trojan-horse#update" type="external">ProPublica</a>.</p>
<p>When North Carolina lawmakers passed what is widely viewed as the most sweeping anti-LGBT law in the country, supporters said it was needed to fend off a potential wave of local laws like the transgender-friendly bathroom ordinance adopted by the city of Charlotte. Opponents have called the new law a “hostile takeover of human rights.”</p>
<p>But all the attention on who can use toilets and locker rooms has overshadowed what employment rights advocates say is an even more expansive change made by the law — one that could affect all workers in North Carolina, not just those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.</p>
<p>As has been widely reported, the North Carolina legislature rushed last month to pass HB2, <a href="http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2015E2&amp;BillID=H2" type="external">the Public Facilities Privacy &amp; Security Act</a>, which requires transgender people (and everyone else) to use public restrooms according to the biological sex on their birth certificate. It also bars local governments from passing <a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article61786967.html" type="external">ordinances like Charlotte’s</a>.</p>
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<p>The legislation doesn’t stop there, however. Tucked inside is language that strips North Carolina workers of the ability to sue under a state anti-discrimination law, a right that has been upheld in court since 1985. “If you were fired because of your race, fired because of your gender, fired because of your religion,” said Allan Freyer, head of the <a href="http://www.ncjustice.org/?q=workers-rights" type="external">Workers’ Rights Project</a> at the N.C. Justice Center in Raleigh, “… you no longer have a basic remedy.”</p>
<p>“The LGBT issues were a Trojan horse,” added Erika Wilson, a law professor at the University of North Carolina who co-directs a legal clinic for low-income plaintiffs with job and housing discrimination claims. The broader change hasn’t received much attention, she said, because “people were so caught up in [the LGBT] part of the law that this snuck under the radar.”</p>
<p>Conservative-leaning groups have been trying for decades to reduce the number of civil lawsuits in the states. In HB2, lawmakers accomplished this by adding a single sentence to <a href="http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_143/Article_49A.html" type="external">the state’s employment discrimination law</a> that says: “[No] person may bring any civil action based upon the public policy expressed herein.”</p>
<p>The language does not repeal North Carolina’s job-bias law, which continues to ban discrimination on the basis of race, sex, age, religion, or disability. But it forces workers seeking redress for discrimination into the federal system, where access is more difficult, the rules are much more complicated, and businesses often have significant advantages. Time, in particular, is on employers’ side: Under federal law, fired workers have just 180 days to file a claim, versus three years in state court. In the past, workers who missed the federal deadline — not uncommon for someone in emotional and economic crisis — could sue under state law instead, said Raleigh attorney Eric Doggett. Now, he predicted, many will discover they’re “hosed.”</p>
<p>The law’s impact could be “extraordinarily far-reaching,” said Julie Wilensky, California director of the national <a href="http://creeclaw.org/" type="external">Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center</a>. North Carolina doesn’t keep track of how many discrimination cases are filed under state law. But from 2009 to 2014, workers filed <a href="http://www1.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/charges_by_state.cfm" type="external">more than 28,100 federal charges</a> of workplace discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or 4.5 percent of the U.S. total (the state accounts for 3 percent of the U.S. population). Forty percent of the complaints involved race; 29 percent involved gender; and 22 percent involved age.</p>
<p>Business groups are playing down the impact of HB2. Bruce Clarke, CEO of Raleigh-based <a href="https://www.capital.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?site=cai&amp;webcode=cai-about&amp;wps_key=428f4ede-6c86-47a1-ad94-eb9c7c626103" type="external">Capital Associated Industries</a>, an employers’ association with more than 1,200 members, contended that eliminating the right to sue was “a technical correction” that brings “clarity to a confusing area of workplace law” and takes North Carolina’s anti-discrimination statute “back to its original intent.” He said most employment discrimination cases don’t have merit and don’t belong in the “mosh pit” of state court. “They’re people that are mad, they’ve had their feelings hurt, they believe they were treated unfairly in some way … I view them like divorces,” he said.</p>
<p>Republican Rep. Dan Bishop, one of the legislation’s sponsors, said in an email to ProPublica that the lawsuit provision was “incidental” to the larger effort to revamp North Carolina’s law on public accommodations and rein in local governments. “The overall function of the law is to restore the status quo before the City of Charlotte exceeded its legal authority,” he wrote. The change is not as sweeping as critics claim, he said, because federal law “provides its own robust remedies and plaintiffs usually allege both federal and state law claims in the same complaint.” He <a href="http://www.kmov.com/story/31561457/new-nc-law-affects-more-than-bathrooms-and-lgbt-rights" type="external">told WBTV</a> in Charlotte that the “exceedingly minor procedural difference” would have a minimal effect.</p>
<p>But in a post for lawyers on the <a href="http://www.employmentandlaborinsider.com/" type="external">Employment &amp; Labor Insider</a> blog, Winston-Salem attorney Robin Shea, had a different take: “We expect to see a flurry of summary judgment motions and motions to dismiss wrongful discharge claims based on this amendment.” Shea, partner in a firm that represents employers, called the change a <a href="http://www.employmentandlaborinsider.com/discrimination/n-c-bathroom-bill-has-a-bomb-for-wrongful-discharge-plaintiffs/" type="external">“bomb.”</a></p>
<p>From the moment that the Charlotte City Council voted on Feb. 22 to expand protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, opponents vowed to strike back. A month later, Republicans who control the legislature called a special one-day session to take place the next morning, March 23, and waited until just before the first committee hearings to make the text of the legislation public.</p>
<p>LGBT supporters had feared the bill would be broad, but they were stunned by just how far it went. In addition to requiring that people use bathrooms according to their biological sex, the measure preempted local governments from passing any laws aimed at protecting gay and transgender people, a provision that immediately nullified more than 20 existing local ordinances. Another provision banned local minimum wage laws like the $15-an-hour “living wage” ordinances <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/04/03/backers-15-minimum-wage-eye-more-states/82580906/" type="external">gaining traction</a> around the country. The state minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.</p>
<p>The passage affecting discrimination lawsuits amends the <a href="http://www.workplacefairness.org/file_NC" type="external">North Carolina Equal Employment Practices Act</a> (1977), which declares that it is against the state’s “public policy” to discriminate in employment “on account of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex or handicap.” The act — which applied to businesses with 15 or more employees — did not contain explicit language allowing alleged victims of job bias to sue. But since the mid–1980s, North Carolina courts have held that the “public policy” doctrine does give people who are wrongfully fired because of discrimination the right to recover damages under common (non-statutory) law. In the space of the 12-hour special session, HB2 “wiped out this entire body of law that’s been in place for the last 30 years,” said Chapel Hill lawyer Laura Noble.</p>
<p>Dan Blue, an African American lawyer from Raleigh who leads the Senate Democrats, views HB2 as part of a pattern of Republican-sponsored measures that <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/08/19/one-party-system-what-total-republican-control-of-a-state-really-means/" type="external">have eroded voting and other rights</a> for low-income people of color in recent years. “It’s a continuation of … a wide assortment of things that appear to be rolling back the clock of North Carolina so that it matches the sordid history of 40 to 50 years ago,” he said.</p>
<p>Others pointed to a burgeoning trend in which conservatives are exploiting a backlash against gay marriage and transgender rights to push legislation with broad ramifications. In Georgia, the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/georgia-governor-vetoes-religious-exemptions-bill-37976763" type="external">governor vetoed a bill</a> allowing faith-based organizations the ability to refuse to rent property, provide education or charitable services, or do any hiring that violates their religious beliefs. In Mississippi, a bill that passed the legislature last week would permit <a href="http://www.salon.com/2016/04/01/mississippi_vs_everyone_states_pushing_obscene_law_thats_not_only_anti_lgbt_it_could_also_force_women_to_wear_makeup/" type="external">discrimination against anyone who has nonmarital sex</a>. [Update, April 5, 2016: Mississippi’s Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed the bill into law.]</p>
<p>HB2 “is more evidence that the forces behind this backlash have a larger agenda than simply attacking marriage rights for same-sex couples,” said Katherine Franke, director of Columbia Law School’s <a href="http://web.law.columbia.edu/gender-sexuality" type="external">Center for Gender and Sexuality Law</a>. “They also seek to unravel protections against race discrimination in public accommodations and other contexts.”</p>
<p>Last week, the ACLU and others went to court to contest the parts of HB2 that target bathrooms and to overturn local LGBT ordinances, arguing that they violate the U.S. Civil Rights Act and U.S. Supreme Court precedent. But the complaint doesn’t address the provisions affecting the right to sue under state law.</p>
<p>Clarke said that if workers-rights advocates and Democrats don’t like what HB2 did, they should go back to the legislature. “Go create an agency,” he said. “Go put order to this chaos.”</p>
<p>ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom.</p>
<p /> | Why North Carolina’s New Anti-LGBT Law Is a Trojan Horse | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/why-north-carolinas-new-anti-lgbt-law-is-a-trojan-horse/ | 2016-04-06 | 4 |
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<p>Jurors heard from Jackie in a recorded deposition played in a federal courtroom here Monday, her first public remarks since shortly after Rolling Stone published her now-discredited allegations of a fraternity gang rape nearly two years ago. Jackie also issued a statement at the time the Rolling Stone article published in November 2014 and spoke to The Washington Post in a series of interviews in the weeks that followed.</p>
<p>At issue in the defamation case against Rolling Stone is whether the magazine and the article’s reporter intentionally smeared Nicole Eramo, then a U-Va. associate dean who was in charge of the school’s sexual assault prevention programs. Eramo argues that Rolling Stone inaccurately portrayed her as indifferent to sexual assault, that it knew that elements of its article weren’t true before it published and that the material the reporter gathered was made to fit into a predetermined narrative about how schools mishandle sexual assault cases.</p>
<p>By the time Jackie spoke with reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely, she was a U-Va. junior and had for two years told friends and members of the U-Va. community that she was sexually assaulted at a fraternity party. She had also gone to Eramo seeking help. Erdely testified last week that she believed Jackie’s detailed account of the ordeal.</p>
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<p>Jackie said during the taped deposition that she stands by the account she gave Rolling Stone and The Post in 2014 and believed it was true at the time. But she also testified that she suffers from Post-traumatic stress disorder and has memory loss and can no longer recall specific details.</p>
<p>In the taped testimony, Jackie said she felt pressured to cooperate with the reporter on the article and told friends that she no longer wanted to be included in it after learning that her alleged gang-rape would be central to the narrative.</p>
<p>“When Sabrina told me my experience was going to be the focal point in the article, I was uncomfortable with that,” Jackie said. “I was feeling scared and overwhelmed and unsure of what to do.”</p>
<p>In a meeting with Erdely, Jackie told the journalist that she cared deeply about Eramo and worried that her “job security” would be at stake after the article was published.</p>
<p>She told friends that Erdely had misrepresented her in the article and “skewed” some of her quotes out of context. She also stopped talking to the journalist for two weeks as the article neared publication.</p>
<p>“I felt like I was getting pressured from a lot of different people to do something I did not want to do,” Jackie said.</p>
<p>Jackie also went to U-Va. administrators before the article published to express concerns because she believed it would include “some unflattering facts or unflattering facets of Dean Eramo and I wanted to change that,” Jackie said in the recording. “So many students would be lost without her.”</p>
<p>The article portrayed Eramo and the university’s administration as callous and indifferent to reports of sexual assault, something that Eramo has said denigrated her life’s work, drew hate mail and threats, and affected her career.</p>
<p>The article was later retracted after a Charlottesville police investigation and a Columbia University Journalism School probe found significant inconsistencies in the 9,000-word article. Police concluded that the assault that Jackie described to Rolling Stone did not occur.</p>
<p>So far in the testimony played to the court, Jackie spoke in measured tones and did not address the veracity of her claims of being gang-raped, referring to it as her “experience.” Jurors heard the testimony, which was under oath, in an audio recording; the court has not released her full name or shown jurors her image. The Washington Post generally does not identify people who say they were sexually assaulted and has an agreement with Jackie not to identify her by her full name; though her narrative has been debunked, Jackie has maintained that she was sexually assaulted.</p>
<p>uva</p> | ‘Jackie’ stands by account, says she had concerns about Rolling Stone article | false | https://abqjournal.com/874041/jackie-stands-by-account-says-she-had-concerns-about-rolling-stone-article.html | 2 |
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<p>Baker Hughes on Friday reported that the <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=79687&amp;p=irol-rigcountsoverview" type="external">number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil Opens a New Window.</a> climbed by 3 to 768 rigs this week. However, the total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, fell by 5 to 949, according to Baker Hughes. September West Texas Intermediate crude was up 4 cents, or less than 0.1%, at $48.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $48.51 before the data.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2017 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Baker Hughes Data Show a Rise In The Weekly U.S. Oil-rig Count | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/08/11/baker-hughes-data-show-rise-in-weekly-us-oil-rig-count.html | 2017-08-11 | 0 |
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<p>WASHINGTON — Rebuffing a Republican president, a GOP-led Senate panel on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to foreign aid and deep reductions in spending on domestic programs such as education, housing and energy.</p>
<p>The powerful Appropriations Committee that oversees spending for the federal government approved the plan on a party-line vote.</p>
<p>In May, Trump proposed a cut of some 32 percent in spending in diplomacy programs such as economic aid and contributions to international organizations. The committee agreed on spending about $11 billion more than the president sought for $51.2 billion next year for the State Department and related agencies.</p>
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<p>While overall spending would remain frozen, bills funding education, housing and transportation, homeland security, and energy would all receive increases. An additional $3 billion would come from a trust fund that’s supposed to be dedicated to crime victims, and emergency war funding is sprinkled generously to limit cuts to foreign aid.</p>
<p>The Senate panel tries to work on a bipartisan basis. Both parties want a budget deal to increase spending but negotiations by top Capitol Hill leaders and the administration have yet to start in earnest. The fiscal year starts Oct. 1 and a stopgap funding measure will be required to avert a government shutdown.</p>
<p>“Negotiations within Congress and with the president may eventually produce a new budget agreement,” said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., who said that in the meantime it’s time to move ahead.</p>
<p>Democrats pressed for higher spending but are working cooperatively in crafting bills under Cochran’s plan.</p>
<p>The move by the Senate panel is in sharp contrast to action in the House, where Republicans are pushing budget and spending plans that would increase the Pentagon’s budget by about $70 billion above current levels and cut most domestic agencies, though not as sharply as Trump would like.</p>
<p>Trump had proposed adding $54 billion above an existing limit on Pentagon spending and would finance the increase through dramatic cuts to foreign aid and domestic accounts such as grants to states, environmental programs, and infrastructure.</p>
<p>Complicating matters are a pair of spending “caps” set in law under a failed 2011 budget and debt deal. If Congress tries to spend above the limits, automatic across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration would cut their efforts back. Increasing the caps requires votes from Democrats, however.</p>
<p>Those caps mean the Senate is sticking to a $595 billion budget for the annual Pentagon funding bill; the companion House version weighs in at $650 billion.</p>
<p>The work on spending bills is running on a parallel track to the annual budget debate, which is designed to clear a path for a GOP effort to overhaul the tax code this fall.</p> | Senate panel rejects Trump cuts to foreign aid, domestic | false | https://abqjournal.com/1035562/budget-plan-faces-uncertain-fate-after-clearing-house-panel.html | 2017-07-20 | 2 |
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<p>American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss as the property and casualty insurer booked huge catastrophe losses, and said it set aside $836 million to meet losses related to prior-year accident claims.</p>
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<p>The company's shares were down 2.3 percent at $63.51 in extended trading on Thursday.</p>
<p>Hefty losses that surface from prior-year claims have been an ongoing issue for the New York-based insurer, which is the largest U.S. underwriter of commercial property and casualty policies.</p>
<p>In February, the insurer posted a bigger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss, largely due to a $5.6 billion reserve charge to cover possible future claims related to long-term risks on U.S. commercial insurance policies it has already written.</p>
<p>AIG agreed in January to pay about $10 billion to a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc to take on the bulk of the risk associated with those policies. The Berkshire deal followed a $3.6 billion increase to reserves chalked up by AIG in the last quarter of 2015.</p>
<p>Chief Executive Officer Brian Duperreault, widely hailed in the industry as a turnaround expert, took charge of the company in May. He replaced Peter Hancock, who said in February that he would step down after the insurer's financial performance frustrated shareholders and the insurer's board of directors.</p>
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<p>AIG conducts quarterly reviews of reserves for its various lines.</p>
<p>In August, AIG Chief Financial Officer Sid Sankaran said the insurer had boosted the number of reviews it conducted during the second quarter, compared to the previous year. The insurer reviewed about $16 billion in total reserves, in challenging areas such as medical malpractice and environmental, Sankaran said at the time.</p>
<p>In the third quarter ended Sept. 30, the insurer recorded pre-tax catastrophe losses of $3 billion related to hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, in line with previously disclosed estimates.</p>
<p>Insurers and reinsurers across United States had issued profit warnings in the wake of the hurricanes that tore into parts of the country, while ravaging several islands in the northern Caribbean.</p>
<p>AIG swung to a net loss of $1.74 billion, or $1.91 per share, in the quarter, compared with a profit of $462 million, or 42 cents per share, a year earlier.</p>
<p>Operating loss was $1.22 per share compared with an operating profit of $1.01 per share in the year-ago period.</p>
<p>Analysts had expected a loss of 79 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.</p>
<p>Operating expenses, however, fell 15.3 percent to $2.15 billion, partly cushioning the blow from catastrophe losses.</p> | AIG swings to quarterly loss, adds $836 mln to reserves | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/02/aig-swings-to-quarterly-loss-adds-836-mln-to-reserves.html | 2017-11-02 | 0 |
<p>photo: &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/joiseyshowaa/"&gt;jerseyshowaa&lt;/a&gt; via flickr.</p>
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<p>Editor’s Note: A weekly roundup from our friends over at <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/" type="external">TreeHugger</a>. Enjoy!</p>
<p><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/2-dem-senators-wont-seek-reelection-climate-bill.php" type="external">Two Democratic Senators Won’t Seek Reelection: Bad News For Climate Bill?</a></p>
<p>The headlines have been filled with the news that three prominent Democratic politicians—two of them senators—won’t be seeking reelection in the midterm elections this year. So how might the decisions of Chris Dodd, the well-known senator from Connecticut, and Byron Dorgan, of North Dakota, affect the still-uncertain future of the climate bill? It actually may be a good thing.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/epa-approves-new-mountaintop-removal-coal-mine.php" type="external">EPA Approves One New Mountaintop Removal Coal Mine, Finds ‘Path Forward’ for Second</a></p>
<p>Six days into 2010 and the battle over mountaintop removal coal mining is set to start up again. Yesterday afternoon the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it had found “a path forward on two coal mining operations in West Virginia.” The two operations are both mountaintop mines, one in Lincoln County, one in Logan County. By early evening green groups, from the establishment to grassroots, denounced the EPA decision.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/murkowski-amendment-epa.php" type="external">A Dangerous Quid Pro Quo? EPA to Give Up CO2 Regulation for a Clime Bill?</a></p>
<p>Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) will soon be allowed to offer an amendment to Senate debt legislation to strip the EPA of its ability, given to it under a Supreme Court decision and the Endangered Species Act, to regulate greenhouse gas emissions for one year. Murkowski, who sits on the powerful Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and is fervently against allowing EPA to cut greenhouse gas emissions, has been pushing the amendment for over a year.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/copenhagen-game-changer.php" type="external">Failure Yes. But Copenhagen Still a Game Changer</a></p>
<p>Last month’s climate change summit in Copenhagen, which inspired so much expectation, seems to have pleased no one. Asked to describe their feelings post-Copenhagen in one word, TreeHugger readers responded with words like “disappointed,” “cop-out” and “fail.” Many people have described COP15 as a resounding failure, and maybe it was – but maybe not…</p>
<p><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/study-finds-cross-border-cooperation-reduces-conservation-costs-by-45-percent.php" type="external">Study Finds Cross-Border Cooperation Reduces Conservation Costs by 45%</a></p>
<p>Most conservation studies focus on biodiversity, but to be successful in a real-world application, they must also consider the cost of research and protection programs. A new study that looked at conservation programs in the Mediterranean region has found that cross-border cooperation can increase program effectiveness while significantly reducing the expense.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/north_dakota_thnn.php" type="external">North Dakota Threatens Suit Against Minnesota, For Even Thinking About Future Carbon Cost</a></p>
<p>Two years ago Minnesota made it a rule that electric utilities and power distributors should plan for future capacity expansions and so on by ‘taking into account the possibility of a carbon tax.’ Minnesota currently imports a great deal of North Dakota coal as well power generated from North Dakota coal. Thought being that coal-juice could suddenly get more expensive in the future, requiring a rate increase that impacts consumers adversely. The legislature’s intent was to plan for one plausible future direction, protective of citizen interests. But the ND Attorney General has chosen to intercede on behalf of Big Coal, saying, in effect, that he is considering a law suit to stop Minnesota planning for a future where the true cost of coal burning is taken into account. Interstate Commerce Clause of Constitution….blah blah blah.</p>
<p /> | News From TreeHugger: More Mountaintop Coal Mines, COP15 a Game-Changer in Israel, N. Dakota Threatens to Sue Minnesota Over CO2 | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/01/news-treehugger-more-mountaintop-coal-mines-cop15-game-changer-israel-n-dakota-t/ | 2010-01-07 | 4 |
<p>Former President Obama hasn’t stopped working for the American people just because he is out of office. He has some important and exciting plans in the works which may significantly benefit U.S. relations with the rest of the world. Obama announced via video on Wednesday that he will be hosting civic leaders from around the world in Chicago next month to take part in the inaugural Obama Foundation Summit.</p>
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<p>The purpose of the summit is for world leaders to exchange ideas and learn from one another. Obama said:</p>
<p>‘We want to inspire and empower people to change the world. And we hope you’ll be a part of it.’</p>
<p>The city of Chicago will also house Obama’s presidential library and his presidential center. Obama has watched President Trump take aim at several of his policies and accomplishments he set forth while in office. Congress made a strong goal of repealing the Affordable Healthcare Act, and Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord. DACA was also passed under Obama, and Trump is pulling the country out of that decision as well, which will be detrimental to immigrants who arrived in the country illegally as children.</p>
<p>Obama has been vocal about many of Trump’s destructive policies as they have risen about, and he has tried to assure the American people that a better future for the country is possible. He has asked people &#160;to “believe not in my ability to bring about change, but in yours.”</p>
<p>In regards to the Chicago Summit in October, Obama and his wife, Michelle, have said that they want to “hear directly from the future leaders we want to cultivate.”</p>
<p>In his video announcement, Obama also said:</p>
<p>‘And what makes me so hopeful, so optimistic, is that so many of you have&#160;shown up, dived in and embraced the kind of active citizenship&#160;that makes our democracy work.’</p>
<p>Kudos to Obama for continuing to show up to make the world a better place. Many people could learn from his strong humanitarian spirit and desire to make a difference, especially Trump and the GOP right now.</p>
<p>The summit will take place on Oct. 31 and Nov.1, and is expected to bring hundreds of leaders from around the world. <a href="http://amp.fox32chicago.com/news/local/obama-to-bring-civic-leaders-to-chicago-in-october" type="external">Obama said</a>:</p>
<p>‘In the weeks and months ahead, we’ll be kicking off more initiatives and opportunities for people like you to get involved with the Obama Foundation’s mission. That mission is simple: We want to inspire and empower people to change the world.’</p>
<p>Featured image by&#160; <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/805230142" type="external">Jefta Images/Barcroft Images/Barcroft Media via Getty Images</a></p> | Obama Makes Career Announcement That Has America Cheering; Trump Blows Gasket | true | http://bipartisanreport.com/2017/10/03/obama-makes-career-announcement-that-has-america-cheering-trump-blows-gasket/ | 2017-10-03 | 4 |
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<p>The new benefits, scheduled to begin in 2018, are part of an increasing shift in the federal entitlement program, from its half-century tradition of mainly covering treatment when beneficiaries are sick to paying to try to keep them healthy. The strategy to avert diabetes also is the first disease-prevention effort, tested under part of the Affordable Care Act, that federal officials have concluded is worthwhile to adopt nationwide.</p>
<p>The decision was announced as part of an annual update, released Wednesday, in the fee schedule for doctors and other health-care practitioners who care for the 55 million Americans insured through Medicare because they are 65 or older or have disabilities.</p>
<p>In other changes included in the announcement, starting in January, Medicare will pay more for primary-care doctors to manage patients’ chronic diseases as well as for collaboration between those doctors and mental health professionals. These improved payments, expected to total $140 million in their first year, are other ways that Medicare is encouraging certain models of health care.</p>
<p>“What if we could slow – or even reduce – the number of people developing diabetes in the first place?” Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a blog post accompanying the new policies. “What if by focusing on primary care and prevention, we could help people live healthier lives while reducing the costs to the health system and beneficiaries?”</p>
<p>Across the health-care system, evidence has accumulated over the years that preventive treatment is good for patients but does not always save money. Yet in deciding to incorporate the diabetes-prevention strategy as a Medicare benefit, federal health officials cited findings that it lowered Medicare spending by $2,650 per person over 15 months – less than the ACA experiment’s cost.</p>
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<p>Under the experiment, which began in 2013, Medicare gave money to YMCAs and other nonprofit organizations in eight states to work with older Americans who had pre-diabetes. Participants attended group meetings with a lifestyle coach who taught them to improve their diets, increase their physical activity and change their behavior in other ways that helped them control their weight – which can help prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes.</p>
<p>Once the benefit begins, organizations running such prevention programs will need to be approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p>
<p>Federal health officials noted that more than 11 million people 65 and older – about 1 in 4 – have diabetes, putting them at risk of serious medical complications and increasing Medicare’s spending. Officials estimate that Medicare will spend $42 billion more this year on people with diabetes, compared with what it would have spent if they did not have the disease.</p>
<p>diabetes-repeat</p> | Medicare to start paying to help prevent diabetes | false | https://abqjournal.com/880895/medicare-to-start-paying-to-help-prevent-diabetes.html | 2 |
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<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
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<p>It's not every year we have a presidential election and both major-party candidates have made a point to mention coal in their stump speeches as they travel the country. The Republican candidate, Donald Trump, has gone so far as to say he'll bring back coal jobs with less regulation and bettertrade deals. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, wants to continue a transition from coal to cleaner forms of energy like wind and solar. They couldn't be more different in the policies they would put in place, something investors need to keep in mind.</p>
<p>But coal isn't as easy to understand as a few lines from a stump speech. It's an energy source with structural challenges that may go against other forms of U.S. energy and it's important to frame the discussion going on in politics with the reality in energy. It's nice to talk about bringing back U.S. energy, particularly in hard hit regions known for coal mining. But is that really possible?</p>
<p>It's a hard truth, but the biggest reason the coal industry is in trouble in the U.S. is the growth of U.S. natural gas production. That's right, U.S. natural gas production is killing U.S. coal production.</p>
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<p>Natural gas is so abundant and so cheap that utilities aren't even thinking about building coal plants. In fact, coal plants are being shut down left and right because the average U.S. coal plant is over 40 years old. Since electricity generation accounts for the vast majority of coal consumption, the rise of natural gas can directly be blamed for the decline of coal.</p>
<p>The chart below shows how rapidly natural gas has grown and how coal consumption by power plants has declined.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/indicators/us_coal_consumption_for_electricity_generation_all_sectors" type="external">US Coal Consumption for Electricity Generation in All Sectors</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>It's not likely Trump or anyone else can reverse the trend.</p>
<p>The challenges facing coal producers like Cloud Peak Energy (NYSE: CLD), CNX Coal Resources (NYSE: CNXC), and Westmoreland Coal (NASDAQ: WLB) aren't going away anytime soon either.Coal fired power plants have been shut down across the country, including 18 GW, or 4.6% of the country's coal powered electricity capacity, shut down in 2015 alone. And the power plants can't be turned on because the president says so. Ramping up coal consumption would require the U.S. to accept a big increase in harmful emissions and higher electricity costs because of the cost to bring decades old coal power plants up to date.</p>
<p>Plus, a rise in coal consumption would be directly offset by a decline in natural gas consumption. And that would mean thousands of natural gas workers would find themselves out of jobs. Trading natural gas jobs for coal jobs seems like a poor trade, meaning the U.S. isn't going to drive a coal recovery without majorsacrificeselsewhere in the economy.</p>
<p>The working thesis among coal companies just a few years ago was that the booming economies of China and India would have a growing demand for U.S. coal, keeping the industry afloat even if U.S. demand declined.</p>
<p>In the chart below you can see that the thesis of rising exports worked until 2012. But in the past four years exports of U.S. coal have dropped 65%.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/indicators/us_coal_exports_mer" type="external">US Coal Exports</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts</a></p>
<p>China and India have chosen to produce their own coal rather than import it from the U.S. and are actually starting to slow coal consumption altogether. Poor air quality in China and low cost renewable energy has caused a shift in energy from coal to cleaner sources and that's contributed to a decline in U.S. coal export.</p>
<p>No matter the reason countries are slowing imports of U.S. coal, they simply don't want the coal we have to offer. And that's going to keep a cap on any potential recovery in the industry.</p>
<p>The reality is that saving the coal industry would require a massive increase in domestic or international demand -- or more likely both. But there's nothing to indicate either will happen, no matter what the president does.</p>
<p>U.S. coal demand has suffered because of an explosion in natural gas production and there's no gain, political or economic, to ending that trend. Internationally, India and China are needed to increase coal exports and neither country has shown interest in being dependent on U.S. coal.</p>
<p>It's nearly impossible to see how Donald Trump, or anyone else, could save the U.S. coal industry. That's the hard truth of this former powerhouse energy source.</p>
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<p>If you want to read a cautionary tale about whether Israel will attack Iran, I suggest Kurt Eichenwald’s “500 Days,” which is not about that question at all. It describes how a determined George W. Bush took the United States to war in Iraq.</p>
<p>“This confrontation is willed by God, who wants us to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a new age begins,” Bush told a bewildered French President Jacques Chirac. For some reason, Chirac thought Bush sounded fanatical.</p>
<p>Benjamin Netanyahu is not one who sees himself willed by God to take on Iran – he is much too secular for that – but there is ample reason to think he sees himself as the savior of the Jewish people, what the Israeli novelist David Grossman has called his “megalomaniacal” vision.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Netanyahu insists that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon to most likely use against Israel. He points to the repellent anti-Semitic and anti-Zionistic statements of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and, most chillingly, to analogous statements made by Adolf Hitler.</p>
<p>For a time, few took Hitler seriously, either.</p>
<p>I pay some heed. The Holocaust is too monstrous a crime to be easily dismissed.</p>
<p>Seventy percent of Europe’s Jews were murdered and much of the world, preoccupied and not all that upset, did little about it. The charge of complicity, of apathy, of heroic indifference, applies not just to the nations of Europe but to the United States as well.</p>
<p>In 1939, as the Jews of Europe were running for their very lives, an emergency bill to admit 20,000 Jewish children as refugees was defeated in Congress. President Franklin Roosevelt’s cousin Laura Delano Houghteling summed up the national mood with a dinner party quip: “Twenty-thousand charming children would all too soon grow into 20,000 ugly adults.” (Her comment was discovered by the historian Rafael Medoff in the papers of the diplomat Joseph Grew at Harvard.)</p>
<p>So what happened once can happen again.</p>
<p>Anti-Semitism infects the brain; it is a kind of tertiary stage syphilis that induces madness. To deny the Holocaust is madness. To vow the elimination of a state is madness. But to pursue a nuclear weapon at the cost of harsh economic sanctions may or may not be madness. After all, Iran suffered about 1 million casualties in the war with Iraq that Saddam Hussein started in 1980.</p>
<p>It cleared minefields with children promised the toy of martyrdom. It, too, pays homage to history.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Netanyahu cannot rid himself of the past. It comes through his father, the historian Benzion Netanyahu, who was a scholar of anti-Semitism. It comes through the militant ideology of Ze’ev Jabotinsky, a pariah in his own day, something of a prophet in our own. It comes at him tactilely by thumbing through family picture albums – all those relatives, innocently smiling for the camera, and then gone when the page is turned.</p>
<p>History is Netanyahu’s daily briefing book.</p>
<p>But things have changed. Israel has been created, recognized and armed to the teeth. Above all, it has an avowed ally.</p>
<p>The president of the United States vows that Iran will not be permitted to develop a nuclear weapon.</p>
<p>Ahmadinejad plays cute with Iran’s intentions, but on CBS last week he waxed rationally: “Let’s even imagine that we have an atomic weapon, a nuclear weapon. What would we do with it? What intelligent person would fight 5,000 American bombs with one bomb?”</p>
<p>The man is starting to make some sense.</p>
<p>For almost a year, Netanyahu has been hinting that he will strike Iran’s nuclear installations.</p>
<p>The consensus in the American intelligence community is that Israel can do some damage and possibly delay the program; it cannot end it. The consensus in the Israeli intelligence community is the same.</p>
<p>In contrast to the silence of the American intelligence community (including retired military men) as Bush was preparing to rid Iraq of weapons it did not have, Israel’s retired intelligence chiefs have been leaking and shouting their disagreement with Netanyahu.</p>
<p>An airstrike someday, maybe – but not now. The din has been striking.</p>
<p>The story of George W. Bush’s march to war in Iraq shows how one man, enthralled by his own vision, can persist until, in exhaustion, his opposition collapses.</p>
<p>Netanyahu knows what he wants. But there is still time for Iran to back down before President Obama’s red line – no nuclear weapon – is crossed.</p>
<p>This is a war whose time has not yet come.</p>
<p>Email: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Copyright 2011, Washington Post Writers Group.</p> | God Has Not Willed It So Yet | false | https://abqjournal.com/135121/god-has-not-willed-it-so-yet.html | 2012-10-03 | 2 |
<p><a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-3Cx" type="external">21st Century Wire</a> says…</p>
<p>Every crisis gives birth to a new solution – and the technology, GMO and Pharma industries have taken this idea to religious levels.</p>
<p>But what price are we paying for riding along with these industries? Technology is moving so quickly that the population have become one giant commercial experiment in the new global crusade for efficiency and convenience (and profits).</p>
<p><a href="http://36s81n24kn0c1i9se62v6acw.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/RFID.png" type="external" /> DARPA and IBM claim they want to “fix the plumbing” of our clogged-up mobile data networks, as they unveil their new millimeter wave-length radio frequency relay stations powered by their new super “Geranium” chip technology.</p>
<p>It is unknown as yet what effects their new&#160;millimeter-wave wireless communication links will have on humans. Similar technology has &#160;already been deployed by the TSA in America through their body scanners which also use radiation-emitting microwave&#160;technology – devices which were quickly rolled out without being independently tested on animals, or humans for safety. In the case of full body scanners that use high frequency waves, it has been shown that this <a href="http://www.naturalnews.com/027913_full-body_scanners_DNA.html" type="external">millimeter wavelength technology can unzip and disrupt human DNA structure</a>s.</p>
<p>So what about the ultra low frequency&#160;wave spectrum which DARPA andf IBM plan to deploy on the population to help “unblock” our alleged clogged-up mobile data networks?</p>
<p>Smart meters&#160;also use low-energy radio&#160;frequency&#160;waves to transmit information over long distances, a questionable technology which has already reaped a serious public backlash over its potential health risks. Public action on this issue has slowed down the roll out of smart meters, for now.</p>
<p>But the risks of bathing the population in even more microwaves by harnessing an entirely new portion of the radio wave spectrum – all in order to speed up our iPhone and Android performance, is maybe something humanity should not rush into either.</p>
<p>Much more long-term research and debate must be done on the effects of RF’s and EMF’s on humans, animals, insects and their environment, but US defense giants DARPA, along with IBM, Apple, Samsung, AT&amp;T, Verizon, Vodaphone and the rest – appear unwilling to want to wait and study the ramifications because they are all in a race to get their technology to market.&#160;Was is their long-term plan for increasing our daily doses of radiation? Do they even have a plan? Their plan is to shift units. Are we all merely human guinea pigs then?</p>
<p>You decide, but don’t wait too long…</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Dean Takahashi <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/31/ibm-new-radio-chips-could-relieve-the-plumbing-bottlenecks-in-wireless-data-networks/#HWJRs2rLJzdgyAOV.99" type="external">Venture Beat</a></p>
<p>IBM has been pushing the limits on its hybrid silicon germanium chip technology for years, and next Tuesday it is announcing the fifth generation of the technology that is aimed at relieving communications bottlenecks.</p>
<p>As consumers and carriers try to jam more data over wireless networks, the network is getting clogged. To fix the plumbing with the technical equivalent of a plunger, IBM is creating its 9HP silicon germanium chip technology. And in a separate announcement, IBM researchers have also made a breakthrough in millimeter-wave radio technology. Together, both technologies could lead to fast mobile data networks.</p>
<p>The chips could be used to help mobile carriers move data through their networks. It could be used in applications such as WiFi, LTE cellular, wireless backhaul, and high-speed optical communications.</p>
<p>IBM has been developing silicon germanium chips — which fuse two different elements together, unlike the traditional silicon chips — since 1995. That has spurred a revolution in radio frequency performance, which, in turn, has led to wireless breakthrough technologies such as satellite global positioning systems, WiFi radios, and high-speed optical links. The new 9HP technology is a process in a chip factory that allows chip designers to take advantage of faster and more power-efficient components.</p>
<p>Those designers can create technologies such as millimeter-wave wireless communication links. IBM will unveil the technologies at the&#160;IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Symposium in Seattle next Tuesday.</p>
<p>“Silicon-germanium is one of the key technologies that have enabled wireless operators to keep up with the explosive growth in data traffic generated from mobile handsets,” said David Harame, an IBM Fellow. “Before silicon germanium, the high-performance chips used in base stations and optical links were built using expensive, esoteric processes. Silicon germanium provides that performance as well as integration and cost savings” because it uses conventional manufacturing technology.</p>
<p>Customers such as Semtech and Tektronix are using the silicon germanium technology to create wireless equipment.</p>
<p>IBM engineers have also created a millimeter wave transceiver for mobile communications and radar imaging applications. That transceiver brings together four different chips in a single package. The millimeter wave technology takes advantage of under-utilized low-frequency parts of the wireless spectrum. It can be used in the infrastructure for mobile networks in categories such as mobile back-haul, small cell infrastructure, and data center overlay network deployment.</p>
<p>The work was partly funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Strategy Technology Office.</p>
<p>READ MORE DARPA NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire DARPA Files</a></p> | We Are Human Guinea Pigs: DARPA & IBM help launch new low frequency microwave mobile data network | true | http://21stcenturywire.com/2013/06/02/we-are-human-guinea-pigs-darpa-and-ibm-help-launch-new-low-frequency-microwave-mobile-data-network/ | 2013-06-02 | 4 |
<p>My local paper reprinted an <a href="" type="internal">L. A. Times’ piece</a> on how the First Family consumes their (and influences our) Popular Culture. It notes that W. has an iPod (is that what he wears under his jacket?), with not only the expected roster of jingoistic country singers, but also Van Morrison, Aaron Neville and Creedence (“Fortunate Son?” Yeah, suuure). First Consumer Laura Bush is portrayed as a so modern “confirmed on-line shopper.”</p>
<p>But it was the article’s final twelve paragraphs on “Reading” that I found most interesting. Incurious George’s very short reading list runs from Thomas Wolfe’s “I am Charlotte Simmons” to right-wing Israeli Cabinet member Natan Scharansky’s book, “The Case for Democracy” which bases its arguments on the notion that “free” societies don’t make war with each other. (Well, well. I did not know that. I’d always assumed that countries with Nuclear weapons don’t attack each other.</p>
<p>Of course, the “Reading” section provides for the millionth example of the playing of the “Laura was a librarian and teacher” card. This, in turn got me thinking, “Just what is Teresa Heinz’ ‘real job?’ ” Heinz, of course, in a USA Today interview with two weeks to go in the heat of the presidential election campaign last October 19th, famously said, “Well, you know, I don’t know Laura Bush. But she seems to be calm, and she has a sparkle in her eye, which is good. But I don’t know that she’s ever had a real job — I mean, since she’s been grown up.”</p>
<p>To her credit Heinz did apologize, but the damage done ABB was fatal.</p>
<p>The TIME presidential poll conducted October 14th and 15th had it a 48% to 48% tie. The very same TIME poll conducted October 19th through 21st showed Bush leading ABB by 52 % to 47% – a five point swing in a week! Perhaps I was too hasty concluding that it was mostly the anti-Gay backlash that, against all rationality, returned Bush to the White House?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The Non-profit Empress</p>
<p>So, anyway, what is Teresa Heinz real job? (Yes, Teresa Heinz Kerry is history. From an article earlier this month in the Washington Times; “I just checked and she no longer uses her (entire) last name; only during the (presidential) campaign did she use Kerry,” campaign spokeswoman Tamara Rodriguez Reichberg said.)</p>
<p>Maria Teresa Thierstein Simões-Ferreira Heinz was born into a Portuguese upper-class family in October 1938 in colonial Mozambique. She graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg at the height of Apartheid there. She then graduated from Interpreters School in Geneva and is fluent in five languages.</p>
<p>In 1966, she married ketchup magnate Henry John Heinz III who went on to become a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and who later died in a 1991 plane crash. She was appointed a delegate to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit by President George H.W. Bush where she was reacquainted with John Kerry whom she married in 1995, after first changing her lifelong Republican registration to Democrat in 1993.</p>
<p>As a result of her inheritances from her family and her first marriage, she has personal wealth estimated at between $700 million and $1 billion. And, as head of the Heinz Family Philanthropies, Teresa Heinz controls endowments of over a billion along with all the influence that grants funded by this largesse brings.</p>
<p>And, that is her real job; a Philanthropist who gains political capital through the influence of her ability to impart money. Ten different colleges have given Heinz Honorary Degrees simply because of her munificence. Numerous nonfunctional non-profits vie for the honor of having her atop annual conference speaker’s lists.</p>
<p>Flying fossil-fuel burning, ozone-depleting jets from one gathering of sycophants to another; professing all the while to be an environmental champion (no big green is going to mention the empress’ new clothes); applying generous coats of greenwash to Democratswait a minute; there’s entirely too many people with that job description, many funded by Heinz herself. That’s it. My question is answered: Teresa Heinz is Nonprofit-Professional-in-chief.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Where Have You Gone Mr. “Two Americas?”</p>
<p>When last seen late November 3, 2004, John Edwards was vowing to “fight for every vote” while his running mate ABB was conceding as quickly as he denied using Botox; which is to say, light-years quicker than he responded to the Swift Boat idiocy.</p>
<p>Since then, Edwards appears to have dropped off the planet. His disappearance has been <a href="" type="internal">the butt of jokes on GOP lists</a>. Even as the Bush Administration fires salvo after salvo at litigants’ rights, the famed Trial Lawyer has been invisible.</p>
<p>Perhaps the “Breck Girl’s” inability to win any Southern states for the Democrats, including his own, was too much and he has prudently retreated to a secure, undisclosed location? Or perhaps it has been the “failed to fight for every vote” Democrats’ Senate genuflections before as gruesome a string of cabinet nominees we’ve ever seen that has proven too much?</p>
<p>MICHAEL DONNELLY is an environmental activist in Salem, Oregon. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p> | What is Teresa Heinz’s Real Job? Whatever Happened to John Edwards? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/02/19/what-is-teresa-heinz-s-real-job-whatever-happened-to-john-edwards/ | 2005-02-19 | 4 |
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<p>AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A self-styled street preacher was sentenced to death today in the killings of three down-and-out men lured by bogus job offers posted on Craigslist.</p>
<p>The jury that convicted Richard Beasley of murder recommended that he face execution. The judge had the option of reducing the sentence to life in prison.</p>
<p>Beasley, 53, was convicted of teaming up with a teenager in 2011 to use the promise of jobs on a southeast Ohio farm to lure them into robberies. Three men were killed, and a fourth who was wounded testified at Beasley’s trial.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The judge read the three death sentences in a hushed courtroom crowded with victims’ relatives, some of them holding back tears.</p>
<p>Beasley skipped the chance to speak to the judge before the sentencing. He asked to speak later, but the judge said that was his chance, and he passed on it. He listened to the verdict with his head on his chest, sitting in a wheelchair he uses for back pain.</p>
<p>Later, about to be sentenced on other crimes including kidnapping, Beasley said he sympathized with the families of victims but said he was innocent and expects to have his conviction overturned on appeal.</p>
<p>“This case will be reversed,” said Beasley, whose statement was cut short by the judge. She said he could comment on the sentencing only.</p>
<p>Beasley’s co-defendant, who was 16 at the time of the crimes, was too young to face the death penalty. Brogan Rafferty was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole on his conviction last year.</p>
<p>One victim was killed near Akron, and the others were shot at a southeast Ohio farm during bogus job interviews.</p>
<p>The slain men were Ralph Geiger, 56, of Akron; David Pauley, 51, of Norfolk, Va.; and Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon. All were looking for a fresh start in life, prosecutors said repeatedly during the trial.</p>
<p>The survivor, Scott Davis, now 49, testified that he heard the click of a gun as he walked in front of Beasley at the reputed job site. Davis, who was shot in an arm, knocked the weapon aside, fled into the woods and tipped police.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Beasley, who returned to Ohio from Texas in 2004 after serving several years in prison on a burglary conviction, claimed at trial that Davis had in fact pulled a gun on him in retaliation for Beasley serving as a police informant in a motorcycle gang investigation.</p>
<p>In arguing the sentence before the jury, both sides highlighted Rafferty’s case: The defense said his life sentence should factor into the jury’s deliberations but prosecutors said it shouldn’t because Rafferty’s age ruled out the death penalty entirely.</p>
<p>The jury recommended execution after hearing two hours of testimony from witnesses, including Beasley’s tearful mother, who were called to portray him sympathetically and press for leniency.</p>
<p>Carol Beasley testified that her son had a troubled childhood and suffered physical abuse by his stepfather. She also said she learned within the past year that her son had been sexually abused by neighborhood youngsters.</p>
<p>“I always felt there was much more than he told me,” she said.</p>
<p>As she testified, Beasley slumped forward, his chin on his chest and his right hand covering his eyes.</p>
<p>The defense also called a psychologist, John Fabian, who testified that Beasley suffers from depression, alcohol abuse, low self-esteem and a feeling of isolation, all possible results of a troubled, abusive childhood.</p>
<p>Prosecutor Jonathan Baumoel had urged jurors to consider the “enormous” weight of Beasley’s crimes as they considered his punishment, calling him “the worst of the worst.”</p> | Craigslist killer sentenced to death | false | https://abqjournal.com/184995/craigslist-killer-sentenced-to-death.html | 2013-04-04 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>Maybe Wolfe was right. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe home comes to you.</p>
<p>“Make your mistakes, take your chances, look silly, but keep on going. Don’t freeze up,” is a quote from the book.</p>
<p>After spending a large part of my adult life in the Land of Enchantment, I’ve found that even when you leave physically, New Mexico presents itself, and not just in thoughts about hiking to Williams Lake above the Taos Ski Valley or running into old friends like Taos rafting guide Steve Harris at Ohori’s Coffee Roasters in Santa Fe.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The tentacles of New Mexico stretch far. Roaming the East Coast for several months serves as a reminder.</p>
<p>Never been in the iconic New York Public Library, with its white lion statues on guard along the Fifth Avenue steps? Foods booths line 42nd Street, and tables in front are filled with people relaxing, eating and chatting.</p>
<p>Try it next time and venture to the magnificent third-floor Rose Main Library Reading Room. It re-opened in October after a two-year renovation project. Walking the perimeter around the tables, with students’ and other patrons’ heads down, you can take in paintings of local dignitaries and captains of industry.</p>
<p>“One of New York City’s most iconic locations, the majestic Rose Main Reading Room measures 78 feet by 297 feet – roughly the length of two city blocks – with 52-foot-tall ceilings displaying murals of vibrant skies and billowing clouds. This breathtaking Beaux-Arts space weaves Old World architectural elegance with modern technology,” states the New York Public Library website.</p>
<p>“For more than 100 years, the reading room has supported many internationally renowned writers, journalists, historians, Nobel Laureates, and Pulitzer Prize winners, as well as inventors, activists, and students in gathering information, advancing knowledge, honing their craft, deepening their understanding of the human experience, and advancing knowledge,” boasts the website.</p>
<p>If you were there from March 24 to June 28, New Mexico was there, too.</p>
<p>Off the reading room, a gallery exhibition, “View Points, Latin America in Photographs,” caught my eye. The exhibit contained works by such luminaries as Margaret Bourke-White, Walker Evans and Martín Chambi. I had just written about the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art in Santa Fe and Latin America has drawn me for several trips.</p>
<p>So why should I be surprised when two other wanderers with ties to Taos should be represented with their photos?</p>
<p>One of John Collier Jr.’s New Mexico photographs. (Andy Stiny/For The Journal)</p>
<p>One is John Collier Jr., who split his time between Taos and the West Coast, and did anthropological photographic studies in New Mexico, Peru and other places. His son, Robin, started KCEI-FM radio station in Taos just a few months ago after years of struggle. Robin and the whole family lived in Peru when Robin was a toddler and the photos are from Vicos, Peru, circa 1955.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Collier Jr., who died in 1992, was “a member of the renowned documentary photographic project of the Farm Security Administration of the Depression era” and was “best known for promoting the use of photography in anthropology,” according to his New York Times obituary.</p>
<p>“His book ‘Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method’ (1967) is widely regarded as a classic treatment of the subject. A revised edition, prepared by Mr. Collier with his son Malcolm, was published in 1986 by the University of New Mexico Press,” the obituary states. Two images from the book are included in the exhibit.</p>
<p>Collier Jr. drew inspiration from his photographer friend Paul Strand, whose work is also part of the library exhibit. He’s known for his Taos photos, including those of the famous San Francisco de Asis (Ranchos de Taos) Church whose muscular architectural shapes have attracted the eye of numerous artists over the years.</p>
<p>On the train to New York, a station stop piqued my interest. I googled Cos Cob, part of Greenwich, Conn. “Nobody knows what it (Cos Cob) means,” said a 2002 New York Times article.</p>
<p>Turns out that Englishman Ernest Thompson Seton, author and one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America, who later founded and built his “castle” home at Seton Village outside Santa Fe, had a 100-acre farm and home in Cos Cob. After a fence around his property was vandalized, the story goes, Seton invited boys from a local school, taught them woodcraft and camping, and the seeds for the scouts were planted.</p>
<p>“Ben Hur” sighting</p>
<p>Back in the city, I walked 50 blocks from my hotel to the Knickerbocker Bar &amp; Grill on East 9th Street to meet a high school friend for lunch. As I walked through Times Square, I approached a trio of New York City police officers standing nearby. NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia had been assassinated days earlier (on July 5) in the Bronx as she sat in a command vehicle writing a report.</p>
<p>“Watch your back,” one officer said to another as I approached and one quickly dropped his hand onto his sidearm. “Excuse me, I just wanted to offer my condolences for your fellow officer,” I said. They thanked me and relaxed.</p>
<p>At the Knickerbocker, I ran into novelist Bradford Morrow, whom I had met the previous year. Morrow, who teaches literature at Bard College, grew up in Denver and has spent time in New Mexico. His novel “Trinity Fields” is partially set in Los Alamos. His latest, “The Prague Sonata,” comes out in October.</p>
<p>At a Connecticut antique market, I spied a quintessential New Mexico-related treasure I decided I needed. It’s a framed, illustrated piece of sheet music of a composition called “Ben Hur” dedicated to the book’s author, New Mexico Territorial Governor Lew Wallace.</p>
<p>Even catching the 1962 award-winning movie “Requiem for a Heavyweight” starring Anthony Quinn on the Turner Classic Movies channel during moments of relaxation, New Mexico has a cameo. Punch drunk Quinn’s character is Luis “Mountain” Rivera, who hails from New Mexico. In the opening scene, he gets knocked out by the then Cassius Clay, appearing as himself.</p>
<p>“The Leopard Man” is set in New Mexico, and stars someone who is NOT Georgia O’Keeffe. (Andy Stiny/For The Journal)</p>
<p>What are the odds that I would stumble on two old movies set in New Mexico in the same week? I happened on the 1943 RKO horror vehicle “The Leopard Man” that makes clear its New Mexico setting early. A black leopard escapes in a small town after a publicity stunt and mauls to death a woman before the human killer in another death is captured after hiding in a black-hooded penitente procession. The movie is sprinkled with Spanish terms and portrays a very posh nightclub for a rural New Mexico town. Although low budget, the movie got decent reviews.</p>
<p>Maybe crossing an ocean to a New World when you were five years old, as I did, destines you to a life of movement. But wherever you go, you can be pretty sure New Mexico is not far behind, or ahead.</p>
<p>Northern NM is never far away, even in the Big Apple</p>
<p /> | Northern NM is never far away, even in the Big Apple | false | https://abqjournal.com/1039653/northern-nm-is-never-far-away-even-in-the-big-apple.html | 2 |
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<p>If you're like the majority of Americans, the findings of a <a href="https://nypost.com/2017/09/03/americans-work-harder-than-any-other-countrys-citizens-study/" type="external">new study</a> by NationalToday.com won't surprise you a bit: Americans work more than basically everybody else in the world (except South Korea), including our European counterparts. And we work a whole lot more than the French.</p>
<p>The survey of 2,000 Americans published right in time for Labor Day reconfirmed what has been <a href="https://nypost.com/2017/09/03/americans-work-harder-than-any-other-countrys-citizens-study/" type="external">true for decades</a>: Americans work more than the average European and many other first-world countries. In fact, when you add up all those long hours for the year, the average American outworks the average worker in Japan by 137 hours and UK workers by 260 hours, that's over three and six 40-hour weeks, respectively.</p>
<p>Then you've got the French, who famously have the most "generous" labor laws in Europe. The study found that Americans work by average a stunning 500 more hours per year. That's over twelve 40 hour weeks — or three months.</p>
<p>But does all our work pay off? Well, according to one measure, mostly? A 2014 <a href="http://blog.pgi.com/2014/07/winding-work-week-infographic/" type="external">study by PGi using data from the OECD</a> on the world's most productive employees (based on the ratio of GDP to hours worked) ranked America third overall. German workers took the top spot and, shockingly, the French came in second.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/which-country-has-the-most-productive-workers.html" type="external">Jessica Stillman</a> sums up some of the trends of some European countries experimenting with cutting down work weeks, partly motivated by "spreading the work around," including Sweden and Germany. Some studies, says Stillman, have shown " <a href="https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/why-working-more-than-40-hours-a-week-is-useless.html" type="external">the diminishing returns of consistently putting in more than 40 hours a week</a>, while some economists ( <a href="http://guardianlv.com/2014/07/google-ceo-larry-page-said-most-jobs-in-the-future-will-be-part-time/" type="external">and Google founders</a>) have repeatedly pointed out that with technology doing more and more of the heavy lifting when it comes to productivity, it might be wiser economically and socially (and hey, maybe even spiritually) if we all worked a bit less — say, <a href="https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/create-a-better-economy-work-less.html" type="external">30 hours a week</a>."</p>
<p>But is the hours worked to GDP ratio really an accurate measure of productivity? Economics is a messy science, with all kinds of factors at play, particularly when it comes to America's complex, small business-heavy, entrepreneurial economy, where sometimes you have to put in a lot of long, hard hours and don't see the financial gain until years down the line. In other words, that ratio might say we're third, but I bet many hardworking Americans (including <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheRealMikeRowe/posts/1330853343591472:0" type="external">future President of the United States Mike Rowe</a>) would beg to differ.</p>
<p>H/T <a href="https://nypost.com/2017/09/03/americans-work-harder-than-any-other-countrys-citizens-study/" type="external">The NY Post</a></p> | FACT CHECK: Yes, Americans Work Harder Than Everyone Else | true | https://dailywire.com/news/20611/fact-check-yes-americans-work-harder-everyone-else-james-barrett | 2017-09-05 | 0 |
<p>The United States on Monday announced a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture and arrest of Hafiz Saeed, the founder of the Pakistani militant group suspected of carrying out the deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/03/hafiz-saeed-bounty_n_1398693.html" type="external">according to the Associated Press</a>.</p>
<p>Saeed founded the Lashkar-e-Taiba in the 1980s to pressure India over the disputed territory of Kashmir. Though it was allegedly formed with Pakistani support, Pakistan banned the group in 2002, under pressure from the US. The Lashkar-e-Taiba continues to operate with relative freedom, though the US has designated it and its social welfare wing, the Jamaat-ud-Dawwa, as foreign terrorist organizations, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/03/hafiz-saeed-bounty_n_1398693.html" type="external">said the AP</a>.</p>
<p>The reward was announced by US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, while in India, and posted to the US government's Rewards for Justice website, <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jhEfXlAUnoid48DEgWGpBGTSaNLg?docId=CNG.0c65eda86da0c2637bc414347c9be156.9e1" type="external">said the AFP</a>. The bounty is the same amount as that offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the Afghan Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar. Only Al Qaeda's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri commands more: $25 million.</p>
<p>More on GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/france/120402/sarkozy-france-muslims-islamic-extremist-deportations-jew" type="external">France deports Muslims amid crackdown on Islamic extremism</a></p>
<p>Saeed, who lives openly in Pakistan, is "suspected of masterminding numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 166 people, including six American citizens," according to the government website. He has been speaking at rallies until recently, condemning Pakistan's cooperation with the US and protesting NATO drone strikes, <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jhEfXlAUnoid48DEgWGpBGTSaNLg?docId=CNG.0c65eda86da0c2637bc414347c9be156.9e1" type="external">according to the AFP</a>.</p>
<p>Saeed said, "We are not hiding in caves for bounties to be set on finding us. I think the US is frustrated because we are taking out countrywide protests against the resumption of NATO supplies and drone strikes," <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Lashkar-chief-Hafiz-Saeed-dares-US-says-he-is-not-hiding-in-caves/articleshow/12519814.cms" type="external">as quoted by The Times of India</a>.</p>
<p>More on GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/120402/indian-army-chief-v-k-singh-military" type="external">India's Gen. V.K. Singh alleges massive bribery scheme</a></p>
<p>India's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told reporters, "India welcomes the notification under the Rewards for Justice Program. It reflects the commitment of India and the United States to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attack to justice and continuing efforts to combat terrorism. It also sends a strong signal to Lashkar-e-Taiba and also its members and patrons that the international community remains united in combating terrorism," <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3276406.ece" type="external">according to Indian newspaper The Hindu</a>.</p>
<p>The move comes at a time when relations between the US and Pakistan are already tense, and a Jamaat-ud-Dawwa spokesperson said the bounty was "another attack by the US government on Muslims and Islam," <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/359161/us-bounty-on-hafiz-saeed-is-attack-on-islam-jamaatud-dawa/" type="external">according to Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune</a>.</p>
<p>More on GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/120328/rwanda-economic-growth-pulling-rwandans-out-poverty" type="external">Economic growth pulls Rwandans out of poverty</a></p> | Hafiz Saeed: US offers $10 million bounty for Pakistan militant | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-04-03/hafiz-saeed-us-offers-10-million-bounty-pakistan-militant | 2012-04-03 | 3 |
<p>“The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies?” A book by Jared Diamond</p>
<p>With “The World Until Yesterday,” polymath and popular science writer Jared Diamond is back with a sweeping and potentially controversial new work that aims to show readers what is missing from modern life.</p>
<p>A professor of geography at UCLA, Diamond has attracted criticism for his insistence that environmental factors explain the rise and fall of many of the world’s great civilizations. In the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” he argued that the advent of settled agricultural communities ultimately led to European dominance, while in “Collapse,” he contended that the downfall of great societies was linked to their failure to adapt to environmental changes.</p>
<p>His latest work moves away from environmental explanations and instead compares the lifestyles and customs of so-called traditional and modern societies. He aims to answer the book’s subtitle — “What Can We Learn From Traditional Societies?” — with a range of evidence from several small-scale societies around the world that have only recently begun to experience Westernization in earnest. Examining topics such as child-rearing, old age, conflict resolution, and nutrition and diet, Diamond asserts that while humans basically benefit from modernity, there are a number of areas in which traditional societies may have an edge.</p>
<p />
<p>To better know ourselves, Diamond believes, we can study the features of the traditional societies that are still in existence. “The world of yesterday wasn’t erased and replaced by a new world of today,” he writes. “Much of yesterday is still with us.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780670024810?aff=Truthdig" type="external" /></p>
<p>By Jared Diamond</p>
<p>Viking Adult, 512 pages</p>
<p><a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780670024810?aff=Truthdig" type="external" /></p>
<p>Until relatively recently, most humans lived in small, face-to-face communities where we knew everyone, and we rarely ventured beyond the confines of our villages or towns. Diamond reminds readers that ”&#160;‘modern’ conditions have prevailed, even just locally, for only a tiny fraction of human history; all human societies have been traditional for far longer than any society has been modern.”</p>
<p>From 6 million years ago until roughly 11,000 years ago, humans were hunter-gatherers, foraging for food and living in small groups. Then farming appeared. Agriculture further enabled population growth, which ultimately necessitated governments, first arising around 5,400 years ago.</p>
<p>State societies, Diamond argues, brought law and order to conditions of great insecurity, in which vigilante justice often kept warring groups locked in cycles of violence. Most of us are glad to surrender some measure of our liberty for the protection of the state. Yet when crimes occur, the anonymity of court proceedings and their resolution can feel unsatisfying. One fundamental “defect of state civil justice,” Diamond writes, is “that it is concerned with damages, and that emotional closure and reconciliation are secondary or irrelevant.”</p>
<p>Instead, he suggests emulating traditional practices of mediation in Papua New Guinea, which bring together aggrieved parties not only for the purpose of compensation but also to promote forgiveness and emotional closure. He describes an incident in which a boy was accidentally struck and killed by a minibus driven by a member of a different ethnic group. A mediator brought together the deceased boy’s family and the driver, averting a possible revenge killing while also brokering “emotional reconciliation between the two sides, and restoration of their previous relationship.”</p>
<p>To see long excerpts from “The World Until Yesterday” at Google Books, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=VP1JS2eWGbUC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=The+World+Until+Yesterday&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=U_wPUfesHKq5igLhkYGYDQ&amp;ved=0CDMQuwUwAA" type="external">click here</a>.</p>
<p>Diamond continues this approach throughout, describing where traditional practices have existed until very recently, noting which were worth eliminating — such as infanticide, which was prevalent because small, nomadic societies often could not support too many children in infancy — and which we could learn something from, such as diet and nutrition.</p>
<p>The catch is that many of the ways of life that Diamond suggests we imitate seem to disappear once traditional societies become integrated into the global economy. Diabetes, for example, is almost nonexistent in societies that depend on hunting and gathering or small-scale agriculture, but with the adoption of the modern Western diet, high in processed foods and fats, rates of the disease soar. Take the Nauru islanders of the Pacific, who in the 1920s abandoned their fishing and agricultural lifestyle for phosphate wealth. Today, in addition to obesity, two-thirds of the population over age 55 suffers from diabetes, less than a century after the disease first made its appearance.</p>
<p>Although Diamond is not an anthropologist by training, “The World Until Yesterday” covers much of the territory of an introductory anthropology class, where the principal concern is often to compare the everyday lives of people in traditional societies with our own, albeit without the implicit claims to progress in Diamond’s writings. Some parts of the book tread over familiar ground. A chapter on the evolution of religion, for example, offers standard explanations for the presence of religion in society: assuaging anxieties about the unknown or fostering obedience among citizens who fear divine punishments.</p>
<p>There are also important areas this study ignores, such as the diversity of gender roles and marriage practices around the world. These are notable for their absence only because of Diamond’s exploration of other topics that strike at the heart of what it means to be human. The culture wars over the definition of marriage could be informed by descriptions of traditional practices, which are so diverse that the idea that marriage has always been about one man and one woman is a mistaken assumption. Consider woman-marriage, for example, found in at least 40 pre-colonial African societies, in which one woman married another, often to maintain control of her own economic interests and to pass inheritances directly to her children.</p>
<p>Aside from some discussion of breast-feeding and child-rearing, women are nearly absent from Diamond’s account. Many anthropologists believe that women enjoyed greater equality with men in hunter-gatherer societies. Through foraging for food, they contributed more to the family’s economic well-being than women did after the rise of agriculture. But most of the cultural practices Diamond describes speak to a non-gender-specific humanity, giving little sense of women’s roles or gender dynamics. One reason for this may be that some of his examples are brief, when there could be more extensive stories from the rich ethnographic record he is clearly drawing from.</p>
<p>Still, Diamond’s examples from traditional societies show that many aspects of modern life may be maladaptive. For an audience that may consider the present moment uncritically, “The World Until Yesterday” reminds us that in the headlong rush to modernity, much has been lost. While noting that the advantages of modern society far outweigh the insecurities of traditional life, Diamond nonetheless makes a compelling case for the lessons that traditional societies have to teach us.</p>
<p>Rachel Newcomb is an associate professor of anthropology at Rollins College and the author of “Women of Fes: Ambiguities of Urban Life in Morocco.”</p>
<p>©2013, Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group</p>
<p /> | The World Until Yesterday | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-world-until-yesterday/ | 2013-02-06 | 4 |
<p>Have Christians Replaced The Jews As God's Chosen People? How Replacement Theology Has Corrupted The Church</p>
<p>And his own received him not - We all know the story fairly well by this point. For over a 1,000 years, the Old Testament foretold the coming of the Messiah. And it was very precise as to who this Messiah would be. Here are a few of the OT prophecies concering Messiah:</p>
<p>They call it 'Replacement Theology' Here is a good definition of Replacement Theology: "We believe that the international Church has superseded for all times national Israel as the institution for the administration of divine blessing to the world." <a href="javascript:;" type="external">source - Kenneth Gentry</a> And this from Randall Price: "a theological perspective that teaches that the Jews have been rejected by God and are no longer God's Chosen People. Those who hold to this view disavow any ethnic future for the Jewish people in connection with the biblical covenants, believing that their spiritual destiny is either to perish or become a part of the new religion that superseded Judaism." <a href="javascript:;" type="external">source - Randall Prince</a> Get the idea? Jews and Israel are out, Christians are in, end of story. Only, that's not the end of the story. In fact, it's not the story at all. At least not from how God see it.</p> | Have Christians Replaced The Jews As God's Chosen People? | true | http://nowtheendbegins.com/pages/israel/is-replacement-theology-true.htm | 0 |
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<p>Assuming Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2016, much of her popular support will be based on her image as an advocate of women’s rights. During her 2008 candidacy, the National Organization of Women (NOW) <a href="http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=92334" type="external">endorsed Clinton</a> based on her “long history of support for women’s empowerment.”</p>
<p>A group of 250 academics and activists calling themselves “ <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-stansell/feminists-for-clinton_b_86929.html" type="external">Feminists for Clinton</a>” praised her “powerful, inspiring advocacy of the human rights of women” and her “enormous contributions” as a policymaker.</p>
<p>Since then, NOW and other mainstream women’s organizations have been eagerly&#160; <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/16/hillary-clinton-2016-women-look-ahead-to-history-in-the-making.html" type="external">anticipating</a> her 2016 candidacy. Clinton and supporters have recently stepped up efforts to portray her as a champion of both <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/09/19/hillary_clinton_and_the_democrats_put_a_feminist_spin_on_traditional_liberal.html" type="external">women’s</a> and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/fashion/hillary-clinton-gay-rights-evolution.html?_r=0" type="external">LGBT</a> rights.</p>
<p>Such depictions have little basis in Clinton’s past performance. While she has indeed spoken about gender and sexual rights with considerable frequency, and while she may not share the overtly misogynistic and anti-LGBT views of most Republican politicians, as a policymaker she has consistently favored policies devastating to women and LGBT persons.</p>
<p>Why, then, does she continue to enjoy such support from self-identified feminists? Part of the answer surely lies in the <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2008/01/27/sexism-womens-vote-and-hillary-clintons-foreign-policy" type="external">barrage of sexist attacks</a> that have targeted her and the understandable desire of many feminists to see a woman in the Oval Office.</p>
<p>But that’s not the whole story. We suggest that feminist enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton is reflective of a profound crisis of US liberal feminism, which has long embraced or accepted capitalism, racism, empire, and even heterosexism and transphobia.</p> | Hillary Clinton’s Empowerment | true | https://jacobinmag.com/2015/03/hillary-clinton-womens-rights-feminism/ | 2018-10-07 | 4 |
<p>MOSCOW, Russia — Senior Russian officials on Friday slammed US allegations that embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is using chemical weapons against armed rebel factions in the country’s devastating civil war.</p>
<p>White House claims on Thursday that Assad had crossed a “red line” with his alleged use of chemical weapons, as well as the administration’s promise to step up support for the opposition, is likely to further fuel an acrimonious dispute between Washington and Moscow over the ongoing conflict.</p>
<p>Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the parliamentary committee on international affairs, compared the US assertion to Washington’s claim that former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein harbored weapons of mass destruction.</p>
<p>“The information about the usage of chemical weapons by Assad is fabricated the same way as the lie about Hussein's weapons of mass destruction,” Pushkov wrote via Twitter. “Obama is walking along the path of George [W.] Bush.”</p>
<p>President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs advisor, Yuri Ushakov, similarly told reporters on Friday that US evidence of Assad’s use of chemical weapons “does not look convincing,” according to Russian news agency Interfax.</p>
<p>Russia has long voiced its opposition to Western intervention in the Syrian crisis, which the UN estimates has claimed more than 90,000 lives, pitching it as a domestic conflict that would only worsen with outside involvement.</p>
<p>Moscow’s critics, meanwhile, have slammed what they say is Russian support for Assad through its earlier refusal to back UN sanctions against the regime. Russia’s billion-dollar arms contract with Damascus has also been the subject of intense dispute.</p>
<p>Most recently, Moscow has come under fire for its planned shipment of advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Syria. But Putin said recently that the missiles have not yet been delivered because of fear of disrupting the regional balance.</p>
<p>In an interview with CBS earlier this week, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov maintained that Moscow has provided Damascus with defensive weapons according to international legal standards.</p>
<p>He also criticized US support for Syria’s scattered opposition, which Moscow has long argued contains Islamist extremists and terrorists, as evidence of “double standards.”</p>
<p>“You either deny terrorists any acceptance in the international life or you make your double standard policy work the way it has been working,” Lavrov said, according to a transcript of the interview posted to the website of Russia’s state-run, English-language RT network.</p>
<p>Russian experts said Friday that Moscow would remain reluctant to back any unilateral claims against Assad without what it considers to be solid proof.</p>
<p>“I don’t believe that Russia will trust anybody, except an officially established UN commission with a mandate and access to all areas [of information],” said foreign policy analyst Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the Russia in Global Affairs journal.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a planned international peace conference on the Syrian crisis announced last month by Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry remains stalled.</p> | Moscow rebukes US over Syria chemical weapons report | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-06-14/moscow-rebukes-us-over-syria-chemical-weapons-report | 2013-06-14 | 3 |
<p>Humans are very different from other predatory creatures.</p>
<p>This fact is not new. But a new study published in Science concludes humans are much more likely to kill adult-aged animals than any other predator.</p>
<p>The idea for the study came when one of the authors was doing population work looking at stickleback fish, a creature not usually preyed on by humans. Only about 2 to 5 percent of adult sticklebacks are killed by predators.</p>
<p>"Natural predators in the ocean take about 1 percent adult biomass in their prey populations. The same human predator, the fishery, takes about 14 percent of adult annual biomass," <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6250/886.2.full" type="external">said</a> Dr. Chris Darimont, an author of the study, "So whereas natural predators, think wolves or lions, or large predatory fish for example, they focus their predation on the newly born. We as humans focus almost exclusively on large reproductive-aged adults. Think trophy hunting or food hunting."</p>
<p>The study considered essentially all methods humans have of hunting or consumption as predation for the study — fisheries, farming, traditional hunting and so on. The authors collected data from the 1990s onward looking at data from everywhere except Antarctica. They focused on comparing human predation patterns with other terrestrial mammals and marine fishers, but also looked at nocturnal mammals, non mammals, and more. The study comprised 2,125 total predatory species.</p>
<p>The study also quantified humanity's unique behavior of turning large carnivores into prey. The rate at which humans kill large carnivores is about 9 times higher than the rate that carnivores kill each other. And usually large carnivores kill each other for competition or territory, not for food or trophy as humans do.</p>
<p>This behavior has a huge impact on our environments. Often large carnivores aren't evolutionary resilient to hunting, and the loss of reproduction-aged members causes species to die off very quickly when faced with human predation. This causes the populations of prey and smaller carnivores to explode, severely impacting the ecosystem. Driving prey to extinction at all is rare in non-human predators. The study <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6250/858" type="external">concludes</a>: "Given this competitive dominance, impacts on predators and other unique predatory behavior, we suggest that humans function as an unsustainable “super predator,” which — unless additionally constrained by managers — will continue to alter ecological and evolutionary processes globally."</p> | Humans kill adult animals much more than other predators, are in fact 'super predators' | false | https://pri.org/stories/2015-08-22/humans-kill-adult-animals-much-more-other-predators-are-fact-super-predator | 2015-08-22 | 3 |
<p>HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Communities across Connecticut are hoping drone footage, video greetings and promises of tax incentives and land can lure Amazon's planned second headquarters.</p>
<p>The state submitted an application in October that includes sites in the Hartford and Stamford areas. At the same time, several cities submitted separate applications.</p>
<p>The Associated Press <a href="" type="internal">sought details of those proposals from cities and states around the U.S.,</a> including the money spent to develop them, through public records requests. The state, along with Danbury and New Britain, are among only a small group of places around the country to release their proposals to the AP.</p>
<p>New Haven has not yet responded to AP's request for documents concerning their application and Bridgeport has asked for additional time to comply with the request.</p>
<p>A look at some details from the Connecticut submissions:</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>STATE OF CONNECTICUT</p>
<p>Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Catherine Smith said the state's submission, which includes a video greeting from Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, was a multi-faceted effort.</p>
<p>"Throughout this process, people came out of the woodwork to provide creative ideas, sign letters of support, and roll up their sleeves to help out," she said in October.</p>
<p>The department said it did not provide any details about the financial assistance offered in its proposal to "preserve the ability to enter into direct negotiations." But DECD said the package will include "direct incentives for Amazon" as well as "funding to support needed investments in communities benefiting from Amazon's growth."</p>
<p>The state was billed $35,000 by a Glastonbury company to provide renderings and drone imagery, and to coordinate and produce diagrams and supply video. The state was also billed $5,250 by a Connecticut-based web developer <a href="https://ctisprime.com/" type="external">to design CTisPrime.com</a> .</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>DANBURY</p>
<p>Danbury is offering a seven-year, 100 percent abatement of local property taxes on real estate and personal property. It's also providing a one-year, 100 percent sewer and water fee abatement, and a land lease for an airport hangar.</p>
<p>A local printer was paid $426 to print 13 copies of the application and for graphic design work. Another Danbury company was paid $750 for a video shoot and edit. A Vernon web development company was paid $1,500 for online advertising.</p>
<p>Emails show there was a lot enthusiasm among Danbury officials about the cover of the city's application to Amazon. It features the familiar Amazon cardboard box and company logo.</p>
<p>There's a map of the region highlighting the suggested location — a former conference and banquet center — and its proximity to sites such as Candlewood Lake, the Danbury Municipal Airport, Interstate 84, Western Connecticut State University campuses, the New York state line and the Brewster, New York, train station.</p>
<p>"The box was a phenomenal idea!" wrote one official.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>NEW BRITAIN</p>
<p>Documents show New Britain is offering a 30-year tax deferral on parcels Amazon uses and the city also proposes giving Amazon 25 acres of land it owns.</p>
<p>The site is zoned for a "technology park" and is adjacent to I-84. The application also promises the city will be "completely transparent, aggressive with incentives and considerations to make your business our number one priority."</p>
<p>Records show New Britain paid a local printer, Sir Speedy, $389 to print five binders for the Amazon application. There were also expenses for drone footage of the community but the amount wasn't listed.</p>
<p>An email containing a draft letter from New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart to Amazon indicates the Republican hopes her relative youth sways the company.</p>
<p>"Dear Amazon, Erin Stewart here from the great city of New Britain, CT. I'm 30 years old and I'm the youngest female mayor in the United States of America," the letter read. "New Britain is a pretty cool community - 75,000 people sitting in only 13 square miles but chock-full of things to do."</p>
<p>HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Communities across Connecticut are hoping drone footage, video greetings and promises of tax incentives and land can lure Amazon's planned second headquarters.</p>
<p>The state submitted an application in October that includes sites in the Hartford and Stamford areas. At the same time, several cities submitted separate applications.</p>
<p>The Associated Press <a href="" type="internal">sought details of those proposals from cities and states around the U.S.,</a> including the money spent to develop them, through public records requests. The state, along with Danbury and New Britain, are among only a small group of places around the country to release their proposals to the AP.</p>
<p>New Haven has not yet responded to AP's request for documents concerning their application and Bridgeport has asked for additional time to comply with the request.</p>
<p>A look at some details from the Connecticut submissions:</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>STATE OF CONNECTICUT</p>
<p>Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Catherine Smith said the state's submission, which includes a video greeting from Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, was a multi-faceted effort.</p>
<p>"Throughout this process, people came out of the woodwork to provide creative ideas, sign letters of support, and roll up their sleeves to help out," she said in October.</p>
<p>The department said it did not provide any details about the financial assistance offered in its proposal to "preserve the ability to enter into direct negotiations." But DECD said the package will include "direct incentives for Amazon" as well as "funding to support needed investments in communities benefiting from Amazon's growth."</p>
<p>The state was billed $35,000 by a Glastonbury company to provide renderings and drone imagery, and to coordinate and produce diagrams and supply video. The state was also billed $5,250 by a Connecticut-based web developer <a href="https://ctisprime.com/" type="external">to design CTisPrime.com</a> .</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>DANBURY</p>
<p>Danbury is offering a seven-year, 100 percent abatement of local property taxes on real estate and personal property. It's also providing a one-year, 100 percent sewer and water fee abatement, and a land lease for an airport hangar.</p>
<p>A local printer was paid $426 to print 13 copies of the application and for graphic design work. Another Danbury company was paid $750 for a video shoot and edit. A Vernon web development company was paid $1,500 for online advertising.</p>
<p>Emails show there was a lot enthusiasm among Danbury officials about the cover of the city's application to Amazon. It features the familiar Amazon cardboard box and company logo.</p>
<p>There's a map of the region highlighting the suggested location — a former conference and banquet center — and its proximity to sites such as Candlewood Lake, the Danbury Municipal Airport, Interstate 84, Western Connecticut State University campuses, the New York state line and the Brewster, New York, train station.</p>
<p>"The box was a phenomenal idea!" wrote one official.</p>
<p>__</p>
<p>NEW BRITAIN</p>
<p>Documents show New Britain is offering a 30-year tax deferral on parcels Amazon uses and the city also proposes giving Amazon 25 acres of land it owns.</p>
<p>The site is zoned for a "technology park" and is adjacent to I-84. The application also promises the city will be "completely transparent, aggressive with incentives and considerations to make your business our number one priority."</p>
<p>Records show New Britain paid a local printer, Sir Speedy, $389 to print five binders for the Amazon application. There were also expenses for drone footage of the community but the amount wasn't listed.</p>
<p>An email containing a draft letter from New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart to Amazon indicates the Republican hopes her relative youth sways the company.</p>
<p>"Dear Amazon, Erin Stewart here from the great city of New Britain, CT. I'm 30 years old and I'm the youngest female mayor in the United States of America," the letter read. "New Britain is a pretty cool community - 75,000 people sitting in only 13 square miles but chock-full of things to do."</p> | Drone footage, graphics part of Connecticut pitch to Amazon | false | https://apnews.com/amp/adbaeceb80324c27bfe63ad89ac65ab3 | 2018-01-11 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>The 59-bed project was planned in response to a growing demand by veterans for memory care that has resulted in a waiting list for the existing 20-bed Alzheimer's unit at the TorC facility, administrator Lori Montgomery said.</p>
<p>The addition, scheduled for completion in early 2017, will designate 39 beds for Alzheimer's patients and the remaining 20 beds for skilled nursing care.</p>
<p>About 65 percent of the project is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, with the remainder paid by the state.</p>
<p>"There's a huge need for Alzheimer's facilities in New Mexico," Montgomery said. The project will also help meet the needs of the state's aging population of veterans, she said.</p>
<p>The Veterans? Home, operated by the New Mexico Department of Health, contains 145 beds with varying levels of care from assisted living to skilled nursing care.</p>
<p>It serves military veterans, their spouses, and parents of service members killed in the line of duty.</p>
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<p>The existing Alzheimer's unit typically has a waiting list of seven to 10 patients, Montgomery said. Wait times vary depending on medical need of patients.</p>
<p>The addition will consist of five houses, each containing up to 13 private bedrooms and bathrooms, with residents sharing a living room, kitchen and laundry room.</p>
<p>The houses will be connected to hub facility that includes a rehabilitation center, a pool, and a pharmacy.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Veteran Alzheimer's patients to get more beds | false | https://abqjournal.com/616699/vet-alzheimers-patients-to-get-more-beds.html | 2 |
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<p>The comedian opened the <a href="http://techcrunch.com/events/7th-annual-crunchies-awards/event-home/" type="external">7th annual Crunchies Awards</a> on Monday night with several eloquent jabs at the “nerds” who he claims have been changed by success and money. “Don’t forget where you came from,” Oliver yelled at the techie audience after someone misquoted Spider-Man. But his comment could have very well come after his critique of Silicon Valley’s invasion of San Francisco, since many people present at the ceremony are “being accused of over-gentrifying a city that was already the most expensive city to live in in America.” After some raucous laughter, he quipped, “That’s not mathematically possible.”</p>
<p>Another highlight was his comment about the shuttle services that companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Genentech have been using to transport their employees to their headquarters from San Francisco. The buses, which Truthdig cartoonist Mark Fiore criticized in his recent animation, “ <a href="" type="internal">The Wheels on the (Tech) Bus</a>,” have been a sore subject in the city for the past few years as the tech elite abuse public bus stops without so much as a slap on the wrist. Oliver said he heard the latest designs for these buses would be tinted from the inside so that outsiders could get a glimpse at tech royalty while they were spared the view of the “peasants.”</p>
<p>“You’re no longer the underdogs, it’s very important that you realize that,” the “Daily Show” veteran reminded his wealthy audience. “It used to be that people who worked in the tech industry were emotional shut-ins who you could root for. Now those days are gone.”</p>
<p>—Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Natasha Hakimi</a></p>
<p />
<p /> | John Oliver Rips In to Tech Industry for 'Pissing Off' San Francisco | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/john-oliver-rips-in-to-tech-industry-for-pissing-off-san-francisco/ | 2014-02-12 | 4 |
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<p>You know the Feministing crew doesn’t like to beat around the bush. We haven’t done a lot of that in the almost ten years we’ve been around, and we won’t do it now. We’d rather be straightforward: we need your money.</p>
<p>For nearly a decade, we’ve been severely under-funded, earning a shoestring budget from ad revenue while mainly running the site as a labor of love. It’s no longer sustainable, and it’s time to change that.&#160; <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/feministing/feministing-times-ten" type="external">This month, we’re running a Kickstarter campaign to fund a huge relaunch of Feministing</a>. And we hope you’ll be part of it!&#160;</p>
<p>What will you get out of it, you say? We’re so glad you asked!</p>
<p>In the long term: With the money we raise from this campaign, we’ll be redesigning the website, so we can bring you even more dynamic, insightful content and strengthen our community features. We’ll be expanding our roster of brilliant, diverse bloggers and–get this!–starting to fairly compensate our crew for their hard work. And we’ll be laying the groundwork for a sustainable, nonprofit Feministing that has dependable funding for years to come. <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/feministing/feministing-times-ten" type="external">Get more details about our plans on the Kickstarter campaign page</a>.</p>
<p>In the short term: Perks perks perks! Feministing merchandise! Books by your favorite feminist authors! Personalized webinar trainings with media mavens! Custom pie charts! Subscriptions to awesome magazines like Mother Jones, Bitch, and The Nation! With the help of our truly all-star Fundraising Advisory Board–made up of Feministing’s editors emeriti and friends-of-the-blog like Ann Friedman, Anna Holmes, Rinku Sen, the sisters Valenti, Rebecca Traister, Audacia Ray, Baratunde Thurston, Rosario Dawson, and many more–we’ve got an impressive line-up of perks to offer donors. <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/feministing/feministing-times-ten" type="external">Seriously, you won’t be disappointed</a>.</p>
<p>We’re so grateful to the community that’s helped this space grow over the years. Now, we need your support to keep Feministing on the cutting edge of feminist rabble rousing for another decade. <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/feministing/feministing-times-ten" type="external">Check out the campaign</a>, give what you can, and tell your friends. Help us create Feministing Times Ten!</p>
<p>Thanks to <a href="http://www.junebabyproductions.com/" type="external">June Baby Productions</a> for creating our videos!</p> | Feministing #TimesTen: We’re relaunching Feministing, and we need your money! | true | http://feministing.com/2013/11/20/feministing-timesten-were-relaunching-feministing-and-we-need-your-money/ | 4 |
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<p>The International Monetary Fund is downgrading its forecast for the U.S. economy this year and warns that political discontent threatens global growth.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The IMF on Tuesday cut its estimate for U.S. economic growth in 2016 to 1.6 percent from the 2.2 percent it had predicted in July. The American economy grew 2.6 percent in 2015.</p>
<p>The fund's dimmer outlook for the U.S. occurs even as the Federal Reserve is thought to be preparing to raise interest rates in December.</p>
<p>The U.S. economy has been sputtering since late last year. The main culprit is weak business investment. The fund blames the U.S. investment drought on cutbacks in the energy industry, a strong dollar that's depressing exports and "policy uncertainty" surrounding the November elections.</p>
<p>The IMF says weakness in the U.S. is offset by improving prospects among developing economies. Commodity prices have stabilized after last year's free fall, which badly damaged developing countries that export raw materials such as iron ore and copper. The fund left unchanged its forecast for overall global growth this year at a lackluster 3.1 percent.</p>
<p>"Global growth remains weak," said IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld.</p>
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<p>The IMF warns that populist discontent — reflected in Britain's vote in June to leave the European Union and the rise of Donald Trump in the United States — could cause countries to retreat from global trade, weakening worldwide growth.</p>
<p>The fund increased its forecast for India to 7.6 percent growth, fastest among the world's major economies. And it upgraded the outlook for Russia — though it still expects the Russian economy to contract 0.8 percent this year as it contends with low oil prices and sanctions for its aggression in Ukraine. The IMF left unchanged its forecast for 6.6 percent growth in China, the world's second-biggest economy.</p>
<p>Pulled down by slower expected growth in the United States, the world's advanced economies are expected to grow 1.6 percent this year, down from the 1.8 percent the fund forecast in July. But the IMF upgraded its forecast for Japanese growth to 0.5 percent this year and for the 19 countries that use the euro currency to 1.7 percent.</p>
<p>The fund's outlook for the United States is a bit gloomier than other private forecasts. Members of the National Association for Business Economics, for example, expect the U.S. economy to grow 1.8 percent.</p>
<p>The Fed has signaled that it is likely to raise U.S. interest rates at its December meeting. Investors put the likelihood of a December rate hike at 63 percent, according to figures from the CME Group.</p>
<p>The American labor market has remained solid despite unimpressive economic growth. Employers have added a healthy 204,000 jobs a month the past year, and the unemployment rate is at 4.9 percent, close to what economists consider full employment.</p> | IMF Reduces Forecast for U.S. Economic Growth This Year | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/10/04/imf-reduces-forecast-for-u-s-economic-growth-this-year.html | 2016-10-04 | 0 |
<p>ST. LOUIS — Serving as the backup goalie to <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Jonathan_Quick/" type="external">Jonathan Quick</a>, Darcy Kuemper knows he is going to get only limited opportunities to play for the Los Angeles Kings.</p>
<p>That’s why he tries to make the most of his chances when they come, and he did just that on Friday night against the St. Louis Blues.</p>
<p>Kuemper, making his sixth start of the season, stopped 39 of 40 shots and raised his record to 4-0-2 as the Kings won their fourth game in a row, a 4-1 victory.</p>
<p>“I was excited to get the opportunity to play against St. Louis,” Kuemper said. “You don’t always get those opportunities so I was excited when I found about it and I think our whole team was and really got up for it and wanted to prove something out there.”</p>
<p>Tyler Toffoli scored twice, including the first goal of the game just 1:43 into the first period, to help the Kings get off to a fast start. Anze Kopitar also scored in the first period as the Kings took a 2-0 lead despite giving up 20 shots in the period.</p>
<p>“A lot of them were from the outside and not a lot of second opportunities which as a goalie, we love,” Kuemper said. “It took the entire roster and it’s going to every time you play a good team like St. Louis but we really brought it tonight and got rewarded with the result.”</p>
<p>The Blues’ only goal came on a power-play by <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Patrik_Berglund/" type="external">Patrik Berglund</a>, playing just his second game since coming off injured reserve, in the second period on a redirected pass.</p>
<p>That goal brought the Blues within 2-1, but Adrian Kempe restored the two-goal lead with a goal with 1:04 left in the second period and Toffoli then finished off the win with his 13th goal of the season, his third game of the year with two goals.</p>
<p>He said one of the keys to the win was getting off to the quick start.</p>
<p>“We know how it feels when you kind of get into a hole early in games,” Toffoli said. “We did a good job of doing that and we were ready to play tonight.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Mike-Yeo/" type="external">Mike Yeo</a> could not say the same about his team, which fell out of first place in the Central Division for the first time this season.</p>
<p>“We’ve lost a couple of games in a row before but I would say this is the first time this year I would say where we weren’t right,” the Blues’ coach said. “We weren’t right to start the game and certainly we didn’t find it along the way.</p>
<p>“The way we’re going right now we’re not giving ourselves a chance to win hockey games.”</p>
<p>The Blues also started their backup goalie, Carter Hutton, and he allowed three goals on 21 shots before he was replaced by <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Jake-Allen/" type="external">Jake Allen</a> for the third period.</p>
<p>Hutton can appreciate Kuemper’s position with the Kings.</p>
<p>“I thought he did a good job of eating up pucks and everything,” Hutton said. “We’re going to have to work out way out of it. It’s just been a bump in the road.”</p>
<p>The Blues finished just 2-3 during a five-game homestand.</p>
<p>“We’ve got to get back to supporting each other a lot better and being a lot closer to the puck every time instead of being too spread out,” said <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Paul_Stastny/" type="external">Paul Stastny</a>.</p>
<p>It’s the exact opposite of the way things are going of late for the Kings, who completed back-to-back road wins 24 hours apart following a 5-2 win in Washington on Thursday night.</p>
<p>“It was back to back against two really good teams that play hard and play heavy games,” said Kings coach <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/John_Stevens/" type="external">John Stevens</a>. “I thought the guys really dug in tonight. Got a great performance from your goaltender and we had some real quality looks. We continued to get better as the game wore on. I thought we got good contributions from everybody.”</p>
<p>NOTES: After being a healthy scratch for the previous four games, D <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Carl-Gunnarsson/" type="external">Carl Gunnarsson</a> returned to the Blues’ lineup in place of <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Robert-Bortuzzo/" type="external">Robert Bortuzzo</a>. … C Oscar Sundqvist also returned in place of RW Sammy Blais, with Patrick Berglund shifting from center to left wing. … The Kings said C <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Torrey_Mitchell/" type="external">Torrey Mitchell</a>, who missed his fourth consecutive game since being acquired from Montreal on Nov. 23, had obtained his work visa and will meet the team in Chicago before Sunday’s game in Chicago. … The Blues will play the Wild Saturday night in Minnesota.</p> | Los Angeles Kings beat St. Louis Blues, win fourth consecutive game | false | https://newsline.com/los-angeles-kings-beat-st-louis-blues-win-fourth-consecutive-game/ | 2017-12-02 | 1 |
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<p>Image source: WhatsApp.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) subsidiary WhatsApp has announced that it is introducing video calling to its popular service, which has over 1 billion users worldwide. The company says the feature will become broadly available -- and free -- within a matter of hours. The news comes over a year and a half after WhatsApp added voice calling and Facebook Messenger debuted video calling, which occurred in March 2015 and April 2015, respectively.</p>
<p>You might think it's bizarre for a major messaging service to only now be adding video calling here in 2016. There's no shortage of competing offerings from rival companies large and small. If anything, there are too many choices to choose from, which actually takes away from the value of each since all services leverage network effects. But that's only really the case in the U.S. and other developed markets. Consumers in emerging markets still have fewer options, and these markets are precisely where WhatsApp has always been most popular. This is more of adding a critical feature to a service that has already gained critical mass.</p>
<p>WhatsApp's video calling will resemble Facebook Messenger's in terms of its interface and experience, as well as its backend infrastructure. One of the main sources of non-financial support from Facebook is that the social network allows WhatsApp to use its global server footprint, while WhatsApp still mostly operates autonomously.</p>
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<p>WhatsApp video calling will also be fully end-to-end (E2E) encrypted, which should satisfy privacy advocates and consumers that are worried about surveillance. Voice calls and text messages on the service adopted E2E encryption in April of this year.</p>
<p>WhatsApp is very specifically targeting emerging markets with video calling, which is in line with its core user base. The service has always been strongest in emerging markets, which is largely why Facebook acquired the company in 2014. Facebook's own Messenger service is popular in developed countries, and WhatsApp's leadership position in emerging markets was a perfect strategic complement.</p>
<p>In its blog post announcing the new feature, WhatsApp said it wants these types of features to be universally accessible, and not limited to "those who can afford the most expensive new phones or live in countries with the best cellular networks." At the announcement event in India, WhatsApp founder Jan Koum added, "We're obsessed with making sure that voice and video work well even on low-end phones."</p>
<p>In fact, India is now WhatsApp's largest market, with over 160 million monthly active users in the country. That's a big chunk of the 1 billion MAUs that WhatsApp now has, and indicative of where WhatsApp will continue focusing its efforts. Most companies aren't focusing on bringing services like these to regions like this in the same way that Facebook is. The social network attempted to launch an internet satellite to bring connectivity to rural Africa a few months back, but we all know <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/09/03/spacexplosion-spacexs-success-streak-goes-up-in-sm.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">how that went Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>For now, WhatsApp will continue cementing itself as the leading communications platform in emerging markets.</p>
<p>Forget the 2016 Election: 10 stocks we like better than Facebook Donald Trump was just elected president, and volatility is up. But here's why you should ignore the election:</p>
<p>Investing geniuses Tom and David Gardner have spent a long time beating the market no matter who's in the White House. In fact, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fecap-foolcom-bbn-election%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0000468%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6454%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=6461333e-1c61-4fd5-b99d-18282ed4b0f2&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">ten best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Facebook wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fecap-foolcom-bbn-election%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0000468%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6454%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=6461333e-1c61-4fd5-b99d-18282ed4b0f2&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of November 7, 2016</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFNewCow/info.aspx" type="external">Evan Niu, CFA Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Facebook. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook. 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> | Facebook's WhatsApp Introduces Video Calling | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/15/facebook-whatsapp-introduces-video-calling.html | 2016-11-15 | 0 |
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<p>DENVER (AP) — The annual fee for a medical marijuana patient in Colorado could be dropping by more than half to $15 a year.</p>
<p>The state health board takes up a proposal today to lower fees for the estimated 112,000 people in Colorado with medical permission to use marijuana.</p>
<p>The annual fees collected by the state health department are meant to cover only the cost of maintaining the registry. When the health department collects excess money, managers must lower fess.</p>
<p>Current fees are $35 a year. That’s a drop from $90 a year charged before 2011. A state audit report delivered earlier this year faulted the health department for keeping excess marijuana patient fees in reserve.</p>
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<p>Recreational pot sales begin Jan. 1 in Colorado.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online:</p>
<p>Marijuana fee proposal: http://1.usa.gov/1bOTdyF</p> | Colorado may drop medical marijuana fee | false | https://abqjournal.com/322206/colorado-may-drop-medical-marijuana-fee.html | 2 |
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<p>The precious metals markets have gone through a huge boom and bust over the past decade, and the impacts of big rises and falls in gold and silver haven't been limited to mining companies. Streaming specialists Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW) and Franco-Nevada (NYSE: FNV) have exposure to precious metals prices through the financing arrangements they make with their mining-company partners. For a long time, Silver Wheaton's success overshadowed its industry rival, but after the bull market in gold and silver deteriorated, investors found that Franco-Nevada's slow and steady approach has helped it win the long-term race. Below, we'll show you how Franco-Nevada did it.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The most obvious sign of Franco-Nevada's long-term success is in the value that investors have put on the company. Although Silver Wheaton took a huge lead in market cap during the early 2010s, Franco-Nevada gradually caught up and surpassed its industry peer in late 2015.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/FNV/market_cap" type="external">FNV Market Cap</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Those who follow streaming stocks attribute their relative performance to many different factors, and not all agree on whether Franco-Nevada's move upward has been fully justified. However, there's a key element that sent Silver Wheaton soaring for a time but then left it vulnerable to subsequent declines.</p>
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<p>The most important difference between Franco-Nevada and Silver Wheaton has been in their relative exposure to different metals. As its name suggests, Silver Wheaton historically emphasized silver streaming deals. Franco-Nevada had a greater emphasis on gold, and it has also gone beyond gold and silver to make deals involving platinum group metals, base metals, and energy assets.</p>
<p>Silver Wheaton's concentration on silver gave it a big advantage for much of its history. For instance, during the final stage of the precious-metals boom after the financial crisis, silver prices dramatically outperformed gold.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/indicators/new_york_silver_price" type="external">New York Silver Price</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts</a>.</p>
<p>Silver's big rise, however, eventually gave way to an even bigger downfall. In the years since silver prices reached their peak, the white metal has performed much worse than gold.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/indicators/new_york_silver_price" type="external">New York Silver Price</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts</a>.</p>
<p>Silver Wheaton's market capitalization largely followed the ups and downs of the silver market. For a while after silver peaked, Silver Wheaton was able to sustain its value due to shareholder optimism about a potential silver-price rebound. Eventually, though, reality sank in, and Silver Wheaton's shares ground downward over the years even as Franco-Nevada enjoyed flat to slightly higher price movement.</p>
<p>To its credit, Silver Wheaton saw early on how a more diversified portfolio could generate less volatile results in a more challenging price environment for precious metals. In recent years, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/29/silver-wheaton-corp-is-quietly-becoming-a-top-gold.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Silver Wheaton has dramatically increased its exposure to gold Opens a New Window.</a>, with numerous gold streaming deals with major partners to try to get a more balanced mix between the two primary precious metals. Moreover, by doing so after gold prices peaked, Silver Wheaton was able to get favorable deals that locked in lower-cost production.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Yet at least so far, Franco-Nevada has been able to keep its edge. Some, including <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/09/14/how-does-silver-wheaton-corp-stack-up-against-it-2.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Silver Wheaton itself Opens a New Window.</a>, have argued that the difference in valuation is unjustified, pointing to a number of fundamental metrics that show how investors are putting a higher value on Franco-Nevada's earnings and cash flow than on those of its rivals. However, investors have been willing to gobble up Franco-Nevada shares even at these high valuations. For instance, in early 2016, the company had sought to offer $500 million in stock to help fund its agreement with Glencore regarding its Antapaccay mine in Peru. Demand for the offering was so heavy that Franco-Nevada ended up raising more than $800 million.</p>
<p>Silver Wheaton remains larger than Franco-Nevada in terms of revenue, adjusted earnings, and cash flow, and it clearly believes that it can reassume the top spot in market cap once investors realize its potential. Yet Franco-Nevada has been aggressive in its growth, and it'll take more than just a reversion to the mean for Silver Wheaton to regain the top spot for good.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Silver WheatonWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=fa1f3a6c-7dbd-4d37-a444-692a2cfc21f4&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Silver Wheaton wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017</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 owns shares of Silver Wheaton. 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> | How Franco-Nevada Caught Up to Silver Wheaton | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/17/how-franco-nevada-caught-up-to-silver-wheaton.html | 2017-02-17 | 0 |
<p>By William Schomberg</p>
<p>LONDON (Reuters) – British finance minister Philip Hammond will announce on Wednesday how much he can afford to help unhappy voters as he faces a potentially sharp deterioration in the economy’s growth prospects.</p>
<p>Hammond, who is fighting for his political future as well as the fortunes of Britain’s economy as it prepares to leave the European Union in March 2019, is due to deliver his budget plan to parliament just after 1230 GMT.</p>
<p>He is under fire from many Brexit supporters who say he is taking an overly cautious approach to the talks with Brussels.</p>
<p>At the same time, Hammond has little room for the kind of bold budget moves that many in his Conservative Party, after an election mauling in June, are demanding to help households after years of cuts in public spending.</p>
<p>Instead, he is expected to tread carefully with measures to speed up house-building and improve Britain’s weak productivity.</p>
<p>The world’s fifth-biggest economy has been growing more slowly than any other big developed nation, due in large part to the Brexit vote in 2016 as sterling fell sharply, pushing up inflation and aggravating the weak wage growth of many workers.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Britain’s debt load has continued to rise to stand at about 80 percent of gross domestic product, double the level before the global financial crisis, even if its once-towering budget deficit has been slashed in recent years.</p>
<p>Hammond’s challenge looks set to get harder. The forecasters whose projections underpin his budget plans are expected to say they have cut their outlook for growth in the years ahead due to Britain’s deep-rooted productivity problem.</p>
<p>CAUTION</p>
<p>That would hit the money that Hammond wants to keep in reserve in case Britain’s economy needs help as it prepares to leave the EU in 2019. Britain is also likely to have to commit to sending tens of billions of pounds to Brussels to pay for its divorce from the EU.</p>
<p>Hammond has made clear he will not turn on the spending taps now. He has rejected a fellow minister’s call for a big public housing investment push and told a newspaper at the weekend: “We are heavily constrained fiscally. We don’t have huge amounts of room for manoeuvre. But we do have some room.”</p>
<p>Hammond has said he will seek to boost house-building through new powers and changes to planning rules, and he has reportedly considered a cut in a property purchase tax for first-time home-buyers, which might show younger voters he is sensitive to their fear of being poorer than their parents.</p>
<p>He is also facing calls to relax further his grip on public-sector pay and spend more on health, something he might be able to do modestly after an accounting change to shift the debt and borrowing of housing associations off the government’s books.</p>
<p>Another focus of the budget plan is likely to be on ways to speed up Britain’s slow productivity growth, which threatens to become even more of a problem as the country faces the prospect of reduced access to its main export markets in the EU.</p>
<p>“HARD TO LOVE”</p>
<p>After he was forced into a U-turn on a planned tax hike for self-employed workers in March, the stakes are high for Hammond who has a strained relationship with Prime Minister Theresa May.</p>
<p>Some lawmakers in the ruling Conservative Party want May to fire him, saying his cautious approach to the Brexit negotiations plays into the hands of the EU. Others simply dislike his style and have pounced on gaffes, including one on Sunday when he said “there are no unemployed” people in Britain.</p>
<p>“He is hard to love. He has an odd manner,” a Conservative lawmaker said, speaking on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Rupert Harrison, a former aide to Hammond’s predecessor George Osborne, advised against big policy gambles, given the Conservatives’ weakness in parliament.</p>
<p>At the same time, voters are in no mood for a tough new push to bring down the deficit. “Instead, Mr Hammond should focus on keeping fiscal slippage to a minimum while avoiding political risks,” Harrison wrote in a column in the Financial Times.</p> | Boxed in by slow growth, UK's Hammond readies budget | false | https://newsline.com/boxed-in-by-slow-growth-uk039s-hammond-readies-budget/ | 2017-11-21 | 1 |
<p>A new statement from the World Health Organization recommends that doctors perform less caesarean sections.</p>
<p>The procedure puts women and their babies at a higher risk for health problems. WHO is recommending that medical professionals only perform the procedure when it is absolutely medically necessary.</p>
<p>According to WHO, the procedure can lead to infections and even death, and should not be taken lightly, according to the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/c-sections-medically-article-1.2180977" type="external">New York Daily News</a>.</p>
<p>There is a growing number of women having caesareans, with rates have doubled since the 1990’s. One main cause for the growth in popularity of the procedure is not just from the doctor’s choices, but from women being giving the option to have planned caesareans instead of giving birth naturally.</p>
<p>The World Health Organization stated that the percent of women having caesareans should only be between 10 and 15 percent. They said that the dangers of the procedure, as well, as costs involved, should be dictating this low number.</p>
<p>In a statement, they said, “Although it can save lives, caesarean section is often performed without medical need, putting women and their babies at risk of short- and long-term health problems.”</p>
<p>The also added, “Across a population, the effects of Caesarean section rates on maternal and newborn outcomes such as stillbirths or morbidities like birth asphyxia are still unknown. More research on the impact of Caesarean section on women’s psychological and social well-being is still needed.”</p>
<p>The WHO also added that the procedure can often lead to serious complications that can cause disability as well as death.</p>
<p>These statements released by the World Health Organization directly contradict the NHS guidelines. These guidelines that the procedure does not need medical justification and should be offered to all women as an option of child birth.</p>
<p /> | World Health Organization calls for less caesareans | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/04/11/world-health-organization-calls-for-less-caesareans/ | 2015-04-11 | 3 |
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<p>“I got roles in both of them,” Nelson said. “I’ve been very busy this summer.”</p>
<p>Nelson is one of 40 young singers who were accepted into the Santa Fe Opera’s apprentice program, which gives students of opera an opportunity to sing alongside some of the world’s most renowned opera stars.</p>
<p>“We view the program as a bridge from the conservatory to the professional life,” said David Holloway, who has been directing the program since 2005. “While the apprentices receive coaching and instruction here at the opera during the summer, we hire them as professionals who have small roles in every opera we present.”</p>
<p>Nelson gets a chance to enter the spotlight during the opera’s final Apprentice Showcase Scenes, which takes place tonight at the Santa Fe Opera. Instead of being in the background, apprentices take starring roles in scenes from major operas. Among the operas featured during the evening’s performance are “The Rape of Lucretia” by Benjamin Britten, “Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and “Ariadne auf Naxos” by Richard Strauss.</p>
<p>“I’m really excited that we’re able to present a scene from ‘Silent Night’ by Kevin Puts,” Holloway said. “The opera won a 2012 Pulitzer Prize. I contacted Kevin to ask him if we could do a scene from his opera during an apprentice showcase, and he graciously agreed.”</p>
<p>Nelson, who appears tonight in scenes from “Andrea Chenier” by Umberto Giordano and Leonard Bernstein’s musical “West Side Story,” is finishing up his final year in the Artist Diploma program at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. At 26 years old, he has won numerous prizes in international vocal competitions and enjoyed a Carnegie Hall debut.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“The Santa Fe Opera is one of the most important festivals in the world and has the top apprentice program,” he said. “In addition to the summer’s performance opportunities, we also get a chance to sing an aria in front of directors of major opera companies who come to Santa Fe to listen to us sing. It’s a big job interview.”</p>
<p>Twenty-seven-year-old soprano Abigail Santos-Villalobos, who hails from Puerto Rico and is a doctoral student at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, is grateful for all the experiences she is enjoying as an apprentice this summer. She assumes the role of Maria in tonight’s scene from “West Side Story” and takes part in a scene from Puccini’s opera “Gianni Schicchi” earlier in the program.</p>
<p>“This has been a great opportunity for me to figure out what the professional opera world is all about,” she said. “I watch the pros and ask questions, particularly about things like musical phrasing. I knew when I was accepted as an apprentice that it was hard to get here, and I really appreciate this experience.”</p>
<p>More than 900 singers applied to become Santa Fe Opera apprentices this summer. Five hundred of them were chosen to sing at live auditions in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Albuquerque.</p>
<p>“We’ve had so many apprentices go on to have wonderful careers,” said Holloway. “Joyce DiDonato and Samuel Ramey are just two former apprentices who have become important international singers. The Apprentice Showcase is really an opportunity to see the stars of tomorrow.”</p> | Tomorrow’s stars singing today | false | https://abqjournal.com/125227/tomorrows-stars-singing-today.html | 2012-08-19 | 2 |
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<p>A thin crust of snow covers the sage flats and pine meadows of West Yellowstone, Montana, as the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) swings into its third season. Volunteers are stacking firewood, setting up teepees, dusting off skis, and generally gearing up for another season of daily bison-defense patrols. Sixty-one volunteers have already checked in for the 1999-2000 campaign, and BFC co-founder Mike Mease expects the number to surpass last year’s record of 250 volunteers.</p>
<p>The goal is literally to save the bisons’ lives. As the winter grows harsher, many of Yellowstone’s 2,500 bison — the last wild remnants of the vast herds that once roamed the US — are expected to descend from the park’s high country to search for fresh grazing land. This migration is a natural survival tactic for the bison — but one that poses a threat to their lives should they stray over the state line into Montana. Under a 1996 federal law, Montana has the right to kill any bison found outside of Yellowstone that tests positive for brucellosis, a bacterial disease that poses a threat to the state’s domestic cattle herds.</p>
<p>Most scientists agree that the chances of Yellowstone bison actually infecting Montana’s cattle are slight. Still, Montana officials say that if they do not control the brucellosis threat, other states may ban imports of their cattle.</p>
<p>That concern led Montana officials to kill some 1,100 bison in 1996 — nearly half the park’s population at the time. The slaughter galvanized a group of activists to form the BFC. Since 1997, the campaigners have worked to monitor the park’s bison and shoo them back to safety when they stray towards the park’s boundaries.</p>
<p>This year, winter has come later than expected. Snow levels are still low in Yellowstone National Park, and this has encouraged the main bison herd to stay at higher elevations within park boundaries. But when the winter storms hit, the bison will start moving down, looking for better grazing in the valleys west and north of Yellowstone. When that happens, Montana’s Department of Livestock agents will be waiting for them.</p>
<p>There has only been one fatality this year, albeit a particularly controversial one. In late September, a dead buffalo was found near a DOL capture facility, minus its head, cape, hide, and genitalia. Dale Koelzer, who owns the land on which the facility is housed, has been charged with illegally killing the animal.</p>
<p>According to US government sources, Montana has not signaled any intention to relax its official anti-bison policies this winter. In November, the DOL’s executive officer, Marc Bridges, wrote an editorial in local newspapers announcing the state’s intentions to carry out the same capture-test-and-slaughter program as it had in past years. Bridges ended his op-ed piece with an ominous observation: “Fortunately, the park’s current bison population is reportedly at least five times above the number scientists say is required to assure the long term viability and survival of the herd.”</p>
<p>In other words, the livestock bureaucrat thinks that 2,000 out of 2,500 buffalo could be killed without harming the last wild herd in America.</p>
<p>“We’re afraid the DOL is going to try to kill as many bison as they can this year,” says Mike Mease. “With (Montana) Gov. Racicot going out office next year, it could be their last chance.” When and if the slaughter begins, Mease says the Buffalo Field Campaign will be ready.&#160;</p>
<p>— Sarah Ruby and Jake Ginsky contributed to this report.</p>
<p />
<p>Previous MoJo Coverage</p>
<p><a href="/news/feature/1999/11/buffalo.html" type="external">Buffalo Soldiers</a>The activists of the Buffalo Field Campaign are putting themselves on the line to save the nation’s last herd of wild bison. (Mother Jones magazine, 11/99)</p>
<p><a href="/news_wire/bison.html" type="external">Buffaloed</a> How Montana played two federal agencies and asserted deadly control over the Yellowstone bison (The MoJo Wire, 6/98)</p>
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<p>Other Bison Resources</p>
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<p /> | Buffalo Soldiers Take Position | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/1999/12/buffalo-soldiers-take-position/ | 1999-12-08 | 4 |
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547" type="external">Hillbilly&#160;Elegy</a>&#160;by J.D. Vance • Harper • 2016 • 272 pages&#160;• $27.99</p>
<p>The best-selling <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547" type="external">Hillbilly Elegy</a>, by J.D. Vance, released in June to mostly positive reviews, was praised for treating lower-income white communities with sympathy—something reviewers believed had been in short supply in our literature. The conservative writer Rod Dreher said that the book “does for poor white people what Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book did for poor black people: give them voice and presence in the public square.” (Though it’s hard to see how poor black people were ever well-represented, or how working-class whites have ever been neglected as a group.)</p>
<p>The book bills itself as a “memoir of a family and a culture in crisis.” Poor and working-class white Americans have been the subject of many alarming reports over the past few years, from the rise of the heroin epidemic across rural, white America to the numerous studies detailing early deaths from suicides and drug overdoses in middle age; the least educated whites are dying at younger ages than the same group of people did a generation ago. (Although African Americans as a whole still have higher mortality rates.) It’s the white working class, especially men, who drove the candidacy and election of the Republican nominee, President-elect Donald Trump. So elites have turned their focus on what they assess to be a bewildering population, regarded alternately with empathy and scorn, that they were previously happy to ignore.</p>
<p>Vance’s book is, for the most part, a simple, straightforward recounting of his life. His maternal grandparents were economic refugees from Jackson, Kentucky, in the mountainous southeastern part of the state, who traveled the Hillbilly Highway north to the industrial town of Middletown, Ohio, soon after they were married as teenagers in 1947. Lots of other hillbillies made that same journey, creating satellite communities throughout the industrial Midwest. His grandfather worked there at a steel factory called Armco until he retired. Vance’s grandparents had a relationship that involved redneck rows, a divorce, and separate houses. They raised three children in Ohio, one of whom was Vance’s mother, Bev. Bev had several marriages throughout the 1980s and ’90s, and though she was a nurse, her economic security crumbled under the weight of drug addiction. Vance’s Mamaw stepped into the breach to serve as a mother figure to Vance and his older sister. But after graduating from high school in 2003, Vance escaped by joining the Marines, serving in Iraq and then enrolling at Ohio State University and, a coup for any country boy, Yale Law School.</p>
<p>As an author, Vance doesn’t spend much time in Jackson. He talks about his summertime trips to Kentucky to visit beloved uncles or to attend family funerals. He also describes a recent visit, where, during a walking tour, he notices that the town seems to have fallen on hard times. He describes passing a neighbor’s house: “Several ferocious, malnourished, chained-up dogs protected the furniture strewn about the barren front yard. When I asked [his second cousin] what the young father did for a living, he told me the man had no job and was proud of it.”</p>
<p>Vance is not a journalist, and he doesn’t conduct any actual interviews in Jackson. He doesn’t dwell much either on its demographics or character. He simply tells us that it is “a small town of about six thousand in the heart of southeastern Kentucky’s coal country. Calling it a town is a bit charitable.” I, myself, only know Jackson because, for two-and-a-half months, I lived as a reporter in Owsley County, right next door. My own experience with Jackson was that it was, first of all, the biggest town for miles. I interacted with it the way all the people of Owsley County did—when I needed to go to a Wal-Mart, I drove the 35 minutes down country highways to the one in Jackson, and when I had a minor medical emergency, the hospital there was where I sought care. Small as it is, Jackson really is big next to its neighbors, and is also a locus of political power in that tiny spot of southeastern Kentucky. Everything is relative.</p>
<p>Even when it comes to describing his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, a small city of just under 50,000 smack between Cincinnati and Dayton on Interstate 75, where his grandparents moved to raise his mom and her two siblings, he mostly leaves the landscape itself out of the story. Vance described a town that in the 1980s and ’90s was fueled by the factory’s middle-class jobs, company picnics, and well-kept parks that fell into disrepair over the years. Armco merged with a Japanese company in 1989, and so employment at the Middletown plant began to decline.</p>
<p>Vance touches on this and on other big events but without actually delving into them. And, except for a few asides on the occasional relevant study, he doesn’t do much to properly connect his own life to larger contexts and trends. The book is pinned to his mother’s drug addiction to painkillers and then to heroin, but it’s not really about her, and, in fact, we don’t actually hear from her at all. He tosses off observations about neighbors and former friends torn apart by drugs and poverty, but he doesn’t introduce them or interview them, so these asides don’t truly reveal all that much. Vance describes a few harrowing incidents from his childhood, but even then he leaves out important details, and he doesn’t do much investigating to find out more about them from the vantage point of adulthood.</p>
<p>The result is a book that’s broadly personal without being deeply so, and though it’s allegedly the story of a culture in crisis, it’s written from the point of view of a man who now seems far removed from any crisis at all. It provides the briefest window into the life of a hillbilly who made good. (He now works at an investment firm in Silicon Valley.) When he does make some broader observations about the white working class—which, in this instance, refers more to a rural cultural identity than to an economic one—they sound like clichés. He talks a lot about the hillbilly sense of “honor,” which requires him to go after a guy who breaks his sister’s heart. (What brother, though, wouldn’t pick a fight with someone who was mean to his sister?) As a grocery store clerk, he notices people who he claims “game the system.” And of food stamp recipients, he writes:</p>
<p>They’d buy two dozen packs of soda with food stamps and then sell them at a discount for cash. They’d ring up their orders separately, buying food with them&#160;food stamps, and beer, wine, and cigarettes with cash. They’d regularly go through the checkout line speaking on their cell phones. I could never understand why our lives felt like a struggle while those living off of government largesse enjoyed trinkets that I only dreamed about.</p>
<p>These are observations that are undoubtedly true in the micro sense, and we read and hear them often from conservative commentators. But what do any of these observations reveal? Like many right-leaning writers, Vance makes these broad assertions without spending much time defining them, or considering what, exactly, the alternatives are for someone in a place like southeastern Kentucky or deindustrialized Ohio. These aren’t just small areas with small economies. They’re areas that are losing their populations rapidly as the young and able flood into cities everywhere around the country. Many hillbillies come from the extremely rural areas that had subsistence economies well past the middle of the last century, and never fully transitioned into manufacturing before those well-paying jobs fled the country. They are the people who stayed behind while Vance’s grandparents left and built a middle-class life elsewhere. Even the bigger towns and smaller cities, like Middletown, were dependent on one large employer, and getting those jobs depended on knowing someone who could get you one, leaving out large swaths of the least well-off.</p>
<p>And, even in their best days, jobs in these areas were often limited to the ones only men could get, and white men at that. Working at a steel company, or mining coal, or logging trees, or putting together cars was always back-breaking labor, too, and aging baby boomers and their creaky, blue-collar bodies are a big driver of the increase in the Social Security Disability Insurance program, which is another “dole” conservatives like to complain about.</p>
<p>It is obvious that life in these areas presents important challenges, and that many things aren’t going well for too many people. This brings up several relevant questions about what progressives should do for people in these areas. But there are also considerations about what we shouldn’t do that this election has thrown into sharp relief.</p>
<p>I grew up in a town that is actually smaller than Jackson: Clinton, Arkansas, at the southern edge of the Ozark Mountain range. It now has a population of about 2,600, but was a bit smaller when I was growing up in the 1980s and ’90s, a few years earlier than Vance. During my childhood, Clinton had two factories: a plant that made electrical cords, and a chicken-processing plant, where my grandparents worked. When I was in high school, the cord plant moved to a shiny new building on the hopefully named Quality Drive, which had been newly paved through the woods. And a small boat factory took its old place, for a brief while.</p>
<p>It should be noted that only about 12 percent of the population in the county has a bachelor’s degree. The people I knew when I was growing up who had gone to college were the town’s handful of doctors, lawyers, dentists, one vet, and, of course, teachers, who were overwhelmingly women. Clinton has a small hospital, where my mother works, and a nursing home owned by the same company; both serve the smaller towns around Clinton, too, but the hospital struggles financially and previous owners have come close to closing it and the nursing home in the past.</p>
<p>Jobs are heavily segregated by gender. A handful of women, who usually have some college education, but not necessarily bachelor’s degrees, work as nurses at varying qualification levels. But many of the jobs held by women are the new factory jobs—dangerous, back-breaking, and relatively low-paying for the skills and education they require.</p>
<p>Almost everyone else who works either works at Wal-Mart, in fast food, or owns their own small business. For men, it’s in construction or related supply businesses—my dad was a plumber. Auto shops line the highway. Women, for their part, own beauty salons. There are a couple of clothing stores, one non-Wal-Mart grocery store that has struggled to compete and changed hands at least three times in the past few years, a couple of accountants, a dance school, and a local radio station. No one makes very much money—the county’s median annual income is $31,030, and the poverty rate is 26.5 percent.</p>
<p>Clinton is perhaps an extreme example of small-town life, but the pattern and experience is repeated in southeastern Kentucky, in small-town Ohio, and across the country. The rural population is depleting rapidly nationwide, and 81 percent of the country’s people now live in metro areas. By 2019, the rural population will reach its global peak, and will then start to drop in absolute terms. This is a trend that is clear even in Arkansas, as people my age drain to the urban areas around the state. Cities are thriving, diverse, and provide varied opportunities for jobs and education. They’re also expensive, and getting more so. The poor and the elderly can’t afford to access them, and are trapped in outer-ring suburbs and rural areas where the good jobs are gone. Cities are also where employers want to be.</p>
<p>So growth in jobs and in wages is unevenly distributed, and it’s broken up by geography, as it always has been. There are two economies, and the country’s least educated and poorest are in the worse one. They’re disproportionately African-American and Latino, but in raw numbers they include plenty of whites, too. These people aren’t just missing out because they have less education and training. They’re also missing out because they live in the wrong places. A recent study conducted by economists Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren found that a child’s chance of moving out of poverty was based strongly on where he or she grew up.</p>
<p>I’m sure that people in rural areas and small cities across the country would like to bring back jobs. But why would an employer locate itself in a city like Middletown, or a place like Kentucky? What kinds of jobs will stay there? The benefits of locating one’s self near a larger city—with an educated populace and the kinds of civic landscapes, vibrant downtowns, and public infrastructure that people want to live in—simply outweigh the costs. So what Trump did for these communities was turn their resentment, their panicked and justified feelings that their way of life was disappearing thanks to an urban, educated, better-off America, into a weaponized hate. As Rembert Browne wrote in New York magazine, he made hate intersectional, and he helped rural Americans direct it at everyone who wasn’t them.</p>
<p>Throughout the 2016 election season, contrary to Dreher, we’ve actually seen no end to the portraits of rural white America, Trump voters, or to the handwringing about their economic angst. This has only accelerated since Donald Trump was elected, in large part thanks to rural America, including a few former Democratic enclaves: states like Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Democrats, their allies, and various progressives are also obsessed with the white working class, what should be done for them, and how they might win them back to the Democratic coalition. “Donald J. Trump won the White House because his campaign rhetoric successfully tapped into a very real and justified anger, an anger that many traditional Democrats feel,” wrote Bernie Sanders in The New York Times on November 10.</p>
<p>Both he and Elizabeth Warren have pledged to work with Trump if the President-elect really does want to create jobs to help the suffering working- class. This may just be political posturing. So far, Trump’s only plan that would achieve that in any way is an infrastructure plan. The details are hazy, but it will cost $1 trillion and leverage public-private partnerships for rebuilding crumbling infrastructure like roads and bridges. This is a twist of the knife to any liberals that paid attention during the Obama Administration; $1 trillion is around the size of the stimulus plan that some in the Obama Administration wanted for their stimulus package after taking office, when the economy was truly in free fall. Republican lawmakers, howling about the deficit, were determined not to let this pass. The package was, in the end, smaller. So will the Republicans pass something like that now, and then take all of the credit?</p>
<p>On the surface, such a plan would be a no-brainer. Spending money on infrastructure would address the real problems our roads and bridges have, create well-paying jobs, and address rural America’s plight, especially if it included better and easier to navigate roads and newer types of infrastructure, like broadband access. Yet the warnings are already coming. To begin with, as David Dayen wrote in The New Republic, the financing scheme relies on private money in such a way that it would be designed “to funnel money to big investors and contractors by essentially letting them purchase public assets.”</p>
<p>And this is hardly the only concern. Not least among them, what are the real aims behind these plans? What kinds of jobs would be created, and for whom? As Democrats and progressives move to urge cooperation with his Administration on common-ground issues like infrastructure, especially when it comes to helping the rural white working class they apparently feel so tender toward, it’s important to keep in mind the totality of Trump’s proposals, and the totality of his rhetoric. It’s also important to ask why he inspired votes, what truly inspired them, and how he’ll actually be working to satisfy them.</p>
<p>All we know about the electorate, as of this writing, is what the exit polls tell us, and these always come with a lot of caveats. But, according to these polls, voters who made less than $50,000 a year made up 36 percent of the electorate, and 52 percent of these people voted for Hillary Clinton. Overall, turnout among the poorest Americans is never high: Fewer than half of voters in the lowest income brackets turned out in previous elections. Non-college-educated whites who voted this year voted for Trump, but overall, his support came from wealthier white people, especially white men. In fact, Jeff Guo, in The Washington Post, found that Trump improved on Mitt Romney’s 2012 margins most in places where unemployment had also dropped the most. So, truth be told, we don’t really know what the white voters who are suffering the most actually wanted. As is often the case, it was the wealthiest who really made their voices heard.</p>
<p>So why did all of these folks vote for Trump? When asked what they care about most, many voters will say the economy. (Though, according to exit polls, Hillary Clinton won the majority of voters who ranked the economy first among their concerns.) When you drill down further with Trump voters, however, another pattern emerges. Guo quotes Kathy Cramer, a political scientist who wrote a book about rural voters in Wisconsin and found that:</p>
<p>The economic woes people communicated to me. . . . were interlaced with their sense of who they are, who is a part of their community, what their values are, who works hard in society, who is deserving of reward and public support, and how power is distributed in the world. This complex set of ideas is the product&#160;of many years of political debate at the national level as well as generations of community members teaching these ideas to each other. This entwined set of beliefs was not something that any one politician instilled in people overnight—or even over a few months.</p>
<p>In Elegy, when Vance speaks to folks about the government, it is clear that he, and the people he talks with, think of it as something that creates dependency where it wasn’t previously, and that compounds poverty rather than reduces it. Of a friend who quit his job because he was tired of waking up so early—and later took to Facebook to complain about Obama’s economy—Vance writes:</p>
<p>[F]or him to make better choices, he needs to live in an environment that forces him to ask tough questions about himself. There is a cultural movement in the white working class to blame problems on society or the government, and that movement gains adherents by the day. . . . What separates the successful from the unsuccessful are the expectations that they had for their own lives. Yet the message of the right is increasingly: It’s not your fault that you’re a loser; it’s the government’s fault.</p>
<p>Government becomes a shorthand way for many people to refer to those who receive any sort of assistance from it. This includes many of these folks’ supposedly lazy neighbors. But it also includes, and has for at least 40 years, people in faraway cities they also characterize as lazy, largely African Americans and new immigrants. Trump made that clear when he said African Americans are “living in hell” and claimed, wrongly, that the black youth unemployment rate was at 58 percent. Talk of the “government” also denotes single moms in rural, conservative communities who, it is believed, should have gotten married or not had children. “Government” and “the dole” become, also, a shorthand for the kind of polyglot, humanitarian democracy that may have inspired many Clinton voters. When Donald Trump spewed hate, he threw it, indiscriminately, at all of these groups. And that is also what his voters voted for.</p>
<p>Even Warren—progressive champion Elizabeth Warren!—has come to the defense of Trump voters when, in a speech to the AFL-CIO, she said: “There are many millions of people who voted for Donald Trump not because of the bigotry and hate that fueled his campaign rallies. They voted for him despite the hate.” What cold solace is that? If voters didn’t embrace his bile, a claim I think some are accepting a bit too credulously, either these voters did not understand that what he said was racist—along with all of the other –ists and -ics that can be attributed to his public statements—or they didn’t care about it. Either way, the result is effectively the same.</p>
<p>Warren is far from the only person on the left to call for people not to vilify Trump supporters, suggesting that we try to understand them instead. But many have also asked: Are we really vilifying someone when we plainly state what they have actually done? Well, to that I would answer: If you comb the rural counties across the country and see how they voted, you would see that there are rare cases in which Trump won nearly 100 percent of the vote. Across deep red states that bent heavily Republican, like West Virginia and Mississippi, he won about 80 percent of votes in some counties, but only in those places where he had the biggest margins.</p>
<p>Even in my little home county, 21.7 percent voted against Trump. But that’s still something. My county is around 96 percent white, and so the 1,547 voters who cast their votes against hate almost certainly include white voters. They are certainly witnessing the same level of economic devastation as their neighbors. And yet they did not compromise their morals to “send a message to Washington.” Add up the voters like this in each town across the country just like Clinton, and they must total hundreds of thousands of people. They are a minority in these places, but their votes count no less than those cast against Trump in New York or California. I think we would be doing a disservice to them if we were to sugarcoat the gravity of what their neighbors did.</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that Vance himself basically elides race entirely. About the only time he touches on it is to dismiss it. “Many of my new friends blame racism for this perception of the president,” he writes about hillbilly distrust of Obama. “But the president feels like an alien to many Middletonians for reasons that have nothing to do with skin color.” He describes Obama as part of an urbane elite: exactly what rural America has come to loathe. But nearly every sociologist and political scientist who’s researched the voting habits of working-class whites in rural and depressed parts of the country has found that their views on race, elitism, class, and their own financial well-being are so tightly intertwined that they are hard to separate.</p>
<p>That is to say that all of the tender portraits of these workers shouldn’t shade what happened in November. With any effort to alleviate real suffering in these communities, progressives must also bear in mind that Trump’s election has made life tangibly worse for Muslim and Latino communities, for African Americans, for LGBT communities, and for women, whether they voted for Trump or not.</p>
<p>If progressives compromise on any plan that sounds good in theory, like an infrastructure plan, which would undoubtedly help rural America, they should be obligated to keep the big picture in mind. They should ask themselves how various communities will experience the benefits of better roads, or good jobs, if they’re being arrested and sent to jail after Trump doubles down on the worst policing practices his advisor, Rudy Giuliani, practiced in New York City. Or how much good jobs will help Latino and Muslim communities if their families are being harassed, deported, or investigated. Or whether women will benefit from any of it if protections against workplace harassment are diminished and reproductive rights come under assault.</p>
<p>The Southern Poverty Law Center counted more than 200 hate crimes in the three days after the election, and more have occurred since. After Trump is sworn in in January, we will continue to hear calls from those who tell us he is our President and we have to work with him. We will see Democratic lawmakers and their progressive allies trying to seek common ground. Many will do so in the name of the working-class whites experiencing economic anxiety, and in a cynical bid to try to bring those voters back into the fold. They may offer up numbers and theories to justify this bipartisan cooperation. The numbers and theories may be technically correct. But until all Americans, especially the historically disenfranchised, can feel safe, any such compromise will also be morally untenable.</p> | A Hillbilly Left? | true | http://democracyjournal.org/magazine/43/a-hillbilly-left/ | 2017-12-21 | 4 |
<p>ROME (AP) - Italian news reports say a fiery highway crash in northern Italy has killed six people.</p>
<p>RAI state TV quoted firefighters in Brescia as saying that five of the dead, including two children, were in a car, and the sixth victim was a truck driver.</p>
<p>RAI said A21 highway traffic had already slowed to a crawl because of an earlier accident Tuesday when a truck loaded with sand struck the car in front of it, which in turn slammed into a tanker truck whose flammable liquid cargo caught fire.</p>
<p>Authorities didn't immediately identify the liquid.</p>
<p>Firefighters were on the highway about 1.5 kilometers (nearly a mile) north of the crash site dealing with the earlier accident when the tanker truck caught fire. Thick, dark smoke was visible for miles.</p>
<p>ROME (AP) - Italian news reports say a fiery highway crash in northern Italy has killed six people.</p>
<p>RAI state TV quoted firefighters in Brescia as saying that five of the dead, including two children, were in a car, and the sixth victim was a truck driver.</p>
<p>RAI said A21 highway traffic had already slowed to a crawl because of an earlier accident Tuesday when a truck loaded with sand struck the car in front of it, which in turn slammed into a tanker truck whose flammable liquid cargo caught fire.</p>
<p>Authorities didn't immediately identify the liquid.</p>
<p>Firefighters were on the highway about 1.5 kilometers (nearly a mile) north of the crash site dealing with the earlier accident when the tanker truck caught fire. Thick, dark smoke was visible for miles.</p> | Highway crash in northern Italy kills 6 when tanker ignites | false | https://apnews.com/amp/ff5578a2ec3d4494a405993a92646a55 | 2018-01-02 | 2 |
<p>The debates leading up to the election this year will no doubt invoke the “American value” of capitalism. But what, exactly, does that mean? And what should it mean?</p>
<p>I’m no economist, but I took a few economics courses while earning an undergraduate business degree. Growing up in a capitalist society, I thought I understood the basic concepts underlying capitalism — free markets, competitive advantage, and so forth.</p>
<p>Then I actually read The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, the founding work that described what we call capitalism in the first place. That was a game changer.</p>
<p>We’re all probably familiar with Smith’s ideas at some level.</p>
<p>The market regulates itself, as each of us operates based on our own self-interest. Businesses try to earn profits, and consumers try to meet their needs at the best prices. The market ensures that the demand of consumers is met with supply from business.</p>
<p>The government’s job, the doctrinaire thinking goes, is to get the heck out of the way. It doesn’t set prices or quotas. It just lets the market function.</p>
<p>Adam Smith cast this arrangement in glowing terms in 1776. He was describing England during the Industrial Revolution. He thought it was amazing that millions of individual actors, each operating based on self-interest, could so efficiently revolutionize society without any central planning at all.</p>
<p>Only, he was wrong.</p>
<p>In fact, the growing British Empire was undertaking economic interventions on a colossal scale — and would do even more in the centuries to come. The British set out all over the globe, claiming colonies in the New World and later India and Africa, setting up trade policies that benefited the British at the expense of the colonized.</p>
<p>The British imported cotton from their colonies for their own factories, as well as wheat to feed British workers in the isles. Colonial India, meanwhile, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_major_famines_in_India_during_British_rule" type="external">suffered several massive famines</a>. Even as tens of millions of Indians starved to death, record amounts of Indian wheat were exported to feed British factory workers laboring in a so-called free market.</p>
<p>Before the Industrial Revolution, Indian textiles reigned supreme. But British authorities kept industrial textile technologies out of India in order to capture the global textile market, impoverishing the colony further.</p>
<p>Other British staples — tea and sugar — were also imported from British colonies. That sugar was produced by enslaved Africans in the Caribbean.</p>
<p>Some invisible hand.</p>
<p>Smith also overlooked the utter misery textile workers lived in, even in Britain. The system “worked” at making some people rich. But the squalid and wretched lifestyles of laborers, including children — which inspired the writing of Charles Dickens — were its cost.</p>
<p>We in America have meddled in markets plenty in our own right — not least through historical crimes like slavery and colonialism. But we’ve also developed more benign interventions that can actually help people.</p>
<p>We ban child labor, for example, and enforce (admittedly inadequate) minimum wage protections. We require businesses to offer safe and healthy workplaces. We ban the sale of dangerous drugs. We try to regulate pharmaceuticals to make sure they’re safe and effective.</p>
<p>In other words, capitalism with absolutely no government intervention is a myth — and always was.</p>
<p>We can debate the pros and cons of specific regulations. But if you hear a candidate claiming that capitalism means doing away with all regulations — or that any government interference in the market equates to socialism or communism — they’re being dishonest.</p>
<p>This column is distributed by <a href="http://otherwords.org." type="external">Other Words</a>.</p> | There’s No Such Thing as a “Free Market” | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/07/28/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-free-market/ | 2016-07-28 | 4 |
<p>Diana Krall, way to pick the right song.</p>
<p>The jazz singer's performance of "Fly Me To The Moon" at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl Saturday night in honor of Neil Armstrong has impressed, with the <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/krall-plays-fly-me-moon-armstrong" type="external">Associated Press saying</a> she really "knows how to pay tribute."</p>
<p>The legendary US astronaut, the first man to set foot on the moon, passed away on Saturday at the age of 82.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/120826/5-ways-neil-armstrong-changed-your-life-even-if-" type="external">5 ways Neil Armstrong likely changed your life</a></p>
<p>Armstrong, who was a pretty reserved dude, once had a glass of wine with Krall, the singer revealed, <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/krall-plays-fly-me-moon-armstrong" type="external">according to AP</a>.</p>
<p>He must have dug her music.</p>
<p>But he probably didn't want to hear the old Sinatra tune for the millionth time, Krall said, a half-serious remark <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/krall-plays-fly-me-moon-armstrong" type="external">AP said</a> was made as she stood&#160;"gazing toward the night sky."&#160;</p>
<p>All that was missing was a wink and she'd have followed the <a href="http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/08/neil_armstrongs_family_says_fa.html" type="external">statement</a> put out by the Armstrong family to the letter:&#160;"Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink," <a href="http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/08/neil_armstrongs_family_says_fa.html" type="external">they said</a>.</p>
<p>Well, wink or no wink, Krall's was truly a tribute in tempo with the times.</p>
<p>Here's her singing "Fly Me To The Moon" in a 2011 performance:&#160;</p>
<p />
<p /> | Best tribute ever? Diana Krall sings "Fly Me To The Moon" for Neil Armstrong (VIDEO) | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-08-26/best-tribute-ever-diana-krall-sings-fly-me-moon-neil-armstrong-video | 2012-08-26 | 3 |
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<p>Yoram Bauman (no relation), who calls himself “the world’s first and only stand-up economist,” has penned an <a href="http://www.standupeconomist.com/blog/economics/an-open-letter-to-austan-goolsbee-oct-8-2009/" type="external">open letter</a> to Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee. (Goolsbee did some stand-up comedy himself <a href="/mojo/2009/10/austan-goolsbee-not-long-white-house" type="external">earlier this month</a>.):</p>
<p>Dear Austan:</p>
<p>You might think that it was quite a shock for me–” <a href="http://www.standupeconomist.com/" type="external">the world’s first and only stand-up economist</a>“–to find a Wall Street Journal blog with the headline “ <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/10/01/austan-goolsbee-stand-up-economist/" type="external">Austan Goolsbee, stand-up economist</a>“.</p>
<p>But in fact I was not shocked, or even surprised. You and your colleagues in the Obama administration have been quite active in redrawing the line between the public and private sectors, and it would not have been rational for me to expect that economics comedy would be immune from the onslaught.</p>
<p>Now, I could take your comedy endeavors as a threat and respond by hiring lobbyists to protect my turf, or by making an appearance on Fox News as “Joe the comedian”. But unlike plumbers or insurance executives or most other private sector businesses, stand-up comedians oppose barriers to entry. Although it pains me to remember the times I was crushed in comedy competitions by high school drop-outs telling fart jokes, I also remember that those crushing defeats made me stronger.</p>
<p>So I welcome the competition, even from the government (heck, especially from the government!) and in fact this letter is an open invitation for you to come join me in performing at the <a href="http://www.standupeconomist.com/shows/" type="external">American Economic Association humor session</a> in Atlanta on January 3, 2010. The humor session is free and open to the public, and will also feature <a href="http://userwww.service.emory.edu/%7Ehmialon/" type="external">Hugo Mialon</a> of Emory University, Jodi N. Beggs of <a href="http://www.economistsdoitwithmodels.com/" type="external">economistsdoitwithmodels.com</a>, and country music legend <a href="http://www.merlehazard.com/" type="external">Merle Hazard</a>. University of Wisconsin professor Ken West will be emceeing, so you can RSVP to him or to me, or just show up unannounced and wait for Ken to invite you onstage. We even have a title for your presentation: Stand-Up Economics: The Public Option!</p>
<p>Regards, and hope to see you in Atlanta, yoram bauman phd, <a href="http://www.standupeconomist.com/" type="external">standupeconomist.com</a> “the world’s first and only [private sector] stand-up economist”</p>
<p>I’m sure Yoram isn’t the only one who would be psyched to see Goolsbee cracking up the crowd in Atlanta. But what would Rahm Emanuel think?</p>
<p /> | Stand-Up Economist’s Letter to Obama Adviser | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/10/stand-economists-letter-obama-adviser/ | 2009-10-14 | 4 |
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<p>BlackRock Inc. has nominated Cisco Systems Inc. leader Chuck Robbins as a director, making him the first technology chief executive on the board of the world's largest money manager.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The expected election of Mr. Robbins at BlackRock's May 25 annual meeting comes ahead of the firm's expanded reliance on highly sophisticated technology. In one example, BlackRock has long commercialized an internal risk-management system known as Aladdin but is increasingly seeking new ways for its own investors and customers to use it.</p>
<p>The risk-management and technology platform has more than 180 customers and nearly $20 trillion in assets, BlackRock President Rob Kapito said at an investor conference this February.</p>
<p>The $5.1 trillion money manager announced the recruitment of Mr. Robbins Wednesday. Two older board members are also expected to depart this spring, according to a person familiar with the matter. Leaving the board at that time will be Thomas H. O'Brien, a retired CEO of PNC Financial Services Group Inc., and David H. Komansky, a retired CEO of Merrill Lynch &amp; Co.</p>
<p>The 51-year-old Mr. Robbins has run Cisco, a Silicon Valley network-equipment giant, since 2015 and currently doesn't have any outside corporate board seats.</p>
<p>For BlackRock's Aladdin system specifically, firm leaders are currently pitching the technology for risk assessment in the wealth management industry, improved Wall Street plumbing through custodians and digitizing money management for retail investors.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>"At BlackRock, technology is rapidly transforming how we invest, measure risk, distribute our products, and run our operations." said Laurence Fink, the firm's chairman and CEO, in a statement.</p>
<p>Mr. O'Brien, who turned 80 earlier this year, has been BlackRock's lead independent director. His successor in that powerful post will be fellow director Murry S. Gerber, a former CEO of EQT Corp., according to a person familiar with the situation, the person familiar with the situation said.</p>
<p>Following this year's annual meeting, the BlackRock board will have 18 members. Mr. Robbins will represent the sixth new independent director added since 2012.</p>
<p>Further board turnover looms.</p>
<p>Under BlackRock's governance guidelines, directors must retire at age 75 -- unless they had reached 70 years old as of July 2013. Messrs. O'Brien, Komansky and two other board members were over 75 as of its April 2016 proxy statement. All but one had been a BlackRock director for at least a decade.</p>
<p>BlackRock and other institutional investors have raised questions whether long-tenured directors serve shareholders' best interests. BlackRock revised its U.S. voting guidelines in early 2015 to signal that it might oppose directors with long tenure, among other perceived shortcomings.</p> | Cisco's CEO to Join BlackRock's Board | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/04/05/ciscos-ceo-to-join-blackrocks-board.html | 2017-04-05 | 0 |
<p>Pakistan’s ousted chief justice has called on the masses to “rise up and restore the constitution,” adding, “This is a time for sacrifices.” Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was fired and placed under house arrest when he refused to sign off on President Pervez Musharraf’s declaration of emergency, made the address by telephone. Mysteriously (or not), Mobile phone service in Islamabad suffered a breakdown as Chaudhry was making his remarks.</p>
<p>BBC:</p>
<p>Mr Chaudhry told around 500 lawyers on Tuesday: “The constitution has been ripped to shreds. The lawyers should convey my message to the people to rise up and restore the constitution.</p>
<p>“This is a time for sacrifices. I am under arrest now, but soon I will also join you in your struggle.”</p>
<p />
<p>Mr Chaudhry is under house arrest but his comments were broadcast on the internet by a private television channel.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7080433.stm" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Musharraf Foe Calls on Pakistan to 'Rise Up' | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/musharraf-foe-calls-on-pakistan-to-rise-up/ | 2007-11-06 | 4 |
<p>On Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, President Donald J. Trump visited his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, reportedly his 91st trip to a golf club since taking office. Meanwhile, in New York City, hundreds rallied in Judson Memorial Church, demanding freedom for Jean Montrevil and Ravi Ragbir, two men who had just been detained by ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Both men have been in the U.S. for almost 60 years between them, and both are prominent immigrant-rights organizers. They aren’t the only ones who’ve been targeted by ICE lately, either, suggesting a concerted effort by the Trump administration to round up leaders in the immigrant community.</p>
<p>Jean Montrevil, originally from Haiti, has been in the U.S. for over 30 years. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and is still recovering from the devastating 2010 earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of people. It also is one of those countries that Trump reportedly singled out in a racist screed last Thursday, calling Haiti, El Salvador and countries in Africa “shitholes.” The comment was made at the White House, where Trump and senators were discussing a possible legislative deal on immigration. “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here,” Trump reportedly asked, adding, “Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out.” He went on to say that we need more immigrants from places like Norway, one of the whitest countries on the planet.</p>
<p>Jean Montrevil, a well-known community leader in New York City, was, indeed, taken out. “I just had my first wake-up in Haiti after 32 years,” Jean told us on the “Democracy Now!” news hour Wednesday morning. He went on to describe his ordeal: “I was deported on Tuesday, without any notification from my lawyer. They just deported me. My case was still in court. It was very tough, two days of hell. … Imagine staying up for two days straight, with no food and shackled up and with no explanation. And now I’m in Haiti.”</p>
<p>Jean is a longtime volunteer with the New Sanctuary Coalition, a faith-based, immigrant-rights group headquartered at Judson Memorial Church. When asked if he thought that work contributed to his arrest and deportation, he said, “I can’t regret the work that we did with the sanctuary movement, because no one knew about what ICE was doing until we started.”</p>
<p />
<p>Ravi Ragbir is the executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition. He was detained by ICE on Jan. 11, the same day Trump made his racist comments. Ravi is married to a U.S. citizen, and is a nationally recognized leader in the immigrant-rights community. Like Jean Montrevil, Ravi was quickly flown by ICE, in shackles, to Miami. From there, he managed to dictate a “Letter From an Immigration Jail,” a missive inspired by the “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” written by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. “Every moment was uncertain except the certainty that they wanted me gone,” Ravi wrote. “At this moment, we need to speak about changing the system so that no one has to face this type of harm, not just for me but for all the families who face being torn apart. Until we get reform, we need to repeal the act that criminalizes immigrants, that makes us less than human because of a document.”</p>
<p>Immediately after his detention, a protest formed outside the federal building in Manhattan. As Ravi was driven away in an ambulance, 18 people, including two New York City Council members, were arrested while nonviolently attempting to stop it. Ravi was brought to the Krome Detention Center in Florida, facing deportation to his native Trinidad, but after public outcry and a court challenge, ICE informed his lawyers that he would be brought back to detention in the New York City area.</p>
<p>This is happening across the country. Colorado has more people living in sanctuary than any other state. Sandra Lopez is a Mexican mother of three who has been in the U.S. for 20 years. She has been living in the Unitarian parsonage in Carbondale since October. Ingrid Encalada Latorre re-entered sanctuary in Denver in October as well. On the day Ravi was detained, Ingrid’s husband, Eliseo Jurado, was arrested by ICE. In Seattle, ICE sent a “notice to appear” to Maru Mora Villalpando, who has lived in the U.S. for 25 years and leads the organization Northwest Detention Center Resistance.</p>
<p>“ICE is really sending us a message to stop our political activity, to stop our activism,” Maru told us on “Democracy Now!” But as evidenced by the enormous pressure on Congress to protect the 800,000 young immigrant Dreamers living in the United States, a vigorous mass movement is growing, dedicated to immigrant rights that challenges mass deportations and the racism of President Trump and his supporters.</p> | Trump's Roundup of Immigrant Leaders Has Begun | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/trumps-roundup-immigrant-leaders-begun/ | 2018-01-18 | 4 |
<p>The government of Yemen has stated unequivocally that it will accept no U.S. ground forces in the country, and that such deployment would only be counterproductive in the struggle against al-Qaeda and its local affiliate, Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).</p>
<p>The U.S., warns Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi “should learn from its experiences in Pakistan and Afghanistan and not repeat the mistakes in Yemen, both in dealing with the government of Yemen and confronting al-Qaeda.” “Any intervention or direct action by the United States could strengthen the al-Qaeda network and not weaken it,” adds Deputy Prime Minister Rashed al-Aleemi.</p>
<p>The Minister of Religious Endowment and Islamic Guidance, Hamoud al-Hitar, declares, “Military action in Yemen, by either the US or any other country, will make all Yemeni people unite, ending their internal disputes to stand together against any direct military intervention.”</p>
<p>U.S. military officials for their part have denied any intention of dispatching troops to the Arab world’s most impoverished nation. Mired in two failed wars in Southwest Asia they hardly savor the prospect of guerrilla conflict on the Gulf of Aden. (The British have been there and done that during the “Aden Emergency” from 1963 to 1967.) Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says this is “not a possibility,” while Gen. David Petreaus has told Christiane Amanpour that he wants Yemen to deal with its al-Qaeda problem itself. Commander-in-Chief Obama has declared he has “no intention of sending boots on the ground” to Yemen.</p>
<p>Yemen has been in the spotlight since the Christmas Day Underwear Bomber’s abortive effort to blow up a Delta/Northwest airliner over Detroit, apparently planned in Yemen in conjunction with AQAP. The neocon crazies are as usual on the warpath, threatening invasion as a knee-jerk response, their message resonating with a sector of public opinion. (71% of those responding to a recent Fox poll agreed that “U.S. troops need to be sent [to Yemen] to eliminate Al Qaeda and the threat it poses to national security.”) Still, the official comments cited above suggest there’s no imminent danger of a U.S. assault (beyond the ongoing drone attacks). The U.S., the most powerful imperialist country in history, is overextended militarily and in grave economic crisis. But that does not mean opponents of imperialist war can be complacent.</p>
<p>Let us think for a moment like al-Qaeda thinks. I do not mean the way Osama bin Laden himself thinks, or the way any particular al-Qaeda militant thinks. I mean the way al-Qaeda realizes that its millions of admirers, whom it can’t reach directly and must merely inspire by model actions, think. They believe in a God who created the universe, a compassionate and just Supreme Being. This belief, which they share in common with the overwhelming majority of Americans, contributes to their indignation at a world dominated by a superpower characterized by cruelty and injustice. The plight of the Palestinians displaced by European Zionists, subjected to humiliations and abuses so grotesquely illustrated by the blitzkrieg of Gaza a year ago, is only one example of this cruelty and injustice. The newly elected president said nothing; the Congress cheered on the carnage. Or the U.S.-imposed sanctions of Iraq throughout the 1990s, that killed at least half a million children. Under such circumstances some Muslims do indeed disregard the Qur’anic rejection of attacks on innocent civilians, in efforts to force those in nations whose governments are responsible for Muslim suffering to feel some of that suffering. It is modern terrorism quite distinct from historical models of jihad,&#160;but it responds to modern conditions dissimilar to those faced by the caliphates and emirates of the past.</p>
<p>Bin Laden perhaps realized on 9-11 that after that dramatic event his arch-enemy would swallow the bait, or rather follow its basic nature, and use the opportunity to ferociously attack (as Donald Rumsfeld put it in a remarkably candid note immediately after the attacks: “Go massive. Sweep it all. Things related and not.”). The killing of 3000 on 9-11 provoked the beast to slaughter thousands of Afghans within months and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis within two years, while destabilizing Pakistan. It afforded the opportunity for U.S. forces to reestablish a presence in the Philippines and expand efforts to integrate Georgia into the NATO military alliance. Bin Laden may have known that George Bush would relate unrelated things (like Iran and Iraq, and the Islamic Courts Union of Somalia) with al-Qaeda, deploying such rhetoric as “You’re either for us or against us” and “axis of evil” to convey not so subtly to his audience the concept that the U.S. really was at war with Islam in general. The occasional statement to the contrary or politically expedient Eid party at the White House did little to counter that basic impression. Bush was a useful, indeed invaluable partner in bin Laden’s project of forcing a head-on confrontation between the western and Islamic worlds.</p>
<p>The invasion of Afghanistan resulted in the rapid overthrow of the Taliban and its replacement with a puppet president and a warlord cabinet. The inefficacy and corruption of the latter, and the arrogance of the foreign soldiers, helped produce a resurgence of the Taliban. Although the Taliban had nothing to do with 9-11, and there was in fact some tension between al-Qaeda and its Afghan hosts before the attacks in 2001, al-Qaeda was able to pit the U.S and its ISAF allies against the Taliban and much of Afghan society. Inevitably, aerial attacks on civilians produced outrage generating more support for the Taliban and potentially al-Qaeda, not only in Afghanistan but in neighboring Pakistan where local al-Qaeda franchises have emerged spontaneously.</p>
<p>The invasion of Iraq resulting in the overthrow of a secularist regime and its replacement with a Shiite-led government has alienated substantial sections of the populace for various reasons. Among them are Iraqi Sunnis who welcomed outside support in their confrontation with the U.S. forces and their allies. (Dozens of Yemenis gained military experience fighting western troops in Iraq and are now the backbone of AQAP.)&#160; Al-Qaeda may have hoped for a more successful Sunni “insurgency” against the puppet regime and occupation, headed by the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi; at minimum it has produced a polarized situation in which it can play a role. (It had no role in Saddam’s Iraq.) More importantly, the invasion based on lies has produced near-universal revulsion within the Muslim world, and encouraged the perception that the U.S. is indeed waging war on Islam itself.</p>
<p>Yemen is a perfect venue for more confrontation, on al-Qaeda’s terms. This is bin Laden’s father’s homeland, and he has a wide following here. Al-Qaeda enjoys little support among the large Shiite (Zaydi) minority concentrated in the north, but elsewhere it is able to capitalize on popular outrage at the oppression of the Palestinians, the sanctions imposed on Iraq and the invasion and occupation of that country, and U.S. support for vicious Arab regimes. It is able to exploit the fact that the regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh is fighting not only an insurgency in the north led by the Zaydi Houthi tribe but a secessionist movement in the south.</p>
<p>The latter movement is rooted among former officials and military officers of the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen), which merged with the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) to form the present Republic of Yemen in 1990. Saleh was president of North Yemen from 1978 and has been the unchallenged leader of the united country for 20 years. His opponents in the Southern Movement (including secularist Baathists and Nasserites, who have little in common with al-Qaeda) view him as a corrupt, nepotistic dictator using U.S. aid and the exaggerated al-Qaeda threat to his own advantage.</p>
<p>In 1994 southerners mounted a short-lived rebellion against the union. Their dissatisfaction arose in part from the inequitable distribution of revenue from oil, which is produced exclusively in the southern part of the country that nonetheless remains lags behind the north. Saleh, himself a (secular) Shiite from the north, cunningly deployed Islamist forces from the north to help suppress the rebellion. Jihadist leader Tariq al-Fadhli, a veteran of the anti-Soviet struggle in Afghanistan in the eighties, was among these. He is of southern origin; his family fled to the north after its property was nationalized by the leftist regime in the 1970s. According to “terrorism analyst” <a href="http://www.jamestown.org/programs/gta/single/articles-by-author/?no_cache=1&amp;tx_cablanttnewsstaffrelation_pi1%5Bauthor%5D=465" type="external">Rafid Fadhil Ali</a>, “The terminology he uses in his statements and speeches is more patriotic than Islamist.” He acknowledges meeting bin Laden in Afghanistan many years ago but insists, “I have strong relations with all of the jihadists in the north and the south and everywhere, but not with al-Qaeda.”</p>
<p>Now the south is in revolt again, using mostly peaceful tactics of resistance. But al-Fadhli has switched sides, joining what is called the Southern Movement and advocating militant tactics. Saleh has seized upon this to smear the Southern Movement in general as an al-Qaeda offshoot, and to strengthen his grip over the country with U.S. support. At present he receives far more military aid from Russia and China than the U.S., and he apparently realizes the political risks of too close an association with a widely hated imperialist power. On the other hand his government is weak and risks losing control over the oil-rich south without outside support.</p>
<p>While al-Fadhli denies al-Qaeda ties, and the Southern Movement seems clearly dominated by secularists and nationalists rather than bin Laden-type Islamists, AQAP has opportunistically embraced the southern secessionist cause. As analyst Ali puts it, this allows Saleh to claim that “the Southern Movement and al Qaeda are one and the same, a convenient way to insure backing from Washington.” Meanwhile as Princeton University professor Bernard Haykel puts it, “Any association [of the U.S.] with the (Yemeni) regime will only confirm al Qaida’s narrative, which is that America is only interested in maintaining corrupt and despotic rulers and is not interested in the fate of Arabs and Muslims.”</p>
<p>The U.S. may have no boots on the ground in Yemen, other than those of some trainers. Rather, there are attacks on targets conducted by drones, apparently approved by the Saleh regime. These have occurred since 2002 and are occurring with increasing frequency. The December 17 attack on a site north of the capital of Sana’a (in insurgent Houthi territory) killed 34 al-Qaeda militants and foiled a terror plot, according to the Yemeni government. But a local official reported 49 civilians killed, among them 23 children and 17 women, while opposition politicians say 120 were killed. This was followed by a strike in the south on a meeting planning a protest on the December 24 attack. The abortive Delta/Northwest bombing was depicted by AQAP as revenge for these attacks.</p>
<p>As al-Jazeera has editorialized: “A dozen years ago, a demoralized group with nowhere to go but the hills of Afghanistan, al-Qaeda began targeting America instead of the region’s authoritarian regimes hoping to destabilize the region, bloody America’s nose and gain popularity. Its strategy was simple: Draw the US into direct confrontation against and within the Muslim world. Like sheep to the slaughter house, America walked right into its trap.”</p>
<p>Who wants to walk further down into the trap?&#160; Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), head of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, keen advocate of the Afghan and Iraq Wars, campaigner for the Iran attack, stands at the head of the line. “Iraq was yesterday’s war,” he told Fox News. “Afghanistan is today’s war. If we don’t act pre-emptively, Yemen will be tomorrow’s war. That’s the danger we face.” Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) appearing on the same program agreed, and Sen Arlen Specter (D-PA) has said an attack on Yemen is “something we should consider.”</p>
<p>U.S. intelligence estimates there are only about 200 al-Qaeda members in Yemen. Al-Qirbi stated on December 29, “There are maybe hundreds of them—200, 300.” Award-winning Irish journalist Patrick Cockburn estimates 200-300. According to one estimate only about 90 of these are fully armed. The Yemeni government doesn’t really see them as a threat to itself. “The view from Sana’a doesn’t match the view from Washington,” points out Gregory Johnson, a Princeton graduate student specializing in Yemen. “The Yemeni government is much more concerned with fighting the Houthis in Saada and with the secessionists in the south. Al-Qaeda ranks a distant third. The government doesn’t see it as a Yemeni problem. [It sees it as] a foreign problem.”</p>
<p>The Obama administration, in the wake of the Underwear Bomber Affair, which it insists on closely linking to Yemen’s homegrown al-Qaeda, is pressuring its uncomfortable ally Saleh to accept more drone attacks, more military aid, more “advisors.” Both Obama and Saleh are walking into the trap, the former because he is the president of an imperialist country competing with other powers for control of the Indian Ocean, and a politician jockeying for position within an environment where neocon hawks retain a shocking degree of power and credibility, the latter because he has few options. Saleh cannot refuse U.S. drone strikes where the Pakistanis have failed to do so. The best he can do is persuade the U.S. to hit his own enemies among the Houthis and the adherents of the Southern Movement and hope al-Qaeda doesn’t flourish as a result of the consequent rage.</p>
<p>Adm. Mullen says a U.S. war on Yemen is “not a possibility.” Obama says “no boots on the ground.” All that sounds comforting. But if air strikes continue to enrage Yemenis against the U.S., doing precisely al-Qaeda’s work for it, and if the current regime as U.S. partner is blamed and toppled as a result, we may hear that U.S. troops will have to be sent to prevent Yemen from becoming a haven for international terrorists.</p>
<p>That’s certainly bin Laden’s plan. He has many unwitting allies in its execution.</p>
<p>GARY LEUPP is Professor of History at Tufts University, and Adjunct Professor of Religion. He is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Servants, Shophands and Laborers in in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan</a>; <a href="" type="internal">Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan</a>; and <a href="" type="internal">Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900</a>. He is also a contributor to CounterPunch’s merciless chronicle of the wars on Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia, <a href="http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/CP_Books.html" type="external">Imperial Crusades</a>. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | War on Yemen | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/01/15/war-on-yemen/ | 2010-01-15 | 4 |
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