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<p>Laurie Goodstein’s article, ‘American Muslims Ask, Will We Ever Belong?’ was intended as a sympathetic reading of the concerns of US Muslim communities facing increasing levels of hostility and fear. While generally insightful and sensibly written, the article also highlights the very misconceptions that riddle the bizarre debate pitting American Muslims against much of the government, the mainstream media and most of the general public.</p>
<p>This is how Goodstein lays the ground for her discussion: “For nine years after the attacks of Sept. 11, many American Muslims made concerted efforts to build relationships with non-Muslims, to make it clear they abhor terrorism, to educate people about Islam and to participate in interfaith service projects. They took satisfaction in the observations by many scholars that Muslims in America were more successful and assimilated than Muslims in Europe.” (New York Times, September 5, 2010)</p>
<p>This argument is not Goodstein’s alone, but one repeated by many in the media, the general public, and even among American Muslims themselves. The insinuation of the above context is misleading, and the timeline is selective.</p>
<p>True, it largely depends on who you ask, but there seem is more than one timeline in this narrative. The mainstream interpretation envisages the conflict as beginning with the hideous bombings on September 11, 2001. All that has happened since becomes justified with the claim that ‘Muslims’ started it. These same ‘Muslims’, some argue, are now twisting the knife by wanting to build a mosque not too far from Ground Zero, and they must be stopped. The media fan the flames of this fear, while unknown, attention-hungry zealots propose to burn the holy book of Islam. Scheming rightwing politicians jump on board, fiery media commentators go wild with speculations, and the public grow increasingly terrified of what the Muslims might do. Even the sensible among all of these groups advise Muslims to basically try to make themselves more likable, to assimilate and fit in better.</p>
<p>That timeline and logic may be omnipresent in mainstream society in the US, but many on the fringes dare to challenge it. More, throughout Muslim-majority countries, in fact most of the world, September 11, 2001 was one station, however bloody, among many equally bloody episodes that defined the relationship between Muslims and the United States. Again, it all depends on who you ask. An Iraqi might locate the origin of hostilities with the Iraq war of 1990-91, and the deadly sanctions that followed, taking millions of civilian lives over the next decade. Some Muslims might cite the US military presence in holy Muslim lands, or their intervention in Muslim countries’ affairs. They may also point to the US government’s support of vile and brutal regimes around the world.</p>
<p>But the vast majority, while acknowledging all of these, will refer to the genesis of all hostilities – before Saddam Hussein existed on the map of Arab politics, and before Osama bin Laden led Arab fighters in Afghanistan, with the direct support of the US, to defeat the Soviets. It is the tragedy in Palestine that has continued to pain Muslims everywhere, regardless of their background, politics or geographic location. They know that without US help, Israel would have no other option but to extend its hand to whatever peace offer enjoys international consensus. With every Palestinian killed, an American flag is burned, since the relationship has been delineated with immense clarity for decades. When US General David Petraeus argued last March that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was fomenting anti-American sentiment, he spoke as a military man stating a fact. He was right, although many continue to ignore his remarks at their own peril.</p>
<p>True, timelines can be selective, but empathy requires one to understand another’s perspective and not just one’s own.</p>
<p>The Florida Priest on a mission to burn the Koran needs to see past his own terrible prejudices. Media commentators need to stop pigeonholing Muslims, and realize that there is no such thing as a Muslim polity in America. There is no truth to the idea that all Muslims hold the same religious values and political aspirations which are at constant odds with ‘American values’, and which need to be amended in order to make peace with their ‘new’ surroundings.</p>
<p>Needless to say, talks of ‘assimilation’ are misguided. Muslims have lived in the United States for generations and have become an essential part of American life. Millions of US Muslims are also African American. Do they too need to assimilate? And if not, should we divide American Muslims to groups based on ethnic background, skin color, or some other criterion?</p>
<p>One cannot offer simple recipes by calling on the general public to adopt this belief or ditch another. Public opinion is formulated through a complex process in which the media is a major player. However, it is essential that one remembers that history is much more encompassing and cannot be hostage to our diktats and priorities. Such selective understanding will surely result in a limited understanding of the world and its shared future, and thus a misguided course of action.</p>
<p>That said, Muslims must not fall into the trap of victimhood, and start dividing the world into good and evil, the West and Muslims, and so on. How could one make such generalized claims and still remain critical of the notion of a ‘clash of civilizations’? It remains that many Americans who have a negative perception of Muslims are not motivated by ideological convictions or religious zealotry. Most American clergy are not Koran-burning hateful priests, and not all media pundits are Bill O’Reilly.</p>
<p>There is no question that the conflict remains largely political. Misconceptions and misperceptions, manipulated by ill-intentioned politicians, media cohorts and substantiated by violence and war will not be resolved overnight. However, hundreds of interfaith dialogues and conferences will not change much as long as American armies continue to roam Muslim countries, support Israel and back corrupt leaders. Reducing the issue by signaling out a Muslim community in this country and then calling on frightened and fragmented communities to ‘make more effort’ is unfair and simply futile.</p> | Regarding US Muslims: A Misguided Debate | false | http://foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/09/20/regarding-us-muslims-a-misguided-debate/ | 2010-09-20 | 1 |
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<p>WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama moved to solidify his environmental legacy Monday by withdrawing hundreds of millions of acres of federally owned land in the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean from future offshore oil and gas drilling.</p>
<p>Obama used a little-known law called the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect large portions of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in the Arctic and a string of canyons in the Atlantic stretching from Massachusetts to Virginia from oil exploration and the potential for spills.</p>
<p>The announcement by the White House late in the afternoon was coordinated with similar steps being taken by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to shield large areas of that nation’s Arctic waters from drilling. Neither measure affects leases already held by oil and gas companies and drilling activity in state waters.</p>
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<p>“These actions, and Canada’s parallel actions, protect a sensitive and unique ecosystem that is unlike any other region on earth,” the White House said in a statement. “They reflect the scientific assessment that, even with the high safety standards that both our countries have put in place, the risks of an oil spill in this region are significant and our ability to clean up from a spill in the region’s harsh conditions is limited.</p>
<p>White House officials described their actions to make the areas off limits to future oil and gas exploration and drilling as indefinite. Officials said the withdrawals under Section 12-A of the 1953 act used by presidents dating to Dwight Eisenhower cannot be undone by an incoming president. It is not clear if a Republican-controlled Congress can rescind Obama’s action.</p>
<p>“There is a precedent of more than half a century of this authority being utilized by presidents of both parties,” a White House aide said. “There is no authority for subsequent presidents to un-withdraw. … I can’t speak to what a future Congress will do.”</p>
<p>“The U.S. is not acting alone today. Canada is acting to put an indefinite stop to activity in its waters as well,” the aide said. “With Canada, we send a powerful signal and reinforce our commitment to work together.”</p>
<p>U.S. and Canadian officials have negotiated for months to reach a joint understanding on how to manage adjacent areas in the ocean in an effort to make the new protections as sweeping and politically durable as possible. Meanwhile, advocacy groups lobbied Obama to ban oil and gas leasing in the Arctic entirely.</p>
<p>Obama already invoked the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to safeguard Alaska’s Bristol Bay in 2014, and again last year to protect part of Alaska’s Arctic coast. The president has protected 125 million acres in the region in the last two years, according to a fact sheet issued by the White House.</p>
<p>The Beaufort and Chukchi seas are habitat for several species listed as endangered and species that are candidates for the endangered species, including the bowhead whale, fin whale, Pacific walrus and polar bear. Concern for the animals has heightened as the Arctic warms faster than anywhere else in the world and sea ice the bears use to hunt continues to melt.</p>
<p>The underwater canyons protected by the president cover nearly 4 million acres across the Atlantic continental shelf break, “running from Heezen Canyon offshore New England to Norfolk Canyon offshore the Chesapeake Bay,” according to a separate fact sheet.</p>
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<p>They are widely recognized as major biodiversity hotspots that are critical to fisheries. The canyons provide deep water corals used by a wide array of fish. The area also provides habitat “for . . . deepwater corals, deep diving beaked whales, commercially valuable fishes, and significant numbers of habitat-forming soft and hard corals, sponges, and crabs,” the White House said.</p>
<p>The American Petroleum Institute denounced the decision. “The administration’s decision to remove key Arctic and Atlantic offshore areas from future leasing consideration ignores congressional intent, our national security, and vital, good-paying job opportunities for our shipyards, unions, and businesses of all types across the country,” said Erik Milito, the group’s Upstream director.</p>
<p>“Our national security depends on our ability to produce oil and natural gas here in the United States,” Milito said. “This proposal would take us in the wrong direction just as we have become world leader in production and refining of oil and natural gas and in reduction of carbon emissions.”</p>
<p>Contradicting the White House’s statement, Milito said George W. Bush removed previous 12-A withdrawal areas with a memorandum and made all but marine sanctuaries available for leasing. “We are hopeful the incoming administration will reverse this decision as the nation continues to need a robust strategy for developing offshore and onshore energy,” he said.</p>
<p>But a wide range of conservation groups hailed the decision. League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski called it “an incredible holiday gift,” saying that “an oil spill in these pristine waters would be devastating to the wildlife and people who live in the region.”</p>
<p>Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, called it “a historic victory in our fight to save our Arctic and Atlantic waters, marine life, coastal communities and all they support.”</p>
<p>Carter Roberts, president and chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund, applauded what he called “a bold decision” that “signals some places are just too important not to protect.”</p>
<p>Oil production in the Arctic represents a tenth of one percent of the nation’s oil production overall, the White House said. The area is so sensitive and so remote that the economics of exploration is costly.</p>
<p>Shell, which said in September 2015 that it would shelve drilling plans after spending $7 billion and not finding significant amounts of oil, still has one remaining lease in the Chukchi Sea where it drilled a well earlier last year. Shell is also part of a joint venture with Italian oil giant ENI and Spanish firm Repsol in the Beaufort Sea that holds 13 leases.</p>
<p>Shell held other leases in the Beaufort Sea, which the company transferred to the Arctic Slope Regional Corp., a company belonging to the Native Americans in the region.</p>
<p>An earlier plan to allow limited drilling off the Atlantic coast was shelved after state governments along the southern Atlantic coasts – including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia – expressed worries over the effect on their beaches, tourist industry and environmentally sensitive marsh.</p>
<p>The Navy also objected. The Pentagon provided Interior with a map “that identifies locations . . . areas where the [Defense’s] offshore readiness activities are not compatible, partially compatible or minimally impacted by oil and gas activities,” department spokesman Matthew Allen said. The map included nearly the entire proposed drilling area.</p>
<p>Live training exercises are conducted off the Atlantic coast, “from unit level training to major joint service and fleet exercises,” Allen said in a statement. “These live training events are fundamental to the ability of our airmen, sailors, and marines to attain and sustain the highest levels of military readiness.”</p>
<p>The Obama administration eventually closed the Atlantic to drilling for five years.</p>
<p>President-elect Donald Trump could counter Obama’s plan with his own five-year plan, but even so it would be years before drilling could start.</p>
<p>The president-elect’s authority to undo a permanent prohibition is unclear. But Congress, controlled by Republicans, could move to rescind the withdrawal of federal lands from oil and gas exploration.</p>
<p>drilling-post-1stld-writethru</p> | Obama bans oil drilling in large areas of Atlantic, Arctic oceans | false | https://abqjournal.com/912852/obama-expected-to-ban-oil-drilling-in-large-areas-of-atlantic-and-arctic-oceans.html | 2016-12-20 | 2 |
<p>Once upon a time, there was a very large school district called Chicago Public Schools. It had hundreds of thousands of children to educate, thousands of teachers to teach them and hundreds of principals to lead schools.</p>
<p>Some elementary schools were at the top, admitting only the smartest students, those who arrive at kindergarten or 1st grade ready to read or already reading, having a couple years of preschool under their belts.</p>
<p>Classrooms were safe and orderly. Teachers were experts in their subjects. Parents had enough time and money to get involved. There were only a few schools like this, but they performed well, posting high test scores.</p>
<p>Some schools were in the middle. They admitted any child, some smart, some needing to catch up. These children came from a variety of ethnic, economic and educational backgrounds, and in schools where they were together, they were able to learn from each other. Test scores at these schools were not as high as those at top schools, but they weren’t bad either.</p>
<p>Then there was a large bunch of schools at the bottom. These schools admitted any child who lived in the community, but unlike students at schools in the middle, nearly all of the children at these schools needed extra help in school or at home. Sometimes they were unruly. Classrooms were in disrepair. Teachers were not experts in their subjects and often didn’t stick around for much more than a year. Test scores were dismal.</p>
<p>Leaders of the school district were not happy. They wanted every child to pass reading and math tests, so they figured out a way to try to get every school to be like the top schools. They organized schools into groups based on where they were located and created area instructional offices to provide academic support.</p>
<p>Area instructional officers would coach principals; subject area coaches would work with teachers. Everyone would do a better job, and lots more students would learn and do better on tests.</p>
<p>Two of the area offices—known as Area 4 and Area 14—started out about the same, each with a lot of schools at the bottom and led by an area instructional officer who had proven him or herself as a principal. Three years later, Area 4 was gaining more ground on achievement tests than any other area, but Area 14 was not much farther along than where it had started.</p>
<p>What happened with these two groups of schools is a cautionary tale about leadership styles and the complexity of overcoming entrenched poverty in public education.</p>
<p>In Area 4, area instructional officer Olga La Luz found a way to finesse the dueling mandate she had to support schools and evaluate principals’ job performance. Principals whose schools needed the most help welcomed her input.</p>
<p>Area 14 was led by Jim L. Murray, whose reliance on tough accountability measures fueled resistance and, finally, a principal revolt. Schools in his area were filled with poor children, too, but more of them came from the most impoverished homes, or didn’t have homes at all.</p>
<p>Experts in business and education from Harvard University are working with top district administrators here to map and implement strategies that will result in higher student performance districtwide. The extra layer of management support provided by area instructional offices has been deemed promising and researchers are keeping tabs on how it develops.</p>
<p>CPS took the first step toward remedying ills of Area 14 schools by replacing Murray with a newcomer. The next step will be to address the social and familial needs of students, perhaps through partnerships with other pubic or private agenies. Only then will real progress have a chance to take hold.</p>
<p>ABOUT US: Catalyst reporter returns</p>
<p>John Myers has returned to Catalyst Chicago after a year traveling and writing in India. As the new Data &amp; Research Editor, Myers will follow up his previous work covering school budgets, construction and district-level initiatives.</p>
<p>Myers was one of three Catalyst staffers who worked on a series of stories on the Chicago Public Schools budget, a project that won a national Clarion Award from the Association for Women in Communications.</p>
<p>Prior to joining Catalyst, Myers worked in online publishing. He graduated with a bachelor’s in journalism from Michigan State University and earned a master’s in journalism from Columbia College Chicago.</p> | A tale of two area offices: One leaps ahead, one doesn’t | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/tale-two-area-offices-one-leaps-ahead-one-doesnt/ | 2006-12-01 | 3 |
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<p>At the urging of Councilor Isaac Benton, the council late Monday voted 7-1 to block Albuquerque Public Schools from getting the curb cuts it needs to complete the loop project until a meeting takes place with APS, city planners and neighbors.</p>
<p>Benton also introduced a resolution to form a task force between APS and the city to work together on transportation and traffic issues.</p>
<p>Several neighbors who live next to Jefferson have been protesting the proposed loop since May, speaking at City Council meetings, contacting APS officials and even spray-painting messages on their fences. They contend the new loop road will cause unwanted pollution and decrease their property values, and they say they haven’t been included in the planning process.</p>
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<p>APS officials say passenger loading and unloading at the school is dangerous, and a loop road would alleviate that.</p>
<p>Although curb cuts are normally an administrative function, Benton said it’s appropriate for the City Council to get involved in this case, calling it an “unusual situation.”</p>
<p>“In this case it’s, in my opinion, a land-use matter as well as a transportation matter,” he said in an interview. “The adjacent city taxpayers and residents are being affected by APS’ actions.”</p>
<p>School Board President Martin Esquivel, who represents the Jefferson area, called Benton’s move “grandstanding.”</p>
<p>“He has no business to be poking his nose into this,” Esquivel said. “I think that this is a clear-cut safety issue for our children, and we’ve bent over backward to find solutions, and there are a few people who simply do not want the loop road at any cost.”</p>
<p>Adding fuel to the fire is an email that was released to neighbors through a public records request. The email was written by APS capital master plan director Kizito Wijenje and addressed to a consultant and several APS administrators, including Brad Winter. Winter is the chief operations officer for APS and also a city councilor. Winter said he will recuse himself from any council votes on the matter.</p>
<p>In the email, Wijenje asks, “Did we agree to postpone our project so that these characters can keep chasing their tails?” He also wrote that Benton is only interested in the issue because it is an election year. “Diane Dolan and Ike Benton also have a timeline, THE OCTOBER COUNCIL ELECTIONS. After which they could give a hoot whether we conduct car washes on the JMS parking lot in rush hour,” he wrote. Wijenje said in an interview Monday the email was an expression of his frustration with delays in the process.</p>
<p>Benton said the email was a factor in his decision to push for a halt to the project.</p>
<p>Councilor Trudy Jones was the lone “no” vote on Benton’s bill. Winter recused himself and didn’t vote.</p> | ABQ council wants meeting on Jefferson loop road | false | https://abqjournal.com/264441/abq-council-wants-meeting-on-jefferson-loop-road.html | 2013-09-16 | 2 |
<p>Nearly a third of college students say they engage in practices that have been dubbed “drunkorexia.”</p>
<p>That’s the name given to behaviors such as skipping meals or exercising heavily to offset calories from a heavy night of drinking, or to pump up alcohol’s buzz.</p>
<p>Though drunkorexia has been around for a while, it wasn't clear how prevalent it was. But a recent study shows how common it’s become among college kids who binge-drink at least once a month: eight out of 10 say they do it.</p>
<p>Special section: <a href="" type="internal">Get tips and advice about college at College Game Plan</a></p>
<p>Earlier research showed that 40 percent of college students drink heavily — four or more drinks per bout for women and five or more for men — at least once a month, says the new report’s lead author, Dipali Rinker, a research assistant professor in the department of psychology at the University of Houston.</p>
<p>It’s those heavy drinkers that Dipali focused on.</p>
<p>A survey of 1,184 of them found that during the previous three months, 80 percent had engaged in at least one of the following drunkorexic behaviors:</p>
<p>One of the big surprises for Dipali was that drunkorexic practices were just as common among men as they were in women.</p>
<p>“We really expected women would be engaging in these behaviors more than men,” she told NBC News.</p>
<p>She isn’t sure what’s going on, but suspects there have been some major cultural shifts resulting in men being more worried about their appearance these days.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Middlebury College Bans Energy Drinks, Linking Use to Alcohol, 'High-Risk' Sex</a></p>
<p>“In the eating disorders field, there’s a growing sense, and supporting evidence, that men are now just as weight- and shape-conscious as women are, especially in this age of social media,” Dipali said.</p>
<p>Another surprise: frat brothers and sorority sisters weren’t any more likely than others to engage in drunkorexic behaviors.</p>
<p>Dr. Karen Miotto wasn’t at all surprised by the new findings.</p>
<p>“I think we have a very appearance-conscious group of young people and many do struggle with restrictive eating disorders,” said Miotto, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, and director of the addiction medicine service at UCLA’s Semel Institute. “It used to be about the ideal female body, but now the male body is idealized, too, with men striving for 6-pack abs and bulging biceps, triceps and quadriceps.”</p>
<p>Beyond that, Miotto said, “it’s widely known that you absorb alcohol more quickly if there’s no food [in your stomach] so you can reach peak intoxication faster.”</p>
<p>College students are drawn to alcohol for a number of reasons, she added.</p>
<p>“It’s a social lubricant,” she said. “It provides the disinhibition, the freedom to make small talk and to be more sexual.”</p>
<p>One of the big concerns with drunkorexia is that people can become vitamin-deficient, especially in thiamine, Miotto said. And that can lead to nerve and brain damage.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Drink Spiking at College May Be More Common Than Thought</a></p>
<p>Concerned parents need to understand that alcohol problems in college are largely tied to the perception that heavy drinking is the norm, according to Dipali.</p>
<p>“The ‘Animal House’ style of drinking is something we see only in college,” she said. “There is a perception that everyone is doing it so it’s OK to do it.”</p>
<p>One way to combat the problem is with education, Dipali said. That means telling students how much everyone else is drinking and comparing it to their own personal consumption.</p>
<p>“They always think that everyone else is drinking more than they are,” she said. “And while 40 percent are engaging in heavy drinking, there are 60 percent who are not. In fact, there are 20 percent who are abstaining.”</p> | ‘Drunkorexia’ Prevalent Among College Students, Study Finds | false | http://nbcnews.com/feature/college-game-plan/drunkorexia-prevalent-among-college-students-study-finds-n614871 | 2016-07-23 | 3 |
<p>&lt;img class="size-full wp-image-32579 aligncenter" src="http://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/BankOfEnglandBrexit.jpg" alt="BankOfEnglandBrexit" width="1200" height="627" srcset="https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/BankOfEnglandBrexit.jpg 1200w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/BankOfEnglandBrexit-300x157.jpg 300w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/BankOfEnglandBrexit-768x401.jpg 768w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/BankOfEnglandBrexit-1024x535.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /&gt;</p>
<p>You may have noticed a lack of mainstream news coverage regarding #Brexit lately. When news first broke of the UK leaving the EU, there was tons of shrieking about the financial doom the Leavers would surely face. Alas, here we are over six months later… And Britain’s recent economic success? Nary a headline made. Likely because the media and Remainers are a bunch of sore losers (read <a href="" type="internal">Dear ‘Dumbfounded’ Leftist Media Who Didn’t See #Brexit Coming…</a>).</p>
<p>Well, most of them. One such “Remainer” who warned against leaving the Union has recently <a href="https://www.rt.com/business/373464-carney-brexit-not-risk/" type="external">undergone a change of heart.</a> What with Britain doing super duper fine since beginning the motions to exit stage left from the globalist hive. Cheers, #Brexit!</p>
<p>In a major U-turn, the head of the Bank of England Mark Carney said Brexit is not the biggest risk to the UK economy and the EU has most to lose from it. Before the referendum, he had warned that a Leave vote could trigger a recession…</p>
<p>The country’s industry has been recently described as “booming back to life.” Industrial production rose by 2.1 percent in November, driven by strong manufacturing output. The leading FTSE 100 index of Britain’s biggest companies hit record levels on Wednesday. It smashed the 7,300 barrier in intraday trade for the first time in its 33-year history, touching an all-time peak.</p>
<p>Now that Carney has seen Britain begin to sustain itself, he brought up a good point. The European Union isn’t in any position to be leveling threats against the UK. Because Britain is a nation with its own rich history, culture, and values. Most of which the EU seems to hate.</p>
<p>Turns out the UK doesn’t need the EU to smother it to death in the name of leftist, European progress. Britain’s put on their big boy britches and can take care of themselves (see <a href="" type="internal">Post-Brexit, UK’s Manufacturing Sector Soars. Value of Pound Rebounds…</a>). The Union, on the other hand? Not so much. They depend on everyone else. It’s one of the downsides of being a giant, collectivist leech…</p>
<p>[He] said that “financial stability risks around the EU exit process are greater on the Continent than they are in the UK.” Carney added the EU was heavily dependent on London for finance and any attempt to cut the UK off would hurt [the EU] badly. According to him, Britain exports £26 billion of financial services each year to the rest of the EU and imports only £3 billion.</p>
<p>To LwC regulars, this should hardly come as a surprise. We’ve had faith in Brexit from the beginning (see <a href="" type="internal">5 Reasons We’re Celebrating #Brexit</a>). After all, the whole independence thing tends to pan out rather well…</p>
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<p /> | Bank of England: The European Union, NOT Britain, will Suffer from #Brexit… | true | http://louderwithcrowder.com/bank-of-england-brexit/ | 2017-01-13 | 0 |
<p>March 17, 2013</p>
<p>By Chris Reed</p>
<p>Sunday’s <a href="http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/mar/16/fracking-shale-regulation-california-growth-brown/" type="external">U-T San Diego editorial</a> wraps up a three-part series on fracking with some theories on how Gov. Jerry Brown might sell it to the millions of Californians who are unaware — because of our pathetic state media — that fracking is considered <a href="http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/mar/09/fracking-obama-regulation-greens-oil-natural-gas/" type="external">just another manageable heavy industry</a> by the Obama administration:</p>
<p>“First, he needs to counter the anti-fracking disinformation campaign by noting the position of the Obama administration over and over and bringing in credible surrogates like [former Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Ed] Rendell and [current Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.</p>
<p>“And after that message sinks in, the governor should offer specifics about how billions in new state revenue from our 21st-century oil boom could be used.</p>
<p>“We suspect that rolling back community college, CSU and UC tuition to 1990 levels might excite a lot of young voters and their parents.</p>
<p>“We suspect that guaranteeing a big infusion of new money for the K-12 school system would excite educators, social justice activists and millions of people in disadvantaged communities.</p>
<p>“We suspect that using the oil revenue gusher to shore up a pension system for teachers that is horribly underfunded would excite teachers and their unions – and the worried families of aging teachers.</p>
<p>“We suspect that fixing up our aging roads, freeways, ports and airports would please the business community and anyone who leaves the house.</p>
<p>“And we are 100 percent certain that lower state sales and income taxes would be hugely popular.”</p>
<p>So far, at least, Jerry Brown seems to be resisting the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council disinformation campaign. The fracking regulations his administration put out in December were relatively straightforward.</p>
<p>But in coming months, we will see many interesting angles play out:</p>
<p>Will Brown be the pro-jobs pragmatist he claims to be?</p>
<p>Will the pathetic media finally get out of the green tank and admit that fracking is dirty but not extremely so and thus manageable, as the Obama administration believes?</p>
<p>Will California’s leaders and media continue to ignore the brown energy revolution in favor of the increasingly loony idea that our devotion to cleaner-but-costlier fuel is inspiring the world?</p>
<p>It’s going to be fun.</p>
<p>The over-under on honest <a href="http://www.calwhine.com/skeltons-new-low-hard-to-find-anyone-who-doesnt-think-tax-hikes-should-be-shoved-down-voters-throats-lol/1266/" type="external">George Skelton</a> columns on energy issues in 2013 is 0.5.</p>
<p>I’ll take the under.</p> | Selling fracking to a propagandized CA public | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2013/03/17/selling-fracking-to-a-propagandized-california-public/ | 2018-03-20 | 3 |
<p>Sales of previously owned homes declined on an annual basis for the first time since July 2016, suggesting a chronic shortage of homes for sale is beginning to take a bigger toll on the market.</p>
<p>September's existing-home sales fell 1.5% from the same month a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors said Friday, the third consecutive month of lackluster results.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"It was a continuation of this theme of low inventory really being the burr in the saddle of this housing market," said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president of communications at ATTOM Data Solutions.</p>
<p>On a monthly basis, existing-home sales edged up by 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.39 million in September from August. But the small uptick was largely due to a modest rebound in Houston home sales, which were up 4% after a large drop in August.</p>
<p>September's sales pace was still the second-slowest in the past year. In August, existing-home sales fell to the lowest level in a year, mostly due to a sharp drop in home sales in Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and a shortage of homes on the market. The weak performance over the past couple of months belied strong job and wage growth numbers and increasing demand from first-time buyers.</p>
<p>"It's an uptick over a really weak month," said Svenja Gudell, chief economist at home-search website Zillow. "Given...a really low August, you would expect September to be a little bit stronger, which leaves me with a lackluster, eh."</p>
<p>Cindy Hamann, chair of the Houston Association of Realtors, said some Houston sales that were set to close in late August were delayed until September, which helped boost last month's numbers.</p>
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<p>"October is really going to be the telltale of what's going on," she said. Agents she talks to are still busy, she said, and homes are selling along as they are priced well. "I want to say that we're going to keep on keeping on."</p>
<p>Homes in Houston sold at 96% of their estimated market value in August, according to ATTOM, the lowest percentage since January 2014, indicating that sellers might have started discounting to get their homes to sell.</p>
<p>Hurricane Irma, which battered parts of Florida in September, took a toll on home sales. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said sales there dropped by roughly 20%, but it wasn't enough to drag down numbers for the south overall.</p>
<p>Across the U.S., inventory has been tight recently, in part because of lackluster home construction, which has contributed to a run-up in home prices. The median price of homes sold last month rose to $245,100 in September, up 4.2% from a year earlier.</p>
<p>At the current sales pace, it would take 4.2 months to exhaust the supply of homes on the market. That is down from 4.5 months during the same period last year, reflecting the tightening housing market.</p>
<p>Mr. Yun said the shortage of homes could last into next year. "Housing starts are only incrementally slowly rising, but because of the hurricane and the rebuilding efforts there... the construction workers will be rebuilding, and that means less workers available for new home construction," he said.</p>
<p>News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, also operates Realtor.com under license from the National Association of Realtors.</p>
<p>Some economists are skeptical, however, that a lack of inventory is the sole explanation for sluggish home sales. "It's a late-cycle economy," said Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae. Slowing sales "happen in housing before there's a downturn."</p>
<p>--Sharon Nunn contributed to this article.</p>
<p>Write to Laura Kusisto at [email protected]</p>
<p>WASHINGTON -- Sales of previously owned homes declined on an annual basis for the first time since July 2016, suggesting a chronic shortage of homes for sale is beginning to take a bigger toll on the market.</p>
<p>September's existing-home sales fell 1.5% from the same month a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors said Friday, the third consecutive month of lackluster results.</p>
<p>"It was a continuation of this theme of low inventory really being the burr in the saddle of this housing market," said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president of communications at ATTOM Data Solutions.</p>
<p>On a monthly basis, existing-home sales edged up by 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.39 million in September from August. But the small uptick was largely due to a modest rebound in Houston home sales, which were up 4% after a large drop in August.</p>
<p>September's sales pace was still the second-slowest in the past year. In August, existing-home sales fell to the lowest level in a year, mostly due to a sharp drop in home sales in Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and a shortage of homes on the market. The weak performance over the past couple of months belied strong job and wage growth numbers and increasing demand from first-time buyers.</p>
<p>"It's an uptick over a really weak month," said Svenja Gudell, chief economist at home-search website Zillow. "Given...a really low August, you would expect September to be a little bit stronger, which leaves me with a lackluster, eh."</p>
<p>Cindy Hamann, chair of the Houston Association of Realtors, said some Houston sales that were set to close in late August were delayed until September, which helped boost last month's numbers.</p>
<p>"October is really going to be the telltale of what's going on," she said. Agents she talks to are still busy, she said, and homes are selling along as they are priced well. "I want to say that we're going to keep on keeping on."</p>
<p>Homes in Houston sold at 96% of their estimated market value in August, according to ATTOM, the lowest percentage since January 2014, indicating that sellers might have started discounting to get their homes to sell.</p>
<p>Hurricane Irma, which battered parts of Florida in September, took a toll on home sales. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said sales there dropped by roughly 20%, but it wasn't enough to drag down numbers for the south overall.</p>
<p>Across the U.S., inventory has been tight recently, in part because of lackluster home construction, which has contributed to a run-up in home prices. The median price of homes sold last month rose to $245,100 in September, up 4.2% from a year earlier.</p>
<p>At the current sales pace, it would take 4.2 months to exhaust the supply of homes on the market. That is down from 4.5 months during the same period last year, reflecting the tightening housing market.</p>
<p>Mr. Yun said the shortage of homes could last into next year. "Housing starts are only incrementally slowly rising, but because of the hurricane and the rebuilding efforts there... the construction workers will be rebuilding, and that means less workers available for new home construction," he said.</p>
<p>News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, also operates Realtor.com under license from the National Association of Realtors.</p>
<p>Some economists are skeptical, however, that a lack of inventory is the sole explanation for sluggish home sales. "It's a late-cycle economy," said Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae. Slowing sales "happen in housing before there's a downturn."</p>
<p>--Sharon Nunn contributed to this article.</p>
<p>Write to Laura Kusisto at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>October 20, 2017 14:07 ET (18:07 GMT)</p> | Housing-Supply Shortage Weighs on Home Sales -- Update | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/10/20/housing-supply-shortage-weighs-on-home-sales-update.html | 2017-10-20 | 0 |
<p>Serena Williams' decision not to defend her Australian Open title four months after giving birth to her first child had nothing to do with merely being able to play at Melbourne Park.</p>
<p>The seven-time Australian Open champion confirmed Friday she wouldn't attempt to defend the title she won here last year, saying she wasn't convinced she could win it.</p>
<p>Williams played in an exhibition tournament last weekend in Abu Dhabi to test her match condition, and indicated after her loss to French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko that she might not travel to Melbourne.</p>
<p>"After competing in Abu Dhabi I realized that although I am super close, I'm not where I personally want to be," Williams said in a statement Friday. "My coach and team always said 'Only go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all the way.' I can compete - but I don't want to just compete, I want to do far better than that and to do so, I will need a little more time.</p>
<p>"With that being said, and even though I am disappointed about it, I've decided not to compete in the Australian Open this year."</p>
<p>Williams was pregnant when she won at Melbourne Park last year, her Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam singles title. She gave birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia, in September.</p>
<p>Williams didn't drop a set while winning last year's title, and her victory helped her regain the world No.1 ranking.</p>
<p>The 36-year-old Williams needs only one more major title to equal the all-time record held by Margaret Court, who won 13 of her 24 Grand Slam titles before the Open era began in 1968.</p>
<p>Three women have returned after having babies to win Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era, including Court and fellow Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who won the 1977 Australian Open seven months after giving birth to daughter, Kelly, and added her second Wimbledon title in 1980.</p>
<p>Kim Clijsters returned from retirement after having a daughter, Jada Elle, in February 2008, and won the 2009 U.S. Open in her third tournament back.</p>
<p>Williams' withdrawal came less than 24 hours after fellow former world No. 1 Andy Murray withdrew from the men's event with a chronic hip injury.</p>
<p>Other star players, including top-ranked Rafael Nadal, six-time champion Novak Djokovic and 2014 winner Stan Wawrinka, also are dealing with injuries.</p>
<p>Williams last year beat older sister Venus in the final. In terms of total years, it was the oldest Grand Slam women's final in the Open era —Williams sisters combining for 71 years, 11 months.</p>
<p>Venus has returned and is playing in Sydney next week to prepare for the Australian Open, which begins Jan. 15.</p>
<p>Serena will sit one out, but is promising to return in future.</p>
<p>"The memory of last year's Open is one that I will carry with me, and Olympia and I look forward to coming back again," she said. "I appreciate the support and understanding of my fans and everyone at the Australian Open."</p>
<p>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</p> | Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Australian Open | false | https://circa.com/story/2018/01/05/action-sports/serena-williams-has-withdrawn-from-the-australian-open | 2018-01-05 | 1 |
<p>Thousands of protesters marched near the US embassy in Seoul on Saturday, accusing President Donald Trump of "forcing" South Korea to deploy a controversial American missile defense system opposed by China.&#160;</p>
<p>The protest came as South Korea's new President Moon Jae-in heads to Washington next week for his first summit with Trump amid soaring tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.</p>
<p>Around 4,000 people participated in the demonstration, the largest since South Korea and the United States agreed to deploy the system, known as Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD.</p>
<p>Protesters carried placards that read: "Trump stop forcing [South Korea]&#160;to deploy THAAD" and "No THAAD, No Trump".</p>
<p>The crowd included residents from the southeastern county of Seongju where the system is being deployed who say it poses health and environmental hazards and argue that its presence could make them a priority target for North Korea.</p>
<p>THAAD was approved by Moon's ousted predecessor, conservative president Park Geun-hye, who then steamrollered the project through a hasty environmental review during her last months in office as she became ensnared in a massive corruption scandal.</p>
<p>The deployment has also been opposed by Beijing, which fears it could undermine its own nuclear deterrent and has reacted with fury, imposing a series of measures seen as economic retaliation on the South.</p>
<p>Though parts of system are already in place, Moon this month suspended further deployment.</p>
<p>Officially, the delay is to allow for a new, comprehensive environmental impact assessment, but analysts say the move is a strategic delay by Moon to handle the tricky diplomatic situation he inherited.</p> | Thousands of South Koreans protest the US' missile defense system | false | https://pri.org/stories/2017-06-24/thousands-south-koreans-protest-us-missile-defense-system | 2017-06-24 | 3 |
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<p>House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., plan to meet with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and the leaders of the congressional Asian, Black and Hispanic caucuses to discuss potential debate of the Dream Act, a bill that would grant legal protections to the roughly 690,000 people currently enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Obama-era executive action that protects undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.</p>
<p>“The speaker has said he wants Congress to address DACA as the president has called for, but he has not endorsed any one measure and has said border security will need to be a part of the solution,” Ryan’s spokeswoman, AshLee Strong, said in an email confirming the meeting.</p>
<p>The meeting, also confirmed by several other aides in both parties, is a signal that congressional leaders are indeed trying to build support for a broader plan that would pair some kind of legislation to deal with dreamers – the common term for DACA recipients – with a plan to expand security along the U.S.-Mexico border.</p>
<p>The meeting will come a day after President Donald Trump’s top legislative affairs aide signaled that the White House may back off its calls to pair funding for border wall construction with a dreamers relief bill, signaling that the emotionally charged issue may prove easier to resolve than initially thought.</p>
<p>Pelosi and her lieutenants had requested a meeting with Ryan shortly after Trump decided to end the DACA program in March of next year unless Congress can resolve the issue.</p>
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<p>She told reporters Tuesday that House Democrats are quickly coalescing around legislation that would grant legal protections to DACA recipients and set them on a years-long course to apply for U.S. citizenship.</p>
<p>The Dream Act is co-sponsored by Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate, including Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., and Mike Coffman, R-Colo., and Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y..</p>
<p>Other legislation, including the Bridge Act, which is sponsored primarily by Coffman, Flake and Graham, enjoys broader Democratic support and also would lay the groundwork for most DACA recipients to earn legal residency.</p>
<p>But Coffman said Tuesday that the Bridge Act is only a last resort if a broad deal to couple legal protections for dreamers with border security enhancements falls apart.</p>
<p>“Wouldn’t it make sense to go for a permanent solution this time? And so, I think that’s the preferred route as a permanent solution. The Bridge Act would be viable only if that fails,” Coffman said during an event hosted by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.</p> | Ryan and Pelosi to huddle on Dream Act to protect DACA recipients | false | https://abqjournal.com/1062706/ryan-and-pelosi-to-huddle-on-dream-act-to-protect-daca-recipients.html | 2 |
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<p>“Conspiracy theories” have a bad press.&#160; But sometimes conspiracies are real and sometimes conspiracy theories do account for what they purport to explain.&#160; Whether they do or not is an empirical question.&#160; Because real world politics is propelled by multiple, heterogeneous causes, and because political actors seldom rise to a genuinely Machiavellian level, the usual criteria for determining what the best explanations are – elegance, simplicity and the like – are of little use.&#160; Evidence is all.</p>
<p>If no compelling evidence of a conspiracy surfaces, especially over many years and especially too if the purported conspiracy would have had to involve vast numbers of people, that’s an excellent reason to think that there was no conspiracy. &#160; This is why it is more plausible than not, after almost five decades, to believe that Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK on his own.&#160; Only a decade has passed since 9/11 but the fact that no evidence of a conspiracy of the kind “truthers” argue for has yet to emerge is decisive in that case too, especially in light of the manifest incompetence of everyone connected with the alleged plot.</p>
<p>Thanks to the resurgence of what Richard Hofstadter called “the paranoid style” in American politics, conspiracy theories based on little or no evidence have multiplied alarmingly in recent years. &#160; Many of them are manifestly implausible.&#160; For example, the idea that Barack Obama is a secret Muslim is plainly false because it would explain nothing.&#160; Obama has done as much to harm the historically Muslim world as any American president, including George W. Bush, so he would, at the very least, have to be a “self-hating” secret Muslim, an idea that runs counter to the paranoid drift of those who level the charge.&#160; It would make slightly more sense to claim that Obama is a secret al-Qaeda operative, inasmuch as his policies are good for bringing recruits into the al-Qaeda fold.&#160; But those policies are continuations of George Bush’s, and no one is paranoid enough to deem that hapless but villainous soul a double agent.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the idea that Obama is a secret Republican would explain a great deal.&#160; His capitulations and displays of spinelessness, along with his lack of principled conviction, helped bring Republicans to power in the House of Representatives and in many state houses and legislatures.&#160; Moreover, the policies he pursues have been, if anything, to the right of those favored by “moderate Republicans” back in the days before that species went extinct.&#160; But then, of course, it wouldn’t just be Barack Obama who is a secret Republican.&#160; The same could be said for almost the entire Democratic Party at the national level at least since Bill Clinton set the party on its rightward drifting course.</p>
<p>The claim that they are all Republicans, secret or not, expresses a certain truth, notwithstanding the fact that it is literally false.&#160; We know it is false not because it doesn’t make sense of what we observe, but because all the evidence points the other way.</p>
<p>What this shows is not just that conspiracy theories can be true in a sense, even when they are wrong; it also shows that party identifications no longer indicate what democratic theory, in all its many varieties, maintains they should.</p>
<p>The seeds were sown long ago and they took root and thrived as the Cold War wore on.&#160; But it was not until the consolidation of the so-called Reagan Revolution that real democracy all but disappeared from our political life.&#160; We still have competitive elections, and probably always will.&#160; But from that point on, competing parties – the two, semi-official ones — no longer operated in the way that justifying theories of democratic institutions claim they should.</p>
<p>They ceased to be vehicles through which the people or their representatives, aiming at a common good, engage in public deliberation and collective decision-making.&#160; Instead, they became marketing agencies, bought and paid for by corporate interests, selling legislators eager to do their paymasters’ bidding to different (though fluid and sometimes intersecting) constituencies, and to a “moderate” middle, comprising less than 20% of a depoliticized and acquiescent electorate.</p>
<p>As marketers, Republicans and Democrats tailor their respective messages to different blocs of voters.&#160; Republicans tailor theirs to their hardcore base, voters bereft of informed and considered judgment but full of passionate intensity. &#160; Democrats tailor theirs to the apolitical middle.&#160; This is why the celebrated “enthusiasm gap” of 2010 developed, but it may be a winning strategy in the presidential election this time around, given the field of Republican candidates.&#160; Could there be a conspiracy among Republicans to play into Obama’s hands by fielding only dolts?&#160; Not likely, of course; but that conspiracy theory too would explain a great deal.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>In 2008, the financiers and corporate moguls who own both the Democratic and Republican Parties threw their weight behind Barack Obama.&#160; No doubt, most of them would have preferred a Republican; hard as they have tried, Democrats have yet to win over the hearts and minds of our most nefarious “economic royalists.”&#160; But the movers and shakers of our corrupted system, many of them, at least had the wits to realize that popular disgust with the criminality and incompetence of the Bush administration made Republicans more difficult than Democrats to sell even to an acquiescent electorate.</p>
<p>But that doesn’t explain why Obama got more Wall Street and corporate support than Hillary Clinton.&#160; To answer that question, another conspiracy theory suggests itself – one that is more plausible than any of the ones suggested so far, though of course it too is literally false.</p>
<p>It was no secret, except perhaps to his most ardent and deluded supporters, that Obama was vetted and deemed fit to carry corporate America’s banner. &#160; But Hillary Clinton was heir to a family tradition of doing precisely that, and she made no bones about her intentions.&#160; Why not her?</p>
<p>Were our titans of finance and industry more clever than they actually are, and better able to collude, they might have reasoned as follows: “Hillary Clinton is the devil we know.&#160; We can count on her.&#160; But she is even less charismatic than her husband, and he still elicits more enmity than admiration.&#160; On the other hand, Barack Obama is a Rorschach figure upon whom voters eager for “change” – in other words, eager to be rid of us — can pin their hopes.&#160; Moreover, his appeal to the 18 to 25 demographic, and to people of color, is evident.&#160; Therefore he can do what she cannot — disillusion an entire generation along with everyone else who can be rallied to his cause.&#160; Now, what we need to fatten our purses and generally to have our way is a quiescent and therefore acquiescent citizenry.&#160; This Obama is uniquely able to deliver, since nothing fosters quiescence better than disillusionment and cynicism.&#160; Therefore, let us make him our man.”</p>
<p>Until last month, it looked like these imaginary conspirators were on to something, that their reasoning was sound. &#160; Then the world changed.</p>
<p>The events last winter and spring in Wisconsin, Ohio, Maine and elsewhere, important as they were, were only a prelude to what has developed over the past four weeks as indignation again took hold of an awakened citizenry, this time in the belly of the capitalist beast – at Zuccotti Park, within spitting distance of Wall Street.&#160; From there it has spread to countless cities throughout the United States.&#160; At last, we in the Land of the Free – can one say those words these days without irony? –&#160; have done what our brothers and sisters in north Africa and southern Europe and elsewhere, victims of the system in place, have been doing for months – renewing the struggle for equality and justice.</p>
<p>Try as Obama Democrats and their colleagues in the liberal commentariat might, the Occupy movement is not about to go away, and while it may interact constructively with the Democratic Party from time to time, it is not going to allow itself to be coopted by it.&#160; Occupy Wall Street has yet to name the Obama administration an enemy; maybe it never will.&#160; But its dynamic is at odds with the politics Obama, along with all his predecessors for more than three decades, has pursued.</p>
<p>And so Obama, who has failed every constituency that supported him in 2008, has also failed the constituency that sustains him and that he cares about most, the tiny fraction of the top 1% who plotted (not literally, of course) to make him the champion of their interests.&#160; Yes, Obama has worked tirelessly in their behalf — beyond all expectations. &#160; But when it came to promoting acquiescence he turned out to be a bust.</p>
<p>To be sure, the conspirators got what they thought they wanted.&#160; Obama did disillusion multitudes, just as they expected he would.&#160; But he did this by being “bipartisan” to a fault, and since his electoral competition was nothing if not obstinate, that meant ceding everything to them.&#160; Meanwhile, the Republicans had decided that the way forward for them was to bring Obama down, and that the way to do that was to win back Wall Street and corporate America by offering them everything they could dream of and more, enlightened self-interest be damned.&#160; And so it was, in one of those world-changing ironies of history, that Obama, the “change” president, helped make the prevailing situation so intolerable that the long overdue fight back finally came.</p>
<p>What the consequences will be is still unclear and is likely to remain so for a while.&#160; All we can say for now is that politics, the real thing, is back, and that neither Wall Street and corporate America nor our decrepit political class will ever quite be the same.</p>
<p>To be sure, the capitalism that brought about our present sorry state is not about to give way to anything radically better any time soon; and, thanks to Mitt Romney or someone even more risible, Obama probably will win a second term.&#160; But the alliance between corporate America and the American government that has deformed our democracy so profoundly is now shaken.&#160; It may well be in its final days.</p>
<p>If Occupy Wall Street continues on its present track, as it shows every sign of doing, the short-term changes it brings can only be for the good.&#160; As for what happens beyond the short term, all we know for sure is that the future is open and the possibilities endless.&#160; In Greece, where they’ve been fighting back against even more rapacious banks than the ones afflicting our 99% for longer than we have, a general strike is now underway!&#160; Who would have thought it possible?&#160; Wall Street conspirators beware!</p>
<p>Andrew Levine‘s most recent book is “ <a href="" type="internal">In Bad Faith: &#160;What’s Wrong With the Opium of the People</a>” (Prometheus).</p> | The Secret Republican | true | https://counterpunch.org/2011/10/20/the-secret-republican/ | 2011-10-20 | 4 |
<p>Union miners and others opposed to stricter pollution rules for coal-burning power plants proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency clashed inside and outside the city's federal building on the first of two days of public hearings on the new regulations.</p>
<p>About 5,000 union members, led by the United Mine Workers of America, on Thursday marched to the William S. Moorhead Federal Building chanting, "Hey, hey, EPA! Don't take our jobs away!"</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>A few members of a Pittsburgh-based union, Boilermakers Local 154, traded shouts and insults with some 300 environmental activists who stood on a nearby street corner as the march ended. "You're sending our jobs to China! Use your heads!" one union member shouted.</p>
<p>Fourteen UMW members, including international president Cecil Roberts, were arrested for sitting on the federal building's steps. Union members cheered as police gently led them away in plastic wrist loops. They were to be cited and released for blocking a sidewalk, said mayoral spokesman Tim McNulty.</p>
<p>Many environmentalists generally favor the new regulations, which the EPA says will cut 30 percent of carbon emissions from power plants by the year 2030. Still, some environmentalists don't believe the regulations go far enough or will have unintended consequences, such as requiring more nuclear power to supply the nation's electrical grid.</p>
<p>Supporters of the regulations say they're a necessary first step in weaning the nation from coal entirely, including Patricia DeMarco, a visiting researcher at Carnegie Mellon University's Green Sciences Institute.</p>
<p>"A change from an energy system that's been entrenched for 200 years seems a daunting task," DeMarco said as the hearing's first witness.</p>
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<p>The EPA has argued that the regulations won't harm the economy.</p>
<p>But the coal miners believe the regulations will close coal-burning plants, costing jobs and making the nation's power grid less reliable. Both sides invoked the elderly, poor and children as potential victims.</p>
<p>Environmentalists say those groups are disproportionately affected by weather disasters, which they say are spawned by pollution-fueled climate change. The coal industry says those groups will suffer the most if jobs are lost, electricity prices skyrocket or the power grid becomes unreliable, leading to brownouts during extremely cold or hot weather.</p>
<p>Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection opposes the regulations.</p>
<p>The EPA contends the regulations will give states flexibility to develop their own plans to cut carbon pollution. But Vince Brisini, a DEP deputy secretary, said the regulations require such large cuts in coal-fueled power plants that states have little wiggle room.</p>
<p>"To get this (pollution) reduction it's 'Don't burn coal,'" Brisini said after the hearing. "That's what this is all about."</p>
<p>The regulations encourage states to convert coal-burning plants to natural gas, draw more electricity from nuclear power plants and do more to use renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. But Brisini said the DEP doesn't have the power to regulate where Pennsylvania gets its power - only to limit how much pollution results from the methods used to produce it.</p>
<p>Charles McCollester, an activist who stood alone - literally - as the union workers marched past, believes both sides are wrong.</p>
<p>The sign he held summed up his position: "As long as blue union/jobs are pitted against green earth/health we are doomed!"</p> | Union, environmental activists clash inside, outside Pittsburgh EPA coal regulation hearings | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/07/31/union-environmental-activists-clash-inside-outside-pittsburgh-epa-coal.html | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
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<p>A spokesman for the state Taxation and Revenue Department, which oversees MVD, said that some of the delays have been expected due to the installation of the new system but that others, including a malfunction at the out-of-state factory that produces licenses for the state, have not.</p>
<p>On its website, the Motor Vehicle Division has posted an alert saying it may take up to 45 days for new driver's licenses to be provided. Drivers will still be issued temporary licenses that can be used while they're waiting for their permanent one.</p>
<p>"The delay being experienced by our customers is temporary," Taxation and Revenue Department spokesman Ben Cloutier told the</p>
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<p>Journal . "The factory malfunction has been fixed, and we expect issuance time to normalize in the next few weeks."</p>
<p>The manufacturing malfunction was fixed in two days after the problem was detected, but it caused the state a delay of about a week in processing licenses, Cloutier also said.</p>
<p>A statement from MorphoTrust, a Massachusetts-based company that produces licenses for the state and roughly 24 other states, described the malfunction as an "equipment failure" in the factory that produces New Mexico driver's licenses and identification cards.</p>
<p>"We have caught up with the backlog for New Mexico driver's licenses and identification cards," John Raffetto, a public relations executive, said on behalf of MorphoTrust. "We are not aware of any remaining issues within the systems and services we provide and production is continuing on schedule."</p>
<p>Unlike the factory glitch, the other delays in cranking out new and renewed driver's licenses stem from the new computer system.</p>
<p>Motor Vehicle Division employees recently had to manually inspect licenses while the new system was being put in place, and some individuals who had applied to renew their licenses were asked to return to a field office - there are 33 such offices around New Mexico - and have their pictures retaken because previous pictures were not of high enough quality for the new system, Cloutier said.</p>
<p>He did not specify how many people were affected by the delays.</p>
<p>The MVD handles more than 1.8 million transactions yearly. Agency officials say the new computer system - which is being implemented in three phases - is part of a larger effort to reduce customer wait times and improve efficiency.</p>
<p>A 2012 report by the Legislative Finance Committee had found the MVD computer system to be outdated and on the verge of collapse. The report also identified other trouble spots at MVD, including high rates of turnover in upper management and decreased staffing levels.</p>
<p>A contract to install the new computer system was announced in February 2014 by Taxation and Revenue Secretary Demesia Padilla. The project was expected to last for three years and cost the state roughly $40 million.</p>
<p>A Colorado-based company named Fast Enterprises is the vendor in charge of the project.</p>
<p />
<p /> | NM drivers facing delays for new, renewed licenses | false | https://abqjournal.com/613211/nm-drivers-facing-delays-for-new-renewed-licenses.html | 2 |
|
<p>Nov. 1, 2012</p>
<p>Chris Reed: I think some of the best writing about California’s public schools appears on education-specific blogs and websites, not in newspapers. I’ve read EdSource regularly for a long time. But these sites also serve up lots of copy from people in the education establishment who duck all hard truths about public schools and pretend all problems stem from a lack of money. A new piece by the president of the San Carlos School District is a classic example. Why have we seen state legislation trying to force schools to stop charging kids for basic education materials? Seth Rosenblatt offers the <a href="http://www.edsource.org/today/2012/student-fees-will-remain-a-conundrum-even-with-a-new-law/22167#.UJK7V2fYGRU" type="external">easy answer</a>:</p>
<p>“[T]his problem is in large part a direct result of the massive underfunding of our public schools in this state. School districts have always been forced to be ‘creative’ in how they deliver programs with less money, and in many cases that has involved charging students and families.”</p>
<p>Sorry, but this problem is the result of financial practices demanded and enforced by teacher unions that mandate automatic annual pay hikes for most employees based on years on the job. It is a symptom of the systematic hollowing out of school operating budgets to ensure that almost all funds go to employee compensation.</p>
<p>And it’s not even the most egregious example. That would be how <a href="" type="internal">30-year bonds are being used</a> to pay for painting and other routine maintenance and for laptops and iPads.</p>
<p>This problem is also the result of a mindset that holds state laws can be ignored, because if we’re caught, we can just say it’s all about the kids. But it’s not all about the kids. It’s about propping up an adult jobs program with little regard to how students are affected.</p> | Playing dumb on why students are charged illegal fees | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2012/11/01/playing-dumb-on-why-students-are-charged-illegal-fees/ | 2018-11-20 | 3 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The Republican-controlled state legislature is close to lifting its decades-long moratorium on nuclear energy in a state that has been culturally and economically dominated by coal. Politicians from both parties have promised for years to revive the struggling coal industry, with Trump famously billing himself as “the last shot for miners.” But as the coal industry continues its slide, even Republican lawmakers are acknowledging a need for alternatives.</p>
<p>“There are other factors other than the administration in the White House that controls this. There are banks that are reluctant at this point to give loans for coal-fired furnaces,” said Republican state Sen. Danny Carroll, who sponsored the bill. “You look at the jobs that were lost, you look at the production of coal and how that has declined, we’ve got to learn lessons from that and we’ve got to have a third option.”</p>
<p>Kentucky’s coal industry has been steadily declining for decades. Coal mining employment has fallen from 31,000 in 1990 to just over 6,300. Just three years ago, coal-fired power plants provided 93 percent of the state’s electricity. Today, that has fallen to 83 percent, according to the Kentucky Coal Association, as older plants are being shut down and replaced by natural gas.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Kentucky is one of 15 states that restrict the construction of new nuclear power facilities according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Wisconsin lifted its ban last year. Nationwide, there are 61 nuclear power plants with 99 nuclear reactors in 30 states, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The bill has passed the state Senate and could get a vote in the House of Representatives on Tuesday</p>
<p>Republican Gov. Matt Bevin told Cincinnati radio station WKRC he would not veto the bill if it makes it to his desk.</p>
<p>“I don’t see it as a threat to that existing energy infrastructure. I see it as just increasing the opportunities of things we might be able to do in Kentucky,” he said.</p>
<p>The bill has been pushed by local government and business leaders in the western part of the state, which was home to one of the few uranium enrichment plants in the country before it closed in 2013. That left the area teeming with a skilled workforce with no hope of employment in their field.</p>
<p>“Without that moratorium lifted, we absolutely have no opportunity,” said Bob Leeper, the judge executive for McCracken County and a former state senator who has pushed to lift the moratorium for years.</p>
<p>But Kentucky has been burned by the nuclear industry in the past. In the 1960s, seeking to lure the emerging nuclear energy industry into the state, Kentucky set up a place to store toxic waste. From 1963 to 1977, more than 800 corporations dumped 4.7 million cubic feet of radioactive waste at the site, but no nuclear reactor was ever built. The Maxey Flats site is closed, but its contaminated soil, surface water and groundwater resulted in an expensive state and federal cleanup.</p>
<p>“This is the Faustian bargain we engage in. We get cheap energy, but we saddle future generations with millennia responsibility of being mature enough to properly manage waste we are generating,” said Tom Fitzgerald, executive director of the Kentucky Resources Council, which has opposed lifting the moratorium.</p>
<p>Even if the ban is lifted, a nuclear power plant could still take more than 10 years to develop given the rigorous permitting process. And construction would be expensive, which would threaten to drive up electricity rates to pay for it. That is of particular concern to the state’s manufacturing sector, which uses large amounts of electricity in their production processes.</p>
<p>The bill requires state officials to review the state’s permitting process to ensure costs and “environmental consequences” are taken into account. That was enough for Fitzgerald to be “neutral” on the bill.</p>
<p>The Kentucky Coal Association is also neutral, although president Tyler White said they were not happy with the bill.</p>
<p>“We think there are more realistic policies that we should be pursuing in Frankfort than nuclear,” he said.</p> | In Ky. coal country, a potential embrace of nuclear power | false | https://abqjournal.com/968640/in-ky-coal-country-a-potential-embrace-of-nuclear-power.html | 2017-03-14 | 2 |
<p>Q: Was Obama reading an anti-America book written by a Muslim?</p>
<p>A: No. The book, a New York Times best-seller, is about America's role in a new global era. The author, a leading journalist, is a Muslim but describes himself as "not a religious guy."</p>
<p>FULL QUESTION</p>
<p>This will open your eyes.</p>
<p>What does Obama read?</p>
<p />
<p>The name of the book Obama is reading is called The Post-American World, written by a fellow Muslim. Post-America – The world After America "?"</p>
<p>Please forward this picture to everyone you know, conservative or liberal to expose Obama's radical ideas and intent for this country!</p>
<p>FULL&#160;ANSWER</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/05/20/us/0520-CAMPAIGN_5.html" type="external">original photo</a> was published by the New York Times and taken by photographer Doug Mills as then-candidate Barack Obama walked off his campaign plane in Bozeman, Mont., in May 2008. The Times also featured the version with the zoom-in on the book title <a href="http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/what-obama-is-reading/" type="external">in its blog about books that month</a>. This chain e-mail is likely just as old, but it's still making the rounds.</p>
<p>While the photo is real, the anonymous author jumps to conclusions about the subject matter of this book: "The Post-American World," by journalist <a href="http://www.fareedzakaria.com/about.html" type="external">Fareed Zakaria</a>. If the author did grab the photo from the Times' books blog, he or she apparently didn't bother to read the three-paragraph description of what Obama was reading.</p>
<p>First off, Zakaria is the editor of Newsweek International, a Newsweek columnist and host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS." His renown increased with the publication of a post-9/11 Newsweek cover story titled "Why They Hate Us." As described in a <a href="http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/national/features/n_8621/index1.html" type="external">New York magazine profile</a>, Zakaria is "an Indian-born, Yale- and Harvard-educated Muslim. … He’s a conservative who is willing to question one of the most cherished principles of the West—democracy—but also a naturalized citizen who believes in America’s world-historical mission." While his family members were Muslims, he and his siblings sang Christian songs in school and also observed Hindu holidays. The Village Voice <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/" type="external">quoted Zakaria</a> as being a touch uncomfortable about having become the media's go-to guy for Muslim perspective: " 'I do know a lot about the world of Islam in an instinctive way that you can't get through book learning,' he says thoughtfully, but admits he finds the role of token Muslim explainer in the American media slightly uncomfortable. 'I occasionally find myself reluctant to be pulled into a world that's not mine, in the sense that I'm not a religious guy.' "</p>
<p>The e-mail claims that Obama is a Muslim as well, but as we've pointed before, <a href="" type="internal">that's not true</a>.</p>
<p>Zakaria's book, published last year, isn't some kind of apocalyptic vision of a world "after America," as the e-mail claims, but rather it posits that while countries such as China and India are rising, America has a leading role in the new global era. Zakaria writes in the first chapter: "This is a book not about the decline of America but rather about the rise of everyone else. It is about the great transformation taking place around the world, a transformation that, though often discussed, remains poorly understood."</p>
<p>He goes on to say:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/books/chapters/books.html?pagewanted=2&amp;ref=review" type="external">"The Post-American World":</a> We are now living through the third great power shift of the modern era. It could be called "the rise of the rest." Over the past few decades, countries all over the world have been experiencing rates of economic growth that were once unthinkable. …</p>
<p>At the politico-military level, we remain in a single-superpower world. But in every other dimension – industrial, financial, educational, social, cultural – the distribution of power is shifting, moving away from American dominance. That does not mean we are entering an anti-American world. But we are moving into a post-American world, one defined and directed from many places and by many people.</p>
<p>What kinds of opportunities and challenges do these changes present? What do they portend for the United States and its dominant position? What will this new era look like in terms of war and peace, economics and business, ideas and culture?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/books/review/Joffe-t.html?ref=books" type="external">The New York Times Sunday Book Review</a> described it as "a relentlessly intelligent book that eschews simple-minded projections from crisis to collapse. … Zakaria’s is not another exercise in declinism. His point is not the demise of Gulliver, but the 'rise of the rest.' ” And The Economist noted that Zakaria's thesis isn't new. British historian Paul Kennedy wrote a 1987 book, "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers," which said, quoted The Economist, that "although America is 'still in a class of its own,' it faces the challenges of preserving its power 'from relative erosion in the face of the ever-shifting patterns of global production.' "</p>
<p>Publishers Weekly, which <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6610357.html?q=post-american+world" type="external">included Zakaria's work among its Best Books of the Year in 2008</a>, called it "a largely optimistic forecast of where the 21st century is heading, predicting that despite its record of recent blunders at home and abroad, America will stay strong, buoyed by a stellar educational system and the influx of young immigrants."</p>
<p>The book was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/books/bestseller/0601besthardnonfiction.html?_r=2&amp;oref=slogin" type="external">No. 2 on the New York Times best-sellers list in June 2008</a>.</p>
<p>– Lori Robertson</p>
<p>Garner, Dwight. <a href="http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/what-obama-is-reading/" type="external">“What Obama Is Reading</a>." Paper Cuts Blog – NYTimes.com. 1 Oct 2009.</p>
<p>Maneker, Marion. " <a href="http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/national/features/n_8621/" type="external">Man of the World</a>." New York magazine. 2003.</p>
<p>Press, Joy. " <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/" type="external">The Interpreter</a>." The Village Voice. 9 Aug 2005.</p>
<p>Zakaria, Fareed. " <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/books/chapters/books.html?pagewanted=1&amp;_r=1&amp;ref=review" type="external">The Post-American World</a>," first chapter, as published in the New York Times. 6 May 2008.</p>
<p>Joffe, Josef. “ <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/books/review/Joffe-t.html?ref=books" type="external">The New New World</a>.” New York Times. 11 May 2008.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/books/review/Joffe-t.html?ref=books" type="external">PW's Best Books of the Year</a>. Publishers Weekly. 3 Nov 2008.</p>
<p>“ <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/books/bestseller/0601besthardnonfiction.html?_r=2&amp;oref=slogin" type="external">Hardcover Nonfiction</a>.” New York Times 1 Jun 2008.</p>
<p>"The Rise of the Rest; Geopolitics and America." The Economist. 24 May 2008.</p> | Obama’s Reading Material | false | https://factcheck.org/2009/10/obamas-reading-material/ | 2009-10-01 | 2 |
<p>By Susan Stone</p>
<p>The Berlin International Film Festival has always put politics and cinema on almost equal footing, but this year there was a special focus. The Berlinale had invited Iranian director Jafar Panahi to serve on the festival jury, but in December, Panahi was sentenced in Iran to six years in prison.</p>
<p>He was also banned from making films and traveling outside the country for 20 years. Still, his presence was strongly felt at the festival; some attendees draped photos of Panahi around their necks and wore green scarves.</p>
<p>Standing next to Panahi's empty chair, Isabella Rossellini, the festival's jury president, read an open letter from him. "They have condemned me to twenty years of silence. Yet in my dreams, I scream for a time when we can tolerate each other, respect each other's opinions, and live for each other," wrote Panahi.</p>
<p>Iran has a rich history of filmmaking, and its movies are celebrated at home and abroad. Due to its numerous fans, the country's daily cinema newspaper can sell out within hours.</p>
<p>But when Panahi and another filmmaker, Mohammad Rasoulof, were found guilty of "propaganda against the system" for starting a film about Iran's 2009 post-election chaos, it was just the latest sign that things have gone terribly wrong, said Iranian director Rafi Pitts.</p>
<p>"It's a nightmare that he's living, and it's a nightmare that the film industry is living," Pitts said. "And it's never happened in the history of cinema. Even during the McCarthy purges in America, it never got to this stage, where for an idea you would get a prison sentence."</p>
<p>Pitts lives in Paris but makes films in Iran. His latest work, "The Hunter," tells the story of a grieving man pushed to violence. It screened at last year's Berlinale, but it's banned in Iran.</p>
<p>"All we wanted to do is hold a mirror up to society. If what the government sees in the mirror is something they don't like, that's not the mirror's fault," Pitts commented.</p>
<p>The government's tactics have forced filmmakers to try to game the system, said another Iranian director, Sepideh Farsi.</p>
<p>"Sometimes some people go with fake scripts and shoot something else, and that happens. But I generally have just given them the script that I had," Farsi said. "But the problem is you can never trust them. Because you give them the script, they give you a shooting permit, and then when the film is ready, they tell you, 'but this cannot be released because of such-and-such problem.' So you never really know where the red line is, and where the boundaries are."</p>
<p>Weary of the rules, Farsi shot her recent film, "Tehran Without Permission," with a cheap mobile phone, and used the music of underground rappers for the soundtrack.</p>
<p>Another director, Ayat Najafi, plans to head back to Iran on Monday for the first time in four years. He is starting a new film – without a government permit. Najafi hopes to get around that by shooting in private homes, though that method did not keep Jafar Panahi from danger.</p>
<p>"It's not like when you are working at home, they are going to catch you. But they were looking for a moment to arrest Jafar Panahi and then they found the moment," said Najafi.</p>
<p>Still, there are Iranian directors who manage to make art within the system. Asghar Farhadi won the Berlinale's best director prize in 2009, and is a leading contender for this year's top award.</p>
<p>His film, "Nader and Simin: A Separation," tells the story of a couple on the edge of divorce, but touches on gender, class, and religious issues. Some Iranian exiles have criticized Farhadi for playing by the rules; Farhadi finds that frustrating.</p>
<p>"What's their suggestion? Shall we all leave the country? What about the people of Iran? We should make films for them. I'm not working with the government; I'm making films for the people of my country. And I will stay there and I will make films for them," he said.</p>
<p>The Berlinale awards its prizes on Saturday. In some ways, Farhadi's film has already won. It's being picked up for distribution in Europe, Scandinavia, and the United States.</p> | Jafar Panahi's symbolic presence at Berlinale | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-02-18/jafar-panahis-symbolic-presence-berlinale | 2011-02-18 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Hertz Global Holdings Inc said Chief Executive Mark Frissora has stepped down for personal reasons.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The car rental company's board appointed Hertz Equipment Rental Corp's head, Brian MacDonald, as interim CEO.</p>
<p>The company said it had started a search process for a replacement for Frissora, who also held the position of chairman.</p>
<p>Hertz also appointed independent lead director Linda Fayne Levinson as independent non-executive chair of the board.</p> | Hertz CEO Mark Frissora Steps Down | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/09/08/hertz-ceo-mark-frissora-steps-down.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p>RENO, Nev. (AP) — A winter storm moving through eastern Nevada after dumping a foot of snow (30 centimeters) in the Sierra set a precipitation record in the north-central part of the state on Friday, and a winter storm warning was in effect near the Utah line where 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) was forecast in the upper elevations.</p>
<p>The liquid equivalent of .41 inches (10 centimeters) recorded Friday at the Eureka Airport about 250 miles (400 kilometers) east of Reno broke the old record of 0.3 (7 cm) set in 1983, the National Weather Service said. The liquid equivalent is the water left over from rain and melted snow.</p>
<p>The storm moved off its expected path north of U.S. Interstate 80 as it headed for Utah and was following a more southern route along U.S. Highway 50 through southern Lander, Eureka and White Pine counties.</p>
<p>The weather service cancelled a winter weather advisory for northern Elko County but issued a winter storm warning in effect until 4 a.m. Saturday for the central region, including the Ruby Mountains south of Elko and Great Basin National Park east of Ely along the Utah line, where up to a foot (30 cm) of snow is possible in the mountains.</p>
<p>A winter storm warning expired in the Lake Tahoe region Friday afternoon. The weather service said 11 inches (28 centimeters) of snow was recorded Thursday night and early Friday at the Northstar ski resort near Truckee, California and about 10 inches (25 centimeters) at Mt. Rose southwest of Reno. Up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) was reported at Heavenly in South Lake Tahoe, California.</p>
<p>At Tahoe’ s lake level, more than 5 inches (13 centimeters) of snow and an inch (2.5 centimeter) of rain was recorded on the west shore at Tahoma, California.</p>
<p>RENO, Nev. (AP) — A winter storm moving through eastern Nevada after dumping a foot of snow (30 centimeters) in the Sierra set a precipitation record in the north-central part of the state on Friday, and a winter storm warning was in effect near the Utah line where 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) was forecast in the upper elevations.</p>
<p>The liquid equivalent of .41 inches (10 centimeters) recorded Friday at the Eureka Airport about 250 miles (400 kilometers) east of Reno broke the old record of 0.3 (7 cm) set in 1983, the National Weather Service said. The liquid equivalent is the water left over from rain and melted snow.</p>
<p>The storm moved off its expected path north of U.S. Interstate 80 as it headed for Utah and was following a more southern route along U.S. Highway 50 through southern Lander, Eureka and White Pine counties.</p>
<p>The weather service cancelled a winter weather advisory for northern Elko County but issued a winter storm warning in effect until 4 a.m. Saturday for the central region, including the Ruby Mountains south of Elko and Great Basin National Park east of Ely along the Utah line, where up to a foot (30 cm) of snow is possible in the mountains.</p>
<p>A winter storm warning expired in the Lake Tahoe region Friday afternoon. The weather service said 11 inches (28 centimeters) of snow was recorded Thursday night and early Friday at the Northstar ski resort near Truckee, California and about 10 inches (25 centimeters) at Mt. Rose southwest of Reno. Up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) was reported at Heavenly in South Lake Tahoe, California.</p>
<p>At Tahoe’ s lake level, more than 5 inches (13 centimeters) of snow and an inch (2.5 centimeter) of rain was recorded on the west shore at Tahoma, California.</p> | Precipitation record set in northeast Nevada after storm | false | https://apnews.com/3c412d227962407aa0ecb538df7232ee | 2018-01-20 | 2 |
<p>Planning a wedding sounds like one of the most stressful undertakings imaginable. So, the idea of planning a wedding only to have it canceled last minute seems&#160;not only emotionally devastating, but also a giant waste of effort. Faced with this mix of emotional disappointment and logistical bullshit, one <a href="http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/news/a58137/yiru-sun-canceled-wedding-charity-lunch/" type="external">bride turned her cancelled reception into&#160;a party</a> for underprivileged kids.</p>
<p>Yiri Sun, a New York-based insurance executive called off her wedding last minute after she and her fiancé got into a huge fight about prenuptial agreements. Unfortunately for Sun, the $8,000 deposit&#160;at the ornate&#160; <a href="http://www.pratthouse.com/" type="external">Harold Pratt House</a> was nonrefundable. Rather than&#160;let it go to waste, she generously&#160; <a href="https://nypost.com/2016/05/08/bride-wont-sign-prenup-throws-wedding-party-for-poor-instead/" type="external">hosted a Saturday reception for over 60 underprivileged families</a> as an early Mother’s Day event.&#160;The party was fully catered and included face painting for the children, a plethora of balloons, and ice pops to snack on. In other words, it was cute as hell.</p>
<p>Although she was understandably broken up about her wedding cancelation, Sun made the decision to use the disappointment as an opportunity to give back. As you can imagine, everyone&#160;who attended was exceedingly grateful that she took the selfless road rather than basking in her romantic sadness.</p>
<p />
<p>During the festivities, Sun took a moment to deliver a short speech to her guests as a way of better introducing herself and hopefully giving&#160;them some encouragement.</p>
<p />
<p>She told the&#160;guests about her childhood growing up poor in China, saying that&#160;it was only after moving to America and working hard that she was able to get a scholarship for a graduate degree at Princeton and achieve some of her goals.</p>
<p />
<p>She emphasized the fact that she wanted all the kids and mothers present to feel special and relaxed for the day — especially the single mothers. Sun shared that she is a single mother to a 6-year-old, making the encouragement of other single mothers very near and dear to her heart.</p>
<p />
<p>The guests who attended said they loved the food and ambience of the gathering, which was made possible by Sun’s refund in <a href="http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/" type="external">coordination with the Salvation Army</a>, which reached out to low-income families in the area who might be interested in attending.</p>
<p>This whole situation is a prime example of making&#160;LEMONADE&#160;lemonade&#160;out of a steaming crop of disappointing lemons.</p> | Badass Bride Canceled Her Wedding Last-Minute, Turned Reception Into Party For Underprivileged Kids | true | http://thefrisky.com/2016-05-09/badass-bride-canceled-her-wedding-last-minute-turned-reception-into-party-for-underprivileged-kids/ | 2018-10-06 | 4 |
<p>After having been deported eight times as an illegal immigrant, a Mexican national returned to the United States a final time and killed two women in a hit-and-run accident when he was driving while intoxicated.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">‘That wasn’t very damn nice.’ Carrier union leader provokes heated back-and-forth with Trump</a></p>
<p>After Miguel Angel Villasenor-Saucedo, 40, struck and killed the two women with his truck in Louisville, Kentucky on October 22, he fled the scene on foot.</p>
<p>Miguel Angel Villasenor-Saucedo / Source: <a href="http://www.whas11.com/news/crime/man-wanted-in-deadly-hit-run-charged-with-illegal-re-entry-after-deportation/365111616" type="external">WHAS-11 News</a></p>
<p>Although he has yet to be apprehended, this week a federal grand jury indicted Villasenor-Saucedo for illegal re-entry after deportation, an offense that carries a two-year sentence.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">New presidential puppy for the Trumps? Meet ‘Patton,’ 9-week-old Goldendoodle</a></p>
<p>The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Kentucky said in a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdky/pr/illegal-immigrant-miguel-angel-villasenor-saucedo-charged-illegal-re-entry-after" type="external">statement</a>:</p>
<p>LMPD Officers later obtained a Criminal Complaint from Jefferson County District Court charging Villasenor-Saucedo with Leaving the Scene of a Fatal Hit and Run Accident.&#160; A warrant has been issued for Villasenor-Saucedo’s arrest.</p>
<p>Soon after the fatal accident, it was learned that Villasenor-Saucedo was a Mexican national illegally present in the United States.&#160; Upon learning of Villasenor-Saucedo’s illegal immigration status in the United States, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office began investigating Villasenor-Saucedo and found that he had previously been deported from the United States on eight occasions and did not have lawful authority to be present in the United States.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>CNN’s Jake Tapper tweeted:</p>
<p />
<p>Some folks thought Tapper’s use of “undocumented” rather than “illegal” amounted to putting lipstick on a pig. The concern about being politically correct didn’t sit well with many:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Jorge Guajardo, former Mexican ambassador to China, took exception to the word “illegal” and was immediately sent to school.</p>
<p />
<p>Wake up right! Receive our free morning news blast &#160; <a href="" type="internal">HERE</a></p> | Illegal alien deported 8 times returns and kills 2 women; CNN’s Jake Tapper reports on it…sort of | true | http://bizpacreview.com/2016/12/08/illegal-alien-deported-8-times-returns-kills-2-women-cnns-jake-tapper-reports-itsort-421533 | 2016-12-08 | 0 |
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<p>Enter the cowboy.</p>
<p>The first were often Civil War veterans. Destitute, they usually wore army surplus and whatever else they could scrounge.</p>
<p>“They were poor; they were destitute; they wore what they had,” said Cathy Smith, costume designer for both the small and the large screen. “There (was) no cowboy uniform.”</p>
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<p>Smith presents “I See By Your Outfit: Historic Cowboy Clothing” in the New Mexico History Museum this afternoon, accompanied by about 120 slides of mostly vintage photographs.</p>
<p>“Today, when you look around Santa Fe and there’s people wearing cowboy hats and boots, they’re simply a postscript to the drugstore variety,” she said.</p>
<p>The Emmy Award-winning designer has helped create costumes for films ranging from “Dances With Wolves” and “Seraphim Falls” to “Comanche Moon” and “Legends of the Fall.” She won her Emmy in 1991 for “Son of the Morning Star.”</p>
<p>Smith came by the job naturally. She grew up on her family’s South Dakota horse and cattle ranch bordering two Sioux reservations. Her grandfather raised horses for the U.S. cavalry. She dates cowboy dress to the first cattle drive from Texas to Montana in 1886.</p>
<p>“They rounded up cattle and were trying to drive them to somewhere they could sell them – like Kansas or the closest railroad,” she said. “They wore army pants and some old shoes or moccasins. If they had any boots, they wore Civil War surplus.”</p>
<p>They soon discovered that the wide, floppy hats worn by the vaqueros in both Mexico and New Mexico were useless in the harsh winds of the northern plains. Eventually, little shops sprang up along the trails selling saddles and gear.</p>
<p>“They could buy things out of the Montgomery Ward catalog,” Smith added. “There were no jeans. A cowboy never wore jeans – they were for miners. They were above that.”</p>
<p>They also preferred rounded or square toed boots.</p>
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<p>“A cowboy today wouldn’t be caught dead in pointed-toe boots,” Smith said.</p>
<p>Mostly, they wore very tightly woven wool pants, she added. Their hats changed with the weather.</p>
<p>In Nevada, cowboys were known as buckaroos, with their own distinctive style. These men often wore flat hats and had A-form saddles with post horns. Their traditional gear usually came embellished with silver.</p>
<p>“Buckaroo” may have been an English corruption of “vaquero.” The vaquero tradition came from Spain and was imported to New Mexico up the Santa Fe Trail.</p>
<p>In Montana and the Dakotas, cowboys were known as “waddies.” No one seems to know the word’s precise origins. Some say it was originally a derogatory term meaning thief or rustler that evolved into describing a lower-class hired man in a saddle.</p>
<p>New Mexican vaqueros patterned themselves after their Spanish brethren, with wide sombreros and leather.</p>
<p>“It all depends on the geography and the weather,” Smith said.</p>
<p>Various aspects of the cowboy tradition can be traced back to Arabic rule in Spain, including Moorish use of Oriental horse breeds, shorter stirrups, solid tree saddles, spurs and a heavy nose band. The Spanish transferred their traditions of cattle raising and horsemanship to the U.S. via Mexico. The earliest horses were originally of Andalusian, Barb and Arabian ancestry.</p>
<p>Distinctive regional traditions arose in Texas and California. The buckaroo or California tradition most closely resembled that of the vaquero, while the Texas tradition melded some Spanish techniques with methods from the eastern states.</p>
<p>In California, the buckaroo was considered a highly skilled worker. The California terrain allowed for more grazing with less open range. Their cattle were usually sold at the regional level, without the need to be driven hundreds of miles.</p>
<p>Real cowboy couture bears no resemblance to the spangled-and-sequined variety of the Wild West shows and old-school country music stars, Smith said.</p>
<p>“That’s got nothing to do with cowboys,” Smith said. “That’s Nashville.”</p>
<p>Smith bases her research on museums and “thousands” of original photos. She has lectured on the art and culture of the West at museums and events from the Smithsonian to Christy’s in New York.</p> | Designer shows historic cowboy clothing | false | https://abqjournal.com/196065/designer-shows-historic-cowboy-clothing.html | 2013-05-05 | 2 |
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<p>On Tuesday afternoon, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) posted strong earnings results for the first quarter of its 2017 fiscal year. Revenue beat analysts' forecasts and the company's own guidance range. Earnings per share comfortably beat the average analyst estimate as well. Finally, iPhone sales rose 5% year over year, to 78.3 million units; most analysts had been expecting a smaller increase -- or even a decline.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Apple posted strong iPhone sales for the critical holiday quarter. Image source: Apple.</p>
<p>One of those analysts wrongly expecting an iPhone sales decline was Ming-Chi Kuo of Taiwan's KGI Securities. In the past few years, Kuo has gained a reputation among many investors for being the " <a href="http://www.cultofmac.com/273923/ming-chi-kuo/" type="external">most accurate Apple analyst Opens a New Window.</a>." The fact that he whiffed so badly on his iPhone sales forecast is an important reminder to investors not to rely too much on analysts' forecasts.</p>
<p>Ming-Chi Kuo has very good sources -- either in Apple's supply chain or at the company itself -- giving him advance warning of new product features and production plans. He isn't perfect, but he's one of the best sources out there for news about Apple's future products.</p>
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<p>Ming-Chi Kuo correctly predicted many features of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Image source: Apple.</p>
<p>For example, Kuo <a href="http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/9/5/12797204/ming-chi-kuo-iphone-7-rumors" type="external">correctly predicted Opens a New Window.</a> most of the key features of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus prior to those models being officially unveiled last September. That included obscure details like the fact that there wouldn't be 32GB versions of the new jet black iPhones.</p>
<p>Kuo also has a pretty good track record for short-term shipment forecasts. A few days before Apple's Q1 earnings report two years ago, he predicted that Apple had sold 73 million iPhones during the holiday quarter, when most analysts still expected a shipment number well below 70 million. In fact, Apple reported that it had shipped 74.5 million iPhones.</p>
<p>However, Kuo's competitive advantage appears to be limited to picking up supply chain rumors. When it comes to estimating demand for Apple's products, his record is far less pristine.</p>
<p>For the past several months, Ming-Chi Kuo had stuck to a forecast that Apple would ship 70 million-75 million iPhones in the first quarter. At the midpoint of that range, iPhone sales would have been down 3% year over year, whereas iPhone sales actually increased 5%.</p>
<p>This doesn't fully capture how far off Kuo's expectations were, though. Prior to late September, he had expected Apple to ship just 65 million iPhones in Q1, down 13% year over year.</p>
<p>The further you zoom out, the worse Kuo's predictions have been. Back in April, he stated that in a best-case scenario, Apple would ship 205 million iPhones for the full 2016 calendar year. (His worst-case scenario was 190 million shipments.) Apple actually shipped 215.4 million iPhones for the full year.</p>
<p>Investors who sold Apple stock last year -- or decided not to buy it -- based on Kuo's relatively bearish projections have missed out on a big rally. Since bottoming out around $90 last May, Apple stock has come roaring back, reaching $125 in after-hours trading on Tuesday afternoon. This shows the danger of relying too much on analysts' forecasts.</p>
<p>Apple Stock Performance, data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Following top analysts for a stock you own is a good way to stay up to date on the latest trends and the general outlook for the next few quarters. However, while Wall Street analysts may in theory be the "experts," even the best ones can make some big mistakes. For individual investors, it's important to understand when to trust an analyst's predictions.</p>
<p>For Apple, Ming-Chi Kuo is an important analyst to follow for learning about potential new products and early production plans, because of his supply chain connections. However, Apple's sales results ultimately depend on demand.</p>
<p>Being plugged in to the supply chain doesn't help much in forecasting demand. Perhaps Kuo can accurately estimate how many components Apple's suppliers are building. That shows how many devices Apple plans to build -- and, by extension, how much demand Apple expects to see. But build plans are fluid and routinely change based on actual demand.</p>
<p>Thus, while Kuo is great at calling the play-by-play of what Apple is doing now, his analysis is less reliable looking further into the future. Investors who have followed his advice over the past several quarters just learned that lesson the hard way.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Apple When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of January 4, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGemHunter/info.aspx" type="external">Adam Levine-Weinberg Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Apple and is long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool is long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. 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> | Apple, Inc. Earnings: Why the "Most Accurate" Apple Analyst Blew It | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/01/apple-inc-earnings-why-most-accurate-apple-analyst-blew-it.html | 2017-02-01 | 0 |
<p>The national memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. was dedicated last Sunday. President Barack Obama said of Dr. King, “If he were alive today, I believe he would remind us that the unemployed worker can rightly challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonizing all who work there.” The dedication occurred amidst the increasingly popular and increasingly global Occupy Wall Street movement. What Obama left unsaid is that King, were he alive, would most likely be protesting Obama administration policies.</p>
<p>Not far from the dedication ceremony, Cornel West, preacher, professor, writer and activist, was being arrested on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court. He said, before being hauled off to jail: “We want to bear witness today that we know the relation between corporate greed and what goes on too often in the Supreme Court decisions. … We will not allow this day of Martin Luther King Jr.’s memorial to go without somebody going to jail, because Martin King would be here right with us, willing to throw down out of deep love.”</p>
<p>West was arrested with 18 others, declaring “solidarity with the Occupy movement all around the world, because we love poor people, we love working people, and we want Martin Luther King Jr. to smile from the grave that we haven’t forgot his movement.”</p>
<p>Over the same weekend as the dedication, the U.S. military/CIA’s drone campaign, under Commander in Chief Obama, launched what the independent, nonprofit Bureau of Investigative Journalism, based in London, called the 300th drone strike, the 248th since Obama took office. According to the BIJ, of the at least 2,318 people killed by drone strikes, between 386 and 775 were civilians, including 175 children. Imagine how Obama’s fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. King, would respond to those grim statistics.</p>
<p />
<p>Back in 1963, King published a collection of sermons titled “Strength to Love.” His preface began, “In these turbulent days of uncertainty the evils of war and of economic and racial injustice threaten the very survival of the human race.” Three of the 15 sermons were written in Georgia jails, including “Shattered Dreams.” In that one, he wrote, “To cooperate passively with an unjust system makes the oppressed as evil as the oppressor.” King revisited the idea of shattered dreams four years later, eight months before his assassination, in his speech called “Where Do We Go From Here,” saying: “Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. … Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”</p>
<p>Earlier in that year, 1967, a year to the day before he was killed, King gave his oft-overlooked “Beyond Vietnam” speech at Riverside Church in New York City. King preached, “I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today, my own government.”</p>
<p>With those words, with that speech, King set the tone for his final, fateful year. Despite death threats, and his close advisers urging him not to go to Memphis, King went to march in solidarity with that city’s sanitation workers. On April 4, 1968, he was shot and killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.</p>
<p>Deeply impacted at the time by the assassination, we can follow two young men along King’s arc of moral justice all the way to Occupy Wall Street. One was John Carlos, a U.S. Olympic track star. Carlos won the bronze medal in the 200 meter race at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Carlos and his teammate Tommie Smith, who won the gold, raised their black-gloved fists in the power salute on the medal stand, instantly gaining global fame. They both stood without shoes, protesting black children in poverty in the United States. Last week, John Carlos spoke at Occupy Wall Street, and he told me after, “I’m just so happy to see so many people who are standing up to say: ‘We’re not asking for change. We demand change.’&#160;“</p>
<p>The other person is the Rev. Jesse Jackson. He was with King when he was assassinated. Late Monday night, the New York Police Department seemed to be making a move on Occupy Wall Street’s first-aid tent. Jackson was there. Just days past his 70th birthday, Jackson joined arms with the young protesters, defying the police. The police backed off. And the arc of the moral universe bent a bit more toward justice.</p>
<p>Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.</p>
<p>Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 900 stations in North America. She is the author of “Breaking the Sound Barrier,” recently released in paperback and now a New York Times best-seller.</p>
<p>© 2011 Amy Goodman</p>
<p>Distributed by King Features Syndicate</p> | The Arc of the Moral Universe, From Memphis to Wall Street | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-arc-of-the-moral-universe-from-memphis-to-wall-street/ | 2011-10-19 | 4 |
<p>TEPIC, Mexico (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Spraying thousands of chilled, sterile mosquitoes from specially adapted drones could prove a cost-effective way to slash numbers of the insects and curb the spread of Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases, say the backers of the technology.</p> A member of WeRobotics' Peru FlyingLabs hand launches a cargo drone in Pucallpa, Peru, June 2017. WeRobotics/Adam Klaptocz
<p>WeRobotics, a non-profit trialing the method, plans to start mosquito-release tests shortly in Latin America.</p>
<p>It has recently piloted ways to transport medicines and medical samples in Peru’s Amazon region and the Dominican Republic using the unmanned aerial vehicles. But this time the cargo will be sensitive insects that must survive the process.</p>
<p>“It makes no sense to release mosquitoes that are 90 percent dead or damaged - we need to make sure the quality of the mosquito is very high so they can compete for females,” said drone maker Adam Klaptocz, co-founder of WeRobotics, which is based in Switzerland and the United States.</p>
<p>“The ultimate goal is to integrate drones into future vector control campaigns,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.</p>
<p>Mosquito-control programs using sterile insects often rely on trucks to disperse the bugs, or people releasing them from backpacks. Both of these are time-consuming methods unsuited to hard-to-reach places.</p>
<p>With aerial dissemination, the sterilized insects must be cooled down before they are packed into the container of the drone which would then expel them at altitude, said Klaptocz.</p>
<p>In the trial, the mosquitoes will be marked, trapped and inspected to see how they fare and how far they are dispersed, he said. The drones cost around $5,000 each.</p>
<p>If successfully released, the sterile male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes would compete with wild insects to breed with females, eventually suppressing numbers and helping stop the spread of diseases including Zika, Klaptocz explained.</p>
<p>Pregnant women infected with Zika risk having babies with the birth defect microcephaly, which is defined by an unusually small head and can result in developmental problems and other severe brain abnormalities. The Zika epidemic that hit Brazil in 2015 affected thousands of babies.</p>
<p>Usually found in urban and semi-urban areas, the Aedes aegypti mosquito also transmits dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.</p>
<p>Two or three drones could control mosquitoes across an entire city, replacing a few hundred trucks and the staff needed to run the operation, Klaptocz said.</p>
<p>“It’s beneficial to a larger population if you have this (drone) technology,” he said.</p>
<p>WeRobotics, which is working with the U.S. development agency USAID and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is awaiting final approval for its upcoming drone test, before announcing where it will be held, he added.</p> Elena Arguelles from WeRobotics' Peru FlyingLabs prepares a cargo drone flight plan in Pucallpa, Peru, June 2017. WeRobotics/Adam Klaptocz ASK FIRST
<p>Besides legal permission, a local laboratory is needed to sterilize the insects using radiation. Obtaining community “buy in” is also key, by explaining the method to local leaders and health authorities, said Klaptocz.</p>
<p>“You never go in, fly drones, drop mosquitoes and ask questions later,” he said. “It’s not about technology, it’s not about drones; it’s about people getting less sick - and that’s very understood by communities.”</p>
<p>Repeatedly blitzing an area with sterile mosquitoes could help suppress populations within months, said experts.</p>
<p>When sterile males are introduced, “they’re like little heat-seeking missiles, looking for females that will then induce a population crash,” said Conor McMeniman, assistant professor at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who is not involved in the project.</p> Slideshow (2 Images)
<p>Releasing sterile insects has previously helped suppress pests including fruit and tetse flies, said the IAEA, which is also working with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to reduce malaria with sterile Anopheles mosquitoes.</p>
<p>But the drone method would need to be combined with other controls such as fumigation and stagnant water removal, as the Aedes aegypti can lay its eggs in any sources of standing water, from used car tires to rubbish and even soda-bottle caps, said McMeniman.</p> BLOOD TESTS
<p>Aside from mosquito dispersal, drones have huge potential to help people living in remote places with limited access to hospitals, said Klaptocz of WeRobotics.</p>
<p>In Peru’s Amazon region, recent trials have used drones to fly supplies - including anti-venom for snake bites - to isolated communities, and transport blood samples from patients who would otherwise have to travel hours by river to hospital.</p>
<p>“If instead you could take their blood, put it in a drone and then send it to a hospital 50 km (30 miles) away, it gets there in an hour, the blood gets tested (and) the results get sent back by SMS,” said Klaptocz.</p>
<p>In the Dominican Republic, WeRobotics and its local partners have used drones to test deliveries of medical supplies.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, the unmanned craft have mapped and identified disaster-prone parts of Haiti, Nepal and Tanzania.</p>
<p>Training local pilots is essential to the long-term viability of any drone program, said Klaptocz.</p>
<p>“We’re very focused on technology that makes sense and lasts beyond the end of our project,” he added.</p>
<p>Reporting by Sophie Hares; editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit <a href="http://news.trust.org/" type="external">news.trust.org/</a></p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>OKANAUTONI, Angola (Reuters) - Apart from a few packs of medicine and plastic jars, the shelves at the Okanautoni health center in southern Angola are bare and lack basic drugs for saving lives.</p> A toddler runs through Chiulo Hospital in Cunene province, Angola February 24, 2018. REUTERS/Stephen Eisenhammer
<p>Hours from the nearest town in Cunene province, the clinic has no first-line tuberculosis drugs, no antiretrovirals for HIV, no general antibiotics and just three anti-malarial pills.</p>
<p>Okanautoni is remote but the provincial director for health says clinics without drugs are no exception. “The public health system is losing credibility,” said Mendes Esteves at his office in the sleepy provincial capital Ondjiva.</p>
<p>João Lourenço, Angola’s first new president in 38 years, has vowed to tackle corruption, attract foreign investment and improve public services such as healthcare, which the government acknowledges suffers from a lack of doctors and medication.</p>
<p>Crippled by 27 years of civil war, healthcare improved after the conflict ended in 2002 as the oil-fueled economy surged and new hospitals and clinics were built. But experts say the country failed to develop a robust system for buying and distributing medicines, or training doctors and nurses.</p>
<p>When the price of oil tumbled in 2014, the economy stalled and the government slashed spending, exposing cracks in the public health service and leaving the population at risk.</p>
<p>Diseases that should be disappearing after more than 15 years of peace are spreading. Tuberculosis has been declining worldwide but in Angola the incidence of TB rose 16 percent from 2002 to 2016, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).</p>
<p>Angola suffered the world’s worst yellow fever epidemic in a generation in 2016 with about 4,000 suspected cases and 380 deaths, and the country is now in the grip of a malaria outbreak with more than 300,000 cases so far this year.</p>
<p>International health workers say the country is leaving itself open to further outbreaks, with some warning of cholera spreading from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and others of a potentially devastating epidemic like ebola - a strain of which struck Angola in 2005.</p>
<p>In 2018, the government committed 4 percent of government expenditure to health, down from 4.3 percent in 2017. By comparison, South Africa spent about 14 percent on health in 2015 and Kenya 6 percent, according to WHO data.</p> ‘NEVER ENOUGH’
<p>At the clinic in Okanautoni, plastic gloves, syringes and disinfectant are in short supply. There’s no running water and the only electricity is from a generator that runs sporadically.</p>
<p>At night, births are guided by the light of a cell phone. If something goes wrong, patients are driven for two hours down bumpy bush tracks to the nearest hospitals in Chiulo or Xangongo – where conditions too can be precarious.</p>
<p>“We ask for medicine but they don’t send us anything,” said nurse Penitencia Goreti, 33, who said she had repeatedly asked for fresh stock from the municipal government.</p>
<p>“The situation is getting worse,” she said, as a child, blurry-eyed with malaria, lay on the floor nearby.</p>
<p>Provincial health director Esteves said the sick were starting to shun health centers because they didn’t expect them to have any medicine. He said he hoped a batch of first-line TB drugs would come in the next few months, but deliveries had failed to show up before. “We will see,” he said with a sigh.</p>
<p>Nearly 1,000 km away in the capital Luanda, ranked the most expensive city in the world for expatriate workers and home to a luxury-loving Angolan elite, public hospitals are similarly stretched.</p>
<p>At Cacuaco hospital on the capital’s outskirts, two doctors see 400 to 700 patients per day. The hospital suffers power outages, there is no functioning X-ray machine and only the most basic medication. Anti-malarial drugs frequently run out.</p>
<p>“We just have so many cases, it’s never enough,” one nurse said as hundreds waited in the humid heat under broken fans.</p>
<p>Poorer residents in Luanda frequently say they have to pay for medication that should be free at public hospitals. The cost means patients often cut their treatment short, increasing the risk of resistant strains developing.</p> Tuberculosis patients, wearing masks to stop the spread of the disease, stand outside their ward at Chiulo Hospital, Cunene province, Angola February 22, 2018. REUTERS/Stephen Eisenhammer
<p>The Ministry of Health did not respond to requests for comment on the state of the healthcare system. It provided data showing 304,410 cases of malaria had been reported in Angola between Jan. and Feb. 4, with 984 deaths.</p>
<p>After a tour of the northern Zaire province, Health Minister Silvia Lutucuta, said the lack of drugs was being addressed.</p>
<p>“We can’t come here and affirm that we have resolved all the medication problems, but the basics and essentials for the functioning of centers is there,” local media quoted her saying.</p> RED TAPE AND DELAYS
<p>However, senior medical professionals working in the system said the situation had got worse since Lourenço’s new government was appointed. They described severe delays in decision-making and project approvals since Lutucuta took charge in October.</p>
<p>They said the response to the malaria outbreak had been hamstrung by increased red tape, which slowed the distribution of preventative measures such as mosquito nets.</p>
<p>Most sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issues.</p>
<p>They described flaws in the way drugs, that are not supplied by international agencies, are procured and distributed.</p>
<p>Sources said purchases at the local level were not in enough bulk to secure competitive prices while the central procurement system, known as CECOMA, lacked the information and budget to keep the system fully supplied. Drugs also often go missing, they said.</p>
<p>According to one former government source, the Ministry of Health has estimated that half the drugs it buys do not reach their intended destination.</p>
<p>In the one-road town of Chiulo, Cunene, basic medication regularly runs out at the hospital. While Reuters visited wards the last tablets of a vital antibiotic were handed out.</p>
<p>The hospital struggles without mains electricity and has a generator that cuts out at 11 p.m. Water is pumped from a dry river bed but ageing equipment often fails.</p>
<p>Chiulo receives assistance from the Italian charity Medici con L’Africa (CUAMM), which has worked there since 2000. Laura Villosio, a wiry indefatigable doctor from northern Italy, said the water and drugs situation had deteriorated since she first worked in Chiulo a decade ago.</p>
<p>In July, the hospital diagnosed cases of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis but medication to treat it did not arrive until four months later, despite increasingly desperate requests.</p>
<p>For such emergencies, the hospital is supposed to have a small budget of its own to buy drugs, but clinical director Ivo Makonga described the money as a “fiction”.</p>
<p>Payment, which is centrally controlled in Luanda, takes more than eight months to be processed, if at all, meaning suppliers increasingly refuse to accept orders, Makonga said.</p>
<p>The lack of drugs means Emilio Txikussa faces a bleak future. Five years old, he weighs just over 10 kg, his eyes sunken and belly swollen with severe malnutrition.</p>
<p>He also has HIV and tuberculosis.</p>
<p>For now, the doctor is pleased that he has put on 300 grammes after three days on therapeutic milk. With a big smile she asks if he is feeling better. Beaming, she asks again.</p>
<p>“Tell the doctor, yes,” his father urges. “Say yes ... say yes.” Emilio only stares.</p>
<p>Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; editing by David Clarke</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel will invest nearly 1 billion shekels ($287 million) in a project to make data about the state of health of its population available to researchers and private companies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.</p> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, March 25, 2018. Abir Sultan/Pool via Reuters
<p>Almost all of Israel’s nine million citizens belong to four health maintenance organizations (HMOs) who keep members’ records digitally, thus comprising a huge medical database.</p>
<p>“This is a major asset and we want to make it accessible to researchers and developers in order to achieve two things: one is preventive medicine, and the second is personal medicine tailored to each individual,” Netanyahu told his cabinet.</p>
<p>Nadav Davidovitch, head of the Public Health School at Ben Gurion University in southern Israel, said the country’s push to harness big data for healthcare had huge potential, but also held risks in terms of privacy and medical confidentiality.</p>
<p>In an interview with Reuters, he voiced concern that private companies would profit by using a publicly-funded database while continuing to make some medication unaffordable to many patients.</p>
<p>A statement from Netanyahu’s office said that mechanisms would be put in place to keep information anonymous while protecting privacy, information security and restricting access as part of the government project.</p>
<p>Patients will be able to refuse the use of their information for research, the statement said.</p>
<p>Digital health records are valuable. Big data analytics - comparing information provided by large numbers of patients - give some of the world’s biggest drugmakers indications of how medicines perform in the real world.</p>
<p>Netanyahu said world leaders and international firms have already shown interest in the project and that the potential revenue for Israel could be in the billions of dollars.</p>
<p>All the world’s major drug companies now have departments focused on the use of real-world data across multiple diseases. Several have completed scientific studies using the information to delve into key areas addressed by their drugs.</p>
<p>They include diabetes studies by AstraZeneca and Sanofi, joint research by Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb into stroke prevention, and a Takeda Pharmaceutical project in bowel disease.</p>
<p>Real-world evidence involves collecting data outside traditional randomised clinical trials, the current gold standard for judging medicines, and interest in the field is ballooning.</p>
<p>Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Tova Cohen/Mark Heinrich</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, starting Holy Week services leading to Easter, urged young people on Sunday to keep shouting and not allow the older generations to silence their voices or anesthetize their idealism.</p> Pope Francis blesses faithful gathered to attend the Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 25, 2018 REUTERS/Tony Gentile
<p>Francis spoke a day after hundreds of thousands of young Americans and their supporters answered a call to action from survivors of last month’s Florida high school massacre and rallied across the United States to demand tighter gun laws.</p>
<p>He did not mention the demonstrations. Catholic News Service (CNS) said Gabriella Zuniga, 16, and her sister Valentina, 15, both students from Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, where 17 people were killed in February, attended the service with their parents.</p>
<p>CNS posted a photo of the two holding up signs in St. Peter’s Square, with one reading, “Protect Our Children, Not Our Guns.”</p>
<p>The 81-year-old Francis led a long and solemn Palm Sunday service before tens of thousands in the square, many of them young people there for the Catholic Church’s World Day of Youth.</p>
<p>Carrying a woven palm branch known as a “palmurello,” Francis led a procession in front of the largest church in Christendom to commemorate the day the Bible says Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was hailed as a savior, only to be crucified five days later.</p> “YOU HAVE IT IN YOU TO SHOUT”
<p>Drawing on biblical parallels, Francis urged the young people in the crowd not to let themselves be manipulated.</p> Pope Francis holds palm as he leads the Palm Sunday Mass in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 25, 2018 REUTERS/Tony Gentile
<p>“The temptation to silence young people has always existed,” Francis said in the homily of a Mass.</p>
<p>“There are many ways to silence young people and make them invisible. Many ways to anesthetize them, to make them keep quiet, ask nothing, question nothing. There are many ways to sedate them, to keep them from getting involved, to make their dreams flat and dreary, petty and plaintive,” he said.</p>
<p>“Dear young people, you have it in you to shout,” he told young people, urging them to be like the people who welcomed Jesus with palms rather than those who shouted for his crucifixion only days later.</p> Slideshow (10 Images)
<p>“It is up to you not to keep quiet. Even if others keep quiet, if we older people and leaders, some corrupt, keep quiet, if the whole world keeps quiet and loses its joy, I ask you: Will you cry out?”</p>
<p>The young people in the crowd shouted, “Yes!”</p>
<p>While Francis did not mention Saturday’s marches in the United States, he has often condemned weapons manufacturing and mass shootings.</p>
<p>Palm Sunday marked the start of a hectic week of activities for the pope.</p>
<p>On Holy Thursday he is due to preside at two services, including one in which he will wash the feet of 12 inmates in a Rome jail to commemorate Jesus’ gesture of humility toward his apostles the night before he died.</p>
<p>On Good Friday, he is due to lead a Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession at Rome’s Colosseum. On Saturday night he leads a Easter vigil service and on Easter Sunday he delivers his twice-yearly “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message.</p>
<p>Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Mark Heinrich</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Mosquito-packed drones could give extra bite to Zika fight Drug shortages cripple Angola's health service Israel to launch Big Data health project Keep shouting, don't become anesthetized, pope tells young people | false | https://reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-drones/mosquito-packed-drones-could-give-extra-bite-to-zika-fight-idUSKBN1FC1OB | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
<p>Gargantuan loan guarantees for a “new generation” of nuke reactors define the Senate’s version of the Energy Bill that Congress will consider right after Labor Day.</p>
<p>Its backers say the $50 billion-plus in radioactive pork will give us “inherently safe” reactors–which is what they said about the last crop, including Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and hundreds of billions in cost overruns and abysmal failure.</p>
<p>Nuke reactors are no safer than those coal mines just littered with fresh corpses, than that collapsed Minnesota bridge, or than the levees that let Katrina swamp New Orleans, and are poised to do it again.</p>
<p>The first “new generation” nuke is already swamped with cost overruns and absurd miscalculations. Finnish regulators are screaming at Areva, the French-based nuke pushers, about corner-cutting and costly delays.</p>
<p>But these are merely the latest in the endless flow of “nuke nuggets” that have made the world’s 430-plus reactors history’s most lethal and expensive technological failure:</p>
<p>Faulty plumbing forced one US nuke operator to shut on-site toilet facilities while the cooling system was in use;</p>
<p>At another US reactor, a basketball wrapped in tape was used to stop up a critical reactor tube;</p>
<p>Consecutive global-warmed “hundred-year floods” threatened to swamp the two Prairie Island reactors (south of that collapsed Minnesota bridge) nearly irradiating the entire downstream Mississippi River;</p>
<p>Like coal miners, uranium miners die en masse from lung cancer and tunnel collapses;</p>
<p>Steam releases killed and maimed at least four workers at Virginia’s North Anna complex;</p>
<p>“Too cheap to meter” was atomic energy’s mantra until it delivered gargantuan cost overruns and ramshackle reactors in what Forbes Magazine has called “the largest managerial disaster in business history”;</p>
<p>In the 2000-1 deregulation scam, the nuke industry portrayed its own reactors as being “uncompetitive,” thus demanding $100 billion in “stranded cost” subsidies for their bad reactor investments;</p>
<p>The Yucca Mountain nuke waste repository, which may never open, has already absorbed $10 billion, but its minimum official cost is now estimated at around $60 billion, which is likely to soar to at least $100 billion;</p>
<p>In 1957 the industry promised independent insurance companies would insure reactors against catastrophic accidents, but that has never happened, either for old nukes or for the proposed new ones;</p>
<p>Before March 28, 1979, nuke owners said the melt-down that destroyed Three Mile Island Two was “impossible”;</p>
<p>Before April 26, 1986, nuke owners said the explosion that destroyed Chernobyl Four was “impossible”;</p>
<p>For nine years, TMI’s owners said there was no significant fuel melt, until a robotic camera showed that nearly ALL the fuel had melted;</p>
<p>TMI’s owners say “no one died” there, but stack monitors failed during the accident and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not know exactly how much radiation escaped, where it went or who it affected;</p>
<p>No official systematic monitoring of the health of the people around TMI was initiated when the plant opened, or when it melted, and none has been maintained;</p>
<p>Some 2400 central Pennsylvania families have tried to sue for damages since TMI’s fall-out hit them, but have been denied a federal trial for nearly three decades;</p>
<p>Some 800,000 drafted clean-up “liquidators” were forced into Chernobyl, thousands of whom are dying of cancer;</p>
<p>Seven atomic reactors in Japan were significantly damaged by an earthquake despite decades of official assurances that they were safe;</p>
<p>Japanese authorities now admit that the recent earthquake exceeded—by a factor of three—the design specifications of the seven reactors it damaged;</p>
<p>Far stronger earthquakes are expected soon at all or most of Japan’s 55 reactors, where experts say at least some could be reduced to radioactive rubble;</p>
<p>Four reactors in California, one in Ohio and two in New York are among the many American nukes built very close to active earthquake faults;</p>
<p>The Perry nuke, east of Cleveland, whose owners denied it was in any danger from a nearby “geological anomaly,” was significantly damaged by a January 31, 1986 earthquake;</p>
<p>Despite a lawsuit by Ohio’s governor, Perry was allowed to open amidst damage to area roads and bridges that would have made evacuation impossible, and that could have meant disaster had it been operating at the time;</p>
<p>Near Toledo, dripping boric acid ate through the Davis-Besse pressure vessel, bringing it within a fraction of an inch of a catastrophe capable of irradiating Cleveland and all of Lake Erie;</p>
<p>Davis-Besse’s owner blacked out the entire northeast, including much of Canada, partly due to uneven power surges from its nukes and the deterioration of its electric power grid;</p>
<p>On September 11, 2001, the terrorists who crashed into the World Trade Center flew directly over the two active reactors at Indian Point, but did not hit them, apparently believing that they were protected by surface-to-air missiles;</p>
<p>Not one of the 100-plus US reactors is protected by surface-to-air missiles;</p>
<p>Virtually every US reactor has failed simple tests of security systems meant to protect them from terror attacks;</p>
<p>Early official government studies warned that a single meltdown could make permanently uninhabitable “an area the size of</p>
<p>Pennsylvania”;</p>
<p>An attack on the Indian Point reactors on 9/11/2001 could have rendered the entire New York region — including the World Trade Centers — permanently uninhabitable, causing millions of long-term human casualties and trillions of dollars in damage, from which the US economy likely would never have recovered;</p>
<p>Huge heat emissions make atomic reactors major contributors to global warming, as do CO2 emissions from construction, decommissioning, the mining, milling and enrichment of uranium fuel, waste disposal, and more;</p>
<p>Despite being billed as a “solution to global warming,” French reactors were recently shut because they overheated local rivers with their waste cooling water;</p>
<p>Despite being billed as a “solution to global warming,” one reactor at Alabama’s Browns Ferry was forced shut, and two cut back 25%, as summer river temperatures hit 90 degrees, the federal limit;</p>
<p>These shut-downs come precisely when power is most needed for air conditioning, and when the REAL solution to global warming, solar energy, is most abundant;</p>
<p>In 1975, a Browns Ferry reactor suffered a $100 million fire when a worker ignited its insulation with a candle;</p>
<p>Reactor regulators report a constant flow of “incidents” that endanger reactor operations and the public safety;</p>
<p>The former head of the Atomic Energy Commission’s health research efforts has calculated that “normal” reactor emissions could kill some 32,000 Americans every year;</p>
<p>A dollar spent on energy conservation saves ten times the energy produced by a dollar spent on a nuke;</p>
<p>This tragic, terrifying “nugget” list could extend on for another few hundred pages, as per THE NUGGET FILE, by a former industry insider, and FISSION STORIES by David Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists.</p>
<p>With a crippled infrastructure and corner-cutting mentality, the corporate operatives building these reactors are no more competent or trustworthy than the ones in charge of coal mines, bridges, levees.</p>
<p>Homer Simpson will run the new nukes, just like the old nukes.</p>
<p>Wall Street knows it. Does Congress? Better tell them.</p>
<p>HARVEY WASSERMAN helped co-ordinate media for the Clamshell Alliance, 1976-8. He was arrested at Diablo Canyon in 1984 and at Seabrook in 1989. He is author of “ <a href="" type="internal">Solartopia: Our Green-Powered Earth, A.D. 2030,</a>”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Senate’s Radioactive Rip-Off | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/08/20/the-senate-s-radioactive-rip-off/ | 2007-08-20 | 4 |
<p>The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to the reach of the Obama health care law, rescuing the program from a potentially fatal legal challenge for the second time since Obamacare's inception.</p>
<p>By a 6-3 vote, the justices said consumers qualify for a subsidy that lowers the cost of premiums whether they buy their coverage through federal or state exchanges. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-114_qol1.pdf" type="external">opinion</a>.</p>
<p>“Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them. If at all possible, we must interpret the Act in a way that is consistent with the former, and avoids the latter,” the court wrote in its majority opinion.</p>
<p>Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the dissenters, said people should start calling the law "SCOTUScare."</p>
<p>“This Court, however, concludes that this limitation would prevent the rest of the Act from working as well as hoped. So it rewrites the law to make tax credits available everywhere. We should start calling this law SCOTUScare.”</p>
<p>More than six million lower-income Americans who get their health insurance through the federal marketplace or exchange — HealthCare.Gov — depend on the subsidies, reducing their premiums an average of 72 percent, saving an average of $270 a month.</p>
<p>Opponents of the law claimed that the actual wording of the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress made subsidies available only to insurance customers who bought their policies through "an exchange established by the state" where the policyholders live.</p>
<p>If the challengers had prevailed, customers who bought their insurance on the federal exchange — by far the majority of those insured by Obamacare — would have lost the subsidies. Only 16 states now have their own health exchanges up and running.</p>
<p>The health insurance industry had warned that if the challenge succeeded, the Affordable Care Act would have entered a "death spiral" — with costs rising for a shrinking number of participants, eventually causing the system to collapse.</p>
<p>Among the law's provisions are requirements that insurance companies cover people with pre-existing conditions and that nearly all Americans obtain health insurance. Congress knew that those components of the health care system would not work, the Obama administration had argued, if the subsidies that make insurance affordable for millions of people were available only on state exchanges.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Americans Support Administration on Obamacare - Poll</a></p>
<p>Most Americans wanted the Supreme Court to side with the government on deciding whether the feds can continue subsidizing insurance premiums in all 50 states under the health care law, according to polls in recent months. Few, however, had much confidence that the court would rule objectively in the case, King v. Burwell.</p>
<p>Outside of the court the mood was jubilant.</p>
<p>Dozens of people outside of the Supreme Court building steps held up signs with the abbreviations of states and the number of people now covered there. The Center for American Progress organized the gathering and people chanted "ACA is here to stay" and "Fight, fight, fight. Healthcare is a human right."</p>
<p>"I agree that healthcare is a human right and I'm here today because I feel that the Affordable Care Act takes a big step forward in securing that right for millions of Americans across the country," said Krystin Racine of Vermont. "I think the most important thing is visibility. I think it's important that people see that there are people who support the law and that it has helped a lot of people."</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="" type="internal">doctors groups</a> and patients breathed a sigh of relief Thursday when the <a href="" type="internal">Supreme Court upheld</a>one of the most important provisions of Obamacare: the federal subsidies.</p>
<p>"We did dodge a bullet. In the short run if this had gone the other way, then millions of people would have lost health insurance," said Tal Gross, a health policy expert at Columbia University's school of public health.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Will Republicans Finally Accept Obamacare?</a></p>
<p>Conservatives vowed to press on with their efforts to bring attention to flaws in a law they see as broken.</p>
<p>"That we're even discussing another of Obamacare's self-inflicted brushes with the brink - again - is the latest indictment of a law that's been a rolling disaster for the American people," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor Thursday after the court ruling was announced. "Today's ruling won't change Obamacare's multitude of broken promises, including the one that resulted in millions of Americans losing the coverage they had and wanted to keep. Today's ruling won't change Obamacare's spectacular flops, from humiliating website debacles to the total collapse of exchanges in states run by the law's loudest cheerleaders. Today's ruling won't change the skyrocketing costs in premiums, deductibles, and co-pays that have hit the middle class so hard over the last few years."</p>
<p>The White House, however, remained undaunted.</p>
<p>"Today is a victory for hardworking Americans all across this country whose lives will continue to become more secure in a changing economy because of this law," the president said on Thursday in remarks after the ruling.</p>
<p>— Sam Gringlas contributed</p> | Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Obama Health Care Law | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/obamacare-deadline/supreme-court-rejects-challenge-obama-health-care-law-n375536 | 2015-06-26 | 3 |
<p>A dispute over real estate in a small town like Jilulah is the sort of thing that can set one part of Iraq's army against another. A recent meeting in Jilulah included an Arab general from the Iraqi Army, the American commander from all U.S. forces in Iraq, and a local Kurdish political boss. Now an order has come down from Baghdad for all political groups to move out of political buildings, but the Kurdish leader goes into a speech about the long suffering of Kurds in Iraq history when he responds to this order. There was also a standoff recently in a town just up the road from Jilulah. The Kurdish autonomous government has controlled this nearby town but in August the Iraqi Army moved into areas surrounding the city and the Kurds immediately cried foul as a showdown soon started. The staring contest has lasted for months now and the Kurds say they're only protecting their rights under the new constitution, while the government in Baghdad is just asserting its sovereignty over the whole country. So far heads have remained cool. But everything in this disputed area is now being exactly that, heavily disputed.</p> | Violence spikes in Iraq | false | https://pri.org/stories/2008-11-17/violence-spikes-iraq | 2008-11-17 | 3 |
<p>I’m convinced that working in Hollywood is the most effective and efficient way to teach people how to work.</p>
<p>You have to work well under constant pressure. You have to be responsible for more things than anyone should have to be responsible for. And you have to be cunning. I’ve worked in the development and production of major motion pictures and television, then switched over to working in content at an advertising agency, and now work as a creative director at a media company, but in all my travels, the most incredible workers were those who got their start in the film &amp; television biz. When I think about the things that make me good at my job, I can trace them back to what I learned being at the bottom of the food chain in Hollywood and fighting my way up. Here’s what I learned:</p>
<p>There is no other option. If you aren’t good with your time and you can’t stay organized, you’ll never make it in this town. It’s too fast, there’s too much happening, and it’s too demanding. You are in the office before your boss and stay long after. You are the manager and keeper of every aspect of their life — their schedule, their calls, their projects, their meetings, and yes, their personal stuff. I had a boss who expected me to make sure their car was always filled with gas. If they ever left the studio and didn’t have enough gas to get where they were going, it was my fault (I had to occasionally ask for their keys, go to their studio spot, turn on their car, check for the levels, and drive to the gas station if it was low and pray I didn’t crash the car). I knew another assistant who had to always drive their boss to a waxing appointment because they wanted to take a Xanax. Another had to take their boss’s online traffic school for them when they got a ticket. You are their keeper (of their lives and their secrets). And because you’re busy managing their lives, your life takes a backseat. I would forget things like friends’ birthdays or to pay bills. On top of that, I also read every incoming script, so I’d get in an additional two hours early to make sure I could knock two out before I even started my regular day.</p>
<p>I suffered in my first Hollywood assistant gig because everything took me longer than the other assistants at the studio. I pride myself at being an organized person, but I didn’t grasp the kind of organized my boss needed me to be — it was their office, not mine. Not only is there just so much to do and keep track of, you need to learn to do it their way. I tried all sorts of methods to help this boss stay organized until we finally came to the conclusion that maybe we just weren’t a match. Our personalities were too different and I was too far down the spiral to be able to pick myself up and come back; I felt defeated. It was heartbreaking. I had always been reliable, smart, efficient, and well, wanted. And here I was, a lowly assistant whose duties I thought I should be able to easily master, questioning my work ethic. But it did make me better. I was more prepared to deal with job #2. It was a fresh start and I went in eyes open on learning how to work with a specific kind of personality, how to deliver on unique expectations, and how to stop negative thinking from affecting my work. I was a machine at my next job and while that one had a new set of challenges, I am still astounded at how much I got done each day.</p>
<p>When I moved into other roles at adjacent industries, I was SHOCKED to see such poor follow through. Great ideas flowed, but the hustle and accountability lacked. When you’re dealing with the desperation and starvation when it comes to Hollywood dreams, people will do whatever it takes to get those dreams actualized. I learned that I was the only one responsible for making things happen and no one was going to do that but me. By climbing the ladder of success, producing a film, or getting a project off the ground, I realized the ability to just get things done was an invaluable skill.</p>
<p>You have to constantly make decisions and quickly and not fuck up. Should I interrupt Boss in their current meeting that they told me not to interrupt them for, but if I don’t, they’ll lose out on this script? High Profile Celebrity is scheduled for a dinner with Boss and when you confirmed the reservation the restaurant didn’t have it and now what? Should I tell Boss they have some personal messages on the answering machine when there’s a very graphic one a friend sent and if I tell them, we’ll both know I heard it, but if I don’t will they not get it? Every day. Constantly. Exhaustively. There are choices to be made, some important, some not so much, except in Hollywood, it’s all important. Because when you fuck up in Hollywood, it makes your life so much more miserable than any other industry because there’s no room for mistakes. They are unforgivable.</p>
<p>The irony: The only way to learn how not to fuck up IS to fuck up. But you also make other decisions a lot faster — about yourself. While your peers dawdle for months or years figuring out what they’re good at or what they love, the pressure cooker of Hollywood speeds up that process for you. Because you’re constantly fucking up, you figure out quickly how to not fuck up. Since you’re feeling the wrath of fucking up all the time, you learn about what kind of boss you want to be in the future (or in my case, what kind of boss I absolutely didn’t want to be). And because you figure out what you do and no not want to put up with, you make choices about the career you want, the work that interests you, and the things in your life that matter a lot faster. I once got my dream job… or rather what I thought was my dream job; except, I was in tears every night because my boss at the time was such an awful human and made my life miserable. But that misery taught me a lot, the biggest is that I now have a “no asshole” policy. It doesn’t matter the work or the job, I now only work with people I enjoy spending time with and for bosses I like and respect.</p>
<p>You have to learn every agent’s name and the names of their assistant of the week. You need to know who the current hot writers are, their entire body of work, and you better have read it all too. You need to remember who “the people” are of the celebrities you work with (managers, agents, PR reps, etc.), their kids’ names, their birthdays, and their blood type. You need to know everyone’s name on set and have their contact information at the ready. The point is, you need to remember volumes and volumes of information. And I don’t mean just have Google at the ready — YOU need to be ready. When your boss asks you, you have less than a second to respond. No time for you to go digging through your phone or notebook; you just have to know. And you know what? You get pretty good at it. I did. I became a sponge. I learned all those names and kept track of who was moving to other agencies or studios. When I worked on sets, I made a mini version of the crew list and callsheets, laminated them, and kept them on a key ring around my neck. I was always ready for whatever information I needed to conjure up in a moment. And I still have a reputation for being a steel trap. I trained my brain to be like that and it’s served me incredibly well.</p>
<p>Because of the pace of life (the pressure cooker, the harsh hours, the personalities), you learn to be detailed and get to the point. Boss can’t be expected to remember everything (that’s your job — see previous point) and has better things to do than talk to you, so you are always detailed in your communication. You don’t just say, “your 1 p.m. is here” (the standard time for a Hollywood lunch). You say, “your 1pm lunch with High Profile Celebrity is just pulling up to the lot, so they’re about five minutes out and I’ve laid out lunch in the conference room (and yes, no mayo).” You don’t just say you’re almost done with script coverage. You say you’re almost done with “X script that came in Tuesday by Big Writer and Y script by Lesser Known Writer that came in today and everyone is talking about it, so they’ll have coverage for both by 8 p.m.” There is no room for follow-up questions that will annoy Boss or for speeches. And if they’re asking about something? You’ve already failed. You fucked up. I had a boss that would tell me five times a day “constant updates” and I have their voice in my head to this day. They wanted to know exactly what was happening with everything throughout the day and if they had to ask, they were pissed. I needed to be on the ready and find the moments throughout the day to proactively update them.</p>
<p>Speaking of being proactive, it’s the game changer in all of this. On my first internship, I watched in awe as efficient assistants would organize something because they saw a need for it, on top of their mountains of work, without being asked. I know that sounds pretty basic, but it was a great lesson to learn so young. You weren’t going to get anywhere by doing just what’s asked of you — you need to step it up. Because this is Hollywood and we’re all starving. So be better than the person next to you, be indispensable, and be proactive when it comes to making your boss and everyone else at the company’s lives better. See what needs fixing and just FIX IT. I apply the same skills in a senior role when it comes to growing a team, growing a business, and making things better and more efficient. It’s also the only way you’re going to get promoted out of that assistant role — the only thing that matters.</p>
<p>You’ll put up with screamers, manipulators, phonies, people that get away with shit that makes you look around incredulously at everyone else that’s allowing them to act that way, people that only want to be friends with you because of where you work, celebrities you need to function around even if they’re your heroes, and people treating you and hitting on you in ways that would be deemed incredibly unprofessional and liable in any other industry. You let it all roll off you. You have to. Because you tell yourself if you’re miserable for just this one year, this one job, the payoff will be big.</p>
<p>So you endure. Because it’s all a game, the most difficult game on the planet. In Hollywood, he who lasts the longest, makes it. And you realize the fucking up, the crazies, the long hours, and the immense effort it all takes…that’s what makes you better; the best. Because the biggest thing it teaches you is to keep pushing, keep fighting, keep getting better, keep learning.</p> | Why Everybody Should Work in Hollywood | true | https://thedailybeast.com/why-everybody-should-work-in-hollywood | 2018-10-06 | 4 |
<p>A US Army paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team fires his M4 carbine at insurgents during a firefight in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. The vehicle he is using for cover is a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle. US Army <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/7507223384/in/photostream" type="external">photo</a> by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod, Task Force 1-82 PAO.</p> | We’re Still at War: Photo of the Day for July 5, 2012 | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/were-still-war-photo-day-july-5-2012/ | 2012-07-05 | 4 |
<p />
<p>With Dell’s (NASDAQ:DELL) go-shop window set to close on Friday night, private-equity giant Blackstone (NYSE:BX) has reportedly held talks with rival buyout shop TPG about a counterbid and is eyeing the PC company’s financial-services business.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>According to The Wall Street Journal, Blackstone is racing to determine what approach it may take, if any, to come up with a counterbid that would trump the $24.4 billion bid by Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners.</p>
<p>Blackstone has talked with another large private-equity firm, TPG, about doing a deal, the paper said. Blackstone has also had conversations with Dell’s largest outside shareholder, Southeastern Asset Management, about rolling its 8.4% stake into a takeover bid, the Journal reported.</p>
<p>In addition to exploring a rival bid of its own, Blackstone has held talks with General Electric's (NYSE:GE) GE Capital about a joint offer to acquire Dell’s financial-services business, the Journal reported. Dell Financial Services originated $3.5 billion in new financing during the fiscal year ended February 1, down from $3.8 billion the year earlier, the paper said.</p>
<p>The Blackstone buzz comes ahead of a midnight Friday deadline set by Dell’s special committee to receive a letter of interest or a superior proposal to the management leveraged buyout that was unveiled in January.</p>
<p>This indication of interest doesn’t have to include an actual price and negotiations can carry on beyond the Friday deadline.</p>
<p>Despite apparent interest from Blackstone, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ), Lenovo and billionaire Carl Icahn, Dell’s special committee hasn’t revealed receiving any concrete offers as of yet.</p>
<p>Late Wednesday reports swirled that Blackstone has also been “aggressively” recruiting Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) president and former Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) CEO Mark Hurd to serve as CEO if it brings Dell private.</p>
<p>After trading above the $13.65-a-share Silver Lake bid earlier, shares of Round Rock, Texas-based Dell were recently down 0.84% to $14.21.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Report: Blackstone Explores Joint Dell Bid With TPG | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/03/21/report-blackstone-explores-joint-dell-bid-with-tpg.html | 2016-01-29 | 0 |
<p>The 24-year-old Marine <a href="" type="internal">killed when his military aircraft crashed during a training exercise</a> in Hawaii has been identified as Lance Cpl. Joshua Barron of Spokane, Washington, military officials said Tuesday.</p>
<p>Barron was among 22 Marines on board the MV-22B Osprey when it made a hard landing on Sunday at Bellows Air Force Station on the island of Oahu. The other Marines were treated for injuries, and four remained hospitalized Monday — including one in critical condition.</p>
<p>Barron, who was based out of Camp Pendleton in Southern California, was remembered by superiors with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit as the "best our nation has to offer." He was a crew chief on the aircraft.</p>
<p>RELATED: <a href="" type="internal">Pentagon defends Osprey's safety after fatal Hawaii crash</a></p>
<p>"Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and the families of all the Marines involved in Sunday's crash," commanding officer Col. Vance Cryer said in a statement, adding, "We appreciate the thoughts, prayers and support we have received as we continue to care for the injured and mourn our fallen Marine."</p>
<p>Barron's mother, Michele Barron, told The Associated Press that people looked up to her son as a "superhero" who loved his family and his country. The young Marine "just wanted to do something more with his life," she added.</p>
<p>The cause of the crash remains under investigation. A fire had broken out while on board the airplane-and-helicopter hybrid, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed Monday, and witnesses said the Osprey was one of three doing maneuvers before the accident around 11:40 a.m. local time.</p>
<p>The Marines involved in the accident had just arrived to Hawaii as part of a seven-month deployment to the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.</p> | Joshua Barron Identified as Marine Killed in Hawaii Osprey Aircraft Crash | false | http://nbcnews.com/news/us-news/joshua-barron-idd-marine-killed-hawaii-osprey-aircraft-crash-n361386 | 2015-05-19 | 3 |
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<p>The highly recommended Jennifer James 101 is situated not far from Nob Hill. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Six years. Six years have gone by in what seems like a heartbeat, for the restaurant scene, for time in general — and isn’t that always the case?</p>
<p>Despite those years, when folks ask me where to go in Albuquerque for a great dinner I still ask if they’ve been to Jennifer James 101. I often hear the response, “No, but I’ve been meaning to.”</p>
<p>Here’s the bottom line: Go. Go if you haven’t gone, go if you already are a regular, go if you’ve been once years ago and really liked it then: Jennifer James and Nelle Bauer are the real deal for deceptively simple, delicious cuisine, right near Nob Hill.</p>
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<p>Call ahead for a reservation — walking in any day of the week, even in the early hours, is no guarantee you’ll find a table. The reason is part diminutive space, part demand. The open kitchen, showing off a flurry of activity from grilling to plating, churns out multiple course meals with deliberation and skill for four or so hours per night, five nights per week.</p>
<p>Take a seat, relax with an apertif of white port and tonic ($12) before pouncing on pairs of deviled eggs ($1.50 each) and whatever appetizer features foie gras (market price). Typically, it will be grilled and served with herbed toast, a perfectly simple way to show off such a rich (and rare) delicacy.</p>
<p>Here’s the theme with this restaurant: If you are not totally sure you like a certain food or ingredient, order it at Jennifer James 101. Beets? Peas? Foie gras? Give it a try — there’s a good chance you’ll be pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>Starter salads are always recommended, no matter what the farmers have delivered. Recently, we had both of the options: a butter lettuce creation ($10) with bacon, blue cheese and walnuts and an even simpler romaine with lime vinaigrette and pepitas ($8).</p>
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<p>Deep dark poultry is a favorite, so of course the Crispy Skin Duck ($26) must be ordered, each bite of the rich meat alternating with polenta and a tart parsley lemon garnish. Local meats are standard on this menu — if there’s lamb, order that.</p>
<p>If there’s a steak, like the current beef Rib-eye ($34) with sunchokes and truffle butter, jump on it. In a way, it can be strange to talk about a restaurant where the menu missteps are so few and far between, and the only service complaint is stemless wineglasses.</p>
<p>James and Bauer work the kitchen in tandem, each with specialties and flavor palate preferences. Some fantastic work with delicate cuts of fish has been a hallmark of James for years, while Bauer has created some of my personal favorites, from roasted beet soup to gluten-free Carrot Cake ($5), a current dessert staple.</p>
<p>That pleasantly understated cake was my favorite, but the rest of the table adored the Sticky Toffee Walnut Cake ($8), a sweetly potent assault against any sagging energy levels. Finish off with some french press coffee ($5) and the night is complete.</p>
<p /> | Simply delicious cuisine: Get on over to Jennifer James 101 for a fantastic meal | false | https://abqjournal.com/520001/albuquerque-dining-64.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>Orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods edged higher in August and gave a signal that the factory sector gained a step midway through the third quarter.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Durable goods orders rose 0.1 percent during the month, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The report showed that shipments of non-military capital goods other than aircraft grew 1.3 percent during the month, snapping two straight months of declines.</p>
<p>The reading for these so-called "core" shipments feeds directly into the government's estimates for total economic growth, and the increase supports the view that government austerity is taking only a modest bite from national output.</p>
<p>New orders for core durable goods, which is viewed as a gauge of business spending plans, rose 1.5 percent in August. That was below economists' expectations and not enough to make up for the 3.3 percent decline registered in July.</p>
<p>Demand for new cars drove the overall gain in new orders of durable goods, which include everything from toasters to tanks. Economists polled by Reuters had expected overall goods orders to be flat.</p>
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<p>Excluding transportation, new orders fell 0.1 percent.</p> | Durable Goods Orders Edge Higher in August | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2013/09/25/durable-goods-orders-edge-higher-in-august.html | 2016-03-02 | 0 |
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<p>Cybersecurity is a rapidly growing market, due in part to the rise of increasingly sophisticated data breaches worldwide. The Identity Theft Resource Center reports that the number of personal records exposed in data breaches doubled last year to nearly 178 million, and research firm Markets and Markets expects the global cybersecurity market to grow from $106 billion in 2015 to $170 billion by 2020.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>However, many cybersecurity stocks have declined over the past year due to concerns about sluggish enterprise spending, lofty valuations, and competition from bigger IT companies. Two such companies caught in that sell-off are FireEye and CyberArk .</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>FireEye has lost nearly 70% of its value over the past 12 months, and currently trades at a 20% discount to its IPO price. CyberArk has held up better with a 16% decline, and remains well above its IPO price. Let's take a closer look at both companies and see which is the better long-term play on the cybersecurity market.</p>
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<p>FireEye specializes in threat prevention solutions that monitor the perimeter of a network for external threats. This market is a large one, and includes next-gen firewall provider Palo Alto Networks, networking giant Cisco'ssecurity solutions, and similar solutions from bigger IT companies. To widen its moat, FireEye has been pivoting away from its on-site and cloud-based appliances to FaaS (FireEye as a Service), a cloud subscription platform which would reduce its dependence on slower-growth product revenue.</p>
<p>CyberArk specializes in privileged account management (PAM), which protects networks from internal threats like disgruntled employees. If CyberArk's software detects an internal breach, it locks down the affected computer and cuts it off from the rest of the network. CyberArk dominates this market, which is a much smaller market than the threat prevention one. Its only meaningful competitor is CA Technologies, which IDC calls a "major player" in the PAM market, while CyberArk remains the"market leader."</p>
<p>Both FireEye and CyberArk are considered "best in breed" players in their respective fields. FireEye was the first cybersecurity firm to be certified by theU.S. Department of Homeland Security, and CyberArk was recently certified by theU.S. Department of Defense. FireEye serves over 4,000 customers worldwide, including more than 650 of the Forbes Global 2000. CyberArk has over 2,600 customers worldwide, which include 40% of the Fortune 100 companies and 17 of the 20 biggest banks in the world.</p>
<p>FireEye and CyberArk are both known for posting double-digit sales growth, but FireEye has posted slower sales growth than CyberArk in its two most recent quarters.</p>
<p>YOY revenue growth. Data source: Quarterly reports.</p>
<p>Some of that slowdown can be attributed to FireEye's larger size (FireEye generated over three times as much revenue as CyberArk last quarter), but it can also be attributed to rising competition in the threat prevention market, and a higher mix of recurring product subscriptions, which must be recognized over a longer period of time.</p>
<p>CyberArk faces less competition, so its revenue growth has remained fairly steady. It trades at 8.5 times sales, which is much higher than FireEye's P/S ratio of 4, but that multiple also indicates that investors expect CyberArk's sales to grow at a faster rate than FireEye's.</p>
<p>FireEye isn't profitable on either a non-GAAP or GAAP basis, and its losses have been widening due to higher expenses and its planned acquisitions of threat prevention peers iSIGHT andInvotas. FireEye also finished last quarter with a negative operating cash flow of $22.5 million, compared to negative $3.2 million a year ago, and its cash position fell 56% sequentially to $175 million.</p>
<p>Those are all bad signs for current investors, since FireEye has already relied on secondary and convertible debt offerings to raise cash over the past two years. FireEye has also gone through some big <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/09/fireeye-inc-bombs-earnings-and-loses-its-ceo-time.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">executive changes Opens a New Window.</a> over the past year -- CFO Michael Sheridan resigned last July, and CEO Dave DeWalt stepped down earlier this year.</p>
<p>CyberArk is profitable by both non-GAAP and GAAP metrics, a rare combination among cybersecurity companies. The company's GAAP net income rose 2% annually to $4.3 million <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/05/30/why-im-buying-more-cyberark-but-avoiding-palo-alto.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">last quarter Opens a New Window.</a>, giving it earnings of $0.12 per share. Its cash and marketable securities position also improved nearly 7% sequentially to $254 million, indicating that it won't need to rely on secondary offerings anytime soon. The company also hasn't lost as many major executives as FireEye.</p>
<p>FireEye is less appealing than CyberArk for five simple reasons -- its sales growth is slower, it's less profitable, it's burning through cash more quickly, it faces more competition, and its future looks cloudier due to recent executive departures. Therefore, investors who want to dip their toes into the cybersecurity market should consider buying CyberArk instead of FireEye.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/08/better-buy-fireeye-inc-or-cyberark-software-ltd.aspx" type="external">Better Buy: FireEye Inc. or CyberArk Software Ltd? Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSunLion/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Leo Sun Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Cisco Systems and CyberArk Software. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends FireEye. The Motley Fool recommends Cisco Systems, CyberArk Software, and Palo Alto Networks. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Better Buy: FireEye Inc. or CyberArk Software Ltd? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/07/08/better-buy-fireeye-inc-or-cyberark-software-ltd.html | 2016-07-08 | 0 |
<p>Investing.com – Germany stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the , and sectors led shares lower.</p>
<p>At the close in Frankfurt, the declined 0.17%, while the index declined 0.07%, and the index lost 0.02%.</p>
<p>The best performers of the session on the were Continental AG O.N. (DE:), which rose 1.35% or 2.75 points to trade at 206.95 at the close. Meanwhile, Deutsche Boerse AG (DE:) added 0.90% or 0.830 points to end at 93.450 and Daimler AG NA O.N. (DE:) was up 0.64% or 0.420 points to 66.250 in late trade.</p>
<p>The worst performers of the session were Deutsche Bank AG NA O.N. (DE:), which fell 1.67% or 0.235 points to trade at 13.810 at the close. Bayer AG NA (DE:) declined 1.43% or 1.60 points to end at 110.25 and RWE AG ST O.N. (DE:) was down 1.13% or 0.230 points to 20.170.</p>
<p>The top performers on the MDAX were K+S AG NA O.N. (DE:) which rose 2.07% to 20.980, Schaeffler AG Pref (DE:) which was up 1.81% to settle at 12.38 and Hella KGaA Hueck &amp; Co (DE:) which gained 1.79% to close at 52.24.</p>
<p>The worst performers were Zalando SE (DE:) which was down 2.09% to 40.99 in late trade, Uniper SE (DE:) which lost 1.99% to settle at 20.900 and Aareal Bank AG (DE:) which was down 1.80% to 34.040 at the close.</p>
<p>The top performers on the TecDAX were Siltronic AG (DE:) which rose 4.84% to 92.880, Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology O.N. (DE:) which was up 2.47% to settle at 132.80 and Telefonica Deutschland Holding AG (DE:) which gained 1.80% to close at 4.571.</p>
<p>The worst performers were SMA Solar Technology AG (DE:) which was down 4.56% to 32.315 in late trade, Nordex SE O.N. (DE:) which lost 3.62% to settle at 9.541 and Qiagen NV (DE:) which was down 1.60% to 26.750 at the close.</p>
<p>Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by 457 to 288 and 44 ended unchanged.</p>
<p>Shares in Hella KGaA Hueck &amp; Co (DE:) rose to all time highs; rising 1.79% or 0.92 to 52.24.</p>
<p>The , which measures the implied volatility of DAX options, was up 1.36% to 12.11.</p>
<p>Gold Futures for December delivery was down 0.17% or 2.22 to $1327.08 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in October fell 0.34% or 0.17 to hit $49.72 a barrel, while the November Brent oil contract fell 0.04% or 0.02 to trade at $55.45 a barrel.</p>
<p>EUR/USD was up 0.31% to 1.1956, while EUR/GBP fell 0.98% to 0.8809.</p>
<p>The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.26% at 91.80.</p>
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<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Germany stocks lower at close of trade; DAX down 0.17% | false | https://newsline.com/germany-stocks-lower-at-close-of-trade-dax-down-0-17/ | 2017-09-15 | 1 |
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<p>On Tuesday, voters in Berkeley, Calif., passed the country’s first soda tax with a whopping 75 percent of the vote, a big defeat for the beverage industry, which had poured millions of dollars into blocking the tax.</p>
<p>In a campaign year when control of the Senate was at stake and states across the country were voting on marijuana legalization, the beverage industry’s attention was focused on Berkeley.</p>
<p>The university town — population 117,000 — was considering a new tax on sodas and other sugar drinks, designed to deter consumers from drinking beverages that public health officials agree are leading to dangerous levels of obesity.</p>
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<p>The initiative triggered a huge reaction from the industry. Over at least 10 months, beverage companies spent nearly $2.5 million, or roughly $30 for each registered voter living in Berkeley, to stop the measure, running ads on everything from public transportation, to local newspapers and television, according to local media.</p>
<p>More than $600,000 was spent on campaign literature, $530,000 to pay a media company to place ads, $62,000 on mailings, and $44,000 on polling were spent by the campaign, according to filings published by Berkeleyside. An investigation by ABC News even uncovered advertising on Craigslist offering $13 an hour for those willing to march with signs against the measure.</p>
<p>“They bought virtually every form that you can buy for advertising,” said Larry Tramutola, a political strategist and consultant to the coalition, in a conference call organized by advocates of the tax on sugar-sweetened beverage products on Wednesday. “And I think in some way their aggressive bullying tactics in Berkeley backfired.”</p>
<p>The industry was spending so much that former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, famous for trying to pass his own anti-soda measures, began pouring in money, too.</p>
<p>“We didn’t come in to make a contribution until we became concerned that the opposition spending was enough to alter the vote,” said Harold Wolfson, senior adviser to Bloomberg, in the conference call. Bloomberg donated nearly $400,000 to the pro-tax campaign.</p>
<p>The beverage industry’s fixation on Berkeley is a testament to its growing nervousness that America is falling out of love with sodas and other sugary drinks. Per capita consumption of soda is down almost 30 percent since its peak in 1998, according to data market research firm IBIS World.</p>
<p>And the fight underscores the lengths to which soda makers are willing go to block measures like those in Berkeley, which are designed to curb consumption. The industry has spent more than $100 million in the past five years to stop dozens of similar taxes in other cities and states across the United States.</p>
<p>Berkeley’s new sugary drinks tax, which will take effect on Jan. 1, will look a lot like the one passed in Mexico last year, which has been credited with a marked reduction in the country’s soda intake. Sodas, sports drinks, sweet teas and all other beverages injected with added sugar will cost an extra penny-per-ounce for consumers. Exceptions will include beverages with recognized nutritional value, like sweetened milk and meal replacement drinks.</p>
<p>All the money collected in Berkeley, which is expected to amount to as much as $1 million annually, will go to the general fund, a move that allowed the measure to pass in the city with only a 50 percent majority (in San Francisco, a similar measure received 54 percent of the vote but failed to pass because it required a two-thirds majority).</p>
<p>In many ways, it’s not surprising that Berkeley, a city famous for its progressiveness, is the first in the country to pass a soda tax. Berkeley, after all, has repeatedly been at the frontier of other health legislation, especially stringent smoking laws. In 1977, city become the first place to limit smoking in public places. And last year the community voted to ban cigarette use in all multi-unit housing in the city.</p>
<p>bc-soda</p> | Soda industry met its match in one West Coast city | false | https://abqjournal.com/493041/soda-industry-met-its-match-in-one-west-coast-city.html | 2 |
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<p>Comedy giant and philanthropist Jerry Lewis died of “natural causes” in Las Vegas with his family by his side Sunday morning, according to a statement issued by his publicist Candi Cazau.</p>
<p>But Lewis faced many health problems, including prostate cancer (undergoing surgery in 1992), three heart attacks, Type 1 diabetes, and the chronic lung disease pulmonary fibrosis, which left him dependent on steroids, according to media reports and documentaries about the comedian’s personal and professional life.</p>
<p>Lewis was also hospitalized in 2012 for blood sugar problems and in 2011 for exhaustion, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jerry-lewis-hospitalized-for-urinary-tract-infection/" type="external">CBS News</a> reported.</p>
<p>Lewis’ death also followed a lengthy hospital stay in June when he was admitted and treated with antibiotics for a urinary tract injection. While he was in the hospital, he developed several other complications, which extended his stay, according to CBS.</p>
<p>But the family said the complications from his recent treatment didn’t lead to his death, which was ultimately from undisclosed natural causes.</p>
<p>The hospital stay in June was one of many health concerns that plagued him over the years.</p>
<p>In the documentary “Method to the Madness of Jerry Lewis,” the comedian revealed that he suffered a heart attack in 1960 and a second one in 1982, after which he underwent open-heart surgery. When he was hospitalized, it was revealed that he had pneumonia and a “severely damaged heart.” He underwent a procedure and had stents placed into one of his arteries, which was almost 100 percent blocked.</p>
<p>Then, on a cross-country flight from San Diego to New York City in 2006, Lewis suffered another heart attack, described as minor, <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-06-13-lewis_x.htm" type="external">USA Today</a> reported.</p>
<p>He publicly disclosed he also developed several addiction problems, one of which was reportedly tied to a back injury he suffered when he fell from a piano while performing in Las Vegas in 1965. The accident nearly left him paralyzed, and he became addicted to painkillers in the 13 years that followed. In 2002, Lewis had a piece of equipment surgically implanted into his back to reduce the discomfort.</p> | Jerry Lewis: What Caused Comedian's Death? | false | https://newsline.com/jerry-lewis-what-caused-comedians-death-2/ | 2017-08-20 | 1 |
<p />
<p>Near the end of the movie version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice where Keira Knightley plays the compelling Elizabeth Bennett, the stoic Mr. Darcy character says, “You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love … love you.”</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>If one has no prior knowledge of the story, this sounds anywhere from romantic to hokey. But add in some context, like the fact that Elizabeth turned down his marriage proposal once before or that she was atypical for her time in that she was far more interested in intellectual pursuits than “capturing” a man, and Mr. Darcy’s words begin to have more impact.</p>
<p>He took a major risk of heart. Declaring his feelings knowing full well a stinging rejection could be the reaction … well, I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it. And it’s fiction, for goodness sake.</p>
<p>These kinds of things invariably get me focused on the idea of risk. What is the biggest risk I’ve taken? That my clients have taken? Are we all risk takers in one area or another? Certainly we’re better at it in some aspects of our lives than others, but maybe there’s a way to transfer that ability from professional to creative to emotional when different phases of our lives call for that.</p>
<p>Watching The Social Network recently – yes, I just got around to it – I was transfixed in a way that surprised me. Seeing Mark Zuckerberg as Harvard student run with an idea and display such unwavering confidence that pretty quickly crossed over into arrogance was stunning. And while even its writer, Aaron Sorkin, admitted the portrayal of Zuckerberg was a bit harsh, it showed his sustained vision to the point of obsession in a way I found admirable in its risk-taking.</p>
<p>Easy for me to say in hindsight, I know, given the global force that is Facebook, but sure-footedness in the extreme and what brings it about fascinates me.</p>
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<p>And then there’s the life or death kind of risk.</p>
<p>Lately I’ve become almost morbidly focused on what went into the killing of Osama bin Laden, probably because we just passed the one-year mark of his death. This week I actually tore myself away from Peter Bergen’s book Man Hunt (subtitled “The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden from 9/11 to Abottabad”) to watch a show on the Military Channel called Killing Bin Laden that explained how our military prepared for and then executed the plan to kill him.</p>
<p>This, of course, is the kind of risk the majority of us will never face, but one that reminds us about the human capacity for rising to challenge almost beyond comprehension. The kind that allows me to sit here at my desk and ponder how me and my clients could take more risks because a bunch of others answered our nation’s call to serve.</p>
<p>Risk barely covers what they do. It requires a whole different word. From the intelligence gathering prior to the mission to the months of training in the darkness to the seamless shift into Plan B when one stealth helicopter landing went wrong that May 2011 night, it is breathtaking to imagine what is going on elsewhere as we live our “normal” lives and contemplate risks like whether to send our manuscript to an agent or tell someone we love him.</p>
<p>I don’t want to minimize these very real risks at all. Maybe this is partly an expression of gratitude to the men and women who make our day-to-day risk-taking possible. But it gets me thinking about precedent and carry-over in our own lives. Might the highly trained operative find it easier to risk his life for country than to tell a woman he loves her? If so, can we, you and me, take something away from that?</p>
<p>I see people who find matters of the heart much easier to navigate than their career steps. And, of course, it goes the other way around for some. There are also those who live cautiously across the board. Then maybe one day someone encourages them and they audition for America’s Got Talent or ask a local café to display their photographs and they realize their entire lives don’t hinge on the potential rejection. It goes their way or it doesn’t and they try again.</p>
<p>Those much more rare risks that result in staying alive or dying could make the others a breeze if we choose to look at them from that perspective. But what about the ones that will make us look like either a genius or a fool? Everyone in that situation room in the White House last May – from President Obama on down -- watching the Navy SEALs’ mission in Pakistan unfold in real time risked looking incompetent or worse had that historical invasion been unsuccessful. It would have been seen as failure with a capital ‘F.’</p>
<p>“In the event of a ground attack on the Abbottabad compound, [Defense Secretary Robert Gates] was … concerned about the level of risk for U.S. forces and for the American relationship with Pakistan,” Bergen writes in Man Hunt, calling Gates one of the most consistently skeptical of the president’s advisors on this. “Above all, Gates was concerned about a replay of Operation Eagle Claw, the botched effort in 1979 to release the fifty-two American hostages held in the U.S. embassy in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution.”</p>
<p>Gates’ healthy skepticism, coming from an informed and seasoned place, contributed to a more rigorous plan. So much on the line, and while not everyone agreed, the President decided it was go time.</p>
<p>Risk, risk.</p>
<p>Pulling the trigger on a terrorist, sending in the audition tape for the new television show, taking a chance that our love is unrequited</p>
<p>Sometimes we just have to hold our breath and plunge in.</p>
<p>Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is <a href="http://www.nancola.com" type="external">www.nancola.com Opens a New Window.</a> and you can follow her on Twitter @nancola. Please direct all questions/comments to <a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected] Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | What's the Biggest Risk You've Ever Taken? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/05/07/what-biggest-risk-youve-ever-taken.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
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<p>Lawson, a redshirt junior quarterback, has left the University of New Mexico football team and plans to play his remaining two years elsewhere as a graduate transfer.</p>
<p>Lobos coach Bob Davie made the announcement on Monday.</p>
<p>“I love what JaJuan’s done for this program,” Davie said. “… I fully back him.</p>
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<p>“He’s been a totally unselfish guy, a good player that’s never really, quite honestly, gotten his opportunity to play.”</p>
<p>Davie said Lawson’s future at UNM has been in question since last fall.</p>
<p>“We’ve given him some time, and it looks like he’s made his decision to move on,” Davie said. “… I wish him nothing but the best.”</p>
<p>Later on Monday, Lawson confirmed his plans and said via social media he’s looking at two NCAA Football Championship Subdivision schools as possible destinations.</p>
<p>“Trying to make an official decision by late April,” he said.</p>
<p>Lawson signed with UNM in February 2014 after a prolific career at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma, Calif. After sitting out the 2014 season as a redshirt, he appeared in four games the past two seasons while backing up Lamar Jordan and Austin Apodaca — completing 3-of-5 passes for 54 yards and rushing 13 times for 65 yards.</p>
<p>His prospects for playing time this fall were iffy at best, Davie said, given that there is not an open competition at quarterback. Jordan, a fifth-year senior, has solidified his hold on the starting job after Apodaca’s departure.</p>
<p>“I think Lamar Jordan is clearly our No. 1 quarterback, and I think we’ve seen some advantage of that,” Davie said. “… How he’s approached the leadership piece of it, trying to make the other 10 guys better to truly take command of this football team.”</p>
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<p>Redshirt freshman Tevaka Tuioti and Arizona State graduate transfer Coltin Gerhart, meanwhile, are having impressive springs.</p>
<p>“I’ve been really pleased with our progress at quarterback all through the spring,” Davie said. “We’ve got an older guy that’s played a lot of football in Lamar, we&#160; have a younger guy in Tevaka that’s got a world of talent, and we’ve got a kid, Coltin Gerhart, that looks like he can help our team in a couple of different positions.”</p>
<p>Gerhart was expected to see time at running back as well as quarterback this spring. But with Lawson gone, he likely will stay at quarterback.</p>
<p>“We knew JaJuan was thinking about leaving when we started the spring, and I think that had something to do with why we started (Gerhart) at quarterback,” Davie said. “Certainly now that JaJuan’s gone we’re keeping him at quarterback until we see what happens next.</p>
<p>“He definitely looks like he’s a guy that could go in there and play at quarterback right now. I think we’ve all been really encouraged by it.”</p>
<p>Gerhart has two years of eligibility remaining.</p>
<p>The only other quarterback on the spring roster is Derek Martinez, a redshirt sophomore walk-on from Cibola.</p>
<p>Cameron Burston, a transfer from Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Calif., signed with UNM in February and is due to arrive this summer.</p>
<p>It’s possible, Davie said, that UNM could bring in another quarterback this fall.</p> | QB JaJuan Lawson is leaving the Lobos | false | https://abqjournal.com/985812/qb-jajuan-lawson-is-leaving-the-lobos.html | 2 |
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<p>Background checks are&#160;a common component of the standard employment process. These days, if you want to get a traditional full-time job, you should expect to submit an application and resume, go through a phone interview, nail an in-person interview or two, and submit to a <a href="https://www.backgroundchecks.com/learningcenter" type="external">background check Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>At the same time , our concept of what a&#160;job or career can be&#160;has&#160;begun to shift.&#160;No longer is everyone working full-time 9-5 positions – nor do many people even want to. Instead, we've witnessed the rise of the on-demand economy, in which many are making their livings through <a href="https://www.recruiter.com/freelance.html" type="external">freelance Opens a New Window.</a> jobs and contract positions.</p>
<p>The on-demand economy has made possible careers that go far beyond our traditional notions of freelancing. Today, a freelancer can be anyone from a writer bidding on projects on Upwork to an artist selling unique items in an Etsy store or a&#160;driver meeting customers through Uber. Marketing, Web development, accounting, teaching, tutoring, and graphic design are also among the most common freelance jobs.</p>
<p>The Hiring Process for Freelancers</p>
<p>It's a good time to be a freelancer. It's becoming both a more lucrative and more socially acceptable way to pay your bills. The Internet has made it possible for freelancers to find gigs in a variety of fields through specialized job boards, websites, and apps.</p>
<p>The process of applying for a freelance job will vary&#160;fairly dramatically depending on your field, the job at hand, and the individual or business offering the job.If the application process varies this much, you can bet that employment screening processes will vary a lot as well. As I discussed previously, the screening process is more or less standard for traditional full- and part-time roles. When it comes to freelance gigs, however, no such standard exists.</p>
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<p>That being said, there are a few things freelancers should be aware of when it comes to the screening processes they may face:</p>
<p>Your Client&#160;Might not Require a Background Check</p>
<p>A good number of people and organizations&#160;looking for freelancers aren't going to ask for a background check. There are two reasons for this.</p>
<p>First, criminal background checks cost money. Someone hiring a freelancer probably doesn't want to make that kind of investment just to hire someone for a one-off marketing project or website development job, and asking the freelancer to pay the cost of the background check is an efficient way to scare off prospects.</p>
<p>Second, background checks take time, and freelance hires tend to happen pretty quickly. A job gets posted on a freelance board, the person/company that posted it gets a few dozen resumes in the first few hours, and the poster reviews those resumes to choose someone for the job. People looking for freelancers generally want to get their projects started as soon&#160;as possible, and&#160;freelancers themselves want and need to find work ASAP to maintain their income streams.</p>
<p>Your Online Profiles Matter</p>
<p>Because criminal background checks are not really a part of the equation for most freelance jobs, your online profiles are going to matter even more than they usually would. A potential client who wants to get a sense of your character and temperament might check your social media profiles and Google your name. Cleaning up your Facebook and Twitter accounts and Googling yourself to see what comes up are good steps to take to help you prepare for these possible checks.</p>
<p>Another factor that will make a difference is your profile on your job board of choice. For instance, on Upwork, freelancers have pages where past customers can rate and review their services. What's most important to a&#160;person or organization&#160;hiring a freelancer is the quality of the work, so if your ratings are high, taking a look at&#160;your profile could be the extent of your "background check" on their end.</p>
<p>You Are Going to Have to Submit Work</p>
<p>Background checks aren't all about digging up criminal histories. They can also reveal information about a person's education, work history, and professional credentials.</p>
<p>If you are looking for a freelance job online, however, your potential client&#160;probably isn't going to spend a lot of time scrutinizing the accuracy of your resume. Instead, the quality of your work is going to take precedent. You will need to create a portfolio of past projects relevant to the kind of work you are looking for. Some freelance job boards will allow you to upload these portfolios to your profile. In other cases, you will have to email samples directly to your&#160;clients.</p>
<p>For larger projects, a&#160;client&#160;might ask you to complete a small part of the project as a proof of concept. The goal is to make sure that your skills are a match for the job at hand. This kind of test isn't uncommon and shouldn't be a deal-breaker for you. You should, however, make sure that the client&#160;is ready to pay for sample work. Asking a freelancer to complete any part of a project for free is considered bad form in the freelance community.</p>
<p>You Should Be Ready to Submit to a Background Check, Anyway</p>
<p>It's true that few companies run background checks on their freelancers, but that doesn't mean the tide isn't turning. <a href="http://qz.com/65279/40-of-americas-workforce-will-be-freelancers-by-2020/" type="external">Some studies Opens a New Window.</a> have suggested that 40 percent of all American workers will be freelancers by 2020. As this career path becomes more common, it's likely that a more standardized freelancer-screening strategy will emerge. The national debate over whether or not drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft should be fingerprinted&#160;is proof that the shift is coming.</p>
<p>If you are a freelancer, it's a good idea to stay open to background checks. Bigger companies hiring freelancers will probably ask for background checks as a means of protecting their brands. Being willing to submit to a background check will widen the pool of jobs that you can get.</p>
<p>Michael Klazema is the lead author and editor for <a href="http://www.backgroundchecks.com/" type="external">Backgroundchecks.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Background Screening for the On-Demand Economy: What Every Freelancer Needs to Know | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/09/14/background-screening-for-on-demand-economy-what-every-freelancer-needs-to-know.html | 2016-09-19 | 0 |
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<p>And if historical, cultural, geographical and environmental importance don’t convince him to keep Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument near Las Cruces and Rio Grande del Norte National Monument west of Questa just the way they are, then the wide and deep groundswell of public support should. Because in this highly partisan world, it’s hard to argue with something that has the backing of 16 local government bodies; multiple chambers of commerce; several Indian tribes and pueblos; 375-plus businesses; hunting, fishing and environmental groups; and dozens of civic organizations.</p>
<p>Designation as a national monument adds protections that aren’t as stringent as national parks, but include limits on mining, timber cutting and recreational activities, such as riding off-road vehicles. Both N.M. monuments had broad public support even before they were formally designated by former President Obama in 2013 and 2014.</p>
<p>In fact, there has been little public opposition to Rio Grande del Norte, which, at 242,500 acres, includes the spectacular Rio Grande Gorge and Ute Mountain, as well as petroglyphs, archaeological sites, rare plants and wildlife habitats, vast recreation and hunting areas, and cultural resources ranging from ancient inhabitants to Spanish settlers.</p>
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<p>But U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce has voiced loud opposition to the current size of the 496,330-acre Organ Mountain-Desert Peaks, which is in his congressional district. He wants the monument reduced by 88 percent, a position supported by some local ranchers.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump and Pearce have labeled the monument designations a “federal land grab” because Obama used his executive power to designate them after Congress was unable to pass legislation doing so. Further, Pearce believes Obama failed to comply with the federal Antiquities Act when he created the Organ Mountain-Desert Peaks monument to encompass an overarching area rather than specific sites of historical and scientific interest. Pearce cites a clause that calls for the smallest footprint needed to protect special assets.</p>
<p>Now Zinke is following a Trump directive to review every national monument created after 1996 that encompass more than 100,000 acres.</p>
<p>Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument is actually four separate parcels of land around Las Cruces. They encompass not only the Organ Mountains, but also the Portillo, Sierra de Las Uvas, Robledo and Doña Ana mountains. They contain hundreds of cultural and historic sites: petroglyphs; stagecoach routes; unique archaeological sites, including a crater where Apollo astronauts trained for moon landings; Civilian Conservation Corps projects; habitat for mountain lions, bighorn sheep, mule deer, javelina, quail and the protected Aplomado falcon; and wilderness study areas.</p>
<p>Pearce’s proposal would limit the protection to the Organ Mountains.</p>
<p>Ranchers in the area fear gradual limitations might eventually drive them out, but cattle-grazing has continued undiminished within the monument boundaries – as it has on monuments across the nation for decades.</p>
<p>Pearce points to a stack of signed petitions to support his stance; unfortunately, the petition is from 2010 and doesn’t include the word “monument” or the proposal to shrink it. It just says signatories “support permanently protecting the special areas in our county while preserving a meaningful balance between environmental protection, conservation, water resource management, law enforcement, Homeland Security, community development, recreation, and respect for private property rights.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, there’s broad public support in each surrounding community for keeping the monuments as they are.</p>
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<p>The southern N.M. monument has been, and continues to be, supported by the Doña Ana County Commission; the cities of Las Cruces, El Paso, Mesilla and Anthony; the Fort Sill Apache Tribe; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo and the All Pueblo Council of Governments; 16 sportsmen’s groups; 30 faith leaders; 40 civic organizations; 225 area businesses; and a Las Cruces Democratic state representative and senator.</p>
<p>Rio Grande del Norte has been backed by the governing bodies of the city, county and pueblo of Taos, as well as Santa Fe, Questa, Taos Ski Valley, Red River and the San Antonio de Rio Colorado Land Grant. In addition, local business groups, more than 150 local businesses, five sportsmen’s groups, seven environmental groups and five community groups support it as established.</p>
<p>Even seven cattle ranchers have come out in support of keeping the monuments in their current state, and the oil and gas industry has no objections to them other than to say it is important they are the right size.</p>
<p>In a June 15 letter to Zinke lobbying for leaving the two monuments alone, U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, and U.S. Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Luján (all Democrats) note visitation at Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks has increased 152 percent since its designation and it has generated millions of dollars in additional economic activity in the area.</p>
<p>Supporters of Rio Grande del Norte offer similar statistics on public support and economic growth.</p>
<p>Secretary Zinke is scheduled to spend the next few days in New Mexico. Recognizing the groundswell of local support for the two monuments should lead him to the only answer:</p>
<p>Leave New Mexico’s new monuments fully intact.</p>
<p>This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.</p>
<p /> | Editorial: NM monuments: Love them & leave them be | false | https://abqjournal.com/1039017/nm-monuments-love-them-amp-leave-them-be.html | 2 |
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<p>By Jonah Goldberg, Tribune Content Agency</p>
<p>I have an idea.</p>
<p>The federal government needs to compile a list of women who shouldn’t be allowed to get abortions. The criteria for getting on the list must be flexible. If an official at, say, the NIH or FBI think that a woman should be a mother for some reason or other, he or she can block an abortion. Maybe the woman has great genes or a high IQ or the sorts of financial resources we need in parents. Let’s leave that decision where it belongs: in the hands of the government.</p>
<p>Heck, there’s really no reason even to tell women if they’re on the “no abort” list. Let them find out at the clinic. And if they go in for an abortion only to discover they are among the million or more people on the list, there will be no clear process for getting off it, even if it was a bureaucratic error or case of mistaken identity.</p>
<p>Sound like a good idea?</p>
<p>You probably don’t think so, particularly if you took part in the celebratory riot of good feeling in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down Texas abortion regulations. In the case of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the court ruled that Texas could not raise the required health and safety standards of abortion clinics to match those of other “ambulatory surgical centers.” The reforms were implemented in the wake of the Kermit Gosnell scandal in which the Philadelphia abortionist’s abattoir was revealed to be more like the setting for a “Saw” movie than a decent medical clinic.</p>
<p>The court held that abortion is such a fundamental constitutional right that minimal health standards are an “undue burden” on women seeking an abortion, even if they might save women’s lives.</p>
<p>There’s a deep and perplexing contradiction here. If abortion is just another aspect of “women’s health” — currently the preferred euphemism for the procedure — why have higher health and safety regulations for dentists than abortionists?</p>
<p>But that’s just the first of many contradictions. The court allowed Whole Women’s Health to sue in the first place, even though the company has no right to an abortion, and third parties aren’t supposed to have standing to sue for someone else’s constitutional rights. The left loves to say “corporations aren’t people” — unless they’re suing for abortion rights. Then the new mantra is: “Corporations are people, but human fetuses aren’t.”</p>
<p>The contradiction I find most glaring and galling is that the euphoric hysteria from the left over the court’s decision occurred right in the middle of a conversation about guns and terrorist watch lists.</p>
<p>In that conversation, many of the same voices on the left argued that the federal government can — nay, must! — have the unilateral power to put American citizens on a secret list barring them from exercising two constitutional rights: the right to bear arms and the right to due process when the government denies you a right. (Both, unlike abortion, are rights spelled out in the Constitution). Congressional Democrats even staged a tawdry tantrum on the House floor about it.</p>
<p>Never mind that the Orlando slaughter — the event that set off the House sit-in — would not have been prevented if the Democrats had their way.</p>
<p>Writing for the majority in the Hellerstedt case, Justice Stephen Breyer argued that the Texas statute was unnecessary because “determined wrongdoers” like Gosnell wouldn’t be deterred by new laws given that he was willing to violate existing laws.</p>
<p>Maybe so. But isn’t that exactly the NRA’s position on gun laws? Murderers, never mind terrorists, by definition don’t care about the law.</p>
<p>It gets even crazier. President Obama, who hailed the court’s decision, desperately craves the unilateral power to keep a list of people to whom he wants to deny guns without due process. But he also insists that known terrorists, particularly those held at Guantanamo Bay, have a constitutional right to due process (though presumably not to buy a gun).</p>
<p>Yes, there’s a lot of deviltry in the details, but the basic truth is undeniable: Those on the left — in all three branches of the federal government, along with their cheerleaders in the media — believe that the rights they like are sacred and the rights they dislike are negligible inconveniences at best and outrageous cancers on the body politic at worst. As Justice Clarence Thomas put it in his Hellerstedt dissent: “The Court employs a different approach to rights that it favors.”</p>
<p>In this, the court is not alone.</p>
<p>(C) 2016 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC</p>
<p>Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. Goldberg, author of best-seller “Liberal Fascism,” has quickly become the country’s prominent voice for a new generation of conservatives. You can write to him by e-mail at [email protected], or via Twitter @JonahNRO.</p>
<p /> | The left’s different approach to rights that it opposes | false | http://natmonitor.com/2016/07/01/the-lefts-different-approach-to-rights-that-it-opposes/ | 2016-07-01 | 3 |
<p>News broke today that the <a href="" type="internal">Log Cabin Republicans</a> — the saner gay GOP group — decided to apparently erode what little respect America has for them (for the record, we hold some respect for them) and endorse <a href="" type="internal">Governor Mitt Romney</a> for president, despite the fact that he has signed a vow to make our marriages illegal, and has promised to let states prohibit us from: hospital visitation, adoption, and marriage.</p>
<p>READ:&#160; <a href="" type="internal">What Romney’s Promise To Support ENDA For Log Cabin Republicans Endorsement Really Means</a></p>
<p>Stop laughing, or crying, now, so you can finish reading this because I’ve got a lot to do tonight.</p>
<p>Then, just about an hour ago, news broke that the head of the Log Cabin Republicans, <a href="" type="internal">R. Clarke Cooper</a>, reportedly was promised by Mitt Romney, or the Romney campaign, which should be effectively the same thing, that — in exchange for endorsing Romney For President 2012 And Paul Ryan Too, Woo Hoo! — the former Governor, former leveraged buyout CEO, former Olympics savior, former gay haircutting high school bully, former dog abuser (we hope former) — would work to get passed in Congress and sign into law ENDA: the Employment Non-Discrimination Act — which has been introduced into every Congress except one for two decades — that would, wait for it… wait for it… make it illegal to not hire, or to fire, anyone, for the mere fact that they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.</p>
<p>And… wait for it… wait for it…</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Bryan Fischer</a>, the public face of the certified anti-gay hate group, <a href="" type="internal">American Family Association</a>, just minutes ago freaked out.</p>
<p>Blah blah blah blah blargh…</p>
<p>Fischer, you’ll recall, says gays “are Nazis,” claims Hitler’s brownshirts were recruited from the gay community because he couldn’t find enough straight men who were as vicious as he needed, to, you know, capture 17 million+ people — including millions of gay people — and burn them alive.</p>
<p>Fischer, who uses terms like “gay gestapo.” That Bryan Fischer.</p>
<p>Here you go.</p>
<p>Frankly, seeing Fischer freak over the mere possibility that millions of LGBT people might be treated equally is, well, it’s like Christmas. In October!</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p>Related:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Watch: Barney Frank Slams Log Cabin Republicans For Endorsing Romney</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Log Cabin Republicans Endorse Romney After He Says He Will Deny Gay Couples Hospital Visitation</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Romney: Hospital Visitation For Gay Couples Are ‘Benefits’ Not Rights</a></p>
<p>Tagged as: <a href="" type="internal">American Family Association</a>, <a href="" type="internal">amp</a>, <a href="" type="internal">bryan fischer</a>, <a href="" type="internal">endorses romney</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Mitt Romney</a>, <a href="" type="internal">promise</a>, <a href="" type="internal">romney</a>, <a href="" type="internal">romney campaign</a></p>
<p>Friends:</p>
<p>We invite you to <a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001whLQo73KzGhEjdskYG07rHNy_XoDDkSBBO4INZHx6oD9kfp2yeeQAJeMQUu9oTviZa0VEl5k0rNiLifxlZsOFScMz8rVGmIaN-FFOO3GTKc%3D" type="external">sign up for our new mailing list</a>, and&#160; <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheNewCivilRightsMovement&amp;amp;loc=en_US" type="external">subscribe to The New Civil Rights Movement via email</a> or <a href="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/thenewcivilrightsmovement" type="external">RSS</a>.</p>
<p>Also, please&#160; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-New-Civil-Rights-Movement/358168880614" type="external">like us on Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/gaycivilrights" type="external">follow us on Twitter</a>!</p> | Wait For It… Wait For It… Right Wing Freaks Over Romney Promise To Sign ENDA Into Law | true | http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/wait-for-it-wait-for-it-right-wing-freaks-over-romney-promise-to-sign-enda-into-law/politics/2012/10/23/51969 | 2012-10-23 | 4 |
<p>Republicans have big expensive plans giving legitimacy to Emperor George.</p>
<p>They are going to nominate him right around September 11 in New York City. Dubya will be bouncing from the Convention to Ground Zero like a plastic peace of ping pong patriotism.</p>
<p>The official campaign is starting late, the unofficial campaign is better, no spending limits. You could rebuild Baghdad with what they’ll be spending on Dubya. The Corporations will kick in with idealistic generosity and be rewarded with billion buck contracts cosmic tax cuts and power positions in the Junta from Hell.</p>
<p>Democratic opponents are portrayed as acting like effete fashion models who love lawyers and who look French. Their very candidacy is undermining troop morale.</p>
<p>A second term around the Constitution by Dubya? Disease spreads quickly when there is no antidote. The Bush Empire lasting for a thousand years of greed?</p>
<p>STEW ALBERT manages the <a href="http://members.aol.com/stewa/stew.html" type="external">Yippie Reading Room</a>. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Creep | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/04/22/creep/ | 2003-04-22 | 4 |
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<p>If you honestly have no idea what I’m talking about, you may need to be de-programmed from a personality cult. But for example: over the weekend, Donald Trump questioned the legitimacy of what he described as a “so-called judge” and suggested – again – that America has no right to judge Vladimir Putin’s Russia given all the killing America has done. Other examples might include recent controversies over everything from inaugural crowd sizes to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ratings on “The Apprentice.”</p>
<p>It’s been interesting to see how various Republican leaders respond to Trump Unfiltered. Sometimes they’ll simply say they’re not going to respond to every distraction emanating from the president’s mouth or Twitter feed. Others fall back on saying the president is “unconventional” in the way he communicates, so get over it.</p>
<p>This is a particularly popular talking point among his talk radio and cable TV boosters. It’s almost as popular as attacking the mainstream media’s very real double standard toward Trump and Obama.</p>
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<p>Vice President Mike Pence has taken the “unconventional” defense to an art form. When asked about the “so-called” judge controversy by NBC’s Chuck Todd, Pence replied, “I think people find it very refreshing that they not only understand this president’s mind but they understand how he feels about things. He expresses himself in a unique way.” Political consultant Alex Castellanos, a Trump enthusiast, went so far as to suggest that, “Donald Trump’s unpredictability is a form of deterrence. It keeps bad people a step back.”</p>
<p>Recently a new defense has sprouted up: Trump promised to take “action” and action is what they’re getting. Yet another is to defend President Trump’s “right” to say something. “Every president has a right to be critical of the other branches of the federal government,” Pence said on CBS’ Face the Nation. Perhaps my favorite is to magically define-away any problems. “By definition, whatever he does is presidential, it’s just a new presidential,” Newt Gingrich recently explained. “So the new presidential tweets. That doesn’t mean he has to give up tweeting and start writing in longhand with a quill pen to think he’s presidential.”</p>
<p>But if you look closely, you’ll see that all of these defenses are not actually, well, defenses. The issue with Trump’s Twitter account isn’t the medium, but the message. If he took to skywriting, and blazed Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia across the Washington sky, going out and saying, “He’s got an unconventional way of communicating” wouldn’t quite add up to a defense, now would it?</p>
<p>But the more worrisome defense is the one that I fear is coming – and I hear on social media all the time. Just trust him. He knows things we don’t. He is playing chess and everyone is playing checkers. He won the primaries relying on his judgment, and we should have confidence he knows what he’s doing. Place your faith in him. Or, as Ann Coulter puts it, “In Trump We Trust.”</p>
<p>This sort of thing was creepy when Demi Moore proclaimed, “I pledge to be a servant of our president” at the beginning of the Obama administration. And it’s creepy now. A staple tenet of modern conservatism – and to a lesser extent Americanism rightly understood – is skepticism for all politicians. As James Madison said, “The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.”</p>
<p>What worries me about the nascent Trump administration is that he is making it difficult to defend Trump on the merits. Again, this isn’t specifically a point about substance, but process. Trump’s impulsively glandular style of governing and communicating frequently leaves his staff and surrogates guessing what he will do next and at a loss as to how to defend his statements. Numerous times he has undermined or contradicted his own supporters and spokesmen, particularly Sean Spicer.</p>
<p>When a political leader replaces fixed principles and clear ideological platforms with his own instincts and judgment, he gives his supporters no substantive arguments to rely on. Eventually, the argument to just say “Have faith” in our leader, he knows best, is the only safe harbor.</p>
<p>And that’s not what conservatism is about – nor, for that matter, democracy.</p>
<p>Copyright, Tribune Media Services Inc.; e-mail to [email protected].</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Trump’s style of governing becoming hard to defend | false | https://abqjournal.com/946754/trumps-style-of-governing-becoming-hard-to-defend.html | 2 |
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<p>“Password” is no longer the most common password used by people to access their online accounts.</p>
<p>The bad news?</p>
<p>It was replaced last year at the top of the list by “123456,” which inched up from the No. 2 spot in 2012.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>So says SplashData, a Los Gatos, Calif.-based company that publishes an annual list of the 25 most popular passwords – and thereby the worst – to encourage consumers to strengthen their passwords to guard against identity theft.</p>
<p>The 2013 list reflects the sizable number of passwords published online in the wake of last fall’s security breach at Adobe Systems Inc., which the computer software company said affected at least 38 million users. <a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>“Seeing passwords like ‘adobe123’ and ‘photoshop’ on this list offers a good reminder not to base your password on the name of the website or application you are accessing,” said Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData, in a statement announcing the release of the 2013 worst-passwords list this week.</p>
<p>None of this comes as a surprise to Mark Medley, president of ID Theft Resolutions, an Albuquerque-based nonprofit that works to educate consumers on how to prevent and respond to identity theft.</p>
<p>Medley said there is a direct correlation between weak passwords and identity theft, which makes it all the more critical for computer users to take the creation of online passwords seriously.</p>
<p>“What I have heard is never use a dog’s name, a cat’s name, your mother’s maiden name, 1234” or some other numerical sequence, Medley told the Journal on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Instead, he said, use a combination of upper- and lowercase letters, numerals and symbols.</p>
<p>“If you use just 1234 or a quick number sequence, they can decode the password within two or three seconds,” he said. “If you use upper- and lowercase (letters) and symbols, it will take them a much longer time to crack the password.”</p>
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<p>SplashData’s list is based on millions of stolen passwords found online last year. As such, the company strongly recommends that anyone using these passwords replace them with something less predictable as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Among the company’s suggestions:</p>
<p>⋄&#160; Create passwords of eight characters or more containing a jumble of letters, numbers and symbols.</p>
<p>⋄&#160; Consider using random words separated by spaces or other characters, such as “cakes years birthday” or “smiles_light_skip?”</p>
<p>⋄&#160; Don’t use the same username/password for more than one account. Relying on the same combination for email, social networking, entertainment and financial service sites can put your personal information at risk.</p>
<p>⋄&#160; And if you are worried about forgetting so many passwords, consider using a reputable password manager. These applications organize and safeguard your passwords, allowing you to log into your websites automatically.</p>
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<p /> | The worst 2013 passwords are … | false | https://abqjournal.com/340806/123456-tops-list-of-worst-passwords.html | 2 |
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<p>One often hears that Afghanistan is the most ferociously independent of countries, the graveyard of invaders. So the news that Hamid Karzai has been fitted with a battery of American bodyguards must give us pause. Why, one might ask, in this battle-hardened country brimming with warriors, in which Kalashnikovs outnumber men, should its head of state require this foreign guardianship?</p>
<p>The Pope in the Vatican has his Swiss Guards; but the mini-state has no competent armed population to draw on, and there’s a long history behind that quaint convention. Why should Karzai, or his American handlers, opt to surround him with gun-toting aliens, when there ought to be so many local, loyal troops?</p>
<p>We have been told that Karzai received overwhelming support at the Loya Jirga in June. If that were the case, why can’t he muster a trustworthy Afghan entourage? (First of all, it isn’t the case, actually; former king Zahir Shah enjoyed wide support but was forced to withdraw his bid to become head of state by Defense Minister and warlord Mohammed Fahim, whom a Western official quoted by the Washington Post has likened to a “street thug,” and U.S. special envoy and kingmaker Zalmay Khalilzad). The fact is that Karzai, having been placed in power by the U.S. as next-best-thing to the late CIA operative Abdul Haq, has reason to fear his own people. His “political base remains weak,” notes the Washington Post (August 5), and his “authority barely extends beyond Kabul.”</p>
<p>Two members of Karzai’s administration have been assassinated, cases still unresolved. On February 14, Transport and Tourism Minister Abdul Rahman was assassinated at Kabul Airport. Karzai and Foreign Minister Abdullah gave entirely different accounts of the incident. On July 6, Abdul Qadir, one of the vice presidents, was also assassinated for reasons that remain unclear. (Karzai blamed “terrorists,” George Bush suggested that opium interests might have been involved, and others blamed Northern Alliance forces for slaying a rising Pashtun leader.)</p>
<p>More significant than these acts of political violence is the emergence of a political opposition movement rooted among the common people. There have been ongoing protests in Kabul about that July 1 wedding party raid, in which according to the official Afghan government report, 48 civilians were killed by U.S. bombs; and demonstrators have targeted both the U.S. military and the president so intimately associated with it. Antigovernment demonstrations have occurred in Gardez and Khost as well.</p>
<p>Fahim, sometimes at loggerheads with Karzai (and should the two part ways, he will command far greater native military support) has long expressed the view that there should be minimal foreign military presence in the country. (His line since December has been, “Thanks for the bombs that broke the Taliban, but we Northern Alliances forces can handle things from here.”) He is furious about Karzai’s Yankee bodyguard. Those defenders are an admission of Karzai’s vulnerable position, in the lawless environment the bombing has produced, and of the well-founded fear that tends to encompass puppets making Faustian pacts.</p>
<p>An AP article and accompanying photo published August 3 said it all. It reported that Karzai “dismissed allegations yesterday that the United States tried to cover up a deadly airstrike [which Afghan officials claimed occurred south of Kabul August 1] and said a continued American presence was crucial to Afghanistan’s future. Flanked by U.S. special forces bodyguards, Karzai said he visited one of the villages attacked in the July 1 air raid and when asked if he believed there had been a cover-up, said, ‘I don’t think so. People would have told me.'”</p>
<p>Reporters were asking about a UN report leaked to the Times of London stating that U.S. forces may have removed evidence after the attack and violated human rights. Now, the UN, once a site of contestation between the U.S. bloc and the Third World (and frequently the object of Washington’s scorn) has since the collapse of the Soviet Union been more or less tucked under Washington’s armpit. The New World Order in international diplomacy has been especially evident since December 1991, when the Security Council revoked Resolution 3379 (passed in November 1975) describing Zionism as a form of racism. Many nations’ delegates changed their votes under extreme pressure from the Bush administration. In December 1996 the U.S. vetoed a second term for Boutros Boutros-Ghali (of Egypt) as United Nations Secretary General; the 14 to 1 vote in the Security Council outraged the Arab world. Under the leadership of Kofi Annan, the UN has avoided confrontation with the U.S. (and with Israel), as indicated by Annan’s report on the Israeli invasion of Jenin in April, which Human Rights Watch has called “fundamentally flawed.”</p>
<p>That even this lapdog UN general secretary alleges U.S. misconduct in the Uruzgan province incident of July 1 lends particular credence to the allegation. And for President of Afghanistan to dismiss the report out of hand is to confirm that he is a lapdog of even more abject status than Mr. Annan. The AP photo shows Karzai walking towards a shrine, fingering prayer-beads, with (as the caption states) “U.S. bodyguards clearing the way.” There are well-armed U.S. forces to the fore, one peering forward, the other walking sideways, gun in hand, scrutinizing the rear.</p>
<p>Way back in 1857, Friedrich Engels (who made some very interesting observations about Afghanistan, then central to “the Great Game” played out in Central Asia between Britain and Russia) described “the attempt of the British to set up a prince of their own making in Afghanistan” in 1842, linking its failure to the Afghans’ “indomitable hatred of rule, and their love of independence.” (This was published in the New American Cyclopedia in 1858). Like most of Marx and Engels’ stuff, its probably on the net now; in his leisure time, in his Kabul office, surrounded by his Swiss Guard, Mr. Karzai might want to peruse it.</p>
<p>Gary Leupp is an an associate professor, Department of History, Tufts University and coordinator, Asian Studies Program He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Karzai’s Bodyguard | true | https://counterpunch.org/2002/08/07/karzai-s-bodyguard/ | 2002-08-07 | 4 |
<p>U.S. equities and stock exchange traded funds climbed Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average topping 21,000 for the first time ever, as investors grew more optimistic on the economic outlook, following announcements from President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve officials. The S&amp;P 500 Index, along with related funds including the SPDR S&amp;P 500 ETF… <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2017/03/u-s-stock-etfs-rally-with-dow-breaking-21000/" type="external">Click to read more at ETFtrends.com. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | U.S. Stock ETFs Rally with Dow Breaking 21,000 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/01/u-s-stock-etfs-rally-with-dow-breaking-21000.html | 2017-03-01 | 0 |
<p>Published time: 20 Jul, 2017 11:51</p>
<p>The NYPD Special Ops team released footage of their rescue operation after a helicopter carrying the son of WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon was forced to make an emergency sea landing in the sea off New York Wednesday.</p>
<p>“First off, I’d like to thank the pilot Mario, he did an amazing job, he was cool under pressure, I couldn’t have been in better hands. He explained everything as it was happening,” Shane McMahon, 47, told reporters as cited by <a href="http://abc7ny.com/news/helicopter-makes-crash-landing-in-waters-off-gilgo-beach/2233003/" type="external">ABC</a>.</p>
<p>“I’d also like to thank the Coast Guard who was there instantaneously, Suffolk County Marine Bureau, the lifeguards that came to the beach,” he added. &#160;</p>
<p>No-one was injured in the incident. The NYPD’s Aviation and SCUBA special operations units assisted in the rescue.</p>
<p>McMahon is a minority owner in the World Wrestling Entertainment corporation, and serves as commissioner for the company’s SmackDown Live show.</p>
<p>“It went as good as it could go,” pilot Mario Regtien said. “[We] landed softly, and I checked to see if he was OK. Everyone was fine, and we waited for the Coast Guard at that point. I left my shoes in the helicopter in case we had to swim.”</p>
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<p>I’d like to thank the man upstairs for looking out this morning &amp; thanks to pilot Mario, Suffolk Co. Marine Bureau &amp; Fire Island Coast Guard</p>
<p>— Shane McMahon (@shanemcmahon) <a href="https://twitter.com/shanemcmahon/status/887737532473069568" type="external">July 19, 2017</a></p>
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<p>“It’s very unsettling when all of a sudden you have something happen,” McMahon said. “You hear a bang… yes, it was very unnerving. But again, Mario was super calm, which made me super calm. And we landed perfectly,” he said.</p> | Special ops helicopter rescue of WWE co-owner captured on camera (VIDEO) | false | https://newsline.com/special-ops-helicopter-rescue-of-wwe-co-owner-captured-on-camera-video/ | 2017-07-20 | 1 |
<p>Ariel Pink’s Haunted GraffitiMature Themes 4AD</p>
<p>Weirdos are having a moment in music. From the obsession of indie bands with psych-inflected forms to the surreal costumes and antics of pop superstars, it seems like everyone’s trying to claim the mantle of weirdest-of-all. But Ariel Pink makes most of the rest look like pale imitators. Pink spent years beneath almost everyone’s radar, making ultra-low-fi home recordings, which garnered him a cultish fanbase but little mainstream recognition, before bursting into the (relative) spotlight with 2010’s Before Today, a richly produced album full of songs—many of which had appeared earlier in lower-fi versions—that seamlessly hopped among styles and genres. With Mature Themes, Pink takes his brand of weird-pop a step further, with a set of even more intricately bizarre gems.</p>
<p>“Is This the Best Spot” opens with a driving beat and robotic voiceover before launching into a chorus of “step into my time warp/step into my time warp/step into my time warp now.” It sounds like a house-of-mirrors version of a <a href="" type="internal">Girl Talk</a> mashup—in fact, most of these songs resemble one. The title track is a sweetly earnest piece of gauzy soft rock with stream-of-consciousness lyrics and a rapturous synth melody, while “Nostradamus &amp;&#160;Me” is seven-and-a-half minutes of beautifully swirling ambient noise. “The Early Birds of Babylon”&#160;sounds like the theme to a fantasy TV&#160;series from the ’80s, with a heavy dose of death metal for good measure: “Satan explodes,”&#160;a voice intones over dungeon-y guitars and a dark bassline</p>
<p>In the innocently titled “Symphony of the Nymph,” the nymph in question is actually a discotheque-frequenting lesbian nymphomaniac, a disclosure that’s somehow perfect when juxtaposed with the gorgeously lush, tremulously grandiose organ chords that anchor the song. The cool, brisk bassline of “Driftwood” draws you into a darkly contemplative state, while the opener, “Kinski Assassin,” recalls the Doors with its electric organ but something else when it quotes Casablanca.&#160;</p>
<p>In other hands, the mixture of material Pink works with might be a disaster, a cacophony of disorganized noise and half-baked ideas. But Pink has an astonishing talent for pairing dissimilar sounds and juxtaposing unexpected components in a way that rarely, if ever, feels jarring or strained. However much he distorts and twists the forms he appropriates, Pink’s sincere appreciation of them shines through, while a mischievous air pervades even the most traditional songs.</p>
<p>And they do exist: The album’s first single, “Baby,” is a surprisingly orthodox cover of an R&amp;B-tinged slow jam first recorded by Donnie and Joe Emerson in 1979. Pink plays this one straight, with a version that calls to mind both Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye. The second song he released from this album, “Only in My Dreams,” is sunny and upbeat with Byrds-esque vocal harmonies and twinkling chords, wholesome pop lyrics, and a gentle melody—a remarkable piece of pop whose lightness belies the skill involved in its crafting. It’s as if Pink threw it in just to show that he could, in fact, write anything he wanted.</p>
<p>Good as those songs are, they’re outliers. Anyone compelled to listen to the whole album on the basis of those two early releases are in for a surprise when they get to tracks like the static-laden, jingly “Schnitzel Boogie” (sample lyric:&#160;“I’m eating schnitzel/I’m eating schnitzel”), which works despite—or perhaps because of—the fact that half the track consists of a buzzy voice singing the word “schnitzel” repeatedly atop a heartbeat-like rhythm.</p>
<p>So, yeah, it’s probably wise to acclimatize yourself to Pink via his more accessible songs—he’s an artist, and Mature Themes&#160;an album, that requires some getting used to. But don’t give up: Mature Themes gets better and better with repeated listens, as otherworldly whines and horse snorts and YouTube snippets and jokey lyrics and whispered lines emerge from the rich tapestry of sound. And fortunately, repeated listening isn’t a major chore, since the album’s catchy as hell—Ariel Pink may make weird music, but damn if he’s not good at it. To borrow a phrase, if America were a nation of reclusive pop culture obsessives, Ariel Pink would be Lady Gaga.</p>
<p>Click <a href="" type="internal">here</a> for more music coverage from Mother Jones.</p> | Review: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, “Mature Themes” | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/08/ariel-pink-haunted-graffiti-mature-themes/ | 2012-08-20 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Audit techniques vary for different businesses, so small business owners need to be armed with how an agent might approach their inspection.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The IRS website publishes audit training guides for essentially every profession. So if you are slated for a tax audit of your business, read the <a href="http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=108149,00.html" type="external">IRS Audit Technique Guides</a> to discover what you should expect.</p>
<p>The IRS often targets farmers for an audit for a variety of reasons, but primarily because income is not reported to farmers on W2s or 1099s. Without an audit, it’s difficult for the IRS to know if a farmer is accurately reporting income. The IRS also tends to suspect that farmers’ book keeping procedures aren’t up to par, and that their internal controls to test income may be lacking. The agency also knows that farmers face significant swings in profitability that hinge on unpredictable events like weather and the economy.</p>
<p>When the farmer is selected for audit, the auditor will seek information to establish background and income potential. She will want to know how many hours the farmer and his spouse work on the farm to&#160; determine if there are any passive activity issues, such as losses that cannot be claimed but should be carried forward.</p>
<p>She’ll want detailed depreciation schedules to tie out the capital assets to the ability to purchase them and will study them in conjunction with lease and loan documents and repayment schedules. She will also review grower statements and other income records, as well as crop maps with acres, type of plants and year of planting. She will also ask for crop reports including insurance damage reports. Some of these items will be requested before you ever come face to face with the auditor.</p>
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<p>The crop map is a useful tool for the auditor: it allows her to compare the map with industry averages to estimate both income and expenses and compare it to what you reported. If you are within those guidelines, the audit may be cut short. She can compare the crop map with lease agreements to verify if income and expenses are properly allocated. By judging distances between parcels, she can determine if the farmer should be completing highway use tax returns.</p>
<p>The auditor will want to tour the farm to look for capital improvements and compare those with the items listed on the depreciation schedule. She will check to make sure that any vines or trees have been capitalized. The auditor will check the number of houses on the farm and whether or not they have been rented out and if so, determine if the rental activity has been declared on the tax return.</p>
<p>She will also look at the farm animals during the tours to check for the sales of calves (dairy farm) that may have gone unreported. She will inspect the equipment and confirm its use to determine if there is unreported income. For example, if a grape farmer has a cotton picker, eyebrows will go up. If the farmer owns any large trucks, the auditor will wonder if hauling is another source of income and will want to confirm that it has been declared on the tax return.</p>
<p>One of the big issues regarding a farmer’s tax return is a “structural analysis.” The auditor will want to know if there are any related entities: perhaps the farm is a partner in a larger partnership, part of a corporate structure, trust or family partnership. If so, the auditor may move the audit to the larger entity with hopes of attaining more tax revenue. It’s also possible there’s been a misallocation of income and expenses between the entities. One way the auditor discovers related entities is by looking at crop loan documents. It’s all about following the money.</p>
<p>Crop contracts will also be reviewed to determine if the quantities sold match up to industry standards and to see if there is any deferred income. Not all deferred payment contracts are valid; much of it depends upon delivery terms.</p>
<p>Grower statements show quantities delivered, and the auditor will compared them to crop contracts for consistency. Quantity accepted by the buyer will be analyzed, the auditor will want to know what happened to any rejected crops – were they sold to another buyer or sold in a different market for a lesser price or disposed of. Was the crop insured?</p>
<p>Farmers will need more than bank statements and cancelled checks <a type="external" href="" /> to satisfy an auditor. If you are a farmer, be sure to keep all contracts, loan documents and crop maps as they become an integral part of an audit.</p>
<p><a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">Bonnie Lee</a> is an Enrolled Agent admitted to practice and representing taxpayers in all fifty states at all levels within the <a href="" type="internal">Internal Revenue Service</a>. She is the owner of Taxpertise in Sonoma, CA and the author of Entrepreneur Press book, “Taxpertise, The Complete Book of Dirty Little Secrets and Hidden Deductions for Small Business that the IRS Doesn't Want You to Know.” Follow Bonnie Lee on <a href="" type="internal">Twitter</a> at BLTaxpertise and at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/taxpertise.bonnielee." type="external">Facebook</a>.&#160;</p> | What Farmers Need to Know About Audits | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/06/27/what-farmers-need-to-know-about-audits.html | 2016-03-23 | 0 |
<p />
<p>EBay today announced a new perk that promises packages in three days or less.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>EBay will start rolling out <a href="http://cc.ebay.com/guaranteed-delivery/" type="external">Guaranteed Delivery Opens a New Window.</a> this summer for shoppers in the US. At launch, the service will be available for 20 million items, many of which will offer free shipping. Shoppers will also soon be able to search for and filter items by one- and two-day delivery.</p>
<p>"While the majority of items on eBay already ship within 3 days or less, as well as for free, Guaranteed Delivery will give shoppers even faster delivery options and the confidence that their items will arrive on time," eBay's Senior Vice President of North America Hal Lawton said in a <a href="https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebay-to-roll-out-guaranteed-delivery-for-20-million-items/" type="external">statement Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>With Guaranteed Delivery, shoppers can rest assured that their items will arrive in no more than three days. Sellers will guarantee delivery dates, letting buyers know exactly when their order will arrive. If an item doesn't make it on time, eBay will refund the cost of shipping or give you a coupon that can be used towards your next purchase if the shipping was free. If the item arrived late and you no longer need or want it, you'll be able to return it at no cost.</p>
<p>Sellers who are interested in participating can sign up for more information on eBay's Guaranteed Delivery page. EBay said it will prominently present guaranteed listings, giving participating sellers more exposure.</p>
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<p>The new feature comes after Walmart in January <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/news/351445/walmart-reduces-free-2-day-shipping-requirements" type="external">lowered its free 2-day shipping requirements Opens a New Window.</a> and nixed its <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/335949/12-things-to-know-about-amazon-prime" type="external">Amazon Prime Opens a New Window.</a>-like ShippingPass service, which promised free two-day shopping on all orders for $49 a year. Walmart customers can now get free two-day shipping with a minimum purchase of $35 (instead of $50).</p>
<p>This article <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/news/352486/get-ebay-packages-in-3-days-with-guaranteed-delivery" type="external">originally appeared Opens a New Window.</a> on <a href="http://www.pcmag.com" type="external">PCMag.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Get eBay Packages in 3 Days With 'Guaranteed Delivery' | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/03/20/get-ebay-packages-in-3-days-with-guaranteed-delivery.html | 2017-03-20 | 0 |
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<p>Photo by NASA/Kathryn Hansen | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p />
<p>Reports from the Arctic are getting pretty grim.</p>
<p>The latest, from a blog called <a href="http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/" type="external">Arctic News</a>, warns that by 2026 — that’s just nine years from now — warming above the Arctic Circle could be so extreme that a massively disrupted and weakened jet stream could lead to global temperature rises so severe that a massive extinction event, including humans, could result.</p>
<p>This latest blog post, written by Arctic News editor Sam Carana, draws on research by a number of scientists (linked in his article), who report on various feedback loops that will result from a dramatically warmer north polar region. But the critical concern, he says, is methane already starting to be released in huge quantities from the shallow sea floor of the continental shelves north of Siberia and North America. That methane, produced by bacteria acting on biological material that sinks to the sea floor, for the most part, is currently lying frozen in a form of ice that is naturally created over millions of years by a mixing of methane and water, called a methane hydrate. Methane hydrate is a type of molecular structure called a clathrate. Clathrates are a kind of cage, in this case made of water ice, which traps another chemical, in this case methane. At normal temperatures, above the freezing temperature of water, these clathrates can only form under high pressures, such as a 500 meters or more under the ocean, and indeed such clathrates can be found under the sea floor even in places like the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, where the temperature is 8-10 degrees above freezing. But in colder waters, they can exist and remain stable at much shallower levels, such as a in a few hundred feet of water off the coast of Alaska or Siberia.</p>
<p>The concern is that if the Arctic Ocean waters, particularly nearer to shore, were to warm even slightly, as they will do as the ice cap vanishes in summer and becomes much thinner in winter, at some point the clathrates there will suddenly dissolve releasing tens of thousands of gigatons of methane in huge bursts. Already, scientists are reporting that portions of the ocean, as well as shallow lakes in the far north, look as though they are boiling, as released methane bubbles to the surface, sometimes in such concentrations that they can be lit on fire with a match as they surface.</p>
<p>As Carana writes:</p>
<p>“As the temperature of the Arctic Ocean keeps rising, it seems inevitable that more and more methane will rise from its seafloor and enter the atmosphere, at first strongly warming up the atmosphere over the Arctic Ocean itself – thus causing further methane eruptions – and eventually warming up the atmosphere across the globe.”</p>
<p>That is scary enough, as a sufficient burst of methane, a global warming gas 86 times more powerful than CO2, could lead to a rapid rise in global temperatures by 3 degrees Celsius or more, enough to actually reverse the carbon cycle, so that plants would end up releasing more carbon into the atmosphere rather than absorbing it.</p>
<p>Is this scenario or a giant methane “burp” from the Arctic sea floor just a scare story?</p>
<p>Not according to many scientists who study the earth’s long history of global warming periods and of evolution and periodic mass extinction events.</p>
<p>As Harold Wanless, a Professor of Geology and a specialist in sea level rise at the University of Miami explains, prior warming periods have often proceeded in dramatic pulses, not smoothly over drawn-out periods.</p>
<p>“We don’t know how this period of warming is going to develop,” he said. “That’s the problem. The warming Arctic Ocean is just ice melting, but the melting permafrost in Siberia, and the methane hydrates under the shallow waters of the continental shelf can happen suddenly. Every model gets the trend, but they don’t give you the rate that it happens or when something sudden happens.”</p>
<p>Wanless, who has for some time been predicting ice melting rates and resulting sea level rises that are far in excess of what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been predicting — as much as 10 feet by 2050 and 15 or 20 feet by the end of this century, vs. just three feet for the IPCC — says, “Scientists tend to be pretty conservative. We don’t like to scare people, and we don’t like to step out of our little predictable boxes. But I suspect the situation is going to spin out of hand pretty quickly.” He says, “If you look at the history of warming periods, things can move pretty fast, and when that happens that’s when you get extinction events.”</p>
<p>He adds, “I would not discount the possibility that it could happen in the next ten years.”</p>
<p>Making matters worse, Wanless adds, is the fact that a large enough methane eruption in the arctic, besides contributing to accelerated global warming, could also lead to a significant reduction of the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere (currently about 21%). This is because methane in the atmosphere breaks down fairly quickly, over the course of a decade or so, into water vapor and CO2, but in doing do, it requires oxygen atoms, which it would pull out of the atmosphere. That reduction in oxygen would lead to reduced viability and growth rates of plants and animals, as well as to a significant reduction in crop productivity. This <a href="http://inhabitat.com/runaway-carbon-emissions-threaten-two-thirds-of-the-earths-oxygen-supply/" type="external">dire trend</a>&#160;would be enhanced by a second threat to atmospheric oxygen, which is the oxygen-producing plankton in the ocean. If sea temperatures rise much, and increased acidification of the ocean continues apace as the oceans absorb more CO2, plankton, the earth’s main producers of new oxygen, could shut down that source of new free oxygen.</p>
<p>So there you have it my fellow humans: it’s at least possible that we could be looking at an epic extinction event, caused by ourselves, which could include exterminating our own species, or at least what we call “civilization,” in as little as nine years.</p>
<p>What is particularly galling, in thinking about this, is the prospect that eight of those last years might find us living in a country led by Donald Trump, a climate-change denier who seems hell-bent on promoting measures, like extracting more oil from the Canadian tar sands, the North Dakota Bakkan shale fields and the Arctic sea floor, as well as re-opening coal mines, that will just make such a dystopian future even more likely than it already is.</p>
<p>The only “bright side” to this picture is that it may not matter that much what Trump does, because we’ve already, during the last eight Obama years and the last eight Bush years before that, dithered away so much time that the carbon already in the atmosphere — about 405 ppm — has long since passed the 380 ppm level at which, during the last warming period of the earth, sea levels were 100 feet higher than they are today.</p>
<p>That is to say, we’re already past the point of no return and it’s just the lag being caused by the time it takes for ice sheets to melt and for the huge ocean heat sinks to warm in response to the higher carbon levels in the atmosphere that is saving us from facing this disaster right now.</p>
<p>It is at this stage of the game either too late to stop, or we should be embarking on a global crash program to reduce carbon emissions the likes of which humanity has never known or contemplated.</p>
<p>Hard to imagine that happening though, particularly here in a country where half the people don’t even think climate change is happening, or if they do notice things getting warmer, think that’s just a peachy thing that will reduce their heating bills.</p> | Looming Climate Catastrophe: Extinction in Nine Years? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/02/10/looming-climate-catastrophe-extinction-in-nine-years/ | 2017-02-10 | 4 |
<p>Being close to a one-party state is distorting California&#160;politics in unpredictable ways. The latest: According to <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-brown-reelection-spending-20150129-story.html?track=rss" type="external">the Los Angeles Times</a>, Gov. Jerry Brown still holds almost $24 million in his 2014 war chest for governor.</p>
<p>The reason is his Republican opponent last November, Neel Kashkari, wasn’t much of a challenge, Brown spent less than $6 million on his re-election campaign, largely for ads backing Proposition 1 and Proposition 2.</p>
<p>That was different from in 2010, when he faced billionaire Meg Whitman, who spent $180 million.</p>
<p>Which means that, in the future if a Democrat for governor faces a Republican in the November election, a similar war chest will be built up, giving the new governor enormous financial clout. The only exception would be if another wealth Republican wanted to blow $180 million — or, perhaps, is a Hollywood celebrity, like Arnold Schwarzenegger.</p>
<p>Brown now will be using his war chest to back statewide initiatives in 2016. So he’s going to be courted. And legislators, even&#160;those in his party, will be wary of opposing him lest he fund their opponents.</p>
<p>What about if he runs for president? The Federal Elections Commission told me, “No, he can’t use that money&#160;for a federal campaign. Only for state campaigns.”</p>
<p>So if he makes a run at Hillary, he’ll be starting from zero.</p> | Jerry Brown’s $24 million campaign war chest | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2015/01/31/jerry-browns-24-million-campaign-war-chest/ | 2018-01-20 | 3 |
<p>A clash between police officers and armed campesinos occupying the Nueva Linda plantation in Champerico, Retalhuleu, left nine dead and many questions unanswered as investigations begin.</p>
<p>Mid-day on August 31 approximately 800 police officers descended on a group of farming families that have been occupying the land since last September in protest of the disappearance of campesino leader Hector Rene Reyes. At least three police officers were killed in the confrontation, and at least six campesinos were shot dead, including two minors. Twenty-four individuals suffered injuries, at least twenty-five campesinos are still missing.</p>
<p>Homes were illegally entered and burned. Journalists, who were beaten and threatened by police during the forty-minute skirmish, allege that three of the six campesinos were executed extrajudicially, and campesinos leaders report that their missing family members are buried in a clandestine mass grave.</p>
<p>Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann immediately blamed the incident on the presence of clandestine groups, and classified the campesinos as “members of organized crime.” Nobel Laureate and current Goodwill Ambassador, Rigoberta Menchu agreed with Vielmann’s position and added that the farmers are “bandits.” Her comments were poorly received by many Guatemalans who feel that the human rights defender and peace activist is a turncoat.</p>
<p>Vielmann and Menchu’s statements reflect the fact that the Nueva Linda farmers were allegedly armed with automatic rifles. According to a Prensa Libre editorial from Sept 2, authorities knew as early as last December that the campesinos were armed with AK-47s, but chose to send in police regardless.</p>
<p>A statement released by the Mutual Support Group, claims that campesinos may have purchased the weapons to protect themselves from heavy drug trafficking that takes place in the region.</p>
<p>Campesino organizations strongly denounce the claim that the evicted families have any ties to organized crime, and insist that the government is to blame for not investigating the September 5, 2003 disappearance of campesino leader, Hector Rene Reyes. Rene Reyes was allegedly abducted by the private security of the owner of the Nueva Linda plantation, Spaniard Carlos Vidal Fernandez Alejos. In protest to the disappearance, the campesinos occupied land on Nueva Linda and stated firmly that they would stay there until the Rene Reyes case was clarified. The government did not attempt to negotiate with the campesinos, but rather issued a court order and deployed police to violently evict them from the land.</p>
<p>Further consequences of the conflict were the arrest of thirty-two campesinos, including one women, Julia Cabrera, a single mother of ten children. According to Cabrera she was selling vegetables on the plantation when the police arrived and started throwing tear gas canisters. She witnessed her sixteen-year-old son David Natanael Lopez shot twice in the back and killed. “But I did not see who took my six-month old baby, because the police grabbed me by the hair and began to hit me,” Cabrera stated.</p>
<p>When she came to, she found herself inside a car and in police custody. Cabrera has been denied the right to attend her son’s funeral and she is concerned for the health and safely of her infant child.</p>
<p>On the national level, congressional representatives passed a resolution yesterday condemning the acts of violence, most of who believe that the police “acted in an erroneous manner.” Independent congressman, Pedro Palma Lau, expressed that the confrontation left the 1996 Peace Accords behind. Today, congress will hear reports on the Nueva Linda incident from Vielmann, Defense Minister Cesar Mendez Pinelo, and Human Rights Ombudsman Sergio Morales.</p>
<p>Mass Graves and Extrajudicial Executions in the “Victory” at Nueva Linda</p>
<p>So far in the investigation, authorities have names, photos, and possibly know the whereabout of the few armed campesinos, and one weapon has been recovered. Yesterday, with a court order, representatives from the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office (PDH) and three congressmen visited the site to verify the existance of a clandestine mass grave. Alexander Toro Maldonado from the regional PDH office in Retalhuleu received the allegation from campesinos that, “within the plantation a mass grave was dug where they [the police] buried the bodies of the campesinos and children killed in the confrontation.”</p>
<p>Sergio Morales said, “[the campesinos] showed us a place where the earth has been moved. They say that it is a grave and that between seven and twenty people are buried there.” While no graves were found, Damian Vail from the National Indigenous and Campesino Coordinator (CONIC), directed justice of peace Hugo Flores and congressmen Raul Robles (UNE), Luis Arguello (GANA) and Alfredo de Leon (ANN) to an area where they found an arsenal of weapons and a septic pit covered over with heavy machinery.</p>
<p>Morales added that campesinos had claimed bodies were thrown in a river but investigators had found no evidence of that. Toro Maldonado, announced that the PDH will request a court order to investigate four sites on the plantation for mass graves.</p>
<p>In addition to investigating claims of mass graves, authorities will investigate allegations of at least three extrajudicial executions on the part of the police. One journalist witnessed an elderly man being shot in the head after he was captured. Police proceeded to shoot the man five more times, kicked and trampled the body and then according to the account, officer Boris Morales yelled, “Victory!” while standing over the dead body. Journalists recount two other incidents of extrajudicial executions.</p>
<p>Reporters claim that after the police discovered that members of the press witnessed them, they chased the reporters down, and beat and verbally abused them. One reporter was hospitalized. Police stole their equiptment and destroyed it, most likely to erradicate evidence of extrajudicial execution.</p>
<p>A History of Nueva Linda and Agrarian Conflict</p>
<p>Three years ago, in need of land, a group of campesinos originally from twenty-two different communities, occupied territory by the side of a highway between the towns of Retalhuleu and Champerico (on the Pacific coast). After two years and with the assistance of a number of land rights and campesinos organizations, the roughly 1,500 campesinos were granted rights to the Monte Cristo farm by the Guatemalan Land Fund.</p>
<p>Among the farmers that received access to Monte Cristo was Hector Rene Reyes, who, in spite of working as the administrator for the Nueva Linda Plantation, became a campesino leader not only at Monte Cristo, but also throughout the region. The owner of the Nueva Linda Plantation, Carlos Vidal Fernandez Alejos, opposed Rene Reyes’s decision to live and work at the Monte Cristo farm.</p>
<p>On August 5, a few days after the Monte Cristo farm was turned over to the campesinos, Fernandez Alejos’ private security visited Rene Reyes with the pretext of picking up shotguns and other arms that were on the Nueva Linda plantation. The security officers asked Rene Reyes to accompany them on a visit of the plantation. Hours later the bodyguards returned without Rene Reyes, saying that they had left the campesino in the nearby town of Retalhuleu.</p>
<p>Since then Rene Reyes has not been seen again. The crime was not investigated, and in order to pressure the National Civil Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the campesinos took action by settling on the Nueva Linda plantation. Authorities never attempted to negotiate with the campesinos, or to further investigate the disappearance. Instead, the plantation owner and authorities sought out a court order to evict the campesinos.</p>
<p>Guatemala has a long history of agrarian conflict, and on June 8th, the country was paralyzed by a nationwide strike organized by a diverse coalition of groups to protest recent violent evictions of indigenous families from disputed land which left 1,500 families homeless. The protesters surrounded government buildings and blocked roads in twenty of the twenty-two departments of the country.</p>
<p>Although the strike was originally planned to last two days, only eight hours into the strike an agreement was reached, ending the strike peacefully. In the agreement, the Supreme Court, agreed to investigate the legality and process of the recent land evictions. President Berger agreed that his administration would promote concrete measures to deal with the agrarian conflict. President Berger also promised to halt land evictions during a ninty day period to review agrarian policy. In exchange for these concessions, the protesters agreed to a moratorium on protests and strikes during those ninty days, after which time they would reconvene with the government to evaluate what, if any, progress that had been made.</p>
<p>While Berger’s promise to halt evictions was broken on August 7 when 113 families were peacefully evicted from a plantation in Escuintla, the eviction at Nueva Linda will redefine relations with campesino groups. The violence in Champerico took place just over a week shy of the ninty day evaluation period. President Berger responded yesterday that this group did not belong to any of the campesino groups who negotiated the moratorium, tacitly implying that this justifies the eviction.</p>
<p>The events of August 31 will intensely shake Guatemala, its internal security policy, and the way it reacts to land takeovers and agrarian conflict. There is supposed to be a march today by the campesino sector and campesino groups have also stated that they will return to the use of massive blockades next week (when the 90 day period ends) to pressure the government to work out a solution that does not include violent evicitons.</p>
<p>While investigations are underway, various land and campesino rights groups have requested that investigations be conducted with transparency, and that the Berger administration settle the root causes of the conflict: the lack of investigation into the disappearance of the Rene Reyes, and poor land distribution and agrarian policy. Unless the latter is reconsidered and readjusted, Guatemala may find itself in another internal conflict that reflects 1980s era mass clandestine graves and extrajudicial executions.</p>
<p>Max Gimbel is the Director of Research at the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA. GHRC/USA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, humanitarian organization committed to monitoring, documenting and reporting on the human rights situation in Guatemala while advocating for victims of human rights violations. For more information visit <a href="http://www.ghrc-usa.org/" type="external">www.ghrc-usa.org</a> or write: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Extrajudicial Executions and Clandestine Graves in Guatemala | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/09/02/extrajudicial-executions-and-clandestine-graves-in-guatemala/ | 2004-09-02 | 4 |
<p>July 17 (UPI) — White House press secretary <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Sean-Spicer/" type="external">Sean Spicer</a> said conditions for talks with <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/North_Korea/" type="external">North Korea</a> are not present in response to a question posed Monday regarding South Korean proposals for talks with the North.</p>
<p>Spicer was fielding a question from the White House press corps, regarding Seoul’s offer of talks to Pyongyang, and how President <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Donald_Trump/" type="external">Donald Trump</a> views the offer.</p>
<p>The White House <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/07/17/read-transcript-from-sean-spicer-off-camera-press-briefing-monday/NCWMuaQdUw5vpImRw54ELP/story.html" type="external">spokesman said</a> the questions should be referred back to the Korean government, then added, “That being said, I think the president has made clear in the past with respect that any type of conditions that would have to be met are clearly far away from where we are now.”</p>
<p>Earlier on Monday South Korean Vice Defense Minister Seo Joo-seok announced plans for talks between the two armies, a move that could help “stop all hostile actions which heightens military tensions at the border.”</p>
<p>The talks, to be held July 21, do not mean Seoul is easing pressure on Pyongyang.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/south-korea-proposes-military-talks-with-north/3947081.html" type="external">Voice of America reported</a> South Korea sees the proposals as part of President <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Moon-Jae/" type="external">Moon Jae</a>-in’s dual track policy to support U.S.-led sanctions, while pursuing engagement that incentivize North Korea to suspend some of its provocations.</p>
<p>“There is no change in our position that we will put forth effort to [persuade] North Korea to come out for denuclearization by using all possible measures such as sanctions and talks,” Seoul’s newly appointed unification minister said.</p>
<p>The State Department’s East Asia-Pacific spokeswoman, Katina Adams, declined to comment on the proposed Korea military talks, Yonhap reported.</p>
<p>In a separate statement, the South Korean Red Cross called for reunions of separated family members.</p>
<p>The reunions of families divided after the 1950-53 Korean War was last held in October 2015.</p> | White House: conditions for North Korea talks 'far away' | false | https://newsline.com/white-house-conditions-for-north-korea-talks-far-away/ | 2017-07-17 | 1 |
<p>ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey arrested dozens of people overnight for “spreading terrorist propaganda” about its Syrian incursion, state media said on Tuesday, raising to nearly 100 the number of such detainees, including politicians, journalists and activists.</p>
<p>The latest police raids focused on the western province of Izmir, but people have been detained across Turkey over their social media posts since Operation Olive Branch began in Syria’s Afrin region at the weekend, state-run Anadolu agency said.</p>
<p>The incursion targets the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG, viewed by Ankara as a terrorist group and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought an insurgency in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast since 1984.</p>
<p>Among those detained were the provincial heads in the cities of Izmir and Aydin of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the second biggest opposition party in parliament. Ankara accuses the HDP of being linked to the PKK, a charge it denies.</p>
<p>HDP spokesman Ayhan Bilgen named four journalists among those arrested in the investigation into social media postings. He said the probe was targeting “those who side with peace”.</p>
<p>“Journalists are having their doors rammed down without anyone knocking and they are being detained as if there were an army or ammunition inside,” he told a news conference.</p>
<p>“This shows how people are afraid of keyboards, pens, words and writing,” he said.</p> “BLACK PROPAGANDA”
<p>Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said social media posts criticizing Turkey’s operation or portraying it as an attack on Kurds were “the biggest villainy”.</p>
<p>“Social media does not mean irresponsible media, we started holding those accountable for the crimes being committed here. We will never allow those who try to smear the operation that serves peace,” Yildirim said at a conference in Ankara.</p>
<p>Anadolu said 91 people had been detained so far in raids against “black propaganda” across 13 provinces, with 17 detained in southeast Turkey’s Diyarbakir province. Three of the detainees have been remanded in custody pending trial, it added.</p>
<p>Six of the 23 suspects arrested in Izmir were accused of spreading propaganda on the streets, which amounted to “harassing people”, the agency said, adding that they were planning to hold a protest in a park.</p>
<p>Among the detainees was Leyla Guven, co-leader of the pro-Kurdish NGO Democratic Society Congress, said HDP lawmaker Bedia Ozgokce Ertan, adding that other HDP officials and senior members of the IHD human rights association were also held.</p>
<p>Ankara has enforced a crackdown since a failed coup in 2016 that critics say has unjustly targeted pro-Kurdish politicians. Some HDP lawmakers have been jailed on terrorism charges, which they deny.</p>
<p>In total, more than 50,000 people have been jailed and face trial since the attempted putsch and 150,000 have been sacked or suspended from their jobs. The government says the moves were necessary given the security threats Turkey faces.</p>
<p>On Monday, authorities in the capital Ankara banned all rallies, protests, meetings and concerts in the city for as long as the Afrin operation in Syria continues.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Dominic Evans and Catherine Evans</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry said on Saturday it had suspended 13 border officers over accusations that dozens of people arriving from France this week had passed through passport control at Sofia airport without having documents checked.</p>
<p>The action follows calls from Prime Minister Boyko Borissov for stern punishment over the March 20 incident that highlights challenges Bulgaria faces in convincing the European Union that it is addressing shortfalls in applying the rule of law.</p>
<p>Bulgaria, an EU member since 2007 and holder since January of the six-month EU presidency for the first time, has had its application to join the EU’s Schengen free-movement area rejected.</p>
<p>EU officials have said the government has not done enough to tackle organized crime, corruption and security shortcomings.</p>
<p>Interior Minister Valentin Radev said the border officers could be sacked or face disciplinary sanctions, depending on the outcome of the investigation.</p>
<p>Of the 13, seven officers were part of a team on a shift at the airport who left their posts for about 15 minutes, allowing about 40 passengers flying in from Paris to pass through without having their passport checks.</p>
<p>“It is good that the flight was from Paris,” Radev told reporters. “Passengers had been already checked at a European airport and this guarantees no terrorists have entered.”</p>
<p>Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Edmund Blair</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels began pulling out of several towns in their former enclave of eastern Ghouta on Saturday, surrendering them to the government and leaving the besieged city of Douma as their last bastion there.</p> Syrian army soldiers fire tracer bullets into the air to celebrate their victory outside Harasta in eastern Ghouta, in Damascus, Syria March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki
<p>It comes after a month-long assault that devastated the already battered eastern Ghouta, an area of farmland and towns that was one of the first centers of the uprising in 2011 and the last major rebel stronghold near the capital Damascus.</p>
<p>Ten buses carrying fighters along with their families and other civilians started to leave the enclave after dark, the vanguard of a convoy heading into exile in northwestern Syria.</p>
<p>It follows the departure of thousands of others on Friday from the town of Harasta in a similar deal for insurgents to depart with light weapons in return for giving up their territory.</p>
<p>The buses queued at a crossing point before moving into the enclave along a road on the former front lines that had been cleared of barricades, debris and unexploded ordnance.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-ghouta-civilians/russia-says-over-105000-civilians-have-left-syrias-eastern-ghouta-ria-idUSKBN1H00BQ" type="external">Russia says over 105,000 civilians have left Syria's Eastern Ghouta: RIA</a>
<p>Some captives held by the insurgents were released and state television showed them leaving in a minibus.</p>
<p>The army was advancing into towns the rebels had retreated from in preparation for their exit, state television said. It broadcast pictures of the massive trenches and other fortifications the rebels were leaving behind.</p>
<p>It means only Douma is left of the opposition’s eastern Ghouta enclave which a month ago the United Nations said was home to 400,000 people.</p>
<p>The army offensive to capture it, heralded by one of the heaviest bombardments in the seven-year conflict with warplanes, helicopters and artillery, has killed more than 1,600 people, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.</p>
<p>Residents and rights groups have accused the government of using weapons that kill indiscriminately - inaccurate barrel bombs dropped from helicopters, chlorine gas and incendiary material that sets raging fires.</p>
<p>Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his close ally Russia, which has helped his air campaign, have denied using all those weapons and say their offensive was needed to end the rule of Islamist militants over civilians.</p> Buses are seen entering into rebels Harasta area in eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria March 23, 2018. REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki EVACUATION
<p>About 7,000 people - fighters along with family members and other civilians who do not wish to come back under Assad’s rule - were to leave the towns of Zamalka, Arbin, Ein Terma and Jobar starting on Saturday, rebels and state media said.</p>
<p>They will go to Idlib province in the northwest - the destination for many such “evacuations” after sieges and ground offensives forced numerous rebel enclaves to surrender in the past two years.</p> Slideshow (2 Images)
<p>It will not mean an end to their experience of war. Syrian military and Russian air raids on Idlib have increased in the past week, killing dozens of people.</p>
<p>Idlib is also unsettled by fighting between the rebel groups. On Saturday, an explosion at a headquarters for al Qaeda’s former affiliate killed at least seven people and injured 25 others.</p>
<p>The Britain-based Observatory said there were also negotiations with the Jaish al-Islam rebel group that controls Douma to release prisoners.</p>
<p>Russia will guarantee that civilians who remain in the areas recaptured by Assad will not be prosecuted, rebels said on Friday. However, rights groups have said some men were forcibly conscripted after fleeing the fighting.</p>
<p>Wael Alwan, spokesman for the Failaq al-Rahman group that was dominant in Zamalka, Arbin, Ein Terma and Jobar, was quoted by al-Hadath television on Saturday as saying he did not trust Russia’s guarantees.</p>
<p>A Russian military webcam at the al-Wafideen crossing point near Douma showed small groups of civilians continuing to flee the danger of further bombardment into government territory, carrying children and sacks of belongings.</p>
<p>Russia’s military said more than 105,000 people had left eastern Ghouta, including over 700 on Saturday.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands have fled their homes in the past week as the bombardment of Douma intensified and refugees from other parts of Ghouta found the basement bomb shelters too full to take them.</p>
<p>Reporting by Angus McDowall; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Dale Hudson</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>ZAGREB (Reuters) - Thousands of Croat conservatives protested on Saturday against the proposed ratification of a European treaty that describes gender as a “social role,” fearing it could undermine traditional family values in the predominantly Catholic country.</p> People walk during the protest against the ratification of the Istanbul Convention in Zagreb, Croatia, March 24, 2018. REUTERS/Antonio Bronic
<p>The protesters marched down the main streets of the capital Zagreb, carrying a huge banner reading “Stop the Istanbul (Convention) for Sovereign Croatia,” waving national flags and singing patriotic songs.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, Croatia’s conservative government adopted the treaty, designed to combat violence against women, despite opposition from within its own ranks, conservative groups and the local Catholic Church.</p>
<p>While supporting the protection of women, opponents object to the treaty’s definition of gender, which they say paves way for introducing transsexual or transgender as separate categories, which they oppose.</p>
<p>Last month, the same treaty was rejected in two other eastern European Union countries, Bulgaria and Slovakia, for similar objections about the definition of gender as “social roles, behaviors, activities and characteristics that a particular society considers appropriate for women and men.”</p>
<p>The Croatian government has urged the parliament to ratify the treaty, known as the Istanbul Convention, and also adopted a separate statement saying the treaty will not change Croatia’s legal definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.</p> People are seen during the protest against the ratification of the Istanbul Convention in Zagreb, Croatia, March 24, 2018. REUTERS/Antonio Bronic
<p>But protesters said the ratification was unacceptable.</p>
<p>“This is betrayal!”, “Plenkovic, leave!”, the protesters chanted, calling for Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic to step down.</p> Slideshow (7 Images)
<p>“I think this is a turning point for Croatia when we must decide whether Croatia will choose a preservation of family and traditional values or we will go another way imposed from outside, from Brussels or like what we see in Canada where there will be a parent 1 and parent 2 instead of mother and father,” said Kristina Pavlovic, a protest organiser.</p>
<p>Treaty opponents have said they will push for a referendum on the issue. But according to a poll conducted for the government this week, two thirds of Croatians back ratifying the treaty.</p>
<p>A small counter-rally was organized in support of the treaty, and police had to divide the two groups after they verbally clashed.</p>
<p>The treaty’s supporters said many protesters, including war veterans, were brought by buses from other towns and outside of Croatia to attend the rally, which they said was politically-motivated.</p>
<p>“I protest for my grandchild, grand-grandchild and all those who gave their lives for Croatia,” an elderly man told the N1 television. “I am a grandfather, I am not going to be a parent 1 nor a parent 2.”</p>
<p>Reporting by Igor Ilic and Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo; Editing by Mark Potter</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed in a confrontation with police in Rio de Janeiro’s Rocinha favela on Saturday and several others were injured, as an army takeover of Rio’s security services drags well into its second month.</p>
<p>The police said the incident began when a patrol was attacked, though family members of those killed disputed various aspects of that account, according to interviews given to local media. The police said that they had entered Rocinha to search for suspects in the killing of a police officer in the slum earlier in the week and that they recovered various weapons following the incident, including a pair of grenades.</p>
<p>In mid-February, Brazil’s federal government ordered the army to take command of security forces in Rio de Janeiro in a bid to curb violence driven by drug gangs.</p>
<p>The already violent city has seen an uptick in crime in recent years. Murders climbed 8 percent in 2017 from the year before and 26 percent over 2015. Shootouts are a daily occurrence in Rio’s poorer areas, and the violence has increasingly spilled into Rio’s more affluent neighborhoods.</p>
<p>Drug trafficking in Rocinha is controlled by the Red Command, Rio’s most powerful drug gang.</p>
<p>The army takeover has not been without controversy. Last week, Marielle Franco, a prominent Rio city councilwoman was murdered in what many suspect was a political assassination, after she heavily criticized police violence in Rio, which many say has been worsened by the army takeover.</p>
<p>Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Writing by Gram Slattery, Editing by Nick Zieminski</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Turkey detains 91, including politicians, journalists, over Syria comments Bulgarian border officers suspended over airport security lapse As Syrian rebels quit Ghouta, Douma stands alone Croatians protest against European treaty they say threatens traditional family At least seven die in Rio police shootout as army takeover drags on | false | https://reuters.com/article/mideast-crisis-syria-turkey-security/update-2-turkey-detains-91-including-politicians-journalists-over-syria-comments-idUSL8N1PI2GO | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
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<p>The marathons are scheduled May 8 at Sugarite Canyon State Park near Raton, May 9 at Eagle Nest State Park, May 10 at Ute Lake State Park near Logan and May 11 at Conchas Lake State Park near Tucumcari.</p>
<p>This is the first year for the races, which will include a half-marathon and 5-kilometer run at each event.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A Las Cruces company is organizing the races, and the State Parks Division says it will receive a share of the revenue to cover day-use fees for the runners.</p>
<p>Race finishers will receive a T-shirt and medal. Runners will get a special four-day finishers medal if they participate in any combination of races at all of the parks.</p> | New Mexico parks hosting marathons | false | https://abqjournal.com/364356/new-mexico-parks-hosting-marathons.html | 2 |
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<p>Two lemurs were injured after a siamang housed in the neighboring exhibit managed to break into their enclosure at the Albuquerque BioPark zoo Tuesday afternoon. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two lemurs learned their fences weren’t quite good enough to make good neighbors when they were attacked by a siamang – a type of ape – at the Albuquerque BioPark zoo.</p>
<p>A city spokeswoman said a 26-year-old siamang named Brian entered the blue-eyed black lemur exhibit Tuesday afternoon and bit both primates on the tail and hindquarters before zookeepers were able to break up the fight.</p>
<p>“We don’t know why this happened,” said Tierna Unruh-Enos, the marketing manager for the city’s Cultural Services Department. “We don’t know if they agitated him or what. We’ve never had anything like this happen with any animals before.”</p>
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<p>Unruh-Enos said a security guard just happened to be walking past the exhibit when he noticed Brian had pried open a corner of a heavy-duty metal mesh fence separating the two enclosures and slipped through to attack the lemurs. No zoo visitors were present at the time, she said.</p>
<p>Brian the siamang, with his 1-year-old baby. According to officials from the Albuquerque BioPark, Brian entered the enclosure next to him and bit two lemurs Tuesday afternoon. (Courtesy of the Albuquerque BioPark)</p>
<p>The lemurs were taken to the park’s veterinarian, where they are still recovering.</p>
<p>Rick Janser, the BioPark director, said the zoo takes animal size and temperament into account before deciding to house two different species next to each other and they didn’t think the lemurs and siamangs would have any problems.</p>
<p>“There’s a lot of consideration to take into mind when we’re doing these things (housing animals),” Janser said. “The mesh was a small enough mesh that they couldn’t grab each other through it. Siamangs – like all primates – are a little stronger than humans but since this is a smaller ape, we were really surprised. We had thought the fastening devices were heavy-duty enough.”</p>
<p>A siamang is classified as a lesser ape in contrast with greater apes such as gorillas and chimpanzees. Janser said siamangs are typically about 3 feet tall and weigh 30 to 40 pounds, while lemurs usually weigh 15 to 20 pounds.</p>
<p>“We moved the two lemurs next to the siamangs in November,” Janser said. “The lemurs have been going about their business over the past couple months and didn’t pay any attention to the siamangs. But Brian is a dad with a baby and he is always on the lookout for something that might hurt them.”</p>
<p>Brian and a female siamang named Johore have a 1-year-old baby.</p>
<p>“We are investigating the incident and seeing how everyone responded,” Janser said. “We always try to learn from these situations. When dealing with animals you have to know they’re unpredictable. We try to keep everyone safe, but there are unfortunate accidents.”</p>
<p>The injured animals are blue-eyed black lemurs, similar to the one pictured. (Bruce McAdam/Wikipedia)</p>
<p>In the days since the assault the zoo staff has been extra vigilant in double-checking each enclosure to ensure all animals are safely contained, Unruh-Enos said.</p>
<p>Cameras on every animal are out of the question because there are simply too many enclosures, she added.</p>
<p>The siamang attack comes less than three months after an endangered Tasmanian devil was found dead, possibly as a result of someone throwing a piece of asphalt at him.</p>
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<p /> | Marauding small ape injures lemurs | false | https://abqjournal.com/524147/marauding-small-ape-injures-lemurs.html | 2 |
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<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/5311803565/sizes/m/in/photostream/"&gt;Ed Yourdon&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
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<p>Once a novelty to most observers, the hand signals and protest-speak of Occupy Wall Street now seem like old hat to anyone following along at home. But the recent uptick in heavy-handed police tactics at Occupy protests has given rise to a new slew of phrases to decipher. “Kettling” may sound cozy, and “frozen zone” like a delightful summertime treat, but neither is much fun. Here’s a guide to some lesser-known procedural phrases we’ve come across. (You can add your own in the comments.)</p>
<p>Frozen Zone <a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal">As MoJo’s Josh Harkinson first reported</a>, this phrase was used by an NYPD officer to describe the November 15 raid on Zuccotti Park:</p>
<p>“Can I help you?” an burly officer asked me, his helpfulness belied by his scowl. “I’m a reporter,” I told him. “This is a frozen zone, alright?” he said, using a term I’d never heard before. “Just like them, you have to leave the area. If you do not, you will be subject to arrest.”&#160;</p>
<p>The usage surprised many; “frozen zone” usually describes an area that’s officially off limits due to immediate risk of terrorist attack. Ground Zero was a frozen zone for weeks after 9/11, as Adam Ross wrote in <a href="http://journalism.nyu.edu/publishing/archives/wtc/frozen.htm" type="external">Dispatches from Ground Zero</a>:</p>
<p>Additional checkpoints on Houston, Canal, and Chambers Streets heightened the feel of an occupied, semi-militarized zone. Outsiders with no claim on residency were barred from entry. Even in the age of the three-thousand-dollar rental, downtowners had still imagined themselves in that “other country” which wry nineteenth-century cartographers had depicted as “le pays de boheme.” Suddenly, this was the least urbane of urban quarters, and on our most civil of streets and avenues a freakish assortment of paramilitary vehicles (bearing unfamiliar acronyms) held sway.</p>
<p>Before our story ran, the last reported “frozen zone” was the World Trade Center site during the 10th-anniversary 9/11 ceremonies, due to predictions of a possible al Queda assault that day. All weekend, some streets around Ground Zero were blocked off with metal barricades and large concrete blocks, and patroled by FBI bomb technicians and hazmat crews. Anyone living in the vicinity could be asked to show ID when leaving their homes, and vehicles were subject to inspection. The weekend passed safely, if uncomfortably, and some Lower Manhattan residents and workers <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/security_levels_raised_in_anticipation_e6WC4j87YGGzyVkF6G7BrO#ixzz1XLRLaCPM%20http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/08/911_anniversary_al_qaeda.html" type="external">said they supported the heightened cautionary measures</a> in the face of a terror threat.</p>
<p>Slate’s Dave Weigel <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/11/15/the_frozen_zone_.html" type="external">notes that “frozen zone” seemed an odd choice of words</a> for the Zuccotti Park evacuation, given that protesters were unarmed and largely peaceful:</p>
<p>Correct me if I’m wrong, but I haven’t seen a “frozen zone” applied to a situation like this—an evacuation of protesters, none of whom (in New York) had been violent.</p>
<p>Kettling The forceful coralling of demonstrators into an area cordoned off by police. Protesters may be given one choice of exit or totally barred from leaving. Kettling can last for hours, and in some cases protesters have <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8000641.stm" type="external">reportedly been denied access</a> to food, water, and toilets for the duration.</p>
<p>Kettling made an early appearance in the Occupy protests. In one of the movement’s first viral videos (below) we saw NYPD supervisor Anthony Bologna <a href="" type="internal">pepper-spray</a> some young female protesters who’d been kettled by his subordinantes.</p>
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<p>The tactic made international headlines during 2009’s G20 summit in London, when kettling was <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/14/sue-police-kettling-g20-protests" type="external">used by London police to corral up to 5,000 people at once</a>. Several protesters claimed injuries and suffocation, and after a young woman held in a G20 police kettle claimed she experienced a miscarriage, an inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission called for London’s Metropolitan Police force to rethink its crowd control methods, with the commission’s chair warning police to remember that they are “ <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/apr/19/ipcc-police-g20-protests" type="external">the servants not the masters</a>” of the civilian population.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.worldwidewords.org/turnsofphrase/tp-ket1.htm" type="external">World Wide Words points to the word’s origins</a>:</p>
<p>The most plausible suggestion is that the word is from German, in which Kessel&#160;is the everyday word for a kettle or similar vessel, such as a central-heating boiler (it is sometimes translated as the more evocative cauldron). The derived verb&#160;einkesseln&#160;(“to enkettle”) means to encircle or surround, principally in the military. This may come from an older sense of&#160;Kessel&#160;for a semi-circular ring of hunters driving game before them. The best-known example of the military sense is the Stalingrad Kessel of 1942, so called at the time by the German forces besieged in the Russian city.</p>
<p>Affirmative Obligation At 4:35 in the video below, an Occupy protester demands that an officer identify himself and supply his badge number, and gets no response.</p>
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<p>&#160; <a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153134/caught_on_camera:_10_shockingly_violent_police_assaults_on_occupy_protesters?page=entire" type="external">As Josh Holland reported at AlterNet</a>, NYPD’s own rules state that officers must “give name and shield number to anyone requesting them.”</p>
<p>New York City’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (‘OATH’) has issued a number of recent opinions that examine what this patrol guide procedure requires of officers. In essence, these cases have held that the patrol guide procedure imposes an ‘affirmative obligation‘ to ‘give name and shield number to anyone requesting them’; in other words, a demand for a name or badge number demands an ‘affirmative response.’</p>
<p>Affirmative obligation laws vary from state to state. In 2009, when Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was charged with&#160;disorderly conduct after breaking into his own home in Cambridge, Mass., he complained that his arresting officer repeatedly refused to state his name and badge number. Massachusetts law requires police officers to carry identification cards, to present them when requested, and to display their names and/or badge numbers on their uniform. Other states are silent on the issue, but many <a href="http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/police/Publications/policecontacts.html#Q.%20Do%20the%20police%20have%20to%20give%20me%20information?" type="external">local departments have adopted laws similar the one in Massachusetts</a>.</p>
<p>Confused about other Occupy terms? <a href="" type="internal">Send them to Tasneem Raja</a>.</p>
<p /> | Glossary: Decoding the Police Jargon Overheard at Occupy | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/glossary-police-jargon-occupy-wall-street/ | 2011-11-23 | 4 |
<p>JohnArehart/iStock</p>
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<p>Conservatives now hold the governor’s seat and control of the legislature in roughly half of all states, and since the election they’ve quickly gotten to work proposing&#160;measures&#160;that opponents&#160;say could threaten&#160;the rights and safety of transgender people. Human rights advocates say&#160;they’re fearing an onslaught of discriminatory bills in the coming months.</p>
<p>“We are seeing them already in an impressive number of states given how early in the legislative session it is,” says Cathryn Oakley, senior legislative counsel for the Human Rights Campaign, though she adds that “some at this point are still rumored.” By HRC’s estimate, at least&#160; <a href="http://hrc-assets.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com//wp-content/uploads/assets/resources/2017_Legislative-Document.pdf" type="external">40 anti-LGBT proposals</a>&#160;have already been introduced for the legislative sessions this year.</p>
<p>Some of the measures are <a href="" type="internal">so-called bathroom bills</a> (made famous by North Carolina’s <a href="" type="internal">HB2</a>), which ban transgender people from using the restroom of their choice, often under the guise of privacy and “ <a href="" type="internal">protecting women and children</a>.”&#160;As Oakley explains, these bills are bad policy not only because they infringe on the rights of transgender people, but also&#160;because&#160;of the damage they can inflict on a state’s economy. After&#160;North Carolina&#160;passed&#160; <a href="" type="internal">HB2</a> last year, several&#160;businesses decided to <a href="http://www.politifact.com/north-carolina/statements/2016/oct/28/john-skvarla/top-north-carolina-economic-official-says-hb2-has-/" type="external">pull plans to expand</a> in the state, local governments <a href="http://www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/tns-north-carolina-portland-nyc-seattle-boycott.html" type="external">banned official&#160;travel</a> to North Carolina, and&#160;events like the&#160;NCAA basketball championship <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/13/sports/ncaa-moves-championship-events-from-north-carolina.html?_r=0" type="external">were moved elsewhere</a>.</p>
<p>Other proposals would force schools to out transgender students to their parents, something advocates find particularly troubling. Up to <a href="http://www.thetaskforce.org/lgbt-youth-an-epidemic-of-homelessness/" type="external">40 percent</a> of homeless youth are LGBT. Whether their parents accept their gender identity has a <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/transgender-kids-thrive-when-their-parents-embrace-their-identities-b8d68d298ac2#.fkcftp8wf" type="external">significant</a> impact on the mental health outcomes of young transgender people. “It risks their long-term health care outcomes and economic future by endangering their ability to protect their own privacy and move safely through the world,” explains Sasha Buchert with the Transgender Law Center.</p>
<p>Here’s a roundup of anti-transgender proposals in state governments since the election:</p>
<p>Alabama:&#160; <a href="http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/ALISON/SearchableInstruments/2017RS/PrintFiles/SB1-int.pdf" type="external">SB1</a> This bill is intended to be a “ <a href="http://altoday.com/archives/10380-push-for-transgender-bathrooms-could-jeopardize-right-to-privacy" type="external">backstop</a>” if the courts overturn North Carolina’s bathroom law. Under <a href="http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/ALISON/SearchableInstruments/2017RS/PrintFiles/SB1-int.pdf" type="external">the proposed legislation</a>, all bathrooms and changing facilities in the state must be designed for use “by one person at a time” or “multiple persons of the same gender.”&#160;Gender-neutral bathrooms meant for multiple people would have to be “staffed by an attendant stationed at the door of each rest room to monitor the appropriate use of the rest room and answer any questions or concerns posed by users.” Any business, school, or other entity violating these rules would be subject to a fine of a minimum of $2,000 for the first violation and at least $3,500 for each subsequent violation.</p>
<p><a href="https://thinkprogress.org/alabama-lawmaker-missed-an-important-detail-in-his-plan-to-discriminate-against-trans-people-7c3fdb103d16#.bre5terdy" type="external">As ThinkProgress points out,</a> the bill, proposed by state Sen.&#160;Phil Williams (R-Rainbow City), is written in such a vague way that it’s actually unclear if it would actually have any impact on transgender people. Still, Williams made his intention clear <a href="http://altoday.com/archives/10380-push-for-transgender-bathrooms-could-jeopardize-right-to-privacy" type="external">in an op-ed</a> announcing the bill: “The argument that a self-professed ‘gender identity’ affords access to a facility over the deep concerns of other members of the public is a violation of that right to privacy.”</p>
<p>Arizona:&#160; <a href="https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/GetDocumentPdf/445911" type="external">HB&#160;2293</a>,&#160; <a href="https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/GetDocumentPdf/445916" type="external">HB 2294</a> Transgender people already cannot get sex reassignment surgery under Arizona’s Medicaid system. Now, state Rep. Anthony Kern’s (R-Glendale) <a href="http://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/GetDocumentPdf/445916" type="external">HB 2294</a> would formally codify that reality into law, which transgender rights advocates worry could make accessing the surgery even more difficult in the future.</p>
<p>Kern also introduced <a href="http://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/GetDocumentPdf/445911" type="external">HB&#160;2293,</a> which would prohibit people who are incarcerated&#160;from getting&#160;sex reassignment surgery. “Any medical procedures that doctors deem are medically necessary for particular individuals to treat their gender dysphoria should be covered by insurance of every kind,” Abby Jensen, vice president of Southern Arizona Gender Alliance and a board member of&#160;Equality Arizona, told Mother Jones. “There is no reason to single out transgender people for that exclusion, especially when the procedures that we’re talking about are commonly paid for by the same insurance plans for other conditions.”</p>
<p>Jensen’s also troubled by another piece of legislation, <a href="http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/53leg/1R/bills/SB1199P.htm" type="external">SB 1199,</a> that would require&#160;people seeking to change their name to undergo a criminal background check. The sponsor of the bill says it “would not make it easier or harder” for a transgender person to get a name change and is intended to keep people from masking their criminal history. But Jensen&#160;worries the legislation could have a disproportionate impact on transgender people: “Because of discrimination and bias against trans people, we are arrested and incarcerated <a href="http://www.transequality.org/sites/default/wp-content/uploads/docs/resources/NCTE_Blueprint_2015_Prisons.pdf" type="external">at much higher rates</a> than the general population,” she said. “A criminal background check could give judges an excuse to deny a name change petition.” While such a denial may be reversible on appeal, Jensen adds, “very few trans people have legal representation and there are no LGBT legal advocacy organizations currently active in Arizona.”</p>
<p>Kansas: <a href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/documents/hb2171_00_0000.pdf" type="external">HB 2171</a> The measure would prohibit transgender students from accessing the locker rooms, showers, and restrooms that correspond with their gender identity. It defines sex as “determined by a person’s chromosomes” and “identified at birth by a person’s anatomy.” Under the proposal, any citizen could complain directly to the attorney general about an offending school if the school does not “cure a violation” within three days. The attorney general could then sue the school if it determines after an investigation that legal action is warranted.</p>
<p>“The bill on its face is just an attack on little kids,” Tom Witt, director of Equality Kansas, told <a href="http://cjonline.com/news/state-government/2017-01-26/new-bathroom-bill-introduced-allows-attorney-general-investigate" type="external">the Topeka Capita-Journal</a>. “I am just incredibly angry and disappointed that anyone would introduce such a thing in this state.”</p>
<p>Kentucky:&#160; <a href="https://legiscan.com/KY/text/HB106/2017" type="external">HB106</a> In Kentucky, the typical political dichotomy has been turned on its head: <a href="http://www.advocate.com/politics/2017/1/04/kentucky-democrat-introduces-two-anti-lgbt-bills" type="external">A Democrat</a> is actually leading the anti-transgender charge, and Republican leadership has spoken out against the idea of legislating where transgender people can pee. State Rep. Rick Nelson’s (D-Middlesboro) bill will require people using state and local government bathrooms&#160;to use the facility in line with the sex on their birth certificate. Nelson has also introduced a so-called “religious freedom bill,” which would allow businesses&#160;to legally <a href="http://www.advocate.com/politics/2017/1/04/kentucky-democrat-introduces-two-anti-lgbt-bills" type="external">discriminate</a> against LGBT people.&#160;</p>
<p>Missouri:&#160; <a href="http://www.senate.mo.gov/17info/pdf-bill/intro/SB98.pdf" type="external">SB 98</a> Some lawmakers in Missouri don’t want transgender students in public schools using the bathroom or locker room that matches their gender identity. The legislation, introduced by state Sen. Ed Emery (R-Lamar), would force students to use the bathroom based on their sex as “determined by a person’s chromosomes.” Emery is promoting his legislation by stoking fears: “If you had a daughter, you might not feel that she was completely safe if young men were allowed into her shower room, and vice versa,” he said, according to <a href="http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/missouri-bill-would-restrict-locker-room-use-transgender-students#stream/0" type="external">St. Louis Public Radio</a>.</p>
<p>Under his legislation, a student seeking a special accommodation, such as using a private bathroom, needs parental permission to do so—meaning the student would need to be out to his or her parents. The bill explicitly states that no special accommodations can be made to allow the student into their desired bathroom or locker room.</p>
<p>South Carolina:&#160; <a href="http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess122_2017-2018/prever/3012_20161215.htm" type="external">Bill 3012</a> A bathroom bill in South Carolina failed to even make it to a vote on the <a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article74382392.html" type="external">Senate floor</a> last year, with several <a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article74382392.html" type="external">lawmakers</a> and the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/04/07/south-carolinas-gov-nikki-haley-says-her-state-doesnt-need-transgender-bathroom-law/?utm_term=.77026c4ac1f7" type="external">governor</a>&#160;deciding they weren’t interested in such legislation in the wake of the backlash in North Carolina to HB2. But now, state Rep. Steven Long (R-Boiling Springs)&#160;decided to <a href="http://www.goupstate.com/news/20161219/new-sc-bathroom-bill-would-let-businesses-set-rules" type="external">soften</a> the proposal in hopes of getting it passed. Instead of prohibiting transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice, the new proposal aims to let businesses decide whether to discriminate by banning local governments from requiring businesses to allow transgender patrons their choice of restroom.</p>
<p>South Dakota: <a href="http://sdlegislature.gov/docs/legsession/2017/Bills/SB115P.pdf" type="external">SB 115</a> Two lawmakers in South Dakota have&#160;also introduced softer legislation after Gov. Dennis Daugaard&#160; <a href="http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2017/01/25/sd-locker-room-bill/" type="external">vetoed a bill</a> last year that would have prohibited transgender students in public schools from using the bathroom and locker rooms of their choice. The new proposal only applies to locker rooms and other changing facilities, but is expected to meet the same fate as last year’s legislation. The governor’s chief of staff has already said Daugaard&#160;would veto the bill if it came to his desk, telling the <a href="http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2017/01/25/sd-locker-room-bill/" type="external">Associated Press</a> that it’s “substantially the same.”</p>
<p>Texas:&#160; <a href="http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/85R/billtext/pdf/SB00006I.pdf#navpanes=0" type="external">SB6</a>, <a href="http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/85R/billtext/pdf/SB00242I.pdf#navpanes=0" type="external">SB242</a> Texas Republicans are trying to push through legislation that would prohibit transgender people from using the bathroom they choose in public schools and buildings. <a href="http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/85R/billtext/pdf/SB00006I.pdf#navpanes=0" type="external">SB6</a>&#160;would also stop local governments from passing nondiscrimination rules, meaning businesses and other privately owned facilities will ultimately decide whether or not to limit bathroom access. Violating the rules would lead to a fine of at least $1,000 for the first offense and jump to $10,000 for each subsequent offense.</p>
<p>Whether the legislation will pass remains unclear. The state House speaker says it’s not a&#160;priority and many in the <a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/dan-patrick-unveils-texas-transgender-bathroom-bill/aC1uoDoDysOLYW0MwVFWQO/" type="external">business</a> community are pushing back against the law. However, the lieutenant governor is leading the charge, and the state Senate seems keen to limit bathroom access, therefore&#160;risking an estimated <a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/dan-patrick-unveils-texas-transgender-bathroom-bill/aC1uoDoDysOLYW0MwVFWQO/" type="external">$8.5 billion a year</a> to the state according to the Texas Association of Business. Gov. Greg Abbott hasn’t publicly supported the bill, but this hot take from last year gives some pretty clear insight to his thoughts on the matter at hand:</p>
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<p>Also under review by the Texas Legislature is another proposal that states parents are entitled to all information schools have regarding their child’s psychological and emotional well-being. LGBT advocacy organization&#160;Equality Texas says this bill would force school employees to out students in some cases. SB 242’s author argues this is <a href="http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Senator-Proposed-bill-wouldn-t-force-schools-to-10623237.php" type="external">not the case</a>, but if a parent asks for information, school employees would be legally required to provide it under the proposal.</p>
<p>“If your kid is gay, and can tell his teacher, but hasn’t told you, then you are the problem,” said Equality Texas Board Chairman Steven Rudner <a href="https://www.equalitytexas.org/for-immediate-release-statement-by-steven-m-rudner-equality-texas-board-chairman-opposing-koni-burtons-sb-242-intended-to-force-the-outing-of-lgbtq-students/" type="external">in a statement</a>&#160;opposing the legislation. “If a kid can tell a teacher but not their parent, it is a pretty good indication that your child is scared of you and the consequences of telling you, and you are who the kid needs to be protected from.” &#160;</p>
<p>Virginia: <a href="https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1612+pdf" type="external">HB 1612</a> Delegate Bob Marshall’s (R-Prince William) bill, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/in-virginia-republican-led-committee-kills-transgender-bathroom-bill/2017/01/19/4428c0ee-de63-11e6-acdf-14da832ae861_story.html?utm_term=.a14d246e3482" type="external">which has already been killed</a>, would have limited bathroom access in schools and other government facilities.&#160;When one transgender man <a href="http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/article_3ec773d7-2bad-51c6-a93c-757c7f151960.html" type="external">recently asked</a> proponents of the bill where they thought he should use the restroom, Marshall responded, “Not here.” Advocates say Marshall’s bill was especially&#160;dangerous because of a provision that would require schools to out students to their parents within 24 hours if they asked “to be recognized or treated as the opposite sex.”</p>
<p>Gov. Terry McAuliffe had&#160;vowed to veto the legislation. In fact, he extended protections to transgender workers just days after the bill was introduced—signing an executive order banning the state from doing business with any group that <a href="http://fusion.net/story/379362/terry-mcauliffe-transgender-executive-order-virginia-bathroom-bill/" type="external">discriminates</a> based on sexual orientation or gender identity.</p>
<p>Washington: <a href="http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2017-18/Pdf/Bills/House%20Bills/1011.pdf" type="external">HB1011</a> You might think Washington state lawmakers would drop the issue of where transgender people can go to the bathroom considering the state passed nondiscrimination protections&#160;all the way back in <a href="http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2016/12/washington-state-gop-lawmakers-introduce-anti-transgender-bathroom-bill/" type="external">2006</a>,&#160;and <a href="http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2016/02/washington-state-senate-rejects-reversal-of-transgender-bathroom-rule/" type="external">multiple</a> <a href="http://mynorthwest.com/336736/washington-transgender-bathroom-initiative-fails-to-gather-enough-signatures/" type="external">efforts</a> to restrict bathroom access&#160; <a href="http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2016/02/washington-state-senate-rejects-reversal-of-transgender-bathroom-rule/" type="external">failed</a> last year. However, <a href="https://rewire.news/article/2016/12/08/washington-gop-pushes-anti-trans-bathroom-bill/" type="external">14</a> Republican state lawmakers have introduced a bill that states&#160;nondiscrimination laws do not prohibit public and private institutions from limiting bathroom access based on someone’s genitals.</p>
<p>Transgender rights advocates point out the kicker with this bill is that it highlights the absurd anxiety some people have about what’s in people’s pants by explicitly referring to genitalia: The legislation states that&#160;nondiscrimination protections don’t apply “if the person is preoperative, nonoperative, or otherwise has genitalia of a different gender from that for which the facility is segregated.”</p>
<p>Wyoming: <a href="http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2017/Introduced/HB0244.pdf" type="external">HB 244</a> Most of the bathroom bills across the nation put the onus on schools or the government to keep transgender people out of the bathroom of their choice, but in Wyoming, legislation has been introduced to make using a public bathroom or changing facility that does not correspond to your sex assigned at birth an act of public indecency. Under this legislation, transgender people could be incarcerated for up to <a href="http://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/2011/title6/chapter4/section6-4-201" type="external">six months and fined $750</a> for using the bathroom.&#160;</p>
<p /> | Transgender Rights Are Under Attack in These 11 States | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/transgender-rights-bathrooms-state-legislature-texas-arizona-wyoming-kansas/ | 2017-01-27 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Image source: SolarCity.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>No business wants to create a solution in search of a problem, particularly in the slow-changing energy industry. Instead, businesses want to find solutions for problems that exist and create ways to make money off their solutions.</p>
<p>Enter the exigent problem California is facing: it has too much solar energy. First, who thought that would be a problem in the country's largest state? Second, why isn't there a solution if utilities and regulators knew this problem was coming? The short answer is that energy innovators weren't going to create and install solutions for solar energy's variability until they knew the utilities and regulators had recognized the problem.</p>
<p>What's going on in California California has made a big push into renewable energy in an effort to meet a 50% renewable energy goal by 2030. It's built wind and solar plants rapidly over the past decade, which combines with hydropower to provide clean energy to the state. The problem is that solar energy, in particular, isn't created evenly throughout the day or year and that's a challenge for the grid.</p>
<p>In March, before peak air conditioner season in the state, there was so much solar energy on the grid that the California Independent System Operator had to tell some solar farms to shut down because there was too much energy for the grid to handle. And that could lead to a blackout.</p>
<p>It's not as if the solar energy being produced is somehow a surprise or that utilities don't know when demand is coming, but the mismatch between when clean solar energy is produced and when it's consumed has become a problem. At low penetration levels, solar energy doesn't create this problem, but in California they're starting to reach the "problem" level because there's so much sunlight.</p>
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<p>The opportunity to build Grid 2.0 What's happening in California is solar energy creating a problem for the grid. It's not a lack of energy, but rather a lack of energy at the time that energy is demanded by customers. The secret to the electric grid is that each instant it has to send enough electrons to every customer to work correctly. A day, an hour, a minute, or even a second mismatch between supply and demand and the system falls apart.</p>
<p>Since sunlight only creates energy while the sun is out, but doesn't create any energy at night and is at less than optimal production with even a little cloud cover, it creates a challenge for grid operators. What the utility needs to do is find a way to move units of energy from when they're produced to when they're needed. Or another way of thinking of it is moving demand to when energy is produced.</p>
<p>Powerwall could be an energy storage solution utilities turn to. Image source: Tesla Motors.</p>
<p>The massive opportunity for energy storage It seems obvious that energy storage should fill this gap in supply and demand for the electric grid. After all, we can see the problem coming a mile away, so why not build energy storage on a scale to save the grid from these problems?</p>
<p>The simple answer is that there hasn't been a financial driver of energy storage until very recently. Even today, there aren't a lot of ways to make money off owning an energy storage system in a home or business. For utilities, there's been no economic need or regulatory driver to deploy energy storage on a massive scale. Until now.</p>
<p>What we're seeing is the emergence of a market that Elon Musk saw when he announced Tesla Motors' Powerwall and Powerpack products. They could move energy from when it's produced to when it's needed in a relatively efficient manner. But regulators in states like California need to find ways to make energy storage economical for utilities and developers. It would clearly be valuable to have energy storage in place today, but until we got to the point where there was too much solar energy there wasn't much urgency for energy storage.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/us-energy-storage-market-grew-243-in-2015-largest-year-on-record" type="external">GTM Research Opens a New Window.</a>recently noted that energy storage deployments rose 243% in 2015 to 221 MWh. And by 2020 they predict the market will be 1,662 MWh. There's an incredible opportunity in energy storage now that the problem has been identified.</p>
<p>Image source: SolarCity.</p>
<p>The demand side of the equation Moving the supply of energy from one point in time to another is important, but so is moving demand. And that's something that's never really been done on a grand scale in energy.</p>
<p>The concept known as demand response is a budding business in energy with EnerNOC leading the charge. The company bids demand response into regional transmission organization PJM, so instead of utilities paying for wholesale power plants to produce more energy to meet demand they pay EnerNOC to reduce demand. The company just tells its partners to turn down the air conditioning or lighting or some other demand source. The effect is the supply and demand being matched, but this time the demand side is what's being adjusted.</p>
<p>Alphabet's Nest has a similar platform with Rush Hour Rewards. It works with utilities to compensate customers for turning down the air conditioning at peak hours. It's not widelyused yet, but this is the kind of platform that could bring demand response to the next level.</p>
<p>California's problem will create solutions Concepts like energy storage and demand response have been lurking in the energy background for years as potential solutions for problems that are on the horizon. But now that California has so much solar that it needs ways to move energy supply to different times of the day or reduce demand at certain times, we could see a real business model emerge.</p>
<p>That creates a major opportunity for companies like Tesla Motors, EnerNOC, Alphabet, and other energy innovators to provide solutions to the energy industry.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/01/california-has-too-much-solar-power-and-thats-a-go.aspx" type="external">California Has Too Much Solar Power -- And That's a Good Thing Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p>Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFlushDraw/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Travis Hoium Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (C shares), EnerNOC, and Tesla Motors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | California Has Too Much Solar Power -- And That's a Good Thing | true | http://foxbusiness.com/investing/2016/05/01/california-has-too-much-solar-power-and-that-good-thing.html | 2016-05-01 | 0 |
<p><a href="" type="internal">Kia</a> Motors said it is recalling 145,755 Optima sedans and Rondo crossover vehicles in the United States because of potentially faulty driver airbags.</p>
<p>The model years affected are 2006-2008 Optimas and 2007-2008 Rondos, Kia Motors America said in a statement on Monday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Kia Motors America, a unit of Kia Motors Corp, said it is not aware of any injuries or airbags not deploying because of the issue.</p>
<p>Affected are 95,569 Optimas and 50,186 Rondos.</p>
<p>Kia, an affiliate of <a href="" type="internal">Hyundai</a> Motor Co, said the clock spring contact assembly for the driver's side air bag supplemental restraint system may become damaged over time, potentially causing the driver's air bag not to deploy.</p>
<p>The recall is expected to begin in March, Kia said. (Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Kia Recalls 146,000 Vehicles | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/01/23/kia-recalls-146000-vehicles.html | 2016-01-26 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
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<p>Play the “2016 Football Picks” cash and free play kiosk game every Sunday and Monday this month. Guests can swipe their players club card at any kiosk for a chance at a portion of more than $47,000 in free play or $5,000 in cash. Patrons receive one swipe at the kiosk after they earn 250 points.</p>
<p>Slot enthusiasts can win some extra play this month during “Red Hot Seat Drawings” on select Monday and Tuesday nights in October. The drawings will be held every half hour between 5 and 9:30 p.m.</p>
<p>Hot seat winners will receive $100 in free play. All you have to do is use your Sky City Players Club card when playing your favorite slot machine.</p>
<p>Sky City Casino Hotel is offering plenty of promotions during October. (Courtesy of Sky City Casino Hotel)</p>
<p>Sky City is conjuring up some wicked winnings during its “Hocus Pocus $10 Buy-In Slot Tournament” at 6 p.m. on Oct. 14. Compete with other guests for a chance to be one of the top 12 finalists to win $100 in free play or between $200 to $500 in cash.</p>
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<p>The spooky fun continues with the “Freaky, Creepy Jeep Giveaway.” Two winners will be selected from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8, Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 as well as at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Oct. 29, for a chance to win $100 in free play and qualify for the final drawing on Oct. 29.</p>
<p>One lucky winner will drive away in a 2016 Jeep Cherokee Laredo during the “Freaky, Creepy Jeep Giveaway” final drawing. Guests receive one entry for every 40 points they earn playing their favorite Sky City game using their players card.</p>
<p>Saturdays are for bingo players this month at Sky City during “Bingo’s $1,000 Saturdays.” Bingo guests who have a single cash spend of $15 or more, who use their players card, are eligible to win.</p>
<p>Bingo players also can take part in “Bingo’s Pick A Pumpkin” promotion on Wednesday, Oct. 12, Oct. 19 and Oct. 26. The promotion features $3,000 total cash drawings. Bingo guests who purchase an electronic bingo package, using their players card, are eligible to win up to $500 in cash.</p>
<p>For more information on Sky City, call 888-759-2489 or visit <a href="http://skycity.com" type="external">skycity.com</a>.</p>
<p>SANDIA RESORT &amp; CASINO: Sitting on the sidelines is a good thing at Sandia Resort &amp; Casino during its “$100,000 Sideline Saturdays” every Saturday in October.</p>
<p>The promotion is held every two hours between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Earn one ticket when you accrue 50 base points playing your favorite slot game using your Peaks Rewards card.</p>
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<p>Table game players earn one ticket when they earn 500 points playing their favorite table games. There will be 10 winners per drawing hour between 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the promotion dates for a chance at $250 free play.</p>
<p>At 7 p.m. winners will be drawn for an opportunity to win $1,000 cash during the promotion dates. Winners must claim their prize within 10 minutes or another name will be chosen.</p>
<p>Today as well as on Oct. 14, Oct. 21 and Oct. 28, patrons can be part of “Freaky Play Fridays.” Earn 500 base slot points from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays this month and receive $10 in slot free play.</p>
<p>Slot players also can enjoy the “One Million Pumpkin Point Hot Seats” promotion on Thursdays this month, including Oct. 13, 20 and 27. Drawings will be held every two hours from 2 to 10 p.m. There will be two winners per drawing who will have a chance at 25,000 bonus Peak Rewards points.</p>
<p>On Sunday, Oct. 9, win your share of more than $1 million in free play during the “$1,000,000 Mystery Match &amp; Win” from 8 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Peaks Rewards members verify their play symbol, as noted in their mailers, at the Players Club, for a free prize offer and a chance at up to $500 in free play.</p>
<p>Table game players can also join in the haunting fun during “$40K Cauldron of Prizes Hot Seats” on Tuesdays this month including Oct. 11, 18 and 25. There will be two winners drawn every two hours between noon and 8 p.m. Each winner will roll one dice to try to win up to $1,000 in table games free play.</p>
<p>For more information on Sandia Resort &amp; Casino, call 796-7500 or visit <a href="http://sandiacasino.com" type="external">sandiacasino.com</a>.</p>
<p /> | More than hocus pocus: Sky City Casino Hotel scaring up big prizes in October | false | https://abqjournal.com/862235/more-than-hocus-pocus.html | 2 |
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<p>Today Americans are going to the polls to vote in state and local elections.&#160;But one year from now, millions of black Americans could find themselves shut out of that essential democratic right.</p>
<p>Larry Butler, a longtime voter, may be one of those denied. Butler was born in 1926 in South Carolina. He remembers well the days of Jim Crow, poll taxes and literacy tests that barred many African-American citizens from the voting booth. He witnessed the valiant struggle to ensure that all of South Carolina's citizens could raise their voices on Election Day.</p>
<p>Now it seems like those days are back. Butler was born at home during an era of strict segregation in which African Americans did not have access to hospitals. Because Butler does not have an official birth certificate, he was denied the free, state photo ID and was told it would cost $150 to get the required document to obtain one. He experienced a modern-day version of the poll tax. Unlike Butler, most Americans will not have to pay more than $100 to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right. The Associated Press recently reported that South Carolina's law will, in fact, <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7vwY6tfxVrOQYQDzs5BJa10gTTw?docId=5847b73dea70432d8e6bfb085b2921de" type="external">hit black precincts the hardest</a>.</p>
<p>Dorothy Cooper, 96, of Tennessee, <a href="" type="internal">has a similar tale</a>. Despite having a copy of her lease, a rental receipt, her voter registration card and her birth certificate, she was denied a voter ID because her birth certificate is in her maiden name and she can't find her marriage license.&#160;Following widespread media attention and a public outcry, she was given back her voice and granted a state photo ID, but millions of other voters will not be so fortunate next year.</p>
<p>The spate of new laws that will deny the franchise to millions include draconian limits on voter-registration groups and early voting, requirements for restrictive state photo ID to vote and the denial of the vote to people with criminal records who have paid their debt to society. Not all Americans will be impacted equally, and the restrictions will fall most heavily on African Americans, Latinos, the young, the elderly and the disabled. These are the groups that are the least wealthy, the least likely to vote for the interests of the 1 percent and who surged to the polls in 2008.&#160;&#160;</p>
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<p>The numbers are staggering; an estimated 5 million eligible voters are impacted by the new laws passed to date - more than the margin of error in the last two of the three presidential elections. It is not just coincidence that the states in which these laws exist now represent 171 electoral votes, two-thirds of those needed to win the presidency, and of the 12 likely battleground states, six have already cut back on voting rights and more are currently considering new restrictions.&#160;</p>
<p>A film by Brave New Foundation released today (see an excerpt below) highlights the backing of the billionaire Koch brothers for voter-suppression efforts around the nation. It is no accident that the same corporate interests that have fueled the anger against economic injustice voiced by the Occupy Wall Street movement would deny 99 percent of Americans the expansive democracy tirelessly championed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. It promises a dangerous restructuring of our nation and stacks the deck against the 99 percent.</p>
<p>We&#160;already rank near the bottom of all nations among the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development Countries (which encompasses about 31 of the world's industrialized countries). The United States is 27th in child and senior poverty rates, income inequality, health and pre-primary education, according to the Germany-based Bertelsmann Stiftung Foundation.</p>
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<p>African-American communities rank lower than that, with child poverty and infant mortality rates that rival any Third World nation.</p>
<p>If our voices in the voting booth are silenced, the consequences for changing those painful numbers are obvious.</p>
<p>We must and can fight back. Already progressive forces have compelled governors in Montana, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina and New Hampshire to veto photo ID laws, and we beat them back in others. We are launching <a href="http://signon.org/sign/tell-doj-to-block-discrimina" type="external">a petition drive</a> to call upon the Department of Justice to deny approval under the Voting Rights Act of discriminatory photo ID laws in South Carolina and Texas. In Missouri, we have already filed a lawsuit challenging a photo ID amendment to Missouri's constitution, and this is just the beginning.</p>
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<p>These laws affect the very character of our democracy and pose an essential question for our country: Are we a democracy for the few or for the many? Are we rushing down the road to a new form of economic and political apartheid, or will we rise up, raise our voices loudly and fight diligently - we the 99 percent - for the moral core of America's promise: democracy for all.</p>
<p>Judith Browne Dianis is one of the nation's leading voting-rights litigators and co-director of the <a href="http://www.advancementproject.org/" type="external">Advancement Project</a>, a next-generation civil rights organization focused on issues of democracy and race.</p> | Your Take: Our Ability to Vote Is in Peril | true | https://theroot.com/your-take-our-ability-to-vote-is-in-peril-1790866728 | 2011-11-07 | 4 |
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday afternoon's drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery's "Pick 4 Day" game were:</p>
<p>3-0-2-7, Wild: 3</p>
<p>(three, zero, two, seven; Wild: three)</p>
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday afternoon's drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery's "Pick 4 Day" game were:</p>
<p>3-0-2-7, Wild: 3</p>
<p>(three, zero, two, seven; Wild: three)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Pick 4 Day' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/82517dbbf6a44d3ba9b2efdd9e4ec5df | 2018-01-08 | 2 |
<p>It’s only natural to dream about a life without stress. Where everything’s calm and serene like a palm tree gently swaying in the island breeze. Where you just sort of float above all the world’s problems like a fluffy white cloud.</p>
<p>Then you wake up – to reality.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>If nothing else, the real world is characterized by ups and downs. I don’t know about you, but the fantasy that comes closest to resembling my life on planet Earth has got to be a rollercoaster ride – one that occasionally flies off the rails.</p>
<p>Now that I think about it, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you’re the kind of person who wants to achieve anything worth achieving in life, maybe even some greatness, then disaster pretty much comes with the territory.</p>
<p>The truth is you can’t be successful without taking risks, in which case you’re bound to experience the occasional “Oh $*#!” moment. God knows I have. I’ve been through business disaster, financial disaster, career disaster, personal disaster – you name it, I’ve been through it.</p>
<p>I was the CEO of a company that ultimately had to file for bankruptcy. I’ve had to lay off I don’t know how many people. I’ve been fired – downright humiliated – at least twice. I’ve suffered nearly catastrophic financial loss. And, ten years ago, I got a phone call telling me my wife had cancer.</p>
<p>That said, I’ve seen more than my share of success and happiness, too. But you know how people say, “It all evens out?” Those people are wrong. Ups and downs don’t cancel each other out. They stand on their own as powerful moments in life. Moments that teach us critical lessons. Moments with potential for enormous insight.</p>
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<p>I’ve learned a lot from those moments. Mostly I’ve learned about human behavior, especially that of leaders and executives, in the face of adversity. And I’m here to tell you that some of it flies right smack in the face of conventional wisdom. Here are four surprising conclusions I’ve reached about leadership and adversity.</p>
<p>What doesn’t kill us doesn’t usually make us stronger. Actually, it depends. Adversity or failure only makes you stronger if you have the courage to face it and learn from it. In other words, it only makes you stronger if you’re strong to begin with.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there’s a natural tendency to look the other way and make believe it didn’t happen. In leaders, that usually takes the form of pointing fingers or blaming others. If you don’t hold yourself accountable, you gain nothing from failure.</p>
<p>Adverse conditions build strong leaders. There’s a very good reason why so many accomplished people come from the streets of inner cities and other challenging environments. It’s the competition. The friction. The stress.</p>
<p>We’re trained to think of stress as a bad thing. It’s not. Stress tests our mettle, our capabilities, our guts and determination. Whether the result of stress is good or bad depends on what you do with it, how you handle it, how you use it.</p>
<p>If you grow up with adversity and come out on top, then you’re probably leadership material or at least someone with solid success potential. Hardship is like a Darwinian Petry dish that breeds leaders.</p>
<p>Emotion under pressure can be a good thing. Conventional wisdom says that good leaders are calm, cool, collected under pressure. That’s not necessarily true. They may appear that way, but if you truly feel no emotion under stressful conditions, then you’re missing a big chunk of what you need to excel at your job.</p>
<p>In my experience, the most powerful response to disaster or failure is when you can feel the full range of emotions about what’s happening or what’s transpired and still manage to communicate, reason, and make solid decisions. That’s what separates great leaders from the pack.</p>
<p>Frankly, I’ve known far too many CEOs and business leaders who, for lack of a better term, were not emotionally invested in their jobs. They acted fearless in the face of high risk and composed in the face of disaster when, in reality, they had already checked out. And that compromised their decision-making. Unfortunately, it happens all the time. And the result can be devastating for their companies.</p>
<p>You really can’t tell much about a person. The biggest myth of all is that you can tell a lot about people from the way they handle disaster. It would be true if you could get inside their heads and see what’s really going on in there. Or if you could fast-forward time to see the results of their actions.</p>
<p>In many if not most cases, you really can’t tell much until long after the fact. The only exception, of course, is if the person is you. If you’re reasonably self-aware, you can learn a lot about yourself from your own behavior under pressure. Personally, I highly recommend it – as long as you’re willing to know the truth.</p> | The Truth About How Leaders Handle Adversity | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/04/16/truth-about-how-leaders-handle-adversity.html | 2016-03-02 | 0 |
<p>“I do plainly and ingenuously confess that I am guilty of corruption. . . .”</p>
<p>Francis Bacon, On being charged by Parliament with corruption in office.</p>
<p>Brazil to the rescue!&#160; I am not referring to the Olympics which will, if successful, serve as a distraction from other world events that are singularly depressing. &#160;Brazil is riding to the rescue by reminding us that as corrupt as some leaders in our political system may be, Brazil beats us hands down.&#160; For being made aware of the difference, we are indebted to the year 2016 and three separate but equal, at least in some respects, events.&#160; The events described are not exclusive but merely representative. The first, and most recent, is brought to us by an old favorite, Wayne G. Hubbard of Alabama.</p>
<p>On June 9, 2016, Mr. Hubbard was the Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives.&#160; He attained that post when, in 2010, the Republicans took control of the Alabama House for the first time since Reconstruction.&#160; Following that triumph, &#160;Mr. Hubbard &#160;wrote a <a href="" type="internal">book</a> entitled “Storming the Statehouse” in which he explained the Republican victory. &#160;That happened, he said, because: “Ethics was a subject that set Republicans apart from the Democrats.” The “setting apart” to which he was referring came about because prior to the election there had been a number of indictments and scandals involving Democrats.&#160; There had not, apparently, been similar events involving Republicans. Mr. Hubbard would eventually correct that.&#160; On June 10, 2016, Mr. Hubbard’s tenure as Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives came to an end.&#160; That was because on that day he was convicted of 12 felony ethics charges, a conviction that automatically caused his tenure as Speaker to come to an end. &#160;Instead of serving as Speaker of the House, he faces the possibility that he will serve up to 20 years in prison on each of the 12 criminal counts of which he was convicted.&#160; There is a bit of poetic justice in all this. &#160;The law that led to Mr. Hubbard’s conviction was passed by the Republicans when they took control of the House in 2010.</p>
<p>Mr. Hubbard is not the only state legislator who will look back on May 2016 as a particularly bad month. In New York State, Dean Skelos and Sheldon Silver both former New York legislators, found that to be a particularly bad month. Dean Skelos was the Republican majority leader of the New York State Senate.&#160; In December 2015 he was convicted of Federal corruption charges and on May 12, 2015, he was sentenced to five years in prison. He is no longer the Republican majority leader of the New York State Senate. Sheldon Silver was the Democratic Speaker of the New York State Assembly, and was convicted of, among other things, money laundering and extortion.&#160; Like Mr. Hubbard, the conviction cost him his seat in the Assembly.&#160; On May 3, 2016, Mr. Silver was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The good news to emerge from those examples is that there are good people available to replace the two former leaders who are not corrupt. For that, our friends in Brazil may well be envious.</p>
<p>On April 17, 2016, the Brazilian lower house of the Brazilian Congress overwhelmingly <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3545125/Brazilian-legislators-voted-impeach-President-Dilma-Rousseff-send-trial-Senate-charges-manipulating-budget-accounts.html" type="external">voted</a> to impeach the president of the country, Dilma Rousseff.&#160; The impeachment proceedings were led by the President of the House, Eduardo Cunha. As he cast his vote in favor of impeaching President Rousseff, Mr. Cunha said: “God have pity on this nation.”&#160; God fell down on the job as far as Mr. Cunha was concerned. In early May, Mr. Cunha was ordered to step down from his post because he is charged with, among other things, having taken $40 million in bribes.</p>
<p>Following her impeachment, Ms. Roussseff stepped aside as president and was replaced by Michel Timer.&#160; On June 15, 2016, Brazil’s Supreme Court released testimony from a plea bargain that implicated Mr. Timer in a graft scandal that involved, among others, Petrobras, Brazil’s state oil company.</p>
<p>The lower house of the parliament has 513 deputies of which 367 voted for impeachment.&#160; According to a watchdog group in Brasilia, Congresso em Foco, more than 300 of the members of the lower house are under investigation for such things as corruption, fraud, or electoral crimes.</p>
<p>Mr. Cunha has been replaced as President of the lower house of Congress by Waldir Maranhão.&#160; Mr. Maranhão is also involved in the graft scheme pertaining to Petrobras. &#160;The president of the senate is Renan Calheiros.&#160; Tax evasion and receiving bribes are among the matters for which he is being investigated.</p>
<p>Brazil’s troubles help the United States in that it shows how things could be worse in Alabama and New York.&#160; There could be no one to replace the corrupt politicians who are heading off to jail. There is, of course, something positive that Brazil can look forward to.&#160; It can look forward to hosting the Olympics in August assuming construction of the needed facilities is completed and there is not too much adverse publicity from the <a href="" type="internal">polluted</a> water in which some of the events will take place. Its political problems will not spoil the games for those in attendance-only for those who are citizens of that country.</p> | The Wages of Corruption | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/06/17/the-wages-of-corruption/ | 2016-06-17 | 4 |
<p>BUIES CREEK, N.C. — Larry G. Dickens has been named the first person to fill the Gay T. and Haskell A. Duncan Chair of Church Music at Campbell University Divinity School, effective July 1.</p>
<p />
<p>Dickens, a Campbell University graduate, has been minister of music at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville, N.C., since 1999 and an adjunct professor in the divinity school since 2006. In his new role as associate professor of church music and worship, Dickens will lead the master of divinity church music concentration and plan weekly chapel services.</p>
<p>Dickens also has been on the staff of other congregations, including Cave Spring Baptist Church in Roanoke, Yates Baptist Church in Durham and Second Baptist Church in Fayetteville.</p>
<p>“We are delighted to have Larry Dickens coming as the first holder of the Duncan Chair of Church Music,” said divinity school dean Andy Wakefield.&#160; “Dr. Dickens not only brings a wealth of experience, both in the church and in teaching at Campbell, but also he brings vision and a commitment to music and worship that is defined by depth and substance rather than style.&#160; … We are fortunate to have had a generous donor who gave us the funding for the chair and to have someone of Dickens’ experience and abilities to fill it.”</p>
<p>Dickens said his experience as an adjunct faculty member “has given me a new perspective on the state of church music in our region,” an insight which birthed “Oasis: Renew for the Journey,” a church music conference hosted by the divinity school each summer.</p>
<p>“Listening to and interacting with divinity school students has fueled my passion to train a new generation of worship leaders,” he said.</p> | Campbell University divinity school names first person to fill church music chair | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/campbelluniversitydivinityschoolnamesfirstpersontofillchurchmusicchair/ | 3 |
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<p>HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) — Those on the front lines of emergency calls such as firefighters, paramedics and other first responders have become more aware of post-traumatic stress disorder as calls for their services have grown.</p>
<p>Members of the Hamilton Fire Department have found a unique way to combat the problem.</p>
<p>On a frigid weekday morning recently, a few members of the fire department gathered inside of the Budokai Judo &amp; Jiu-Jitsu located in downtown Hamilton. The group dripped sweat as they were put through some intense training by one of the instructors.</p>
<p>This training in martial arts is helping them cope with stress in a healthy way. They’re bonding, and they’re learning how to protect themselves when out in the field.</p>
<p>“It’s not a good idea to just drop somebody when you are strangling them,” the instructor reminded his students while demonstrating a technique. “Just walk them back and lay them down.”</p>
<p>Tony Harris, president of the IAFF Local 20, which represents Hamilton firefighters, kept a watchful eye on the firefighters who have arrived to learn judo and jiu-jitsu.</p>
<p>“With PTSD being a forefront in the fire service today, more and more members are beginning to feel the weight and struggles it places on you,” he explained. “Everyone is different with how they handle certain situations and what works best for them to deal with it. Several of our members began brainstorming different ideas on how to address these issues.”</p>
<p>The number of runs due to increased drug problems made it even more important to find a way to deal with stress.</p>
<p>“In 1996, the department went on 8,116 runs and in 2017 there were 14,546 runs,” Harris said. “We were up even 1,500 runs from last year. Dealing with these types of numbers, plus the extra danger out there with the drug overdoses, made us try to figure out a way to deal with the stress.”</p>
<p>Bryan Hanna has been with the department for 13 years. He explained that the new Judo training has been helpful for many different reasons and has been popular with people new to the department and even those who have even retired.</p>
<p>“We needed to find an outlet aside from going out and drinking with the guys or going out late at night, and this is a good way for us to get together and have a little one and one (time) as well as group sessions to get some physical activity and it is also mentally stimulating learning a new skill,” Hanna said.</p>
<p>Getting some extra training on how to deal with on-the-job problems has also been a big benefit of the martial arts instruction.</p>
<p>“With the number of overdoses, several times they come to and want to be combative and they try to attack us out of confusion,” Hanna said. “We are learning here how to restrain them until the police officers can assist us or until they understand exactly what is going on — that they are coming through an overdose or a bad situation.”</p>
<p>He added, “we are learning judo and jiu-jitsu. Both of those are putting us in stressful situations so we know that we can survive and overcome any issue, and that applies to personal lives, family lives and professional lives.”</p>
<p>The training has been a hit with all of the firefighters and paramedics who have signed up, and Hanna thinks it will grow in the future.</p>
<p>“This has been going on for about four weeks now. We’ve had, department-wide, about 20 individuals show interest,” he said. “It is a growing process. There are a lot of other individuals who are expressing interest, and I feel in the next six months or so this is going to be something major.”</p>
<p>Ryan Tucker, who has been with the fire department for nearly four months, was fresh off of applying a back-of-the-leg maneuver that could be helpful in deterring injury to himself or others when he gave his stamp of approval to the training.</p>
<p>“It is very helpful, and we are learning things that can help prevent us or others we are trying to help from getting injured,” he said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online: <a href="http://bit.ly/2m8vmp6" type="external">http://bit.ly/2m8vmp6</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: MIDDLETOWN: Hamilton-Middletown Journal News , <a href="http://www.journal-news.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.journal-news.com" type="external">http://www.journal-news.com</a></p>
<p>HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) — Those on the front lines of emergency calls such as firefighters, paramedics and other first responders have become more aware of post-traumatic stress disorder as calls for their services have grown.</p>
<p>Members of the Hamilton Fire Department have found a unique way to combat the problem.</p>
<p>On a frigid weekday morning recently, a few members of the fire department gathered inside of the Budokai Judo &amp; Jiu-Jitsu located in downtown Hamilton. The group dripped sweat as they were put through some intense training by one of the instructors.</p>
<p>This training in martial arts is helping them cope with stress in a healthy way. They’re bonding, and they’re learning how to protect themselves when out in the field.</p>
<p>“It’s not a good idea to just drop somebody when you are strangling them,” the instructor reminded his students while demonstrating a technique. “Just walk them back and lay them down.”</p>
<p>Tony Harris, president of the IAFF Local 20, which represents Hamilton firefighters, kept a watchful eye on the firefighters who have arrived to learn judo and jiu-jitsu.</p>
<p>“With PTSD being a forefront in the fire service today, more and more members are beginning to feel the weight and struggles it places on you,” he explained. “Everyone is different with how they handle certain situations and what works best for them to deal with it. Several of our members began brainstorming different ideas on how to address these issues.”</p>
<p>The number of runs due to increased drug problems made it even more important to find a way to deal with stress.</p>
<p>“In 1996, the department went on 8,116 runs and in 2017 there were 14,546 runs,” Harris said. “We were up even 1,500 runs from last year. Dealing with these types of numbers, plus the extra danger out there with the drug overdoses, made us try to figure out a way to deal with the stress.”</p>
<p>Bryan Hanna has been with the department for 13 years. He explained that the new Judo training has been helpful for many different reasons and has been popular with people new to the department and even those who have even retired.</p>
<p>“We needed to find an outlet aside from going out and drinking with the guys or going out late at night, and this is a good way for us to get together and have a little one and one (time) as well as group sessions to get some physical activity and it is also mentally stimulating learning a new skill,” Hanna said.</p>
<p>Getting some extra training on how to deal with on-the-job problems has also been a big benefit of the martial arts instruction.</p>
<p>“With the number of overdoses, several times they come to and want to be combative and they try to attack us out of confusion,” Hanna said. “We are learning here how to restrain them until the police officers can assist us or until they understand exactly what is going on — that they are coming through an overdose or a bad situation.”</p>
<p>He added, “we are learning judo and jiu-jitsu. Both of those are putting us in stressful situations so we know that we can survive and overcome any issue, and that applies to personal lives, family lives and professional lives.”</p>
<p>The training has been a hit with all of the firefighters and paramedics who have signed up, and Hanna thinks it will grow in the future.</p>
<p>“This has been going on for about four weeks now. We’ve had, department-wide, about 20 individuals show interest,” he said. “It is a growing process. There are a lot of other individuals who are expressing interest, and I feel in the next six months or so this is going to be something major.”</p>
<p>Ryan Tucker, who has been with the fire department for nearly four months, was fresh off of applying a back-of-the-leg maneuver that could be helpful in deterring injury to himself or others when he gave his stamp of approval to the training.</p>
<p>“It is very helpful, and we are learning things that can help prevent us or others we are trying to help from getting injured,” he said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online: <a href="http://bit.ly/2m8vmp6" type="external">http://bit.ly/2m8vmp6</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: MIDDLETOWN: Hamilton-Middletown Journal News , <a href="http://www.journal-news.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.journal-news.com" type="external">http://www.journal-news.com</a></p> | Ohio firefighters use martial arts to cope with stress | false | https://apnews.com/5b9ddb01dedb4bdbacf5fec5a0ae0ec8 | 2018-01-20 | 2 |
<p>Now that it’s been 16 years and you’ve finally gotten the song out of your head, Erykah Badu revealed <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/erykah-badu-reveals-mom-ms-jackson_us_583c4d75e4b000af95eeeb7f" type="external">what the real Ms. Jackson thought about the Outkast</a> song named after her. Just in case you recently arrived from Mars and have never heard it, the 2000 song goes, “I’m sorry, Ms. Jackson, I am for real / Never meant to make your daughter cry / I apologize a trillion times.”&#160;Andre 3000 had broken up with Badu and was addressing her mother, which is at least somewhat thoughtful since <a href="http://www.nme.com/news/music/erykah-badu-reveals-real-ms-jackson-thinks-outkasts-iconic-rap-hit-1875001?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=social" type="external">she is the grandmother of his son,</a> Seven Sirius Benjamin, who was 7 years old at the time.</p>
<p>Badu&#160;said that her mom was thrilled with the shoutout. She said on a Rap Radar podcast, “Baby,&#160; <a href="http://popcrush.com/erykah-badu-ms-jackson-meaning-andre-3000-mother/" type="external">she bought herself a ‘Ms. Jackson’ licence plate</a>. She had the mug, she had the ink pen, she had the headband, everything. That’s who loved it.” Badu, on the other hand, did not like the song. Really, who wants to hear their ex top the charts talking in veiled ways about their relationship? Yeah, that’s what I thought.</p>
<p>“It hit kind of a sore spot,” she said. “I didn’t wanna hear that, especially when I heard Big Boi’s verse.” Badu added, “When I heard Andre’s verse, I felt very good because his verse was really, really inspiring. He just said how he felt and it was his honest feelings.”</p>
<p />
<p>It&#160;was a pretty grown-ass way to handle it. If you remember, the Big Boi verse is the part about seeing a grandson as a paycheck, and if you want to take it super literally, a tense relationship with a mom not understanding her daughter’s relationship with a guy she doesn’t like (and the daughter not talking to her mother because his dick is well “all up in her mouth”).</p>
<p>Andre’s verses are more about the “puppy love” and how people just fall out of love and away from each other. “ <a href="http://www.vibe.com/2016/04/erykah-badu-and-andre-3000s-son-seven-accepted-into-four-colleges/" type="external">Ms. Jackson, my intentions were good,</a>” Andre raps. He adds that he hates thinking of the kid not knowing his dad and wanting to be present for his first day of school and graduation (which, by the way, he was. Their son, now 19, graduated high school last spring and was accepted into four colleges.)</p>
<p />
<p>So, even if the song was tough to listen to and her mom was going crazy about being THE Ms. Jackson, a lot of good came out of it. Puppy love might not be forever, but a tight family is.</p> | Erykah Badu says the real Ms. Jackson had some feelings about the Outkast song | true | http://thefrisky.com/2016-11-28/erykah-badu-says-the-real-ms-jackson-had-some-feelings-about-the-outkast-song/?utm_medium%3DSocial%26utm_campaign%3DEchobox%26utm_source%3DFacebook%26utm_term%3DAutofeed%23link_time%3D1480378703 | 2018-10-06 | 4 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Barack Obama nominated Republican ex-Senator Chuck Hagel to be his next Defense secretary today. The talk of this nomination has been lighting up the blogs and the Sunday morning chat shows, with various Republicans lining up to say they will have some tough questions for their former colleague, and even some antiwar activists backing Hagel’s nomination.</p>
<p>The story can seem a little bit confusing–often because of misleading recaps of Hagel’s career, which can make him sound like more like Dennis Kucinich than like the Republican who voted in favor of the Iraq War.</p>
<p>There are at least <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-to-nominate-chuck-hagel-for-defense-secretary-source-says/2013/01/06/359b165e-5824-11e2-9fa9-5fbdc9530eb9_print.html" type="external">two things</a> that might complicate Hagel’s chances. He is viewed as being slightly more critical of Israel than the average lawmaker; this is what has driven much of commentary about his possible nomination, and contributed to the sense that the Israel lobby AIPAC could work to scuttle his nomination. Hagel’s defenders point out that he’s been very supportive of foreign aid for Israel.&#160; On Iran, he seems to be skeptical about all-out war, though he co-authored a Washington Post op-ed ( <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-us-needs-to-discuss-whats-at-stake-in-iran-war/2012/09/28/44530a8a-fd34-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_story.html" type="external">9/28/12</a>) that argued, in part, that</p>
<p>&#160;a U.S. attack would demonstrate the country’s credibility as an ally to other nations in the region and would derail Iran’s nuclear ambitions for several years, providing space for other, potentially longer-term solutions. An attack would also make clear the United States’ full commitment to nonproliferation as other nations contemplate moves in that direction.</p>
<p>Hagel’s position on Iran sanctions has attracted criticism from the right for being too soft, but his position would seem to be that such efforts should be multilateral, and that the United States should be pursuing diplomatic relations as well.</p>
<p>It’s hard to understand how any of this could be considered particularly remarkable, but in the context of the United States Congress, these are apparently considered edgy policy positions.</p>
<p>But the real point is that there is a serious dispute among political elites, and thus the coverage often works hard to portray some kind of fundamental disagreement over what Hagel’s record. In the New York Times today ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/us/obama-expected-to-select-hagel-for-defense-post.html?ref=todayspaper" type="external">1/7/13</a>), <a href="" type="internal">Scott Shane</a> and <a href="" type="internal">David Sanger</a> write:</p>
<p>Rather than turning to a defense technocrat, Mr. Obama decided on an independent politician whose service in Vietnam gave him a lifelong skepticism about the commitment of American lives in overseas conflicts. Like Mr. Obama, Mr. Hagel supported the war in Afghanistan but opposed the troop surge in Iraq under President George W. Bush.</p>
<p>And at ABCNews.com ( <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/president-obama-taps-chuck-hagel-defense-secretary-girds/story?id=18147109#.UOsZVqx7JJk" type="external">1/7/13</a>), Devin Swyer and <a href="" type="internal">Jonathan Karl</a> write:</p>
<p>The Nebraska Republican has also drawn fire for his outspoken opposition to the 2003 U.S.-led war in Iraq and the subsequent troop “surge” ordered by then-President George W. Bush in 2007, which has been credited with helping bring the war to a close.</p>
<p>Outspoken opponents of the Iraq War actually spoke out against it–and, if they were politicians, voted against it. Hagel voted in favor of the Iraq War–an inconvenient fact for the Times to put next to any claim about his “lifelong skepticism”&#160; when it comes to deploying U.S. troops. That fact came four paragraphs later–along with the qualified that the Iraq War resolution “passed overwhelmingly in October 2002.” So he’s a maverick, except for when he’s voting like everyone else.&#160; Sounds a lot like the other Republican <a href="" type="internal">maverick</a> senator.</p>
<p>And Spencer Ackerman at Wired ( <a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/01/chuck-hagel-hawk/" type="external">1/6/13</a>) points out that Hagel was kind of a maverick when it came to the 1999 NATO attacks on Serbia:</p>
<p>Nearly alone among senators, Hagel wanted to send in the Army.</p>
<p>“My goodness, we’ve got a butcher loose in the backyard of NATO,” an incredulous Hagel told Tim Russert on Meet the Press in April 1999.</p>
<p>It’s true that Hagel was <a href="http://mobile.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/in-the-war-on-terror-hagel-hasn-t-gone-with-the-crowd-20121227" type="external">more skeptical</a> of the case for war in Iraq than the average Republican senator–which might be why some of them don’t much care for him.</p>
<p>In the seriously constrained foreign policy debate in elite politics and media, Chuck Hagel counts as a maverick. Proof of that came when the Washington Post ( <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/chuck-hagel-is-not-right-for-defense-secretary/2012/12/18/07e03e20-493c-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_story.html" type="external">12/18/12</a>) editorialized that Hagel would be the wrong pick:</p>
<p>Hagel’s stated positions on critical issues, ranging from defense spending to Iran, fall well to the left of those pursued by Mr. Obama during his first term.</p>
<p>So the Republican Hagel is considered controversial, mostly among Republicans, but also to the likes of the Washington Post, which sees the mostly pro-war senator as being too far to the left.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Chuck Hagel, Dove? | true | http://fair.org/blog/2013/01/07/chuck-hagel-dove/ | 2013-01-07 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Daniel Tarullo, the Federal Reserve's regulatory point man since 2009, will resign this spring, the central bank said Friday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Mr. Tarullo's brief resignation letter to President Donald Trump didn't give a reason for his departure. He said he has been privileged to serve at the Fed for eight years.</p>
<p>The letter said his resignation will take effect "on or about" April 5.</p>
<p>Mr. Tarullo's future has been a matter of debate in the financial sector. He was appointed by President Barack Obama in January 2009 and overhauled the way the Fed oversees the largest U.S. banks.</p>
<p>His term doesn't expire until 2022, but Mr. Trump is widely expected to appoint someone else to the currently vacant post of Federal Reserve vice chairman in charge of bank oversight.</p>
<p>Mr. Tarullo has effectively filled that role, even without that title. A Trump nominee likely would challenge Mr. Tarullo's influence.</p>
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<p>With Mr. Tarullo's exit, Mr. Trump's still-unnamed choice for the vice chairman's job likely will have more latitude in setting the Fed's regulatory agenda. That latitude isn't unlimited, however. The Fed's regulations and major decisions still must be approved by its seven-member governing board, led by Chairwoman Janet Yellen. The Fed leader has said she intends to serve out the rest of her term as chairwoman, which ends in February 2018.</p>
<p>Mr. Tarullo's departure would leave three vacant seats on the Fed board. The board currently has two vacancies, including the slot for vice chairman in charge of bank oversight.</p>
<p>Mr. Trump hasn't said whom he will appoint to the Fed board. David Nason, an executive at General Electric Co.'s financing arm, has emerged as a leading candidate for the vice chairman job in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. But Mr. Trump's team has interviewed other candidates, these people said.</p>
<p>Mr. Tarullo, 64 years old, a liberal former law professor, will leave a significant legacy at the central bank, with most -- but not all -- of his stated regulatory agenda complete. He has presided over a significant expansion of the Fed's influence over Wall Street -- thanks to new powers gained in the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law, backing from two successive Fed leaders and other U.S. regulators, and his own maneuvering. Some financiers called him the "Wizard of Oz" for his mysterious yet powerful role enforcing bank rules.</p>
<p>Mr. Tarullo came to the Fed as Mr. Obama took office with a mission to overhaul a regulatory system that had just failed to prevent a massive financial crisis. Under Mr. Tarullo's watch, the Fed charted an aggressive course, adopting rules that effectively tax banks' size -- but avoiding directly forcing them to break up, as some industry critics had demanded.</p>
<p>He successfully pushed for tighter capital and liquidity requirements on big banks, winning international agreement on minimum standards and then working with other U.S. regulators to "gold-plate" them, or make them even tougher, on firms operating in the U.S. He was a force behind new rules for foreign-owned banks operating on U.S. soil.</p>
<p>He helped design and implement new annual "stress tests" that big U.S. banks must pass or face restrictions on their ability to pay dividends. Supporters say that process has made banks more resilient, and helped improve their risk management. But critics say banks are holding excessive amounts of capital and the tests give the government too much influence over banks' business.</p>
<p>Among those critics is Gary Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. president now serving as head of the White House National Economic Council. Mr. Cohn has a major role in choosing the new Fed vice chairman for banking and setting the administration's financial deregulation course. In a Feb. 3 interview with The Wall Street Journal, he blasted the Fed's capital rules put in place under Mr. Tarullo's watch. "What is happening now, because of all the regulation, is that the Fed is pumping money into the banks, but the same Fed on the other side is telling all those banks you need to hold more and more and more capital, so that capital is never getting out to Main Street America," he said in the interview. "What we are trying to do is we are trying to unlock the banking system to not be hoarders of capital."</p>
<p>Mr. Tarullo also reorganized the Fed's regulatory structure, centralizing more decision-making power in Washington at the expense of front-line regulators such as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.</p>
<p>Mr. Tarullo's departure may be welcomed by some bankers and investors who felt his approach was draconian. But questions remain about his successor, and the extent to which that person will reflect Mr. Trump's anti-Wall Street campaign rhetoric, or the president's more recent friendliness to some of Wall Street's titans.</p>
<p>Mr. Tarullo leaves with several items of unfinished business. One rule under development would make stress tests even harder to pass for the very largest, most systemically important banks. Mr. Tarullo has talked about the rule publicly, but the Fed hasn't formally proposed it. The future of that rule could be in danger if Mr. Trump's appointees have a deregulatory bent.</p>
<p>The Fed also is working on capital rule changes designed to help small community banks and capital rules for insurance companies.</p>
<p>On monetary policy, Mr. Tarullo's resignation removes a voice for caution on raising interest rates. Mr. Tarullo has warned against raising interest rates too aggressively, saying the economy has room to grow as it recovers from the last recession.</p>
<p>"We obviously don't want to be pushing on the brakes harder than we need to in order to continue the trend of moderate growth," he said at a Wall Street Journal event in November.</p>
<p>He has said he would like to see inflation move closer to the Fed's 2% target before moving aggressively on raising interest rates, a view that has placed him among the "doves," along with his board colleague Lael Brainard. But he did join a unanimous vote in December to raise the Fed's benchmark rate.</p>
<p>His departure gives President Trump three vacancies on the Fed's seven-member board to fill. That gives the president unusual sway in determining the future course of monetary policy. Choosing candidates who favor a faster pace of rate increases could tip the Fed's policy-making toward a more "hawkish" view.</p>
<p>Mr. Trump also will have a chance to influence Fed leadership early next year, when Janet Yellen's term as chairwoman expires in early February. Stanley Fischer's term as vice chairman expires in June. Both could stay on the Fed board longer, as their terms as governors extend later.</p>
<p>Mr. Trump has said he probably wouldn't reappoint Ms. Yellen. Beyond that, it is unclear at what level he would like to see interest rates.</p>
<p>In November 2015, he said Ms. Yellen was holding rates low for political reasons to help the Obama administration. In May, however, he called himself "a low interest-rate person."</p> | Daniel Tarullo, Federal Reserve Regulatory Point Man, to Resign | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/10/daniel-tarullo-federal-reserve-regulatory-point-man-to-resign.html | 2017-02-10 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Surmont. Image source: ConocoPhillips.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Canada's energy sector has been hit hard over the past couple of years. Not only have very weak oil prices impacted producer profitability, but the recent wildfires in the oil sands region have impacted production. That said, with the wildfires moving away from the region, producers like ConocoPhillips are finally starting to reactivate facilities that were shut down as a precaution. It's an important step for the company because it had been expecting the oil sands to be a key growth driver during the downturn.</p>
<p>This past week ConocoPhillips and its joint venture partner Total started to reactivate wells at their Surmont oil sands project, which had been shut down for nearly a month. As of earlier this week the company had activated 25% of the wells, with hopes of restarting all 156 wells as quickly as possible. That said, the partners don't expect Surmont to be back up to its pre-fire production level of 60,000 barrels per day until early July.</p>
<p>For most oil companies having a project as large as Surmont offline for that lengthy period of time would be quite the blow. However, the 50/50 partners won't see as dramatic an impact on their overall production due to the sheer size of their global operations. In ConocoPhillips' case, it had expected to produce 1.5 million to 1.54 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, or BOE/d, during the second quarter, so it could still be within its guidance range despite the reduced output from Surmont. Meanwhile, output at Total would also be minimally impacted given that it's production was nearly 2.5 million BOE/d last quarter.</p>
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<p>Having said all that, while Surmont is a relatively minor portion of both companies' current production it's expected to be a key driver of growth going forward. That's because the partners recently completed a major expansion of the project, which is expected to boost its production up to a peak of 170,000 barrels per day when it completes its ramp up by the end of next year. That increased production is going to be material for ConocoPhillips because it was expected to help offset its declining production from U.S. shale.</p>
<p>The good news is that the company believes that it is still "absolutely on track" to hit its production peak on time despite the minor setback from the wildfires. That's largely due to the fact that the company found very minor damage to the facility, leading to no impact on its operations going forward nor its ability to ramp production.</p>
<p>Foster Creek. Image source: Cenovus Energy Inc.</p>
<p>While ConocoPhillips and Total had to shut down their Surmont facility due to the wildfires, ConocoPhillips and its other Canadian oil sands joint venture partner, Cenovus Energy , didn't need to shut down their Foster Creek/Christina Lake (FCCL) joint venture. That's noteworthy because those facilities are actually more meaningful to ConocoPhillips' current production given that the two facilities combined to produce nearly 138,000 barrels per day net to ConocoPhillips last quarter. Further, both projects are also in the midst of being expanded, which will add approximately 100,000 barrels per day additional production capacity by the end of the year, which will be split evenly between ConocoPhillips and Cenovus Energy. Given their larger current size, if both facilities went offline for an extended period of time it would have had a more meaningful impact on ConocoPhilips' production than Surmont. Though, that would have paled in comparison to the potential impact on Cenovus Energy's production given that last quarter the FCCL joint venture accounted for roughly 70% of the company's total oil output.</p>
<p>With the wildfires moving away, ConocoPhillips can finally restart its Surmont project. Even better, that project wasn't damaged, which keeps it on pace to ramp up its production as expected. That positive outcome, along with the fact its other oil sands joint venture wasn't impacted by the wildfires, means ConocoPhillips dodged a real bullet given that it was counting heavily on its oil sands growth projects to keep its production afloat during the downturn.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/09/conocophillips-finally-fires-back-up-this-key-oil.aspx" type="external">ConocoPhillips Finally Fires Back Up This Key Oil Growth Project Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFmd19/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Matt DiLallo Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of ConocoPhillips. The Motley Fool recommends Total (ADR). Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | ConocoPhillips Finally Fires Back Up This Key Oil Growth Project | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/06/09/conocophillips-finally-fires-back-up-this-key-oil-growth-project.html | 2016-06-09 | 0 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Firefighters extinguished a garage fire in a northeast Albuquerque neighborhood Wednesday shortly before noon.</p>
<p>Melissa Romero, a spokeswoman for the Albuquerque Fire Department, said&#160;around 11 a.m. firefighters were called to a fire in a detached garage at a&#160;house on the corner of San Francisco and Louisiana NE.</p>
<p>“The garage was fully involved when units arrived,” Romero wrote in an email. “The smoke was so intense, it could be seen from downtown.”</p>
<p>She said firefighters extinguished the blaze within 20 minutes and contained the fire to the garage so it didn’t affect the house.</p>
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<p>“There were no occupants home when units arrived,” Romero said. “The garage is a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation.”</p>
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<p /> | Firefighters extinguish garage fire in Northeast Albuquerque | false | https://abqjournal.com/1099408/firefighters-extinguish-shed-fire-in-northeast-albuquerque.html | 2017-11-29 | 2 |
<p><a href="http://variety.com/t/don-ohlmeyer/" type="external">Don Ohlmeyer</a> was a skilled producer, a savvy programmer, a demanding boss and a commanding presence.</p>
<p>SEE MORE: <a href="https://variety.com/access-digital/" type="external">From the September 12, 2017, issue of Variety</a></p>
<p>The former NBC West Coast president, who died Sept. 10 at age 72, came to the Peacock in 1993, tasked with righting the ship that had run off course after the Brandon Tartikoff era.</p>
<p>During his tenure, which ran through 1999, Ohlmeyer galvanized a team of future star executives who have since fanned out across the industry.</p>
<p>“Don was a complicated, fascinating and brilliant man who taught me an enormous amount about how television really works on its audience and how to be a leader,” said <a href="http://variety.com/t/david-nevins/" type="external">David Nevins</a>, president and CEO of Showtime Networks.</p>
<p>Nevins’ colleagues from the Ohlmeyer years include John Landgraf, president-CEO of FX Networks; Kevin Reilly, president of TNT and TBS; Jamie Tarses, former ABC Entertainment president; and Karey Burke, exec VP of programming and development at Freeform.</p>
<p>Ohlmeyer was a natural leader, thanks to his years as a producer of live sports and TV movies, not to mention his linebacker build.</p>
<p>“He instilled both respect and fear in a lot of people,” recalled <a href="http://variety.com/t/preston-beckman/" type="external">Preston Beckman</a>, who headed scheduling under him. “After I survived seven years of working with Don, I knew I could never be afraid of anyone in the business.”</p>
<p>Ohlmeyer was tough but also unfailingly loyal.</p>
<p>“He wanted you to stick your neck out for what you believed in,” said Burke. “And he would have your back whether you were right or wrong — as long as you put your passion on the line.”</p> | NBC’s Don Ohlmeyer Remembered as a ‘Complicated, Fascinating, Brilliant Man’ | false | https://newsline.com/nbcs-don-ohlmeyer-remembered-as-a-complicated-fascinating-brilliant-man/ | 2017-09-12 | 1 |
<p>Alaskan Rep. Don Young has apologized for a comment he made, referring to Hispanic migrant workers as the racial slur "wetbacks."</p>
<p>"My father had a ranch; we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes," Young, a 79-year-old Republican in his 21st term in the House, <a href="http://www.krbd.org/2013/03/28/don-young-talks-regs-budget-economy-arctic-development/" type="external">told Alaska's KRBD radio</a> in a story posted Thursday. "It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine."</p>
<p>He has since voiced his regret for using the racial slur during a long interview in which he discussed the economy and Arctic development.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/news/regions/americas/united-states/demographics-US-Republican-Democrat-minorities" type="external">Better days ahead? Only with the demise of the Republican Party</a></p>
<p>"During a sit down interview with Ketchikan Public Radio this week, I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in Central California," <a href="http://www.ktuu.com/news/rep-don-young-retreats-from-use-of-wetback-in-radio-interview-032813,0,2991460.story" type="external">Young said</a>. "I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect."</p>
<p>In his statement, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/03/28/republican-rep-don-young-refers-to-latinos-using-racial-slur/" type="external">Young also said</a> migrant workers "play an important role in America's workforce, and earlier in the said interview, I discussed the compassion and understanding I have for these workers and the hurdles they face in obtaining citizenship. America must once and for all tackle the issue of immigration reform."</p>
<p>The word, now commonly known as an ethnic slur, <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/29/alaska-congressman-walks-back-wetbacks/comment-page-1/" type="external">originally referred to Mexicans</a> who came to the United States illegally by crossing the Rio Grande that borders Texas. It was also used by the US government in the 1950s during a crackdown on illegal immigration on the US-Mexico border called "Operation Wetback."</p>
<p>The Republican Party is <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/alaska-lawmaker-apologizes-racial-slur" type="external">currently attempting to soften its hardline positions</a> on those in the United States illegally in order to improve its image among Hispanic voters.</p> | Alaskan Rep. Don Young apologizes for calling Hispanic migrant workers 'wetbacks' | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-03-29/alaskan-rep-don-young-apologizes-calling-hispanic-migrant-workers-wetbacks | 2013-03-29 | 3 |
<p>By Aaron Ross</p>
<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Congolese army commanders orchestrated a wave of massacres that killed hundreds of people between 2014-2016 as they vied for influence with anti-government insurgents in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a new report said on Monday.</p>
<p>The report by the Congo Research Group (CRG) at New York University is the most comprehensive to date on the killings of more than 800 people and the first to offer a definite theory of the perpetrators’ motives.</p>
<p>It is based on 249 interviews with perpetrators, eyewitnesses and victims as well as internal U.N. reports and arrest records that document participation in the killings.</p>
<p>Millions died in eastern Congo between 1996-2003 in regional conflicts and dozens of militia groups continue to operate there. But the massacres around the town of Beni were the most macabre and mysterious in recent memory.</p>
<p>CRG cited multiple witnesses saying that army commanders, including the former top general in the zone, supported and in some cases organized the killings. During some massacres, sources told CRG, soldiers secured the perimeter so that victims could not escape.</p>
<p>Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende said a number of high-ranking officers had been convicted for their roles in the massacres but criticized CRG for “trying to revive an old affair”. The general named in the report, Muhindo Akili Mundos, has repeatedly denied any personal responsibility.</p>
<p>The report recommends a parliamentary investigation and U.N Security Council sanctions against individuals involved in the violence around Beni.</p>
<p>Several senior Congolese militia leaders, including a former vice president in a power-sharing government, have been convicted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for crimes committed during wars in Congo and in neighboring Central African Republic.</p>
<p>According to the report, the first massacres were orchestrated in 2013 by former leaders of the Popular Congolese Army (APC), the armed wing of a rebellion from Congo’s 1998-2003 war, who were trying to prepare a new insurrection and undermine confidence in the central government.</p>
<p>These rebels often worked in collaboration with militiamen from the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan Islamist group active in the area. Congo’s government and U.N. peacekeeping missions blamed almost all the killings on the ADF.</p>
<p>However, when the large-scale massacres began – one of which claimed as many as 200 lives – in October 2014, army commanders in the zone co-opted many of the networks of local militia in an effort to weaken their rivals, the report said.</p>
<p>“Government forces discovered pre-existing plans for killings and responded by co-opting these groups and continuing the massacres,” it said.</p>
<p>“For these officers, controlling the armed groups in the region was more important – and perhaps more feasible – than bringing an end to the violence.”</p>
<p>The new report did not take a position on whether local commanders received orders to conduct the massacres from Congo’s central government but said “it would have been difficult for Kinshasa to be unaware of their undertakings”.</p>
<p>Large-scale killings around Beni have mostly abated this year but militia violence has otherwise surged across Congo, fueled in part by President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down when his mandate expired last December.</p>
<p>CRG is a non-profit body directed by Jason Stearns, a former U.N. investigator in Congo and author of a book about Congo’s civil wars.</p>
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<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Locked in power struggle, Congo army and militia massacred hundreds: report | false | https://newsline.com/locked-in-power-struggle-congo-army-and-militia-massacred-hundreds-report/ | 2017-09-18 | 1 |
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<p>Image source: Insys Therapeutics.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>What: After reporting that it has secured FDA approval for its alternative to Marinol, shares in Insys Theraepeutics were rallying more than 10% earlier today.</p>
<p>So what:The FDA gave a go-ahead to Insys Therapeutics Syndros today, clearing the way for the company to begin marketing it as a more flexible alternative to Marinol.</p>
<p>Marinol has been used to treat vomiting and nausea in cancer patients caused by chemotherapy, and to increase appetite in patients with AIDS since the 1980s. However, Marinol is only available in capsule form, and that makes altering dosage to each patient more difficult than it has to be.</p>
<p>Syndros is an oral formulation of dronabinol, the active ingredient in Marinol, and dronabinol is a pharmaceutical synthetic version of THC, the most common chemical cannabinoid found in marijuana. As an oral alternative to Marinol, Syndros is far more easily dose-adjusted for each individual patient.</p>
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<p>Now what:Marinol lost its patent protection years ago, so the $150 million-plus market for Marinol is currently dominated by cheap generics. Syndros will be pricier than those generic alternatives, but Insys Therapeutics thinks its dosing advantage will win over the majority of market share.</p>
<p>If Insys Therapeutics is right, then sales could increase significantly next year. Currently, the company's only other product is Subsys, a fentanyl spray that's selling at an annualized $240 million clip.</p>
<p>Because Insys Therapeutics is already a profitable company (industry watchers went into today expecting the company to earn $0.87 in 2017), Syndros could provide a nice boost to the bottom line next year.</p>
<p>First, though, Insys Therapeutics will have to nail down Syndros scheduling by the DEA. Once scheduling is determined, then Insys Therapeutics will start targeting the thousands of doctors who currently prescribe Marinol to patients.</p>
<p>Overall, Syndros approval is a plus for investors, but the company's been plagued with allegations regarding improper off-label marketing of Subsys. Until those allegations are put to rest, this company's shares remain best suited for risk-tolerant investors only.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/05/whats-got-this-marijuana-stock-jumping-double-digi.aspx" type="external">What's Got This Marijuana Stock Jumping Double-Digits Today</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/EBCapitalMarkets/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Todd Campbell</a> owns shares of Insys Therapeutics.Todd owns E.B. Capital Markets, LLC. E.B. Capital's clients may have positions in the companies mentioned. Like this article? Follow him onTwitter where he goes by the handle <a href="https://twitter.com/ebcapital" type="external">@ebcapital</a> to see more articles like this.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | What's Got This Marijuana Stock Jumping Double-Digits Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/07/05/what-got-this-marijuana-stock-jumping-double-digits-today.html | 2016-07-05 | 0 |
<p>CHULA VISTA — A shocking video has surfaced showing a police officer arresting a firefighter for trying to give aid to victims of a car accident.</p>
<p>Jacob Gregoire, the firefighter, was in the middle of rendering first aid to an injured man in the accident when a police officer rolled up to the scene.</p>
<p>The officer did not like the way that the firetruck was parked by the dividing lane.</p>
<p>The firefighter had to park it there to get to the scene in time to help the victims, but the officer continued to demand that it be moved</p>
<p>“It’s unbelievable that you guys have to treat us like this. We are on the road trying to help people,” Gregoire said, as the officer placed him in handcuffs.</p>
<p>Gregoire did not obey the officer, believing it was more important to save the victim’s life.</p>
<p>That’s when the officer literally <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/06/cop-arrests-firefighter-giving-aid-to-crash-victims/" type="external">&#160;pulled the firefighter away from saving the man and placed him in handcuffs</a>.</p>
<p>“To detain one of our firefighters in the middle of an incident is ridiculous…”&#160; <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/06/cop-arrests-firefighter-giving-aid-to-crash-victims/" type="external">said a spokesperson for the Chula Vista Fire Department.</a></p>
<p>“It doesn’t provide the good customer service, the good public service that both of our agencies were there to do,” he continued.</p>
<p>Watch the video here:</p>
<p>It’s unbelievable that you guys have to treat us like this. We are on the road trying to help people,”&#160; <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/06/cop-arrests-firefighter-giving-aid-to-crash-victims/" type="external">Gregoire said</a>, as the officer placed him in handcuffs.</p>
<p>As the arrest was taking place, personnel on the fire department’s radio can be heard&#160; <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/06/cop-arrests-firefighter-giving-aid-to-crash-victims/" type="external">stating</a>: “This is ridiculous. CHP is arresting our engineer for where he spotted the fire engine. We’re in the middle of patient care with patients on the freeway and we’re trying to protect our scene and they’re putting him in handcuffs at this time and walking him away.”</p>
<p>After the incident, a joint statement was released, backed by the police department, which read: “This was an isolated incident and not representative of the manner in which our agencies normally work together toward our common goal.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Cop Handcuffs Firefighter for Trying to Save Car Crash Victims | false | https://studionewsnetwork.com/police-news/cop-handcuffs-firefighter-trying-save-car-crash-victims/ | 2017-11-24 | 3 |
<p>You knew this was coming. Via <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/alex-jones-george-soros-engineered-dallas-attack-launch-race-war" type="external">Right Wing Watch</a>:</p>
<p>InfoWars network host Alex Jones claimed today that liberal philanthropist George Soros engineered the murder of several law enforcement officers in Dallas as part of his nefarious plot to divide and destroy the U.S.</p>
<p>Jones, an outspoken ally of Donald Trump, said that Soros is pushing for a “Marxist overthrow of the United States” because “through the destabilization, an even bigger police state will come into control that the social engineers believe they’ll be able to hijack.”</p>
<p>Jones went on to claim that Black Lives Matter activists exaggerate allegations of police brutality in order to justify “a takeover of the policy by the globalists,” who he believes will turn police officers into “oppressors” in a future “reign of terror.”</p>
<p>Left-wing activists, he said, are “starting a race war” to distract people from what he called the real threats to the black community: abortion rights and black-on-black crime.</p>
<p>As you can see by Jones’ headline on the clip below, President Obama helped Soros organize the Dallas attack.</p>
<p /> | Crackpot Alex Jones: George Soros Engineered The Dallas Attack As Part Of Marxist Overthrow Plot [VIDEO] | true | http://joemygod.com/2016/07/08/alex-jones-george-soros-engineered-dallas-attack-part-marxist-overthrow-plot-video/ | 2016-07-08 | 4 |
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<p>The four principal voices all turn in splendid performances with highly flexible, bel canto voices requisite for any Rossini opera, but it is Luca Pisaroni in the title role who elevates the production several notches. His entrance is the very definition of “grand.” He doesn’t appear until 30 minutes or so into the opera, but when he does, standing framed in the battlements, the effect is electric.</p>
<p>“Commanding” only begins to describe his bearing, coupled with an astounding and effervescently rich bass-baritone. Reminiscent of Wagner’s Wotan, brandishing a spear and enveloping the stage by sheer presence, Pisaroni demonstrates a theatrical brilliance one rarely finds in opera even at the highest levels.</p>
<p>Many Rossini bass roles, such as Maometto, were long forgotten until the great American bass Samuel Ramey came along, able to sing with the coloratura virtuosity of a soprano or contralto. Pisaroni with such a voice can now lay claim to those roles.</p>
<p>But despite the title, the role of Anna the Venetian noblewoman is by far the largest part. Soprano Leah Crocetto splendidly executes this highly difficult role, difficult not only for its length but for the athletic agility required of the voice. Her early aria, “Giusto ciel” (Merciful heaven), gracefully set the tone for an evening full of color and expression, making up for the fairly two-dimensional character Rossini has drawn.</p>
<p>Irish mezzo-soprano Patricia Bardon sings the role of the Venetian General Calbo. Yes, that’s correct – a female voice for a military general. Just goes to show how diverse ideas of aesthetics could be in past eras, though at this point consistency of gender was rapidly becoming the norm.</p>
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<p>Bardon appears in the trio of the first half, but more impressively late in the opera in two pathos-filled sections, her/his consolation of Erisso, “Non temer” (Be not afraid) and “In these difficult last moments” when she exhibits thrilling bursts of florid ornamentation crowed by fortissimo swells at the very top of her range.</p>
<p>As Anna’s father, Erisso, Bruce Sledge demonstrates a complexity of character with his dark-hued and convincing tenor, perhaps (though no complaint here) more vital than one expects from a parent of that age.</p>
<p>Stage activity is full of surprises, including a belly dance opening the second act, and with the Turkish army dancers in basic assassin-black.</p>
<p>SFO chief conductor Frédéric Chaslin directs the production with a consistently vibrant approach, assertive in the ensembles, yet allowing singers room for enthusiasm, as well as some excellent wind solos from the orchestra.</p> | Splendid voices lift SFO’s ‘Maometto’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/119247/splendid-voices-lift-sfos-maometto.html | 2012-07-20 | 2 |
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<p>When it comes to business today, there are a number of growing trends. There is the ever-mobile workforce, the increase in remote employees, and flexible workweeks offered as a perk to attract top workers. It’s important for employers to embrace the trends that make the most sense for their business without getting swept up in needless workplace fads.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>As a partner at, what I would consider, a highly modern business, there are a number of tools we use to get through the day unscathed. My colleagues and I all work remotely (but do keep co-working space that we utilize every so often). We use phones to communicate when we’re on-the-go, and we rely heavily on task management systems to keep us efficient and organized. Not all workforces operate like this, but those that do, and those that are headed in this direction, can learn from our successes and mistakes.</p>
<p>There are critical tools that help us succeed, and today I’d like to share 3 smaller tools that we couldn’t live without.</p>
<p>EasyGrouper (for “Bring Your Own Device”)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.easygrouper.com/" type="external">EasyGrouper</a>&#160;is one of those apps that you don’t realize you need until you absolutely need it. It’s a software designed around the BYOD workplace movement. We all use our personal phones to communicate with each other and we didn’t originally have everyone’s contact information in one place. If I were meeting the team downtown for a sales pitch and didn’t have a team member’s new cell number, I would have to go into my email, find one with an email signature, and then place a call to find out if everyone was parking, on their way, or already in the client’s waiting room. EasyGrouper eliminates all those steps and gathers all employee contact information in a cloud-based server.</p>
<p>MORE ALLBUSINESS:&#160;</p>
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<p>Additionally, EasyGrouper gives each of us control over our personal information and status. We can make it clear to everyone when we’re on vacation, in a meeting, or available to talk. It’s also possible to send a quick text to everyone with pertinent details like a last-minute meeting location change.&#160;Since 97% of text messages are opened, texting is a great platform for critical team communication.</p>
<p>EasyGrouper shouldn’t be mistaken for simply a contact management system. It’s an entire workplace communication tool in the form of a single app that you can pull up from anywhere. It’s absolutely the most useful business-oriented app on my phone.</p>
<p>Sqwiggle (for Frictionless Video Chat)</p>
<p>We love&#160; <a href="http://www.sqwiggle.com/" type="external">Sqwiggle</a>. We talk about Sqwiggle so much, sometimes I worry we sound like one giant commercial for the company. But seriously, it’s the best! At first I was hesitant that this tool might come across as a little bit “Big Brother”, but it greatly improves efficiency and communication. The Sqwiggle software is easily downloaded onto your computer and it lets you work virtually alongside the rest of the team.</p>
<p>As a remote workforce, teamwork can be difficult. Google hangouts are scheduled days in advance and there’s little time for innovation or just general chit chat. Sqwiggle allows for camaraderie and spontaneous collaboration. Brainstorming content pieces or discussing a pitch for a new client can happen most effectively on Sqwiggle. If you haven’t yet explored the world of Sqwiggle but you’re part of a remote team, it’s definitely worth investigating.</p>
<p>Boomerang (for Meticulous Email Management)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.boomeranggmail.com/" type="external">Boomerang</a>&#160;is another must-have tool. Besides bouncing emails back into your inbox at your discretion, it also lets you send items later so you don’t hit people on the weekends or off hours. Boomerang also has a read-receipt option so you know if people opened your email. These characteristics and more make it the perfect addition to a workplace email environment.</p>
<p>There are plenty of programs that improve communication, collaboration, and innovation, but others we utilize like Basecamp, GoToMeeting, and DropBox are more well-known. Hopefully the applications above are ones you’ve never heard of, or barely looked into. It’s worth trying them out or introducing them to your team to see if they are a good fit for the office.</p>
<p>Companies that are willing to accept change and explore new tools embody the agility and openness that is critical to modern business success.</p>
<p>Brian Patterson is a partner at&#160; <a href="http://gofishdigital.com/" type="external">Go Fish Digital</a>, an online marketing firm based in the Washington, D.C. area. Brian practices and writes extensively on the topics of&#160; <a href="http://gofishdigital.com/online-reputation-management/" type="external">Online Reputation Management</a>&#160;and Search Engine Optimization. His experience ranges from helping small businesses beat out national brands for top industry keywords to helping Fortune 500 companies protect and defend their online reputations.</p> | 3 Critical Communication Tools for Your Business | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/02/03/3-critical-communication-tools-for-your-business.html | 2016-04-07 | 0 |
<p>Pedialyte has been around for years. Most parents and children of the 90s are familiar with the beverage advertised as better for upset stomachs than sugary sodas or sports drinks. Yet in the past several years, the largest growing market for the electrolyte-packed drink is not kids with diarrhea but adults.</p>
<p>Pedialyte has become a popular and effective way to cure a bad hangover. The drink is designed to rehydrate sick children but its methods also proves effective for dehydrated adults. Celebrities such as Pharrell and Miley Cyrus swear by it according to their twitter feeds.</p>
<p>Abbott Laboratories, the maker of Pedialyte, reportedly grew by 60 percent since 2012. Nearly one-third of that growth came from sales to adult consumers.</p>
<p>“There’s an underground movement in social media to drive word of mouth,” <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-adults-are-chugging-a-drink-made-for-infants-2015-05-13" type="external">said Heather Mason</a>, executive vice president at Abbott. “We saw increased use by adults. We have high electrolyte and lower sugar content than common [hydration] beverages. That combination caused us to say, ‘We need to be part of this.’ ”</p>
<p>Abbott intends to encourage with its new popularity among 20-something-year-old partyers. The company has made plans to appear at 144 music festivals and sports events in the upcoming months. There, free samples of Pedialyte will be distributed.</p>
<p>Moves such as these will put Pedialyte into competition with other electrolyte toting beverages such as Gatorade and Vita Coco.</p>
<p>Promotion of Pedialyte in the adult market may also bring confusion about for whom exactly the product was made, according to leading consultants.</p>
<p>“Any strategy that you develop to be able to expand the user base is a good one,” <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-adults-are-chugging-a-drink-made-for-infants-2015-05-13" type="external">said Robert Passikoff</a>, founder and president of consulting firm Brand Keys. “The question is, ‘Can they do it?’ Pedialyte is known for electrolyte absorption for children. Now you have to try to sell to adults. It’s like going out and having a headache and someone asks, ‘Would you like children’s Tylenol?’ Abbott isn’t going to be the only one doing this. Adults are going to feel they need a product of their own. The name becomes a barrier.”</p>
<p>For now, Abbott does not intend to change the name of Pedialyte. However, it will begin producing adult-portioned powder stick packs as well as try to expand its presence on social media.</p>
<p /> | At last, a hangover cure that works: Pedialyte | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/05/18/at-last-a-hangover-cure-that-works-pedialyte/ | 2015-05-18 | 3 |
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<p />
<p>James Ashby, 33, was also sentenced to five years of parole in the Oct. 12, 2014 death of 27-year-old Jack Jacquez in the town of Rocky Ford, court officials said.</p>
<p>Jurors convicted Ashby in June of second-degree murder. He was the first Colorado police officer to face charges for an on-duty shooting in more than 20 years.</p>
<p>Prosecutors said Ashby followed Jacquez inside his mother’s home before shooting him and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation found the officer had no reason to believe Jacquez was committing a crime before he was killed.</p>
<p>Ashby told investigators that Jacquez mouthed off to him when he stopped him as he was skateboarding along the town’s main drag, court documents said.</p>
<p>Ashby also said he thought Jacquez was trying to burglarize the home he went inside because he walked erratically before heading toward the back entrance. Break-ins had been on the rise in the town of about 4,000 due to a rise in heroin addiction.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>But the brother of another Rocky Ford police officer who was on a ride-along with Ashby that night contradicted Ashby’s account. Kyle Moore said Jacquez did not talk back to Ashby and walked to a side entrance to his house, where his mother opened the door for him.</p>
<p>Ashby said Jacquez grabbed a baseball bat inside the house and was about to swing it at him when he opened fire. But the coroner found that Jacquez was shot in the back, not a position he would have been if winding up for a swing.</p>
<p>Ashby was arrested a month after the shooting and fired from the Rocky Ford police department, where he had worked just five months.</p>
<p>Jacquez’s family is suing the Rocky Ford Police Department, saying it is to blame for hiring Ashby despite documented problems he had at another small police force that he resigned from during an excessive force investigation.</p>
<p>The department did not immediately return telephone calls Thursday seeking comment about the lawsuit.</p> | Colorado officer gets 16 years in prison for police shooting | false | https://abqjournal.com/876504/colorado-officer-gets-16-years-in-prison-for-police-shooting.html | 2016-10-27 | 2 |
<p>For Monday's Geo Quiz we head north. How far north?</p>
<p>Well, go to Lillehammer, Norway, and then keep going for another 160 miles.</p>
<p>We're looking for a small, but historic town famous for both copper mines and reindeer herding.</p>
<p>Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, the inhabitants built wooden homes. Dozens of these houses are still standing, and the locals still call them home.</p>
<p>And because of those houses, the town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site back in 1980.</p>
<p>The town, and the region, are also famous for a few typically Norwegian delicacies.</p>
<p>They include a sour milk called Tjukkmjølk.</p>
<p>One Swedish celebrity chef who moved to Norway wants the milk's name legally protected…like Parma ham, or Champagne. But local farmers aren't so sure that's good for the tourist trade.</p>
<p>The BBC's Maddy Savage reports from Røros, Norway, which is the answer to today's quiz.</p> | The Battle Over Tjukkmjølk | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-08-27/battle-over-tjukkmj-lk | 2012-08-27 | 3 |
<p>No group has contributed more to this cesspool we now call "Western Culture" than modern third-wave feminists: the Gloria Steinems, the Betty Friedans, the Margaret Sangers, and the Simone De Beauvoirs.</p>
<p>Though we ragingly shake the steering wheel as cavalcades of Black Lives Matter protesters <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-protest-inglewood-20160710-snap-story.html" type="external">clog our morning commutes</a> on the 405 freeway and occasionally shield our eyes from the <a href="https://www.peta.org/blog/peta-members-plated-served-shreveport-dallas/" type="external">naked PETA activist</a> laying on a Manhattan sidewalk, their behavior personally affects us only insofar as it corresponds to the reach of their individual members.</p>
<p>When it comes to the wrath of feminists, no such shield exists. Unlike the groups above, feminists hit us at our most vulnerable spots: our wives, our husbands, our children, our bedrooms and our houses of worship. Simply put, feminists get personal. Not only do they seek to brainwash our daughters into becoming promiscuous she-wolves who think waving "My P–ssy, My Choice" signs at an Amber Rose "SlutWalk" is a great way to spend the weekend, they also conspire to mutate every man into a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pajama_Boy" type="external">sniveling pajama boy</a>.</p>
<p>Wherever they go, they impugn without mercy. Like vampires, they suck their prey dry of organic life until all that remains is a hollowed out shell of something that resembles its former self.</p>
<p>Feminists. Ruin. Everything.</p>
<p>Not just some things, or a few things, or even a lot of things, but everything. Since I can't list everything, because it's EVERYTHING, I will list below only some things. Here are just a few to get you thinking:</p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUIN CHRISTIANITY</p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUIN HATS</p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUIN MAKEUP</p>
<p>Below is an actual makeup brand brought to you by <a href="https://www.lipslut.com/" type="external">the company "Lipslut"</a>:</p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUIN ART</p>
<p />
<p>FEMINISTS RUIN POLITICS</p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUIN COMEDY</p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUIN DANCING</p>
<p>This actually took place at a Women's Rally:</p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUIN CANADA</p>
<p />
<p>FEMINISTS RUINED GLOW</p>
<p>GLOW, as in the Netflix show about Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. I wrote a whole <a href="" type="internal">article about that here</a>.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">FEMINISTS RUINED THIS LITTLE GIRL’S PRINCESS BOOK</a></p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUINED EMMA WATSON</p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUINED JENNIFER LAWRENCE</p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUINED THESE SIX-YEAR-OLD GIRLS</p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUIN ESPN</p>
<p>Below is a screenshot of <a href="http://www.espn.com/espnw/voices/article/19201723/four-poets-new-feminism" type="external">feminist poetry</a> that ESPN actually featured on their site:</p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUINED GHOSTBUSTERS</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sheknows.com/living/slideshow/5123/ruth-bader-ginsburg-coloring-book/color-outside-the-lines" type="external">FEMINISTS RUIN COLORING BOOKS</a></p>
<p>This is an actual Ruth Bader Ginsburg themed coloring book for kids.</p>
<p />
<p>FEMINISTS RUIN HAUNTED HOUSES</p>
<p>FEMINISTS RUIN OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECHES</p> | Feminists RUIN Everything, And Since I Can't List Everything, Here Are Some Things | true | https://dailywire.com/news/19425/feminists-ruin-everything-i-cant-list-everything-paul-bois | 2017-08-07 | 0 |
<p>PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Paul Casey withdrew from The Players Championship on Friday because of an illness.</p>
<p>For Casey, who opened with a 79, it was the second time in two tournaments that he was affected by illness. He had a stomach virus when he returned to Harding Park in San Francisco on Sunday morning to complete his quarterfinal match with Rory McIlroy.</p>
<p>McIlroy won on the only hole they played that day. Casey had said earlier in the week he was feeling slightly better. He says if he had defeated McIlroy, the eventual winner of the Match Play Championship, that he probably could not have gone the rest of the day.</p>
<p>Casey became the second player to pull out this week. Darren Clarke withdrew after 11 holes Thursday with a wrist injury.</p>
<p>PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Paul Casey withdrew from The Players Championship on Friday because of an illness.</p>
<p>For Casey, who opened with a 79, it was the second time in two tournaments that he was affected by illness. He had a stomach virus when he returned to Harding Park in San Francisco on Sunday morning to complete his quarterfinal match with Rory McIlroy.</p>
<p>McIlroy won on the only hole they played that day. Casey had said earlier in the week he was feeling slightly better. He says if he had defeated McIlroy, the eventual winner of the Match Play Championship, that he probably could not have gone the rest of the day.</p>
<p>Casey became the second player to pull out this week. Darren Clarke withdrew after 11 holes Thursday with a wrist injury.</p> | Casey withdraws with illness | false | https://apnews.com/amp/657f0ab7ae8e468abad37d35f6033828 | 2015-05-08 | 2 |
<p>TIDMINVP TIDMTSCO</p>
<p>FORM 8.5 (EPT/RI)</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>PUBLIC DEALING DISCLOSURE BY AN EXEMPT PRINCIPAL TRADER WITH RECOGNISED</p>
<p>INTERMEDIARY STATUS DEALING IN A CLIENT-SERVING CAPACITY</p>
<p>1. KEY INFORMATION</p>
<p>(a) Name of exempt principal trader:</p>
<p>Investec Bank plc</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>(b) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant</p>
<p>securities this form relates: Tesco plc</p>
<p>Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree</p>
<p>(c) Name of the party to the offer with which exempt</p>
<p>principal trader is connected: Investec are Broker to Booker Group plc</p>
<p>(d) Date dealing undertaken:</p>
<p>28(th) September 2017</p>
<p>(e) Has the EPT previously disclosed, or is it today Yes</p>
<p>disclosing, in respect of any other party to this</p>
<p>offer?</p>
<p>2. DEALINGS BY THE EXEMPT PRINCIPAL TRADER</p>
<p>(a) Purchases and sales</p>
<p>Class of relevant Purchases/ sales Total Highest price per unit paid/received Lowest price per unit paid/received</p>
<p>security number of (pence) (pence)</p>
<p>securities</p>
<p>Ordinary Purchases 29,678 187.45 185.3</p>
<p>Shares</p>
<p>Ordinary Shares Sales 30,626 187.6 185.4</p>
<p>(b) Derivatives transactions (other than options)</p>
<p>Class of Product description Nature of dealing Number of Price</p>
<p>relevant e.g. CFD e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing reference per</p>
<p>security a long/short position securities unit</p>
<p>(c) Options transactions in respect of existing securities</p>
<p>(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying</p>
<p>Class of Product Writing, Number of Exercise Type Expiry Option</p>
<p>relevant description purchasing, securities price e.g. American, European etc. date money</p>
<p>security e.g. call selling, to which per paid/</p>
<p>option varying option unit received</p>
<p>etc. relates per</p>
<p>unit</p>
<p>(ii) Exercising</p>
<p>Class of relevant Product description Number of Exercise price per</p>
<p>security e.g. call option securities unit</p>
<p>(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)</p>
<p>Class of relevant Nature of dealing Details Price per unit</p>
<p>security e.g. subscription, conversion (if applicable)</p>
<p>The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.</p>
<p>Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant</p>
<p>securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(b), copy table 2(a), (b),</p>
<p>(c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant</p>
<p>security dealt in.</p>
<p>3. OTHER INFORMATION</p>
<p>(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements</p>
<p>Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or</p>
<p>any agreement or understanding, formal or informal,</p>
<p>relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement</p>
<p>to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the</p>
<p>exempt principal trader making the disclosure and</p>
<p>any party to the offer or any person acting in concert</p>
<p>with a party to the offer:</p>
<p>If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings,</p>
<p>state "none"</p>
<p>None</p>
<p>(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to</p>
<p>options or derivatives</p>
<p>Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding,</p>
<p>formal or informal, between the exempt principal trader</p>
<p>making the disclosure and any other person relating</p>
<p>to:</p>
<p>(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under</p>
<p>any option; or</p>
<p>(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal</p>
<p>of any relevant securities to which any derivative</p>
<p>is referenced:</p>
<p>If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings,</p>
<p>state "none"</p>
<p>None</p>
<p>Date of disclosure:</p>
<p>29(th) September 2017</p>
<p>Contact name:</p>
<p>Robert Letson</p>
<p>Telephone number:</p>
<p>0207 597 5690</p>
<p>This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf</p>
<p>of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.</p>
<p>The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely</p>
<p>responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information</p>
<p>contained therein.</p>
<p>Source: Investec Bank plc via Globenewswire</p>
<p>https://www.investec.co.uk/</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 29, 2017 03:48 ET (07:48 GMT)</p> | Investec Bank plc Form 8.5 (EPT/RI) - Tesco Plc | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/11/investec-bank-plc-form-8-5-eptri-tesco-plc.html | 2017-09-29 | 0 |
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<p />
<p>That’s not true. In fact, listening to Trump’s speeches over the last few days, there are pieces of it that have real resonance in this time of deep resentment toward both political parties. Politicians on both sides would do well to borrow some of Trump’s language — emphasis on some — going forward as they continue to navigate a fed-up electorate desperate for change.</p>
<p>1. “Drain the Swamp”</p>
<p>Why Trump didn’t start using this phrase six months ago is beyond me. It’s without question his best message of the campaign. The problem for Trump, of course, is a) he just started saying it and b) there’s so much water under the bridge for him with voters that it doesn’t sell as well as it might have.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>But, fundamentally, the idea of getting rid of the creatures and the culture of Washington is quite appealing to people who live outside the Beltway, aka normal people. There is an assumption that politicians (and the media) are not to be trusted. Anyone who can run as an outsider to the “way things work” in Washington has real power in this sort of environment.</p>
<p>While that’s more easily done for a candidate with Trump’s profile — never run for office before, businessman — it’s also doable for politicians currently in office. Running on a reform message — whether that tax reform, education reform or electoral reform — has power. Make sure people know that you know there’s a problem and the only way to fix it is with fundamental change.</p>
<p>2. Term limits</p>
<p>Like “drain the swamp,” Trump’s call for term limits is a new arrival to his stump speech/overall messaging. But it is a very nice addition.</p>
<p>Are term limits ever going to get passed by Congress? Almost certainly not. (Would most employees pass a rule that puts a hard out-date on their careers? Would you?) And, are term limits a good thing for politics? I would argue no; in the states where term limits are in place — state legislatures in California and Florida, for example — the institutional wisdom typically held by long-serving members is instead held by lobbyists, which is not the best trade-off.</p>
<p>That is all besides the point. What we are talking about here is trying to find ways to position yourself in a deeply toxic political environment. And, term limits — politics shouldn’t be a career occupation, citizens legislators and all that — is code to most voters for not being a same old, same old politician.</p>
<p>3. Why hasn’t she changed anything?</p>
<p>One of Trump’s best lines, which he used in the first debate before, inexplicably, dropping it, was that for all of Hillary Clinton’s big promises about what she would do if she were elected president, she hasn’t actually done much in during her long years spent in politics.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>For Republicans who expect Trump to lose and are already positioning to be at or near the top of the 2020 Republican field, this line of attack should be front and center to any campaign against President Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>Yes, she will undoubtedly point to the accomplishments she is able to eke out from what is nearly certain to be a divided Congress and a very-abbreviated (or maybe even non-existent) presidential honeymoon period. But given that likely divided Congress and the fact that Clinton will come to the White House as the least popular president elected since World War II, there’s a strong likelihood that she may not be able to get a terribly ambitious agenda though the legislative branch.</p>
<p>Hammering Clinton as someone who has sold herself in this campaign as the single most effective bureaucrat in the country but then failed to make the gears of government go is actually an even more effective attack line in 2020 than it is in 2016 — since she isn’t president yet.</p>
<p>Broadly speaking, what’s important to do when it comes to Trump is separate the messenger from the message. The messenger is irretrievably flawed in ways that make it very tough for him to win a majority of the country’s votes. But it is a testament to the strength of the message Trump carries — anti-elite, protectionist, populist — that he could ascend to the Republican nomination despite those flaws.</p>
<p>Trump’s message is, at times, exactly in tune with large swaths of the American public. Played properly that anti-Washington, anti-elites message could cut across partisan lines and put a Republican nominee very much back in the game for president.</p>
<p>Trump will almost certainly lose in 20 days time. But that doesn’t mean what he accomplished and, more importantly, how he did it should be ignored by politicians in his or the opposition party.</p>
<p>trump-message</p> | Analysis: 3 things Donald Trump gets right | false | https://abqjournal.com/870700/analysis-3-things-donald-trump-gets-right.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>We all know taxes are unavoidable, but you may not realize how much of your money the IRS gets its hands on. Here are five things you may be surprised to learn are taxable.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.</p>
<p>While some people don't have to pay taxes on their Social Security benefits, yours might be taxed if you have additional income coming in. To see if you'll pay taxes on Social Security, you'll need to figure your <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/how-to-calculate-provisional-income.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">provisional income Opens a New Window.</a> as follows:</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>If your total falls between $25,000 and $34,000 and you're a single filer, you could be taxed on up to 50% of your benefits. The same applies if that number falls between $32,000 and $44,000 and you file taxes jointly. Furthermore, if your provisional income is greater than $34,000 as a single filer or $44,000 as a couple filing jointly, then you could be taxed on up to 85% of your benefits.</p>
<p>Not only can the federal government tax Social Security benefits, but the following 13 states tax Social Security benefits to some degree:</p>
<p>If your state is on this list, expect to fork over a portion of your benefit payments.</p>
<p>Be prepared to pay taxes on whatever income you withdraw from your traditional 401(k), traditional IRA, or pension plan. Even annuity income is taxable to a certain extent. Your retirement plan withdrawals are taxed at your ordinary income-tax rate, and unless you're dealing with a Roth account, you're required to start taking distributions once you turn 70-1/2.</p>
<p>Note that withdrawals from Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s are tax-free.</p>
<p>Had a good day at the track or the slots? Don't spend your winnings just yet, because the IRS will want its share. In fact, you're required to pay taxes on both cash and non-cash winnings.</p>
<p>Cash winnings can stem from:</p>
<p>Whoever pays your winnings is required to provide you with a Form W-2G, provided you come away with:</p>
<p>Non-cash winnings, like a car or vacation, must be reported on your taxes as well. To do so, take the fair market value of your prize when calculating your income for the year.</p>
<p>Unemployment benefits help countless people who lose their jobs stay afloat financially as they look for work. But if you're receiving benefits, get ready to lose a portion to taxes. Generally, you're given the option to withhold taxes up front or down the line. Choosing the latter might put more cash in your pocket while you're out of work, but be prepared to owe that amount when you file your tax return.</p>
<p>Many people rack up debt to the point where they can't repay it in full. When that happens, a lender will sometimes be willing to settle for a smaller amount and forgive a portion of the total debt owed. If this happens to you, then you may be in for an unpleasant surprise come tax season. Although forgiven debt never shows up as actual cash in your pocket, in many cases, you're still required to pay taxes on the amount you no longer owe. For example, if you have a $20,000 credit card balance and your lender forgives half that amount, you'll end up owing taxes on $10,000 unless you qualify for an exception, like bankruptcy.</p>
<p>Countless tax filers get caught off-guard each year when they wind up owing the IRS money for things they never knew were taxable. Now that you're aware of the income sources that fall within the IRS' reach, you can take steps to plan accordingly and avoid trouble when the time comes to file your taxes.</p>
<p>The $15,834 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "Social Security secrets" could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $15,834 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 5 Things You Didn't Know Were Taxable | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/18/5-things-didnt-know-were-taxable.html | 2016-12-18 | 0 |
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<p />
<p>“United we stand, divided we fall” is a nice sentiment, but I trip over the particulars. Who is the “we” in that statement? Is it the weak, sad lamestream media of Trump’s tweets? Is it the brash web newcomers like Buzzfeed and Huffington Post? Does it include the bloggers who regularly write and rant on politics and public policy? Should it include news sources with their own political slant, such as FOX, MSNBC and the Breitbart News Network?</p>
<p>For me, it is not a philosophical issue. It’s a question I have to deal with as a teacher of journalism at Bryn Mawr College.</p>
<p>My students are the very definition of modern media consumers. They are cafeteria consumers: picking and choosing what information to ingest from myriad sources.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>In class, I don’t even try to define the maze that is today’s news media. I have found it more useful to define what journalism is.</p>
<p>For this I draw on a book called “The Elements of Journalism” by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, veterans of The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, respectively, who went on to work in journalism research and advocacy.</p>
<p>At the beginning of the new century, Kovach and Rosenstiel, in assessing the emerging (and chaotic) media environment, gathered fellow journalists, academics, and others to try to get a handle on journalism. They had a feeling that journalists had grown uncertain about their status and their mission.</p>
<p>They emerged from this process with a clear message: Best not to concentrate on the medium, but the product. They were humble enough not to take on journalism globally, but just America. Their findings can be expressed in this definition:</p>
<p>American journalism is independent, fact-based, verified reporting that serves the public.</p>
<p>Each word has a deeper meaning. For instance, I usually have a large cadre of international students take my class — students from China, Pakistan, India, and Russia, to name a few countries. To them, independent means not state-owned or controlled.</p>
<p>Closer to home, it means reporting that is not ideologically or politically driven or, more mundanely, based on selling your soul to a politician or a publicist to get access.</p>
<p>Fact-based should be self-evident, or at least it was at one time. Journalists don’t make stuff up. We observe, we report, we write what we have seen or learned.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Verified means what it says. You not only must believe something is true, you must prove it. Journalism’s “essence is the discipline of verification,” as the authors put it.</p>
<p>Buzzfeed violated that rule by printing an unverified, report from a partisan source — and then claimed it was doing it as a public service. It did not serve the public.</p>
<p>In my career as a reporter, I’ve often been exposed to specious polls, reports and tips that purport to reveal the truth, usually about opposing candidates. I have tried to check them out — if they sounded plausible — but almost always came up empty.</p>
<p>It’s harder in today’s media environment to avoid such “exclusives” but printing them does nothing to serve the public, even if you win the race for clicks.</p>
<p>Some might find the Kovach-Rosenstiel book hard to take because it portrays journalists almost as members of a holy order, given a sacred mission by our Founding Fathers of serving democracy through truth telling. It doesn’t jibe with the modern perception that journalists are just a cynical bunch who will do anything to get a story or, as the old phrase went, to sell newspapers.</p>
<p>Journalists do tend to be cynical. They are tempted to produce stories as click bait. They do violate rules of fairness. They do mangle or, worse, make up facts. As a profession, we are guilty of sins mortal and venial.</p>
<p>But, most of the journalists I know do care deeply about the truth; they feel driven to serve the watchdog role; they try their best to be fair and independent. Their failures do not make them evil; they make them human.</p>
<p>My international students are often dazzled by the reporting they see in American media outlets that not only expose scandals, but also offer strong critiques of those in power. Our style of journalism is one of this country’s most valued exports, admired by journalists in emerging democracies and authoritarian states.</p>
<p>It would be ironic — and tragic — to have this brand of journalism grow outside our borders, while it withers within.</p>
<p>We in the media must unite, but not around one reporter nor one news outlet. We should call out the phonies, rally around the ideals expressed by Kovach and Rosenstiel, and hope that it carries us through this long night.</p>
<p>Tom Ferrick Jr. is a former Philadelphia Inquirer columnist who works as a journalist and teacher. He wrote this for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.</p>
<p /> | Journalists should unite around professional standards | false | https://abqjournal.com/929839/journalists-should-unite-on-high-standards.html | 2 |
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<p>Las Vegas, NV — One of the most asked questions about the massacre in Las Vegas was, “How did Stephen Paddock get hundreds of pounds of ammo and nearly two dozen assault rifles into his suite on the 32 floor of Mandalay Bay without anyone noticing?” Thanks to a new report, we may now have that answer—he was allowed to use the service elevator.</p>
<p>The official story of how and why Stephen Paddock murdered 58 people at a music festival in Las Vegas last week is falling apart.&#160;This week, as TFTP <a href="http://thefreethoughtproject.com/official-narrative-dramatically-changes-vegas/" type="external">&#160;reported</a>, police made massive reversals in their narrative which raised a myriad of questions and speculation. Now, according to a report from ABC, we are learning that&#160;Paddock had access to and used the service elevator at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in the days leading up to his attack on the country music festival.</p>
<p>According to&#160; <a href="http://abc7chicago.com/sources-vegas-gunman-had-access-to-service-elevator-as-perk/2517488/" type="external">AP</a>, officials briefed on the investigation told ABC News that Paddock’s access to the service elevator was a perk for high rollers. No further information about when and how he used the elevator has been released.</p>
<p>What makes this new revelation particularly interesting is that on Sunday, chief executive of Wynn Resorts, Steve Wynn slipped up and seemingly indicated that he knew Paddock used the elevator—days before officials released this information to the media.</p>
<p>“You’d never stop a man like this (Paddock) from coming in the building,” Wynn told FOX News on Sunday. “However,” he continued,&#160;“nobody in this company’s history, no public person, has ever walked in the service elevator unless they were accompanied by security. Uh, that wouldn’t happen.”</p>
<p>This tidbit of information was offered up randomly as they were not talking about elevator use at all. When Chris Wallace heard Wynn say this, however, he immediately asked for clarification.</p>
<p>“Did he (Paddock) go in the service elevator, Steve?” asked Wallace.</p>
<p>Wynn then proceeds to fumble his response, seemingly knowing he’d just revealed information the public was not given.</p>
<p>“Uh, Uh, Uh, I’m just saying, anything like that…I’m not sure if he did. But nobody ever goes in the back of the house unaccompanied by security,” replies Wynn.</p>
<p />
<p>This now raises the questions: Was Paddock accompanied by security in the service elevator of the Mandalay Bay? And, if so, how did security not notice the 23 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition Paddock was loading up in his room?</p>
<p>It is entirely possible that a slip up here and there at a casino could happen from time to time. However, the idea that not one of the hundreds of security personnel, casino observers, police officers, nor the thousands of cameras at the Mandalay Bay resort captured or saw anything suspicious as this man lugged massive bags of weapons and ammo through the service elevator while setting up his own cameras in the hall, is preposterous.</p>
<p>Given the fact the police have now shifted their original story of Jesus Campos being hailed as a “hero” for stopping the shooting, to arriving 6 minutes before the shooting, and that Paddock arrived three days before police originally claimed, and the fact that Paddock was granted access to the security elevator—one should begin to question every aspect of this massacre.</p>
<p>“This changes everything,”&#160;said Joseph Giacalone, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former New York City police sergeant, after finding out about the new details.&#160;“There absolutely was an opportunity in that timeframe that some of this could’ve been mitigated.”</p>
<p>“By engaging the shooter ahead of time during this event, it could’ve saved a lot of heartache,” he added. However, as this new information shows, not only was Paddock not stopped from opening fire on a crowd of 22,000 people, it now appears that he actually had help.</p>
<p>Courtesy of <a href="http://thefreethoughtproject.com/stephen-paddock-service-elevator/" type="external">The Free Thought Project</a></p>
<p>Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project.&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/MattAgorist" type="external">Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter</a>,&#160; <a href="https://steemit.com/@tftproject" type="external">Steemit</a>,&#160;and now on&#160; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheREALMattAgorist/" type="external">Facebook.</a></p>
<p />
<p /> | Officials Reveal Vegas Gunman Was Given Access to Service Elevator at Mandalay Bay | true | http://dcclothesline.com/2017/10/12/officials-reveal-vegas-gunman-was-given-access-to-service-elevator-at-mandalay-bay/ | 0 |
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<p>Photo by Kiera Butler</p>
<p>From May to November, my friends and I raised a couple of heritage turkeys, Stripes and Tires, in a backyard in Berkeley, California. This is a diary about what it’s like to care for (and become attached to) animals that you know you’re going to eat. Apologies for the slow load time; shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.</p>
<p />
<p>&lt;br /&gt; &lt;a href="http://storify.com/motherjones/six-months-of-turkeys" target="_blank"&gt;View the story &amp;#8220;Six Months of Turkeys&amp;#8221; on Storify&lt;/a&gt;]</p> | The Urban Turkey-Raising Diaries | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/turkeys-thanksgiving-six-months/ | 2011-11-08 | 4 |
<p>ATLANTA (AP) — The first Martin Luther King Jr. holiday of Donald Trump’s presidency is taking place amid a racial firestorm of Trump’s own making.</p>
<p>In the same week that he honored King by making a national park out of the ground where King was born and preached until his death, Trump denigrated practically the entire African diaspora, and left many Americans headed into the civil rights icon’s birthday convinced that the leader of their country is a racist.</p>
<p>For African-Americans in particular, this latest insult from Trump felt like whiplash. Barely a year ago, America’s first black president, Barack Obama, marked his final King Day in office with his usual community service; now, his successor is presiding over a racial backlash the country has hardly seen in more than a generation.</p>
<p>The children of Martin Luther King Jr. at the crypt of their father.</p>
<p>Trump has denied being racist, labeling himself the “least racist person there is” during his 2016 campaign. Some of his actions leading up to this year’s federal holiday honoring King’s birth seemed to be an attempt to live up to that.</p>
<p>He began last week by designating the historic site around King’s Atlanta birth home as a national park. By week’s end, Trump was signing a King holiday proclamation with the martyred activist’s nephew at his side.</p>
<p>As the world celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday on Monday, his daughter Bernice King is asking for President Donald Trump to tone down his rhetoric on Twitter. (Jan. 13)</p>
<p>But in between, the president sat in a White House meeting on immigration policy and denigrated much of the African diaspora as “shithole countries” while expressing a preference for immigrants from Norway, a majority white nation.</p>
<p>This is the type of thing, activists, religious leaders and scholars say, that puts Trump’s presidency in direct conflict with the legacy of King, who was assassinated April 4, 1968 while trying to make America a more inclusive society.</p>
<p>King’s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, will be the keynote speaker at the commemorative service honoring her father at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. As is the custom for most presidents, Trump is not expected to participate, but she does hope he will observe the holiday.</p>
<p>Martin Luther King III</p>
<p>“This is what I would like President Trump to do: Don’t let the King Holiday find you using your Twitter account in an inappropriate way,” Bernice King told The Associated Press in an interview. “If he can dare to do that, I would be proud on that day that our president honored Dr. King by not doing things that are offensive.”</p>
<p>Much of Trump’s first year as president has been marked by racial controversy. Last February, Trump kicked off Black History Month by praising long-dead abolitionist Frederick Douglass in the present tense, as if Douglass were still alive. He referred to NFL players protesting systemic racism as “sons of bitches” and suggested they should be benched or fired for their refusal to stand during the national anthem.</p>
<p>During a speech to African leaders last fall, he referred to the non-existent country of “Nambia” when attempting to discuss Namibia. In June, he said Nigerian immigrants would “never go back to their huts” after coming to the U.S.</p>
<p>Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.</p>
<p>King’s son, Martin Luther King III, met with Trump on the last King holiday, four days before Trump took office. He spoke to the then-president-elect about the importance of voting rights — only to see Trump establish a now-defunct commission to investigate voter fraud, which some saw as a move to intimidate minority voters.</p>
<p>“I would like to believe that the president’s intentions are not to be divisive, but much of what he says seems or feels to be divisive,” King III told AP in an interview. “It would be wonderful to have a president who talked about bringing America together and exhibited that, who was involved in doing a social project ... that would show humility.”</p>
<p>Civil rights leaders said Friday the president’s comments are not new, but are the most recent and glaring proof of Trump’s racist views, and shocking to the point that congressional leaders and Americans can no longer ignore his bigotry.</p>
<p>“The Trump era ... is a direct assault on the legacy of Dr. King,” said the Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer, where King preached for the last eight years of his life. “The conversation about who we are as Americans has shifted and given in to a kind of xenophobia that makes it difficult to discuss issues that affect all Americans.”</p>
<p>New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who is in Atlanta this weekend being honored by The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, said “my soul has ached” during Trump’s presidency.</p>
<p>But Booker, one of two black senators, said Trump’s critics must mobilize against his policies or risk being consumed by their own hurt and anger. Paraphrasing King, Booker said, “The problem today is not the vitriolic words and violent actions of the bad people, but the appalling silence and inaction of the good people.”</p>
<p>During the civil rights movement, King directly confronted and exposed the ills of racism, and led a movement that pressured the American government to end legalized segregation. He spent the last year of his life condemning what he called the “triple evils” of racism, poverty and war.</p>
<p>Bernice King, who serves as the King Center’s chief executive, said the lesson of nonviolence is to focus on defeating injustice, not individuals. he said her father’s life and work should be applied to the current moment, where racism has again come out into the open.</p>
<p>Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.</p>
<p>“Trump’s election could be a blessing in disguise,” Bernice King said. “This is the opportunity for America to correct itself.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press reporter Bill Barrow contributed from Atlanta.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Errin Haines Whack is The Associated Press’ National Writer for Race and Ethnicity. Follow her work on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/emarvelous" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/emarvelous</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>The King Center: <a href="http://www.thekingcenter.org/" type="external">http://www.thekingcenter.org/</a></p>
<p>ATLANTA (AP) — The first Martin Luther King Jr. holiday of Donald Trump’s presidency is taking place amid a racial firestorm of Trump’s own making.</p>
<p>In the same week that he honored King by making a national park out of the ground where King was born and preached until his death, Trump denigrated practically the entire African diaspora, and left many Americans headed into the civil rights icon’s birthday convinced that the leader of their country is a racist.</p>
<p>For African-Americans in particular, this latest insult from Trump felt like whiplash. Barely a year ago, America’s first black president, Barack Obama, marked his final King Day in office with his usual community service; now, his successor is presiding over a racial backlash the country has hardly seen in more than a generation.</p>
<p>The children of Martin Luther King Jr. at the crypt of their father.</p>
<p>Trump has denied being racist, labeling himself the “least racist person there is” during his 2016 campaign. Some of his actions leading up to this year’s federal holiday honoring King’s birth seemed to be an attempt to live up to that.</p>
<p>He began last week by designating the historic site around King’s Atlanta birth home as a national park. By week’s end, Trump was signing a King holiday proclamation with the martyred activist’s nephew at his side.</p>
<p>As the world celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday on Monday, his daughter Bernice King is asking for President Donald Trump to tone down his rhetoric on Twitter. (Jan. 13)</p>
<p>But in between, the president sat in a White House meeting on immigration policy and denigrated much of the African diaspora as “shithole countries” while expressing a preference for immigrants from Norway, a majority white nation.</p>
<p>This is the type of thing, activists, religious leaders and scholars say, that puts Trump’s presidency in direct conflict with the legacy of King, who was assassinated April 4, 1968 while trying to make America a more inclusive society.</p>
<p>King’s daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, will be the keynote speaker at the commemorative service honoring her father at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. As is the custom for most presidents, Trump is not expected to participate, but she does hope he will observe the holiday.</p>
<p>Martin Luther King III</p>
<p>“This is what I would like President Trump to do: Don’t let the King Holiday find you using your Twitter account in an inappropriate way,” Bernice King told The Associated Press in an interview. “If he can dare to do that, I would be proud on that day that our president honored Dr. King by not doing things that are offensive.”</p>
<p>Much of Trump’s first year as president has been marked by racial controversy. Last February, Trump kicked off Black History Month by praising long-dead abolitionist Frederick Douglass in the present tense, as if Douglass were still alive. He referred to NFL players protesting systemic racism as “sons of bitches” and suggested they should be benched or fired for their refusal to stand during the national anthem.</p>
<p>During a speech to African leaders last fall, he referred to the non-existent country of “Nambia” when attempting to discuss Namibia. In June, he said Nigerian immigrants would “never go back to their huts” after coming to the U.S.</p>
<p>Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.</p>
<p>King’s son, Martin Luther King III, met with Trump on the last King holiday, four days before Trump took office. He spoke to the then-president-elect about the importance of voting rights — only to see Trump establish a now-defunct commission to investigate voter fraud, which some saw as a move to intimidate minority voters.</p>
<p>“I would like to believe that the president’s intentions are not to be divisive, but much of what he says seems or feels to be divisive,” King III told AP in an interview. “It would be wonderful to have a president who talked about bringing America together and exhibited that, who was involved in doing a social project ... that would show humility.”</p>
<p>Civil rights leaders said Friday the president’s comments are not new, but are the most recent and glaring proof of Trump’s racist views, and shocking to the point that congressional leaders and Americans can no longer ignore his bigotry.</p>
<p>“The Trump era ... is a direct assault on the legacy of Dr. King,” said the Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer, where King preached for the last eight years of his life. “The conversation about who we are as Americans has shifted and given in to a kind of xenophobia that makes it difficult to discuss issues that affect all Americans.”</p>
<p>New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who is in Atlanta this weekend being honored by The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, said “my soul has ached” during Trump’s presidency.</p>
<p>But Booker, one of two black senators, said Trump’s critics must mobilize against his policies or risk being consumed by their own hurt and anger. Paraphrasing King, Booker said, “The problem today is not the vitriolic words and violent actions of the bad people, but the appalling silence and inaction of the good people.”</p>
<p>During the civil rights movement, King directly confronted and exposed the ills of racism, and led a movement that pressured the American government to end legalized segregation. He spent the last year of his life condemning what he called the “triple evils” of racism, poverty and war.</p>
<p>Bernice King, who serves as the King Center’s chief executive, said the lesson of nonviolence is to focus on defeating injustice, not individuals. he said her father’s life and work should be applied to the current moment, where racism has again come out into the open.</p>
<p>Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.</p>
<p>“Trump’s election could be a blessing in disguise,” Bernice King said. “This is the opportunity for America to correct itself.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press reporter Bill Barrow contributed from Atlanta.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Errin Haines Whack is The Associated Press’ National Writer for Race and Ethnicity. Follow her work on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/emarvelous" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/emarvelous</a></p>
<p>___</p>
<p>The King Center: <a href="http://www.thekingcenter.org/" type="external">http://www.thekingcenter.org/</a></p> | Leaders say Trump presidency is at odds with MLK’s legacy | false | https://apnews.com/f0f605529e3d4cc78f038e5da78058b3 | 2018-01-14 | 2 |
<p>The real-life Sweeney Todd and his partner Mrs. Lovett <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/europe/russia-cannibalism-arrests/index.html" type="external">have been found</a> — in Russia.</p>
<p>Dmitry Baksheev, 35, and his wife Natalia, 42, have been arrested and accused of murdering as many as 30 people since 1999 and eating them, and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/cannibal-couple-sell-human-meat-pies-restaurants-article-1.3525461" type="external">what’s more</a>, attempting to sell "human meat pies" to local restaurants and give "frozen meat pieces" to personnel at a military academy based near their home.</p>
<p>The couple’s horrific actions were discovered when a cell phone was found on a street in Krasnodar. The phone contained images of Baksheev posing with a dismembered female victim; her remains were found in a bag nearby the following day, according to RIA Novosti, which also reported “law enforcement had discovered a glass jar with a canned hand … according to the owner of a cell phone that had been lost before, this is one of those hands with which he made a selfie.”</p>
<p>RIA Novosti reported Baksheev had confessed to only two murders — the female victim and another person in 2012. But other reports state that the couple confessed to abducting and killing at least 30 people.</p>
<p>Investigators <a href="http://www.chron.com/crime/article/Cannibal-couple-of-Russia-suspected-of-eating-30-12237716.php" type="external">believe</a> the Baksheevs lured their victims to their apartment by using online dating sites, drugging them, then murdering them. <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/27/cannibal-couple-sold-human-meat-pies-to-local-cafe-6958927/" type="external">Metro</a> reported that a local cafe owner, Vitaly Yakubenko, told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper of Natalia, "She was very active, asked lots of questions but mainly about where we buy our meat and fish and how fresh it is. I said that we work only with certified suppliers."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/fears-cannibal-couple-sold-human-11243875" type="external">The Mirror</a> reported Natalia allegedly told a local resident "I bake pies," prompting the query as to what she used. She reportedly replied, “Whatever is around.” The Mirror added that a jar with pickled human remains was found in their home, as well as 19 slices of skin.</p> | REAL-LIFE Sweeney Todd: Russian Couple Allegedly Kills 30 People, Ate Them, Sold Human Meat Pies | true | https://dailywire.com/news/21683/real-life-sweeney-todd-russian-couple-allegedly-hank-berrien | 2017-09-28 | 0 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="" type="internal" />ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The country's largest car wash chain has acquired all six Albuquerque locations of Octopus Car Wash.</p>
<p>Tucson, Ariz.-based Mister Car Wash announced the purchase Thursday via press release, noting that the acquisition gives it 134 car washes and 32 lube shops in 14 states.</p>
<p>Mister Car Wash bought Octopus from the Jurkens family.</p>
<p>John Jurkens opened his first Octopus Car Wash in 1953 in Illinois. The family purchased the Albuquerque locations in 1967, according to the release.</p>
<p>The Octopus at Menaul and Eubank NE had achieved a certain celebrity status in recent years due to its role in the TV show "Breaking Bad."</p>
<p>"Coming to the decision to sell was not an easy one," Octopus CEO Joel Jurkens said in the release. "However we are confident that Mister Car Wash will respect the legacy my father and family has built among our long-standing employees and within the industry."</p>
<p>The Jurkens family once owned 26 car washes, according to Joel Jurkens, but is now down to eight - two in Farmington, three in Wisconsin, two in Illinois and one in Colorado.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | ABQ family sells Octopus Car Wash business | false | https://abqjournal.com/400762/abq-family-sells-octopus-car-wash-business.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>The League of United Latin American Citizens is not necessarily an audience that you would think would receive John McCain well. Its published political platform is a collection of progressive goals: affirmative action, prison reform and abolition of the death penalty, universal health care, a strong and un-privatized Social Security, and so on. The president of the organization is the founder and director of a San Antonio union. And perhaps most of all, it is an organization that, though it has long-standing ties to McCain and his Senate office because of McCain’s willingness to treat immigration issues compassionately, watched its ally bail on their shared commitment to comprehensive immigration reform when his support proved too politically volatile in the Republican primary.</p>
<p>It is no surprise then that McCain didn’t bother tailoring his speech to LULAC, delivered Tuesday afternoon at the Washington Hilton. He made vague reference to his ties to the Hispanic community as he opened (“so many friends, so many allies, so many partners”) but then moved immediately into his theme for the week: the economy, and his superior ability to deal with its current weaknesses.</p>
<p>“The economy is slowing,” admitted McCain. His diagnosis was one anyone with a rudimentary understanding of the two-party system in America could guess: raising taxes will hurt everyday Americans and will prevent businesses from hiring, fair trade is an engine of growth, etc. The majority of the speech ran along these lines. Only in closing did McCain reference the issue of immigration, saying that he tried to pass comprehensive immigration reform, but too many Americans didn’t trust him to secure the border first. So now, he said, he plans on securing the border and then dealing with immigration afterwards, “practically” and “humanely.”</p>
<p>As it turned out, that was enough. Attendees, almost all Democrats or former Democrats, suggested after the speech that they liked McCain’s message and were open to voting for him. A married couple, Hector and Araceli Ayala, said that immigration was their most important issue, and that McCain said enough of the right things.</p>
<p>“Immigration is important to all Hispanics,” said Hector. “We all have families trying to live the American dream.” They had faith McCain would do the right thing. “He would enforce [the border] a little bit but not too much,” said Araceli. Added Hector, “He would keep out the criminal element, people trying to bring in drugs.”</p>
<p>Ultimately, they said, the fact that they are registered Democrats won’t keep them from considering McCain. “People who are coming here to work, to provide for their families, they deserve a chance. This is a country of immigrants,” said Hector. He believed McCain felt the same way.</p>
<p>Others agreed. A former Clinton supporter named Theresa Gallegos said that she appreciated how concrete and passionate McCain was. As for Obama, scheduled to speak later in the day, he doesn’t have the experience to address Gallegos’ major concerns, jobs and energy. “I always ask, ‘Why do we change?’ For Obama, he just says, ‘Change.’ It is just a word.”</p>
<p>National polling suggests that Hispanics are choosing Obama over McCain by <a href="http://ndnblog.org/node/2513" type="external">very wide margins</a>. But that may be because Hispanics were deeply involved in the Democratic primary and don’t know enough about McCain. Today’s speech suggests that when Hispanic voters do get exposed to McCain, they take to him. Pursuing them further may be a valuable campaign strategy for McCain in the coming months. “I’m not a Republican so I haven’t paid attention to him when he talks on the TV,” said an older woman named Maria. “But it was a good speech. It was a good speech!”</p>
<p /> | McCain Scores New Support Among Hispanics | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/07/mccain-scores-new-support-among-hispanics/ | 2008-07-08 | 4 |
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