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<p>A few weeks ago, I <a href="" type="internal">threw together</a> some numbers and statistics suggesting that the French protesters might not be so misguided, and France-style labor protections might not cause high unemployment after all. Now David Howell and John Schmitt of EPI have a <a href="http://www.newschool.edu/cepa/research/papers/04_06_Howell_French_Students_2.pdf" type="external">new paper</a> getting into this in more depth.</p>
<p>The super-novel point here is that France’s youth unemployment-to-population ratio (8.6) is actually nearly identical to that in the United States (8.3). France’s “official” youth unemployment rate is higher primarily because very few French students enrolled in school actually work, while a lot of our college kids get jobs, so the ratio of unemployed youths to working youths is higher in France than it is here. Different numbers measure different things.</p>
<p>Now why do so few French high school and college students work? Maybe it’s because they can’t find jobs. Or maybe it’s because they don’t need to—their public universities are more heavily subsidized, after all. Interestingly, though, the percentage of 20 to 24-year-olds who aren’t in school and are unemployed is actually a bit lower (14.1) than it is in the United States (14.4). That seems like the main number to worry about, and France seems to be doing okay on that front.</p>
<p>It’s also worth noting that the share of young French adults still enrolled in education is much higher than it is in the United States (51.1 versus 35.0 percent). Again, whether that’s because French kids like school or because they have no other options is up in the air. But even if it’s because they have no other options, perhaps being “forced” to stay in school isn’t so bad: According to OECD data, French workers are, on average, 6 to 16 percent more productive than American workers. Work less; study more—maybe that’s the way to go.</p>
<p /> | French Unemployment Revisited | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/04/french-unemployment-revisited/ | 2006-04-25 | 4 |
<p />
<p>My inbox this morning had a few of these press releases forwarded to me:</p>
<p>ExecutiveAction today announced it will hold a press conference on Wednesday, November 14, at 10:30 a.m. at the National Press Club to release the threat assessment – Spores: The Threat of a Catastrophic Anthrax Attack on America. At the press conference will be:</p>
<p>Neil Livingstone – CEO of ExecutiveAction and one of the nation’s top terrorism experts. R. James Woolsey – Former Director of the CIA and Vice President of Booz Allen Hamilton. Professor Yonah Alexander – Senior Fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University and author of more than 90 books on terrorism and international affairs. David Wright – CEO of PharmAthene, a biodefense company headquartered in Annapolis.</p>
<p>The arresting name of the company holding the press conference, Executive Action—code for assassination—is fully intended. “Think of us as a McKinsey &amp; Company with muscle, a private CIA and Defense Department available to address your most intractable problems and difficult challenges,” <a href="http://www.executiveaction.com/opendoors" type="external">declared</a> its CEO and founder Neil Livingstone when the group opened its doors in the Watergate last summer.</p>
<p>But it hasn’t been all assassination jokes for Livingstone, who has taught terrorism courses at Georgetown and was reportedly an associate of Oliver North during Iran Contra. As Harpers‘ <a href="http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/05/hbc-90000048" type="external">Ken Silverstein</a> and US News‘ Washington Whispers <a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/articles/070520/28whisplead.htm" type="external">reported</a> last spring, Livingstone was sued for $2 million by his old firm, Global Options, for allegedly taking customers. Among the clients Livingstone was accused by Global Options of taking with him to ExecutiveAction, according to <a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/articles/070520/28whisplead.htm" type="external">Whispers</a>, “a firm owned by the daughter of Uzbekistan’s strongman president; one secretively dubbed ‘Project M’; and the feuding family of Sumner Redstone, chair of Viacom.”</p>
<p>A Wall Street Journal story earlier this year would seem to suggest that a possible candidate for Project M is one Simeon Mogilevich, a post Soviet entrepreneur indicted on 45 counts by the Feds. As the Journal reported, last year, Livingstone brokered high level meetings for a Mogilevich hired gun with top levels of the Justice Department:</p>
<p>… Mr. Mogilevich is accused in a 45-count racketeering and money-laundering indictment in Philadelphia of masterminding an elaborate stock fraud using a web of shell companies in Europe. The Justice Department also is investigating whether there are any ties between Mr. Mogilevich and a recent series of billion-dollar natural-gas deals between Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom and Ukraine, people familiar with the matter said. The probe is being led by the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section.</p>
<p>According to people familiar with the matter, Mr. Sessions recently approached former colleagues at Justice with an unusual offer: Mr. Mogilevich would provide the U.S. with intelligence on Islamist terrorism if prosecutors opened negotiations to resolve his legal problems in the U.S. Federal prosecutors rejected that offer, lawyers and others familiar with the matter said. …</p>
<p>The Mogilevich talks were brokered by a prominent Washington security expert named Neil C. Livingstone, who was briefly in the news during the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal for his work on terrorism issues with White House aide Oliver North.</p>
<p>He declined to discuss the Mogilevich talks, other than to say they involved “very sensitive issues.”</p>
<p>Very sensitive indeed. Maybe after Henry Waxman gets done investigating private security contractors running amok in Iraq, he can start investigating the same issue here at home. Protection recommended.</p>
<p /> | Assassination Jokes, Anthrax Spores, and Russian Mobsters | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/11/assassination-jokes-anthrax-spores-and-russian-mobsters/ | 2007-11-13 | 4 |
<p>In the early 1970s, the idea for a satellite-based modern navigation system was controversial within the United States Air Force. Many in leadership didn’t want anything to do with the project that would become our now-ubiquitous GPS — they thought the money was better spent on putting more planes in the air.</p>
<p>“It was almost guaranteed that it wouldn't go anywhere because it had been floundering for four or five years,” says engineer and former Air Force colonel <a href="http://www.gps.gov/governance/advisory/members/parkinson/" type="external">Bradford Parkinson</a>, who was hired to lead the GPS project back then. “I appreciated what it could do, but unfortunately not only was there skepticism of what it could do, there was skepticism on whether that was where the money should be spent. It was a constant struggle, even after we had reformulated the whole system, to try to get particularly the Air Force to agree that this was what they ought to do.”</p>
<p>Parkinson directed the GPS project during that fragile time, and made countless appeals in Washington to get it approved and keep it approved in the years it took to perfect the technology. He’s now receiving the 2016 Marconi Prize for his dedication to ensuring that the first GPS satellites got off the ground. He credits GPS success to some help he had from people in the US Air Force and office of the Secretary of Defense.</p>
<p>“I was surrounded by some wonderful people,” Parkinson says. “The boss that I worked for, a three-star general, encouraged me to hire the very,&#160;very best from within the Air Force ...&#160;But the other ingredient, which I think was equally important, or perhaps even more important, was that there was a high-ranking civil person in the Office of the Secretary of Defense ... who took a personal shine to this program.&#160;… He, in essence, said, ‘Air Force, let the young colonel go off and build the system.’ He told them, ‘Just wait and see. He’s going to do it.’”</p>
<p>Some people say GPS was originally a military system that was eventually made a civil system.&#160;</p>
<p>“That’s not true,” Parkinson says. “When I testified before Congress back about 1975, I said this is a combination military-civil system. We originally thought the civils wouldn't get quite the military accuracy but it turns out there are a lot of creative people out there and in no time at all they got close to the military accuracy.</p>
<p>"Briefly the military tried to mess that up but then realized there was no point in it."</p>
<p>Now Parkinson is concentrating all his time on making sure GPS is as resistant as possible to attacks such as jamming, which could be used as a weapon to disrupt everything from air traffic to the stock market.&#160;</p>
<p>“There is a lot at stake,” Parkinson says. “I've devoted most of my recent life to ideas on how one toughens a GPS receiver and for safety or economic critical applications we know how to make it very very jam resistant. But unfortunately those ideas have not been deployed yet. There is another threat. I should add that the FCC is contemplating putting very high-powered broadband transmitters in the adjacent band and if that were to happen, the chances are a lot of users who rely on it now are going to be taken out.”</p>
<p>This article is based on an&#160; <a href="http://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/how-gps-found-its-way/" type="external">interview</a> <a href="http://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/confessions-of-a-meteorite-hunter/" type="external">&#160;</a>that aired on PRI's&#160; <a href="http://www.sciencefriday.com/" type="external">Science Friday</a>.</p> | Did you know GPS used to be controversial? Here’s how it survived. | false | https://pri.org/stories/2016-06-05/did-you-know-gps-used-be-controversial-here-s-how-it-survived | 2016-06-05 | 3 |
<p>Someone ought to let mainstream news producers know that the nearly 4,500 US soldiers killed in the Iraq war were not the only victims. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have also been killed as a result of the unwarranted US invasion, and many more have been wounded and/or forever maimed.</p>
<p>Chances are, all of these Iraq war victims would still be alive today were it not for former President George W. Bush and his band of neoconservatives. Demonstrating a bizarre mix of evangelical ambition, cowboy bravado and the pathological desire to ‘keep Israel secure’, Iraq was destroyed over and over again.</p>
<p>A short report by WTKR, a CBS affiliate television station in Virginia, cited in an online report in the Los Angeles Times on December 16, broadcast images of a US flag being furled at a small US military base in Baghdad. At the ceremony, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta reiterated US sacrifices and rationalized one of the most destructive wars in recent memory. Numerous news reports also declared that the Iraq war was over, although some expressed doubts that the Iraqis – presented as historically, if not genetically fated to be violent – would be able to handle their own affairs now that the US has ended their ‘humanitarian’ intervention.</p>
<p>Just a quick recap:&#160; The Lancet survey determined that between March 2003 and June 2006, 601,027 Iraqis died violent deaths. The Opinion Research Business survey found that 1,033,000 died as a result of the conflict from March 2003 to August 2007. In one single revelation, WikiLeaks stated that “its release of nearly 400,000 classified U.S. files on the Iraq war showed 15,000 more Iraqi civilians <a href="" type="internal" /> died than previously thought.” This is in addition to the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in the decade long Iraq siege, and the hundreds of thousands more who were killed during the first Iraq war between 1990-91.</p>
<p>Numbers aside, the media spin-mongers are busy redrawing the parameters of the discussion through omission, lies and outright racism. Take, for example, Loren Thomspon’s article in Forbes. Thompson thinks that the war was a mistake – not due to any illusions about immorality or illegality – but purely because of practical mistakes involving resources, lack of resolve, Iraq’s sectarianism and military inconsistency, and the like. Despite these mistakes, “our intentions were good,” Thompson stated. To ensure that no one would mistake him for an antiwar ‘leftist nut job’ – the rightwing media’s perception of anyone who opposes US war for any reason – he made an interesting assertion:</p>
<p>“What policymakers and a majority of the U.S. electorate now know is that Iraq never should have been a country in the first place, so trying to make democracy work there is likely to be a thankless task” (Forbes, December 15).</p>
<p>Such intransigence and lack of sensitivity (destroying a sovereign country, then denying its right to have ever existed in the first place – a logic reminiscent of Israeli behavior in Palestine) – are overriding characteristics of the American mainstream media’s representation of the Iraq war.</p>
<p>In their Los Angeles Times article on December 15, David S. Cloud and David Zucchino did acknowledge, albeit belatedly, that Iraqis were killed. However, they also cited the lowest figure they could find (from the Iraqi Body Count website), and resorted to sweeping generalizations that inadvertently laid the blame of the violence on Iraqis themselves. “With the Americans gone, it is up to (the Iraqis) to help control the country’s endemic violence,” they wrote.</p>
<p>Yes, “endemic”, meaning “natural to or characteristic of a specific people or place” (Dictionary.com). If Iraqis are prone to violence because of their cultural, religious or even genetic makeup, why did the daily body counts of Iraqis begin in March 2003, the date of the US invasion? Who made the decision to go to war, turning violence into an “endemic”? Certainly not the Iraqi people.</p>
<p>And it wasn’t the Iraqis who sowed the seeds of their own sectarian conflict either. This was also part of a strategy aimed at redefining the US military role from locating (non-existent) weapons of mass destruction to fighting terrorism, while concurrently putting out the fire of sectarian violence.</p>
<p>In crude military terms, the Iraq war might be over, but as far as the Iraqi people are concerned, it is not. The experiment, which began nearly nine years ago with a “shock and awe” bombing campaign, will manifest itself in future US policies. The entire region has grown to become the backbone of an American empire on the decline.</p>
<p>In her influential book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Naomi Klein described how the war on Iraq was meant to construct a model for the Middle East. It was an experiment, the success of which could influence the <a href="" type="internal" /> geopolitics of the whole region. In the chapter entitled, “Erasing Iraq: In Search for a ‘Model’ for the Middle East,” Klein describes the attempt at destroying and then resurrecting the country to fit the mould sought by those who administered its fall. She concluded Part 6 with the following statement: “So in the end, the war in Iraq did create a model economy…it was a model for privatized war and reconstruction — a model that quickly became export ready.”</p>
<p>Writing in the FoxNews website under the title, ‘Iraq: Victory or Defeat’, Oliver North, had little space for empathy, and certainly none for the Iraqis. “Who won?” he asked. “Short answer — America’s soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen and Marines and the American people whose sons and daughters served in Iraq.”</p>
<p>It is this type of irrational patriotism, and intellectual hooliganism that made the war possible in the first place. And it will continue to facilitate future wars, followed by false victories.</p>
<p>As for the millions of Americans (and many more around the world), who fearlessly and courageously objected to the war, they will continue to do so. If the US is to redeem any iota of credibility in the world, it must cease perceiving war as a mere strategic opportunity. War is brutal and inhumane. It is costly on many levels, and its terrible consequences are likely to prevail through generations – as the future of Iraq will surely, and so sadly, reveal.</p>
<p>Ramzy Baroud&#160;is editor of&#160; <a href="http://www.PalestineChronicle.com/" type="external">PalestineChronicle.com</a>. He is the author of&#160; <a href="" type="internal">The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle</a>&#160;&#160;and &#160;“ <a href="" type="internal">My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story</a>” (Pluto Press, London).&#160;</p> | Embellishing the Iraq War | true | https://counterpunch.org/2011/12/23/embellishing-the-iraq-war/ | 2011-12-23 | 4 |
<p>By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatchThis piece first appeared at <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175596/tomgram%3A_engelhardt%2C_october_surprise/#more" type="external">TomDispatch</a>.</p>
<p>Since this is my version of an election piece, I plan to get the usual stuff out of the way fast.</p>
<p>So yes, the smartest political <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/sept-20-obamas-convention-bounce-may-not-be-receding/" type="external">odds-givers</a> around <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/09/20/is-the-2012-election-tilting-toward-democrats/?hpid=z1" type="external">believe</a> President Obama has a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/us/politics/romney-faces-an-uphill-fight-to-win-at-polls.html" type="external">distinct edge</a> over Mitt Romney coming out of the conventions, the Senate is <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/senate-forecast-what-has-gone-wrong-for-g-o-p-candidates/" type="external">trending</a> Democratic, and who knows about the House. &#160;In fact, it almost seems as if the Republicans put forward the only man in America incapable of defeating an economically wounded and deeply vulnerable president (other than, of course, the roster of candidates he ran against for the nomination).</p>
<p>In every way that they <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/us/politics/obama-exploits-familiar-junction-of-policy-and-politics.html" type="external">can control</a>, the Obama people have simply been smarter.&#160; Take those conventions: in each of them, the presidential candidate was introduced by a well-known figure who went on stage and ad-libbed.&#160; One was an <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/31/video-watch-the-entire-clint-eastwood-speech-at-the-rnc/" type="external">82-year-old guy</a> talking to an empty chair (and I still thought he was the best thing the Republicans had to offer, including his shout-out about withdrawing all our troops from Afghanistan) and the other was… well, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5knEXDsrL4" type="external">Bill Clinton</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>It wasn’t even a contest.&#160; As for the upcoming <a href="http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-debate-schedule/2012-presidential-debate-schedule/" type="external">debates</a>, if you think Romney can outduel Obama without wandering in among the thorns, I have a Nigerian prince I’d like to introduce you to.&#160; In other words, it should really all be over except for the usual shouting and the <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/05/will-republicans-vast-super-pac-money-advantage-swing-the-election.html" type="external">gazillions of dollars</a> of attack ads that will turn swing-state TV screens into a mind-numbing blur of lies. Even there, however, some Super PAC and dark-money types may evidently be starting to consider <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/09/16/161241552/could-superpacs-shift-strategy-to-congress" type="external">shifting funds</a> from beating up on Obama to beating up on Democratic senatorial candidates.&#160; It’s a sign that the moneybags of the Republican right fear the Romney campaign is a rerun of McCain World and the candidate is a Bain Capital version of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbdzMLk9wHQ" type="external">John Kerry wind-surfing</a>.&#160; After all, Romney seems almost <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/opinion/collins-mitts-snake-bite-season.html" type="external">incapable</a> of opening his mouth without letting out a <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/secret-video-romney-private-fundraiser" type="external">howler</a>, his staff is in a <a href="http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=B6BEB452-8AF1-45FC-8831-9FCFF5CE1576" type="external">state of civil war</a>, and Republican candidates elsewhere are <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Politics/susana-martinez-criticizes-mitt-romneys-47-percent-comment/story?id=17270956#.UFnqjhgVmHk" type="external">leaping</a> from the ditched bandwagon, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/opinion/brooks-thurston-howell-romney.html" type="external">as are</a> even <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/peggy-noonan-romney-incompetent_n_1896332.html" type="external">conservative pundits</a>.</p>
<p>By now, Obama and his savvy campaign staff should really be home free, having run political circles around their Republican opponent as he was running circles around himself.&#160; There’s only one problem: the world.&#160; These days it’s threatening to be a bizarrely uncooperative place for a president who wants to rest on his Osama-killing foreign-policy laurels.</p>
<p>An Administration of Managers Face the Tsunami</p>
<p>So send Mitt to the Cayman Islands, stick Paul Ryan in a Swiss bank account, and focus your attention instead on Obama versus the world.&#160; For the next 43 days, that’s the real contest.&#160; It could prove to be the greatest show on Earth, filled as it is with a stellar cast of Islamist extremists, Taliban militants, Afghan allies intent on blowing away their mentors, endangered American diplomats, an Israeli prime minister on the red-line express, sober central European bankers, and a perturbed Chinese leadership, among so many others.</p>
<p>In such a potentially tumultuous situation, the president and his people are committed to a perilous high-wire act without a net.&#160; It involves bringing to bear all the power and savvy left to the last superpower on Earth to prevent some part of the world from spinning embarrassingly out of control, lest the president’s opponent be handed a delectable “ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_surprise" type="external">October surprise</a>.”</p>
<p>Keep in mind that, despite the president’s reputation as a visionary speaker, in global terms his has distinctly been an administration of managers.&#160; The visionaries came earlier.&#160; They were the first-term Bushites, including George W., Dick, and Donald, each in his own way globally bonkers, and all of them and their associates almost blissfully wrong about the nature of power in our world.&#160; (They <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/101850/bush_s_faith_and_the_..." type="external">mistook</a> the destructive power of the U.S. military for global power itself.)&#160; As a consequence, they blithely steered the ship of state directly into a field of giant icebergs.</p>
<p>Think of that wrecking crew, in retrospect, as the three stooges of geopolitical dreaming.&#160; The invasion and occupation of Iraq, in particular — as well as the hubris that went with the very idea of a “global war on terror” — were acts of take-your-breath-away folly that help explain why the Bush administration was MIA at the recent Republican convention (as was, of course, the Iraq War).&#160; In the process, they drove a stake directly through the energy heartlands of the planet, leaving autocratic allies there gasping for breath and wondering what was next.&#160; Since 2009, the managers of the Obama administration have been doing what managers do best: fiddling with the order of the deck chairs on our particular Titanic. This might be thought of as managing the Bush legacy.</p>
<p>The problem was that in much of the world an older order, linked to the Cold War scheme of things, was finally coming unglued.&#160; A <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175351/engelhardt_pox_americana" type="external">combination</a> of the Bush invasions of the Eurasian mainland and the way the U.S. financial sector stormed the planet with a vast <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/wall-streets-naked-swindle-20100405" type="external">ponzi scheme</a> of bogus financial derivatives did much to promote the process, especially in what neoconservatives liked to call “ <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175442/" type="external">the arc of instability</a>” (before they offered a striking demonstration of just what instability was really all about). In a sense, what they dubbed their “democracy agenda” — though it had little enough to do with democracy — played a distinct role in unifying much of the Arab world in opposition to its Washington-backed one-percenters.&#160; In this way, the Arab Spring was launched against <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175466/juan_cole_protest_planet" type="external">Ben Ali-ism</a>, and Mubarak-ism, against, that is, an American system of well-armed regional autocrats.&#160; (The unraveling of Syria is just a reminder that what we are watching is the disintegration of the full Cold War set-up in the Middle East, including the less significant Soviet part of it.)</p>
<p>Back in 2004, Egyptian diplomat Amr Moussa <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0914-01.htm" type="external">warned</a> the Bush administration that its invasion of Iraq had opened “the gates of hell.”&#160; Of course, Washington paid him no heed.&#160; He was neither an autocrat nor a soldier, but the secretary-general of the meaningless Arab League, so what were his credentials to explain reality to them?&#160; As it happened, he couldn’t have been more on the mark and they more in the dark.&#160; Unfortunately, it took some time, two minority insurgencies, much chaos, millions <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174892/michael_schwartz_iraq%27s_tidal_wave_of_misery" type="external">driven into exile</a>, a bitter sectarian civil war (now being repeated in Syria), and morgues filled with <a href="http://www.iraqbodycount.org/" type="external">dead bodies</a> before the Arab Spring would be launched.&#160; Though that movement was named for a season of renewal, its name was apt in another sense entirely: a whole system that had long held in place a key region of the planet was being sprung loose.</p>
<p>From Tunisia and Egypt to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, vast hordes of people would take to the streets, nonviolently at first, to protest the corruption and depredations of the 1% in their countries and, often, the foreign powers behind them.&#160; As autocrats began to fall, a region-wide system in all its complexity, corruption, and brutality began to shudder and come apart at the seams.</p>
<p>Today, that system is, politely put, in transition, but possibly simply in a state of collapse.&#160; What will replace it remains unknown and probably unknowable.&#160; In the meantime, into the emptied space have flowed all sorts of raw emotions, bitterness, repressed memories, hopes, and despair, much of it stored up for years if not decades, including feelings that are extreme indeed, and some that are simply murderous or quite mad.&#160; A way of life, a system in the Greater Middle East, is clearly over. Surprise is the order of the day, including <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2019217372_approphetfilm.html" type="external">wild demonstrations</a> and <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/12/us-libya-usa-attack-idUSBRE88B0EI20120912" type="external">killings</a> over a bizarre “trailer” for a non-existent film that barely made it out of Southern California.</p>
<p>The truth is, from Iran to Iraq to Afghanistan to Pakistan to Libya to Yemen, despite almost four years of Obama’s ministrations and management, war and diplomacy, the Bush legacy is still threatening to blow the region sky-high.&#160; It could easily happen any time in the 43 days before November 6th.&#160; Which is why, from <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/marine-corps/249687-us-closes-embassy-amid-reports-sudan-rejected-request-to-send-marines" type="external">Sudan</a> to <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2012-09-12/africa/world_africa_libya-us-ambassador-killed-pentagon_1_libya-attack-benghazi-libyan-coast" type="external">Libya</a>, the Obama administration is playing little Dutch boy, trying to plug every hole it can in the Middle Eastern dike and praying that any coming tsunami won’t hit before the election.</p>
<p>A World at the Boiling Point</p>
<p>The question of the political season, then, has nothing to do with Mitt.&#160; It’s this: Can the Greater Middle East be managed effectively enough for any potentially embarrassing thing to be swept under some rug until November 7th?&#160; And that’s just one region on a planet aboil.</p>
<p>Similar questions could be asked of Israeli policy on Iran where Prime Minister Netanyahu has been, quite literally, on the warpath and in the Obama administration’s face.&#160; He has been pushing for a green light for Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities or guaranteed <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/16/israel-demands-us-red-line-iran-nuclear" type="external">red lines</a> that would lead to such strikes.&#160; To an outside observer, it might almost seem that “Bibi” is <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443720204578000623041016286.html" type="external">on TV</a> in the U.S. often enough these days to be running for office.&#160; From <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/12/obama-makes-late-night-call-to-netanyahu-after-snub-over-proposed-iran-meeting/" type="external">late night</a> presidential phone calls to a stream of messages to Tel Aviv, some offering promises, others <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/09/after-dempsey-warning-israel-may-curb-war-threat/" type="external">warnings</a>, the Obama administration has been putting enormous energy into ensuring that no Israeli strike on Iran will take place before election day (and on this they are likely to succeed). But keep in mind that, to placate Israel, the U.S. has <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175592/tomgram%3A_engelhardt%2C_washington_invested_in_war/" type="external">built up</a> its <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/U-S-Leads-Biggest-Persian-Gulf-Mine-Exercise-in-3875111.php" type="external">forces</a> in the Persian Gulf region to such an extent that any misstep anywhere could result in a blow-up that neither Washington nor Tehran wants.</p>
<p>When it comes to the disintegrating American position in Afghanistan, almost 11 years after victory was declared and the Bush administration decided to occupy the country rather than go home, the news is grim.&#160; The whole mission on which the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops is ostensibly based — to train the Afghans to stand up and fight for their country — has essentially been <a href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/09/17/US-Afghan-operations-suspended/UPI-84431347880532/" type="external">put on hold</a>.&#160; That’s hardly surprising, since Washington’s Afghan allies are now regularly standing up and, with the weapons and training U.S. mentors have given them, <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175587/tomgram%3A_engelhardt,_losing_it_in_washington/" type="external">blowing those mentors away</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the actual enemy, the Taliban, supposedly surged into near nonexistence in its southern homeland, has just launched the <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/09/us-suffered-its-worst-airpower-loss-vietnam-last-week-and-no-one-really-noticed/57139/" type="external">most devastating attack</a> on a military base of the war, resulting in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/world/asia/green-on-blue-attacks-in-afghanistan-continue.html" type="external">at least $200 million</a> in allied loses. (It’s their first attack that might even faintly be compared to those the Vietnamese <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Cong_attack_on_Pleiku_airbase" type="external">launched</a> against American bases in the 1960s.)&#160; The question once again is: Can Washington hang on in Afghanistan until November 7th, even if it has to put every Afghan training mission and joint operation on hold and confine American troops to their bases?&#160; The great advantage the Obama administration holds in this regard is that the American public has generally been paying next to no attention to the Afghan War.&#160; This, nonetheless, is a situation in which an American mission has a possibility of imploding (and <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2012/09/19/mccain-us-should-consider-leaving-afghanistan/" type="external">unexpected voices</a> are finally being raised on the issue of early withdrawal).&#160; And we haven’t even mentioned Afghanistan’s unsettled and unsettling nuclear neighbor Pakistan.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the increasingly disturbed regional system we’re discussing just happens to be located in the energy heartlands of the planet and, in case you hadn’t noticed, prices at the pump have been <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/rick-newman/2012/09/17/rising-gas-prices-may-fall-come-november-benefiting-obama" type="external">rising</a> lately.&#160; The Saudis are, however, now <a href="http://uk.news.yahoo.com/petrol-prices-saudi-action-cut-costs-104443576--finance.html" type="external">promising</a> to put extra oil into the global system, which just might providentially help the Obama administration by lowering gas prices before November.</p>
<p>Lest you think that Obama’s October surprise fears lie mainly in the Middle East, however, remember that a world system is shuddering, too. There’s the tottering Eurozone, in recession and threatening to shatter with unknown global financial consequences; and there’s the Chinese economy, that motor for the planet this last decade, which seems to be <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/05/5-reasons-china-might-already-be-in-a-recession/257636/" type="external">slipping into recession</a> (just as the powerhouse <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2012/05/global_economic_crisis_china_india_brazil_are_slowing_down_plunging_world_into_possible_recession_.html" type="external">Indian and Brazilian</a> economies do the same), amid growing signs of unrest and ugly <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/anti-japanese-protests-in-china-over-disputed-islands-spread/article4547683/?cmpid=rss1" type="external">nationalist upheavals</a>.&#160; And don’t even bother to bring up climate change, the state of the planet, or the fact that extreme droughts in <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/20/us-usa-drought-idUSBRE88J0UU20120920" type="external">the U.S.</a> and <a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/28/food-asia-grains-idINL3E8JR1B720120828" type="external">elsewhere</a> this year are driving food prices <a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/09/17/us-grains-g20-usa-idINBRE88G1FS20120917" type="external">up worldwide</a> in a way that guarantees <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175579/michael-Klare_the_hunger_wars_in_our_future" type="external">future popular unrest</a> on a large scale.&#160; Any of the above could burst into prominence in the next 43 days, surprising the world and putting President Obama on the hot seat.&#160; And keep in mind that we’re only talking about — to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_are_known_knowns" type="external">paraphrase</a> former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld — the known knowns, and known unknowns.&#160; No one is even thinking about the unknown unknowns.</p>
<p>The liberal hit on Obama has been that the man won’t fight for what he believes in.&#160; The next 43 days will put the lie to that.&#160; He’s ready to fight fiercely for his job by doing his damnedest to tamp down any possible embarrassments, any potential October surprises — and he’s enlisted the U.S. government lock, stock, and State Department in that campaign. So if you want a little horse-race entertainment for the next six weeks, skip the Ohio, Colorado, and Virginia polls, don’t worry about the results of the coming debates, or the court tests on restrictive new voting laws.&#160; After all, there’s going to be no better show in town than the acrobatic contortions of the Obama crew as they work to keep global disaster off the menu until November 7th.</p>
<p>It should be a lesson in what a declining superpower can (or can’t) still do: a shining tale of great power management and luck or a sobering parable of what is no longer within the grasp of such a power on this planet of ours.</p>
<p>In the meantime, it’s Obama against the world and the horse-race question is: Will he make it to November 7th and a second term?&#160; Think of that as Obama’s problem.</p>
<p>But there’s another far less entertaining problem few are thinking about right now. Consider it our problem.&#160; The Obama people are understandably focused on the election.&#160; Being of a managerial frame of mind, their thoughts don’t tend to run to the long-term anyhow. I doubt they have, at this point, put a second’s consideration into what’s likely to happen, if they manage to keep everything under wraps, 44 days from now — and beyond.&#160; It’s not as if war with Iran, disaster in Afghanistan, chaos in the Middle East, a staggering Eurozone, a stumbling Chinese economy (in the midst of seaborne saber rattling), rising oil and food prices, climate change, and so much else won’t be as threatening then.&#160; None of these are problems, however managed, that are going away anytime soon or are likely in the long run to prove particularly manageable from Washington.</p>
<p>The question for the rest of us is: What the hell happens next? &#160;&#160;It’s one you better start thinking about because the Obama people, much as they want to rule the roost for four more years, don’t have a clue.</p>
<p>Tom Engelhardt, co-founder of the <a href="http://www.americanempireproject.com/" type="external">American Empire Project</a> and author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608461548/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">The United States of Fear</a> as well as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/155849586X/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">The End of Victory Culture</a>, runs the Nation Institute’s <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/" type="external">TomDispatch.com</a>. His latest book, co-authored with Nick Turse, is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0086EF89K/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=tomdispatch-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B0086EF89K" type="external">Terminator Planet: The First History of Drone Warfare, 2001-2050</a>. To listen to Timothy MacBain’s latest Tomcast audio interview in which Engelhardt discusses an “October surprise” world and the presidential election, click <a href="http://tomdispatch.blogspot.com/2012/09/obama-against-world.html" type="external">here</a> or download it to your iPod <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tomcast-from-tomdispatch-com/id357095817" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 2012 Tom Engelhardt</p> | October Surprise? | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/october-surprise/ | 2012-09-25 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Shares of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) and Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR), both engaged in car and truck rentals, among other services, were trading 10% and 8% lower at 2:55 p.m. EDT, after comments about used-car pricing from Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) sent skittish investors to the exits.</p>
<p>The driving force behind Hertz's and Avis' declines came when Ally held its financial outlook presentation Tuesday morning. Ally noted that its own profit could grow less than what was anticipated only a few months ago, which is the latest knock against the automakers' use of more incentives to sell vehicles.For Ally, that means its earnings might increase as little as 5% this year, compared with its prior estimate of just under 15%.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
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<p>What matters for Hertz and Avis is the 7.1% first-quarter decline in the National Automobile Dealers Association index, which gauges used-car pricing.That's an issue for rental services, because not only do those companies generate revenue from renting vehicles to consumers, but they also sell vehicles to consumers and auctions once the vehicles are done being used in the rental fleet -- and thus, lower used-car prices hurt its bottom line. Further, companies that lease vehicles make assumptions on day one about the probable value of the vehicle once it's returned upon the end of the lease. If used-car prices decline faster than anticipated, that also hits the bottom line, and rather quickly.</p>
<p>The change in the NADA index was roughly flat during the back half of 2015 before declines of between 3.5% and 3.7% hit during the first three quarters of 2016. During the fourth quarter of 2016, the index dropped 5.8%, and 2017 year to date shows a 7.1% decline. This is obviously a trend to keep an eye on, and the market's selling of shares of Hertz and Avis today signals that many believe the trend is here to stay. For investors, keep an eye on the index and hope for a rebound through the rest of 2017 that will bring index declines back around 5%.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Hertz Global HoldingsWhen 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><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTwoCoins/info.aspx" type="external">Daniel Miller Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Hertz Global Holdings. 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> | The Warning Sign That Sent Shares of Hertz Global and Avis Budget Lower Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/21/warning-sign-that-sent-shares-hertz-global-and-avis-budget-lower-today.html | 2017-03-21 | 0 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>I blew it. I recently wrote a CounterPunch piece on Hypocrisy and how it seems to have permeated every aspect of American life here in what Alexander Cockburn calls, “a very interesting time in the life of the Empire.”</p>
<p>I noted the strange “Ethics Refresher Course” that some 3000 White House employees were recently put through. I noted that White House ethics layer Richard Painter was in charge of the curriculum. All good, so far.</p>
<p>But, I was dead wrong in also claiming that it was Painter who “vetted Bernard Kerik” to succeed Tom Ridge at the Cabinet-level top position in the Department of Homeland Security. In actuality, the Kerik fiasco came about before Painter took the job. After being tipped off to my error by an astute reader (and after kicking myself for getting it wrong), I asked CP co-editor Jeffery St. Clair to take down the article from the website (which he did) and informed him that I would like to do this correction. (If not, the irony of my own hypocrisy would be more than I could take.)</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Who Done It?</p>
<p>Of course, I also went back over the issue and have tried mightily to find out just who DID vet Kerik. I honestly cannot figure it out. It wasn’t Painter’s predecessor Nanette Everson and it doesn’t seem to have been then-White House counsel and current Attorney General Roberto Gonzales.</p>
<p>I’ll continue to dig; but at this time, it appears to me that no one vetted Kerik. It seems that George W. Bush just took Rudolph (Rudy) Giuliani’s word on the former New York Police Commissioner and then-CEO of Giuliani-Kerik LLC and it went forward from there, complete with Bush’s usual gushing endorsement to the press: “I’m proud to announce my nomination of Commissioner Bernard Kerik as the Secretary of Homeland Security. In every position, he has demonstrated a deep commitment to justice, a heart for the innocent and a record of great success.”</p>
<p>James Hamilton, who vetted nominees for Clinton when he was first elected, said about Kerik’s failed nomination; “In any good vet, tax matters, marital matters, business matters are explored in great detail.” However, I can see how this could occur: “Hey, he’s a tough cop. He was indispensable on 9/11. He’s a loyal Republican”</p>
<p>Naturally, the Democrats were in collusion. Both of New York’s two Democratic senators, Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton issued statements praising Kerik after the nomination was announced. Even after it blew up, Schumer defended his Big Apple-centric position, “I thought the No. 1 issue was to be a fighter for New York. Period. That’s why I supported him.”</p>
<p>Clinton bleated out her now customary excuse about being misled. A Culture of Corruption</p>
<p>Of course, Kerik’s (and by extension, Giuliani’s) woes are far from over. Potential tax problems regarding his Mexican nanny were the justification for his withdrawal from the nomination for the Homeland Security position. But, as I noted, that was the least of his problems which include an outstanding arrest warrant at the time of nomination; charges of insider trading (in which he pocketed $6.2 million on his sale of Taser stock which he received for merely serving on the Taser board); extramarital shenanigans; violations of ethics rules covering gifts; etc.</p>
<p>Now, it has come out that Kerik has been accused by New Jersey’s Division of Gaming Enforcement of accepting over $200,000 in renovations from a contracting company with alleged mob ties. The contractor, Interstate Industrial Corporation also gave Kerik’s brother, Donald, an $85,000 per year job at the same time that Bernard Kerik was using his influence on behalf of Interstate. During the New Jersey agency’s investigation, Kerik took the Fifth eight times and refused to answer questions or to produce documents related to his ties with Interstate.</p>
<p>Both the Bronx district attorney and New York’s Department of Investigation are examining Kerik’s connections to the contractor. First item of business? Find out if Giuliani knew any of this, which took place when Kerik was Correction Commissioner in the 1990’s, at the time Giuliani appointed Kerik as Police Commissioner in 2000.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The Security “Watchdog”</p>
<p>As to Kerik these days; for the past six months he’s been serving as security consultant to the Jordanian government. Yep. The guy Giuliani praised as “one of the most capable law enforcement experts in the country” not only was New York’s top cop when 9/11 went down; it was also on his watch that the Jordanian capital Amman was bombed November 9, 2005.</p>
<p>With a Homeland Security “record of great success” like this, no wonder no one’s fingerprints show up on any ethics investigation into Bush’s proud nomination.</p>
<p>MICHAEL DONNELLY regrets having placed Richard Painter in the midst of this debacle and wishes Painter success in countering the “culture of corruption” that permeates DC. He will still — very carefully — record examples of Hypocrisy. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The "Vetting" of Bernard Kerik and the Culture of Corruption | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/11/22/the-quot-vetting-quot-of-bernard-kerik-and-the-culture-of-corruption/ | 2005-11-22 | 4 |
<p>What goes up must come down, right?</p>
<p>That's probably been the hope for investors wanting to buy&#160;Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) stock on a dip. So far this year, though, there hasn't been much of one for the robotic surgical systems maker. Intuitive Surgical stock has marched upward throughout 2017, and is now up around 85% year to date.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But is Intuitive Surgical a buy after racking up those huge gains? Here are the best arguments for and against the stock.</p>
<p>A quick glance at Intuitive Surgical's <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/21/intuitive-surgicals-robots-power-profits.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=05e3551e-c955-11e7-a29c-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">results from the third quarter Opens a New Window.</a> highlights several reasons investors might want to buy the stock now. Demand for the company's da Vinci robotic surgical systems remains strong. Intuitive Surgical shipped 169 systems in the third quarter, a 26% year-over-year increase. However, that's really not the best news for investors.</p>
<p>While Intuitive Surgical is on track to generate close to $850 million in revenue this year from system sales, it <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/12/how-intuitive-surgical-inc-makes-most-of-its-money.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=05e3551e-c955-11e7-a29c-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">makes over half of its money Opens a New Window.</a> from selling instruments and accessories. How many instruments and accessories the company sells depends on how many procedures are performed using da Vinci systems. And that's where the really good news comes into play: Intuitive Surgical reported that worldwide procedures in the third quarter increased by 15% over the prior-year period.</p>
<p>There's a good case to be made that strong procedure growth will continue for a long time to come. More da Vinci systems in use will naturally drive procedure volume, of course. <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/01/the-long-term-trend-that-makes-intuitive-surgical.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=05e3551e-c955-11e7-a29c-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Demographic trends should also help Opens a New Window.</a>, with more Americans hitting the ages where hysterectomies and prostatectomies are most commonly performed.</p>
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<p>Perhaps the greatest opportunity for growth, though, is with expansion into new types of procedures. Intuitive Surgical is developing new innovations to facilitate this expansion. For example, the company&#160;recently announced positive results from the first clinical study conducted with its new flexible robotics platform. This new system is still under development, but it already looks quite promising. The catheter-based technology enables access to hard-to-reach areas of the body through natural openings, like the mouth. In the initial study, the system was used to obtain sample lung tissue from small nodules -- important for early diagnosis of lung cancer.</p>
<p>On the other hand, those pessimistic about Intuitive Surgical's prospects have one particularly strong argument to make. Thus far in its history, Intuitive Surgical has enjoyed a virtual monopoly in robot-assisted surgery, at least in the procedures on which it focuses. But that monopoly won't last for much longer.</p>
<p>Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) took notice of the success that Intuitive Surgical has had and decided it wanted a part of the pie. The giant medical device company plans to launch its own robotic surgical system in 2018. Medtronic plans to start its rollout of the new system outside the U.S. but won't wait long to go after the big American market.</p>
<p>Intuitive Surgical has some reason to be worried. Medtronic already claims tight relationships with many hospitals in the U.S. and across the world. The company will almost certainly attempt to leverage those existing relationships, perhaps even offering bundled deals including its robotic surgical system. Even without such bundled packages, Medtronic could make its robotic system available at lower prices than da Vinci.</p>
<p>In the meantime, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/17/should-intuitive-surgical-be-worried-about-tiny-tr.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=05e3551e-c955-11e7-a29c-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">another potential competitor is already knocking at the door Opens a New Window.</a>. TransEnterix (NYSEMKT: TRXC) recently won clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Senhance surgical robot system. Senhance has several nice features that da Vinci doesn't. And its instruments are reusable, which could make the system more cost-effective than da Vinci.</p>
<p>Both arguments have merit. Demand for robotic-assisted surgical systems is growing. New innovations will allow more procedures to be performed using robotic surgical systems. That presents a tremendous opportunity for Intuitive Surgical. However, there's no question that the company will also face significant competition in the days ahead. I think the case for Intuitive Surgical, though, is stronger than the case against it.</p>
<p>I don't expect Intuitive Surgical to lose many of its existing customers to new rivals. These hospitals have already made big investments with da Vinci and are much more likely to try to get the most out of those investments than change horses in midstream. In fact, TransEnterix's CEO has publicly stated that it won't attempt to compete directly against Intuitive Surgical anytime soon.</p>
<p>Also, I don't think that Intuitive Surgical will be asleep at the wheel in the face of new rivals. You can bet the company will do its best to outinnovate and outsell Medtronic, TransEnterix, and any other emerging competitors.</p>
<p>More importantly, my view is that the potential market for robotic surgery is large enough to support multiple players. Around 5.5 million surgeries are performed annually in the U.S. for the top 15 surgical procedures. Last year, Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci system was used in barely over 10% of that volume. There's a lot of room for growth -- and that's just in the U.S., where robotic surgery use is more prevalent.</p>
<p>What goes up does eventually go down. But there's no way to know when the next dip for Intuitive Surgical stock will occur. I continue to believe the prospects are great for the company. Is Intuitive Surgical a buy? My answer is an unequivocal "yes."</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Intuitive SurgicalWhen 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 November 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFishBiz/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=05e3551e-c955-11e7-a29c-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Keith Speights Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Intuitive Surgical. The Motley Fool owns shares of Medtronic. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=05e3551e-c955-11e7-a29c-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Is Intuitive Surgical, Inc. a Buy? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/15/is-intuitive-surgical-inc-buy.html | 2017-11-15 | 0 |
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<p>FILE - In this Dec. 12, 2008 file courtroom drawing by artist Janet Hamlin, reviewed by the US military, Canadian-born accused terrorist Omar Khadr attends a pre-trial session in Camp Justice on the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Omar Khadr, convicted of killing a U.S. soldier, will be released on bail Thursday, May 7, 2015, after Court of Appeal Jutice Myra Bielby refused a last-ditch attempt by the Canadian government to keep him jailed. (AP Photo/Janet Hamlin, Pool, File)</p>
<p>TORONTO - A former Guantanamo Bay inmate convicted of killing a U.S. soldier was released on bail Thursday after a judge refused a last-ditch attempt by the Canadian government to keep him imprisoned.</p>
<p>Court of Appeal Justice Myra Bielby rejected the government's emergency request to stop Omar Khadr release's while he appeals his U.S. war crimes conviction. A lower court judge granted him bail last month.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>"Mr. Khadr you're free to go," Bielby said before cheers erupted in the courtroom. Khadr smiled.</p>
<p>Toronto-born Khadr spent a decade in the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Since 2012 he's been held in Canada, serving out an eight-year sentence handed down by a U.S. military commission in 2010. He was convicted of war crimes, including throwing a grenade when he was 15 years old that killed U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer in Afghanistan during a 2002 firefight</p>
<p>Khadr was once the youngest detainee at Guantanamo, arriving there at age 15. He is now 28.</p>
<p>Khadr's long-time lawyer Dennis Edney and his wife have offered to take him into their home. Among the bail conditions imposed were that Khadr wear a tracking bracelet, live with the Edneys, observe a curfew between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., and have only supervised access to the Internet. Also, he can communicate with his family in Ontario only while under supervision and only in English.</p>
<p>"He's met very few people outside a jail cell," said Nate Whitling, one of Khadr's lawyers.</p>
<p>"It's going to be a major adjustment for him, but I'm sure he's up for it."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Whitling said Khadr has served his time and he believes this will be the end of his incarceration. Whitling later tweeted a picture of Khadr leaving the courthouse with Edney.</p>
<p>"I'm delighted. It's taken too many years to get to this point," Edney said. "We were the only Western country that didn't request one of its detainees come home. We left a Canadian child in Guantanamo Bay to suffer torture."</p>
<p>Edney asked why Canada is spending money helping to rehabilitate child soldiers in Sierra Leone "while we had one here."</p>
<p>Defense attorneys said Khadr was pushed into war by his father, Ahmed Said Khadr, an alleged senior al-Qaida financier whose family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy. His Egyptian-born father was killed in 2003 in a Pakistani military operation.</p>
<p>Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government has long refused to support Omar Khadr, reflecting ambivalence in Canada over the Khadr family.</p>
<p>The government had argued that releasing Khadr from an Alberta prison would undermine the treaty under which the U.S. returned him to Canada to serve out his eight-year sentence in 2012.</p>
<p>"We are disappointed with today's decision, and regret that a convicted terrorist has been allowed back into Canadian society without having served his full sentence," said Jeremy Laurin, a spokesman for Canada's public safety minister.</p>
<p>U.S. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke declined to immediately comment on the judge's decision.</p>
<p>Khadr's lawyers said he's been a model prisoner. They produced documents including a recent interview Khadr did with a prison psychologist in which he denounces terrorism and says he wants to win people's trust and respect.</p>
<p>"I've screwed up in the past, and I'm worried it will haunt me," Khadr told the psychologist. "People will think I'm the same person as I was 12 or 13 years ago."</p> | Canadian judge allows ex-Gitmo inmate to get bail | false | https://abqjournal.com/580883/canadian-judge-allows-ex-gitmo-inmate-to-get-bail.html | 2 |
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<p>The United Nations marks World Refugee Day on Thursday.</p>
<p>"In all the years I have worked on behalf of refugees, this is the most worrying I have ever witnessed," <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/51c2f1ba6.html" type="external">said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres</a>, speaking in Jordan Thursday. "The needs of these people are overwhelming; their anguish is unbearable."</p>
<p>The world's <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/war/130619/refugees-worldwide-numbers-stats-displaced-people-afghanistan-somalia-sudan-syria-iraq" type="external">refugee population is on the incline</a>, with a staggering 45.2 million people displaced from their homes.</p>
<p>While the brutal civil war in <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/photo-galleries/planet-pic/5862386/world-refugee-day-syrias-displaced-children-languish-camps" type="external">Syria continues to displace thousands of refugees</a> at an alarming rate, other countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan continue to deal with internally or externally displaced people.</p>
<p><a href="http://unhcr.org/globaltrendsjune2013/UNHCR%20GLOBAL%20TRENDS%202012_V05.pdf" type="external">A UN report released Wednesday</a> showed that 7.6 million people were displaced in 2012 alone, with around 20,000 being displaced every day.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most disturbing development in 2012 was the highest number of asylum applications for unaccompanied children on UNHCR's record. The refugee agency counted 21,300 applications for children who were unaccompanied or separated from their parents in 2012.</p> | World Refugee Day 2013: 'Needs of these people are overwhelming' | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-06-20/world-refugee-day-2013-needs-these-people-are-overwhelming | 2013-06-20 | 3 |
<p>JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Some Juneau police officers have begun wearing body cameras, with more to come this year.</p>
<p>Five Juneau police officers are currently testing the body cameras, police Chief Ed Mercer said.</p>
<p>Mercer hopes to have all Juneau patrol officers and supervising sergeants trained and using body cameras by the middle of 2018</p>
<p>Officer Alex Smith has worn his for about a month. The body camera, magnetically attached to Smith's chest, goes along with him when he patrols the downtown area, his primary area of focus, where he has a lot of interaction with the homeless, KTOO-FM reported Friday.</p>
<p>He turns it on every time he has an official contact, which he said could be six to 12 times a day, he said.</p>
<p>The cameras are always recording, Mercer said. Once an officer presses a button on the front of the camera, the camera begins tagging and storing video from a moment a few minutes before the officer pressed the button.</p>
<p>"Because in police work, things happen suddenly," Mercer said. "Especially when you have cameras where you have to self-activate them. I believe that's a mechanism put in the camera to help with that."</p>
<p>The videos are later passed on to a server.</p>
<p>The camera also has a function that allows officers to label the type of event the video covers such as a traffic stop, arrest warrant or theft call.</p>
<p>So far, Smith thinks the body cameras help keep everyone accountable and make their work easier.</p>
<p>"When people know we are recording them as much as they're recording us, a lot of times that actually helps to de-escalate (the situation)," he said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: KTOO-FM, <a href="http://www.ktoo.org" type="external">http://www.ktoo.org</a></p>
<p>JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Some Juneau police officers have begun wearing body cameras, with more to come this year.</p>
<p>Five Juneau police officers are currently testing the body cameras, police Chief Ed Mercer said.</p>
<p>Mercer hopes to have all Juneau patrol officers and supervising sergeants trained and using body cameras by the middle of 2018</p>
<p>Officer Alex Smith has worn his for about a month. The body camera, magnetically attached to Smith's chest, goes along with him when he patrols the downtown area, his primary area of focus, where he has a lot of interaction with the homeless, KTOO-FM reported Friday.</p>
<p>He turns it on every time he has an official contact, which he said could be six to 12 times a day, he said.</p>
<p>The cameras are always recording, Mercer said. Once an officer presses a button on the front of the camera, the camera begins tagging and storing video from a moment a few minutes before the officer pressed the button.</p>
<p>"Because in police work, things happen suddenly," Mercer said. "Especially when you have cameras where you have to self-activate them. I believe that's a mechanism put in the camera to help with that."</p>
<p>The videos are later passed on to a server.</p>
<p>The camera also has a function that allows officers to label the type of event the video covers such as a traffic stop, arrest warrant or theft call.</p>
<p>So far, Smith thinks the body cameras help keep everyone accountable and make their work easier.</p>
<p>"When people know we are recording them as much as they're recording us, a lot of times that actually helps to de-escalate (the situation)," he said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: KTOO-FM, <a href="http://www.ktoo.org" type="external">http://www.ktoo.org</a></p> | Juneau Police Department begins using body cameras | false | https://apnews.com/amp/9e5c605c27e54c72aa16a97e372a486a | 2018-01-01 | 2 |
<p>JAKARTA, Indonesia — What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear “East Timor”?</p>
<p>Answer “East who?” and you’re on Yohan Goutt-Goncalves’s list.</p>
<p>If you think of a decades-long bloody Indonesian occupation, that’s impressive. But you’re still on his list.</p>
<p>The 19-year-old is on a mission to introduce East Timor to the world — and, for those who only know its history of turmoil, to show that there is more to the country and its people.</p>
<p>He’ll fulfill his mission on Friday, by carrying the flag of Timor Leste, as the country is officially known, in the Sochi Winter Olympics opening ceremony.</p>
<p>It will be a quixotic climax to the young man’s quest, and a proud moment for one of the planet’s youngest countries (it achieved independence in 2002).</p>
<p>Goutt-Goncalves is the first East Timorese ever to qualify for the Winter Games.</p>
<p>But don’t book your next ski vacation in East Timor just yet. While there is undoubtedly more to the country than war, skiing is definitely not a local attraction.</p>
<p>GlobalPost was unable to confirm whether a single flake of snow has ever fallen on the equatorial land. And the local language has no word for “skiing.”</p>
<p>The country occupies half an island in the Pacific, amid the Indonesian archipelago, an hour’s flight north of Darwin, Australia. It’s a rugged but tropical place, with magnificent coral reefs that draw intrepid scuba divers.</p>
<p>So how did Goutt-Goncalves do it?</p>
<p>Chalk it up to geographic luck, a smart strategy, and an alpine version of cramming. &#160;</p>
<p>He was born in France, of a French father and a Timorese mother. Yet while most professional French skiers hail from the Alps, Goutt-Goncalves grew up in a Paris suburb and skied for just two weeks a year, during his Christmas vacation. He loved it, and increased his training as he grew older.</p>
<p>But it was only last June, when he was officially allowed to represent East Timor in international competitions, that he moved to the Alps and started training every day.</p>
<p>He also needed to jump through some Olympic size bureaucratic hoops.</p>
<p>“Snow-skating,” as the local media call it, definitely isn’t a national sport. Goutt-Goncalves is the only active member of East Timor’s ski federation. In fact, he had to launch it himself, in order for the Olympics to even consider him. That took time. Starting a ski federation wasn’t exactly a high government priority.</p>
<p>East Timor is one of Asia’s poorest nations. A former Portuguese colony, it was invaded by neighboring Indonesia soon after the Portuguese left in 1975. The 25-year repressive occupation left at least 100,000 of the country’s 1.2 million dead, and only ended with the intervention of an international peacekeeping mission in 1999.</p>
<p>Goutt-Goncalves’s mother fled the island when she was 11. He says wearing the colors of her native country at the Olympics was his childhood dream.</p>
<p>Given the hoops, don’t even think about implying that he sought qualification for East Timor because he wasn’t good enough for France’s national ski team.</p>
<p>That makes him angry.</p>
<p>“I was eight when I told my parents that one day I would represent East Timor at the Olympics,” he says. “Even if I had reached the level to enter the French national team, East Timor was always my goal.”</p>
<p>It is indeed easier to qualify for East Timor.</p>
<p>To enter the Olympics, athletes have to rank among the top 500 in the world, unless they’re the sole representative of their country. In that case, they have to obtain a minimum number of points in international races.</p>
<p>Goutt-Goncalves smartly avoided the highly competitive main European races, and chased points in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Iran and Norway. Last December in Serbia, he finally reached the 140 points needed to qualify for the Games’ slalom ski race.</p>
<p>He acknowledges his luck. “It’s every skier’s dream to participate in the Olympics,” he says.</p>
<p>Ranking 2000th in the world, he doesn’t have much chance of a medal, but his supporters couldn’t care less. He’s been named East Timor’s “ambassador to the youth.” His race will be shown on a big screen in capital city Dili’s main square. His Facebook page has been inundated with messages of support.</p>
<p>“I get messages like “We don’t understand what you do but we’re with you because you don’t forget where you come from,” he says. Last September, he met the country’s president, Taur Matan Ruak. Goutt-Goncalves gave the politician ski gloves as a present. “I told him that these are probably the first ski gloves to enter East Timor.”</p>
<p>To make sure he’s “not too ridiculous” among top athletes in Sochi, he’s been training hard with a team of other athletes who don’t have a big federation behind them. In the Alps resort of Crest-Voland, he and Irish, Romanian and Belgian skiers share a coach and the cost of training.</p>
<p>For these Olympics, Goutt-Goncalves says he has only two goals: Honor his role as East Timor “ambassador,” and finish his race. And actually, if it’s not too much to ask, he’d also like to thumb his nose at his very good friend Samir Azzimani, who represented Morocco in the 2010 Vancouver games.</p>
<p>“He finished 44th in the slalom. I want to beat him and show East Timor can do better than Morocco, with its mountains and snow.”</p> | How a poor, war-weary tropical country produced its first Olympic skier | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-02-06/how-poor-war-weary-tropical-country-produced-its-first-olympic-skier | 2014-02-06 | 3 |
<p>British regulators suggest that the end is near for Libor, the financial benchmark that was at the heart of a global market-rigging scandal.</p>
<p>The Financial Conduct Authority is urging banks to find an alternate to the London Interbank Offered Rate after 2021 as a dearth of financial transactions puts its relevance into question.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The rate has been steeped in scandal, but FCA chief Andrew Bailey said Thursday it's the sustainability of the rate that is in question "not because we suspect further wrongdoing or have any evidence of such."</p>
<p>Libor is the rate banks use to borrow from each other and is used to price services like mortgages, bonds and consumer loans globally. In 2012, it emerged that employees at several global banks had colluded to manipulate the rate to their own advantage. Investigations in the U.S., Britain and elsewhere led to fines as well as the resignation of Barclays CEO Bob Diamond, among others.</p>
<p>The Bank of England has suggested it be replaced with another index average.</p>
<p>Bailey said that having moving to another system after 2021 would give banks enough time to adapt and "reduce the risks and costs of a more sudden change."</p>
<p>"The planning and the transition must now begin," he said in a speech in London.</p> | After scandal, UK-based Libor financial benchmark nears end | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/07/27/after-scandal-uk-based-libor-financial-benchmark-nears-end.html | 2017-07-27 | 0 |
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<p>Four Albuquerque fighters who fed and entertained a group of elderly women after their caregiver was transported to the hospital were honored Friday.</p>
<p>Robert Garcia, Kristopher Romero, Matthew Sanchez and Lt. Paul Dow were named Friday’s heroes but declined to participate, Mayor Richard J. Berry said.</p>
<p>The firefighters responded to an emergency call at a nursing home near Louisiana and Central NE on July 15. The caregiver for seven elderly women was transported to the hospital and the firefighters did not want to leave the women alone, Deputy Chief Craig Sadberry said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The firefighters handed out snacks and mingled with the women. One firefighter even played the piano.</p>
<p>“They were quite the hit there,” Sadberry said.</p>
<p>Also on Friday, city officials honored a firefighter who helped three people trapped in a car after a rollover while off-duty.</p>
<p>Jeff Bussey was off-duty and running errands on July 24 when he encountered a car that had rolled over. Two children and an adult were trapped. Several bystanders were trying to get the children out, which could have put their lives in danger. Bussey took control and rendered aid until emergency units arrived.</p>
<p>“So often these heroic deeds happen when our police and firefighters are off duty,” Berry said.</p> | Firefighters Honored For Going Beyond Call of Duty | false | https://abqjournal.com/6225/firefighters-honored-for-going-beyond-call-of-duty.html | 2 |
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<p>You might think that because the Democratic side of the primary fight is the one with a solid frontrunner and a set of increasingly desperate also-rans, it would be the one with the more vicious and vitriolic attacks.</p>
<p>You would be wrong.</p>
<p>The Democratic side has been relatively civil (though that <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-071011obamaclinton,0,27913.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout" type="external">might change</a>) while the Republican side has been brutal. And it just got worse. Michael Scherer of Salon <a href="http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/10/13/mccain_attacks_romney/index.html" type="external">has the deets</a>:</p>
<p>“…conservatives that have heard me time and again recognize that I do speak for the Republican wing of the Republican Party,” Romney told the Nevada gathering, according to the Associated Press.</p>
<p>Less than 24-hours later, McCain responded with a blistering and detailed assault on Romney that read like an opposition research paper. “I don’t usually do this but I’m going to depart for a moment from the issues I want to talk to you about today,” McCain said at the beginning of his address to the party meeting. “One of the other Republican candidates made an extraordinary statement yesterday. Former Gov. Romney yesterday proclaimed himself the only real Republican in this race. As we all know, when he ran for office in Massachusetts being a Republican wasn’t much of a priority for him. In fact, when he ran against Ted Kennedy, he said he didn’t want to return to the days of Reagan-Bush. I always thought Ronald Reagan was a real Republican. When Gov. Romney donated money to a Democratic candidate in New Hampshire, I don’t think he was speaking for Republicans. When he <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2007/01/3355_romney_donated.html" type="external">voted for a Democratic candidate for President</a>, Paul Tsongas, I don’t think he was speaking for Republicans. When he refused to endorse the Contract with America, I don’t think he was speaking for Republicans. And when he was embracing the Democratic position on many major issues of the day, I don’t think he was speaking for Republicans.”</p>
<p>“So you’ll understand why I’m a little perplexed,” McCain continued, “when Mitt Romney now suggests that he’s a better Republican than me, or that he speaks for the Republican wing of the Republican Party.”</p>
<p>The problem, though, is that this attack is only really credible coming from Mike Huckabee, Sam Brownback, or Duncan Hunter—true conservatives all but denizens of the second tier. McCain has his own very serious apostasies: campaign finance reform, immigration, opposition to the Bush tax cuts (a position since reversed), and so on. That’s why McCain followed his criticism of Romney with this:</p>
<p>“I think I’ve gotten to know the people of New Hampshire pretty well. I know that before I can win your vote, I have to win your respect. And to do that, you expect me to be honest with you about what I believe. You might not always agree with me on every issue, but I hope you know I’m not going to con you. The most important thing we have in this life is our self-respect. And I’m not going to trade mine for anyone’s vote or for any office. I’m going to tell you what I believe and let the chips fall where they will.”</p>
<p>Mitt as a flip-flopping con man is a meme the Romney campaign has largely seen come and go. They endured roughly a million <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2007/02/3569_romney_follows.html" type="external">press</a> <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2007/02/3614_im_already_bore.html" type="external">reports</a>painting Romney as a guy willing to say anything and take any position to become president, and they’re still on top in Iowa and New Hampshire. McCain has to be wondering what he can do, other than raise the volume.</p>
<p>Oh, and by the way, John McCain isn’t immune to the <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2007/01/3281_maybe_his_bus_w.html" type="external">flip-flop</a> <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2006/11/2974_john_mccain_and.html" type="external">bug</a>.</p>
<p /> | McCain Mauls Massachusetts Mountebank | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/10/mccain-mauls-massachusetts-mountebank/ | 2007-10-15 | 4 |
<p>Nothing you are about to read will change at all no matter what Congress and the President finally agree to do in the never-ending circus of health care reform. A stratified system where privilege rules, and others wait, stays in place, unscathed. Primary doctors will not increase, nor will preventive care, nor will government assistance as envisioned by President Obama make a meaningful difference in the lives of anyone. Most doctors want nothing to do with Medicaid patients—indigent or otherwise. You see, in the end, doctors decide who they see.</p>
<p>They see dollars, lots of them. Take the example of the nation’s nephrologists – kidney specialists – who have made millions of dollars on patients in an on-going scandal of profiteering, ethical lapses and outrageous indifference.</p>
<p>In 1973, the US government stepped in on the side of patients suffering from End Stage Renal Disease—that’s when your kidneys stop doing the job. It’s an awful condition, often brought on by hypertension, diabetes and other illnesses related to the preventable stress and strain of modern living. Loss of kidney function occurs predominantly among poor, urban populations. The only way to stay alive, short of getting a new kidney, for which there are long waiting lists, is to go on kidney dialysis, a cumbersome process whereby a patient goes to clinic three times a week for 3-4 hours per session and has his blood cleaned mechanically.</p>
<p>Medicare picks up the tab for this life-saving process. In 2007, the government spent $8.6 billion for dialysis and with projections of kidney failure going up, patients on dialysis are expected to reach 400,000 in the next few years, money spent – and made – in this field is enormous and growing.</p>
<p>Health care is a profit center and it didn’t take a Harvard MBA – actually, a number of Harvard MBA’s did in fact run this scheme– very long to see the potential. Health entrepreneurs began approaching nephrologists across the country in the 1980s with offers to purchase their practices and many doctors happily agreed. With practices of 70-100 patients per doctor and Wall Street setting a price of about $70,000 per patient, nephrologists got checks in the $5 to $7 million dollar range. For what, exactly? For promising to send their patients to clinics now owned by for-profit clinic systems. And that wasn’t the end of it. Doctors also got directorships and other consulting deals for handing over their patients. Doctors just needed to agree to the protocols of the corporate dialysis company – the standing orders governing dialysis procedures and drugs. Remember, nothing in medicine gets done without a doctor’s prescription, so there needs to be enduring cooperation between the dialysis corporation and the MD.</p>
<p>As more and more nephrology practices were bought up, two players came to dominate the field—the DaVita Corporation, a Fortune 500 company based in Denver, and Fresenius Corporation, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. Today, these two companies control more than 70 percent of the US dialysis market, making billions of dollars annually. The CEO of DaVita has banked hundreds of millions in bonus money. “We created this giant money machine that made a lot of nephrologists and entrepreneurs rich,” economist Stuart Altman told USA Today last month.</p>
<p>Making rich is doing right by shareholders, and nice for the nephrologists who sold their patients, but the reality is that dialysis in the US is the worst in the industrial world, with the highest death rates (21% of patients die each year, which means a dialysis patient lives five years on average) lowest quality and highest expense around. Across the board, from the hiring of unskilled technicians, re-use of equipment including the key dialyzer component, poor needle and other supply quality, machine repair, cleanliness, water preparation…. the for-profits brought the standards down. Patients who complain are summarily ejected from clinics, only to have Medicare cower when patients look to them for help.</p>
<p>Some doctors, actually just a relative few, backed out of the deals made to sell patients to the for profits, as they took offense at the substitution of their medical instructions for those of the corporation. Suits were filed, settled and sealed. Ah, American justice—not a peep.</p>
<p>And there is of course the pharmaceutical angle. One drug, epogen, a hormone that stimulates red-blood cell growth, has earned the Amgen Corporation billions of dollars since it was released in 1989. It is very expensive and very much in use in the dialysis field, where accusations of overuse are being investigated. No other industrial country uses such large dosages of epogen on its dialysis patients due to expense and concerns that too much can actually harm the dialysis patient. Epogen is the single largest drug cost for Medicare.</p>
<p>The only way to make sense of the US health care system, and to fashion some measure of meaningful reform, is to unravel the patient as profit center. Too bad the Administration didn’t get it right from the start.</p>
<p>CARL GINSBURG is a tv producer and journalist based in New York. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Patient as Profit Center | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/09/11/the-patient-as-profit-center/ | 2009-09-11 | 4 |
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<p>John Stumpf resigned from the boards of Chevron Corp and Target Corp a week after he quit Wells Fargo &amp; Co as chief executive bowing to pressure over its sales tactics.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Stumpf resigned for personal reasons and not as a result of a disagreement with Chevron, the second largest U.S.-based oil producer said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. (http://bit.ly/2eqiJAg)</p>
<p>Chevron said on Oct. 3 that it supported Stumpf despite concerns about his leadership at Wells Fargo.</p>
<p>Target did not give a reason for Stumpf's resignation. (http://bit.ly/2dlzQqT)</p>
<p>Stumpf joined the boards of Chevron and Target in 2010.</p>
<p>Stumpf, who notified the companies' boards on Monday that he intends to resign, still serves on the board of Financial Services Roundtable, an advocacy group for the U.S. financial industry.</p>
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<p>Wells Fargo said on Oct. 12 that Stumpf, 63, was retiring and would be replaced by President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Sloan.</p>
<p>Stumpf's fall from grace started with a $185 million regulatory settlement among the bank, regulatory authorities and a Los Angeles prosecutor over its staff opening as many as 2 million accounts without customers' knowledge.</p>
<p>The misconduct, carried out by low-level branch staff to meet internal sales targets, shattered the bank's image and a raft of federal and state investigations followed.</p>
<p>(Reporting By Sudarshan Varadhan in Bengaluru)</p> | Wells Fargo ex-CEO John Stumpf resigns from Chevron, Target boards | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/10/18/wells-fargo-ex-ceo-john-stumpf-resigns-from-chevron-target-boards.html | 2016-10-18 | 0 |
<p>Yale undergraduate Alison Hornstein became a national celebrity this past December when her guest Newsweek column challenged the inability of her classmates and professors to say that what happened on September 11 was….well, wrong. As in absolutely, unambiguously, no-doubt-about-it wrong. One Yale professor said he didn’t see all that much difference between the hijackers and American servicemen in World War II. Hornstein’s classmates cited, presumably as excuses, the “provocations” that led men to become terrorists.</p>
<p>To her credit, Ms. Hornstein found this incapacity to pull the trigger of moral judgment troubling. She also correctly identified one of its sources: a public education system that is great at teaching tolerance and hopelessly inadequate at teaching that some things are just wrong.</p>
<p>In the third grade, Hornstein recalled, her teacher had read a story about one boy kicking another at a school bus-stop. The moral (so to speak) was that the miscreant “had feelings that sometimes led him to do mean things;” that kicking was wrong, period, got lost in the psychological shuffle. Later, in high school, Alison Hornstein and her classmates agreed that, while they found the practice of female circumcision repellant, they should not impose “their standards on other cultures.” It’s just as well that the class seems not to have pondered suttee, the Hindu practice of burning the surviving widow on her dead husband’s funeral pyre. Any condemnation of this would likely fall under the one moral absolute recognized in Alison Hornstein’s pre-September 11 world: the ban on being “judgmental.”</p>
<p>Alison Hornstein’s intuition that September 11 should compel an entire generation to rethink their moral relativism was right on the mark. So was her personal conclusion: “we should recognize that some actions are objectively bad, despite differences in cultural standards and values.” But then Ms. Hornstein faltered: “To me, hijacking planes and killing thousands of civilians falls into this category. Others may disagree. It is less important to me where people choose to draw the line than that it is that they are willing to draw it at all.”</p>
<p>Alison Hornstein and other thoughtful young people now have to recognize that that simple phrase, “to me,” is at the root of the problem. Ms. Hornstein’s instinctive rejection of her professors’ and classmates’ relativism – her intuition that something is seriously awry when otherwise normal people can’t bring themselves to make elementary moral judgments – was the sound reaction of moral common sense. But common sense gets trumped (as Alison Hornstein discovered at Yale) when morality is reduced to a matter of personal taste – when things are right and wrong “to me,” but not right and wrong in themselves.</p>
<p>Given the radical relativism with which Alison Hornstein grew up – a relativism an entire generation has been taught to associate with “tolerance” and “respect for others” – there’s something to be said for her claim that it’s less important where people choose to draw lines than that they be willing to draw them at all. But not much. For it will soon become clear to Alison Hornstein – it may well have already – that any willingness to “draw lines,” to identify the boundary between right and wrong, demands a very different notion of morality than the one with which she grew up.</p>
<p>It’s a question of kind, not just degree. The alternative to the wacky relativism that repelled Alison Hornstein is not tough-minded relativism. The alternative is a concept of the morality in which “right” and “wrong” are recognized as truths embedded in reality itself, not reduced to constructs in our heads.</p>
<p>That thicker notion of the moral life will come as a shock at Yale – and at many, many other campuses in post-modern America. But September 11 ought to have forced the good folks at Yale (and elsewhere) to consider the possibility that a society without moral truths – a society without oughts – is going to find it difficult to defend itself against aggressors motivated by distorted oughts.</p>
<p>Recognizing the dangerous, dehumanizing inanity of moral relativism is a good first step. The next, giant step is to have the courage to be “judgmental” – because you know, with clarity and humility, that your moral judgments are rooted in the truth of things.</p>
<p>George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. and holds EPPC’s William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies.</p> | The Courage To Be Judgemental | false | https://eppc.org/publications/the-courage-to-be-judgemental/ | 1 |
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<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/nyregion/may-day-demonstrations-lead-to-clashes-and-arrests.html?_r=1&amp;ref=occupywallstreet" type="external">The New York Times</a></p>
<p>may not have seen fit to give Occupy Wall Street’s May Day protest — a daylong, citywide event involving thousands of people — the front page prominence it deserves. But The Guardian did. Ryan Devereaux in New York City reports below.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/nyregion/may-day-demonstrations-lead-to-clashes-and-arrests.html?_r=1&amp;ref=occupywallstreet" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/05/happy-may-day-occupys-first-arrests-are-trickling/51772/" type="external">The Atlantic Wire</a>, <a href="http://gothamist.com/2012/05/02/photos_euphoric_may_day_march_follo.php#photo-1" type="external">Gothamist</a> and <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/02/did-may-day-save-occupy-wall-street.html" type="external">The Daily Beast</a> had substantial coverage as well.</p>
<p>See below for a larger version of the image appearing at right. –ARK</p>
<p />
<p>Ryan Devereaux at The Guardian:</p>
<p>Thousands of people turned out in New York for a day of action that culminated in a confident march down Broadway in the evening sunshine towards Wall Street, the crucible of the protest that began last year with an angry backlash against banking excess.</p>
<p>The stated aim of bringing business in the commercial capital of the US to a standstill went unfulfilled, but as rain gave way to a bright spring afternoon, traffic ground to a halt in lower Manhatttan as the Occupy movement’s most anticipated day of action in months took hold.</p>
<p>There were some clashes with police as officers clamped down on perceived violations, and the NYPD said they had made 30 arrests by the early evening. There were also flashpoints at protests in other cities.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/02/occupy-may-day-protests" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p /> | Scenes From Occupy Wall Street's May Day Celebration | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/scenes-from-occupy-wall-streets-may-day-celebration/ | 2012-05-02 | 4 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />I think this movement had more men supporters than women.</p>
<p>Armed with a message — but no tops — more than 100 students at UC San Diego gathered Wednesday with this message: “Free the Nipple.”</p>
<p>“Yes, I just want everyone to learn to love themselves and love other people, too, so the world can be a better place,” said Anni Ma of Free the Nipple UCSD, who helped organize the event on campus.</p>
<p>“We’re having a topless movement where everyone is sitting down with their tops off, both men and women, to show that we can normalize the female breast,” Ma added. “It felt, actually, really normal, and everyone just did it and it wasn’t a big deal, like, that’s how I felt.”</p>
<p>Ma said it’s all about equality.</p>
<p>“It’s just not fair that a woman will get harassed and then get put in jail and then have to fight to prove her innocence while her counterpart will have no problem with doing that. It’s kind of rough and it’s just not fair,” said Ma.</p>
<p>Read more:&#160; <a href="http://www.10news.com/news/dozens-go-topless-at-ucsd-to-free-the-nipple" type="external">10news.com</a></p>
<p>H/T:&#160; <a href="http://libertyunyielding.com/2015/05/23/uc-san-diego-coeds-stage-topless-free-the-nipple-rally-video/" type="external">libertyunyielding.com</a></p>
<p /> | FREE THE NIPPLE: Feminists at UC San Diego Flash their Nips to ‘Normalize the Female Breast’ [WATCH] | true | http://girlsjustwannahaveguns.com/free-the-nipple-feminists-at-uc-san-diego-flash-their-nips-to-normalize-the-female-breast-watch/ | 0 |
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<p>Nissan wants the British government to help it source more in Britain to ensure the carmaker complies with "rules of origin" if the country leaves the European Union's customs union.</p>
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<p>Nearly 60 percent of the parts in an average British-assembled car are made abroad and some components travel to and from the continent several times in the manufacturing process, which is made possible by Britain's EU membership.</p>
<p>But given Britain's vote to leave the bloc, Colin Lawther, Nissan's senior vice president in Europe, told British lawmakers on Tuesday that the Japanese automaker would have to increase the level of sterling content in its vehicles to comply with rules used to determine where a product has come from in order to gain an EU tariff preference.</p>
<p>"Now that is our job to do that, but when you look at the supply base not all of it is in place and that is where we are asking the government to help us," he told the lawmakers.</p>
<p>Many international trade deals require around 50 to 55 percent local content, according to car industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.</p>
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<p>This means many British models may not qualify and increasing the number of domestic suppliers would not be quick.</p>
<p>Nissan said in October it was going ahead with plans to build the next X-Trail and Qashqai SUVs at its plant in Sunderland, northeast England, after obtaining written government assurances that Brexit would not be allowed to harm the site's export competitiveness.</p>
<p>However it has said it would re-examine the group's investment strategy once the terms of Brexit became clear.</p>
<p>Lawther said he expected the final trading environment agreed by the government would not be to the detriment of the business, although it would need "a whole bundle of solutions" for this, possibly including lower corporation tax.</p>
<p>"The government will need to come up with a lot of different solutions, free import duty for parts coming from customs union in and out would be one example," he said. "An automotive specific trade deal would be another example.</p>
<p>"At the moment we've got a set of circumstances that we're quite happy with. We've made our decision and we'll honor that decision and go forward. But if anything materially changes, we'd review constantly."</p> | Nissan Calls for Government Help to Meet 'Made in Britain' Rule | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/02/28/nissan-calls-for-government-help-to-meet-made-in-britain-rule.html | 2017-02-28 | 0 |
<p>BEAURAINS, France — On a slab of soft white stone, a laser-guided drill carves one family's message to a long lost boy.</p>
<p>Slowly, the words emerge: "God has saved from weary strife, in its dawn this fresh young life."</p>
<p>The gravestone belongs to a private in the British army's Leicestershire Regiment, killed in France on Oct. 31, 1914 and named only as W. Walker. He was 28.</p>
<p>Walker was among 16 million soldiers and civilians who lost their lives in World War I.</p>
<p>Later this week, the world will mark 100 years since the assassination of an Austrian prince in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo dragged the great powers of the time into a conflict they called "the war to end all wars."</p>
<p>Memories of WWI are fading — British sailor Claude Choules, who died in 2011 at age 110, is believed to have been the last surviving combat veteran.</p>
<p>But in cemeteries and memorial sites around the world, there’s no letup in the global operation to honor the fallen.&#160;</p>
<p>During a time of tight spending, the governments of Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India increased the budget of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission by almost 4 percent last year to $99 million.</p>
<p>That enables the CWGC to maintain graves and memorials to 1.7 million combatants from the former British Empire who died in the two world wars.</p>
<p>"We are here to help people understand what happened, what the sacrifice of those soldiers meant," says Nelly Poignonnec, a Frenchwoman who serves as communications supervisor for the CWGC.</p>
<p>"We have a duty to commemorate them in perpetuity."</p>
<p>The Brits aren’t alone.</p>
<p>Germany's War Graves Commission has a $55 million budget, raised mainly by public donations to maintain memorials to soldiers who fell in both world wars. For France, a special service of the Defense Ministry cares for 1.3 million war graves.</p>
<p>The US Battle Monument's Commission employs 50 people overseas to tend the graves of 124,908 American war dead, including 30,000 from WWI. Nearly half lie in the Meuse-Argonne American cemetery, a 2.5 hour drive southeast of here.</p>
<p>Every year, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission engraves thousands of new headstones.</p>
<p>A handful will mark new graves for bodies that are still occasionally uncovered by farmers plowing their fields around here. The vast majority will replace stones eroded by decades of exposure to the elements.</p>
<p>Pvt. Walker's is one of 22,000 to be cut this year in the workshop the CWGC runs in this northern French town set amid rolling farmland where some of the war's bloodiest battles were fought.</p>
<p>Quarries in southern England producing the original Portland stone used for the graves in France and Flanders can no longer keep up with demand, so alternatives are shipped in to Beaurains from Italy, Bulgaria and farther afield.</p>
<p>After they are engraved — either using computer-guided machines or by hand by the commission's team of trained craftsmen — the memorial tablets are sent out around the world.</p>
<p>Headstone production manager Alan Jarvis points to a stack of stones destined for shipment to the Gaza Strip, where more than 4,400 Commonwealth casualties are buried. The previous week, he says, a consignment was sent to Benghazi, Libya, last resting place for 1,214 British Commonwealth soldiers from WWII.</p>
<p>The CWGC employs 1,300 people tending 23,000 sites in 153 countries.</p>
<p>The scale of its operation to care for cemetery gardens and maintain the memorials gives an indication of the worldwide scope of the Great War's carnage.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/special-reports/the-eleventh-hour-unlearned-lessons-world-war-one" type="external">Unlearned lessons from WWI, a special report</a></p>
<p>There are 15 members of Lincolnshire Yeomanry laid to rest in Algeria after their transport ship was torpedoed by a U-boat in 1915. Maala cemetery in Yemen contains the graves of 142 servicemen killed in WWI defending the city of Aden against the Turks.</p>
<p>However, it’s the vast graveyards of northern France and southern Belgium that reveal the industrial scale of the WWI's slaughter, and its impact in shaping today's world.</p>
<p>A short drive from Beaurains, a ridge of highland known as the Lorette Spur is topped with a stout white church surrounded by the graves of 45,000 French soldiers — the country's largest military necropolis.</p>
<p>Down the hill in Neuville-Saint-Vaast stands a forest of gray crosses marking the tree-shaded resting place of 44,833 German soldiers. It’s especially poignant given Germany's post-WWI history that 129 tablets engraved with the Star of David are mixed among the crosses.</p>
<p>Nearby Vimy Ridge was the site of an allied breakthrough in April 1917, when a force of mostly Canadian troops stormed German strongholds. Today, the ridge is a Canadian national shrine and place of pilgrimage for trans-Atlantic visitors.</p>
<p>"When you talk about Vimy Ridge, that was really where Canada became a nation," says Fred Lowenberger, 69, a retired sports coach visiting from Saskatchewan.</p>
<p>A towering white monument inscribed with the names of 11,285 fallen Canadians whose bodies were never found now dominates the ridge. It features on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_twenty-dollar_note#mediaviewer/File:Canadian_$20_note_specimen_-_back.png" type="external">Canada's $20 bill</a>.</p>
<p>"This is where we pulled together, where they finally got to fight as a unit, our four divisions. It's part of Canada now, and it's something I really had to see," Lowenberger says.</p>
<p>WWI's role in molding modern nationhood helps explain why it continues to exercise a fascination and emotional power unmatched by earlier conflicts.</p>
<p>Australian national identity was forged in the fire of the Gallipoli campaign against Turkey. Poland re-emerged as an independent country after WWI. States such as Finland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia grew out of the debris.</p>
<p>The war also triggered the Russian Revolution and saw the United States emerge as a world power. In Germany, humiliating defeat sowed the seeds of Nazism. The breakup of Turkey's empire drew new borders across the Middle East.</p>
<p>Beyond the geopolitical legacy, the scale of the carnage meant more families were touched by that war than by any previous conflict. And the new technologies of photography and film ensured they had tangible images of the lost to pass down through the generations.</p>
<p>"There was hardly a family that wasn’t affected in some way, that did not have a casualty," says Jarvis of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. "There’s a willingness among people for the commemoration to go on."</p>
<p>As the centenary of the Western Front's agony of trench warfare approaches, far from fading, the war's presence is being kept alive by new museums and monuments sprouting on the battlefields.</p>
<p>The French authorities are building an international memorial to all war dead next to the graveyard at Notre-Dame de Lorette.</p>
<p>Schools from across Europe bring students to the region to witness the war's heritage.</p>
<p>"I can't imagine what happened here, the horror," says 15-year-old Matilde from Orleans, visiting the Canadian memorial with her high school colleagues.</p>
<p>"Coming here is going to help me with my studies," she says. "But I still can't really explain how they could have done something like this. These guys were our age, it gives you a really strange feeling."</p>
<p>A panel at the entrance to the German cemetery at Neuville-Saint-Vaast leads with a quotation from Franco-German Nobel Peace laureate Albert Schweitzer: "Soldiers' graves are the greatest preachers of peace."</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/140515/31-reasons-you-should-move-lisbon" type="external">31 reasons why we should all be living in Lisbon right now</a></p>
<p>With the current crisis in Ukraine reviving fears of a war in Europe, some see a growing need to disseminate the history of WWI for new generations to learn from the conflict.</p>
<p>"It's never the ordinary people who make wars, no ordinary human wants that. It's the leaders. That's always been the same," says Christian E. Schlegel, a veteran volunteer guardian at the Lorette memorial site. "We have to keep the memory alive, it is something that's close to us because the suffering was so great, especially in this region."</p>
<p>His thoughts are echoed back at the French headquarters of Commonwealth War Graves Commission, where a team of gardeners, stonemasons and gardeners toil to maintain the memorials to the millions of young men who died a century ago.</p>
<p>The way they tell it, it's more than just a job.</p>
<p>"We are here to keep up the memory, to remember what those soldiers fought for," says blacksmith Christian Cousin, a muscular 49-year-old hammering iron gate rails into shape over his forge.</p>
<p>"We are the artisans of remembrance."&#160;</p> | World War I still etched into European psyche | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-06-26/world-war-i-still-etched-european-psyche | 2014-06-26 | 3 |
<p>CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Members of New Hampshire's Democratic congressional delegation call President Donald Trump's dismissal of Haiti and African countries with a vulgar expression disgraceful.</p>
<p>U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan tweeted Friday that Trump's comments do not represent America and are "an affront to the inclusive values that make us strong."</p>
<p>Rep. Annie Kuster tweeted that Trump "has once again disgraced the Office of the President and embarrassed the United States of America."</p>
<p>Trump denied Friday he used the <a href="" type="internal">language</a> at Thursday's White House immigration meeting. Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, who attended the meeting, said Trump said it.</p>
<p>Republican Rep. Al Baldasaro, of Londonderry, a Trump supporter, tweeted, "Liberal Fake news never ends" and suggested Democrats "focus on real issues facing U.S."</p>
<p>CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Members of New Hampshire's Democratic congressional delegation call President Donald Trump's dismissal of Haiti and African countries with a vulgar expression disgraceful.</p>
<p>U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan tweeted Friday that Trump's comments do not represent America and are "an affront to the inclusive values that make us strong."</p>
<p>Rep. Annie Kuster tweeted that Trump "has once again disgraced the Office of the President and embarrassed the United States of America."</p>
<p>Trump denied Friday he used the <a href="" type="internal">language</a> at Thursday's White House immigration meeting. Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, who attended the meeting, said Trump said it.</p>
<p>Republican Rep. Al Baldasaro, of Londonderry, a Trump supporter, tweeted, "Liberal Fake news never ends" and suggested Democrats "focus on real issues facing U.S."</p> | Congressional delegation members: Trump comment disgraceful | false | https://apnews.com/amp/b0469f10588d4e869f5bc4fb76623ac6 | 2018-01-12 | 2 |
<p />
<p>President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu seem to have repaired the damage to U.S. Israeli relations caused by Obama. Cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2017.</p>
<p>To see more Legal Insurrection Branco cartoons, <a href="http://legalinsurrection.com/tag/a-f-branco/" type="external">click here</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://patriotdepot.com/2017-comically-incorrect-calendar/" type="external">A.F.Branco 2017 Calendar&#160;</a>&lt;—- Order Here!</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Friends For Real | true | http://comicallyincorrect.com/2017/02/16/trump-and-netanyahu/ | 2017-02-16 | 0 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/g-ratphotos/OUCHcharley/Flickr"&gt;OUCHcharley&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
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<p>It’s time for the annual Girl Scout cookie freak out! This year, it’s not due to <a href="http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/palm-oil-and-scout-cookies-the-battle-drags-on/" type="external">the palm oil used to produce the treats</a>, nor the group’s <a href="" type="internal">policy on transgender members</a>: This time, Girl Scouts are supposedly too pro-abortion.</p>
<p><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/01/30/3225571/anti-choice-boycott-girl-scouts/" type="external">As Think Progress reports</a>, in December, Girl Scouts tweeted a link to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/17/women-of-the-year-2013_n_4461327.html?utm_hp_ref=tw" type="external">a Huffington Post story</a> extolling Texas State Senator Wendy Davis (of <a href="" type="internal">anti-abortion bill filibuster fame</a>) as a candidate for “Woman of the Year.”</p>
<p />
<p>And in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GirlScoutsUSA/posts/10153703245700393" type="external">a Facebook post</a>, the organization linked to a Washington Post list of “Seven American Women Who Made a Difference in 2013,” <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/12/30/seven-american-women-who-made-a-difference-in-2013/" type="external">including US Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius</a>. These links were enough to spur John Pisciotta, who runs Pro-Life Waco, to launch a national boycott. “The Girl Scouts were once a truly amazing organization, but it has been taken over by idealogues of the left, and regular folk just won’t stand for it,” Pisciotta <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/01/29/Wendy-Davis-Triggers-National-Boycott-of-Girl-Scout-Cookies" type="external">told Breitbart News</a>. Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly also took up the cause with a full-on panel on the offending tweet.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Ultimately, though, the campaign is about more than a couple of social-media postings: On its website, the <a href="http://cookiecott.com/#" type="external">“CookieCott 2014”</a> campaign argues that the boycott is a protest of the Girl Scouts’ “deep and lasting entanglement with abortion providers and abortion rights organizations.” This includes, it claims, promoting role models like Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Hillary Clinton, Amnesty International, ACLU, and the National Organization for Women, and supporting “youth reproductive/abortion and sexual rights” <a href="http://cookiecott.com/concerns/" type="external">via its membership</a> in the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.</p>
<p>The bullying seems to have worked: In a <a href="http://blog.girlscouts.org/" type="external">blog post Wednesday</a>, Girl Scouts offered “our sincerest apologies,” noting, “To be clear, Girl Scouts has not endorsed any person or organization.” Is that sort of meekness consistent with the organization’s quest to “build girls of courage, confidence, and character”? Ponder that while you try to resist those Samoas.</p>
<p /> | Conservatives Don’t Want You To Eat Pro-Abortion Girl Scout Cookies | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/wendy-davis-abortion-girl-scout-cookies/ | 2014-01-31 | 4 |
<p>NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former vice president at Citigroup Inc was charged with bank fraud on Monday for allegedly embezzling more than $19 million from the company's accounts.</p>
<p>Gary Foster, 35, was arrested Sunday at John F. Kennedy International Airport on a flight arriving from Bangkok, prosecutors said. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance Monday afternoon in Brooklyn federal court, where he will plead not guilty to the charges, according to his attorney, Isabelle Kirshner.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Between May 2009 and December 2010, Foster allegedly transferred $19.2 million from Citigroup accounts to his own personal bank account at Chase.</p>
<p>Foster put fake contract and deal account numbers in the wire-transfer instructions to make them seem like they were supporting an existing contract, before diverting them to his own accounts, prosecutors alleged.</p>
<p>"The defendant allegedly used his knowledge of bank operations to commit the ultimate inside job," said U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.</p>
<p>A representative for Citigroup did not immediately return a request for comment.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Jessica Dye; editing by Gunna Dickson)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Ex-Citigroup VP accused of stealing $19 million | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/06/27/ex-citigroup-vp-accused-stealing-1-million.html | 2016-01-29 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Amid multiple reports to the contrary, RBC Capital Markets General Manager Mike Abramsky on Wednesday said first-day PlayBook sales likely exceeded analysts’ expectations.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>In a note to investors, Abramsky states that RIM may have moved about 50,000 PlayBook tablets on launch day alone, including pre-order sales.</p>
<p>The analyst and his team placed calls to 70 different Best Buy, Staples and RadioShack locations to inquire about PlayBook sales performance on launch day. Reported performance ranged from light sales in some locations to sell-outs, which occurred at 11% of the stores RBC polled.</p>
<p>RBC also used Best Buy’s online inventory tool to check stock at 180 additional locations in 10 major U.S. cities, and found that the 16GB PlayBook is unavailable at 13% of stores, the 32GB model is unavailable at 87% of stores and the 64GB model is unavailable at 91% of the locations viewed.</p>
<p>As preliminary inventory quantities for these stores is currently unknown, this information is of little use since many stores might not have received higher-capacity PlayBook models to begin with.</p>
<p>Finally, Abramsky notes that the PlayBook may have outperformed first-day sales of Motorola’s XOOM and even Samsung’s popular Galaxy Tab, and he believes RIM is on track to sell 500,000 PlayBook tablets in its first quarter of availability.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/04/15/daily-android-activations-surpass-350000-mark/" type="external">This content was originally published on BGR.com Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.bgr.com/" type="external">Opens a New Window.</a>More news from BGR:- <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/04/20/blackberry-curve-touch-to-be-revealed-at-blackberry-world-june-july-launch/" type="external">BlackBerry Curve Touch to be revealed at BlackBerry World; June-July launch Opens a New Window.</a>- <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/04/20/at-iphone-activations-up-by-1-million-in-spite-of-verizon-iphone-launch/" type="external">AT&amp;T reports Q1 earnings; iPhone activations up by 1 million in spite of Verizon iPhone launch Opens a New Window.</a>- <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2011/04/20/reuters-apple-to-ship-iphone-5-in-september/" type="external">Reuters: Apple to ship iPhone 5 in September Opens a New Window.</a></p> | First-Day BlackBerry PlayBook Sales May Have Exceeded Expectations | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/04/20/day-blackberry-playbook-sales-exceeded-expectations.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p>Jacob Bender, the non-Muslim Useful Idiot who heads up Hamas-linked CAIR’s Philadelphia chapter,&#160; <a href="http://pa.cair.com/blog/blood-libels-trump-and-oppose-islamophobia/" type="external">boasted Wednesday</a>&#160;on the organization’s website: “What CAIR can do, however, and what it has been doing superbly for 10 years now, is to oppose the anti-Muslim ideology of the Trumps, the Cruzs, the Pamela Gellers, the Robert Spencers…” Notice that he doesn’t say that Hamas-linked CAIR is opposing the ideology of the Syed Rizwan Farooks, the Mohammed Abdulazeezes, the&#160;Dzhokhar Tsarnaevs, the Nidal Malik Hasans.</p>
<p>As for those he does mention, Hamas-linked CAIR is opposing us so superbly that Trump actually has a chance to become President of the United States, and whether he does or not, he has moved the public discourse to a place where the issues of jihad terror and Islamization can be discussed more honestly in the mainstream than has been possible for years. Cruz has outlasted most of the Republican candidates to remain one of Trump’s chief rivals. Pamela Geller is&#160; <a href="http://pamelageller.com/2016/02/afdi-muhammad-movie.html/" type="external">planning an exciting new initiative</a>&#160;and I am busier than ever, having just completed a new book and busy traveling to speak all over the country: yes, Hamas-linked CAIR is doing its job of demonization and marginalization of foes of jihad terror superbly.</p>
<p>More importantly, Bender here repeats the common and hysterical claim that “Muslims are the new Jews,” which has been answered many times — as often as it has been asserted. Islamic apologist&#160; <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/12/maher-on-likening-of-criticism-of-islam-to-nazi-jew-hatred-beyond-stupid" type="external">Karen Armstrong</a>, Leftist “journalist”&#160; <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/08/the-atlantics-jeffrey-goldberg-equates-resistance-to-islamization-with-nazism.html" type="external">Jeffrey Goldberg</a>, Iranian front group Board member&#160; <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/12/islamic-supremacist-pseudo-moderate-reza-aslan-spreads-lies-whines-about-islamophobia-tries-to-frigh.html" type="external">Reza Aslan</a>,&#160; <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/09/rep-keith-ellison-talks-about.html" type="external">Muslim Brotherhood-linked Congressman Keith Ellison,</a>&#160; <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/09/nicholas-kristof-screeds-against-catholics-from-the-19th-century-sounded-just-like-the-invective-tod.html" type="external">Nicholas Kristof</a>, and Canadian Muslim leader&#160; <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/12/canada-muslims-are-going-through-that-situation-right-now-that-the-jews-faced-before-the-holocaust" type="external">Syed Sohawardy</a>, among many others, have repeated it.&#160;The blazingly brilliant Daniel Greenfield takes it apart&#160; <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/12/daniel-greenfield-moment-muslims-are-not-the-new-jews" type="external">in this video</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>And in 2014, Bill&#160;Maher&#160; <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/12/maher-on-likening-of-criticism-of-islam-to-nazi-jew-hatred-beyond-stupid" type="external">noted</a>: “Jews weren’t oppressing anybody. There weren’t 5,000 militant Jewish groups. They didn’t do a study of treatment of women around the world and find that Jews were at the bottom of it. There weren’t 10 Jewish countries in the world that were putting gay people to death just for being gay.”&#160;Indeed, and no one is calling for or justifying genocide of Muslims now; there is no individual or group remotely comparable to the National Socialists in any genuine sense.</p>
<p>The purpose of this claim is to intimidate people into thinking that criticism of Islamic supremacism leads to the concentration camps, and thus there must be no criticism of Islamic supremacism. The unstated assumption is that if one group was unjustly accused of plotting subversion and violence, and was viciously persecuted and massacred on the basis of those false accusations, then any group accused of plotting subversion and violence must be innocent, and any such accusation must be in service of preparing for their subversion and massacre. It is simply a method to foreclose on any criticism of jihad terror and Islamic supremacism.</p>
<p>Jacob Bender, who is himself Jewish, ought to pause before making such a reckless and baseless comparison – especially in light of the fact that the new Jews are not the Muslims at all, but are none other than the old Jews: anti-Semitic hate crimes remain much more common in the U.S. than “Islamophobic” hate crimes, and Jews all over Europe face an increasingly dangerous and precarious situation because of the anti-Semitism of the rapidly increasing Muslim population. CAIR’s Hamas ties don’t seem to trouble him either. In his complacency and willful ignorance, as well as his active work for CAIR, Bender could be the poster child for our blinkered age.</p>
<p>Robert Spencer is the director of&#160; <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/" type="external">Jihad Watch</a>&#160;and author of the New York Times bestsellers&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0895260131/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=pjmedia-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0895260131" type="external">The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1596985283/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=pjmedia-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1596985283" type="external">The Truth About Muhammad</a>. His latest book is&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Infidels-Guide-ISIS/dp/1621574539/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1429203711&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=The+Complete+Infidel%2527s+Guide+to+ISIS" type="external">The Complete Infidel’s Guide to ISIS</a>. Follow him on Twitter&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/jihadwatchRS" type="external">here</a>. Like him on Facebook&#160; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/robertspencerJW?ref=hl" type="external">here</a>.</p> | Spencer: CAIR Vows to Save Us From 'the Trumps, the Cruzes, the Pamela Gellers, the Robert Spencers' | true | http://truthrevolt.org/commentary/spencer-cair-vows-save-us-trumps-cruzes-pamela-gellers-robert-spencers | 2018-10-04 | 0 |
<p>Donald Trump and his Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price can kill Obamacare effective almost immediately without the need to get Trumpcare passed in the Senate. This political science professor explains how.</p>
<p>It is important that American citizens not only oppose Trumpcare but pressure all of their representatives to act now to stop the Obamacare sabotage. <a href="" type="internal">Call your politicians every day</a>&#160;just like your morning coffee.</p>
<p>Simon Header, Assistant Professor of Political Science at West Virginia University wrote a piece everyone must read and act upon titled " <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-trump-and-tom-price-can-kill-obamacare-without-the-senate-76489" type="external">How Trump and Tom Price can kill Obamacare without the Senate</a>." He explains the regulatory method that Trump through Tom Price can use to cripple Obamacare.</p>
<p>Senate leadership has indicated that passage of the American Health Care Act “will not be quick,” but it may not matter.&#160;Individual insurance markets already are shaky, in limbo by a lawsuit that challenges subsidies to help pay out-of-pocket costs for low-income people.</p>
<p>Even without congressional or judicial actions, the White House and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price have many tools at their disposal to significantly reshape the Affordable Care Act through regulatory action.&#160;The ACA’s Essential Health Benefits provisions provide an illustrative example, and one that is not getting nearly the attention of the subsidies.&#160;Having conducted research on regulatory policymaking and the Affordable Care Act, particularly the implementation of its Essential Health Benefits provisions, I can show you how.</p>
<p>The professor goes on to point out that because the ACA gave a lot of regulatory latitude to HHS, Tom Price can choose to interpret&#160;Essential Health Benefits in ways that are more lenient. Of course, this would be a detriment to most Americans because insurance companies would have a license to sell junk.</p>
<p>According to the professor, Tom Price has two options to accomplish this. The first, having HHS regulations preempt state law. The second is to have HHS give more leeway to states which mean, again, Red States will likely allow insurance companies to hurt their citizens just like their governments are currently hurting them by not accepting the ACA expansion to Medicaid. They are <a href="" type="internal">willing to have their citizens die</a> because of ideology.</p>
<p>It is important that we are up to speed with all the issues. With the broadcast mainstream media concerned solely on easy to digest issues or shallow stories, it is up to us all to stay informed. As the professor said, Trump can kill sabotage Obamacare from several directions. While stopping out of pocket subsidies is one way to cripple the ACA, the Essential Health Benefits addressed in his article is just as important.</p>
<p>Also published on <a href="https://medium.com/@egbertowillies/how-trump-can-kill-obamacare-even-without-the-senate-passing-trumpcare-61887d3f9953" type="external">Medium</a>.</p> | How Trump can kill Obamacare even without the Senate passing Trumpcare | true | https://egbertowillies.com/2017/05/28/trump-kill-obamacare-wo-senate-trumpcare/ | 2017-05-28 | 4 |
<p>The impending inauguration of the 45th President of the United States is something to celebrate and Michelle Malkin blasted those who have chosen to&#160;boycott the event.</p>
<p>Hours away from President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, Malkin told Fox News’ Sean Hannity&#160;that the atmosphere in Washington, D.C. is “electric.”</p>
<p>Watch the latest video at &lt;a href="http://video.foxnews.com"&gt;video.foxnews.com&lt;/a&gt;</p>
<p>Contrary to the doom and gloom&#160;the mainstream media has been reporting, Malkin said “people have come (from) all over the country to, yes, celebrate.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Elizabeth Warren gets harsh reminder of who’s in charge when she demands more time for Dems</a></p>
<p>She slammed those who have&#160;shown their hypocrisy by allowing partisanship to dictate.</p>
<p>“Shame on these empty chair Democrats,” Malkin said on “Hannity” Thursday. “They cannot put their partisanship aside for a very historic moment. [It] tells you everything you need to know about their disingenuousness when it comes to preaching about healing and understanding and peace.”</p>
<p>The tradition and ceremony of the inauguration is “awesome” and “awe-inducing,” Malkin said as she noted&#160;the excitement and sense of &#160;“re-invigoration” she felt in speaking with people.</p>
<p>She agreed with Hannity that Trump now faces the difficult task of facing off with the Republican, Democratic and media establishments.</p>
<p>“Those establishments, of course, transcend ‘R’ and ‘D. He will have to fight tooth and nail,” Malkin said, adding that she is hopeful.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Turns out, Florida man charged with threatening to kill Trump was chummy with the Clintons</a></p>
<p>“I have more hope than ever that we’ll fulfill the vision that so many of these establishment Republicans abandoned,” she said. And though she doesn’t agree with everything Trump is proposing, she thinks “in general, we’re headed in the – capital R – right direction.”</p>
<p>Wake up right! Receive our free morning news blast&#160; <a href="" type="internal">HERE</a></p> | Trump has Michelle Malkin blazing! Watch her stick it to establishment GOP & all those ‘empty chair Dems’ | true | http://bizpacreview.com/2017/01/20/trump-michelle-malkin-blazing-watch-stick-establishment-gop-empty-chair-dems-437781 | 2017-01-20 | 0 |
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<p>The hotel business is competitive, but Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR) has been an international leader in the industry for a long time. With the company having finished its merger with Starwood Hotels &amp; Resorts in late September, Marriott just finished its first full quarter with the combined business. Coming into Wednesday's fourth-quarter financial report, Marriott investors fully expected the company to see huge sales gains reflecting the combination, but they also wanted to see solid earnings growth as well. Marriott exceeded expectations with its results, and it's optimistic about the coming year.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Let's take a closer look at Marriott to see how it did and what's ahead for the hotelier going forward.</p>
<p>Image source: Marriott.</p>
<p>Marriott's fourth-quarter results showed the impact that the merger has had on the hotel company. GAAP revenue jumped 47% to $5.46 billion, which was well above the $4.96 billion consensus figure among those following the stock. Adjusted net income of $334 million was up 15% from year-ago levels, and the resulting $0.85 per share in adjusted earnings was up by a fifth and topped what investors had expected to see by $0.01 per share.</p>
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<p>Turning to some key operational metrics, Marriott said that its North American comparable systemwide revenue per available room rose 1.1% on a constant-dollar basis, which was slightly ahead of the 0.8% comparable RevPAR increase that Marriott saw across its entire portfolio worldwide. Incentive management fees were down slightly during the quarter, but a 5% rise in base management and franchise fees helped pull Marriott's top line upward. Moreover, total fee revenue of $713 million was above what Marriott had projected last quarter.</p>
<p>Marriott continued to see sizable increases to its network. The company added 116 new properties to its lodging portfolio during the quarter, boosting its total room count by more than 22,000. Just 10 properties left the system, and so at the end of the year, Marriott boasted 6,080 properties and timeshare resorts with more than 1.19 million rooms. Moreover, Marriott's development pipeline stayed solid, with almost 2,500 properties totaling more than 420,000 rooms under construction or approved for development.</p>
<p>CEO Arne Sorenson showed his pleasure with Marriott in how it finished the year. "The company delivered record high fee revenues in 2016," Sorenson said, "boosted by significant unit growth, RevPAR improvement, outstanding property-level margin gains, and the acquisition of Starwood Hotels &amp; Resorts." The CEO also pointed to the 6,000-hotel milestone as significant, especially in a tightening credit market.</p>
<p>Marriott also has high expectations for the coming year. In Sorensen's words, "We've never been more optimistic about our long-term prospects. Our expected new rooms growth for 2017 remains healthy, customers love our hotels and loyalty programs, and owners and franchisees prefer our portfolio of brands."</p>
<p>Marriott's guidance didn't necessarily reflect all of the company's enthusiasm. In the first quarter, Marriott believes that comparable RevPAR will be up 1% to 3% in North America and worldwide, with slightly slower 1% to 2% increases outside North America on a constant-dollar basis. For the full year, RevPAR should be flat to up 2% in North America, with a faster 1% to 3% rise internationally and 0.5% to 2.5% over the entire system. Earnings of $0.87 to $0.91 per share for the quarter and $3.79 to $3.97 per share for the full year were slightly less than investors had hoped to see, but they still represent flat to higher performance compared to the respective periods from last year.</p>
<p>Marriott investors were generally pleased with the results, and the stock climbed more than 1% in after-hours trading following the announcement. In the long run, Marriott and Starwood combined have huge opportunities ahead of them, and with a healthy environment in the hotel industry generally, Marriott should take full advantage of the situation to move forward aggressively.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Marriott InternationalWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=63fb05cf-691a-4174-909c-c141da3ce83a&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and Marriott International wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=63fb05cf-691a-4174-909c-c141da3ce83a&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx" type="external">Dan Caplinger</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Marriott International. 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</a>.</p> | Marriott Sees a Strong 2017 With Starwood Under Its Belt | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/15/marriott-sees-strong-2017-with-starwood-under-its-belt.html | 2017-02-15 | 0 |
<p>China has once again shut down foreigners's access to Tibet, at least until after the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party of China on July 1.</p>
<p>Reuters <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110616/wl_nm/us_china_tibet" type="external">reports</a> that travel agents confirm foreigners are not allowed to enter Tibet until sometime after July 1 of this summer. Access to Tibet is always somewhat limited to foreigners, who must get special permits and register with travel companies to go to the region. Foreign journalists are rarely allowed in on independent reporting trips and the Chinese government does not appear to have scheduled a group trip for journalists to Tibet this spring, as has been the case in the recent past.</p>
<p>Riots rocked the Tibetan capital Lhasa in 2008, and incidents of ethnic unrest seemed to have sprung up regularly in years since. In 2009, Muslim Uighurs rioted in protests that killed hundreds in western China, while more recently this spring, ethnic Mongolians have taken to the streets in Inner Mongolia to protest Chinese development on their grazing lands.</p> | Tibet is Closed | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-06-16/tibet-closed | 2011-06-16 | 3 |
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<p>The Senate is set to take a closer look at a proposed $66 billion merger of American seed and weed-killer company Monsanto and German medicine and farm chemical maker Bayer.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The deal combines two of the six U.S. and European companies that dominate the agrochemical market, and would create a global agricultural and chemical giant with a broad array of products. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa has said he's concerned that the consolidation could hurt American farmers who are already worried about rising costs.</p>
<p>After months of negotiations, St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. last week accepted an offer from Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer. The Senate panel will hear from those two companies and others at a Tuesday hearing on consolidation and competition in the U.S. seed and agrochemical industry.</p> | Senate panel to scrutinize proposed Bayer-Monsanto merger | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/09/20/senate-panel-to-scrutinize-proposed-bayer-monsanto-merger.html | 2016-09-20 | 0 |
<p>Congress reacted on Thursday to the Supreme Court's <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPREME_COURT_HEALTH_CARE?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT" type="external">decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act</a>, President Obama's landmark health care legislation.</p>
<p>Speaker of the House John Boehner, a Republican renewed his vow to repeal the legislation upon hearing the Supreme Court's decision that the health care law was constitutional. "Today's ruling underscores the urgency of repealing this harmful law in its entirety," Boehner said in a statement, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/28/us-usa-healthcare-court-boehner-idUSBRE85R0Y120120628" type="external">according to Reuters</a>.</p>
<p>House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement, "This decision is a victory for the American people. With this ruling, Americans will benefit from critical patient protections, lower costs for the middle class, more coverage for families, and greater accountability for the insurance industry," <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-congress/2012/06/pelosi-health-ruling-a-victory-for-every-american-127546.html" type="external">according to Politico</a>.</p>
<p>WATCH OBAMA SPEAK LIVE:</p>
<p />
<p>Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "We know that we when we come back here after the elections, there may be some things we need to do to improve the law and we'll do that working together, but today millions of Americans are already seeing the benefits of the law that we passed," <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/06/28/reactions-to-supreme-court-decision/" type="external">according to The Wall Street Journal</a>.</p>
<p>More on GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/120628/supreme-court-upholds-affordable-care-act-health-care-law" type="external">Supreme Court upholds Affordable Care Act</a></p>
<p>Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed Boehner's statement, saying, "Today's decision makes one thing clear: Congress must act to repeal this misguided law. Obamacare has not only limited choices and increased health care costs for American families, it has made it harder for American businesses to hire," <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-congress/2012/06/mcconnell-congress-must-repeal-127549.html" type="external">according to Politico</a>.</p>
<p>More on GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/120628/obama-romney-react-supreme-courts-health-care-ru" type="external">Obama, Romney react to Supreme Court's health care ruling (VIDEO)</a></p>
<p>The Journal reported that "House Republicans streamed into a closed-door meeting, mostly silent and appearing dazed."</p>
<p>Rep. Joe Barton, a Republican from Texas, gave a thumbs down sign and said, "It's really bad - really."</p>
<p>Both President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney are scheduled to deliver remarks later today.</p>
<p>Here are some other reactions:</p>
<p />
<p>[ <a href="http://storify.com/globalpost/reactions-to-scotus-health-care-ruling" type="external">View the story "Reactions to SCOTUS health care ruling" on Storify</a>]</p> | Supreme Court: Congress reacts to health care ruling | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-06-28/supreme-court-congress-reacts-health-care-ruling | 2012-06-28 | 3 |
<p>While American Airlines is busy <a href="" type="internal">kicking passengers off planes for being pro-choice</a>, Brazil’s Trip Airlines is kicking them off for being sexist. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/female-pilot-kicks-passenger-off-plane-for-sexist-remarks_n_1539076.html" type="external">Via</a> The Huffington Post:</p>
<p>A Brazilian airline says one of its female pilots tossed a passenger off a flight because he was making sexist comments about women flying planes.</p>
<p>Trip Airlines says in a Tuesday statement the pilot ejected the man before takeoff as he made loud, sexist comments upon learning the pilot was a woman. The jet continued on to the state of Goias after a one-hour delay.</p>
<p>The passenger involved in Friday’s incident has not been identified. He was met by police at the plane and escorted out of the Belo Horizonte airport. Police at the airport have not responded to calls and it isn’t known if the man has been charged with anything.</p>
<p>Trip says it won’t tolerate disparaging remarks made about any of the 1,400 women working for the airline.</p>
<p>Damn right. Everyone knows that women are just as capable of flying planes as men are. Provided they’re not on their periods and as long as they’re not wearing a skirt that reveals their ankles.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Brazilian airline kicks passenger off for sexist comments about pilot | true | http://feministing.com/2012/05/24/brazilian-airline-kicks-passenger-off-for-sexist-comments-about-pilot/ | 4 |
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<p>In 2018, you may resolve to <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/how-to-save-money/" type="external">save more</a> , spend less or <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/how-to-build-a-budget/" type="external">budget better</a> . Whatever your money goal, the one common key to your success is shopping smart. That means knowing the best time to buy just about anything.</p>
<p>To help you out, we've created a purchase calendar to help you plan your shopping for the year.</p>
<p>JANUARY</p>
<p>With a fresh page on the calendar comes a fresh start for sales. These products are discounted in <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/shopping/buy-skip-january/" type="external">January</a> :</p>
<p>—BEDDING AND LINENS. Department stores hold bedding and linen "white sales" in January with deep discounts on sheets and towels.</p>
<p>—FITNESS EQUIPMENT. Retailers know you want to get in shape. Expect fitness equipment and apparel sales to abound at sporting goods stores.</p>
<p>—TVS AND ELECTRONICS. Just before the Super Bowl, retailers normally discount their selections of HDTVs and other home-theater essentials.</p>
<p>FEBRUARY</p>
<p>It's the month of love and gift-giving, but February might be a better time to buy major items for yourself than trinkets for your loved one. Options include:</p>
<p>—TVS. TV sales spill over from January into February. Aside from Black Friday, this is one of the prime times to buy a new TV.</p>
<p>—WINTER PRODUCTS. With winter winding down, stores will be looking to unload their inventories of cold-weather products. Look for sales on apparel and winter sporting accessories.</p>
<p>—HOME GOODS. Presidents Day is Feb. 19 this year. Expect retailers to have home and apparel sales on that Monday and the weekend preceding the holiday.</p>
<p>MARCH</p>
<p>There aren't any major shopping holidays in March, but that doesn't mean sales are lacking. Look for sales on these products:</p>
<p>—GOLF CLUBS. Expect to find discounts on golf clubs in preparation for summer. Whenever consumer demand is down, prices usually are, too.</p>
<p>—GRILLS. Buy your summer grilling necessities in March to avoid the spike in prices that will come when summer arrives.</p>
<p>—ST. PATRICK'S DAY ESSENTIALS. St. Patrick's Day is March 17. Around that time, online retailers and department stores usually discount their selection of green-themed clothing, party supplies and jewelry.</p>
<p>APRIL</p>
<p>April has its fair share of spring deals and discounts, including:</p>
<p>—VACUUMS. Buying a vacuum isn't the most exciting purchase, but it'll be less painful if you take advantage of a spring cleaning sale. Look for these at department stores as well as manufacturers like Dyson.</p>
<p>—JEWELRY. The general rule is to avoid buying jewelry close to major holidays. Try to get a good deal when jewelers have a slower period and may be more motivated to make sales.</p>
<p>—FREEBIES. Year after year, retailers and restaurants try to lighten the burden of tax day with discounts and freebies. Keep an eye out for these around mid-April. Tax day this year is April 17.</p>
<p>MAY</p>
<p>April showers bring May flowers — and sales blossom then, too. Here's a look at some products to consider buying this month:</p>
<p>—SPRING CLEANING NECESSITIES. Before summer arrives, act on spring cleaning discounts on vacuums and mops.</p>
<p>—SMALL KITCHEN APPLIANCES. Use May discounts as a perfect opportunity to buy small kitchen appliances, such as coffee makers and blenders. These products normally are included in Memorial Day sales.</p>
<p>—FURNITURE. Three of the biggest blowout shopping days are Black Friday, Labor Day and Memorial Day. This year, Memorial Day is May 28. Look for plenty of furniture and home-decor discounts from big-box stores.</p>
<p>JUNE</p>
<p>June may be one of the shorter months of the year, but its supply of shopping events isn't lacking. Smart purchases include these products:</p>
<p>—LINGERIE. Stock up on undergarments in June. That's when Victoria's Secret has been known to host its famed Semi-Annual Sale. The sale usually occurs in December also.</p>
<p>—GYM MEMBERSHIPS. Consider buying a gym membership during the summer, and don't forget to negotiate to get the best possible deal. Gyms may be more eager for sign-ups at this time.</p>
<p>—GIFTS FOR DAD. You don't have to buy dad's gift at full price. Expect Father's Day deals this month, especially the closer you get to the holiday on June 17.</p>
<p>JULY</p>
<p>The temperature usually rises in July, but the prices of certain products drop. Consider buying these items this month:</p>
<p>—APPAREL. If you don't want to wait for end-of-summer sales, buy clothes in midsummer. You'll likely find a better price than you would at the start of the season.</p>
<p>—PATRIOTIC ITEMS. Retailers like a reason to celebrate. In the days leading up to the Fourth of July, there is usually an abundance of sales on red, white and blue products (and products that are all three colors), as well as on sporting goods, jewelry and furniture.</p>
<p>—PERSONAL ELECTRONICS. Black Friday is a big deal day that falls in November, but many retailers have begun hosting Black Friday in July sales, including Best Buy and Amazon. Expect discounts in nearly every product category.</p>
<p>AUGUST</p>
<p>Close out summer by buying summer products? That's right. Look for end-of-season clearance sales in August:</p>
<p>—BACK-TO-SCHOOL SUPPLIES. The start of school marks the need to buy small items such as pencils and expensive ones like laptops. Generally, the closer to the start of the school year you buy, the better your chances of getting a good price.</p>
<p>—LAWN MOWERS. Ride out the end of summer with a big deal on lawn mowers and other seasonal outdoor equipment.</p>
<p>—SWIMSUITS. There may not be many swimming days left by the time August rolls around, but that's exactly why swimsuit clearance sales will crest. Buy your swimsuits now to stock up for next year.</p>
<p>SEPTEMBER</p>
<p>With deals on items as varied as electronics and back-to-school supplies, September is a surprising month for good buys. Pick up reasonable prices in these departments:</p>
<p>—MATTRESSES. Year after year, September is the time for mattress sales. Expect these from department stores and mattress centers, usually as a part of Labor Day deals.</p>
<p>—IPHONES. Apple has been known to announce its new iPhone installments at the company's annual keynote in September. Usually, the unveiling is followed by a drop in prices on the current phones in anticipation of the new models.</p>
<p>—APPLIANCES. This year, Labor Day falls on Sept. 3. Expect a series of blowout deals in the week leading up to the holiday, including promotions on appliances big and small.</p>
<p>OCTOBER</p>
<p>Don't let the cost of shopping spook you during the Halloween season. There will be plenty of deals on these product categories in October:</p>
<p>—OUTDOOR FURNITURE. People generally spend less time outdoors when the temperature drops. Expect deals on patio furniture and outdoor living products when summer ends.</p>
<p>—JEANS. Fall inventory arrives in stores in August and September, but you'll pay top dollar unless you wait a few weeks. October is a great time to buy a new pair of jeans.</p>
<p>—CANDY. The closer you get to Oct. 31, the better your chance at snagging a discounted bag of candy for your trick-or-treaters.</p>
<p>NOVEMBER</p>
<p>November is the month for Black Friday sales, which means some of the most popular tech products fall to their lowest prices:</p>
<p>—TABLETS AND LAPTOPS. Electronics take center stage during Black Friday sales. Look for discounts on smartphones and activity trackers, too.</p>
<p>—GAMING SYSTEMS. Black Friday is the best time to buy a discounted gaming console or gaming system bundle like Xbox or PlayStation.</p>
<p>—HOME APPLIANCES. Reserve your major home appliance purchase — refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher, etc. — for Black Friday deals. Often, sales on these can be found throughout the month.</p>
<p>DECEMBER</p>
<p>The end of the year is just the beginning for discounts in some product categories. Look for sale prices on these products in December:</p>
<p>—TOYS. Since toys are a popular Christmas gift, stores generally host big toy sales as the holiday season draws to a close.</p>
<p>—CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS. Beginning the day after Christmas, shop sales for deep discounts — often upward of 50 percent — on decorations, wrapping paper, ornaments, artificial trees and similar seasonal fixings.</p>
<p>—CARS. The end of December is an ideal time to buy a car. That's when dealerships are looking to meet end-of-year sales quotas.</p>
<p>_____</p>
<p>This article originally appeared on the personal finance website <a href="https://nerd.me/homehttps:/nerd.me/home" type="external">NerdWallet</a> . Courtney Jespersen is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: <a href="[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> . Twitter: @courtneynerd.</p>
<p>RELATED LINKS:</p>
<p>NerdWallet: How to save money: Daily, monthly and long term</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/how-to-save-money/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=ap&amp;utm_medium=mpsyn" type="external">https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/how-to-save-money/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=ap&amp;utm_medium=mpsyn</a></p>
<p>NerdWallet: How to create a budget</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/how-to-build-a-budget/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=ap&amp;utm_medium=mpsyn" type="external">https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/how-to-build-a-budget/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=ap&amp;utm_medium=mpsyn</a></p>
<p>NerdWallet: What to buy (and skip) in January</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/shopping/buy-skip-january/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=ap&amp;utm_medium=mpsyn" type="external">https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/shopping/buy-skip-january/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=ap&amp;utm_medium=mpsyn</a></p>
<p>In 2018, you may resolve to <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/how-to-save-money/" type="external">save more</a> , spend less or <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/how-to-build-a-budget/" type="external">budget better</a> . Whatever your money goal, the one common key to your success is shopping smart. That means knowing the best time to buy just about anything.</p>
<p>To help you out, we've created a purchase calendar to help you plan your shopping for the year.</p>
<p>JANUARY</p>
<p>With a fresh page on the calendar comes a fresh start for sales. These products are discounted in <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/shopping/buy-skip-january/" type="external">January</a> :</p>
<p>—BEDDING AND LINENS. Department stores hold bedding and linen "white sales" in January with deep discounts on sheets and towels.</p>
<p>—FITNESS EQUIPMENT. Retailers know you want to get in shape. Expect fitness equipment and apparel sales to abound at sporting goods stores.</p>
<p>—TVS AND ELECTRONICS. Just before the Super Bowl, retailers normally discount their selections of HDTVs and other home-theater essentials.</p>
<p>FEBRUARY</p>
<p>It's the month of love and gift-giving, but February might be a better time to buy major items for yourself than trinkets for your loved one. Options include:</p>
<p>—TVS. TV sales spill over from January into February. Aside from Black Friday, this is one of the prime times to buy a new TV.</p>
<p>—WINTER PRODUCTS. With winter winding down, stores will be looking to unload their inventories of cold-weather products. Look for sales on apparel and winter sporting accessories.</p>
<p>—HOME GOODS. Presidents Day is Feb. 19 this year. Expect retailers to have home and apparel sales on that Monday and the weekend preceding the holiday.</p>
<p>MARCH</p>
<p>There aren't any major shopping holidays in March, but that doesn't mean sales are lacking. Look for sales on these products:</p>
<p>—GOLF CLUBS. Expect to find discounts on golf clubs in preparation for summer. Whenever consumer demand is down, prices usually are, too.</p>
<p>—GRILLS. Buy your summer grilling necessities in March to avoid the spike in prices that will come when summer arrives.</p>
<p>—ST. PATRICK'S DAY ESSENTIALS. St. Patrick's Day is March 17. Around that time, online retailers and department stores usually discount their selection of green-themed clothing, party supplies and jewelry.</p>
<p>APRIL</p>
<p>April has its fair share of spring deals and discounts, including:</p>
<p>—VACUUMS. Buying a vacuum isn't the most exciting purchase, but it'll be less painful if you take advantage of a spring cleaning sale. Look for these at department stores as well as manufacturers like Dyson.</p>
<p>—JEWELRY. The general rule is to avoid buying jewelry close to major holidays. Try to get a good deal when jewelers have a slower period and may be more motivated to make sales.</p>
<p>—FREEBIES. Year after year, retailers and restaurants try to lighten the burden of tax day with discounts and freebies. Keep an eye out for these around mid-April. Tax day this year is April 17.</p>
<p>MAY</p>
<p>April showers bring May flowers — and sales blossom then, too. Here's a look at some products to consider buying this month:</p>
<p>—SPRING CLEANING NECESSITIES. Before summer arrives, act on spring cleaning discounts on vacuums and mops.</p>
<p>—SMALL KITCHEN APPLIANCES. Use May discounts as a perfect opportunity to buy small kitchen appliances, such as coffee makers and blenders. These products normally are included in Memorial Day sales.</p>
<p>—FURNITURE. Three of the biggest blowout shopping days are Black Friday, Labor Day and Memorial Day. This year, Memorial Day is May 28. Look for plenty of furniture and home-decor discounts from big-box stores.</p>
<p>JUNE</p>
<p>June may be one of the shorter months of the year, but its supply of shopping events isn't lacking. Smart purchases include these products:</p>
<p>—LINGERIE. Stock up on undergarments in June. That's when Victoria's Secret has been known to host its famed Semi-Annual Sale. The sale usually occurs in December also.</p>
<p>—GYM MEMBERSHIPS. Consider buying a gym membership during the summer, and don't forget to negotiate to get the best possible deal. Gyms may be more eager for sign-ups at this time.</p>
<p>—GIFTS FOR DAD. You don't have to buy dad's gift at full price. Expect Father's Day deals this month, especially the closer you get to the holiday on June 17.</p>
<p>JULY</p>
<p>The temperature usually rises in July, but the prices of certain products drop. Consider buying these items this month:</p>
<p>—APPAREL. If you don't want to wait for end-of-summer sales, buy clothes in midsummer. You'll likely find a better price than you would at the start of the season.</p>
<p>—PATRIOTIC ITEMS. Retailers like a reason to celebrate. In the days leading up to the Fourth of July, there is usually an abundance of sales on red, white and blue products (and products that are all three colors), as well as on sporting goods, jewelry and furniture.</p>
<p>—PERSONAL ELECTRONICS. Black Friday is a big deal day that falls in November, but many retailers have begun hosting Black Friday in July sales, including Best Buy and Amazon. Expect discounts in nearly every product category.</p>
<p>AUGUST</p>
<p>Close out summer by buying summer products? That's right. Look for end-of-season clearance sales in August:</p>
<p>—BACK-TO-SCHOOL SUPPLIES. The start of school marks the need to buy small items such as pencils and expensive ones like laptops. Generally, the closer to the start of the school year you buy, the better your chances of getting a good price.</p>
<p>—LAWN MOWERS. Ride out the end of summer with a big deal on lawn mowers and other seasonal outdoor equipment.</p>
<p>—SWIMSUITS. There may not be many swimming days left by the time August rolls around, but that's exactly why swimsuit clearance sales will crest. Buy your swimsuits now to stock up for next year.</p>
<p>SEPTEMBER</p>
<p>With deals on items as varied as electronics and back-to-school supplies, September is a surprising month for good buys. Pick up reasonable prices in these departments:</p>
<p>—MATTRESSES. Year after year, September is the time for mattress sales. Expect these from department stores and mattress centers, usually as a part of Labor Day deals.</p>
<p>—IPHONES. Apple has been known to announce its new iPhone installments at the company's annual keynote in September. Usually, the unveiling is followed by a drop in prices on the current phones in anticipation of the new models.</p>
<p>—APPLIANCES. This year, Labor Day falls on Sept. 3. Expect a series of blowout deals in the week leading up to the holiday, including promotions on appliances big and small.</p>
<p>OCTOBER</p>
<p>Don't let the cost of shopping spook you during the Halloween season. There will be plenty of deals on these product categories in October:</p>
<p>—OUTDOOR FURNITURE. People generally spend less time outdoors when the temperature drops. Expect deals on patio furniture and outdoor living products when summer ends.</p>
<p>—JEANS. Fall inventory arrives in stores in August and September, but you'll pay top dollar unless you wait a few weeks. October is a great time to buy a new pair of jeans.</p>
<p>—CANDY. The closer you get to Oct. 31, the better your chance at snagging a discounted bag of candy for your trick-or-treaters.</p>
<p>NOVEMBER</p>
<p>November is the month for Black Friday sales, which means some of the most popular tech products fall to their lowest prices:</p>
<p>—TABLETS AND LAPTOPS. Electronics take center stage during Black Friday sales. Look for discounts on smartphones and activity trackers, too.</p>
<p>—GAMING SYSTEMS. Black Friday is the best time to buy a discounted gaming console or gaming system bundle like Xbox or PlayStation.</p>
<p>—HOME APPLIANCES. Reserve your major home appliance purchase — refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher, etc. — for Black Friday deals. Often, sales on these can be found throughout the month.</p>
<p>DECEMBER</p>
<p>The end of the year is just the beginning for discounts in some product categories. Look for sale prices on these products in December:</p>
<p>—TOYS. Since toys are a popular Christmas gift, stores generally host big toy sales as the holiday season draws to a close.</p>
<p>—CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS. Beginning the day after Christmas, shop sales for deep discounts — often upward of 50 percent — on decorations, wrapping paper, ornaments, artificial trees and similar seasonal fixings.</p>
<p>—CARS. The end of December is an ideal time to buy a car. That's when dealerships are looking to meet end-of-year sales quotas.</p>
<p>_____</p>
<p>This article originally appeared on the personal finance website <a href="https://nerd.me/homehttps:/nerd.me/home" type="external">NerdWallet</a> . Courtney Jespersen is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: <a href="[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> . Twitter: @courtneynerd.</p>
<p>RELATED LINKS:</p>
<p>NerdWallet: How to save money: Daily, monthly and long term</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/how-to-save-money/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=ap&amp;utm_medium=mpsyn" type="external">https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/how-to-save-money/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=ap&amp;utm_medium=mpsyn</a></p>
<p>NerdWallet: How to create a budget</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/how-to-build-a-budget/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=ap&amp;utm_medium=mpsyn" type="external">https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/how-to-build-a-budget/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=ap&amp;utm_medium=mpsyn</a></p>
<p>NerdWallet: What to buy (and skip) in January</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/shopping/buy-skip-january/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=ap&amp;utm_medium=mpsyn" type="external">https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/shopping/buy-skip-january/?utm_campaign=ct_prod&amp;utm_source=ap&amp;utm_medium=mpsyn</a></p> | What to buy every month of the year in 2018 | false | https://apnews.com/amp/8fa3c5a0b17b4f939ecfbc50a05bc573 | 2017-12-29 | 2 |
<p>During its meeting last week, the Virginia Baptist Mission Board allocated funds for a variety of church grants and for a number of mission projects around the world.</p>
<p>Three churches received grants for start-up expenses:</p>
<p>• Beacon Hill Missionary Baptist Church, Herndon ($40,000).</p>
<p>• Journey Church, Roanoke Baptist Association ($40,000).</p>
<p>• Potomac Crest Baptist Church, Woodbridge ($31,250).</p>
<p>Powhatan Community Church, Powhatan, received a $20,000 grant for permanent facility expenses.</p>
<p>Three courageous vision partnerships were allocated:</p>
<p>• Bon Air Baptist Church, Richmond ($6,000).</p>
<p>• Louisa Baptist Church, Louisa ($6,000).</p>
<p>• Ni River Community Church, Fredericksburg ($6,000).</p>
<p>Bon Air Church also received a $6,000 innovative discipleship matching grant.</p>
<p>In addition, $30,700 was allocated to four churches for pastoral assistance: Chinese Gospel Church in Charlottesville, Cross Point Community Church in Rocky Mount, Holy Light Baptist Church in Richmond and Iglesia Bautista de Springfield in Springfield.</p>
<p>Funding for World Mission Initiatives included:</p>
<p>• $12,000 to help Hungarian Baptist Aid to purchase a portable disaster response feeding unit.</p>
<p>• $3,000 to help the Sudanese Baptist Convention train widows and destitute women in business skills in trading and crafting.</p>
<p>• $6,000 to help the Lebanese Baptist Convention provide Iraqis with Arabic-language books on evangelism, discipleship, leadership development, and Christian living for women, youth and couples.</p>
<p>• $3,000 to provide scholarship funds for an Italian Baptist to study at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.</p>
<p>• $10,000 to support a pastors' summit and prayer crusade in Liberia.</p>
<p>• $5,000 to help Persian World Outreach train leaders among Persian-speaking people.</p>
<p>• $2,000 to provide a gathering for Virginia Baptist partners from around the world at the Baptist World Alliance Congress in in July.</p>
<p>Staff report</p> | Mission Board allocates funds to church, mission initiatives | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/missionboardallocatesfundstochurchmissioninitiatives/ | 3 |
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<p>Blood, death, war. New! More! Free! Now with extra SEX! They laughed when I sat down to rule the world, but when I started to play, more smiles in every mile! It’s a long road to Tipperary: how many roads must a man walk down, before he walks a mile in your shoes? Smart bombs, smart cookies: looking for a few good men, and Eva Braun. A man can smile, and smile, and still be a villain. But those teeth stay white, cup after cup. Tastes as fresh as if you ground the beans yourself. French Roast? And why not, but Freedom Roast for now, gang, until it’s over, over there. Be fair: the war on terror can never end. There will always be terror. And we’ll always have Paris. Here’s looking at me, kid, with the NEW instamatic for the twenty-first century. Takes no film. Tape at 11. Why will we always have Paris? Thanks to Aphrodite, goddess, wit, all-around Greek. Poor old Menelaus, he was the better man but he didn’t have a divine chum. So we chum the divine deserts with our son’s blood, and up! Jumps the quick white shark. What a surprise. Were you surprised? I was surprised. Read the back issues, it’s all in there. They make circles in the corn fields at night. Even smarter bombs, for that matter. Smart as a whip. Wide as an ocean. Get your lapel flags here, gang, the bossman is coming into town. He wears a tall hat and hand-tooled boots, his eyes are mere slits but he’s no Chinaman, no sir, this here Texas hold-em is 100% pure grade A USDA expectorated Connecticut beefcake, son of the pioneers, noble scion of a patrician whatnot and a weather balloon named Babs. Coke adds life. Ten to life if you’re black and they catch you. Grind the beans yourself to release the full flavor. Your nostrils will spangle with delight! Sleep on eiderdown in the desert of the divine. Don’t ask what your country can do for you. Nothing. Brother, can you paradigm? Friends, romance, countrymen, lend my your rears. Take that. Dead for a ducat! Feel that motor hum, that’s a hundred and fifty ponies under the hood, and the hood is just there to protect his privacy. The wires on the genitals are there to protect his privates. Use the magic of electricity to rid yourself of pesky fleas, ticks, chiggers, and cassowaries, the ship of the desert. O Time in thy flight! Sorry about the cover story, now the Global War Against Terror is all your fault. New! For Ramadan, the waterproof Quran. Get rid of your old Koran, try NEW! Quran with the letter Q which is now the signifier of evil. Evil men like the Q letter better. It is the scarlet letter, and frankly, letter, I don’t give a scarlet damn. Terrorist in New Jersey, film at 11, courtesy of the New Improved Better Sex, add inches to your girth and lose that flab forever in a single flash of cordite because Jack, that body armor can stop anything but time in thy flight. Today is the three-and-twentieth day, but nobody told the Burning Bush. The battle rages on, unabated, employee rebate for everyone, why work there when you could work at home? Who needs it? Kids everywhere! Four out of five dentists agree, and the fifth one is a crank. He drinks, you know. Not much of a president but he’d be a great guy to hang around in a bar with. Hello, sailor, buy me a refreshing Coke? 420, man. Drugs are the new alcohol, and alcohol is the new fur, and fur is back, back I say! I created you, I can destroy you! Do my bidding! Luckily, there’s hope, thanks to the NEW secret ingredient xylophone, now with chloryphyll and extra pizzazz. Can I get an amen? Five on Dainty Dipper, then, third race. I’d walk a mile for a camel, my other car is a broom. Sweep the city, cleanse its ethnics, we’ll lick them yet, you wait and see. We have nothing to fear but Old Sourpuss. It’s my bicycle, officer.</p>
<p>With that the chief the tender victims slew, And in the dust their bleeding bodies threw; The vital spirit issued at the wound, And left the members quivering on the ground.</p>
<p>Home run for Homer, kids, and don’t forget there’s a prize in every box. Free flag with every bereavement.</p>
<p>BEN TRIPP is an independent filmmaker and all-around swine. His book, Square In The Nuts, may be purchased here, with other outlets to follow: <a href="http://www.lulu.com/Squareinthenuts" type="external">http://www.lulu.com/Squareinthenuts</a> . Swag is available as always from <a href="http://www.cafeshops/tarantulabros" type="external">http://www.cafeshops/tarantulabros</a> . And Mr. Tripp may be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | GWAT | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/08/13/gwat/ | 2005-08-13 | 4 |
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<p>SAN ANTONIO — The two men police say attempted to rob a jewelry store at a San Antonio mall have been charged with capital murder in the death of a good Samaritan who attempted to intervene.</p>
<p>San Antonio police said in a statement Tuesday that Jose Luis Rojas and Jason Matthew Prieto, both 34, are each being held on $1.5 million bond.</p>
<p>Rojas is hospitalized in critical condition after being shot multiple times Sunday by another good Samaritan at the Rolling Oaks Mall.</p>
<p>The first good Samaritan, 42-year-old Jonathan Murphy, wasn’t armed when he confronted the suspects and was fatally shot.</p>
<p>It’s not known whether Rojas and Prieto have attorneys to speak on their behalf.</p>
<p>Police say another shooting occurred Tuesday just outside a different mall. No one was hurt in that incident.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 2 suspects charged with capital murder after mall shooting | false | https://abqjournal.com/934782/2-suspects-charged-with-capital-murder-after-mall-shooting.html | 2017-01-24 | 2 |
<p>California lawmakers should end a program that has awarded $780 million in tax credits to companies including General Motors and Snapchat because it creates an "uneven playing field" and its overall economic benefits are hard to determine, according to a report released Tuesday.</p>
<p>"We are struck by how awarding benefits to a select group of businesses harms their competitors in California," the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office concluded. "We also think the resources consumed by the program are not as focused as they should be on winning economic development competitions with other states."</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The review examined the California Competes tax credit program, launched in 2013 with the goal of encouraging companies to expand or relocate in California. It's handed out up to $780 million in possible income tax credits to more than 700 companies.</p>
<p>The awards are as low as $20,000 to create five new jobs to $15 million to create more than 4,000 jobs, the amount given to Tesla Motors in 2015.</p>
<p>The companies must hit benchmarks every year to claim the tax credits. The businesses self-report their progress, and the state Franchise Tax Board can review their records for compliance.</p>
<p>The review found certain aspects of the program prevent it from boosting economic activity in California.</p>
<p>About 15 percent of the money handed out goes to companies that only do business in the state and compete for a finite number of customers, such as plumbers or accountants, according to the review. If one company gets a tax credit to expand, its competitor could be forced to shrink, analysts said.</p>
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<p>"The credits create an uneven playing field, benefiting a handful of businesses while disadvantaging other businesses," the report found.</p>
<p>For those that do business outside California, such as manufacturers, the program doesn't focus enough on awarding credits to companies that didn't already plan on expanding in the state, the report said.</p>
<p>Gov. Jerry Brown's office directed questions about the report to the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, which defended the program.</p>
<p>"California Competes is a vital tool for the administration to support businesses who want to locate or grow their enterprises in our state," spokesman Sid Voorakkara said.</p>
<p>The companies awarded credits are projected to create 77,000 jobs and $14.5 billion in investments, Voorakkara said.</p>
<p>The Legislative Analyst's Office recommended lawmakers scrap the program next year. It suggests lawmakers who want to provide tax relief look at broad-based cuts instead, such as lowering the corporate tax rate.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>This story has been corrected to show that the Legislative Analyst's Office conducted a review of the program, not a formal audit.</p> | Report urges end to tax credit program for businesses | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/10/31/audit-urges-end-to-tax-credit-program-for-businesses.html | 2017-10-31 | 0 |
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<p>Su-i Chen, left, and her mother, Ya-Lei Chiang, from Taiwan, wait to enter Santa Fe’s Railyard Park during the artists’ procession. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — The world came to party in Santa Fe’s Railyard on Thursday evening, kicking off one of the bigger weekends of the summer.</p>
<p>The International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe on Museum Hill will run through Sunday, with more than 150 artists from around the globe selling their wares on Saturday and Sunday.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Friday night’s opening party is already sold out</a>.</p>
<p>Ya-Lei Chiang and a group from Taiwan enter the Railyard Park during the artist procession for the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe on July 10, 2014. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>But Thursday night belonged to the community, with no admission fee required, as artists gathered at the Railyard to demonstrate their crafts, musicians and dancers offered entertainment from their cultures, and market participants dressed in their native garb marched in a procession, carrying placards to identify their places of origin.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Las Alegres Ambulancias of Colombia provided pounding rhythms into the night.</p>
<p>Besides the Saturday-Sunday sales of folk art, Museum Hill will offer dance and music on an outdoor stage and an international food bazaar with selections ranging from Taos Ice Cream to Ceci’s West African fare.</p>
<p /> | Arty party at the Railyard | false | https://abqjournal.com/427654/arty-party-at-the-railyard.html | 2 |
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<p>Good evening and welcome to Rapid Fire, our daily email tip sheet. Here you will find updates to breaking AIM content and a look at what we’re reading. Please keep <a href="" type="internal">emailing</a> tips and suggestions or hit us up on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/AccuracyInMedia" type="external">Facebook</a> or <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/AccuracyInMedia" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p>
<p>TOP STORY: Our latest video showing a clear link between the Occupy Movement and organized labor&#160;was discussed, along with Roger Aronoff’s latest AIM Report on IRN Radio’s News and Views show yesterday. Listen to the whole podcast, including Aronoff’s full interview, here: <a href="http://bit.ly/tJsCPH" type="external">http://bit.ly/tJsCPH</a>.</p>
<p>INVESTMENT, DEFINED: AIM Director James F. Davis today reminds us what the true differences are between government and private investment: “Most government debt-increasing stimulus, or investment spending, is politicians spending other people’s money to satisfy the special interests that help get them reelected. Everyone else and their kids have to pay for it. Such projects rarely produce anything of lasting economic value nor do they stimulate the economy.” <a href="http://bit.ly/uERYgQ" type="external">http://bit.ly/uERYgQ</a></p>
<p>MEDIA WATCH: MSNBC Angry er, Anchor Ed Schultz threw a temper tantrum this week upon hearing that GQ Magazine considers him one of the “Least Influential People.” Shultz takes comfort in his ratings dominance over Anderson Cooper though: “Now, and I know that Anderson Cooper floats around in that GQ crowd. I don’t know if he’s behind it or whether their publicist at CNN, but let me just say, I’m kicking his ass, OK?” Classy, Mr. Ed. <a href="http://bit.ly/tSCDqy" type="external">http://bit.ly/tSCDqy</a></p>
<p>“MEGGIE MAC” IS SMRT: Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has a new fan over at MSNBC: Meghan McCain! Although she said Bachmann was “more smarter” than Sarah Palin, Don Irvine was intrigued: “MSNBC thought they were getting a Republican who would look at the GOP with a jaundiced eye and wound up with a Michele Bachmann cheerleader instead.” <a href="http://bit.ly/uNrPO3" type="external">http://bit.ly/uNrPO3</a></p>
<p>*** Accuracy in Media appreciates your support and attention to the rampant media bias found today. <a href="https://secure.piryx.com/donate/CvzLRCWf/Accuracy-In-Media/daily-email" type="external">Pledging your support</a> to our Mission keeps the lies, falsifications, obfuscations and liberal intimidation in check. ***</p>
<p>ELECTION 2012: How can you tell which GOP candidate is leading in the polls? Take a look at who Bachmann is criticizing: “Bachmann said of Gingrich: ‘I think that a professor doesn’t like to be challenged, but I think that his real challenge is a memory challenge.’” Who would have thought she’d play the old card? <a href="http://bit.ly/sI8QPH" type="external">http://bit.ly/sI8QPH</a></p>
<p>WHAT WE’RE READING: AIM guest columnist Michelle Malkin is not impressed at all with Miley Cyrus’ serenading Occupy Wall Street: “Like so much of the warmed-over, Big Labor-underwritten Occupy movement, Miley’s musical tribute to its foot soldiers is a worn-out derivative remix.” When did auto-tune become so acceptable? <a href="http://bit.ly/rqAZH6" type="external">http://bit.ly/rqAZH6</a></p>
<p>ACADEMIC REGULATION: Accuracy in Academia discusses the question, should American universities be subject to Sarbanes-Oxley? <a href="http://bit.ly/uwSBRe" type="external">http://bit.ly/uwSBRe</a></p>
<p>*** Stay connected with the <a href="http://bit.ly/tHi8ST" type="external">Accuracy in Media RSS feed</a> for all of our best content as it’s published! ***</p> | Rapid Fire – December 2, 2011 | true | http://aim.org/on-target-blog/rapid-fire-december-2-2011/ | 2011-12-02 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Not knowing a gun is loaded is not an accident.</p>
<p>It’s negligence.</p>
<p>Engaging in a shouting match with some mouth breathing gun control zealot does not help anyone EXCEPT the gun control zealot. &#160;The press will spin their drooling vitriol laced rage as being “passionate about protecting children” while spinning you, the gun owner, as a person on the brink of murder.</p>
<p>The following video discusses a few things to keep in mind to avoid being a jackass with a gun.</p>
<p>Enjoy.</p>
<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>It’s pretty simple folks. &#160;Be safe and don’t lower yourself to the rambling idiocy of the opposition.</p>
<p>Don’t provide ammo for them make caricatures of gun owners.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.</p> | How not to be a jackass with a gun | true | http://bulletsfirst.net/2014/02/10/jackass-gun/ | 0 |
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<p>In his February 6 article entitled, <a href="" type="internal">“The Cancer of Occupy</a>,”Chris Hedges attempts to analyze the political beliefs and practices of the black bloc, a group he characterizes as the scourge of the Occupy movement. Although Mr. Hedges evidently conducted at least a little to research his article, he does not quote a single proponent or participant of a black bloc, neither within the Occupy movement nor from any of the many other black blocs that have been organized in the United States. Such research would not have been difficult. There are a plethora of anarchist blogs, websites, newspapers, and magazines that discuss Occupy, the black bloc, and even the use of the black bloc within Occupy protests.</p>
<p>Despite this major failing, I cannot accuse Mr. Hedges of laziness. He does, after all, dig up an anarchist magazine published in Oregon ten years earlier and he quotes one particular article extensively. The magazine, Green Anarchy, is tied in to Hedge’s tirade on the basis of the unsupported and inaccurate assertion that anarcho-primitivist John Zerzan, one of the magazine’s former editors, is “one of the principal ideologues of the Black Bloc movement”. In fact, the black bloc evolved–as a tactic, not a movement–in Europe and came to the United States without any input from Zerzan. Zerzan’s only link to the bloc is as one of the few public figures to have endorsed it.</p>
<p>So why does he appear at all in Hedges’ article? Presumably to provide the link to Green Anarchy. And why Green Anarchy? Of all the anarchists and others who have participated in black blocs in the last decades, green anarchists or anarcho-primitivists have only been one small part. Labor union anarchists, anarcha-feminists, social anarchists, indigenous anarchists, Christian anarchists, as well as plain old, unaffiliated street youth, students, immigrants, parents, and others have participated in black blocs.</p>
<p>However, for a mainstream audience susceptible to fear-mongering, the anarcho-primitivists can easily be portrayed as the most extreme, the most irrational, and this kind of crass emotional manipulation is clearly Mr. Hedges’ goal.</p>
<p>Despite the tenuous to null connection between Green Anarchy and the use of the black bloc within the Occupy movement, he uses a skewed presentation of that magazine to frighten his readers away from a reasoned consideration of the political arguments on which the black bloc is based. For the more intrepid readers, he finishes off the job with inaccurate and unreferenced generalizations such as, “Black Bloc anarchists oppose all organized movements […] They can only be obstructionist.”</p>
<p>Hedges introduces the widely read Zerzan merely as an apologist for the ideas of Ted Kaczynski (The Unabomber). Referred to by one NBC reporter as “probably one of the smartest individuals I have encountered” and “very low key, reasoned, and non-threatening,” Zerzan is a far more complex figure, but such details fall outside of Hedges’ plan of attack. His characterization of Green Anarchy, and by extension, of all black bloc anarchists, is based on a single article that only appeared in GA as a reprint some ten years ago. Neither does Hedges admit that the article itself, “The EZLN are Not Anarchist,” generated considerable controversy and debate among anarchists, nor that GA itself published a response by several Zapatistas, which criticized the article for “a colonialist attitude of arrogant ignorance”.</p>
<p>The openness to debate and criticism present in GA, is totally absent from Hedges’ latest work of journalism. The manipulation, cherry picking, and dishonesty that underlie his arguments show that for this award-winning journalist, fairness is only a courtesy one extends to those rich or powerful enough to press libel charges. This conception certainly abounds in the pages of the New York Times, Hedges’ longtime employer.</p>
<p>The medical language of Hedges’ title, referring to the anarchists as a “cancer,” should immediately ring alarm bells. Portraying one’s opponents as a disease has long been a tactic of the state and the media to justify the repression. This language was used against the Native Americans, against the Jews, against communists, and many others. Recently the police and the right wing used this same language of hygiene to talk about the occupations around the country as health threats so as to justify their eviction and generate disgust and repulsion.</p>
<p>In sum, Chris Hedges deals with the “Black Bloc anarchists” with fear-mongering manipulation and without the slightest glimmer of solidarity. But beneath the black masks, anarchists have been an integral part of the debates, the organizing, the cooking and cleaning in dozens of cities. Anarchists also participated in preparing the original call-out for Occupy Wall Street, and they played a key role in organizing and carrying out the historic Oakland general strike and the subsequent West Coast port blockades–probably the strongest actions taken by the Occupy movement to date.</p>
<p>The very fact that Occupy Oakland got out 2,000 people to fight the police for hours in an attempt to occupy a building, at a time when Occupy in other cities is dwindling or dead, contradicts the parallel claims that anarchists are trying to “hijack” Occupy and that their tactics turn people away. On the contrary, anarchists are part and parcel of the Occupy movement and their methods of struggle resonate with many people more than the staid, hand-wringing pacifism and middle-class reformism of careerists like Chris Hedges.</p>
<p>It would be useful to debate the appropriateness of aggressive tactics in demonstrations, and anarchists themselves have often encouraged this debate, but Hedges has passed over the critique and gone straight for the smear. He calls the black bloc anarchists “a gift from heaven for the surveillance and security state,” choosing conspiracy theory paranoia to distract from the public record, filled with cases of government officials and the media alternately serenading and threatening the Occupy movement into an acceptance of nonviolence.</p>
<p>Its proponents in the Occupy movement have generally protected nonviolence from an open debate, instead imposing it through manipulation, fear-mongering, and, when all else fails, turning their opponents over to the police. Hedges himself implies that illegal or aggressive tactics cannot exist in a space where “mothers and fathers [feel] safe”, ignoring the many militant movements built around the needs of mothers and fathers, such as his own favorite example, the Zapatistas. He also dismisses the concept of a diversity of tactics as a “thought-terminating cliché”, demonstrating a willful ignorance of–to name just one example–the many weeks of thoughtful debate that went into the <a href="" type="external">“St. Paul principles</a>”&#160;that allowed hundreds of thousands of people with a huge diversity of political practices to come together in 2008 and protest the Republican National Convention.</p>
<p>Predictably, Chris Hedges uses the name of Martin Luther King, Jr., to gain legitimacy for his stance, again contradicting his argument that the “corporate state” wants protestors to fight police and destroy property, given that this same corporate state venerates King (or at least a well managed version of King) while demonizing or silencing the equally important Malcolm X or Black Panthers. Just as predictably, Chris Hedges does not mention that King vocally sympathized with the urban youths who rioted, youths whose contemporary equivalent Hedges calls “stupid” and a “cancer.” Ironically, Hedges refers to the famous Birmingham campaign attributed with achieving the end of segregation. What Hedges and pacifist ideologues like him fail to mention is that Birmingham was a repeat of King’s Albany campaign, which ended a total failure, all its participants locked up, and no one slightly moved by the supposed dignity of victimhood. The difference? In Birmingham, the local youths got fed up, rioted and kicked police out of large parts of the city for several days. The authorities chose to negotiate with King and replace de jure segregation with de facto segregation in order to avoid losing control entirely.</p>
<p>It’s also hypocritical that on the one hand Chris Hedges utilizes King and parades the dignity of nonviolent suffering while on the other hand he uses the fear of getting injured by police or spending a few nights in jail to mobilize his comfortable, middle class readership to reject the black bloc and the dangers it might bring down on them. “The arrests last weekend in Oakland of more than 400 protesters […] are an indication of the scale of escalating repression and a failure to remain a unified, nonviolent opposition.” He goes on to detail the horrible ways police attacked demonstrators, and the conditions in jail.</p>
<p>It’s election year. Those who still have faith in the system, or those whose paychecks are signed by the major unions, the Democratic Party, progressive NGOs, or the left wing of the corporate media, know it’s their job to forcibly convert any popular movement into a pathetic plea to be made at the ballot box. The unmediated, experimental politics of the Occupy movement must give way to symbolic protest and dialogue with the existing “structures of power” whose members must be brought “to our side”. For the Occupy movement to be sanitized and converted into a recruiting tool for the Democratic Party, it will have to be neutralized as a space for real debate, experimentation, and conflict with authority. Its more revolutionary elements will have to be surgically removed. It is an operation the police, the media, and some careerist progressives have been engaged in for months, and Hedges’ contribution is just the latest drop in the bucket.</p>
<p>This form of co-optation and manipulation is nothing new for a movement that cynically harvested a few images from Tahrir Square–an unfinished popular uprising in which hundreds of thousands of people defended themselves forcefully from the cops, ultimately torching dozens of police stations–to declare a victory for nonviolence.</p>
<p>Around the world, people are fighting for their freedom and resisting the depredations of the rich and powerful. In the United States, there is plenty of cause to join this fight, but as long as people continue enact a fear-driven, Not-In-My-Backyard pacifism, and to pander to the corporate media as though they would ever show us in a positive light, the rich and the powerful will have nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>Peter Gelderloos is the author of several books, including Anarchy Works and How Nonviolence Protects the State, which is available for <a href="" type="internal">free download</a>.</p> | The Surgeons of Occupy | true | https://counterpunch.org/2012/02/09/the-surgeons-of-occupy/ | 2012-02-09 | 4 |
<p>According to a&#160; <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-05/uol-ail051914.php" type="external">statement</a> from the University of Leeds, the Antarctic ice sheet is now losing 159 billion tons of ice each year. Amazingly, this figure is twice as much as when it was last surveyed.</p>
<p>Researchers utilized measurement gathered by the ESA’s CryoSat-2 satellite mission to create the first complete estimate of Antarctic ice sheet elevation change.</p>
<p>The data reveals that, overall, the pattern of imbalance continues to be dominated by glaciers thinning in the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica.</p>
<p>On average West Antarctica lost 134 gigatons of ice, East Antarctica three gigatons, and the Antarctic Peninsula 23 gigatons in each year between 2010 and 2013.</p>
<p>According to researchers, the ice losses detected by CryoSat-2 are enough to raise global sea levels by 0.45mm each year alone.</p>
<p>“We find that ice losses continue to be most pronounced along the fast-flowing ice streams of the Amundsen Sea sector, with thinning rates of between 4 and 8 meters per year near to the grounding lines of the Pine Island, Thwaites and Smith Glaciers,” noted lead author Dr. Malcolm McMillan from the University of Leeds.</p>
<p>Recently, scientists <a href="http://www.latimes.com/science/environment/la-sci-0513-antarctic-ice-sheet-20140513-story.html" type="external">concluded</a> that a cluster of&#160;six glacier&#160;in the Amundsen Sea region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet have passed “the point of no return,” meaning that the total collapse of the glaciers cannot be stopped.</p>
<p /> | Antarctic ice sheet is now losing 159 billion tons of ice each year | false | http://natmonitor.com/2014/05/20/antarctic-ice-sheet-is-now-losing-159-billion-tons-of-ice-each-year/ | 2014-05-20 | 3 |
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<p />
<p>Not to begrudge any woman who’s toiled through nine months of pregnancy and multiple hours of labor, but there’s something quite sickening about <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/fashion/06push.html" type="external">this NYT story</a> about how new mothers are expecting their husbands and partners to pony up with some really sweet bling.</p>
<p>This bonus goes by various names. Some call it the “baby mama gift.” Others refer to it as the “baby bauble.” But it’s most popularly known as the “push present.” That’s “push” as in, “I the mother, having been through the wringer and pushed out this blessed event, hereby claim my reward.” Or “push” as in, “I’ve delivered something special and now I’m pushing you, my husband/boyfriend, to follow suit.”</p>
<p>“It’s more and more an expectation of moms these days that they deserve something for bearing the burden for nine months, getting sick, ruining their body,” said Linda Murray, executive editor of BabyCenter.com. “The guilt really gets piled on.”</p>
<p>A recent survey of more than 30,000 respondents by BabyCenter.com found that 38 percent of new mothers received a gift from their mate in connection with their child. Among pregnant mothers, 55 percent wanted one. About 40 percent of both groups said the baby was ample reward.</p>
<p>You heard that right, only 2 in 5 kids can rest assure that Mom wasn’t disappointed that their arrival wasn’t accompanied by a tennis bracelet.</p>
<p>It is not the fact that Moms are getting a token of their hard work that bugs me, it is that you know that the diamond industry has their hands in this. Just as they invented a “tradition” of diamond wedding rings, the “three months salary” rule, and the “three-stone anniversary ring.” Hey, you can hear DeBeers’ pitchmen saying: Why not a carat for each pound of baby? Don’t you care, Dad?</p>
<p>I’m just saying. Because no man would ever dare.</p>
<p>(For a timeline of diamond marketing, follow the jump. And there’s <a href="/news/exhibit/2005/01/exhibit.html" type="external">more here</a>.)</p>
<p>Diamond Timeline For more on wedding ridiculousness (and the inflation of JLo) <a href="/news/exhibit/2005/01/exhibit.html" type="external">go here</a>.</p>
<p>1939: De Beers hires N.W. Ayer and Co. to make diamonds “a psychological necessity…the larger and finer the diamond, the greater the expression of love.” Within three years, 80% of engagements are consecrated with a diamond ring.</p>
<p>1940: After a sociologist advises diamonds be presented as a symbol of a man’s ability to “get into the competitive race,” N.W. Ayer begins loaning gems to actresses, “who can make the grocer’s wife say, ‘I wish I had what she has.'”</p>
<p>1945: Department of Justice charges De Beers with “conspiring to restrict production, monopolize sales and arbitrarily influence prices” by cornering 95% of world market. De Beers executives fail to show up in court, pull company out of U.S. market, opting to use middlemen.</p>
<p>1947: “A Diamond Is Forever” slogan debuts. Jewelers instructed to tell men—who buy 90% of all diamonds—to spend at least two months’ salary on ring. The not-so-subtle message: Can you afford not to?</p>
<p>1970s: De Beers gains control of huge Soviet cache of small stones and begins emphasizing “color, cut, and clarity.”</p>
<p>1981:Thanks to 14-year campaign to glamorize Western wedding customs, 60% of Japanese wives sport diamond rings; their husbands spend more on them than American counterparts.</p>
<p>1994: DOJ again charges De Beers with price-fixing. Executives again skip court and can’t visit the U.S. for fear of arrest.</p>
<p>1999: Advertising Age declares “A Diamond is Forever” the most effective slogan of 20th century, recognized by 90% of Americans.</p>
<p>2000: “Three-stone anniversary ring” campaign is an instant success.</p>
<p>2002: “Diamonds that make a statement”—i.e., they’re bigger— campaign aimed at affluent married couples. Uses slogans like: “Thank you, Bob… Thank you, Lord.”</p>
<p>2003: De Beers markets “right-hand ring” to “stylish” and “independent” single women. Uses slogan, “Your left hand says ‘we,’ your right hand says ‘me.'”</p>
<p>2007: “Push Present” article appears in the New York Times…</p>
<p /> | Here’s Your Damn Baby, Now Where Are My #@%&ing Diamond Earrings? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/12/heres-your-damn-baby-now-where-are-my-ing-diamond-earrings/ | 2007-12-07 | 4 |
<p>Dec. 5 (UPI) — President <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Donald_Trump/" type="external">Donald Trump</a> on Tuesday informed Palestinian President <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Mahmoud_Abbas/" type="external">Mahmoud Abbas</a> and other Middle Eastern leaders he intends to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a statement from the Palestine Liberation Organization said.</p>
<p>Trump called Abbas to inform him of his decision, though no official announcement has been made by U.S. officials. Abbas warned Trump of the “grave consequences” of moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, <a href="http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=SnBGnQa95477005701aSnBGnQ" type="external">WAFA, the official news agency of the PLO, reported</a>.</p>
<p>Abbas said the move would jeopardize the work toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.</p>
<p>The Trump administration also notified Israeli Prime Minister <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Benjamin_Netanyahu/" type="external">Benjamin Netanyahu</a>, Jordanian <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/King_Abdullah/" type="external">King Abdullah</a>, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi King Salman of the plan.</p>
<p>Senior U.S. officials said Trump plans to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Wednesday and delay moving the Embassy for six months, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.826990" type="external">Haaretz reported</a>.</p>
<p>The deadline to announce the embassy’s possible move from Tel Aviv was pushed from Friday to Monday. However, that passed without any official word from the Trump administration.</p>
<p>The president is facing more warnings from U.S. and foreign leaders over the repercussions of the potential move, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.</p>
<p>Erdoğan <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42232158" type="external">described the status of Jerusalem</a> as a “red line” for Muslims and warned the embassy move could lead to Ankara cutting ties with Israel.</p>
<p>“If the status of Jerusalem is changed and another step is taken … that would be a major catastrophe,” Bekir Bozdağ, Turkey’s deputy prime minister, said. “It would completely destroy the fragile peace process in the region, and lead to new conflicts, new disputes and new unrest.”</p>
<p>The European Union cautioned there could be “serious repercussions.”</p>
<p>Some officials warned the relocation could delay the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Abul Gheit, an Arab League leader, said it could pose a threat “to the stability of the Middle East and the whole world.”</p>
<p>French President <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Emmanuel-Macron/" type="external">Emmanuel Macron</a> told Trump that Jerusalem’s status must be decided “within the framework of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.”</p>
<p>Abbas <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/05/trump-misses-deadline-moving-us-embassy-jerusalem" type="external">said Palestinians</a> would “walk away from contacts with U.S. officials” if Jerusalem is declared the capital.</p>
<p>If the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital, it would be the first country to do so since the creation of Israel in 1948.</p> | Trump tells Abbas of plans to move U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem | false | https://newsline.com/trump-tells-abbas-of-plans-to-move-u-s-embassy-to-jerusalem/ | 2017-12-05 | 1 |
<p />
<p>Jimmy Carter is without doubt one of the most active and influential ex-presidents in American history.</p>
<p>After leaving office, he established the nonprofit Carter Center, tasked with advancing human rights around the world. Through his and the center’s work, Carter has helped monitor more than 60 democratic elections, worked with governments in sub-Saharan Africa to develop sustainable agriculture, negotiated for peaceful conflict resolution in various countries, and worked to eradicate diseases such as <a href="http://www.cartercenter.org/healthprograms/program1.htm" type="external">Guinea worm</a> and <a href="http://www.cartercenter.org/healthprograms/program2.htm" type="external">river blindness</a>. For these and other efforts, he was awarded the <a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/2002/index.html" type="external">Nobel Peace Prize</a> in 2002.</p>
<p>Carter — whose presidency was highlighted by achievements in international diplomacy such as the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, the Panama Canal treaties, and the arms-reducing SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union — is also the author of 20 books. The most recent, Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis, is a wide-ranging critique of how fundamentalism, both religious and political, is influencing American policy at home and abroad.</p>
<p>President Carter recently spoke with Mother Jones from his office at the Carter Center in Atlanta.</p>
<p>MotherJones: In your book, you talk about the intersection in recent years of religious and political fundamentalism. What is the origin of this merger?</p>
<p>Jimmy Carter: I think it was in 1979, when future fundamentalists took control of the Southern Baptist Convention, which is a very important religious and political factor in this country. After that, the Southern Baptist Convention had almost diametrically opposite basic principles than it had previously followed, and there’s been an evolution within the Convention toward a more and more rigid and strict creed that embodies the fundamentalist principles that I mention in the book.</p>
<p>Now, I don’t think there’s any doubt that the elementary principle of fundamentalism has existed for ages, and it obviously permeates other religions as well, such as Islam and Hinduism and others. But this trend continued and, parallel to it, there was in effect a merger of the fundamentalist Christian leaders and the more conservative elements of the Republican Party. And for the last 25 years or so, that merger has become more pronounced and more evident.</p>
<p>MJ.com: Which of the two strains of fundamentalism do you see as leading the other?</p>
<p>JC: I wouldn’t say leading, but both are influencing each other. In the past, there have been two parallel premises for the separation of church and state. One obviously is what Thomas Jefferson declared, stating that he was speaking on behalf of the other founding fathers, when he said we should build a wall between the church and state. And in the Christian faith, we all remember that Christ said, “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” This also indicates that there should be a clear separation.</p>
<p>But those premises have been publicly disavowed or challenged by Pat Robertson on the religious side, and even by the former chief justice of the Supreme Court [William Rehnquist]. But nowadays, with the allocation of billions of dollars through what President Bush calls a faith-based initiative, taxpayers’ money is distributed to churches and other religious institutions that will comply with the basic principles of the present political administration. And there’s no doubt that in public conventions and in individual church speeches and sermons, there’s been a prevalent inclination to endorse candidates, primarily Republican candidates.</p>
<p>MJ.com: At this point, 25 years in, do you expect this to remain a permanent situation?</p>
<p>JC: In the last few months at least, I would guess, there has been a reconsideration by many American citizens that that trend was not advisable for our country. This is indicated, at least to some degree, by public-opinion polls. And obviously the popularity in polls of some Republican leaders has deteriorated as well. So there’s been a re-thinking in many ways. I think part of it has been caused by some of the practical political decisions that were ill advised and were supported by the religious fundamentalists.</p>
<p>All of us Christians worship the Prince of Peace, but the fundamentalists I referred to earlier publicly supported what I consider the unjust and unnecessary invasion of Iraq. That was one indication of a very radical departure. The reception of public funds to go into the religious activities of a church is almost unprecedented, at least within the Baptist faith, which I share. Other aspects are the almost complete refusal of the fundamentalist Christian leaders to condemn even the torture of prisoners and the intrusion on Americans’ privacy and rights as protected under the U.S. Constitution. On those kinds of issues, formerly characterized by a separate opinion on public events between the religious community and the political community, the difference has been eliminated.</p>
<p>MJ.com: The definition of fundamentalism you provide in the book includes the unwillingness to cooperate or negotiate with others. Where do you see that tendency as most dangerous at the moment?</p>
<p>JC: The danger comes when those kinds of principles are applied on the international scene. That brought about a whole gamut of things. One, obviously, is the unprecedented preemptive war that President Bush has declared to be a policy of our country. Another is the total abandonment, and often the derogation, of every nuclear-arms agreement that has been negotiated by previous presidents, beginning in the time of Dwight Eisenhower.</p>
<p>At home, it brought about the deterioration of our commitment to environmental quality. Another [effect] is the enormous preference that has been given in tax laws recently to the extremely rich at the expense of working-class and poorer people. Then there’s the implied melding of science and religion, where even the president himself has expressed the opinion that religious beliefs should be taught in scientific classrooms. That’s unprecedented. And there is a unique and special emphasis—which is a recent development too—within the religious community, an obsession with the condemnation of homosexuality. Now, in the bible homosexuality is condemned, but along with divorce and greed and callousness toward poor people. So its elevation to a highest priority among some religious groups has been very disturbing to me.</p>
<p>One point I believe is important, looking at the political side once more, is that this is not a Democratic-versus-Republican or a liberal-versus-conservative concern. This is a departure in all those points, compared to all previous Republican presidents—compared to George Bush Sr. or Ronald Reagan, compared to Gerald Ford or Dwight Eisenhower, as well as the Democratic presidents. It’s a radical departure.</p>
<p>MJ.com: As you know, the Bible stresses the need to help the poor, and yet the government appears to have moved away from that notion in recent years.</p>
<p>JC: I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. And one point that is made openly by some so-called neoconservatives is that we need to drive the nation into debt – which they’ve done grossly – to prevent future administrations from having the funding flexibility to increase government services to the poor. Whether in the field of housing or education or health care or social services, there’s a deliberate idea there that is quoted quite freely in some of the right-wing political periodicals.</p>
<p>MJ.com: Do you think the Hurricane Katrina disaster has changed that dynamic at all?</p>
<p>JC: If it is, I haven’t seen the results of it. There has been some verbal recognition of the plight of the poor, but when you look at the total commitment and the sending out of the poorest people in the Katrina region, help has been pretty well absent. I think this has been a scandalous thing for the Bush administration, something that has been acknowledged not just by critics like me but by the Congress itself. The reaction of FEMA – which used to be a sterling organization – and the neglect of the poorest people suffering in New Orleans and other places has been a complete embarrassment.</p>
<p>MJ.com: You mentioned the Iraq war, and you were an <a href="%E2%80%9D" type="external">early critic</a>. Given the situation as it stands now, are you at all hopeful about the prospects for a stable democracy emerging?</p>
<p>JC: Well, I’m hopeful. I pray that there will be a successful democratic system established in Iraq that can keep the country together and avoid further violence. I think what we should do is get out of Iraq as quickly as possible, and this can be done in a number of ways. I think one of the best ways would be for us to surreptitiously ask the new leaders of Iraq to publicly request that the U.S. troops withdraw. Then, instead of taking the initiative and saying we have failed in Iraq, we could say that we are honoring the new democracy established in Iraq. That’s one scenario that could lead to a withdrawal of U.S. troops within a year. But my own belief is that no one in the top levels in Washington now intends to ever pull all the American troops from Iraq. I think there was a strong motivation to go into Iraq to establish a permanent military presence there of some kind. And I don’t believe there’s anyone in the top levels in Washington who’s willing to relinquish the privileged position we have in the acquisition and marketing of Iraqi oil, to open it up to France or Russia or China.</p>
<p>So I think there’s still a strong feeling in Washington to retain a strong permanent military and economic presence in Iraq. My belief is that a lot of the violence that continues in Iraq right now between different religious groups is caused in part by the continued presence of American troops. I believe that if American troops withdrew, almost immediately the level of violence would decrease.</p>
<p>MJ.com: Having monitored many elections yourself, what other conditions do you think must be in place for a viable democracy to work in Iraq?</p>
<p>JC: I don’t think we can start the election procedure all the way over. Now I think the decision is going to be up to the Shiites and the Sunnis and the Kurds to try to work out some sort of arrangement among themselves based on ethnic and religious backgrounds, similar to what has existed for several generations in Lebanon. There the president comes from one group, the prime minister comes from another group, and you have some degree of autonomy depending on whether people live in a certain place or have a certain ethnic or religious background. That’s what we still hope for. Based on the previous election held in Iraq last December, that’s still a hopeful possibility, and it would certainly be my preference.</p>
<p>MJ.com: As you note in your book, the situation in Iraq poses a conflict of American values, in the sense that promoting democracy could, for example, lead to an elected government that takes away things such as women’s rights. How does America walk that line?</p>
<p>JC: We can’t completely control what the Iraqis prefer in their social policies. Obviously, we saw the terrible circumstances in Afghanistan when the Taliban made women almost complete servants and debased them. Under Saddam Hussein of course, and even under the former Shah of Iran, there was a more enlightened treatment of women, as there is in Egypt and some other Muslim countries. What I understand, though, is that the strong inclination of the Shiite plurality – they don’t quite have a majority – in the new government is to implement sharia law as far as women’s dress is concerned and the subjugation of women to an acknowledged male domination. From what I understand, that’s under consideration in the draft of the new constitution. Unfortunately, we can’t just go in and order the Shiites to change their basic beliefs that women should wear veils or shouldn’t be educated and so forth. I deplore this, but it’s not something the United States can control.</p>
<p>MJ.com: There’s been a somewhat similar conflict in the Palestinian territories, where a democratically held election led to the victory of Hamas, which the United States lists as a terrorist organization. What can the United States do in this case?</p>
<p>JC: The Carter Center monitored that election, as well as the two previous Palestinian elections. They’ve been open and safe elections, as good as any we’ve seen in the world. [The Palestinian election in January was the 62nd one the Carter Center had monitored.] We’re familiar with the situation there, and most of us expected that Hamas would win a plurality, but the fact they won a majority was a surprise to everyone.</p>
<p>Now, I don’t believe it’s even possible under U.S. law for the United States to deal directly with a government where the ministers and parliament are Hamas members. That’s illegal under our laws. However, the president of the Palestinian government is still Mahmoud Abbas, who represents the Fatah Party. He is a moderate, respected, honest—and was anointed a couple years ago by the United States and Israel as their main interlocutor. He is still in charge of the PLO; since Arafat died, he’s the head of it. The only political organization that Israel has ever acknowledged is the PLO. And I noticed recently that Abbas was in Norway, calling strongly for peace talks to begin immediately with Israel and saying, accurately, that he has the legal authority to speak for the Palestinians as president and as head of the PLO. So there’s nothing that happened in January that prevents the initiation or resumption of peace talks.</p>
<p>MJ.com: In previous interviews you’ve proposed that the United States continue to give aid to the Palestinian people while not dealing with the Hamas government.</p>
<p>JC: That’s what I think the United States should do. We can’t deal directly with the Hamas government. But I think we should have the same degree of generosity to the Palestinian people who are suffering horribly in their own land. This could be done through UNESCO, through the United Nations Human Rights Organization, through UNICEF, or even through the government of Jordan. Just to finance the payment of schoolteachers or nurses or ambulance services or food distribution to people. This could be done almost completely independently of who is in parliament and who the ministers might be. That’s what I’ve advocated, not just for the United States but also for Europe. I hope there will be some modification in the present actions, which will cause Palestinians to suffer even more than they have in the past and maybe even ultimately create a violent reaction from their hopelessness.</p>
<p>MJ.com: Even looking back at Iraq in the 1990s, the sanctions there seemed to hurt public opinion about the U.S. more than they did Saddam Hussein.</p>
<p>JC: That’s true. That was ostensibly focused on Saddam Hussein, but we make the same mistakes in other places. Unfortunately, we do the same thing in Cuba. The animosity against Fidel Castro means we have an embargo against travel, commerce, tourism, and the sale of food and medicine to the Cuban people. This doesn’t hurt Castro; in fact, it hurts the people who are already suffering under his dictatorship. And it tends to make him a hero, where he can blame all of his own self-induced economic problems on the United States. So I think whenever we have a bludgeon to economically use sanctions against people in an attempt to hurt the dictator in charge, it’s counterproductive.</p>
<p>MJ.com: On the flip side, you note in the book that the American public thinks the country spends much more money on international aid than it actually does.</p>
<p>JC: Polls show that Americans think we spend 10-15 percent of our gross income to help other people, and we spend much less than one half of one percent. And we spend less on a per-capita basis, compared to our income, than any other industrialized nation in the world. And in addition to this stinginess with which we allocate government funds to help humanitarian assistance to needy people, we put horrendous restraints on how our own dollars are expended. For example, we’re very interested in trying to control AIDS in Africa, but the Congress puts strings on the money, such as you can’t spend it on family planning or the use of condoms. Anybody in his right mind knows that one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of AIDS is for people who have sex to use condoms.</p>
<p>Another thing is that in the last 20 years or so, beginning with President Reagan, we have shifted to letting almost all the USAID [United States Agency for International Development] funds go to American contractors. It used to be that within USAID, we had experts employed by the U.S. government who made sure the money was spent wisely and efficiently. Now that money goes almost exclusively to American contractors who set up offices in foreign countries. They receive the money and dole it out with enormous waste.</p>
<p>MJ.com: By comparison, what have you found effective in your own work that other organizations could learn from?</p>
<p>JC: One thing is that, since I have been president, I’m able to deal directly with the leaders of African governments. I go into the country and let it be known what we want to do in advance, and I ask the president to meet with me and to have his prime minister there as well as his whole cabinet. I negotiate a contract between the Carter Center and, for example, the government of Uganda or Mali or Burkina Faso. That’s the first thing. Whereas if the World Health Organization or UNICEF wanted to do this, they would probably – through no fault of their own – be limited to dealing with the minister of health. That’s one advantage we have. A second is we have a policy of not sending a large bureaucracy into a country. We usually send in one expert who represents the Carter Center. And all of the workers are local people, Kenyans or Nigerians or Tanzanians. They are the ones who actually do the work in the villages, with us teaching them and providing assistance. And a third thing we do that makes our work effective is I don’t put my name on anything when we deal with these diseases. In Africa for instance, we generally call it Global 2000, so the local village leader can say, “My Global 2000 program eradicated Guinea worm.” Or increased the production of corn or wheat. And the president can say the same thing. I think those three things – dealing with the top leadership, depending on local people we train to do the work, and we don’t try to take credit for it.</p>
<p /> | Our Endangered Values | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/06/our-endangered-values/ | 2006-06-02 | 4 |
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<p>AZTEC, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say a Bloomfield man fatally shot by a police officer was under investigation for child sexual abuse.</p>
<p><a href="http://goo.gl/Exb31v" type="external">The Daily Times reports</a> Bloomfield Police Chief Randy Foster confirmed last week that 61-year-old John Rogers was under investigation on suspicion of child sexual assault.</p>
<p>According to a search warrant affidavit, the investigation was related to multiple counts of criminal sexual penetration of minors.</p>
<p>Foster said for legal reasons he could not discuss the specifics of the case.</p>
<p>Jonathan Rogers, John Rogers’ son, referred questions to the family’s attorney, Brendan O’Reilly of Albuquerque. O’Reilly said he had no comment on the investigation.</p>
<p>New Mexico State Police say Rogers, who was fatally shot by police, was getting a gun out a vehicle’s glove box at the time of the shooting.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Man shot by police linked to child sexual assault | false | https://abqjournal.com/466795/man-shot-by-police-linked-to-child-sexual-assault.html | 2 |
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<p>In politics there’s always a great deal of hyperbole, hype and rhetoric that’s said <a href="" type="internal">but not always true</a>. In fact, one of the biggest challenges I face these days is making sure what people believe is factual rather than misinformed propaganda pushed on the Internet by people who either don’t care about the truth or <a href="" type="internal">are too incompetent</a> to know what the truth actually is.</p>
<p>Well, right now there’s a fairly dangerous myth out there among both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters concerning the general election and what progressives must do to keep Republicans out of the White House.</p>
<p>For Clinton supporters, they expect to win the nomination and then unite everyone around our nation’s “first female president” thinking, combined with a strong push to keep whatever clown Republicans nominate from becoming president, this will be all that’s needed to keep the White House in the hands of Democrats.</p>
<p>On the Sanders side, his supporters are banking on the “political revolution” to come in and sweep&#160;their democratic socialist candidate to victory. After all, that’s Sanders’ whole “plan” to pass this massively transformative legislation on which he’s running –&#160;a political revolution.</p>
<p>And while there’s been a lot of hype and debate following the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire primary, there’s a glaring reality Democrats need to realize: Republicans kicked their butts.</p>
<p>Yes, despite all the hype about how all it will take is for progressives to be “energized” to vote to keep the White House, in both Iowa and New Hampshire,&#160;Republicans earned more votes than Democrats.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-p-mcdonald/iowa-caucus-turnout-what-it-means_b_9141408.html" type="external">Iowa</a>:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/10/gop-shatters-its-turnout-record-democrats-lag-behi/" type="external">New Hampshire</a>:</p>
<p>Both numbers for Democrats are below what they were in 2008 in each state.</p>
<p>Though what should even be more worrisome for Democrats is that the Republican number from New Hampshire almost broke the record&#160;set by Democrats&#160;in 2008, which was a year of incredibly high voter turnout for the Democratic party. And if Republican voter turnout is similar to what Democrats had in 2008, progressives are going to have to break records to keep the presidency in “blue” hands.</p>
<p>While it’s only two states, it’s not a good sign when Republicans are showing up in larger numbers than Democrats to vote. Especially considering the “hype” around the Democratic race has been largely centered around getting a high voter turnout from progressives. Through the first two states, that isn’t exactly what’s happening. Turnout wasn’t bad, but so far Republicans are outpacing Democrats. If that happens in November it could very well mean <a href="" type="internal">that the GOP wins the White House</a>.</p>
<p>This needs to be a wakeup call to the #ImWithHer and #FeelTheBern crowd that, while voter turnout isn’t bad so far – it needs to be better.</p>
<p>It’s great to talk about our first female president or “political revolutions” – but none of that’s going to matter if, in November, Republicans show up to vote in greater numbers.</p>
<p>As I’ve said countless times before, <a href="" type="internal">there’s far too much at stake</a> this election to allow the Republican party – especially with the set of candidates they’re running –&#160;to take back the White House.</p>
<p>Here are the upcoming dates for the next round of caucuses and primaries:</p>
<p>February 20th: Nevada</p>
<p>February 27th: South Carolina</p>
<p>March 1st: Super Tuesday (Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia)</p>
<p>March 5th:&#160;Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska</p>
<p>March 6th:&#160;Maine</p>
<p>March 8th: Michigan, Mississippi</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fairvote.org/primaries#presidential_primary_or_caucus_type_by_state" type="external">Here’s a great resource that lists primary and caucus rules by state</a>. Familiarize yourself with the candidates and please remember to vote.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">10 Questions I Need Bernie Sanders Supporters to Answer</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">"President Hillary Clinton": The Final Nail in the Republican Coffin</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Bernie Sanders is great, but some of his most vocal supporters are becoming a problem</a></p>
<p>0 Facebook comments</p> | Bad News From Iowa and New Hampshire Must be a Wake Up Call for Progressives | true | http://forwardprogressives.com/bad-news-from-iowa-and-new-hampshire-must-be-a-wake-up-call-for-progressives/ | 2016-02-11 | 4 |
<p />
<p>A group of large U.S. retailers reported higher sales for July, but had to resort to bargains to lure shoppers who are still careful in their spending while the job market continues its slow recovery.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Costco Wholesale Corp said on Thursday that sales at stores open at least a year rose 4 percent last month, below analysts' expectations of a 5.1 percent increase.</p>
<p>U.S. sales at the warehouse club chain got help from members who bought its less-expensive gasoline, while demand for electronics was soft. International same-store sales rose 8 percent, but the strong U.S. dollar had a negative effect.</p>
<p>L Brands Inc, the parent company of Victoria's Secret and Bath &amp; Body Works, reported a same-store sales gain of 3 percent for July, beating forecasts for a 1.5 percent rise. It benefited largely from its La Senza chain in Canada.</p>
<p>Analysts expect a 4.4 percent rise in July same-store sales across the 11 U.S. chains that report this data each month, according to Thomson Reuters. That would be stronger than the 1.4 percent increase in July 2012.</p>
<p>Gap Inc reports after the markets close.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Janney Capital Markets analyst Adrienne Tennant said in a note this week that promotions were "aggressive" in July and noted what she called a big lull in mall traffic.</p>
<p>"Consumers need a reason to go to the store," said Barbara Kahn, a professor of the Wharton School of Business and director of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center. "It's consistent with what we've been seeing from economic data: The recovery is sluggish."</p>
<p>Last month, U.S. employers slowed their pace of hiring, with the number of jobs outside the farming sector increasing less than economists expected.</p>
<p>Fred's Inc, a small discount chain, said its promotions brought in a lot of shoppers, lifting same-store sales 2.5 percent last month, beating expectations.</p>
<p>Cato Corp said same-store sales fell 5 percent, which Chief Executive John Cato said reflected "the continuing economic uncertainty and the related volatility we have seen throughout much of the year."</p>
<p>Teen clothing chain American Eagle Outfitters Inc spooked Wall Street this week when it said that the pressure to mark down prices got more intense in July, just when spending for the back-to-school season ramps up.</p>
<p>Back to school is the second-most important season for clothing retailers after the Christmas holidays.</p>
<p>Zumiez Inc, which caters to teenagers, reported a weaker-than-expected 0.8 percent gain in July same-store sales. Rival chain The Buckle had a 2.1 percent increase, slightly below Wall Street projections.</p>
<p>American Apparel Inc posted an 8 percent rise.</p>
<p>Walgreen Corp said last week that its same-store sales rose 6.3 percent, but a Credit Suisse analyst said they had gotten help from deals on products like bottle water and soda aimed at bringing more shoppers.</p>
<p>Rite Aid Corp reported a modest 0.7 percent increase in general merchandise such as toothpaste and deodorant.</p> | Retailers See Climbing Sales, But Rely on Discounting | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/08/08/retailers-see-climbing-sales-but-rely-on-discounting.html | 2016-01-25 | 0 |
<p>Netflix’s controversial and wildly popular Making a Murderer documentary series’ main subject, Steve Avery, is guilty as all hell of murder—despite the <a href="https://www.change.org/p/president-of-the-united-states-free-steven-avery" type="external">petitions</a> circulating the web declaring him innocent. And, now, along with a <a href="" type="internal">slew of evidence</a> to back this up, Avery’s former fiancé, Jodi Stachowski, has come out to proclaim his guilt as well.</p>
<p>The estranged fiancé told Natisha Lance in an interview on HLN that Avery is a “monster” who “beat her all the time.”</p>
<p>“He is not innocent,” said Stachowski.</p>
<p>Stachowski was featured in the documentary, although she claims to have asked the creators of the series to remove her because “it was all lies.”</p>
<p>“It was all an act...”</p>
<p>Jodi Stachowski</p>
<p>“It was all an act…He told me how to act,” Stachowski said.</p>
<p>“If I didn’t say anything good and nice about him, I’d pay,” she said explaining her behavior on the show that often presented Avery in a good light and attempted to clear him of guilt. “I didn’t want to get hurt.”</p>
<p>Although Stachowski said in the interview that Avery has always denied the murder when she asked him about it multiple times, she did confirm that she thought he was capable of murder.</p>
<p>Avery's ex claims that he once told her “all bitches owe him because of the one that sent him to prison the first time."</p>
<p>"We all owed him and he could do whatever he wanted,” she added.</p>
<p>Stachowski also elaborated on the constant physical abuse she received from her former fiancé.</p>
<p>“I ate two boxes of rat poison just so I could go to the hospital and get away from him and ask them to get the police to help me,” she explained.</p>
<p>HLN reports that “multiple police reports corroborate the claim that there was a long history of abuse.”</p>
<p>Stachowski said that Avery “sent her a letter from prison, threatening to report her to the police.”</p>
<p>Avery has garnered much sympathy and support since the launching of the series, even in the face of damning evidence pointing to his guilt Will statements from those closest to him, like Stachowski, change the minds of those proclaiming his innocence? Likely not.</p>
<p>The complete interview can be viewed below:</p> | The Woman Who Was Engaged to 'Making a Murderer' Steven Avery Says He’s Guilty. Here's Why. | true | https://dailywire.com/news/2632/woman-who-was-engaged-making-murderer-steven-avery-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2016-01-15 | 0 |
<p>Trump followed up this morning’s anti-NFL tweetstorm by retweeting a post about former NFL star Pat Tillman, who was accidentally killed by US troops in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Think Progress <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/pat-tillman-not-conservative-martyr-f28504427207/" type="external">reports</a>:</p>
<p>In 2004, Tillman was killed in a friendly fire incident, five weeks after the Department of Defense initially misreported his death as the result of enemy fire. When Colin Kaepernick began demonstrating in 2016, Tillman posthumously came into the spotlight, appropriated by right-wing bloggers who said that by refusing to stand for the national anthem, athletes were disrespecting what Tillman died for. One of the most popular posts on the pro-Trump subreddit r/The_Donald frames Tillman as someone who “believed in something but instead of taking a knee, fought for it.”</p>
<p>Absent from the conversation among conservative circles, however, are Tillman’s personal politics. Those who served with Tillman in Iraq and Afghanistan say he was vehemently against former U.S. president George W. Bush and called the war “so fucking illegal.” Tillman was also an atheist and maintained correspondence with one of his favorite authors, Noam Chomsky. After Trump announced the travel ban against majority-Muslim countries, Tillman’s widow took to Facebook to say “this was not the country he dreamed, not what he served and died for.”</p>
<p /> | Trump Continues Anti-NFL Barrage By Exploiting 2004 Death Of Liberal Atheist Soldier Killed In Afghanistan | true | http://joemygod.com/2017/09/25/trump-continues-nfl-barrage-exploiting-2004-death-liberal-atheist-soldier-killed-afghanistan/ | 2017-09-25 | 4 |
<p>ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — At 6-foot-8 and 345 pounds, Oklahoma offensive tackle Orlando Brown isn’t exactly built for Disneyland.</p>
<p>While the No. 2 Sooners and No. 3 Georgia enjoyed the various rides at the resort’s two theme parks Wednesday, “You won’t catch me on one,” Brown said.</p>
<p>It’s an approach that Lincoln Riley of Oklahoma and the Bulldogs’ Kirby Smart would appreciate as each head coach has stressed discipline heading into the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl on Monday.</p>
<p>The visit to Disneyland and dinner at Lawry’s The Prime Rib steakhouse in Beverly Hills are the only two events associated with the Granddaddy of Them All, but they take on a different context when the Rose Bowl hosts the national semifinal. The focus is on winning and advancing to the championship game, which will be in Atlanta on Jan. 8, not grabbing selfies with Mickey Mouse or gorging in the Beef Bowl.</p>
<p>“Just stay focused,” Georgia offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn said, even as roadsters from the Radiator Springs Racers attraction sped by behind him. “Don’t get distracted. Don’t let this type of stuff affect us. It’s just another business trip this week.”</p>
<p>“We’ve still got work to do and it won’t finish for us until we kick the game off,” Riley said.</p>
<p>That message comes from personal experience for both teams. Smart was the defensive coordinator at Alabama for two playoff appearances, losing in a semifinal in 2014 and winning the national title in 2015, and now has Georgia (12-1) in the final four. Oklahoma (12-1) lost to Clemson 37-17 in the semifinal at the Orange Bowl at the end of the 2015 season when Riley was the Sooners’ offensive coordinator.</p>
<p>Brown sees a more mature Oklahoma team that is benefitting from its previous experience in the playoff.</p>
<p>“When we were in Miami, it was our first time so we had people doing out of the ordinary things,” Brown said. “And with it being our second time in the playoffs, we just had a tremendous amount of focus. We had a bunch of guys that have been here, not too much starstruck by LA. Guys that are wanting to practice, wanting to play in the game, been watching the film and doing all those different things.”</p>
<p>While Oklahoma can lean on its memories, Smart has been relying on his senior class to impart his message of how important the time on the ground can be in the buildup to a playoff game. Finding the right balance between game prep and bowl activities is a challenge, and Smart has seen it go both ways.</p>
<p>“But I think if you explain that to your leadership and they understand that there’s a time for fun, there’s a time for play, there’s a time for practice and focus, as long as you can separate that and you got a senior-laden team you can use that to your advantage,” Smart said.</p>
<p>Smart does want his team to appreciate the Rose Bowl, which he holds in esteem after helping Alabama to the BCS championship in 2009. Not exactly the prone to sentimentality, Smart gushed about the venue.</p>
<p>“The sky was red, and it was a great stadium, and you know the history of that stadium,” Smart said. “So many kids these days don’t know the history of that stadium and they don’t know the people who have played in that stadium prior, but I do and I recognize the Rose Bowl is a special, special moment.”</p>
<p>Oklahoma already showed how its priority is the game by having quarterback Baker Mayfield skip the Disneyland trip because he was under the weather. The Heisman Trophy winner participated in practice earlier in the day, and Riley was “trying to let him rest a little bit.”</p>
<p>But Riley isn’t going to the extremes of famed Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes, who refused to have his teams participate in the visit to Lawry’s when they played in the Rose Bowl.</p>
<p>“You’ve got to have a balance,” Riley said. “You can’t go all football all the time. Our guys aren’t used to doing that anyway.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP college football: <a href="http://collegefootball.ap.org" type="external">http://collegefootball.ap.org</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25</a></p>
<p>ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — At 6-foot-8 and 345 pounds, Oklahoma offensive tackle Orlando Brown isn’t exactly built for Disneyland.</p>
<p>While the No. 2 Sooners and No. 3 Georgia enjoyed the various rides at the resort’s two theme parks Wednesday, “You won’t catch me on one,” Brown said.</p>
<p>It’s an approach that Lincoln Riley of Oklahoma and the Bulldogs’ Kirby Smart would appreciate as each head coach has stressed discipline heading into the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl on Monday.</p>
<p>The visit to Disneyland and dinner at Lawry’s The Prime Rib steakhouse in Beverly Hills are the only two events associated with the Granddaddy of Them All, but they take on a different context when the Rose Bowl hosts the national semifinal. The focus is on winning and advancing to the championship game, which will be in Atlanta on Jan. 8, not grabbing selfies with Mickey Mouse or gorging in the Beef Bowl.</p>
<p>“Just stay focused,” Georgia offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn said, even as roadsters from the Radiator Springs Racers attraction sped by behind him. “Don’t get distracted. Don’t let this type of stuff affect us. It’s just another business trip this week.”</p>
<p>“We’ve still got work to do and it won’t finish for us until we kick the game off,” Riley said.</p>
<p>That message comes from personal experience for both teams. Smart was the defensive coordinator at Alabama for two playoff appearances, losing in a semifinal in 2014 and winning the national title in 2015, and now has Georgia (12-1) in the final four. Oklahoma (12-1) lost to Clemson 37-17 in the semifinal at the Orange Bowl at the end of the 2015 season when Riley was the Sooners’ offensive coordinator.</p>
<p>Brown sees a more mature Oklahoma team that is benefitting from its previous experience in the playoff.</p>
<p>“When we were in Miami, it was our first time so we had people doing out of the ordinary things,” Brown said. “And with it being our second time in the playoffs, we just had a tremendous amount of focus. We had a bunch of guys that have been here, not too much starstruck by LA. Guys that are wanting to practice, wanting to play in the game, been watching the film and doing all those different things.”</p>
<p>While Oklahoma can lean on its memories, Smart has been relying on his senior class to impart his message of how important the time on the ground can be in the buildup to a playoff game. Finding the right balance between game prep and bowl activities is a challenge, and Smart has seen it go both ways.</p>
<p>“But I think if you explain that to your leadership and they understand that there’s a time for fun, there’s a time for play, there’s a time for practice and focus, as long as you can separate that and you got a senior-laden team you can use that to your advantage,” Smart said.</p>
<p>Smart does want his team to appreciate the Rose Bowl, which he holds in esteem after helping Alabama to the BCS championship in 2009. Not exactly the prone to sentimentality, Smart gushed about the venue.</p>
<p>“The sky was red, and it was a great stadium, and you know the history of that stadium,” Smart said. “So many kids these days don’t know the history of that stadium and they don’t know the people who have played in that stadium prior, but I do and I recognize the Rose Bowl is a special, special moment.”</p>
<p>Oklahoma already showed how its priority is the game by having quarterback Baker Mayfield skip the Disneyland trip because he was under the weather. The Heisman Trophy winner participated in practice earlier in the day, and Riley was “trying to let him rest a little bit.”</p>
<p>But Riley isn’t going to the extremes of famed Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes, who refused to have his teams participate in the visit to Lawry’s when they played in the Rose Bowl.</p>
<p>“You’ve got to have a balance,” Riley said. “You can’t go all football all the time. Our guys aren’t used to doing that anyway.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP college football: <a href="http://collegefootball.ap.org" type="external">http://collegefootball.ap.org</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25</a></p> | Oklahoma, Georgia want focus and balance before Rose Bowl | false | https://apnews.com/8136bf6a2063430a988eed6e07a4bb08 | 2017-12-28 | 2 |
<p>Nov. 30 (UPI) — A Florida resident who heard a noise coming from their back yard found an alligator had approached their patio door and was staring down the cat inside.</p>
<p>The resident captured video Sunday when they investigated the knocking sound in the back yard and found the alligator waiting just outside the sliding glass door.</p>
<p>The video shows the gator in a staring contest with the resident’s cat, who was safely on the other side of the door.</p>
<p>“I was watching TV and heard what I thought was a knock on the back door. Our ‘neighbor’ gator was sitting there looking at me and eyeballing my cat, who thought she was ‘protecting’ me. He sat there for about 5 minutes checking us out until he finally wandered back down to the pond,” the resident wrote.</p> | Alligator walks up to Florida resident's door, eyes tasty-looking cat | false | https://newsline.com/alligator-walks-up-to-florida-residents-door-eyes-tasty-looking-cat/ | 2017-11-30 | 1 |
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<p>When I asked one of them for a three-day weekend with her children, she texted me saying they all had a lot going on. Then she added, “Maybe next year.” I may not BE here next year!</p>
<p>I know she may never read this, but it doesn’t matter to me if it will help someone who does read it. I have decided to change my will. If I’m not worth my children’s time, they don’t deserve my money. Your thoughts? – WORTHLESS UP NORTH</p>
<p>DEAR WORTHLESS: Could it be possible that your daughter and her family are actually busy? Not knowing how you raised your children, it’s hard to render an opinion, but from your reaction, you appear to have a troubled relationship with this daughter. Rather than disinherit her, try to find out what motivated her to text what she did so fences can be mended. If that’s not possible, then you have every right to reallocate your assets as you wish.</p>
<p>DEAR ABBY: I have a huge problem with low self-esteem. For most of my life I was ridiculed, teased and bullied, not only by my classmates and co-workers, but also by my own family. It started when I was very young and continued well into my early 30s. (I am 35 now.) Because of this, I find it incredibly difficult to date anyone.</p>
<p>I always seem to find it easier to talk down about myself than to make myself happy. Please help me, Abby. I’m at a loss about what to do. – SELF-ESTEEM ISSUES IN OHIO</p>
<p>DEAR ISSUES: I’m glad you wrote. The seeds of low self-esteem were planted when you were so young you didn’t understand what was being done was a form of abuse. Because it continued for so long, you should seek professional help to overcome it. It is important that you get it from a licensed therapist. Your physician or your insurance company can refer you to qualified people. Please don’t wait.</p>
<p>DEAR ABBY: Prior to meeting me, my husband was in a long-term relationship with a woman, “Karen,” who was also a close friend of his sisters. Their relationship and the friendships ended due to Karen’s behavior. Years passed, and then my husband met me.</p>
<p>Now, 10 years later, the sisters have decided to befriend Karen again. This would normally not be an issue, but Karen is invited to all family parties and weddings. It is very uncomfortable for my husband and me, as we feel we don’t have the option to skip these events. I have tried to quietly object, but I’m being painted as “immature.” Please help. – UNCOMFORTABLE IN ILLINOIS</p>
<p>DEAR UNCOMFORTABLE: If you and your husband prefer not to socialize regularly with Karen, you certainly don’t have to. However, your discomfort with her does not entitle you to insist your sisters-in-law exclude her from all of their parties. Attend the ones you must, make the best of them, and send your regrets for the rest.</p>
<p>Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.</p>
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<p /> | DEAR ABBY: For mom rewriting her will, time with her kids is money | false | https://abqjournal.com/992596/headline-here.html | 2 |
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<p>Alphabet Inc's Google unit and automakers objected on Wednesday to California proposals to set new, mandatory rules for testing self-driving cars in the state, which industry officials said could hobble their efforts in the home to much of self-driving vehicle testing and development.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Automakers and Google raised a litany of concerns about California's proposal at a hearing in Sacramento on Wednesday. They expressed opposition to the state proposal to require compliance with guidelines that federal regulators issued last month, but made voluntary.</p>
<p>They questioned why California would require a new autonomous vehicle data recorder and what data they would be required to test, and they objected to a proposal they said would force a 12-month delay between testing a vehicle and deploying it on public roads.</p>
<p>Automakers also questioned whether police should be able to get any self-driving data within 24 hours without seeking a warrant or subpoena.</p>
<p>California regulatory policy is important to automakers and technology companies because of its impact on operations in the state, and because the policies enacted in the most populous U.S. state often influence what other states and other countries do.</p>
<p>The proposed requirement that manufacturers generate a year of driverless testing data before applying for an operating permit drew objections from General Motors Co , Volkswagen AG , Honda Motor Co &lt;7267.T&gt;, Ford Motor Co , and Google.</p>
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<p>The state's approach "could greatly delay the benefits that self-driving vehicles can bring to safety and mobility for individuals," said David Strickland, who heads the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets that includes Google, Ford, Lyft, Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] and Volvo Car Group.</p>
<p>Brian Soublet, deputy director of the California DMV, said Wednesday the department wants concrete suggestions to help improve its proposal. Soublet said the department will be considering potential changes over the next several months but he did not give a timetable for finalizing the rules.</p>
<p>"The goal is making sure that we can get this life-saving technology out on the streets," Soublet said.</p>
<p>California's proposal would allow for the absence of a human driver and a steering wheel in advanced self-driving cars. In December, California had proposed to require licensed drivers and controls in self-driving vehicles.</p>
<p>Ron Medford, director of safety for Google's self-driving car project, said California's proposal to require manufacturers to obtain local approval is "unworkable." The rule could prevent manufacturers from testing a vehicle that can travel from one area to another.</p>
<p>Advocacy group Consumer Watchdog urged California to prohibit autonomous vehicles without a human driver until federal regulators enact enforceable standards.</p>
<p>(Reporting by David Shepardson. Editing by Joseph White)</p> | Google, automakers object to California rules for self-driving cars | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2016/10/19/google-automakers-object-to-california-rules-for-self-driving-cars.html | 2016-10-19 | 0 |
<p>Pot heads around the country are not going to be too happy with Marco Rubio.</p>
<p>President Marco Rubio&#160;would crackdown on states like Colorado, who have legalized marijuana by enforcing existing federal laws.</p>
<p>Of course, this is what Rubio would do “if” he is elected presidente (Espanol of president) of the United States.</p>
<p>I believe the federal government needs to enforce federal law.”&#160;</p>
<p>But the Florida Republican also said he is open to medical marijuana, provided it goes through the FDA approval process and has true medicinal benefits. “I’m not in favor of legalizing marijuana. I’m not. I never have been.”-TB Times</p>
<p>Rubio added:</p>
<p>“This country is already paying a significant price for illegal use of drugs and even alcohol.”</p>
<p>Rubio is right, and makes Donald Trump’s point about one of the problems stemming from illegal immigration.</p>
<p>&#160;What do people think fuels the decades-long and murderous drug war, and all of the crimes that are tied to it?</p>
<p>The group United For Care, who supports legalizing marijuana in Florida, was not all too happy with Rubio’s statement.</p>
<p>Just as sensible, responsible drug policy is being implemented in states across the country, at least one presidential candidate has said he’s going to shut it down.</p>
<p>On Sunday, Marco Rubio told Meet the Press that he’d use Federal Law to go after states that have laws that contravene current federal law. &#160;This is the opposite of the position of the current administration and Congress – which has largely let states decide for themselves.</p>
<p>While we hope and believe the next president will put the rights of patients over the archaic and failed drug policies of the past decades – it is even more important now that Florida establishes patient access in 2016, which will give it more power should this again become a fight over state vs. federal rights.&#160;</p>
<p>But if 60% of Floridians vote to approve medical marijuana, President Rubio would use federal law enforcement to deny our rights.-Ben Pollara, United for Care’s &#160;Pot Poobah (press release)</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Marco Rubio’s “Just Say No” To Marijuana Position | true | http://shark-tank.com/2015/08/11/marco-rubios-just-say-no-to-marijuana-position/ | 0 |
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<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — As forest fires burn in the mountains on three sides of Santa Fe, the city is experiencing record-high temperatures.</p>
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<p>The high in Santa Fe Tuesday, as measured at the airport, was 97 degrees, according to a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Albuquerque office. The previous high for June 11 was 92 in 2011.</p>
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<p>Weather records can be tricky for Santa Fe, because different locations have been used for measuring temperatures, precipitation and wind over the years. But the meteorologist couldn’t find another June 11 reading of higher than 92 degrees until Tuesday.</p>
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<p>Also not good for fire conditions – humidity levels were only 3 to 5 percent during the hottest part of the day Tuesday afternoon.</p>
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<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Record high of 97 in Santa Fe | false | https://abqjournal.com/209433/record-high-of-97-in-santa-fe.html | 2013-06-12 | 2 |
<p>Germany's SAP, the world's biggest maker of business software, reported a better than expected rise in fourth-quarter sales and profits on Friday, sending its shares up 4 percent.</p>
<p>Operating profits were up 10 percent at 1.78 billion euros ($2.28 billion) in the quarter, ahead of the consensus forecast of 1.65 billion euros expected by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine.</p>
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<p>The company attributed the strong performance to demand for its biggest software products and growing demand for its HANA offering -- which allows companies to analyse business data quickly -- and said it had won market share overall.</p>
<p>SAP's share price was up 3.8 percent at 43.02 euros by 1450 GMT, when the German market's DAX index was 0.7 percent lower.</p>
<p>"We believed that SAP would show an in-line quarter and are therefore positively surprised by the outperformance on the licence side and in particular with the realtime solution HANA," DZ Bank analyst Oliver Finger said.</p>
<p>Expectations had also been dimmed by poor quarterly results from SAP's big rival <a href="" type="internal">Oracle</a> Corp last month, sending shock waves across the technology sector as investors feared they may have overestimated the resilience of corporate tech spending in a deteriorating global economy.</p>
<p>SAP's sales of software and related services, which are key to future lucrative maintenance revenue streams, rose 12 percent from a year ago to 3.72 billion euros in the fourth quarter.</p>
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<p>The company is due to publish full results on Jan. 25 when it will also provide an outlook for the full year 2012.</p>
<p>Fourth-quarter operating profit excludes some one-off items such as acquisition-related charges of 115 million euros.</p>
<p>SAP last month agreed to buy SuccessFactors for $3.4 billion to keep up keep up with rivals in the frenzied race for cloud-computing business.</p>
<p>SAP had raised its sales outlook on the deal, saying its revenue could easily reach 21 billion euros by 2015, about a billion euros more than expected.</p>
<p>Its 2012 earnings will be diluted by the purchase, but there will be a positive impact from 2013 on.</p>
<p>The German company, based in Walldorf near Heidelberg, built its business on large, integrated software systems sold to many of the world's biggest companies, such as Apple, <a href="" type="internal">GE</a> , McDonald's and Pepsi.</p>
<p>SAP currently has some 176,000 customers and bills itself as the world's leading provider of software for managing supply chains and customer relations. ($1=0.7814 euros) (Reporting by Maria Sheahan and Harro ten Wolde; Editing by Mike Nesbit and Greg Mahlich)</p> | SAP Beats Forecasts With Q4 Profit Rise | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/01/13/sap-beats-forecasts-with-q4-profit-rise.html | 2016-03-03 | 0 |
<p>FOX Business: Capitalism Lives Here</p>
<p>U.S. equity markets dipped back into the red Wednesday afternoon as traders watched turmoil unfold in Europe.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Today's Markets</p>
<p>As of 2:05 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10.6 points, or 0.04%, to 16124, the S&amp;P 500 declined 2.2 points, or 0.12%, to 1839 and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 15.9 points, or 0.37%, to 4257.</p>
<p>The global picture is getting messy, and it's beginning to show up again in the financial markets.</p>
<p>Bloody battles between protestors who oppose President Viktor Yanukovich and police killed at least 25 people in Ukraine, according to news reports. The move has sent the cost to insure the country's debt rising, and presents a fresh worry on the European front. Meanwhile, the Russian ruble plunged to a fresh record low against the euro after the country decided to buy-up foreign currencies for its reserve fund, where it keeps extra energy revenue, the Wall Street Journal reported.</p>
<p>In economic news, the Commerce Department said starts of new housing construction dropped 16% in January to an annual rate of 880,000 units, the biggest drop since February 2011. Economists were expecting a rate of 950,000 units.</p>
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<p>Economists have pointed to bad weather as a major, if not temporary, issue for essentially every segment of the economy, from homebuilders to retailers.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported prices for finished goods rose 0.2% in January. Excluding the food and energy components, prices also rose 0.2%. Labor is using a revamped method for calculating prices, one economists say <a href="" type="internal">provides a broader look at prices</a> across the economy.</p>
<p>Wall Street traders appeared to shrug off the latest round of FOMC minutes. Members of the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting board agreed unanimously that the central bank should continue cutting the pace of asset purchases in ‘measured steps’ as long as the economy continues to grow as expected. However, ‘a few’ participants said they could see hiking the Fed’s benchmark interest rate ‘relatively soon,’ while others disagreed.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, U.S. crude oil futures climbed 67 cents, or 0.65%, to $103.10, extending a rally on the back of the growing geopolitical uncertainty. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline increased 0.05% to $2.83 a gallon. Gold fell $6.90, or 0.52%, to $1,317 a troy ounce.</p>
<p>In corporate news, Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) posted better-than-expected quarterly results and a full-year outlook that bracketed Wall Street's view after the bell Tuesday. The nutrition company has been fighting claims from Perhsing Square's Bill Ackman for more than a year that it is a "pyramid scheme."</p> | Wall Street Zigzags | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/02/19/stocks-slump-as-geopolitical-worries-flare-up.html | 2016-03-06 | 0 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />This is how insane our country has become. "Common Sense" has become as rare as Michael Moore at an N.R.A. rally, or maybe Bill Clinton at "Promise Keepers".</p>
<p>Does DHS not have better things to do with their time like, say, protecting our sieve of a border? Or maybe protecting us from the nothing-short-of-a-biological-weapon of Ebola? Or, here's food for thought, how about extinguishing some of then KNOWN terrorist training camps that are in our country?</p>
<p>"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely", as Lord Acton said. Big government only gets BIGGER, left to its own devices because bigger means MORE power. It's sort of a "positive feedback loop", or as Pee Wee would say it, "It's like a cable-knit sweater that just keeps on knitting, and knitting, and knitting", oh, you get the idea.</p>
<p><a href="http://unhyphenatedamerica.org/2014/10/23/seriously-dhs-now-conducting-panty-raids/" type="external">Click here to view original web page at unhyphenatedamerica.org</a></p>
<p /> | DHS Now Actively Raiding Panties | true | http://politicalillusionsexposed.com/seriously-dhs-now-conducting-panty-raids/ | 0 |
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<p>By <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/01/05/surprise-corporate-america-throwing-down-tpp" type="external">Sarah Lazare / Common Dreams</a></p>
<p>American big business has now officially endorsed the Trans-Pacific Partnership ( <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/tag/tpp" type="external">TPP</a>), giving many all the proof they need that the 12-nation deal—poised to be the largest ever—is bad news for people and the planet.</p>
<p>An association of Chief Executive Officers known as the Business Roundtable (BRT) announced its <a href="http://businessroundtable.org/media/news-releases/america%E2%80%99s-business-leaders-support-trans-pacific-partnership" type="external">formal backing</a> on Tuesday, indicating that it plans to use its muscle to press Congress to approve the deal this year. In fact, BRT president John Engler <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/finance/264753-business-leaders-announce-support-for-tpp" type="external">told</a> The Hill that the association wants the TPP to pass as quickly as possible—before the summer.</p>
<p>That endorsement followed Monday’s announcement from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) that it is throwing its weight behind the pact. “Open markets encourage cooperation and prosperity among nations and governments, rather than conflict, and the NAM has a long and proud history of promoting free and fair trade,” <a href="http://www.nam.org/Newsroom/Press-Releases/2016/01/Manufacturers-Endorse-Trans-Pacific-Partnership/" type="external">said</a> NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons.</p>
<p />
<p>With these two endorsements now established, <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/finance/trade/264733-tpp-gets-big-biz-boost" type="external">some predict</a> that the powerful U.S. Chamber of Commerce will be next.</p>
<p>To be sure, multinational corporations have already been heavily influential in the TPP negotiations, which have been conducted in near complete secrecy.</p>
<p>But the endorsements this week appear to be calculated to add momentum to the deal in Congress. Because the U.S. Senate passed Fast Track authority this summer, lawmakers will not be able to debate or amend the deal. But both houses must ratify the TPP, which will likely be submitted by the White House in the early spring.</p>
<p>Civil society groups are still <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/tpp-current-state-play-how-we-defeat-largest-trade-deal" type="external">holding out hope</a> that grassroots pressure can persuade legislators to vote down the TPP.</p>
<p>And within those countries that are party to the deal—the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam—labor unions, environmental groups, community organizations, and grassroots social movements are vigorously opposing the accord with protests, open letters, and organizing.</p>
<p>When the full text of the TPP was <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/11/05/full-text-tpp-released-public-and-its-horrible" type="external">finally released</a> this fall, it confirmed what civil society groups around the world have long warned: the deal poses a profound threat to <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/11/12/who-head-joins-chorus-denouncing-tpps-blow-public-health-boon-big-pharma" type="external">global health</a>, the <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/12/02/new-report-details-tpps-panoply-threats-climate" type="external">environment and climate</a>, free speech, and <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2015/11/05/final-tpp-text-confirms-worst-fears-shadowy-agreement-poses-grave-threat" type="external">Internet freedom</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the history of the TPP’s backers is telling. NAM alone has a track record of <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/tags/national-association-of-manufacturers" type="external">opposing</a> legislation to address the climate crisis, was involved in a <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/corruption-currents/2012/10/22/business-groups-sue-to-block-conflict-minerals-rules/" type="external">lawsuit</a> to challenge U.S. rules requiring disclosure of blood diamonds, and has <a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/01/16/14107/top-us-corporations-funneled-173-million-political-nonprofits" type="external">vigorously opposed</a> disclosure of political spending.</p> | Surprise! Corporate America Is Throwing Down for the TPP | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/surprise-corporate-america-is-throwing-down-for-the-tpp/ | 2016-01-06 | 4 |
<p>The New York Times recently&#160; <a href="" type="internal">reported</a>&#160;that the Senate has voted to require women to register for the draft, with few Senators in opposition. This bill comes as no surprise given the military has been increasingly opening its doors to women.</p>
<p>This culminated in last December when “…Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said in December that the Pentagon would open all combat jobs to women…” which helped military officials advise Congress to make the draft apply for both women and men.</p>
<p>This bill has such broad and widespread support because of its intuitive appeal: If all combat jobs are open to men and this requires them to register for the draft then why should women be any different? Taking the institution of the military and its rules at its face, it seems implausible that women should be treated much differently.</p>
<p>Although the opposition was overall insignificant it should be noted that some of the more conservative members of the Senate, such as Ted Cruz, opposed the legislation on the basis that, “The idea that we should forcibly conscript young girls in combat to my mind makes little sense at all…”</p>
<p>The final outcome of this bill is uncertain with the House of Representatives to deliberate on the bill and President Obama promising a veto, should it go through. But as Nora Bensahel, a military policy analyst, says, “It just seems that now that you have women allowed to serve in any position in the military, there is no logical basis to say women should not be drafted.”</p>
<p>I agree with Bensahel with regards to inevitability and if we accept the coercive power of the state, the military as a legitimate institution, the draft as a legitimate law and so on, then we can swiftly move to a “logical basis” that Bensahel mentions.</p>
<p>However, these are presumptions that unsurprisingly seem to be left out of the conversation so far.</p>
<p>The worst part of this bill isn’t the bill itself but that the minimal opposition it has relies on dangerously conservative ideas about women and their fragility. Notice the way that Cruz uses “little girls” instead of “grown women” when he talks about combat. He has to infantilize women in order to justify the government not being able to force them into the military.</p>
<p>But perhaps just as noxious is the “egalitarianism” liberals and “progressive” Republicans alike can appeal to so they can justify this law. They’re able to distance themselves from using the coercive arm of the state because it’s for “equality”. But equality under the law doesn’t mean anything when the law itself is unjust.</p>
<p>Jessica Pavoni, for&#160;the Foundation for Economic Education,&#160; <a href="" type="internal">writes</a>, “The real issue is that a Selective Service registration (which leads to a draft) is immoral for both men&#160;and&#160;women, and that neither should be required to register at risk of becoming a felon, being fined, or being put in jail. The mere presence of a draft registration is an assertion that some people are qualified to put other people’s lives at risk. They aren’t.”</p>
<p>Laws that allow the government to throw our bodies in front of guns with threats of fines and imprisonment are ownership claims. They are ways for the government to show us that our bodies do not belong to us but are instead at their discretion and convenience.</p>
<p>And now it’s so graciously extending this discretion to women as well.</p>
<p>This is the exact&#160;opposite&#160;of any sort of feminist revolution.</p>
<p>Feminists aren’t winning out when men and women are both&#160;equally&#160;locked into illegitimate and murderous institutions. And any feminist who would consider this a victory may want to reconsider whether they’re interested in systemic change or not.</p>
<p>If feminism is to mean the liberation of our bodies and the abolition of patriarchy then it must be adamantly anti-war, anti-draft and against the state. For the state is one of the biggest institutions that has reinforced and legitimized patriarchy throughout history.</p>
<p>And now this tradition will continue through the expansion of the draft.</p> | Equal Access to the Draft is Equality Not Worth Having | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/06/21/equal-access-to-the-draft-is-equality-not-worth-having/ | 2016-06-21 | 4 |
<p>New York Daily NewsRichard Huff reports there's been no word on Peter Jennings' condition since his April 5 announcement that he has lung cancer, nor has anyone said when he'll return to the job on a full-time basis. Charles Gibson said of Jennings' newsroom return: "He was keeping us on our toes, as usual."</p> | Jennings returns to ABC News, but stays off camera | false | https://poynter.org/news/jennings-returns-abc-news-stays-camera | 2005-05-25 | 2 |
<p>“The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II” A book by Svetlana Alexievich, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky</p>
<p>Reviewed by Elaine Margolin</p>
<p>Nobel-Prize winning author Svetlana Alexievich grew up in Belarus, the daughter of a father consumed by certainty and a sense of purpose. He fought in the Battle of Stalingrad where he lost two brothers during the Second World War. He was an enthusiastic Communist until his death. He saw the socialist vision as a noble one that valued self-sacrifice and concern for the weak and rejected wealth and materialism. One of Alexievich’s most troubling memories is confronting her father as a young woman when her zeal for Communism collapsed. She had just finished writing a masterful work about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The book, “Zinky Books: Soviet Voices from a Forgotten War,” recounted the massive Soviet casualties suffered, and the state’s continued lies about the numbers of the dead. The book also delved into the other atrocities committed by the Soviet Army. When a young Alexievich told her father what she had discovered, and her new feelings about the Soviet regime, he turned away from her silently. He remained steadfast to the system he had devoted his life to.</p>
<p>Alexievich was born in 1948, shortly after the war, to a Belarusian father and a Ukrainian mother. Her parents were both teachers. Eleven of their relatives, including children, were burned to death by the Nazis in a village church. Alexievich was fascinated by the war and its aftermath as a young child. She would listen to the village women discuss it at night. Their stories made her want to know more. She was distressed when perestroika arrived and the citizenry seemed unable to move quickly enough to make the changes so desperately needed to their decaying society. She believed they simply did not understand how to go about creating a democratic world; it was foreign to them and they were mortified by the chaos and anarchy that quickly followed.</p>
<p />
<p>She tells us that even after records were unsealed in the 1980s and horrific secrets spilled out about the gulag and collectivization and forced resettlements, most of them remained loyal to the Communist dream. It was all they knew. Even today, she informs us that there is a new cult of Stalin percolating amid university students who believe the dream still lives on. She connects Putin’s popularity to the Russian craving for order and pride and greatness that has now been sprinkled with Russian Orthodoxy for good measure.</p>
<p>In her book, “Second-Hand Time,” Alexievich attempted to penetrate the mystery of the Soviet soul. She wrote, “Communism had an insane plan: to remake the ‘old breed of man,’ ancient Adam. It really worked. Perhaps it was Communism’s only achievement. More than 70 years in the Marxist-Leninist laboratory gave rise to ‘Homo sovietus.’ Some see him as a tragic figure. I see him as a <a href="http://russiapedia.rt.com/of-russian-origin/sovok/" type="external">Sovok</a>. I feel I know this person; we’ve lived side by side for a long time. I am this person. And so are my acquaintances, my closest friends, my parents. Homo sovietus isn’t just Russian: He is Belarusian, Turkman, Ukrainian, Kazakh. Although we now live in separate countries and speak different languages, you couldn’t mistake us — we’re easy to spot. People who have come out of socialism are both like and unlike the rest of humanity: We have our own lexicon, our own conceptions of good and evil, our heroes and martyrs. The stories we tell ourselves are full of jarring terms — ‘shoot,’ ‘execute,’ ‘eliminate’ — or typically Soviet varieties of disappearance: ‘arrest,’ ’emigration,’ ’10 years without the right of correspondence.’ ”</p>
<p>In another one of her seminal works, “Voices From Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster,” she wrote about the fallout from the infamous explosion. Once again, the Soviet authorities uttered countless lies about the disaster to cover their tracks, lies that exacerbated the suffering of those in the radiation zone. Alexievich spent years interviewing the survivors. One man who was called to the Chernobyl site for cleanup came home and placed his fireman’s hat on his 5-year-old son’s head. The child died soon afterward from the radiation his father’s hat emanated.</p>
<p>Alexievich’s books are brilliant and painstakingly constructed montages of oral testimonies. For each project, she generally interviews between 500 and 700 people, often visiting them more than once. She then begins to edit and compress their testimonies into a narrative that preserves the integrity of their voices. She blends journalistic inquiries with literary flourishes, creating her own unique blend of narrative. The results are spellbinding — a chorus of voices that are usually presented with little context; often just a name and occupation, and sometimes not even that. She is interested in the pivotal moments of people’s lives — the incidents that emotionally shaped them.</p>
<p>In her first book, “The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II,” now available for the first time in English in a translation by Larissa Volokhonsky and Richard Pevear, she writes movingly about the 1 million women who served in the Red Army as snipers, medics, foot soldiers, pilots, tank drivers, mechanics and other vital jobs. She explores difficult terrain. What is it like to kill someone? What were they most afraid of? How have they dealt with their traumas? What effect has their war experiences had on their children and grandchildren?</p>
<p>She observes that women remember war differently. They do not focus on heroics or the intricacies of battle as men do. Little moments remain etched in their memory and change them forever. This is what interests Alexievich, who calls herself a “historian of the soul.” The book was written in the early 1980s, but had to wait for Gorbachev to be published, after which it sold millions of copies in Russia. Its new English release overwhelms the reader with its harrowing memories recorded four decades after the service of the women in the book’s pages. One woman cannot speak about it and only whispers softly into Alexievich’s ear, “I killed so many…” before asking Alexievich to leave. Another woman recalls the magnificent beauty of the silent mornings before battle. Still another remembers how upsetting she found it that she didn’t ever see flowers or birds during the war, only blood and darkness. Many others are more than willing to talk, often for hours upon hours, relieved to finally unravel what they have long repressed.</p>
<p>Antonio Grigoyevna Bondareva weeps about losing her husband in 1941. After his death, she volunteered to serve, leaving her daughter with her husband’s parents. She explains her decision with a still resonant clarity: “The Motherland was everything, the Motherland must be defended.”</p>
<p>Yenia Sergeevna Osadcheva volunteered in 1942 and admits she “changed so much during the war that when I came home, Mama didn’t recognize me.” She believes the trauma she suffered is now etched into her physical being, claiming “I live in Crimea. … Here everything drowns in flowers, and every day I look out the window at the sea, but I’m worn out with pain, I still don’t have a woman’s face. I cry often, I moan all day. It’s my memories. …”</p>
<p>Very Borisovna Sapgir addresses the perpetual guilt that never leaves her. “Fortunately I … I didn’t see those people, the ones I killed … but … all the same …now I realize I killed them. I think about it … because … because I’m old now. I pray for my soul.”</p>
<p>Natalya Ivanovna Sergeeva, who served as a nurse, speaks about finding empathy in her heart for a captive German soldier, explaining how she once felt compelled to break off a piece of bread and hand it to him. Another woman who is unidentified remembers that the “war had three smells: blood, chloroform, and iodine.” Yet another remembers that upon finally arriving home, she was obsessed by dreams of the pleasure she would reap sleeping in her own bed on white sheets while eating entire loaves of bread. But the reality was that for many years after the war she felt tormented by her memories.</p>
<p>Not all of the women had regrets. Tamara Lukyanovna Torop was a private and construction engineer during the war. She explains that she and her father were both weaned on the love of Soviet power and Stalin. She writes candidly: “Papa’s long gone, but I continue to love him. I don’t believe it when people say that men like him were stupid and blind, believing in Stalin. Fearing Stalin. Believing in Lenin’s ideas. Everyone thought the same way. Believe me, they were good and honest people, they believed not in Lenin or Stalin, but in the Communist idea. In socialism with a human face, as they would call it later. In happiness for everybody. For each one. Dreamers, idealists — yes; blind — no. I’ll never agree with that. Not for anything! …”</p>
<p>Alexievich’s presence, like the most skilled of documentarians, is often barely felt. Occasionally, she offers some direct commentary, describes to us how a woman is sitting, or the expression on her face. She notices that when men are present, women speak less candidly. When many people were in the room, certain patterns emerged. The woman would usually become more defensive and her testimony would be passionless and sterile. She would try to gently steer the conversation back to the incomprehensible truths that guided their lives during and after the war. We sense her empathy competing only with her curiosity.</p>
<p>Svetlana Alexievich today lives in Minsk, Belarus, near her adult daughter. She takes pleasure in being near her child and granddaughter. She won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2015. Yet she is officially unrecognized by the state, and Putin ignores her due to the harsh criticisms of his regime that are scattered throughout her many groundbreaking books. She has said in interviews that she has spent too much time immersed in the sadness and grief of others, and would like to write a book about love — something she admits she has not always been lucky at. But one senses she will drift back to telling the story of the Soviet state and the many Soviet souls who feel unmoored from its demise. It is her father’s lost world, and her own.</p> | The Unwomanly Face of War | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-unwomanly-face-of-war/ | 2017-07-22 | 4 |
<p>Published time: 16 Aug, 2017 10:13</p>
<p>A Canadian gold mining company has asked a US court to seize shares in American-based refiner Citgo. Shares in the subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA were used as collateral for a loan to the parent company from Russia’s Rosneft.</p>
<p>Crystallex is looking to collect $1.4 billion compensation from Venezuela based on last year’s ruling by the World Bank arbitration panel over the nationalization of its gold mine in 2011.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/business/384347-russia-take-control-us-energy/" type="external" /></p>
<p>In a lawsuit filed on Monday, the Canadian company asked the court to attach shares in Delaware-based PDV Holding, a PDVSA subsidiary, which owns refining firm Citgo Petroleum. Citgo operates three refineries and a system of pipelines and terminals in the US.</p>
<p>The Venezuelan company has rejected the claims, calling them totally inappropriate.</p>
<p>“The corporation will take all necessary legal action to protect its assets,” PDVSA said in a statement.</p>
<p>Last year, 49.9 percent of Citgo shares were offered as collateral when the Venezuelan oil major obtained a loan of $1.5 billion from Swiss-based Rosneft Trading, controlled by Russia’s state-run oil company. The remaining 50.1 percent of shares in Citgo were also used as collateral to other creditors.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, US Congress members raised concerns over the issue, warning the White House that Rosneft’s control of a key US supplier could pose a threat to American energy security.</p>
<p>The Russian oil major is reportedly in talks to swap the collateral for oilfield stakes and a fuel supply deal.</p>
<p>Earlier, the head of Rosneft Igor Sechin stressed the company never planned to take over the US-based Venezuelan subsidiary.</p> | Canadian miner targets Rosneft's collateral assets in lawsuit against Venezuela | false | https://newsline.com/canadian-miner-targets-rosneft039s-collateral-assets-in-lawsuit-against-venezuela/ | 2017-08-16 | 1 |
<p>Let’s start with a disclaimer. My first-ever published music review was on Television’s first album, “Marquee Moon,” which appeared in March 1977, in the critic-seeder that was the Soho Weekly News. I was paid $5 to write it. Forty years later, some things never change, and that goes for Television torch-bearer Tom Verlaine and company, too, who played two nights at Los Angeles’ <a href="http://variety.com/tag/teragram-ballroom/" type="external">Teragram Ballroom</a> on Sept. 29 and 30.</p>
<p>A rock poet who was Patti Smith’s significant other sometime between Sam Shepard, Robert Mapplethorpe on the one side, and Allen Lanier and Fred “Sonic” Smith on the other, Verlaine and fellow schoolmate Richard Hell formed the Neon Boys, which eventually evolved into Television.</p>
<p>As legend has it, Verlaine and cohorts convinced Hilly Krystal to turn his biker’s bar <a href="http://variety.com/tag/cbgb/" type="external">CBGB</a> on the Bowery into a new music venue. The band, while highly influential, only recorded a pair of albums for Elektra, following “Marquee Moon” a year later with “Adventure,” then disappeared for 14 years before resurfacing with a self-titled third album for Capitol in 1992.</p>
<p>Television replaced original member Richard Lloyd in 2007 with N.Y. guitar whiz Jimmy Rip and the band – with original bassist Fred Smith and drummer Billy Ficca — returned to the road several years ago, and performed at the Teragram Ballroom a month after the downtown venue opened in July 2015.</p>
<p>After a fine opening set from fellow ‘70s legend (and former Alex Chilton collaborator) Chris Stamey, backed by a violinist and cellist, including dBs songs like “From a Window to a Screen” and “Happenstance” as well as solo chestnuts such as “Astronomy” and the original Ork Records 45, “Summer Sun,” it was time for Television, proving both a lot tighter and much more expansive than I’d remembered them.</p>
<p>On Friday night, they were the former, opening with the martial rhythms of “Prove It,” and doing just that over the course of a taut, 90-minute, nine-song, two-number encore set that paused midway through for their sprawling, newly added “Persia,” a Middle Eastern-flavored nod to the Grateful Dead’s psychedelic “Drums/Space” interlude. The second evening was more up-and-down, starting with a shimmering intro into “1880 or So,” from the band’s self-titled 1992 album, before an unbroken string of four “Marquee Moon” smashes – “Venus,” “Elevation,” “Prove It” and “Friction.”</p>
<p>Belying his reputation as a musical tyrant, Verlaine is notably generous, letting Jimmy Rip front-and-center for the distinctive Morse code solos on “Elevation,” and while Rip may be more conventional than Lloyd in his approach, he also manages to keep Verlaine grounded, even if the night two proved Television capable of being a world-class jam band, too. The new surprise set piece is “I’m Gonna Find You,” a previously unreleased song Verlaine calls “one of our oldest, most ancient songs,” originally intended for, but left off of, “Marquee Moon.”&#160; An insinuating blues-country plaint that channels the Stones of “Wild Horses,” the song shows the band’s hitherto well-concealed R&amp;B roots, and both evenings, led into elongated takes on “Marquee Moon,” with a second-night extrapolation that turned it into an epic, wide-screen soundscape.</p>
<p>“Guiding Light” and “Friction” closed out the first night, with the former doing the honors on Saturday night, a one-song encore that proved anti-climactic after the full-blown pyrotechnics of “Marquee Moon,” Verlaine taking center stage to emote his ass off, peeling off notes as he peels off layers to the skin.</p>
<p>Of course, Television is a vehicle for Tom Verlaine’s chordal, scale-based notion of guitar soloing – mostly gleaned from listening to jazz musicians like John Coltrane. Among New York punk and post-punk guitarists, perhaps only <a href="http://variety.com/tag/lou-reed/" type="external">Lou Reed</a>, Johnny Thunders, Johnny Ramone, Thurston Moore and Bob Quine challenge Television for fret supremacy. Still Television is a lot more than just Verlaine – without Fred Smith’s warmly melodic bass lines and Billy Ficca’s light-fingered jazz drumming, the band would simply disappear into the ether.</p>
<p>Forty years ago, I wrote about the band, “Forget everything you’ve heard about Television; forget punk, forget New York, forget CBGBs… hell forget rock and roll — this is the real item.” That quote is now immortalized in the band’s Wikipedia entry. Now, I look around and see kids half my age digging on a sound that has only deepened and resonated with age. Tom Verlaine and Television have nothing left to prove.</p> | Concert Review: Revisiting the Golden Age of Television From the Left Coast | false | https://newsline.com/concert-review-revisiting-the-golden-age-of-television-from-the-left-coast/ | 2017-10-01 | 1 |
<p>A survey shows that German investor confidence fell for the seventh consecutive month in July, in another indication that Europe's biggest economy may be coming off the boil.</p>
<p>The ZEW institute said Tuesday that its monthly confidence index, which measures investors' economic outlook for the next six months, fell to 27.1 points from 29.8 in June. That was a steeper fall than economists predicted.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>ZEW president Clemens Fuest said recent data had a sobering effect but that "the medium-term economic outlook remains favorable."</p>
<p>Germany's economy grew a robust 0.8 percent in the first quarter compared with the previous three-month period, but recent data have fuelled expectations of slower second-quarter growth. Factory orders and industrial production in May were below expectations amid slowing growth in China and tensions over Ukraine.</p> | German investor confidence down for 7th straight month after disappointing economic data | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/07/15/german-investor-confidence-down-for-7th-straight-month-after-disappointing.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
<p>Mythology is overshadowing history in the debate over President Barack Obama’s plan to stimulate the depressed economy. Excessive airtime is devoted to the prejudices of cable hosts and radio personalities who regurgitate ideas they barely understand (and who haven’t entertained an original thought since the Reagan era). Urgent action that could prevent enormous suffering is delayed by all the same old agendas that have dominated Washington for the past three decades.</p>
<p>So let’s dismiss the myths and get back to the facts.</p>
<p>At the top of the myth list is the Republican faith in tax cuts, particularly those designed to benefit wealthy investors. Anyone who has been paying attention knows that for every problem, conservatives have a consistent solution that involves reducing corporate or capital gains taxes, or lowering the top rate, or instituting a regressive flat tax or consumption tax. (They like spending, too, on certain favored contractors, notably in the defense sector, that donate generously to Republican and right-wing causes.)</p>
<p>But the argument for tax cuts — unless they are directed toward lower-income workers, who will spend them immediately — is contradicted by recent history and basic economics. As Moody’s forecaster Mark Zandi has pointed out repeatedly, what creates the greatest stimulative effect is putting cash in the hands of people who must spend that money immediately, namely the poor and working families. The smallest stimulus is created by tax cuts, and in particular the capital gains and corporate tax reductions most beloved by conservative Republicans.</p>
<p />
<p>It is worth recalling that the last time Congress debated these fundamental questions came during the winter and spring of 1993, when Republican members unanimously rejected President Bill Clinton’s first budget. Back then, Dick Armey, a Republican representative from Texas and former economics professor, warned that Clinton’s proposed increase in the top tax rate would lead to economic disaster. Those predictions were echoed by every right-wing politician and talking head and soon was proved utterly wrong by the historic growth rates of the Clinton years.</p>
<p>Now we hear Armey offering the same kind of predictions about the Obama stimulus plan — and he is treated as a sage rather than a dolt who bet the ranch on his ideology and lost.</p>
<p>Another persistent myth denigrates spending on food stamps, unemployment insurance, tuition aid and similar programs as “welfare” that doesn’t promote growth. According to this argument, assistance to the poor doesn’t qualify as “stimulus” because it doesn’t create public assets such as roads or bridges. But the real purpose of fiscal stimulus is to boost demand in the economy and prevent the bottom from dropping out under prices for goods and services — in short, to forestall a deflationary spiral. Giving money to families that will purchase things immediately is the best kind of boost, as both Moody’s and the Congressional Budget Office have noted in recent studies.</p>
<p>It is true that we need to make real investments in transportation, energy, education and technology for the future — and that our future fiscal difficulties will be eased if we make those investments now. Yet the most immediate need is to promote demand, which will restore confidence and encourage investment.</p>
<p>What we ought to learn from this episode is that extreme inequality reduces national economic stability. The falling wages of working families forced them to rely too much on credit to maintain and improve their standards of living. Restoring the American dream means putting a floor under family incomes and reducing the gap between the richest and poorest, not only for the sake of simple justice but because that is the most reliable economic policy for the nation as a whole.</p>
<p>Joe Conason writes for <a href="http://www.observer.com" type="external">The New York Observer</a>.</p>
<p>© 2009 Creators Syndicate Inc.</p> | Stimulus Skeptics Wrong (Again) | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/stimulus-skeptics-wrong-again/ | 2009-02-05 | 4 |
<p>NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Ryan Anderson felt sick during warmups prior to the Pelicans' game Saturday night against Milwaukee.</p>
<p>A few hours made a big difference.</p>
<p>Anderson scored 23 points and tied a season-high with six 3-pointers while leading hot-shooting New Orleans to a 116-99 win over the Bucks.</p>
<p>"I was just thinking about getting through it with how bad I felt," he said. "I didn't feel very good, but I had a ton of open looks because of the way that we moved the ball. It was just great basketball."</p>
<p>Anthony Davis had 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists for New Orleans, which hit a franchise best 17 of 31 3s. Jrue Holiday added 13 points and nine assists off the bench.</p>
<p>New Orleans trailed 71-69 after Milwaukee's Khris Middleton scored 14 points in the first 9 minutes of the third quarter, but the Pelicans responded with a 31-14 run. Holiday, Toney Douglas, Tyreke Evans and Anderson all hit 3-pointers during that stretch, and Anderson's sixth 3 giving the Pelicans a 100-83 lead with 6:30 left.</p>
<p>"That's the best feeling just to be in a situation where you're flowing so well that you're impossible to guard," Anderson said. "There's no really timeout or game plan that's going to help."</p>
<p>Middleton and Greg Monroe each scored 22 points for Milwaukee, which had all five starters in double figures but got only 16 points from its reserves. The Bucks have lost two straight.</p>
<p>New Orleans, by contrast, had 57 points from its bench. Anderson hit a 3-pointer in transition soon after entering in the first quarter and never cooled down, adding two treys in the second quarter and two in the third.</p>
<p>Holiday, who also did not start, had seven of his nine assists in the second half when the Pelicans took over, including three in a row during the decisive spurt. The Pelicans outscored the Bucks 15-3 in the last 2:55 of the third quarter and went on a 10-0 run early in the fourth.</p>
<p>"We had a hard time getting out to cover their 3-point shots and they got hot from behind the line," Monroe said. "We have to communicate better and do a better job of running people off the line and stay in our rotations at the same time."</p>
<p>Middleton's burst early in the third quarter came on an array of outside shots, but he had only one field goal the rest of the way.</p>
<p>After trailing 23-22 at the end of the first quarter, New Orleans had at least 30 points in each of the final three quarters. The Pelicans had assists on 21 of their 24 baskets in the second half, finishing with a season-high 33.</p>
<p>They've won four out of five for the first time this year and are trying to recover from a 12-26 start.</p>
<p>"The last few that we've won, it's been about ball movement," Davis said.</p>
<p>PLUS-MINUS</p>
<p>The Pelicans outscored the Bucks by 32 in Holiday's 24:52 on the court while he created one open shot after the other. He also hit 6 of 11 from the floor.</p>
<p>"I've never seen that before (a plus-32)," Holiday said. "We were knocking down shots, and it started when they were double- and triple-teaming AD (Davis)."</p>
<p>ANOTHER LINEUP CHANGE</p>
<p>Forward Dante Cunningham sat out with a stomach illness, giving the Pelicans their 20th starting lineup in 43 games this season. Alonzo Gee and Davis started at forward, Norris Cole and Evans at guard and Omer Asik at center. Cole started for the second straight time in place of Eric Gordon after Gordon had surgery for a fractured ring finger.</p>
<p>LAST GAME FOR PRUNTY</p>
<p>Bucks acting head coach Joe Prunty finished 8-9 in his stint filling in for Jason Kidd, who has been out since the third week of December following hip surgery. Kidd, who was 11-18 before being sidelined, will return to the bench for Milwaukee's game against Orlando on Tuesday night.</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Bucks: Milwaukee has lost 14 in a row in New Orleans dating to Jan. 7, 2003. ... Milwaukee committed 18 turnovers to the Pelicans' eight. ... The Bucks were assessed two technical fouls, one for illegal defense and another when forward John Henson argued a call. ... Monroe had a double-double with 11 rebounds.</p>
<p>Pelicans: Gee had 12 points by the end of the third quarter for his first double-figures scoring game of the year. ... New Orleans won its fourth in a row at home, a season-best streak.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Bucks: Host Orlando on Tuesday night.</p>
<p>Pelicans: Host Houston on Monday night.</p>
<p>NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Ryan Anderson felt sick during warmups prior to the Pelicans' game Saturday night against Milwaukee.</p>
<p>A few hours made a big difference.</p>
<p>Anderson scored 23 points and tied a season-high with six 3-pointers while leading hot-shooting New Orleans to a 116-99 win over the Bucks.</p>
<p>"I was just thinking about getting through it with how bad I felt," he said. "I didn't feel very good, but I had a ton of open looks because of the way that we moved the ball. It was just great basketball."</p>
<p>Anthony Davis had 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists for New Orleans, which hit a franchise best 17 of 31 3s. Jrue Holiday added 13 points and nine assists off the bench.</p>
<p>New Orleans trailed 71-69 after Milwaukee's Khris Middleton scored 14 points in the first 9 minutes of the third quarter, but the Pelicans responded with a 31-14 run. Holiday, Toney Douglas, Tyreke Evans and Anderson all hit 3-pointers during that stretch, and Anderson's sixth 3 giving the Pelicans a 100-83 lead with 6:30 left.</p>
<p>"That's the best feeling just to be in a situation where you're flowing so well that you're impossible to guard," Anderson said. "There's no really timeout or game plan that's going to help."</p>
<p>Middleton and Greg Monroe each scored 22 points for Milwaukee, which had all five starters in double figures but got only 16 points from its reserves. The Bucks have lost two straight.</p>
<p>New Orleans, by contrast, had 57 points from its bench. Anderson hit a 3-pointer in transition soon after entering in the first quarter and never cooled down, adding two treys in the second quarter and two in the third.</p>
<p>Holiday, who also did not start, had seven of his nine assists in the second half when the Pelicans took over, including three in a row during the decisive spurt. The Pelicans outscored the Bucks 15-3 in the last 2:55 of the third quarter and went on a 10-0 run early in the fourth.</p>
<p>"We had a hard time getting out to cover their 3-point shots and they got hot from behind the line," Monroe said. "We have to communicate better and do a better job of running people off the line and stay in our rotations at the same time."</p>
<p>Middleton's burst early in the third quarter came on an array of outside shots, but he had only one field goal the rest of the way.</p>
<p>After trailing 23-22 at the end of the first quarter, New Orleans had at least 30 points in each of the final three quarters. The Pelicans had assists on 21 of their 24 baskets in the second half, finishing with a season-high 33.</p>
<p>They've won four out of five for the first time this year and are trying to recover from a 12-26 start.</p>
<p>"The last few that we've won, it's been about ball movement," Davis said.</p>
<p>PLUS-MINUS</p>
<p>The Pelicans outscored the Bucks by 32 in Holiday's 24:52 on the court while he created one open shot after the other. He also hit 6 of 11 from the floor.</p>
<p>"I've never seen that before (a plus-32)," Holiday said. "We were knocking down shots, and it started when they were double- and triple-teaming AD (Davis)."</p>
<p>ANOTHER LINEUP CHANGE</p>
<p>Forward Dante Cunningham sat out with a stomach illness, giving the Pelicans their 20th starting lineup in 43 games this season. Alonzo Gee and Davis started at forward, Norris Cole and Evans at guard and Omer Asik at center. Cole started for the second straight time in place of Eric Gordon after Gordon had surgery for a fractured ring finger.</p>
<p>LAST GAME FOR PRUNTY</p>
<p>Bucks acting head coach Joe Prunty finished 8-9 in his stint filling in for Jason Kidd, who has been out since the third week of December following hip surgery. Kidd, who was 11-18 before being sidelined, will return to the bench for Milwaukee's game against Orlando on Tuesday night.</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Bucks: Milwaukee has lost 14 in a row in New Orleans dating to Jan. 7, 2003. ... Milwaukee committed 18 turnovers to the Pelicans' eight. ... The Bucks were assessed two technical fouls, one for illegal defense and another when forward John Henson argued a call. ... Monroe had a double-double with 11 rebounds.</p>
<p>Pelicans: Gee had 12 points by the end of the third quarter for his first double-figures scoring game of the year. ... New Orleans won its fourth in a row at home, a season-best streak.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Bucks: Host Orlando on Tuesday night.</p>
<p>Pelicans: Host Houston on Monday night.</p> | Anderson shoots way to 23 points, Pelicans beat Bucks 116-99 | false | https://apnews.com/amp/cf332f811be74683be7a8ef1250ce879 | 2016-01-24 | 2 |
<p>The UN estimates that nearly 3,500 people have been killed in Syria since the revolution began there eight months ago.</p>
<p>Unlike in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, the Syrian revolution is not being televised — but it is on YouTube.</p>
<p>A loose knit group of cyber activists made up of Syrian expats from around the world, have smuggled satellite phones, laptops, and high-definition video cameras into Syria and smuggled information and videos out.</p>
<p>Activists have even launched their own online news channel. They call it the Shaam News Network, after the Arabic name for the Levant region.</p>
<p>"Sham News Network was inspired by what happened in Tunisia and Egypt. A lot of the founders were from Daraa, the birthplace of the revolution, and our goal was to show the world what the regime was doing," said Anas, whose last name we won't use for security reasons.</p>
<p>Anas is one of dozens of activists based in Detroit, Washington DC and Chicago who upload and verify videos, host servers, and coordinate and dispatch citizen-journalists on the ground. Another is Muna Jondy, a Syrian living in Flint, Michigan.</p>
<p>In addition to getting satellite phones smuggled into Syria, she's one of the main curators and moderators for the Syrian Days of Rage Facebook page. It's one of most popular English language websites for the Syrian Revolution. It gets more then 16 million visitors each month.</p>
<p>"We worked shifts, I had the nine to midnight shift," Jondy said. Twitter is a big source of information, following SNC members, bloggers, they have links to what was going on. We had to post twice an hour. Fridays are particularly heavy days. Syria is literally the first virtual revolution. We know day to day in each city what exactly is happening, we're seeing it on a daily basis despite the media ban, because the Syrian revolutionaries are making sure that everything gets out," she said.</p>
<p>Jondy was born and raised in the US, but her father's family is from Daraa. She says while she's had little communication over the years with her family in Syria, things really hit home after a tragic event involving her uncle.</p>
<p>"So they show up to one of my uncle's house and they came to take his 16 year old son and he was basically begging them, please don't take him — he's older he's 70 year olds, he's frail — and you know," Jondy said. "Basically they just beat him, they took their guns and beat him on the head. And I don't know, they really beat him bad until he was in a coma. Because he was saying to them 'please my son leave him, I'm as old as your father, have some respect.' So they just beat him."</p>
<p>Jondy's uncle was beaten to death by security forces, and she said his killing spurred her family to become even more active in the revolution. While her cousins back in Daraa are on the ground protesting, Jondy has taken up the role of online activist.</p>
<p>"The reality is that there's these hundreds of thousands of people that are on the street, and they're being attacked, they're limited in what they can do and how they can organize," Jondy said. "So there are all of these Syrian activists on the outside that are like we have mobility, we have the ability to speak to government representatives, we have the ability to provide finances, so to me the relationship is support of the revolution."</p>
<p>Many expats have similar stories about the violence — and sometimes tragic death — of family members and activists at the hands of the regime's security services. It puts into stark reality how relatively sheltered they are, operating from safety in the US.</p>
<p>Khalid Saleh lives in Dearborn, Michigan. He was appointed by the revolutionary council of his hometown of Deir Azzor to be one of their representatives.</p>
<p>"I think some of the activists working outside don't necessarily feel the pain of the revolutionaries on the inside," he pointed out. To them its like 10 people died today, 20 people died after. It's a lot different for me when I talk to someone at night, and I try to call him in the morning and he is gone."</p>
<p>And that's why a lot of the activists — in and outside of Syria — keep their identities secret. Cyber activist Anas says he's well aware of the danger the citizen journalists put themselves in every day to get him information.</p>
<p>"It wasn't an easy commitment to commit and say okay I'm going to send you pictures and videos and tell you about what's going on," Anas admited. "At least 8 to 10 people lost their lives, some of them were captured and were on Syrian TV admitting their relationship with Shaam News Network."</p>
<p>Despite this, Anas says the time for fear and anonymity is over. He says sharing his own identity openly for the first time is indicative of a turning point in the Syrian Revolution.</p> | Syrian-American Activists and the Shaam News Network | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-11-18/syrian-american-activists-and-shaam-news-network | 2011-11-18 | 3 |
<p>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - After one of the most fraught years on the Korean Peninsula in recent memory - threats of war amid North Korea's strongest-ever nuclear bomb test and repeated missile launches - an unexpected, very tentative interest in peace seems to have broken out.</p>
<p>In rapid succession: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un floats the idea in a New Year's speech of better ties with his southern rival. Maybe, he says, he'll even send a delegation to next month's Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Seoul quickly offers to meet and talk. And on Wednesday, the North announces that Kim views the South's offer positively and the two sides begin preliminary contact on a newly reopened cross-border communication channel.</p>
<p>Is it an elaborate ruse by the North? Wishful thinking in the South?</p>
<p>Some answers to questions about what it may all mean:</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Q: How likely is it that the two sides will actually meet?</p>
<p>A: There's a pretty good chance, though meeting is the easy part.</p>
<p>South Korean President Moon Jae-in has favored better ties with North Korea for years, and he campaigned on pledges to take a softer line than his conservative predecessors.</p>
<p>Moon was a top aide for a previous liberal president who maintained a so-called "Sunshine Policy" toward Pyongyang, with large amounts of aid shipped to the North and the two sides pursuing cooperative tourism and business programs.</p>
<p>Although Moon, who took office in May, has been pushed into a hard-line stance by the North's repeated missile and nuclear tests, he would clearly like dialogue.</p>
<p>The North's Kim, on the other hand, has shown little interest in pursuing peace since taking power in late 2011. That said, he has made repeated suggestions about improving ties in past New Year's speeches. Skeptics will point out that he mixed his peace overtures with threats of war and has conducted weapons tests within weeks of past speeches.</p>
<p>There's also suspicion that Kim will use any talks as cover to continue perfecting an arsenal of nukes that can reliably hit the U.S. mainland, and that his overture is mainly meant to disrupt ties between Seoul and Washington so he can weaken international pressure and sanctions.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Q: Why is it so difficult for the Koreas to make peace once they sit down and talk to each other?</p>
<p>A: Seven decades of simmering animosity and bloodshed is the short answer.</p>
<p>The Koreas were divided in 1945 at the end of World War II into a U.S.-controlled southern side and a Soviet-controlled north. Three years later, the division became formal with the founding of the opposing republics. Two years after that, the North launched a surprise invasion and the Koreas fought, with the help of the United States, the United Nations and China, one of the bloodiest wars of the 20th century.</p>
<p>Since then, there has been steady bloodshed, though mostly from the North, including assassinations, kidnappings and, in 2010, attacks blamed on North Korea that killed 50 South Koreans.</p>
<p>When the history is this bloody, and the two sides are squared off across the most heavily armed border in the world, every detail is usually contested.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Q: Even if they meet, is there any chance for a breakthrough?</p>
<p>A: Any time the Koreas talk it's a victory of sorts, especially after the misery of last year.</p>
<p>Still, the rivals have done this dance many times before, and their talks don't have the best track record when it comes to results, often blowing up before anything really gets done.</p>
<p>If there are talks, the first round will likely be lower-level discussions meant to set up a higher-level meeting. Previous such talks have bogged down on matters of protocol, for instance, with one side objecting to the "rank" of a proposed participant.</p>
<p>If a next round is decided upon, the actual negotiations of what to do about Olympic cooperation would begin. But with decades of accrued animosity between them, nothing is guaranteed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Q: What about President Donald Trump's tweet in which he taunted Kim Jong Un, who'd earlier said he has a nuclear button on his desk, by boasting of a bigger and more powerful "nuclear button" than Kim's.</p>
<p>A: For the time being, both Koreas are ignoring it.</p>
<p>Trump's tweets worried South Koreans at first, but they are becoming used to them. President Moon will likely prefer to focus on the rare signs of rapprochement with the North.</p>
<p>The North, however, rarely lets an insult pass, though there's a chance it could keep its outrage against Trump separate from whatever its intentions are with the South.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Foster Klug is the AP's bureau chief in Seoul and has covered the Koreas since 2005. Follow him at @apklug</p>
<p>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - After one of the most fraught years on the Korean Peninsula in recent memory - threats of war amid North Korea's strongest-ever nuclear bomb test and repeated missile launches - an unexpected, very tentative interest in peace seems to have broken out.</p>
<p>In rapid succession: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un floats the idea in a New Year's speech of better ties with his southern rival. Maybe, he says, he'll even send a delegation to next month's Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Seoul quickly offers to meet and talk. And on Wednesday, the North announces that Kim views the South's offer positively and the two sides begin preliminary contact on a newly reopened cross-border communication channel.</p>
<p>Is it an elaborate ruse by the North? Wishful thinking in the South?</p>
<p>Some answers to questions about what it may all mean:</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Q: How likely is it that the two sides will actually meet?</p>
<p>A: There's a pretty good chance, though meeting is the easy part.</p>
<p>South Korean President Moon Jae-in has favored better ties with North Korea for years, and he campaigned on pledges to take a softer line than his conservative predecessors.</p>
<p>Moon was a top aide for a previous liberal president who maintained a so-called "Sunshine Policy" toward Pyongyang, with large amounts of aid shipped to the North and the two sides pursuing cooperative tourism and business programs.</p>
<p>Although Moon, who took office in May, has been pushed into a hard-line stance by the North's repeated missile and nuclear tests, he would clearly like dialogue.</p>
<p>The North's Kim, on the other hand, has shown little interest in pursuing peace since taking power in late 2011. That said, he has made repeated suggestions about improving ties in past New Year's speeches. Skeptics will point out that he mixed his peace overtures with threats of war and has conducted weapons tests within weeks of past speeches.</p>
<p>There's also suspicion that Kim will use any talks as cover to continue perfecting an arsenal of nukes that can reliably hit the U.S. mainland, and that his overture is mainly meant to disrupt ties between Seoul and Washington so he can weaken international pressure and sanctions.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Q: Why is it so difficult for the Koreas to make peace once they sit down and talk to each other?</p>
<p>A: Seven decades of simmering animosity and bloodshed is the short answer.</p>
<p>The Koreas were divided in 1945 at the end of World War II into a U.S.-controlled southern side and a Soviet-controlled north. Three years later, the division became formal with the founding of the opposing republics. Two years after that, the North launched a surprise invasion and the Koreas fought, with the help of the United States, the United Nations and China, one of the bloodiest wars of the 20th century.</p>
<p>Since then, there has been steady bloodshed, though mostly from the North, including assassinations, kidnappings and, in 2010, attacks blamed on North Korea that killed 50 South Koreans.</p>
<p>When the history is this bloody, and the two sides are squared off across the most heavily armed border in the world, every detail is usually contested.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Q: Even if they meet, is there any chance for a breakthrough?</p>
<p>A: Any time the Koreas talk it's a victory of sorts, especially after the misery of last year.</p>
<p>Still, the rivals have done this dance many times before, and their talks don't have the best track record when it comes to results, often blowing up before anything really gets done.</p>
<p>If there are talks, the first round will likely be lower-level discussions meant to set up a higher-level meeting. Previous such talks have bogged down on matters of protocol, for instance, with one side objecting to the "rank" of a proposed participant.</p>
<p>If a next round is decided upon, the actual negotiations of what to do about Olympic cooperation would begin. But with decades of accrued animosity between them, nothing is guaranteed.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Q: What about President Donald Trump's tweet in which he taunted Kim Jong Un, who'd earlier said he has a nuclear button on his desk, by boasting of a bigger and more powerful "nuclear button" than Kim's.</p>
<p>A: For the time being, both Koreas are ignoring it.</p>
<p>Trump's tweets worried South Koreans at first, but they are becoming used to them. President Moon will likely prefer to focus on the rare signs of rapprochement with the North.</p>
<p>The North, however, rarely lets an insult pass, though there's a chance it could keep its outrage against Trump separate from whatever its intentions are with the South.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Foster Klug is the AP's bureau chief in Seoul and has covered the Koreas since 2005. Follow him at @apklug</p> | Q&A: Is there a chance for a breakthrough with the Koreas? | false | https://apnews.com/49a13066a6cf48a294a6c671b64450ed | 2018-01-04 | 2 |
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<p>Vice President Joe Biden and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will attend Rep. Ben Ray Lujan's second annual Democratic issues conference in Santa Fe this weekend.</p>
<p>Lujan is hosting the event, scheduled for Friday through Sunday, in his role as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.</p>
<p>Vice President Joe Biden (AP Photo/Joel Auerbach)</p>
<p>"I look forward to welcoming Leader Pelosi, Vice President Biden, and my colleagues to New Mexico for this opportunity to show off the state and all the great things New Mexico has to offer," Lujan said in a statement today. "From our entrepreneurs to our famous chile, from our world class art to the majestic landscapes, our home is truly the Land of Enchantment."</p>
<p>Biden will speak to attendees, including Democratic members of Congress and congressional candidates from around the country, on Saturday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>"Over the course of the day, members of Congress will speak to the audience about different issues that they specialize in, and that are also of top concern to voters," a DCCC aide told me in an email.</p>
<p>The weekend's festivities begin on Friday evening with a Taste of Santa Fe reception at the Gerald Peters Gallery. On Saturday evening, the group will attend a reception at the New Mexico Museum of Art. The events are closed to the public. You can read about last year's Democratic Issues Conference <a href="" type="internal">here</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Joe Biden coming to Santa Fe on Saturday | false | https://abqjournal.com/751926/joe-biden-coming-to-santa-fe-on-saturday.html | 2 |
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<p>Mosaic Co. said Tuesday it was cutting its annual dividend to 60 cents a share, down 45% from a previous rate of $1.10 a share, as the fertilizer company looks to maintain a strong financial position as the market gradually recovers. The company reported fourth-quarter earnings that declined to $12 million, or 3 cents a share, from $155 million, or 44 cents a share, in the same period a year ago, as lower phosphate raw material costs offset lower phosphate and potash prices. The results included a negative impact of 23 cents a share from "notable items." The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was 13 cents. Revenue fell to $1.86 billion from $2.16 billion, but beat the FactSet consensus of $1.80 billion. Phosphate sales volume of 2.5 million tonnes beat the company's guidance of 2.1 million to 2.4 million tonnes, while potash sales volume of 2.0 million tonnes was in line with guidance of 1.9 million to 2.0 million tonnes. "While we are confident the market bottom is behind us, the pace of improvement is expected to be gradual," said Chief Executive Joc O'Rourke. "s a reflection of our commitment to investors to maintain a strong financial position, we have reduced our annual dividend payout to $0.60 per share." The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has run up 29% over the past 12 months while the S&amp;P 500 has climbed 22%.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2017 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Mosaic Slashes Dividend, As Profit And Sales Decline | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/07/mosaic-slashes-dividend-as-profit-and-sales-decline.html | 2017-02-07 | 0 |
<p>The US government shutdown standoff continues. But while President Obama and Speaker Boehner dig their heels into the sands of the Potomac, many around the country are calling for measures to "save face" and resolve the standstill.</p>
<p>The concept of " <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_%28sociological_concept%29" type="external">saving face</a>" originates in Chinese culture, but it's a concept that is common in many other cultures, especially in Asian nations like Japan.&#160;</p>
<p>In fact, according to Michael McKenna who works for <a href="http://www.japanintercultural.com/en/home/default.aspx" type="external">Japan Intercultural Consulting</a> teaching Japanese business people about American culture and Americans about the Japanese, the Japanese concept of saving face and harmony is one that is written into one of Japan's oldest texts, the 17 article constitution of Shotoku Taishi.</p>
<p>"Harmony is to be sought, conflict avoided."</p>
<p>This line, McKenna says, is among the very first lines of Taishi's constitution.&#160;</p>
<p>The pressure to maintain harmony can be seen in many aspects of Japanese culture, says McKenna, even in the very language itself.</p>
<p>"There's a wonderful word for 'no' in Japanese, but you don't hear it that often," says Mckenna.</p>
<p>In fact, a popular book among Japanese language learners from years ago is titled, " <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ways-Avoid-Saying-Invitation-Experience/dp/4532083559" type="external">16 Ways to Avoid Saying No</a>."</p>
<p>So how does McKenna think Obama and Boehner might take a cue from the Japanese and avoid just saying no?</p>
<p>Take a listen to Marco Werman's conversation with McKenna to find out.</p> | Could Washington take some cues on 'saving face' from Japan? | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-10-09/could-washington-take-some-cues-saving-face-japan | 2013-10-09 | 3 |
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<p />
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<p>Horrible news reaches us from the UK today, where the courts have reviewed the case of a junkie couple that was jailed for killing their own 21 month old daughter by stomping repeatedly on the chest. The UK courts have today ruled on the responsibility, if any, of the social worker who was counseling the mother.</p>
<p />
<p>The report that has been released states that the social worker had put the wellbeing of the mother first and therefore ignored signs indicating that the toddler was in danger, as well as repeated warnings from the biological father.</p>
<p />
<p>The little girl, Ayeeshia-Jayne Smith, was killed by her own mother Kathryn Smith when she stomped the toddler chest repeatedly till her heart stopped.</p>
<p />
<p>The coronary exam showed that she was attacked with such force that it resulted in a fatal heart injury, three broken ribs and that the little girl had bitten through her own tongue.</p>
<p />
<p>The extremely thin and clearly underfed toddler weighed just 10 kilograms when she died.</p>
<p />
<p>For this horrible act, Ms Smith was jailed for 19 years. Her then boyfriend, Matthew Rigby, was jailed for 3 years as an accomplice.</p>
<p />
<p>The biological father of the girl, Ricky, had warned social services on two separate occasions that this would happen.</p>
<p />
<p>The report also reveals that Derbyshire County Council, where this took place, knew of the instances of drug use, violence and child neglect that were frequently taking place at the home where the toddler resided.</p>
<p />
<p>However, the social worker handling the case and advising the mother so she could get back on the employment market, stated in her counseling report that the mothering skills of Ms Kathryn Smith had seemingly improved and that taking the toddler away from her would not improve the family situation.</p>
<p />
<p>Two weeks later, the drug addicted mother sadly killed her own child in a fit of rage as it wouldn't stop crying.</p>
<p />
<p>Source:</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4853348/Social-workers-missed-danger-signs-Ayeeshia-Smith.html" type="external">dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4853348/Social-workers-missed-danger-signs-Ayeeshia-Smith.html</a></p> | Junkie Couple Jailed For Stomping Their 21-Month Old Daughter To Death | true | http://thegoldwater.com/news/7615-Junkie-Couple-Jailed-For-Stomping-Their-21-Month-Old-Daughter-To-Death | 2017-09-05 | 0 |
<p>The Army is punishing seven officers for mishandling the Pat Tillman case, according to ABC News. The harshest punishment reportedly is being meted out to Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger, who allegedly deceived investigators about when he knew the facts about Tillman's death.</p>
<p>ABC News:</p>
<p>Senior defense officials tell ABC that Army Secretary Pete Geren is likely to recommend that Defense Secretary Robert Gates strip Kensinger, a three-star general, of his stars, a move that would reduce Kensinger's pension by approximately $1,000 a month.</p>
<p>Army officials would not confirm the punishments and cautioned that nothing had been finalized.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Story?id=3417047&amp;page=1" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Army to Discipline 7 in Tillman Case, ABC Reports | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/army-to-discipline-7-in-tillman-case-abc-reports/ | 2007-07-26 | 4 |
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<p>Hundreds of people participated in a rally that included a march on Central Avenue and speakers and demonstrations in Roosevelt Park on Saturday. Among the crowd of protesters was a police officer not wearing a uniform who had a camera.</p>
<p>“APD needs to spend its time and resources on cleaning up its own house, not spying on us when we’re breaking no laws,” organizer James Bowe said in a release Monday.</p>
<p>Organizers also questioned what APD would be doing with any data it collected.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>APD Chief Gorden Eden released a statement late Monday saying the department had undercover officers at the rally “for the sole purpose of monitoring for public safety issues.”</p>
<p>“This was a concern because even though this protest was peaceful, previous events included individuals armed with an assault rifle, individuals shutting down the interstate and damaging property,” according to the statement. “Officers at such events are normally assigned to watch for criminal behavior such as theft, emergency situations or otherwise suspicious activities in order to ensure public safety, regardless of the topic or nature of the event.”</p>
<p>March organizers said Monday they were outraged to discover that APD assigned undercover police to work inside the rally. (Marla Brose/Journal)</p>
<p>Sayrah Namaste, of Albuquerque, said organizers met with police prior to the protest. Plans were made to have officers nearby, she said. Police announced last week that officers would be there to provide traffic escorts for marchers.</p>
<p>Uniformed officers were on hand during the protest.</p>
<p>“We acknowledge their First Amendment rights to voice their concerns,” Eden said in a statement last Thursday. “Our job will be to protect public safety during the time they are in Roosevelt Park and while they are marching.”</p>
<p>The event was peaceful and there were no clashes between protesters and police.</p>
<p>Namaste said the undercover officer’s presence reinforces Albuquerque residents’ fears of speaking out against the police department.</p>
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<p /> | Rally organizers outraged by police ‘spying’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/419998/rally-organizers-outraged-by-police-spying.html | 2014-06-24 | 2 |
<p>&lt;a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ennuipoet/5479818658/in/photolist-9mevb3-abuq8Z-9metiy-9mbpkv-abx8NS-9mevAU-9meuMS-9mbqmX-9mbufc-9mexXd-9meuw5-9meuio-9mbpxZ-9metoN-9meuq9-9mbsnR-9meue3-9metxJ-9mbrqr-9meuUS-9meu2L-9mbrF8-9mbr7n-9meznW-9metP7-9metcL-9mbqfD-9mbrRk-9mevju-9mexdE-9mev4d-9meu8C-abufR8-7JqPY4-bwpEpj-a3kso-5scRZ-5scRS-5scS3"&gt;Dave Bledsoe&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
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<p>On Wednesday, a federal judge blocked a North Dakota law that would have banned all abortions after a heartbeat is detectable in the fetus, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. The judge, Daniel Hovland, called the ban—which passed last year and was immediately challenged by the <a href="http://www.redriverwomensclinic.com/" type="external">Red River Women’s Clinic</a>, the only abortion provider in the state—”invalid and unconstitutional,” and said it would impose an “undue burden on women seeking to obtain an abortion.”</p>
<p>The North Dakota law is <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-north-dakota-abortion-law-unconstitutional-23348578" type="external">one of the most far-reaching</a> abortion bans in the country. Many women aren’t aware that they are pregnant until well after six weeks into a pregnancy. Under the North Dakota law, those women wouldn’t be able to seek abortions at all.</p>
<p>North Dakota is one of several states that have pushed laws banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. In March, a federal judge struck down a <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/17/ark-heartbeat-abortion-law-blocked/" type="external">similar ban</a> Arkansas had passed last year. But losses in the courts haven’t stopped these efforts from spreading—the Alabama House <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/alabama-abortion-bill_n_4900059.html" type="external">passed</a> a fetal heartbeat bill last month, and state legislatures in Wyoming, Mississippi, and Ohio have <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/01/31/1517821/fetal-heartbeat-bills-to-watch/" type="external">considered</a> similar legislation in the past year.</p>
<p /> | Federal Court Rules North Dakota’s Extreme Abortion Ban Unconstitutional | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/north-dakota-abortion-fetal-heartbeat-ban-unconstitutional/ | 2014-04-16 | 4 |
<p>HBO Documentary Films</p>
<p><a href="http://www.metacritic.com/tv/manhunt-2013" type="external">Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden</a>HBO Documentary Films 100 minutes</p>
<p>Forget <a href="" type="internal">Zero Dark Thirty</a>. Instead, check out director Greg Barker’s intimate look at the dogged nerds and tough-guy CIA officials who spent decades on <a href="" type="internal">Osama bin Laden</a>‘s trail. This doc (based on Peter Bergen’s 2012 <a href="http://peterbergen.com/manhunt/" type="external">book</a>) has the pulse of a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=bqi-4sCTbbM" type="external">Michael Mann</a> thriller, tracing the hunt from long before Al Qaeda became a household name. It offers a fascinating glimpse at “ <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/05/true-un-hollywood-story-of-a-sisterhood-hunt-for-bin-laden.html" type="external">the Sisterhood</a>,” a crew of female CIA analysts who were “borderline obsessed” with nailing bin Laden in the 1990s. Details of their vital desk work are contrasted with interviews with former CIA higher-up (and <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/sundance-doc-adds-new-take-hunt-bin-laden" type="external">torture advocate</a>) Marty Martin, who refers to his “gangsta”-like role harvesting intel overseas.</p>
<p>Manhunt premieres Wednesday, May 1 (the two-year anniversary of the <a href="" type="internal">mission that killed bin Laden</a>) at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. Check out the trailer:</p>
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<p><a href="" type="internal">Click here</a> for more movie and TV features from Mother Jones.</p>
<p>This review originally appeared in the <a href="" type="internal">May/June</a> issue of Mother Jones.</p> | HBO’s “Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden”: Way Cooler Than “Zero Dark Thirty” | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/film-review-manhunt-search-bin-laden-hbo/ | 2013-05-02 | 4 |
<p>According to the United Nations, <a href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/migrant-influx-to-europe-hits-100-000-in-2017-9003382" type="external">over 100,000 immigrants have entered Europe</a> by crossing the Mediterranean Sea in 2017, with 85% of them arriving in Italy, most of them sub-Saharan Africans crossing from Libya.</p>
<p>Italy is pleading for other countries to open their ports so Italy is not inundated by the refugees, but the other countries refuse to help. France rejected the idea; an aide to France’s Interior Minister told AFP that opening a port in France would encourage more immigrants to attempt to enter Europe.</p>
<p>On Sunday, Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti threatened to close Italian ports if Italy’s neighbors refused to help. He told Il Messaggero, "We are under enormous pressure.” Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR special envoy for the central Mediterranean, echoed, "This is not sustainable. We need to have other countries joining Italy and sharing that responsibility.”</p>
<p>William Lacy Swing, head of the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration (IOM), agreed, saying, “The reception of rescued migrants cannot be seen as an issue only for Italy, but a matter for Europe as a whole.”</p>
<p>In 2015, the European Union instituted a plan to distribute roughly 160,000 asylum-seekers across different countries; 20,000 have been relocated from Italy and Greece but Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic refused to join in the effort.</p>
<p>During the same period in 2016, immigration was more than double the number in 2017; 231,503 people made the crossing. 100,000 immigrants had made the journey by February 2016. Another difference: most of the immigrants crossed from Turkey to Greece.</p> | 100,000 Migrants Have Entered Europe By Crossing the Mediterranean This Year | true | https://dailywire.com/news/18249/100000-migrants-have-entered-europe-crossing-hank-berrien | 2017-07-04 | 0 |
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening’s drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery’s “Pick 4 Evening” game were:</p>
<p>8-5-0-7, Wild: 8</p>
<p>(eight, five, zero, seven; Wild: eight)</p>
<p>HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening’s drawing of the Pennsylvania Lottery’s “Pick 4 Evening” game were:</p>
<p>8-5-0-7, Wild: 8</p>
<p>(eight, five, zero, seven; Wild: eight)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in ‘Pick 4 Evening’ game | false | https://apnews.com/28cde475d4cd403198d36458053b7efd | 2017-12-28 | 2 |
<p>If the cold weather makes you shiver, your blood vessels and heart may be quivering, too — and that may be enough to trigger a heart attack in some people, new research suggests.</p>
<p>The study found that more heart attacks occur when temperatures drop below freezing, suggesting people with plaques in their coronary arteries may not cope well with the body’s response to cold.</p>
<p>“There is seasonal variation in the occurrence of heart attack, with incidence declining in summer and peaking in winter,” said study first author Moman Mohammad, a doctoral student from Lund University in Sweden.</p>
<p>“It is unclear whether this is due to colder temperatures or behavioral changes,” Mohammad said.</p>
<p>The body responds to cold by narrowing superficial blood vessels, reducing heat conduction in the skin and raising blood pressure, the researchers explained. The body also shivers and increases heart rate, which boosts metabolism and raises body temperature, they added.</p>
<p>“In the majority of healthy people these mechanisms are well tolerated,” said Mohammad. “But in people with atherosclerotic plaques in their coronary arteries they may trigger a heart attack.”</p>
<p>Using Sweden’s heart attack registry, the research team identified more than 280,000 consecutive heart attacks treated at a coronary care unit between January 1998 and December 2013.</p>
<p>The researchers also tracked the weather conditions that occurred during this 16-year period, calculating the average daily minimum temperature for the entire country as well as six health care regions.</p>
<p>Although the study wasn’t designed to prove a cause-and-effect relationship, the researchers found a link between more heart attacks and colder temperatures. This was true across all regions studied.</p>
<p>This translated to four additional heart attacks in Sweden each day the average daily temperature was less than 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius) compared to when temperatures were a more balmy 50 degrees F (10 degrees C).</p>
<p>Heart attacks were also linked to higher wind velocities, reduced sunshine duration and more humidity. This was true even after the researchers took other possible factors into account, such as older age, high blood pressure, diabetes, previous heart attacks and medication usage, the study showed.</p>
<p>“Our results consistently showed a higher occurrence of heart attacks in sub-zero [Celsius] temperatures,” Mohammad said in a news release from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).</p>
<p>“The findings were the same across a large range of patient subgroups, and at national as well as regional levels, suggesting that air temperature is a trigger for heart attack,” he said.</p>
<p>Other risk factors for heart attack that are affected by seasons include lung infections and the flu, the researchers pointed out. They added that dietary changes and reduced physical activity during the winter months could also affect rates of heart attack when temperatures are low.</p>
<p>The study was presented Monday at the annual meeting of the ESC, in Barcelona, Spain. Research presented at meetings is typically viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.</p> | As Temps Fall, Heart Attacks May Rise | false | https://newsline.com/as-temps-fall-heart-attacks-may-rise/ | 2017-08-30 | 1 |
<p>This winter break I found myself in Panama with a group of seven individuals from Rock 17, the young adult group from Virginia’s Peninsula Baptist Association. Our travels were spurred by the partnership between Virginia Baptists and the Panamanian Baptist Convention. The partnership grants Baptists from Virginia and Panama the opportunity to mutually learn and serve together. &#160; My group’s main project revolved around forming relationships with the Kuna people of Panama. The Kuna are an indigenous population that has been slowly moving into the more populated areas of Panama. They are a very close-knit community as can be seen by the existence of specifically Kuna Baptist churches.</p>
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<p>Andrew Gardner</p>
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<p>Our work with the Kuna was complicated by a number of factors — in addition to the obvious language barrier for many on our team, including me. Among them was the hectic nature of New Year’s Day as well as the passing of a major Christian leader within the Kuna community. Despite these complications, we pressed on. &#160; The second church we worked with had a vibrant community of children and youth. As with any foreign mission trip, cultural and language barriers provided both awkward and comical situations, with me in particular. &#160; In many respects, however, I feel that one must embrace these cultural differences and barriers in order to truly allow God to work through the uniqueness of an overseas mission experience. In this embrace, one’s understanding of the Church, God and faith might be shaken and even changed. I think it is important that Christians do not fear this possibility. Instead, we must allow these challenges to benefit us in the most beautiful of ways. &#160; While at this church, I was struck by the gorgeous simplicity of the building in which we were working. In many respects the church was nothing more than a concrete slab with concrete walls, wooden pews and a tin roof. The stage was made of ornate tiles, a pulpit and a small mural that hung where one might a find baptistery. &#160; This church was very different from many American churches that are often much more ornate and follow intricate architectural styles. I quickly noticed that not only did the church looked different from American churches, but it also functioned differently from American churches. &#160; Within only a few minutes of our arrival in the church, a boy picked up a dodge ball and began to play soccer down the center aisle. As we began to play between, under and over the pews of this sanctuary — this place of worship — I wondered whether the pulpit and stage held a more reverent significance. Was the boy more timid to play across the stage, as perhaps it was perceived as more sacred than the pews — place of the laity?</p>
<p>No sooner had this question crossed my mind that the boy fired a shot at the pulpit as if to score a goal. &#160; I slowly watched as the beautifully simplistic, wooden pews were moved in order to become sidelines. Religious order turned into a ballet of chaos and pandemonium. The sanctuary slowly turned into a volleyball court, a soccer field, a football field, a space for arts and crafts and a place to sit back and watch it all take place. &#160; How interesting it is to walk into a church to hear the playing of sports. What does this say about our conceptions of what we might define as sacred space? It makes me think back to churches that one enters in silent reverence in order to commune with the divine. Is there something unique to the space that makes us do this, or do we project our own understanding on the space? Is it a combination of both? &#160; In many ways I see both space and people working together in order to create meaning for one another. This sanctuary was not just any ordinary building that had multiple purposes such as a gym, a fellowship hall and a Sunday school room. No, this was a sanctuary. This was the house of God, and it was a church that for a brief period of time was also a children’s playground. It was a church that for a brief period of time heard the melodious hymns of bouncing balls, shouting kids and chattering youth. &#160; Certainly we come from a different culture. Space is defined differently in America, and that is perfectly fine. These cultural differences in understanding space, however, help us understand ourselves better. Why might we be silent entering church? Why not turn a sanctuary into a soccer field? &#160; As churches begin to face financial difficulties, maintaining our houses of worship becomes a challenge. These challenges must be met with creative ways of understanding how we define our sacred space.</p>
<p>How can we understand ourselves in order to utilize our space more effectively and more faithfully? This might not be the most common observation from a cross-cultural mission experience, but it stemmed from the sound of a most uncommon hymn of praise emerging from a simple church echoing up throughout the heavens.</p>
<p>Andrew Gardner ( <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>) of Yorktown, Va., is a recent graduate of the College of William &amp; Mary and a student at Wake Forest University School of Divinity.</p> | OPINION: A place for Panamanian pandemonium | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/opinionaplaceforpanamanianpandemonium/ | 3 |
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<p>WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced Wednesday it will restrict visas for Cambodians “undermining democracy” in the Southeast Asian nation following the dissolution of the main opposition party and a crackdown on independent media.</p>
<p>The State Department said it was a direct response to “anti-democratic actions” by the Cambodian government but did not disclose which individuals would be affected. It said visa records are confidential under U.S. law.</p>
<p>Spokeswoman Heather Nauert called on the Cambodian government to reinstate the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was dissolved by Supreme Court order last month, and free its leader Kem Sokha, imprisoned since September. She also urged Cambodia to allow civil society and media to operate freely.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has held power for more than three decades, has sought to neutralize political opponents and silence critics ahead of national elections next year. Kem Sokha has been charged with trying to topple the government with U.S. support, which Washington has said is a baseless accusation.</p>
<p>Nauert said Cambodia’s actions run counter to the Paris Peace Agreements of 1991. The United States and 18 other governments signed the accords, which ushered in democracy after the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s, then occupation by Vietnam and civil war.</p>
<p>Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will restrict entry into the United States of “those individuals involved in undermining democracy in Cambodia,” Nauert said in a statement, adding that in certain circumstances, family members of those individuals will also be subject to visa restrictions. The department cited a provision of U.S. immigration law under which individuals can be denied entry if the secretary determines it would have “adverse foreign policy consequences.”</p>
<p>The White House has already terminated U.S. support of Cambodia’s national election committee, saying last month that the July 2018 vote “will not be legitimate, free or fair.”</p>
<p>“We will continue to monitor the situation and take additional steps as necessary, while maintaining our close and enduring ties with the people of Cambodia,” Nauert said.</p>
<p>Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said Cambodia would give the U.S. government time to understand the current situation in the country but said Washington should not only believe what the opposition is saying. Still, he said the relationship between the U.S. and Cambodia remained unchanged despite the new restrictions.</p>
<p>“It is the decision made by the United States government, but for Cambodia, the relationship of the two countries remains the same,” he said Thursday.</p>
<p>Monovithya Kem, an opposition spokeswoman currently in the U.S., welcomed the visa restrictions and called for targeted financial sanctions on senior officials in Hun Sen’s government. Kem, who is the daughter of Kem Sokha, urged the U.S., Japan, Australia and the European Union to coordinate responses to the “crisis” in Cambodia and help win her father’s freedom.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Like many prominent opposition figures, Kem has fled Cambodia as she fears arrest.</p>
<p>Hun Sen has been in office since 1985 and has held a tight grip on power since ousting a co-prime minister in a bloody 1997 coup.</p>
<p>In recent months, the government has intensified restrictions on civil society groups and independent media outlets. In September, it shut down the English-language Cambodia Daily. Authorities have shuttered radio stations that aired programming from U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia and Voice of America, whose reports they allege are biased.</p>
<p>The government also expelled the U.S. National Democratic Institute, which helped train political parties and election monitors, accusing it of colluding with its opponents.</p>
<p>Hun Sen has moved Cambodia closer to China in recent years and become increasingly critical of Washington. However, he’s been complimentary of President Donald Trump.</p>
<p>Speaking at Asian leaders’ summit attended by Trump last month, Hun Sen praised the U.S. leader for non-interference in affairs of other nations, but complained the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia was not adhering to the policy.</p> | US restricts visas for Cambodians ‘undermining democracy’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/1102855/us-restricts-visas-for-cambodians-undermining-democracy.html | 2017-12-06 | 2 |
<p>As I listened to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu address an animated crowed of supporters on March 22, I felt physically sick. The man has already displayed time and again a complete lack of moral sense or ethical framework in his words and actions. In his recent arguments, he once again twisted history, manipulated facts and fabricated his own selective, self-interested and highly questionable narrative. Netanyahu, a colonialist from a faraway land, also had the audacity to convince himself and a few others that he had legal, moral and historic rights over my land. While I am the son of a Palestinian family rooted in Palestine since time immemorial, Netanyahu is the son of an immigrant from Lithuania. While he giddily robs more Palestinian land in Jerusalem, I live in exile.</p>
<p>Netanyahu was addressing the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The ‘powerful’ lobby group encompasses a large conglomerate of rightwing Zionist politicians and lobbyists and is seen by many as the most instrumental platform that influences – and, to a large degree, controls – US foreign policy regarding Palestine, Israel and the entire Middle East.</p>
<p>AIPAC is dangerous for many reasons. For one, it’s not a lobby group in the conventional sense – meaning a group of well-paid lobbyists harassing US Congressmen with telephone calls with the hope of advancing the agenda of their benefactors (in this case, the state of Israel). The pro-Israel lobby has actually grown and morphed into a political body that is embedded within all branches of the US government, as well as the media, academia and elsewhere. It is no secret that the neo-conservative cliques of politicians who engineered, steered and to an extent continue to influence US war policy are in fact a mere component of the same ‘lobby’.</p>
<p>While Jewish communities in the US may not be united in their support of the largely rightwing and hawkish Zionist lobby groups, both major political parties in the US and all branches of the government stand in complete support of Israel. The AIPAC annual conference is almost mandatory for them. Sadly, Netanyahu’s speech before AIPAC is of equal, if not of greater import to some of them than the State of the Union address. Following Obama’s address in 2010, many US politicians openly voiced criticism of his take on many issues. But few dare challenge Netanyahu on much of the malice he spewed on March 22.</p>
<p>Americans need to realize that this is no longer about Palestine and Israel. It is now about their own country, their own sovereignty and the future of their own democracy. They must ask hard questions and refuse to settle for sentimental answers. How could America be so divided on so many issues, yet so united on the ‘cause of Israel’? Where does a feeble politician like Netanyahu find the courage to defy the president of the very country that supplied his own with many billions of taxpayer dollars? Of course, we know that much of the fund was used to occupy, torment and wage war on Palestinians for many years. This is the atrocious fact that Americans need to understand fully: Israeli war crimes were made possible because of American funds, weapons and political cover. America is not an outside party to the conflict. It has done more than its fair share in the ongoing Palestinian tragedy.</p>
<p>Even if one is somehow convinced by the most recent and unusually strong stance taken by the Obama administration regarding Israel’s settlement policy in East Jerusalem, there still remains the question of what comes next. When the President of the United States articulates a seemingly unmovable US position that rejects the building of more illegal settlements that would preclude any possible peace talks, and yet he fails to weaken Israel’s resolve even by an iota, some questions must be asked. Will the US use its leverage to twist Israel’s arm to respect international law? Will it at least hold on to some of the billions of dollars of funds that it continues to pour into Israel – especially as the US undergoes an unprecedented financial crisis, resulting in growing poverty and homelessness?</p>
<p>The answer might be in the UPI report on March 26, citing Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz:</p>
<p>“Despite the sharpest rift in decades between Israel and the United States, the Pentagon is reported to have given the green light to the $250 million sale of C-130J transport aircraft to Israel…The deal…involves three ‘Super Hercules’ aircraft manufactured especially to the Israeli air force’s requirements. (The report) indicates that despite the belief among the United States’ top military commanders that Israel’s failure to reach a peaceful settlement with the Palestinians is undermining U.S. influence and standing in the Muslim world and thus endangering its forces, the Pentagon is prepared to maintain Israel’s military superiority in the Middle East.”</p>
<p>The timing and the nature of the ‘sale’ signify the following: first, if the US government was ready to actively back up its supposed disagreement with Israel, it would have stopped this unwarranted sale. Second, considering that the deal was made through the Pentagon, the very platform used to express concern and call for at least a reconsideration of US policy in the region, the sale is both a slap on the face of the US military, and a veiled apology to Israel. Third, if the failure to reexamine this absence relationship continues, then there is absolutely no doubt left that US foreign policy in the Middle East is indeed held hostage to Israeli, not American priorities, misguided at times as they maybe.</p>
<p>Those individuals in the US government, military and media that have the courage and the platform to confront Israel must take the opportunity. They should not succumb to intimidation or fear, nor should they be swayed by Netanyahu’s lies. The fact is, Netanyahu will continue to lie; it’s what he does best. The onus is on those US politicians who readily and barefacedly continue to give the professional liar a standing ovation following every statement he utters. And it is only really they who give any power to the ‘powerful’ lobby.</p>
<p>RAMZY BAROUD is editor of <a href="http://www.PalestineChronicle.com" type="external">PalestineChronicle.com</a>. His work has been published in many newspapers and journals worldwide. His latest book is <a href="" type="internal">The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle</a> (Pluto Press, London). His newbook is, “ <a href="" type="internal">My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story</a>” (Pluto Press, London).</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://greentags.bigcartel.com/" type="external">WORDS THAT STICK</a></p>
<p /> | The Lobby v. America | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/04/02/the-lobby-v-america/ | 2010-04-02 | 4 |
<p>GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Henrik Lundqvist had gotten his team to the shootout, but the veteran goalie needed a moment to collect his thoughts as he stared down longtime former teammate Derek Stepan with the game and an additional point on the line.</p>
<p>Lundqvist got the job done one final time, stopping Stepan on the final attempt of the shootout.</p>
<p>Lundqvist stopped 37 shots through overtime and all three he faced in the tiebreaker, Mika Zibanejad scored in the shootout and the New York Rangers beat the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 Saturday night.</p>
<p>Lundqvist's save on Stepan, a teammate for seven seasons until he was traded to Arizona last June, sealed New York's third win in five games, and seventh point in the last four.</p>
<p>"The best thing is for me is to be in the moment and not think about what he's going to do. ... It's a mind game almost when you face Derek there at the end," Lundqvist said. "I don't want to start overthinking it. But it was fun."</p>
<p>Stepan smiled a little when reliving the moment with his ex-teammate.</p>
<p>"He's the king for a reason. He backbones that team really nicely and he was excellent," Stepan said. "I thought it was actually going to squeak by him but somehow he got a pad on it."</p>
<p>Brady Skjei took a slashing penalty on Arizona's Clayton Keller at 1:29 of overtime, setting up a Coyotes power play. However, Arizona couldn't take advantage.</p>
<p>Jimmy Vesey scored the tying goal in the second period for the Rangers, who are 6-2-2 in their last 10 and went to overtime for the fifth time in seven games.</p>
<p>Anthony Duclair scored midway through the first for his second goal in two games for the Coyotes, who have earned at least a point in four of seven games. Antti Raanta, who came over in the trade with Stepan, finished with 24 saves in his first time facing his former team.</p>
<p>"When I got a couple of saves and got into the rhythm, it was awesome playing against (Lundqvist)," Raanta said.</p>
<p>Duclair did just about everything he could to set up his goal. A nudge he delivered to the Rangers? Kevin Shattenkirk led to a penalty on the defenseman for delay of game when he dislodged the goal from its mooring.</p>
<p>Duclair scored seven seconds later at 10:50 of the first. Duclair helped teammate Christian Dvorak dig out the puck on a faceoff, then was in position on the flank as Dvorak delivered a backhand pass to Stepan for a shot. Stepan's try came out to Duclair, who put the puck away for Arizona's fifth power-play goal in four games.</p>
<p>"Could be our best period of the year," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "We should have had three or four goals."</p>
<p>Vesey tied it at 5:11 of the second as he stole the puck from the Coyotes? Oliver Ekman-Larsson and put a shot past Raanta from the side for his ninth of the season.</p>
<p>"He was a force. He carried the puck with speed. He's tough to stop when he's got a lot of momentum like that," the Rangers? J.T. Miller said of Vesey. "?Hank? (Lundqvist) gave us every chance to win so we found a way to get it done, I guess."</p>
<p>Lundqvist kept the Coyotes from regaining the lead when he got a glove on a hard shot from Duclair at 10:05.</p>
<p>Raanta was also solid. He sent away a screaming shot from Marc Staal with 3 1/2 minutes left in the second, and went spread-eagle for another stop with 5:44 to go in the third.</p>
<p>The Rangers got close to taking the lead early in the third amid a flurry of activity in front of the net with Raanta out, but the puck bounced away and was cleared. The Coyotes had two shots in succession on Lundqvist a few minutes later, but he stopped Duclair's try and the rebound by Brad Richardson.</p>
<p>"Typical NHL. It was tight, it was hard fought in the third," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "We got a big penalty kill in overtime and ... at the end of the day, Hank was the best player on the ice and permitted us to get two points."</p>
<p>NOTES: Lundqvist earned his 424th career win, passing Tony Esposito for sole possession of eighth place on the NHL's career list. Lundqvist trails Jacques Plante by 13 for seventh place. He also appeared in his 777th game, tying Tom Barrasso for 19th place. ... Rangers F Mats Zuccarello, the team's assists leader, did not play due to illness, missing his first game of the season. ... Richardson played for the first time since Dec. 23, missing four games with an upper-body injury. ... Recently claimed C Freddie Hamilton still has yet to play for the Coyotes. He was scratched on Saturday.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Rangers: At Vegas on Sunday night.</p>
<p>Coyotes: Host Edmonton on Friday night.</p>
<p>GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Henrik Lundqvist had gotten his team to the shootout, but the veteran goalie needed a moment to collect his thoughts as he stared down longtime former teammate Derek Stepan with the game and an additional point on the line.</p>
<p>Lundqvist got the job done one final time, stopping Stepan on the final attempt of the shootout.</p>
<p>Lundqvist stopped 37 shots through overtime and all three he faced in the tiebreaker, Mika Zibanejad scored in the shootout and the New York Rangers beat the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 Saturday night.</p>
<p>Lundqvist's save on Stepan, a teammate for seven seasons until he was traded to Arizona last June, sealed New York's third win in five games, and seventh point in the last four.</p>
<p>"The best thing is for me is to be in the moment and not think about what he's going to do. ... It's a mind game almost when you face Derek there at the end," Lundqvist said. "I don't want to start overthinking it. But it was fun."</p>
<p>Stepan smiled a little when reliving the moment with his ex-teammate.</p>
<p>"He's the king for a reason. He backbones that team really nicely and he was excellent," Stepan said. "I thought it was actually going to squeak by him but somehow he got a pad on it."</p>
<p>Brady Skjei took a slashing penalty on Arizona's Clayton Keller at 1:29 of overtime, setting up a Coyotes power play. However, Arizona couldn't take advantage.</p>
<p>Jimmy Vesey scored the tying goal in the second period for the Rangers, who are 6-2-2 in their last 10 and went to overtime for the fifth time in seven games.</p>
<p>Anthony Duclair scored midway through the first for his second goal in two games for the Coyotes, who have earned at least a point in four of seven games. Antti Raanta, who came over in the trade with Stepan, finished with 24 saves in his first time facing his former team.</p>
<p>"When I got a couple of saves and got into the rhythm, it was awesome playing against (Lundqvist)," Raanta said.</p>
<p>Duclair did just about everything he could to set up his goal. A nudge he delivered to the Rangers? Kevin Shattenkirk led to a penalty on the defenseman for delay of game when he dislodged the goal from its mooring.</p>
<p>Duclair scored seven seconds later at 10:50 of the first. Duclair helped teammate Christian Dvorak dig out the puck on a faceoff, then was in position on the flank as Dvorak delivered a backhand pass to Stepan for a shot. Stepan's try came out to Duclair, who put the puck away for Arizona's fifth power-play goal in four games.</p>
<p>"Could be our best period of the year," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "We should have had three or four goals."</p>
<p>Vesey tied it at 5:11 of the second as he stole the puck from the Coyotes? Oliver Ekman-Larsson and put a shot past Raanta from the side for his ninth of the season.</p>
<p>"He was a force. He carried the puck with speed. He's tough to stop when he's got a lot of momentum like that," the Rangers? J.T. Miller said of Vesey. "?Hank? (Lundqvist) gave us every chance to win so we found a way to get it done, I guess."</p>
<p>Lundqvist kept the Coyotes from regaining the lead when he got a glove on a hard shot from Duclair at 10:05.</p>
<p>Raanta was also solid. He sent away a screaming shot from Marc Staal with 3 1/2 minutes left in the second, and went spread-eagle for another stop with 5:44 to go in the third.</p>
<p>The Rangers got close to taking the lead early in the third amid a flurry of activity in front of the net with Raanta out, but the puck bounced away and was cleared. The Coyotes had two shots in succession on Lundqvist a few minutes later, but he stopped Duclair's try and the rebound by Brad Richardson.</p>
<p>"Typical NHL. It was tight, it was hard fought in the third," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "We got a big penalty kill in overtime and ... at the end of the day, Hank was the best player on the ice and permitted us to get two points."</p>
<p>NOTES: Lundqvist earned his 424th career win, passing Tony Esposito for sole possession of eighth place on the NHL's career list. Lundqvist trails Jacques Plante by 13 for seventh place. He also appeared in his 777th game, tying Tom Barrasso for 19th place. ... Rangers F Mats Zuccarello, the team's assists leader, did not play due to illness, missing his first game of the season. ... Richardson played for the first time since Dec. 23, missing four games with an upper-body injury. ... Recently claimed C Freddie Hamilton still has yet to play for the Coyotes. He was scratched on Saturday.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Rangers: At Vegas on Sunday night.</p>
<p>Coyotes: Host Edmonton on Friday night.</p> | Lundqvist, Zibanejad lead Rangers past Coyotes in shootout | false | https://apnews.com/9f7aaeb3d4644249945e4b8e3a6b98ce | 2018-01-07 | 2 |
<p>With early voting already underway in key battleground states, outreach and education organizations focused on the Latino community are responding to <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/naleo/pages/190/attachments/original/1477432714/10_25_16_-_NALEO_State_Poll_Results.pdf?1477432714" type="external">surveys of early voters</a>with a mix of cautious optimism and concern over the disproportionate turnout numbers between states.</p>
<p>The National Association of Elected and Appointed Officials and conducted by the polling firm Latino Decisions conclude in a report that, “Latino voter contact rates in California, New York and Texas [are] much lower than in battleground states of Arizona, Florida, Nevada and North Carolina."</p>
<p>With competitive states ripe for picking in a tumultuous Republican campaign headed by Donald Trump, Democrats and the Clinton camp appear to be focused on putting pressure on the GOP in Latino-heavy states that have the greatest potential for electoral gains.</p>
<p>The Clinton campaign sent Bernie Sanders, Chelsea Clinton, and Michelle Obama to Arizona last week. Among their hopes were to mobilize the young Latino population.</p>
<p>RELATED: <a href="" type="internal">Can Latino Vote Help End GOP Reign in Arizona?</a></p>
<p>“We will not elect a president who objectifies women, who boasts about sexual assault…and this is a candidate who says to our Mexican brothers and sisters, you are rapists and you are criminals,” Sanders said to an enthusiastic crowd in Flagstaff, Arizona.</p>
<p>Heavy investment in battleground states appears to be paying off in votes in Nevada, North Carolina, Arizona, and Florida.</p>
<p>With the Democratic Party practically conceding the election in Texas, state party officials continue to struggle with Latino turnout throughout the Lone Star State. The report finds that 70 percent of Latinos in Texas have yet to be contacted with just two weeks to go before Election Day.</p>
<p>Texas doesn't track voters' ethnicity, but the Texas Secretary of State has reported an increase in Spanish-surname voters, <a href="http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/texas-sees-surge-latino-voters/" type="external">according to Texas Monthly.</a> Spanish surname is not a certain indication of Latino voters as some Latinos have names that would not fit the category, such as George P. Bush and others have married Hispanics and taken their spouse's Spanish surname. Also, Hispanics in Texas vote Republican in higher rates than in many other states.</p>
<p>Arturo Vargas, executive director of NALEO said, “It is time that the political and funding communities finally put their money where their mouths are by making the investments necessary now to engage Latinos for 2020, 2024 and beyond if we want the nation’s second largest population group to realize its true political potential once and for all.”</p>
<p>Other key finds from the poll:</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/stephenanuno" type="external">Stephen Nuño</a> is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Affairs at Northern Arizona University and an NBC Latino Contributor.</p>
<p>Follow NBC Latino on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NBCLatino" type="external">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCLatino" type="external">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://instagram.com/nbclatino/" type="external">Instagram</a>.</p> | Early Latino Turnout Numbers Give Reason for Optimism and Concern | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/election-day-2016/early-latino-turnout-numbers-give-reason-optimism-concern-n673341 | 2016-10-26 | 3 |
<p />
<p>This is a few days late, but bears mention. Several environmental groups <a href="http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/07/animal_groups_and_bp_reach_agr.html" type="external">reached a settlement</a> with BP and the Coast Guard last Friday for the company to remove live sea turtles from clumps of oil-soaked seagrasses in the Gulf before they light them on fire. This is fantastic news, as there have been more than 270 burns in the Gulf since the spill and hundreds of turtles found dead. The settlement is for two separate legal actions filed by environmental organizations against BP last week. One was a 60-day intent-to-sue for violations of the Endangered Species Act and other laws, and the other was an immediate injunction to stop the burns until turtle safety concerns could be met. The injunction <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-02/bp-coast-guard-will-save-turtles-from-oil-burns.html" type="external">may be renewed</a> if BP does not live up to its pledge to put trained biologists on boats with the burn crews.</p>
<p /> | Gulf Sea Turtles Win Protection, For Now | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/07/gulf-sea-turtles-win-protection-now/ | 2010-07-07 | 4 |
<p>Rachel Maddow shows fan photos of long lines at Florida’s early voter polling places during <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/" type="external">Sunday evening’s special edition</a> of her show.</p>
<p>South Florida’s determined early voters face a minefield’s worth of obstacles this week as they try to cast their ballots. In a special edition of MSNBC’s <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#49688441" type="external">The Rachel Maddow Show</a> last night, Maddow displayed a disturbing series of photos from her Florida fans showing ridiculously long lines at polling places across the state. According to Maddow, viewers reported waiting two hours and more to cast early ballots, and “have been sending us these pictures of people losing entire work days in an effort to cast a ballot.”</p>
<p>Rachel Maddow received a photo of Florida citizens lining up on Saturday before dawn hoping “if they got there early enough they could make it through the line in time to go to work or get home to their families … nope, not this year, not with Rick Scott’s rules re-striking voting time.”</p>
<p>Maddow squarely places the blame on Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott:</p>
<p>“After they had the long lines in 2008, Florida’s new Republican Governor Rick Scott last year decided to cut the days for early voting almost in half, obviously making a bad situation worse.” Despite pleas from various organizations, including the Florida Democratic Party and the non-partisan League of Women’s voters, Scott refused to extend early voting hours.”</p>
<p />
<p>She expresses outrage and heartfelt sympathy but urges, “If you are one of those people being forced to stand in those long lines tonight, tomorrow or on election day, honestly, your country needs you to do it.”</p>
<p>Yet another depressing photograph of long lines at Florida polling places from a Maddow fan.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Florida voters, long lines aren’t the only obstacles they face. <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/171030/tea-party-group-blocks-florida-voters-stops-water-handouts-polls" type="external">Brenton Mock reports for The Nation</a> that some people in Florida’s Hillsborough County (particularly ones who happen to be African American) showed up only to discover that they are among the “77 people–40 of them in Tampa–[who] won’t be able to file a regular ballot because the True the Vote-affiliated group, Tampa Vote Fair, has challenged their voting status.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Miami-Dade County Election Headquarters in Doral, Florida slammed its doors shut on nearly 200 early voters this Sunday, according to <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/04/v-fullstory/3081614/florida-democratic-party-files.html" type="external">The Miami Herald’s Patricia Mazzei</a>. The official reason given was that “the office did not have enough resources — only one ballot printer, five voting booths and two staffers — to handle the throng of voters,” but Mazzei strongly suspects it had more to do with Miami-Dade’s Republican mayor, Mayor Carlos Gimenez, not authorizing the extra hours. “This is America, not a third-world country,” fumed Myrna Peralta, who had waited over two hours with her 4-year-old grandson in tow (someone please nominate this woman for sainthood ASAP!)</p>
<p>Floridians hoping to avoid the long lines by filing absentee ballots are also finding themselves SOL (sh*t out of luck), because — <a href="http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/many-florida-voters-taking-monday-fill-out-turn-ab/nSxgn/" type="external">as Osceola County voters are discovering</a> — they still have to queue up to get their absentee ballot forms. As reported in last week by <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/10/25/obama-virginia-florida-cross-country/1657477/" type="external">David Jackson from USA Today</a>, the Obama campaign has been urging swing state supporters to vote early to ensure that their votes are counted.</p>
<p>If you missed Maddow’s show, you can watch the video below:</p>
<p />
<p>Visit NBCNews.com for <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com" type="external">breaking news</a>, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" type="external">world news</a>, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" type="external">news about the economy</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Elisabeth Parker</a> is a writer, Web designer, mom, political junkie, and dilettante. Come visit her at <a href="http://elisabethparker.com" type="external">ElisabethParker.Com</a>, friend her on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/elisabeth.parker.73" type="external">facebook</a>, or follow her on <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/iamelisabethp" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p> | Rachel Maddow Reports – Long Lines And Voter Suppression In Florida, Governor To Blame (VIDEO) | true | http://addictinginfo.org/2012/11/05/florida-voters-face-long-lines-repression-tactics/ | 2012-11-05 | 4 |
<p>The California coastal community hit hard by this week’s deadly mudslides is known as home to many celebrities. Among the most noted is Oprah Winfrey who posted a video of herself outside her Montecito mansion wading through near-knee deep mud. (Jan. 11)</p>
<p>The California coastal community hit hard by this week’s deadly mudslides is known as home to many celebrities. Among the most noted is Oprah Winfrey who posted a video of herself outside her Montecito mansion wading through near-knee deep mud. (Jan. 11)</p> | Mudslide Reaches Oprah’s Backyard | false | https://apnews.com/4dc2d5506b7b4bd0b33774bab38d6003 | 2018-01-11 | 2 |
<p>BRUSSELS (AP) — An American couple blocked from leaving Qatar (GUH’-tur) after being cleared in the death of their 8-year-old adopted daughter are now free to go as early as Wednesday.</p>
<p>U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement Tuesday the tiny Gulf nation has lifted a travel ban against Matthew and Grace Huang.</p>
<p>Kerry said the U.S. applauds the decision, and is looking forward to seeing the Los Angeles couple reunited with their other children.</p>
<p>The Huangs were arrested in Qatar in January 2013 on murder charges following the death of their adopted daughter, Gloria, who was born in Ghana.</p>
<p>They spent months in jail before being released on their own recognizance in November 2013. A Qatari appeals court overturned the charges last Sunday.</p>
<p>BRUSSELS (AP) — An American couple blocked from leaving Qatar (GUH’-tur) after being cleared in the death of their 8-year-old adopted daughter are now free to go as early as Wednesday.</p>
<p>U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement Tuesday the tiny Gulf nation has lifted a travel ban against Matthew and Grace Huang.</p>
<p>Kerry said the U.S. applauds the decision, and is looking forward to seeing the Los Angeles couple reunited with their other children.</p>
<p>The Huangs were arrested in Qatar in January 2013 on murder charges following the death of their adopted daughter, Gloria, who was born in Ghana.</p>
<p>They spent months in jail before being released on their own recognizance in November 2013. A Qatari appeals court overturned the charges last Sunday.</p> | Qatar lifts travel ban against US couple | false | https://apnews.com/a2f37e02c1944802a2501ae8c0e9f5e4 | 2014-12-02 | 2 |
<p>By <a href="" type="internal">Juan Cole</a> / <a href="https://www.juancole.com/2017/04/russia-sovereign-illegal.html" type="external">Informed Comment</a></p>
<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday slammed the Trump administration for its strike on Syria, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04/putin-syria-strike-illegal-damages-russia-ties-170407061121343.html" type="external">calling it illegal</a> and based on faulty intelligence. The Russians reaffirmed that they will cease sharing their Syria flight information with the Americans.</p>
<p>The information sharing had been done to avoid US planes colliding with Russian ones. But now, the Kremlin is implying, they think it unwise to let the US know what the Russian Aerospace Forces are up to in Syria.</p>
<p>The Russian news organ <a href="https://sputniknews.com/politics/201704071052387907-syria-us-strike-russia/" type="external">Sputnik alleged Friday</a> that Putin charged that “US attacks on Syria as an aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law, and under a trumped-up pretext at that. . .”</p>
<p />
<p>Sputnik quotes Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, as saying: “At the same time, in Putin’s opinion, total disregard for the use of chemical weapons by terrorists only drastically aggravates the situation.”</p>
<p>BBC Monitoring reported that Peskov castigated the US for the cruise missile strike on Shuayrat Air Base “as effectively helping Islamist militant groups active in Syria, including the so-called Islamic State and the al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front.”</p>
<p>Interfax quoted him, “We don’t actually know what Washington’s aims were when they decided to carry out these strikes. . . But what is unmistakable is the fact that the strikes were in effect carried out in the interests of Islamic State, the al-Nusra Front and other terrorist organisations. This is regrettable.”</p>
<p>He affirmed, in answer to a question, that the US had struck a Russian ally: “Since we are providing support to the Syrian armed forces in accordance with a request from the Syrian leadership, Syria is our ally.” He denied that there was any point in the US and Russia trading information about military aviation in Syria to avoid incidents between the two. He said that Putin had not plans to contact Trump about the missile strike.</p>
<p>Russia Today Arabic, <a href="https://arabic.rt.com/world/872132-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A8-%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%88%D9%83-%D9%85%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%AF-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7/" type="external">a Moscow government mouthpiece</a>, compared Trump to the Bushes, saying that he couldn’t find any other way to demonstrate his masculinity to his critics than to hit an obscure little airbase in Syria. This level of ridicule directed toward Trump is rare in the Russian press.</p> | Russia Calls U.S. Attack on Syria Illegal | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/russia-calls-u-s-attack-on-syria-illegal/ | 2017-04-08 | 4 |
<p />
<p>No employer wants their workers coming into the office while coughing up a lung, especially when the flu is running rampant across the country. But, would you actually ask your workers to be vaccinated? And can you fire them for refusing to comply?</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Tristate, a health-care company in Cincinati did just that this year, laying off over 100 workers who failed to receive their flu vaccinations by the December 3 deadline, FOX19.com reported. Similar terminations have popped up in Florida and Pennsylvania, all at hospitals and health-care companies.</p>
<p>Polly Wright, senior consultant at HR Consultants, said certain states such as Ohio are requiring hospitals have their employees vaccinated the same way other shots have been mandated.</p>
<p>"States are putting pressure on health care employers because of the way they interact with patients," Wright said. "Here in Pennsylvania, we have had nursing homes do this as well, because the flu spreads like wildfire, and that puts stress on the residents and staff as well."</p>
<p>Before working at businesses that are in the health-care sector, employers often have their workers go through pre-employment medical screenings. Having them get the flu shot would fall into the same category, Wright said.</p>
<p>Even a consulting firm or retail business would be able to require workers to get the shot, she said.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>"However, there is less of a ground for employers to terminate you if you choose not to get a flu shot," in those industries, Wright said.</p>
<p>Employees do have the right to refuse getting the shot, and if they are refusing for religious reasons, or moral grounds, may even have means for a lawsuit if they are terminated and do not work in an at-will state, Wright said. At-will states, including New York, certify that private employers have the right to terminate workers "at-will" and do not need to give cause.</p>
<p>For example, one nurse from the Cincinati Children's Hospital Center is actually suing for $650,000, after refusing the shot due to her beliefs as a Vegan, according to the Columbus Dispatch.</p>
<p>So the bottom line is, private employers can ask that their workers be vaccinated, and do have the right to terminate them in at-will states if they so choose.&#160; There are legal risks for doing so, if the worker is using class protection as their reason. Wright said lawsuits are infrequent in this situation, as are terminations.</p>
<p>"Employers may encourage [vaccinations] because of the devastation [illnesses] can cause to their employees," she said. "And in a non-healthcare setting, there really is no law that says you can't fire someone who won't get a flu shot. But the protections of the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) make it almost impossible to do."</p> | Do Employees Have the Right to Refuse Flu Shot? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/01/18/do-employees-have-right-to-refuse-flu-shot.html | 2016-03-23 | 0 |
<p>Limbaugh Attacks "Michelle, My Butt" For "Talking About Nutrition." On the October 18 edition of his radio show, Rush Limbaugh said:</p>
<p>LIMBAUGH: Liberalism, socialism, communism responsible for more deaths than cell phones could ever hope to be. Liberalism, socialism, communism is responsible for more deaths than cancer. Yet everything they do is predicated on saving us from ourselves, everything they do is predicated on keeping us safe. Michelle, my butt -- uh, Michelle, my belle Obama out there talking about nutrition. You can't eat that, you shouldn't eat that. She's making field trips to food manufacturers trying to force them to alter the way they manufacture food. [Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show, <a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_101810/content/01125115.member.html" type="external">10/18/10</a>]</p>
<p>Limbaugh: "Michelle, My Butt" Is "Not Drawing Big Crowds And She's Not Happy About This." From the November 2 edition of Limbaugh's show:</p>
<p>LIMBAUGH: Why is he leaving town and taking 3,000 people with him two days after the election, a trip which has been planned for months? Democrats all over the country are asking him to redo his whole agenda. His wife, Michelle, my butt -- uh, uh, Michelle, my belle Obama, she's out there, and she's not drawing big crowds and she's not happy about this. She thinks that her time has been wasted.</p>
<p>She's out there amongst the little people and the little people didn't show up, except for Harry Reid. Did you see them walk out together on the stage? Harry Reid looks like a dwarf walking out. Michelle is not happy. The big crowds didn't show up. And there are stories in the media today about how she was the best asset they had, and they didn't use her properly. [The Rush Limbaugh Show, <a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_110210/content/01125104.member.html" type="external">11/2/10</a>]</p>
<p>Limbaugh Refers To "Michelle, My Butt" and Purports to "Apologize." From the November 8 edition of Limbaugh's show:</p>
<p>LIMBAUGH: This is CNN, their Web page: "For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too." This is a nutrition professor. "His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most -- not the nutritional value of the food. The premise held up: On his 'convenience store diet' --" now, remember, this is what Michelle, my butt -- uh, that's the second time I've done that and I apologize.</p>
<p>You know, I have sworn, folks, that I'm not gonna pass on stories to you that have to do with her fashion sense, 'cause I, frankly, don't care. I really don't care. But some of it's getting too hard to stomach now. The fact that she's a fashion icon, I'm sorry. When she gets off the plane wearing something that looks like it's got grease splotches on the dress, looks like she ran up against the hydraulic machine on the airplane and they're calling it a fashion statement, I'm sorry, it doesn't cut it with me. [The Rush Limbaugh Show, <a href="http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_110810/content/01125106.member.html" type="external">11/8/10</a>]</p>
<p>Limbaugh Calls Michelle Obama "Michelle, My Butt." On the December 13 edition of his radio show, Limbaugh said:</p>
<p>LIMBAUGH: I was joking a moment ago about Michelle, my butt -- damn it. Michelle my belle's' obesity thing out here. Look at this. Speaking at Monday's -- AP -- it's at Newsbusters and a number of places. Speaking at Monday's signing ceremony for the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act or Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act -- See, I didn't know if -- I keep getting confused -- if today's bill is to stop kids from starving to death or to keep them from getting fat." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, <a href="/video/2010/12/13/limbaugh-misleadingly-suggests-nutrition-bill-w/174320" type="external">12/13/10</a>]</p>
<p>Limbaugh Discusses Michelle Obama's Supposed Weight Gain "Below The Waist" With Caller. On the October 18 edition of Limbaugh's radio show, a caller theorized that Obama had gained weight. Limbaugh replied: "I'm glad you said it and not me. Where has she gained all this weight? What did you see?" He later asked the caller:</p>
<p>LIMBAUGH: Look, as one woman looking at another, Barb, where has she gained 30 pounds? What are you seeing?</p>
<p>CALLER: She was in a pantsuit and she looks like she's gained it all over. And I am all about nutrition, I am all about looking fit, being fit, but you don't stand up on a podium and come in and tell General Mills -- the quote in the paper, if they don't change, it will be the government or else.</p>
<p>LIMBAUGH: Yes you most certainly do if you are a Marxist totalitarian type. You most certainly do. Okay, so she said pantsuit, focused on below the waist, Michelle's gained 30 pounds. You figure out where it must be. She said it, folks. [The Rush Limbaugh Show, <a href="/video/2010/10/18/limbaugh-thanks-caller-for-bringing-up-michelle/172097" type="external">10/18/10</a>]</p>
<p>Limbaugh: Hillary Clinton Wasn't Let Into Marines Because "They Didn't Have Uniforms Or Boots Big Enough To Fit That Butt And Those Ankles." From the September 23, 2009 edition of Limbaugh's show:</p>
<p>LIMBAUGH: Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State. With her many years of military experience and training tells us that the general doesn't know what he's talking about. And I made mention of the fact that, you know, she once tried to join the Marines. That's as close as she got. I couldn't remember if it was the Marines or the Army. Close as she ever got. And she tried to say they wouldn't let her in because it was sexist and she was a woman, and so on. That wasn't the reason. They didn't have uniforms or boots big enough to fit that butt and those ankles. [The Rush Limbaugh Show, <a href="/video/2009/09/23/limbaugh-hillary-clinton-wasnt-let-into-marines/154948" type="external">9/23/09</a>]</p>
<p>Limbaugh Compares Rosie O'Donnell To A "Killer Whale." On the February 26 edition of his show, Limbaugh said:</p>
<p>LIMBAUGH: I'm watching the networks here, and they're getting ready for the press conference from Sea World. This is the most amazing thing. They've got a podium and microphone set up in front of the tank with a glass wall. You can see the -- You can see the killer whales all swimming around, and one of them keeps coming to the glass as though it wants to say something</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>I'm told that's not a killer whale. That's Rosie O'Donnell. I'm sorry, I'm not watching this in high definition." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, <a href="/video/2010/02/26/rush-on-killer-whale-press-conference-thats-not/160985" type="external">2/26/10</a>]</p>
<p>Limbaugh On Martha Coakley: "If It Weren't For Her Varicose Veins, She Would Be Totally Colorless." On January 18, Limbaugh said: "The narrative is to throw Marsha Coakley under the bus, that she blew it. And she has, she has -- I mean, if it weren't for her varicose veins, she would be totally colorless. There's not question about that. But here are the biggest factors: Scott Brown worked his tail off." [The Rush Limbaugh Show, <a href="/video/2010/01/18/limbaugh-on-martha-coakley-if-it-werent-for-her/159202" type="external">1/18/10</a>]</p>
<p>Limbaugh: "Feminism Was Established So As To Allow Unattractive Women Easier Access To The Mainstream of Society." On the April 10, 2009 edition of his show, Limbaugh discussed a story about the impact of breast implants on one's career and said:</p>
<p>LIMBAUGH: Can I redirect you to feminist truth number 24, undeniable truth of life number 24, written by me in the mid-eighties: Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society. It's proved practically every day in our modern culture. [The Rush Limbaugh Show, <a href="/video/2009/04/10/discussing-breast-implants-limbaugh-again-claim/149085" type="external">4/10/09</a>]</p>
<p>Limbaugh: "I Love The Women's Movement. Especially Walking Behind It." Limbaugh stated on February 3:</p>
<p>LIMBAUGH: Oh, I'm a huge supporter of women. What I'm not is a supporter of liberalism. Feminism is what I oppose, and feminism has led women astray. I love women. I don't know where all this got started. I love the women's movement, especially when walking behind it. This idea that I don't like women is absurd. [Fox News' Fox &amp; Friends, <a href="/video/2010/02/03/limbaugh-responds-to-criticism-that-hes-sexist/159971" type="external">2/3/10</a>]</p>
<p /> | Limbaugh Repeatedly Calls First Lady "Michelle, My Butt" | true | http://mediamatters.org/research/201012140031 | 2010-12-14 | 4 |
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<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel traveled to Albuquerque on Wednesday to tour Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base.</p>
<p>The tour was closed to local media, but Hagel was expected to receive briefings on the modernization, safety and security of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.</p>
<p>Hagel visited federal facilities in Texas earlier Wednesday. He first stopped at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio to visit with wounded veterans, hospital workers and staff. He later spoke at the Center for the Intrepid, thanking service members for their care and support of wounded troops.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Secretary of Defense tours Kirtland, Sandia | false | https://abqjournal.com/333391/secretary-of-defense-tours-kirtland-sandia.html | 2 |
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<p>Human beings have had quite an impact on this planet and a cool video has emerged showing how our population has grown and spread over time.</p>
<p>There is no doubt about it, the human population has exploded since World War II and this <a href="http://www.realclearlife.com/history/how-human-population-exploded/" type="external">video</a>&#160;illustrates&#160;the sudden and exponential growth over time.</p>
<p>We may have ensured our high numbers on the back of medical breakthroughs and mass farming. However, the worrying part of this is that the Earth is a finite size and resources are limited.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/videos/bindi-irwins-original-un-edited-essay-regarding-ov/17157/" type="external">Bindi Irwin</a> (the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin’s daughter) once put it, over-population is like having a party and inviting 15 people and then having 70 people turn up, we are just not&#160;physically able to cater for that many.</p>
<p>The metaphor is a poignant one. Resources are limited.</p>
<p>With the current political climate being worrisome, environmental concerns are taking a backseat to racial tensions. Global warming, overpopulation, and now the scary prospect of war are all contributing to the <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/article/what-is-the-doomsday-clock" type="external">doomsday</a>clock being very close to midnight.</p>
<p>The video starts off in Africa and spreads.</p>
<p>It is really interesting to see how the movement of people throughout the world actually occurred. In 100,000 years we have gone from a population of less than one million people to currently over seven billion, and counting.</p>
<p>When the first man walked across the plains of Africa, it would have been hard to guess that this species would be so successful in taking over the world.</p>
<p>Compared to predators, we look so ill-equipped. We would have been out-run by many creatures. It is obviously the development of tools and weapons that somehow put us on top of the food chain and has allowed this world dominance.</p>
<p>It is sad to think our flourishing success could easily also bring our own downfall. There seem to be many anti-science/pro-greed voices right now who are only considering money at a time where we are actually approaching a crisis.</p>
<p>By only caring about the short-term we humans &#160;may be like Nero, fiddling while Rome was burning.</p>
<p>The real question is, are we smart enough to save it?</p>
<p>Watch how we have grown here:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Featured image via <a href="https://youtu.be/PUwmA3Q0_OE" type="external">YouTube</a></p> | The Cool – And Scary – Time Lapse Of Human Population Growth On Earth (VIDEO) | true | http://offthemainpage.com/2017/02/05/the-cool-and-scary-time-lapse-of-human-population-growth-on-earth-video/ | 2017-02-05 | 4 |
<p>Jan 25 (Reuters) - Automated Systems Holdings Ltd:</p>
<p>* EXPECTED TO RECORD INCREASE OF MORE THAN 20% IN REVENUE FOR FY 2017</p>
<p>* EXPECTED TO RECORD INCREASE OF MORE THAN 55% NET PROFIT FOR YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2017</p>
<p>* EXPECTED RESULT DUE TO ‍REVENUE, GROSS PROFIT &amp; NET PROFIT OF GRID DYNAMICS FOR PERIOD 7 APRIL 2017 TO 31 DECEMBER 2017​ Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>CANONSBURG, Pa. (Reuters) - The Democrat candidate claimed a congressional election in a Republican heartland in Pennsylvania, as a vote seen as a referendum on Donald Trump’s performance as president remained officially too close to call early on Wednesday.</p>
<p>In an ominous sign for Republicans eight months before national midterm elections, official results with all ballots from voting booths counted showed moderate Democrat Conor Lamb leading conservative Republican Rick Saccone by a fraction of a percentage point.</p>
<p>Trump won the Pennsylvania 18th Congressional District that they are contesting by almost 20 points in the 2016 presidential election.</p>
<p>With TV networks, which often call U.S. elections, yet to predict a winner, officials were continuing to count several hundred absentee ballots to try to determine the result.</p>
<p>Democratic sources said that, once those ballots were included, they expected Lamb to have won the election by more than 400 votes.</p>
<p>“It took a little longer than we thought but we did it. You did it,” Lamb, a U.S. Marines veteran, told cheering supporters late on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Speaking before Lamb claimed victory, Saccone - who has described himself as “Trump before Trump was Trump” - said the contest was not yet over.</p>
<p>“We’re going to fight all the way to the end. You know I never give up,” the 60-year-old state told supporters.</p> MODERATE DEMOCRAT
<p>The strong showing by Lamb, 33, seems certain to buoy Democrats nationally as they seek to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives from Republicans in the November elections.</p>
<p>Republican dominance had been so strong in the district, a patchwork of small towns, farms and Pittsburgh suburbs, that Democrats ran no candidates in the previous two U.S. House elections here. Lamb’s image as a moderate seemed to have worked in his favor.</p>
<p>Saccone led the race by more than 10 percentage points in January.</p> U.S. Democratic congressional candidate Conor Lamb is greeted by supporters during his election night rally in Pennsylvania's 18th U.S. Congressional district special election against Republican candidate and State Rep. Rick Saccone, in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, March 13, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
<p>But Lamb, a pro-gun Democrat with strong backing from unions, surged in polls as Democratic voters sensed a chance to show their opposition to Trump.</p>
<p>Saccone, a former Air Force counter-intelligence officer, drew criticism toward the end of the campaign by saying that some of his opponents “have a hatred for God.”</p>
<p>The White House arranged a string of visits to energize Saccone supporters. Trump himself held a campaign rally for Saccone last weekend and on Tuesday he again voiced his backing.</p> Slideshow (17 Images) MOMENTUM BOOST
<p>The contest, to replace a Republican who resigned amid a scandal last year, was the latest good election showing for the Democrats, who also won a governor’s race in Virginia and scored a U.S. Senate upset in conservative Alabama.</p>
<p>The Pennsylvania result will have little bearing on the current balance of power in the House, but Democrats hope a win will boost their momentum as they try to pick up the 24 seats they need to gain control in November.</p>
<p>Of the 85 races currently viewed as competitive, 55 are in congressional districts that Trump won in 2016, according to the University of Virginia Center for Politics.</p>
<p>Saccone’s poor performance is worrying for Republicans who were sure that tax cuts, the party’s only major legislative achievement under Trump, would be a vote winner this year.</p>
<p>But that sweeping overhaul did little to energize local voters, some of whom dismissed it as a giveaway to the wealthy.</p>
<p>Republicans found it harder than expected to mount effective attacks on Lamb’s positions on abortion, guns and the national Democratic Party.</p>
<p>He has also eschewed the national Democrat brand, saying he would not support House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi as speaker.</p>
<p>Lamb says he personally opposes abortion but accepts the Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision allowing abortion as the law of the land.</p>
<p>Lamb, who hails from a prominent Pennsylvania political family, rarely mentions Trump, focusing on economic issues, healthcare and protecting Social Security and Medicare.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Peter Cooney and John Stonestreet</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May was due to announce on Wednesday what Britain would do against Russia after a midnight deadline she set expired without an explanation from Moscow about how a Soviet-era nerve toxin was used to attack a Russian ex-spy.</p> Russia's flag flies from the consular section of its embassy, in central London, Britain March 14, 2018. REUTERS/Phil Noble
<p>(Graphic: <a href="http://tmsnrt.rs/2FjA6EQ" type="external">tmsnrt.rs/2FjA6EQ</a>)</p>
<p>Sky News reported that May would expel a significant number of Russian diplomats. Her Downing Street office declined to comment and said she would outline the British response in a statement to parliament, expected around 1230 GMT (8.30 a.m. ET).</p>
<p>The United States, European Union and NATO voiced support for Britain after May said it was “highly likely” that Russia was behind the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter with Novichok, a nerve agent developed by the Soviet military.</p>
<p>Russia, which denied any involvement, said it was not responding to May’s ultimatum until it received samples of the nerve agent, in effect challenging Britain to show what sanctions it would impose against Russian interests.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-diplomats-sky/britain-to-expel-significant-number-of-russian-diplomats-sky-news-idUSKCN1GQ1J9" type="external">Britain to expel significant number of Russian diplomats: Sky News</a>
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-un/uk-calls-for-urgent-u-n-security-council-meeting-over-nerve-attack-idUSKCN1GQ1I5" type="external">UK calls for urgent U.N. Security Council meeting over nerve attack</a>
<a href="/article/us-britain-russia-lavrov/russias-lavrov-says-no-progress-made-in-stand-off-with-britain-idUSKCN1GQ194" type="external">Russia's Lavrov says no progress made in stand-off with Britain</a>
<p>“Moscow had nothing to do with what happened in Britain. It will not accept any totally unfounded accusations directed against it and will also not accept the language of ultimatums,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.</p>
<p>He said Russia remained open to cooperating with Britain in investigating the poisoning, blaming the British authorities for refusing to share information.</p>
<p>Russia’s Interfax news agency reported the Russian embassy in London planned to ask for consular access to Yulia Skripal, Sergei’s daughter.</p>
<p>Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said no progress had been made toward resolving the standoff, describing claims of Russian involvement in the attack as neither robust nor serious.</p>
<p>May chaired a meeting of the National Security Council at her Downing Street office on Wednesday morning and was expected to make a formal statement to parliament on the Skripal attack after her weekly question-and-answer session with lawmakers.</p> Dawn is reflected in the windows of the official residence of Russia's ambassador to Britain, in central London, March 14, 2018. REUTERS/Phil Noble TRUMP SUPPORT FOR UK
<p>The Foreign Office said Britain had called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to update members on the attack. Russia is also a member of the council.</p>
<p>The European Union Council’s president, Donald Tusk, said he was ready to put the attack on the Skripals on the agenda for a summit next week.</p>
<p>London could call on Western allies for a coordinated response, freeze the assets of Russian business leaders and officials, limit their access to London’s financial center, expel diplomats and even launch targeted cyber attacks.</p> Slideshow (9 Images)
<p>It may also cut back participation in the soccer World Cup, which Russia is hosting in June and July.</p>
<p>Russia is due to hold a presidential election on Sunday in which Vladimir Putin, himself a former KGB spy, is expected to coast to a fourth term in the Kremlin. He was first installed as Kremlin chief by Boris Yeltsin on the last day of 1999.</p>
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump told May by telephone Russia “must provide unambiguous answers regarding how this chemical weapon, developed in Russia, came to be used in the United Kingdom,” the White House said.</p>
<p>The White House said Trump and May “agreed on the need for consequences for those who use these heinous weapons in flagrant violation of international norms.”</p> Related Video
<p>A British readout of the conversation said, “President Trump said the US was with the UK all the way.”</p>
<p>Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found slumped unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in the genteel southern English city of Salisbury on March 4. They have been in a critical condition in hospital ever since.</p>
<p>British scientists identified the poison as a military-grade nerve agent from a group of chemicals known as Novichok, first developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.</p>
<p>May said either the Russian state had poisoned Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer, or Russia had somehow lost control of its chemical weapons. Putin said last year that it had destroyed its last stockpiles of such weapons.</p>
<p>Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Michael HoldenAdditional reporting by Polina Ivanova in Moscow, Writing by Estelle Shirbon, Editing by William Maclean</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Britain’s ambassador to Russia, Laurie Bristow, attended a meeting at Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday where the poisoning in Britain of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal was discussed, the diplomat said.</p>
<p>“I discussed with colleagues the recent incident in Salisbury and Russia’s response to the requests that we made earlier this week. Prime Minister Theresa May will be making a statement in the Houses of Parliament later on this afternoon,” Bristow said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Gennady Novik; Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Christian Lowe</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BERLIN (Reuters) - German lawmakers voted on Wednesday to re-elect Angela Merkel as chancellor for a fourth, and likely final, term that may prove her most challenging yet as she takes charge of a fragile coalition with her personal standing diminished.</p> German Chancellor Angela Merkel receives flowers after being re-elected as chancellor during a session of the German lower house of parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, March 14, 2018. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
<p>Lawmakers voted by 364 to 315, with nine abstentions, in favor of re-electing Merkel, a humbling start as the coalition of her conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) has 399 votes in the Bundestag lower house of parliament.</p>
<p>“I accept the vote,” a beaming Merkel, 63, told lawmakers.</p>
<p>In office since 2005, she has dominated Germany’s political landscape and steered the European Union through economic crisis.</p>
<p>But her authority was dented by her decision in 2015 to commit Germany to an open-door policy on migration, resulting in an influx of more than one million people.</p>
<p>She must now juggle competing domestic demands from her conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the SPD, just as Germany is locked in a trade stand-off with the United States.</p>
<p>“It is a good start for Germany to have a stable government... after so many months, there is now a big incentive to get down to work with energy,” Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said.</p> German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacts after being re-elected as chancellor during a session of the German lower house of parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, March 14, 2018. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
<p>Merkel was due to meet President Frank-Walter Steinmeier before returning to the Bundestag to be sworn in.</p>
<p>Ministers will then be sworn in later in the day - almost six months after last September’s national election in which both coalition partners lost support to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).</p> Slideshow (8 Images) FAULT LINES
<p>The conservative bloc only turned to the SPD to prolong the ‘grand coalition’ that has governed Germany since 2013 out of desperation, after talks on a three-way alliance with two smaller parties collapsed last November.</p>
<p>Fault lines have emerged in the new government even before its first cabinet meeting, with tensions evident over the sequencing and extent of reforms.</p>
<p>The pressure is on for both camps to deliver: the inclusion in the coalition deal of a clause that envisages a review of the government’s progress after two years gives each the opportunity to leave the alliance then if it is not working for them.</p>
<p>The priority the government gives to different reforms set out in the coalition deal, the extent to which it implements them, and the personnel involved promise a welter of competing pressures that Merkel will need all her political skill to balance.</p>
<p>The SPD only agreed to ally with Merkel after promising a list of distinctive policies to secure the approval of party members, many of whom wanted the SPD to regroup in opposition after the last four years in coalition damaged its standing among voters.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Madeline Chambers; editing by John Stonestreet</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | BRIEF-Automated Systems Expectes To Record Increase Of More Than 20% In Revenue For FY 2017 In warning for Trump, Democrat claims too-close-to-call Pennsylvania vote Britain and Russia brace for showdown over nerve attack on ex-spy British ambassador discusses Skripal case at Russia's Foreign Ministry German lawmakers elect weakened Merkel to fourth term | false | https://reuters.com/article/brief-automated-systems-expectes-to-reco/brief-automated-systems-expectes-to-record-increase-of-more-than-20-in-revenue-for-fy-2017-idUSFWN1PK0S0 | 2018-01-25 | 2 |
<p />
<p>As those who know me personally, and even you dear reader who have read my articles that cover topics hundreds and sometimes thousands of years in the past, it is no hard feat to say that I am a lover of history. &#160;I am one who adheres to both the adage “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it” and Einstein’s witticism, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”</p>
<p>It is therefore so frustrating to hear about what progressive propaganda drivel is being taught in class rooms nowadays. &#160;It’s not like it JUST happened, I went to college and had professors try to demonize the Founding Fathers and try to overstate the impact of footnote characters in history because they were either black or a woman. &#160;Don’t get me wrong, there are powerful and awe inspiring people of color and women throughout America’s history but if we are being honest, Indepence, a new Nation, the Constitution etc was written by rich white land owning men. &#160;Deal with it. &#160;There is nothing wrong with it.</p>
<p>And I love giving a shout out to Crispus Attucks, a black man who was the first casualty of the War for Independence when he stood shoulder to shoulder with other Bostonians (mostly white) during the Boston Massacre. &#160;And yes, Harriet Tubman was a brave and inspiring hero of the underground railroad. &#160;But does she deserve to be on the $20 bill more than Louis and Clark?</p>
<p>If you ever want to see a progressive liberal’s head explode remind them that Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr were both Republicans.</p>
<p>While these men and women deserve&#160;acknowledgement and study (MLK the most for his actual impact on History) the twisting of history by progressives would have us think that the Founding of America was done by blood thirsty slave owners whose works must slowly be undone before America can bet he utopia they imagine.</p>
<p>Our Founding Fathers weren’t perfect, but they did a pretty good job. &#160;This nation was founded on Faith and fortitude, personal liberty and personal responsibility, pride and passion…all things progressives would strike from the narrative of our history.</p>
<p>My friend Tami Jackson over at <a href="http://barbwire.com/2016/11/17/one-woman-battles-to-restore-real-not-revisionist-history-to-the-classroom/" type="external">barbwire.com</a>&#160;wrote&#160;an article about this topic and how one woman, Cynthia Dunbar is fighting to put truth back into history and wrest control from the progressives who wish to finish the brainwashing of academia.</p>
<p>Since the days of President Wilson and John Dewey, Progressives (née Socialists)&#160;have fought to gain control of America’s gatekeepers — academia, the media, entertainment. This struggle didn’t just begin amidst&#160;the turmoil of the 60’s with&#160;Timothy Leary’s infamous&#160;“Turn on, tune in, drop out” mindset. Certainly there were giant leaps for Progressive minds made in that decade.&#160;Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Society" type="external">Great Society</a>” programs began the wholescale dependence of lower income upon the government.</p>
<p>In the span of one decade, Progressives set the stage for subtle, but unrelenting indoctrination of subsequent generations of young people. Conjoined with LBJ’s Great Society agenda, the Left moved the public away from the Founders’ vision of faith and freedom, and toward an ever-increasing government dependency.</p>
<p>Now, 50 years later, academia in the United States is mostly controlled by the Progressives who have ushered in new textbooks to reaffirm their worldview. The gatekeepers keep a stranglehold on education materials, only approving those texts which reinforce the revisionist history worldview, a worldview that typically demonizes&#160;America, the Founders, the early settlers and pioneers.</p>
<p>But there are many in the nation who have not ceded the school room battle to The Left just yet, including Cynthia Dunbar.</p>
<p>Dunbar’s impressive <a href="http://www.cynthianolanddunbar.com/about-1.html" type="external">bio</a>:</p>
<p>Cynthia Dunbar is an American patriot of Native-American descent. She is the National Committeewoman to the RNC for VA, author, public speaker, attorney and CEO of Momentum Instruction, LLC. She formerly was an elected member of the Texas State Board of Education, Assistant Professor of Law, Advisor to the Provost of Liberty University, and an appellate attorney. While attending Law School at Regent University Dunbar received three separate American Jurisprudence Awards for excellence, and was a founding editor of the Law Review of Regent University School of Law. She has since conducted over 25 years of research and studies involving Constitutional and common law issues.</p>
<p>Cynthia Dunbar is currently awaiting a vote from the Texas State Board of Education, one of the most influential education entities in the nation (if Texas accepts new textbooks the nation will likely follow suit), re&#160;a textbook her publishing company, Momentum Instruction, LLC, has submitted, Mexican American Heritage.</p>
<p>The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) initially adopts a “course,” then adopts “standards for the course,” then they issue a “proclamation”&#160;sent to publishers with the state bid process for writing texts. SBOE had NOT adopted a Mexican studies course — a history course — but did adopt a “special topics in social studies and social studies standards&#160;course” which would allow for studies which include the history of America and Mexico, their wars and relations.</p>
<p>Cynthia submitted Mexican American Heritage (not hyphenated “Mexican-American”), authored by Jaime Riddle and Valarie Angle, in that context and has been met with&#160;irascible resistance every step of the way.</p>
<p>Well aware of Dunbar’s deep knowledge of the Founding Documents and First Principles, and of her efforts to reinvigorate America’s judeo-Christian principles, the SBOE has declared the text, as cited at <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/texas-mexican-american-history-textbook_us_582caf9de4b058ce7aa8bdc3" type="external">HuffPo</a>:</p>
<p>…a baffling,&#160;error-filled attempt to rewrite Mexican-American history</p>
<p>Tony Diaz, a well-known <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista_(Mexico)" type="external">Reconquista</a> (a movement predicated on the belief&#160;that the American Southwest should be wholly Mexican territory) proponent and activist,&#160; <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexican-american-textbook-in-texas-slammed-as-racist/" type="external">slammed the book</a>:</p>
<p>“Paradoxically, we pressed for the board to include texts on Mexican-American studies, and we achieved it, but not in the way we were expecting,” Tony Diaz, host of Nuestra Palabra (Our Word) radio program in Houston and director of Intercultural Initiatives at Lone Star College-North Harris, told the <a href="http://bit.ly/244zWSq" type="external">Houston Chronicle</a>. “Instead of a text that is respectful of the Mexican-American history, we have a book poorly written, racist, and prepared by non-experts.”</p>
<p>Google&#160;Mexican American Heritage and the search engine will return dozens of articles, all hit pieces savaging the textbook as nothing but racism.</p>
<p>But what is the actual truth? What is the truth of America and Mexico, of the battle at the Alamo?</p>
<p>All of the alleged&#160;errors to which HuffPo&#160;alludes are NOT errors, but rather ideological conflicts with what the public wanted included as if the course were a&#160;“MAS” course with fully developed Mexican-American Studies Standards. These requirements clearly could not govern since such a course and standards had never been adopted by the SBOE.</p>
<p>The supposed errors of the text were not, in fact errors, but rather actual true accounts of the situations and attitudes of the day.&#160;In an Alinsky-like flood of articles, sites accused Momentum Instruction, LLC, MI CEO Cynthia Dunbar, and the text&#160;Mexican American Heritage of promoting racism and racial stereotypes. What the book actually does with the text is factually recounts racially biased stereotypes that were historically held and used to justify inequality.</p>
<p>In contrast to the unsubstantiated tsunami of criticism, an objective review came from.&#160; <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-hernandez-ferrier-97222356" type="external">Maria Hernandez Ferrier, Ed.D.</a>,&#160;President Emerita, Texas A&amp;M University-San Antonio. Dr. Ferrier is an amazing educational expert and because of her impressive list of accomplishments, someone who deserves to be studied in history herself. Ferrier wrote:</p>
<p>Just a note to thank you for allowing me to review Mexican American Heritage. I found it interesting, well written and very well sourced. As a proud Mexican-American, I am blessed that my grandparents came to this great country during the Mexican Revolution and am also proud of the many contributions we have since made to our beloved United States of America.</p>
<p>Telling the truth to a Progressive when it does not fit into THEIR narrative? &#160;Racist and blasphemous. &#160;You can read the article in it’s entirety at barbwire.com at the following link:</p>
<p>The reaction from the left to Ms. Dunbar is the standard operating procedure of the progressives. &#160;First, invade academia. &#160;Second, rewrite the history books. &#160;Third, demonize anyone who disagrees as a bigot, racist and as ignorant.</p>
<p>You know you are hitting the mark the more progressives irrationally freak out over what you are doing.</p>
<p>For you see, one more adage applies most adeptly to progressives: “Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”</p>
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<p>We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.</p> | One Woman’s Battle To Restore REAL History To the Classroom and Remove the Revisionist Propaganda | true | http://bulletsfirst.net/2016/11/18/one-womans-battle-restore-real-history-classroom-remove-revisionist-propaganda/ | 0 |
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