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<p>Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is to deliver what aides call an "optimistic, conservative vision for the future" in his first unpaid speech since declaring his interest in a bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.</p>
<p>The son and brother of former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush is scheduled to speak at the Detroit Economic Club and offer what is expected to be the theme of a national campaign. He's to attend a fundraiser in Detroit Wednesday evening.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Bush's speech, aides said, is aimed at underscoring his desire to reinvigorate the middle class, which he argues has languished despite the ongoing economic recovery. Conservative economic policies, he says, would provide incentive for middle-income families to reach higher income potential.</p>
<p>The speech represents a departure for Bush, who until Wednesday, has spoken only at paid events and private fundraisers. The event is also a first in a series of stops his calls his "Right to Rise" tour, borrowing from his economic mantra and the name of the political action committee he formed in December.</p>
<p>Aides also confirmed that Bush plans to make his first trip to Iowa as a presidential prospect in March. Bush plans to participate in an agricultural policy forum hosted by Republican Gov. Terry Branstad and agribusiness leader Bruce Rastetter.</p> | Jeb Bush promoting middle class policies in Detroit, 2016 prospect plans March trip to Iowa | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/02/04/jeb-bush-promoting-middle-class-policies-in-detroit-2016-prospect-plans-march.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
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<p /> PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome back to The Real News Network and Reality Asserts Itself. I'm Paul Jay.
<p />
<p />We're continuing our discussion with Eddie Conway about his life and his efforts to organize the Black Panther Party in Baltimore and then organize in jails. And he ain't stopped yet.
<p />
<p />We're now picking up the story of the Black Panther Party in 1968-69. In his book Marshall Law: The Life &amp; Times of a Baltimore Black Panther, Eddie writes, soon we were demonstrating at Memorial Stadium against Nixon's destructive domestic and foreign policies, because both were having an impact on our communities. The simple fact of sisters and brothers coming together on a regular basis to work for the community and expand their knowledge brought a new level of consciousness to the group. It was during this time that we began to see that there was a movement afoot to dismantle the progress of the BPP, the Black Panther Party.
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<p />A little further down Eddie Conway writes, it was the start of what would soon become weekly police harassment of the Baltimore Black Panther Party. Our members were being arrested in ever-increasing numbers for minor things. And this soon escalated from situations like traffic stops and violations, to some of our members facing charges for burglaries and robberies, and eventually homicide. The alleged murder of police officers would soon take the place of the mythological rape of white women as the basis for the legal lynching of black men.
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<p />Now joining us in the studio is Eddie Conway.
<p />
<p />Thanks very much for joining us.
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<p />EDDIE CONWAY, FMR. BLACK PANTHER PARTY MEMBER, BALTIMORE CHAPTER: Okay. Thanks for having me back.
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<p />JAY: So, in the book, you write about an American form of fascism that was developing around this time, targeting Black Panthers and other progressive organizations. Why do you use that kind of terminology?
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<p />CONWAY: Well, because it was a relationship between the media, all the law enforcement agencies. At the time, we didn't understand what that program actually was, but we were being harassed on our jobs, we were being harassed through the tax codes, we were being harassed through just local entities trying to take us out of our houses, the places that we were renting. So there was a concerted effort. But that effort also crossed the line, in stories that were being planted in the newspaper about us, the way in which we were being treated when we went through the criminal justice system.
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<p />JAY: And as we know--and we talked earlier about COINTELPRO, a really national, coordinated campaign of all the police agencies, and with the Panthers being the primary target, including letter-writing to try to sow dissension. But how did this show up in Baltimore?
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<p />CONWAY: Well, actually, it showed up--it's strange, because it initially showed up--and we weren't aware of it--is that the Maryland chapter of the Black Panther Party was actually created by a agent provocateur named Warren Hart. And he worked for the National Security Agency.
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<p />JAY: How did you determine he was NSA, versus FBI or something?
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<p />CONWAY: Well, we determined that after we investigated him. A series of incidents took place in which Panthers got locked up or Panthers were going on field trips. We'd been organizing--at that time we were--organized the D.C. Panthers, we were organizing up in Pennsylvania. So we were sending crews in those areas to organize and educate in the communities. We would send eight cars, say, for instance, somewhere with 16 people in them, and seven cars would come back, 14 people. Two people would be missing. A car would be missing. We'd--never would be able to determine what happened. Somewhere along the line they got snatched off the highway, got locked up for some reason or another. There was no followup, no investigation. People just literally disappeared on us.
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<p />JAY: And this guy, Hart, was supposed to be responsible for defense.
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<p />CONWAY: Hart was in charge of the whole process. And then there were people in our offices in various capacities over interviewing somebody that were in areas that they shouldn't have been in, areas that were restricted to the public.
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<p />JAY: But this is how you uncover that he was a police agent. But how'd you figure out he was NSA?
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<p />CONWAY: Well, we didn't figure that out right away. Once it was determined that he wasn't who he said he was and once it was determined that he didn't live where he was supposed to, they actually sent a team of investigators--.
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<p />JAY: They being the leadership in Oakland.
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<p />CONWAY: Yes. Our national leadership sent a team of investigators, some lawyers and some actual investigators. And in the process of investigating him, he fled. And it was only later--and as he fled, obviously, we labeled him as a police agent provocateur, police informer. At that time we did not know he was National Security, but then, apparently, he infiltrated Stokely Carmichael's organization up in Canada, the All-[African ]People's Revolutionary Party, and fomented trouble up there and tried to get people locked up. And I think even one of the incidents might have involved Angela Davis. And then, later, he went to the Caribbeans. And somewhere in that process, he was identified as a National Security agent.
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<p />JAY: Now, one of the things you were organizing at the time was the breakfast program. This was one of the main pillars of Panther activity across the country, and you were doing it in Baltimore. In your book, you write about a memo that Hoover--it was discovered later, Hoover had written. There was always real pressure on supporters to stop assisting the program, meaning the breakfast program. A 1969 memo from J. Edgar Hoover to 24 FBI offices stated, quote, the free breakfast program represents the best and most influential activity going on for the BPP, and as such is potentially the greatest threat to efforts by authorities to neutralize the BPP and destroy what it stands for.
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<p />Why were they, of all things, so concerned about a breakfast, handing out food to kids in the morning?
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<p />CONWAY: Well, I think one of the things that was important about the way in which the Black Panther Party organized at that time was that it did put out a newspaper, it did have a lot of theory about socialist activities and socialist practices. But I think the thing that resonated in black communities was the actual practical application of those theories in terms of harnessing the resources in the community, bringing people together to take care of theirself, to feed the children. And once we discovered that children were hungry, kind of it was on a two-tier level. On one level, it was like, okay, this is how we can deal with that problem. On another level, it was an international embarrassment for America that you would open the doors to a breakfast program and 300 children would flood in every morning because they was hungry. And for the richest country in the world to have that kind of hunger and poverty throughout the land was an international embarrassment in and of itself. And so, one, it represented socialism actually in theory, in practice, and it showed people how to apply it. And on the other hand, it was an embarrassment for international capitalism.
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<p />JAY: And there's, I think, another quote from Hoover where they talk about how concerned they are about the growing popularity of the Panthers. And I guess the breakfast program helped build such a large piece of that popularity.
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<p />CONWAY: Well, in fact, all through my time in the prison system, I was constantly approached by people that had ate at the breakfast program, that was, like, grateful for the fact that the breakfast program had existed.
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<p />JAY: So what did the FBI do to try to undermine the breakfast program?
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<p />CONWAY: Well, they did a number of things. They tried to reach the donors. I mean, we constantly were soliciting eggs, food, paper plates, etc., bread, so on. So they constantly tried to reach the merchants and associate. But they also tried to--and they did a couple of things. They put out what I call a poison pen comic book that was supposedly put out by the Black Panther Party and supposedly distributed to young children at the breakfast programs.
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<p />JAY: Yeah, so this is a comic book that--.
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<p />CONWAY: Yeah, that will say, kill the police, or kill this,--
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<p />JAY: Yeah, off the pig and--.
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<p />CONWAY: --or off the pig, that kind of stuff.
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<p />JAY: And it did come out later that the FBI created the comic book.
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<p />CONWAY: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it did. But then they used that and they used similar stories, like, that they planted in newspapers, to show that there was propaganda being pumped into the breakfast program through the Black Panther Party toward the young people and so on, and they tried to turn people in the community against sending their children to the breakfast program. But children were hungry, and people in the community, they recognized that they needed to have that kind of a program so that they their children could at least learn in school.
<p />
<p />…
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<p />JAY: Well, as I said a little earlier, you wrote in your book that there was a form of American fascism developing, you know, not SS troops, but an American form of it. And in 1969, the Panthers organized a conference to talk or debate the nature of American fascism. And it's held in Oakland?
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<p />CONWAY: It was held in Oakland in July.
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<p />JAY: So what was the debate? You write it was a debate. So what was the debate?
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<p />CONWAY: Well, the debate was--I mean, you know, and this is the discussion that always takes--have taken place throughout history in America, whether or not there is fascism, because there was no Nazi uniforms, or there was no SS or no apparent Gestapo. And, of course, those organizations that were revolutionary, that were suffering repression, were suffering from police attacks, etc., seemed to be crazy to a lot of people that were even on the left. They were like, oh, you know, it's not really that bad, you know, or you're all bringing it on yourself, or you're all really paranoid, they're not really watching you, they're not listening. But pretty much what we were saying was that it was almost because fascism's one of those kind of political apparatuses that takes the form of the particular country in its history. In Spain, it was that whole Falange (or whatever it was) movement. Probably, in Argentina it was probably Perón.
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<p />JAY: Mussolini in Italy.
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<p />CONWAY: Yeah, Mussolini in Italy. So each country had its own apparent [crosstalk]
<p />
<p />JAY: So let me read another quote from the book which kind of points in this direction. Eddie writes, we could not have known it then, but the country would soon learn that the FBI and other state and local agencies were in fact functioning as a national secret police. But, unfortunately, by the time that information became public, many of us would have already fallen victim to these covert operations. And as we know, that was COINTELPRO.
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<p />CONWAY: Yes. And I always maintained that if there's some sort of automatic Democratic fascism--and I don't know whether that's--it's a right terminology, but basically what I'm saying is that the whole promise-keepers ideas, the whole right-wing white supremacy kind of movement, it's--Hells Angels, whatever, it's almost like a self-imposed fascist attitude. It's us against the world. It's us--if you're not with us, then you are opposed to us. You know, you have to wear the flag, you have to stand up, the whole nine yards. And if you're not doing that, then we're going to isolate you, ostracize you. You know. And it's almost like the McCarthy era dressed up.
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<p />JAY: Yeah, this idea of white supremacism is very much--you know, the roots of it--and we did a series recently with Gerald Horne--you know, is to get the white working class on the side of the white elites and say, we're all together, 'cause we're all white, and the problem are, you know, at the time, you know, African slaves, and now it's black workers. The ability or the attempt to create the Panthers as this kind of continuation of the black threat, you talk about that.
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<p />CONWAY: Well, see, and that's really something where there was a major conflict with reality and what was being presented. There was always this effort to present the Black Panthers as a black nationalist hate group or an armed black militant group that was antiwhite. And the practice on the ground was that there were White Panthers, there were relationship between the antiwar movement and the Panthers. It was a relationship between the Panthers and SDS. And there was the Patriot Party that was an all-white grassroots revolutionary organization. All of them were connected to and worked with the Panther Party, along with the Brown Berets, which were Mexican-American revolutionary group, along with the Young Lords, which was Puerto Ricans, along with the American Indian movement, AIM. Because of that relationship on the ground and in practice, it was hard to target the Panthers as black nationalists, a black nationalist hate group. But still the FBI and the law enforcement agencies managed to use the media, and written media, mostly, to present that and to portray that. I mean, and that image is still in existence in people's heads today when you ask them about what was the Black Panthers.
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<p />JAY: There was a group that came up--I can't remember if it was a split-off of the Panthers or a separate group. US I think it was called.
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<p />CONWAY: No. I cringe when you do that. There was a group called US, Ron Karenga's organization.
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<p />JAY: It stood for United Slaves.
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<p />CONWAY: Stood for United Slaves. It was never part of the Black Panther Party. But I believe it did have its roots in a--matter of fact, it did probably have its roots in the San Francisco Black Panther Party group that sprung up across from Oakland, that eventually got chased out of San Francisco.
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<p />JAY: Yeah. And then it started quite a debate and fight. And they were very--.
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<p />CONWAY: Yeah. They were cultural nationalists, and they were--.
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<p />JAY: Don't work with whites and such.
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<p />CONWAY: They didn't work with whites. They were advocating cultural nationalists--clothes, back to Africa, the warrior principles, basically to recapture the black culture from the 15th century before the advent of slavery and to go back there and to start and build from there. And they were very hostile to the Black Panther Party.
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<p />JAY: It became a shootout at some point, and a couple of Panthers were killed.
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<p />CONWAY: Yeah. Panthers were assassinated by that group in Los Angeles and in other places, San Diego and so on.
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<p />JAY: And how much did COINTELPRO and the cops have to do with this?
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<p />CONWAY: Well, the LAPD--I'm not exactly sure if we could directly connect it to COINTELPRO, but the Los Angeles Police Department orchestrated most of that stuff. And I think a guy named Louis Tackwood ended up doing something called The Glass House Tapes, and he kind of exposed that.
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<p />JAY: We did a series of interviews with David Cay Johnston, an investigative journalist who did a big expose of the LAPD during this period. But they apparently had more than 300 people involved in infiltrating Black Panthers and other progressive groups.
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<p />CONWAY: Yeah. And they orchestrated and manipulated US to attack the Black Panthers. And in some cases now, as I think about it, this actually documents in COINTELPRO papers--in fact, I have some of them in my book--
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<p />JAY: The first book, The Greatest Threat.
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<p />CONWAY: --yeah, in The Greatest Threat --that actually shows they did encourage conflicts between US and the Panthers. And some of the memo said, we actually told them where there would be Panther meetings at and so on. And in the case of New Jersey--Newark, New Jersey, I believe it was--they were actually trying to encourage US members to attack Black Panther Party members. And that's part of the COINTELPRO papers.
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<p />JAY: We know a lot about COINTELPRO because there was a break-in at an FBI office and they got hold of a bunch of the files. This is in '71. And a lot of this came out. And then the Church Committee also came out, investigated this. So it's not like this is, like, some kind of conspiracy theory. This was all pretty well documented, COINTELPRO.
<p />
<p />But I thought you made a very interesting comment in your book about this coordinated national police activity, which was FBI, NSA, local police forces. And you write--speaking about the discovery in 1971, you write that that discovery was followed by a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that produced more evidence demonstrating the program's scope. Officially, COINTELPRO operated from 1956 to 1971. Unofficially, the program continued under other names and was most recently codified as the USA Patriot Act. So this ain't over.
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<p />CONWAY: Yeah. I think the Church Committee said, okay, these acts were illegal, and they listed dozens and dozens of things that the FBI had done during that period that were actually illegal. The Patriot Act found all of those things and put them in the Patriot Act and made them law, so that they could be done legally.
<p />
<p />And no, it's not over now. It's just officially it's okay. And the fact that it's okay now is not really strange, because the same thing happened at the end of the McCarthy era. They found out what McCarthy did wrong and what could be corrected, and then they made it legal. And prior to that, during the attacks against the union organizing in the '30s and so on, they codified those things and made them legal. You know. So, I mean, it's the habit of the American government to kind of say, okay, we made a mistake, it's just a one-time thing, we violated people's rights, it won't happen again, we'll put everything in check, and then they'll go back and a couple of years later new laws will come out, and those laws will justify whatever that behavior was. And then, from then on in, that's no longer a mistake, and the next time it happens it's something different, torture, say, for instance, you know, or enhanced interrogation. And at some point, that becomes--well, okay, that's legal.
<p />
<p />JAY: No. When there's no accountability and nobody pays the price, then…
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<p />CONWAY: Or the black ops sites or the black sites in which people go to prison and they don't have any rights or any ability to have representation or any of that kind of stuff, it's justified under an act of war that doesn't exist.
<p />
<p />JAY: Right. Okay. We're to be continued. Thanks for joining us.
<p />
<p />CONWAY: Okay.
<p />
<p />JAY: And thank you for joining us. Join us for the next segment of our series of Reality Asserts Itself with Eddie Conway on The Real News Network.
<p />
<p />End
<p />
<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | An American Fascism - Eddie Conway on Reality Asserts Itself (5/10) | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D31%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D12383 | 2014-09-16 | 4 |
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<p>It is disturbing that prostitution, drugs, rape and human trafficking occur quite often in strip clubs, and that is why we so desperately need the Sexually Orientated Business Ordinance in Albuquerque that will go to full council this September.</p>
<p>In 2008, the Iowa attorney general issued a press release reporting that a man received the earnings of a 16-year-old girl when she performed at a strip club. The man also provided the minor with marijuana and alcohol, and later he received 25 years for human trafficking and pandering.</p>
<p>This explains why the Sexually Orientated Business Ordinance will require all Albuquerque strip clubs to post the National Human Trafficking Hotline number. Further, employee records will be kept on file to prevent minors from employment.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Unfortunately, other work hazards occur in strip clubs.</p>
<p>In a study, a San Francisco strip club fired a dancer in 2000 because she complained that a man raped her in a private booth. This year, at Albuquerque’s TD’s Gold, according to the Albuquerque Journal, “a female employee at the club called the police to report that she had been raped.”</p>
<p>The above are excellent examples as to why the ordinance will require all strip clubs to eliminate all VIP rooms that are unseen from other customers.</p>
<p>But not even the customers escape the sexual exploitation found in strip clubs. A 19-year-old female customer of an Albuquerque fully nude strip club alleged that another customer gave her alcohol and a powdery substance. Later intoxicated, she alleges a dancer coerced her to dance nude, and eventually a bouncer raped her.</p>
<p>Operators of strip clubs also may participate in human trafficking. The U.S. Attorney Office released that a Ukrainian-American man will receive 36 months in prison for his role in trafficking women from Ukraine to strip clubs in the Detroit area.</p>
<p>“These women were brought to America with promises of education and travel, and instead forced to work in seedy strip clubs,” said Brian M. Moskowitz, special agent in charge with Detroit’s ICE.</p>
<p>A court document filed June 29, 2011, states that the man operated a strip club in Kiev, Ukraine. Another report filed April 25 lists how he recruited them from his strip club and orchestrated the entry of four dancers from his club.</p>
<p>In Albuquerque, a former strip club owner, Bobbie McMullin, received 20 years for promoting prostitution, extortion and racketeering. This is why the Sexually Orientated Business Ordinance will require background checks for all operators of strip clubs in Albuquerque.</p>
<p>Therefore we must end the paradigm that people attend strip clubs only to view naked women. One study by Durchslag and Goswami reported that out of 113 men interviewed, only 57 percent solicited women outdoors whereas 84 percent solicited indoors, and strip clubs were listed as one of most popular venues.</p>
<p>This November the U.S. State Department will officially ban temporary work visas for foreigners seeking employment in adult entertainment in response to foreigners working against their will in strip clubs. This past June, Canada ceased issuing them because of “reasonable grounds to suspect a risk of sexual exploitation,” wrote Alexis Pavlich of the Canadian Ministry of Immigration.</p>
<p>Last, if none of the above atrocities occurred in Albuquerque strip clubs, we would still need the Sexually Orientated Business Ordinance to help prevent further sexual exploitation that these vulnerable women face on a daily basis due to their previous broken homes, drug addictions and/or an abused past. They seek to break the chains of their past, but only accrue more restraints.</p>
<p>Release is an Albuquerque advocacy group that seeks to abolish human trafficking.</p> | Strip Club Law About Human Rights | false | https://abqjournal.com/126671/strip-club-law-about-human-rights.html | 2012-08-27 | 2 |
<p>LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon has resigned after one season with the Cardinals.</p>
<p>Coach Bobby Petrino thanked Sirmon for his work with the program and wished him well Friday in a brief release. Sirmon came from Mississippi State last year to replace Todd Grantham, who left to succeed Sirmon with the Bulldogs.</p>
<p>Louisville struggled under Sirmon last fall, allowing 388.1 yards per game to rank 62nd nationally in FBS. Though injuries to several starters thinned the Cardinals' depth, they held just three opponents below 300 yards last season. Louisville allowed a season-high 625 yards at Wake Forest and 613 against Clemson in Atlantic Coast Conference losses to both schools.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP college football coverage: http://collegefootball.ap.org and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@APTop25</p>
<p>LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon has resigned after one season with the Cardinals.</p>
<p>Coach Bobby Petrino thanked Sirmon for his work with the program and wished him well Friday in a brief release. Sirmon came from Mississippi State last year to replace Todd Grantham, who left to succeed Sirmon with the Bulldogs.</p>
<p>Louisville struggled under Sirmon last fall, allowing 388.1 yards per game to rank 62nd nationally in FBS. Though injuries to several starters thinned the Cardinals' depth, they held just three opponents below 300 yards last season. Louisville allowed a season-high 625 yards at Wake Forest and 613 against Clemson in Atlantic Coast Conference losses to both schools.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More AP college football coverage: http://collegefootball.ap.org and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@APTop25</p> | Cardinals defensive coordinator Sirmon leaves after 1 season | false | https://apnews.com/amp/90fbbc2be68a419391c81a403ef83c34 | 2018-01-19 | 2 |
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<p>Earnings will hold investors’ attention this week as major U.S. companies including McDonald’s, Boeing and Procter &amp; Gamble report their results. Rising profits have been one of the key supports for this year’s rally in stocks.</p>
<p>Toymaker Hasbro and the V.F. Corporation, which owns clothing brands including Wrangler and The North Face, were among the biggest gainers in the S&amp;P 500 after reporting earnings that beat analysts’ expectations. McDonalds dipped after reporting disappointing revenue.</p>
<p>The S&amp;P 500 closed up a fraction of a point at 1,744.66, an all-time high, its third consecutive record close. Stocks climbed last week after Washington reached a deal to end a 16-day government shutdown and avert a default on the nation’s debt.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The index is up 22 percent so far this year, putting it on track for its best year since 2009.</p>
<p>The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 7.45 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,392.20. The Nasdaq composite rose 5.77 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,920.05.</p>
<p>Stocks will likely continue adding to their gains, at least until the end of the year, as investors get more confident that the market’s rally is sustainable, said Joe Bell, a senior equities analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research.</p>
<p>“We’ve had a pretty decent run here,” Bell said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we saw the momentum slow a bit through the end of October and then have a nice rally through November and December.”</p>
<p>McDonald’s fell 61 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $94.59 after the world’s biggest hamburger chain’s revenue fell short of Wall Street analyst’s expectations.</p>
<p>Hasbro surged after reporting that its net income rose 17 percent as sales increased. Its adjusted results and revenue topped analysts’ estimates. The stock climbed $2.48, or 5.2 percent, to $49.72. V.F. Corporation rose $6.93, or 3.4 percent, to $211.23 after its earnings beat analysts’ expectations.</p>
<p>Netflix jumped in after-hours trading after the company said its net income quadrupled to $32 million, or 52 cents a share. That beat analyst expectations for 48 cents a share.</p>
<p>Companies in the S&amp;P 500 are expected to report earnings growth of 3.2 percent for the July-to-September period, according to the latest data from S&amp;P Capital IQ. About 60 percent of companies that have reported earnings have beaten analysts’ expectations.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Earnings so far have been excellent,” said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust. “Earnings are coming in and beating (expectations) by a penny here and there, and we’re very comfortable with that.”</p>
<p>Company earnings will likely continue to grow as the outlook for the global economy brightens, as Europe continues to recover from its recession and growth in China picks up, Braakman said.</p>
<p>The continued stimulus for the economy from the Federal Reserve should also help support the economy and corporate earnings. The U.S. central bank is currently buying $85 billion of bonds every month to support the economy.</p>
<p>The government’s monthly jobs report for September will be released Tuesday, giving investors more information about the strength of the U.S. economy. The report, which is typically released on the first Friday of every month, was delayed because of the government shutdown.</p>
<p>Economists predict that the U.S. economy added 180,000 jobs in September, according to data provider FactSet. Investors may discount the report though, as it is being published more than two weeks late.</p>
<p>“It’s old information, it’s not as current as it normally is,” said Kate Warne, a market strategist at investment adviser, Edward Jones.</p>
<p>Homebuilders slumped after Americans bought fewer previously occupied homes in September than the previous month, held back by higher mortgage rates and rising prices. The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales of re-sold homes fell 1.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.29 million.</p>
<p>KB Home fell 60 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $16.57. D.R. Horton dropped 35 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $18.67.</p>
<p>In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year note edged up to 2.61 percent from 2.58 percent Friday.</p>
<p>In commodities trading, the price of oil dipped below $100 for the first time since early July after a government report showed that U.S. supplies continue to rise. Oil fell $1.59, or 1.6 percent, to $99.22 a barrel. Gold rose $1.20, or 0.1 percent, to $1,315.80 an ounce.</p>
<p>Among stocks making big moves:</p>
<p>– General Electric rose 59 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $26.14 after Citigroup added the company to its U.S. Focus List, citing the company’s buyback program and cost-cutting plans among some of the reasons to own the stock.</p>
<p>– Gannett, the media company that owns USA Today, fell 59 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $26.90 after the company reported lower earnings and revenue for the third quarter.</p> | S&P 500 ekes out a small gain to set a new record | false | https://abqjournal.com/285764/sampp-500-ekes-out-a-small-gain-to-set-a-new-record.html | 2013-10-21 | 2 |
<p>NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) — Joe Hugley came off the bench to score 17 on 7-of-9 shooting and Central Connecticut State never trailed in a 72-68 victory over preseason favorite St. Francis (Pa.) in a Northeast Conference opener on Friday night.</p>
<p>Mustafa Jones added 12 points and seven rebounds, while Deion Bute scored 10 for the Blue Devils (8-6). Reserve Tyler Kohl scored 11 with eight rebounds, but he had nine of CCSU’s 17 turnovers. The Blue Devils, picked to finish ninth in the 10-team conference, have won three straight.</p>
<p>Keith Braxton paced the Red Flash (6-6) with 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists and seven steals. Jamaal King and reserve Scott Meredith added 14 points each and Andre Wolford scored 13. St. Francis lost for the first time in four games.</p>
<p>Jones scored four in a game-opening 12-2 run and the Blue Devils stretched their advantage to 35-21 at halftime.</p>
<p>The Red Flash forged their only tie at 68 on Wolford’s 3-point play, but Hugley grabbed his own missed shot, was fouled, hit both free throws and CCSU had its victory.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Northeast Conference opener. St Francis was preseason pick. CCSU has won three straight now. Red Flash had three game win streak snapped.</p>
<p>NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) — Joe Hugley came off the bench to score 17 on 7-of-9 shooting and Central Connecticut State never trailed in a 72-68 victory over preseason favorite St. Francis (Pa.) in a Northeast Conference opener on Friday night.</p>
<p>Mustafa Jones added 12 points and seven rebounds, while Deion Bute scored 10 for the Blue Devils (8-6). Reserve Tyler Kohl scored 11 with eight rebounds, but he had nine of CCSU’s 17 turnovers. The Blue Devils, picked to finish ninth in the 10-team conference, have won three straight.</p>
<p>Keith Braxton paced the Red Flash (6-6) with 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists and seven steals. Jamaal King and reserve Scott Meredith added 14 points each and Andre Wolford scored 13. St. Francis lost for the first time in four games.</p>
<p>Jones scored four in a game-opening 12-2 run and the Blue Devils stretched their advantage to 35-21 at halftime.</p>
<p>The Red Flash forged their only tie at 68 on Wolford’s 3-point play, but Hugley grabbed his own missed shot, was fouled, hit both free throws and CCSU had its victory.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Northeast Conference opener. St Francis was preseason pick. CCSU has won three straight now. Red Flash had three game win streak snapped.</p> | Hugley lifts CCSU to 72-68 upset win over St Francis (PA) | false | https://apnews.com/6cd5fa91a29e4f2a86601d1953e85acb | 2017-12-30 | 2 |
<p>Sen. Mitch McConnell strained the facts when he claimed that "[w]e look a lot like Greece already." The public debt of Greece is double that of the U.S. in relation to the size of each nation's economy</p>
<p>McConnell made his comment in a <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/169911-mcconnell-we-look-a-lot-like-greece-already" type="external">July 6 news conference</a> held prior to a meeting with President Barack Obama. It's an exaggeration he's made before. In a <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/transcript/bipartisan-budget-talks-implode-mcconnell-calls-obama039s-leadership" type="external">June 23 appearance on the Fox News Channel</a>, for example, he said:</p>
<p>McConnell, June 23: Look, we've got a $14 trillion debt. It's as big as our economy. We look a lot like Greece.</p>
<p>McConnell exaggerates. He is correct that the <a href="http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np" type="external">total U.S. debt currently stands at $14.3 trillion</a>, and will grow larger if Congress permits further borrowing. That's not quite as large as the U.S. economy, but the most recent projection from the Congressional Budget Office put the total at over $15 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, and said that was expected to total <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/121xx/doc12130/FederalDebt2012.xls" type="external">100 percent of U.S. gross domestic product</a> (GDP) for the year.</p>
<p>That's a serious matter, to be sure. But it's not close to the size of <a href="http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/2-26042011-AP/EN/2-26042011-AP-EN.PDF" type="external">Greece's debt, which was 142.8 percent of that nation's GDP</a> as of the end of last year, according to the most recent figures from Eurostat, the official statistical office of the European Union.</p>
<p>Furthermore, McConnell is making an apples-to-oranges comparison. The $14 trillion figure refers to "total debt oustanding," much of which is money that the government owes to the Social Security trust funds and other governmental entities, not money actually borrowed from the public. The U.S. "debt held by the public" is currently less than $9.8 trillion. That's the proper figure to compare to what Greece owes, and in relation to GDP it's currently less than half the Greek level. <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/122xx/doc12212/2011-LTBO-Supplemental-Data.xls" type="external">CBO most recently projected</a> that it would reach 69 percent of GDP by the end of fiscal 2011. And under CBO's long-term projection, the U.S. public debt wouldn't reach Greek proportions until 2029, even using CBO's most realistic, "alternative" fiscal scenario (which assumes for example that Congress won't allow tax cuts to expire for most Americans, and will continue to defer steep scheduled cuts in Medicare payments to doctors).</p>
<p>We won't deny that there are some similarities. Both countries are bleeding money at about the same rate in relation to GDP. For all of last year, the Greek deficit amounted to 10.5 percent of its GDP, for example, while the U.S. deficit is expected to be 9.5 percent of GDP for the current fiscal year, under <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/121xx/doc12130/BudgetProjectionsforAPBStudy.xls" type="external">CBO's analysis</a> of the president's proposed budget. And unless Washington makes some big changes, there is no end in sight to the deficits, meaning debt will continue to grow larger. But at the moment — whatever it "looks like" through Sen. McConnell's eyes — the fact is that the U.S. is not yet a fiscal wreck of Greek proportions.</p>
<p>— Brooks Jackson</p> | Does the U.S. ‘Look a Lot Like Greece’? | false | https://factcheck.org/2011/07/does-the-u-s-look-a-lot-like-greece/ | 2011-07-07 | 2 |
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<p>Who protests for higher taxes?</p>
<p>Government unions do. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees helped organize the rally. The union wanted lawmakers to close the state’s deficit by raising taxes instead of reducing spending.</p>
<p>Illinois collectively bargains with its government employees, which lets the union veto reductions in their compensation. That leaves layoffs as the only way to reduce government spending. Obviously, the union’s members don’t want that.</p>
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<p>So they chanted for the legislature to “give up the bucks” and “show me the money.” The protest was part of a growing phenomenon of government unions lobbying for higher taxes and more spending.</p>
<p>Historically this is new. The founders of the labor movement did not believe unions belonged in government. They viewed unions as negotiating for a share of the profits their members helped create, not the taxes everyone pays. George Meany, a former president of the AFL-CIO, famously opined that “bargaining collectively is impossible in government.”</p>
<p>Union advocates also believed the government had a duty to serve the public. They feared that government unions would obstruct essential public services. President Franklin Roosevelt considered strikes by government employees “unthinkable and intolerable.”</p>
<p>But in 1959 Wisconsin became the first state to negotiate with government unions. Many other states followed suit. Now most union members work for the government. Unfortunately, labor leaders’ initial fears were well founded. Unionizing government has not benefited the public.</p>
<p>Samuel Gompers was once asked what his members wanted. He had a memorable one-word response: more.</p>
<p>That is still the attitude of government unions. They use their collective bargaining powers to take more from the taxpayers. The average government employee makes more than they would in the private sector, especially with their benefits.</p>
<p>Government employees collect pensions at 55 in Illinois. Other states are more generous. The Michigan Education Association has been highlighting the plight of English teacher Terri List. She plans to retire in three years at 47. Her union thinks increasing her retirement age to 60 would be unfair.</p>
<p>As expensive as these benefits are, the effect collective bargaining has on public service quality is even worse. Research shows that having a good teacher can make a tremendous difference in a child’s life – and so can having a bad one. But unions make rewarding good teachers or removing ineffective ones almost impossible. They insist that schools base pay and layoffs on seniority, not effectiveness in the classroom. Unions press the government to put their interests first.</p>
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<p>By 2010 Wisconsinites had had enough of it. The state had hiked taxes and still faced a massive deficit. The average government employee made 30 percent more than they would in the private sector – while Milwaukee Public Schools laid off their “outstanding first-year teacher” because she didn’t have seniority. The government was not serving the public good.</p>
<p>Candidate Walker promised to balance the budget without raising taxes. Once in office Walker limited collective bargaining and cut spending. Because he had limited collective bargaining, however, he could trim benefits instead of firing government workers.</p>
<p>Illinois charted a different course. There Pat Quinn, the government union’s favored candidate, won and he promptly showed them the money. Within months of his victory, he hiked the state income tax by two-thirds and raised business taxes by almost 50 percent. This hardly encouraged hiring; Illinois was one of the few states in which unemployment rose last year.</p>
<p>Walker’s actions enraged government unions, who organized and funded the recall. But polls showed most voters supported the reforms once they took effect.</p>
<p>In the end, the only surprise about Walker’s win was its size; he won by an even larger margin than when he was first elected. Wisconsin’s voters decided not to follow Illinois’ path and “give up the bucks.”</p>
<p>While the Wisconsin protests and recall attracted national attention, politicians from across the political spectrum have done the same thing around the country.</p>
<p>In deep-blue Massachusetts, Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick limited collective bargaining over municipal health benefits. The Democratic legislatures in Nevada and Colorado limited teacher tenure, as did Republican legislatures in Louisiana and Michigan. New Jersey’s heavily Democratic legislature voted for a bill cutting government employees’ pension and health benefits. Republican Gov. Chris Christie signed it.</p>
<p>It turns out that making government serve the people, instead of vice versa, isn’t that radical after all.</p>
<p>James Sherk is a senior policy analyst in labor economics at the Heritage Foundation. Distributed by MCT Information Services</p> | Public Unions’ Days Numbered | false | https://abqjournal.com/111732/public-unions-days-numbered.html | 2012-06-08 | 2 |
<p>A panel of lawyers appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser is working on a draft D.C. Constitution. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>A panel of lawyers appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser to prepare a draft D.C. statehood constitution revised the draft last week to ensure that a voter referendum could not be used to repeal nondiscrimination protections, including LGBT rights protections.</p>
<p>An earlier draft of the constitution defined the voter referendum process in a way that would have removed a provision in existing D.C. law that doesn’t allow the placement of a referendum on the ballot if it “authorizes, or would have the effect of authorizing, discrimination” prohibited by the D.C. Human Rights Act.</p>
<p>The Human Rights Act, among other things, bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.</p>
<p>Nick Nartowicz, an attorney and member of the Legal Advisory Committee of the New Columbia Statehood Commission, which drafted the constitution, said the committee revised the referendum language along with other provisions in the draft in response to input from the public and other interested parties.</p>
<p>He said a final draft of the constitution was expected to be presented to the D.C. Council for a vote later this month. Under plans approved by the Statehood Commission, the constitution and a proposal for D.C. to petition Congress for statehood in January 2017 will be put before the city’s voters in a ballot measure in November.</p>
<p>Most political observers don’t expect Congress to approve statehood for D.C. anytime soon. But Bowser, members of the D.C. Council, and longtime statehood advocates have expressed hope that the statehood petition would receive greater support if Democrats win control of Congress and retain the White House in the November election.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">D.C.</a> <a href="" type="internal">D.C. Council</a> <a href="" type="internal">District of Columbia</a> <a href="" type="internal">Human Rights Act</a> <a href="" type="internal">Muriel Bowser</a> <a href="" type="internal">New Columbia Statehood Commission</a> <a href="" type="internal">Nick Nartowicz</a></p> | Draft D.C. Constitution now bans anti-LGBT ballot measures | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2016/07/06/draft-d-c-constitution-now-bans-anti-lgbt-ballot-measures/ | 3 |
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<p>In a brief, one paragraph order handed down Thursday evening, the Supreme Court just <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14a352_i42k.pdf" type="external">halted Wisconsin’s voter ID law</a>. Although a federal trial court halted the law earlier this year, a conservative panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit <a href="" type="internal">reinstated it last month</a>. Under Thursday’s order from the Supreme Court, the voter ID law will now almost certainly be suspended for the 2014 election, although the order does not indicate whether the justices are likely to strike the law down permanently at a later date.</p>
<p>Although the Supreme Court’s order does not explain why the Court halted the law, a short dissenting opinion by Justice Samuel Alito provides a window into the Court’s reasoning. Alito begins his dissent by admitting that “[t]here is a colorable basis for the Court’s decision due to the proximity of the upcoming general election.” In a 2006 case called Purcell v. Gonzalez, the Supreme Court explained that judges should be reluctant to issue orders affecting a state’s election law as an election approaches. “Court orders affecting elections,” according to Purcell, “can themselves result in voter confusion and consequent incentive to remain away from the polls. As an election draws closer, that risk will increase.” It is likely that the six justices who agreed to halt the Wisconsin law relied on Purcell in reaching this decision.</p>
<p>Only two justices, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, joined Alito’s dissent. Both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy joined the four more liberal justices in the majority.</p>
<p>Thursday’s order halting the Wisconsin voter ID law may also provide some explanation for why seven justices voted to <a href="" type="internal">reinstate a voter suppression law in North Carolina on Wednesday</a>. If Purcell’s fear of changes to election law close to an election is the rule, then that rule should apply no matter whose ox is gored.</p>
<p>Voter ID laws, which require voters to show a photo ID before they can cast a ballot, are a common method of voter suppression. As ThinkProgress explained shortly after the Seventh Circuit reinstated Wisconsin’s law,</p>
<p>[a]lthough voter ID laws’ supporters often claim they are needed to prevent such fraud, in-person voter fraud is so rare as to be virtually non-existent. A study of the approximately 3 million votes cast in Wisconsin during the 2004 election, for example, found just seven cases of fraud — and none of those cases would have been prevented by a voter ID law.</p>
<p>Voter ID does, however, disproportionately target low-income voters, minorities and young voters, all of whom tend to prefer Democrats to Republicans. According to Judge Lynn Adelman’s opinion striking down the Wisconsin law, 9 percent of registered voters lack the ID necessary to vote under the Wisconsin law.</p>
<p>In another, unrelated case, a federal court in Texas <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/09/texas-voter-id_n_5962674.html" type="external">struck down that state’s voter ID law on Thursday evening as well</a>.</p> | Surprise! The Roberts Court Just Halted A Voter Suppression Law | true | http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/10/09/3578458/surprise-the-roberts-court-just-halted-a-voter-suppression-law/ | 2014-10-10 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Barclays shares rose on Friday after the British bank named finance industry veteran David Walker as its new chairman, moving quickly to fill a void and picking an expert in business best-practice to lead its recovery from an interest rate rigging scandal.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Walker, 72, is a former Bank of England and UK Treasury official who wrote one of the most significant corporate governance manuals for British banks and has investment banking experience from 17 years at Morgan Stanley. "We hope it marks the beginning of a new chapter - a chapter of change - for Barclays. We are confident that Sir David is the right man for the job,'' said Guy Jubb, global Head of Governance &amp; Stewardship at Standard Life Investments, a top 10 shareholder.</p>
<p>"This will be good for Barclays and good for the City of London,'' Jubb added.</p>
<p>Walker has been offered a three-year term to spearhead the bank's recovery efforts and will find the tasks of cutting pay, improving business culture and picking a new CEO bold enough to change strategy at the top of his agenda.</p>
<p>"I sat in many meetings with him where we would debate the appropriate way of doing business. And his view always is that reputation and integrity go far beyond short-term profit,'' said Jonathan Chenevix-Trench, who succeeded Walker as chairman of Morgan Stanley International in 2004. Barclays shares were up 2.5% at 1135 GMT, the strongest performer in the European bank index, which was down 0.1%. Barclays said late on Thursday that Walker would become a director at the start of September and take the chairman's seat two months later.</p>
<p>He replaces Marcus Agius, who quit following Barclays' record $453 million fine for manipulating Libor lending rates in a scandal that forced the resignation of Bob Diamond as chief executive and exposed deep cracks in the bank's relations with U.S. regulators.</p>
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<p>While welcoming an end to uncertainty over Barclays' leadership, investors hoped Walker would have the stamina to steer the bank through one of the most challenging periods in its history.</p>
<p>"I am sure 70 is the new 50 but it will be tricky,'' one top 40 shareholder told Reuters. "What they have to do for the next year or 18 months is to rebuild relationships ... he will have to help find a CEO who is good with the Americans,'' the investor said. &#160;&#160;&#160;Walker said he would be ``fully engaged'' in the hunt for a new CEO, picking up the baton from Agius who has told staff he was encouraged by the quality of candidates seen so far.</p>
<p>"David is an enormously courteous and measured man but you would underestimate his strength at your peril. He's also tough and uncompromising on what he believes is important,'' said Chenevix-Trench, who left Morgan Stanley late in 2007. Another key issue for new bosses is the future of the investment bank, which many analysts expect to be shrunk. "His strong regulatory background and preference towards longer deferral of bonuses will be a positive in terms of lowering the cost of equity and improving returns for shareholders,'' said Andrew Lim, analyst at Espirito Santo.</p>
<p>But Lim added that Walker may ``rein in Barclays' more ambitious investment banking operations'', which could negatively affect returns in a business that is doing well against rivals.</p> | Barclays Shares Rise as Walker Comes In to Clean Up | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/08/10/barclays-shares-rise-as-walker-comes-in-to-clean-up.html | 2016-03-03 | 0 |
<p>Otsuka Holdings&#160;has won FDA approval for a version of its commonly prescribed Abilify that includes a digestible sensor made by Proteus. The first-of-its-kind approval will allow patients who are taking Abilify for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder to share information the sensor collects with their healthcare provider through a wearable patch and a smartphone application. Is this going to change outcomes for these patients?</p>
<p>In this clip from The Motley Fool's&#160; <a href="https://www.fool.com/podcasts/industry-focus?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;referring_guid=da87406c-cc59-11e7-8b82-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Industry Focus: Healthcare Opens a New Window.</a>, contributor Todd Campbell joins Kristine Harjes to discuss the implications of this digital pill.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>A full transcript follows the video.</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of November 6, 2017The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned.</p>
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<p>This video was recorded on Nov. 15, 2017.</p>
<p>Kristine Harjes: On Monday night, the FDA approved what is being called a digital pill. It's a medicine that's a form of Abilify, which is a drug that's used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and some other mental health conditions. This new version contains a digestible sensor that generates an electrical signal that, when it hits your stomach acids, it then talks to a patch that you're wearing on your chest that will send information to your phone via Bluetooth, and let you know -- and let your doctors know, more importantly -- that the pill has been ingested. This has, of course, generated a ton of chatter as people react to the news. Todd, what did you make of it?</p>
<p>Todd Campbell: It's pretty amazing, and I think kind of awesome, when pharmacology meets technology. Ideally, we would love to have one pill, one shot, whatever, and that cures us of disease. But until we get to that point, it's all going to be about incrementally improving our outcomes. In the case of schizophrenia, there's a massive need to improve outcomes. There are drugs out there that can help people control their disease, but there's a huge adherence problem to these medications. And if people aren't taking them the way they're prescribed, that's going to cause problems for them. Schizophrenia is one of the most common causes of disability, and it's a common disease. 21 million people throughout the world, according to the World Health Organization, suffer from schizophrenia. This is a major problem, because 75% of patients fail to take their medication on schedule. That's not good for these patients. So, the concept of being able to take this little pill and merge it together with a sensor that can say, "Hey, guess what, I can prove to you, or, I can track, or we can share information on whether or not I'm taking this medication as you want me to be taking it," that is potentially big. It's not going to work for everyone, but it will work for some people. And if it works for some people, it will dramatically improve their quality of life.</p>
<p>Harjes: Going forward, I could see insurers subsidizing versions of this medication that have this built-in method of checking compliance, because compliance drives cost down. It reduces relapses, it reduces drug resistance, hospital readmissions, all sorts of things. It will also be interesting to see how the drugmakers themselves price these versions of their medications that include technology like this. If they're priced too high, then the insurers aren't going to cover them at all. Of course, you have that continual balance between where the price should be set so that people actually do adopt it, and then we'll see how the insurers actually react and whether or not they want to incentivize using this high-tech version of different medicines.</p>
<p>Campbell: What I find really interesting about this, too, is that you look at Otsuka, who makes Abilify, they lost patent protection on Abilify back in 2015. They started facing off with some of the generic competitors to that drug. This was a move for them, an opportunity for them, to basically say, let's try and sure up our market share by coming up with something that's completely different, that can differentiate us away from some of these other medications that are used in these indications. This is really unique. And maybe it works. They've come out with a longer-lasting version of Abilify that they market with Lundbeck, and now they have Abilify MyCite. It's going to be interesting to see, if you're a psychiatrist and you're treating these patients, whether or not you're going to feel comfortable prescribing it. I think, if I had patients, I would prescribe it, because it's not like you're getting this information that the patient doesn't want you to have. You're seeking treatment, you're treating them, and they have to opt into sharing this information. To me, it's a lot like the blood glucose monitors, where you can get continuous insight into your blood sugar, and that helps inform your treatment decisions with you and your provider. And I think this is a good thing, because it's going to help doctors and patients with the issue of accountability. No longer will a patient be coming in and saying, "I think I took it when I was supposed to," or, not wanting to disappoint their doctor, saying, "Yeah, I've been taking it." Now you'll be able to look at it and say, "You missed three days here last week. Is there something else going on? Is it the time, is it the dose, is there a side effect that you want to discuss with me?" It opens the conversation. And doing that, maybe you improve outcomes for these patients.</p>
<p>Harjes: Yeah. And I don't want to say that it is 100% undeniably a good thing and there's been no push back at all, because there have been some points raised that dial back the optimism a little bit. For example, some are concerned that Abilify isn't a good choice of a drug for pioneering this technology because the patient population already has tendencies toward paranoia. So, then you introduce this technology which, to some, could feel like big brother is monitoring you, and that's really not going to help with the paranoia. But, for non-compliant patients, the other alternative, if you're not taking your Abilify correctly, is that you end up getting it injected. So, this is hopefully better than that. Or, maybe the threat of having big brother watching you is even scarier than the threat of injection, enough to naturally boost compliance. So, I do think, on the whole, this is a good thing. But, of course, there are concerns. There will also be concerns about the accuracy of the data, that the patch that you wear on your body needs to be replaced, and what if they don't comply with that, how do you keep this data private and ensure that there aren't any manipulations going on, security issues. But, I think, on the whole, it's undeniably a very interesting and good innovation.</p>
<p>Campbell: From an investing standpoint, there's not a lot of take away. It's very intriguing. This is a test case. People are going to watch and see how well it's received. If it's well received, maybe you see this popping up in future medicines and other indications as well. Proteus is a private company, so you can't invest in that. Otsuka and Lundbeck, they're big, multi-global companies, so it's not like this could necessarily move the needle one way or another. I think it's just something that we should all keep an eye on and seeing as a potential advance that could merge pharmacology with technology toward better outcomes.</p>
<p>Harjes: Yeah, absolutely. And as I mentioned earlier, whenever I see something hit major news outlets that's healthcare-related, I'm like, OK, we should at least mention this on the show. We've had listeners write in over the years asking where we do source our information and our story ideas, so I want to offer a couple of different healthcare news roundups that I read every day, in case anybody is looking for a way to stay even more in touch with the industry. If you want my personal list of what I read, please shoot me an email at [email protected], and I'll be happy to send you a list of my go-to sources.</p>
<p>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=da87406c-cc59-11e7-8b82-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Is a Digital Pill the Future of Medicine? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/18/is-digital-pill-future-medicine.html | 2017-11-18 | 0 |
<p><a href="https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/commodities--crude-drops-in-asia-as-api-estimates-ahead-530266" type="external">Commodities – Crude Drops In Asia As API Estimates Ahead</a>Investing.com <a href="https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news" type="external">Commodities</a></p>
<p>Investing.com – Crude oil prices fell in Asia on Tuesday ahead of industry estimates by the American Petroleum Institute (API) of refined product and crude stocks in the U.S. On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for October delivery fell 0.04% to $50.33 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent dipped 0.18% to $55.38 a …</p> | Helicopter parenting the Rmb | false | https://newsline.com/helicopter-parenting-the-rmb/ | 2017-09-18 | 1 |
<p>North Korea’s current dictator has <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16239693" type="external">died</a>. State television gives the cause of death as — and this is not a joke — exhaustion from working too hard. Kim succeeded his father in 1994 and has indicated that his third son is to take over the responsibility of oppressing the North Korean people. — PZS</p>
<p>BBC:</p>
<p>Mr Kim, who has led the communist nation since the death of his father in 1994, died on a train while visiting an area outside the capital, the announcement said.</p>
<p>[…]</p>
<p />
<p>The announcement came in an emotional statement read out on national television.</p>
<p>The announcer, wearing black, said he had died of physical and mental over-work.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16239693" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p /> | Kim Jong Il Is Dead | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/kim-jong-il-is-dead/ | 2011-12-19 | 4 |
<p>April 9, 2012</p>
<p>By Katy Grimes</p>
<p>In the California Assembly and Senate Monday, one would have thought that Franklin Delano Roosevelt had just died and was being eulogized. But the ghost of FDR was not present. Instead,&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Peter Douglas</a> of the notorious <a href="http://www.coastal.ca.gov/" type="external">California Coastal Commission</a>, who passed away last week, was on the menu of latest favorite legislative&#160;adjournment in&#160;memory&#160;devotionals.</p>
<p>Based on the unusually lengthy and numerous speeches, Democratic lawmakers apparently think Douglas was a king or a saint.</p>
<p>“The&#160;coast is never saved, it’s always in the process of being saved,” lawmakers from &#160;the Senate and Assembly&#160;said in both houses today, using an oft-repeated quote by Douglas from&#160;a <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/24/local/me-1990" type="external">2001 Los Angeles Times story</a>&#160;in their eulogies.</p>
<p>“Saved from&#160;what… blocked views?” a Capitol friend asked me.</p>
<p>Douglas is “the person who did the most to wreck California the past 25 years,” my colleague John Seiler <a href="" type="internal">recently</a> wrote.</p>
<p>No friend of homeowners in coastal regions, Douglas was responsible for decades of Coastal Commission abuse of homeowners through denials of any kind of development — except for those with mega-bucks.&#160;I have watched for years as the California Coastal Commission has obstructed and practiced the worst forms of state-activism-with-a-badge against middle and working class homeowners.</p>
<p>Homeowners who just happened to purchase lower-priced homes within miles of the coast have been subjected to horrible property rights abuse by the commission, and been denied basic bathroom and kitchen updates, outdoor painting, deck additions, garage rebuilds and landscaping re-do’s. The commission is notorious for being drunk with power, and bestowing privileges only on celebrities and the very wealthy.</p>
<p>“After 25 years assaulting basic property rights and the U.S. and California constitutions as the head of the Stalinesque California Coastal Commission, he finally gave up his tyrannical ghost,” Seiler wrote.</p>
<p>And since Douglas was a property owner in the state’s beautiful high-rent area of Marin County, and on the Smith River in Del Norte County, it’s not difficult imagining his personal interest in locking the door behind him.</p>
<p>“Along the coast now, matters are getting even worse,” Seiler wrote. “Extreme Coastal Commission regulations halt any normal suburban developments, allowing only McMansions worth at least $1.2 million a house. Basically, elitists like Douglas want the riff-raff kept away from their precious coast, so they can enjoy it for themselves.”</p>
<p>Ironically,&#160;Douglas graduated in 1960 from the exclusive&#160; <a href="http://www.stevensonschool.org/" type="external">Robert Louis Stevenson prep school&#160;</a>in Pebble Beach,&#160; <a href="http://www.stevensonschool.org/news/news_article/index.aspx?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&amp;LinkID=338&amp;ModuleID=174" type="external">where he attended&#160;</a>&#160;8th grade through 12th–a value today worth more than $250,000 in tuition.&#160;RLS is an exclusive boarding school for children as young as pre-kindergarten, through high school graduation.</p>
<p>In 2005, Douglas received an award from “ <a href="http://www.stevensonschool.org/" type="external">RLS</a>,” as it is commonly known on the Monterey Coast, and to California elites.&#160;“On Saturday night of Reunion Weekend the Alumni Association recognized three alumni.&#160;Peter Douglas ’60, an attorney and Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission received the Merle Greene Robertson Award for Service to Society,” RLS&#160; <a href="http://www.stevensonschool.org/news/news_article/index.aspx?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&amp;LinkID=338&amp;ModuleID=174" type="external">published</a>&#160;in 2005.</p>
<p>Republicans followed the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034492/quotes" type="external">Thumper</a> rule Monday on manners: “If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say nothing at all.”</p>
<p>I prefer Gertrude Stein’s <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9325.Gertrude_Stein" type="external">version</a>:&#160;“If you can’t say anything nice about anyone else, come sit next to me.”</p>
<p>And sit by me they did.</p>
<p>I can’t repeat what others said about Monday’s legislative swooning and fawning over one of the worst anti-property rights abusers in the history of the state. But I will say that state &#160;Capitol employees from both sides of the aisle at the Capitol weren’t happy about the embarrassing and unprofessional pander.</p>
<p>Watch it for yourself: <a href="http://www.calchannel.com/?page_id=16" type="external">California Channel April 9, 2012</a>.</p> | Legislative swooning over CA coastal guru | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2012/04/09/legislative-swooning-over-ca-coastal-guru/ | 2018-04-20 | 3 |
<p>Comedian Jimmy Kimmel treated viewers to some of televangelist and <a href="" type="internal">vaccine skeptic</a> Pat Robertson's most ridiculous statements Tuesday night.</p>
<p />
<p>The staff of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" sifted through several months of Robertson's TV show, "The 700 Club," to find absurd clips for the segment titled "The Collected Wisdom of Pat Robertson."</p>
<p>The televangelist's decontextualized pearls of wisdom include "Satanic rituals - it seems like a fun exercise!" and "Save your Confederate dollars - the South will rise again."</p>
<p>Watch below:</p>
<p />
<p>h/t <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/watch-jimmy-kimmel-serves-up-the-collected-wisdom-of-randy-icon-pat-robertson/" type="external">Raw Story</a></p> | Jimmy Kimmel Introduces America To Pat Robertson's 'Collected Wisdom' | true | http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jimmy-kimmel-pat-robertson-collected-wisdom | 4 |
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<p>Political polarization between Republicans and Democrats on “fundamental political issues [such as] government, race, immigration, national security [and] environmental protection” have “reached record levels,” according to a <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2017/10/05/the-partisan-divide-on-political-values-grows-even-wider/" type="external">Pew Research Center (PRC) study</a> published on October 5.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/12/section-1-growing-ideological-consistency/" type="external">Record levels</a> of political divisions across partisan lines were recorded during Barack Obama’s presidency, expanding further during Donald Trump’s presidency.</p>
<p>Differences between political viewpoints across partisan lines are greater than they are across lines of “gender, race and ethnicity, religious observance or education,” concludes PRC.</p>
<p>PRC’s phrasing of its polling statements — to which poll respondents indicate their degree of agreement or disagreement — embedded left-wing axioms; “Government should do more to help the needy,” “Racial discrimination is the main reason why black people can’t get ahead these days,” and “immigrants strengthen the country with their hard work and talents.”</p>
<p>View graphs below depicting widening partisan gulfs on political issues below.</p>
<p>Over the past six years, Democrats have moved left and Republicans have moved right in their views toward “government aid to the needy”:</p>
<p>While there has been a consistent party gap since 1994 on government aid to the poor, the divisions have never been this large. In 2011, about twice as many Democrats as Republicans said the government should do more for the needy (54% vs. 25%). Today, nearly three times as many Democrats as Republicans say this (71% vs. 24%).</p>
<p>PRC notes growing partisan division regarding alleged racial discrimination against blacks:</p>
<p>When the racial discrimination question was first asked in 1994, the partisan difference was 13 points. By 2009, it was only somewhat larger (19 points). But today, the gap in opinions between Republicans and Democrats about racial discrimination and black advancement has increased to 50 points.</p>
<p>PRC notes a growing partisan divide on views of immigrants:</p>
<p>There has been a major shift in Democrats’ opinions about immigrants. The share of Democrats who say immigrants strengthen the country has increased from 32% in 1994 to 84% today. By contrast, Republicans are divided in attitudes about immigrants: 42% say they strengthen the country, while 44% view them as a burden. In 1994, 30% of Republicans said immigrants strengthened the country, while 64% said they were a burden.</p>
<p>Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p> | Pew Research: Record-Level Partisan Gaps Over 'Fundamental Political Issues' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/22341/pew-research-record-level-partisan-gaps-over-robert-kraychik | 2017-10-16 | 0 |
<p>There's a reason why 401(k) and individual retirement accounts are called "tax deferred." You pay no taxes while you're accumulating savings, but Uncle Sam ultimately gets his bite when funds are withdrawn. And to make sure the meal gets started on time, you'll face though the dreaded required minimum distribution (RMD).</p>
<p>RMDs must be taken from IRAs starting in the year you turn 70.5 - and from 401(k)s at the same age, unless you're still working for the employer that sponsors the plan. They exist to make sure the tax benefits of these accounts don't extend indefinitely - and that you start using these assets, and start paying taxes, in retirement.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"RMDs are a double straitjacket," says Christine Fahlund , senior financial planner and vice president of T. Rowe Price Investment Services. "First, the government requires you to pull money out of your accounts when you don't necessarily want to, and then you're required to pay taxes on the withdrawals."</p>
<p>Like it or not, this is the time of year to think about RMDs, since in most cases they must be taken by Dec. 31. And it's important to get this right: Failure to take the correct distribution results in an onerous 50 percent tax - plus interest - on any required withdrawals you fail to take.</p>
<p>RMDS can boost other expenses, too. Since distributions count as ordinary income, they can push you into a higher tax bracket. They also can trigger higher taxes on Social Security benefits and substantial high-income surcharges on Medicare premiums.</p>
<p>Here are year-end tips from the pros on effective RMD management.</p>
<p>DO THE MATH, CHECK THE CALENDAR</p>
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<p>RMDs must be calculated for each account you own by dividing the prior Dec. 31 balance with a life expectancy factor that you can find in IRS Publication 590 (). Often, your account provider will calculate RMDs for you - but the final responsibility is yours. FINRA, the financial services self-regulatory agency, offers a calculator (), and the IRS offers worksheets () to help calculate RMDs.</p>
<p>RMDs must be taken by year-end, with one exception. If you turn 70.5 this year, you have until next April 1 to take your 2013 RMD. However, doing that means you'll be taking two distributions in 2014 - which could have a significant impact on your income taxes.</p>
<p>DRAWDOWN STRATEGIES</p>
<p>Although RMDs are calculated for each IRA you own, you don't have to take a separate distribution from every account. You could total up your RMDs and take it all from one IRA - one that is a poor performer, perhaps, or one that will help you rebalance an account that might be overweight in equities against your overall allocation plan.</p>
<p>"It's a great idea to use RMDs to restore balance to your portfolio," says Christine Benz, director of personal finance at Morningstar. "We've seen a tremendous run in stocks, recent losses notwithstanding, so it's a good bet that many retirees' equity allocations are above their target ranges."</p>
<p>With 401(k)s or other workplace plans, the RMD must be taken from each individual account you own. If you've left a trail of 401(k)s at various jobs over the years, that can be a chore - and a good argument for consolidation, argues Fahlund. "If you're just getting into the world of RMDs, it's a good time to consolidate your 401(k)s and IRAs," she says. "Minimize the number of accounts you have, so you can keep track of them more easily."</p>
<p>AVOIDING TAX SHOCKS</p>
<p>It's bad enough that RMDs may force you to sell assets you might prefer to hold. But RMDs also can trigger an increase in income taxes if they push you into a higher bracket.</p>
<p>Another bummer: RMDs can mean a bigger tax on Social Security benefits, which are taxed using a complex "provisional income" formula that is determined by adding together your adjusted gross income, tax-exempt income and half your Social Security benefit.</p>
<p>If you're over age 70.5, options for minimizing RMDs are few. One that is available - at least this year - is the qualified charitable distribution (QCD), which lets you make cash donations up to $100,000 to IRS-approved public charities direct from an IRA. (QDCs from workplace plans aren't allowed.) The gifts can be counted toward an RMD and are excluded from your taxable income.</p>
<p>This tax shelter has been on the congressional chopping block for some time and isn't expected to be extended for 2014. "It's the most interesting option this year, if you're in a position where you don't need the money yourself and you're charitably minded," says Jeremy S. Elliott, managing director at National Financial Partners.</p>
<p>Another option is converting IRAs assets to an after-tax Roth IRA. You'll owe income tax on the money you switch into the account in the year of the conversion, but you won't need to take RMDs in future years (though any beneficiaries would need to take RMDs down the road).</p>
<p>Finally, consider accelerating drawdowns from tax-deferred accounts before you enter the world of RMDs. Savings can be withdrawn without penalty from tax-qualified accounts after you turn 59. That will leave you with smaller tax-deferred accounts down the road - hence smaller RMDs.</p>
<p>Bill Meyer, co-founder of SocialSecuritySolutions.com, suggests taking distributions as large as possible so long as they don't push income into a higher tax bracket. "The idea is simple, he says. "If you reduce your RMDs down the road, you will have more money to spend in retirement."</p> | How to Cope with Dreaded Retirement Distributions | true | http://foxbusiness.com/2013/10/11/column-how-to-cope-with-dreaded-retirement-distributions.html | 2016-03-06 | 0 |
<p>After diving into fixed-income assets for most of the year, exchange traded fund investors are finally turning to stocks, with equity ETFs experiencing a record eight days of cash inflows. According to TrimTabs Investment Research, investors funneled $45.7 billion into U.S.-listed equity ETFs in the eight trading days ended Thursday November 17 for the largest… <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2016/11/u-s-stock-etfs-are-making-a-comeback/" type="external">Click to read more at ETFtrends.com. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | U.S. Stock ETFs Are Making a Comeback | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/11/21/u-s-stock-etfs-are-making-comeback.html | 2016-11-21 | 0 |
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<p>Newly elected French President Emmanuel Marcon on May 29, 2017, raised the ongoing crackdown against gay Chechen men during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that took place outside Paris. (Phoro by OFFICIAL LEWEB PHOTOS; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)</p>
<p />
<p>“We discussed the situation of LGBT people in Chechnya,” wrote Macron on his Twitter page after he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris. “I very specifically told President Putin what France’s expectations are.”</p>
<p>Macron also noted the crackdown against gay Chechens as he spoke at a press conference with Putin.</p>
<p />
<p>Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim semi-autonomous Russian republic in the North Caucuses.</p>
<p>Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper, reported last month that Chechen authorities have arrested more than 100 gay men since February.</p>
<p>Novaya Gazeta has said some of the men who have been arrested have been beaten, tortured or even killed. Reports also indicate Chechen authorities have sent them to secret prisons that have been described as “concentration camps.”</p>
<p>Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the Kremlin have downplayed or even dismissed the reports that gay men have been arrested. Novaya Gazeta reported last week that the Russian government has launched an investigation into the crackdown.</p>
<p>German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier this month raised Chechnya with Putin during their meeting that took place in Russia. British Prime Minister Theresa May and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are among the other world leaders who have condemned the crackdown.</p>
<p>U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley in <a href="" type="internal">an April 17 statement</a> said the U.S. remains “disturbed” by the arrests of the gay Chechen men.</p>
<p>The State Department last month urged the Russian government to investigate them. President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have neither publicly commented on the arrests nor urged the Russian government to pressure Chechen authorities to stop their crackdown.</p>
<p>Macron on May 7 defeated Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front in the second round of France’s presidential election.</p>
<p>Macron accused Russian hackers of targeting his campaign in the days leading up to the election. The Russian government has repeatedly denied it sought to influence the outcome of the French election, even though <a href="https://apnews.com/9fd3a3f874b343d8a8bd00a24fdd088e/le-pen-urges-russia-and-france-unite-moscow-visit" type="external">Putin met with Le Pen at the Kremlin on March 24.</a></p>
<p>The first round of the French presidential election <a href="" type="internal">took place</a> on April 23.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Angela Merkel</a> <a href="" type="internal">Chechnya</a> <a href="" type="internal">Donald Trump</a> <a href="" type="internal">Emmanuel Macron</a> <a href="" type="internal">France</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">Justin Trudeau</a> <a href="" type="internal">Nikki Haley</a> <a href="" type="internal">Ramzan Kadyrov</a> <a href="" type="internal">Rex Tillerson</a> <a href="" type="internal">Russia</a> <a href="" type="internal">Theresa May</a> <a href="" type="internal">Vladimir Putin</a></p> | Macron discusses gay Chechnya crackdown with Putin | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2017/05/29/macron-discusses-gay-chechnya-crackdown-putin/ | 3 |
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<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
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<p>POLITICAL PARTY: Republican</p>
<p>OCCUPATION: Rancher</p>
<p>RESIDENCE: Lincoln County, 51 miles north and east of Capitan or 45 miles north and west of Roswell</p>
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<p>RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: Supervisor, Chaves County Soil and Water Conservation District; vice chairman, Coalition of Conservation Districts; 25-year banking career, last 10 as president and CEO of First Federal Bank; director, Farm Credit of New Mexico; rancher, cow/calf operation.</p>
<p>EDUCATION: Bachelor’s in agriculture with major in animal science, Colorado State University.</p>
<p>CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: <a href="http://aubreydunn.com" type="external">aubreydunn.com</a></p>
<p>CANDIDATE STATEMENT:I am a lifelong conservationist. I believe just as President Teddy Roosevelt did in 1910 when he said: “[c]onservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful means, the generations that come after us.” I have talked to people of all over the state, and New Mexicans want their children better educated, they need job opportunities and they want their land cared for responsibly.</p>
<p>1. What would be your chief objectives as commissioner of public lands?</p>
<p>Your commissioner should be a person who recognizes that responsible management carries with it two fiduciary duties. The first being the ability to make wise decisions that increase revenues and create job opportunities in a timely fashion — just as a decision-maker in any business would do. Second, that person needs to recognize that the lands must be protected and cared for in a way that balances current use against sustainability for future generations. Good stewardship encompasses both of these considerations, and that is how I have run my ranch and the businesses in which I have been involved.</p>
<p>2. How would you achieve these objectives?</p>
<p>New Mexicans recognize that our agricultural and natural resources industries must thrive in order for the state’s economy to grow and to create more jobs for our citizens and revenues to educate our children. This isn’t about a choice between Republicans or Democrats, this is about a decision between a conservationist land manager who knows how to successfully manage a business and achieve objectives through sound business decisions versus a career politician. For example, under the previous commissioner, easements across state land were processed in two weeks on average, now they take more than six months; I would fix that.</p>
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<p>3. Have you or your business, if you are a business owner, ever been the subject of any state or federal tax liens?</p>
<p>None.</p>
<p>4. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding?</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>5. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, explain.</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Commissioner of Public Lands (R) — Aubrey Dunn | false | https://abqjournal.com/471010/commissioner-of-public-lands-r-aubrey-dunn.html | 2 |
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<p>Ten disqualified candidates for Egypt's presidency have 48 hours to appeal the election commission's decision, their only recourse after a surprise announcement made today, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/04/14/egypt-election-commission.html" type="external">The Associated Press</a>reported.</p>
<p>Among those disqualified are three polarizing figures: Omar Suleiman, Khairat el-Shater and Hazem Abu Ismail.</p>
<p>Suleiman is ousted president Hosni Mubarak's former spy chief while Shater is a leading face of the Muslim Brotherhood and Ismail is a preacher and former lawyer, the AP said.</p>
<p>The election commission banned Shater because of a criminal conviction during Mubarak's rule, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/world/middleeast/ten-candidates-barred-from-egyptian-election.html" type="external">The New York Times</a>reported.</p>
<p>Ismail's mother was born in the US therefore making him ineligible under Egyptian law, The Times said, while 8,000 of Suleiman's required signatures lacked proper verification.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/egypt/120413/cairo-thousands-rally-against-mubarak-era-presidentia" type="external">Thousands rally against Mubarak-era candidate</a></p>
<p>Because the election appeared headed for a showdown between Mubarak's old allies and Muslim hardliners, the decision appears to rule out the extreme candidates.</p>
<p>"It will be seen by many Egyptians as a compromise," Diaa Rashwan, of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told The Times.</p>
<p>The election is scheduled for May 23 and 24, with a potential runoff three weeks later and an official announcement on June 21, The Associated Press said.</p>
<p>Egypt's interim military government pledged to relinquish power on July 1, the AP reported.</p>
<p>The Muslim Brotherhood - a powerful party that controls parliament - said it would appeal the election commission's decision, <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hi6dg-0XCJLB01Upg5PeAujrw3HQ?docId=CNG.5c1aaf822b23dc0ab6d1e3d4032f5ae0.851" type="external">Agence France-Presse</a> said.</p>
<p>"This is a political decision," lawyer Abdelmonein Abdel Maqsud said, according to AFP.</p>
<p>After Mubarak was forced to relinquish power, 23 candidates put their names forward.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/120328/rwanda-economic-growth-pulling-rwandans-out-poverty" type="external">Rwanda's economic miracle</a>&#160;</p> | Egypt's presidential election loses 3 polarizing figures | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-04-14/egypt-s-presidential-election-loses-3-polarizing-figures | 2012-04-14 | 3 |
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<p>Image source: Suncor Energy.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, oil prices are a huge threat for any oil company. However, given that Canadian Natural Resources is on the path to generate upwards of $2.1 billion in free cash flow starting in 2018 even if oil is only in the mid-$40s, it's not quite threatened by low oil prices as many of its peers. Instead, what is an even bigger threat is the potential for new government regulations or taxes that could eat away at the company's ability to make a profit.</p>
<p>Dodging one bullet, while bracing for the next oneCanadian oil producers recently dodged a major bullet on taxes in Alberta after its government unveiled a new energy royalty tax framework that left legacy rates unchanged. That removed fears that costs would rise on already producing wells when the industry is struggling under the weight of weak oil prices. Under this new framework, which would go into effect next year, existing royalty rates would remain in place for the next decade for wells drilled before 2017.</p>
<p>This is good news for the industry, withSuncor noting that keeping the current royalty rates provides certainty that investors need to make long-term decisions. That said, rates on wells drilled beyond this year will likely be higher. How much higher is still anyone's guess because those new rates won't be unveiled for a few months. The primary concern is what these rates will be and their impact on investment decisions for oil companies like Canadian Natural Resources that operate in the province.</p>
<p>Changing climate, changing plansAlong that same vein is the province's increasing carbon levy on large emitters, which will more than double over the next two years. Previously, large carbon emitters had to pay $15 per tonne, but that increased to $20 per tonne this year before rising to $30 a tonne in 2017. Additional increases or fees could be in the cards if the government decides it needs to do more to stem the rise of emissions. That has the potential to increase Canadian Natural Resources' costs in the future if it doesn't get its emissions under control.</p>
<p>One of the issues for companies like Canadian Natural Resources is that oil sands extraction is more carbon intensive than conventional oil and gas production. As such, Canadian Natural Resources and other producers in the region have been working on ways to bring down emissions. Suncor Energy and Imperial Oil , for example, have been piloting solvent-assisted steam-assisted gravity drainage technology to reduce the use of water and natural gas for underground bitumen extraction. According to Imperial Oil, which recently filed an application to build a new oil sands project based on this solvent-based technology, its project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% when compared to existing projects. Meanwhile, oil sands miners such as Royal Dutch Shell are using natural gas-powered trucks, as opposed to those powered by diesels, to reduce their emissions. Clearly, the industry is making progress using new technologies to reduce emissions. However, it is still threatened by the potential for government regulations that could move faster than the industry can adapt.</p>
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<p>Image source: Suncor Energy.</p>
<p>The problem with pipelinesAnother big government-related issue is the complete lack of progress on getting key oil sands pipeline projects approved. Four major oil sands pipeline projects, heading in three difference directions, have come under intense opposition causing delays and higher costs. As such, the industry needs the government to work with it to get these projects moving forward so that it can grow. If not, companies like Canadian Natural Resources might have to pay more to get its oil to market via rail or more expensive pipeline routes, which could impact its ability to generate as much cash flow as it otherwise would.</p>
<p>Investor takeawayWhile oil prices are a big threat to Canadian Natural Resources' future profits, that takes a bit of a backseat to the risk of potential changes in taxes or regulations. That's partially because Canadian Natural Resources can thrive at lower oil prices, assuming that it's not paying enormously higher taxes or environmental fees as well as having open access to market via an improvement in pipeline takeaway capacity.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/04/the-biggest-threat-to-canadian-natural-resources-l.aspx" type="external">The Biggest Threat to Canadian Natural Resources Limited Stock Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFmd19/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Matt DiLallo Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | The Biggest Threat to Canadian Natural Resources Limited Stock | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/04/04/biggest-threat-to-canadian-natural-resources-limited-stock.html | 2016-04-04 | 0 |
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/business/rolling-stone-magazine-sale.html?_r=0" type="external">The New York Times</a> (NYT). Rolling Stone founder and publisher Jann Wenner told the Times: The NYT article reported that Wenner’s son, Gus, is organizing the sale plans. The Wenners have yet to name specific buyers, but Gus said he hopes to find a buyer that “understood Rolling Stone’s mission” and has “lots of money.”
<a href="http://www.jannswenner.com/Biography/" type="external">Jann Wenner</a> founded Rolling Stone in 1967 at the age of 20 after dropping out of University of California, Berkeley. Until 2016, Wenner and his group, Wenner Media, owned all of Rolling Stone. Last year, Wenner Media sold a 49% stake in Rolling Stone to BandLab Technologies, a Singapore-based music company, marking Rolling Stone’s first outside investor, as reported by
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-25/jann-wenner-to-sell-49-of-rolling-stone-to-singapore-s-bandlab" type="external">Bloomberg</a>. Wenner Media
<a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-media-inc-finalizes-purchase-of-us-weekly-300445538.html" type="external">recently sold</a> its two other magazines — Us Weekly in April, and Men’s Journal in June. American Media, Inc., publisher of the National Enquirer,
<a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_releases/2017/06/22/NY23517" type="external">purchased</a> both. Gus Wenner
<a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20170321/ENTERTAINMENT/170329971/rolling-stone-turns-50-free-of-debt-after-a-decade-thanks-to-the-sale-of-us-weekly-to-the-owner-of-national-enquirer" type="external">told</a> Crain’s, a New York business publication, that US Weekly sold for $100 million, leaving Rolling Stone debt-free for the first time in a decade. Rolling Stone reached a
<a href="" type="internal">$1.65 million settlement</a> in June that ended a
<a href="" type="internal">defamation lawsuit</a> against the magazine regarding its faulty reporting of an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity house. In November 2016, a
<a href="" type="internal">jury found Rolling Stone writer Sabrina Rubin Erdely guilty of libel</a>(with actual malice) and Rolling Stone and Wenner Media guilty of defamation against University of Virginia Dean of Students Nicole Eramo. Wenner’s plan to sell is the most recent instance of high-profile editors stepping down. On 7 September, Graydon Carter announced that he would step down as editor of
<a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/09/some-big-news-of-our-own" type="external">Vanity Fair</a> after 25 years in charge. On 12 September, Nancy Gibbs, editor-in-chief at
<a href="http://time.com/4938954/nancy-gibbs-time-magazine-editor/" type="external">TIME</a>, announced she would leave the magazine. On 11 September,
<a href="https://www.thecut.com/2017/09/elles-robbie-myers-is-leaving-after-17-years.html" type="external">Elle</a> editor-in-chief Robbie Myers announced her plans to leave the magazine. Share on
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<a href="" type="internal">Email</a> | Rolling Stone Magazine Is Up For Sale | false | http://thewhim.com/rolling-stone-magazine-sale/ | 2017-09-19 | 2 |
<p>It’s no secret that shoppers are cutting back this season and finding ways to stretch their holiday spending money a bit further. The <a href="" type="internal">National Retail Federation</a> reports that consumer spending will be down 3.3% this year over last, yet there is one area of the retail space where shoppers are still spending: craft supplies.</p>
<p>“Most people find that making their own (gifts) is a great way to keep your costs in check,” said Leah Ingram, author of the “Suddenly Frugal: How to Live Happier and Healthier and Less.”</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The trend towards crafting started last year, Ingram said, when money started to get tight for many families due to layoffs and tight credit markets. Since then, companies like craft retailers Michael’s and fabric stores like JoAnn Fabrics (JAF) and Hancock Fabrics have reaped the benefits of a creative resurgence.</p>
<p>During the third quarter alone, net sales were up by 6% at JoAnn Fabrics, where same-store sales rose 4.3%. At Hancock, net sales were up more than $2 million during the quarter, and same store sales saw a rise of 4%.</p>
<p>“There’s clearly a stronger interest in making gifts,” said Michael’s general manager of strategic marketing, <a href="" type="internal">John Rowe</a>.</p>
<p>A survey of 1,000 Michael’s customers showed that 65% plan to make their holiday gifts this season. That’s up from 58% last year. The top crafts that Michael’s customers are making include baked goods, decorative candles, jewelry, and holiday cards, Rowe said.</p>
<p>Yet even those without solid crafting skills are finding ways to make their own presents this year. In Seattle, a neighborhood group called “Sustainable Green Lake” got together to pool its skills for making unique presents.</p>
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<p>“We’ll all be learning and teaching a skill that we wouldn’t have when we walked through the door,” said Pennie O’Grady, one of the founders of Sustainable Green Lake. “This year we wanted to make presents, not just crafts.”</p>
<p>The group has around 12 members who shared their knowledge of how to make items, including candles, potholders, a clove orange and root beer. Each member brought enough supplies for 12 items, so each member left with a dozen unique presents. The gifts will be passed along to friends and family as gifts, and enjoyed at holiday celebrations, said O’Grady.</p>
<p>Groups like this are popping up all across the country, and gatherings of younger craft-savvy individuals, nicknamed “craft Mafia,” are going strong, according to Victor Domine, PR manager for the Craft and Hobby Association.</p>
<p>“There have been people getting together for centuries to make things, like quilting and scrap booking, but we’re really seeing a lot of indie urban craft makers in large cities,” said Domine. “They are reaping the social benefits of traditional crafting circles and having a great time.”</p>
<p>Around 43 million U.S. households will be creating hand-crafted gifts this holiday season, according to the Craft and Hobby Association, about the same number as last year. Since then, there has been a 5% increase in sales of sewing machines along with a 5% increase in fabric sales.</p>
<p>Domine highlighted the trends present in re-purposing items as consumers look to extend the shelf life and usefulness of their items to save money.</p>
<p>“Although the 'millennials' get a bad rap for spending too much money, you’ve got to hand it to them for their ability to upcycle their goods and get creative in edgy, unique ways,” he said.</p> | A Crafty Christmas Saves Money | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2009/12/15/crafty-christmas-saves-money.html | 2016-03-18 | 0 |
<p>Misguided and bigoted demagoguery distracts from the real crisis staring at us in our own mirror—a crisis not of other, but of self.</p>
<p>Many economic Nostradamuses have long predicted that the epitaph on America’s tombstone will ultimately read “Made In China.” But casual observers probably didn’t think the funeral procession would happen this fast. In the last year, though, most have wised up. Thanks to a spate of mind-blowing headlines, we are learning that the Chinese invasion isn’t just a distant possibility–it’s happening right now.</p>
<p>First, in February, ABC News reported that almost every Americana-themed trinket sold in the Smithsonian Institute is made in China. Then news hit that San Francisco is importing its new bay bridge from China. Then came the New York Times dispatch about the Big Apple awarding Chinese state-subsidized firms huge taxpayer-funded contracts to “renovate the subway system, refurbish the Alexander Hamilton Bridge over the Harlem River and build a new Metro-North train platform near Yankee Stadium.”</p>
<p>Astounding as all of that is, it was quickly topped by news last week reminding us that the new Martin Luther King monument in Washington was designed by a Chinese government sculptor and assembled by low-wage Chinese workers.</p>
<p>The trend is enough to trouble any American. After all, when a memorial for a civil rights leader who deplored “starvation wages” and died supporting a sanitation union’s strike is built by nonunion serfs from China, it’s a good sign there’s a big problem.</p>
<p>But then, what exactly is that problem?</p>
<p>Xenophobes will say China’s ascendance threatens America’s global cultural hegemony and promises to create a dystopia forcing us all to endure the supposed horrors of speaking Mandarin and using chopsticks.</p>
<p>Such misguided and bigoted demagoguery, though, distracts from the real crisis staring at us in our own mirror–a crisis not of other, but of self. Indeed, for all the fears of external assault, the Chinese invasion tells us the true problem is that America is no longer willing or able to invest in its own future.</p>
<p>This problem is most obvious–and shocking–in our government. As opposed to multinational corporations, which care only about maximizing shareholder profit, our public-policy arena is supposed to be focused on building America. But in this golden age of big-money politics, with multinational corporations buying our lawmakers, we get the opposite–even during an unemployment crisis. Today, municipalities outsource public works projects, congresses water down “Buy America” laws, and presidents champion trade deals that encourage companies to send jobs overseas. That trickles down to give us American iconography made in Chinese factories, American real estate owned by Chinese companies, and American civil rights memorials constructed with Chinese slave labor.</p>
<p>The public excuse from our corrupt politicians is that Americans don’t really want the jobs that could be created if lawmakers prioritized domestic investment. Last week, for instance, the White House’s U.S. Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, said we shouldn’t be concerned with jobs that are about “making things that, frankly, we don’t want to make in America–you know, cheaper products, low-skill jobs.” It was a reprise of 2006, when Sen. John McCain told union members the same thing.</p>
<p>The truth, of course, is the opposite–millions of jobless Americans are desperate for some shred of economic patriotism that would put them back to work. But our political system isn’t about patriotism anymore. It’s about the deception embodied in Kirk’s talking points.</p>
<p>Thanks to that, the idea of successfully legislating a domestic investment agenda seems not like mere wishful thinking. It seems as wholly inconceivable as walking into a big-box store and finding lots of products that are still made in the USA.</p>
<p>Like what you’ve read? <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/itt-subscription-offer?refcode=WS_ITT_Article_Footer&amp;noskip=true" type="external">Subscribe to In These Times magazine</a>, or <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/support-in-these-times?refcode=WS_ITT_Article_Footer&amp;noskip=true" type="external">make a tax-deductible donation to fund this reporting</a>.</p>
<p>David Sirota, an In These Times senior editor and syndicated columnist, is a staff writer at PandoDaily and a bestselling author whose book Back to Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live In Now—Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Everything was released in 2011. Sirota, whose previous books include The Uprising and Hostile Takeover, co-hosts "The Rundown" on AM630 KHOW in Colorado. E-mail him at [email protected], follow him on Twitter @davidsirota or visit his website at www.davidsirota.com.</p> | The Lesson of the Chinese Invasion | true | http://inthesetimes.com/article/11881/the_lesson_of_the_chinese_invasion/ | 2011-09-02 | 4 |
<p>BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The mayor of a small city in northern Colombia says 31 people were wounded when an explosive device was thrown into a crowded nightclub.</p>
<p>Caucasia Mayor Oscar Anibal Suarez says three women were seriously injured in the pre-dawn attack Friday at the Bora Bora nightclub. Suarez says the rest of the victims suffered only minor injuries.</p>
<p>About 70 people were at the club when the device was thrown from a motorcycle and set off a stampede among panicked club patrons.</p>
<p>The mayor says police arrested a man and woman as suspects in the attack. Their names haven't been released. He says the attack appears to stem from a battle among local drug gangs for control of the city north of Medellin.</p>
<p>BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The mayor of a small city in northern Colombia says 31 people were wounded when an explosive device was thrown into a crowded nightclub.</p>
<p>Caucasia Mayor Oscar Anibal Suarez says three women were seriously injured in the pre-dawn attack Friday at the Bora Bora nightclub. Suarez says the rest of the victims suffered only minor injuries.</p>
<p>About 70 people were at the club when the device was thrown from a motorcycle and set off a stampede among panicked club patrons.</p>
<p>The mayor says police arrested a man and woman as suspects in the attack. Their names haven't been released. He says the attack appears to stem from a battle among local drug gangs for control of the city north of Medellin.</p> | Explosive attack in Colombia nightclub wounds 31 people | false | https://apnews.com/amp/246049430d8a43a380a26cd0ccee8815 | 2017-12-29 | 2 |
<p>Since he started running for president last summer, Donald Trump has <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865646425/Which-candidate-gives-the-most-to-charity.html?pg=all" type="external">claimed</a> he has given more than $102 million to charity in the past five years.</p>
<p>The Trump campaign published a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/politics/a-94-page-list-of-donald-trumps-charitable-contributions-from-the-last-five-years/2013/?tid=a_inl" type="external">93-page list</a> of his contributions, but one thing was conspicuously absent: Trump’s own cash.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-portrait-of-trump-the-donor-free-rounds-of-golf-but-no-personal-cash/2016/04/10/373b9b92-fb40-11e5-9140-e61d062438bb_story.html?tid=ss_tw" type="external">The Washington Post</a> noted, “Not a single one of those donations was actually a personal gift of Trump’s own money.” Here’s how cynical Trump is; as the Post reports, “The largest items on the list were not cash gifts but land-conservation agreements to forgo development rights on property Trump owns.”</p>
<p>Trump often used his Donald J. Trump Foundation to give gifts, although he did not give any money to the Foundation between 2009 and 2014.</p>
<p>Here’s how that $102 million breaks down, just to show where Trump’s priorities lie: $63.8 million for conservation easements on various properties; $26.1 million for land donated to the state of New York; $7 million from his Foundation, and $6.4 million for gifts made by Trump’s golf courses, hotels, and the Mar-a-Lago in Florida.</p>
<p>The Post noted:</p>
<p>When asked about The Post’s analysis, a top Trump aide acknowledged that none of the gifts had come in cash from the billionaire himself. But, he said, that was because the list was not a complete account of Trump’s gifts. The aide, Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, said Trump had, in fact, given generously from his own pocket. But Weisselberg declined to provide any documentation, such as saying how much charitable giving Trump has declared in his federal tax filings.</p>
<p>As far as that $63.8 million for conservation easements, which entail a landowner agreeing to eschew certain kinds of development on his own land, here’s an example of Trump’s reputed generosity: in California, he agreed to an <a href="http://pvplc.org/_news/docs/releases/TrumpConEasementEDNoQuote.pdf" type="external">easement</a>so he wouldn’t build homes on land near a golf course. But he still kept the land and made money; it’s a driving range.</p> | Trump Hasn’t Given ANY Cash To Charity | true | https://dailywire.com/news/4840/trump-hasnt-given-any-cash-charity-hank-berrien | 2016-04-11 | 0 |
<p>FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Keljin Blevins scored a career-high 26 points and Harald Frey may have made only one basket in 13 tries, but it was a big one — a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left in overtime — and Montana State clipped Northern Arizona 76-73 in a tense, back-and-forth game Saturday night.</p>
<p>Blevins opened overtime with a 3-pointer, Montana State never trailed again and has its first 2-0 road start to Big Sky Conference play since the 2004-05 season.</p>
<p>Tyler Hall scored 16 points for the Bobcats (9-6), Sam Neumann added 10 rebounds and nine points, including two free throws to ice it with 7.4 seconds left.</p>
<p>Montana State converted 25 of 30 free throws while Northern Arizona was 18 of 29. Blevins was 9-for-9 at the free throw line, Hall 7-for-8. Montana State trailed by as many as 15, cut it to 38-34 at the break and opened the second half with seven unanswered points for a 41-38 lead.</p>
<p>Torry Johnson scored 13 points for NAU (3-12, 0-2) and Chris Bowling led with 16 before fouling out late in regulation. JoJo Anderson, who scored 31 against Montana two nights earlier, was 0-for-3 shooting and had four points.</p>
<p>FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Keljin Blevins scored a career-high 26 points and Harald Frey may have made only one basket in 13 tries, but it was a big one — a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left in overtime — and Montana State clipped Northern Arizona 76-73 in a tense, back-and-forth game Saturday night.</p>
<p>Blevins opened overtime with a 3-pointer, Montana State never trailed again and has its first 2-0 road start to Big Sky Conference play since the 2004-05 season.</p>
<p>Tyler Hall scored 16 points for the Bobcats (9-6), Sam Neumann added 10 rebounds and nine points, including two free throws to ice it with 7.4 seconds left.</p>
<p>Montana State converted 25 of 30 free throws while Northern Arizona was 18 of 29. Blevins was 9-for-9 at the free throw line, Hall 7-for-8. Montana State trailed by as many as 15, cut it to 38-34 at the break and opened the second half with seven unanswered points for a 41-38 lead.</p>
<p>Torry Johnson scored 13 points for NAU (3-12, 0-2) and Chris Bowling led with 16 before fouling out late in regulation. JoJo Anderson, who scored 31 against Montana two nights earlier, was 0-for-3 shooting and had four points.</p> | Blevins, Frey help Montana St edge Northern Arizona 76-73 OT | false | https://apnews.com/2de82bc687c842669ca6ad00e497cea4 | 2017-12-31 | 2 |
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<p>Trump’s proposal, part of his budget plan, would sever an economic lifeline that enables rural communities to attract and keep businesses and jobs, officials in those communities said.</p>
<p>The program has long been a target of conservatives who say the subsidies are too expensive for the relatively small number of passengers served. Elimination of the program would save about $175 million a year, according to the Trump administration.</p>
<p>“We do appreciate running government as efficiently as possible, those are our values … (but) I would argue that this program is vital for rural America,” said Laurie Gill, the Republican mayor of Pierre, South Dakota.</p>
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<p>Trump’s budget proposal cuts many domestic programs as the administration looks for money to increase the military, border control and veterans services while not expanding the deficit. The proposal is an early step in a lengthy budget process and it’s not clear to what degree Congress will back his priorities.</p>
<p>The Essential Air Service program subsidizes airline flights to 111 communities in the 48 contiguous states that would otherwise have no scheduled service and which are at least 210 miles from the nearest hub airport, according to the Transportation Department. Trump got more than 50 percent of the vote in 86 of those communities, according to an Associated Press analysis of voting data.</p>
<p>About 60 communities in the deep-red state of Alaska also receive subsidized service.</p>
<p>Without the subsidies, airlines would no longer service their communities, local officials said. In Pierre, that means people who live in the state capital would have to drive more than three hours to reach the nearest airport with scheduled flights, Gill said.</p>
<p>Hunting, one of the underpinnings of the local economy, might also suffer, she said. Hunters across the country are drawn to the state during pheasant season.</p>
<p>The program was created nearly 40 years ago to ensure air service to rural communities after the airlines were de-regulated and cut back less profitable routes.</p>
<p>Not all flights are full, the cost per passenger is high and some of the communities aren’t that far from another airport with scheduled service, according to the administration. The Transportation Department has also made exceptions for some communities that are less than the required 210-mile distance.</p>
<p>That’s not the case in Show Low in eastern Arizona near the White Mountains, said Glen Boyd, manager of the regional airport there. The program subsidizes flights to Phoenix, which is more than three hours away by car over roads that are often treacherous and snow-covered in the winter, he said.</p>
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<p>The region is economically depressed, he said. A paper mill that was a large employer closed about two years ago. Another major employer, some coal-fired power plants, are in trouble and may close, he said.</p>
<p>One bright spot is tourism, especially skiing, fishing and hunting, but airline flights to bring those tourists to the region are critical, Boyd said. Without the subsidies, he said, the airport might be forced to close.</p>
<p>Elimination of the program is likely to run into opposition in the Senate, where lawmakers from rural states have helped keep it alive despite several previous attempts by budget-cutters to kill it.</p>
<p>Among other transportation programs serving rural communities targeted for elimination in Trump’s proposal is Amtrak’s long-distance trail service.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>AP data journalist Justin Myers contributed to this report.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Joan Lowy at <a href="http://twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy." type="external">http://twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy.</a> Her work can be found at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/joan-lowy" type="external">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/joan-lowy</a></p> | Trump would end subsidies for rural airline service | false | https://abqjournal.com/970686/trump-would-end-subsidies-for-rural-airline-service-2.html | 2017-03-16 | 2 |
<p>Cleveland Plain Dealer "I've been here since '83, and off and on there's always been talk" of Knight Ridder putting the Beacon Journal up for sale by itself, says education writer Katie Byard. "Who knows what's going to happen now?" Henry J. Gomez says some wonder if a new owner would close the Beacon Journal altogether. Reporter Lisa Abraham doesn't think that will happen. "I can't imagine anyone would spend a lot of money on us to shut us down." The Beacon Journal's 21% operating profit margin ranks fourth-best in the chain. (Plus: <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business/1134552834299310.xml&amp;coll=2" type="external">Tracing</a> KR's Akron roots.)</p> | Akron BJ reporter says KR drama is "so surreal in a way" | false | https://poynter.org/news/akron-bj-reporter-says-kr-drama-so-surreal-way | 2005-12-14 | 2 |
<p />
<p>_‘Traffic’ vs. reality</p>
<p />
<p>Just in time for the Academy Award nominations, the friendly folks at THE LINDESMITH CENTER-DRUG POLICY FOUNDATION have put together a new website, Stopthewar.com, spelling out just where the much-hyped film ‘Traffic’ does and doesn’t intersect with the real-life War on Drugs.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p><a href="/mustreads/021501.html" type="external">2/15 – Household poisoning</a></p>
<p><a href="/mustreads/021401.html" type="external">2/14 – Give me your heart, you swine</a></p>
<p><a href="/mustreads/021301.html" type="external">2/13 – GOP scares XXX biz</a></p>
<p><a href="/mustreads/020901.html" type="external">2/9 – Activist uses Web to monitor Beijing</a></p>
<p>A summary of the film points out places where it accurately reflects reality (wealthy high school kids do drugs, just like Michael Douglas’ on-screen daughter) and where it misleads (unlike said daughter, most young people caught with hard drugs spend more than a few hours in jail and can’t get treatment). There’s also a jazzy Flash-animated game where players can try out different strategies to win the drug war — only to be met with sobering stats on why approaches from locking up all drug users to sending weapons to Colombia have failed to even dent Americans appetite for illegal stimulants.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.stopthewar.com" type="external">Check out STOPTHEWAR.COM here.</a></p>
<p /> | Must Read | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2001/02/must-read-4/ | 2001-02-16 | 4 |
<p>Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Sunday said “any threat” to the United States, its territories or its allies will be “met with a massive military response.”</p>
<p>“Any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam, or our allies will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming,” Mattis said.</p>
<p>He called on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to “take heed of the United Nations Security Council’s unified voice.”</p>
<p>“All members unanimously agreed on the threat North Korea poses and they remain unanimous in their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” he said.&#160;“We are not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely North Korea,&#160;but as I said we have many options to do so.”</p>
<p />
<p>President Donald Trump <a href="" type="internal">said</a> Sunday morning that he would meet with Mattis, White House chief of staff John Kelly&#160;and “other military leaders” after North Korea’s&#160;state-run media claimed its leader inspected the loading of a hydrogen bomb into a new intercontinental ballistic missile.</p> | Mattis: US Will Meet ‘Any Threat’ With ‘Massive Military Response’ | true | http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mattis-us-will-meet-any-threat-with-massive-military-response | 4 |
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<p>The compact was endorsed last week by a legislative committee, but it appeared Tuesday that it won't be introduced to the full Legislature for a vote until the budget is sewn up.</p>
<p>"I think we need to do our initial business first," said Rep. James Roger Madalena, D-Jemez Pueblo, who chairs the Committee on Compacts and will introduce the compact resolution on the House floor.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>With just over a week left in the 30-day legislative session, the Navajo Nation is worried the agreement may fall victim to the calendar.</p>
<p>"Time is not on our side," Navajo Nation Council Delegate Lorenzo Bates told the Journal .</p>
<p>A state budget for next year, the biggest task for legislators in the session, got hung up Friday in the House on a tie vote when Democratic Rep. Sandra Jeff, a Navajo from Crownpoint, joined House Republicans in voting to block it.</p>
<p>Democratic legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Susana Martinez were working Tuesday to try to reach some deal on a spending plan, hoping to have something ready by today.</p>
<p>"All we know right now is that it has put our compact in a tailspin," Bates said.</p>
<p>"The nation understands that the budget is a priority. But the Legislature has also got to understand that the compact is a priority of the nation," he said.</p>
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<p>The Navajos, who failed to get lawmakers to consider a similar compact last year, are eager to get the required legislative approval before the Legislature adjourns Feb. 20. Their current gambling agreement with the state expires in June 2015, and they say leaving the issue until next year's legislative session would be cutting it too close, because it also must be approved by the U.S. Department of Interior.</p>
<p>There has been considerable resistance to the Navajo compact from other gambling tribes concerned about the competition, because the compact would allow the Navajos to have three more casinos, for a total of five. Some tribes also are worried that the compact would become a template for their own ongoing negotiations.</p>
<p>Under state law, the Legislature can vote to approve the compact or not, but it can't make any changes to it. It wouldn't go through the regular committee process, but rather would be debated on the House and Senate floors.</p>
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<p /> | Budget impasse stalls Navajo gambling compact | false | https://abqjournal.com/351600/budget-impasse-stalls-compact.html | 2 |
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<p>Still from BP's live feed.</p>
<p />
<p>Initial government estimates about the size of the Gulf oil spill were low—way, way low. The number the government repeated for four weeks, about 5,000 barrels per day, was about one-twelfth of the actual rate oil was seeping from the well. So what went wrong with the government’s math? It’s an awfully good question, one that watchdog groups want answered. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which represents whistleblower scientists at government agencies, <a href="http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1402" type="external">announced Thursday</a> that it is filing suit against the Obama administration to gain access to the paper trail on the government’s early assessments. The group says government officials are “hiding the memos and e-mails behind official scientific assessments of the size of the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.”</p>
<p>At the height of the spill, 62,000 barrels of oil gushed from the hole daily, the federal government flow rate team <a href="" type="internal">concluded in August</a>. That’s a far cry from BP’s first estimate—1,000 barrels—and from the government’s first initial estimate of just 5,000 barrels per day. They later <a href="" type="internal">increased the official estimate</a> to 12,000 to 19,000 at the end of May.</p>
<p>Yet as I <a href="" type="internal">reported shortly after that range was released</a>, the actual documentation that the US Geological Survey, a division of the Department of Interior, released a week later made it clear that even this rate was a low-end estimate. But Marcia McNutt, the director of the USGS and chair of the Flow Rate Technical Group, told reporters that this was the best estimate available at the time.</p>
<p>PEER says the administration is violating the Freedom of Information Act by not releasing the requested documentation, which includes the technical data supporting the estimates about the spill size, directives from agency heads, and correspondence between officials and scientists.</p>
<p>PEER alleges that McNutt “omitted the fact that these were minimum estimates (deleting phrases such as ‘at least’ and ‘range of lower bounds’) and did not mention completed estimates that were much higher.” The group also alleges that the government “withheld the actual technical report and instead released only a summary that [McNutt] wrote” and “directed that none of the Technical Group documents was subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and that group members should not disclose any materials.”</p>
<p>A number of groups, including Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Greenpeace, and the Center for Biological Diversity have sought the technical documents and correspondence related to the flow rate, to no avail. While some related documents are <a href="http://www.usgs.gov/deepwater_horizon/" type="external">posted on the USGS site</a>, Jeff Ruch, executive director of PEER, says the government has been “stalling us for the last couple months” on specific documents and is just posting “filler” online. “We’re looking for information about what was shared with the public, what wasn’t, and why,” said Ruch.</p>
<p>The government has also faced criticism for claiming that three-quarters of the oil in the Gulf <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/aug/16/carol-browner/carol-browner-says-three-quarters-oil-spilled-gulf/" type="external">was “gone”</a> in early August. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has <a href="" type="internal">come under fire</a> for refusing to release the data on which those claims were based. (The agency later said that the documentation for the claims <a href="" type="internal">would not be available for months</a>.) And the supposed independent experts who peer-reviewed NOAA’S report? They say they <a href="" type="internal">never saw</a> the final document before it was released.</p>
<p>The continued lack of transparency about how much oil was spilled, where it went, and what the government knew about both those figures over the course of the disaster has alarmed a number of environmental advocates. “There is no scientifically, peer-reviewed data or studies on how much oil was spilled or how much oil is left,” said Bill Snape, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We still have no idea. We’re guessing.”</p>
<p>Special Report: Check out our in-depth investigation of BP’s crimes in the Gulf, “ <a href="../../../../../../../special-reports/2010/09/bp-oceans" type="external">BP’s Deep Secrets</a>.”</p>
<p /> | The Feds’ Oil-Spill Number Games | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/09/watchdogs-file-suit-govt-spill-info/ | 2010-09-17 | 4 |
<p>My wife is a smoker. Except for one year when she quit, she’s been a smoker since she was about 18. But she’s cut back, from as many as three packs a day to just three cigarettes. And, she now smokes outside the house.</p>
<p>At various times, she was asked to show an ID. When in her 20s she saw it as an annoyance. By her 30s and 40s, it was a compliment. Now it’s just downright annoying.</p>
<p>The law restricts persons under 18 years of age from buying or smoking cigarettes. My wife understands why she must be “carded.”</p>
<p>Yesterday she was carded when she wanted to buy two lighters. The sweet lady at the grocery checkout counter said that the chain store is carding everyone who buys lighters. Something about a juvenile who used a lighter and accidentally set his house on fire.</p>
<p>The law doesn’t say a person must be at least 18 to buy a cigarette lighter. But, the reasoning is that people buy cigarette lighters to—well—light cigarettes. Therefore, cigarette lighters—which can be used for many things other than to light up—also must be controlled. So, every adult, from the 20s to the gray-haired elderly, will also be “carded” when they buy lighters.</p>
<p>If this restrictive and selective enforcement continues, we might soon see stores carding people who buy cups, because they could be used to hold beer. Anyone who buys watermelons would be carded since plugged, spiked, and corked watermelons are a delightful summer treat. Jello, once promoted by all-American “dad” Bill Cosby, would be suspect, since there aren’t many college parties without Jello shots.</p>
<p>Unlike the sale of cigarettes and liquor, there is no age restriction on most foods. So, various health-nut organizations and not-so-bright legislators have decided to tax foods they don’t think are acceptable. Several legislators have tried, but so far have failed, to enact legislation that would tax high-calorie foods. New York Gov. David Patterson wants to levy a 15 percent tax on any juice or drink except diet sodas, bottled water, coffee, tea, and milk.</p>
<p>Eventually, we’ll see a special “obesity tax” placed against anything sold at a fast food restaurant.</p>
<p>When you break through the smoke and mirrors, governments really don’t care about anyone’s health. They do care about ways to generate revenue. Gov. Patterson readily acknowledges that the “obesity tax” in New York would generate about $400 million additional revenue. New York also leads the nation in cigarette taxes. A smoker in New York City pays about $9 per pack, which includes a 39 cents federal tax, a $2.75 state tax, a $1.50 city tax, plus an 8 percent sales tax on top of everything else. Chicago is second, with taxes totaling $3.66 a pack. States and the federal government collect about $26 billion a year in cigarette taxes, according to a New York Times report in August 2008.</p>
<p>Liquor taxes aren’t meant to make anyone healthy, except the state economy. In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a five cent a drink tax that, had the legislature not tabled the suggestion, would have raised $600 million a year. Overall, the federal government collected more than $9 billion in taxes, while states collected an additional $6 billion, according to a comprehensive analysis published in June 2007 by the National Center for Policy Analysis.</p>
<p>With budgets being pumped up by numerous “sin taxes,” it won’t be long until someone figures out they need not only to card buyers of cigarette lighters, cups, watermelons, and Jello, but that there also needs to be special excise taxes upon these products as well.</p>
<p>WALTER BRASCH is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Sinking the Ship of State: The Presidency of George W. Bush</a>.</p>
<p>[The assistance of Rosemary R. Brasch is appreciated. WALTER BRASCH’s latest book is Sinking the Ship of State: The Presidency of George W. Bush, available at amazon.com, bn.com, and most bookstores. You may contact Dr. Brasch at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>, or through his website, <a href="http://www.walterbrasch.com" type="external">www.walterbrasch.com</a>]</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Taxing a House of Cards | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/01/29/taxing-a-house-of-cards/ | 2009-01-29 | 4 |
<p>The biotech sector isn't for the faint of heart. While investors can <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/01/19/heres-why-colucid-pharmaceuticals-inc-popped-yeste.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">strike it rich Opens a New Window.</a> if they get lucky, they can also <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/12/why-ophthotech-is-being-obliterated-today.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">lose a bundle Opens a New Window.</a> if things don't go according to plan. Given the risk, it can take a lot of courage to put money to work in the sector.</p>
<p>Which biotech stocks do we think are smart picks for investors who are willing to accept some&#160;risk? We asked that question to a team of healthcare investors and they picked&#160;Edge Therapeutics (NASDAQ: EDGE),&#160;Aratana Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PETX)&#160;and Alkermes&#160;(NASDAQ: ALKS).</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p><a href="https://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGBudwell/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">George Budwell Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;(Edge Therapeutics): Enterprising investors on the hunt for sizable returns may want to check out the <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/19/how-to-value-clinical-stage-biotech-stocks.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">clinical-stage biotech</a> Edge Therapeutics. Edge is developing a late-stage product dubbed "EG-1962," which is aimed at improving the delivery of nimodipine&#160;in patients with&#160;aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) resulting from a ruptured brain aneurysm.</p>
<p>The short version of the story is that orally administered&#160;nimodipine in aSAH patients is known to induce a motley crew of serious side effects, and places a heavy burden on nurses to maintain a patient on an oral regimen over the span of several weeks. Edge is hoping to solve these problems with its proprietary, programmable, biodegradable polymer-based development platform known as Precisa.</p>
<p>In effect, this novel polymer-based delivery method allows for a far more targeted and sustained release of&#160;nimodipine, which should substantially reduce side effects, cost of care, and increase the drug's effectiveness. The point is that EG-1962 could eventually become the new standard of care for this deadly brain injury.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, Edge is expected to release top-line data from&#160;EG-1962's ongoing pivotal-stage trial in late 2018. The company is, perhaps, two years away from transforming into a commercial-stage operation.</p>
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<p>While EG-1962 should be able to generate considerable revenue if approved, the downside is that Edge's value proposition relies heavily on this drug's clinical fate. The company, after all, lacks a well-diversified pipeline beyond EG-1962. Put simply, this high-risk, high-reward biotech stock is arguably only suited for ultra-aggressive investors willing to sacrifice safety for the chance to generate unusually high returns on capital.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a> (Aratana Therapeutics): Investors with initiative who are looking to nab an intriguing growth stock in the biotech industry would be wise to take a peek at Aratana Therapeutics, which develops medicines for companion animals, such as cats and dogs.</p>
<p>The allure of a company like Aratana can be seen in <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/11/08/these-statistics-demonstrate-the-staggering-and-un.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">pet ownership statistics Opens a New Window.</a>. According to American Pet Products Association (APPA), the amount Americans have spent annually on their pets has quintupled from $17 billion in 1994 to an estimated $69.4 billion in 2017. Of this $69.4 billion, it's estimated that we'll spend $16.6 billion just on veterinary care and another $14.9 billion on over-the-counter medicines and supplies this year.</p>
<p>It's also worth noting that, despite two recessions over the past 20 years, pet sales have grown each and every year, per the APPA. With a 2012 Harris Interactive poll also showing that 91% of pet households consider their four-legged friend as part of the family, it only makes sense to assume they'll spend whatever is necessary to ensure the health and happiness of their pets.</p>
<p>That's where Aratana comes in. As a drug developer specifically focused on companion pets, it has access to the 68% of households that now own pets, and along with that, excellent pricing power. According to Wall Street's projections, sales for the company are expected to grow at a blistering pace, from $23 million in 2017 to $129 million by 2020. Recurring profitability is also expected to occur in late 2019 or early 2020.</p>
<p>Aratana currently has only a small number of approved drugs, perhaps the most notable being Galliprant, which is a first-in-class treatment for canine osteoarthritis. This drug landed Aratana a licensing partnership with Elanco, the animal-health division of Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), providing Aratana with $45 million in upfront cash and the potential to earn $83 million in future milestone revenue, in addition to net-sale royalties.</p>
<p>Aratana's pipeline consists of about a half-dozen ongoing studies in dogs and cats. These include feline herpes virus (AT-006), and management of weight loss in cats with chronic kidney disease (AT-002). Chronic kidney disease is a common cause of death for felines, so AT-002 could show promise in improving the quality of life.</p>
<p>Add the pet ownership statistics, pricing power, organic sales growth, and pipeline together, and we have what should be a very successful company with tons of paw-tential.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTypeoh/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Brian Feroldi Opens a New Window.</a> (Alkermes):&#160;Alkermes isn't a typical biopharmaceutical company, but that's a good thing. Rather than focus on developing its own products, the company got its&#160;start by helping other pharmaceutical companies extend the life of their hit drugs. One of Alkermes' tricks was to reformulate the drugs for extended release. In exchange for its services, Alkermes got a cut of the reformulated drug's sales through royalty payments.</p>
<p>This is a solid business in its own right -- Alkermes generated $487 million in sales last year from manufacturing and royalty revenues -- but Alkermes has been dreaming bigger lately. The company launched two wholly owned drugs in recent years -- Vivitrol, a drug used to treat opioid and alcohol dependence, and Aristada, an extended-release version of the popular schizophrenia drug Abilify -- that have had a lot of success. Last quarter, sales of these drugs jumped by <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/28/alkermes-continues-to-execute.aspx?source=iaasitlnk0000003&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">40% and 120% Opens a New Window.</a>, respectively, bringing in more than $88 million in total revenue. Those gains are more than offsetting some of the weakness that it's seeing from its legacy business.</p>
<p>Looking ahead, Alkermes is doubling down on its proprietary drug business. The company has four products in late-stage clinical trials that promise to meaningfully increase sales over the coming years. The most advanced compound is called ALKS 5461, which is a hopeful treatment for depression. The company plans on submitting a rolling application&#160;to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the next few weeks.</p>
<p>Management believes that this drug holds blockbuster potential, so it could meaningfully impact the company's financial statements if it wins approval. Other potential blockbusters waiting in the wings include ALKS 3831, a hopeful treatment for schizophrenia, and ALKS 8700, a potential treatment for multiple sclerosis.</p>
<p>Between its royalty business, products already on the market, and its exciting late-stage pipeline, Alkermes offers biotech investors steadily improving financial statements and the potential for meaningful upside if a few of its pipeline products work out. That makes this a great stock for growth-focused biotech investors to get to know.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than AlkermesWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=4f825455-4479-4992-9c60-9d8fd69a3783&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Alkermes wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=4f825455-4479-4992-9c60-9d8fd69a3783&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of July 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTypeoh/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Brian Feroldi Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/gbudwell/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">George Budwell Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. <a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alkermes. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5a771450-720f-11e7-a76e-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 3 Biotech Stocks for Enterprising Investors | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/07/29/3-biotech-stocks-for-enterprising-investors.html | 2017-07-29 | 0 |
<p>Several weeks ago, Texan mother&#160;Candace Payne became an overnight internet sensation, after her silly video in a Chewbacca mask went viral. Garnering 155 million views and 3 million shares, Payne set the record for the most-watched Facebook video&#160;ever.</p>
<p>Immediately following her viral video, her internet fame transformed&#160;into a nice chunk of cash, as Payne received gifts valued at $420,000. The nearly half-million dollars in gifts&#160;included travel money to appear on talk shows, as well as Kohl's merchandise and a family vacation to&#160;Disney World.</p>
<p />
<p>But the most extravagant gift awarded to Payne so far, came from Florida's Southeastern University, which awarded the entire Payne family with full-tuition scholarships. Many liberals were outraged over the university's generous gift, immediately screaming "white privilege." One insane ope-ed piece circulated on&#160;MSN titled&#160;"What Chewbacca Mom's Rise to Fame Tells Us About Race in This Country," went on to bash the mother's sudden rise to fame,&#160;attributing her wild success&#160;to being white.</p>
<p>From the article written by a disgruntled liberal:</p>
<p>"It's true, free tuition is an oversized prize for such easily begotten fame. It's also true that the real rewards typically reaped for online success tend to heavily favor insta-celebrities who are white. Content derived from black users of Twitter, Vine, or Snapchat is often sidelined as part of a monolithic Black Twitter,"&#160;Branstetter whined.</p>
<p>The Conservative website the&#160; <a href="http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/kristine-marsh/2016/06/06/ridiculous-liberals-complain-chewbacca-mom-famous-because-white" type="external">Media Research Center</a>, was quick to point out the fallacies in&#160;Branstetter's "white privilege" argument against Payne,&#160;blasting back at with full force:</p>
<p>"As explained by various media outlets including USA Today, Payne is an outspoken Christian.&#160;It is a common practice for private Christian universities to give out scholarships to those who are open about their faith, as Payne has been in her online presence and in various interviews."</p>
<p>"Second, one of the school's top administration faculty members founded and formerly led the same church Payne attends," MRC added. "So race has nothing to do with it, but her faith and the school's connection to her church surely does."</p>
<p>Other liberals chimed in on social media, bashing Chewbacca Mom, and blasting her with ridiculous insults on Twitter.&#160;Mashable initiated the onslaught, with their well-timed tweet:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Liberals are such whiny pathetic jerks.&#160;They will not be satisfied until the entire planet is miserable just like they are. What is it about these people that feel the incessant need to invent new ways to be offended?</p>
<p>Screw the haters! We love you Chewbacca Mom, and we are very happy&#160;for your success! It couldn't have happened to a more well-deserving woman!</p>
<p>H/T [ <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/06/07/chewbacca-mom-has-received-420k-in-free-stuff-since-her-video-hit-but-some-liberals-are-raising-a-major-complaint/" type="external">The Blaze</a>]</p>
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<p /> | Liberals VICIOUSLY Attack 'Chewbacca Mom', Cite Ridiculous Reason For Her Success | true | http://fury.news/2016/06/liberals-furious-chewbacca-mom-receives/ | 2016-06-09 | 0 |
<p>Today was the day victims got to tell Dzhokhar Tsarnaev what they thought of him. And they did. They spoke of their losses, their suffering, and their trauma. But they also told him he hadn't won.</p>
<p>"We are Boston strong and we are America strong," said survivor Rebekah Gregory, Reuters reported.&#160;"Choosing to mess with us was a terrible idea." &#160;</p>
<p>The occasion was the victim impact statements portion of Tsarnaev's formal sentencing hearing. A jury convicted him in April&#160;and handed down the death penalty in May.</p>
<p>Jennifer Rogers, sister of slain MIT police officer Sean Collier, called Tsarnaev, "a leech abusing the privilege of American freedom," the Associated Press reported.</p>
<p>Patricia Campbell, mother of Krystle&#160;Campbell, one of the three people killed in the blasts, told him, "What you did to my daughter was disgusting.&#160;I don't know what to say to you. I think the jury did the right thing.''</p>
<p>Ed Fucarile, the father of Marc Fucarile, who lost his right leg, said the first time he saw Tsarnaev in the courtroom, he was smirking.</p>
<p>"You don't seem to be smirking today," he told Tsarnaev.&#160;</p>
<p>Journalist Susan Zalkind was at the courthouse. “This was incredibly emotional testimony,” she says. “This is the time when instead of having back and forth questions the victims really got to let loose to express themselves.”</p>
<p>But the real surprise today was Tsarnaev. He spoke for the first time. And he apologized.</p>
<p>"I am sorry for the lives I have taken, for the suffering that I have caused you, for the damage I have done. Irreparable damage," Tsarnaev said.</p>
<p>“He called the name of Allah many times,” says Zalkind. “He thanked the judge; he thanked his attorneys. Surprisingly he also thanked the jury.”</p>
<p>Tsarnaev's words rang hollow for some of the victims.&#160;Lynn Julian was one of the survivors in court today. She wasn't impressed by Tsarnaev’s words. “He threw in an apology to the survivors that seemed insincere and just thrown in because he was supposed to,” she said.</p>
<p>Susan Zalkind called it “an extremely emotional day, an extremely solemn day, an extremely sad day.”</p>
<p>She is one of a handful of&#160;reporters who have covered the aftermath of the bombings and the trial for more than two years.</p>
<p>“I’ve been investigating him, trying to figure out what he’s like. To finally hear this individual talk is kind of surreal.”</p>
<p>An earlier version mispelled Krystle Campbell's name.</p> | Boston Marathon bomber apologizes at sentencing hearing | false | https://pri.org/stories/2015-06-24/boston-marathon-bomber-apologizes-sentencing-hearing | 2015-06-24 | 3 |
<p>Investing.com – Gold prices fell in Asia on Monday as investors moved away from risk trades on North Korea tensions, but staged gains as housing data from China showed countinued gains for prices albeit at a slower pace that the previous month.</p>
<p>for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 19%, to $1,322,62 a troy ounce. Copper futures on the Comex rose 0.81% to 2.976 a pound</p>
<p>China reported data for August rose 8.3%, compared with a 9.7% increase seen in July.</p>
<p>Last week, gold prices fell as investors shrugged off a rise in geopolitical uncertainty that followed after North Korea launched a missile over Japan on Friday while growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike rates later this year kept the precious metal on track for a weekly loss.</p>
<p>A day after data showing inflation rose to its highest in seven months fuelling expectations of a December rate hike, gold prices remained on track to snap three-week winning streak. Losses, however, were limited by weak U.S. economic data.</p>
<p>The Commerce Department said on Friday retail sales dipped 0.2% last month, missing expectations of a 0.1% rise. A duo of reports on manufacturing and consumer sentiment followed the weaker-than-expected retail sales data.</p>
<p>The New York Empire State Manufacturing Survey declined to 24.4 for September from 25.2 previously, although this was significantly above consensus expectations of 19.0.</p>
<p>The consumer sentiment index, a survey of consumers by The University of Michigan, fell to 95.3 in September but handily topped expectations.</p>
<p>According to investing.com’s fed rate monitor tool, more than 50% of traders expect the Fed to hike rates in December.</p>
<p>Gold is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.</p>
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<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Commodities – Gold Falls In Asia As NKorea Risk At Bay, Copper Jumps | false | https://newsline.com/commodities-gold-falls-in-asia-as-nkorea-risk-at-bay-copper-jumps/ | 2017-09-17 | 1 |
<p>GLCCB Board members: Octavio Njuhigu, David Sugar, Jabari Lyles, Shelly Higgins, and Jessi Merriken (Washington Blade photo by Steve Charing)</p>
<p>The second town hall meeting of this year presented by the GLBT Community Center of Baltimore (GLCCB) took place at their new 2530 N. Charles St. office suite on Oct. 26. Unlike the contentious town hall in July 2014 when community members were vociferous in their criticism of the center’s leadership on a number of fronts, this meeting was tranquil and brimming with positivity and optimism.&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>Jabari Lyles, president of the board, introduced board members and staff to a dozen community members. He noted that there are nine board vacancies, and he and the other board members will be actively recruiting to fill those seats.</p>
<p>Lyles announced that Baltimore Pride, the principal fundraiser for the GLCCB, showed a profit of over $80,000 in 2016 compared to over $49,000 the previous year. In 2016, Pride’s profit represented 37 percent of income compared to 27 percent in 2015 indicating more revenue and fewer expenditures on a percentage basis in 2016.</p>
<p>The Pride 2017 committee has already met three times, but no decisions have been made as to the dates of the event or the venue. Several options are on the table including the possibility of moving Pride out of the traditional Mount Vernon locale.</p>
<p>Though Pride is the best known activity of the GLCCB, Kenneth Morrison, the newly appointed director of programs, explained that the core of the center’s mission is its programs.&#160; The GLCCB has been primarily youth oriented, such as the planned hosting of drop-in sessions for individuals ages 18-30 on alternate Saturdays, but leaders promise to do a better job reaching out to elders.</p>
<p>One of the three components of the GLCCB’s programs is direct services. There are three case managers or peer navigators on the staff who can connect anyone coming to the center to services and resources in such areas as housing, transportation, employment and healthcare.</p>
<p>Another area is advocacy in which the center hopes to increase its involvement in Baltimore City and in particular, to advocate for safe schools.</p>
<p>A third element is education whereby organizations and individuals are educated as to the best way to interact.</p>
<p>The GLCCB offers free space, and with its new expanded offices, it can hold several meetings simultaneously.</p>
<p>Community members weighed in about the GLCCB’s mission. One man asked about solving the divisions in the community. Lyles acknowledged that these divisions exist especially along racial, class and gender lines; however, he said the GLCCB’s role is to provide an opportunity for the community to have conversations and look inward.</p>
<p>Other matters discussed included building a bridge with the Center for Black Equity Baltimore and making Pride more elder-friendly.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Baltimore</a> <a href="" type="internal">Baltimore Pride</a> <a href="" type="internal">Center for Black Equity-Baltimore</a> <a href="" type="internal">GLCCB</a> <a href="" type="internal">Jabari Lyles</a> <a href="" type="internal">Maryland</a> <a href="" type="internal">Mount Vernon</a></p> | Optimism abounds at GLCCB town hall meeting | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2016/11/02/optimism-abounds-glccb-town-hall-meeting/ | 3 |
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<p>As <a href="http://www.religiousherald.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=6804&amp;Itemid=9" type="external">discussed recently</a>, Mike Breen’s “State of the Evangelical Union” forecasts discipleship entering the center of evangelical focus. That conversation puts identifying ourselves around tribal customs or doctrinal distinctives in the rearview mirror. It also reorients worship gatherings and the functions of public worship leaders. We no longer invest biggest in “front porch” events with star preachers or concert-level musicians to introduce the gospel for spiritual seekers. Large-group worship services are, rather, equipping-oriented celebratory gatherings which propel followers of Jesus into the world, scattering and emboldening us as disciple-makers.</p>
<p />
<p>They “scatter” us into our neighborhoods. The locus for evangelism won’t be in “big church” public gatherings, but the “oikos,” or extended family household, according to Breen. He says the “family on mission” will emerge as the core vehicle for sharing the gospel with our neighbors. Don’t wager on crusades or altar calls to introduce your lost friends to Christ. Enfold them into the discipleship rhythm of your household, and watch it “rub off” on others.</p>
<p>This makes a lot of sense. What is more viral — a sermon series on Christian marriage or a great parenting class, or getting to watch Christian marriage and parenting in action over a series of in-home dinners? Breen says that when 20 to 50 disciples regularly get together in a rhythm of life to carry out their mission in the neighborhood, it makes a perfect landing place for people at different stages of a spiritual journey to hop on the train. They come to the gospel over time as they see its transforming power demonstrated in an ordinary extended family on mission.</p>
<p>Your “oikos” or “family on mission” would be the social-sized group with whom you most share your lives. With whom does your family play? With whom do you share purpose? Your oikos is your “high play, high purpose” community with a semi-permeable membrane that can include others in that play and purpose. What if the core of who we were in Christ began to revolve around life in this extended household on mission? Might this be a better discipleship metric and vehicle than church attendance?</p>
<p>Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small, committed group of people can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” Discipleship, as Baptists have classically believed, is for ordinary people living in and demonstrating the transforming power of the gospel. I’m in.</p>
<p>John Chandler is leader of the <a href="http://www.spencenetwork.org/" type="external">Spence Network</a>.</p> | TRENDING: Family on mission | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/trendingfamilyonmission/ | 3 |
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<p>By Robert Dilday</p>
<p>An amendment to the Virginia constitution aimed at permitting prayer in public schools and government meetings should be rejected by the state’s General Assembly, according to Virginia’s oldest Baptist network of churches.</p>
<p>A resolution adopted during the annual meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia called the amendment “unworthy of the support of the citizens of Virginia.”</p>
<p>“Virginia Baptists collectively have traditionally and consistently taken the position that religious expression coming from or endorsed by government is inconsistent with the free exercise of religion according to the dictates of conscience,” notes the resolution presented by the BGAV’s religious liberty committee. “Sectarian legislative prayers have the effect of utilizing civil government as a mechanism for advancing faith, and Virginia Baptists have historically held that individuals and not the government should advance faith.”</p>
<p>Sponsors of Senate Joint Resolution 287 said they want to amend the state constitution to protect the rights of individuals and public bodies to pray on public property and public schools and protect students from religious discrimination.</p>
<p>The amendment cleared one Senate committee last January but in February was returned to another committee by its lead sponsor before it could be brought to a vote by the full Senate, which is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.</p>
<p>“I believe that we need to do some more work so that we’ll bring it back next year and make sure that it is stronger,” Sen. Bill Stanley, a Republican, said on the floor of the Senate at the time.</p>
<p>For a constitutional amendment to be approved, it must pass the General Assembly in two consecutive sessions separated by an election, and then be adopted by voters in a referendum.</p>
<p>SJR 287 would amend the Virginia Bill of Rights, a document drafted by George Mason, adopted by the Virginia legislature in 1776, and later incorporated into the state constitution. Thomas Jefferson is believed to have drawn on language in the Bill of Rights when he drafted the nation’s Declaration of Independence.</p>
<p>Section 16 of the Bill of Rights — to which the amendment would be added — guarantees that no one “shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief.”</p>
<p>The proposed amendment instructs the state to “not coerce any person to participate in any prayer or other religious activity, but shall ensure that any person shall have the right to pray individually or corporately in a private or public setting” and allows individuals to “offer invocations or other prayers at meetings or sessions of the General Assembly or governing bodies.”</p>
<p>The BGAV’s resolution — adopted on a voice vote with some opposition — notes that Section 16 “has since its inception fully protected the religious freedom of the citizens of Virginia” but warned that the amendment would “dwarf the present Section 16 and detract from its iconic status.”</p>
<p>Stephen Aycock, who chairs the religious liberty committee, told participants at the annual meeting SJR 287 would have “the effect of entangling faith and government.”</p>
<p>“This does not need to be adopted,” said Aycock, director of missions for the Fredericksburg Area Baptist Association. “We need to stand with our forebears as champions of religious liberty.”</p>
<p>The amendment may be trumped by the U.S. Supreme Court if it upholds a lower court ruling that a New York town violated the Constitution with its policy of opening public meetings with mostly Christian prayers. The high court heard oral arguments Nov. 6 in Town of Greece v. Galloway and its decision, expected next June, could be one of the most significant church-state decisions in 30 years. It would affect the nature of invocations in municipal meetings nationwide.</p> | Va. Baptists say no to prayer amendment | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/va-baptists-say-no-to-prayer-amendment/ | 3 |
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<p>Premiums for middle-priced plans on the Affordable Care Act's individual market would climb by 20% in 2018 if the federal government halted the billions of dollars in payments it sends to insurers under the health law, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in a report released Tuesday.</p>
<p>Insurers and supporters of the law say the federal payments are essential to sustaining the already fragile individual ACA insurance markets, but President Donald Trump has warned that he could halt the subsidies. Insurers have said that if that occurred, they would raise premiums or leave the individual markets.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Mr. Trump and some Republican lawmakers oppose the funding, saying the money was never appropriated by Congress and it amounts to a bailout for insurers.</p>
<p>Premiums for mid-priced plans sold on the ACA's exchanges would rise if the payments were suspended, which would require the government to pay larger tax credits to consumers that help offset the cost of coverage, according to the report by the nonpartisan CBO and Joint Committee on Taxation. As a result, the federal deficit would increase by $194 billion from 2017 through 2026, the report said.</p>
<p>Write to Stephanie Armour at [email protected]</p>
<p>Premiums for middle-priced plans on the Affordable Care Act's individual market would climb by 20% in 2018 if the federal government halted the billions of dollars in payments it sends to insurers under the health law, the Congressional Budget Office estimated in a report released Tuesday.</p>
<p>Insurers and supporters of the law say the federal payments are essential to sustaining the already fragile individual ACA insurance markets, but President Donald Trump has warned that he could halt the subsidies. Insurers have said that if that occurred, they would raise premiums or leave the individual markets.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Mr. Trump and some Republican lawmakers oppose the funding, saying the money was never appropriated by Congress and it amounts to a bailout for insurers.</p>
<p>Premiums for mid-priced plans sold on the ACA's exchanges would rise if the payments were suspended, which would require the government to pay larger tax credits to consumers that help offset the cost of coverage, according to the report by the nonpartisan CBO and Joint Committee on Taxation. As a result, the federal deficit would increase by $194 billion through 2026, the report said.</p>
<p>The assessment could stoke bipartisan efforts in the Senate to pass legislation preserving the payments in 2018. Lawmakers have a tight window to move a bill through both chambers of Congress, because insurers face a late September deadline for committing to the ACA markets for next year.</p>
<p>The CBO and taxation committee report said about 5% of people would live in areas with no insurers in the individual market in 2018 if the subsidies ended, because insurers would withdraw or not enter those markets.</p>
<p>"If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!" Mr. Trump tweeted on July 29, after Senate GOP lawmakers failed to pass a bill to repeal most of the ACA.</p>
<p>(More to come.)</p>
<p>Write to Stephanie Armour at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 15, 2017 15:04 ET (19:04 GMT)</p> | Health Exchange Premiums Would Rise 20% in 2018 If Subsidies Ended, CBO Estimates--Update | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/15/health-exchange-premiums-would-rise-20-in-2018-if-subsidies-ended-cbo-estimates.html | 2017-08-15 | 0 |
<p>As President Donald Trump hailed the creation of private sector jobs by American companies since he was elected, many in Congress cheered tonight.</p>
<p>Except Nancy Pelosi.</p>
<p>During his Address to Congress, Trump ran down a list of companies that have announced investments and job additions in the last several weeks.</p>
<p>“Since my election, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Softbank, Lockheed, Intel, Walmart and many others have announced that they will invest billions and billions of dollars in the United States and create tens of thousands of new American jobs,” Trump said.</p>
<p>As many stood to applaud, Pelosi remained seated with a sour look on her face.</p>
<p>Watch:</p>
<p /> | VIDEO: Nancy Pelosi refuses to applaud American job creation | true | http://theamericanmirror.com/video-nancy-pelosi-refuses-applaud-american-job-creation/ | 2017-02-28 | 0 |
<p><a href="" type="internal">Big Lots</a> (NYSE:BIG) revealed a 20% increase in fourth-quarter profit on stronger comp-store sales in the U.S., however the closeout retailer's shares slipped on a disappointing first-quarter forecast.</p>
<p>Big Lots is forecasting earnings growth of 7% to 16% in the range of 75 cents to 81 cents a share for the current quarter, with U.S. profit climbing 21% to 29%. However that is below <a href="" type="internal">Wall Street</a>’s view of 81 cents.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The company, which sells items that have been overproduced, discontinued or rejected by other retailers at a sharp discount, reported net income of $114.7 million, or $1.75 a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with a year-earlier $110.1 million, or $1.46.</p>
<p>Excluding one-time items, the company earned $1.83 a share, ahead of average analyst estimates of $1.73 in a Thomson Reuters poll.</p>
<p>Revenue for the three months ended Jan. 28 was $1.67 billion, up from $1.52 billion a year ago, just beating the Street’s view of $1.66 billion. Comparable sales, or those at stores open at least two years, were up 3.4% in the U.S.</p>
<p>In a statement, Big Lots CEO Steve Fishman attributed the gains to aggressive initiatives in certain key merchandise categories that helped accelerate sales trends as the year progressed.</p>
<p>“We successfully opened 92 new stores in the U.S. and expanded our footprint into Canada with the acquisition of Liquidation World,” he said.</p>
<p>Looking deeper into 2012, Big Lots sees non-GAAP earnings in the range of $3.40 to $3.50 a share, which would be an increase of 14% to 17% from 2011. Analysts on average are looking for a profit of $3.46 a share.</p>
<p>Comparable sales are projected to rise 2% to 3% and the company plans to open another 90 new stores in the U.S. Strong gains in the U.S. are expected to be slightly offset by a narrow loss in Canada.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Big Lots 4Q Tops Street, But Forecast Disappoints | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/03/02/big-lots-4q-tops-street-but-forecast-disappoints.html | 2016-01-26 | 0 |
<p />
<p>This month Californians, for the first time in U.S. history, began to choose their own electricity providers from a range of competing utilities. Dozens of other states are working on laws to similarly restructure their electric industries, and President Clinton has asked Congress to do it nationwide by 2003. What does this mean for consumers—beyond a slew of annoying telemarketing calls during dinner imploring you to change your electric company?</p>
<p>It means that for the first time ever, you will be able to flex your consumer muscle and choose a company based on how it generates its electricity: either by burning fossil fuels, or from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal power. For the first time ever, consumers can steer the polluting energy industry in greener new directions using the power of their monthly payment. It’s enough to make Al Gore weep tears of joy.</p>
<p>But it’s not quite that easy. Oil, gas, and coal utilities are fighting the transition to renewables, and ‘clean’ power is going to cost substantially more than fossil-fueled electricity. Will consumers be willing to pay a premium to reduce pollution, or will renewables collapse under the weight of price competition in the newly deregulated market?</p>
<p>“The bottom line in terms of what does restructuring mean for renewables,” says Christopher Flavin, director of research at the Worldwatch Institute, “is that it all depends on what type of restructuring—it has the potential to be wonderful, or to be a disaster.”</p>
<p>The Fight for Renewables</p>
<p>Because fossil-fueled electricity has a century’s head start in the market, environmentalists would like to level the playing field with new legislation. Some support a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), where states or the federal government would mandate a certain miniumum amount of renewable energy to be a part of every utility’s energy mix. Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-Colo.), chairman of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, who is leading the utility restructuring movement in Congress, has <a href="http://www.house.gov/schaefer/655summ.htm" type="external">proposed</a> a minimum renewable content of 2 percent by 2001, growing to 4 percent by 2010.</p>
<p>Consumer groups say that’s not enough to put the fledgling renewables industry on its feet. Charlie Higley, senior policy analyst at Public Citizen, would like to see higher numbers: 5 percent renewable content by 2005 and 10 percent by 2010.</p>
<p>Others, like Worldwatch’s Flavin, prefer a different policy adopted by a handful of European countries: a price guarantee for renewable energy sales. Called the “Electricity Feed Law” in Germany, this type of law requires utilities to take renewables-generated electricity onto their grids and pay premium prices for it. This makes any investment in renewable power generation secure, and it has made Germany’s wind-power market blossom. That’s why, Flavin says, “Europe is beating the pants off us in the renewables industry,” currently claiming 52 percent of the <a href="http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/renewable.energy.annual/chap12.html" type="external">world wind power market</a>, for example, with North America <a href="http://keynes.fb12.tu-berlin.de/luftraum/konst/overview/world972.html" type="external">lagging behind</a> at just 40 percent.</p>
<p>The price guarantee has other benefits, says Flavin. It allows the tiniest of producers to get into the renewables game. “One of the advantages of renewables,” he adds, “is they’re by nature decentralized.” If the owner of a skyscraper wants to put solar panels on its roof, but doesn’t use all the electricity, under the price guarantee system he can sell it back to the ‘grid’ at the set price. But under the RPS system, all renewable energy suppliers would have to compete to supply the mandated quota for the grid, resulting in a “cut-throat bidding scheme,” says Flavin. Small and ‘non-utility’ producers, like the skyscraper, would have difficulty staying in the market.</p>
<p>The U.S. already has its own set-price system, the 1978 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA). Aiming to reduce American dependence on foreign oil, PURPA encouraged the creation of small, “independent” energy producers by locking in future prices at which the big utilities must buy the small producers’ energy. As with the German law, utilities have to buy all the energy the independent producers generate. Although PURPA is not a renewables law—independents can produce energy from oil and coal as well—economist Michael Zucchet, formerly with the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, calls it “ <a href="http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/pubs_html/rea/feature2.html" type="external">the single most important factor</a> in the development of a commercial renewable energy market.”</p>
<p>But the large power utilities argue that PURPA has fullfilled its mission and should be repealed, that it costs them—and ultimately consumers—too much money to buy the independents’ power. Congress has obliged them by introducing a number of <a href="http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/chg_str/chapter6.html" type="external">repeal bills</a>. Spearheading the attack are Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and one of the <a href="http://www.crp.org/pubs/electric/senate_energy.htm" type="external">top recipients of campaign money</a> from the power utilities, and others in Congress who hope to expose renewables to the full fury of price competition with the big fossil fuel utilities. (Most nuclear utilities, with their dinosaurian costs, can’t hope to compete, so when deregulation comes along, the nuclear producers lobby for taxpayer bailouts and continuing operating subsidies. See January/February 1998 Mother Jones article <a href="/news/feature/1998/01/weiss.html" type="external">“Look Who’s Buying Nukes Now”</a> by Leslie Weiss).</p>
<p>Even if competition initially takes the wind out of renewables’ mills, there are a few token programs helping them along. The Clinton-Gore commitment to renewables is real, if timid; federal support of research and development of renewable energies and energy efficiency has risen considerably since 1990, to about $800 million for fiscal 1997, overtaking the amount spent on fossil fuels research. The DOE, through its Renewable Energy Production Incentive (REPI) program, will give $3 million to tax-exempt utilities employing renewables in 1998, though project manager Jim Spaeth says that with the number of qualified applicants, DOE could probably give more than three times that amount. And President Clinton, in his latest budget, has proposed tax breaks of up to $2,000 for households that install solar panels.</p>
<p>States, too, are diverting money to renewables: Both California and Massachusetts have instituted small taxes (amounting to about 1 percent of the electricity bill) that will raise $540 million and $45 million, respectively, to support research and development.</p>
<p>Of course, the big utilities can play the money game, too: They’re spending tens of millions each year on <a href="http://www.crp.org/pubs/electric/Lobby.htm" type="external">Washington lobbying</a>, and pouring millions more directly into <a href="http://www.crp.org/pubs/specintr/1027utility.htm" type="external">congressional campaign coffers</a> to try to swing deregulation their way: away from renewables.</p>
<p>Will You Pay More for Cleaner Power?</p>
<p>Right now renewables make up only 11 percent of <a href="http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epmt2.dat" type="external">total electricity</a> generated in the U.S., if you believe the DOE; but that figure includes gigantic hydropower projects that have drowned hundreds of miles of wild rivers. Strip out hydro, and renewables generate just 1 percent of the nation’s electricity. Even in California, the nation’s leader, renewables have only 11 percent of the pie (California defines hydropower projects as renewable if they generate 30 megawatts or less per year). With such a small slice of the market, renewable power is still more expensive than fossil power, so environmentalists are placing most of their hopes in the public’s willingness to pay a little more for cleaner energy.</p>
<p>A multitude of surveys by utilities and power marketers have shown that nearly 80 percent of consumers say they are willing to pay more for renewable power—but when it comes to shelling out the dough, consumers do not always follow through. In 1993, the power utility Public Service Co. of Colorado conducted an in-depth survey of its customers’ willingness to pay more for renewable electricity, and found that while about 75 percent requested a registration card agreeing to pay $2 more per month, only 10 percent of respondents actually sent the cards back.</p>
<p>In California, several companies already are marketing <a href="http://www.edf.org/programs/Energy/green_power/c_providers.html" type="external">new green power plans</a> to customers, including Edison Source, PG&amp;E Energy Services, Green Mountain Energy Resources, Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD), and Enron Corp., the natural-gas giant which bought Zond Corp., a wind power company, and has partnered with Amoco in Solarex, a solar power company.</p>
<p>But don’t get too excited yet: Most of the power will not be coming from solar cells and wind farms any time soon. SMUD’s energy is 100 percent geothermal; they offer an option that would invest customers’ money in future solar construction. Green Mountain, a Vermont-based power reseller, offers small hydropower, biomass, and geothermal. They also have a wind-power plan, but again, it’s contingent on sufficient consumer interest: They’ll pay to build a new wind turbine for every 3,000 customers that join the program. PG&amp;E Energy Services, for an additional 20 percent above the cost of conventional electricity, offers 100 percent renewable electricity, 25 percent of which will come from newly created sources, with the rest from existing wind, hydro, biomass, and geothermal sources.</p>
<p>How Clean is Green?</p>
<p>With green power selling at a premium—7-22 percent more per kilowatt-hour—and attracting green-conscious consumers, the deregulated utilities and power marketers are tempted to paint their conventional electricity green. During a pilot program in New Hampshire one company touted natural gas as “not nuclear, not coal, not Hydro-Quebec.” True enough, but natural gas is also not renewable, and burning it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the prime cause of global warming.</p>
<p>Kirk Brown, policy director of the San Francisco-based <a href="http://www.green-e.org/" type="external">Center for Resource Solutions</a> (CRS), emphasizes the need to keep the public from becoming cynical once they’re deluged with specious promises of green energy content. “This is about credibility—the most important thing is that people get what they pay for.”</p>
<p>To prevent companies from capitalizing on deceptive marketing, CRS has come up with a label for energy that contains at least 50 percent renewable content: the <a href="http://www.igc.org/crs2/index.html" type="external">Green-e</a> logo. An eleven-member board monitors and evaluates companies and their power offerings; in accord with the California definition, small hydropower sources that generate 30 megawatts or less annually are considered renewable.</p>
<p>Still, the system is far from perfect. Energy providers still can’t promise exactly where their power will come from; until the juice is flowing, they just won’t know. For example, PG&amp;E Energy Services’s Clean Choice 100 plan, which NRDC has recommended and CRS has certified Green-e, leaves out the percentage breakdown of the 25 percent new renewables; it could be 99 percent small hydropower and 1 percent solar, though the company says that mix would be unlikely. Consumers who wish to invest their electricity dollars in solar and wind technology should not be lulled into a false sense of security when they see “100 percent renewable,” but should rest assured that providers’ claims will be verified—eventually.</p>
<p>Rob Sargent, energy program director for Massachusetts PIRG, likes the Green-e concept but raised concerns about the Green-e standards, saying that “50 percent renewable isn’t bad” but by including hydropower at all, “there’s the concern that you’re just repackaging stuff that was there anyway.” He is currently working with Green-e to tighten the approval criteria for New England.</p>
<p>However restructuring plays out, renewables have little to lose. Competition will begin to shift the responsibility for deciding energy policy away from legislators and regulators, and put it at least partially in the laps of consumers. And restructuring will give clean power providers an opportunity to educate consumers about their energy options—because for the first time, they have options.</p>
<p>Lew Milford, director of the Clean Energy Group in Vermont and former director of Boston’s Conservation Law Foundation, is fervently optimistic about the future: “We’re seeing a drive to lower-risk, less capital-intensive technology—and that means renewable technology. The economics [of a competitive market] are such that nobody’s going to build big dirty coal plants anymore because the risk is too great. Restructuring provides the best opportunity for the emergence of green power that we’ve seen in this century.”</p>
<p />
<p>Wondering where your energy comes from? If you live in California or Massachusetts your electric bill should soon contain a breakdown, something like: “40% Hydropower, 15% Solar, 45% Coal.” To help make sense of your energy options, the <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/" type="external">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> recommends several energy plans from different providers in California as “ <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/howto/encagp.html" type="external">environmentally preferable</a>,” and explains how green groups are developing stringent criteria for choosing the best ones. If that’s not enough detail for you, the <a href="http://www.edf.org/" type="external">Environmental Defense Fund</a> maintains an <a href="http://www.edf.org/programs/Energy/green_power/x_calculator.html" type="external">electricity content calculator</a> on its Web site that will you not only where your energy comes from but also your choices’ annual contribution of pollution.</p>
<p /> | How Clean Is Green? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/1998/04/how-clean-green/ | 1998-04-14 | 4 |
<p>ZAGREB (Reuters) – The Croatian government survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote early on Saturday that the opposition demanded over handling of a debt crisis at the country’s largest private firm Agrokor [AGROK.UL].</p>
<p>In the vote, 59 deputies in the 151-seat parliament were in favor of the removal of the conservative-led cabinet, while 78 were opposed to it.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Croatia government survives no-confidence vote over Agrokor debt crisis | false | https://newsline.com/croatia-government-survives-no-confidence-vote-over-agrokor-debt-crisis/ | 2017-11-10 | 1 |
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<p>WASHINGTON — Employers added 198,000 jobs in February, according to data released Wednesday by payroll processor ADP. And the survey revised January’s hiring figures to show companies added 215,000 jobs that month, 23,000 more than what had initially been reported.</p>
<p>The ADP report is derived from actual payroll data and tracks total nonfarm private employment each month. The hiring suggests that higher taxes and looming government spending cuts didn’t discourage employers from adding jobs.</p>
<p>The report suggests that the government’s February jobs report, to be issued Friday, may come in above economists’ forecasts. Analysts expect it will show the economy added 152,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dipped to 7.8 percent from 7.9 percent in January.</p>
<p>“Despite the ongoing fiscal uncertainty and the payroll tax hike, the recovery is picking up momentum,” Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients.</p>
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<p>Social Security taxes rose 2 percentage points Jan. 1 as part of a deal between the White House and Congress to avert larger tax increases. And about $85 billion in spending cuts took effect March 1, which economists expect will lower growth in the summer and fall.</p>
<p>Even so, hiring was broad-based in February across most industries and business sizes.</p>
<p>Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics said one encouraging sign is that small businesses are starting to hire more. — This article appeared on page B1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | Payroll data show 198K jobs added in Feb. | false | https://abqjournal.com/175528/payroll-data-show-198k-jobs-added-in-feb.html | 2 |
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<p>Holly Holm doesn’t need Elton John to tell her Friday nights are all right for fighting.</p>
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<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>But, she says, Friday nights help those who help themselves.</p>
<p>Tonight at Route 66 Casino Hotel, Albuquerque’s Holm (28-1-3, eight knockouts) will face New Yorker Ann Marie Saccurato (15-3-2, six KOs) in the main event of a six-bout professional boxing card. Holm’s IBA and WBAN 140-pound titles will be at stake.</p>
<p>At a news conference earlier this week, Holm said she’s as well-prepared for a fight as she’s ever been. Saccurato, who lost an earlier fight to Holm in March 2007, said the same.</p>
<p>But all the training won’t mean a thing, Holm said, if she doesn’t perform tonight — Friday.</p>
<p>“… I need to stay focused and really try to execute our game plan, and that’s when I know I’ll do well,” she said. “But I always say that comes down to Friday night. I have to perform Friday night.”</p>
<p>For Holm, Friday has been anything but freaky; she’s 18-0-2 in bouts staged that evening. For the curious, her only defeat in a boxing ring — in 2004 to Rita Turrisi, the result of a deep cut under Holm’s eye — came on a Sunday.</p>
<p>In Holm’s first fight with the hard-charging Saccurato (held on a Thursday), the Albuquerquean absorbed a few Sunday punches en route to a victory by unanimous decision. Though the outcome was lopsided on the scorecards (98-91, 98-91, 97-92), Holm has called it her most physically taxing fight.</p>
<p>She expects nothing less, and a little more, from Saccurato tonight.</p>
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<p>“It’s kind of hard, because a lot of (Saccurato’s) fights aren’t accessible on video,” Holm said. “But I know she’s trying to work on fine-tuning some of her power with skill.</p>
<p>“Her power is always there; her aggressiveness has always been there. And I know she’s really tried to fine-tune a lot of stuff.”</p>
<p>It was announced last month that Saccurato was to be trained for this fight by former world champion Lucia Rijker, who had trained France’s Myriam Lamare for a January 2009 fight with Holm. In losing a unanimous yet close decision, Lamare gave the Albuquerquean one of her tactically most difficult tests.</p>
<p>But, this week, Saccurato was accompanied to Albuquerque not by Rijker but by James “Country” Thornwell, a veteran trainer who works out of the famed Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, N.Y.</p>
<p>Regardless, Saccurato said, she, too, is all right with fighting on Friday.</p>
<p>“I’ve waited for this opportunity since 2007,” she said. “I’ve trained my ass off for this fight; it’s been the toughest camp that I’ve gone through.</p>
<p>“… I’ve wanted this more than anything.”</p>
<p>Rematches are hardly a new experience for Holm; this will be her eighth. She’s never lost one, but all three of the draws on her record — against Stephanie Jaramillo, Angel Martinez and Mary Jo Sanders — came the second time around.</p>
<p>Enough time has passed since the first bout, Holm said, that this feels like an entirely new challenge.</p>
<p>“We’re not the same fighters we were 3½ years ago, I mean I hope we aren’t,” she said.&#160; “Is it gonna be a real rough fight like it was before? Yes. But I think we’re both gonna be presenting new things to each other in the ring.”</p>
<p>Whatever the new Saccurato brings, Holm added, she’ll rely on trainer Mike Winkeljohn to find the antidote.</p>
<p>“If&#160; (the fight plan) doesn’t work and it’s not panning out the way we thought she would present the fight, we have a Plan B,” Holm said. “That’s when it’s good to have a good corner.”</p>
<p>In tonight’s semi-main event, Albuquerque’s Victoria Cisneros (5-10-2, one KO) faces Chevelle Hallback (27-6-2, 11 KOs) of Tampa, Fla., in an eight-round lightweight bout.</p>
<p>Promoter Lenny Fresquez has promised Cisneros a rematch with Holm if she can defeat Hallback. Holm defeated Cisneros, a late replacement that night, by unanimous decision a year ago Saturday.</p>
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<p>This is the time of the year, Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, that I reflect on my African American heritage and the struggles of my ancestors. I reflect upon their mistreatment, the way black males were made to feel inferior, women completely disrespected and made to not feel or see their own beauty. White supremacy tried to all but destroy us, and it was almost successful!</p>
<p>I have struggled to make meaning of this history, but in recent years I have tried to connect it to struggles that I face and struggles that all people face. I try to carefully direct my anger and focus that energy on educating my people, at least those that open their hearts to the message. The message I share is real universal peace, not just for humans but for all beings.</p>
<p>I have struggled when, I have heard people compare the past of my ancestors to the plight of the entire animal kingdom without realizing the struggles that, yes, even animals unfairly face.</p>
<p>Many people &#160;compare mistreatment of my people with mistreatment of animals to say that treating people like animals is wrong – without realizing that the way we treat animals is wrong on its own. We put humans on a pedestal next to animals.</p>
<p>My goal is to truly love and work for the better good of all beings, the remainder of my existence. I’m far from naive, but, I’m a dreamer as well. It’s not bad to dream – it’s only bad when you don’t remember your dreams and take zero action to make them into reality. I’ll take direct action for all sentient beings – anywhere and everywhere it’s needed.</p>
<p>Now, I find myself sitting in front of an slaughterhouse, with a car full of animal rights activists! I am preparing to stop a truck and offer comfort to the animals about to be slaughtered with a group of primarily white women, and I think of how mere decades ago this would not have been possible.</p>
<p>If not for a dreamers many years ago, I could not be here to fight for my beliefs. I’ll keep fighting against all injustices with those dreamers in mind, and I’ll work even harder on my dreams.</p>
<p>With Ringling Brothers closing, I can see today more than any other that my dream is achievable. One day the world will wake up and cease these atrocities against the animals. Until then, I’ll find a nonviolent way to awaken the world, for this is my dream!</p>
<p>Jack Sadat Lee is an African American Organizer with the grassroots animal rights network, Direct Action Everywhere Chicago and also a vegan.</p> | I Dream of Justice for All the Animal Kingdom | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/01/17/i-dream-of-justice-for-all-the-animal-kingdom/ | 2017-01-17 | 4 |
<p><a href="//videos/37/60413" type="external" /></p>
<p>RUSH: Norm in Cleveland. Norm, thank you. Great to have you on the program. Hi.</p>
<p>CALLER: Yeah, thanks, Rush. Real quick I gotta ask you this question. It’s been bugging me forever, since the time the commander-in-chief’s been in office. Is Obama brilliant or lucky? Which is it, sir? Well, which is it?</p>
<p>RUSH: By that you mean what? Do you mean he happens to become president at a time the American people have been so dumbed down they don’t know anything enough to stop him?</p>
<p>CALLER: That’s part of it, because the right —</p>
<p>RUSH: Or is he so brilliant that he’s able to talk them into being so stupid?</p>
<p>CALLER: Well, it’s a combination of both, from my perspective, because the right fights like Sonny Liston against Cassius Clay. You know, even with everything that you articulate every day in America, the people — and you call ’em low-information voters —</p>
<p>RUSH: Right.</p>
<p>CALLER: — are lower than… I can’t say the word on the air, but my God! Is he brilliant or lucky or is it a combination of both?</p>
<p>RUSH: Here’s the thing.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" />CALLER: We got two more years, Rush!</p>
<p>RUSH: Norm, what you have to understand… (chuckles) I know it’s frustrating. It is for me, too.</p>
<p>CALLER: Well, I care, man! I want to wake up and do assisted suicide myself.</p>
<p>RUSH: Wake up and…? No! No, no, no, no, no. Norm!</p>
<p>CALLER: Yes.</p>
<p>RUSH: You don’t mean that. You don’t mean that.</p>
<p>CALLER: We’re doing it to America. Look, we’re all gonna die. For those of us that know, we die in alphabetical order under the Affordable Care Act. I mean, this guy could harvest body parts right now.</p>
<p>RUSH: I know.</p>
<p>CALLER: (unintelligible)</p>
<p>RUSH: Look. Norm, I get it. You’re wondering, “How in the world has this amount of destruction happened in six years with no push-back? How in the world has this happened?” So you’re asking, “Have the American people just been on this trajectory for total stupidity and he happened to get elected when they got there, or did he make ’em stupid?” Norm, no <a href="" type="internal">low-information voter realizes he is low-information</a>. That’s number one. The stupid don’t know that they’re stupid. They have to be told.</p>
<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT</p>
<p>RUSH: They don’t. They don’t. The low-information people do not know that they’re low-information. The stupid do not know, do not realize they’re stupid, most of ’em. You have to tell ’em. And they will argue with you about that. So that doesn’t even sometimes accomplish it.</p>
<p>BREAK TRANSCRIPT</p>
<p>RUSH: We had a caller in the last hour who basically, I think, expressed the frustrations of many of you. When did this nation get so stupid, was the crux of his question. Has it been trending this way and nobody saw it and it just happened coincidentally to peak at the same time Obama was elected, or has Obama sponsored the stupidity, promoted it, spread it and is taking advantage of it? And there are others who are asking is Obama just himself stupid, or I think the question has been asked, is he evil? I’m not comfortable using that word. ‘Cause it’s not gonna persuade anybody. He doesn’t come across as an evil guy, so using that word is not gonna accomplish anything.</p>
<p>But another way of saying it is, is he just incompetent. Is he really in over his head? Or is he really, really smart and conniving and manipulative and knows exactly what he’s doing? And does it matter why what is happening is happening? Does the why it is happening mitigate in any way that it’s happening? Let’s say Obama is stupid. Does that make this any easier to take? Not to me. If it’s by design, does it make it harder to take? Only in the sense that people don’t see that if that’s the case. But more and more people are starting to ask the question, including Democrats. And it’s not a comfortable place for Obama supporters to be, to have to defend one of these two premises. He’s either dumb, stupid, or he’s really intending to do all of this.</p>
<p>You notice the left is not happy either. They never are, no matter how much of what they want they get, they’re never thrilled. I mean, they’re just constantly agitated, constantly offended, constantly irritated, and if they’re not, they have to act like they are in order to feel like they’re normal. Because that is their normal state. So on both sides what you end up with is an extended misery felt by a lot of people.</p>
<p>Obama is a politician, comes and goes, hopefully. But it’s the people who elected the guy that really posed the problem. There has been an effort to dumb down the population of this country. It’s undeniable. It’s been part of the policy playbook of the left. It’s right out of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals. You know, make them dumb, make them stupid, make them dependent, and you own them. I can give you an example of how this manifests itself.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">You remember early on in Obama’s first term there was something going on in Detroit</a> where they were passing out vouchers for free rental properties or some such thing. It was a voucher to get you into a rental property free for a period of time, and there were very few of these vouchers available. And the tens of thousands that showed up vastly outnumbered the number of vouchers that were going to be distributed. A radio reporter at our affiliate in Detroit, WJR, went out and talked to the people about why they were there and then how they thought what was being made available to them was being made available.</p>
<p>(paraphrasing) “Well, where are we getting the money here for you to have a voucher to live rent free in some building here?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I don’t know. From Obama.”</p>
<p>“Well, where did he get it?”</p>
<p>“Well, I don’t know. Obama’s stash.”</p>
<p>I mean, it was clear there was no citizenship on display. It was depressing. Now, had I been president (and I said this at the time) had I been president and I’d seen this, I would have been mortified. I would have been embarrassed that I am presiding and leading a country populated by such stupid people. Obama revels in it, takes advantage of it and exploits it. All the leftists do. All the Democrats do. They have a perpetual view of average Americans that holds them in contempt. By design, by definition, a Democrat has to think the average person is incompetent and incapable. Has to. Somebody self-reliant, self-sufficient poses a threat to your average, ordinary Democrat.</p>
<p>So they’re not at all troubled. They’re not at all troubled with a constant influx of lowly educated, poor, hopeless, helpless refugees. They need a permanent underclass of dependent supporters. But to you and I, we see this as an all-out assault on the fabric and the foundation of the country. And we rightly ask ourselves, how long can the country survive with that increasing degree of detachment, ignorance and stupidity undergirding it. And then you ask, “Well, wait a minute, is this really anything abnormal or has this always been the case? Has this always been the percentage of the population that’s this way?”</p>
<p>And people are concluding no, that this is something different and unique. And I think they’re right. We’ve been through circumstances like this before. And there’s no desire whatsoever apparently anywhere in Washington to fix any of this. Washington simply sees what is and finds ways to exploit it for its own growth and its own perpetuation rather than roll up the sleeves and be offended or frightened or shocked or insulted or whatever by it all and demand to fix it and reverse it. And you begin to think, does anybody care whether we have a great country or not? Anybody leading it, do they care whether we have a great country or not? And the current crop of people leading it never have thought it’s great, have always believed that we’ve been pretenders to the superpower throne.</p>
<p>So our first caller, I think, just typifies the fear and the opinions of many of us ’cause I’ll throw myself in with you on this. The way I look at it, what I ask myself, okay, we elected George W. Bush twice. How did that happen? How did the same electorate in a matter of years lose half of its IQ? And then being honest, gotta go back and say, “Well, in 2000 we really didn’t win the popular vote. It was the Electoral College and the Florida aftermath.” And then in 2004 you gotta throw the fact in that Lurch just did not fire up a whole lot of people and the left had not succeeded, the media by that time, 2004, had not yet succeeded in totally poisoning everybody’s attitude toward Bush.</p>
<p>I know Bush was no Reagan conservative, but George W. Bush was in no way, shape, manner, or form of the same frame of mind as Obama and his minions. It just seems like such a stark contrast. It seems like we should have had three or four elections between Bush before we got to Obama, if we’re headed in that direction. But it just seemed to happen overnight, and I think people have been scratching their heads since 2008 about this, frankly.</p> | Caller: Is Obama a Genius or Just Lucky? | true | http://rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2014/06/09/caller_is_obama_a_genius_or_just_lucky | 2014-06-09 | 0 |
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<p>GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A western Colorado university says it’s investigating after students reported that an activist recruited them during a class to work for a group supporting Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.</p>
<p>The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported Wednesday ( <a href="http://tinyurl.com/hkgdqm9)" type="external">http://tinyurl.com/hkgdqm9)</a> that Colorado Mesa University students said Nikki Caravelli from the group Work for Progress made a presentation in a class taught by Stan Heister, an assistant professor of business.</p>
<p>Heister said he had “no malicious intent” when he agreed to let Caravelli speak.</p>
<p>University President Tim Foster said he requested a review of what happened. Foster says he’ll decide what action to take, if any, once the review is complete.</p>
<p>Mary Rafferty, Colorado field director for Work for Progress, says the group regularly recruits college students on campuses to work for the group.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Daily Sentinel, <a href="http://www.gjsentinel.com" type="external">http://www.gjsentinel.com</a></p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | University students say activist recruited them in class | false | https://abqjournal.com/875547/university-students-say-campaigners-recruited-them-in-class.html | 2016-10-26 | 2 |
<p>Express Scripts Holding Co (NASDAQ:ESRX) on Tuesday raised its full-year earnings forecast, citing a strong second quarter, increased use of more profitable generic drugs and sooner-than-expected cost savings from its $29 billion acquisition of rival pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions.</p>
<p>Express Scripts shares, which were already up about 25 percent this year, rose more than 7 percent.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Express, now the clear leader in managing drug benefits for Americans, said it now expects adjusted 2012 earnings of $3.60 to $3.75 per share, up from its prior view of $3.36 to $3.66.</p>
<p>Wall Street on average was estimating $3.53 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.</p>
<p>"The old guidance had been conservative and they've been saying ever since the deal that integration is going better than expected and the synergies are coming faster than expected and that's what drove the upside in the quarter," said Gabelli &amp; Co analyst Jeff Jonas.</p>
<p>"The debt they issued to fund the deal came with very attractive rates and that's also helping earnings," he added.</p>
<p>The company, in its first quarter since completing the Medco deal in early April, reported higher than expected second quarter profit.</p>
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<p>Excluding items such as acquisition related costs, Express said it had adjusted earnings of 88 cents per share, exceeding analysts' average expectations by 6 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.</p>
<p>Net profit was $170.9 million, or 21 cents per share, down from a year-ago profit of $334.2 million, or 66 cents per share.</p>
<p>Revenue in the first quarterly results that combine Express and Medco sales totaled $27.69 billion, topping Wall Street estimates of $26.57 billion.</p>
<p>"Obviously this is a banner quarter," said Edward Jones analyst Judson Clark. "This quarter's results point to a stronger long-term story as well. They beat on sales, beat on earnings and raised guidance."</p>
<p>"The company has had a strong track record of acquisition integration and we clearly see that in their raised guidance," Clark added.</p>
<p>Express Scripts is expected to provide more details on the integration and perhaps on its renewed agreement with pharmacy chain Walgreen Co on a conference call with industry analysts on Wednesday. It said it still expects to realize cost savings from Medco synergies of $1 billion once fully integrated.</p>
<p>"We are fully under way with the integration process," Chief Executive George Paz said in a statement.</p>
<p>The company previously said integration would likely be complete in the first half of 2014.</p>
<p>Rival CVS Caremark Corp earlier on Tuesday reported higher quarterly profit and raised its full year forecast in part due to business it gained from Walgreen while the pharmacy chain was not doing business with Express Scripts.</p>
<p>A disagreement over contract terms led Walgreen to stop filling prescriptions for Express Scripts patients at the beginning of 2012. After resolving their dispute last month, the largest U.S. drug store chain will resume doing business with Express Scripts as of Sept. 15.</p>
<p>But CVS has said it expects to retain at least 50 percent of the prescription business in gained from Walgreen during the dispute with Express Scripts.</p>
<p>Express said it has so far achieved a customer retention rate for its combined business exceeding 95 percent.</p>
<p>"That's pretty solid given all the uncertainty over the antitrust review and now integration," Gabelli's Jonas said of the company's retention rate.</p>
<p>The Medco deal closed in April after a lengthy and contentious review of potential antitrust issues over the combination of two of the industry's three biggest players.</p>
<p>The overall fill rate for generic medicines rose to 77.8 percent from 74 percent a year ago.</p>
<p>Cheaper generic drugs carry a higher profit margin than more expensive branded medicines, and companies such as Express Scripts are always trying to drive down costs for customers and raise its own profits through increased use of generics.</p>
<p>Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, administer drug benefits for employers and health plans and run large mail order pharmacies.</p>
<p>Express Scripts shares jumped in extended trading to $60.17 after closing at $56.02 on Nasdaq.</p> | Express Scripts Beats in 2Q, Boosts Full-Year Outlook | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2012/08/07/express-scripts-beats-in-2q-boosts-full-year-outlook.html | 2016-03-03 | 0 |
<p>American&#160;Bridge, the Democratic super-PAC dedicated to collecting incriminating video footage of GOP office-seekers, has had its cameras trained on&#160;Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock for months. But the group waited until Wednesday, the morning after Mourdock knocked off incumbent Sen.&#160;Dick&#160;Lugar in the GOP primary, to begin showing off its wares. First up? This clip from&#160;February, of Mourdock calling for the repeal of the 17th Amendment, which provides for…the direct election of Senators:</p>
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<p>Key quote:</p>
<p>You know the issue of the 17th amendment is so troubling to me, our founding fathers, again those geniuses, made the point that the House of Representatives was there to represent the people. The Senate was there to represent the states. In other words the government of the states…</p>
<p>You know just think of this. In today’s world we see millions and millions of dollars spent on Senate campaigns. Two years ago, in 2010, Sharron Angle out in Nevada spent $31 million dollars, just herself. How much money would be spent in federal senate races if the state legislators were electing those people. You just took the money out of politics. Is that a bad thing?</p>
<p>Mourdock’s not the first conservative to make the case for repealing the 17th&#160;Amendment— <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/20/AR2009022003034.html" type="external">George Will</a> has made the case (he’s also called for <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/15/AR2009041502861.html" type="external">the abolition of jeans</a>), as has <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/06/10/241830/top-10-thing-texas-gov-rick-perry/" type="external">Rick&#160;Perry</a>. It is, however, jarring to see the case being made by someone who’s currently campaigning to win a direct election to the Senate. It’s also not clear what problem the repeal would actually fix—expenditures would be transferred to the local level. And, as we’re reminded <a href="" type="internal">practically every day</a>,&#160;America’s state legislatures are hardly bastions of sound decision-making.</p> | Ind. Senate Candidate: We Should Stop Electing Senators | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/05/indiana-senate-candidate-we-should-stop-electing-senators/ | 2012-05-10 | 4 |
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<p>SANTA FE, N.M. - A Navajo Nation tribal member who lives on the Nambe Pueblo in Santa Fe County was sentenced today to 63 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in federal court in Albuquerque to assaulting his female partner with a hammer and to child abuse after he also struck a child with the hammer and another child with his fist.</p>
<p>Everett D. Williams, 26, was arrested in March 2013 and charged with assaulting his female partner causing her "serious bodily injury," the U.S. Attorney said in a news release.</p>
<p>According to the release: Williams was indicted in April 2013 and charged with one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of child abuse.</p>
<p>"Williams assaulted the victim, a Kewa Pueblo woman, and endangered the health of two toddlers on Feb. 23, 2013, in a residence located on Nambe Pueblo," the release said. Williams "admitted to striking the victim in the head with a hammer and causing her serious bodily injury. Court filings indicate that the victim required surgery to treat a gaping wound on her forehead.&#160; While swinging the hammer at the victim, Williams missed the victim and instead struck a three-year-old child in the back.&#160; While attempting to hit the victim with his fist, Williams struck a two-year-old child above the eye," according to the news release.</p>
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<p>The final moonshot report, which Biden is scheduled to deliver in an Oval Office meeting, lists an array of promising new government and private actions designed to accelerate progress. It also includes a letter to the president describing in personal terms the impact of the death of Biden’s son Beau from brain cancer in May 2015, as well as recommendations on how to score research breakthroughs and improve patient care over the next five years.</p>
<p>During his son’s illness, Biden wrote, he and his wife, Jill, had numerous meetings with oncologists and researchers. They came away convinced that “even if we couldn’t save our own son, the science, medicine and technology are progressing faster than ever to save countless other sons and daughters.”</p>
<p>Yet while the field may be at “an inflection point” – because of increased understanding of cancer biology and new opportunities created by an explosion of genetic and other data – barriers to progress remain, he said.</p>
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<p>He took aim at incentives that reward scientists for individual successes rather than team efforts that “can lead to new answers and new solutions.” He complained that problems recruiting and retaining patients for clinical trials can cause costly delays. And he said it takes too long for cutting-edge treatments developed at the nation’s premier cancer centers to reach the community oncologists who treat most patients.</p>
<p>To overcome those and other obstacles, Biden called for new funding mechanisms for research, especially the work sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, to encourage “high risk, high reward research.” He also called for improved access to clinical trials, intensified efforts to reduce cancer disparities, and enhanced prevention and screening efforts. Initiatives to address some of the issues are underway, but more needs to be done, he said.</p>
<p>Monday’s scheduled meeting between Biden and Obama, to be followed in the afternoon by a Biden address to cancer researchers, advocates and patients, comes almost a year after the vice president announced that he would not run for president. At the time, he called for “an absolute national commitment to end cancer,” and in January, Obama named him head of the cancer moonshot, with a goal of making a decade’s worth of progress in just five years.</p>
<p>Now, as the end of the administration approaches, Biden faces a big piece of unfinished business: trying to persuade a lame-duck Congress to approve additional funding for efforts for the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.</p>
<p>The administration, researchers and patient groups have been pressing Congress to approve about $700 million for cancer initiatives. “With all the momentum in 2016, if you are unable to show something for these new ideas, it will be very difficult to all of a sudden build up from the ground floor next year,” said Jon Retzlaff, managing director for science policy and government affairs for the American Association for Cancer Research.</p>
<p>Prospects may be brightening, supporters say. Republican leaders have indicated that passage of “21st Century Cures” legislation, which could be a vehicle for the money, is a top priority.</p>
<p>Even if the money is approved, a significant portion of the cancer community will remain skeptical. For one thing, they say much more money is needed for cancer research than what the administration is seeking.</p>
<p>“The moonshot is a lot of rhetoric and a lot of meetings,” said Vinay Prasad, an oncologist at the Oregon Health and Sciences University. He said that researchers need much greater understanding of cancer’s basic biology to make substantial progress – and that’s something that he said requires funding of at least $100 billion over 20 years.</p>
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<p>But supporters of the moonshot effort say that it has encouraged researchers and the public that cancer might someday be vanquished.</p>
<p>“I think the moonshot is a wonderful, visionary effort,” said Drew Pardoll, director of the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Johns Hopkins University.</p>
<p>Biden’s efforts have involved encouraging new public-private partnerships in the fight against the disease that will kill an estimated 600,000 people this year. New commitments in the vice president’s report include millions of dollars of donations for research, as well as data-sharing partnerships designed to make it easier for doctors, researchers and patients to access data.</p>
<p>For example, the National Cancer Institute is expected to announce Monday a new partnership with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft to build a model for maintaining cloud-based cancer genomic data, meaning on a network of servers, to aid researcher access. The Defense Department is expected to announce a new study to use 250,000 blood and tissue samples from members of the armed forces to try to identify markers that could point to cancer. And the ride-sharing companies Lyft and Uber said they would take steps to help cancer patients get to their doctor appointments and treatments.</p>
<p>As for the moonshot’s future with a new administration, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has said that she would like to continue it and would welcome Biden’s advice. Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, hasn’t commented on the matter. Biden said recently that he’d like to remain active, but not from inside the government.</p>
<p>biden-cancer</p> | Biden set to give update on ‘cancer moonshot’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/868822/biden-set-to-give-update-on-cancer-moonshot.html | 2 |
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<p>NETANYAHU: Israel will preserve the status quo</p>
<p>But the steps announced by the U.S. secretary of state over the weekend did little to address the deeper issues behind the fighting, disappointing the Palestinians and raising fears that even if calm is restored, it is just a matter of time before another round of violence erupts.</p>
<p>During a swing through the region, Kerry announced the steps on Saturday after several days of meetings with Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders. The highlight was a Jordanian proposal to install surveillance cameras at the Jerusalem holy site that is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.</p>
<p>More than a month of violence has been fueled by Palestinian allegations that Israel is trying to change the delicate status quo at the site, which allows non-Muslims to visit but not pray.</p>
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<p>The hilltop compound, home to the biblical Jewish Temples, is the holiest site in Judaism.</p>
<p>Today, it is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third-holiest site in Islam and a potent Palestinian national symbol.</p>
<p>While Israel has repeatedly said it has no plans to change the status quo, the Palestinian fears have been stoked by growing numbers of Jewish visitors, backed by some senior Israeli officials, who seek prayer rights and an expanded presence on the mount.</p>
<p>Addressing his Cabinet on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he "made clear" to Kerry that Israel is committed to preserving the status quo, and he welcomed the plan to install cameras.</p>
<p>Israeli officials said the plan was for Israeli police and officials from the Waqf, the Jordanian-backed religious authority that administers the Muslim sites, to have access to footage.</p>
<p>Palestinian officials gave the camera plan a cool reception.</p>
<p>"Netanyahu wants the video cameras just to track our people and arrest them," Palestinian official Saeb Erekat told the Voice of Palestine radio station.</p>
<p>Both Israeli and Jordanian officials said that arrangements have not yet been discussed in detail and that it was not clear when the cameras would begin operating.</p>
<p>The conflicting claims to the hilltop mount lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and have spilled over into violence in the past.</p>
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<p /> | Issues around Jerusalem site unresolved | false | https://abqjournal.com/665485/issues-around-jerusalem-site-unresolved.html | 2 |
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<p>Another week, another new high for bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and easily the most popular virtual currency on the planet. While traditional investors are used to seeing the stock market return 7% a year, inclusive of dividend reinvestment, bitcoin's price has surged by well over 500% since the year began, recently touching a new all-time high of $6,306 per coin. It also firmly places bitcoin's market cap above $100 billion.</p>
<p>How on Earth has bitcoin become the top-performing and most talked about investment of 2017? It really has to do with four catalysts.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The first is the excitement surrounding blockchain, which is the digital and decentralized ledger that underlies most virtual currencies and records transactions without the need for a financial intermediary like a bank. What makes blockchain so exciting is that it's usually an open-source network, meaning altering logged data without someone else findings out would be practically impossible. Blockchain could really shore up security in the financial services industry, as well as a variety of other sectors.</p>
<p>Secondly, the U.S. dollar has been <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/18/7-reasons-bitcoin-is-barreling-toward-a-100-billio.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2fef0dbe-bd1e-11e7-9925-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">sinking pretty steadily Opens a New Window.</a> over the past year. Recently hitting multi-year lows against the euro, the weaker dollar has left investors holding cash looking for ways to protect their wealth. Usually when the dollar is sinking, investors will buy gold. This is because of the scarcity of gold and the proven fact that it's a store of value (it's been used as a form of currency for centuries). But bitcoin is being considered a scarce asset as well. Protocols limit the number of mined bitcoin to 21 million, which some investors believe makes bitcoin a proper store of value.</p>
<p>Third, there's growing excitement surrounding bitcoin as a mode of payment. Five brand-name businesses have accepted bitcoin since 2014, and a host of smaller merchants have latched on since then. As a libertarians' dream currency, some investors are simply excited about the potential for merchant expansion.</p>
<p>And lastly, emotions have played a key role in pushing bitcoin higher. Even though we're beginning to see a few institutional investors getting involved – Goldman Sachs is <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/12/this-blue-chip-investment-bank-may-be-readying-to.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2fef0dbe-bd1e-11e7-9925-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">tinkering with the idea Opens a New Window.</a> of opening trading operations in bitcoin&#160; – retail investors primarily control bitcoin's price movements. Since retail investors are far more susceptible to emotional trading than Wall Street institutions, it's led to a rush into bitcoin, with some folks not wanting to miss the boat.</p>
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<p>While it's been an undeniably great year for bitcoin investors, I'd argue that many of these investors could be making a crucial mistake. Namely, placing too much emphasis on bitcoin as a form of payment.</p>
<p>Though long-term buy-and-hold investment mogul Warren Buffett has thus far been wrong about bitcoin, he did raise an important point back in 2014. In an interview with CNBC, Buffett said:</p>
<p>If you were to try to live off bitcoin, there's a really good chance you'd struggle to do so. Bitcoin's volatility, lengthy settlement times, and transaction fees work against the idea of recruiting more merchants to the virtual currency. Plus, there's really no floor beneath bitcoin without government backing or any concrete fundamental drivers.</p>
<p>It's also worth pointing out that the barrier to entry in the virtual currency space is pretty low. There are now nearly 1,200 global cryptocurrencies, and big businesses have in some cases banded together to create their own virtual currencies.</p>
<p>It's also possible that investors are misplacing their faith in bitcoin's blockchain. Back in August, bitcoin forked into two separate virtual currencies -- bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash -- because the bitcoin community was at odds over how best to upgrade its blockchain. Those in Bitcoin Cash chose to expand capacity within the existing blockchain. As for bitcoin, the SegWit2x upgrade took some information off the blockchain to boost capacity, reduce transaction fees, and speed up settlement times. The move was clearly made to attract big business.</p>
<p>However, bitcoin's blockchain may not be the preference of enterprises. There are currently more than 150 organizations testing a version of Ethereum's blockchain in pilot and small-scale trials via the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. Bitcoin's biggest rival, Ethereum, also has a <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/09/22/ethereum-may-very-well-leave-bitcoin-eating-its-du.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2fef0dbe-bd1e-11e7-9925-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">valuable feature Opens a New Window.</a> known as "smart contracts" built into its blockchain. Smart contracts are protocols that assist with facilitating, verifying, and enforcing the negotiation of a contract. Right now, Ethereum looks to be the preferred blockchain, which is where the tangible value of cryptocurrencies really lies.</p>
<p>It's quite possible that bitcoin investors are buying into the wrong catalysts, which could turn out to be bad news over the long run.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than&#160;Wal-MartWhen investing geniuses David and Tom&#160;Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they&#160;have run for over a decade, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of&#160;October 9, 2017The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2fef0dbe-bd1e-11e7-9925-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=2fef0dbe-bd1e-11e7-9925-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | The Costly Mistake Bitcoin Investors Are Probably Making | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/11/02/costly-mistake-bitcoin-investors-are-probably-making.html | 2017-11-02 | 0 |
<p>D.C. Council member David Grosso said he would consider introducing such a bill into the Council that would ban the so-called gay and trans panic defense at murder trials. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)</p>
<p>The Williams Institute, an LGBT think tank at the UCLA School of Law, is calling on states to pass legislation to ban the so-called gay and transgender “panic” defense in criminal trials.</p>
<p>In a 22-page legal brief it released on Sept. 8, the Williams Institute says this particular defense has been used in cases involving anti-LGBT violence since the 1960s as a means of justifying such violence on grounds that a perpetrator “panicked” upon learning that their victim was gay or transgender.</p>
<p>“The gay and trans panic defenses allow perpetrators of LGBT murders to receive a lesser sentence, and in some cases, even avoid being convicted and punished, by placing the blame for the homicide on a victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity,” the brief says.</p>
<p>“The gay and trans panic defenses are rooted in antiquated ideas that homosexuality and gender non-conformity are mental illnesses,” the brief says. “In line with this view, criminal defense attorneys began invoking the gay and trans panic defenses in the 1960s, arguing that an LGBT victim’s unwanted sexual advance caused perpetrators to enter a state of ‘homosexual panic,’ and kill the LGBT victim.”</p>
<p>The brief notes that no state recognizes gay and trans panic defenses as “free-standing” defenses in their criminal codes. Instead, the brief says, defense attorneys have invoked the gay or trans panic defense under three long accepted types of defenses in criminal cases – provocation, diminished capacity and self-defense.</p>
<p>Based on past cases involving LGBT victims of crime, including murder, attorneys have argued that the discovery of a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity “was a sufficiently provocative act” that drove the defendant to kill or assault the victim “in the heat of passion,” the Williams Institute brief says.</p>
<p>Under the diminished capacity approach, the brief says defense attorneys have argued that their clients’ discovery of a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity caused them to have a “temporary mental breakdown,” driving them to kill the victim. According to the brief, under the “self-defense” theory, defense attorneys have argued that their client had a “reasonable belief that they were in immediate danger of serious bodily harm” upon discovering that the victim was LGBT.</p>
<p>The brief says its analysis of numerous court rulings on known gay or trans panic defense cases shows that a model bill proposed by the Williams Institute to ban the LGBT panic defense would not violate the constitutional rights of defendants charged in cases involving anti-LGBT violence.</p>
<p>“The model legislation offers language to prohibit defendants from using the gay and trans panic defenses under the major defense theories of provocation, insanity/diminished capacity, and self-defense,” it says.</p>
<p>The proposed bill would ban the gay or trans panic defense for each of these three defense theories “under circumstances in which the victim made an unwanted non-forcible romantic or sexual advance toward the defendant, or if the defendant and victim dated or had a romantic or sexual relationship.”</p>
<p>The brief points out that in 2013, the American Bar Association unanimously approved a resolution calling on state legislatures to pass laws eliminating gay and trans panic defenses. The following year, California became the first state to pass such legislation. Bills calling for banning the LGBT panic defense have since been introduced in Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>D.C. Council member David Grosso (I-At-Large) told the Washington Blade he plans to review the Williams Institute brief and would consider introducing such a bill into the Council.</p>
<p>The national office of the ACLU in New York, which has long advocated for the rights of criminal defendants, didn’t immediately respond to a request by the Blade for comment on the Williams Institute brief and proposed legislation to ban the gay and trans panic defense.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">American Bar Association</a> <a href="" type="internal">David Grosso</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay</a> <a href="" type="internal">panic defense</a> <a href="" type="internal">The Williams Institute</a> <a href="" type="internal">transgender</a> <a href="" type="internal">UCLA School of Law</a></p> | Legislation proposed to ban ‘gay,’ ‘trans’ panic defense | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2016/09/12/legislation-proposed-ban-gay-trans-panic-defense/ | 3 |
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<p>First up, some good news:</p>
<p>So it looks like we'll have "The Resistance" to accompany us on our journey toward freedom from Donald. (Because I do see optimism as the ultimate resistance.)</p>
<p>And to that end optimism, but not pretending. Not pretending that any of Donald's behavior is normal, or legal, or constitutional, or endorsed by the majority of the American voters.</p>
<p>Because it isn't.</p>
<p>And do take to heart what he says about who to call when the media gets it terribly, terribly wrong. Call the bosses. Because they are guaranteed to over-react. And over-reacting to complaints of both-siderism and false equivalency and "reporting the controversy"</p>
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<p>is exactly what we need these days.</p> | Keith Olbermann On How To Resist | true | http://crooksandliars.com/2016/11/keith-olbermann-how-resist | 2016-11-21 | 4 |
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<p>Lincoln was the top-rated brand in the 2016 ACSI automobile report. Image source: Lincoln.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>American car buyers have become more satisfied with their vehicles and that goes for people buying mass-market brands as well as luxury-car purchasers.</p>
<p>Customer satisfaction with automobiles jumped 3.8% to 82 on <a href="http://www.theacsi.org/" type="external">American Customer Satisfaction Index's Opens a New Window.</a> (ACSI) 100-point scale.</p>
<p>"Improving customer satisfaction for the auto industry is largely driven by the strong performance of mass market vehicles, which are closing the gap with luxury vehicles on many levels," ACSI Director David VanAmburg told The Motley Fool via email. "Overall auto sales may be flatter compared to the recent run of record breaking years, but they are still strong and healthy. In particular, Detroit's auto manufacturers are doing very well and competing with both Europe and Asia car makers."</p>
<p>That's good news for U.S. automakers (all of whom improved their scores), but it also shows the quality of all cars has improved, which takes away a major reason people used to be willing to shell out the cash required for a higher-end brand.</p>
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<p>"The rise of mass-market vehicles may well be at the expense of luxury brands in the sense that buyers now see little differentiation between luxury cars and regular ones," said ACSI Chairman Claes Fornell in a <a href="http://www.theacsi.org/news-and-resources/press-releases/press-2016/press-release-automobiles-2016" type="external">press release Opens a New Window.</a>. "If there is little difference, why pay more? Exclusivity may not be enough."</p>
<p>In the 2016 ACSI automobile report, of the 24 brands ranked, three showed no change, 16 improved, and five declined, three of those in the luxury space. The second-biggest drop was by Volkswagen (NASDAQOTH: VLKAY), a company that spent much of the year mired in a scandal related to emissions.</p>
<p>It is perhaps surprising that the brand only fell 3% to a 78, putting it just above Honda's (NYSE: HMC) Acura brand in last place with a 76 ranking.</p>
<p>"The combination of fines and fallen stock price are a big hit to Volkswagen's finances, but it may prove even harder to recover from the reputational hit the company will take for deceiving customers and the general public," saidVanAmburg. "Many customers or would-be customers could be turned-off of VW for life and it's hard to put a value on that."</p>
<p>All domestic automakers gained on the 2016 survey and Ford's (NYSE: F) Lincoln Brand took the top spot with an 87, after gaining 5%. Honda, despite its woes with Acura, came in second with its namesake brand, jumping 8% to score an 86. Toyota (NYSE: TM) and BMW both gained 4% over last year to tie for third at 85.</p>
<p>The 2015 top finisher, Lexus (a Toyota brand), saw no change in its score and tied for fourth at 84 with General Motors' (NYSE: GM) GMC (up 8%), Subaru ( up 2%), and Nissan's Infiniti -- the leading gainer, adding 9%. Volkswagen's Audi (+6%) and GM'S Chevrolet (+5%) were the only other autos that scored above the industry average of 82.</p>
<p>Image source: ACSI.</p>
<p>In some ways, the auto industry has become a bit like the wireless phone market. In that case, premium brands used to matter because those companies had better networks. Now, even the worst network is pretty good, so it does not make sense for people to shell out the extra cash for the premium brands.</p>
<p>Luxury cars, of course, have more going for them than just reliability, but consumers clearly now realize they can get a high-quality car from a less prestigious brand name. That may be good for the overall industry while removing a reason the top-tier auto brands can use as a marketing hook.</p>
<p>In the long run, having consumers be more satisfied with their cars should be good for the industry, and this ACSI report, which is based on 3,776 customer surveys collected in the second quarter of 2016, specifically offers hope for American brands.</p>
<p>"Year-to-date sales are looking pretty flat, and demand for cars may slacken some," VanAmburg said. "But the good news for Detroit is that higher levels of customer satisfaction will make it more competitive."</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/Dankline/info.aspx" type="external">Daniel Kline Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. He drives an older Mini Cooper S and is very satisfied. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Ford. The Motley Fool recommends BMW and General Motors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | American Car Buyers Are a Lot More Satisfied | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/08/23/american-car-buyers-are-lot-more-satisfied.html | 2016-08-23 | 0 |
<p>Journalist, author and indefatigable civil libertarian Nat Hentoff died last month at age 91.&#160; Most of the mainstream media <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2017/01/08/columnist-nat-hentoff-dies-at-91/96317756/" type="external">barely noticed</a> his passing, a fitting measure of disrespect for a man who had come to be seen as a media antagoniste – and an unwelcome snoop and critic — by liberals and conservatives alike.</p>
<p>Hentoff’s hallmark was his radical defense of free speech, which he treated as the touchstone of American democracy – and of a free society generally.&#160; Like many who lived through the monstrously Orwellian nature of Soviet Communism, he was highly attuned to the susceptibility of American leftists and liberals to deny free speech to anyone that stood in the way of their own version of ideological orthodoxy.</p>
<p>No matter how unpopular it made him, Hentoff was constantly pointing to the contradiction of preaching freedom and the right to dissent and then denying those same liberties to one’s putative opponents – all in the name of ensuring that “politically correct” and “morally superior” ideas could survive without serious scrutiny.</p>
<p>Hentoff had many free-speech heroes including Justice William O. Douglas, one of the most outspoken defenders of the 1st amendment that ever sat on the Supreme Court.&#160; Another was comedian Lenny Bruce, whose brash and <a href="http://dangerousminds.net/comments/swear_to_tell_the_truth_excellent_documentary_on_lenny_bruce" type="external">relentless defiance</a> of “obscenity” laws cost him his career – and probably his life.&#160; Hentoff wrote a <a href="http://gadflyonline.com/home/index.php/lenny-bruce-the-crucifixion-of-a-true-believer/" type="external">touching tribute</a> to Bruce in 2001, entitled, “The Crucifixion of a True Believer.”</p>
<p>Like Bruce, Hentoff believed that while behavior might be criminal, speech never was.&#160; He might have agreed that “crying fire” in a crowded theater was a heinous, even unforgivable act, and yet he would have held those who stampeded accountable for their own actions.&#160; To Hentoff, incitement in the spirit of honest inquiry, or exposé, was not a crime —&#160; it was a calling.</p>
<p>For decades as a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/nyregion/09nyc.html" type="external">weekly columnist</a> for Manhattan’s counter-cultural Village Voice, Hentoff pursued his own version of that calling with zeal.&#160; The subjects of his terse, often sardonic, columns were unpredictable, but the sorry state of American race relations – which he viewed as the country’s fatal flaw — was never far from his mind.</p>
<p>A characteristic Hentoff column from the early 1960s recounted the day he rang up Malcolm X of the Nation of Islam and asked for an interview.&#160; Hentoff arrived and sat patiently for close to an hour near a bespectacled man whom he assumed was waiting to see the up-and-coming Black Nationalist leader, too. &#160;Of course, it turned out to be Malcolm X.&#160; The two men laughed at their mutual aloofness, and proceeded to speak at length.</p>
<p>Another column treated an encounter on a subway train between a Black conductor and two White passengers, with Hentoff playing the role of curious onlooker.&#160; Without a trace of self-indulgence or artifice, he used the incident to reflect on his own racial fears and prejudice – and by extension, those of his readers.</p>
<p>Hentoff had two great personal obsessions.&#160; One was <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/music/a-young-jazz-pianist-remembers-his-biggest-champion-nat-hentoff-9565145" type="external">jazz,</a> to which he devoted literally dozens of columns.&#160; To Hentoff jazz reminded us of the improvisational open-endedness of life.&#160; It was the musical equivalent of the unbridled “free speech” that he so cherished. &#160;In the flyleaf to <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Nat_Hentoff_Reader.html?id=0A6RJlFY2XcC" type="external">one</a> of his books, Hentoff placed a quote from jazz musician, Bix Beiderbecke. It read:&#160; “That’s one thing I like about jazz, kid.&#160; I don’t know what’s going to happen next.&#160; Do you?”</p>
<p>Hentoff’s other great fixation was children, including, controversially, <a href="http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/nvp/consistent/hentoff.html" type="external">abortion,</a> which he found repugnant.&#160; In deference to his wife, perhaps, who was pro-choice, he wrote less about the rights of the unborn than about other medical controversies, including the rights of African-American and Latina AIDS mothers to know whether their own children were potentially infected.</p>
<p>His many columns about racism in the public schools, including a <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1982/08/23/the-integrationist" type="external">lengthy profile</a> of Dr. Kenneth Clark, whose research helped sway the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1956 desegregation decision, were intended to expose how members of the self-appointed liberal elite were actually failing young children – while smugly exaggerating their “success.”</p>
<p>In fact, one of the poignant but depressing qualities of Hentoff’s columns, many of them written a generation ago, is how contemporary they still are.&#160; His denunciations of reverse-racism under the banner of “multiculturalism” could be drawn from accounts of a number of “Black Lives Matter” demonstrations in which members of the movement have engaged in angry racial taunts against bystanders seemingly indifferent to their cause.</p>
<p>Hentoff was no neo-conservative, much less a Republican but he was no diehard Democrat, either.&#160; He could make fun of George W. Bush’s smirky dim-wittedness but still <a href="http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/hentoff060600.asp" type="external">lampoon</a> Bill Clinton for his lack of moral character – all the while skewering the media for letting powerful members of the establishment in both parties off the hook.&#160; If Hentoff over the years seemed to drift rightward, it’s only because the country as a whole did.</p>
<p>What would Hentoff think of Donald Trump?&#160; He’d probably applaud The Donald’s outspokenness and trashing of “political correctness.” And the next day, he’d call Trump to account for pretending that insisting on his own version of the facts was anything short of lying and a disservice to the truth.</p>
<p>We’ll miss you, Nat.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Remembering Nat Hentoff: Prolific Journalist, Jazz Critic and Relentless Free Speech Defender | false | http://natmonitor.com/2017/02/10/remembering-nat-hentoff-prolific-journalist-jazz-critic-and-relentless-free-speech-defender/ | 2017-02-10 | 3 |
<p>On Thursday evening, Guinea-Bissau soldiers seized Interim President Raimundo, presidential candidate Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, and control of the impoverished West African nation, <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iBCP99RfwSwSL79ulVMAUS2-enTA?docId=CNG.fc5e04667c4e6ac7b19749de702ed719.2e1" type="external">according to the</a> <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iBCP99RfwSwSL79ulVMAUS2-enTA?docId=CNG.fc5e04667c4e6ac7b19749de702ed719.2e1" type="external">AFP</a>.</p>
<p>A statement by those now in power, the self-titled Military Command, claimed they acted after discovering a "secret document," signed by Gomes and Raimundo. The documented supposedly revealed a deal between the Guinea-Bissau and Angola governments, a contract that would have allowed Angolan troops to occupy and "attack Guinea-Bissau's military," <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/13/world/africa/guinea-bissau-coup-attempt/index.html" type="external">according to</a> <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/13/world/africa/guinea-bissau-coup-attempt/index.html" type="external">CNN</a>.</p>
<p>Angola issued a statement saying it will withdraw all its troops from Guinea-Bissau's territory (they were there to assist with military training), <a href="http://www.africareview.com/News/Angola+suspends+military+ties+with+Guinea+Bissau/-/979180/1384134/-/22cvre/-/index.html" type="external">according to the</a> <a href="http://www.africareview.com/News/Angola+suspends+military+ties+with+Guinea+Bissau/-/979180/1384134/-/22cvre/-/index.html" type="external">Africa Review</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iBCP99RfwSwSL79ulVMAUS2-enTA?docId=CNG.fc5e04667c4e6ac7b19749de702ed719.2e1" type="external">AFP</a> <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iBCP99RfwSwSL79ulVMAUS2-enTA?docId=CNG.fc5e04667c4e6ac7b19749de702ed719.2e1" type="external">article</a>&#160;quoted the Military Command, saying it has no intention of ruling the county. But even if the military wanted to rule, it's unlikely they could hold power for long. Guinea-Bissau has a tumultuous history of conflicts between its army and state powers.</p>
<p>Here's a timeline of some of the key moments in the nation's history of coups:</p>
<p>September 10, 1974: After more than 11 years of war with Portugal and the toppling of Portugal's authoritarian dictatorship, Guinea-Bissau gains independence. Luis Cabral becomes Guinea-Bissau's first president.</p>
<p>November 14, 1980: Cabral is overthrown by Prime Minister Joao Bernado Vieira during a bloodless coup.</p>
<p>June 7, 1998: A military coup led by General Ansumane Mane fails.</p>
<p>May 7, 1999: The military overthrows President Vieira and Malam Bacai becomes interim president.</p>
<p>November 28, 1999: Kumba Yala wins the next presidential election.</p>
<p>September 14, 2003: The military seizes power and overthrows Yala.</p>
<p>July 24, 2005: Former President Vieira wins the next election.</p>
<p>March 2, 2009: Vieira is murdered. Raimundo Pereira becomes interim leader.</p>
<p>June 5, 2009: Military police kill politicians in what they said was an attempted coup.</p>
<p>July 29, 2009: Malam Bacai Sanha wins presidential election.</p>
<p>January 9, 2012: President Malam Bacai Sanha dies of natural causes (he was diabetic) in Paris. Raimundo Pereira becomes the next president.</p>
<p>March 2012: Presidential election scheduled, but disrupted by military coup.&#160;</p>
<p>Perhaps the most salient fact in all this: an elected president has never completed his term in office, <a href="http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Guinea-Bissau-wraps-up-poll-campaign-20120316" type="external">according to</a> <a href="http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Guinea-Bissau-wraps-up-poll-campaign-20120316" type="external">News 24</a>.&#160;</p> | Guinea-Bissau: Timeline of Coups | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-04-13/guinea-bissau-timeline-coups | 2012-04-13 | 3 |
<p />
<p>For nearly ten months, civil libertarians have warned that Americans’ constitutional rights are being sacrificed in the name of the post-Sept. 11 push for improved national security. Now, a broad array of rights activists are attacking a Bush administration plan they claim would prod postal workers, utility employees and others to spy on their fellow citizens.</p>
<p>The Justice Department appears to be backing away from earlier, more aggressive and detailed descriptions of the program, known as Operation TIPS, but groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild claim the information-gathering initiative still represents a potential threat to Americans’ civil rights.</p>
<p>“They certainly could use individuals who are participating in Operation TIPS to go into somebody’s home using a good ruse, a good story and collect information without a proper search warrant, without a proper subpoena or court ordered warrant,” said Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego, California.</p>
<p>The program, part of the Citizen Corps initiative introduced by President Bush in his State of the Union speech, has been described by federal officials as nothing more than a “national system for reporting suspicious, and potentially terrorist-related activity.”</p>
<p>In an earlier press release, federal officials announced that the initiative would enlist as many as one million truck drivers, letter carriers, utility workers, train conductors, ship captains and other “well positioned” private citizens.</p>
<p>“The administration apparently wants to implement a program that will turn local cable or gas or electrical technicians into government-sanctioned peeping toms,” ACLU Legislative Counsel Rachel King said in a written statement early this week. Like other civil libertarians, King is concerned that the program will allow federal officials to skirt the laws requiring law enforcement agents to obtain a warrant or subpoena before launching an investigation or search.</p>
<p>In the face of that criticism, the US Postal Service has announced it will not participate in Operation TIPS and at least one influential Democratic lawmaker, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, has said he wants a clear accounting of the plan’s objectives.</p>
<p>Amid the controversy, the Bush administration has tempered its language. The most recent description of the program, available on <a href="http://www.citizencorps.gov/tips.html" type="external">the Citizen Corps web site</a>, no longer mentions the recruitment of postal workers, utility employees or others who might have regular access to people’s homes. And Justice Department officials are taking pains to insist the program was never intended to encourage Americans to spy on their fellow citizens.</p>
<p>“None of the Operation TIPS material published on the web or elsewhere have made reference to entry or access to the homes of individuals; nor has it ever been the intention of the Department of Justice, or any other agency, to set up such a program,” says Justice Dept. spokeswoman Barbara Comstock in a written statement. “Our interest in establishing Operation Tips program is to allow American workers to share information they receive in the regular course of their jobs in the public places and areas.”</p>
<p>Comparing Operation TIPS to non-governmental reporting programs such as Highway Watch, River Watch, and Coast Watch, Comstock, insists that TIPS is merely a way for volunteers to report unusual events noted during the course of their work. However, as Dorothy Ehrlich, executive director of the ACLU’s Northern California chapter points out, Americans have always had the right to report suspicious activty to police or even federal authorities. The alarming aspect of Operation TIPS, she says, is the lack of any clear accountability or guidelines about how that information will be used.</p>
<p>“That’s what’s wrong throughout many of the expanded proposals to give law enforcement more power since September 11. All consistently lack the necessary checks and balances that ordinarily are required under law,” Ehrlich argues. “So you don’t have judicial oversight, you don’t have the requirement that certain kinds of standards be met in order for a subpoena to be issued.”</p>
<p>Riva Enteen, San Francisco program director for the National Lawyers Guild, says those statutory checks and balances are particularly important when suspects are being reported for possible terrorist activities.</p>
<p>“To report someone for terrorist activity, these days, means potential deportation, means incarceration without access to an attorney without charges,” Enteen says. “It’s a qualitative difference to somebody who might be fishing off the coast without a license. We’re talking about people’s liberty being at stake if they are tagged terrorists.”</p>
<p>It is unclear whether civil libertarians will mount any preemptive legal challenge to Operation TIPS. Legal experts at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., say there is nothing unlawful or unconstitutional about the plan. But they and other civil libertarians warn that the program poses a serious ethical question for the federal government, treading dangerously close to the fine line separating a democracy’s need for reasonable security from totalitarianism.</p>
<p>“The notion that you would actually encourage people who are not empowered or trained to do so, to snoop on their fellow citizens and report [on] them is particularly spooky,” says Joan Bertin, Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Censorship. “There seems to be no limits, no controls, no guidelines, no rules, no nothing.</p>
<p /> | The Furor Over TIPS | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2002/07/furor-over-tips/ | 2002-07-17 | 4 |
<p>We all love the smooth richness of milk chocolate, but had always been taught that it is milk chocolate’s bitter cousin, dark chocolate, that was better for our hearts. Well, scientists have found that that might not actually be the case.</p>
<p>A new study published in the journal Heart finds that milk chocolate is just as good for your heart as dark chocolate, or at least that there’s a negligible difference, according to a <a href="http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/628/article/68453/" type="external">Statesboro Herald report</a>.</p>
<p>Based on health data from 21,000 men and women over a 12-year period, researchers at the University of Aberdeen in England have discovered that those who ate the most chocolate saw their risk of coronary heart disease drop 11 percent, and their risk of stroke fall 23 percent. Even more interesting, there’s no indication that any kind of chocolate — milk chocolate included — should be avoided by those who want to reduce their risk of heart problems.</p>
<p>There have been plenty of studies in the past that suggest that dark chocolate can cut the risk of heart failure in women by an astounding third, but it had been suggested that these benefits were mainly limited to dark chocolate.</p>
<p>Why is chocolate so beneficial to the heart? Scientists aren’t sure, but it could be flavonols in chocolate.</p>
<p>Either way, don’t go crazy with the chocolate. Consumption should be 3.5 ounces or less, scientists warn, or you may reverse the good effects by gaining weight.</p>
<p /> | Surprise: Milk chocolate is just as good for your heart as dark chocolate | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/06/21/surprise-milk-chocolate-is-just-as-good-for-your-heart-as-dark-chocolate/ | 2015-06-21 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Rambling through this morning’s news, I ran across two stories about the free speech controversy at Berkeley and other college campuses. The problem was, neither story had any ideas on how to prevent students who come to those speeches from being attacked by those who come to do violence.</p>
<p>“I’ll bring an army if I have to.”</p>
<p>Reported in the <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/27/milo-yiannopoulos-planning-7-day-free-speech-event/" type="external">Washington Times</a>, Milo Yiannopolous stated that he was going to do a week long Free Speech event at Berkeley in September.</p>
<p>Milo posted on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/myiannopoulos/posts/901091803362049" type="external">Facebook:</a></p>
<p>My proposed Free Speech Week will proceed as planned later this year. I WILL BRING AN ARMY IF I HAVE TO. We will ensure that Ann and others can speak and we will publicly, ritually humiliate <a href="https://www.facebook.com/UCBerkeley/" type="external">UC Berkeley</a> for its failure to meet its legal obligations until conservative speakers no longer fear violent mobs just for exercising their First Amendment rights.</p>
<p>Berkeley is going to become the free speech capital of the United States once again. I will make sure of it.</p>
<p>Big Ideas</p>
<p>Then there was the exchange between Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham when Laura proposed a tour to all the radical campuses with Ann Coulter, Sean, herself, Justice Clarence Thomas, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin…anyone who could make liberals upset. It’s missing something in the idea, but I’ll hit that later. Here a partial transcript via <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/video/2017/04/28/hannity-ingraham-propose-massive-free-speech-tour-liberal-college-campuses-coulter-limbaugh-levin/" type="external">Breitbart</a>:</p>
<p>Laura Ingraham: “…The Free Speech Movement of the 1960s in Berkeley — you can go back and watch all those old video reels. Harry Reasoner was there covering it, and you know, Bill Buckley did a “Firing Line, famous “Firing Line” show in 1967 about the Free Speech Movement…</p>
<p>Well, you know, I think — I think, Sean, a place we could end the tour would be Brown University, probably the most left-wing of all the Ivies. I love Providence. I grew up in Connecticut. I think Brown is, you know, an incredible place.</p>
<p>But really push the envelope. We’ll go from West Coast and end in the East Coast, OK? So we’ll do all the West Coast colleges, do Berkeley, we’ll do UCLA, USC, US — UCSD. We’ll do the Claremont, Pomona College. Then we’ll move across the country slowly. We’ll do U — Madison, Wisconsin, all the lefties. We’ll — we’ll — you know, we’ll do the — Boulder, Colorado. Then we’ll end up ultimately at Brown University.”</p>
<p>Do you hear it? The idea that “they’re gonna listen to me or else?” In any of the above rhetoric did you see a plan to keep the students who try to attend such meetings safe?</p>
<p>The enemy</p>
<p>On every university campus across the country at this point in time there are leaders, teachers and administrators who advocate disruption and encourage violence to get their way.</p>
<p>Berkeley’s Mayor Jesse Arreguin is a member of BAMN (By Any Means Necessary was on his group list on Facebook.&#160;It&#160;&#160;has since been deleted, but not before we got a screenshot).&#160;He is a screaming liberal activist.</p>
<p />
<p>Now you know why the police stood down as violent communists attacked students and Trump supporters at Berkeley. BAMN’s philosophy is summed up in a Fox News interview by Tucker Carlson with their leader Yvette Felarca:</p>
<p>“When someone is trying to speak at a campus or at a rally, they’re doing it not just because they have an opinion. But someone like [Milo] Yiannopoulos or any other alt-right’er or fascist or neo-fascist is doing it to recruit other people. No, we don’t let them recruit. And in fact, when you look back at the Holocaust and the lessons that we draw from that we don’t say, ‘Oh, well, at least we let them voice their opinion.’ We say, ‘Never again.’ Well, again is now, especially under, after Trump.” Yvette Felarca, BAMN on 2-13-2017</p>
<p>NOW do you see the problem of these&#160;big Conservative ideas? Do we have to arm the students and perpetuate the war? Or should we just jump in with both feet and start the war, placing our own students, police, and security in danger?</p>
<p>A post by Seattle’s Antifa not only said they were having a class in Krav Maga (the Israeli marital art), but that they were going to use what they called a Northeast Antifa “loaded arm” tactic. That’s where you tape a wrench to your forearm so that you can “protect yourself against police” and punch “Nazis and white supremacists.”</p>
<p />
<p>So let’s think about the ideas to send a trove of Conservatives to a “free speech event.” Maybe Milo can bring an army. Maybe the others can hire their own security and bring an army with them. But what about the worst-case-scenario?</p>
<p>H/T <a href="https://news.unclesamsmisguidedchildren.com/should-conservative-speakers-go-on-a-free-speech-tour-university-campuses/" type="external">Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children</a></p>
<p>Related:</p>
<p>If you haven’t checked out and liked our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ConservativeFiringLine?fref=ts" type="external">Facebook</a> page, please go <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ConservativeFiringLine?fref=ts" type="external">here</a> and do so.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The Views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of Conservative Firing Line</p> | Should Conservative Speakers Go on a “Free Speech Tour” of University Campuses? | true | http://conservativefiringline.com/conservative-speakers-go-free-speech-tour-university-campuses/ | 2017-04-28 | 0 |
<p>Jan 22 (Reuters) - Adventure Inc :</p>
<p>* Says it plans to buy a Yokohama-based firm which is mainly engaged in operation of shop and site for sale of discount ticket, at price of 671 million yen</p>
<p>* It also plans to buy a Yokohama-based firm which is mainly engaged in shop and site operation business for sale of Gift certificates and vouchers, at price of 15 million yen</p>
<p>* Transaction date is in February</p>
<p>Source text in Japanese: <a href="https://goo.gl/6b1VCt" type="external">goo.gl/6b1VCt</a></p>
<p>Further company coverage: (Beijing Headline News)</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Costa Rica’s President-elect Carlos Alvarado Quesada ran up a bigger-than-expected margin of victory in Sunday’s runoff election, leading a progressive coalition to beat back a stiff run from a Christian conservative singer.</p> Carlos Alvarado Quesada, presidential candidate of the ruling Citizens' Action Party (PAC), gestures to supporters after casting his ballot during the presidential election in San Jose, Costa Rica April 1, 2018. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
<p>The 38-year-old former minister in the outgoing government is now set to join French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as democratically elected heads of state before turning 40.</p>
<p>Like them, Alvarado Munoz ran unabashedly on a center-left platform.</p>
<p>He has faced much stronger headwinds by backing gay marriage in the conservative Central American country. In the closing days of the campaign, a poll showed seven in 10 Costa Ricans were opposed to such unions.</p>
<p>His decisive 20-point margin of victory offers hope to fellow progressives elsewhere in Latin America working to defeat an evangelical-led backlash that has grown alongside expanding acceptance of gay and lesbian rights.</p>
<p>It also gives hope to his supporters that he can unite the country that decades ago gave up a standing army and is known worldwide for its ecological stewardship.</p>
<p>Alvarado Quesada, who earned his masters in Britain and worked for three years for Procter &amp; Gamble in Panama, told Reuters in a recent interview he saw a larger trend in the divide exposed after a January court ruling called on Costa Rica to legalize same-sex marriage.</p>
<p>“I think it’s a reflection of what’s happening in the region and the world,” he said. “People are experimenting across the world with movements that push single-issue or populist agendas.”</p>
<p>Alvarado Quesada said he decided to step up after seeing what happened in the United Kingdom with the Brexit vote, what happened in Colombia after the referendum on peace, and seeing Western democracies face populist or fundamentalist movements.</p>
<p>Before deciding to run for president, Alvarado Quesada served as social development minister and then labor minister under Luis Guillermo Solis, whose center-left party he worked in his 20s.</p>
<p>As a younger man, he also sang in a college rock band called Dramatika.</p>
<p>Following college, his first job was at a sports gambling call center, where he took bets on mostly U.S. teams in order to make enough money to buy his first guitar.</p>
<p>Costa Rica’s future president later turned to fiction writing, publishing four books over the course of a decade, including his novel “The life of Cornelius Brown.”</p>
<p>The married father of one will now face the difficult task of forging consensus in a country where large swaths of people have been polarized by faith-based appeals, a development many voters described as unprecedented.</p>
<p>But his supporters point to his reserved nature as a strength, arguing his instinct toward negotiation will serve the country well after a hard-fought campaign.</p>
<p>Alvarado Quesada will take office on May 8.</p>
<p>Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Enrique Andres Pretel; Editing by Paul Tait</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SAN JOSE (Reuters) - The center-left’s Carlos Alvarado Quesada decisively defeated a conservative Protestant singer in Costa Rica’s presidential runoff election on Sunday by promising to allow gay marriage, protecting the country’s reputation for tolerance.</p> Carlos Alvarado Quesada, presidential candidate of the ruling Citizens' Action Party (PAC), celebrates his victory during the presidential election in San Jose, Costa Rica April 1, 2018. REUTERS /Jose Cabezas
<p>A former minister and fiction writer, Quesada, 38, had 61 percent of the vote with results in from 95 percent of polling stations, a far bigger lead than predicted by opinion polls that foresaw a tight race.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-costarica-election-winner/costa-ricas-young-president-elect-wins-pitching-progressive-values-idUSKCN1H90ED" type="external">Costa Rica's young president-elect wins pitching progressive values</a>
<p>“My commitment is to a government for everybody, in equality and liberty for a more prosperous future,” he told thousands of cheering supporters blowing horns and waving Costa Rica’s red, white and blue flag.</p>
<p>“There is much more that unites us than divides us.”</p> Fabricio Alvarado Munoz, presidential candidate of the National Restoration party (PRN), gestures during a rally after the official election results were released in San Jose, Costa Rica April 1, 2018. REUTERS/Randall Campos NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE.
<p>His rival, Alvarado Munoz, a 43-year-old former TV journalist known for religious dance songs, quickly conceded, sinking to his knees, arms raised, in front of supporters, some of them crying.</p>
<p>“We didn’t win the election,” he said, adding that he had congratulated his opponent in a telephone call and, in another sign of Costa Rica’s cordial politics, promised to help him resolve the country’s problems.</p>
<p>The election had exposed divisions in the Central American tourist destination known for laid-back beach culture and pristine rainforests, but where some rural communities remain socially conservative.</p>
<p>It could also reflect the mood elsewhere in Latin America, where elections are being held this year in several countries that have backed same sex unions, provoking a conservative reaction.</p> Slideshow (8 Images)
<p>Alvarado Quesada, until recently a minister in the outgoing government, will be the youngest president in the modern history of Costa Rica when he takes office in May.</p>
<p>Also known for his student prog-rock band, he used the campaign to appeal to his country’s centrist streak. His vice presidential candidate, Epsy Campbell, will be the country’s first Afro-Costa Rican to serve in that role.</p>
<p>Opponent Alvarado Munoz had vowed to restore what he called traditional values by preventing gay marriage and restricting women’s access to abortions.</p>
<p>The two men took opposing positions on a January decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, an influential regional body based in San Jose.</p>
<p>Fabricio, as supporters refer to Alvarado Munoz, called the ruling an affront to sovereignty. Threatening to remove the country from the court’s jurisdiction, he shot from the margins to win the first round of voting in February.</p>
<p>Quesada, by contrast, backed the court’s ruling. In the campaign’s final debate, he called his opponent’s comments homophobic.</p>
<p>Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Enrique Andres Pretel; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Clarence Fernandez</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BEIJING (Reuters) - China has increased tariffs by up to 25 percent on 128 U.S. products including frozen pork, wine and certain fruits and nuts, escalating a spat between the world’s biggest economies in response to U.S. duties on imports of aluminum and steel.</p> FILE PHOTO: Several-week-old pigs stand in a pen inside a barn at Paustian Enterprises in Walcott, Iowa, November 19, 2014. REUTERS/Daniel Acker/File Photo
<p>The tariffs, to take effect on Monday, were announced late on Sunday by China’s finance ministry and matched a list of potential tariffs on up to $3 billion in U.S. goods published by China on March 23</p>
<p>Soon after the announcement, an editorial in the widely read Chinese tabloid Global Times warned that if the U.S. had thought China would not retaliate or would only take symbolic counter-measures, it can now “say goodbye to that delusion.”</p>
<p>“Even though China and the U.S. have not publicly said they are in a trade war, the sparks of such a war have already started to fly,” the editorial said.</p> FILE PHOTO: A butcher cuts a piece of pork at a market in Beijing, China, March 25, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo
<p>China’s Ministry of Commerce said it was suspending its obligations to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to reduce tariffs on 120 U.S. goods, including fruit and ethanol. The tariffs on those products will be raised by an extra 15 percent.</p>
<p>Eight other products, including pork and scrap aluminum, will now be subject to additional tariffs of 25 percent, it said, with the measures effective from April 2.</p>
<p>“China’s suspension of its tariff concessions is a legitimate action adopted under WTO rules to safeguard China’s interests,” the Chinese finance ministry said.</p>
<p>The retaliatory tariffs came amid escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington, which have rocked global financial markets in the past week as investors feared a full-blown trade spat between two countries will be damaging for world growth.</p>
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump is separately preparing to impose tariffs of more than $50 billion on Chinese goods intended to punish Beijing over U.S. accusations that China systematically misappropriated American intellectual property - allegations Beijing denies.</p>
<p>China has repeatedly promised to open its economy further, but many foreign companies continue to complain of unfair treatment. China warned the United States on Thursday not to open a Pandora’s Box and spark a flurry of protectionist practices across the globe.</p> FILE PHOTO: A labourer works on coils of steel wire at a steel wholesale market in Beijing, China, January 17, 2012. REUTERS/Soo Hoo Zheyang/File Photo
<p>“There are some people in the West who think that China looks tough for the sake of a domestic audience, and would easily make concessions in the end,” the Global Times editorial said.</p>
<p>“But they are wrong.”</p>
<p>The Global Times is run by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, although its stance does not necessarily reflect Chinese government policy.</p>
<p>In a statement published on Monday morning, the Chinese commerce ministry said the United States had “seriously violated” the principles of non-discrimination enshrined in World Trade Organization rules, and had also damaged China’s interests.</p>
<p>“China’s suspension of some of its obligations to the United States is its legitimate right as a member of the World Trade Organization,” it said, adding that differences between the world’s two largest economies should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation.</p>
<p>Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Tony Munroe; Additional reporting by David Stanway in SHANGHAI and Stella Qiu in BEIJING; Additional Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Eric Meijer &amp; Shri Navaratnam</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian stocks began the new quarter on Monday with modest gains following a strong performance by global equities last week, while the dollar held steady ahead of key economic indicators.</p> FILE PHOTO: A man looks at an electronic stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan February 9, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo
<p>MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.15 percent.</p>
<p>South Korea’s KOSPI was flat and Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.5 percent. Shanghai was up 0.3 percent.</p>
<p>Wall Street surged last Thursday as technology stocks rebounded, ending a tumultuous first quarter on a high note.</p>
<p>Many major financial centers were closed for the Good Friday Easter holiday. Markets in Australia, Hong Kong, Britain and Germany remained shut on Monday while the U.S. market will resume trading.</p>
<p>MSCI’s world equity index ended up 1.2 percent last week. But it lost about 1.5 percent in the first quarter, pushed away from record highs as tensions over global trade escalated, turmoil in the White House deepened and market-leading technology firms wobbled on fears of regulation and other issues.</p>
<p>“We expect strong and broad-based growth to continue globally,” wrote strategists at Barclays.</p>
<p>But they warned that there were looming risks: “Trade protectionism, U.S. economic policy uncertainty, concerns about higher cross-market volatility and risk premium in core rates markets call for a more tactical approach to risk assets.”</p>
<p>While last month’s fears of an all-out global trade war have abated somewhat, tensions between the United States and China over tit-for-tat tariffs kept investors on edge.</p>
<p>China on Monday imposed tariffs on U.S. products including frozen pork, wine and certain fruits and nuts in response to U.S. duties on imports of aluminum and steel.</p>
<p>In currencies, the dollar was steady at 106.350 yen, while the euro was almost unchanged at $1.2317.</p>
<p>The greenback had gained about 0.6 percent against a basket of six major currencies last week helped by a combination of factors including perceived progress on North Korea issues.</p>
<p>The dollar index still lost more than 2 percent last quarter, marking its fifth straight quarter of declines.</p>
<p>“A list of important indicators will be released this week, which could help steady market sentiment even though U.S.-China trade concerns and other geopolitical risks continue to linger in the background,” said Koji Fukaya, president at FPG Securities in Tokyo.</p>
<p>U.S. data due this week include Monday’s Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing index, Wednesday’s ISM non-manufacturing index and the non-farm payrolls report on Friday.</p>
<p>Crude oil prices extended gains, lifted by a drop in U.S. drilling activity as well as by expectations that the United States could re-introduce sanctions against Iran. [O/R]</p>
<p>U.S. drillers cut seven oil rigs in the week to March 29, bringing the total count down to 797. It was the first time in three weeks that the rig-count fell.</p>
<p>U.S. crude futures rose 0.3 percent to $65.14 a barrel and Brent advanced 0.5 percent to $69.67 a barrel.</p>
<p>“Investors took their cue from falling U.S drilling counts,” Wang Xiao, head of crude oil research with Guotai Junan Futures said.</p>
<p>“But increasing trade friction between China and U.S. is likely to rock global markets and tarnish bullish sentiment in crude oil markets.”</p>
<p>Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Shri Navaratnam &amp; Sam Holmes</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | BRIEF-Adventure to buy two firms for totaling 686 mln yen Costa Rica's young president-elect wins pitching progressive values Costa Rica center-left easily wins presidency in vote fought on gay rights China hammers U.S. goods with tariffs as 'sparks' of trade war fly Asia stocks start new quarter on front foot, dollar steady | false | https://reuters.com/article/brief-adventure-to-buy-two-firms-for-tot/brief-adventure-to-buy-two-firms-for-totaling-686-mln-yen-idUSL4N1PH2EI | 2018-01-22 | 2 |
<p>If you thought that one little joint Malia Obama smoked while she was shaking her ass at Lollapalooza last year was bad, you ain’t seen nothing yet.</p>
<p>Apparently, Malia’s weed habit has gotten worse because she was just caught in a massive marijuana bust in her home city of Chicago, Illinois.</p>
<p>Malia was caught buying weed edibles from two of her thug friends as well as enough pot to make thug rapper Snoop Dogg look like an amateur, according to sources within Chicago’s elite Drug Task Force.</p>
<p>“Officers first observed Obama pulling up to a street corner and blinking her lights six times,” a spokesman for the department says. “She then spoke with an African-American male, who got into her car. Then they drove to a building a few blocks over.”</p>
<p>“She walked upstairs with the man then came back down 30 minutes later,” the spokesman says. “It was then that officers made their move.”</p>
<p>Obama was then swarmed by police, who easily found her precious drugs in her oversized Gucci handbag. The bust included six cans of “Baked” Soda, thirteen THC-infused lollipops, and a gram shy of 6 pounds of pot.</p>
<p>The classy former First Daughter reportedly broke down crying, angrily demanding that she be allowed to “call her dad.” Unfortunately for her, she had to wait until she was booked because her phone was entered into evidence.</p>
<p>If you think she might get special treatment because of who her father is, you forgot how much cops in Chicago hate him. She faces up to six years in prison from the drugs alone. Officers are weighing “intent to distribute” charges as well because of the “weight” she purchased.</p>
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<p>Website owners select the type of content that appears in our units. However, if you would like to ensure that Content.ad always displays family-friendly content on this device, regardless of what site you are on, check the option below. <a href="https://d32oduq093hvot.cloudfront.net/site/family_friendly_v1.html?utm_medium=modal&amp;utm_source=widget_272430" type="external">Learn More</a></p> | BREAKING: MALIA OBAMA BUSTED BUYING 6 POUNDS OF MARIJUANA IN CHICAGO | true | http://usainfonews.com/index.php/2017/08/19/breaking-malia-obama-busted-buying-6-pounds-marijuana-chicago/ | 2017-08-19 | 0 |
<p>Here’s something to ‘like.’</p>
<p>Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of social media giant Facebook and his wife, Priscilla Chan, were the most generous American donors in the country in 2013, with a gift of $992.2 million worth of Facebook stock to a Silicon Valley education foundation, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Philanthropy 50 list. The pair is the youngest ever to top the list.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>This year, the Chronicle of Philanthropy ( <a href="http://philanthropy.com/section/Philanthropy-50/370/" type="external">http://philanthropy.com/section/Philanthropy-50/370/</a>) reports that gifts by living donors totals about as much as they had in the past two years combined.</p>
<p>The top 50 contributors on the list made a total of $7.7 billion in 2013, along with pledge of $2.9 billion, the biweekly newspaper reports.</p>
<p>Here’s a look at the top five, and how they donated their cash last year.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Facebook’s IPO may have seemed like a fumble earlier this year, but Zuckerberg and his wife were highly-generous with the networking giant’s stock.</p>
<p>The couple gave 18 million shares of stock, valued at $992.2 million, to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in 2013. They donated the same amount of Facebook shares in 2012 to the fund, the Chronicle reports.</p>
<p>Mitchell donated approximately $750 million to the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation last year. This foundation was established by George and his wife in 1978 and supports a variety of nonprofits throughout Texas, the Chronicle reports.</p>
<p>Mitchell, who was the founder of Mitchell Energy and Development, an oil and natural gas explore, passed away in July at 94 and left the donation to his charity.</p>
<p>The Nike co-founder chairman and his wife donated $500 million to the Oregon Health &amp; Science University Foundation on the condition that university officials will raise an additional $500 million from other donors over the next two years.</p>
<p>The donations will endow a research project to detect deadly cancers as well fund recruitment of top faculty and research staff, scholarships to grad students, new equipment and more clinical trials, according to the Chronicle.</p>
<p>The former New York City Mayor and billionaire gave a total of $452 million to arts, education, environment and public health-nonprofits, as well as programs aimed to help city governments around the world to locate and test new ideas to make local government more efficient.</p>
<p>The Chronicle reports that Bloomberg has said he plans to spend more time focusing on his philanthropy efforts now that he is out of office after more than a decade serving as mayor of the Big Apple.</p>
<p>This power couple gave $235.8 million to the Laura and John Arnold Foundation last year. John founded the hedge fund Centaurus Energy and Laura is a former corporate lawyer.</p>
<p>The foundation was created in 2008 and supports programs to improve the reliability of scientific research, K-12 public education, the criminal justice system and public-policy practices, according to the Chronicle’s report.</p> | Meet the 5 Most Generous Americans in 2013 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/02/10/meet-5-most-generous-americans-in-2013.html | 2016-06-14 | 0 |
<p>This is a big week for climate change action, but not big enough.</p>
<p>The good news: On Sunday, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/21/peoples-climate-march_n_5857902.html" type="external">hundreds of thousands</a> of people showed up for the People's Climate March in New York City. It&#160;was the biggest climate protest in history, and while it was going on, several other world cities, including London, Paris, and Rio de Janeiro, held their own marches. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was at the New York march, as well as Vice President Al Gore, several US senators, and plenty of celebrities. On Tuesday, Ban will host 120 world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, at the <a href="http://www.un.org/climatechange/summit/about/" type="external">United Nations Climate Summit</a>. The summit is a warm-up for the UN climate negotiations that will take place at the end of this year in Lima, Peru and that will culminate in a global climate agreement next year in Paris.</p>
<p>The bad news: While some world leaders will spend time at the UN summit discussing how to prevent the human species from hastening its own demise, the countries most responsible for climate change aren't bothering to show up. Of the five worst carbon emitting nations, China (1), India (3), Russia (4), and Japan (5) are all <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/peoples-climate-demarche-1411339021?mod=trending_now_4" type="external">skipping</a>. (Most nations are sending heads-of-state and/or foreign ministers, but China and India are sending low-level representatives.)</p>
<p>As the UN sets to discuss a climate crisis without the parties creating the crisis, some <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/science/earth/scientists-report-global-rise-in-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html?_r=0" type="external">new climate numbers</a> came out that show just how bad the crisis is. The information was published by the <a href="http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/" type="external">Global Carbon Project</a>.</p>
<p>It's not good.</p>
<p>In 2013, burning fossil fuels led to the emission of <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/china-us-india-push-world-carbon-emissions-25658083" type="external">38.9 billion tons</a> of carbon dioxide. It was a new annual record. (Congrats, humans!) We burned 2.3 percent more than we did in 2012 and we're on pace to hit 40 billion tons in 2014. &#160;</p>
<p>Terrifying detail: That's <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29239194" type="external">65 percent more</a>&#160;carbon than we emitted in 1990.</p>
<p>The top three polluters <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/science/earth/scientists-report-global-rise-in-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html?_r=0" type="external">are all getting worse</a>. China's emissions grew 4.2 percent. India: 5.1 percent. US: 2.9 percent.&#160;</p>
<p>Top polluters also account for the vast majority of overall carbon emissions. China (29 percent), US (15 percent), India (7.1 percent), Russia (5.3 percent), and Japan (3.7 percent) were collectively responsible for 60 percent of the world's carbon emissions in 2013.&#160;</p>
<p>At Tuesday's UN summit, 45.1 percent of those emissions will be unaccounted for.&#160;</p>
<p>If that's not dark enough for you, check out the new study in the Journal of Climate about " <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/climate-change-trigger-longer-fiercer-megadroughts-study-160402040.html" type="external">megadroughts</a>."</p>
<p>Yes, that's right. Megadroughts.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/peru/140918/climate-change-united-nations-cop-conference" type="external">With its green cred under fire, Peru prepares to host UN climate talks</a></p> | Awesome... the world's worst carbon polluting nations are skipping this week's UN Climate Summit | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-09-22/awesome-worlds-worst-carbon-polluting-nations-are-skipping-weeks-un-climate | 2014-09-22 | 3 |
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers say Trump and the Miss Universe pageant have sued Univision for $500 million in a New York court, claiming Trump’s First Amendment rights were violated when the company declined to air the Miss USA contest.</p>
<p>The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Tuesday, names Univision Networks &amp; Studios Inc. and Alberto Ciurana, Univision’s programming and content president. Univision says in a statement the lawsuit is “factually false and legally ridiculous.”</p>
<p>The lawsuit claims breach of contract, defamation and speech violations. It says Univision cut ties with Miss Universe because Univision’s owner supports Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.</p>
<p>Univision says it will continue to fight Trump over derogatory comments he made June 16 about Mexican immigrants when he announced his run for the presidency.</p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers say Trump and the Miss Universe pageant have sued Univision for $500 million in a New York court, claiming Trump’s First Amendment rights were violated when the company declined to air the Miss USA contest.</p>
<p>The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Tuesday, names Univision Networks &amp; Studios Inc. and Alberto Ciurana, Univision’s programming and content president. Univision says in a statement the lawsuit is “factually false and legally ridiculous.”</p>
<p>The lawsuit claims breach of contract, defamation and speech violations. It says Univision cut ties with Miss Universe because Univision’s owner supports Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.</p>
<p>Univision says it will continue to fight Trump over derogatory comments he made June 16 about Mexican immigrants when he announced his run for the presidency.</p> | Trump says he’s struck back at Univision with $500M lawsuit | false | https://apnews.com/1136982a93b3488eb293ff4006d723ee | 2015-06-30 | 2 |
<p>The drama regarding the apparent discrimination against Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R) by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) continues, this as the group slowly mulls over the prospect of including a member of congress whose political affiliation is not that of the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>Again, the move to deny Curbelo membership to the Hispanic Caucus is political in nation as Chair Michelle Lujan Grisham stated herself last week.</p>
<p>“It’s not true that it’s not happening and it’s also not accurate to say that it’s a done deal…The caucus really has to have a discussion because we talk about legislative strategy that can sometimes be partisan.”- Rep. Lujan Grisham (D-NM) ( <a href="" type="internal">Source</a>)</p>
<p>In visiting the CHC’s <a href="https://congressionalhispaniccaucus-lujangrisham.house.gov/members" type="external">official website</a>, not one member is Republican.</p>
<p>During a sit-down conversation with Rep. Curbelo in his Washington, D.C. office, the junior congressman from south Florida is still in disbelief that Grisham and the caucus have taken this long to affirm his application to join the group, saying that “anyone who is a Hispanic I think should be welcomed there.”</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Curbelo didn’t mince his words on whether he was being discriminated against by the entirely Democratic caucus, adding that the CHC’s actions “send a horrible message” of racial division across the country.</p>
<p>“For them (Congressional Hispanic Caucus) to then turn around and discriminate against one of their own, it just send a horrible message. I think it takes away a lot of their credibility. As far as I am concerned, I am being denied entry.”-Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R)</p>
<p>The Hispanic Caucus’ communication director Carlos Paz has not yet responded to our request for comment on the matter.</p> | Curbelo says Congressional Hispanic Caucus discriminating against him (Video) | true | http://shark-tank.com/2017/10/11/curbelo-says-congressional-hispanic-caucus-discriminating-video/ | 0 |
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<p>By Bob Allen</p>
<p>A U.S. scholar representing the Baptist World Alliance at a recent Vatican gathering of Catholic bishops described his presence as “a moment of historic significance.”</p>
<p>“Baptists and Catholics differ on important ecclesial and theological issues but we are committed to seek greater mutual understanding through a process of loving dialogue and respectful listening,” Beeson Divinity School Dean Timothy George said Oct. 16 in remarks delivered at the 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops hosted by Pope Benedict XVI.</p>
<p>George, chair of the BWA Commission on Doctrine and Christian Unity, said he was moved during a visit to the Basilica of St. Bartholomew to see an icon of 20th and 21st century Christian martyrs from around the world that included two Baptists. One was a believer imprisoned and then killed by the Communists in Romania and the other was Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist pastor and civil rights leader in the United States assassinated in 1968.</p>
<p>“Jesus prayed to the heavenly Father that his disciples would be one so that the world might believe,” George said. “As of old, the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church, so now the blood of today’s martyrs is the seed of the church’s unity.”</p>
<p>George, invited as a fraternal representative to the Oct. 7-18 synod, themed “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith,” said Christian unity is not an end in itself but “is always in the service of evangelization.”</p>
<p>“Where our witness is fractured, our message is unpersuasive, if not inaudible,” he said.</p>
<p>George said Baptists confess with all Christians “a robust faith in the one triune God who in his great mercy and love has made us partakers of his divine life through Jesus Christ, the Great Evangelizer, who saves us by his grace alone.”</p>
<p>He also cited Baptists’ historic commitment to religious freedom not only for themselves but for everyone.</p>
<p>“Today in many places, religious freedom is under assault in many ways — some blatant and others more subtle,” George said. “All Christians who take seriously Jesus’ call to evangelize must also stand and work together for the protection and flourishing of universal religious freedom, both for individuals and for institutions of faith.”</p>
<p>The synod, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Vatican II, explored new ways of proclaiming the gospel amid growing secularization, particularly in countries with a Christian tradition. Rather than seeking to “re-evangelize” Europe by appealing to its former Christian heritage, the pope is seeking new methods and expressions of the gospel that recognize realities of the present day.</p>
<p>George said Baptists resonate with Pope Benedict’s Oct. 11 homily, kicking off the Catholic Church’s Year of Faith, that used the image of a desert to describe the world Christians are called to evangelize today.</p>
<p>“Indeed, we are faced on many sides with a barren wilderness of disorientation and detachment from faith,” George said. That includes both “secularism and relativism, resulting in a culture of violence” and “the anguish of loneliness and isolation, giving way to the despair felt by so many in our time.”</p>
<p>“May the Year of Faith and the Synod for the New Evangelization be a harbinger of gospel renewal and refreshing for the church and for the world in our time,” George said.</p>
<p>Previous story:</p>
<p><a href="ministry/people/item/7857-baptist-present-at-catholic-synod" type="external">Baptist present at Catholic synod</a></p> | Baptist addresses Vatican crowd | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/baptist-addresses-vatican-crowd/ | 3 |
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<p>Donald Trump's pick of Mike Pence as his running mate on Friday offered the presumptive nominee's conservative skeptics some much-needed assurance, with high-profile Republicans lauding the Indiana governor as an authentic and steady leader in the party.</p>
<p>Trump, who has struggled to get some of the highest-ranking Republicans to enthusiastically embrace his candidacy, selected the former congressman as a consensus choice amid deep divides between the party's populist and traditionalist wings.</p>
<p>House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has endorsed Trump but has not shied away from criticizing the presumptive nominee at times, called Pence the ideal man for the job.</p>
<p>"I can think of no better choice for our vice-presidential candidate. We need someone who is steady and secure in his principles, someone who can cut through the noise and make a compelling case for conservatism. Mike Pence is that man," Ryan said.</p>
<p>Former House Speaker John Boehner, who has said he disagrees with Trump on trade issues and his controversial proposals to address immigration and terrorism, called Pence "an exceptional leader, and an even better man."</p>
<p>South Carolina GOP Gov. Nikki Haley, a rising star in the party who has clashed with Trump, called Pence "a strong conservative reformer."</p>
<p>"Washington is broken, but we don't have to look any further than leaders like Mike Pence for the solutions to fix it," she said.</p>
<p>Onetime Trump foe Marco Rubio called Pence "rock solid."</p>
<p>And Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, another top Trump critic, called him "a valued friend and a good man."</p>
<p>The Club for Growth, a powerful anti-tax group that ran ads against Trump during the GOP primary, issued a lengthy statement calling Pence an "outstanding" candidate.</p>
<p>"Today’s news gives a similar hope that Mike Pence will be effective in pulling the Republican ticket toward economic conservatism and limited government," the organization said.</p>
<p>Praise also came from Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of anti-abortion rights group Susan B. Anthony List, who harshly criticized Trump earlier this year after he appeared to back "punishment" for women who seek abortions. (Trump later recanted the statement.)</p>
<p>"“Mr. Trump’s selection of Gov. Mike Pence as his Vice President is an affirmation of the pro-life commitments he has made and will rally the pro-life grassroots," said Dannenfelser, who last week ruled out another possible Trump VP pick, retired Lt. Gen Michael Flynn, as "disqualified" for suggesting that he favors abortion rights.</p> | Pence Pick Gives Trump’s GOP Skeptics Something to Cheer About | false | http://nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/pence-pick-gives-trump-s-gop-skeptics-something-cheer-about-n610291 | 2016-07-15 | 3 |
<p>President Obama’s first 2012 campaign ad misleads on ethics, “clean-energy” jobs and U.S. dependence on oil imports.</p>
<p>The ad, released Jan. 19, is titled “Unprecedented.” The Obama campaign reports that the 30-second ad is running in Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.</p>
<p>[TET ]</p>
<p>Obama 2012 ad:&#160; “Unprecedented”</p>
<p>Announcer: Secretive oil billionaires attacking President Obama with ads fact checkers say are “not tethered to the facts” while independent watchdogs call this president’s record on ethics “unprecedented.” And America’s clean energy industry: 2.7 million jobs and expanding rapidly. For the first time in 13 years, our dependence on foreign oil is below 50 percent. President Obama “kept his promise to toughen ethics rules” and strengthen America’s energy economy.</p>
<p>Obama: I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message.</p>
<p>[/TET]</p>
<p>Kept, Then Broken</p>
<p>The ad brazenly quotes our fact-checking colleagues at PolitiFact saying that President Barack Obama “kept his promise to toughen ethics rules.” But based on events since that initial finding, PolitiFact has updated its ruling on Obama’s promise to toughen rules against a revolving door for lobbyists, and the site now rates it as a <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/240/tougher-rules-against-revolving-door-for-lobbyists/" type="external">Promise Broken</a>.</p>
<p>That initial PolitiFact assessment cited in the Obama 2012 ad came a day after Obama was sworn in as president, and after Obama had issued an <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/ethics-commitments-executive-branch-personnel" type="external">executive order</a> that required every executive agency appointee to sign an ethics pledge that bans gifts from lobbyists, restricted former lobbyists from participating in any matters on which they had previously lobbied, prohibited them from serving in agencies they had lobbied within the previous two years, and prohibited employees from lobbying the Obama administration after they leave.</p>
<p>Based on that order, PolitiFact marked two campaign promises as kept: one involving tougher rules against a <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/240/tougher-rules-against-revolving-door-for-lobbyists/" type="external">revolving door for lobbyists</a> and former officials, and another <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/427/ban-lobbyist-gifts-to-executive-employees/" type="external">banning lobbyist gifts</a> to executive employees.</p>
<p>The promise banning lobbyist gifts remains a Promise Kept. But two days after rating the promise to toughen rules against a revolving door for lobbyists and former officials as “kept,” PolitiFact noted that the order included a waiver clause. And, in fact, the administration had already sought two waivers for appointees, including one for William J. Lynn III, a former lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon, who was tapped to be deputy secretary of defense. The promise was downgraded to “Compromise.” It turned out that two other officials received waivers, and that other former lobbyists were simply recused from discussions related to their former lobbying interests. On March 17, 2009, two months after its initial finding, PolitiFact rated it a Promise Broken.</p>
<p>What Have You Done for Me Lately?</p>
<p>There’s also some question about whether the Obama 2012 ad’s claim that “independent watchdogs call this president’s record on ethics ‘unprecedented’ ” is outdated. The ad quoted Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, who were indeed among those who issued a <a href="http://www.democracy21.org/index.asp?Type=B_PR&amp;SEC=%7b9B2564D1-6473-4AB8-822D-95C21046972E%7d&amp;DE=%7bC96CE964-114C-457A-A1A7-AEF08AB7634E%7d" type="external">statement</a> praising Obama “for the unprecedented steps he has taken during the first hundred days of his Administration to strengthen ethics, lobbying and transparency rules for the Executive Branch.”</p>
<p>But one of those groups — Common Cause — issued a press release on October 28, 2011, offering a <a href="http://www.commoncause.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&amp;b=4773613&amp;ct=11315601" type="external">scathing review</a> of Obama’s follow-through on ethics initiatives.</p>
<p>Common Cause press release, Oct. 28, 2011: President Obama’s reliance on Washington’s lobbying community and the wealthy interests behind it as he raises money for his re-election has let down millions of Americans who accepted his word that he would clean up our politics, Common Cause said today.</p>
<p>“The President refuses to hire registered lobbyists or accept their campaign contributions, so as not to be tainted by the companies and groups they represent,” said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, a non-partisan government watchdog group. “But his campaign is raking in millions of dollars from consultants and law firms working directly with those lobbyists to aid the same companies and groups. It doesn’t square.”</p>
<p>Edgar said a report in Friday’s New York Times, detailing the Obama campaign’s acceptance of more than $5 million raised by 15 “bundlers” working for Washington-based lobbying firms fits an unfortunate pattern.</p>
<p>“The President promised he’d fix the broken public financing system for our Presidential campaigns, but he has not done so. He called for tougher campaign finance disclosure laws after Citizens United, but he has yet to sign an executive order that would compel disclosure of political spending by government contractors,” Edgar said.</p>
<p>“Now we learn that despite his well-publicized antipathy for lobbyists, or at least registered lobbyists, the President’s campaign is only too willing to join his Republican adversaries in taking money from special interests.</p>
<p>“What the President should be doing– indeed should have done long ago — is pushing for a comprehensive political reform program, one that makes all political spending transparent, stops corporate, trade group and other special interest efforts to buy our elections, and puts small gifts from individual donors at the center of our campaign finance system.”</p>
<p>Another group that signed the original “unprecedented” statement still stands by that assessment today, however. Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer stated to us: “Our statements in the original release praising the Administration were about the efforts made by the Administration to strengthen Executive Branch ethics rules. I know of no other Administration that has done as much on Executive Branch ethics as the Obama Administration which is why my assessment that these efforts were unprecedented has not changed.”</p>
<p>Hogging Credit?</p>
<p>The Obama 2012 ad also cites statistics on clean-energy jobs and a lessening dependence on foreign oil. But it’s dubious whether Obama deserves full credit for either.</p>
<p>The ad states: “America’s clean-energy industry: 2.7 million jobs and expanding rapidly.”</p>
<p>The ad accurately cites figures from <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2011/0713_clean_economy.aspx" type="external">a report</a> from the Brookings Institution, which estimated the “clean economy … employs some 2.7 million workers.” But the report cited a trend line that began long before Obama took office.</p>
<p>Brookings Institution, July 13, 2011: Overall, today’s clean economy establishments added half a million jobs between 2003 and 2010, expanding at an annual rate of 3.4 percent.</p>
<p>The Brookings report did find “a sizable and diverse array of industry segments that is—in key private-sector areas—expanding rapidly at a time of sluggish national growth.” And Obama’s stimulus package no doubt goosed clean-energy employment. The administration’s Council of Economic Advisers <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/11/18/cea-releases-new-quarterly-analysis-job-and-economic-impact-recovery-act" type="external">estimated</a> investments in the stimulus were responsible for 224,500 clean-energy jobs.</p>
<p>The ad also states, “For the first time in 13 years, our dependence on foreign oil is below 50 percent.” But again, it’s questionable how much credit Obama gets for that. The same <a href="http://www.eia.gov/oog/info/twip/twiparch/110525/twipprint.html" type="external">Energy Information Administration report</a> cited in the ad concluded that the downward trend began in 2005 and was based on a “variety of factors,” most of them outside Obama’s control.</p>
<p>EIA report, 2011: There is no single explanation for the decline in U.S. oil import dependence since 2005. Rather, the trend results from a variety of factors. Chief among those is a significant contraction in consumption. U.S. oil product deliveries declined by 1.7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) to 19.1 bbl/d in 2010, from 20.8 million bbl/d in 2005. This decline partly reflects the downturn in the underlying economy after the financial crisis of 2008. Not surprisingly, demand has bounced back somewhat from a low of 18.8 million bbl/d in 2009, when the U.S. economy bottomed out. But the downward trend in consumption started two years before the 2008 crisis and reflects factors such as changes in efficiency and consumer behavior as well as patterns of economic growth.</p>
<p>Again, this is the first TV salvo from the Obama 2012 campaign. Only nine-and-a-half months to go until the general election!</p>
<p>— by Robert Farley</p>
<p>Correction, Jan. 21: The lead of our original article said incorrectly that “same groups” that called Obama’s record “unprecedented” had later said he “let down millions of Americans who accepted his word.” Only Common Cause did that. We have rephrased our article to remove any implication that Democracy 21 has changed its stance.</p>
<p>Statement Issued by Common Cause, Democracy 21, League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG. “ <a href="http://www.democracy21.org/index.asp?Type=B_PR&amp;SEC=%7b9B2564D1-6473-4AB8-822D-95C21046972E%7d&amp;DE=%7bC96CE964-114C-457A-A1A7-AEF08AB7634E%7d" type="external">Reform Groups Strongly Praise President Obama’s Government Integrity Reform Measures during First Hundred Days.</a>” 28 April 2009.</p>
<p>Muro, Mark, Rothwell, Jonathan and Saha Devashree. “ <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2011/0713_clean_economy.aspx" type="external">Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment.</a>” Brookings Institution.&#160; 13 Jul 2011.</p>
<p>U.S. Energy Information Administration. “ <a href="http://www.eia.gov/oog/info/twip/twiparch/110525/twipprint.html" type="external">U.S. Oil Import Dependence: declining no matter how you measure it.</a>” 25 May 2011.</p>
<p>Common Cause. Press release: “ <a href="http://www.commoncause.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&amp;b=4773613&amp;ct=11315601" type="external">Sadly, President Obama’s fundraising from lobbyists is more of the same.</a>” 28 Oct 2011.</p>
<p>Drobnic Holan, Angie. Obameter Promise: Ban lobbyist gifts to executive employees. “ <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/427/ban-lobbyist-gifts-to-executive-employees/" type="external">Obama signs executive order on lobbyists and gifts.</a>” PolitiFact. 21 Jan 2009.</p>
<p>Drobnic Holan, Angie. Obameter Promise: Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials. “ <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/240/tougher-rules-against-revolving-door-for-lobbyists/" type="external">Former lobbyist in the White House? It’s okay if they say it’s okay</a>.” PolitiFact. 17 Mar 2009.</p>
<p>White House website. <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/ethics-commitments-executive-branch-personnel" type="external">Executive Order: Ethics Pledge</a>. 21 Jan 2009.</p>
<p>White House website. Press release: “ <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/11/18/cea-releases-new-quarterly-analysis-job-and-economic-impact-recovery-act" type="external">Council of Economic Advisers Releases New Quarterly Analysis on Job and Economic Impact of the Recovery Act.</a>” 18 Nov 2010.</p> | Misleading Claims in Obama’s First 2012 Spot | false | https://factcheck.org/2012/01/misleading-claims-in-obamas-first-2012-spot/ | 2012-01-20 | 2 |
<p>HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Two unions representing Montana public employees decided to merge, a decision that organizers said will create the largest union in the state.</p>
<p>Delegates for the Montana Public Employees Association and the Montana Educators Association-Montana Federal of Teachers voted Saturday in favor of the merger. The Helena Independent Record <a href="http://helenair.com/news/local/merger-gives-state-worker-union-members-more-political-power/article_9e336512-5709-5de0-b3a5-c38a4d417751.html" type="external">reports</a> that the combined organization will be called the Montana Federation of Public Employees.</p>
<p>Eric Feaver, president of the educators’ group, said the new organization will be Montana’s largest union, with an estimated membership of 24,000 or 25,000 employees. He said the total will give the union more authority to negotiate for its members.</p>
<p>“The impact won’t be immediately felt,” Feaver said, but added that “it will resonate with a wide range of state employees.”</p>
<p>The membership will include Montana Highway Patrol employees, police department employees, probation and parole officers, faculty members and teachers across the state.</p>
<p>The organizations now need to focus on administrative tasks, including deciding on dues and contacting members about the decision.</p>
<p>Quinton Nyman, executive director of the Montana Public Employees Association, said the merger will let the groups streamline their administrative activities.</p>
<p>“It’s a positive move for our members,” Nyman said. “We’ve operated side by side for decades . duplicating services for years.”</p>
<p>Unions work to protect members’ salaries and benefits and collectively bargain those and other terms. The estimated membership numbers also could increase the organizations’ political influence in discussing those topics.</p>
<p>“It’s going to be a good thing,” Feaver said.</p>
<p>HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Two unions representing Montana public employees decided to merge, a decision that organizers said will create the largest union in the state.</p>
<p>Delegates for the Montana Public Employees Association and the Montana Educators Association-Montana Federal of Teachers voted Saturday in favor of the merger. The Helena Independent Record <a href="http://helenair.com/news/local/merger-gives-state-worker-union-members-more-political-power/article_9e336512-5709-5de0-b3a5-c38a4d417751.html" type="external">reports</a> that the combined organization will be called the Montana Federation of Public Employees.</p>
<p>Eric Feaver, president of the educators’ group, said the new organization will be Montana’s largest union, with an estimated membership of 24,000 or 25,000 employees. He said the total will give the union more authority to negotiate for its members.</p>
<p>“The impact won’t be immediately felt,” Feaver said, but added that “it will resonate with a wide range of state employees.”</p>
<p>The membership will include Montana Highway Patrol employees, police department employees, probation and parole officers, faculty members and teachers across the state.</p>
<p>The organizations now need to focus on administrative tasks, including deciding on dues and contacting members about the decision.</p>
<p>Quinton Nyman, executive director of the Montana Public Employees Association, said the merger will let the groups streamline their administrative activities.</p>
<p>“It’s a positive move for our members,” Nyman said. “We’ve operated side by side for decades . duplicating services for years.”</p>
<p>Unions work to protect members’ salaries and benefits and collectively bargain those and other terms. The estimated membership numbers also could increase the organizations’ political influence in discussing those topics.</p>
<p>“It’s going to be a good thing,” Feaver said.</p> | Montana public unions merge to form state’s largest group | false | https://apnews.com/10e4bd12ce0345e68a6907fa0e3402b5 | 2018-01-21 | 2 |
<p>BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Senior figures from across Libya’s political divides protested on Thursday against remarks by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson about clearing dead bodies from the city of Sirte.</p>
<p>Johnson told members of his Conservative Party on Tuesday that British investors had a “brilliant vision” to turn Sirte, a former stronghold of Islamic State, into the next Dubai if bodies could be cleared away.</p>
<p>Lawmakers from Libya’s House of Representatives (HOR), who represent political and military factions based in the east of the country, called the comments unacceptable.</p>
<p>The HOR’s foreign affairs committee issued a statement demanding “a clarification from the British prime minister and an apology to the Libyan people”.</p>
<p>The head of Libya’s U.N.- and Western-backed government, which is based in Tripoli and has been spurned by the HOR, also asked for clarification during a meeting with the British ambassador in the capital.</p>
<p>“Some of what was said in (Johnson’s) statement is unacceptable,” said a statement from Fayez Seraj, head of the U.N.-backed government.</p>
<p>Johnson’s comments led to calls for his resignation from British political opponents. He accused them of playing politics, saying on Twitter that he had been referring to the clearing of booby-trapped bodies of Islamic State militants.</p>
<p>Local Libyan forces backed by U.S. air strikes fought for more than six months last year to oust militants from Sirte, which Islamic State had turned into its most important base outside the Middle East.</p>
<p>The coastal city of about 80,000 was badly damaged during the campaign and is struggling to rebuild.</p>
<p>The HOR has been based in eastern Libya since 2014 when a conflict in Tripoli led to the setting up of rival parliaments and governments in the capital and the east.</p>
<p>Its cooperation is considered crucial for the progress of a new U.N. plan to stabilize Libya and the ending of turmoil that began after the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Libyan sides call Boris Johnson's bodies remark 'unacceptable' | false | https://newsline.com/libyan-sides-call-boris-johnson039s-bodies-remark-039unacceptable039/ | 2017-10-05 | 1 |
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<p>• In the 17 elections since World War II, the winner has averaged 385.4 electoral votes, the loser 145.1. In six elections (1952, 1956, 1964, 1972, 1980, 1984), a major-party candidate won fewer than 100. In the seven elections after 1984, no Democrat has received fewer than 111 (Michael Dukakis in 1988) and no Republican fewer than 159 (Bob Dole in 1996). Measure Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump accordingly.</p>
<p>• Republican nominees’ popular-vote totals this century are: 2000 (Bush) 50,455,156; 2004 (Bush) 62,040,610; 2008 (McCain) 59,934,814; 2012 (Romney) 60,932,152. Measure Trump’s total accordingly, bearing in mind that there are 10 million more eligible voters in 2016 than in 2012 and nearly 20 million more than in 2008.</p>
<p>• In 2012, Romney’s totals in 10 swing states were: Texas 4,569,843 (57 percent); Florida 4,163,447 (49 percent); Pennsylvania 2,680,434 (47 percent); Ohio 2,661,407 (48 percent); Michigan 2,115,256 (45 percent); Virginia 1,822,522 (47 percent); Arizona 1,233,654 (54 percent); Colorado 1,185,243 (46 percent); Nevada 463,567 (46 percent); New Hampshire 329,918 (47 percent). Use these numbers to measure Trump’s success at enlarging the Republican electorate.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>• In 1976, when Jimmy Carter narrowly defeated President Gerald Ford, 20 states were won by five points or less; in 2012, just four were. In 1976, Ford won California and Illinois with 49.3 percent and 50.1 percent, respectively. Carter won Texas with 51.1 percent. Tuesday will show how much has changed in four decades.</p>
<p>• In nine consecutive elections (1980-2012), Florida has been more Republican than the nation. Is it still?</p>
<p>• In 1976, a majority of House seats were won by 10 points or less. In 2012, most were won by at least 20 points. Watch Tuesday night for further evidence of the extent to which representatives now pick their voters rather than voters picking representatives. And for how many incumbents are defeated by an electorate supposedly seething against “insiders.”</p>
<p>• The “blue wall” consists of 18 states and the District of Columbia (totaling 242 electoral votes) that have voted Democratic in at least six consecutive elections: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin. Will Trump, who vowed to expand the battlefield, carry any of these?</p>
<p>• The Republican’s “red wall” (in at least six consecutive elections) consists of 13 states with 102 electoral votes: Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wyoming. Will Clinton come close to carrying Texas? Will she lose any age cohort there other than voters over 65?</p>
<p>• Will Trump’s louche lifestyle cost him culturally conservative Utah, which last voted Democratic in 1964, and which since then has voted Republican by an average of 36.1 points?</p>
<p>• The only Democrat to carry Arizona since 1948 was Bill Clinton in 1996. If his wife duplicates that feat, will this be because the state’s Mormon community recoiled from Trump?</p>
<p>• In 1984, when Ronald Reagan carried 49 states, under-30 voters were the most Republican age group. This year, will it be, for the fourth consecutive election, the most Democratic?</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>• A large and growing portion of voters acknowledge no religious tradition. They were 12 percent of the 2012 turnout and Democrats carried this secular cohort by 44 points. How much support did such voters give Trump, who has vowed to “spiritize” America?</p>
<p>• Will Trump become the first Republican in 60 years to lose whites with college educations?</p>
<p>• Will Trump achieve even Mitt Romney’s 17 percent of the nonwhite vote?</p>
<p>• Will Trump hold Clinton in Georgia below the 46 percent that Barack Obama won in 2012?</p>
<p>• Finally, Winston Churchill enjoyed the story of the man who, upon receiving a telegram reporting his mother-in-law’s death and asking for instructions, replied: “Embalm, cremate, bury at sea. Take no chances.” What instructions will Tuesday evening’s returns give to Republicans about what to do with Trump’s approach to the electorate?</p>
<p /> | Here are some numbers to help parse the election | false | https://abqjournal.com/883044/here-are-some-numbers-to-help-parse-the-election.html | 2 |
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<p>Exxon today has proven the benefits of the endless appeal. After spending hundreds of millions of dollars fighting the $5 billion punitive damage award handed down by an Alaska jury in 1994 for its role in the massive oil spill in Prince William Sound, Exxon today landed a major victory at the Supreme Court. In a <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/07-219.pdf" type="external">5-3 ruling</a>, with Alito sitting out, the court overturned a lower court decision that had reduced the verdict to $2.5 billion, and sent the case back saying that the punitive damage award was excessive and should not exceed about $500 million, the same as the compensatory damages.</p>
<p>The decision strikes yet another blow against what is essentially the capital punishment of the civil justice system, in a long-running campaign by Exxon and other big companies to try to abolish these sorts of awards entirely. Punitive damages are the extra damages added to a jury verdict to punish especially egregious conduct by a civil defendant. As the former West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Richard Neely once wrote, punitive damage awards aren’t given out for innocent mistakes, but are generally reserved for “really stupid defendants, really mean defendants, and really stupid defendants who could have caused a great deal of harm by their actions but who actually caused minimal harm.” Punitive damages put the real teeth in the legal system, and serve as an ad-hoc form of regulation by standing as a potential deterrent to all sorts of egregious behavior. That, of course, is why business really hates them.</p>
<p>In the Valdez case, an Alaska jury concluded that Exxon was a really stupid defendant, and they hoped to send a message to the company to change its behavior with a punitive damage award that was the largest in American history at the time. Commercial fishermen had filed the suit after the captain of the Valdez ran the ship aground and spilled millions of gallons of oil into previously pristine fishing grounds. The fishermen alleged that Exxon had wrecked their livelihoods. Exxon countered in court that it had already paid out billions in clean-up costs and fines to the government for violating the Clean Water Act, and that the jury verdict essentially constituted double jeopardy.</p>
<p>The case has dragged on so long now that the interest Exxon has earned on the original $5 billion award is now close to paying the award twice over. It’s bounced back and forth between the trial court and the 9th Circuit appellate court so many times that in the last ruling in the case, in 2006, the 9th Circuit practically begged Exxon to give up, <a href="http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1180688736728" type="external">writing with exasperation</a>, “It’s time for this protracted litigation to end.” More than 6,000 of those original plaintiffs—a fifth of the total—have since died as Exxon has tried every conceivable angle to avoid paying the award, including <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Punitive-Damages-How-Juries-Decide/dp/0226780155/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1214407139&amp;sr=1-1" type="external">buying expensive social science research from Nobel Prize-winning economists</a> designed to prove that juries are incapable of fairly awarding punitive damages in lawsuits.</p>
<p>Clearly the campaign was successful, if for no other reason than that Exxon was able to drag on the appeal long enough for President Bush to stack the court with two new business-friendly justices who are fairly hostile to the notion that regular people sitting on juries ought to be able to hit big companies where it hurts—in the pocketbook–for reprehensible conduct. The court expressed the business community’s concern that punitive damages can be too unpredictable to be fair. In the majority opinion, written by Justice Souter, the court explained that, “A penalty should be reasonably predictable in its severity, so that even Holmes’s “bad man” can look ahead with some ability to know what the stakes are in choosing one course of action or another.”</p>
<p>Taken another way, most good trial lawyers translate this to mean that big business wants to know with more certainty just how much it will cost to kill someone (or fish, in this case), so the cost can be factored into the bottom line. In his dissent, Justice Stevens suggested that the court had gone too far in reducing punitive damages in the case and in maritime lawsuits in general and was legislating from the bench. He said the justices ought to respect the decisions of the lower courts, particularly the Alaska jury, whose decision was reviewed no fewer than four times by the District Court and upheld three times. After all, he writes, “In light of Exxon’s decision to permit a lapsed alcoholic to command a supertanker carrying tens of millions of gallons of crude oil through the treacherous waters of Prince William Sound, thereby endangering all of the individuals who depended upon the sound for their livelihoods, the jury could reasonably have given expression to its “moral condemnation” of Exxon’s conduct in the form of this award.”</p>
<p>Stevens’ view, though, didn’t prevail, and Supreme Court instead rewarded Exxon for its tenacity—in a signal to other companies that such scorched-earth litigation tactics will definitely pay off. Hopefully for the plaintiffs, at least, this should finally be the end of the story.</p>
<p /> | Supreme Court Overturns Exxon Valdez Verdict | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/06/supreme-court-overturns-exxon-valdez-verdict/ | 2008-06-25 | 4 |
<p>LIMA, Peru (AP) — Thousands of Peruvians are demonstrating against the medical pardon that freed former strongman Alberto Fujimori from a 25-year prison sentence.</p>
<p>Thursday night's protest in Lima marks the second time in less than a month that Peruvians have taken to the streets to protest the pardon granted by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.</p>
<p>Demonstrators carried signs with phrases like "Assassin Fujimori" and held photographs of the 25 Peruvians whose deaths the former president was convicted of playing a role in.</p>
<p>Fujimori was pardoned on humanitarian grounds on Christmas Eve. He was released from a clinic less than two weeks later and in messages on Twitter has urged Peruvians to cast aside their bitterness.</p>
<p>Some Peruvians credit Fujimori with defeating the nation's Maoist guerrillas, but others condemn him for permitting human rights abuses.</p>
<p>LIMA, Peru (AP) — Thousands of Peruvians are demonstrating against the medical pardon that freed former strongman Alberto Fujimori from a 25-year prison sentence.</p>
<p>Thursday night's protest in Lima marks the second time in less than a month that Peruvians have taken to the streets to protest the pardon granted by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.</p>
<p>Demonstrators carried signs with phrases like "Assassin Fujimori" and held photographs of the 25 Peruvians whose deaths the former president was convicted of playing a role in.</p>
<p>Fujimori was pardoned on humanitarian grounds on Christmas Eve. He was released from a clinic less than two weeks later and in messages on Twitter has urged Peruvians to cast aside their bitterness.</p>
<p>Some Peruvians credit Fujimori with defeating the nation's Maoist guerrillas, but others condemn him for permitting human rights abuses.</p> | Thousands protest former president's pardon in Peru | false | https://apnews.com/amp/741fba5b132049bba36fcbdd2cf3699f | 2018-01-12 | 2 |
<p>MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) - Authorities say a man robbed a bank in Ohio and used the money to buy his fiancee an engagement ring.</p>
<p>The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News <a href="http://www.journal-news.com/news/crime--law/case-suspect-who-allegedly-robbed-bank-after-buying-engagement-ring/ovnqOesnir2KfRsrHvvnvN/" type="external">reports</a> 36-year-old Dustin Pedersen has been charged with robbing a Fifth Third Bank branch in Trenton on Dec. 16.</p>
<p>Police say records show that Pedersen spent $4,500 on an engagement ring less than an hour after the robbery and presented it the next day.</p>
<p>A Trenton police detective said in court Wednesday the robbery netted $8,800.</p>
<p>Police say Pedersen became a suspect after a man wearing an identical hat robbed a Butler County bank six days later.</p>
<p>Pedersen has denied robbing any banks, but told police that surveillance photos of the robber look like him.</p>
<p>Pedersen's attorney wasn't immediately available for comment Thursday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: MIDDLETOWN: Hamilton-Middletown Journal News , <a href="http://www.journal-news.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.journal-news.com" type="external">http://www.journal-news.com</a></p>
<p>MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (AP) - Authorities say a man robbed a bank in Ohio and used the money to buy his fiancee an engagement ring.</p>
<p>The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News <a href="http://www.journal-news.com/news/crime--law/case-suspect-who-allegedly-robbed-bank-after-buying-engagement-ring/ovnqOesnir2KfRsrHvvnvN/" type="external">reports</a> 36-year-old Dustin Pedersen has been charged with robbing a Fifth Third Bank branch in Trenton on Dec. 16.</p>
<p>Police say records show that Pedersen spent $4,500 on an engagement ring less than an hour after the robbery and presented it the next day.</p>
<p>A Trenton police detective said in court Wednesday the robbery netted $8,800.</p>
<p>Police say Pedersen became a suspect after a man wearing an identical hat robbed a Butler County bank six days later.</p>
<p>Pedersen has denied robbing any banks, but told police that surveillance photos of the robber look like him.</p>
<p>Pedersen's attorney wasn't immediately available for comment Thursday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: MIDDLETOWN: Hamilton-Middletown Journal News , <a href="http://www.journal-news.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.journal-news.com" type="external">http://www.journal-news.com</a></p> | Police: Man used bank robbery cash to buy engagement ring | false | https://apnews.com/4ac0f811f39a41b492875c5450f8aed8 | 2018-01-04 | 2 |
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<p>While you’re resetting your clocks for the end of daylight savings time this weekend, you might as well check your smoke alarm batteries.</p>
<p>&#160;That’s the suggestion from fire departments around New Mexico.</p>
<p>&#160;Put new batteries in their smoke detectors when they adjust their clocks before bedtime Saturday. Daylight savings time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday. Homeowners should also test their smoke detectors to ensure they’re working.</p>
<p>&#160;That’s done by pressing and holding the detector’s “test” button. If it beeps or rings loudly, it’s working properly.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Wohoo! It’s Fall Back Weekend | false | https://abqjournal.com/10129/wohoo-its-fall-back-weekend.html | 2 |
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<p>On Friday, two former aides to Gov. Chris Christie were <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/05/nyregion/bridgegate-conviction.html?_r=0" type="external">convicted</a> of seven counts of conspiracy and wire fraud from the Bridgegate scandal, in which access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were closed to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark J. Sokolich, a Democrat who would not endorse Christie’s re-election.</p>
<p>Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni were accused of misusing the resources of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge. They were also accused of violating the rights of the citizens of Fort Lee, N.J., deriving from the shutdown for five days in September 2013.</p>
<p>There were intimations during the trial that Christie may have been deeply involved in the scandal. An ally of Christie’s testified that Christie was told of the lane closings as they were occurring; Kelly said she discussed the shutdown with him before its implementation.</p>
<p>On Friday, Christie any involvement, saying, “Let me be clear once again. I had no knowledge prior to or during these lane realignments, and had no role in authorizing them. No believable evidence was presented to contradict that fact.’’</p>
<p>The timeline of events looks like this:</p>
<p>Aug. 13, 2013: Kelly emailed David Wildstein, an ally of Mr. Christie’s, the director of interstate capital projects at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” Wildstein replied, "Got it."</p>
<p>Sept. 9, 2013: Two of three local access lanes on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge were suddenly closed on the first day of the school year, gridlocking Fort Lee for four consecutive mornings. On September 10, Sokolich texted Baroni, deputy executive director of the Port Authority, pleading for help: “The bigger problem is getting kids to school. Help please. It’s maddening.”</p>
<p>September 11, 2013: Christie, Wildstein, Baroni all attend a service in honor of Sept. 11 victims at the World Trade Center site. Wildstein later claims he discussed the lane closings with Christie.</p>
<p>September 12, 2013: Sokolich, fructrated with the lack of response, writes Baroni "there are punitive overtones" to the lane closings, and telephones an aide in the governor’s office, Evan Ridley, whose boss later forwards the mayor’s complaints by email to Kelly. Kelly forwards the email to Wildstein.</p>
<p>September 14, 2013: Steve Coleman, a Port Authority spokesman, writes to a local newspaper columnist, claiming, "The Port Authority has conducted a week of study at the... bridge of traffic-safety patterns.”</p>
<p>September 17, 2013: Christie's press secretary, Michael Drewniak, tells The Wall Street Journal the closings were related to a traffic study.</p>
<p>For the rest of the timeline until the verdict, see <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/02/04/nyregion/Timeline-George-Washington-Bridge-Scandal.html#/" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>Kelly and Baroni could serve 20 years in prison, but the United States attorney for New Jersey, Paul J. Fishman, has there was “no way” his office would recommend terms of that length; it is more likely they will serve between one to three years.</p> | Breaking: Two Christie Aides Convicted In 'Bridgegate' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/10517/breaking-two-christie-aides-convicted-bridgegate-hank-berrien | 2016-11-04 | 0 |
<p>JUBA, South Sudan - As the flag of South Sudan was raised for the first time tens of thousands of overjoyed people filled Freedom Square, a patch of rough ground next to the mausoleum of John Garang, the father of the country's long-awaited freedom.</p>
<p>The sun beat relentlessly but did not dampen the joy and emotion of the crowd who sang the new national anthem with gusto, tears in the eyes of some. With independence a reality at last people offered up prayers, hugged and danced.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110708/south-sudan-prepares-its-independence" type="external">world's newest country</a> - the 193rd in the world and 54th in Africa - is perhaps also its least developed largely as a result of half a century of war when the South fought for its independence. Even having attained independence, South Sudan still faces huge challenges and continuing insecurity, but Saturday in the new capital Juba was a day of celebration.</p>
<p>The day's mix of jubilation, sadness, worries and optimism was encapsulated by the uneasy interactions between South Sudan's new President Salva Kiir and Sudan President Omar al-Bashir.</p>
<p>The two leaders, formerly bitter enemies, stood side by side on the podium, Kiir in his trademark black Stetson cowboy hat. The hat symbolized the differences between the two leaders - Kiir, Christian and Western-looking, fought for years for South Sudan's independence while Bashir, Muslim and Arab, battled to prevent the formation of the country.&#160;Bashir is wanted for <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/100527/omar-bashir-international-criminal-court-crimes-against-humanity" type="external">genocide and war crimes in Darfur</a>, the western part of Sudan.</p>
<p>Before the crowd of thousands Kiir signed the Republic of South Sudan's constitution and then held the red leather-bound book aloft from the podium overlooking the crowd. Nearby was the shiny statue of Garang, Kiir's mentor, friend and comrade who died just months after the signing of the peace deal in 2005 that ended decades of North-South civil war.</p>
<p>"We have waited 50 years for this day - It is a dream that has come true," said Kiir to cheers from the audience.</p>
<p>His speech was not triumphalist, instead he acknowledged his government's failings and its challenges. Kiir called corruption a "cancer" in his government and deplored the "self-inflicted" nature of some of the South's sufferings through repeated bouts of violent infighting both during the civil war and since, often organized along tribal lines.</p>
<p>"You are South Sudanese first," he said, taking a leaf out from the book of Paul Kagame, Rwanda's president who has sought to bring the country's ethnic groups together as a united nationality.</p>
<p>Kiir also repeated an offer of amnesty to the various rebel generals who are currently fighting the government and army in oil-rich states in the border areas close to northern Sudan.</p>
<p>Kiir implicitly criticized Bashir, who sat behind him during the speech. Bashir's northern army seized the disputed <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/africa-emerges/george-clooney-condemns-sudan-seizure-abyei" type="external">Abyei border area</a> in May and recently <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/110629/kordofan-eyewitness" type="external">began bombing the Nuba people</a> of <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/africa-emerges/satellites-expose-sudan-armed-forces-embattled-capital-so" type="external">South Kordofan</a>. Bashir is also widely expected to crush dissent in the state of Blue Nile.</p>
<p>Yet with the northern president sitting behind him Kiir said: "To the people of Abyei, Darfur, Blue Nile, South Kordofan: We have not forgotten you. When you cry, we cry. When you bleed we also bleed. I pledge to you today that we will find a just peace for all."</p>
<p>Visiting dignitaries encouraged the new nation.</p>
<p>"Independence is not a gift you were given but a prize you have won," said Susan Rice, United States ambassador the United Nations. She promised the U.S. would be a "true and lasting friend and partner" to South Sudan.</p>
<p>U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described independence as "the culmination of a long struggle - that destroyed so many lives for so many years." He acknowledged that problems remained and there were new struggles ahead.</p>
<p>The president of Kenya, Ethiopia's prime minister, Britain's foreign minister and others delivered congratulatory speeches before Bashir took the microphone. Barely visible above the green baize-covered dais fixed with South Sudan's new coat of arms Bashir delivered a conciliatory speech.</p>
<p>"The will of the people of the South has to be respected," he said after congratulating southerners on their independence. The previous evening Khartoum announced that it recognized the new nation.</p>
<p>There was no jeering, no booing of the man who for years led the war against independence for South and even now is blamed for ordering violence in the contested border area. The crowd waited silently through Bashir's lengthy speech in Arabic and when he stepped back from the podium, thousands of people waved their hands, their flags at their sides, in a goodbye gesture.</p>
<p>And with that came the deafening 21-gun salute after which the heads of state and dignitaries piled into an assortment of 4WD vehicles, the army which had earlier performed a military parade before wilting in the sun for hours, marched off down the road, and the party started.</p> | South Sudan reaches independence at last | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-07-09/south-sudan-reaches-independence-last | 2011-07-09 | 3 |
<p>STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Loryn Goodwin scored 14 of her 30 points in the fourth quarter to help No. 24 Oklahoma State pull away and beat No. 17 West Virginia 79-73 on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Oklahoma State (13-4, 4-2 Big 12 Conference) rebounded from a 16-point loss at Kansas State on Saturday and improved to 2-3 against Top 25 opponents. West Virginia (15-4, 3-4) has lost consecutive games and four of its last six.</p>
<p>Goodwin now has three 30-point games, the most since Toni Young had three for the Cowgirls in the 2010-11 season. Braxtin Miller added 23 points, and Kaylee Jensen had 17 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.</p>
<p>Miller and Goodwin made back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 21-12 surge that stretched the Cowgirls' two-point lead to 74-63 with 2:46 left. West Virginia pulled within six points with 40 seconds left before Miller and Jensen combined for 5-of-6 shooting at the line to seal it.</p>
<p>Naomi Davenport scored 25 points and Teana Muldrow had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead West Virginia.</p>
<p>STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Loryn Goodwin scored 14 of her 30 points in the fourth quarter to help No. 24 Oklahoma State pull away and beat No. 17 West Virginia 79-73 on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Oklahoma State (13-4, 4-2 Big 12 Conference) rebounded from a 16-point loss at Kansas State on Saturday and improved to 2-3 against Top 25 opponents. West Virginia (15-4, 3-4) has lost consecutive games and four of its last six.</p>
<p>Goodwin now has three 30-point games, the most since Toni Young had three for the Cowgirls in the 2010-11 season. Braxtin Miller added 23 points, and Kaylee Jensen had 17 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.</p>
<p>Miller and Goodwin made back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 21-12 surge that stretched the Cowgirls' two-point lead to 74-63 with 2:46 left. West Virginia pulled within six points with 40 seconds left before Miller and Jensen combined for 5-of-6 shooting at the line to seal it.</p>
<p>Naomi Davenport scored 25 points and Teana Muldrow had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead West Virginia.</p> | No. 24 Oklahoma State women beat No. 17 West Virginia 79-73 | false | https://apnews.com/amp/3a034aee775543bc96bec93fac4389d1 | 2018-01-18 | 2 |
<p>If there’s one thing Martin Luther King Jr. would have loved, it would have been a prominent black commentator calling another black commentator a “mediocre negro” for disagreeing about politics.</p>
<p>So, in honor of MLK, Morehouse College professor and frequent television guest Marc Lamont Hill did just that.</p>
<p />
<p>Hill said of Donald Trump welcoming black figures including Steve Harvey and Jim Brown, “To keep bringing comedians and actors and athletes to represent black interests is demeaning, it’s disrespectful and it’s condescending. Bring some people up there with some expertise, Donald Trump. Don’t just bring up people to entertain.”</p>
<p>At this, executive director of the National Diversity Coalition for Trump Bruce Levell asked Hill what was so terrible about the meeting between Harvey and Trump. Hill responded, “Unless Steve Harvey turned into a policy analyst in the behind-the-scenes meeting, it doesn’t matter whether I was there. My concern is the people he’s trumpeting up and putting in front of cameras.”</p>
<p>This is a rather inane point, given the fact that Barack Obama routinely welcomed advice from celebrities on purely political issues: Leonardo DiCaprio came to the White House to discuss <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3820731/We-race-against-time-Obama-talks-climate-change-eco-warrior-Leonardo-DiCaprio-screening-actor-s-new-documentary-White-House-event.html" type="external">global warming in October</a>; Angeline Jolie came to the White House <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2012/01/jolie-white-house-visit-was-wonderful-111265" type="external">to talk about Sarajevo</a> while Brad Pitt talked with Vice President Biden about New Orleans rebuilding; during the 2008 campaign Obama reportedly sought Middle East advice <a href="http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2008/08/leftwing-actor-advises-obama-middle-east/amp/" type="external">from George Clooney</a>, among many other such circumstances. And Lamont Hill had no problem with actors and actresses like Meryl Streep ripping into Trump – were they just “mediocre white people”? Civil rights leaders have often reached out to celebrities, too: Joseph Mankiewicz, Charlton Heston, James Baldwin, Paul Newman, Jackie Robinson, Joan Baez, Bob DylanSammy Davis Jr., Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Burt Lancaster…all of them attended the March on Washington.</p>
<p>But Steve Harvey on inner city poverty was a bridge too far for Lamont Hill. Why? Because he was meeting with Trump.</p>
<p>After Levell reminded Hill that Trump had welcomed more prominent black figures than Harvey to Trump Tower, Hill exploded, “It was a bunch of mediocre negroes being dragged in front of TV as a photo op for Donald Trump’s exploitative campaign aginst black people. And you are a prime example of that.”</p>
<p>It’s one of the conceits of the left that color comes along with a predetermined politics – and predetermined privileges. Lamont Hill has said in the past that black people are <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/11/marc-lamont-hill-black-people-cant-be-racist/" type="external">incapable of racism</a> because “black people don’t have the institutional power to be racist or to deploy racism.” Yet there was Lamont Hill casting aspersions at “mediocre negroes” like Steve Harvey (net worth: well over $100 million, audience of nearly 4 million for his radio show).</p>
<p>Just because Harvey didn’t agree with Hill that Trump ought to be boycotted, he has to be silenced as “mediocre.” That’s actual racism. Race isn’t destiny, and race isn’t a political mandate. Anyone who disagrees is promoting bigotry.</p> | RACISM: CNN’s Marc Lamont Hill Calls Open-To-Trump Blacks ‘Mediocre Negroes’ | true | https://dailywire.com/news/12484/racism-cnns-marc-lamont-hill-calls-open-trump-ben-shapiro | 2017-01-17 | 0 |
<p>Oil futures settled lower Thursday as traders took time out to weigh the bigger influences in the market. China's monthly crude imports jumped in March and weekly U.S. crude output fell a sixth straight week, but producers failed to reach a deal to cap output and U.S. stockpiles rose last week. June WTI crude fell $1, or 2.3%, to settle at $43.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Oil Futures Take a Break From a Recent Rally | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/04/21/oil-futures-take-break-from-recent-rally.html | 2016-04-21 | 0 |
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<p>DENVER — Flight cancelations due to snow are continuing to cause problems for some Frontier Airlines passengers.</p>
<p>The airline says about 70 percent of its flights were delayed over the weekend. Around 275 flights were canceled because crews were stranded or had reached the limit of hours they’re allowed to fly.</p>
<p>Denver International Airport, where the discount carrier is based, got more snow than expected from a storm that started on Friday night.</p>
<p>A few more flights were canceled on Monday. Television footage and photos shared on social media showed rows of bags waiting to be claimed by passengers and long lines at ticket counters.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Snow, stranded crews causing problems for Frontier | false | https://abqjournal.com/911914/snow-stranded-crews-causing-problems-for-frontier.html | 2 |
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<p>How viable is a political party with the word “atheist” in its name?</p>
<p>Troy Boyle, a corporate legal representative for a finance company, thinks very viable. Last March, he and a friend founded the National Atheist Party, which they believe to be the first American political party organized on the belief that God does not exist.</p>
<p>Boyle, 45, got the idea to start the party while watching an interview with Richard Dawkins, the British evolutionary biologist and author of several “New Atheist” manifestos, including the best-selling The God Delusion. In the interview, Dawkins wondered why atheists did not organize to influence politics.</p>
<p>“It struck me like a bolt of lightning when he said it,” Boyle recalled. From his home in Elsmere, Ky., he started researching atheists in politics. “And I found nothing. So I picked up the gauntlet. I decided to start a political party.”</p>
<p>First called the Freethought Party, its original Facebook page attracted only a couple hundred members. But when the name was changed to the National Atheist Party, supporters started streaming in, currently more than 8,200.</p>
<p>“It immediately began growing much quicker and with less argument and controversy among members,” Boyle said. “Everyone seemed to understand implicitly what the National Atheist Party would stand for.”</p>
<p>What it stands for, Boyle said, is no governmental favoring of religion — including no religion.</p>
<p>“We are convened with the idea that the Founding Fathers had it right,” Boyle said in an interview. “The separation of church and state, the establishment of the U.S. as a secular nation — those two concepts are our watchwords. We don’t want government to impose a religion, and we don’t want government to impose no religion. We want government to be silent with regards to religion.”</p>
<p>Boyle says the NAP has 7,500 members and a chapter in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The largest chapter is Florida, with 200 members, and the smallest is Alaska, with two.</p>
<p>Bridget Gaudette, a 33-year-old medical case manager, joined the Florida chapter after visiting NAP’s Facebook page. She now volunteers as NAP’s deputy vice president and focuses on outreach.</p>
<p>“I am a big advocate of civic participation in government and I’m an atheist, so I loved the idea of a political party that could be the voice of atheists,” she said.</p>
<p>The party’s platform was decided on by a vote — again via Facebook — and includes hot-button issues such as gay marriage (for it) gun control (tighten it), abortion (a woman's decision), immigration (reform it), energy (green it), and the economy (legalize recreational drugs to create revenue and jobs).</p>
<p>Currently, the NAP is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 527 political party, which means it is a nonprofit that can put money behind issues, but not behind specific candidates. Boyle hopes his party will support candidates sometime in the future.</p>
<p>There could be quite a wait. A November poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 67 percent of Americans said they would be&#160; “uncomfortable” with an atheist in the White House.</p>
<p>In 2007, the Pew Research Center found that a candidate who doesn’t believe in God would have the hardest time gaining support from voters, with 63 percent “less likely to support” an atheist, outranking a gay candidate (46 percent), a philanderer (39 percent) or a Mormon (30 percent).</p>
<p>To date, only one “out” atheist serves in Congress, Rep. Pete Stark, a California Democrat.</p>
<p>“Relative to other religious minority groups, atheists tend to anchor the low end of the favorability scale,” said Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute, who ties it to the Cold War image of “godless communism.”</p>
<p>John Green, a political scientist at the University of Akron and an expert on religion and politics, says the NAP may be the first American political party to organize itself around atheism. But such issues-based parties have a long history of dotting the American political landscape — before disappearing.</p>
<p>Sometimes, their concerns are absorbed by a major party, and other times, they fade away, Green said.</p>
<p>“One of the reasons it is hard for a minor party to sustain itself is they don’t win very much,” Green said. “It is easier to keep people interested when it comes to ideas — you follow them on Facebook, subscribe to their magazine and you go to their convention. That is an easier thing to do than to try and mobilize millions of voters.”</p>
<p>None of this fazes Boyle, who says donations are coming in and membership is growing.</p>
<p>“We know we are a minority and we know that is not likely to change in the near future,” he said. “We simply want the right to exist. And if that doesn’t turn into a majority landslide of popular support, whoever thought it was going to? But an election on an issue or on a candidate can be swayed by a small group of people. … In two or 10 or 20 years, who knows how many of us there will be and when we vote on an issue it will matter.”</p> | Atheists’ political party faces long road to U.S. acceptance as majority express discomfort with a | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/atheistspoliticalpartyfaceslongroadtousacceptanceasmajorityexpressdiscomfortwitha/ | 3 |
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<p>The most prestigious award in College Football, the Heisman Trophy, was awarded to Oregon Quarterback Marcus Mariota on Saturday evening in front of a New York crowd at the Best Buy Theater. <a href="http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/12025046/marcus-mariota-oregon-ducks-wins-heisman-trophy" type="external">Mariota became the first Hawaiian to win the Heisman, and the first player from the University of Oregon to win the award</a>.</p>
<p>Mariota, a native of Honolulu, Hawaii, had an impeccable 2014-15 season, as he compiled over 4,000 all-purpose yards and 52 total touchdowns while leading Oregon to a 12-1 record and Pac 12 title. For Mariota’s impressive stats and resume, he received nearly 91% of all possible votes for the award, which is the second highest mark in the last 50 years.</p>
<p>Mariota beat out fellow Heisman finalists Amari Cooper and Melvin Gordon. Cooper, a wide receiver for Alabama, broke several SEC records this season on his way to helping lead the Crimson Tide to a birth in the first ever College Football Playoff. He finished the season with 115 catches for 1,656 yards and 14 receiving touchdowns. Gordon, a running back for Wisconsin, broke several records of his own this season, and he finished the year with 2,336 rushing yards and 26 rushing touchdowns.</p>
<p>After winning several national awards in the past week, and the biggest award of them all on Saturday evening, Mariota will next look to tackle the College Football Playoff. Mariota and the Ducks are the second seed in the inaugural playoff. Oregon will play third seeded Florida State on New Year’s Day in the playoff semifinal. Florida State is led by last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Jameis Winston. Like Mariota, Winston is expected to be a top pick in next year’s NFL Draft if he decides to leave school early. Neither Winston nor Mariota has talked about their plans for the future as of yet.</p>
<p>The winner of the game between Oregon and Florida State will play the winner of the second semifinal matchup between Amari Cooper’s top seeded Alabama Crimson Tide and the fourth seeded Ohio State Buckeyes. The National Championship game will be played on January 12th, 2015.</p>
<p /> | Oregon QB Marcus Mariota wins Heisman | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/03/01/oregon-qb-marcus-mariota-wins-heisman/ | 2015-03-01 | 3 |
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<p>Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Competitive bidding is a staple of the American economy. State law already requires utilities like PNM to select the least-cost solutions to energy problems with a clear preference for more environmentally friendly solutions, so there is already some comparison shopping in the process. A number of states, including Arizona, Colorado and Oklahoma, have enacted similar laws, and the proposed legislation is in line with industry standards. Overall, the proposed process exemplifies what we want when we talk about good governance: it’s open, unbiased and mindful of the public good.</p>
<p>But PNM opposes it.</p>
<p>Currently, the utility’s bidding process is essentially hidden and secretive: the company uses black box software that is difficult and expensive for outsiders to analyze. However, when statewide environmental and consumer advocacy organizations vetted the process, they found over $1 billion in “errors” and omissions in PNM’s coal and nuclear plans as well as inflated wind and solar costs.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A transparent and competitive bidding process will make sure such “errors” and omissions are far fewer and less likely. It will also reveal quite clearly that solar and wind are cheaper, cleaner and more efficient sources of energy than coal and nuclear power, the latter of which unfortunately currently make up 60 percent and 20 percent, respectively, of PNM’s portfolio.</p>
<p>PNM’s opposition to Sen. Cervantes’ good bill and its proposed RFP process shows the company is still fighting to protect the status quo and its legacy investments, but both are increasingly costly to we the people of New Mexico. Fixing and replacing outdated dirty energy technology combined with mine reclamation costs are proving more and more expensive: decommissioning a nuclear plant like Palo Verde could cost $3 billion. Who pays for that? Us. Yet still the utility doubles down, resisting opportunities to diversify and move forward. And it doesn’t help that the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission keeps inconsistently applying any standards for comparative analysis.</p>
<p>Inevitably, a major percentage of these costs are passed directly on to consumers. From 2008 to 2014 our average residential rates rose more than 50 percent, yet during the same period New Mexico’s real median household income declined by 6.4 percent. PNM can hardly plead poverty to justify rate increases: from 2008 to 2014, the utility’s ongoing earnings increased by 461 percent. Yes, you read that correctly: a 461 percent increase! The current residential rate impact from the September 2016 hike is 9.5 percent, and PNM has another rate increase pending.</p>
<p>The company has been saying for years that renewable energy isn’t reliable, cost-effective or feasible. But when Facebook requested 100 percent renewable energy for its proposed Los Lunas facility, PNM said it would have it for the company by the end of this year, at roughly half the price PNM charges consumers for nuclear power. One PNM executive contradicted the company line when he said, “Solar contributes on peak (demand), it contributes the energy during the day, and then wind will fill in around the solar.”</p>
<p>The final irony? In a brief for the PRC, PNM admitted an RFP process “ensures that renewable resources … are procured at the lowest reasonable cost.” In other words, the process would save money.</p>
<p>Solar energy costs half the price of nuclear power and 30 percent less than coal, with wind power even less expensive. Renewable energy is clean, efficient and will create jobs in a state that desperately needs them. New Mexicans of every age, ethnicity and party affiliation overwhelming support a just and transparent energy transition, from the dirty energies of the past to the clean energies of the future. It’s time to stop protecting the utility company’s status quo and all join together to create a cleaner, safer, more cost effective energy future.</p>
<p>Benjamin Rodefer is a former state representative for District 23, which covers part of Corrales and the Cottonwood area of Northwest Albuquerque, a former member of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a past president of the New Mexico Renewable Energy Industries Association.</p>
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<p /> | PNM should come clean on renewable energy costs | false | https://abqjournal.com/957752/pnm-should-come-clean-on-renewable-energy-costs.html | 2 |
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<p>Americans love to tout the value of waiting until <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/marriage" type="external">marriage</a> to have <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/sex" type="external">sex</a>. We teach abstinence-only education in schools across the country, and even comprehensive sex-ed programs often point out that "abstinence is best." Pop stars from Britney Spears to Jessica Simpson, to the Jonas Brothers, to Miley Cyrus, to Justin Bieber routinely assert that they're waiting 'til marriage – putting them into the Good Role Model category (at least, until someone leaks a sex tape). There's a booming "purity industry", complete with jewelry, elaborate events, books, t-shirts and DVDs.</p>
<p>Our state and federal tax dollars have long been spent <a href="//www.siecus.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&amp;pageID=1340&amp;nodeID=1" type="external">promoting "chastity"</a>. While conservative commentators are happy to assert that <a href="//www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/14/staying-celibate-before%20marriage-was-best-thing-ive-ever-done/" type="external">waiting until marriage is the best choice</a> for everyone and people who don't wait aren't doing marriage "the right way", sex-positive liberals hesitate to say that having sex before marriage is an equally valid – if not better – choice for nearly everyone.</p>
<p>So here it goes: having sex before marriage is the best choice for nearly everyone.</p>
<p>How do I know? Well, first of all, nearly everyone has sex before marriage – 95% of Americans don't wait until their wedding night. And that's a longstanding American value. Even among folks in my grandparents' generation, nine out of ten of them had sex before they wed.</p>
<p>Of course, just because lots of people do a thing doesn't mean it's a good thing. But sex is. In terms of happiness, sex is better than money, and having sex once a week instead of once a month is the " <a href="//www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/features/sex-and-happiness" type="external">happiness equivalent</a>" of an extra $50,000 a year. People with active sex lives live longer. Sex releases stress, boosts immunities, helps you sleep and is heart-healthy.</p>
<p>Sex is good whether you're married or not, and certainly folks who wait until marriage can have a lot of sex once they tie the knot. But waiting until marriage often means both early marriage and conservative views on marriage and <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/gender" type="external">gender</a> – and people who marry early and/or hold traditional views on marriage and gender tend to have higher divorce rates and unhappier marriages. We know that, on the other hand, there are lots of benefits to marrying later <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/mar/09/traditional-marriage-us-report" type="external">and to gender-egalitarian marriages</a>. Couples who both work outside the home and also share housework duties have more sex. Financially independent, college-educated women who marry later in life have extremely low divorce rates.</p>
<p>It turns out that feminist values – not "traditional" ones – lead to the most stable marriages. And feminist views plus later marriage typically equals premarital sex.</p>
<p>Most adult human beings naturally desire sex. And despite the rightwing emphasis on concepts like "purity", having sex does not actually make you a dirty or "impure" person. On the contrary, sex is like most other pleasurable things in life – you can have sex in ways that are fulfilling, fun, good and generous, or you can have sex in ways that are harmful, bad and dangerous. Marriage is not, and has never been, a way to protect against the harmful, bad and dangerous potential of sex (just read the Bible if you want a few examples). Instead of fooling ourselves into thinking that waiting until marriage makes sex "good", we should focus on how ethical, responsible sexual practices – taking precautions to protect the physical and mental health of yourself and your partner; having sex that is fully consensual and focused on mutual pleasure – are part of being an ethical, responsible human being.</p>
<p>Sexual morality isn't about how long you wait. It's about how you treat yourself and the people you're with.</p>
<p>Sex, of course, isn't all ponies and rainbows. The <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa" type="external">United States</a> has one of the <a href="//www.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/pregnancy/story/2011/05/40-of-pregnancies-across-USA-unplanned-study-finds/47316772/1" type="external">highest unintended pregnancy rates</a> in the world. We have one of the highest abortion rates. We have one of the <a href="//www.reuters.com/article/2009/01/13/us-infections-usa-idUSTRE50C5XV20090113" type="external">highest rates</a> of sexually transmitted infections. But our problem with sex isn't that we're having it before marriage; it's that we've cast it as shameful and dirty. And when our collective cultural consciousness says that sex is shameful and dirty, we don't have the incentive – or the tools– to plan for sex, to see it as a positive responsibility and to make healthy sexual choices.</p>
<p>We're obsessed with sex on television, in music and in advertisements, but we somehow lack the ability to talk about sex as a positive, moral, pleasure-affirming choice that, like any other adult decision, comes with a set of responsibilities. And when government money is going toward telling people to just wait until marriage, we are literally funding an idea that has never worked in all of human history, instead of supporting tried-and-true policies that could mitigate the harm of a sex-obsessed, but pleasure-starved, culture.</p>
<p>If waiting until marriage were simply an individual choice with no political consequences or backdrop – if it were as arbitrary a marker as waiting until the third date, waiting until you knew your partner's middle name or waiting until she wore really awesome high heels – it wouldn't be a problem. And personally, I don't really care when you, as an individual, choose to have sex. As long as you feel ready and it's consensual, I say you do you. But "waiting until marriage" as a cultural phenomenon – albeit one that isn't actually happening for nearly everyone in the western world – has some nasty views about women and sex lurking behind it. Using "purity" as shorthand for "doesn't have sex" by definition means that people, and mostly women, who have sex before marriage are impure, dirty or tainted. <a href="//www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/opinion/jessica-valenti-purity-myth" type="external">As Jessica Valenti says</a> in her book The Purity Myth:</p>
<p>"While boys are taught that the things that make them men – good men – are universally accepted ethical ideals, women are led to believe that our moral compass lies somewhere between our legs."</p>
<p>It's all the more troubling when those beliefs are federally funded.</p>
<p>From a more practical standpoint, not everyone is going to get married, or even legally can get married. The instruction to wait forever to experience a fundamental human pleasure is pointless and cruel. And while the old adage tells women that men won't buy the cow if they can get the milk for free, if I'm buying a cow, you can bet I'm going to make sure the milk is to my liking. But our cultural view of premarital sex as morally tainted makes it harder for couples to engage in real talks about their sexual needs and desires before marrying, the same way they would talk about their religious values, how many kids they want or whether the wedding cake will be chocolate or vanilla.</p>
<p>Sexually frustrated marriages are both miserable and common – the inboxes of advice columnists from Dan Savage to Dear Prudie are filled with letters from couples with mismatched sex drives and bad sex lives. We'd be a lot better-off if we recognized that sex is incredibly important to a lot of people, and, for most couples, sexual compatibility is necessary for a great marriage. You really can't tell if you're sexually compatible unless you have sex. The insistence that premarital sex is dirty or perverse makes it a whole lot harder to have necessary conversations. And a worldview that positions sex as shameful and bad also isn't going to evaporate on your wedding night.</p>
<p>Purity peddlers construct a false universe where there are pure virgins who wait until marriage, and then there are slutty whores who are going home with different men every night of the week. The truth is that most adults will have a great many important <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/relationships" type="external">relationships</a> in their lives – some of those relationships will be romantic, and some of those will be sexual. That's a good thing: our relationships with other people, sexual or not, are how we grow, evolve and learn about ourselves. They're how we figure out what love is, what we like physically and emotionally, and how to negotiate our own needs with someone else's. Despite the claims of the wait-till-marriage camp, waiting to have sex won't protect you from heartache, frustration or love lost. But a variety of fulfilling relationships, sexual and not, will make you a more well-rounded, compassionate and self-assured person.</p>
<p>My point isn't that everyone should have sex before marriage – people should determine for themselves when they are ready to have sex. For the vast majority of people, that's going to be before they're married. Making that choice isn't a moral failing. On the contrary, it's often a great, healthy, overwhelmingly positive choice. Whenever you choose to have sex, the cultural message that waiting until marriage is the best choice is simply wrong. And it's wrong for almost everyone.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Jill Filipovic is a lawyer in Manhattan who formerly served as the Gender and Reproductive Justice editor at AlterNet. More of her writing is available online at her blog, <a href="http://feministe.us/blog" type="external">Feministe</a>.</p> | Why Sex Before Marriage Is the Moral Thing to Do | true | http://alternet.org/sex-amp-relationships/why-sex-marriage-moral-thing-do | 2012-09-24 | 4 |
<p>Photo by Michael E. Macmillan | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>For some jobs, only a homicidal maniac will do.</p>
<p>On February 2, it was reported that Korea expert Victor Cha had been removed from consideration for American ambassador to Seoul.&#160; The New York <a href="" type="internal">Times</a> said that Cha believes he was dropped because he opposes a US attack on North Korea.</p>
<p>Wimp.</p>
<p>The US has had no South Korean ambassador since Donald Trump became president.&#160; Cha, a distinguished expert on Korea who is well-known and liked in South Korea, had already been approved by Seoul.&#160; Cha possesses two traits not normally found in Trump appointees: intelligence and competence.&#160; The 56-year old Cha was Director of Asian Affairs in President George W. Bush’s National Security Council.&#160; Currently, Cha is a professor at Georgetown University and the author of several well-regarded books on Asia.</p>
<p>Cha is a Republican and a hardline hawk.&#160; The Times does not say that it was President Donald Trump who ordered Cha dropped.&#160; However, Trump wants to attack North Korea and Cha doesn’t.&#160; That would make Cha insufficiently hawkish in the president’s eyes.</p>
<p>Cha gave his reasons against a US attack in an <a href="" type="internal">op-ed</a> in the January 30 Washington Post.&#160; &#160;The news of Cha’s dismissal broke a few days later.&#160; We can assume that Cha had already been removed from consideration and that the administration decision was not a response to Cha’s op-ed.</p>
<p>Cha writes that the US would have to strike multiple nuclear sites “which are buried in deep, unknown places impenetrable to bunker-busting bombs.”&#160; (Edward Luttwak, of whom more later, estimates that the US would have to strike 36 North Korean nuclear manufacturing and launch sites.)&#160; Even if the US successfully takes out the sites, Cha says that that would likely only delay the North Korean nuclear program by a few years.&#160; (The same can be said of an attack on Iran’s nuclear installations.)</p>
<p>Even a small scale US attack, Cha writes, would likely be catastrophic.&#160; Cha is referring to the so-called “bloody nose” option now circulating in Washington.&#160; Giving Kim a “bloody nose” with a small scale attack, so the thinking goes, would avoid the risk of retaliation and escalation.&#160; It would not eliminate Kim’s nukes, but it would send a strong message, one that would send Kim scampering to the bargaining table.</p>
<p>Never mind that Kim already says he is willing to negotiate.&#160; And never mind that the North might mistakenly conclude that it is under full scale attack. Or that Kim might retaliate even if he realizes it’s a small scale attack.&#160; And try not to think of what form Kim’s retaliation would likely take.&#160; Seoul is within 35 miles of the armistice line with North Korea.&#160; Seoul’s 10 million inhabitants, the February 2 New York Times story points out, are within range of the DPRK’s “8,000 artillery pieces and rocket launchers positioned along its border with the South.&#160; North Korea could rain up to 300,000 rounds on the South in the first hour of a counterattack.”</p>
<p>It isn’t only Koreans who would die in the counterattack.&#160; Cha writes:</p>
<p>Some have argued the risks are still worth taking because it’s better that people die “over there” than “over here.”</p>
<p>Professor Cha does not say so, but Senator <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/sen-lindsey-graham-trump-says-war-north-korea-option-n788396" type="external">Lindsey Graham</a> (R-SC) told the Today show last August that President Trump had made this remark to him.&#160; It’s a fair bet that Trump meant that the people killed in an American attack won’t be White.&#160; Cha is too tactful, too…diplomatic…to say this.&#160; Cha wipes the smirk off Trump’s face with his next sentence:&#160; “On any given day, there are 230,000 Americans in South Korea and 90,000 or so in Japan.”</p>
<p>Damn.</p>
<p>*&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; *&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; *</p>
<p>The news that Cha was out of the running came at the same time as news that the Pentagon has been dragging its feet over presenting President Trump with an attack plan for North Korea.&#160; Even the Pentagon is afraid that Trump will do something rash.</p>
<p>The New York Times said that “For now the frustration at the White House appears to be limited to senior officials rather than Mr. Trump himself.”&#160; The Times does say who those “senior officials” are.&#160; However, the Times observes that according to unnamed “officials”: “The national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, believes that for Mr. Trump’s warnings to North Korea to be credible, the United States must have well-developed military plans….”&#160; General McMaster is known to look more favorably on US military action against North Korea than do two other high-ranking members of the administration, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who urge <a href="" type="internal">diplomacy</a>.&#160; President Trump has publicly belittled Tillerson’s attempts at diplomacy with North Korea.</p>
<p>President Trump is terrifyingly eager for war.&#160; The president has repeatedly threatened North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.&#160; Recall Trump’s near-Biblical threat on August 8 to rain down on Kim “fire and fury like the world has never seen.”&#160; An <a href="" type="internal">editorial</a> in the February 2 New York Times said that in his State of the Union message, President Trump</p>
<p>Seemed to be building a case for war on emotional grounds, invoking the case of Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student who died last year after being detained by North Korea.&#160; “Tonight we pledge to honor Otto’s memory with total American resolve,” [Trump] said.&#160; The Warmbier family was among the president’s guests in the gallery.</p>
<p>The Times added:</p>
<p>What makes Mr. Trump’s latest comments most alarming was the context.&#160; They were delivered as South Korean efforts to dial down the tension with the North, through dialogue and joint participation in the Winter Olympics, appeared to be bearing fruit.</p>
<p>*&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; *&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; *</p>
<p>The US still has no Ambassador to South Korea.&#160; Let me help.&#160; I propose the renowned military strategist Edward Luttwak.&#160; Luttwak would bring many advantages to the job.&#160; The 75-year old Luttwak will make the 70-year old Trump feel young.&#160; Better yet, Luttwak possesses the martial spirit Victor Cha lacks.&#160; Just read Luttwak’s January 8, 2018 article in Foreign Policy:&#160; “ <a href="" type="internal">It’s Time to Bomb North Korea</a>.”</p>
<p>Like Victor Cha, Luttwak acknowledges the likelihood of a devastating North Korean artillery barrage on Seoul in the event of an American attack.&#160; Cha, however, does not berate the South Koreans for not moving their capital farther from the front lines.&#160; Luttwak does.&#160; Luttwak writes that the South Koreans had decades to relocate Seoul, build bomb shelters, and install missile defense systems.&#160; They didn’t.&#160; If South Koreans do not care about their own survival, then neither should the US.</p>
<p>Cha’s op-ed does not discuss China.&#160; Luttwak does.&#160; You will be glad to know that China will not intervene when the US attacks.&#160; Why, China will positively welcome the destruction of the DPRK.&#160; North Korea has gotten too “independe[nt] from Chinese influence,” Luttwak writes.&#160; Once Kim’s regime is a heap of glowing cinders, North Korea would “becom[e] a Chinese ward.”&#160; Luttwak predicts that South Korea would (voluntarily) become a Chinese, rather than a US, satellite.&#160; US strength in the Pacific would wane along with Japanese power.&#160; Then shouldn’t Luttwak be opposed to an American attack?&#160; Luttwak seems not to realize that he has undercut his own argument by showing that a US attack on North Korea would weaken, not strengthen, the US.</p>
<p>The ambassadorship to South Korea is one of just thousands of posts which remain unfilled twelve months after Donald Trump took office.&#160; In the State Department alone “seven of the top nine jobs” are empty, according to <a href="" type="internal">Bloomberg</a>.&#160; This reflects a trend which antedates Trump’s presidency:&#160; the <a href="" type="internal">sidelining of diplomats</a> in favor of the military.&#160; And it reflects Trump’s arrogance.&#160; When it comes to setting foreign policy, <a href="" type="internal">Trump</a> says: “I’m the only one that matters.”&#160; And Trump doesn’t just think that about foreign policy.</p>
<p>In truth, the American Empire really doesn’t need a State Department.&#160; All the US needs is the Pentagon, CIA, and the National Security Advisor.&#160; That’s all the US needs to dominate the world—and to destroy it.</p> | Wanted: Homicidal Maniac for US Ambassador to Seoul | true | https://counterpunch.org/2018/02/07/wanted-homicidal-maniac-for-us-ambassador-to-seoul/ | 2018-02-07 | 4 |
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<p>CLOVIS – A 7-year-old Portales boy died from injuries suffered Thursday afternoon in a one-vehicle rollover crash on N.M. 268 near Curry Road 23, according to Curry County Undersheriff Wesley Waller.</p>
<p>Waller said Dakota Myers died at the scene about 4 p.m., the Clovis News Journal reported. He was a passenger in a pickup truck driven by his 19-year-old brother, Kenneth Myers Jr. Waller said Kenneth Myers and his sister, Destanee Myers, 4, also a passenger in the truck, were taken to Plains Regional Medical Center for treatment of undisclosed injuries.</p>
<p>Waller said the driver told officers they were northbound on N.M. 268 on their way to Tucumcari to pick up a relative when he swerved to avoid a deer. Waller said the truck left the highway when the driver over-corrected and the truck rolled over.</p>
<p>The crash remains under investigation, Waller said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 7-year-old dies in rollover crash | false | https://abqjournal.com/325075/7-year-old-dies-in-rollover-crash.html | 2 |
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<p>CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A search is underway for a 16-year-old North Texas boy missing since being swept away by Gulf surf at Corpus Christi.</p>
<p>A Corpus Christi police statement says officers received a call for help shortly before 11 a.m. Friday on Padre Island near Bob Hall Pier. A man told arriving officers that the teen had been swimming with a group but couldn't be found when the group came ashore.</p>
<p>A police spokesman says rough surf quickly ended a boat search but officers are searching the shore while the U.S. Coast Guard searches by air.</p>
<p>In a statement, the superintendent of the Mansfield public schools, near Fort Worth, said the Lake Ridge High School ninth-grader had been attending the SkillsUSA state competition.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Boy, 16, missing after surf swept him from swimming party | false | https://abqjournal.com/750132/boy-16-missing-after-surf-swept-him-from-swimming-party.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>Albuquerque's Metropolitan Court has a special court that specializes in those elusive second chances.</p>
<p>Homeless court is held once a month a few blocks from Metro Court at St. Martin's Hospitality Center. It focuses on what a homeless defendant has done to change his or her behaviors rather than the alleged offenses.</p>
<p>Here defendants are treated with compassion and respect in a setting that is much more comfortable for them. They are offered the chance to tell the court how they came to be homeless and what they are trying to do to get their lives back on track.</p>
<p>Homeless court adjudicates only those charged with nonviolent misdemeanors such as criminal trespass, public nuisance or drinking in public. Felonies, domestic violence and DWI charges are not heard.</p>
<p>Defendants must be referred by a community agency, undergoing some sort of treatment and be able to show they are making progress toward not being homeless. Because of the referral restrictions, many homeless people who commit minor crimes end up in the Metropolitan Detention Center unable to post bail or pay fines. So, homeless court's caseload is very light - currently, only about four cases a month - while the jail is bursting at the seams.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Homeless court is a good program, but it's not serving enough people who could benefit. All the stakeholders should work to find ways for Metro Court to find and deal with more of these minor-offense cases.</p>
<p>Besides offering homeless minor offenders a light at the end of the tunnel, it could help reduce MDC overcrowding and give taxpayers some relief from the cost of keeping people charged with shoplifting or littering in the county jail.</p>
<p>This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.</p>
<p /> | Editorial: Homeless court good, but underused service | false | https://abqjournal.com/398901/homeless-court-good-but-underused-service.html | 2 |
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<p>Maine voters committed themselves to the cause of progress Tuesday night when they reversed a 2009 referendum in which same-sex marriage was defeated. Six states and the District of Columbia now wave the rainbow flag when it comes to marriage equality.</p>
<p>Three years ago, the initiative failed narrowly. Fifty-three percent of Mainers said no to a bill passed by state lawmakers that would have allowed gays and lesbians to marry legally.</p>
<p>Emboldened by the defeat, supporters of same-sex marriage, led mainly by Mainers United for Marriage, campaigned to convince voters of the justice of their cause. Members of the opposition opened their wallets wide in the ensuing battle, but as Tuesday night’s results show, their efforts were not enough.</p>
<p>Gay rights advocates were confident they could succeed this time around because of the large numbers of young people they expected to turn out for the presidential election who were likely to support their cause.</p>
<p />
<p>Below, see the pain experienced by same-sex marriage supporters during their defeat three years ago.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p>
<p>The Boston Globe:</p>
<p>Carroll Conley, spokesman for Protect Marriage Maine, said that support for traditional marriage had eroded in rural communities in the southern part of the state. As the numbers shaped up, he said “it was not what we expected.”</p>
<p>Before today, no state had approved gay marriage through a popular vote, rather than a court decision or legislative act. Three other states — Washington, Maryland, and Minnesota — also had same-sex marriage questions on the ballot in Tuesday’s election.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/11/06/gay-marriage-vote-dominates-election-day-maine/yUFpH8SAXxkrEOLOKmf5AI/story.html" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p>New Left Media:</p> | Marriage Is Now a Universal Right in Maine | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/marriage-is-now-a-universal-right-in-maine/ | 2012-11-07 | 4 |
<p>Domestic violence is more costly than warfare, in terms of both lives lost and dollars spent, according to a <a href="http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/sites/default/files/conflict_assessment_-_hoeffler_and_fearon.pdf" type="external">new report</a> that says the issue is largely overlooked.</p>
<p>The study authors conclude that domestic abuse, perpetrated mostly against women and children, costs <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/violence-home-costs-8-trillion-worse-war-study-125818452--business.html" type="external">about $9.5 trillion dollars</a> each year in lost economic output. That far surpasses the price tag for recent civil wars, estimated at an annual $170 billion, as well as for homicides unrelated to intimate partner violence, estimated at an annual $650 billion. Researchers arrived at those ballpark figures by attempting to estimate both tangible and intangible costs resulting from violence, like lost earnings, reduced economic activity, and health consequences.</p>
<p>The human cost is also greater. According to the researchers, roughly nine people are killed in domestic disputes for every one person who dies in a civil war. About 769 million women are the victims of domestic violence at some point in their lives, and 290 million children are subject to violence in their homes.</p>
<p>“Wars are only one form of violence and are very costly, but other forms are even more costly and don’t get as much attention,” Anke Hoeffler of Oxford University, one of the co-authors of the new report, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/09/domestic-violence-between-individuals-war" type="external">told the Guardian</a>. “There has been an over-concentration on the consequences of political violence and not enough on domestic violence. We need to think a lot harder about how we tackle these issues.”</p>
<p>Researchers say their new report represents the first attempt to estimate the global cost of violence. And they believe their findings should compel the international community to devote more resources to addressing domestic abuse.</p>
<p>“Despite its prevalence and apparently very large costs, the international development community has not yet conceptualized interpersonal or societal violence as a development problem that aid and other policy interventions should try to address in a systematic way,” the paper <a href="http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/sites/default/files/conflict_assessment_-_hoeffler_and_fearon.pdf" type="external">concludes</a>. “There is a strong case that much more aid should be flowing to programs to address violent crime and abuse.”</p>
<p>The findings come on the heels of <a href="" type="internal">another recent report</a> detailing the “shockingly” high levels of abuse and violence against children. That study, conducted by UNICEF, revealed that many children are growing up in a world where they assume that domestic violence is simply inevitable. For instance, <a href="" type="internal">half of all girls</a> between the ages of 15 and 19 believe a man is “justified” in hitting his wife.</p>
<p>Issues of domestic violence have been <a href="" type="internal">dominating national headlines</a> this week, thanks to the Baltimore Ravens’ decision to <a href="" type="internal">drop running back Ray Rice</a> after a video emerged depicting him punching his then-fiancee until she fell unconscious. The renewed attention on the issue has led to somewhat of a <a href="http://jezebel.com/if-you-care-about-women-and-still-support-the-nfl-you-1631903485" type="external">larger conversation</a> about how institutions should demonstrate they’re taking violence against women seriously, and top political leaders have recently weighed in. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have both said they think the Ravens did the right thing.</p>
<p>“The one regret I have is we call it domestic violence as if it’s a domesticated cat. It is the most vicious form of violence there is,” Biden, who was instrumental in passing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) two decades ago, <a href="http://www.today.com/news/joe-biden-ray-rice-suspension-nfl-ravens-did-right-thing-1D80136515" type="external">told</a> the Today Show this week. “This whole culture for so long has put the onus on the woman. What were you wearing? What did you say? What did you do to provoke? That is never the appropriate question.”</p> | Domestic Violence Kills More People Than Wars, Global Study Finds | true | http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/09/10/3565601/domestic-violence-cost/ | 2014-09-10 | 4 |
<p>With the Red Star rising over Africa, locals and leaders across that vast continent are starting to wonder if Beijing's forays represent a positive collaboration among developing nations - or just the latest incarnation of exploitative colonialism.</p>
<p>Capitalist globalization makes for new bedfellows, and booming "communist" China is the world's latest economic polygamist, scouring the globe for raw materials and untapped markets. The Christian Science Monitor investigates in an enlightening three-part series on China's involvement with the pariah state of Sudan.</p>
<p>Christian Science Monitor:</p>
<p>Never before in history has there been more trade between China and Africa. The rising Asian giant is fueling its economy with everything from copper to cobalt dug from sub-Saharan soil.</p>
<p />
<p>Many African leaders welcome China, unlike the European colonizers of centuries past, as a nonjudgmental partner and appreciate its developing-nation mind-set. Chinese trade with Africa ($55 billion in 2006) means jobs. China is sending peacekeepers, and providing low-interest loans for roads, hospitals, and schools without any Western finger-wagging or ethical strings attached.</p>
<p>But critics say China is raking out raw materials, flooding the market with cheap products, and mistreating both locals and the environment. Some claim that China, as a key diplomatic backer of Sudan, shares responsibility for the genocidal killings of more than 200,000 non-Arab Sudanese in the troubled Darfur region.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/china-sudan" type="external">Read more</a></p> | China and Africa: Uneasy Bedfellows? | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/china-and-africa-uneasy-bedfellows/ | 2007-07-10 | 4 |
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