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<p>&lt;img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-48853" src="http://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/HillaryClintonKellyAnne.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="627" srcset="https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/HillaryClintonKellyAnne.jpg 1200w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/HillaryClintonKellyAnne-300x157.jpg 300w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/HillaryClintonKellyAnne-768x401.jpg 768w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/HillaryClintonKellyAnne-1024x535.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /&gt;</p>
<p>Everyone was waiting to see what Hillary Clinton, champion of women’s rights (see&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Bill Clinton Victim Speaks Out: ‘Hillary’s Called Me a Bimbo For Years…’</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Juanita Broadderick: Bill Clinton Called Me After Raping Me…</a>) was going to say about her friend and prominent Democrat donor Harvey Weinstein. And she did speak out. Five days after the fact. Five, a number that Kellyanne Conway is quick to point out.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">This is the tweet</a> Conway is talking about. Five minutes to politicize a shooting with something that had nothing to do with the shooting. Five days before Hillary&#160;had her staff write a statement “condemning” a good friend of hers. Who was recently removed from his own company. So it was safe to criticize him. A point not lost on all of us, by the way.</p>
<p>Tell me again that Hillary and her ilk were unaware of Weinstein’s exploits. Tell me again how Hillary is a champion for women.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p /> | KellyAnne Conway Illustrates Hillary’s Political Hypocrisy with One Tweet | true | https://louderwithcrowder.com/kellyanne-conway-hillary-weinstein/ | 2017-10-11 | 0 |
<p>It has happened to all of us. Usually for reasons unknown to us, the schoolyard bully set their sights on you. It starts out small, just annoying so you try to just ignore it. “They just want to get a rise out of you” is the advice you get. That does not work, and the abuse gets worse and more frequent, and finally you realize you will have to take matters into your own hands. We all cheered when Ralphie finally snapped and gave bully Scott Farkas a healthy dose of his own medicine in the movie, “A Christmas Story”.</p>
<p>The entire world was once again horrified recently as terrorist attacks claimed the lives of thirty-five people including four Americans in a Brussels train station and airport terminal. The reaction of people was basically the one that follows every terror attack. Memorials were created for those that were lost, and world leaders vowed to apprehend those responsible.</p>
<p>But there seems to be something that no one is seeing. Call it simplistic, but when it is all boiled down, you have your basic neighborhood bully. The problem is that this bully operates on a global scale, and the globe is at the “if we just be nice to them” phase of dealing with the bully.</p>
<p>We already know that this bully’s favorite tactic is to strike anywhere in the world by blowing up innocent people just living their lives. They do it because the bully does not approve of the lives of the people they kill. We never know when or where the bully will strike next. This bully doesn’t just beat you up for your lunch money. They behead you if you do not convert to their way of life, and what the world does not understand is that the bully will continue on until it becomes Ralphie and decides to hit back stronger and harder than the bully ever could. Why don’t they? What stops them? Political correctness for sure, fear of racial profiling definitely. Newsflash for the world, the bully could care less about any of that. They only care that they can get you to cave into their demands.</p>
<p>TheReligionOfPeace.com is a website that tracks terror attacks, all terror attacks, especially the ones the mainstream media does not think you need to know about. Between March 26 and April 1, there were 30 attacks, 263 were killed, and 449 injured. There were six suicide bomber attacks, and all of this took place in eight countries. The Easter Sunday attacks on Christians in Pakistan was reported as was Brussels, but have we heard about any of these other attacks? Why is not just American media but international media as well covering for the bully?</p>
<p>The question is when is the world going to get tired of being bullied? What will it take? Will it take another 9/11, or something that makes 9/11 look like a day at the beach? That is the thing with bullies, when they are not confronted not only do they continue, but they get more brazen. What is more brazen than strapping explosives on 5 year-olds and relieving non-believers of their heads? Do we really want to find out?</p>
<p>Right now in the U.S., there are open FBI investigations into terror cells in all fifty states. That means the bully is rapidly gathering steam and no one is willing to stop it. Conservatives often darkly joke about how political correctness is going to kill us. Are there enough of us unwilling to confront the bully that is radical Islamic terrorism for that to happen?</p>
<p>The entire world needs to channel its inner Ralphie.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Islamic Terror Attacks: Schoolyard Bullies Gone Global | true | http://politichicks.com/2016/04/islamic-terror-attacks-schoolyard-bullies-gone-global/ | 2016-04-06 | 0 |
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — In 1974, CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite made a cameo appearance as himself on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”</p>
<p>That was a very big deal. Big-time TV newsmen, especially Cronkite (“the most trusted man in America”) didn’t put their credibility on the line by crossing over into make-believe. And especially not at CBS News, where Cronkite, despite his own eagerness to accept this invitation from a hit sitcom, had to gain approval from the news division’s president, a legendary stickler for journalistic purity.</p>
<p>By contrast, in the modern world of TV news where Brian Williams rose and fell, almost anything goes.</p>
<p>But not quite anything, to judge from NBC’s decision, announced Thursday, to remove Williams permanently from the “Nightly News” anchor desk for straying into make-believe while on the talk-show circuit. (Though banned from “Nightly” for inflating his journalism exploits, he still is deemed sufficiently trustworthy to anchor breaking news and special reports on MSNBC, demonstrating that, at NBC News, the definition of “trustworthy” is fluid).</p>
<p>Unlike in Cronkite’s day, TV journalists today routinely turn up on comedies and dramas (Netflix’s political thriller “House of Cards” is a favorite gathering place) as well as on talk shows, where they heartily promote themselves and their respective news brands. And no one was more active, and adept, at this than Williams, a go-to guy for talk shows including “Late Show with David Letterman,” ″The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” for comedies including “Family Guy” and “30 Rock,” for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” plus “Saturday Night Live,” where, as guest host, he zestfully embraced his inner ham.</p>
<p>Purists might have complained that Williams’ busy sideline as a silver-tongued TV personality gnawed away at his newsman gravitas. But it greatly enhanced his likeability quotient while arguably winning him new viewers as the chief truth-teller for NBC News, which, in turn, could boast “OUR anchor is more charming than THEIRS!”</p>
<p>For a long time, trust — so vital in the news equation — was a given with Williams. Certainly it was from his standpoint: He placed trust in the hands of his audience, who were trusted to draw a clear distinction, even as it eroded, between Serious Brian and Brian Lite. Unfortunately, this was a distinction Williams lost sight of. The anchor who reported on wars for NBC News got caught fudging his own war stories on “Late Show” and elsewhere.</p>
<p>When Briangate erupted in February, “Daily Show” host Stewart defined the trap ensnaring Williams as the “Infotainment Confusion Syndrome,” a brain misfire that occurs, he said, “when the ‘celebrity cortex’ gets its wires crossed with the ‘medula anchor-dala.’”</p>
<p>A shrewd diagnosis. After work, away from the anchor desk, Williams let his ego get “the better” of him, he admitted to Matt Lauer during Friday’s “Today” interview. “To put myself in a better light, to appear better than I was, I said things that were wrong. I told stories that were wrong.”</p>
<p>For a long time, Williams gleamed bright as an all-purpose TV star, working both sides of the street as a serious newsman and a witty raconteur. Then, almost overnight, the public’s trust in him hit a wall. According to one survey, he was the 23rd&#160;most trustworthy person in the country before his deceptions became known. Then his ranking plummeted to 835. The man who cracked jokes on talk shows was suddenly a punch line.</p>
<p>Now, as he faces second-string status with his August return, it’s anyone’s guess if Williams can rid himself of what he called “a bad urge inside me,” if he can ever be taken seriously again.</p>
<p>“Brian now has the chance to earn back everyone’s trust,” said Andrew Lack, chairman of NBC News and MSNBC, on Thursday.</p>
<p>Perhaps more importantly, NBC has the chance to earn back everyone’s trust. Lester Holt, in his new role as what the network hopefully bills as “permanent anchor,” must prove himself immune to Infotainment Confusion Syndrome. He must keep in mind that, with the current trust-challenged state of TV journalism, reporting the news is all that’s required. He must, if asked, resist the urge to slow-jam the news with Fallon.</p>
<p>Fortunately, Holt is on the right track after four months temping at “Nightly News” and now taking over for the man who couldn’t resist.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>EDITOR’S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at [email protected] and at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier." type="external">http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier.</a> Past stories are available at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/frazier-moore" type="external">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/frazier-moore</a></p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — In 1974, CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite made a cameo appearance as himself on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”</p>
<p>That was a very big deal. Big-time TV newsmen, especially Cronkite (“the most trusted man in America”) didn’t put their credibility on the line by crossing over into make-believe. And especially not at CBS News, where Cronkite, despite his own eagerness to accept this invitation from a hit sitcom, had to gain approval from the news division’s president, a legendary stickler for journalistic purity.</p>
<p>By contrast, in the modern world of TV news where Brian Williams rose and fell, almost anything goes.</p>
<p>But not quite anything, to judge from NBC’s decision, announced Thursday, to remove Williams permanently from the “Nightly News” anchor desk for straying into make-believe while on the talk-show circuit. (Though banned from “Nightly” for inflating his journalism exploits, he still is deemed sufficiently trustworthy to anchor breaking news and special reports on MSNBC, demonstrating that, at NBC News, the definition of “trustworthy” is fluid).</p>
<p>Unlike in Cronkite’s day, TV journalists today routinely turn up on comedies and dramas (Netflix’s political thriller “House of Cards” is a favorite gathering place) as well as on talk shows, where they heartily promote themselves and their respective news brands. And no one was more active, and adept, at this than Williams, a go-to guy for talk shows including “Late Show with David Letterman,” ″The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” for comedies including “Family Guy” and “30 Rock,” for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” plus “Saturday Night Live,” where, as guest host, he zestfully embraced his inner ham.</p>
<p>Purists might have complained that Williams’ busy sideline as a silver-tongued TV personality gnawed away at his newsman gravitas. But it greatly enhanced his likeability quotient while arguably winning him new viewers as the chief truth-teller for NBC News, which, in turn, could boast “OUR anchor is more charming than THEIRS!”</p>
<p>For a long time, trust — so vital in the news equation — was a given with Williams. Certainly it was from his standpoint: He placed trust in the hands of his audience, who were trusted to draw a clear distinction, even as it eroded, between Serious Brian and Brian Lite. Unfortunately, this was a distinction Williams lost sight of. The anchor who reported on wars for NBC News got caught fudging his own war stories on “Late Show” and elsewhere.</p>
<p>When Briangate erupted in February, “Daily Show” host Stewart defined the trap ensnaring Williams as the “Infotainment Confusion Syndrome,” a brain misfire that occurs, he said, “when the ‘celebrity cortex’ gets its wires crossed with the ‘medula anchor-dala.’”</p>
<p>A shrewd diagnosis. After work, away from the anchor desk, Williams let his ego get “the better” of him, he admitted to Matt Lauer during Friday’s “Today” interview. “To put myself in a better light, to appear better than I was, I said things that were wrong. I told stories that were wrong.”</p>
<p>For a long time, Williams gleamed bright as an all-purpose TV star, working both sides of the street as a serious newsman and a witty raconteur. Then, almost overnight, the public’s trust in him hit a wall. According to one survey, he was the 23rd&#160;most trustworthy person in the country before his deceptions became known. Then his ranking plummeted to 835. The man who cracked jokes on talk shows was suddenly a punch line.</p>
<p>Now, as he faces second-string status with his August return, it’s anyone’s guess if Williams can rid himself of what he called “a bad urge inside me,” if he can ever be taken seriously again.</p>
<p>“Brian now has the chance to earn back everyone’s trust,” said Andrew Lack, chairman of NBC News and MSNBC, on Thursday.</p>
<p>Perhaps more importantly, NBC has the chance to earn back everyone’s trust. Lester Holt, in his new role as what the network hopefully bills as “permanent anchor,” must prove himself immune to Infotainment Confusion Syndrome. He must keep in mind that, with the current trust-challenged state of TV journalism, reporting the news is all that’s required. He must, if asked, resist the urge to slow-jam the news with Fallon.</p>
<p>Fortunately, Holt is on the right track after four months temping at “Nightly News” and now taking over for the man who couldn’t resist.</p>
<p>____</p>
<p>EDITOR’S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at [email protected] and at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier." type="external">http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier.</a> Past stories are available at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/frazier-moore" type="external">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/frazier-moore</a></p> | A newsman gone astray will return to NBC seeking redemption | false | https://apnews.com/950ec541b2e94a549b5b9b5d758ff98a | 2015-06-20 | 2 |
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<p>David Corn and Salon’s Joan Walsh joined Chris Matthews on <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/ns/msnbc_tv-hardball_with_chris_matthews/#47541924" type="external">MSNBC’s Hardball</a> to discuss Mitt Romney’s campaign of falsehoods against the President. Romney claims that President Obama has increased federal spending, raised taxes, and appeased Al Qaeda.</p>
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<p>David Corn is Mother Jones’ Washington bureau chief. For more of his stories, <a href="" type="internal">click here</a>. He’s also on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/davidcorndc" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p>
<p /> | Corn on “Hardball”: Romney’s Campaign of Falsehoods Against President Obama | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/05/corn-hardball-romneys-campaign-falsehoods-against-president-obama/ | 2012-05-24 | 4 |
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<p>Photo by California National Guard | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>“People pay for what they do, and still more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it simply: by the lives they lead.” These words, from James Baldwin’s <a href="" type="internal">No Name in the Street</a>(1972), his book-length essay about race in America, were quoted as the epigraph to Dorothy Allison’s <a href="" type="internal">Bastard Out of Carolina</a> (1992), a now classic novel about the demographic often referred to colloquially as “white trash”: the poor, disenfranchised white working class.</p>
<p>With his theory that justice is made manifest in and through the lives we lead, Baldwin was referencing the entanglement of race politics within the American dream, and facing forthrightly all the contradictions this legacy has generated. Allison was thinking about the poverty of the white working class, their systematic disempowerment, and the exclusions they face, that far outlast the moment of their occurrence. Although they tell their stories in different ways, Baldwin and Allison are making the same point: crimes have consequences. When we cause others to suffer, we end by suffering ourselves.</p>
<p>At no moment in history has the boomerang effect of everyday ethics been expressed more thoroughly or remorselessly than in the outcome of the elections for the forty-fifth President of the United States. America has made countless other peoples around the world suffer. It has turned democracies into dictatorships with a systematicity that far outpaces any other country. The only legitimation for its actions has been the agenda of “regime change” in the interests of “global democracy” that neither the Republican nor the Democratic party ever questioned publicly. On 8 November 2016, that agenda was suddenly exposed for what it was: rank hypocrisy that has contributed the impoverishment of the majority of Americans, while enriching the ruling class.</p>
<p>In Libya, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Chile, the <a href="" type="internal">US has replaced popularly elected leaders with obedient puppets</a> who are incentivised to reject the will of their people they govern. I learned more about these obscure chapters of my own country’s history in an Iranian hotel room, watching a state television announcer flip through slides of more than sixty countries where the US had, covertly or forcibly, instituted regime change, than in any US high school or university classroom.</p>
<p>During most of the regime changes it has coercively organised around the world, the US has largely succeeded in suppressing freedom abroad while upholding freedom at home. Citizens from the affected countries have long ago learned to suspect US claims to serve the interest of world peace, as the Iranian TV show demonstrated. Outside the US, few believe the country’s claims to moral superiority. Yet before 2016 most of its citizens saw the US as a <a href="salon" type="external">force for good in the world</a>.</p>
<p>In the aftermath of 8 November 2016, the façade of democracy promotion around the world no longer holds in the center that espouses this ideology. Citizens of the USA are getting a taste of their own medicine. The authoritarianism they have exported since the beginning of the Cold War has suddenly, and unprecedentedly, been transported home. It is now exploding in our face, through <a href="" type="internal">racist attacks on school children</a>, the <a href="" type="internal">proliferation of swastikas around the country</a>, name-calling, death threats, and a general atmosphere of hate. It can no longer be denied that what we do abroad shapes what we experience at home.</p>
<p>When I first realized the catastrophe that had befallen the world on 8 November 2016, I apologised to everyone I knew. To all my friends in Iran, who may suffer yet further sanctions as a result of a business tycoon’s mendacity. To all my British colleagues, who will have to endure many more years of stupid sound bytes and the gradual cheapening of the free press. I apologised to the world, for my country, for its electorate, and for my complicity with a corrupt system that arguably coincides with the birth of the American Republic.</p>
<p>Despicable US foreign policy is as old as the idea of manifest destiny that drove US expansion in the American West. The Mexican American War (1846-1848) was yet another land grab. The purpose of the Spanish-American War (1898) was to annex the Philippines, land that never rightfully belonged to the USA. This violent annexation led to the Philippine-American War, which lasted from 1899-1902. During this same period, in 1898, Hawaii was incorporated into the American Empire, without the consent of its people. The US has always behaved like a colonial power, while within its borders, treating its white citizens differently.</p>
<p>When US history is taught in public schools, its contradictions are often packaged into a narrative that reflects the country’s variegated makeup and multicultural history. Because of my lopsided education, it took some time before I was able to recognise that the real horror of 8 November 2016 was not what it meant for America on the world stage, but what it meant at home. For the first time in modern US history, the greatest impact of American foreign policy would be experienced within the US, in the domestic sphere that for so many generations has been sheltered and isolated from the suffering it inflicts on the world.</p>
<p>For once, the most direct and immediate victims of American stupidity and prejudice are the American people themselves. Minorities and people of colour have long been targets of discriminatory policies within the USA. Following the vote of 8 November, these forms of discrimination have been legitimated for use against everyone, from women to Latinos to the disabled and gay.</p>
<p>This state of affairs marks a turning point in world history. For many generations, US voters have elected politicians of a wide range of political persuasions while closing their eyes to the overturning of democracies, forcibly installed dictatorships, the punitive taxes, sanctions, and other penalties that have been extracted unilaterally as the world looked on in obedient silence, or turned the other way.</p>
<p>Although these disasters nagged at the conscience of the more internationally minded among the US electorate, voters did not have to face the consequences of our actions abroad. Voters could afford to be blind to the suffering of Iranians, Iraqis, Afghans, Libyans, and the citizens of Honduras, because it does not occur on US territory.</p>
<p>The very same political system that brought the first African-American President to power elected a racist and misogynist bigot to the same office eight years later. In fact, in many of the swing states that determine the election’s outcome, the very same people who voted for Obama voted for Trump. It was as though there is no real difference, from the point of view of a disenfranchised American electorate, between a racist bigot and an African-American promising change, so long as they both promise to overhaul the status quo.</p>
<p>To say that these voters are right not to discern any difference would mean defending racism. But to fail to learn from their decision to put every ethical consideration aside when faced with economic suffocation would mean hiding from reality. “One good thing that may come from this election,” an Egyptian colleague, Mona Baker, said to me. A Professor at the University of Manchester, Baker has made her reputation as a scholar of Translation Studies, most recently by studying <a href="http://www.monabaker.org/?p=1714" type="external">activists’ contribution to the Arab spring</a>. Baker sees no difference between Clinton and Trump, and regards both as likely architects of global atrocity. “The system is broken,” she concluded our discussion, “It cannot be fixed by an election. The status quo needs to end.”</p>
<p>Will a Trump presidency help to bring an end to the status quo? Whatever happens, it is a certainty that Americans will soon have a great deal more in common with Iranians, Russians, and other peoples living live in authoritarian regimes than they used to. For once, the common ground between the US and the rest of the world will not be founded solely on what we have done to others, or on our on-going complicity in sustaining their oppressive governments; it will be based on what we have done to ourselves.</p>
<p>We can now start learning lessons in democracy from the many countries where the US government has orchestrated coups, rather than exporting US ideologies abroad in the form of guns and arms. This is not the lesson I would have liked to take home from Election Day, but it is a lesson nonetheless. Precisely because it is humiliating and humbling, 8 November 2016 will prove to be a salutary education in the limits of American democracy.</p> | Regime Change Abroad, Fascism at Home: How US Interventions Paved the Way for Trump | true | https://counterpunch.org/2016/11/29/regime-change-abroad-fascism-at-home-how-us-interventions-paved-the-way-for-trump/ | 2016-11-29 | 4 |
<p>This has been a good week in terms of the country taking baby&#160;steps toward reforming the criminal justice system. By filing a document in the state of Georgia last Thursday,&#160;the <a href="https://mic.com/articles/152227/the-us-justice-department-says-it-s-unconstitutional-to-jail-people-who-can-t-afford-bail#.Wk58hhaZI" type="external">Justice Department said money bail is unconstitutional</a>,&#160;and it is seriously about time the&#160;federal agency took notice that so many people (and their families) are being destroyed by fixed bail amounts. There are actually other options besides charging money to get out of jail before trial.</p>
<p>The government&#160;filed the document in a federal appeals court in response to an ongoing case in Georgia where a man, Maurice Walker,&#160;was held for six days in jail because he couldn’t make a fixed <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/justice-department-says-poor-can-t-be-held-when-they-n634676" type="external">$160 bail for the misdemeanor</a> of being a pedestrian under the influence.&#160;If you’re broke and have no cash, a fixed bail of any sum basically means you’re locked up while awaiting trial, which pretty much goes against the whole “innocent until proven guilty” thing our justice system is built upon.</p>
<p>“Fixed bail schedules that allow for the pretrial release of only those who can pay without accounting for the ability to pay unlawfully discriminate based on indigence,” the Justice Department wrote in the brief. It concluded, as a sort of solution, that courts need to also consider “ <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/08/jailing_people_because_they_ca.html" type="external">alternative methods of assuring appearance</a> at trial.”</p>
<p>Because there are other ways, besides money bail, to ensure people return to court. Advocates who want to get rid of money bail suggest GPS monitors, pre-trial follow ups (which would be similar to probation), or unsecured bonds, which means the accused doesn’t have to pay up front, but if they don’t show up for court they have to pony up. There are lots of states — mainly <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/bail-or-jail.aspx" type="external">conservative ones like Kentucky</a> — that use these alternatives when necessary.&#160;It makes sense if you think about it: keeping people in jail costs a lot of taxpayer money and Republicans hate spending money on others. These other methods have&#160;been enough incentive, in many cases, to ensure an accused <a href="http://www.yalelawjournal.org/essay/pretrial-detention-and-the-right-to-be-monitored" type="external">person’s appearance at trial</a>.</p>
<p>Bail is actually pretty complicated. Technically, it’s a means to ensure that a person convicted of a crime returns to court after being arrested. If one&#160;pays bail directly to a court and is proven innocent, they&#160;get their&#160;bail money back. But most people take out a bail bond for a percentage of the total they owe,&#160;because sometimes bail is a hell of a lot more than $160.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://bailbondsnetwork.com/faq.html" type="external">bondsman loans the person cash</a> to get out of jail quickly, but then that person has to pay it back at an interest rate in installments, just like any other kind of loan,&#160;and it’s not guaranteed they’ll get it back, ever. Someone can pay just 10 percent of their bail to be released, but 10 percent of, say $250,000, is a lot of money to come up with on the fly.</p>
<p />
<p>Making people pay for freedom is tricky. Many in the system see bail not just as a way to ensure a return to court, but also a way to keep dangerous offenders off the streets, as letting an abusive partner with a history of violence out on a low bail doesn’t sound great. It means judges have to do more work when they’re sentencing people and set fair amounts. As it stands now, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/magazine/the-bail-trap.html" type="external">bail system isn’t working</a> like it should.</p>
<p>Essentially, the Justice Department is saying it’s frivolous to set a high bail for someone caught being drunk in the street, with a small stash of weed, or simply protesting. In Baltimore, according to The New York Times, a&#160;protestor with a history of drug possession, but no violent crimes, was&#160; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/11/us/when-bail-is-out-of-defendants-reach-other-costs-mount.html?_r=0" type="external">given a $250,000 bail.</a></p>
<p>There are tons of horror stories about how <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/07/20/theres-never-been-a-better-time-for-bail-reform/?utm_term=.b20b9ec4744d" type="external">high bail amounts hurt people</a> — if they can’t pay and have to stay in jail, they can lose their jobs or can’t take their kids to school. If they do manage to come up with the money, they’re stuck paying it back and end up more in debt. It’s a really vicious cycle that disproportionately affects the poor.</p> | There Are Alternatives To The Money Bail System The Justice Department Says Is Unconstitutional | true | http://thefrisky.com/2016-08-23/there-are-alternatives-to-the-money-bail-system-the-justice-department-says-is-unconstitutional/?utm_medium%3DSocial%26utm_campaign%3DEchobox%26utm_source%3DFacebook%26utm_term%3DAutofeed%23link_time%3D1471969053 | 2018-10-02 | 4 |
<p><a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-7CO" type="external">21st Century Wire</a> says…</p>
<p>Every once and awhile you find a former intelligence agent willing to tell it like it is and this is no exception…</p>
<p>Ex-CIA agent Robert Steele outlines how citizen journalism and blogging along with other like minded people will be the best way to defeat the ruling elite. The is the way towards freedom according to the former intelligence insider. The following is from&#160; <a href="http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/cia/cia-insider-explains-whats-wrong-with-intelligence-agencies.html" type="external">BrassCheck TV</a>… Highlights from this talk:</p>
<p>“We need structured citizen journalism that lets no evil go unreported…” “The price of buying back the Federal government is $500 million a year.” “It may be time to literally dump Congress on its ass.” “It’s time to tax the Federal reserve – and put them out of business.” “The United Sates no longer represents we the people.” “The reality is the federal government is broken in every possible way.”‘</p>
<p>– Robert Steele, former CIA</p>
<p />
<p /> | How Alternative Media Can Erase The Power Of The Ruling Elite | true | http://21stcenturywire.com/2014/05/30/how-alternative-media-can-erase-the-power-of-the-ruling-elite/ | 2014-05-30 | 4 |
<p>The <a href="/topics/us-military/" type="external">U.S. military</a> has a manual for everything, from how to dress to how to wage war.</p>
<p>Now the <a href="/topics/pentagon/" type="external">Pentagon</a> has sent out a detailed written instruction to commanders on how a service member can change his or her sex in a step-by-step process that allows for extended time off.</p>
<p>The directive restricts personnel from living their “preferred gender” lifestyle, or “Real Life Experience,” on a military base among peers until the sex change transition is complete.</p>
<p>The Army, <a href="/topics/air-force/" type="external">Air Force</a>, Marine Corps and Navy must set up a bureaucracy — dubbed the Service Central Coordination Cell — to guide commanders overseeing sex change transitions.</p>
<p>A service member’s commander plays a big role in shepherding the patient through the sex transition. This starts with approving government-funded medical treatment of genital reconstruction surgery and hormone therapy, and then recovery, and then the final phase of determining the member’s fitness to return to duty after he or she receives a new official “gender marker.”</p>
<p>Commanders must hold training sessions to indoctrinate troops on transgender issues and nondiscrimination.</p>
<p>In announcing his intention to remove the ban on transgender personnel, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter last year said the rules were “outdated and are causing uncertainty that distracts commanders from our core missions.”</p>
<p>“We have transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines — real, patriotic Americans — who I know are being hurt by an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach that’s contrary to our value of service and individual merit,” Mr. Carter said.</p>
<p>A Rand Corp. study estimates that the <a href="/topics/air-force/" type="external">active force</a> of 1.3 million has 1,300 to 6,600 transgender service members.</p>
<p>Robert Maginnis, a retired Army officer who has opposed President Obama’s policy of gays in the <a href="/topics/us-military/" type="external">military</a> and women in land combat, said Mr. Carter is “delusional if he believes our military needs transgenders/transsexuals to remain the ‘finest fighting force in the world.’”</p>
<p>“Transsexuals suffer from more psychiatric pathologies than the general population, and active suicide ideation and major depression episodes occur more frequently within this group,” Mr. Maginnis said. “Creating a bureaucracy to sort out transgender issues will go down in the history of our armed forces as the worst waste of defense dollars ever.</p>
<p>“Further, hiring a medical staff to provide ongoing treatment for these people robs precious money better used for treating our war wounded,” he said.</p>
<p>Taking effect Oct. 1, the elaborate 18-page instruction requires that a service member obtain a physician’s diagnosis that becoming a transgender person is “medically necessary” for the man or woman to meet military obligations.</p>
<p>Commanders must be bias-free, the directive says. They are given the option of putting a transgender individual on extended leave depending on how long the sex change takes.</p>
<p>If a transgender combatant is not deployable, the person must be judged in the same way as personnel with other medical conditions.</p>
<p>“Commanders will assess expected impacts on mission and readiness after consideration of the advice of military medical providers and will address such impacts in accordance with this issuance,” the document says.</p>
<p>Personnel will not be able to live as their “preferred gender” in the pre-transition phase called “Real Life Experience (RLE),” the instruction says.</p>
<p>“Although in civilian life this phase is generally categorized by living and working full-time in the preferred gender, consistent application of military standards will normally require that RLE occur in an off-duty status and away from the service member’s place of duty, prior to the change of a gender marker,” the document says.</p>
<p>A “preferred gender” status person must notify his or her commander of a diagnosis that gender transfer is a medical necessity, the treatment that is needed and the estimated date for a new gender marker. Even after achieving the marker, he or she may continue to require military medical treatment.</p>
<p>Once the transition is complete, transgender personnel must use the berthing, showers and bathrooms associated with their new gender markers.</p>
<p>The Service Central Coordination Cell, or SCCC, will include medical, legal and personnel management workers to give “expert advice and assistance to commanders with regard to service by transgender service members.”</p>
<p>“Where possible, gender transition should be conducted such that a Service member would meet all applicable standards and be available for duty in the birth gender prior to a change in the member’s gender marker and would meet all applicable standards and be available for duty in the preferred gender after the change in gender marker,” the instruction says.</p>
<p>The sex transition phase may prompt a commander to offer the person extended leave or a voluntary absence program or transfer to another command or duty status.</p>
<p>This option was announced after the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Congress they are short the number of troops needed to fully execute the military strategy of fighting a major war.</p>
<p>“When the military medical provider determines that a Service member’s gender transition is complete, and at a time approved by the commander in consultation with the transgender Service member, the member’s gender marker will be changed and the Service member will be recognized in the preferred gender,” the directive orders.</p>
<p>The instruction provides definitions of transgender phrases that commanders have not normally used.</p>
<p>For example, “cross-sex hormone therapy” is defined as the “use of feminizing hormones in an individual assigned male at birth based on traditional biological indicators or the use of masculinizing hormones in an individual assigned female at birth.”</p>
<p>“Real Life Experience” is explained as “the phase in the gender transition process during which the individual commences living socially in the gender role consistent with their preferred gender.”</p>
<p>“Stable in the preferred gender” means that “Medical care identified or approved by a military medical provider in a documented medical treatment plan is complete, no functional limitations or complications persist, and the individual is not experiencing clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.”</p>
<p>A separate <a href="/topics/pentagon/" type="external">Pentagon</a> memo provides direction on transgender recruits.</p>
<p>If a recruit has a history of gender dysphoria, he or she may not join unless a physician certifies the recruit has completed medical treatment and has been stable for 18 months.</p>
<p>“We have an obligation to provide medically necessary care and treatment to all of our service members in order to keep the <a href="/topics/air-force/" type="external">force</a> medically ready to deploy,” said <a href="/topics/pentagon/" type="external">Pentagon</a> spokesman Eric Pahon. “We have transgender members in the military services today. We believe that we have the same obligation to them that we have to our other service members. Allowing these transgender individuals to serve openly does not bring new medical problems into the <a href="/topics/us-military/" type="external">military</a>. It brings these medical problems into the open and enables us to treat them in a way that promotes the readiness of the <a href="/topics/air-force/" type="external">force</a>.”</p>
<p>Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. <a href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.7280?icx_id=/news/2016/jul/14/pentagon-issues-sex-change-manual-allows-extended-/" type="external">Click here for reprint permission</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Pentagon issues sex change manual, allows extended time off for process | true | http://washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/14/pentagon-issues-sex-change-manual-allows-extended-/ | 2016-07-14 | 0 |
<p>The United States Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO), which tracks West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, and the United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSEArca: BNO), which tracks Brent crude oil futures, have each lost more than two percent since the start of 2017 as some oil traders have doubted the impact of supply reductions by major… <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2017/01/as-always-china-looms-large-for-oil-etfs/" type="external">Click to read more at ETFtrends.com. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | As Always, China Looms Large for Oil ETFs | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/19/as-always-china-looms-large-for-oil-etfs.html | 2017-01-19 | 0 |
<p>Evidence is continuing to mount that the Islamic State is responsible for the crash of Russian Metrojet Flight 9268. Many intelligence agencies are confirming the Islamic State’s claim that they took down the Russian passenger plane, killing all 224 persons on board, a little more than a week ago.</p>
<p>What the world’s intelligence agencies are really trying to determine is how the Islamic State planted the bomb on the plane, according to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/09/middleeast/russian-plane-crash-egypt-sinai/" type="external">CNN</a>. The airliner was headed from a resort town in Egypt to the Russian city Saint Petersburg when it crashed in the Sinai desert for no explicable reason other than the explosion.&#160;United States intelligence agencies are reporting that they believe that it is “99.9 percent certain” that it was, indeed, an Islamic State bomb that took down the plane.</p>
<p>Several countries’ intelligence agencies are working to confirm the Islamic State declarations but no one is really willing to say for certain that it was a bomb. Much of the evidence rests on the intelligence efforts of American and British intelligence agencies. They intercepted Islamic State radio traffic shortly after the crash. ISIS&#160;claimed responsibility, but did not reveal how they did it. The Islamic State had been known to highly publicize its actions in an effort to feed&#160;their propaganda machine.</p>
<p>Investigators from European countries have said that they have already analyzed the recordings from the plane’s black box and have determined that the crash was not accidental. The flight recorder has shown that an explosion did occur moments before the recordings stopped. At that time the plane was ascending and on autopilot. Doubters of the bomb theory point to a possible mechanical breakdown or a lithium battery failure and explosion.</p>
<p>Most of the passengers aboard Metrojet Flight 9268 were Russian citizens. So far, about 100&#160;of the bodies have been positively identified using DNA analysis. The Russian media has also been reporting that many of the passengers had left children at home to take a vacation. The Russian media has been advocating for all of the orphans left behind by the disaster.</p>
<p /> | Evidence Mounts That Islamic State Bomb Brought Down Russian Metrojet | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/11/09/evidence-mounts-that-islamic-state-bomb-brought-down-russian-metrojet/ | 2015-11-09 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Amazon.com's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Prime membership programhas become something of the industry gold standard for retail loyalty programs. For $99 a year, members receive free two-day delivery on virtually everything they purchase on the site, including groceries, plus get access to movies, musics, e-books, and more.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Prime membership program from Amazon.com gives customers access to delivery on any number of items it sells, including groceries, but it's betting they'll still pay to get degraded service. Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Although it's the measure by which competitors compare themselves, it's clear the operation isn't running as smoothly as it could be or would appear. Earlier this summer, Amazon quietly introduced a new feature called Prime <a href="https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&amp;node=9433645011&amp;ref=us_nr_gw_bb&amp;pf_rd_r=75CKEC20976MXAJFSFFP&amp;pf_rd_p=8f799e39-d80f-41f5-979c-bf7738f731b2" type="external">No-Rush Shipping Opens a New Window.</a> that in exchange for waiting five days for an item to ship, instead of two, members can earn credits to use on a variety of services the e-tailer offers.</p>
<p>It's an indication that problems exist in Amazon's backroom but, worse, the feature itself is horribly executed, meaning competitors may have the chance to leapfrog over the online retailer and offer a better version of what could arguably be an attractive benefit.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The last mile of package delivery remains a difficult and costly component of e-commerce. Particularly during peak demand periods like the just-passed Christmas shopping season, bottlenecks can develop and the process can break down. A few years back, both FedEx (NYSE: FDX) and UPS were crippled by the <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/12/21/are-ups-and-fedex-being-set-up-for-failure-again.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">unexpected level Opens a New Window.</a>of demand for last-minute shipping as retailers had followed Amazon's lead and began offering free shipping without thinking about how that would actually play out.</p>
<p>Since then, both shippers have implemented better planning and logistics and there hasn't been a similar recurrence, but it also caused Amazon to take a look at how it could better meet its customers needs, which led it to launch its own <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/12/13/is-amazoncom-about-to-take-on-fedex-and-ups.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">logistics service Opens a New Window.</a> as well as explore the potential for drone package delivery.</p>
<p>Image source: Amazon.com.</p>
<p>Still, the process remains imperfect, and on FedEx's quarterly earnings call with analysts last Tuesday, Mike Glenn, president and CEO of FedEx Services, indicated the company has had to play hardball with some retailers, ultimately severing its relationship with them because they refused to abide by its pricing and capacity requirements for the peak holiday season.</p>
<p>It's also part of the reason management consulting firm Bain &amp; Co. thinks omnichannel retailers that offer the best seamless blend of the physical store and online retail experience will be the ones to succeed. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) may so far be the best in that regard with its free ship-to-store policies that most other brick-and-mortar retailers have emulated, and even Amazon sees the need for having a physical location, hence the launch of pop-up stores in major malls across the country this year.</p>
<p>Yet that still leaves the problem of heavy demand weighing down performance, which Amazon is seeking in part to alleviate with its no-rush shipping program. The problem is, why would anyone want to participate?</p>
<p>People pay $99 a year to get free two-day shipping. By and large, you already get the extended wait times without joining Prime so why pay a premium for something you already have? OK, maybe the credits offered extend the benefits of the program and make it useful? Nope. The no-rush shipping credits merely get you free e-books, instant video titles, and discounts on groceries in Prime Pantry.</p>
<p>Image source: Amazon.com.</p>
<p>If you're a voracious reader of e-books or the movie you desperately want to see isn't available in Amazon's Prime catalog, perhaps it's worthwhile to get the credits you earn by waiting longer for your package. But unless you're a heavy user of its online grocery store, there's not much there for the average customer.</p>
<p>Moreover, the credits have an expiration date, though Amazon doesn't tell you how long they actually last -- you have to purchase the item first and it's shippedbefore you get an email letting you know how long they're good for.</p>
<p>Giving out credits to customers to accept longer shipping times isn't a bad idea, but the way Amazon is doing it seems clunky and not well thought out. That could give another retailer a chance to jump in with a similar type of offer but make the credits good on almost everything in the store, have them not expire and allow them to be accumulated, and not used simply as a means to boost in-house services.</p>
<p>The program as it is today primarily only benefits the e-tailer, not the customer who's choosing to wait. That suggests it's an offer that few will want to take advantage of and leaves Amazon.com still confronted with a backlog of packages to deliver.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Amazon.com When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
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<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 7, 2016</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFCop/info.aspx" type="external">Rich Duprey Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon.com. The Motley Fool recommends FedEx and United Parcel Service. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Does This Amazon Prime Offer Even Make Sense? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/28/does-this-amazon-prime-offer-even-make-sense.html | 2016-12-28 | 0 |
<p>Drugmaker Celgene Corp. agreed to pay $280 million to the U.S. and many state governments to settle a former sales manager's lawsuit accusing the company of improperly promoting two cancer drugs and causing false reimbursement claims to be submitted to federal and state health-insurance programs.</p>
<p>Celgene, of Summit, N.J., didn't admit liability in the settlement and said Tuesday it denies any wrongdoing. The company said it settled the case to avoid the uncertainty and expense of protracted litigation.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The settlement stems from a lawsuit initially filed in 2010 in federal court in Los Angeles by former Celgene sales manager Beverly Brown, alleging the company marketed the drugs Thalomid and Revlimid to treat multiple types of cancer for which the drugs weren't approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, such as cancers of the brain and breast.</p>
<p>Doctors are allowed to prescribe drugs for uses not approved by the FDA, a practice known as off-label prescribing. But the FDA has generally prohibited companies from marketing their drugs for off-label uses.</p>
<p>The FDA initially approved Thalomid to treat leprosy in 1998. In 2006, the FDA approved widening Thalomid's uses to include treatment of the blood cancer multiple myeloma.</p>
<p>The FDA initially approved Revlimid in 2005 to treat a blood disorder but later expanded the approved uses to include treating multiple myeloma. Global sales of Revlimid have surged, to $6.97 billion last year, or more than 60% of total company revenue.</p>
<p>In her lawsuit, Ms. Brown alleged her superiors at Celgene instructed her and other sales employees to promote to doctors various off-label uses of the drugs, and that she was rewarded for it in her compensation. The lawsuit alleged the marketing activities caused doctors to write prescriptions for the drugs that government health programs such as Medicare shouldn't have paid for, but did.</p>
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<p>"This case was about the marketing of dangerous drugs being driven by Wall Street promises and not medical necessity," said Ms. Brown's attorney, Reuben Guttman.</p>
<p>Ms. Brown filed her lawsuit under the False Claims Act on behalf of the U.S. and many state governments. The False Claims Act allows people bringing such lawsuits to receive up to 30% of any monetary recoveries, to encourage people with knowledge of suspected fraud to come forward. The Justice Department has the option to intervene and take the lead in such lawsuits, but in this case it didn't intervene. Instead, it monitored the case, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a press release.</p>
<p>Mr. Guttman said he expects Ms. Brown to receive 25% to 30% of the settlement amount, but said he didn't yet know the exact amount.</p>
<p>Celgene will pay $259.3 million to the federal government and $20.7 million to be split among 28 states and the District of Columbia.</p>
<p>Celgene said that before it reached the settlement, a federal judge had dismissed part of the case, including allegations that Celgene illegally paid doctors to induce them to prescribe Thalomid and Revlimid.</p>
<p>Write to Peter Loftus at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>July 25, 2017 18:36 ET (22:36 GMT)</p> | Celgene Settles Lawsuit Over Improper Promotion of Cancer Drugs | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/25/celgene-settles-lawsuit-over-improper-promotion-cancer-drugs.html | 2017-07-25 | 0 |
<p>George Orwell once said that the natural language of politics was euphemism. In his era, bombing campaigns were termed “pacification”; later decades saw civilian deaths be reduced to “collateral damage,” and kidnappings become “rendition operations.”</p>
<p>With the war on terror, a phrase that is itself worthy of scrutiny, euphemism flourished. Senior US officials were the innovators—speaking of “enhanced” and “alternative” interrogation techniques, when what was going on was torture—but the media followed close behind.</p>
<p>“We do not torture,” said President Bush in 2005, in response to mounting evidence of abuse. It was a straightforward, declaratory statement, the kind that Orwell liked, except it was also a bald lie. The following year, when Bush announced that 14 “high value” detainees were being transferred from CIA custody to Guantanamo, he said that the CIA had not tortured them, but had used an “alternative set of procedures.”</p>
<p>The interrogation methods the CIA used were, in his words, “tough,” “safe,” “lawful,” and “necessary.”</p>
<p>“Harsh Interrogation Tactics”</p>
<p>Three years later, and the purported lawfulness of the CIA’s methods is now under review. Having asked a special prosecutor to look into several serious cases of abuse, Attorney General Eric Holder may, at some point in the next year or two, be willing to open a full investigation of the incidents.</p>
<p>Holder also broke with recent practice at his confirmation hearing, when he stated unequivocally that waterboarding—among the most egregious of the past administration’s interrogation techniques—was torture.</p>
<p>Credible legal experts have long characterized the Bush administration’s abusive methods as torture. But the U.S. media, in contrast, has avoided the term. Media outlets such as National Public Radio and the New York Times have preferred to discuss the Bush administration’s “harsh interrogation tactics” or “severe interrogation methods”—or have used the administration’s own favored term, “enhanced” interrogation techniques—in discussing the abusive treatment of terrorism suspects in the years following 9/11. They did not—and largely still do not—directly characterize those techniques as torture.</p>
<p>An extreme example of this journalistic reticence was an article published in the New York Times on May 13, 2004. Titled “Harsh C.I.A. Methods Cited in Top Qaeda Interrogations,” the article described how the CIA was using “coercive” interrogation methods—including food deprivation, withholding medications, and “a technique known as ‘water boarding'”—against terrorism suspects in its custody.</p>
<p>The main reference to torture in the article came in claims that the techniques were not torture. As the article noted, defenders of the CIA’s approach “said the methods stopped short of torture, did not violate American anti-torture statutes, and were necessary to fight a war against a nebulous enemy whose strength and intentions could only be gleaned by extracting information from often uncooperative detainees.” The piece quoted no one saying that the CIA methods did, in fact, constitute torture, even though human rights organizations were already complaining loudly about such methods.</p>
<p>A little bit of background on waterboarding, one of the techniques specifically mentioned in the article. Waterboarding has long been recognized as torture, both in the US and elsewhere. In 1947, the U.S. sentenced a Japanese officer to 15 years hard labor for waterboarding an American civilian. In 1968, a U.S. army officer was court-martialed for helping to waterboard a prisoner in Vietnam.</p>
<p>The technique has been used by some of the cruelest dictatorships in modern times, including Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge. When the New York Times covered Khmer Rouge abuses in the 1970s, it had no problem calling the technique torture.</p>
<p>Shaping the Public Debate</p>
<p>Why do these terms matter? The media’s power may have slipped in recent years, but television, radio and the written press still shape the public debate. Some of the terms embraced by the media have been, at best, euphemistic, at worst, deceptive.</p>
<p>Responding to such criticisms in 2007, Los Angeles Times National Editor Scott Kraft said that he was reluctant to call waterboarding torture, “because torture has become a politically charged word.” Interestingly, his interviewer pointed out that on other occasions the paper hasn’t shied away from making politically-freighted choices. It uses the term “Armenian genocide” even though a heated debate exists both domestically and internationally over whether the characterization is warranted.</p>
<p>NPR’s ombudsman addressed the torture issue earlier this year. In an anguished set of blog posts, the ombudsman quoted NPR news editors saying that “the role of a news organization is not to choose sides in this or any debate.” While the ombudsman said that she didn’t agree with the station’s use of “bureaucratic euphemisms like ‘enhanced interrogation techniques,'” she too emphasized that it is not the role of journalists to “take sides.”</p>
<p>A key question is whether, by not calling abuses like waterboarding torture, the media has, in fact, avoided taking side in this debate. While it has avoided taking a critical stance, it may also have lent implicit support to the Bush administration’s view that the practices were not clearly illegal, nor clearly barred by international treaties against torture.</p>
<p>JOANNE MARINER is a human rights attorney who lives in New York and Paris.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Tortured Language | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/10/07/tortured-language/ | 2009-10-07 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Regarding my recent <a href="/washington_dispatch/2008/06/investigation-update-three-days-in-rome.html" type="external">articles</a> on <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2008/06/8784_sons_of_iran_co.html" type="external">signs</a> of a federal investigation seemingly looking at at least one Pentagon official, a colleague reminded me of the following. That the Defense Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency did forward a crimes report to the Justice Department on the question of who leaked to Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi the allegation that the U.S. had broken Iran’s communications codes in Iraq, a detail which Chalabi allegedly shared with his Iranian intelligence interlocutor.</p>
<p>For instance, revisit this Newsweek <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/53824/output/print" type="external">piece</a>:</p>
<p>NEWSWEEK has learned that the National Security Agency first uncovered evidence indicating Chalabi’s possible compromises of U.S. intelligence and sent a criminal referral to the FBI requesting an investigation into the alleged leak to Iran. A similar referral was sent to the FBI by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which until recently was responsible for managing Pentagon payments to Chalabi’s group and for supervising its intelligence-collection efforts.</p>
<p>Last week, U.S. intelligence officials requested that NEWSWEEK and several other media organizations refrain from publishing some details about what kind of intelligence information Chalabi and the INC were alleged to have given to the Iranians. After some details surfaced in print and TV reports earlier this week, however, officials withdrew their requests, leading to a spate of media reports alleging that Chalabi or one of his associates told the Iranians that U.S. intelligence had cracked a secret code system used by the Iranian intelligence service. U.S. political activists close to Chalabi have told reporters in recent days that Chalabi learned about the codebreaking in Baghdad from a drunken U.S. official.</p>
<p>The evidence that Chalabi had compromised U.S. codebreaking was disclosed to President Bush and Vice President Cheney several weeks ago and was a factor in the decision to raid the INC’s headquarters in Baghdad last month. It also influenced high-level Bush administration efforts to distance the administration in recent days from Chalabi, who had once been viewed by Pentagon civilians as a favored candidate to replace Saddam Hussein as Iraq’s government leader. …</p>
<p>Officials of the NSA and DIA declined to comment. But law-enforcement sources confirmed that the FBI has opened an investigation into the codebreaking leak. The investigation will look into whether Chalabi or his group supplied information about U.S. codebreaking efforts to the Iranians. But, given that Chalabi is not a U.S. citizen and does not have a U.S. security clearance, the more critical issue for investigators will be to find out who in the U.S. government might have leaked such highly sensitive information to Chalabi and the INC, some officials say. Law-enforcement sources indicated that the American investigation will likely focus on whether sensitive information might have been leaked to Chalabi by officials in either the Pentagon or the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. …</p>
<p>(Though this article indicates it was updated in October 2007, I believe it was originally published in May 2004.) I am told that a report in the Wall Street Journal a couple years back confirmed this investigation was still active.</p>
<p>Stay tuned.</p>
<p /> | Federal Investigations of Pentagon Intrigues: Don’t Forget the Chalabi Leak | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/06/federal-investigations-pentagon-intrigues-dont-forget-chalabi-leak/ | 2008-06-26 | 4 |
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<p>Remember when President and Mrs. Reagan traveled to L.A. on the same day, but took separate planes? And then President Reagan went on Johnny Carson to read mean letters sent to him, while Nancy went on The Carol Burnett Show to show off her dance moves?</p>
<p>Yeah, neither do I…</p>
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<p>President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama flew to Los Angeles on Thursday for TV appearances but took separate flights, collectively costing taxpayers at least $1 million.</p>
<p>The president went to appear live on comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show on ABC, while the first lady went to Warner Bros.’ studios in nearby Burbank to tape an appearance on Ellen Degeneres’ popular daytime show that is scheduled to air on Monday.</p>
<p>Obama traveled on Air Force One, which reportedly costs taxpayers at least $200,000 per flight hour. So the price of his five-hour, coast-to-coast trip will be roughly $1 million.</p>
<p>The cost of an Air Force flight like the one the first lady took reportedly costs more than $28,000 an hour….</p>
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<p>Related:</p>
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<p>Fox News: <a href="http://video.foxnews.com/v/4110437643001/greta-shame-on-obama-mrs-obama-for-wasting-your-money/?intcmp=obnetwork#sp=show-clips" type="external">Greta: Shame on Obama, Mrs. Obama for wasting your money</a></p>
<p>Washington Times: <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/16/white-house-defends-obamas-2-flights-different-la/" type="external">White House defends Obamas’ two flights to ‘different airports’ in L.A.</a></p> | true | http://tammybruce.com/2015/03/memo-to-potus-flotus-bringourdignityback.html | 0 |
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<p>Photo by Ann Wuyts | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>In a widely read essay for the Los Angeles Review of Books entitled “ <a href="http://thephilosophicalsalon.com/the-cia-reads-french-theory-on-the-intellectual-labor-of-dismantling-the-cultural-left/" type="external">The CIA reads French theory: on the intellectual labor of dismantling the cultural left</a>” (February 27, 2017), Gabriel Rockhill spins an intriguing yarn about the CIA and their interest in keeping abreast of French political theory throughout the Cold War. “According to the spy agency itself,” Rockhill observed, “post-Marxist French theory directly contributed to the CIA’s cultural program of coaxing the left toward the right, while discrediting anti-imperialism and anti-capitalism…” Here the professor was making particular reference to a recently declassified CIA report, authored in 1985, that focuses on the intellectual milieu around Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, and Jacques Lacan.</p>
<p>Abundant evidence of course exists of the CIA’s complex cultural interventions into French intellectual affairs — but it is critical to recognise that it was the political shortcomings of communist organizations themselves (i.e., Stalinists) that had the determinant impact on the obscurantist trajectory of left-wing academic ideas. The CIA’s own determined cold warriors were well aware of these problems on the Left, and hence these are exactly the arguments they put forth in 1985 within their then internal document “ <a href="" type="internal">France: Defection of the Leftist Intellectuals</a>.” This “research report” — referred to within Gabriel Rockhill’s essay — is clear, the CIA sought to examine the changing attitudes of French intellectuals so as to “gauge the probable political impact on the political environment in which policy is made.” So considering the intriguing theoretical focus of this report it is worth dwelling upon some of the arguments presented therein, if only as a starting point for exploring the failures of the most influential parts of the French Left in the aftermath of World War II.</p>
<p>Certainly bearing in mind the ferocity with which the CIA waged the intellectual war against the Left — with the aid of assorted liberal elites ( <a href="" type="internal">Foundations of the American Century: The Ford, Carnegie, and Rockefeller Foundations in the Rise of American Power</a>) — it is notable that the imperialist logistics of this battle remain largely overlooked within the CIA’s own report. Leaving aside this significant oversight, the anonymous CIA author does at least emphasize that it was the repeated disillusionment of the working-class with the French Communist Party (PCF) that undermined the popularity of Communist and socialist ideologies. Indeed, time and time again the French working-class sought out political ideas on the Left to help them in the critical task of democratizing society, but all too often they were betrayed by Communist intellectuals who ultimately had no faith in the working-class to change society for themselves.</p>
<p>The CIA report thus touches briefly upon the betrayal of the socialist Mitterrand government in the 1980s, and Mitterrand’s backtracking from his party’s progressive economic policies and “adopt[ion of] austerity measures that drew embarrassing criticism from both the left and the right…” The intelligence author writes: “the dose of austerity that these policies eventually forced rang the death knell of leftist ideology for many informed observers.” This fatal reversal served to compound the destructive and more “traumatic events of May 1968” which were characterised by the PCF’s betrayal of a genuinely revolution movement of working-class solidarity (yet again). Thus the CIA report accurately surmised:</p>
<p>“In May-June 1968, after months of <a href="" type="internal">intensifying protests</a>, students threw up barricades in the university section of Paris and initiated a period of guerrilla warfare in the streets of the Latin Quarter. The protest spread to other university cities; students were joined by 7 million striking workers ( <a href="" type="internal">who occupied the factories</a>); transportation and public services ground to a halt; and the 10-year-old government of General de Gaulle tottered. Marxist students looked to the Communist Party for leadership and declaration of a provisional government, but PCF leaders were already trying to restrain worker revolt and denounced the student radicals as woolly-minded anarchists. Many students concluded that the PCF had made a deal with de Gaulle, who eventually put down the riots.”</p>
<p>In the wake of the PCF’s abandonment of the revolutionary uprising of May 1968, and the failure to overthrow capitalism, it is rather unsurprising that conservative forces of reaction would seize this opportunity to intensify their challenge to Marxism. On this score, the CIA report refers to the success of the “New Philosophers,” whose anti-Stalinist and anti-Marxist ideas were widely championed in the mainstream media (throughout the 1970s) with the aid of <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Liberal-Defence-Murder-Richard-Seymour/dp/184467861X" type="external">Bernard-Henri Levy’s</a> highly influential Grasset publishing house. The CIA author then describes how these New Philosophers had become disillusioned with the Left, observing how “the traditional leftist parties’ pusillanimity during the student revolt of 1968 tore the scales from their eyes, causing them to reject their allegiance to the Communist Party, French socialism, and even the essential tenets of Marxism.”</p>
<p>The report’s author goes on to explain how “Raymond Aron, the revered dean of contemporary conservative thought in France,” had worked long years in his efforts to discredit “the intellectual edifice of French Marxism.” But importantly the report acknowledges: “Even more effective in undermining Marxism, however, were those intellectuals who set out as true believers to apply Marxist theory in the social sciences but ended up rethinking and rejecting the entire tradition.” On this score, the CIA analyst suggests:</p>
<p>“Among postwar French historians, the influential school of thought associated with Marc Bloch, Lucien Febvre, and Fernand Braudel has overwhelmed the traditional Marxist historians. The Annales school, as it is known from its principal journal, turned French historical scholarship on its head in the 1950s and 1960s, primarily by challenging and later rejecting the hitherto dominant Marxist theories of historical progress. Although many of its exponents maintain that they are ‘in the Marxist tradition,’ they mean only that they use Marxism as a critical point of departure for trying to discover the actual patterns of social history. For the most part, they have concluded that Marxist notions of the structure of the past – of social relationships, of patterns of events, and of their influence in the long term – are simplistic and invalid.</p>
<p>“In the field of anthropology, the influential structuralist school associated with Claude Levi-Strauss, Foucault, and others performed virtually the same mission. Although both structuralism and Annales methodology have fallen on hard times (critics accuse them of being too difficult for the uninitiated to follow), we believe their critical demolition of Marxist influence in the social sciences is likely to endure as a profound contribution to modern scholarship both in France and elsewhere in Western Europe.”</p>
<p>What the CIA author leaves unmentioned in this concise historical statement is the role that US elites played in nurturing the theorists of the Annales school as a central facet of the cultural Cold War Thankfully this important moment in history is reviewed in Kristin Ross’s book <a href="" type="internal">Fast Cars, Clean Bodies: Decolonization and the Reordering of French Culture</a> (1996).</p>
<p>“The French social sciences we are familiar with now were thus a postwar invention, and in all aspects of French modernization after the war their ascendency bore some relation to U.S. economic intervention. To a certain extent the turn to this kind of study was funded and facilitated by the United States in a kind of Marshall Plan for intellectuals. A review of the literature makes a convincing case that the foremost American export of the period was not Coca-Cola or movies but the supremacy of the social sciences. In October 1946, the director of the social science division of the Rockefeller Foundation proclaimed, ‘A New France, a new society is rising up from the ruins of the Occupation; the best of its efforts is magnificent, but the problems are staggering. In France, the issue of the conflict or the adaptation between communism and western democracy appears in its most acute form. France is its battlefield or laboratory.’ By expanding the social sciences in Europe, American sought to contain the progress of Marxism in the world.” (p.186)</p>
<p>Ross writes that the “main tactic” employed the Western-backed intellectuals at the Annales school “was that of cannibalism: encompass and absorb the enemies as a means of controlling them.” She refers to this approach as a “Science of empirical and quantitative sociology – the study of repetition – was erected against the science of history, the study of event.”</p>
<p>“In the 1950s and 1960s Braudel, Le Roy Laduirie, and others, ensconced after 1962 in the Maison des sciences de l’homme, produced what Braudel called ‘a history whose passage is almost imperceptible … a history in which all change is slow, a history of constant repetition, ever recurring cycles.’ Their most formidable enemies within the field of history lived across the street: the long lineage of Marxist historians of the French revolution – Georges Lefebvre, Albert Soboul, and the like – housed at the Sorbonne. For what is at stake in the erasure of the study of social movement in favour of that of structures is the possibility of abrupt change or mutation in history: the idea of Revolution itself. The old-fashioned historians of the event par excellence of French history, each in turn occupying the chaired professorship for the study of the French Revolution institute by the Sorbonne after 1891, looked askance at their thoroughly modernized, well-funded, and well-equipped (with photocopiers and computers) colleagues across the way.” (p.189)</p>
<p>With specific relevance to the CIA’s comments on the rise and rise of French structuralism, it is useful to reflect upon Ross’s analysis of this field of study. As she states:</p>
<p>“[T]he rise of structuralism in the 1950s and 1960s was above all a frontal attack on historical thought in general and Marxist dialectical analysis in particular; its appeal to many leftist French intellectuals after 1956 was overdetermined by the crisis within the French Communist Party and Marxism following the revelations of Stalin’s crimes and the Soviet invasion of <a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1956/11/hungary.htm" type="external">Hungary</a> at the end of that year. After such messy historical events, the clean, scientific precision of structuralism offered a kind of respite.” (p.180)</p>
<p>Other than Febvre and Braudel, at this stage it is worth briefly reflecting upon the career of another famous proponent of French structuralism, Claude Lévi-Strauss. This is because in 1941, while living in exile in America, Lévi-Strauss had been offered a job at the <a href="" type="internal">New School for Social Research</a> in New York City, where with the aid of the Rockefeller Foundation he helped found the <a href="" type="internal">École Libre des Hautes Études</a> with an official charter from de Gaulle’s government in exile. After the war Lévi-Strauss then went on to work as cultural attaché to the French embassy in Washington, before returning to France in 1948 whereupon he became the director of studies in anthropology (1950-74) at the École Pratique des Hautes Études’ newly established VI section. As Kristen Ross writes:</p>
<p>“A grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1947 helped finance the founding of the VI section of the Ecole pratique des hautes etudes under the directorship of historian Lucien Febvre, who had seized the initiative from a rival group of sociologists headed by Georges Gurvitch. Home to Fransois Furet in the early 1960s, this institution would be central to the future of the social sciences in France: in 1962, when Febve’s successor Fernand Braudel gathered all the various research laboratories scattered around the Latin Quarter and housed them in a single building on the Boulevard Raspaid, the Maison des sciences de l‘homme, the Ford Foundation helped finance the operation. In 1975 the VI section would in turn emancipate itself from the Ecole pratique and become the Ecole de hautes etudes en sciences sociales, with university status and the authorization to grant degrees.” (p.187)</p>
<p>The Ford Foundation’s decision, in 1959, to finance of the Maison des sciences de l‘homme proved to be a critical moment for the evolution of French social sciences as Ford’s $1 million grant certainly brought them great influence. Moreover shortly after this grant was dispensed, Ford also helped Raymond Aron to launch his Institute of European Sociology in Paris. Certainly it is not coincidental that Aron was already playing a prominent role in the undertakings of the CIA-backed Congress for Cultural Freedom – a famous anti-communist enterprise that had been set up in Paris in 1950 with the full support of America’s most influential liberal foundations.</p>
<p>Such assorted philanthropic interventions into French affairs “ <a href="https://academic.oup.com/dh/article-abstract/23/3/393/381934/Philanthropy-and-Diplomacy-in-the-American-Century?redirectedFrom=fulltext" type="external">were complemented</a> by support for the building of transnational institutions at the level of the European Community and for the fostering of transatlantic ties.” A key intellectual broker in this regard was French economist <a href="" type="internal">Jean Monnet</a>, who, while working hand-in-hand with American philanthropists, had been one of the founding fathers of both NATO and the European Union. Monnet enjoyed his own liaisons with economic and political elites at the <a href="http://thirdworldtraveler.com/Trilateralism/Bilderberg.html" type="external">Bilderberg Club</a>, and in the 1950s <a href="https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/people/aldrich/publications/oss_cia_united_europe_eec_eu.pdf" type="external">formed</a> his own Action Committee for a United States of Europe. Furthermore, on top of such transatlantic efforts to consolidate capitalist interests, the “Ford Foundation invested in American-style management education all over Western Europe, and by 1960 the European Association of Management Training, with Pierre Tabatoni as its president, acted as a roof organization for these schools…”</p>
<p>Philanthropic projects seeking to guide European academic enquiries away from Marxism were of course not limited to the social sciences — a matter of influence that is expanded upon in John Krige’s book <a href="" type="internal">American Hegemony and the Postwar Reconstruction of Science in Europe</a> (2008). In reference to the development of French science most particularly, Krige points out how Warren Weaver, who was the director the Division of the Natural Sciences at the Rockefeller Foundation (1932–55)…</p>
<p>“and the foundation were not simply interested in supporting good science and new directions in France. They wanted to use their financial leverage to steer French scientists along quite definite lines. Weaver in particular believed that the French were parochial and inward-looking. He wanted to transform them into outward-looking, “international” researchers, using techniques and tackling questions that were current above all in the United States. It was a vision inspired by the conviction that, without a radical remodeling of the French scientific community on American lines and the determined marginalization of Communist scientists in the field of biology, the country could never hope to play again a major role in the advancement of science.” (p.81)</p>
<p>Another integral part of the ongoing post World War II battle for French minds was more fundamentally concerned with defanging the mass organisations of the working-class themselves — trade unions. This battle was eagerly taken up by the AFL’s Free Trade Union Committee, with many American trade union officials proving themselves more than ready to take up the war against Communism (and union democracy) by covertly intervening in the day-to-day affairs of foreign trade unions. In their developing connections with the Free Trade Union Committee the CIA was in luck and “ <a href="" type="internal">found a</a> dedicated and experienced ally, with extensive networks and years of experience in the covert manipulation of international labor movements.” The underhand nature of this long and undemocratic relationship is well summed up by “a government memo, unsigned but attached to a November 1948 letter from David Bruce, the Chief of the Special Mission to France addressed to Paul Hoffman, the Administrator of the Economic Cooperation Administration”:</p>
<p>“[…] <a href="" type="internal">it will</a> not be enough to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into food, machinery, coal, and raw materials. We must find a means of not only aiding industry, of directly aiding the direct representatives of the workers. This is very difficult. The unions will not accept any aid from a foreign government. (If such aid does become available, it must be disguised and under no circumstances can the people here know anything about it. The whole matter therefore requires the utmost of discretion.) They will accept only trade union aid.”</p>
<p>After administering the <a href="" type="internal">Marshall Plan</a> for imperial interests, Paul Hoffman then moved on from his role as head of the Economic Cooperation Administration to become the president of the Ford Foundation (1950-3) in America. The interrelated and sophisticated nature of such sophisticated interventions into France’s political affairs are usefully laid bare in Giles Scott-Smith’s incisive study <a href="" type="internal">Networks of Empire: The US State Department’s Foreign Leader Program in the Netherlands, France, and Britain, 1950-70</a> (2011). Scott-Smith surmises:</p>
<p>“The ability of the US to interfere in French affairs was unparalleled during that first decade [after the end of World War II], yet the governments in Paris were still able maintain an independent outlook and steer their own course, benefitting from their special place within US strategy towards Western Europe. The European Cooperation Administration, with its headquarters in Paris, exerted a tremendous influence on the French socioeconomic scene, yet it implemented it via its own version, the Monnet Plan. US financial and military aid was recycled to enable long-running colonial wars to be fought in Indochina and North Africa. French reluctance to support an economic revival of Germany soon became sublimated into structural plans for European integration, with Paris leading the way. While the CIA supported the Force Ouvrière trade union and a host of other anti-communist outlets like the Congress for Cultural Freedom in Paris, French political elites willingly adopted their own strategies to undermine communist influence. US influence was therefore constrained by French political and social imperatives.” (p.327)</p>
<p>Returning to the analysis presented in the CIA’s now declassified report, it is noteworthy that the report’s authors downplay the fascist/traditionalist orientation of the New Right forces that rose to prominence in the wake of 1968. In fact, the CIA initially simply refer to these forces in their report as the “new liberals.” Later on the CIA analyst states:</p>
<p>“Encouraged by writers and publishers who are associated in some way with right-wing press baron Robert Hersant, the New Right in France has taken up the ideas of reviving classic European liberalism as the elixir that France needs to recover from Socialist ‘mismanagement’.”</p>
<p>In a more revealing appendix to their report, entitled “Cultural aspects of New Right thought,” the CIA however go on to point out how:</p>
<p>“Conservative writers, many of them associated with the group for Research and Study of European Civilization ( <a href="" type="internal">GRECE</a>) and the Clock Club (Club de l’Horloge)… have found an outlet for their arguments in Hersant publications, notably Figaro Magazine, which is edited by GRECE kindred spirit Louis Pauwels.”</p>
<p>Here the CIA also draw attention to “the anti-egalitarian and even anti-Christian elements of GRECE/Horloge thinking”, but only to observe, how in recent years, this element of their thinking had apparently been toned down to better spread their toxic ideas. That said, the CIA report at least admits that GRECE were not really “new liberals,” as they point out that even:</p>
<p>“Raymond Aron, the revered dean of contemporary conservative thought in France, detested the New Right intellectuals, often equating their elitist anti-egalitarianism with the worse antidemocratic strains in French conservativism.”</p>
<p>Nevertheless in the wake of 1968 it is clear that the capitalist establishment in both America and France sought to do everything in their power to undermine the national and international unity of working-class struggle. Expressed in a blunt form this led a renewed focus on excluding certain left-wing voices from the mainstream media. Here a good example of such practices is provided by the activism of right-wing financier Sir James Goldsmith who in 1977 purchased the left-wing L’Express, a popular newspaper which the new owner had previously identified as “ <a href="" type="internal">the source</a> of intellectual sickness of France”. Sir James’ first move upon acquiring this newspaper was to impose Raymond Aron upon the papers staff. On a more mundane academic level, elite funding agencies also continued to support scholarly efforts to learn more about the threat posed by an increasingly militant trade union movement across Western Europe.</p>
<p>Ultimately, however, despite many notable gains and inspiring victories, left-wing forces were tragically beaten back by a resurgent and coordinated neoliberal assault upon democracy worldwide. As in France, this process of neoliberal transformation was made easier by the willing collaboration of the Communist Party with members of the ruling-class, and by the stark betrayals of the working-class by left reformists like Mitterrand. It was in these unfavourable conditions that the intellectually debilitating but well-funded postmodern theories of French post-structuralists subsequently gained an unwelcome foothold within both academia and to some extent the mainstream media. As the Marxist literary theorist Terry Eagleton argues in his book <a href="" type="internal">Literary Theory: an Introduction</a> (1983):</p>
<p>“Post-structuralism was a product of that blend of euphoria and disillusionment, liberation and dissipation, carnival and catastrophe, which was 1968. Unable to break the structures of state power, post-structuralism found it possible instead to subvert the structures of language. Nobody, at least, was likely to beat you over the head for doing so. The student movement was flushed off the streets and driven underground into discourse. Its enemies… became coherent belief-systems of any kind – in particular all forms of political theory and organization which sought to analyse, and act upon, the structures of society as a whole.” (p.142)</p>
<p>Of course these dead-end and intellectually incoherent currents of ‘leftist’ retreat did not remain confined to France — as exemplified by the Ford Foundation’s support of a two-year program of seminars in the mid-1960s which gave a boost to French structuralism on American shores. Yet in spite of such academic set-backs for those on the Left, the possibility of emancipatory working-class struggles developing are once again visible on capitalism’s inhumane horizon. Early signs of this revival can be seen by the resurgent popularity garnered for socialist political candidates like Bernie Sanders (in America), Jean-Luc Mélenchon (in France), and Jeremy Corbyn (in Britain).</p>
<p>No doubt, the ruling-class and their intelligence agencies will, at this very moment, be frantically drafting up new “research reports” so that they may orientate their political activities in a vain attempt to neutralise this growing mood of resistance. So this time around we have to ensure that we have learned the appropriate lessons from history. First and foremost we must refuse to allow any new socialist leaders to mislead us in our bid for freedom. And so we must be clear that if our leaders are not up to the task of helping us build a democratic and socialist alternative to the bankrupt status quo then we must be ready to replace them, and ultimately be willing to seize power for ourselves.</p> | Why the CIA Cares About Marxism | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/06/15/why-the-cia-cares-about-marxism/ | 2017-06-15 | 4 |
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<p>The Cheyenne, Wyo.-based fast-food brand has more than 400 locations in 25 states, according to its website. That includes New Mexico, although the only current Land of Enchantment location is at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo.</p>
<p>Taco John's - first franchised in 1969, a year after the original "Taco House" opened in Cheyenne - has previously focused its growth in smaller, more rural markets.</p>
<p>Renee Middleton, vice president of marketing for Taco John's, said the strategy has shifted with a CEO change last year. It now targets larger metro areas.</p>
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<p>"It's (about) going into markets where there's opportunity for a franchisee or a group of franchisees," Middleton said.</p>
<p>Ron Brown is opening the first local Taco John's. It's going inside Latitudes, his high-end fueling station/convenience store on N.M. 528 near Intel. He said Taco John's will replace the property's sandwich shop. Taco John's offers a menu full of burritos, tacos, nachos and other such fare.</p> | Taco John's will open next month | false | https://abqjournal.com/342879/taco-johns-will-open-next-month.html | 2 |
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<p>I have a confession to make. I am part of a vast international conspiracy that is bent on violently destroying our way of life and, ultimately, threatening our very survival itself. This cabal has as its unstated purpose the erosion of public institutions, theft on a global scale, and the decimation of democratic structures wherever they may be found. It is a relentless enterprise, rife with hatred and vitriol, and it will not rest until it eliminates all competing systems of ideology and belief.</p>
<p>You see, I am a consumerist.</p>
<p>I didn’t intend to become one; it just sort of happened. My parents were ones too, so I guess it must have started there. All my teachers were ones, and my role models as well. Looking back, pretty much all of my friends and family, and just about everyone I’ve ever known, were also consumerists. My recruitment started early on and was reinforced at every turn by those around me — and likewise by every highway billboard, television commercial, and eye-level point-of-purchase display to which I was exposed.</p>
<p>I remember once when I was younger and more impressionable, a guy came around, a real flashy type who talked a big game and always had all the coolest new gadgets and devices. He exhorted me and my friends to “amp it up,” telling us that we needed to learn how to “game the system” or we would just become pawns in it like the “mindless masses.” He plied us with expensive gifts and said he was recruiting us to become the next generation of “movers and shakers” who would remake society in our vision rather than go along with the mainstream. “It’s good to be the king,” he always reminded us.</p>
<p>A few of my friends succumbed to his overtures, skirting the boundaries of ethicality and legality in pursuit of wealth and privilege. They started to pick up the jargon about “low-hanging fruit” being there for the taking, “hostile takeovers” promising “quick and dirty” rewards, having access to “inside information” that would enable them to acquire “strategic targets” with accuracy and almost no risk to themselves. Everything with them began to focus on how to get the most “bang for the buck,” and their scorn for the rules of the game and structures of authority was evident at every turn.</p>
<p>I suppose I was lucky that I didn’t have the constitution for these sorts of mercenary behaviors. It wasn’t so much that I feared the laws or authorities, but more so that I recognized the potential dangers of failing to accept any social responsibility for the welfare of others whatsoever. It wasn’t about just “sticking it to the man” or “getting ours while the getting is good,” but this cavalier courtship with conspicuous consumption was also about showing disdain for working-class people (like myself, even though I tried to hide it) and using power to coerce others to do one’s bidding. I didn’t like it.</p>
<p>Still, the influence of these teachings stayed with me, and I could increasingly see them everywhere in society to greater or lesser degrees. I hadn’t joined the cabal full-on, but watered-down versions of its “power and profit” conspiracy were everywhere to be found. From the corner-grocery lottery to the gambler’s rush of online trading, the essence of “casino capitalism” has imbued a populace eternally in search of megabucks and the accoutrements of opulence that are the hallmarks of the “lifestyles of the rich and famous” that hold so much fascination for so many people. Everywhere, everyday, people are plotting how to climb over others on the ladder of success.</p>
<p>A friend recently showed me their new handheld device and all of its cool apps. “It’s the bomb,” they said, in that “so fifteen minutes ago” vernacular. Indeed, I thought, it is an incendiary device. How many dead Congolese or Afghans were in that innocuous-looking gadget? How many ecosystems had been destroyed in the process of making it, and how many more would be done in when it wound up in the garbage dump as forced obsolescence set in around six months from now? How many exploited workers in Asian and Mexican factories were required to assemble this consumer item, and how much of their own health and wellbeing will they be compelled to sacrifice in order to produce nonessential creature comforts for our usage?</p>
<p>The supermarket mantra of “paper or plastic” might as well be a reference to explosive devices rather than just what sort of bag one prefers to haul their wares around in. We may try to mask it by calling them “consumer goods,” but they are in large measure undeniably bad, for people and the environment alike. The innocent, mundane purchases we make are like faintly ticking time-bombs, spin-offs of the same forces that produce military hardware, embedded with the nonrenewable resources that drive global conflict and climate change, taxing our health into skyrocketing maintenance costs, and in the process rendering us utterly dependent on and essentially complicit with the forces of destruction.</p>
<p>There are words to describe such behaviors: sociopathic, nihilistic, violent, terroristic. Despite this, groups of shoppers go about their business without infiltration or provocation, descending on cities and towns everywhere en masse to wreak havoc without penalty or prejudice. In the standard parlance, these are not the enemies, they are the “good people” going about their business; those who want to hold a mirror up to them or wake them out of their doldrums are coded as the real enemies, the ones who want to destroy “our way of life,” and they will accordingly be dealt with as such. In the end, there is really only one high crime in our lockstep world of conformity: Incitement to Alternatives.</p>
<p>I make this nascent confession today so as to alert the appropriate authorities of this ongoing plot to undermine the fabric of society, and to take a mea culpa for my part in all of it over the years. The wanted posters and enforcement bulletins may not yet be warning us to be on the lookout for the “violent consumerist” in our midst, and there aren’t really any news articles yet where neighbors are quoted as saying “gee, he seemed like such a nice guy” after someone goes on an unabashed shopping spree. Trust me, folks — the violent consumerist is hard to spot, and indeed probably looks just like you and me.</p>
<p>Now that the word is getting out, perhaps we can all begin to disavow any participation in violence as a way of getting what we need in this world. Most of us really are in fact “good people” looking to go about our lives without harming anyone or anything else. Unfortunately, we have become unwitting participants in the biggest criminal conspiracy in human history, and in the process have become the greatest purveyors of violence that the world has ever seen. The blood on our hands is like invisible ink, obvious only under ultraviolet scrutiny but displaying no indicia in normal light. It is past time to wash our hands of these inscribed behaviors, reduce the damage being done in our wake, and start to clean up our collective act.</p>
<p>Randall Amster, J.D., Ph.D., is the Graduate Chair of Humanities at Prescott College. He serves as Executive Director of the&#160; <a href="http://www.peacejusticestudies.org/" type="external">Peace and Justice Studies Association</a>,&#160;and is the publisher and editor of&#160; <a href="http://www.newclearvision.com/" type="external">New Clear Vision</a>. Among his recent books are&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Anarchism Today</a>&#160;(Praeger, 2012) and&#160; <a href="https://www.lfbscholarly.com/product-detail/lost-in-space-the-criminalization-globalization-and-urban-ecology-of-homelessness" type="external">Lost in Space: The Criminalization, Globalization, and Urban Ecology of Homelessness</a>&#160;(LFB Scholarly, 2008).</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Confessions of a Violent Consumerist | true | https://counterpunch.org/2012/05/24/confessions-of-a-violent-consumerist/ | 2012-05-24 | 4 |
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<p>The burrito chain said Tuesday that sales fell 21.9 percent at established restaurants during the third quarter, worse than the 18.3 percent drop Wall Street analysts expected, according to FactSet. It’s the fourth straight quarter of sales declines for the company after an E. coli outbreak last year sickened some customers.</p>
<p>Chipotle has given out millions of free burritos, launched a loyalty program and released food safety ads to try and win back customers. But the company is still hurting from the outbreak. Chipotle, which has more than 2,100 restaurants, said its profit plummeted 95 percent in the quarter.</p>
<p>Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. fell 2.4 percent after the market closed Tuesday.</p>
<p>To try to boost sales, Chipotle is cooking up new menu items and upgrading its digital ordering platform. Earlier this month, it started selling chorizo, a spicy pork sausage, at restaurants nationwide. And it announced Tuesday that it is testing two dessert items and plans to add one to its menu in the future — but didn’t say what the treats would be. It also hopes that an updated site will lead to more digital orders, which now make up only 6 percent of sales, the company said.</p>
<p>Still, Chipotle said pricier avocados may keep its costs high. The company said a shortage is causing avocado prices to nearly triple from $30 a case to $80 a case.</p>
<p>Overall, Chipotle reported net income of $7.8 million, or 27 cents per share, in the three months ending Sept. 30, compared with $144.9 million, or $4.59 per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted earnings were 79 cents per share, below the $1.96 per share analysts expected, according to FactSet.</p>
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<p>Revenue fell 15 percent to $1.04 billion, below the $1.09 billion analysts expected.</p>
<p>Chipotle said that it also plans to stop investing it its Southeast Asian-inspired chain ShopHouse. The food at that chain, which was started five years ago and has 15 restaurants, wasn’t able to attract a big following, Chipotle said. The company said it is seeking “strategic alternatives” for ShopHouse. Instead, it plans to bet on pizza and burgers for growth. The company is an investor in Pizzeria Locale, a fast-cooking pizza chain with seven locations. Earlier this year, it applied for a trademark for “Better Burger.”</p>
<p>Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. fell $8.83 to $396.84 in after-hours trading Tuesday. Its stock is down about 40 percent for the year.</p>
<p>______</p>
<p>This story has been corrected to show that it is Chipotle’s fourth straight quarter of sales declines.</p> | Chipotle sales fall again as it tries to win back customers | false | https://abqjournal.com/874917/chipotles-sales-fall-again-as-it-tries-to-win-back-customers.html | 2016-10-25 | 2 |
<p>Cantor Fitzgerald LP stopped trading Venezuelan debt Tuesday, days after the Treasury Department slapped financial sanctions on the country for undermining democracy.</p>
<p>The move is the first blanket restriction on Venezuelan bonds by a large U.S. financial institution. Trading in Venezuelan debt, until recently among the most easily purchased emerging market bonds, has slowed to a trickle this week, reflecting typical end-of-summer torpor as well as investor efforts to evaluate the impact of the U.S. sanctions.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Cantor, one of the largest intermediaries for Wall Street traders, as well as its affiliates GFI Group and BGC Partners have pulled all bonds issued by the Republic of Venezuela and state-oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA, known as PdVSA, from auctions and told customers those trades are restricted, said three Cantor clients who asked to remain anonymous because they aren't authorized to speak to the press.</p>
<p>Cantor declined to comment.</p>
<p>On Friday, the U.S. Treasury banned U.S. financial institutions from trading any new bonds issued by Venezuela or from trading with any Venezuelan government entity. Officials said the move aims to punish President Nicolás Maduro and his administration for a move toward authoritarianism and that more financial sanctions would come if the repression continues.</p>
<p>"Maduro may no longer take advantage of the American financial system to facilitate the wholesale looting of the Venezuelan economy at the expense of the Venezuelan people," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday.</p>
<p>Traders say they are slowing or stopping trades in the country's securities because of fear that they could be unknowingly buying or selling bonds on behalf of people connected to Venezuelan government.</p>
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<p>Just $7.4 million-worth of PdVSA's flagship bond due in 2024 changed hands Tuesday, less than half the amount a year ago and down from $141 million traded on Aug. 24, the last day before the sanctions, according to MarketAxess data.</p>
<p>Large Wall Street investment banks that trade with investors continued to buy and sell Venezuelan bonds Tuesday, investors said. But the difference, or "spread," between the bid and offer prices quoted by the banks has widened to as much as 1 percentage point from half a point, they said, showing that the banks are charging more from clients to execute trades as the perceived risk of doing so has risen.</p>
<p>Venezuelan bond trading attracted public scrutiny earlier this year after the asset-management business of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought $2.8 billion-worth of the country's debt at about 30 cents on the dollar.</p>
<p>Venezuelan opposition accused the investment bank of financing the Mr. Maduro's repression of peaceful protesters. Goldman Sachs had said the bonds were bought on the secondary markets and didn't add any fresh funds to the government.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, Credit Suisse Group said it prohibited its traders from buying and selling two existing Venezuelan bonds because of the risk the trades would finance human rights abuses.</p>
<p>The policy forbids employees from trading or using as collateral two specific bonds, one issued by the Venezuelan government due in 2036, and one by state oil PDVSA due in 2022, as well as bonds from government entities issued after June 1.</p>
<p>The Latin America committee of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, which oversees credit default swap trading, scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday to discuss Venezuela, a person familiar with the matter said.</p>
<p>--Julie Wernau and Carolyn Cui contributed to this article.</p>
<p>Write to Anatoly Kurmanaev at [email protected] and Matt Wirz at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>August 29, 2017 17:26 ET (21:26 GMT)</p> | Cantor Fitzgerald Stops Trading Venezuelan Bonds -- 2nd Update | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/08/29/cantor-fitzgerald-stops-trading-venezuelan-bonds-2nd-update.html | 2017-08-29 | 0 |
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago officials vowed Thursday to step up the competition to lure Amazon's headquarters after the company named the city among the top 20 locations in the running for a facility that promises 50,000 jobs.</p>
<p>Amazon narrowed the list of 238 proposals from the U.S., Mexico and Canada, to 20 finalists, also including Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio, in the Midwest. The Seattle-based company plans to announce the winner later this year.</p>
<p>Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Chicago offers "unparalleled opportunities" with its qualified workforce, higher education institutions and quality of life.</p>
<p>"We are prepared to compete at the next level and the next level after that," he said in a statement.</p>
<p>Chicago, which teamed up with state officials for the bid, has only released some details, touting the possibility of 10 different sites in the region. One in the city's downtown core includes space in the Willis Tower. Two are in the suburbs.</p>
<p>However, officials have kept details on possible tax breaks and incentives quiet. The city denied Freedom of Information Act requests from The Associated Press, sending 82 pages of non-disclosure agreements between Chicago, its nonprofit economic development arm and companies.</p>
<p>The competition has been fierce among cities.</p>
<p>State and local governments have tried to showcase amenities they think would best lure Amazon's second headquarters, called HQ2. Some cities pulled off stunts like Tucson, Arizona, which sent a 21-foot tall cactus to Seattle. The city didn't make the cut.</p>
<p>Chicago hired actor William Shatner to narrate the city's accompanying video pitch to get the attention of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who's a known Trekkie and played an alien in the 2016 movie "Star Trek Beyond."</p>
<p>Other finalists include tech-strong cities such as Boston, New York, Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles, which was the only West Coast city on the list.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Sophia Tareen on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sophiatareen.</p>
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago officials vowed Thursday to step up the competition to lure Amazon's headquarters after the company named the city among the top 20 locations in the running for a facility that promises 50,000 jobs.</p>
<p>Amazon narrowed the list of 238 proposals from the U.S., Mexico and Canada, to 20 finalists, also including Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio, in the Midwest. The Seattle-based company plans to announce the winner later this year.</p>
<p>Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Chicago offers "unparalleled opportunities" with its qualified workforce, higher education institutions and quality of life.</p>
<p>"We are prepared to compete at the next level and the next level after that," he said in a statement.</p>
<p>Chicago, which teamed up with state officials for the bid, has only released some details, touting the possibility of 10 different sites in the region. One in the city's downtown core includes space in the Willis Tower. Two are in the suburbs.</p>
<p>However, officials have kept details on possible tax breaks and incentives quiet. The city denied Freedom of Information Act requests from The Associated Press, sending 82 pages of non-disclosure agreements between Chicago, its nonprofit economic development arm and companies.</p>
<p>The competition has been fierce among cities.</p>
<p>State and local governments have tried to showcase amenities they think would best lure Amazon's second headquarters, called HQ2. Some cities pulled off stunts like Tucson, Arizona, which sent a 21-foot tall cactus to Seattle. The city didn't make the cut.</p>
<p>Chicago hired actor William Shatner to narrate the city's accompanying video pitch to get the attention of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who's a known Trekkie and played an alien in the 2016 movie "Star Trek Beyond."</p>
<p>Other finalists include tech-strong cities such as Boston, New York, Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles, which was the only West Coast city on the list.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Sophia Tareen on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sophiatareen.</p> | Chicago mayor vows to step up Amazon second headquarters bid | false | https://apnews.com/amp/d08a3d8949d34707acc8b49d807ceb70 | 2018-01-18 | 2 |
<p>The next weeks should reveal whether we are experiencing the equivalent of a geopolitical earthquake.</p>
<p>Washington intended that NATO, from its very inception, serve as its instrument for maintaining its political hegemony over Western Europe, forestalling the emergence of a bloc that could play an independent role in world affairs. Charles DeGaulle, Winston Churchill, and many influential politicians envisioned such an alliance less as a means of confronting the Soviet army than as a way of containing a resurgent Germany as well as balancing American power.</p>
<p>Publicly, the reason for creating NATO in 1949 was the alleged Soviet military menace, but the U.S. always planned to employ strategic nuclear weapons to defeat the USSR–for which it did not need an alliance. But no one in Washington believed a war with Russia was imminent or even likely, a view that prevailed most of the time until the USSR finally disappeared. There was also the justification of preventing the Western Europeans from being obsessed with fear at reconstructing Germany’s economy, and American military planners were concerned with internal subversion. But when the Soviet Union capsized over a decade ago, NATO’s nominal rationale for existence died with it.</p>
<p>But the principal reason for its creation–to forestall European autonomy–remains.</p>
<p>For Washington, the problem of NATO is linked to the future of Germany, which since 1990 has been undecided about the extent to which it wishes to work through that organization or, more importantly, to conform to U.S.’ initiatives in East Europe. Germany’s unilateral recognition of Croatia in December 1991 was crucial in triggering the war in Bosnia and revealed its potentially dangerous and destabilizing capacity for autonomous action. Its power over the European Monetary Union and European Union understandably causes other Europeans to fear the revival of German domination. But for the U.S., the issue of Germany is also a question of the extent to which it can constrain America’s ability to play the same decisive role in Europe in the future as it has in the past. Such grand geopolitical questions have been brewing for over a decade.</p>
<p>NATO provided a peacekeeping force in Bosnia to enforce the agreement that ended the internecine civil war in that part of Yugoslavia, but in 1999 it ceased being a purely defensive alliance and entered the war against the Serbs on behalf of the Albanians in Kosovo. The U. S. employed about half the aircraft it assigns for a full regional war but found the entire experience very frustrating. Targets had to be approved by all 19 members, any one of which could veto American proposals. The Pentagon’s after-action report of October 1999 conceded that America needed the cooperation of NATO countries, but “gaining consensus among 19 democratic nations is not easy and can only be achieved through discussion and compromise.” But Wesley Clark, the American who was NATO’s supreme commander, regarded the whole experience as a nightmare–both in his relations with the Pentagon and NATO’s members. “[W]orking within the NATO alliance,” American generals complained, “unduly constrained U.S. military forces from getting the job done quickly and effectively.” A war expected to last a few days instead took 78-days. The Yugoslav war taught the Americans a grave lesson.</p>
<p>Long before September 11, 2001, Washington was determined to avoid the serious constraints that NATO could impose. The only question was of timing and how the United States would escape NATO’s clear obligations while maintaining its hegemony over its members. It wanted to preserve NATO for the very reason it had created it: to keep Europe from developing an independent political as well as military organization. Coordinating NATO’s command structure with that of any all-European military organization that may be created impinges directly on America’s power over Europe’s actions and reflects its deep ambiguity. Some of its members wanted NATO to reach a partial accord with Russia, a relationship on which Washington often shifted, but Moscow remains highly suspicious of its plans to extend its membership to Russia’s very borders. When the new administration came to power in January 2001, NATO’s fundamental role was already being reconsidered.</p>
<p>President Bush is strongly unilateralist, and he repudiated the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, opposes further restrictions on nuclear weapons tests or land mines, and is against a host of other existing and projected accords. He also greatly accelerated the development of Anti-Ballistic Missile system, which will ostensibly give the U.S. a first-strike capacity and which China and Russia justifiably regard as destabilizing–thereby threatening to renew the nuclear arms race. Downgrading the United Nations, needless to say, was axiomatic. The war in Afghanistan was fought without NATO but on the U.S.’ terms by a “floating” coalition “of the willing,” a model for future conflicts “that will evolve and change over time depending on the activity and circumstances of the country.” It accepted the small German, French, Italian, and other contingents that were offered only after it became clear that the war, and especially its aftermath, would take considerably longer than the Pentagon expected. But it did not consult them on military matters or crucial political questions.</p>
<p>Washington has decided that its allies must now accept its objectives and work solely on its terms, and it has no intention whatsoever of discussing the merits of its actions in NATO conferences. This applies, above all, to the imminent war against Iraq–a war of choice. This de facto abandonment of NATO as a military organization was made explicit during 2002 when Washington proposed a simultaneous enlargement of its membership to include the Baltic states and to allow Russia to have a voice, but no veto, on important matters. The nations along Russia’s borders regard NATO purely as protection against Russia, and are therefore eager to please the U.S.–which wants no constraints on its potential military actions.</p>
<p>The crisis in NATO was both overdue and inevitable, the result of a decisive American reorientation, and the time and ostensible reason for it was far less important than the underlying reason it occurred: the U.S.’ growing realization after the early 1990s that while the organization was militarily a growing liability it remained a political asset. That the United Nations and Security Council are today also being strained in ways too early to estimate is far less important because the U.S. never assigned the UN the same crucial role as it did its alliance in Europe.</p>
<p>Today, NATO’s original raison d’?tre of imposing American hegemony is now the core of the controversy that is now raging. Washington cannot sustain this grandiose objective because a reunited Germany is far too powerful to be treated as it was a half-century ago, and Germany has its own interests in the Middle East and Asia to protect. Germany and France’s independence is reinforced by inept American propaganda on the relationship of Iraq to Al-Qaeda (from which the CIA and British MI6 have openly distanced themselves), overwhelming antiwar public opinion in many nations, and a great deal of opposition within the U. S. establishment and many senior military men to a war with Iraq. The furious American response to Germany, France, and Belgium’s refusal, under article 4 of the NATO treaty, to protect Turkey from an Iraqi counterattack because that would prejudge the Security Council’s decision on war and peace is only a contrived reason for confronting fundamental issues that have simmered for many years. The dispute was far more about symbolism than substance, and the point has been made: some NATO members refuse to allow the organization to serve as a rubber stamp for American policy, whatever it may be.</p>
<p>Turkey’s problem is simple: the U. S. is pressuring it, despite overwhelmingly antiwar Turkish public and political opinion, to allow American troops to invade Iraq from Turkey and to enter the war on its side. The U.S. wants NATO to aid Turkey in order to strengthen the Ankara government’s resolve to ignore overwhelmingly antiwar domestic opinion, for the arms it is to receive are superfluous. But the Turks are far more concerned with Kurdish separatism in Iraq rekindling the civil war that Kurds have fought in Turkey for much of the past decade, and the conditions they are demanding on these issues have put Washington in a very difficult position from which–as of this writing–it has not extricated itself. Turkey’s best–and most obvious–defense is to stay out of the war, which the vast majority of Turks want. It may end up doing so.</p>
<p>America still desires to regain the mastery over Europe it had during the peak of the Cold War but it is also determined not to be bound by European desires–or indeed by the overwhelming European public opposition to a war with Iraq. Genuine dialogue or consultation with its NATO allies is out of the question. The Bush Administration, even more than its predecessors, simply does not believe in it–nor will it accept NATO’s formal veto structure; NATO’s division on Turkey has nothing to do with it. Washington cannot have it both ways. Its commitment to aggressive unilateralism is the antithesis of an alliance system that involves real consultation. France and Germany are now far too powerful to be treated as obsequious dependents. They also believe in sovereignty, as does every nation which is strong enough to exercise it, and they are now able to insist that the United States both listen to and take their views seriously. It was precisely this danger that the U.S. sought to forestall when it created NATO over 50 years ago.</p>
<p>The controversy over NATO’s future has been exacerbated by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s attacks on “Old Europe” and the disdain for Germany and France that he and his adviser, Richard Perle, have repeated, but these are but a reflection of the underlying problems that have been smoldering for years. Together, the nations that oppose a preemptive American war in Iraq and the Middle East–an open-ended, destabilizing adventure that is likely to last years–can influence Europe’s future development and role in the world profoundly. If Russia cooperates with them, even only occasionally, they will be much more powerful, and President Putin’s support for their position on the war makes that a real possibility.</p>
<p>Eastern European nations may say what Washington wishes today, but economically they are far more dependent on Germany and those allied with it. When the 15 nations in European Union met on February 17 their statement on Iraq was far closer to the German-French position than the American, reflecting the antiwar nations’ economic clout as well as the response of some prowar political leaders to the massive antiwar demonstrations that took place the preceding weekend in Italy, Spain, Britain and the rest of Europe. There is every likelihood that the U.S. will emerge from this crisis in NATO more belligerent, and more isolated and detested, than ever. NATO will then go the way of SEATO and all of the other defunct American alliances.</p>
<p>The reality is that the world is increasingly multipolar, economically and technologically, and that the U.S.’ desire to maintain absolute military superiority over the world is a chimera. Russia remains a military superpower, China is becoming one, and the proliferation of destructive weaponry should have been confronted and stopped 20 years ago. The U.S. has no alternative but to accept the world as it is, or prepare for doomsday. The conflict in NATO, essentially, reflects this diffusion of all forms of power and the diminution of American hegemony, which remains far more a dream than a reality.</p>
<p>GABRIEL KOLKO, research professor emeritus at York University in Toronto, is author, most recently, of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/156584758X/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Another Century of War?</a> (The New Press, 2002). He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Crisis in NATO | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/02/18/the-crisis-in-nato/ | 2003-02-18 | 4 |
<p><a href="http://www.mariaschneider.com/" type="external">Maria Schneider</a>&#160;is a rarity in the world of jazz. She’s a composer in the vein of Duke Ellington with her own orchestra, at a time when most players work in small combos. Her 18-piece ensemble sometimes blasts like a big band, but most of the time they play music that sounds intimate and deeply personal.</p>
<p>Studio 360 will follow Schneider’s creative process as she puts together her latest album. To begin, Kurt Andersen pays a visit to her apartment in New York, where she’s still tinkering with the harmonies on some of the pieces. Schneider plays a song in progress that’s based on an experience she had back home in southern Minnesota, where she climbed to the top of a silo and looked out at a field of soybeans. But, she says, the song isn’t quite there yet. “I’m not happy until I am sitting on that silo.”</p>
<p>Schneider explains that she found an early talent for big band music, and kept getting work. “It just felt like I got on a train and I never got off,” she says. Schneider apprenticed under Gil Evans, the legendary arranger who worked with Miles Davis. Evans encouraged her to be unorthodox and find her own voice. “[That] really made me say ‘I have to start my own band,’” she remembers.</p>
<p>Bonus Track: How Maria Schneider became her own label</p>
<p />
<p>In 2014 Maria Schneider testified in Congress against digital piracy. “As fast as I take my music down, it reappears again,” she told the committee, calling her efforts to police her work online “an endless Whac-A-Mole game.” You won't find her music on Spotify or Pandora, because she feels that the pennies and the exposure she gets from streaming services aren't worth the cost. Schneider tells Kurt how she started using crowd funding to pay for her albums before Kickstarter became a thing.</p> | Maria Schneider: In Progress | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-09-05/maria-schneider-progress | 2014-09-05 | 3 |
<p>LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - And the name is .... Chicago West.</p>
<p>Kim Kardashian’s new baby daughter with rapper husband Kanye West has been named Chicago, the reality star announced on her app on Friday.</p>
<p>The baby girl was born to a surrogate on Monday, a third child for the celebrity couple.</p>
<p>Kardashian revealed the name, without explanation, in a simple update to the birth announcement she made earlier this week.</p> FILE PHOTO: Socialite Kim Kardashian arrives at Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala in New York City, U.S, May 1, 2017 REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo
<p>West, 40, was born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago.</p>
<p>Kardashian, 37, and West are already parents to North, 4, and Saint, 2.</p>
<p>The “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” reality and social media star has said she decided to use a surrogate after doctors warned of serious health risks if she became pregnant again.</p>
<p>Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Andrew Hay</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - More than 50 Hollywood executives have thrown their support behind Netflix, which is facing a campaign by a Palestinian-led movement to drop Israeli television series “Fauda” from its streaming platform.</p> The Netflix logo is pictured on a television remote in this illustration photograph taken in Encinitas, California, U.S., January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake
<p>In a letter on Tuesday to Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos, the executives from record labels and Hollywood talent agencies called the move by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement a “blatant attempt at artistic censorship.”</p>
<p>“Fauda” is an Israeli-made television thriller set in the West Bank about an Israeli undercover agent who comes out of retirement to hunt for a Palestinian militant.</p>
<p>The show, which features dialog in both Hebrew and Arabic, was first broadcast on Israeli television in 2015 and premiered on Netflix in December 2016. Netflix is due to release the second season in May.</p>
<p>In a posting on its website last week, the BDS called on Netflix to “nix ‘Fauda’,” saying the series “glorifies the Israeli military’s war crimes against the Palestinian people.”</p>
<p>“Failing to do so will open Netflix to nonviolent grassroots pressure and possible legal accountability,” the posting added.</p>
<p>Netflix declined to comment on Wednesday.</p>
<p>In its letter of support, the U.S.-based Creative Community for Peace called “Fauda” a “nuanced portrayal of issues related to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.”</p>
<p>“We want you to know that we stand behind you and Netflix in the face of this blatant attempt at artistic censorship,” the letter said. Signatories included Universal Music Publishing Group Chief Executive Jody Gerson, Geffen Records president Neil Jacobson and Steve Schnur, music president at videogame producer Electronic Arts.</p>
<p>The campaign against “Fauda” is the latest move since 2005 by BDS to promote a global cultural boycott against Israel.</p>
<p>It has succeeded in recent years in dissuading a number of music acts, including Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, Elvis Costello and New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde, from performing in Israel.</p>
<p>(This version of the story corrects typographical error in penultimate paragraph to against instead of again)</p>
<p>Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Sandra Maler</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>A court in Rajasthan on Thursday convicted Bollywood star Salman Khan in a 19-year-old poaching case, a lawyer for the prosecution said.</p> Bollywood actor Salman Khan (C) arrives at a court in Jodhpur in the western state of Rajasthan, India, April 5, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer
<p>Khan and fellow actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam Kothari and Sonali Bendre were charged in the killing of endangered blackbuck antelopes in 1998 while shooting for the film “Hum Saath-Saath Hain” in Rajasthan. All other accused have been acquitted.</p>
<p>“The court has pronounced Salman Khan guilty. Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Tabu and Sonali Bendre have been given the benefit of the doubt and let off. Arguments for the quantum of sentence are on,” the lawyer told reporters outside court.</p>
<p>The conviction could lead to a prison sentence of up to six years, TV channels said.</p> Slideshow (2 Images)
<p>Khan is arguably India’s biggest star, and most of his films figure in Bollywood’s top box office earners. His last release in December, “Tiger Zinda Hai”, grossed more than 3 billion rupees ($52 million). His next film is an action thriller and scheduled to release during the Eid holiday weekend in August.</p>
<p>This is not Khan’s first brush with the law. In 2015, the Bombay High Court overturned his conviction in a hit-and-run case in which he was accused of running over a homeless man. Last year, another court in Jodhpur acquitted Khan in a separate poaching case, ruling that there was no proof that he killed an endangered gazelle.</p>
<p>The other accused are also big-ticket Bollywood stars. Saif Ali Khan is one of Bollywood’s leading men and is also part of Netflix’s first Indian series, “Sacred Games”. Tabu has been a part of several Bollywood and Hollywood films such as “Life of Pi” and “The Namesake”.</p>
<p>Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian court on Thursday found Bollywood movie star Salman Khan guilty in a poaching case dating from 1998, a verdict that could derail the career of one of the country’s most popular actors.</p> FILE PHOTO: Actor Salman Khan poses for a picture on the Green Carpet at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards show at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S., July 15, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney
<p>Khan was found guilty of violating the country’s wildlife law in a case of poaching a blackbuck, an endangered species of antelope. He could face up to six years in prison, media say.</p>
<p>Mahipal Bishnoi, a lawyer who fought against Khan, said the court in Jodhpur, a city in the western state of Rajasthan, was hearing arguments on the appropriate sentence for the actor.</p>
<p>“They are praying for probation, they are emphasizing on the minimum sentence,” Bishnoi told reporters outside the court.</p>
<p>Reuters could not immediately reach a lawyer for Khan to seek comment.</p>
<p>Thursday’s ruling is not Khan’s first brush with the law. In 2015, the Bombay High Court overturned his conviction in a hit-and-run case in which he was accused of running over a group of people sleeping on a city sidewalk, killing one and injuring four.</p>
<p>Khan has churned out a series of blockbuster hits in the last few years. Some of his releases in 2017 were big-ticket films that pulled in billions of rupees at the box-office.</p>
<p>Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Clarence Fernandez</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>LOS ANGELES/RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s first cinema in more than 35 years will open on April 18 in Riyadh, the capital, the authorities said on Wednesday after agreeing with AMC Entertainment Holdings ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AMC.N" type="external">AMC.N</a>) to open up to 40 theatres over the next five years.</p> FILE PHOTO: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is seen during a meeting with U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the United Nations headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. March 27, 2018. REUTERS/Amir Levy/File Photo
<p>Movie theatres will not be segregated by gender like most other public places in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom, and the first screening will be Marvel’s superhero movie “Black Panther,” a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia had some cinemas in the 1970s but its powerful clerics closed them, reflecting rising Islamist influence throughout the Arab region at the time.</p>
<p>In 2017, the government said it would lift the ban as part of ambitious economic and social reforms pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He is currently touring the United States seeking investments to help broaden the economy and lessen its dependence on oil.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabians are avid consumers of Western media and culture. Despite the cinema ban, Hollywood films and recent television series are widely watched at home and discussed.</p>
<p>AMC’s first cinema will be located in the King Abdullah Financial District in a building originally intended to be a symphony concert hall, AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron said in an interview. The main theater will have about 500 leather seats, orchestra and balcony levels and marble bathrooms, he said. Three more screens will be added by mid-summer.</p>
<p>“We think it’s going to be the prettiest movie theater in the world,” Aron said. “It’s a dramatic building.”</p>
<p>To serve a population of more than 32 million, most of whom are under the age of 30, Saudi Arabia wants to set up around 350 cinemas with over 2,500 screens by 2030, which it hopes will attract nearly $1 billion in annual ticket sales.</p>
<p>“The restoration of cinemas will ... help boost the local economy by increasing household spending on entertainment while supporting job creation in the Kingdom,” Culture and Information Minister Awwad Alawwad said in a statement.</p>
<p>AMC is partnering with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s main sovereign wealth fund.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AMC.N" type="external">AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc</a> 15.4 AMC.N New York Stock Exchange +0.15 (+0.98%) AMC.N SIX.N
<p>A handful of other theater operators are ready to build in Saudi Arabia if they win clearance, John Fithian, president of the U.S.-based National Association of Theatre Owners, told reporters.</p>
<p>Fithian said he met government officials in Riyadh in December to work out issues such as what type of material would be permitted on movie screens. He said he believes most Hollywood movies will be allowed, though some will require editing.</p>
<p>AMC’s Aron said he expects the same versions of films shown in Dubai or Kuwait will be suitable for Saudi Arabia. “Hollywood has long ago dealt with the sensitivities of the Middle East and have adjusted film product accordingly,” he said. “Major Hollywood studios are showing films all over the Middle East.”</p>
<p>Separately, Six Flags Entertainment ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=SIX.N" type="external">SIX.N</a>) said it planned to develop a theme park in Riyadh with PIF. Cirque du Soleil will stage its first performance in the country on Sept. 23, according to a statement from the General Entertainment Authority.</p>
<p>The GEA also said it reached a deal for other live shows such as “Disney on Ice.”</p>
<p>Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles and Stephen Kalin in Riyadh; Editing by Diane Craft and Leslie Adler</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Kim Kardashian names new baby girl Chicago Hollywood executives back Netflix over anti-Israel 'Fauda' boycott Salman Khan convicted in 1998 poaching case Indian court finds Bollywood actor Salman Khan guilty of poaching Saudi Arabia's first new cinema in decades to open April 18 | false | https://reuters.com/article/us-people-kim-kardashian/kim-kardashian-names-new-baby-girl-chicago-idUSKBN1F82HQ | 2018-01-19 | 2 |
<p>Talk about an awkward moment: Iraq's prime minister found himself literally edged out by a trio of world leaders including President Barack Obama on Monday.</p>
<p>Obama — who <a href="" type="internal">is in Germany for the G-7 summit</a> — was chatting with Italy's prime minister and the managing director of the IMF when Iraqi Prime Minister Hayder al-Abadi sidled up and took a seat on their bench.</p>
<p>In a cringe-worthy encounter captured on video, Obama and the other leaders appear to be unaware of the Iraqi leader's presence.</p>
<p>When the three leaders stood up, Abadi followed suit — checking his watch as he appears to try getting a word in before giving a slight shrug and wandering away.</p>
<p>The <a href="" type="internal">threat of ISIS militants wreaking havoc in Abadi's nation</a> has been one of the topics under discussion at the two-day gathering.</p> | Obama at G-7 Leaves Iraq’s Prime Minister Abadi Hanging | false | http://nbcnews.com/news/world/obama-g-7-leaves-iraqs-prime-minister-abadi-hanging-n371481 | 2015-06-08 | 3 |
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<p>Adobe Systems Inc. said a cyberattack on its systems has exposed credit-card information of 2.9 million customers.</p>
<p>The maker of Photoshop and other software said Thursday that the attacker accessed Adobe customer IDs and passwords on its systems. Through that, they were able to remove customer names, encrypted credit and debit card numbers, expiration dates and other information related to orders from customers worldwide. The company does not believe attackers removed credit and debit card numbers that weren’t encrypted.</p>
<p>Adobe is notifying customers and resetting passwords. It has alerted banks processing Adobe payments to help protect customer accounts. It is also working with federal law enforcement on its related investigation.</p>
<p>“Cyber attacks are one of the unfortunate realities of doing business today,” Brad Arkin, Adobe’s chief security officer, wrote in a blog post Thursday. “Given the profile and widespread use of many of our products, Adobe has attracted increasing attention from cyber attackers.”</p>
<p>The San Jose, Calif., company says it is also investigating illegal access to the source code of numerous Adobe products and believes the attacks are related.</p>
<p>Adobe shares fell 64 cents to close at $50.88 Thursday and were unchanged in after-hours trading.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Adobe: Attack exposed financial info for 2.9 million customers | false | https://abqjournal.com/274818/adobe-says-attack-exposed-financial-info-for-29-million-customers.html | 2013-10-03 | 2 |
<p>The Federal Reserve’s $4.5 trillion balance sheet is not doing a lot to boost the U.S. economy at this time and trimming it gradually is the right thing to do, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said.</p>
<p>“I think the big, big balance sheet isn’t doing a lot to boost the economy right now, but I do think there are costs in terms of public confidence in the Federal Reserve,” Kashkari told a business group in Woodbury, Minnesota.</p>
<p>Kashkari has dissented on both of the U.S. central bank’s rate hikes this year, saying he wanted to wait to see if the recent weakness in inflation is transitory. But earlier this week he voted with fellow policymakers on a plan to begin reducing the Fed’s bond holdings “relatively soon,” language that Wall Street has interpreted to mean September.</p>
<p>“I have been in favor of us slowly bringing that balance sheet back down to a more normal size even though I’m still concerned about inflation,” he said. “We can focus on inflation with our short-term interest rate.”</p>
<p>Kashkari’s remarks shed little new light on the Fed’s internal deliberations over why wage growth remains weak and inflation tepid in the face of healthy job growth.</p>
<p>Earlier on Friday, the U.S. government reported that wages and salaries rose 0.5. percent in the second quarter, while a separate report showed the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, increased at a rate of 0.9 percent.</p>
<p>The Fed has a 2 percent inflation target.</p>
<p>“The job market continues to be strong, but it’s really curious: we had expected to see wages growing more quickly, we had expected to see inflation starting to climb,” Kashkari said in his appearance at the Woodbury Area Chamber of Commerce.</p>
<p>“But much to our surprise, and this is a good thing, the job market’s been strong; unfortunately wage growth has not been very strong, and there’s been very little sign of inflation picking up, so this was the discussion that we keep having.”</p>
<p>Citing the lower-than-expected rate at which people between the ages of 25 and 54 are working, Kashkari said he believes the job market can still improve without necessarily creating inflation.</p>
<p>“On some measures the job market still has a ways to go before it is as healthy as it was in ’05,’06,” he said.</p> | Kashkari: Fed's Balance Sheet Not Boosting US Economy Much | false | https://newsline.com/kashkari-feds-balance-sheet-not-boosting-us-economy-much/ | 2017-07-29 | 1 |
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<p>Raven Industries (NASDAQ: RAVN) announced strong fiscal third-quarter 2017 results last Wednesday, demonstrating improvements in growth on both its top and bottom lines. And with shares of the mini-industrial conglomerate up more than 20% since then, investors are rightly cheering the update.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>But perspective is in order. It's been an odd several months for Raven Industries since the companyannounced <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/23/raven-industries-inc-keeps-improving.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">solid fiscal second-quarter 2017 results Opens a New Window.</a> this past August. In September, the company <a href="http://investors.ravenind.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=989443" type="external">revealed Opens a New Window.</a>that it wouldn't be able to file that quarter's Form 10-Q with the SEC in a timely fashion, leaving it temporarily non-compliant with Nasdaq listing rules.And though Raven subsequently received an extension from the Nasdaq, giving it until early March to come into compliance, the same went for last week's third-quarter report, which was originally <a href="http://investors.ravenind.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=1005269" type="external">supposed to be filed Opens a New Window.</a> with the SEC by mid-December.</p>
<p>Before we talk about what caused those delays, let'stake a closer look at Raven Industries' fiscal third-quarter performance.</p>
<p>Raven's engineered-films division delivered significant profitability improvements this quarter. IMAGE SOURCE: Raven Industries.</p>
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<p>*For the quarter ended Oct. 31, 2016. Data source: Raven Industries, Inc.</p>
<p>To Raven's credit, it kept investors in the loop on its journey back to compliance, notably with updates on its expected filing timelines along the way. And during Raven's most recentconference call, CEO Dan Rykhus elaborated:</p>
<p>Rykhus also added color on the company's recent operational improvements and business momentum:</p>
<p>Raven typically doesnotprovide financial guidance. But with the caveat that it still doesn't plan to do so going forward, the company made a rare exception this time, given its recent extenuating circumstances. More specifically, Raven expects revenue for the current fiscal year 2017 to end at roughly $277 million, including $105 million from applied technology, $138 million from engineered films, and $34 million from Aerostar. And looking forward, as Rykhus noted, both applied technology and engineered films are expected to end the year strong and continue their momentum into fiscal 2018.</p>
<p>All things considered -- however uneasy it might have made investors along the way -- it's encouraging that there were no drastic, business-altering financial restatements as Raven Industries hammered out its internal audit process. But investors should still keep their eyes peeled for any updates as Raven completes the remediation process to improve its internal control framework.</p>
<p>In the meantime, given thebig improvements in both sales and profitability from Raven's two core segments -- and assuming that momentum is sustainable as management suggests -- it was no surprise to see the market bidding up Raven Industries stock following its report.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Raven IndustriesWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=f0e2ac11-8b5d-4541-b45e-fde806f209a8&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Raven Industries wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=f0e2ac11-8b5d-4541-b45e-fde806f209a8&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSymington/info.aspx" type="external">Steve Symington Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Raven Industries. 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> | Raven Industries Gets Back on Track | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/21/raven-industries-gets-back-on-track.html | 2017-03-16 | 0 |
<p>A doping program for cyclists on Lance Armstrong's US Postal Service team was the most successful and sophisticated ever in sports history, the <a href="" type="external">US Anti-Doping Agency</a> said today.</p>
<p>USADA is sharing its "reasoned decision" today with the global bodies that oversee cycling, triathlons and the fight against doping.</p>
<p>In doing so, it's also making its case against Armstrong public for the first time.</p>
<p>USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart said Armstrong had a chance to come clean, but "rejected it."</p>
<p>"The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service pro cycling team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen," he said on the <a href="" type="external">USADA website</a>.</p>
<p>More than 1,000 documents, testimony from 26 people including 15 cyclists, email, and evidence of payments, data and test results form the backbone of the case against Armstrong.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="" type="external">Lance Armstrong blasts USADA as biased</a></p>
<p>USADA will send the proof to the International Cycling Union (UCI), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC).</p>
<p>It's also making the material available online at USADA.org later today while also holding a press conference, <a href="" type="external">The Associated Press</a>said.</p>
<p>It confirms "the disappointing truth about the deceptive activities of the USPS Team, a team that received tens of millions of American taxpayer dollars in funding," Tygart said.</p>
<p>"The USPS Team doping conspiracy was professionally designed to groom and pressure athletes to use dangerous drugs, to evade detection, to ensure its secrecy and ultimately gain an unfair competitive advantage through superior doping practices," he added.</p>
<p>Eleven of Armstrong's teammates testified against him. They are Frankie Andreu, Michael Barry, Tom Danielson, Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Stephen Swart, Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and David Zabriskie.</p>
<p>"I have personally talked with and heard these athletes' stories and firmly believe that, collectively, these athletes, if forgiven and embraced, have a chance to leave a legacy far greater for the good of the sport than anything they ever did on a bike," Tygart said.</p>
<p>"Lance Armstrong was given the same opportunity to come forward and be part of the solution. He rejected it."</p>
<p>USADA accused Armstrong of doping, <a href="http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/10/10/explaining-the-usada-report-on-lance-armstrong/" type="external">stripped him of his cycling titles</a> (including seven Tour de France wins) and banned him from competing again.</p>
<p>He tried to sue the agency, but lost in court and later gave up his chance to appeal.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="" type="external">Tyler Hamilton book calls Lance Armstrong a drug mastermind</a>&#160;&#160;</p> | Lance Armstrong doping scheme most successful, sophisticated ever: USADA | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-10-10/lance-armstrong-doping-scheme-most-successful-sophisticated-ever-usada | 2012-10-10 | 3 |
<p>Safety regulators say a New Jersey company is recalling about 800 plush toys intended for children because their wheels could come off, creating a choking hazard.</p>
<p>The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said the recall covers two Bunnies by the Bay wheeled pull-along toys: a brown dog named Bud and a cream-colored bunny named Skipit. Both are about eight inches high and they cost around $30 each. The toys feature Bud or Skipit on four wheels and they come with a pull cord.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The CSPC says no choking incidents have been reported.</p>
<p>The toys were sold at gift and specialty stores and through Bunniesbythebay.com and amazon.com between February and April. They were made in China. There were about 800 sold in the United States and 10 in Canada, the CSPC said.</p>
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<p>Consumers can get more information by calling Bunnies by the Bay toll-free at (866) 763-8869 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or by emailing [email protected] or going online at www.kidspreferred.com and click on "Contact Us" at the bottom of the homepage.</p> | Regulators say Bunnies by the Bay recalls wheeled dog, bunny plush toys due to choking hazard | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/06/16/regulators-say-bunnies-by-bay-recalls-wheeled-dog-bunny-plush-toys-due-to.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>Here are some notable Baptist newsmakers who died during 2010.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Bill Hogue</a>, 82, former executive director of the California Southern Baptist Convention, Jan. 13.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Max Lyall</a>, 71, a concert and church pianist who taught for 25 years at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Feb. 18.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Emmie Cecelia Mears Webb</a>, 8, daughter of Amy Mears, co-pastor of Glendale Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., killed Ash Wednesday when a deer crashed through the windshield and fatally injured her as she sat between two siblings in the back seat of a sedan driven by her father.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Fletcher Allen</a>, 78, former editor and associate editor of Baptist state newspapers in South Carolina, Maryland/Delaware and Tennessee, Feb. 27, after a long battle with cancer.&#160;</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Tom Logue</a>, 88, who led Baptist Student Union work in Arkansas for more than three decades and in retirement was founding coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Arkansas, March 6.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Nancy Schaefer</a>, 74, a conservative Christian activist and former two-term state senator in Georgia, found dead with her husband March 26 in their north Georgia home in what was described as a murder-suicide.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">David Mueller</a>, 80, longtime theology professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, March 26.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Michael Spencer</a>, 53, acclaimed "Internet Monk" blogger, April 5, following a four-month battle with cancer.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Cecil Sherman</a>, 82, one of the most visible moderate leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention controversy of the 1980s and first coordinator of the breakaway Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, April 17, from complications of a heart attack. At a memorial service in Asheville, N.C., attended by hundreds, historian Walter Shurden <a href="" type="internal">recalled</a> Sherman as someone who "stood on a higher hill" than his contemporaries.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Douglas Green</a>, 85, husband of seminary president Molly Marshall, May 23.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Stephen Carter</a>, 51, a former Baptist camp director awaiting trial on six child-sex charges, of an apparent suicide May 24.&#160;</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Andy Lester,</a> 70, a professor of pastoral care and counseling popular with a generation of Baptists who attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in the 1970s and 1980s, June 10, after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Robert Bratcher</a>, 90, the New Testament translator for the Good News Bible, July 11.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Avery Willis</a>, 76, a former Southern Baptist missionary and administrator best known as developer of the MasterLife discipleship materials used around the world, July 30, nearly eight months after being diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Clark Pinnock</a>, 73, an influential theologian whose spiritual pilgrimage led him from a fiery fundamentalism as a young professor to an openness that caused some to brand him a heretic, Aug. 15, of a heart attack.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Warren Hultgren</a>, 89, pastor of First Baptist Church of Tulsa, Okla., from 1957 until 1992, Nov. 14.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Edgar Cooper</a>, editor of the Florida Baptist Witness from 1971 until 1983, Nov. 14, one day shy of his 92nd birthday.</p>
<p>— <a href="" type="internal">Morgan Patterson</a>, 85, a historian who taught at four Southern Baptist seminaries and was president of a Georgetown College, Nov. 19.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Bob Allen</a> is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.</p> | Year in review: Baptist deaths in 2010 | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/yearinreviewbaptistdeathsin2010/ | 3 |
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<p>Around Washington, it sometimes feels like we’re engaged in trench warfare. Too many seek safety and security in their own trenches—especially if their general reelection seems a sure thing—and no one wants to get out and venture into “no man’s land.” The government shutdown was a prime example.</p>
<p>We were in a situation of terrible division that led to complete dysfunction, with the leaders on both sides unable to reach an agreement. The leadership vacuum provided an opportunity for members like me to step in, try to come up with reasonable solutions, and get to “yes.”</p>
<p>Right after the shutdown, Rep. Ron Kind and I came together—a Democrat and a Republican—and forged a very simple proposal to reopen the government: pass a continuing resolution for six months, repeal the medical device tax, and pay for it with a pension-smoothing provision that was largely agreed to by both sides. We were able to get a critical bipartisan mass in the House to back us, and it really caught on. Our common goal was simple: We shared a very strong sense of governance. It was that basic.</p>
<p>We all felt that members of Congress have a basic fundamental responsibility to affirmatively govern the nation and fulfill our most basic functions—funding the government and passing a budget.</p>
<p>The leadership, of course, did not embrace this proposal. But to me it really represented the starting point for the negotiations that helped us break the impasse, reopen the government, and make sure the country did not default on its obligations. The fact that we introduced this proposal into the discussion helped us move off the dime—and it became central to the negotiations. Senators Susan Collins and Joe Manchin carried our proposal aggressively in the Senate.</p>
<p>Though there was a lot of leadership opposition to our proposal, there was considerable rank-and-file support. To me, that represents a glimmer of hope as we move forward. There are plenty of members on both sides of the aisle who want to get beyond this trench warfare. It will require members of Congress who are not afraid to step out of their comfort zones and who are prepared to deal with a backlash for participating in a consensus-driven process for the good of the country.</p> | Problem Solver Voices: Charlie Dent | false | https://nolabels.org/blog/problem-solver-voices-charlie-dent/ | 2014-12-31 | 2 |
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<p>The President-elect Donald Trump is serious about making the required changes in the government, this will require a lot of effort and for his administration to optimize on its time in office. Sean Spicer, who's the spokesman was cited by Reuters saying that the President-elect Donald Trump may take four or five executive actions on Friday as soon as he is sworn into office.</p>
<p />
<p>Speaking at a news briefing on Wednesday, Spicer said that Trump has got four to five executive actions that he's going to sign on Friday. Adding that there's other actions that he's also expected to sign with respect to a couple of issues that Trump has prioritized. However, Spicer did nor expound. It's no surprise since Trump had pledged to take executive actions as soon as he takes up office to counter some of the policies of Democratic President Obama. It's still unclear as to what actions he'll take. However, Forbes has compiled a list of Obama's own Executive Orders which will be most likely targeted by Mr. Trump.</p>
<p />
<p>The complexity of overturning regulatory executive orders grows as Washington administers more private, state or local concerns, without Congress passing a law. However, most executive orders are not regulatory. Obama has issued executive orders on Non-Retaliation for Disclosure of Compensation Information decree, a minimum wage for federal contractors, the controversial orders on cybersecurity information sharing and sanctions on individuals allegedly engaged in malicious cyber activity, an order on paid sick leave for federal contractors among others.</p>
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<p>Obama's regulatory pro-antitrust which steps to increase competition and better inform consumers and workers to support continued growth of the American economy is very controversial as it seeks to cast most blame for the anti-competitive business practices on private actors like the telecommunications sector, rather than the regulatory state's cronyism, public/private partnerships and government favors.</p> | Trump To Take "Four Or Five" Executive Actions On Day One | true | http://thegoldwater.com/news/1086-Trump-To-Take-Four-Or-Five-Executive-Actions-On-Day-One | 2017-01-18 | 0 |
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<p />
<p>You know, that easy way the site will autofill your card information so you don’t have to type it in.</p>
<p>But be aware that there risks when you do this – as so many of us do, according to a recent survey by <a href="http://creditcard.com" type="external">creditcard.com</a>. The survey showed that two out of every three online shoppers have their card information stored on at least one website or app for future purchases. About 10 percent said they always save their card information online, no matter where they’re shopping.</p>
<p>“If you extrapolate that out across the population, that means 94 million Americans let retailers store their credit- or debit-card data, and 14 million always do so,” according to the site, which surveyed 1,000 adults.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Here’s the problem: If your computer gets hacked or your smartphone is stolen, the thieves will have an easy way to make purchases in your name.</p>
<p>“For online consumers, there’s a trade-off: The more you store your payment info in a variety of places, the greater your odds of being a victim of fraud,” Alex Johnson, senior marketing manager at FICO, told <a href="http://creditcards.com" type="external">creditcards.com</a>. “But saving your information offers a definite advantage in terms of convenience, because you don’t have to have your card on hand to make a purchase.”</p>
<p>The safest thing to do, of course, is to type in your card number for every purchase. If you’re not willing to do that, then choose a credit card over a debit card because there are more protections when it comes to fraudulent purchases.</p>
<p>While certain protections cover both debit- and credit-card transactions, most credit cards go further and offer their own form of zero-fraud liability. That means you likely won’t be out any money, regardless of how much fraud is involved. Also, most credit card issuers put the fraudulent charge on hold while they investigate, so you won’t be out the money in the interim, either.</p>
<p>• • •</p>
<p>No matter what happens, Medicare is not going to call you about a back brace.</p>
<p>Keep this in mind in case you’re a target in yet another Medicare scam. This one involves someone claiming to be with Medicare, either offering you a free brace outright or saying that a caregiver had previously called about receiving one, the Better Business Bureau says.</p>
<p>If you show any interest, the caller will start asking for personal information, such as Social Security number or Medicare number. Hang up.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>• • •</p>
<p>And one more “don’t.”</p>
<p>Do not click on the big red egg featured in an email that purports to be from Amazon. It’s one of those fake “Your order has arrived” notifications, and when you open the message, you are treated to a view of a large red egg. It says there’s a possible reward inside, if only you will click the matching red “crack” button.</p>
<p>• • •</p>
<p>I have heard my share of stories from abashed readers, saying they can’t believe they were naive enough to fall for this or that scam. In retrospect, they say, it’s perfectly clear that they were being conned.</p>
<p>But scams are ever-evolving, and those who commit them know how to find our weak spots. Really, we’re all vulnerable.</p>
<p>And here’s more proof: The Colorado resort town of Snowmass forked over nearly $60,000 earlier this month because of a “sophisticated spear phishing ploy,” according to the Aspen Daily News.</p>
<p>The culprits mimicked a town email account and requested a wire transfer of town money. The transaction appeared related to construction materials, and the town’s finance department fell for it and wired the money.</p>
<p>Spear phishing is when an imposter email appears to come from a trusted source as a way to seek confidential information or money.</p>
<p>Snowmass officials noticed the crime the following week and reported it to police.</p>
<p>They added that they aren’t optimistic about getting any of it back.</p>
<p>Ellen Marks is assistant business editor at the Albuquerque Journal. Contact her at <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a> or 505-823-3842 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-844-255-9210​.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Online shoppers should hoard credit, debit card data | false | https://abqjournal.com/1054008/online-shoppersshould-hoard-creditdebit-card-data.html | 2 |
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<p>Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke Cucinella told jurors in closing arguments that evidence they’d seen over the last three weeks proves that William “Billy” Walters pocketed more than $40 million illegally. She said trading and phone records back up the testimony of a former Dean Foods Co. board chairman who said he repeatedly gave secrets to Walters.</p>
<p>“We’re here because Billy Walters cheated, not once, but over and over and over again,” the prosecutor said of criminal activity alleged to have gone on for at least half a decade.</p>
<p>She cited the proximity of phone communications between Walters and former Dean Foods board chairman Thomas Davis and stock trades made by Walters as proof that the gambler used secrets from Davis to cheat in the market.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>She noted Walters bought 1.5 million shares of Dean Foods stock minutes after Davis left him a phone message after Davis learned from a board meeting conference call that the Dallas-based company, one of the nation’s largest processors of milk for retailers, was spinning off part of its business and was about to surprise the market with robust earnings.</p>
<p>Cucinella said Davis owed Walters nearly $1 million at the time from a loan Walters had given him.</p>
<p>Walters, 70, has pleaded not guilty. Davis, 68, has pleaded guilty to insider trading charges and was cooperating in the hopes of leniency at sentencing.</p>
<p>The prosecutor said Walters urged Mickelson to buy Dean Foods stock and the golfer then invested $2 million, scoring a profit in 2012 of nearly $1 million, which he turned over to Walters to cover gambling debts.</p>
<p>“Mickelson had never purchased Dean Foods stock before, not once,” she said.</p>
<p>Cucinella said prosecutors do not know if Walters described his source of information about Dean Foods before Mickelson placed trades.</p>
<p>Mickelson was not charged criminally. But the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Mickelson in a civil lawsuit of making nearly $1 million in the stock trade. Mickelson agreed to repay it.</p>
<p>Before the trial, Mickelson was listed as a possible witness, but he did not testify.</p>
<p>A defense lawyer was scheduled to deliver a closing argument Thursday. In openings, attorney Barry Berke said Davis was lying about Walters to keep himself out of prison.</p>
<p>He praised his client, saying the Kentucky-born sports gambler had built a sprawling business of auto dealerships, car rental agencies and golf courses worth hundreds of millions of dollars and routinely made multimillion-dollar bets in the stock market.</p> | Prosecutor: Convict pro gambler linked to golfer Mickelson | false | https://abqjournal.com/983254/prosecutor-convict-pro-gambler-linked-to-golfer-mickelson.html | 2017-04-05 | 2 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>In yet another bombshell revelation from the exiled whistleblower Edward Snowden, information has been recently released that <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-israel-nsa-20130912,0,3708841.story" type="external">the NSA shares raw intelligence data with Israel</a>.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/sep/11/nsa-israel-intelligence-memorandum-understanding-document" type="external">top-secret document revealed</a>&#160;just this week, “shows how intelligence being shared with Israel would not be filtered in advance by NSA analysts to remove US communications.”</p>
<p>The Los Angeles Times reports that, “The&#160;National Security Agency&#160;routinely shares raw intelligence data with Israel that probably includes sensitive information about Americans.”</p>
<p>“The agreement allows for the possibility that intercepts given to Israel might include the communications of U.S. government officials, in which case Israel is supposed to destroy them immediately. Other data on U.S. citizens who aren’t in the government, however, can be kept by Israel for up to a year, according to the document.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, “Yahoo and Facebook, along with other tech firms, are pushing for the right to be allowed to publish the number of requests they receive from the spy agency” according to the Guardian. “Companies are forbidden by law to disclose how much data they provide.” Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer says “ <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/11/yahoo-ceo-mayer-jail-nsa-surveillance" type="external">We faced jail</a>”&#160;this information was disclosed.</p>
<p>This has prompted&#160; <a href="http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2013/09/12/facebooks-zuckerberg-says-government-blew-it-explaining-nsa-spying/" type="external">Mark Zuckerberg</a>, to join Mayer in publicly stating that the US did “bad job” of “balancing people’s privacy,” stating&#160;“Frankly I think the government blew it.”</p>
<p>No kidding. Worst of all, the vast majority of U.S. corporate media outlets have been “blowing it” when it comes to reporting on this.</p>
<p>(Article by: Ari Simeon)</p> | New NSA Details: U.S. Shares NSA Raw Intel With Israel; Yahoo and Facebook CEOs Threatened With Jail | true | http://politicalblindspot.com/new-nsa-details-u-s-shares-nsa-raw-intel-with-israel-yahoo-and-facebook-ceos-threatened-with-jail/ | 2013-09-12 | 4 |
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<p>GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Officials at the Grand Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center have called for the removal of the Confederate flag from a mural inside the facility's cafeteria.</p>
<p>The Daily Sentinel reports ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1TBgoA2" type="external">http://bit.ly/1TBgoA2</a> ) that the two-year-old mural is a depiction of American military history, featuring the American Revolution to the war in Iraq.</p>
<p>Medical center spokesman Paul Sweeney says the upper reaches of the Department of Veterans Affairs have asked that the Confederate flag shown behind an image of a Union soldier and a Confederate rebel be removed.</p>
<p>A banner will hide the Confederate flag until the artist of the mural is able to remove it.</p>
<p>The 72-year-old artist, Lee Bowerman, says he reluctantly agreed to get rid of the image.</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> | Confederate flag banned from mural at VA | false | https://abqjournal.com/628333/confederate-flag-banned-from-mural-at-va.html | 2 |
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<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Charter buying Bright House for $10.4 billion is the latest big deal in the pay-TV industry.</p>
<p>Companies want to merge as costs for channels like ESPN have shot up, while their video subscribers have dipped and online video providers like Netflix become more popular. Combining gives them more negotiating power against programmers such as The Walt Disney Co.</p>
<p>Last year, Comcast said it was buying Time Warner Cable for $45 billion, and AT&amp;T is purchasing DirecTV for $48.5 billion. Both are under long-running regulatory reviews.</p>
<p>But the Comcast-Time Warner deal has raised concerns from competitors and consumer and Internet advocates, who say too much of the country’s Internet access would be under one company’s control. They also say it could hurt growing online video providers like Netflix, who need its pipes to get to consumers, and lead to higher prices.</p>
<p>Comcast says it works cooperatively with online video companies like Netflix and that content providers, not distributors like itself, currently have bargaining advantages.</p>
<p>Charter buying Bright House, which hinges on regulators approving Comcast purchasing Time Warner Cable, is “kind of small in the scheme of things,” says John Bergmayer, a senior staff attorney at Public Knowledge, a nonprofit group that advocates for Internet access. “Trends in consolidation are always worrying but this deal by itself is not as bad as some other deals out there.”</p>
<p>Public Knowledge is against Comcast buying Time Warner Cable. Most analysts expect the deal will go through, but some have become less optimistic.</p>
<p>Charter and Bright House said Tuesday that the deal would create the second-largest U.S. cable operator. But they are not in any of the same markets, so their subscribers wouldn’t lose the ability to switch to a competitor cable company.</p>
<p>The pay-TV industry overall has been slowly shedding video subscribers in recent years, according to an analysis by MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett, who expects that to continue. New options for video that appeal to “cord-cutters” have sprung up in recent months, such as a Web version of HBO, an online set of about 20 channels from Dish called Sling and a $50-a-month service from Sony.</p>
<p>Charter Communications Inc. has been trying to get bigger. It wanted to buy Time Warner Cable Inc. but got outbid by Comcast Corp. With the Comcast-Time Warner deal, however it is already growing substantially, paying $7.3 billion for 1.4 million Comcast subscribers and getting a one-third stake in a new cable company comprised of 2.5 million existing Comcast customers. It’s also swapping 1.6 million customers with Time Warner Cable.</p>
<p>Charter, based in Stamford, Connecticut, is currently the fourth-largest cable operator in the U.S., with 4.3 million video customers, mostly in the Midwest, West and South.</p>
<p>Bright House Networks LLC is the sixth-biggest with 2 million customers, mostly in Tampa and Orlando, Florida, but also in Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and California. According to a client note by Moffett, Bright House also has “a strong reputation for service and customer satisfaction,” a rarity among cable companies.</p>
<p>Advance/Newhouse — the parent company of Bright House — will own 26.3 percent of the combined company. Charter is paying it $2 billion in cash and the rest in stock and preferred units that convert into common stock of the new company.</p>
<p>Once the Bright House deal closes, John Malone’s Liberty Broadband Corp., Charter’s biggest shareholder, will buy $700 million shares of the new company, giving it a 19.4 percent stake.</p>
<p>The board of the new company will include 13 members, with three directors appointed by Advance/Newhouse and three directors appointed by Liberty Broadband.</p>
<p>Shares of Charter Communications added $9.72, or 5.3 percent, to $193.11. Liberty Broadband’s stock gained $2.78, or 5.2 percent, to $56.48.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Tali Arbel <a href="http://twitter.com/tarbel" type="external" /> <a href="http://twitter.com/tarbel" type="external">http://twitter.com/tarbel</a></p>
<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Charter buying Bright House for $10.4 billion is the latest big deal in the pay-TV industry.</p>
<p>Companies want to merge as costs for channels like ESPN have shot up, while their video subscribers have dipped and online video providers like Netflix become more popular. Combining gives them more negotiating power against programmers such as The Walt Disney Co.</p>
<p>Last year, Comcast said it was buying Time Warner Cable for $45 billion, and AT&amp;T is purchasing DirecTV for $48.5 billion. Both are under long-running regulatory reviews.</p>
<p>But the Comcast-Time Warner deal has raised concerns from competitors and consumer and Internet advocates, who say too much of the country’s Internet access would be under one company’s control. They also say it could hurt growing online video providers like Netflix, who need its pipes to get to consumers, and lead to higher prices.</p>
<p>Comcast says it works cooperatively with online video companies like Netflix and that content providers, not distributors like itself, currently have bargaining advantages.</p>
<p>Charter buying Bright House, which hinges on regulators approving Comcast purchasing Time Warner Cable, is “kind of small in the scheme of things,” says John Bergmayer, a senior staff attorney at Public Knowledge, a nonprofit group that advocates for Internet access. “Trends in consolidation are always worrying but this deal by itself is not as bad as some other deals out there.”</p>
<p>Public Knowledge is against Comcast buying Time Warner Cable. Most analysts expect the deal will go through, but some have become less optimistic.</p>
<p>Charter and Bright House said Tuesday that the deal would create the second-largest U.S. cable operator. But they are not in any of the same markets, so their subscribers wouldn’t lose the ability to switch to a competitor cable company.</p>
<p>The pay-TV industry overall has been slowly shedding video subscribers in recent years, according to an analysis by MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett, who expects that to continue. New options for video that appeal to “cord-cutters” have sprung up in recent months, such as a Web version of HBO, an online set of about 20 channels from Dish called Sling and a $50-a-month service from Sony.</p>
<p>Charter Communications Inc. has been trying to get bigger. It wanted to buy Time Warner Cable Inc. but got outbid by Comcast Corp. With the Comcast-Time Warner deal, however it is already growing substantially, paying $7.3 billion for 1.4 million Comcast subscribers and getting a one-third stake in a new cable company comprised of 2.5 million existing Comcast customers. It’s also swapping 1.6 million customers with Time Warner Cable.</p>
<p>Charter, based in Stamford, Connecticut, is currently the fourth-largest cable operator in the U.S., with 4.3 million video customers, mostly in the Midwest, West and South.</p>
<p>Bright House Networks LLC is the sixth-biggest with 2 million customers, mostly in Tampa and Orlando, Florida, but also in Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and California. According to a client note by Moffett, Bright House also has “a strong reputation for service and customer satisfaction,” a rarity among cable companies.</p>
<p>Advance/Newhouse — the parent company of Bright House — will own 26.3 percent of the combined company. Charter is paying it $2 billion in cash and the rest in stock and preferred units that convert into common stock of the new company.</p>
<p>Once the Bright House deal closes, John Malone’s Liberty Broadband Corp., Charter’s biggest shareholder, will buy $700 million shares of the new company, giving it a 19.4 percent stake.</p>
<p>The board of the new company will include 13 members, with three directors appointed by Advance/Newhouse and three directors appointed by Liberty Broadband.</p>
<p>Shares of Charter Communications added $9.72, or 5.3 percent, to $193.11. Liberty Broadband’s stock gained $2.78, or 5.2 percent, to $56.48.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Tali Arbel <a href="http://twitter.com/tarbel" type="external" /> <a href="http://twitter.com/tarbel" type="external">http://twitter.com/tarbel</a></p> | Charter nabs Bright House in latest pay-TV deal | false | https://apnews.com/e86c9a3b4ee14c4faf6d5a3b4911977e | 2015-03-31 | 2 |
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<p>San Diego County Deputy Sheriff Ben Chassen looks at a monitor as his vehicle reads the license plates of cars in a parking lot Wednesday in San Marcos, Calif. (Gregory Bull/The Associate Press)</p>
<p>LOS ANGELES – A rapidly expanding digital network that uses cameras mounted to traffic signals and police cruisers captures the movements of millions of vehicles across the U.S., regardless of whether the drivers are being investigated by law enforcement.</p>
<p>The license plate scanning systems have multiplied across the U.S. over the last decade, funded largely by Homeland Security grants, and judges have recently upheld authorities’ rights to keep details from hundreds of millions of scans a secret from the public.</p>
<p>Such decisions come as a patchwork of local laws and regulations govern the use of such technology and the distribution of the information they collect, inflaming civil liberties advocates who see this as the next battleground in the fight over high-tech surveillance.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“If I’m not being investigated for a crime, there shouldn’t be a secret police file on me” that details “where I go, where I shop, where I visit,” said Michael Robertson, a tech entrepreneur fighting in court for access to his own files. “That’s crazy, Nazi police-type stuff.”</p>
<p>A San Diego judge has tentatively ruled that a local government agency can deny Robertson’s request for scans on his own vehicle under California’s open records law because the information pertains to police investigations. Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal heard additional arguments in the case Friday and plans to issue a final decision soon. Robertson said he plans to appeal if the tentative decision stands.</p>
<p>The San Diego case comes less than a month after another state judge, using the same reasoning, denied a petition by the ACLU of Southern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation for one week of records on all vehicles collected by the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.</p>
<p>The ACLU says that network adds 3 million scans each week to a database shared with dozens of other agencies that now includes details from more than 455 million encounters.</p>
<p>About 7 in 10 law enforcement agencies used license plate scanners in 2012 and an overwhelming majority planned to acquire such systems or expand their use, according to a study by the Police Executive Research Forum, a research and policy group.</p>
<p>Civil liberties advocates say these files need to be open to public scrutiny to prevent government overreach and unconstitutional privacy invasions.</p>
<p>On the other side are government and law enforcement officials who say they’re not misusing the systems and that tracking and storing the data can help with criminal investigations, either to incriminate or exonerate a suspect.</p>
<p>“At some point, you have to trust and believe that the agencies that you utilize for law enforcement are doing what’s right and what’s best for the community, and they’re not targeting your community,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Gaw said.</p>
<p>In San Diego’s case, records are kept for up to two years, but other agencies keep them five years or more and are limited mainly by server space.</p>
<p>“If that information is deleted or purged too quickly, then we lost that, and we can never go back,” said Lt. Karen Stubkjaer of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department.</p>
<p>Neither the San Diego case nor the Los Angeles ruling sets legal precedent, but they’re part of a growing debate.</p>
<p />
<p /> | License plate scanners raise rights questions | false | https://abqjournal.com/465973/license-plate-scanners-raise-rights-questions.html | 2 |
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<p>BRASILIA (Reuters) – Federal prosecutors in the Brazilian capital have opened an investigation into whether holding company J&amp;F Investimentos SA violated the terms of a leniency deal, press representatives for the prosecutors office said on Monday.</p>
<p>J&amp;F Investimentos, which manages the fortune of the Batista family, including a controlling stake in JBS SA (SA:), the world’s largest meatpacker, agreed in May to pay a record fine of 10.3 billion reais ($3.2 billion) for its involvement in corruption.</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> | Brazil prosecutors to investigate if J&F violated leniency deal | false | https://newsline.com/brazil-prosecutors-to-investigate-if-jampf-violated-leniency-deal/ | 2017-10-09 | 1 |
<p>ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Two men face up to life in prison for trafficking teenage prostitutes across the Washington area.</p>
<p>The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/two-face-life-in-prison-for-sex-trafficking-teenage-girls/2018/01/11/ba9c8448-f6d8-11e7-beb6-c8d48830c54d_story.html?utm_term=.df61f296460a" type="external">reports</a> a federal jury in northern Virginia found 28-year-old Ivan Williams and 26-year-old Dennis Davis guilty Wednesday.</p>
<p>Several former prostitutes testified against them, including two women who pleaded guilty to helping traffic minors. The Post reported that defense attorneys emphasized the evidence in the case came largely from co-conspirators who were likely to get reduced sentences for their testimony, and had lied to law enforcement in the past.</p>
<p>Williams and Davis will be sentenced in April.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Washington Post, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com" type="external">http://www.washingtonpost.com</a></p>
<p>ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Two men face up to life in prison for trafficking teenage prostitutes across the Washington area.</p>
<p>The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/two-face-life-in-prison-for-sex-trafficking-teenage-girls/2018/01/11/ba9c8448-f6d8-11e7-beb6-c8d48830c54d_story.html?utm_term=.df61f296460a" type="external">reports</a> a federal jury in northern Virginia found 28-year-old Ivan Williams and 26-year-old Dennis Davis guilty Wednesday.</p>
<p>Several former prostitutes testified against them, including two women who pleaded guilty to helping traffic minors. The Post reported that defense attorneys emphasized the evidence in the case came largely from co-conspirators who were likely to get reduced sentences for their testimony, and had lied to law enforcement in the past.</p>
<p>Williams and Davis will be sentenced in April.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Washington Post, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com" type="external">http://www.washingtonpost.com</a></p> | 2 face life in prison for sex trafficking teenage girls | false | https://apnews.com/e1d4cade4373427e9ede1cdf4c7d5dc1 | 2018-01-11 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Solders assigned to Troop C, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team “Rakkasans,” 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), fire 60mm mortars during a live-fire exercise March 23. The exercise consisted of infantry, artillery and aircraft coming together as one to destroy targets on the range. ( <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/13721922864/" type="external">Photo</a> by Sgt. Brian Smith-Dutton 3rd BCT Public Affairs)</p>
<p />
<p /> | We’re Still at War: Photo of the Day for April 10, 2014 | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/were-still-war-photo-day-april-10-2014/ | 2014-04-10 | 4 |
<p>The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 25,000 points for the first time Thursday, five weeks after it first closed above 24,000.</p>
<p>Here are other times the Dow first closed above 1,000-point milestones.</p>
<p>1,000: Nov. 14, 1972</p>
<p>2,000: Jan. 8, 1987</p>
<p>3,000: April 17, 1991</p>
<p>4,000: Feb. 23, 1995</p>
<p>5,000: Nov. 21, 1995</p>
<p>6,000: Oct. 14, 1996</p>
<p>7,000: Feb. 13, 1997</p>
<p>8,000: July 16, 1997</p>
<p>9,000: April 6, 1998</p>
<p>10,000: Mar. 29, 1999</p>
<p>11,000: May 3, 1999</p>
<p>12,000: Oct. 19, 2006</p>
<p>13,000: April 25, 2007</p>
<p>14,000: July 19, 2007</p>
<p>15,000: May 7, 2013</p>
<p>16,000: Nov. 21, 2013</p>
<p>17,000: July 3, 2014</p>
<p>18,000: Dec. 23, 2014</p>
<p>19,000: Nov. 22, 2016</p>
<p>20,000: Jan. 25, 2017</p>
<p>21,000: March 1, 2017</p>
<p>22,000: August 2, 2017</p>
<p>23,000: October 18, 2017</p>
<p>24,000: November 30, 2017</p>
<p>25,000: January 4, 2018</p>
<p>Source: S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices</p>
<p>The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 25,000 points for the first time Thursday, five weeks after it first closed above 24,000.</p>
<p>Here are other times the Dow first closed above 1,000-point milestones.</p>
<p>1,000: Nov. 14, 1972</p>
<p>2,000: Jan. 8, 1987</p>
<p>3,000: April 17, 1991</p>
<p>4,000: Feb. 23, 1995</p>
<p>5,000: Nov. 21, 1995</p>
<p>6,000: Oct. 14, 1996</p>
<p>7,000: Feb. 13, 1997</p>
<p>8,000: July 16, 1997</p>
<p>9,000: April 6, 1998</p>
<p>10,000: Mar. 29, 1999</p>
<p>11,000: May 3, 1999</p>
<p>12,000: Oct. 19, 2006</p>
<p>13,000: April 25, 2007</p>
<p>14,000: July 19, 2007</p>
<p>15,000: May 7, 2013</p>
<p>16,000: Nov. 21, 2013</p>
<p>17,000: July 3, 2014</p>
<p>18,000: Dec. 23, 2014</p>
<p>19,000: Nov. 22, 2016</p>
<p>20,000: Jan. 25, 2017</p>
<p>21,000: March 1, 2017</p>
<p>22,000: August 2, 2017</p>
<p>23,000: October 18, 2017</p>
<p>24,000: November 30, 2017</p>
<p>25,000: January 4, 2018</p>
<p>Source: S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices</p> | Here are the other times the Dow has crossed milestones | false | https://apnews.com/amp/93aec530b7734d38a1e1533d60612e22 | 2018-01-04 | 2 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Indian police foiled a possible terrorist attack Thursday, seizing around 11 pounds of explosives from a car parked outside a railway station in Ambala, Haryana, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15302309" type="external">the BBC reports.</a></p>
<p>Police said the explosives were intended for use in a terrorist attack in New Delhi during the upcoming Diwali celebrations, Hinduism's most important festival, when large crowds gather in shopping areas and other public spaces.</p>
<p>"Five detonators, two timer devices, five kg explosives in two packets and two batteries were seized from the car lying parked outside the railway station," <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/terror-plot-foiled-explosives-seized-from-car-in-ambala/859389/" type="external">the Indian Express</a> quoted Haryana's Director General of Police, Ranjiv Dalal, as saying.</p>
<p>Police said the plot was a joint operation involving Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba -- an Islamist outfit which focuses mainly on the dispute over Kashmir -- and the Indian Babbar Khalsa International -- a Punjab-based Sikh terrorist organization fighting for a separate country, the BBC said.</p> | Indian police foil terrorist plot to attack Delhi during Diwali celebrations | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-10-14/indian-police-foil-terrorist-plot-attack-delhi-during-diwali-celebrations | 2011-10-14 | 3 |
<p>GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Scientists say they have found that some fish can survive in low-oxygen dead zones that are expanding in deep waters off the West Coast as the climate changes.</p>
<p>While the overall number and kinds of fish in those zones are declining, some species appear able to ride it out, according to a study published this month in the journal Fisheries Oceanography.</p>
<p>The study focused on catches from 2008 through 2010 of four species of deepwater groundfish — Dover sole, petrale sole, spotted ratfish and greenstriped rockfish.</p>
<p>Catches of ratfish and petrale sole both declined in low-oxygen areas, while catches of greenstriped rockfish and Dover sole showed no changes. Dover sole are well-known for being adapted to low oxygen, but greenstriped rockfish are not.</p>
<p>Oregon State University oceanographer Jack Barth, a co-author, says commercial fishermen will likely start taking oxygen levels into account as they decide where to tow their nets.</p>
<p>"It's rearranging that ocean geography," Barth said of the low-oxygen conditions. "If you go out to a spot where you've always gone before commercial fishing, and you don't catch what you expect, is it because the oxygen has gone low and things moved someplace else?"</p>
<p>Dead zones were first noticed off Oregon in 2002, where they peaked in 2006, and have since spread to Washington and California waters.</p>
<p>Some, such as where the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico, are caused by agricultural runoff. On the West Coast, scientists have demonstrated they are triggered by climate change.</p>
<p>North winds cause the ocean to turn over, drawing cold low-oxygen water up from the depths. Conditions get worse as tiny plants, known as phytoplankton, are drawn to the surface, where sunshine triggers a population explosion. As they die, they sink and use up more oxygen as they decompose.</p>
<p>Underwater videos have shown crabs and other slow-moving bottom-dwellers in shallow waters die, but scientists from NOAA Fisheries Service and Oregon State wanted to know what happened to fish.</p>
<p>NOAA Fisheries was already chartering fishing trawlers to do annual surveys of groundfish populations off the West Coast. They equipped the nets with oxygen sensors.</p>
<p>Lead study author Aimee Keller, a fisheries biologist for the NOAA Fisheries Service's Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, said scientists ultimately want to see whether fish forced out of preferred habitats grow more slowly, are less successful reproducing, and whether other species adapted to low-oxygen conditions move in.</p>
<p>The next step, she said, is to expand the surveys to include more commercially important species.</p>
<p>Tim Essington, professor of fisheries at the University of Washington, was not part of the study but said it was significant for covering a large geographic area, and was consistent with what has been seen in estuaries. He added he expects fish to congregate along the edges of low-oxygen zones, where predators will be able to feed on less active fish inside the zone.</p>
<p>NOAA oceanographer Bill Peterson, who was not part of the study, said there was no doubt that low-oxygen waters were expanding, but it was a slow process that would take decades to be felt.</p>
<p>GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Scientists say they have found that some fish can survive in low-oxygen dead zones that are expanding in deep waters off the West Coast as the climate changes.</p>
<p>While the overall number and kinds of fish in those zones are declining, some species appear able to ride it out, according to a study published this month in the journal Fisheries Oceanography.</p>
<p>The study focused on catches from 2008 through 2010 of four species of deepwater groundfish — Dover sole, petrale sole, spotted ratfish and greenstriped rockfish.</p>
<p>Catches of ratfish and petrale sole both declined in low-oxygen areas, while catches of greenstriped rockfish and Dover sole showed no changes. Dover sole are well-known for being adapted to low oxygen, but greenstriped rockfish are not.</p>
<p>Oregon State University oceanographer Jack Barth, a co-author, says commercial fishermen will likely start taking oxygen levels into account as they decide where to tow their nets.</p>
<p>"It's rearranging that ocean geography," Barth said of the low-oxygen conditions. "If you go out to a spot where you've always gone before commercial fishing, and you don't catch what you expect, is it because the oxygen has gone low and things moved someplace else?"</p>
<p>Dead zones were first noticed off Oregon in 2002, where they peaked in 2006, and have since spread to Washington and California waters.</p>
<p>Some, such as where the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico, are caused by agricultural runoff. On the West Coast, scientists have demonstrated they are triggered by climate change.</p>
<p>North winds cause the ocean to turn over, drawing cold low-oxygen water up from the depths. Conditions get worse as tiny plants, known as phytoplankton, are drawn to the surface, where sunshine triggers a population explosion. As they die, they sink and use up more oxygen as they decompose.</p>
<p>Underwater videos have shown crabs and other slow-moving bottom-dwellers in shallow waters die, but scientists from NOAA Fisheries Service and Oregon State wanted to know what happened to fish.</p>
<p>NOAA Fisheries was already chartering fishing trawlers to do annual surveys of groundfish populations off the West Coast. They equipped the nets with oxygen sensors.</p>
<p>Lead study author Aimee Keller, a fisheries biologist for the NOAA Fisheries Service's Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, said scientists ultimately want to see whether fish forced out of preferred habitats grow more slowly, are less successful reproducing, and whether other species adapted to low-oxygen conditions move in.</p>
<p>The next step, she said, is to expand the surveys to include more commercially important species.</p>
<p>Tim Essington, professor of fisheries at the University of Washington, was not part of the study but said it was significant for covering a large geographic area, and was consistent with what has been seen in estuaries. He added he expects fish to congregate along the edges of low-oxygen zones, where predators will be able to feed on less active fish inside the zone.</p>
<p>NOAA oceanographer Bill Peterson, who was not part of the study, said there was no doubt that low-oxygen waters were expanding, but it was a slow process that would take decades to be felt.</p> | Study finds some fish can live in low-oxygen dead zones | false | https://apnews.com/amp/e6687f66306948fc9e3d50b61aa83a78 | 2015-03-16 | 2 |
<p>Demand for Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 8 series of devices has been poor, according to some reports.</p>
<p>For example, the Economic Daily News claims that once the <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/09/12/apples-iphone-x-event-what-you-need-to-know.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=37724bd0-b537-11e7-92e7-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">iPhone X Opens a New Window.</a> is available, Apple plans to cut the production of its iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus phones in about half.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>This, coupled with <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-iphone/anemic-iphone-8-demand-drags-apple-shares-lower-idUSKBN1CO1E7" type="external">some downbeat commentary Opens a New Window.</a> from the CEOs of a few wireless carriers regarding iPhone 8 demand, has some Apple investors a little spooked; as a result, Apple stock dropped nearly 3% in the Oct. 19 trading session.</p>
<p>But seemingly poor demand for the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus shouldn't have Apple stockholders losing their wits. It's important to understand why.</p>
<p>The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, despite being touted by Apple as the next generation of iPhones (with the iPhone X being held up as a sort of preview of the iPhone's future), the fact is that, as nice as they are, neither is Apple's flagship.</p>
<p>They were developed and launched, I believe, as a sort of backup plan.</p>
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<p>The iPhone X is clearly Apple's true next-generation iPhone, given the new form factor, inclusion of an all-new full-face OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display, addition of the TrueDepth camera, and the highest-spec rear cameras of any iPhone.</p>
<p>However, for Apple to deliver this vision, it couldn't restrict itself to the confines of a $699 or even $749 starting price. For Apple to get paid what it thinks is a fair amount for its innovation, it needed to price these phones at a minimum of $999.</p>
<p>It would have been insanely risky for Apple simply to release a new iPhone generation at a starting price of $999 without offering anything new at more traditional price points. Though the iPhone X is obviously a sleek and compelling device, Apple can't run its business under the assumption that every potential iPhone customer is able or willing to spend at least $999 on a new smartphone.</p>
<p>Apple also couldn't simply keep the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus at the same price points they had at launch, since they are year-old models in a highly competitive, fast-paced market.</p>
<p>The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are a good solution to Apple's dilemma. For users who simply want the best phones possible at traditional iPhone price points, these fit the bill. They have all the things that customers should expect from new flagship smartphones -- better cameras, faster internals, sleeker design, and other new features.</p>
<p>In other words: Apple was hedging its bets. If customers simply wanted better phones for the same prices as last year's phones, Apple had them available. But if customers wanted substantially better phones for a few hundred dollars more than last year's phones, then Apple has that option available to customers, too.</p>
<p>I think Apple ultimately expects customers, by and large, to opt for the pricier iPhone X if they're buying a new iPhone this year. There have been numerous <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/08/15/apple-is-planning-for-a-huge-iphone-product-cycle.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=37724bd0-b537-11e7-92e7-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">supply-chain reports Opens a New Window.</a> from credible sources suggesting that Apple is planning to build and ship a lot of the iPhone X phones.</p>
<p>My guess is that, in the spirit of hedging its bets, Apple made sure to crank out a lot of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus phones -- and ensured it had enough production capacity in place so those could carry the current iPhone product cycle if customer reception to the iPhone X is poor.</p>
<p>The supply-chain cuts that we're hearing about, then, could very well be Apple cutting back on iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus production -- because its data tells it that many potential customers are waiting for, and willing to buy, the pricier iPhone X when it lands.</p>
<p>So if you're an Apple stockholder, relax. There's nothing to worry about yet.</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>
<p>David and Tom&#160;just revealed what they believe are the&#160; <a href="https://www.fool.com/mms/mark/e-sa-bbn-eg?aid=8867&amp;source=isaeditxt0000476&amp;ftm_cam=sa-bbn-evergreen&amp;ftm_pit=6627&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=37724bd0-b537-11e7-92e7-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">ten best stocks Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;for investors to buy right now... and Wal-Mart wasn't one of them! That's right -- they&#160;think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.fool.com/mms/mark/e-sa-bbn-eg?aid=8867&amp;source=isaeditxt0000476&amp;ftm_cam=sa-bbn-evergreen&amp;ftm_pit=6627&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=37724bd0-b537-11e7-92e7-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a>&#160;to learn about these picks!</p>
<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/TMFChipFool/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=37724bd0-b537-11e7-92e7-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Ashraf Eassa Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=37724bd0-b537-11e7-92e7-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Stop Panicking About Poor Apple Inc. iPhone 8 Sales | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/10/22/stop-panicking-about-poor-apple-inc-iphone-8-sales.html | 2017-10-22 | 0 |
<p><a href="http://pienews.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/KOS.jpg" type="external" />51 Is that a smoking gun&#160; I smell?&#160; It turns out the IRS contracted with a company that provides email backup services starting in 2005.&#160; This first came to light in the Twitter feed of&#160; moregenr , who noticed that the IRS appears on the client list of&#160; email [?]</p>
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<p><a href="http://allenwestrepublic.com/2014/06/21/is-that-a-smoking-gun-i-smell-irs-had-archiving-company-contracted-in-2005/" type="external">Click here to view original web page at allenwestrepublic.com</a></p>
<p /> | The Smoking Gun? IRS had archiving company contracted in 2005 | true | http://politicalillusionsexposed.com/is-that-a-smoking-gun-i-smell-irs-had-archiving-company-contracted-in-2005/ | 0 |
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<p>During a Senate Judiciary hearing with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Chairman Charles Grassley said he wants the Department of Justice to look into revelations that the FBI was investigating officials tied to a Russian state-controlled nuclear company that purchased 20 percent of the U.S. uranium supply in 2010.</p>
<p>“What are you doing to find out how the Russian takeover of the American uranium was allowed to occur despite criminal conduct by the Russia company that the Obama administration approved the purchase," Grassley said.</p>
<p>Grassley said he wants to know why the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, approved the Rosatom purchase of Uranium One despite the existence of an FBI investigation which could have impacted CFIUS’ approval.</p>
<p>The Rostaom takeover of Uranium One required approval by CFIUS, an inter-agency committee who reviews transactions that leads to a change of control of a U.S. business to a foreign person or entity that may have an impact on the national security of the United States. At the time of the Uranium One deal the panel was chaired by then-Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and included then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then-Attorney General Eric Holder.</p>
<p>By the time CFIUS approved the sale of Uranium One to Rosatom, the FBI’s investigation had already gathered substantial evidence of bribery and kickbacks against a Russian national, Vadim Mikerin, who was then a top official with Rosatom’s Tenex subsidiary, according to court documents. The FBI said while at Tenex, which was located in Maryland, Mikerin was involved in multiple bribery and kickback schemes. Mikerin pled guilty in 2015 for money laundering conspiracy involving Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Violations and was sentenced to four years in prison. By the end of 2015, four defendants were indicted in the years-long investigation, according to court records and the Justice Department.</p>
<p>In a 2015 affidavit, FBI officials said Mikerin, “with the consent of higher level officials at Tenex and Rosatom (both Russian state-owned entities), would offer no-bid contracts to U.S. businesses in exchange for kickbacks in the form of money...” made to offshore accounts, stated the affidavit in support of a search warrant. Mikerin pled guilty to the allegations.</p>
<p>“Mikerin admitted that he conspired with Daren Condrey, Boris Rubizhevsky and others to transmit approximately $2,126,622 from Maryland and elsewhere in the United States to offshore shell company bank accounts located in Cyprus, Latvia and Switzerland with the intent to promote the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations,” according to a DOJ press release announcing the charges against the then defendants in 2014. “Mikerin further admitted that the conspirators used consulting agreements and code words to disguise the corrupt payments.”</p>
<p>Condrey, was an executive of an American trucking company, Transportation Logistics International (TLI) based in Fulton, Maryland, which was authorized at the time to move Russian uranium around the United States, according to contracts and documents reviewed by Circa. Condrey also pled guilty in June 2015 to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and conspiring to commit wire fraud.</p>
<p>Rubizhevsky, a Russian national, who was the president of NEXGEN security in New Jersey, worked as a consultant for Mikerin and Tenam, according to court documents. He aided in the scheme to get the contracts awarded to TLI, according to the Justice Department. Rubizhevsky pled guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in June 2015.</p>
<p>The Department of Justice's case against Mikerin was aided by an FBI informat. Circa spoke to intelligence lawyer Victoria Toensing, who is representing the informant said that her client provided information for a couple years before the Uranium One deal was voted on by CFIUS.</p>
<p>“High-ranking law enforcement officials in the Obama Administration knew that there was corruption in this company," Toensing said. She continued that her client "is not only afraid of the Russian people, but he is afraid of the US government because of the threats the Obama administration made against him."</p>
<p>Senator Grassley, an Iowa Republican said he wanted to know if Department of Justice is investigating whether Russian entities compromised the Obama administration’s decision to approve the sale of Uranium One.</p>
<p>“The Clinton Foundation reportedly received millions of dollars from interested parties in the transaction. And Secretary Clinton’s State Department was one of the agencies that gave a thumbs up to the takeover," he said during the hearing.</p>
<p>“Bill Clinton received 500,000 for a speech in Moscow in June 2010 from the Russian government aligned bank. The same month as the speech Russia began the Uranium acquisition process. This fact pattern raises serious concerns about improper political influence on the process by the previous, by the Clinton’s during the Obama administration. “</p>
<p>Sessions said he could not confirm or deny if there were any investigations and told Grassley he would review Grassley's comments.</p>
<p>Related Stories: <a href="" type="internal">A Russian nuclear firm under FBI investigation was allowed to purchase US uranium supply</a> <a href="" type="internal">Senators have reached a bipartisan deal to save the Obamacare markets</a> <a href="" type="internal">The Israeli ambassador praised Trump, saying US-Israel relations 'have never been better'</a></p> | Grassley asks DOJ to look into the FBI's investigation of the Uranium One deal | false | https://circa.com/story/2017/10/18/national-security/grassley-asks-doj-to-look-into-the-fbis-investigation-of-the-uranium-one-deal | 2017-10-19 | 1 |
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<p>Bahraini authorities have banned all protest gatherings amid escalating clashes in the Gulf kingdom. It's the most sweeping attempt so far to quash anti-regime protests that've been going on in the country for nearly two years. The restrictions come after the country's police reportedly attacked anti-monarchy protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets in the capital Manama on Monday. Clashes in Bahrain occur almost daily, with around 80 people being killed since the unrest began. The country's under fire from human rights groups for its brutal crackdowns on pro-reform campaigners who are calling for more rights, jobs and education. RT gets more on this from political analyst Sreeram Chaulia.</p> | Bahrain bans protests after cops tear gas & fire on rally | false | http://foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/10/31/bahrain-bans-protests-after-cops-tear-gas-fire-on-rally/ | 2012-10-31 | 1 |
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<p>U.S. District Court was evacuated late Tuesday morning, but it had nothing to do with the government shutdown and everything to do with a leak that caused widespread outages.</p>
<p>A water heater valve that blew out leaked and caused shortages throughout the building, leading the court to close the building. Employees were sent home.</p>
<p>The court nevertheless is taking measures that will allow it to stay open for at least the next 10 business days and beyond because of the federal shutdown, according to Chief Judge M. Christina Armijo.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Illegal entry cases, however, in which New Mexico is a national leader, will be suspended because support staff at the U.S. Attorney’s office is being furloughed, according to a memo obtained by the&#160;Journal.</p>
<p>Staff is instrumental in processing the cases, and the government shutdown is having a “disproportionately strong impact” on the ability to handle those immigration violations even though criminal prosecutors are not affected by the shutdown, the memo says. The problem is likely to continue beyond the shutdown because of problems with sequestration and the related hiring freeze, the U.S. Attorney’s Office told the court.</p>
<p>Armijo issued an order Tuesday in response to a request from Acting U.S. Attorney Steve Yarbrough to postpone all civil cases in the district in which the United States or one of its agencies is a party.</p>
<p>That would include all non-criminal cases involving the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Internal Revenue Service, or Health and Human services, for instance.</p>
<p>Armijo, noting the impracticality of seeking individual extensions, ordered a blanket, temporary stay in those cases and extended deadlines and due dates corresponding to the lack of funding – at least until Oct. 15.</p>
<p>The most affected office is the civil division of the U.S. Attorney’s office, which defends cases against the United States. Employees of that division are on a furlough that started Tuesday.</p>
<p>The order does not apply to requests that contain an element of urgency, such as a request for a temporary restraining order.</p>
<p>Parties may file actions during the hiatus, but they also will be subject to the temporary stay.</p>
<p>Jury trials will continue, and jurors will receive payments over the next two weeks. U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services, the Marshals Service, and the Federal Public Defender office are expected to continue operations at current levels over the next two weeks.</p>
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<p /> | U.S. District Court evacuated | false | https://abqjournal.com/272975/us-district-court-evacuated.html | 2013-10-02 | 2 |
<p>I don’t know anyone who actually enjoys a trip to the dentist. It’s a really common fear amongst people: a stranger delving into your mouth, tapping your teeth with metal utensils, injecting you with a horror-film-like needle and ripping your bones out of – arguably – the most useful thing you own.</p>
<p>Of course, there are those among us who aren’t “bothered about the dentist” – as they like to proclaim in a loud voice in public – but we secretly know they’re just as scared as the rest of us. It’s just machismo or a need for attention, of course.</p>
<p>Nope, no-one likes the dentist. (Apologies if you are one, or married to one but it’s the truth.)</p>
<p>So, what you’re about to learn will have you bowing to the heavens and screaming hallelujah so ferociously that God will even be able to peer down through the clouds and see your fillings.</p>
<p>A new <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2017/01/09/never-brush-your-teeth-again-new-drug-helps-rotten-teeth-grow-back-6370537/" type="external">treatment</a> has been invented that could allow our teeth to grow back, from their rotten state. Rising from the dead, if you will.</p>
<p>The treatment consists of a biodegradable sponge being soaked in a drug (YES, A DRUG!) called – pretty easy to say – tideglusib. The drug targets tooth decay.</p>
<p>After the sponge, and the drug (of course), has been left in your mouth, the tooth starts to rebuild itself. That’s what scientists are saying, anyway.</p>
<p>This could mean that fillings will be a thing of the past. Dead. Extinct. Defunct. Which, of course, is good news to us all. Imagine going to a dentist and asking for a sponge instead of a needle? It would be amazing, right?</p>
<p>However, it isn’t as easy as that. Nothing is as easy as it seems. Dentists may still have to whip their drill out if there’s loads of decay as the sponge and drug won’t get rid of it. Oh, well. At least there’s hope.</p>
<p>For you teeth geeks, this is how it <a href="http://www.signature-healthcare.org/Main/HealthLibrary/Can-Teeth-Repair-Themselves-Without-Fillings-128167.aspx" type="external">works</a>:</p>
<p>The drug, tideglusib&#160;invigorates stem cells in the tooth. The stem&#160;cells&#160;then develop into odontoblasts (no, not a newly-found dinosaur,&#160;but specialized tooth cells). This&#160;raises the production of dentine, which allows larger defects to be reversed naturally.</p>
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<p>Featured image via <a href="http://www.gerlachfamilydentistry.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/dental-apprehension1.jpg" type="external">gerlachfamilydentistry</a>.</p> | Terrified Of The Dentist? This New Drug Just Might Eliminate The Need (VIDEO) | true | http://offthemainpage.com/2017/01/10/terrified-dentist-new-drug-might-eliminate-need/ | 2017-01-10 | 4 |
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<p>Fallout from a King County, Washington Superior Court ruling that upholds the City of Seattle’s so-called “gun violence tax” was almost immediate, with the owner of a Seattle gun store <a href="http://www.preciseshooter.com/WeeklyUpdate/EOY2015.aspx" type="external">announcing</a> he will move his business outside the city, while plaintiffs in the case are promising a quick appeal.</p>
<p>Sergey Solyanik, owner of Precise Shooter, released a statement detailing his plans.</p>
<p>“We will continue doing transfers and sales of accessories, cleaning and reloading equipment while the licensing at our new location outside the city is in process,” Solyanik said in an online statement. “We applied for our FFL and local business license a week ago, so we expect our new location to be up and running somewhere between end of January and end of February, at which point our Seattle store will close and all business will be transferred outside the city.”</p>
<p>Solyanik is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the city’s gun tax. The lawsuit was brought by the Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Outdoor Emporium, two private citizens and Solynik’s gun store. They contend that the tax is a form of regulation prohibited by Washington state’s 32-year-old preemption statute.</p>
<p />
<p>The <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2653417-Gun-tax-ruling.html" type="external">ruling</a>, by Judge Palmer Robinson, has raised a ruckus among Second Amendment activists. Gun rights activists are&#160;already talking about a boycott of all Seattle businesses.</p>
<p>“We are disappointed and strongly disagree with Judge Palmer Robinson’s ruling, and we are confident that the State Court of Appeals will ultimately concur with our position,” <a href="https://www.saf.org/saf-vows-appeal-in-case-against-seattle-gun-tax/" type="external">said SAF founder</a> and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb. “SAF and NRA are very familiar with the state preemption statute because we teamed up once before against Seattle and beat the city soundly four years ago.”</p>
<p>NRA’s Lars Dalseide also reacted to the ruling, noting, “It’s unfortunate the court choose to ignore the law and embrace the Seattle City Council’s anti-gun agenda. This is not the final word. We will keep fighting until all legal avenues are exhausted and the people of Seattle are free to exercise their Second Amendment rights without persecution from their elected officials.”</p>
<p>On the other side, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray commented, “Guns now kill more people in the United States than automobiles.&#160;Our community will not stand by as so many in our city, particularly young people of color, continue to pay the highest price for inaction on gun violence at the national level.”</p>
<p>Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes told a reporter, “The NRA needs to butt out of Seattle’s efforts to enact sensible gun safety legislation.”</p>
<p>City Council President Tim Burgess, who sponsored the gun tax measure earlier this year, predicted at the time that it would bring in between $300,000 and $500,000 annually to ostensibly finance an education and research program to address so-called “gun violence.” However, if gun shops close their doors and move to locations outside the city, that revenue will vanish, along with the existing sales tax revenue, by some estimates to be in the neighborhood of $1 million.</p>
<p>Judge Robinson’s denial of the summary judgment motion concentrates on the tax far more than the alleged violation of state preemption. The city earlier lost a lawsuit filed by SAF and NRA on the basis that it violated the state’s 32-year-old preemption statute, which places sole authority for firearms regulation in the hands of the Legislature.</p>
<p>This authority includes “registration, licensing, possession, purchase, sale, acquisition, transfer, discharge, and transportation of firearms, or any other element relating to firearms or parts thereof, including ammunition and reloader components.”</p>
<p>In her opinion, Judge Robinson wrote: “At oral argument, the city argued that, even if the ordinance is a regulation it does not run afoul of (state law) because it does not impose any criminal penalty in the event of a violation. However, the ordinance provides that violation is a gross misdemeanor…The city’s argument fails on this point.”</p>
<p>H/T Seattle Gun Rights Examiner <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/judge-upholds-seattle-gun-violence-tax-saf-vows-to-appeal" type="external">here</a> and <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/seattle-gun-shop-will-move-is-that-what-city-is-really-after" type="external">here</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> | Judge upholds Seattle gun tax, appeal promised, one shop moving | true | http://conservativefiringline.com/judge-upholds-seattle-gun-tax-appeal-promised-one-shop-moving/ | 2015-12-23 | 0 |
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<p>Westinghouse Electric Co's financial distress sparked a feeding frenzy among Wall Street lenders keen to give the nuclear developer a lifeline while it reorganizes in bankruptcy, according to court papers and people familiar with the matter.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Westinghouse, the nuclear arm of Japanese conglomerate Toshiba, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday after facing billions of dollars in cost overruns at power plants under construction in Georgia and South Carolina.</p>
<p>It has a proposal in hand for $800 million in bankruptcy financing from the credit arm of Apollo Global Management, which must be approved by a bankruptcy judge.</p>
<p>The private equity firm won the high-profile deal after Westinghouse said it was "inundated" with offers from investment banks, private equity houses and hedge funds for the financing, a so-called "debtor-in-possession" (DIP) loan, Westinghouse's turnaround adviser said in court papers.</p>
<p>"It's a coveted corner of the market," said David Tawil, president of Maglan Capital, a distressed-focused hedge fund. "People like DIPs a lot; there's not a lot of opportunity."</p>
<p>With lenders starved for yield, there are few opportunities to park nearly $1 billion and earn about 10 percent, the "all-in" interest rate on the loan, according to a person familiar with the matter.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Lenders were drawn to Westinghouse to provide the DIP because of the size of its funding needs, and because, unlike most companies facing bankruptcy with too much debt, it had no other loans or bonds already backed by its collateral.</p>
<p>"(That's) extremely rare, when you have no secured debt on a company," Tawil said.</p>
<p>Westinghouse also has a profitable nuclear services and maintenance business separate from its troubled power plant construction division that was highly attractive to lenders.</p>
<p>The company received 14 proposals for the financing, according to court papers.</p>
<p>Investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc and affiliates of hedge fund Highbridge Capital Management and private equity firm Silver Point Capital went as far as to file a letter with the bankruptcy court late Wednesday saying they could provide a "much more favorable financing" package than Apollo's. But then they withdrew it, offering no explanation.</p>
<p>Goldman and Apollo declined to comment. Westinghouse did not immediately return a request for comment.</p>
<p>The jockeying among the lenders to provide the financing underscores the scarcity of these deals across the restructuring sector.</p>
<p>There were 12 DIP loans totaling $7.47 billion in 2016, the highest in quantity and count since the depths of the financial crisis in 2009, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data, an increase likely driven by the oil and gas crash. In 2009, there was 37 such loans totaling $14.6 billion.</p>
<p>Pre-existing lenders to companies often also fund the DIP as a way to protect their initial investment, leaving little room for outsiders like Apollo, Silver Point or Highbridge.</p>
<p>Last year when U.S. solar company SunEdison Inc filed for bankruptcy, existing lenders provided $300 million in DIP financing.</p>
<p>But Westinghouse's biggest creditors are its parent company Toshiba and the U.S. utilities that own the half-finished nuclear reactors. It has no other debt from third parties, except an undrawn bank credit line, the company's investment banker said in court papers.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)</p> | Toshiba's nuclear woes a hot ticket for bankruptcy financiers | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/29/toshiba-nuclear-woes-hot-ticket-for-bankruptcy-financiers.html | 2017-03-30 | 0 |
<p>The term “Judeo-Christian” has entered our civic vocabulary for good reason. On many of the deepest issues of human life—the meaning of sex, the dignity of the family, the creation of human beings—Jews and Christians stand together against the secular image of man.</p>
<p>But occasionally, even close friends have disagreements. In a <a href="http://slate.msn.com/id/2114733/" type="external">March 2005 essay in the online magazine Slate</a>, William Saletan observed that traditional Catholics and conservative Jews do not always think alike when they gather at meetings like those of the President’s Council on Bioethics. According to Saletan, Catholics raise deep questions and then presume to answer them with divinely confident reason. Jews raise those same deep questions but seem less certain that reason can ever finally settle them. Catholics oppose clear evils like embryo destruction. Jews worry about diffuse evils like the “corruption of our sensibilities.”</p>
<p>There’s a genuine truth in Saletan’s claim, though of course matters are much more complicated. The particular Jews he discusses—Leon Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Yuval Levin, and even me—are hardly representative of Jewish bioethics. In many respects, we are outcasts. We oppose most or all forms of embryo research, for instance, and vehemently oppose the creation of embryos solely for research and destruction. By contrast, with all the division among the branches of Judaism—about keeping Kosher, intermarriage, driving on the Sabbath—destroying embryos for research is a point of remarkable theological agreement. The preeminent Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jewish organizations in America have all given their ethical endorsement, seeing embryonic stem-cell research as not only permissible under Jewish law but an embodiment of Jewish values. Reverence for life means seeking cures for disease; ex vivo embryos are a justified sacrifice—or little sacrifice at all—in the sacred cause of medicine.</p>
<p>A few prominent Jewish ethicists and halakhic experts dissent, seeing embryo destruction as potentially a prohibited form of feticide. But these voices are in the Jewish minority. Most Jewish thinkers support embryo research with few qualms, and many Jews see opposition to embryo research—or even the denial of federal funding for such research—as an illegitimate imposition of Christian values.</p>
<p>Rabbi Elliot Dorff is a typical example. His guidelines on embryonic stem cell research—adopted nearly unanimously by Conservative Judaism’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards—begin by describing, at great length, the cutting edge of stem-cell science: the various methods and sources for deriving embryonic stem cells, the potential to test new drugs and develop new cellular therapies, the state of research at different American laboratories. The document revels in its scientific sophistication before turning to the fundamental ethical question: Should Jews support the destruction of human embryos for research?</p>
<p>To answer this, Dorff turns to Jewish law on abortion, and especially the Jewish understanding of what embryos and fetuses are as they develop. After forty days, he says, the fetus is classified by the ancient rabbis as “the thigh of its mother”; before forty days, he says, the embryo is “simply water.” Dorff says that it makes sense to follow such teachings only if they cohere with the truths of modern science. And then, inexplicably, he concludes that they do, ignoring the significance of what we now know biologically: that a new organism exists from the moment of conception; that the very first cell divisions are orderly and purposeful; that forty days is a meaningless moment from the standpoint of continuous embryological development; that by forty days the primordial head, arms, and legs have already formed, the primitive heart tube is present, the nerves of the face are developing. The notion that “simply water” is the best metaphor for understanding the unfolding human being in our care is absurd. It is morally and theologically irresponsible to seek the fruits of modern science in the form of stem-cell research without confronting the facts of modern embryology in order to understand what embryos really are.</p>
<p>Jewish thinkers like Rabbi Dorff commit two errors simultaneously. They embrace modern biomedical science as a faith in itself, and thus lose the mystical vision that might allow them to see embryos as more than simply microscopic cells. And they appeal—often selectively—to ancient religious sources without confronting the new scientific facts that make some of these sources a problem. They are, at once, too attached to modern biology and too removed from modern biology. And one wonders whether some of Dorff’s confusions—like describing gametes and embryos in the same breath as “potential building blocks of life,” or equating embryos with other cells of the body, or describing the destruction of an embryo as “taking a part of an object”—are not deliberate efforts to make embryo research seem more innocent than it is.</p>
<p>Perhaps the problem is simply that most Jewish thinkers have chosen one Jewish value—the good of healing—as the prism through which to see the old sources. Other considerations—like the law against deliberate killing or the belief in the sanctity of every life as created in the image of God—might lead to different conclusions. The Jewish sources themselves pull in many directions: the Zohar declares that “he who causes the fetus to be destroyed in the womb&#160;.&#160;. . destroys the artifice of the Holy One. . . . For these abominations the Spirit of Holiness weeps.” R. Meir Simchah says that the killing of a fetus is punishable by “death at the hands of heaven.” Nachmanides finds that the Sabbath may be violated to save an unborn child, even in the first forty days of development. Sanhedrin 57b interprets the biblical text “Whoso sheddeth the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed” to include “Whoso sheddeth the blood of man, within man shall his blood be shed.” And who is a “man within man,” the rabbis ask? “A fetus within the womb.”</p>
<p>To be sure, there are many Jewish sources that cut in other directions, especially in the standing they accord to embryos in the first forty days. But these sources deal mostly with the laws of purity for potentially pregnant women or for women who miscarry; they do not deal directly with the moral meaning of deliberately killing early embryos. Likewise, the key text in Exodus, which requires a man who causes a miscarriage by colliding with a pregnant woman to pay a monetary fine, does not deal with the meaning of deliberate killing. Deliberate killing, however, is what embryo research necessarily requires, especially research that creates embryos solely for exploitation and destruction.</p>
<p>Some Jewish thinkers, including Dorff, argue that the embryo ex vivo has limited moral standing because it cannot develop to term outside the womb. But surely all human beings deprived of the environment they need to flourish have “limited potential for life.” A bird trapped in a cage may never learn to fly, but it is no less a bird for the harm we caused by putting it there. A grown woman without food or water will surely die, but this lack of sustenance does not make the doomed person less than human. If anything, it challenges the humanity of those who left her there to die in the first place.</p>
<p>Perhaps the one great Halakhic exception to the pro-embryo research consensus in modern Judaism is Rabbi J. David Bleich, a giant of ethical and legal scholarship in the Orthodox Jewish world. Bleich rejects the argument that embryos and fetuses in utero possess greater moral standing than embryos and fetuses ex utero. He reminds Jews to stand more humbly before the mystery of new life, by reminding them of Ecclesiastes: “As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, Nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; Even so thou knowest not the work of God Who doeth all things.” And Bleich concludes his meditation on the ethics of stem-cell research by praising the Catholic Church for its witness in defense of nascent human life: “The Catholic Church now uniquely fulfills a different role in the transcendental divine plan, i.e., it tenaciously promulgates the notion of the sanctity of fetal life and the teaching that abortion constitutes homicide. Non-Jews who engage in that endeavor do so with divine approbation. Non-Jews engaged in fulfilling a sacred mission are surely deserving of commendation, applause, and support.”</p>
<p>Bleich is not convinced, as Catholics are, that early embryos are the moral equivalent of full human persons. Neither are some of the Jewish conservatives involved with the President’s Council on Bioethics. Bleich’s questions are grounded in the mystery of Jewish sources, and the chairman of the council, Leon Kass, sees a possible tension between our moral intuitions about early embryos and the rational account of early embryos as full persons; he opposes embryo destruction but is not convinced that ex vivo embryos are necessarily equal. My own view is that the Catholic arguments are indeed the most rational, but accepting them in a moment of trial—such as choosing between the child who is dying and the embryo who might save him—would require a faith that is truly other-worldly and thus seemingly absurd to this-worldly eyes.</p>
<p>But whatever fine philosophical differences may exist in theory, Jewish conservatives who engage publicly on these issues have spent the past several years fighting for prohibitions on embryo destruction. As Jews, we know well what it means to treat some human lives as less than human, or some human beings as there for experimentation. We know the moral hazards of justifying such violations on the grounds that embryos are “going to die anyway,” just the way some Nazi doctors justified their inhuman experiments. Embryo destruction is not the moral equivalent of the Holocaust, but the lessons of the Holocaust should give us the wisdom to oppose making embryo destruction the new foundation of modern medicine. That, it seems to me, is the heart of Jewish wisdom.</p>
<p>But it is also only part of the story. In the post-Holocaust age, the Jewish mind is not only keenly aware of the dangers of mistreating innocent life. Jews are also afraid of the demographic death of the Jewish people. The pathos of infertility—a continual theme in the Hebrew Bible—is more powerful than ever, while the place of procreation remains central to the Jewish idea of holiness, to Jewish self-understanding as a sacred people, to the Jewish obligation of passing down God’s way from one generation to the next. As it says in Yevamot:</p>
<p>“…Should the number of Israelites happen to be two thousand and two myriads less one, and any particular person has not engaged in the propagation of the race, does he not thereby cause the Divine Presence to depart from Israel!” Abba Hanan said in the name of Rabbi Eliezar: “He deserves the penalty of death; for it is said, ‘And they had no children, but if they had children they would not have died.’” Others say: “He causes the Divine Presence to depart from Israel; for it is said: ‘To be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee’; where there exists ‘seed after thee’, the Divine Presence dwells among them; but where no ‘seed after thee’ exists, among whom should it dwell! Among the trees or among the stones?</p>
<p>With this in mind, think about how human embryos came to exist outside the body at all, to be seen with human eyes and held with human hands. We produced embryos outside the protective darkness of the womb in order to give those whom nature made barren a natural child. In vitro fertilization was a technological answer to Sarah’s laughter and Hannah’s cry: “O Lord of Hosts, if You will look upon the suffering of Your maidservant and will remember me and not forget Your maidservant, and if You will grant Your maidservant a male child, I will dedicate him to the Lord for all the days of his life.” To give birth is to be eternally remembered; to be childless is to be eternally forgotten.</p>
<p>Many orthodox Jews see this as grounds for defending even reproductive cloning in certain situations if it were possible and safe. As Yitzchok Breitowitz, one of Orthodox Judaism’s finest ethicists and halakhic experts, has argued: “Let us assume that the individual is the last survivor of a family that was decimated in the Holocaust and let us assume that he was castrated in a concentration camp. If he dies, there will be no perpetuation of his family line. .&#160;.&#160;. Cloning is as close as the couple in this scenario could possibly come to producing a child that is on some level the genetic product of both of them. One clearly could defend, I think, the morality of the use of reproductive cloning for that limited purpose.” To some degree, every Jew after the Holocaust feels like a Holocaust survivor. And while Breitowitz explores the many dilemmas raised by reproductive cloning, he believes that cloning to produce children presents no inherent problem from the standpoint of Jewish ethics and Jewish law. The wisdom of engaging in human cloning should be judged case by case, he says, and surely not banned by the state.</p>
<p>And so here we have yet another great Jewish irony and internal Jewish conflict: For decades Leon Kass has been the most eloquent and most passionate opponent of human reproductive cloning, seeing it as a violation of the dignity of human procreation, a violation of the relationship between the generations, a violation of the uniqueness of new human life, a violation of the sexual character of human reproduction. And yet, it is Orthodox Jews who make the ethical case for cloning with greatest force—as a way to perpetuate a holy people when it is the only biological alternative.</p>
<p>The Jewish defense of cloning strikes me as woefully misguided—a deep misunderstanding of what it means to participate as husband and wife in the creation of new life. But the Jewish defense of cloning is a perversion of something more genuine: the special meaning of procreation within Judaism, and what it means not only for the human family in general but for this particular human family. As Kass himself has explained, children are part of the Jewish answer to mortality, a Jewish way of participating in the immortal. Children connect Jews directly to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to those blood relatives chosen by God to bring God’s new way into the world. In prayer, Jews sing l’dor v’dor: “from generation to generation.” In law, Judaism passes down through birth, not baptism. This is why in vitro fertilization finds nearly universal support within all branches of Judaism—as permissible, never obligatory—and why even those Jews who oppose embryo research often reluctantly embrace in vitro fertilization.</p>
<p>Catholics, in their more universalistic wisdom, do not. They oppose in vitro fertilization precisely because it corrupts rather than fulfills the dignity of human procreation; because it separates the unitive and procreative purposes of marriage; because it turns the mysterious birth of new life into a technological project; because it paves the way for the age of human cloning and genetic engineering; and because it destroys thousands of embryos as “byproducts” and abandons thousands more as “spares.” Most deeply, the practice of in vitro fertilization compromises the connection between sex and holiness: the way the sexual encounter of man and wife, created in the image of God, gives them a glimpse of the divine communion of the Trinitarian God and the mysteries of Creation itself.</p>
<p>The good that in vitro fertilization has produced—the many lives now living—is undeniable. But so are the moral hazards. As a universal ethic, the Catholic position is compelling, certainly in its prudence about the many evils in vitro fertilization has already caused (like mass embryo destruction) or will likely facilitate in the future (like growing genetic manipulation of our offspring). But as a particularistic ethics—as a practice engaged in by God’s Chosen People, confronted with the suffering of Sarah and Hannah— in vitro fertilization may have a theological purpose and thus a moral justification, if done within marriage and without producing excess embryos. It may be that Jews and Catholics—who share so much in their understanding of the dignity of procreation and marriage—must part ways in their understanding of what holiness in action requires in certain tragic cases of infertility.</p>
<p>As a Jew, I respect the Catholic position deeply and tremble at the practice of initiating new life in the laboratory, even as I wonder at the magnificence of giving new life—flesh of the couple’s flesh—when in vitro fertilization is the only way to do so. And I hope that Catholics tremble when they tell an infertile couple—including an infertile Jewish couple—that having a biological child should not be done even if it could be done, even as they wonder at the magnificence of the Catholic vision of human sexuality and its connection to the mystery of God’s inner life. This is a disagreement among friends mutually devoted to holiness; it is a disagreement that God will surely settle in His own way and in His own time.</p>
<p>But on most things that count—including embryo research—faithful Jews should stand alongside their Catholic friends as Judeo-Christians, opposing together the imageless image of man that secularism offers. I only hope that my Jewish friends, for Jewish reasons, will become more reasonable than they sometimes are.</p>
<p>—Eric Cohen is editor of&#160; <a href="http://www.thenewatlantis.com/" type="external">The New Atlantis</a>&#160;and resident scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.</p> | A Jewish-Catholic Bioethics? | false | https://eppc.org/publications/a-jewish-catholic-bioethics/ | 1 |
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<p>The news: A controversial billboard on Rush Street drew complaints over its slogan: “Life’s short. Get a divorce.” The ad, placed by Chicago attorney Corri Fetman, was taken down just days after it debuted on May 1. But it has gotten a second life with truckmounted ads.</p>
<p>Behind the news: African Americans were the most likely to be divorced, but the least likely to be married, according to a 2006 U.S. Census Bureau report. Among members of the nation’s four largest racial and ethnic groups who were at least 15 years of age, African Americans had the highest percentage of divorcees and the lowest percentage of married folks. More than 11 percent of African Americans were divorced, and nearly 31 percent were married. Another 45 percent of black people had never married, the highest of any racial or ethnic group, according to the census report.</p>
<p>Art Sims, the author of an 11-year-old relationship advice column that appears in the Chicago Defender and Windy City Media, said many black people are no longer in committed relationships. He said the era of couples being married for more than 20 years is over. A long-term relationship now typically lasts seven to 10 years, he said.</p>
<p>“Marriage is a thing of the past,” said Sims, who has offered relationship advice during appearances on the “Fox News in the Morning” television show. “We say, –˜I love you,’ but we really don’t understand what it means. Now we need to show our young people that love does last.”</p> | Black adults most likely to be divorced | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/black-adults-most-likely-be-divorced/ | 2007-09-17 | 3 |
<p>Next to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton may be the most pro-abortion presidential candidate in American history. Clinton, and the Left in general, attempt to mask the heinous nature of the procedure they support by employing euphemisms such as "reproductive health" and "choice," but in reality what they're championing is the termination of innocent life, even at the latest stages of development.</p>
<p>Here are three things you need to know about Hillary Clinton's beliefs regarding abortion:</p>
<p>1. Hillary Wants Taxpayer Funding for Abortions</p>
<p>Clinton has said that she wants to eliminate the Hyde amendment, which prohibits taxpayer dollars being used for abortions--although all money going to Planned Parenthood is fungible, meaning it can be moved around, essentially rendering the Hyde amendment moot.</p>
<p>On January 10, 2016, <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4572858/hillary-clinton-calls-ending-hyde-amendment" type="external">Clinton said</a>:</p>
<p>"First of all, I will always defend Planned Parenthood, and I will say consistently and proudly, Planned Parenthood should be funded, supported, and appreciated, not undermined, misrepresented, and demonized. I believe we need to protect access to safe and legal abortion, not just in principle, but in practice.</p>
<p>Any right that requires you to take extraordinary measures to access it is no right at all...not as long as we have laws on the books like the Hyde amendment, making it harder for low-income women to exercise their full rights."</p>
<p>From July 1, 2013 - June 30, 2014, <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2015/09/a-comprehensive-guide-to-planned-parenthood-funding" type="external">Planned Parenthood received approximately $528.4 million in federal funding</a>, roughly $103.6 million of which went to "family planning," which includes abortions. Hillary Clinton wants more, telling <a href="https://newrepublic.com/minutes/127886/hillary-clinton-wants-kill-hyde-amendment-yes-big-deal" type="external">Fusion</a>: "I would like to see Planned Parenthood even get more funding."</p>
<p>Planned Parenthood is the nation's most <a href="http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2015/09/disentangling-the-data-on-planned-parenthood-affiliates-abortion-services-and-receipt-of-taxpayer-funding#_ftn3" type="external">prolific abortion provider</a>, accounting for more than 300,000 abortions a year.</p>
<p>2. Hillary Wants Abortion Available Until Birth</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton is such an extreme advocate for abortion that she refuses to entertain the idea of late-term restrictions unless exceptions are added. On October 8, 2000, <a href="http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2016/oct/09/ted-cruz/false-ted-cruz-claim-hillary-clinton-backs-unlimit/" type="external">Clinton said</a>:</p>
<p>"I have said many times that I can support a ban on late-term abortions, including partial-birth abortions, so long as the health and life of the mother is protected. I've met women who faced this heart-wrenching decision toward the end of a pregnancy. Of course it's a horrible procedure. No one would argue with that. But if your life is at stake, if your health is at stake, if the potential for having any more children is at stake, this must be a woman's choice."</p>
<p>This argument is a patent falsity.</p>
<p>In a piece for Fox News, Lila Rose <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2015/07/10/opinion-case-10-year-old-paraguayan-pregnant-girl-and-why-killing-is-not-answer/" type="external">explained</a> that "abortion is never medically necessary to save a mother's life. The Dublin Declaration makes this clear, with more than 1,000 signatures from obstetricians, neonatologists, pediatricians, midwives, and other medical professionals claiming that fact."</p>
<p>Dr. Anthony Levatino, a former OB-GYN who performed over 1,200 abortions in his career, also claims that the "life of the mother argument" is nonsense:</p>
<p>"During my time at Albany Medical Center, I managed hundreds of such cases by "terminating" pregnancies [via live delivery by C-section] to save mothers' lives. In all those hundreds of cases, the number of unborn children that I had to deliberately kill was zero."</p>
<p>During his <a href="https://youtu.be/53tzMV9OmvY" type="external">2013 testimony</a> before Congress, Dr. Levatino said that at 24-weeks gestation, "the dilation of the cervix that's required for a D&amp;E [Dilation and Evacuation] abortion...takes at least 36 hours." Later abortions, he said, "can necessitate almost three days of preparation prior to performance of the procedure."</p>
<p>He continued:</p>
<p>"It was mentioned earlier, the idea that abortion is needed to save women's lives...As a faculty member at the Albany Medical College, I have treated hundreds of women with severe problems with their pregnancies. Pregnancies that were life-threatening to them--cardiac disease, diabetes, cancers, toxemia, elevated blood pressure in pregnancy.</p>
<p>I'll illustrate with one case that I dealt with personally. A patient came in at 27-weeks of gestation, blood pressure 220 over 140. You know a normal blood pressure is 120 over 80. This woman is moments or hours away from a stroke. We stabilized her, delivered her; she had a healthy baby in the end, and she did well as well.</p>
<p>I was able to stabilize and deliver her within an hour... Abortion would be worthless in that situation...at 27-weeks of gestation, it would have taken at least three days to even prepare her to be able to go through the procedure. This is an important point when we talk about abortion in terms of saving women's lives."</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton, however, wants "life-saving" late-term abortions protected, either out of ignorance regarding the time it takes to prepare for the procedure, or for other reasons altogether.</p>
<p>3. Hillary Voted Against the 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban</p>
<p>In 2003, Hillary Clinton <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/108-2003/s51" type="external">voted with 32 other Senators</a> against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which prohibited doctors from knowingly performing an "intact dilation and extraction." A physician caught breaking this law can face fines and up to two years in prison.</p>
<p>For the uninitiated, an intact dilation and extraction is a procedure in which an infant, approximately 18-weeks gestation or older, is almost entirely extracted from the mother in breech position, leaving its head inside the uterus. The doctor then makes an incision in the base of the infant's skull, and uses a suction cannula to remove its brain, thus collapsing the head. Prior to the procedure, the doctor administers digoxin via a needle into the infant's head or heart in order to induce cardiac arrest and death.</p>
<p>This following is an illustrated video explaining the procedure (warning: graphic):</p>
<p />
<p>Regarding the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, <a href="http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2016/oct/09/ted-cruz/false-ted-cruz-claim-hillary-clinton-backs-unlimit/" type="external">Clinton said</a>:</p>
<p>"Clearly, the administration and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle see this as an opportunity to begin to eliminate Roe v. Wade, and the possibility of safe, legal and rare abortions in this country. And many young women don't seem to understand that this is not an option that they can take for granted."</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton's position on abortion should be viewed as extreme, but it's often glossed over by the press. Euphemisms like "choice," and "women's reproductive freedom" are used to muddy public perception about abortion. Clinton likely takes advantage of these euphemisms in an effort to gain the votes of those who are unaware of the disturbing reality of abortion.</p> | 3 Things You Need to Know About Hillary Clinton's Record on Abortion | true | https://dailywire.com/news/10024/3-things-you-need-know-about-hillary-clintons-frank-camp | 2016-10-17 | 0 |
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<p>The New Mexico Film Office announced that “Captain Fantastic,” will start production in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Mesilla in mid-August.</p>
<p>The film stars Viggo Mortensen and Frank Langella.</p>
<p>“Captain Fantastic” is about a passionate father, played by Mortensen, who is so devoted to teaching his six children how to live, be free, and survive in the world that he has moved them deep into the forests of the Pacific Northwest.</p>
<p>He spends his days teaching them combat skills, training them like professional athletes, homeschooling them in a rigorous classical education, and introducing them to the beauty of the natural world. However, when he is forced to leave their self-created paradise and confront the real world, he begins a journey that challenges his unorthodox parenting.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We are pleased to welcome ‘Captain Fantastic’ to New Mexico and even more pleased that they will be spending time in the southern part of our state where I know they’ll find excellent crew and a film friendly community waiting to welcome them as well,” said New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis.</p>
<p>According to the film office, the production will employ at least 75 New Mexico crew members, one New Mexico actor and approximately 220 local background talent.</p>
<p>“It’s wonderful to have a film like ‘Captain Fantastic’ choose Las Cruces as a film location,” said Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima. “Film production is a great way to promote Las Cruces, create jobs and bring outside dollars to the region, and the City will be stepping up its efforts to recruit more film production to the Las Cruces region.”</p>
<p>The film is directed by Matt Ross.</p> | Mortensen, ‘Captain Fantastic’ will film in ABQ, Las Cruces | false | https://abqjournal.com/434651/mortensen-captain-fantastic-will-film-in-abq-las-cruces.html | 2 |
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<p>Perhaps the American People are finally tired of the big government candidates that the establishment GOP has been pushing on them for decades. If this is true, it's remarkable due to the massive push that was behind Bush to dethrone Trump. In the process of doing that, though, it seems that he may have hit the end of the road?.</p>
<p>From <a href="http://theresurgent.com/bush-campaign-sources-campaign-out-of-money-pay-ends-saturday/" type="external">TheResurgent</a>:</p>
<p>This is pretty remarkable. Sources close to the Bush campaign are beginning to leak about a call last night. I'm told the Bush team is out of money. Pay for campaign staff will end on Saturday. The campaign is all but over.</p>
<p>Additionally, after having hundreds of millions of dollars on hand, the Bush Super PAC has less than $15 million from what I am being told.</p>
<p>What a waste.</p>
<p>Ironically, if Bush really wants to have an impact on the race, given that his campaign is broke, he should publicly get out of the race today. This would be like Rich Perry in 2012, who got out, cast his support to Gingrich at the last minute, and saw Gingrich storm into first place in South Carolina.</p>
<p>Bush could be the king maker if he gets out today.</p>
<p>Apparently Bush's campaign contacted Erick Erickson - the author of the quoted piece - and denied there was a call and that the money was gone.</p>
<p>0 comments</p> | BREAKING: Inside sources claim Jeb Bush's campaign may be over. | true | http://freedomsfinalstand.com/breaking-inside-sources-claim-jeb-bushs-campaign-may-be-over/ | 0 |
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<p />
<p />
<p />
<p><a href="/news/feature/1997/08/" type="external">the article</a></p>
<p>The Memo <a href="/news/feature/1997/08/memo5.html" type="external">p. 1</a> – <a href="/news/feature/1997/08/memo2.html" type="external">p. 2</a> – <a href="/news/feature/1997/08/memo3.html" type="external">p. 3</a> – <a href="/news/feature/1997/08/memo4.html" type="external">p. 4</a> – p. 5</p>
<p>The Survey <a href="/news/feature/1997/08/survey1.html" type="external">p. 1</a> – <a href="/news/feature/1997/08/survey2.html" type="external">p. 2</a> – <a href="/news/feature/1997/08/survey3.html" type="external">p. 3</a> – <a href="/news/feature/1997/08/survey4.html" type="external">p. 4</a> – <a href="/news/feature/1997/08/survey5.html" type="external">p. 5</a> – <a href="/news/feature/1997/08/survey6.html" type="external">p. 6</a></p>
<p />
<p />
<p /> | The Memo (5 of 5) | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/1997/08/memo-5-5/ | 1997-08-12 | 4 |
<p>When you cross the boulevard in the residential neighborhood of Basroch in Grande-Synthe, you enter a different world. The migrants’ camp of Grande-Synthe is spread out on a swampy field surrounded by woods. You can spot small blue and green tents along the sides of the road.</p>
<p>Once you pass through a gate guarded by police, the sight of the camp is gut-wrenching. Lines of tents planted in the mud. They’re crammed together between trees and piles of trash. Some are made of sticks and tarps, held down with anything from sacks of flour to rocks, cans, broken strollers or bicycles.</p>
<p>Shay Rojansky is an Israeli logistician with Doctors Without Borders. This is Rojansky’s first mission, though it is no beginner’s mission. He says even though he’d seen videos of the camp before he arrived, he couldn’t believe what he actually saw here.</p>
<p>“I was appalled, and then I actually heard from my colleagues that it’s actually, even comparing with other refugee camps they have seen in war-torn places and Africa and so on, this is actually a bad case,” He says. “I came here when the weather was worse in terms of rain and so on, and it was truly a swamp. I was walking around here in a swamp and seeing tents inside and it’s horrible.”</p>
<p>The wet mud is difficult to deal with, but the piles of trash here also have attracted rats who run around the camp, even inside the tents.</p>
<p>The camp’s population ballooned from 50 to 2500 over five months —&#160;which places a huge burden on this small suburban town of 21,000 people. That’s why the town and local charities called in Doctors Without Borders for help. So far, the town of Grande-Synthe and the NGOs have provided most of the support and funding for the camp. The French government has not done so yet.</p>
<p>Françoise Lavoisier works with a local group called Salam that provides clothing and hot meals at the camp. She says she has been volunteering for over 10 years but has never seen so many families here. She’s worried about the estimated 200 children under 10 who live here.</p>
<p />
<p>Adeline Sire</p>
<p>“It’s winter, it’s cold, the bad weather is going to last for a while,” she says, “and all these infants and children and mothers, what are we going to do with them?”</p>
<p>The town is preparing a new camp with heated tents, but it will take at least a month to get it ready and a few children have already suffered from hypothermia.</p>
<p>In the meantime, trucks deliver firewood a few times a day, which sends men and children running to grab armfuls. There are campfires everywhere.</p>
<p>Jort Baqi is from Mosul in northern Iraq. He left behind an elderly mother who couldn’t travel. Like most of the people here, he’s a Kurd fleeing the violence of ISIS, which controls his hometown.</p>
<p>“Our house is gone. Because of the war, all the stuff is gone. So we come to Europe for help,” he says.</p>
<p>He walked a lot of the way and took some trains to get here. He says he wants to go back home to Iraq when it’s safe. But for now he’s stuck at this camp.</p>
<p />
<p>Tents and trash thrown together</p>
<p>Adeline Sire</p>
<p>“I like these people,” he says. “The support is OK, but the place is no good place. Very cold. Jungle cold. Raining.”</p>
<p>Gona Aziz is also a Kurd who fled Iraq. Through an interpreter, she tells me she’s from Gwer, near Irbil. She undertook the perilous trip to France with her four young children. She says her husband was a Peshmerga fighter who lost both his legs. He went to stay with friends so she could take the children out of the country.</p>
<p>“On October 5, I had to leave my city,” she says, “because Daesh had taken it. They had captured my father and cut his throat;&#160;we found his body later on. They also kidnapped my two brothers and asked for ransom. We couldn’t pay ...&#160;so I put the children in the car, and drove to Erbil.”</p>
<p>She drove to the Turkish border, then took a bus to Greece, then a boat to Italy, then trains to France.&#160; Now she’s not sure she should have made the journey.</p>
<p>“I had so many ordeals,” she says. “If I’d known what I’d have to go through and how I would live in this camp, I would never have left Iraq. I would have stayed there so that Daesh&#160;could come and cut my throat and my children’s throats. That would have been better. No one is threatening us here, but we won’t be able to live in these conditions,” she says.</p>
<p>In spite of all, Aziz looks strong, but like many people at the camp, she is losing hope. She has no news from her husband, and her oldest child is sick.</p>
<p>“Nights are really cold,” she says, “and I don’t sleep much because I must watch over my children.”</p>
<p />
<p>Inside the tent</p>
<p>Adeline Sire</p>
<p>Fortunately, she has relatives in England who brought her food, clothes and money. For many here, Britain is the Promised Land.</p>
<p>“All my loved ones are there,” she says, “my husband’s brothers, my sisters. If I make it there, they may be able to help me, but if I stay here, I have nobody.”&#160;</p>
<p>Beyond the cold and the mud, another issue is the lack of sanitation.</p>
<p>There are only 20 chemical toilet stalls here for the entire camp. Rojanski of Doctors Without Borders says that’s about to change.</p>
<p>"Actually, at the moment, we’re looking into doubling the capacity and also doubling the frequency of the emptying of these toilets," he says.&#160;"You know, for 2500 people, that’s nothing really nothing. So it's a dangerous situation."</p>
<p>Showers are also an issue. The camp can only provide about 240 a day, mostly for men.</p>
<p>"There's a big population of women who don’t&#160;really leave their tents,"&#160;Rojansky says. "They’re afraid, making the trip from any corner of the camp all the way over there is not a trivial thing. There's questions of modesty — it's not easy.&#160;It’s a communication and a cultural thing.</p>
<p>On top of that, smugglers who hide at the camp used to charge migrants to use the showers.</p>
<p>Hassan Dyar is one of the newest residents. He, his wife and 5-year old daughter arrived from Sulaymaniyah in Iraq just a half hour ago. Dyar had to sell his house to pay a smuggler to bring them to France, and he has nothing left.</p>
<p />
<p>Hassan Dyar, his wife and daughter, just arrived at the camp. They are Iraqi Kurds from Sulaymaniyah</p>
<p>Adeline Sire</p>
<p>He is shocked that their shelter tonight will be a rudimentary tent, wedged between piles of garbage.</p>
<p>His daughter Dia’s not happy to be here either, but she knows she’s headed somewhere better.</p>
<p>“I want to go to England” she says, through the interpreter.</p>
<p>She might not get there anytime soon. The UK says it will consider asylum for migrants with family in Britain. But they have to apply for asylum in France first.</p>
<p>When I ask Dia if she has already learned a few English phrases, her mother jumps in with a prompt. And with a big smile on her face, the little girl begins to sing the ABCs in English.&#160;</p>
<p />
<p>Adeline Sire</p>
<p>Adeline Sire</p> | This French refugee camp has rats, mud and toilets that are overflowing. | false | https://pri.org/stories/2016-01-28/2500-refugees-arrive-french-town-21000 | 2016-01-28 | 3 |
<p>In 2011, Wisconsin Gov.&#160;Scott Walker introduced the innocuously named “ <a href="http://archive.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20110216/GPG0101/110216041/Read-summary-Gov-Scott-Walker-s-budget-repair-bill" type="external">Budget Repair Bill</a>.” The sweeping legislation contained both fiscal measures — reduced&#160;support for public education, state Medicaid programs, and regulatory agencies, as well as lower&#160;property and capital taxes — and a labor law amendment that all but outlawed collective bargaining for public sector employees and created new barriers to union organizing.</p>
<p>After decades of neoliberal advance and the emergence of the Tea Party, none of this — even in a state with a progressive history — was especially surprising. But this time it&#160; <a href="" type="internal">sparked</a>&#160;dogged resistance: a two-and-a-half-week occupation of the State Capitol, demonstrations topping one hundred thousand people, and “sick out” work stoppages by teachers across the state.</p>
<p>When the capitol was cleared, however, the mobilization that began with the demand to “kill the bill” was funneled into the effort to electorally oust Walker. In the 2012 recall, in a replay of the 2010 gubernatorial election, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett&#160; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/us/politics/walker-survives-wisconsin-recall-effort.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0" type="external">lost</a>&#160;to Walker&#160;— by&#160;an even greater margin than before.</p>
<p>The second phase of Walker’s anti-worker campaign began a few weeks ago, nearly four years after the introduction of the “Budget Repair Bill.” In early February, the governor issued a nearly two-thousand-page budget proposal that includes deepened cuts ( <a href="http://socialistworker.org/2015/02/25/dont-let-walker-wreck-uw" type="external">most notably</a>&#160;an unprecedented $300&#160;million reduction in public higher education funding), laxer regulation of private schools and public charters, and lower&#160;tax rates for large property owners.</p>
<p>Then just last week, the legislature fast-tracked “right to work” (RTW) legislation. RTW&#160;forbids contracts between unions and employers that require workers to pay “fair share” dues or agency fees for union&#160;representation. Such arrangements reduce the free-rider problem because the benefits won by a union are distributed to all employees irrespective — per federal law — of any individual’s decision to&#160;join&#160;the union.</p>
<p>After RTW is enacted, more workers tend to&#160;opt out of paying dues — because, the rationale goes, why pay for something when you can get it for free? — and the union becomes less able to defend and advance workers’ interests. In the long run, this depresses wages, benefits, and working conditions.</p>
<p>Act 10, Wisconsin’s 2011 measure&#160;that curtailed collective-bargaining rights for public sector workers, implemented RTW-style legislation for public employees. Now the state is targeting&#160;all&#160;workers.</p>
<p>The speed of the attack has disoriented many. Whereas a few weeks ago liberals and leftists — and even some portions of the&#160; <a href="http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/04/wisconsin-gov-scott-walkers-budget-questioned-by-republicans-too/22849349/" type="external">moderate right</a>&#160;— were focused on defeating the budget cuts, they have been forced to rapidly respond&#160;to RTW. Organizations like the <a href="http://taa-madison.org/" type="external">Teaching Assistants’ Association</a> have their attention and energy split.</p>
<p>The frenetic timeline, the&#160; <a href="http://utotherescue.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-high-price-of-public-authority-in.html" type="external">layered assaults</a>&#160;on public institutions, the sneaky legislative procedures, and the utter disregard for public testimony or democratic input trigger&#160;flashbacks to 2011.</p>
<p>Indeed, the unavoidable similarities between 2011 and the present moment have many on the Wisconsin left&#160;demoralized. The cumulative failures of the 2011 uprising, the 2012 recall attempts, and the 2014 reelection of Walker weigh heavily, draining energy and strategy for renewed mobilization.&#160;If one hundred thousand protesters at the capitol in 2011 only led to an even more emboldened Walker and deeply conservative legislature, what can we do this time around?</p>
<p>The past few weeks have seen some mobilization, and the budget hearings over the coming weeks will likely generate more resistance. However, compared to 2011, the activity has been modest, contained, and tinged with despair.</p>
<p>The response to the budget cuts has been mostly limited to the University of Wisconsin campuses, and demonstrations opposing RTW have not succeeded in delaying the legislation. Indeed, the bill passed the Wisconsin Senate on February&#160;25, the day after being submitted to committee. With the state assembly <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/05/us-usa-wisconsin-unions-idUSKBN0M11B920150305" type="external">starting</a>&#160;final debate today, it&#160; <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/03/us-usa-wisconsin-unions-idUSKBN0LY14W20150303" type="external">could become</a>&#160;law as early as this week.</p>
<p>Whereas passage of the 2011 legislature required Democratic votes to achieve quorum, Republican lawmakers&#160;ushered&#160;the RTW bill through&#160; <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/union-backers-to-protest-right-to-work-legislation-b99449939z1-293648021.html" type="external">without</a>&#160;financial provisions, bypassing quorum and eliminating the possibility of Democratic legislators deploying the&#160; <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/116381289.html" type="external">stall tactics</a>&#160;that garnered them near-celebrity status in 2011.</p>
<p>But assuming nothing can be done&#160;to respond to Walker’s latest moves is wrongheaded. This position reflects a narrowing of the political imagination common in the neoliberal era. It envisions politics as the realm of officials and electoral campaigns, a stunted conception that results from the near elimination of other effective actions like workplace organizing and strikes.</p>
<p>This has produced the first misconception leftists must reject: the popular belief that we find ourselves facing Walker’s second offensive because the 2012 recall efforts failed. Rather, the real moment of defeat came&#160;with the decision&#160;to redeploy the 2011 movement’s energy into the recall.</p>
<p>The recall strategy was a conscious choice by the movement’s leadership rather than a decision straightforwardly determined by conditions on the ground. The official labor leadership and Democratic Party–affiliated organizations largely forced this choice by&#160; <a href="http://socialistworker.org/2011/03/29/labor-movement-after-wisconsin" type="external">adopting</a>&#160;a “settle-at-any-cost” strategy instead of encouraging the rank-and-file mobilization that had emerged. In addition, this framing generated a flimsy political litmus test (pro-Walker or anti-Walker) that created a low bar for Democratic candidates and limited the amount of serious political content being debated.</p>
<p>The goal dropped to removing Walker, rather than stopping or slowing the austerity agenda (or these were treated as synonymous). Indeed, no candidate even verbally committed to returning to the 2010 status quo (hardly a year remembered for its great socialist triumphs), and Barrett himself ran an austerity program in&#160;Milwaukee and openly agreed with the fiscal aspects of Walker’s proposal.</p>
<p>The second miscalculation that plagues Wisconsin leftists today is an undue shortening of the time horizon, which can give rise to both defeatism — declaring there is nothing to be done — and adventurism — insisting on immediate, high-risk actions. This truncation obscures&#160;the long, slow, and crucial work of organizing and movement-building.</p>
<p>The prevailing belief posits that the only victories worth mobilizing for are either immediate legislative wins — e.g., the defeat of the proposed budget cuts or RTW bill — or an electoral reconfiguration, such as a midterm or recall election (the first recall petitions circulated within days of the 2011 proposal).</p>
<p>A sober assessment of the current political landscape suggests both of these are unlikely at best, and probably altogether off the table. RTW will breeze through the Wisconsin Assembly, and the Republican-dominated legislature will likely offer minimal revisions to the proposed budget cuts.</p>
<p>There is little energy to sustain either gubernatorial or legislative recalls, especially after the political debates in 2012 fizzled into a distracting sidebar about the legitimacy of the recall procedure itself rather than the political issues at hand.&#160;Impatience can also lead to&#160; <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/01/1367769/-Boycott-Wisconsin-and-a-General-Strike" type="external">hasty</a>&#160;calls for a general strike, without investing the time and work required to build movements strong enough to support one.</p>
<p>The final miscalculation reinforces a cognitive map of the social world that parcels the working class into separate categories concerned with&#160;separate issues. For example, the protests in 2011 were considered a “union issue” rather than a “student issue” or “black issue,” which rendered these groups and the legislative impacts on them less visible. This invisibility eliminates political agency and forces undue isolation on those most affected.</p>
<p>Rather than seeing ourselves as embedded in a community of shared fate and struggle, we view ourselves as disconnected or at odds with each other.&#160;This&#160;severely limits our collective capacity to create a new form of politics, primarily because we fail to see each other, much less unite and mobilize for our mutual struggles.</p>
<p>Though the 2011 Wisconsin Uprising faced immediate setbacks, it did provide an opportunity for activists in often-unconnected movements to learn to stand alongside each other. Likewise, while our immediate prospects may be dim, the way we mobilize now — even if we fail to stop the austerity budget or RTW — can lay the groundwork for future victories.</p>
<p>In 2011, connections were formed between rank-and-file union members, racial justice advocates, student organizations, native rights organizations, and environmental groups. The union bureaucracy clearly led the mobilization, with other social justice organizations — especially the racial justice organizations — relegated to the margins.</p>
<p>This time around, the character of the mobilization has begun to shift.&#160;Having ruled out the possibility of electoral victories or short-term solutions, many on the Left have begun to look more deeply at issues like racial justice and how they relate to the battle against austerity.</p>
<p>The Young Gifted and Black Coalition ( <a href="http://www.wisconsingazette.com/wisconsin/young-gifted-and-black-coalition-open-letter-to-madison-police-chief-michael-koval.html" type="external">YGB</a>) — the core of the Black Lives Matter movement in Madison — has become one of the central organizations mobilizing against Walker’s new budget. Making the connection between the black freedom struggle and fiscal policy, the YGB’s primary focus has been opposing the $8&#160;million jail expansion in Madison’s Dane County. These connections are crucial in Wisconsin, where, for instance, expenditures on corrections surpassed those on higher education in 2011, and where racial disparities are some of&#160; <a href="http://www.wccf.org/assets/RaceForResults.pdf" type="external">the worst</a>&#160;in the country.</p>
<p>There is no denying that workers and students have suffered a series of defeats in the past four years. And there’s no denying that our forces were weakened in 2011, with public sector unions losing some two-thirds of their membership after Act 10 took effect. This will get even worse soon, with Wisconsin likely becoming the twenty-fifth RTW&#160;state in the country.</p>
<p>But while the Left seems to be failing, our task, in this moment, is to learn to “fail better” and build stronger movements in the future.</p> | What’s Next After “Right to Work”? | true | https://jacobinmag.com/2015/03/scott-walker-right-to-work/ | 2018-10-05 | 4 |
<p />
<p>The U.S. military is looking to lease space in Trump Tower to carry out its support functions for President Donald Trump, who has both a home and an office in the New York skyscraper that bears his name.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Department of Defense is working “through appropriate channels and in accordance with all applicable legal requirements” to acquire leased space in the building, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. J.B. Brindle said in a statement Tuesday, adding that it is needed for personnel and equipment to support the president there.</p>
<p>The U.S. military provides medical and communications services that have to be close to the president at all times, and ensures that the so-called nuclear football—a briefcase that allows the president to authorize a nuclear attack—accompanies the commander in chief when he’s away from the White House.</p>
<p>Located on New York’s Fifth Avenue, Trump Tower is owned by Tower Commercial LLC, which is owned in turn by three other entities, all ultimately controlled by Mr. Trump, according to a Jan. 19 analysis of his holdings by The Wall Street Journal.</p>
<p>Mr. Trump has declined to sell his assets and put the money in a blind trust run by an impartial third party—as some government-ethics experts have suggested—instead opting to hand the reins of his company to his sons and put his personal holdings in a private trust.</p> | Military Looks to Lease Space in Trump Tower | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/08/military-looks-to-lease-space-in-trump-tower.html | 2017-02-08 | 0 |
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Being .500 is hardly a team’s goal, although with the kind of injury-wracked season the Clippers are having, it’s somewhat of an accomplishment.</p>
<p>Lou Williams scored 26 points in the Clippers’ 126-105 win over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday, giving Los Angeles a 21-21 mark at the season’s midpoint.</p>
<p>“With all the guys that are out, we’re just trying to hold the fort,” coach Doc Rivers said.</p>
<p>Willie Reed added 14 points and 13 rebounds making his first start of the season in place of DeAndre Jordan, who has a sprained left ankle. Blake Griffin had 11 points and nine assists as one of eight Clippers in double figures.</p>
<p>“Everyone can step up, it doesn’t matter who it is,” Reed said. “I just try to be ready when the opportunity presents itself.”</p>
<p>Their second game in three days against the last-place Kings was just what the doctor ordered for the Clippers.</p>
<p>Besides Jordan, they were without Austin Rivers and Danilo Gallinari. Patrick Beverley had season-ending knee surgery while C.J. Wilson is out indefinitely.</p>
<p>After the Kings scored the game’s first four points, it was all Clippers. They shot 55 percent in building a 21-point lead in the first half, and were up 64-45 at the break.</p>
<p>Willie Cauley-Stein had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Kings in their fourth straight loss. De’Aaron Fox added 17 points and 10 assists.</p>
<p>“Sometimes when a team comes out and shoots the ball like the way they were doing, it’s kind of difficult to bring that energy,” Fox said, “especially when we think we’re playing good defense and then Lou hits the off-balance shot, but that’s what he does.”</p>
<p>The Kings picked up their scoring in the third, losing the quarter 28-23, but they still trailed 91-68 going into the fourth.</p>
<p>Reed and Griffin rested in the fourth, when the Clippers were outscored 37-35.</p>
<p>Los Angeles shot 56 percent from the floor for the game and outscored the Kings 60-50 in the paint.</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Kings: They’ve lost five in a row to the Clippers and eight of the last nine. ... The Kings lost 121-115 when the teams played Thursday.</p>
<p>Clippers: Doc Rivers said he didn’t think Jordan will be out long, but added, “I can’t guarantee it.” ... Williams has scored 20 or more points off the bench in nine straight games, moving ahead of New Orleans’ Jrue Holiday for the longest such streak among active players. ... Jordan’s next game will tie him with Randy Smith for most played in franchise history at 715. ... Jordan is already the first player in franchise history to be with the team for 10 seasons.</p>
<p>SCUFFLING KINGS</p>
<p>The Kings fell to 13-29 and 6-16 on the road, and lost all four of their games against the Clippers this season.</p>
<p>“Like, enough is enough,” Cauley-Stein said. “Coach (Dave Joerger) is at that point where he’s not going to play you if you’re not doing the right thing, and that’s how it should be. Kind of like a college team. If you’re not doing the job right, next man up and you’ll get your turn when it comes back around.”</p>
<p>RARE MISS</p>
<p>Jordan sat out because of injury for the first time in his 10-year career. It was his first missed game of the season and just his second over the last two years.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Kings: At Oklahoma City on Monday.</p>
<p>Clippers: Host the Rockets on Monday in Chris Paul’s return to Staples Center after being traded in June.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More NBA basketball: <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball</a></p>
<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Being .500 is hardly a team’s goal, although with the kind of injury-wracked season the Clippers are having, it’s somewhat of an accomplishment.</p>
<p>Lou Williams scored 26 points in the Clippers’ 126-105 win over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday, giving Los Angeles a 21-21 mark at the season’s midpoint.</p>
<p>“With all the guys that are out, we’re just trying to hold the fort,” coach Doc Rivers said.</p>
<p>Willie Reed added 14 points and 13 rebounds making his first start of the season in place of DeAndre Jordan, who has a sprained left ankle. Blake Griffin had 11 points and nine assists as one of eight Clippers in double figures.</p>
<p>“Everyone can step up, it doesn’t matter who it is,” Reed said. “I just try to be ready when the opportunity presents itself.”</p>
<p>Their second game in three days against the last-place Kings was just what the doctor ordered for the Clippers.</p>
<p>Besides Jordan, they were without Austin Rivers and Danilo Gallinari. Patrick Beverley had season-ending knee surgery while C.J. Wilson is out indefinitely.</p>
<p>After the Kings scored the game’s first four points, it was all Clippers. They shot 55 percent in building a 21-point lead in the first half, and were up 64-45 at the break.</p>
<p>Willie Cauley-Stein had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Kings in their fourth straight loss. De’Aaron Fox added 17 points and 10 assists.</p>
<p>“Sometimes when a team comes out and shoots the ball like the way they were doing, it’s kind of difficult to bring that energy,” Fox said, “especially when we think we’re playing good defense and then Lou hits the off-balance shot, but that’s what he does.”</p>
<p>The Kings picked up their scoring in the third, losing the quarter 28-23, but they still trailed 91-68 going into the fourth.</p>
<p>Reed and Griffin rested in the fourth, when the Clippers were outscored 37-35.</p>
<p>Los Angeles shot 56 percent from the floor for the game and outscored the Kings 60-50 in the paint.</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Kings: They’ve lost five in a row to the Clippers and eight of the last nine. ... The Kings lost 121-115 when the teams played Thursday.</p>
<p>Clippers: Doc Rivers said he didn’t think Jordan will be out long, but added, “I can’t guarantee it.” ... Williams has scored 20 or more points off the bench in nine straight games, moving ahead of New Orleans’ Jrue Holiday for the longest such streak among active players. ... Jordan’s next game will tie him with Randy Smith for most played in franchise history at 715. ... Jordan is already the first player in franchise history to be with the team for 10 seasons.</p>
<p>SCUFFLING KINGS</p>
<p>The Kings fell to 13-29 and 6-16 on the road, and lost all four of their games against the Clippers this season.</p>
<p>“Like, enough is enough,” Cauley-Stein said. “Coach (Dave Joerger) is at that point where he’s not going to play you if you’re not doing the right thing, and that’s how it should be. Kind of like a college team. If you’re not doing the job right, next man up and you’ll get your turn when it comes back around.”</p>
<p>RARE MISS</p>
<p>Jordan sat out because of injury for the first time in his 10-year career. It was his first missed game of the season and just his second over the last two years.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Kings: At Oklahoma City on Monday.</p>
<p>Clippers: Host the Rockets on Monday in Chris Paul’s return to Staples Center after being traded in June.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>More NBA basketball: <a href="" type="internal">https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball</a></p> | Clippers get to .500 with 126-105 win over lowly Kings | false | https://apnews.com/20070ede7d9846cfb40ee85c9a9689db | 2018-01-14 | 2 |
<p>Richard Clarke says the Bush administration was too focused on Iraq to see the 9-11 attack coming.</p>
<p>The Bush administration says Clarke is an opportunistic S.O.B. who once praised President Bush, but now criticizes Bush in order to boost sales of Clarke’s book.</p>
<p>Which one is correct?</p>
<p>That’s the burning question the press focuses on day after day after day. Everyone in radio, TV, or print publications seems to have a very firm answer to the question, one way or the other.</p>
<p>But if you have an answer, you’ve been snookered–maneuvered into pondering the wrong question.</p>
<p>The Real Issue</p>
<p>The 9-11 Commission is supposedly focusing on all aspects of the attack–all aspects except the one that is by far the most important question: why did the hijackers knowingly give up their lives to destroy the World Trade Center?</p>
<p>President Bush has a ready answer. He tells us it’s because they hate American freedoms, American democracy, and American prosperity.</p>
<p>Of course, there are people around the world who are cranks, malcontents, or Stars-and-Stripes-phobes who simply don’t like America–for all kinds of reasons.</p>
<p>But how could any intelligent person believe that there are hundreds–more likely, thousands–of people around the world who would knowingly sacrifice their lives just to protest American freedom, democracy, or prosperity?</p>
<p>As Charley Reese has put it:</p>
<p>It is absurd to suppose that a human being sitting around suddenly stands up and says: “You know, I hate freedom. I think I’ll go blow myself up.”</p>
<p>The Motive</p>
<p>There was only one possible motive for the 9-11 attackers: they were protesting the way the American government has been using force for half a century to overrule the wishes of people in the Middle East and elsewhere.</p>
<p>Our government has overthrown democratically elected governments, it has supported with money and weapons dictatorial governments that have tortured and killed dissenters (just as George Bush keeps saying Saddam Hussein was doing), it has bribed foreign governments to join in enterprises of the U.S. government (as it did with Spain and tried to do with Turkey before Operation Kill Iraqis).</p>
<p>Because of very little press coverage, most Americans have no idea that our government has been doing these things. How many people know, for example, that Iran had a democratically elected government until the U.S. and British governments engineered a coup to install the tyrannical Shah of Iran in 1953?</p>
<p>Then there was all the U.S. government help to Diem in South Vietnam, Suharto in Indonesia, Somoza in Nicaragua, Batista in Cuba, Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, Stalin during World War II, Lumumba in the Congo, Saddam Hussein in Iraq (yes, that Saddam Hussein), and dozens more tyrants–all of whom used American taxpayer money to oppress their own citizens.</p>
<p>Americans may not know about the support provided to these tyrants by the U.S. government, but I can assure you that plenty of people in those countries do know what our government has done to them.</p>
<p>Because Americans know so little about the history of our government’s adventures of the last 50 years (and the last place anyone’s likely to learn about them would be in a government school), it’s easy for Americans to buy George Bush’s logic when he says, “See, these people hate freedom.” Consequently, most people believe that the history of violence began on 9-11, when it’s actually been building for 50 years.</p>
<p>It isn’t even just history. Today George Bush is sending money and other resources to governments in Uzbekistan, Turkminestan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan–governments that are oppressing their subjects in much the same way Hussein was supposed to have oppressed Iraq.</p>
<p>So if the 9-11 Commission has any interest in preventing future 9-11s, why isn’t it discussing the role U.S. foreign policy played in creating 9-11–and is continuing to play today?</p>
<p>Public Debate</p>
<p>Perhaps you don’t agree with me. You may think our government was justified in everything it has done. Or maybe you think I’m overstating the importance of American support of oppressive foreign governments.</p>
<p>Fair enough. But you must admit that this is a legitimate issue to be debated. So why isn’t the 9-11 Commission studying it? Why isn’t the press interviewing people on both sides of the question to help form opinions?</p>
<p>Why is there only one question to be debated on any issue? Why, for example, didn’t any of the coverage of the Martha Stewart case focus on the question of whether insider trading actually hurts anyone? Why was there a debate about whether a juror’s run-in with the police was grounds for a mistrial–when his after-trial statements demonstrated that he found Stewart guilty for something she wasn’t even on trial for–a much more significant reason for a mistrial?</p>
<p>The press–including (especially) the TV experts–will usually focus on the wrong aspect of any case or issue. This is probably because reporters, journalists, and TV experts are mostly all big-government people. So the debate is about whether some politician handled something in the best possible way–rather than debating whether the government should have been involved at all.</p>
<p>And we play their game when we allow ourselves to debate the questions they’re asking.</p>
<p>In almost all matters, the real question should be: why are we letting government handle this?</p>
<p>HARRY BROWNE ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2000. His website is: <a href="http://www.harrybrowne.org/" type="external">www.harrybrowne.org/</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Wrong Question is Being Asked | true | https://counterpunch.org/2004/04/09/the-wrong-question-is-being-asked/ | 2004-04-09 | 4 |
<p>Fox News' Bill O'Reilly distorted a provision of the Affordable Care Act known as risk corridors, falsely claiming the law subsidizes insurance companies if they don't make a profit under the new health care system.</p>
<p>On the November 19 edition of Fox's The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly hosted Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to discuss Rubio's Wall Street Journal op-ed in which he described risk corridors as a "bailout for Obamacare." During the segment, O'Reilly adopted Rubio's attack, claiming that "one of the little-known parts of Obamacare is an option for the feds to reimburse private health insurance companies if they are not making enough money under the affordable health care law. In effect, the feds would subsidize private insurance companies if they don't make profit from Obamacare." Rubio described the provision by claiming "any shortfalls that may happen as a result of the law, that they are going to come in and make up for it. And according to the rule the way they've written it, it could be any amount":</p>
<p />
<p>But risk corridors are not a bailout. The provision is a way of stabilizing the insurance market by protecting insurers who cover higher-risk individuals by transferring costs from insurance plans that cover healthier people. A Health Affairs policy brief <a href="http://healthaffairs.org/healthpolicybriefs/brief_pdfs/healthpolicybrief_74.pdf" type="external">explained</a> that risk corridors are "particularly useful in a period of transition, such as is likely to be the case in 2014 when many sicker people and those with preexisting health conditions will be buying coverage through insurance exchanges for the first time":</p> | O'Reilly Echoes Rubio's Misleading Attack On Affordable Care Act | true | http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/11/19/oreilly-echoes-rubios-misleading-attack-on-affo/196980 | 2013-11-20 | 4 |
<p>SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The federal government says lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s decision to drastically shrink two Utah national monuments should be tried in Utah rather than Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>Court documents show the U.S. Department of Justice filed court documents last week arguing that strong local interest outweighs the plaintiffs’ selection of Washington to file five separate legal challenges.</p>
<p>They lawsuits were filed by outdoor retailer Patagonia, several environmental groups and a coalition of Native American tribes.</p>
<p>Those groups haven’t yet responded to the government’s request to move the cases.</p>
<p>Trump announced his decision on Dec. 4 to reduce the boundaries of the lands. He said was reversing federal overreach, but tribes and conservationists say the decision strips key protections for sacred and important lands.</p>
<p>SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The federal government says lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s decision to drastically shrink two Utah national monuments should be tried in Utah rather than Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>Court documents show the U.S. Department of Justice filed court documents last week arguing that strong local interest outweighs the plaintiffs’ selection of Washington to file five separate legal challenges.</p>
<p>They lawsuits were filed by outdoor retailer Patagonia, several environmental groups and a coalition of Native American tribes.</p>
<p>Those groups haven’t yet responded to the government’s request to move the cases.</p>
<p>Trump announced his decision on Dec. 4 to reduce the boundaries of the lands. He said was reversing federal overreach, but tribes and conservationists say the decision strips key protections for sacred and important lands.</p> | US government wants monument lawsuits moved to Utah | false | https://apnews.com/98c7e5d1edbe4ad592bae54794c96d48 | 2018-01-22 | 2 |
<p>ThinkProgress filed this report from Des Moines, Iowa.</p>
<p>When Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) released his book Fed Up! in late 2010, one of his main critiques was that, over the past 50 years, the federal government has <a href="" type="internal">misconstrued</a> the Constitution to establish “the massive programs of Medicare and Medicaid.” Now that he’s running for president, Perry is trying to sing a different tune on Medicare.</p>
<p>In an <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/12/rick-perry-newsweek-interview-transcript.html" type="external">interview</a> with the Daily Beast’s Andrew Romano, Perry explained why he thinks Social Security and Medicare are unconstitutional:</p>
<p>I don’t think our founding fathers when they were putting the term “general welfare” in there were thinking about a federally operated program of pensions nor a federally operated program of health care. What they clearly said was that those were issues that the states need to address. Not the federal government. I stand very clear on that.</p>
<p>Yesterday, at a Polk County GOP fundraiser, the Des Moines Register’s Jennifer Jacobs asked Perry to further explain why he believes Medicare is unconstitutional. In a moment of amnesia, the Texas governor declared, “I never said it was unconstitutional.” Perry went on to state, “[t]hose that have said that I said [Medicare and Social Security are] unconstitutional, I’m going to have them read the book.”</p>
<p>JACOBS: You talked about Social Security, can you clarify why you think Medicare is unconstitutional?</p>
<p>PERRY: I never said it was unconstitutional.</p>
<p>JACOBS: Okay, so clarify your position on Medicare.</p>
<p>PERRY: I look at Medicare just like I look at Social Security. They’re programs that aren’t working and we ought to have a national conversation about it. Those that have said that I said they’re unconstitutional, I’m going to have them read the book. That’s not what I said. I said that we need to have a conversation, how are we going to have programs that actually work.</p>
<p>Watch it:</p>
<p>In Fed Up!, Perry explains on <a href="" type="internal">page 51</a> how Medicare is a misreading of the Commerce Clause. On <a href="" type="internal">page 48</a>, he calls Social Security “by far the best example” of a program that “violently toss[es] aside any respect for our founding principles.” And on <a href="" type="internal">page 50</a>, he says that we have Social Security “at the expense of respect for the Constitution and limited government.”</p>
<p>For Perry to claim that he “never said” Medicare and Social Security are unconstitutional is either a blatant flip-flop or a significant case of amnesia. In either case, with statements like these, one has to ask: has Rick Perry read his own book?</p> | VIDEO: Rick Perry Flip Flops On Medicare, Claims He ‘Never Said It Was Unconstitutional’ | true | http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/08/29/306230/rick-perry-medicare-flip-flop/ | 2011-08-29 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Researchers have found that obesity hits all groups of Americans - those with more money and education and those with less. That, and some other findings, challenge the common views about what's fueling obesity in the United States.</p>
<p>"Some widely held beliefs about obesity and environments have little evidence in their favor, and some are contradicted by the data," the researchers wrote in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.</p>
<p>The researchers acknowledge that there are disparities in weight and health among groups of Americans, but they said that trends toward obesity occur in all groups.</p>
<p>Today, two in three Americans are overweight or obese.</p>
<p>Americans are spending a smaller share of their income on food than any other society in history, and since 1970 there has been an average per-person increase in calories of 20 percent, the researchers said. Prices for prepared foods have become particularly cheap, but produce also is more widely available than ever.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Consumption of produce has increased during the obesity epidemic, they said.</p>
<p>"Not only has food been getting cheaper, but it is easier to acquire and easier to prepare," said Roland Sturm, lead author of the report and a senior economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "It's not just that we may be eating more high-calorie food, but we are eating more of all types of food."</p>
<p>The researchers called for policies that would address the need for people to replace calorie-dense foods with fruits and vegetables - not just add produce to what they already eat.</p>
<p>In the 1930s, American spent about 25 percent of their disposable income on food; today it's about 10 percent.</p>
<p /> | Studying the link between cheap food, obesity | false | https://abqjournal.com/409215/studying-the-link-between-cheap-food-obesity.html | 2 |
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<p>On the Sunday before confirmation hearings kicked off for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, we heard several misleading comments having to do with her or nominations of earlier years. We also found no evidence to back up Sen. John Cornyn's claim that the new health care law was negatively impacting seniors' access to health care. And Sen. Lindsey Graham's assertion that Rahm Emanuel said it's administration "policy" to pull troops out of Afghanistan "in large numbers"</p>
<p /> | false | https://factcheck.org/tag/leahy/ | 2 |
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<p />
<p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/taedc/" type="external">Ted Eytan</a> / <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" type="external">CC BY-SA 2.0</a></p>
<p>President Obama said the Black Lives Matter movement has “legitimate” concerns and that portraying activists as opposed to police officers is incorrect.</p>
<p>Obama made his comments Thursday at an event at the White House on criminal justice reform moderated by the Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization focused on criminal justice. Many of those in attendance were law enforcement leaders.</p>
<p />
<p>The Huffington Post reports:</p>
<p>Obama said activists are drawing attention to a legitimate concern about whether African-Americans are treated unfairly in specific jurisdictions or are subject to excessive force more frequently. He added that the “overwhelming majority of law enforcement is doing the right thing and wants to do the right thing.” …</p>
<p>“We as a society, particularly given our history, have to take this seriously,” Obama said of the fact that African-Americans are treated unfairly by the criminal justice system. “The African-American community is not just making this up, and it’s not just something being politicized. It’s real, and there’s a history there.” …</p>
<p>“We as a society, if we are not investing in opportunity for poor kids, and then we expect just the police and prosecutors to keep them out of sight and out of mind, that’s a failed strategy. That’s a failure on our part as a whole,” Obama said. “If kids in the inner city are not getting treatment and opportunity, that’s as much of a problem as if it’s happening to our kids, and we’ve got to think of all our children in that same way.”</p>
<p>Read more <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-black-lives-matter_56294030e4b0aac0b8fc36d1?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000047" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p> | President Obama: African-Americans Aren't 'Making Up' Concerns About Law Enforcement | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/president-obama-african-americans-arent-making-up-concerns-about-law-enforcement/ | 2015-10-23 | 4 |
<p>Former CIA Director David Petraeus</p>
<p>The Obama administration’s hastily constructed house of cards with respect to the Benghazi terrorist attack is starting to topple.</p>
<p>Days before David Petraeus was scheduled to testify at a closed door hearing before the House and Senate intelligence committees, he resigned as CIA director and cancelled his appearance.</p>
<p>Concurrent to the Petraeus resignation, the Pentagon released its own timeline of the Benghazi incident — but the Pentagon official would only be quoted anonymously and the timeline’s release took place off-camera.</p>
<p>We now have three official versions of the incident: the state department version, the CIA version and now the Pentagon version. So far, the White House doesn’t have a version. Apparently they’re “still investigating.”</p>
<p>According to a <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/11/military-timeline-from-night-benghazi-attack-begs-more-questions/" type="external">Fox News report</a>, there are a number of disturbing time gaps and discrepancies among the reports worth noting:</p>
<p>At 10:32 p.m. (4:32 p.m. in Washington), 50 minutes after the incident began, the National Military Command Center, which is the operations center at the Pentagon where [AFRICOM commander Gen. Carter] Ham is overseeing the operation, &#160;notifies Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey.</p>
<p>That means for nearly an hour, no one told the defense secretary and Joint Chiefs chairman that a U.S. ambassador is in peril and his personal security officer has pressed his “personal distress button” which sends an SMS signal back to the command authority in the U.S. and a U.S. embassy has been overrun by attackers.</p>
<p>A CIA team left for the consulate at 10:04 p.m. — 28 minutes before the Pentagon says Panetta and Dempsey were told the attack had occurred.</p>
<p>Sources at the CIA annex in Benghazi told Fox News in an interview on Oct. 25 that they asked permission to leave for the consulate immediately and twice were told to wait. The CIA says the base chief was trying to arrange Libyan help.</p>
<p>Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya</p>
<p>The Pentagon report goes on to say that a half hour after they are notified of the attack, “Secretary Panetta and General Dempsey attend a previously scheduled meeting with the President at the White House.” Obviously the president had to have been informed of Benghazi during this meeting.</p>
<p>The White House meeting took place at 5 p.m. It apparently didn’t last long, because at six they were back at the Pentagon meeting with Gen. Ham, who had previously redirected an unarmed, unmanned drone to Benghazi.</p>
<p>As the three discuss response options, the survivors have made their way to the CIA annex and request outside support. The annex is taking fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. According to the Pentagon official, “This was not one long continuous fight, but two separate incidents at two separate facilities with some separation of time.”</p>
<p>However, British sources who were near the consulate and annex that night tell a different story, saying there was almost continuous fire on the annex after the team fled from the consulate.</p>
<p>The Fox report continues:</p>
<p>Sometime over the next two hours, according to the official Pentagon timeline, Panetta gives the “go code” for two Marine FAST (Fleet Anti-terrorism Security) teams to prepare to leave Rota, Spain. A Special Operations force which is training in Central Europe is told to “prepare to deploy to an intermediate staging base in southern Europe (Sigonella, Sicily), and a Special Operations team in the U.S. is told to prepare to deploy to Sigonella as well.</p>
<p>It isn’t until 2:53 a.m. (about five hours after the incident began) that those orders are formalized by Panetta and the teams are told they can leave.</p>
<p>The Pentagon timeline indicates that the rescuers eventually land in Sigonella air base at 7:57 p.m. on Sept. 12. However, other military sources told Fox News that the rescue teams bypassed Sigonella and headed directly to Libya.</p>
<p>The Pentagon denies this. But in apparent confirmation,</p>
<p>Survivors of the attack at the annex say that they heard over the radio net that night that U.S. military assets were, “feet dry over Libya,” which would refer to assets crossing from sea to land and hovering. The Pentagon denies this.</p>
<p>Read more on <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/11/military-timeline-from-night-benghazi-attack-begs-more-questions/" type="external">Fox News</a>:</p>
<p>In the following video, U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-NY, tells Fox News co-anchor Jamie Colby that Petraeus has to testify eventually to clear up some of the discrepancies and fill in the daps.</p>
<p>Watch the latest video at &lt;a href="http://video.foxnews.com"&gt;video.foxnews.com&lt;/a&gt;</p> | Pentagon and the CIA timelines do not match on Benghazi | true | http://bizpacreview.com/pentagon-and-the-cia-timelines-do-not-match-on-benghazi/ | 2012-11-11 | 0 |
<p>Roger Stone, a controversial longtime adviser to President Donald Trump, called Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) a "piece of shit" and a "traitor" for voting against the repeal of President Barack Obama's health care reform law.</p>
<p>During an <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2017/07/30/roger-stone-john-mccain-president-trump/" type="external">impromptu interview with TMZ</a>, Stone noted that Trump "is not a turn-the-other-cheek guy."</p>
<p>"And let's face it, John McCain is a piece of shit," he opined about the Arizona senator who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer.</p>
<p>According to Stone, it is a "pity" that McCain is not running for reelection so that voters can hold him accountable for sinking the Senate's best chance at repealing Obamacare.</p>
<p>"Look, we wish him a speedy recovery from his health problems," the Trump ally quipped, "but that doesn't mean he's not a traitor."</p>
<p>When it came to Trump's new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, Stone was jubilant: "Love the guy!"</p> | Roger Stone: John McCain Is A 'Traitor' And A 'Piece Of Sh*t' | true | http://crooksandliars.com/2017/07/roger-stone-john-mccain-traitor-and-piece | 2017-07-30 | 4 |
<p>Thirteen years ago, my encounter with an Israeli family in the US left me with a hope for peace and a better tomorrow for all. Today, it pains me to think that their child, who played for countless hours with my son, may be the one who is dropping bombs on the children of Lebanon.</p>
<p>For a fresh PhD in economics from the University of Oklahoma, a teaching post at Texas A&amp;M University was more than a godsend; it was a miracle with promises of untold academic glory. My Texan wife, who was also offered a post at the university, had our son attend a preschool in Bryan, Texas. After two weeks at school, my wife interrupted me in my research cubicle at home and asked: “Yusuf, guess who is your son’s best friend at school?”</p>
<p>She stated an Israeli name.</p>
<p>I said, “Fine!”</p>
<p>Jordan had not signed a peace agreement with Israel then, but my logic at the time was: Let them play … why trouble the children with the pains and follies of their elders? And they played.</p>
<p>The Israeli child came to our house; occasionally, I babysat him and my son, and watched them shoot hoops in my small backyard as I worked at an academic career that proved to be more work than pay. On one occasion, that child missed a basket; my son, with the innocence of a four-year-old, patted him on the back and said: “Don’t worry, I will score one for you!” As he went to throw the ball, he turned to his Israeli friend and said: “This one is for you!”</p>
<p>The friend, not to be outdone, returned the favour seconds later when my son missed the basket, and scored one for him too. “This one is for you,” he said.</p>
<p>They were two friends that played well together; they even stood up for each other against the bullies at school.</p>
<p>After several weeks, the child’s parents visited our home and we had dinner. They were both reservists in the Israeli army; they had guarded the borders with Jordan several years earlier. I never asked them about their military experience, we were all academics on neutral grounds, and they never volunteered any information. I, with no military experience and a disdain for politics and politicians, had nothing to mention on the topic. The conversations were guarded, yet pleasant and respectful. And the children played until they were tired and, exhausted, they slept in my son’s bed. They remained friends for the whole time until we returned to Jordan in 1994, where I witnessed, a year later, the signing of the peace agreement between Jordan and Israel.</p>
<p>Last month, my son, now 17, together with his mom, myself and grandparents who were visiting from the US, visited the elegant campus of the American University of Beirut (AUB), where he was accepted as a freshman. Beirut was abuzz with life; everything was coming into place, the country was a marvel of sun and sea, tourists and Lebanese were everywhere celebrating life, Fairouz songs played everywhere, and beauty abounded in this hub of art and culture.</p>
<p>“The Lebanese people made the difference,” I thought to myself; they love their Lebanon so much that they are willing, after a 25-year civil war and 18 years of Israeli occupation, to rebuild it and make it even more glorious today than it ever was. “What a wonderful nation,” my mind kept whispering as I drove back to Jordan; they scoured the world for all that is worthy of their country and brought it home; they poured their lives into rebuilding every corner of this wonderful place; and they succeeded.</p>
<p>Lebanon was to be envied, I decided. We all had a great time.</p>
<p>Last week my son went to the United States, not to AUB, to continue his schooling. His friends who hadn’t bothered apply elsewhere are stranded, waiting for the destruction to stop, hoping to return to that beacon of civilisation that is now dimmed… yes, dimmed, not dead.</p>
<p>Now Lebanon lies helplessly and mercilessly marauded by Israeli warplanes, with hundreds of people dead by careless Israeli attacks. Why? Because Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers!! Never mind the 10,000 Palestinians, some captured not on battle grounds but in the still of the night or by stealth from their homes, whose families await their release while the world stands deaf to the cries of mothers and fathers who patiently await the release of their loved ones. Never mind, also, even though one really should, the Israeli prisons brimming with Lebanese prisoners, some never in combat against the occupier!</p>
<p>Can the crime, if it can be called that, justify the act? Is there a written equation that says two Israeli hostages are worth more than 350 Lebanese lives? Wouldn’t the release of some prisoners have been the more humane response of the strong and mighty Israel? How much is an Arab’s life worth? How much is an Arab country worth?</p>
<p>After bidding my son farewell, I went back to my office, sad that he would go so far away. I opened my e-mail and saw pictures of the corpses of Lebanese children killed in the Israeli attacks. The last group of pictures showed Israeli children writing messages on artillery shells that were to be lobbied against their counterparts in Lebanon. Beautiful, innocent children, writing hate messages on missiles that would be dropped on other children.</p>
<p>I pray none had the statement: “This one is for you!”</p>
<p>YUSUF MANSUR can be reached at: [email protected]</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Can the Crime Justify the Act? | true | https://counterpunch.org/2006/07/27/can-the-crime-justify-the-act/ | 2006-07-27 | 4 |
<p>Yesterday on his radio program, while discussing the crowds at this weekend's 9/12 protests, Glenn Beck claimed that the LondonTelegraph "quote[d] a source from the Park Service, the National Park Service, saying that it is the largest march on Washington ever." This led to a good deal of confusion here, as the Telegraph article contains no such quote. Just another case of Beck making things up? Actually, the story behind this turns out to be much funnier than we could have anticipated.</p>
<p>Several conservative blogs have been quoting National Park Service spokesman "Dan Bana" as saying the 9/12 protest was "the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever." This appears to be a repurposing of <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/01/22/inaugural_crowd_size_reportedly_dc_record/" type="external">this quote</a> from David Barna (who, unlike Dan Bana, appears to be a real person):</p>
<p>David Barna, a Park Service spokesman, said the agency did not conduct its own count. Instead, it will use a Washington Post account that said 1.8 million people gathered on the US Capitol grounds, National Mall, and parade route.</p>
<p>"It is a record," Barna said. "We believe it is the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever."</p>
<p>Very impressive! Unfortunately, as Little Green Footballs <a href="http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/34669_Right_Wing_Blogs_in_Massive_Fail_Mode/comments/#ctop" type="external">pointed out</a>, that quote was actually about the inauguration:</p>
<p>This is so pathetic I don't know whether to laugh or cry.</p>
<p>Dozens - if not hundreds - of right wing blogs are running with this quote, portraying it as a statement about the tea party held last weekend: <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=We+believe+it+is+the+largest+event+held+in+Washington%2C+D.C.%2C+ever.%22&amp;ie=utf-8&amp;oe=utf-8&amp;aq=t&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&amp;client=firefox-a" type="external">'We believe it is the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever.'</a></p>
<p>The quote is from January. The National Park Service spokesman was talking about <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/01/22/inaugural_crowd_size_reportedly_dc_record/" type="external">Barack Obama's inauguration</a>.</p>
<p>Pam Geller quoted "Dan Bana" as saying this on <a href="http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/09/912-invisible-no-more-millions-on-the-mall.html" type="external">Saturday</a>. She cited <a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/09/912_demonstration_a_record_dc.html" type="external">Thomas Lifson</a> at American "Thinker," who also calls him "Dan Bana." In keeping with his fellow conservatives, Lifson doesn't feel the need to provide <a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/09/912_demonstration_a_record_dc.html" type="external">a link</a> for his outlandish crowd estimates:</p>
<p>Despite mainstream media attempts to characterize turnout as <a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/09/first_reports_from_ap_and_ny_t.html" type="external">in the thousands</a>, a spokesman for the National Park Service, Dan Bana, is quoted as saying "It is a record.... We believe it is the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever."</p>
<p>True, "Dan Bana" definitely "is quoted" as saying this. By whom? Well, Thomas Lifson.</p>
<p>Imaginary <a href="/research/2009/09/14/michelle-malkin-and-the-anatomy-of-the-2-millio/154570" type="external">ABC News reports</a>, unnamed <a href="/video/2009/09/15/citing-a-university-he-cant-remember-beck-now-c/154585" type="external">universities</a>, invented quotes, and for safe keeping, the journalistic equivalent of "I heard this one dude say."</p>
<p>From <a href="http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/09/millions-on-the-mall-video.html" type="external">Pam Geller</a>:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2009/09/12/HP/A/23055/FreedomWorks+Rally+in+DC.aspx" type="external">Here's the video</a> over at CSPAN of millions on the mall. Incredible. Look at the pan of the crowd shot. The <a href="http://moderateinthemiddle.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/update-how-big-was-the-crowd-media-credibility-plunges-to-new-low-aerial-views-added-d-c-police-close-roads-to-buses-people-on-foot-estimate-1-2-million-abc-cant-count-912-party-on-patriots/" type="external">left fascists are debating the number</a> to take the focus off what happened in Washington, D.C., this weekend. I'll go with the Parks department estimates, thankyouverymuch.</p>
<p>A 9-12 participant in DC claims to have overheard DC police discussing the crowd numbers. They put the numbers at over 2 million -- and those were only the people who could make it into the city. The local authorities as well as many participants claim that many many more could not even get into the city to the core of the protest.</p>
<p>Yes, she cited someone who "claims to have overheard DC police discussing the crowd numbers." Your conservative blogosphere, ladies and gentleman.</p>
<p>(H/T: DMS)</p> | My friend's cousin said there were 4 million people there | true | http://mediamatters.org/blog/200909150013 | 2009-09-15 | 4 |
<p>As Hurricane Ike raced through the Gulf of Mexico and into Texas the issue of homelessness was given no attention in the mass media.&#160; Three years before, as Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans, the national media could not escape paying at least passing attention to the issue, given the catastrophic damage to life and property that Katrina caused.</p>
<p>Following Ike’s passage, Pacifica Radio Network’s Free Speech Radio News interviewed two homeless men in Houston.&#160; Both men spent their time outdoors while Ike lashed the area with heavy rains and wind.&#160; One man stood on the leeward side of a major hotel, while the other, never having heard the forecast for the hurricane, weathered the storm much like he would have spent any other day that involved inclement weather.</p>
<p>Homelessness is not a topic that often makes the headlines of newspapers or the evening news on major television networks.&#160; It only catches the attention of the public when a disaster strikes or when a news item surfaces that happens to involve homeless people.</p>
<p>The causes of homelessness have been known for some time.&#160; The generally accepted reasons for people living without shelter at night are:</p>
<p>The shift beginning in the 1950s from commitment of mentally ill people in institutions to community-based treatment. Gentrifications of cities. Lack of affordable housing. High unemployment and the lack of quality job training programs, particularly job programs that provided certified career training. Natural disasters. Stigma of having served time in prison.</p>
<p>It was under the presidency of Bill Clinton that the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act was passed that placed a 5-year limit of welfare payments.&#160; This so-called welfare reform severed the federal government’s responsibility to help the poor.&#160; This is stark contrast to the current bailouts of financial giants like Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.&#160; It depends on just who you know if you’re going to qualify for welfare from the federal government.</p>
<p>It is estimated that 70% of those removed from welfare roles were children.&#160; According to the Census Bureau 1 million people sank further into poverty as a result of “welfare reform.”&#160; Homelessness is a logical result of these policies.</p>
<p>In a 2005 article in USA Today, “Nation taking a new look at homelessness, solutions,” figures based on survey results from the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated that 1 in 400 Americans was homeless, or about 727,304 people.&#160; Estimates of homeless people always miss the mark and are notoriously undependable since the homeless are not the type of people easily located or interested in completing surveys.&#160; Surveys usually grossly underestimate homelessness.</p>
<p>In the late 1980s a group of concerned folks in southern Rhode Island formed a homeless coalition.&#160; We were a motley group made up of antiwar and antinuclear activists and members from the religious community from several nearby communities.&#160; While we may have been an informal gathering we got results!&#160; The economy was beginning to feel the effects of globalization, and the loss of good manufacturing jobs in New England had long been an economic issue to be dealt with.</p>
<p>Our first attempt to shelter the homeless involved a “roving” shelter that was housed for two nights at a time at local churches, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall and the American Legion Hall.&#160; Setting up and moving the shelter was a real headache.&#160; Cots and food had to be lugged from site to site.</p>
<p>Our group received a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and we were on our way to finding a permanent address.&#160; Soon, I became the grant writer for the shelter and we were awarded several grants.&#160; I had already had some experience in sheltering operations, since a childhood neighbor, a priest, had successfully set up a shelter in the Providence area and I had volunteered at that shelter for some time.</p>
<p>Our group was able to purchase a site for our permanent shelter, and after extensive renovations—one of our board members was a builder—the shelter opened.&#160; The shelter was nearly always full and we hired an executive director to take care of day-to-day shelter operations.&#160; All kinds of people sought shelter.&#160; There were people at the margins of the work force and the newly unemployed, usually one paycheck away from the streets.&#160; There were mothers with children escaping bad marriages.&#160; There were people with drug abuse and alcohol abuse problems, and there were those with mental illnesses.</p>
<p>When I left the board of directors of the shelter I was interested in establishing a more permanent option for families living in the shelter who had greater long-term needs than the shelter could offer them.&#160; My old neighbor had already founded such a house in the Providence metropolitan area.&#160; Looking back at my years in serving on the board I don’t find it surprising when the issue of homelessness gets momentary attention in the media and then fades in the public mind.&#160; While the big players in the economy get sustained attention, the vulnerable folks, often children, aren’t given quite the same care.</p>
<p>HOWARD LISNOFF is an educator and freelance writer.&#160; He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Your Ad Here</a> &#160;</p>
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<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | When We Notice the Homeless | true | https://counterpunch.org/2008/09/20/when-we-notice-the-homeless/ | 2008-09-20 | 4 |
<p>INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The winning numbers in Saturday afternoon's drawing of the Indiana Lottery's "Quick Draw Midday" game were:</p>
<p>01-08-12-13-14-21-25-29-30-31-38-40-41-42-50-53-57-59-70-75, BE: 70</p>
<p>(one, eight, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-five, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, thirty-eight, forty, forty-one, forty-two, fifty, fifty-three, fifty-seven, fifty-nine, seventy, seventy-five; BE: seventy)</p>
<p>INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The winning numbers in Saturday afternoon's drawing of the Indiana Lottery's "Quick Draw Midday" game were:</p>
<p>01-08-12-13-14-21-25-29-30-31-38-40-41-42-50-53-57-59-70-75, BE: 70</p>
<p>(one, eight, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-five, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, thirty-eight, forty, forty-one, forty-two, fifty, fifty-three, fifty-seven, fifty-nine, seventy, seventy-five; BE: seventy)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Quick Draw Midday' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/14c0e596b7e34ea9ba59c673a7e5b6b2 | 2018-01-13 | 2 |
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<p>CARLSBAD, N.M. - The manager of the federal government's nuclear waste repository in southern New Mexico has halted work due to poor air quality in parts of the underground facility.</p>
<p>Officials with Nuclear Waste Partnership announced the "safety pause" late Thursday after monitoring instruments carried by workers detected elevated levels of carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds.</p>
<p>Work will remain stalled until a plan is developed to ensure worker safety.</p>
<p>The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has been closed since February 2014 when an inappropriately packed drum of waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory popped its lid and released radiation.</p>
<p>Parts of the facility were contaminated and recovery efforts have been under way in hopes of resuming some operations by the end of the year. One of the must-do assignments is the installation of a temporary ventilation system.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Air quality concerns prompt safety pause at nuke dump | false | https://abqjournal.com/728765/air-quality-concerns-prompt-safety-pause-at-nuke-dump.html | 2 |
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<p>Back in the late 70s and early 80s, Nigerian musician William Onyeabor recorded several albums worth of infectious Afro-futuristic dance music. But then he became a born-again Christian, and stopped making songs.</p>
<p>At the time, few missed him: Onyeabor never performed live, and even in his native Nigeria, barely anyone had heard of him.</p>
<p>That changed about 10 years ago, when a couple of his catchy synth-laden songs appeared on African funk compilations, sprouting fans throughout the world, including the likes of David Byrne and Yale Evelev, founders of Luaka Bop Records, the label which worked tirelessly for five years to establish contact with, and ultimately release Onyeabor's songs.</p>
<p>These days, Onyeabor leads a reclusive life in the Nigerian city of Enugu, and has no interest in performing, much less talking about, his music. But this fall, Luaka Bop released a collection of his songs titled "World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who is William Onyeabor?," and co-produced <a href="http://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/you-need-to-hear-this/fantastic-man-full-length----a-film-about-william-onyeabor" type="external">a stellar documentary about him</a>.</p>
<p>These moves set the stage for the Atomic Bomb Band, a star-studded ensemble named for one of Onyeabor's songs, to perform two nights of sold out shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).</p>
<p>Under the direction of Ahmed Gallab (band leader of rising indie rock act <a href="" type="internal">Sinkane</a>), the group's members included the modern synth great (and Beastie Boys collaborator), Money Mark, jazz heavy Joshua Redman, and David Byrne himself.</p>
<p>"I think all of us would really like to see this music be performed live," said Gallab, "so it feels really exciting to be the people that are doing it."</p>
<p>He also expressed his hope that one day Onyeabor might join them, and perform his own songs. But absent that, Gallab just wanted to do one of his heroes justice. "When I took on the music director role," he said, "I made a point that I wasn't going to sell it short."</p>
<p>He needn't worry. With the capacity crowd on its feet from the start, Friday's show was a raucous celebration. Replete with two drummers and a full horn section, the Atomic Bomb Band – joined on stage by a breakdance crew, roller-skaters, and a rotating&#160; cast of singers including Nigeria's legendary identical-twin vocalists, the Lijadu Sisters – clearly didn't want to be just an Onyeabor cover band.</p>
<p>They sought to blow his songs out. So doing, they blew the roof off of BAM's stately opera house.</p>
<p>It's hard to say what the reclusive Mr. Onyeabor would have made of the explosive night. But here in one of New York's top venues, his joyous admirers gave Onyeabor's music new life. "If you find yourself feeling happy," he once sang, "Better come and dance my music now." This band, and a few thousand others, did just that.</p>
<p>(Also, be sure to check out Marco Werman's <a href="" type="internal">story about Onyeabor from a few months ago here</a>.)</p> | A tribute concert in Brooklyn honors a living, but reclusive, Nigerian funk master | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-05-07/tribute-concert-brooklyn-honors-living-reclusive-nigerian-funk-master | 2014-05-07 | 3 |
<p>This week, the Washington Post published a long form piece about Vice President Mike Pence, which included a little tidbit that said, "In 2002, Mike Pence told the Hill that he never eats alone with a woman other than his wife and that he won't attend events featuring alcohol without her by his side, either." The left -- and some elements of the secular-minded right -- lost its ever-loving mind. Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal said this "religious fundamentalism" springs from "terror of women." Joanna Grossman of Vox called Pence's rule "probably illegal," saying it is "deeply damaging to women's employment opportunities."</p>
<p>Never mind that there's no evidence whatsoever of employment discrimination by Pence against women. Never mind that Pence's 30-plus year marriage is good evidence that his standards have worked for him and his wife in preserving their marriage. Pence is bad, and his standards are bad. What's more, they're theocratic insanity that wouldn't be out of place in countries ruled by Shariah.</p>
<p>What absolute horse pucky.</p>
<p>Pence isn't saying that every dinner with a woman potentially ends in the boudoir. He's saying that human beings are fallible, that they become particularly fallible away from their spouses in the wee hours, and that they become even more fallible than that around alcohol.</p>
<p>But this is one of the great foolish myths propagated by the left and now humored by even some on the right: that risk assessment by individual human beings, examining their own hearts, amounts to discrimination; that those who want to guard themselves from situations in which they are more likely to sin are somehow propagating societal myths.</p>
<p>It isn't true. Human beings sin. They sin because they are tempted. And they are tempted because they refuse to perform an honest assessment of their own hearts. Not all personal situations are created equal. A late-night dinner involving alcohol with a work colleague of the sex to which you could be attracted obviously carries more risk than working in the office with that same person in the middle of the day. Even leftists understand this, which is why there are significant restrictions on campus regarding male professors alone with female students and student-professor dating. As Damon Linker of The Week states: "What if morality requires social and cultural supports that limit individual freedom and that secular liberals are unwilling to forgo? ... Perhaps Pence's more morally traditional outlook has something in its favor -- namely, realism."</p>
<p>Yet the left denies realism. It says that if Pence is tempted, that merely shows that his marriage is weak. The left's own logic with regard to sexual urges states that such urges are undeniable -- so Pence must be perfect and asexual outside of marriage, or marriage itself is restrictive and nasty. To prove that his marriage is solid, therefore, Pence should be able to walk through a strip club without ever feeling a shred of temptation.</p>
<p>This is asinine. It's not how marriage works, and it's not how human beings work. It's not how life works, either. The left casts all individual sins at the feet of society, so it thinks that any prospective adultery must be the result of monogamy's evils or society's sexism. But no matter how you change social mores, people will sin and those they love will be hurt.</p>
<p>Unless, that is, people recognize their own limitations and set fences around themselves. That's not an act of discrimination or evil. That's an act of love -- for a spouse, for a society and for a culture of decency that requires that we all take a long, hard look in the mirror before determining that we are incapable of sin.</p>
<p>COPYRIGHT CREATORS 2017</p> | On Human Nature and Mike Pence's Dinner Partners | true | https://dailywire.com/news/15120/human-nature-and-mike-pences-dinner-partners-ben-shapiro | 2017-04-05 | 0 |
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<p>HEINRICH: Calls for action on water, climate change</p>
<p>The warning was issued by the New Mexico Democrat to state officials, business leaders, tribal officials and mayors as they gathered for a two-day town hall on the severe drought gripping New Mexico.</p>
<p>Heinrich told participants that there's no single solution to the water problems and that steps must be taken to prevent conditions from getting worse.</p>
<p>"There's no doubt we're seeing bigger fires. We're seeing drier summers. We're seeing more severe floods when it does finally rain and less snowpack in the winter," Heinrich said. "The reality is things are only going to get more challenging."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Heinrich and other experts at the meeting suggested the ability of an arid state such as New Mexico to attract businesses and jobs, maintain its military bases and national labs, and continue with energy production depends on sustainable, clean sources of water.</p>
<p>Heather Balas, president of New Mexico First, which organized the meeting, said 31 of the state's 33 counties were represented and those in attendance ranged from lawmakers and farmers to students and researchers.</p>
<p>Discussions focused on aging water infrastructure, conservation and reuse, water rights and planning for crisis situations. The goal was to come up with 16 recommendations by the end of today.</p>
<p>Balas said participants would need to set aside stereotypes and politics if they are to reach any consensus.</p>
<p>New Mexico is entering its fourth consecutive year of drought after one of the driest winters on record. The drought reached unprecedented levels last summer, and nearly 70 percent of the state is still in severe drought, with little promise for moisture this spring.</p>
<p>State Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn talks about water quality during a town hall Tuesday in Albuquerque. Next to him are Laura McCarthy of The Nature Conservancy and Laguna Pueblo Gov. Richard Luarkie. (Susan Montoya Bryan/The Associated Press)</p>
<p>New Mexico has weathered the drought through piecemeal responses such as temporary water-sharing agreements and watering restrictions, but town hall organizers say solutions should be more comprehensive and coordinated.</p>
<p>New Mexico depends on rain and snow and whatever river flows make it south from Colorado.</p>
<p>"Of that water received each year, an estimated 97 percent evaporates or is transpired by plants," town hall organizers said in a background report prepared for the meeting. "The remaining 3 percent is what we use to help meet human, economic, legal, environmental and groundwater recharge needs."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>That doesn't leave New Mexico with many options aside from tapping brackish sources and treating and reusing wastewater.</p>
<p>Some of the questions explored at the town hall involved how New Mexico plans to handle expected water scarcity and whether the state can benefit from collecting storm runoff during summer monsoon storms.</p>
<p>State Sen. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, showed the crowd photographs of the Rio Grande near his family's farm in southern New Mexico. The river was dry last year for all but 40 days, he said.</p>
<p>Cervantes, however, doesn't like to use the word "drought."</p>
<p>"We use the word with a hope and prayer that it's going to end and that may be a big mistake," he said.</p>
<p>Cervantes, a lawyer, said the recommendations that come out of the meeting should include a commitment to adjudicate water rights around the state. In the lower Rio Grande, experts estimate that could take decades.</p>
<p>"Right now we're trying to talk about conservation and reallocation and many other good concepts," Cervantes said. "But if we don't know who has what water rights, and we don't know what those rights consist of, then most of that dialogue is not going to be very constructive."</p>
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<p /> | Town hall grapples with water issues | false | https://abqjournal.com/384629/town-hall-grapples-with-water-issues.html | 2 |
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<p>The tunes played between segments on The World for October 17, 2014 include:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Carrier-Dirtwire/dp/B00MW5DJ9K/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413570306&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=dirtwire+the+carrier" type="external" />&#160;&#160;&#160; SONG: Yunan&#160;&#160; &#160;ARTIST: Dirtwire&#160;&#160; &#160;CD TITLE: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Carrier-Dirtwire/dp/B00MW5DJ9K/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413570306&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=dirtwire+the+carrier" type="external">The Carrier</a>LABEL: Beats Antique Records</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rough-Guide-Sahara-Various-artists/dp/B00LSOJN00/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413570400&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+rough+guide+to+the+music+of+the+sahara" type="external" />&#160;&#160;&#160; SONG: Kel Tamasheck&#160;&#160; &#160;ARTIST: Etran Finatawa&#160; &#160; CD TITLE: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rough-Guide-Sahara-Various-artists/dp/B00LSOJN00/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413570400&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+rough+guide+to+the+music+of+the+sahara" type="external">The Rough Guide to the music of Sahara</a>&#160;&#160; &#160;LABEL: World Music Network</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Island-Dr-Electrico-Bombay-Royale/dp/B00L3CTCN0/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413570491&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Bombay+Royale+Island+of" type="external" />&#160;&#160;&#160; SONG: Falcon's Landing&#160;&#160; &#160;ARTIST: The Bombay Royale&#160;&#160; &#160;CD TITLE: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Island-Dr-Electrico-Bombay-Royale/dp/B00L3CTCN0/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413570491&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Bombay+Royale+Island+of" type="external">The Island of Dr Electrico</a>&#160;&#160; &#160;LABEL: Hope Street Recordings</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>And DJ Rekha, also known as the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/arts/music/06rekh.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0" type="external">"Ambassador of Bhangra,"</a> dipped into her digital crate and chose these three tracks for us:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FXAPWX2/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413553863&amp;sr=8-1" type="external" />&#160;&#160;&#160; SONG: Feem&#160;&#160; &#160;ARTIST: Diamond Cut &amp; Jazzy B&#160;&#160; &#160;CD TITLE: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FXAPWX2/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413553863&amp;sr=8-1" type="external">Cut Like a Diamond</a>&#160;&#160; &#160;LABEL: Replay Music</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NGTPVEW/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413553936&amp;sr=8-1-fkmr0" type="external" />&#160;&#160;&#160; SONG: Why This Kolaveri Di? (The Tigerstyle Bhangra Mix)&#160;&#160; &#160;ARTIST: Dhanush&#160;&#160; &#160;CD TITLE: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NGTPVEW/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413553936&amp;sr=8-1-fkmr0" type="external">Why This Kolaveri Di? Simply South</a>&#160; &#160; LABEL: Sony</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Basement-Bhangra-DJ-Rekha/dp/B0010WNGGC/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413570142&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=basement+bhangra" type="external" />&#160;&#160;&#160; SONG: Basement Bhangra Anthem (feat. Sunil Sehgal, Wyclef Jean &amp; Bikram Singh)&#160;&#160; &#160;ARTIST: DJ Rekha&#160; &#160; CD TITLE: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Basement-Bhangra-DJ-Rekha/dp/B0010WNGGC/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1413570142&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=basement+bhangra" type="external">Basement Bhangra</a>&#160;&#160; &#160;LABEL: eOne Music</p> | Music heard on the air for October 17, 2014 | false | https://pri.org/stories/2014-10-17/music-heard-air-october-17-2014 | 2014-10-17 | 3 |
<p>AT&amp;T has HBO. T-Mobile has Netflix. And now, <a href="http://variety.com/t/sprint/" type="external">Sprint</a> has <a href="http://variety.com/t/hulu/" type="external">Hulu</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/sprint-altice-usa-wireless-partnership-1202607489/" type="external">Sprint</a> struck a deal with <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/hulu-advertising-virtual-reality-binge-watching-1202614422/" type="external">Hulu</a> to offer subscribers with the wireless carrier’s Unlimited Freedom plan access to Hulu’s limited-commercials VOD package — normally $7.99 per month — for no additional cost, starting Nov. 17.</p>
<p>Under the offer, Sprint Unlimited customers will be able to access thousands of TV series and movies on Hulu, including originals like the Emmy-winning “The Handmaid’s Tale” and the upcoming&#160; <a href="http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/hulu-first-teaser-trailer-marvels-runaways-1202582845/" type="external">“Marvel’s Runaways”</a> as well as licensed programming such as “The Good Doctor,” “This is Us,” and “Atlanta” and older series like “Seinfeld,” “Full House,” “Family Matters” and “Boy Meets World.”</p>
<p>In addition, Sprint and Hulu are in talks about offering Sprint Unlimited customers an upgrade option for Hulu’s live TV service. Normally priced at $40 per month, the Hulu over-the-top TV bundle provides access to more than 50 networks including local stations in many markets.</p>
<p>The Sprint-Hulu pact comes after&#160; <a href="http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/t-mobile-netflix-free-family-plans-1202548815/" type="external">T-Mobile&#160;teamed up with Netflix</a> to bundle Netflix’s standard streaming service for subs on unlimited family plans, and <a href="http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/att-free-hbo-wireless-unlimited-plans-1202555253/" type="external">AT&amp;T expanded its offer of free HBO</a> to all unlimited-plan customers.</p>
<p>“We know people love watching TV on their mobile devices, so we’re making it easier than ever for Sprint customers to enjoy their favorite shows and movies on Hulu,” Tim Connolly, senior VP and head of distribution and partnerships at Hulu, said in a statement.</p>
<p>To sign up for the offer, starting Nov. 17, Sprint Unlimited Freedom customers can visit <a href="https://www.sprint.com/hulu" type="external">sprint.com/hulu</a>. If an eligible Sprint customer has an existing Hulu with limited commercials SVOD plan they can merge it with their Sprint account and then all billing will go through Sprint.</p>
<p>Sprint’s Unlimited plans normally cost $60 monthly for one line, an additional $40 for line 2, and an additional $30 per month for lines 3-5.&#160;The wireless carrier currently is running a promo offering unlimited talk, text and data for $25 per month per line, with the fifth line free when you add five lines, with the special pricing applicable through January 2019.&#160;Sprint Unlimited plans also include a mobile hotspot with up to&#160;10 gigabytes per month of data usage.</p> | Sprint Will Bundle Hulu VOD Service With Unlimited Plans for No Extra Cost | false | https://newsline.com/sprint-will-bundle-hulu-vod-service-with-unlimited-plans-for-no-extra-cost/ | 2017-11-15 | 1 |
<p>The bad news about Donald Trump’s reprehensible conduct with women continues to escalate with new revelations every day. It’s not bad enough that he has <a href="" type="internal">at least sixteen women</a> making credible allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against him. Nor have his own admissions of getting away with sexually assaulting women because he’s a celebrity tipped the scales against him in the minds of his glassy-eyed disciples. Now the scandal over his affair with porn star Stormy Daniels is heating up, while he tries to <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/trump-lawyers-are-considering-a-challenge-to-60-minutes" type="external">censor “60 Minutes”</a> and she’s offering to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stormy-daniels-offers-to-return-130000-payment-to-trump-lawyer/" type="external">return his $130,000</a> and rescind the questionable contract to silence her.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NewsCorpse/posts/2071062922908492" type="external" /></p>
<p>In this time of dire need, Trump might be consoled by having one of his long-time pals riding to his rescue. Bill O’Reilly has taken up the cause to shield Trump from the onslaught of persecution he’s been suffering at the hands of critics in the media. O’Reilly recognizes that Trump has been the real victim in all of this and he isn’t going to stand by and allow his buddy to be bullied by the press. O’Reilly’s defense comes in the form of tweets linked to articles on his almost totally ignored website:</p>
<p />
<p>So O’Reilly chose to begin by demonizing the women of America who are speaking out against mistreatment by repulsive men in politics and business. He thinks he’s smart to characterize women (and men) protesting abuse and advocating for equal opportunity as “radical and hateful.” That should play well on Main Street, USA. And then there’s this:</p>
<p />
<p>The prescient gifts that O’Reilly is bragging about are really just expressions of his own anger. He’s still mad that he was driven from his comfortable perch at Fox News by media reports of his heinous behavior. Both he and Fox paid out millions of dollars to cover up his deviancy. And both he and Trump have been the subjects of accusations by a variety of women. But is he really really sure he wants to remind everyone about that? Or this:</p>
<p />
<p>That’s just weird. Does O’Reilly think that Trump only recently became aware that his past is fair game for public discourse? And does he think that “the women issue” is just a cudgel with which to beat up on poor, innocent, men who like to grab women by the pussy? But the weirdest part is that O’Reilly seems to be suggesting that Trump will now have to start attacking the media. Where the heck has O’Reilly been for the past two years? Trump has been on a mission to destroy the free press in America and beyond. Even to the point of referring to the media in Stalinist rhetoric as <a href="" type="internal">“the enemy of the people.”</a></p>
<p>Probably the last thing that Donald Trump needs now is Bill O’Reilly’s help. O’Reilly is just another pervert in the Trump mold who has been banished to the deserted wilds of blogland as a result of his own acts of abuse and harassment. So it’s not especially surprising that O’Reilly would adopt this particular defense strategy. He’s really just relitigating his own crimes and using Trump as a surrogate. But both of them have earned condemnation and deserve to be ostracized and exiled from decent society.</p>
<p>How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QSSMOES/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00QSSMOES&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=newscorpsecom-20&amp;linkId=TLI6JC2OYE22MUTS" type="external">Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.</a> Available now at Amazon.</p> | Good News for Trump: Sexual Predator Bill O’Reilly is Defending Him on ‘The Women Issue’ | true | http://newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p%3D11481 | 4 |
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<p>Speaking of <a href="" type="internal">e-books</a>, a site called <a href="http://www.teleread.org" type="external">TeleRead</a>, which advocates building "well-stocked national digital libraries," has released Upton Sinclair's classic exposé of the press, "The Brass Check." The e-book is available as a <a href="http://www.teleread.org/brasscheckword.doc" type="external">Word document</a> and in <a href="http://www.teleread.org/brasscheck.lit" type="external">Microsoft Reader</a> format. ASCII and Gemstar versions are in development, but for those who can't wait, the site also offers the first nine chapters of the book on the <a href="http://www.teleread.org/brasscheck.htm" type="external">web</a>.</p> | Upton Offered in E-Book Format | false | https://poynter.org/news/upton-offered-e-book-format | 2003-12-22 | 2 |
<p>Adobe Systems Inc, which makes the Photoshop and Acrobat software, reported a higher-than-expected adjusted quarterly profit as demand rose for the subscription-based version of its flagship software package.</p>
<p>Shares of the company rose 4.4 percent in after-market trading.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Net income fell to $76.5 million, or 15 cents per share, in the second quarter, from $223.9 million, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier.</p>
<p>Excluding items, earnings were 36 cents per share.</p>
<p>Revenue fell 10 percent to $1.01 billion.</p>
<p>Analysts on average had expected earnings of 33 cents per share on revenue of $1.01 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.</p>
<p>Adobe introduced the Web-based Creative Cloud, which includes the company's popular design titles such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash, in the second quarter of 2012.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The company said it added 221,000 paid Creative Cloud subscribers in the latest quarter, taking the total to 700,000.</p>
<p>A rapid adoption of a subscription model tends to lower revenue in the short term as fees are collected monthly, instead of upfront one-time payment.</p>
<p>The company's shares closed at $43.36 on the Nasdaq on Tuesday.</p> | Adobe 2Q Profits Beat Street View | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/06/18/adobe-reports-earnings.html | 2016-01-25 | 0 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Marian Mendez-Cera, a DACA beneficiary and community organizer for El CENTRO de Igualdad y Derechos, delivers 3,800 signed petitions to the offices of Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich on Thursday in downtown Albuquerque. (Maddy Hayden/Journal)More than 50 activists from environmental and immigration rights groups gathered in Downtown Albuquerque on Thursday to ask the state’s U.S. senators to block additional funding for what they call “border militarization” when they vote on the federal budget this month.</p>
<p>Carrying signs saying “Fair immigration reform” and “ICE out of ABQ,” the group delivered a petition with nearly 4,000 signatures to the Albuquerque offices of Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall, both Democrats.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump’s administration has requested $1.6 billion in the fiscal year 2018 budget for the Department of Homeland Security to expand border walls and additional funding to hire 500 more Border Patrol agents, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions are making good on their promise to target, incarcerate and deport our families,” said Neza Leal-Sanchez, a spokesman for the civil rights group Somos Un Pueblo Unido.</p>
<p>Members of the group assembled Thursday sought the passage of a Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or Dream Act, in Congress, which would give young illegal immigrants a path toward permanent residency without harsh requirements. Several versions of Dream legislation have failed so far.</p>
<p>Proponents are hopeful legislation will be included in the budget bill so there are no gaps for those currently protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, which is due to end in March. Trump rescinded it in September.</p>
<p>“For many of us, DACA was a game changer; it allowed us to work, study and relieve our parents’ constant fear of being ripped from our families,” said Marian Mendez-Cera, one of the approximately 800,000 DACA beneficiaries in the U.S. and community organizer for El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos. “We call for a clean Dream (Act) free of enforcement tradeoffs.”</p>
<p>Both senators responded to the group’s concerns by the end of the day Thursday.</p>
<p>“I remain strongly opposed to funding a border wall that is not only an incredible waste of taxpayers’ money, but it is not what families in New Mexico want or need,” Heinrich said in a statement. “The time to pass a clean Dream Act is now.”</p>
<p>Udall said he, too, will continue fighting for legislation to protect Dreamers.</p>
<p>“President Trump’s decision to end the DACA program is a cruel and shortsighted mistake that will cause chaos for families and our economy,” he said. “Dreamers represent the best of America.”</p>
<p />
<p /> | ‘Militarization’ of border opposed | false | https://abqjournal.com/1100216/nm-senators-urged-to-fight-border-wall-funding.html | 2017-11-30 | 2 |
<p>The latest hurdle in crafting a health care reform bill is figuring out how to prevent employers and employees from leaving their traditional employer-based health care coverage in favor of a government plan, which would dramatically increase costs.</p>
<p>“That’s the question — what’s fair?” said Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which held meetings with members again Wednesday. “That’s not resolved yet.”</p>
<p>One of the chief criticisms of the public option is that employers would dump their pricey health coverage if their employees would be able to easily get on the government plan. But that would break one of President Obama’s chief pledges - that people who like their current health insurance program can keep it - and drive up the taxpayer tab.</p>
<p>To prevent that, employees may be banned from joining the government option if they have access to employer coverage or employers may face tax penalties if they don’t offer coverage. The Senate Finance Committee debated much of this aspect of the bill Wednesday during its multiple meetings.</p>
<p>Mr. Obama, meanwhile, took his health care pitch to the states and the public Wednesday with a news conference with governors and a town hall discussion about health care on network television.</p>
<p>The House Democrats’ bill, which was debated in hearings this week, would require employers to pay a penalty of 8 percent of payroll if they don’t provide coverage. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the chief business lobby, has opposed the penalty and other costs that would burden business.</p>
<p>The Congressional Budget Office, in its report on a separate Senate bill out of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, found that 15 million people would leave employer coverage if a public plan was established.</p>
<p>White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday there have been questions to the White House about the number of so-called “free rider” employers.</p>
<p>“I don’t know which specific bill has these firewalls in them, but in some of the pieces of legislation, there are mechanisms that prevent an individual from - prevent an employer from doing this and prevent an individual from - that already has insurance from declining their employer-based insurance in order to go onto a public option,” he said.</p>
<p>He said health exchanges - the place were consumers can go to choose between the public option or private insurers - would be set up “to deal with those that either don’t have access to a health insurance plan as part of their employer or have found that, on the individual market, it’s far too complicated and far too expensive.”</p>
<p>Employers also could face other costs if the proposal to cap the tax break on employer-provided benefits is included in a final bill.</p>
<p>Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat and member of the Finance Committee, told reporters that the committee plans to include the cap in the bill as one of the ways to reduce the total price of the bill from $1.6 trillion to $1.2 trillion, but he declined to identify the amount of the cap. A committee spokeswoman later said that the exclusion was not set in stone.</p>
<p>Mr. Conrad’s plan for a co-op has gained momentum as negotiations continued, he said.</p>
<p>Republicans say they are open to the idea.</p>
<p>“We’re working on more competition through what we call a co-op plan,” said Sen. Charles E. Grassley, ranking Republican on the committee. “And this is something that we think we can get bipartisan support for. Where there’s no bipartisan support for the public option as it came out of the White House or that it’s in the health bill as an example, the [Health, Education, Labor and Pensions] Committee bill.”</p>
<p>Other Republicans, such as Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, say they want to hear more about it first.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. <a href="http://license.icopyright.net/3.7280?icx_id=/news/2009/jun/25/lawmakers-consider-health-care-free-riders/" type="external">Click here for reprint permission</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Lawmakers debate health ‘public option’ | true | http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/25/lawmakers-consider-health-care-free-riders/ | 2009-06-25 | 0 |
<p>“There is now sufficient evidence to warn young people that using cannabis could increase their risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life,” according to a paper in The Lancet July 28.</p>
<p>The “evidence” was produced by an exercise in statistics. The authors (no MDS among them) searched databases for relevant studies and then analyzed 35 of they deemed worthy. They claim to have “adjusted for about 60 different confounding factors, including other substance use, personality traits, socio-demographic markers, intellectual ability and other mental health problems.” They concluded that people who have used cannabis face a 40% higher risk of psychosis, and that heavy use increases the risk to 50-200%.</p>
<p>The British government has been reconsidering the legal status of cannabis, which in 2004 was moved from Class B to Class C -a less dangerous drug category with less onerous penalties for growers, distributors and users. Prohibitionist forces -notably the big drug companies and law enforcement- protested. In 2005 the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs reviewed the medical literature, held hearings and concluded that Class C indeed was the appropriate category. The Council’s report stated “for individuals, the current evidence suggests, at worst, that using cannabis increases the lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia by 1%.” The latest Lancet paper is being played as a trump card to that report:</p>
<p>“Smoking Just One Cannabis Joint Raises Danger of Mental Illness by 40%” -Daily Telegraph.</p>
<p>“Cannabis ‘Doubles Risk of Psychotic Illness'” -The Times</p>
<p>“Weed May Make You Go Psycho” -Daily Mail.</p>
<p>The Independent on Sunday, the most zealous advocate of returning cannabis to Class B, supplemented its summary of the Lancet paper with a survey headed “50 Top Experts Confirm Mental Health Risk Their poll does not and literally could not “confirm” the risk posed by cannabis, it can only “confirm that most believe…” As the story explains: “A poll of more than 50 of the world’s leading authorities on drugs and mental health, confirms that most believe cannabis, and particularly its stronger variant, skunk, pose significant health risks and increase users’ susceptibility to psychosis and schizophrenia.”</p>
<p>We sought a 51st opinion from Lester Grinspoon, MD, professor of psychiatry emeritus at Harvard who has been studying marijuana since 1967 and is the co-author of Schizophrenia: Pharmacotherapy and Psychotherapy and other textbooks. “It is hard to refute a study that alleges certain things are going to happen in the years ahead,” he says, “but smoking marijuana does not cause schizophrenia.”</p>
<p>Grinspoon and the psychiatric establishment agree that schizophrenia is caused by a damaged gene or an insult in the womb or infancy that results, when the brain develops and gets exposed to hormones produced in adulthood, in an organic malfunction. There ensues a break with reality, sometimes accompanied by visual hallucinations or “voices.” Very often the break has an apparent “precipitating event,” says Grinspoon, “-a serious automobile accident, loss of a loved one, an alcoholic binge a bad reaction to LSD or even, I imagine, to marijuana. But it’s important to distinguish between ‘precipitating event’ and ’cause.'”</p>
<p>Can those teenagers at risk for schizophrenia be warned that cannabis should be avoided? Grinspoon responded,”We have no way of identifying a pre-schizophrenic individual.” He recalled a study in which psychiatrists were shown home movies of young children, some of whom became schizophrenic in early adulthood. The specialists could identify the pre-schizophrenic children “in most cases,” said Grinspoon, but the warning signs were subtle and the study led to no practical application. Anecdotal evidence suggests that people heading for a schizophrenia diagnosis are often very original thinkers.</p>
<p>U.S. researchers have found that schizophrenics use cannabis at about twice the rate of the general population, and alcohol and nicotine at similarly high rates. Often these drugs are combined. Whether cannabis use exacerbates or quells symptoms of psychosis is at the heart of the centuries-old debate. People use cannabis for various reasons and have varying responses. Levels of anandamide -“the brain’s own marijuana,” as Scientific American put it- are higher in the brains of schizophrenics, but again it’s unclear whether this is in response to a problem or the cause of the problem.</p>
<p>The Lancet paper is “a meta-analysis of studies that are themselves flawed,” says Grinspoon (who discredited some of them himself). “It greatly exaggerates the risk to the individual.” The cannabis-causes-psychosis line is disproved, according to Grinspoon, by the absence of “even a blip in the incidence of schizophrenia in the US after millions of people started smoking marijuana in the 1960s.” The incidence of schizophrenia in adults is about 1% worldwide and seemingly independent of whether or not cannabis use is widespread in a given culture.</p>
<p>In a meta-analysis published in the Lancet in 2004, John Macleod and co-authors pointed out, “Cannabis use appears to have increased substantially amongst young people over the past 30 years, from around 10% reporting ever use in 1959-70, to around 50% reporting ever use in 2001 in Britain and Sweden. If the relation between use and schizophrenia were truly causal and if the relative risk was around five-fold, then the incidence of schizophrenia should have more than doubled since 1970. However, population trends in schizophrenia incidence suggest that incidence has either been stable or slightly decreased over the relevant time period.”</p>
<p>This sweeping, common-sense refutation of a causal link can only be gotten around by defining currently available cannabis as a new and different drug -which is what the prohibitionists are doing with their “skunk” appellation. But the increase in THC content is not a sudden phenomenon, it has occurred over the course of decades (documented in the U.S. by DEA analysis of confiscated cannabis), and the incidence of schizophrenia has not risen correspondingly. Nor has the widespread use of Marinol -synthetic THC, available by prescription in the U.S. since 1986- resulted in a higher incidence of schizophrenia.</p>
<p>Unmentioned in the media response to the recent Lancet paper is the fact that Prohibition has prevented growers from developing cannabis strains high in cannabidiol (CBD), a component of the plant that counters the anxiety- and confusion-producing effect that THC exerts on some people.</p>
<p>Some Unambiguous Dangers of Cannabis</p>
<p>According to Dr. John Macleod, lead author of the Lancet’s 2004 meta-analysis,</p>
<p>“It is unfortunate that the debate around whether cannabis causes schizophrenia has become conflated with the debate around the legal status of cannabis, and that this question has come to dominate discussions around the appropriate public-health response. The public-health case for prevention of cannabis use by young people is strong, irrespective of whether use also causes schizophrenia.”</p>
<p>And what is “the public-health case” against young people using cannabis? “Most users seem to smoke cannabis with tobacco,” writes Macleod. “Cannabis use can actually lead to initiation of tobacco use, reinforce toxic effects of tobacco, and make abstinence from tobacco more difficult. Moreover, in most jurisdictions, cannabis use exposes young people to risks of criminalisation that could have additional consequences for their health.”</p>
<p>Classification of Drugs in the UK</p>
<p>Class A (most harmful) includes cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and LSD. Class B (intermediate) includes amphetamines, barbiturates and codeine. Class C (least harmful) includes cannabis, benzodiazepines, anabolic steroids, and GHB.</p>
<p>FRED GARDNER edits O’Shaughnessy’s, the journal of cannabis in clinical practice. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Politics of Schizophrenia | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/08/18/the-politics-of-schizophrenia/ | 2007-08-18 | 4 |
<p>Terrence Carter, currently the director and chief academic officer of the Academy for Urban School Leadership, has been named superintendent of the New London CT public schools.&#160; Before joining AUSL, he was principal of Barton Elementary, which received an Illinois Academic Improvement Award for showing upward trends in test scores for three consecutive years.&#160; Barton also served on Mayor Emanuel’s Early Childhood Education Task Force.&#160;</p>
<p>This fall, Lloyd Knight will become the director of Lloyd Bond Charter School , which is in the Chicago International Charter School Network. &#160;&#160;Previously, Knight was a teacher and the assistant director at the school.&#160; Before coming to Bond, he founded the Boys Sports Mentoring Group in Newport News, VA, and the Helping Hands Mentoring Program in Raleigh, N.C.</p>
<p>Chicago Commons has won a $1 million Early Childhood Construction Grant from the Illinois Capital Development Board. &#160;The grant will support the organization’s child development centers in Back of the Yards, West Humboldt Park and Pilsen with the expansion and renovation of classrooms, playgrounds, improved security and technology upgrades.&#160;</p> | Comings & Goings: Carter, Knight | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/comings-goings-carter-knight/ | 2014-06-18 | 3 |
<p>By Mattea Kramer / <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176209/tomgram%3A_mattea_kramer%2C_you_don%27t_leave_home_without_it/#more" type="external">TomDispatch</a></p>
<p>The fluorescent circus of Election 2016 — that spectacle of yellow comb-overs, and orange skin, and predatory pussy-grabbing, and last-minute <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/06/james-comey-totally-botched-the-last-10-days-of-the-2016-election/" type="external">FBI interventions</a>, and blinking memes hewn by an underground army of self-important <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/31/trolls-for-trump" type="external">Internet trolls</a> — has finally come to its unnatural end.&#160; I had looked forward to this moment, only to find us all instantly embroiled in a new crisis.&#160; And unfortunately, it’s easy to foretell what, or rather who, will move into the bright lights of our collective gaze now: we’re going to (continue to) focus on… well, ourselves.</p>
<p>We are obviously not, for instance, going to redeploy our energies toward examining the embarrassing war that we’re still waging in Afghanistan, now in its 16th year — something that went <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-bacevich-campaign-forgot-war-afghanistan-20160804-snap-story.html" type="external">practically unmentioned</a> during election season, even as fighting <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/world/asia/us-military-afghanistan-kunduz.html" type="external">heated up</a> there. (You can be sure that Afghans have a somewhat different perspective on the newsworthiness of that war.)&#160; We are also not going to spend our time searching for the names of people like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/27/drones-attack-pakistan-family-rehman-congress" type="external">Momina Bibi</a>, whom we’ve… oops… inadvertently annihilated while carrying out our nation’s drone <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/obamas-leadership-in-war-on-al-qaeda.html" type="external">kill program</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>For his part, Donald Trump has <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/01/the-duel-faceoff-ryan-lizza" type="external">pledged</a> to “ <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/02/politics/donald-trump-terrorists-families/" type="external">take out</a>” the families of terrorists, a plan that sounds practically ordinary when compared to our actual <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176110/tomgram%3A_mattea_kramer,_the_grief_of_others_and_the_boasts_of_candidates" type="external">drone assassination program</a>, conceived by President George W. Bush and maintained and expanded by President Obama.&#160; And while I don’t for a moment pretend that Trump’s electoral victory is anything less than an emergency for our republic — especially for the most vulnerable among us, and for every American who believes in justice, equity, or basic kindness — it’s also true that some things won’t change at all.&#160; In fact, it’s prototypically American that an overlong and inward-looking election spectacle (which will, incidentally, have “ <a href="http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/10/does-trump-say-bigly-or-big-league.html" type="external">big-league</a>” international implications) will be supplanted by still more inward-looking phenomena.&#160;</p>
<p />
<p>And it jogs my memory in a not very pleasant way. &#160;I can’t help but recall the moment, years ago and 8,000 miles away, when I was introduced to my own American-centered self. &#160;The experience left an ugly mark on my picture of who I am — and who, perhaps, so many of us are, as Americans.</p>
<p>No, Not Us…</p>
<p>Eight years before I heard about a guy in Yemen whose cousins were obliterated by an American <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175787/tomgram%3A_engelhardt,%20_washington's_wedding_album_from_hell/" type="external">drone strike</a> in a procession following his wedding celebration, I gleefully clicked through the travel site Kayak and pressed “confirm purchase” on one-way tickets to Kathmandu. &#160;It was 2008, shortly before Barack Obama would be elected, and my boyfriend and I, a couple of twenty-somethings jonesing to see the world, were about to depart on what we expected to be the adventure of our lives. &#160;Having worked temporary stints and squirreled away some cash, we packed our belongings into my mom’s damp basement and prepared ourselves for a journey meant to last half a year and cross South Asia and East Africa. &#160;What we didn’t know, as we headed for New York’s Kennedy Airport, our passports zippered into our money belts, was that, whatever we had left behind at my mom’s, we were unwittingly carrying something far heftier with us: our American-ness.</p>
<p>Adventures commenced as soon as we stepped off the plane. &#160;We glimpsed ice-capped peaks that rose majestically out of the clouds as we walked the lower Everest trail.&#160; Then — consider this our introduction to the presumptions we hadn’t shed — we ran into a little snafu.&#160; We hadn’t brought along enough cash for our multi-week mountain trek; apparently we’d expected Capital One ATMs to appear miraculously on a Himalayan footpath. &#160;After we dealt with that issue through a service that worked by landline and carbon paper, we took a bumpy Jeep ride south to India and soon found ourselves walking the sloping fields of Darjeeling, the leaves of tea shrubs glinting in the afternoon light. &#160;Then we rode trains west and south, while through the frame of a moving window I looked out at fields and rice paddies where women in red or orange or turquoise saris worked the land, even as the sun set and the sky turned pink and reflected off the water where the rice grew.</p>
<p>Things would, however, soon get significantly less picturesque, as in some strange, twisted way, the farther we traveled, the closer to home we seemed to get.</p>
<p>We arrived in Mombasa, Kenya, in January 2009, on a day when thousands of the city’s residents had flooded its streets to protest a recent, and particularly bloody, Israeli <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/world/middleeast/04mideast.html?_r=1&amp;pagewanted=all&amp;" type="external">attack</a> on Gaza. Hamas, firing rockets into southern Israel, had killed one Israeli and injured many others. &#160;Israel retaliated in an overwhelming fashion, filling the Gazan sky with aircraft and killing hundreds of Palestinians, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/30/israel-and-the-palestinians-middle-east" type="external">five girls</a> from a single family, ages four to 17, who were unlucky enough to live in a refugee camp adjacent to a mosque that an Israeli plane had leveled.</p>
<p>As I hopped off the matatu, or passenger van, into the scorching Kenyan heat, I was aware that 50,000 angry protesters had gathered not so far away, and certain facts became clear to me. &#160;For one thing, the slaughter of hundreds of civilians, including several dozen children, in what was, to me, a faraway land, was a big effing deal here. That should probably go without saying just about anywhere — except I was suddenly aware that, were I home, the opposite would have been true.&#160; Those deaths in distant Gaza (unlike nearby Israel) would barely have caused a blip in the American news. &#160;What’s more, if I had been at home and the story had somehow caught my eye, I knew that I wouldn’t have paid it much mind. Another war in a foreign country is what I would’ve thought, and that would have been that.</p>
<p>At that moment, though, I didn’t dwell on the point, because — let’s be serious — I was scared poopless. There was a huge, angry protest nearby and we’d just gotten word that the crowd was burning an American flag. &#160;Israel, it turned out, had used a new U.S.-made missile in its assault on Gaza.&#160; <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Israel/IAF-uses-new-US-supplied-smart-bomb" type="external">According to</a> the Jerusalem Post, it was a weapon designed to minimize “collateral damage” (though tell that to the families of the dead). The enraged people who had taken to the streets in Mombasa were decrying my country’s role in the carnage — and I was a skinny American with a backpack who’d arrived in the wrong city on the wrong day.</p>
<p>We got the hell out of there as soon as we could. Early the next morning we climbed aboard a rusty old bus bound for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I felt a wave of relief once I’d settled into my seat. I was looking forward to a different country and a new vista.</p>
<p>That new vista, it turned out, materialized almost at once. Our bus was soon barreling along a rutted dirt road, the scenery whipping by the window in a distinctly less-than-picturesque fashion. &#160;In fact, it passed in such a blur that I realized we were going way too fast. &#160;We already knew that bus accidents were common here; we’d heard about a recent one in which all the passengers died.</p>
<p>When we hit what undoubtedly was a yawning pothole on that none-too-well kept road, the windows shook ominously and I thought: we could die. By then, my slick hands were gripping my shredded vinyl seat. &#160;I could practically feel the heat of the crash-induced flames and had no trouble picturing our charred bodies in the wreckage of the bus. &#160;And then that other thought came to me, the one I wouldn’t forget, the one, thousands of miles from home, that seemed to catch who I really was: No not us, we can’t die was what I said to myself, pressing my eyes shut. &#160;I meant, of course, my boyfriend and I; I meant, that is, we Americans.</p>
<p>It was then that I felt an electric zap, as the events of the previous day had just melded with the present dangers and forced me to see what I would have preferred to ignore: that there was an unsavory likeness between my outlook and the American credo that thousands had been protesting in Mombasa.&#160; We can’t die, was my thought, as if we were somehow different — as if these Africans on the bus with us could die, but not us. Or, just as easily, those Palestinians could die — and thanks to U.S.-supplied arms, no less — and I wouldn’t even tune in for the story. &#160;Clutching my torn bus seat, I was still afraid, but another sensation overwhelmed me. I felt like a colossal jerk.</p>
<p>Of course, as you know because you’re reading this, we made it safely to Dar es Salaam that night. But I was changed.</p>
<p>Apologizing to Ourselves</p>
<p>I’d like to say that my egocentricity about which lives matter most is uncommon among my countrymen and women. &#160;But if you spool through the seven-plus years since I rode that bus, you’ll notice how that very same mindset has meant that Americans go wild with panic over <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-r-miller/the-freakonomics-of-extre_b_11821634.html" type="external">lone wolf</a> terror killings on our soil, but show scant concern when it comes to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/obamas-leadership-in-war-on-al-qaeda.html" type="external">White House-directed</a>, CIA-run <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175936/tomgram%3A_engelhardt,_the_national_security_state_%22works,%22_even_if_nothing_it_does_works/" type="external">drone assassination campaigns</a> across the world, and all the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176110/tomgram%3A_mattea_kramer,_the_grief_of_others_and_the_boasts_of_candidates" type="external">civilian casualties</a> that are the bloody result.&#160; The dead innocents include members of a <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/death-from-above-how-american-drone-strikes-are-devastating-yemen-20140414" type="external">Yemeni family</a> who were riding in a wedding procession when four missiles bore down on them, and Momina Bibi, that Pakistani <a href="https://theintercept.com/2015/04/24/obama-drone-apology/" type="external">grandmother</a> who was tending to an okra patch as her grandchildren played nearby when a missile blasted her to smithereens. And don’t forget the <a href="http://www.msf.org/en/article/kunduz-updated-death-toll-%E2%80%93-42-people-killed-us-airstrikes-kunduz-hospital" type="external">42</a> staff members, patients, and relatives at a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176069/tomgram%3A_laura_gottesdiener,_the_angel_of_death/" type="external">killed</a> in an attack by a U.S. AC-130 gunship. &#160;Depending on which tally you use, since 2009 we’ve killed an <a href="http://blogs.cfr.org/zenko/2016/07/01/questioning-obamas-drone-deaths-data/" type="external">estimated 474</a> civilians, or perhaps <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drones/drones-graphs/" type="external">745</a>, outside of official war zones (and far more civilians, like those dead in that hospital, within those zones), although the horrifying truth is that the real numbers are likely much higher, but unknown and unknowable.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, duh, we would never fire a missile at a suspected terrorist if innocent U.S. civilians were identified in the vicinity. We value American life far too highly for such wantonness. &#160;In 2015, when a drone <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/politics/white-house-hostages-killed/" type="external">struck</a> an al-Qaeda compound in Pakistan, it was later discovered that two hostages, one of them an American, were inside. In response, President Obama delivered grave <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/04/23/full-text-obamas-remarks-on-the-killing-of-american-held-by-al-qaeda-in-a-u-s-operation/?utm_term=.e61b771c52f5" type="external">remarks</a>: “I offer our deepest apologies to the families… I directed that this operation be declassified and disclosed… because the families deserve to know the truth.”</p>
<p>But why so sorry that time and not with the other 474 or more deaths? &#160;Of course the difference was that innocent American blood was spilt. &#160;We don’t even try to hide this dubious hierarchy; we celebrate it. &#160;In that same speech, President Obama reflected on why we Americans are so darn special. &#160;“One of the things that makes us exceptional,” he declared, “is our willingness to confront squarely our imperfections and to learn from our mistakes.”</p>
<p>If you hailed from any other country, it might have seemed like an odd, not to say tasteless, time to wax poetic about American exceptionalism.&#160; The president was, after all, confessing that we’d accidentally fired missiles at two captive aid workers. &#160;But I can appreciate the sentiment. &#160;Inadequate though the apology was — “There are hundreds, potentially thousands of others who deserve the same apology,” <a href="https://theintercept.com/2015/04/24/obama-drone-apology/" type="external">said</a> an investigator for Amnesty International — he was at least admitting that the United States had erred, and he was pointing out that such admissions are important. &#160;Indeed, they are.&#160; It’s just… what about the rest of the people on the planet?</p>
<p>The Trump administration will probably espouse a philosophy much like President Obama’s when it comes to valuing (or not) the lives of foreign innocents. &#160;And yet there’s part of me that must be as unworldly as that twenty-something who flew into Kathmandu, because I find myself dreaming about a new brand of American exceptionalism in our future. &#160;Not one that gives you that icky feeling when you’re riding a speeding bus in another hemisphere, nor one at whose heart lies the idea that we Americans are different and special and better — which, history tells us, is actually a totally unexceptional notion among powerful nations. &#160;Instead, I imagine what would be truly exceptional: an America that values all human life in the same way.</p>
<p>Of course, I’m also a realist and I know that that’s not the world we live in, especially now — and that it won’t be for, at best, a very long time.</p>
<p>Mattea Kramer, a <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176110/tomgram%3A_mattea_kramer,_the_grief_of_others_and_the_boasts_of_candidates" type="external">TomDispatch regular</a>, is at work on a memoir called “The Young Person’s Guide to Aging,” which inspired this essay. Follow her on <a href="https://twitter.com/MatteaKramer" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p>
<p>Follow TomDispatch on <a href="https://twitter.com/TomDispatch" type="external">Twitter</a> and join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch" type="external">Facebook</a>. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, Nick Turse’s&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608466485/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Next Time They’ll Come to Count the Dead</a>, and Tom Engelhardt’s latest book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463656/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 2016 Mattea Kramer</p> | On the Road With Our American Selves | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/on-the-road-with-our-american-selves/ | 2016-11-23 | 4 |
<p>Dec. 4 (UPI) — House and Senate lawmakers said they will begin reconciling their tax overhaul legislation on Monday, the next step in completing the compromise legislation.</p>
<p>The Senate approved <a href="https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/12/02/Senate-Republicans-pass-tax-overhaul-bill/1061512219988/" type="external">its tax plan</a> early Saturday in a 51-49 vote. The House passed <a href="https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/11/16/House-passes-tax-reform-bill-as-Senate-GOP-struggles-for-unity/4341510832770/" type="external">its version</a> Nov. 15. The two competing bills must now be unified, or reconciled, to make them identical. The final bill will then go to the House and Senate again for votes, before it is delivered to President <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Donald_Trump/" type="external">Donald Trump</a> for his signature.</p>
<p>Congressional and White House Republicans have set a goal of Dec. 31 for the bill to become law.</p>
<p>If the process moves according to plan, Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., said Sunday, the bill will be on Trump’s desk “within 10 days.”</p>
<p><a href="http://thehill.com/policy/finance/363013-scalise-house-senate-pretty-close-on-tax-bill" type="external">The Senate version</a> repeals the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and modifies the death tax. Issues regarding which individual deductions are retained must also be decided.</p>
<p>House Majority Whip <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Steve_Scalise/" type="external">Steve Scalise</a>, R-La., said, “If you look at the House and Senate bill, both of us are pretty close on that. There are some areas where we disagree.”</p>
<p>The Senate bill offers a temporary tax cut for individuals through 2025 and permanently cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. The temporary reductions comply with budget rules that the bill cannot add to the deficit after 10 years.</p>
<p>Trump said Saturday the final bill could provide a 22 percent corporate tax cut. The difference between 22 percent and 20 percent could be about $200 billion over 10 years in collected taxes.</p>
<p>Trump initially sought a corporate tax rate of 15 percent.</p>
<p>With the great vote on Cutting Taxes, this could be a big day for the Stock Market – and YOU!</p>
<p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/937653535486959616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" type="external">December 4, 2017</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-04/congress-talks-tax-deal-as-trump-signals-corporate-rate-retreat" type="external">Last-minute changes</a> to the Senate bill included leaving the alternative minimum tax in place for corporations and an increased tax break for owners of partnerships, limited liability companies and other so-called “pass-through” businesses. That could have the effect of cutting the tax rate on some of the country’s highest earners.</p>
<p>It also offers a 23 percent deduction on business income and would reduce federal revenue by an estimated $476.2 billion over the next decade. The House bill provides a different method for cutting those taxes that would reduce revenue by an estimated $596.6 billion.</p>
<p>Senate Majority Leader <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Mitch_McConnell/" type="external">Mitch McConnell</a>, R-Ky., said Sunday no guarantees can be offered to assure middle-class taxpayers of a tax cut.</p>
<p>“You can’t craft any bill that would guarantee no one was in a special category that might get a tax increase. What I can tell you is that every segment of taxpayers, every category of taxpayers on average gets significant relief. Clearly most people, middle-income taxpayers, an overwhelming majority of them, will get tax relief,” McConnell <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcconnell-says-its-impossible-to-guarantee-tax-cut-for-everyone-in-middle-class/" type="external">told CBS News</a>.</p> | House, Senate prepare to reconcile tax overhaul bills | false | https://newsline.com/house-senate-prepare-to-reconcile-tax-overhaul-bills/ | 2017-12-04 | 1 |
<p>France has shifted its priorities from ousting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to defeating terrorism and seeking political stability at home, French President Emmanuel Macron said at a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/396221-macron-trump-meeting-paris/" type="external" /></p>
<p>“On the Iraq-Syria situation, we have agreed to continue working together, in particular on the building of a roadmap for the post-war period,” Macron said during a joint news conference in the aftermath of talks with Donald Trump in Paris. “We have asked our diplomats to work in that direction, so in the next few weeks a concrete initiative can be taken and managed by the P5 [the five permanent members of United Nations Security Council(UNSC)].”</p>
<p>The so-called “contact group” on Syria, according to Macron, should include UN Security Council members, as well as representatives of the Syrian government and rebel groups.</p>
<p>President Assad’s departure is no longer as relevant for Paris, as fighting terrorism at home has now become the top priority, Macron stated.</p>
<p>“Indeed, we now have a new approach in Syria, because we want results and we want to work closely together with all our partners including the United States. We have one main goal which is to eradicate terrorism, no matter who they are, we want to build an inclusive and sustainable political solution,” Macron said. “I do not require Assad’s departure, that’s no longer a prerequisite for France. For seven years, we did not have an embassy in Damascus – and still we have no solution.”</p>
<p>Donald Trump confirmed that the US and Russia are working on a second ceasefire agreement in Syria as a follow up to the one he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed upon during their first meeting on the sidelines of G20.</p>
<p>“One of the great things that came out if this meeting, by the way, was the fact that we got the ceasefire that now has lasted for almost five days. Five days doesn’t sound like a long period of time. In terms of a ceasefire in Syria it’s a very long period of time,” Trump said.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/news/395860-russia-us-syria-cooperation/" type="external" /></p>
<p>“That was a result of having communication with a country. During that five day period a lot of lives have been saved, a lot of people were not killed, no shots have been fired in a very, very dangerous part of the world and this is one of the most dangerous parts of Syria itself,” he added.</p>
<p>“By having some communication and dialogue we were able to have a ceasefire and it’s going to go on for a while. And frankly we’re working on the second ceasefire in a very rough part of Syria.”</p>
<p>The French President stressed the importance of maintaining good relations with Russia, especially with regard to solving the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.</p>
<p>“We have a lot of disagreements, we have a lot discrepancies obviously with Russia. But in the current environment, especially in the Middle East, it’s a necessity to work together to exchange information, to share disagreements, and to try to build solutions,” Macron stated.</p>
<p>Trump has arrived in Paris for his first official visit to France on Thursday. Apart from discussing international and bilateral relations with his French counterpart, the US president &#160;is to attend a Bastille Day parade in the French capital on Friday.</p> | Macron: Eliminating terrorist threat now more important than ousting Assad | false | https://newsline.com/macron-eliminating-terrorist-threat-now-more-important-than-ousting-assad/ | 2017-07-13 | 1 |
<p />
<p>Source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The only surprise in the Justice Department suing Monsanto (NYSE: MON) to prevent it from selling its Precision Planting business to John Deere (NYSE: DE) was that the two companies thought it would fly in the first place.</p>
<p>Precision Plantingowns 42% of the market, while Deere's ExactEmerge controls 44%. Considering the antitrust regulator's history of opposing big mergers that concentrate industries into the hands of just a few companies, consolidating control of 86% of this emerging technology into portfolio of just one company without offering any compensatory action to ameliorate such concerns should have suggested the deal was dead on arrival.</p>
<p>Deere agreed to purchase Precision Planting for $190 million last November and marked the third time in five weeks it had made a deal in the space. The day before announcing the transaction with Monsanto, it had said it was buying European precision planting manufacturer Monosem, and before that had entered into a joint venture with DN2K to form SageInsights, a data management company for agricultural customers.</p>
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<p>Precision planting technologies are seen as the future for farmers because the ability to quickly plant seed at the right depth and interval during the short window of opportunity open to them ought to lead to greater crop yields. Although that's the promise, many variables still come into play that ultimately affect the outcome, including the speed at which the planter is driven and how the field to be planted is tilled (or whether it is tilled at all). Driving too fast over certain terrains will also lead to uneven application.</p>
<p>The equipment is also expensive, which depending upon the pricing farmers are receiving for their crops, may make it a non-essential acquisition. The current pricing climate, though, is seen as beneficial to the equipment manufacturers. Corn prices have tumbled from around $7 per bushel to just about $3, and futures are going around $2.80 per bushel. Wheat is at its lowest level in a decade and beneath the cost of production. Improving crop yields at those levels becomes essential.</p>
<p>Yet as the agricultural and construction industries have declined, so have Deere's prospects and it's suffered through multiple quarters of lower sales. While it remains profitable, sales fell 11% in its recently reported third quarter and net profits were off 4%. Earnings are down 22% year to date.</p>
<p>The promise of precision agriculture to turn around its current trajectory is that it would give Deere key control over every aspect of the technology that farmers were buying. Acquiring Monsanto's business was essential because not only did it sell the planters, but also retrofit equipment that could be attached to existing farm equipment, and do so at significantly lower cost. Where a planter could sell for $150,000, the retrofit devices sell for around $30,000 and held the potential to severely undercut Deere's sales further and gain a dominant market position.</p>
<p>For Monsanto, selling the division would let it better focus on big data services through its Climate Corp. unit. The sales agreement gave the biotech exclusive near real-time data connectivity between Deere's farm equipment and its own FieldView platform that it's been busy building out. In its most recent quarterly report, Monsanto said the platform had reached more than 13 million paid acres in in its fiscal year and was on target to hit 25 million paid acres next year. Brazil and regions of Canada will also soon have access to the technology.</p>
<p>While the sale and purchase of Precision Planting would be good for both Monsanto and John Deere, the Justice Department said it would be bad for farmers because it would stifle the innovation and price competition that have been the hallmark of the industry thus far. It alleges allowing Deere to buy the business would "allow it to control nearly every method through which American farmers can acquire effective high-speed precision planting systems and provide it with the ability to set prices, output, quality and product features without the constraints of market competition."</p>
<p>Both companies have said they'll fight the lawsuit, and it may be that because precision planting is still an emerging technology even by the Justice Department's standards, and not essential to a farmer's livelihood, they thought they would be able to pass regulatory scrutiny. But with the lawsuit filed, they'll need to show why giving one company a virtual monopoly in the industry is a good idea.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFCop/info.aspx" type="external">Rich Duprey Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool is short John Deere. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why John Deere Is Being Blocked From Buying This Monsanto Technology | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/09/16/why-john-deere-is-being-blocked-from-buying-this-monsanto-technology.html | 2016-09-16 | 0 |
<p>Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday that President Donald Trump “thinks that he’s the smartest guy in the room — and that’s the biggest mistake a president can make” amid reports about a rift with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.</p>
<p>“When it comes to decisions involving domestic policy, I don’t think he listens very well,” Panetta, who served in the Obama White House, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/shows/ac-360" type="external">told Anderson Cooper on CNN</a>. “The result is, he hasn’t been willing to build the kind of team that he built on national security.</p>
<p>“He’s built a strong team on national security. Thank God he’s willing to listen to them.</p>
<p>“What he needs to do is to build that same kind of team when it comes to the legislative challenges he faces on the Hill,” Panetta said.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/us/politics/mitch-mcconnell-trump.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=first-column-region&amp;region=top-news&amp;WT.nav=top-news&amp;_r=0" type="external">The New York Times reported</a> Trump and McConnell, the six-term Kentucky Republican, haven’t spoken since earlier this month — and that the majority leader has questioned privately whether the Trump can salvage his presidency.</p>
<p>Panetta told Cooper that President Trump needed a strong team, including solid rapport with Congress, to pass his domestic agenda.</p>
<p>“The economic challenges that are facing this country,” Panetta said, “he’s got to be able to have a team that can do the job because — frankly — he can’t do it.</p>
<p>“He’s not built right to be able to do this.</p>
<p>“He’s going to have to rely on good people who are willing to reach out and try to develop coalitions in the Republican Party, respect the leaders on both sides, and try to develop the kind of coalition that can pass tax reform, that can pass funding for infrastructure, and do the things he wants to achieve.</p>
<p>“If he’s not willing to do that, nothing is going to happen.”</p> | Panetta: Trump Always Thinks 'He's Smartest Guy in the Room' | false | https://newsline.com/panetta-trump-always-thinks-hes-smartest-guy-in-the-room/ | 2017-08-22 | 1 |
<p>Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel once <a href="https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/rahmemanue409199.html" type="external">said</a>, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste." President Barack Obama is not going to let the latest school shootings go to waste as he aims to defy the Constitution and disarm law-abiding gun owners.</p>
<p>Obama is reportedly considering <a href="http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/10/09/obama-seriously-considering-using-executive-authority-to-tighten-gun-laws/" type="external">implementing</a> the following gun control measures via executive order:</p>
<p>The proposed executive action aims to impose background checks on individuals who buy from dealers who sell a significant number of guns each year. The current federal statute dictates that those who are ‘engaged in the business’ of dealing firearms need to obtain a federal license — and, therefore, conduct background checks — but exempts anyone ‘who makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or part of his personal collection of firearms.</p>
<p>The current law on background checks exempts private dealers, with an example being a father giving his son a gun for a gift. Obama's proposed executive action would put a cap on that exemption, restricting the number to 50-100 gun transactions.</p>
<p>This is similar to what Democrat presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton <a href="" type="internal">proposed</a> last week, and that too was blatantly unconstitutional. Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution: (emphasis mine)</p>
<p>He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.</p>
<p>The president's job is to enforce the law, not to legislate from the bully pulpit. Not only are these executive actions unconstitutional, they also would be pointless in stopping these shootings. Oregon already has <a href="" type="internal">universal background checks</a>. The shooters in Sandy Hook, Virginia, Tucson and the Aurora theater all <a href="http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/10/09/obama-seriously-considering-using-executive-authority-to-tighten-gun-laws/" type="external">passed background checks</a>. Background checks are clearly not the issue.</p>
<p>In addition, putting a cap on gun transactions for private dealers would, ironically, make it easier for people to obtain guns.</p>
<p>"Under the current rule, if you sell, say, 30 guns a year — two or three each month — you might reasonably worry that your repeated, regular sales mean that you’re 'in the business' for purposes of federal law," Allahpundit <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2015/10/09/here-we-go-obama-seriously-considering-using-executive-action-to-expand-background-checks-for-private-gun-sales/" type="external">writes</a>. "Simply to protect yourself, you might insist on a background check for those purchasers. With a hard floor of 50 sales to qualify as being 'in the business,' you don’t need to worry about background checks so long as you know you won’t sell 50 weapons. In some cases, in other words, a hard number may lead some sellers to be less cautious."</p>
<p>All but two mass shootings since 1950 have occurred in gun-free zones.</p>
<p>Obama's executive action proposal was reported the same day as two school shootings. One shooting occurred at <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/09/us/northern-arizona-university-shooting/" type="external">Northern Arizona University</a>, where a freshman student shot four male students, and one of them died. The other shooting occurred at <a href="http://abc13.com/news/campus-lockdown-lifted-following-deadly-shooting-at-tsu/1025113/" type="external">Texas Southern University</a>, where one person died and another was wounded.</p>
<p><a href="https://nau.edu/police/policies/weapons/" type="external">NAU</a> and <a href="http://em.tsu.edu/catalog/undergraduate_catalog_1416.pdf" type="external">TSU</a> are both gun-free zones. This appears to be a recurring trend, as <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thinktank/Would-be-killers-target-gun-free-zones.html" type="external">all but two mass shootings since 1950 have occurred in gun-free zones</a>. This is because, as John Lott writes, murders know they won't face any armed resistance in gun-free zones.</p>
<p>"The suspect in the Charleston, S.C., shootings in June originally aimed to attack the College of Charleston. He chose a church instead because the college had armed guards," Lott <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thinktank/Would-be-killers-target-gun-free-zones.html" type="external">wrote</a>. "The diary of the Batman movie theater killer, James Holmes, was finally released just a few months ago. He decided against attacking an airport because of the 'substantial security.' Out of seven theaters showing the Batman movie premiere within 20 minutes of the suspect’s apartment in 2012, only one banned permitted concealed handguns. That’s the one he attacked."</p>
<p>Lott also points out that in Europe, every mass shooting has been in a gun-free zone and that in fact, "three of the six worst K-12 school shootings and by far the worst mass public shooting perpetrated by a single individual" have occurred in Europe. These facts completely contradict Obama's claim that mass shootings don't happen in other developed countries.</p>
<p>Too many guns are not the problem. Gun-free zones are the problem. Obama would be wise to address gun-free zones in a constitutional way instead of his unconstitutional gun control proposal he orders by executive fiat.</p> | Obama Prepares to Unilaterally Take Your Guns | true | https://dailywire.com/news/350/obama-prepares-unilaterally-take-your-guns-aaron-bandler | 2015-10-09 | 0 |
<p>Long a mecca for Hollywood types seeking substantial incentives, Louisiana has grown into a production powerhouse. However, over the past few years, with the breaks coming into question, the state has lost business to places like Georgia. Now, with a newly revised incentive plan offering a 25%-45% partially refundable tax credit, the state is fighting back.</p>
<p>SEE MORE: <a href="https://variety.com/access-digital/" type="external">From the September 05, 2017, issue of Variety</a></p>
<p>As a result of its long history as a production hub, Louisiana provides numerous production facilities, highly trained crews, and a plethora of production services companies, including location scouting and on-site support.</p>
<p>In fact, over the years, during California’s long runaway production phase, many below-the-line workers moved from Hollywood to the Pelican State to find work. Today they form a deep labor pool of production talent that benefits filmmakers from around the world who come to Louisiana. (Another incentive: New Orleans restaurants.)</p>
<p>Specifically, the financial incentive offers a 40% refundable tax credit for resident above-the-line and below-the-line workers, and a 25% refundable tax credit for non-resident above-the-line and below-the-line workers.</p>
<p>The minimum spend requirement is $300,000. The project cap is $20 million for film and $25 million for TV series per season. There is a $3 million compensation cap.</p>
<p>Recent Louisiana productions include “Baby Driver” (2017), “American Made” (2017), “Girls Trip” (2017), “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/logan/" type="external">Logan</a>” (2017), “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/kidnap/" type="external">Kidnap</a>” (2017), “Bad Moms” (2016), TV show “Scream” (began in 2015), and TV show “The Originals” (began in 2013).</p> | Louisiana Fights Back With Revived and Generous Production Incentives | false | https://newsline.com/louisiana-fights-back-with-revived-and-generous-production-incentives/ | 2017-09-08 | 1 |
<p>Investing.com – Bitcoin rose on Monday, a day after it made its debut on the Chicago-based derivatives CBOE exchange amid signs of robust investor demand, while bitcoin cash added to recent gains.</p>
<p>On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, rose to $16,475, up $1495, or 9.98% after hitting an all-time high of $17,160 on Friday. The popular digital currency market cap rose to $279.89 billion.</p>
<p>Bitcoin futures remained well supported after its debut Sunday on the CBOE got underway to a bright start, as it surged to a high of $18,700 before pairing gains. The launch bitcoin futures on the CBOE comes a week ahead of CME Group’s launch of bitcoin futures slated for Dec. 18.</p>
<p>The launch of futures trading has drawn a mixed reaction from investors, as it provides market participants with the option to place bearish bets on bitcoin, which could pressure the price of digital currency. Other market participants believe, however, that the launch of futures paves the way for bitcoin to become an established asset class, which would spur institutional demand.</p>
<p>The positive sentiment on bitcoin poured into other areas of the crypto-market, as rose 9.95% to $1,419.90, while rose 11.16% to $244.65.</p>
<p>, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, rose 9.18% to $470.55.</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> | Bitcoin Edges Higher, Bitcoin Cash Adds to Gains | false | https://newsline.com/bitcoin-edges-higher-bitcoin-cash-adds-to-gains/ | 2017-12-11 | 1 |
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<p>In this photo taken Sept. 17, 2014, Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. House Republicans said Monday that they have the GOP votes to disapprove of the Iran nuclear deal as Democrats stepped up their support of the agreement the Obama administration and other world powers negotiated with Tehran. Since Republicans hold a commanding 246 seats in the House, it was widely expected that the GOP would come up with 218 votes to support a resolution of disapproval, which has been introduced by Peter Roskam. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)</p>
<p>WASHINGTON - House Republicans said Monday that they have the GOP votes to disapprove of the Iran nuclear deal as Democrats stepped up their support of the agreement the Obama administration and other world powers negotiated with Tehran.</p>
<p>Since Republicans hold a commanding 246 seats in the House, it was widely expected that the GOP would come up with 218 votes to support a resolution of disapproval, which has been introduced by Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill.</p>
<p>"Time is not the friend of this deal," Roskam said in a statement. "The more time members spend evaluating this agreement, the more they realize it's an historic mistake."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>It's unclear, however, if there would be enough votes in the House to override President Barack Obama's expected veto of the legislation. The president is counting on Democrats to sustain his veto, and House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi has said they will.</p>
<p>Obama would need 34 members of the Senate or 146 members of the House to stand with him.</p>
<p>On Monday, California Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Anna Eshoo joined an expanding list of representatives who have announced their support of the international accord.</p>
<p>Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the deal "realistically precludes Iran from developing an atomic bomb" for at least 15 years.</p>
<p>Congress is engaged in a 60-day review of the deal, and Schiff's decision to back the agreement is a boost for Obama.</p>
<p>Eshoo said her decision was not based on trusting Iran. "To the contrary," she said, "the regime has a long list of offenses that I deeply object to, but there must be a mechanism in place to keep them from becoming a nuclear power."</p>
<p>Crucial to the administration is New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Jewish Democrat widely expected to be the next party leader in the Senate. Schumer, who hasn't disclosed his stance on the deal, has faced intense lobbying from both sides, including the powerful pro-Israel lobby, American Israel Public Affairs Committee.</p>
<p>"This is such an important decision that I will not let pressure, politics or party influence (me)," Schumer said Monday at a news conference in New York on gun control.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Schumer said he has received around 20 briefings, including two classified sessions.</p>
<p>"This is one of the most important decisions that I'll make, that any senator or congressman will make, and so I'm studying it really seriously," he told reporters.</p>
<p>Asked if he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a fierce foe of the deal, Schumer declined to answer.</p>
<p>Another New York Democrat, freshman Rep. Kathleen Rice, said Monday she opposes the deal.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer David Caruso in New York contributed to this report.</p> | House GOP says it has the votes to disapprove of Iran deal | false | https://abqjournal.com/622539/house-gop-says-it-has-the-votes-to-disapprove-of-iran-deal.html | 2 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A body was found on Saturday about 50 yards from where a truck belonging to George Haskins of Bluewater Acres was located a month ago near Bluewater Creek, the <a href="http://www.cibolabeacon.com/news/haskins-body-possibly-found/article_886f949c-1ca9-11e2-8c64-0019bb2963f4.html" type="external">Cibola Beacon</a> reported.</p>
<p>“Investigators do believe it may be the body of Haskins,” Lt. Robert McDonald of the New Mexico State Police told the Beacon. “They were not able to make a positive ID on the body at the scene.”</p>
<p>An autopsy was scheduled to determine the ID and cause of death, the Beacon said.</p>
<p>Haskins has been missing since Sept. 19, the paper reported. A three-day search involving State Police and a rescue team from Albuquerque was called off on Sept. 24 after no clues turned up.</p>
<p>Haskins’ truck with his dog still inside was found Sept. 21 on a forest road near Bluewater Creek, and items including Haskins’ wallet, clothes, sandals and drug paraphernalia were found next to a large rock near the truck, according to the Beacon.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Body May Be Missing Bluewater Man’s | false | https://abqjournal.com/140762/body-may-be-that-of-missing-bluewater-man.html | 2012-10-23 | 2 |
<p>South Korean sporting goods retailer Fila is set to buy <a href="" type="internal">Fortune Brands</a> Inc's (NYSE:FO) Acushnet golf business for about $1.2 billion, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.</p>
<p>Fortune Brands announced plans late last year to sell or spin off its golf business, which makes Titleist golf equipment, and spin off its home products business, which makes Simonton windows and Moen faucets, amid pressure from activist investor William Ackman.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The two companies could not be reached for comment. The source was not authorized to talk about the deal since it was not public yet.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Source: Fila in $1.2B Fortune Brands Golf Buy | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/05/20/source-fila-12b-fortune-brands-golf-buy.html | 2016-01-28 | 0 |
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