text
stringlengths 0
127k
| title
stringlengths 0
777
| hyperpartisan
bool 2
classes | url
stringlengths 26
278
| published_at
stringlengths 0
10
| bias
int64 0
4
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
<p>ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Serena Williams lost in her return to tennis after giving birth in September, beaten by French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in an exhibition Saturday and still unsure if she will defend her Australian Open title.</p>
<p>Williams called it a "wonderful" match despite the defeat - she took the second set in a score of 6-2, 3-6 and 10-5 in a super tiebreaker.</p>
<p>The Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam tournament, begins Jan. 15.</p>
<p>"I don't know if I am totally ready to come back on the tour yet. I know that when I come back I definitely want to be competing for championships. I am definitely looking forward to getting back out there," Williams said.</p>
<p>"I am taking it one day at a time. I am going to assess everything with my team before deciding."</p>
<p>The 36-year-old Williams took time off after winning the Australian Open last January while pregnant. She gave birth to her first child, a girl named Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., on Sept. 1. She married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in November.</p>
<p>Williams struggled with her serve in the 67-minute match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship. But, after nearly a year away from the game, she did win a set against the world's No. 7 player</p>
<p>"I don't think I am going to rate my performance," Williams said. "I have plenty of comebacks, from injuries, from surgeries, but I've never had a comeback after actually giving birth to a human being. So, in my eyes, I feel it was a wonderful, wonderful match for me."</p>
<p>Williams insisted she has a lot more tennis to play.</p>
<p>"Knowing that I have won 23 Grand Slam titles and several other titles, I don't think I have anything more left to prove," she said. "But I am not done yet."</p>
<p>Williams won her opening game, breaking Ostapenko. But she was nowhere near her best in the first set before fighting back and winning the second.</p>
<p>After the initial break, Ostapenko latched onto Williams' weak serves and capitalized on several unforced errors to go up 4-1 with two breaks.</p>
<p>Williams again struggled with her serve in the second set. But she went ahead 3-0 with a couple of early breaks and hit with more confidence, including several crowd-pleasing double-handed passing shots. Another break in the ninth game gave her the set.</p>
<p>"In the beginning, it felt a little tough. But as the match moved on, I was less afraid. I knew I was not going to fall over and break," she said. "The more I played, the more confident I felt that I would be able to go for shots that I was afraid to go for in the first set."</p>
<p>In the super tiebreaker, Ostapenko raced to an 8-2 lead before halting a brief recovery by Williams.</p>
<p>"For me, it is all about physical, how I am feeling physically. ... I am just proud being out here and playing in Abu Dhabi and to be able to just compete," Williams said. "I have had a tough few months and I am just excited to be able to play again."</p>
<p>It was the first time a women's match had been played in the traditionally men's only exhibition.</p>
<p>U.S. Open runner-up Kevin Anderson defeated Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 7-6 (0) in the men's final. The 14th-ranked Anderson immediately broke Bautista Agut and was never in danger of losing serve in the first set.</p>
<p>In the second set, Bautista Agut broke in the second game, but the South African broke back immediately. An aggressive Anderson swept the tiebreaker.</p>
<p>ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Serena Williams lost in her return to tennis after giving birth in September, beaten by French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in an exhibition Saturday and still unsure if she will defend her Australian Open title.</p>
<p>Williams called it a "wonderful" match despite the defeat - she took the second set in a score of 6-2, 3-6 and 10-5 in a super tiebreaker.</p>
<p>The Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam tournament, begins Jan. 15.</p>
<p>"I don't know if I am totally ready to come back on the tour yet. I know that when I come back I definitely want to be competing for championships. I am definitely looking forward to getting back out there," Williams said.</p>
<p>"I am taking it one day at a time. I am going to assess everything with my team before deciding."</p>
<p>The 36-year-old Williams took time off after winning the Australian Open last January while pregnant. She gave birth to her first child, a girl named Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., on Sept. 1. She married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in November.</p>
<p>Williams struggled with her serve in the 67-minute match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship. But, after nearly a year away from the game, she did win a set against the world's No. 7 player</p>
<p>"I don't think I am going to rate my performance," Williams said. "I have plenty of comebacks, from injuries, from surgeries, but I've never had a comeback after actually giving birth to a human being. So, in my eyes, I feel it was a wonderful, wonderful match for me."</p>
<p>Williams insisted she has a lot more tennis to play.</p>
<p>"Knowing that I have won 23 Grand Slam titles and several other titles, I don't think I have anything more left to prove," she said. "But I am not done yet."</p>
<p>Williams won her opening game, breaking Ostapenko. But she was nowhere near her best in the first set before fighting back and winning the second.</p>
<p>After the initial break, Ostapenko latched onto Williams' weak serves and capitalized on several unforced errors to go up 4-1 with two breaks.</p>
<p>Williams again struggled with her serve in the second set. But she went ahead 3-0 with a couple of early breaks and hit with more confidence, including several crowd-pleasing double-handed passing shots. Another break in the ninth game gave her the set.</p>
<p>"In the beginning, it felt a little tough. But as the match moved on, I was less afraid. I knew I was not going to fall over and break," she said. "The more I played, the more confident I felt that I would be able to go for shots that I was afraid to go for in the first set."</p>
<p>In the super tiebreaker, Ostapenko raced to an 8-2 lead before halting a brief recovery by Williams.</p>
<p>"For me, it is all about physical, how I am feeling physically. ... I am just proud being out here and playing in Abu Dhabi and to be able to just compete," Williams said. "I have had a tough few months and I am just excited to be able to play again."</p>
<p>It was the first time a women's match had been played in the traditionally men's only exhibition.</p>
<p>U.S. Open runner-up Kevin Anderson defeated Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 7-6 (0) in the men's final. The 14th-ranked Anderson immediately broke Bautista Agut and was never in danger of losing serve in the first set.</p>
<p>In the second set, Bautista Agut broke in the second game, but the South African broke back immediately. An aggressive Anderson swept the tiebreaker.</p> | Serena loses in exhibition comeback after giving birth | false | https://apnews.com/6f6a1414b0f7458dafedab2067ab4c2a | 2017-12-30 | 2 |
<p>Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel Cecelia Beck has established herself as a presence in the lives of children, youth and adults since moving to the “Weed and Seed” neighborhood of Shelby, N.C.</p>
<p>“It is important to be present in order to build relationships and trust,” Beck says. “The original vision and the essence of this ministry is to live in the neighborhood. Otherwise, I could not experience life as my neighbors do.”</p>
<p>Beck’s neighborhood was identified by the United States Department of Justice as an area in need of revitalization. Since moving to Shelby, Beck has experienced many of the challenges her neighbors face.</p>
<p>“My house and van have both been hit by stray bullets. My back storm door was broken out, and my van window was broken on separate occasions.”</p>
<p>Children talk to Beck about the actions they take to hide when they hear gunshots — diving for the floor, running into the bathroom or crouching behind furniture.</p>
<p>“It always strikes me when the subject of conversation with and among the children is ‘did you hear those gunshots?’ and discussion of which direction the gunshots were coming from,” Beck says.</p>
<p>In order to “weed out” violence, officials say the area should be “seeded” for positive growth. Beck’s ministry aims to put this idealistic rhetoric into action.</p>
<p>‘A million eyes watching out for you’</p>
<p>Cecelia Beck (center) is an advocate and maternal figure for children and youth in Shelby, N.C. (Photo/CBF)</p>
<p>Beck’s primary responsibilities are serving as an advocate and maternal figure for local children and youth. She arranges, coordinates and facilitates resources for their involvement in various churches including First Baptist Church and Aldersgate United Methodist Church, both in Shelby, and Winter Park Baptist Church in Wilmington, N.C.. Activities for children include Sunday worship, youth choir, camp, retreats and an upcoming mission trip to Belize.</p>
<p>Beck ensures that youth can participate in different experiences despite logistical or economic issues. She worked with three boys in Wilmington who had never sat in a restaurant or ordered from a menu. Every Sunday, Beck takes the youth out for a meal. Members of the community may help, and a family from First Baptist Church recently invited the group to their home for Sunday lunch.</p>
<p>“In addition to church activities, it is important to expose the children to opportunities that broaden their horizons — like seeing the ocean and hiking in the mountains,” Beck adds.</p>
<p>Although her work in the neighborhood is a full-time job, Beck also has what she refers to as her “tent-making job” — working as a hospice chaplain in a nearby county.</p>
<p>“As a trained chaplain and grief counselor, I have been sought out and been able to provide grief support to neighbors.”</p>
<p>Beck was previously working 40 hours a week on top of her duties in Shelby. However, after missing the funeral of a neighbor because of work commitments, Beck made the decision to raise additional financial support so she could be consistently available to her neighbors.</p>
<p>Since decreasing her hours at hospice, she has been able to invest more time in the lives of youth: attending numerous sports events and being available for transportation. Two high school players always tell her when they see her sitting in the stands or when they aren’t able to find her at a game.</p>
<p>Because Beck’s home is on a visible corner of the neighborhood with constant foot traffic, youth stop by to talk about their struggles and triumphs at home or school. Adults also share concerns. Neighbors look out for Beck, taking the time to speak with her and tell her she is appreciated.</p>
<p>“On several occasions as I have spoken to folks passing by, they say, ‘Hi, Ms. Beck, pray for me.’ These were people I did not know,” Beck says. “One of my favorite neighbors was a man who once told me that ‘there are a million eyes watching out for you.’”</p>
<p>‘God sent you here’</p>
<p>Ministry in the Weed and Seed neighborhood can be overwhelming as Beck works with an increasing number of families, organizations and churches. She has faced theft and vandalism of her home from a group of children as young as 11. Lately, the increased frequency of gunshots has caused Beck to discontinue visits from her own grandchildren. However, this has not stopped Beck from her ministry with the youth and children of Shelby, who are achieving success despite systemic challenges.</p>
<p>“I am not discouraged by the violence. It motivates me to try harder to teach the children to live differently. It saddens and frightens me that they are so accustomed to so much violence as a way of life.”</p>
<p>“I am not discouraged by the violence. It motivates me to try harder to teach the children to live differently. It saddens and frightens me that they are so accustomed to so much violence as a way of life.”</p>
<p>Beck has learned to rely on her neighbors, whom she considers family. In response to the idea that ministers face the temptation to start seeing people as projects, Beck disagrees.</p>
<p>“From the beginning, I saw my neighbors as neighbors, not projects. It has been very important that I concentrate on ‘being with’ rather than ‘doing for’ my neighbors even though I do much for them.”</p>
<p>This “being with” can come in many forms from meeting physical to spiritual needs. Beck says the struggle to keep electricity running is a challenge she hadn’t considered before moving to Shelby.</p>
<p>“All of the children I work with except for one family have experienced having electricity turned off for varying lengths of time. One family with two elementary-aged children lived without power for four months. They had a fireplace and survived by all sleeping in the same room and cooking over the fire. They took showers and baths at the home of a relative.”</p>
<p>Beck and her neighbors have faced difficult times together, including events after the shooting death of a 26-year-old man involved in local gangs.</p>
<p>“Some members of his gang drove through the neighborhood shooting from a car. I was in the process of picking up children and youth for Wednesday night church and had a van full,” Beck says. “We all dove for cover. My neighbors came out of houses to find out what was going on, and we all commiserated with one another. We are experiencing the trauma and fear together as neighbors.”</p>
<p>Although the neighborhood has its dangers, Beck reaffirms her decision to live in Shelby.</p>
<p>“If I were a missionary in China, I would move to China and live among the people and learn their culture and their language. Being a missionary in the United States is the same. If I just come and go from the neighborhood once in a while, it is like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. In neighborhoods with major challenges, it is not helpful to come and go.”</p>
<p>Beck will continue to minister in her neighborhood while learning from and encouraging the community. She reflects on moments that confirm she is working in the right place.</p>
<p>“Last year, I was driving some boys home from wrestling practice. One of the boys is part of a family I met my first summer here. Out of the blue he said, ‘You know, Ms. Beck, I think God sent you here to help us.’”</p> | ‘God sent you here,’ child tells minister in violent community | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/god-sent-you-here-child-tells-minister-in-violent-community/ | 3 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The prep season is under way, and the first major meet for Albuquerque-area schools – the Albuquerque Public Schools Invitational – is today at Atrisco Heritage Academy.</p>
<p>The West Side’s two most potent programs – Rio Grande and Volcano Vista – headline the field.</p>
<p>The other two schools on that side of the river who sort of tend to be decent in this sport – Cleveland and Rio Rancho – aren’t in the APS Invite.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>But the Storm and Rams are at the forefront of the discussion about contenders in Class 5A.</p>
<p>Cleveland is the defending state champion, and Rio Rancho is none too happy about that.</p>
<p>“Last year,” Rio Rancho coach Mike Santos said, “we were young and talented. This year, I think these kids are on a quest to win a state championship and bring it back to Rio Rancho.”</p>
<p>The Rams return half a dozen state qualifiers, including junior Jordan Lara, the defending state champion at 160 pounds. Sophomore Miguel Barreras at 152 and sophomore Brandon Leyba at 113 are also going to be formidable.</p>
<p>“(Cleveland winning state) did hurt a little bit more because we didn’t continue that tradition,” Santos said. “That motivated a lot of our kids to work hard.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Storm will certainly challenge for another state title behind senior Paul Mascareñas at 113 pounds, who is the defending champion. He recently signed with South Dakota State. Cleveland last week beat Rio Rancho in a head-to-head dual.</p>
<p>The Storm picked up a key transfer in Clayton Pankey, who won a state title with Bernalillo at 220 in February.</p>
<p>Rio Grande has been one of 5A’s most consistent programs the past four years, with a pair of third-place finishes and two runner-up showings at state.</p>
<p>“We have a lot of potential,” coach Loren Vigil said. “We’ll be in the top three, shooting for that state championship again.”</p>
<p>Rio Grande returns six state placers, including senior Nick Chavez at 182. Chavez is defending a state title at that weight.</p>
<p>“This team is probably the most experienced team I’ve had,” Vigil said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Led by Lawrence Otero, who was undefeated in taking state at 138 last season, Volcano Vista will be in the hunt for a state trophy with five state placers back.</p>
<p>Otero, a senior, will wrestle at 145 for 2012-13.</p>
<p>“We’re pretty stacked at every weight,” coach Mikey Ortega said. “If everything goes our way, we should take state this year.”</p>
<p>West Mesa features one of the state’s best in senior DeShun Brown, the defending state champ at 120. He is moving up to 126 this season. Brown recently signed a letter of intent with Arizona State.</p>
<p>Atrisco Heritage was third in 4A last season and moves up to 5A. Senior heavyweight Ismael Chavez is a returning state champion for AHA; he was the school’s first state champion in any sport.</p>
<p>D’Yon Santiago of Albuquerque High is back for his senior season and, like Volcano’s Otero, is coming off an undefeated campaign. He is the defending state champion at 132 but is moving up to 138. One of the metro-area surprises is that Cibola’s Thomas Barela, the two-time defending state champ at 145, is not wrestling this season.</p>
<p>The first meet where all the top metro schools will be together is the Joe Vivian Classic, Jan. 18-19 at AHS.</p>
<p>— This article appeared on page D6 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | Ravens, Hawks Head Invite Field | false | https://abqjournal.com/238491/ravens-hawks-head-invite-field-2.html | 2 |
|
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />GREG WILPERT: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Gregory Wilpert joining you from Quito, Ecuador. The US government required Cuba to withdraw 60% of its embassy staff in Washington DC last week. The move appears to signal a gradual unraveling of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the US that President Obama reintroduced in late 2014. The Trump administration's reason for removing 15 of Cuba's diplomatic personnel is that it says the US Embassy in Havana has been the target of mysterious sonic attacks and that about 21 of its staff has experienced headaches, hearing loss and mild brain injury. The Cuban government vehemently denies any involvement of such allegations and such alleged attacks, and says that it is cooperating fully with the US to investigate the matter.
<p /> Joining us to analyze this latest twist in US-Cuba relations is Professor Michael Bustamante. He is the assistant professor of History at Florida International University where he specializes on modern Latin America and the Caribbean.
<p /> Thanks for joining us, Professor Bustamante.
<p />M. BUSTAMANTE: My pleasure.
<p />GREG WILPERT: Before we get into what might be behind this latest crisis in US-Cuba relations, what would you say has been the most immediate effect of the pairing down of embassy staff in Havana and in Washington DC of the respective countries?
<p />M. BUSTAMANTE: Sure. For me and I think for most Cubans, the most important and immediate effect has been the impact on consular operations on both sides of the Florida Straits so to speak. So, the US has taken out of Cuba most of its diplomatic staff at the embassy, which means that the consulate at the US Embassy in Havana is effectively closed, meaning that all issuing of US visas is on hold. This has left a lot of Cubans that were sort of entrain, applying for visas of different kinds in limbo. It's meant that folks have had sometimes waited months or years to get family reunification visas, to move to the US are now not sure when that's going to happen. The United States has said that that program will continue, but it's unclear how it can if they don't have a full consular staff.
<p /> Conversely, with Cuba having left with only one consular representative at its embassy in Washington, this is going to mean a serious backlog for the processing of Cuban passport applications and renewals that are necessary for Cubans and the diaspora who travel back to the island to visit family.
<p />GREG WILPERT: It is kind of interesting though that the State Department refers to this as an attack even though as far as we know, it hasn't presented any evidence. And it is speculating not only that but it is a sonic weapon of some sort. However, the New York Times recently investigated this possibility and discussed this with scientists and health specialists. The consensus seems to be that such a thing is practically impossible. It would seem that the sonic attack accusation sounds rather flimsy and there might be something else motivating such a confrontational approach to the problem. What do you think is behind all of this?
<p />M. BUSTAMANTE: I wish I had an answer. I'm not a scientist. I'm a historian so I can't vouch for the scientific feasibility of some of these things. I've certainly read those articles in which reputable scientists have questioned whether this kind of device is even feasible, and whether the sonic weapons that do exist or known to exist can produce some of the reported effects in such narrow spaces as apparently has been the case as reported by some US diplomats. I'm not willing to go so far to say that their allegations are completely false but it's very difficult to ascertain the viability or the believability of what's going on in the absence of more public information. We've just had a release from the Associated Press this afternoon of an apparent recording of one of the sounds that an affected diplomat heard, but again, so far, most of the sources and testimonies that we've heard had been anonymously, and so it's really difficult to figure out what's behind this if there's any ulterior motive.
<p /> But what I can say with certainty, whether or not these accusations are true or Trumped up, is that their effects are very real and that those that have always opposed in the normalization of US-Cuban relations are, I think, seeking to mobilize to take advantage of this moment to push the Trump administration to go even further than it proposed in June to unwind the Obama administration's approach.
<p />GREG WILPERT: Yeah, I want to get to that in a minute. But first, I want to raise another issue that seems kind of curious about all of this, which is that the Associated Press reported recently that some of the first victims of this so-called attack, according to inside sources, were CIA agents in Havana. What would you make of that? Doesn't it strike you as a little bit strange? Or what's your reaction to that?
<p />M. BUSTAMANTE: I mean it certainly does. The whole thing strikes me strange, whether it was CIA agents or not. We're talking about sonic weapons. This sounds like something out of a bad science fiction movie. But that report did pique my attention too. I'm not quite sure what to make out of it. I mean, if it is true that US Intelligence officials under diplomatic cover in Havana as we know exists as other countries have intelligence officials undercover in the United States, if those folks were the first ones targeted, that suggests perhaps there's more of a targeted approach, some kind of beef between intelligence services maybe. But I really don't know what to make of it. I think just as strange as the fact that some of the intelligence officials are potentially some of the first targets is the reports that Canadian diplomats have also suffered the effects of this to a lesser degree, but there are some reports.
<p /> We know that Cuban-Canada have excellent relations as they have had for a long, long time. So for the life of me, it's really hard to think of a motivation as to why they would be attacked, not even thinking about the US factor here.
<p />GREG WILPERT: Let's get into the issue that you raised earlier about the possibility of exploiting this crisis. Trump has repeatedly said that he opposes Obama's opening towards Cuba just as he opposes pretty much all other openings to countries that Obama initiated. Trump also seems to be heavily influenced by a Florida senator, Marco Rubio, who's been calling basically for a new cold war with Cuba. Do you foresee a further deterioration of US-Cuba relations under the influence of the Cuban exile lobby in Florida? Do you think that perhaps the business interests, which are quite strong and in favor of maintaining an opening that these might be able to prevail?
<p />M. BUSTAMANTE: The problem with counting on business interests to sort of put a break on the unraveling of the normalization that did take place is that not enough business interest from the US really set root in Cuba to provide an effective counter weight. There were some US business interests that were able to forge space in the Cuban market, but not enough. And frankly, that's because of both the rules that continue to hinder that on the US side during the Obama administration, but also the slowness with which Cuban officials at times were willing to sign deals. I think there's probably folks on both sides that are a little bit kicking themselves that those relationships didn't go further. I think those business constituencies to the extent that they exist will push against any further rollback.
<p /> I would say that one important milestone to watch is the release, we're not sure when, but of the regulations that implement the Trump administration's policy announcement back in June. Back in June, Trump rhetorically announced what sounded like a complete break with the Obama administration's approach, but the actual measures that he proposed were not productive in my view, but also not anything close to a full rollback. I'm wondering if the writing of those regulations, which is ongoing, is now going to be affected by the kind of environment created in the wake of this other crisis, and that they could be harsher than they would have been otherwise.
<p /> I do see a potential for this to keep spiraling. I hope that wiser voices prevail on both sides and stop it from doing so.
<p />GREG WILPERT: Another curious detail that I saw in one of the reports was that the people that the Trump administration expelled from the Cuban Embassy in Washington DC were people from the business sector really, that is the ones who manage their business relations. I'm wondering if this might be just another attempt to basically thwart the strengthening of business ties between the US and Cuba. What do you think?
<p />M. BUSTAMANTE: Yeah, I think that's quite possible. I think even if you buy the premise that it was appropriate for the United States to expel Cuban diplomats as some sort of active complementarity, which I don't necessarily buy, but even if you do, it seems clear that the choice of which diplomats to expel seems to have been targeted in a couple of ways. The entirety of the business section was expelled. My sense is that we're talking about three or four people. But also almost all of the consular section as I mentioned. Those two choices I don't think are coincidences.
<p /> Certainly, the kind of growth of business ties between the United States and Cuba is something that those against normalization or do not favor, and increasingly, those from Florida and outside of Florida that don't support normalization were also very weary of just how interconnected Cuba and its diaspora had become through travel, through remittances, or even sort of under the table investment. Those things are made possible through consular operations, the approval of visas, the renewal of passports, etc. So, by getting rid of most of Cuba's consular staff, you're really putting a break potentially on that transnational flow of people and goods and resources, and that's something that certainly hardliners in Miami would favor. I do see the potential for the hand of the influence of those against normalization in the decision of who to expel from the Cuban Embassy.
<p />GREG WILPERT: Okay. We'll definitely keep an eye on this as it develops and we'll probably want to come back to you to talk more about it. I was speaking to Professor Michael Bustamante of Florida International University. Thanks Michael for having joined us today.
<p />M. BUSTAMANTE: My pleasure. Thanks.
<p />GREG WILPERT: And thank you for watching The Real News Network. | US-Cuba Relations Unravel as State Dept Alleges 'Sonic Attack' | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/story%3A20212%3AUS-Cuba-Relations-Unravel-as-State-Dept-Accuses-Cuba-of-%2527Sonic-Attack%2527 | 2017-10-12 | 4 |
<p>Apple Inc.’s on Wednesday conceded its latest smartwatch unveiled a week ago has problems with its most important feature: the ability make phone calls and access data without an iPhone nearby.</p>
<p>Several prominent reviewers said Wednesday they could not recommend the device because of cellular data connectivity glitches.</p>
<p>The Watch Series 3 starts at $399 and was launched alongside new iPhone models. Unlike previous versions of the watch, it has cellular network connectivity built in.</p>
<p>Apple said the watch can experience LTE connectivity problems when it connects to open wi-fi networks that require a login screen, such as at a hotel or a coffee shop.</p>
<p>The company is “investigating a fix for a future software release,” Apple spokeswoman Amy Bessette told Reuters.</p>
<p>Many reviewers such as the New York Times praised the new features and gave generally positive assessments.</p>
<p>But several other prominent publications, including the Wall Street Journal and The Verge, recommended against purchasing the new model because the LTE cellular data connectivity did not work as expected.</p>
<p>The mixed reviews weighed on Apple shares, which were down about 2 percent at $155 in afternoon trading.</p>
<p>“Considering that my Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE (both first and second review units) didn’t function like it was supposed to, I can’t recommend buying it — and paying the monthly cell fee — based on promises,” Verge reviewer Lauren Goode wrote. (http://bit.ly/2fj8Jiy)</p>
<p>Apart from connection issues, some reviewers were disappointed with the drain on the watch’s battery while making calls. Apple had touted up to 18 hours of battery life but said the watch would get only one hour on a cellular phone call.</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern wrote that users “should all hold off until, say, Series X,” referring to the latest iPhone X model number. (http://on.wsj.com/2w75ZI1) Gene Munster, a longtime Apple analyst with Loup Ventures, doubted issues with the Series 3 Watch would hurt Apple’s bottom line. “That review takeaway is a negative but is not a surprise. This is the first generation watch with LTE,” he told Reuters.</p>
<p>Apple also experienced hiccups with iOS 11, the new operating system the firm released Tuesday.</p>
<p>For business users, iOS 11’s Mail application had problems sending mail for Microsoft Exchange and Outlook.com mail accounts.</p>
<p>“We’re working closely with Microsoft to resolve the issue and will release a fix soon in an upcoming software update,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller told Reuters.</p> | Apple Fail: Latest Watch Has Trouble With Phone Calls, Data | false | https://newsline.com/apple-fail-latest-watch-has-trouble-with-phone-calls-data/ | 2017-09-20 | 1 |
<p>Former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has written an article for Foreign Affairs magazine, the first two paragraphs of which are stunningly silly, misguided, and, unfortunately for Huckabee, deeply revealing.</p>
<p>The two opening paragraphs read this way:&#160;The United States, as the world's only superpower, is less vulnerable to military defeat. But it is more vulnerable to the animosity of other countries. Much like a top high school student, if it is modest about its abilities and achievements, if it is generous in helping others, it is loved. But if it attempts to dominate others, it is despised.</p>
<p>American foreign policy needs to change its tone and attitude, open up, and reach out. The Bush administration's arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad. My administration will recognized that the United States' main fight today does not pit us against the world but pits the world against the terrorists. At the same time, my administration will never surrender our sovereignty, which is why I was the first presidential candidate to oppose ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty, which would endanger both our national security and our economic interests.&#160;Where ought one to begin untangling this unholy mess?</p>
<p>Perhaps the place to begin is with his contention that America is ungenerous, which (according to Huckabee) explains the animus now directed at the United States. The fact is that the United States, in fact, has sacrificed an enormous amount of blood and treasure to help other nations. Any suggestion otherwise is wrong and even offensive.</p>
<p>We have, for starters, liberated more than 50 million people from two of the most repressive regimes in modern history (the Taliban and the Baathist police state in Iraq). The global AIDS initiative qualifies as among the most humane and generous acts in the history of American foreign policy. We give billions in additional foreign aid, including the enormous generosity America displayed in helping Indonesia and other nations in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Indonesia and other nations in December 2004.</p>
<p>The United States, while imperfect, ranks as perhaps the most benevolent superpower (to say nothing of its status as a benevolent nation) in human history. Unlike past empires, we are using American power and influence for great good instead of as a means of advancing oppression.</p>
<p>Beyond that, the belief that if we are modest and generous we will be “loved” by other nations, and that anger at America is based on our attempts to “dominate,” is both naive and foolish. Some nations (like Cuba, Syria, Iran, North Korea, and others) will oppose us because they are totalitarian states that hate our efforts to curb their ambitions and advance freedom and self-determination.</p>
<p>They are not the loving kind.</p>
<p>Other nations (like France under Jacques Chirac) will oppose us because they can't stand the idea of a unipolar world and want to counterbalance it. And other nations (like China and Russia) will oppose our efforts to end genocide in Darfur and keep Iran from gaining nuclear weapons because of their economic interests.</p>
<p>Memo to Mike Huckabee: Sometimes we are despised for all the right reasons.</p>
<p>Ronald Reagan engendered anger from nations because he called the Soviet Union an “evil empire;” deployed Cruise and Pershing Missiles in Europe; moved ahead with the Strategic Defense Initiative; and supported the contras in Nicaragua. Millions took to the streets in Europe to oppose his defense build-up. Does Governor Huckabee believe Reagan's actions were wrong simply because in many countries they were unpopular? Of course we would prefer to have universal support for our actions rather than encounter opposition. But does Huckabee understand that sometimes right and wise actions elicit opposition, and sometimes even intense and widespread opposition?</p>
<p>The popularity of the United States decreased in many Muslim nations in the aftermath of taking down the Taliban regime for its role in harboring and supporting al-Qaeda, which in turn was responsible for the worst attack on the American homeland in our history. Was that anger against America justified? Would Huckabee base his foreign-policy decisions on how our actions poll in Waziristan or Gaza under Hamas, or in madrasas throughout the Middle East? Based on his Foreign Affairs essay, it's reasonable to believe he might.</p>
<p>As for his claim that the Bush administration's “arrogant bunker mentality” has been counterproductive at home and abroad, the same point applies. Many Middle East dictatorships recoiled at the president's decision in 2002 to sideline Yasser Arafat (who in many ways is the father of modern terrorism), and his insistence that Palestinian authorities renounce terrorism as an instrument of state policy if they ever hope to have a homeland. Was it “arrogant” to do so? Does Huckabee wish the president had done more to stand with dictators in the Middle East? Does he wish the president still abided by the ABM Treaty with Russia?</p>
<p>Governor Huckabee also seems ignorant about the extent of cooperation that, on a daily basis, is garnered for the war against militant Islam. Contrary to the portrait he paints, we are seeing unprecedented cooperation in tracking, arresting, and blocking funding for terrorist organizations. Is Governor Huckabee familiar with the Proliferation Security Initiative, which more than 70 nations have joined in an effort to deny terrorists, rogue states, and their supplier networks access to weapons-of-mass-destruction-related material? Is he aware that America and its allies shut down a sophisticated nuclear black market network headed by A. Q. Khan?</p>
<p>Does he know that NATO has taken over command of international forces in Afghanistan — the first mission in NATO's history outside the Euro-Atlantic region? Does he know (or care) that the United States won the unanimous approval of the U.N. Security Council for Resolution 1441, which said Saddam Hussein had to comply with previous resolutions or face “serious consequences” (which all parties took to mean war)? And if the president's policies have been so counterproductive abroad, how does he explain the rise to power of Sarkozy in France and Merkel in Germany — two nations where anti-American animus is said to run deepest?</p>
<p>In his Foreign Affairs essay, Huckabee writes, “After President Bush included Iran in he 'axis of evil,' everything went downhill fast.” Everything? Is the former governor of Arkansas at all familiar with the history of Iran since the 1979 revolution? Is he aware of the Iran's actions when it comes to its nuclear ambitions, support for terrorism, and the oppression of its own people — actions which earned it a place on the “axis of evil” list? Does Huckabee dispute that the Iranian regime is evil — or is he only upset that President Bush spoke truthful words about it? And what does he make of the fact that according to the latest National Intelligence Estimate Iran in 2003 ceased production of its nuclear weapons program — a year after the “axis of evil speech” and in the immediate aftermath of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom?</p>
<p>Huckabee writes, “The Bush administration has properly said that it will not take the military option for dealing with Iran off the table. Neither will I. But if we do not put other options on he table, eventually a military strike will become the only viable one.”</p>
<p>Is Huckabee unaware of all the other options on the table, which Iran has so far rejected? And in arguing that we should re-establish diplomatic ties with Iran, Huckabee writes, “When one stops talking to a parent or a friend, differences cannot be resolved and relationships cannot move forward.” This echoes his opening reference to the United States being like a high-school student.&lt; br /&gt;If Pastor Mike thinks that dealing with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Sayyid Ali Khamenei is akin to tension arising between high-school juniors Sally and Sue, he has a few things to learn — and the presidency is not the place for such basic on-the-job training.</p>
<p>The role of commander-in-chief is the most important one we look to in a president, particularly when America is at war. Governor Huckabee's article in Foreign Affairs, while fine (if largely conventional) in some respects, is fundamentally unserious; on national security matters, he is likewise. And when the final votes are tallied in the GOP race, Mike Huckabee's words, on these issues and others, will cost him.</p>
<p>— Peter Wehner, former deputy assistant to the president, is a senior fellow at the <a href="" type="internal">Ethics and Public Policy Center.</a></p> | The Problem With Pastor Mike | false | https://eppc.org/publications/the-problem-with-pastor-mike/ | 1 |
|
<p>LONDON (AP) — Nigel Farage, the vocal opponent of British European Union membership and unchecked immigration, will remain as leader of the UK Independence Party after the party rejected his post-election resignation, it said Monday.</p>
<p>UKIP chairman Steve Crowther said the party's National Executive Committee had unanimously turned down Farage's resignation, which was tendered three days ago following his failure to win a seat in the British Parliament.</p>
<p>Crowther said the party had done extremely well on a national level despite Farage's defeat in the South Thanet district. He said UKIP's performance in the May 7 election had been "a great success."</p>
<p>UKIP won only one seat in the British Parliament but got roughly 13 percent of the vote, which was considered by many political observers to be a strong showing. It also scored well in local council elections.</p>
<p>Farage, 50, had said repeatedly during the campaign he would not remain as party leader if he lost South Thanet. The district race was won by a Conservative Party candidate despite intense last minute campaigning by Farage, who blamed earlier poor performances on excruciating back pain.</p>
<p>Crowther said Farage would lead the party's campaign to win a referendum that would take Britain out of the European Union. A referendum is expected in 2017, but UKIP wants it sooner.</p>
<p>Farage, a former metals trader, had seemed reluctant to leave the limelight, saying in his brief resignation speech that he would consider running for party leader again in the future.</p>
<p>The party is known for its hostility to Britain's membership in the European Union, and Farage has long said Britain has surrendered its sovereignty to EU bureaucrats. UKIP also seeks to greatly reduce the number of immigrants arriving in the country — and to demand that new arrivals have health insurance so they don't pose a financial burden.</p>
<p>Farage remains a member of the European Parliament and is by far the best known UKIP member.</p>
<p>LONDON (AP) — Nigel Farage, the vocal opponent of British European Union membership and unchecked immigration, will remain as leader of the UK Independence Party after the party rejected his post-election resignation, it said Monday.</p>
<p>UKIP chairman Steve Crowther said the party's National Executive Committee had unanimously turned down Farage's resignation, which was tendered three days ago following his failure to win a seat in the British Parliament.</p>
<p>Crowther said the party had done extremely well on a national level despite Farage's defeat in the South Thanet district. He said UKIP's performance in the May 7 election had been "a great success."</p>
<p>UKIP won only one seat in the British Parliament but got roughly 13 percent of the vote, which was considered by many political observers to be a strong showing. It also scored well in local council elections.</p>
<p>Farage, 50, had said repeatedly during the campaign he would not remain as party leader if he lost South Thanet. The district race was won by a Conservative Party candidate despite intense last minute campaigning by Farage, who blamed earlier poor performances on excruciating back pain.</p>
<p>Crowther said Farage would lead the party's campaign to win a referendum that would take Britain out of the European Union. A referendum is expected in 2017, but UKIP wants it sooner.</p>
<p>Farage, a former metals trader, had seemed reluctant to leave the limelight, saying in his brief resignation speech that he would consider running for party leader again in the future.</p>
<p>The party is known for its hostility to Britain's membership in the European Union, and Farage has long said Britain has surrendered its sovereignty to EU bureaucrats. UKIP also seeks to greatly reduce the number of immigrants arriving in the country — and to demand that new arrivals have health insurance so they don't pose a financial burden.</p>
<p>Farage remains a member of the European Parliament and is by far the best known UKIP member.</p> | Britain's UKIP says it rejects party leader's resignation | false | https://apnews.com/amp/0276ebd69f6f45d3a3a8a62ce7efc559 | 2015-05-11 | 2 |
<p />
<p>The U.S. financial system has come a long way from fall 2008, when White House economic policy leaders and bank CEOs threw together emergency measures to keep the banking sector from imploding and to stop the economy's free fall.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew highlighted the progress in recent testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, citing an increase in bank capital, stronger corporate liquidity and funding profiles, better regulatory coordination and new rules for over-the-counter derivatives to reduce risks.</p>
<p>The overall economy has benefited from and contributed to this picture of improving health. It is adding jobs, housing prices are recovering from the bust, consumer spending is up and corporate profits are robust.</p>
<p>But Lew, chairman of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, or FSOC, warns that policymakers must not become complacent. The work of strengthening and reforming the financial system that began with the Dodd-Frank Act must continue, with the oversight council recommending five key steps that directly affect individuals whose assets, debt obligations and net worths are tied to the financial system.</p>
<p>"Despite these positive developments, there are still risks to U.S. financial stability," Lew told the Banking Committee.</p>
<p>Find a fix for money market funds</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>In September 2008, at the depths of the financial crisis, money market funds emerged as a point of weakness in the financial system, a surprising turn of events for those who viewed them as risk-free investments akin to cash. Panicked financial institutions simultaneously fleeing money market funds put a freeze on credit markets and threatened to destabilize the entire system until the federal government decided to guarantee all money market funds.</p>
<p>Since then, policymakers have struggled to agree on a long-term solution to the problem. The Securities and Exchange Commission in 2010 adopted reforms aimed at greater transparency and stricter requirements for money market fund investments. But in November 2012, the oversight council proposed its own set of reforms to structurally reshape money market funds. In early June, the SEC proposed another set of rules aimed at making the sector safer, in part by letting funds deviate from the fixed value of $1 per share.</p>
<p>One controversial idea is letting money market funds charge a fee to investors who withdraw money when there's market turmoil. The presidents of the 12 Federal Reserve regional banks opposed that provision in a February letter.</p>
<p>The only thing everyone seems to agree on is the need for sound policies to prevent a repeat of the 2008 crisis.</p>
<p>Replace Fannie and Freddie</p>
<p>Lawmakers and officials from President Barack Obama's administration have acknowledged that the financial regulatory overhaul had a glaring oversight: housing finance reform.</p>
<p>The real estate bubble was at the epicenter of the crisis, but substantive restructuring of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would have to wait until markets were calmer and policymakers could devise a transition plan. Since that time, the government has been trying to gradually reduce the level of government backing for housing debt, which in the immediate aftermath of the real estate bust covered 95% of residential mortgages, according to the Congressional Budget Office.</p>
<p>But a comprehensive plan to replace Fannie and Freddie with a new system of mortgage finance remains elusive to Washington, D.C., policymakers. Even as the regulators squeeze the size of the two entities' portfolios by raising loan limits and tightening requirements, the turnaround in the housing market is making both more profitable. This raises fear by some reform advocates that momentum for a housing finance overhaul may slow.</p>
<p>At issue is what structure could replace Fannie and Freddie for financing trillions of dollars of home mortgages each year.</p>
<p>The Financial Stability Oversight Council recommends that housing regulators help standardize the market by creating a common platform for packaging home mortgages, improving the mortgage recording and title transfer system, drafting model legal agreements and revamping the compensation system for mortgage servicers.</p>
<p>Manage operational risk</p>
<p>Given the growth of automated and computerized trading strategies, the FSOC warns that regulators and the private sector need to address operational risks, improve internal controls and ensure proper governance of banks, securities firms, trading platforms and clearinghouses.</p>
<p>Last year saw a number of trading controversies involving stock markets. In May 2012, Facebook's initial public offering experienced trading delays and errors, spawning a $10 million fine against Nasdaq along with dozens of investor lawsuits. In another incident, high-frequency trader Knight Capital Group triggered circuit breakers in August 2012 through a series of unintended orders ultimately blamed on a technology glitch.</p>
<p>Each example highlights the dangers posed by trading dominated by software programs that take cues from share prices and trading volumes rather than individuals making rational decisions. They also expose the vulnerability of markets to deliberate cyberattacks, natural disasters and future technology failures.</p>
<p>"Trading activity is becoming more dispersed and automated, raising concern among council members about operational failures," Lew testified.</p>
<p>In March, the SEC proposed the first update of automation rules implemented in the wake of the October 1987 market crash, aiming to strengthen internal controls, require system audits and ensure that entities can quickly become operational again after natural disasters like Superstorm Sandy.</p>
<p>Defend against cyberattacks</p>
<p>Washington policymakers agree on the danger that cyberattacks pose to the U.S. financial, energy and communications infrastructure. Yet disagreement over the solution -- notably the extent of private companies sharing information with the government -- torpedoed cybersecurity legislation in the Senate late last year.</p>
<p>That hasn't stopped the Obama administration or lawmakers in both parties from continuing to work to improve cybersecurity, either through an executive order or drafting new legislation. Companies in the financial sector, communications industry and defense are especially engaged in the debate, concerned about their liability for revealing customer information and which government agency would be in charge of information sharing.</p>
<p>But government contractor Edward Snowden's revelations about the National Security Agency's monitoring programs may make it harder to pass broad reform. After all, privacy concerns were at the heart of Snowden's decision to leak classified information.</p>
<p>"We are still in the infancy of understanding cybersecurity -- perhaps analogous to the late 1940s in the nuclear age," wrote Michael Nacht, professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. "We are thus embarking on an extensive period of analysis, debate and implementation to determine how to make our cybernetworks -- and all that they enable us to do -- secure."</p>
<p>Replace Libor with new rate</p>
<p>For more than a quarter century, the British Bankers' Association has collected borrowing costs from the world's largest banks and released daily an adjusted average of the rate that banks pay to take loans from each other. The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, is the global benchmark for trillions in loans, derivatives and other financial contracts.</p>
<p>That was until the Libor manipulation scandal. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, regulators discovered that not only were banks reporting false borrowing costs, some were manipulating the rates in collusion with their trading colleagues at a profit. They have fined UBS, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland a total of $2.5 billion. A dozen firms are still under investigation.</p>
<p>Some regulators and banking experts now want to replace Libor, which relies on self-reported interbank rates, with some interest rate index based on actual transactions and market activity that's much harder to manipulate. Not only do regulators need to decide on what rate to use, they must decide how to shift the world's financial markets to the new reference rate.</p>
<p>"The council recommends that U.S. regulators cooperate with foreign regulators, international bodies and market participants to promptly identify alternative interest rate benchmarks that are anchored in observable transactions and are supported by appropriate governance structures," Lew told Congress.</p> | 5 Steps to Improve the Financial System | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/07/25/5-steps-to-improve-financial-system.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>WARRI, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s army says a militant oil leader who had once organized the kidnapping of four British missionaries and death of one of them has been killed.</p>
<p>Military Joint Task Force spokesman Maj. Ibrahim Abdullahi said Friday that Peregbakumo Oyawerikumo, who was known as “Karowei” was killed in a gun battle after his gang members ambushed the military unit that was transporting him after arrest. He says Karowei was arrested Thursday in his hideout in southern Nigeria’s Delta state.</p>
<p>Abdullahi said Karowei is responsible for several abductions, robberies, the destruction of oil facilities, killings of military personnel and the death of British aid worker Ian Squire.</p>
<p>Niger Delta oil militants say they are fighting for the betterment of the oil-rich region, but many are also engaged in criminal activity.</p>
<p>WARRI, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s army says a militant oil leader who had once organized the kidnapping of four British missionaries and death of one of them has been killed.</p>
<p>Military Joint Task Force spokesman Maj. Ibrahim Abdullahi said Friday that Peregbakumo Oyawerikumo, who was known as “Karowei” was killed in a gun battle after his gang members ambushed the military unit that was transporting him after arrest. He says Karowei was arrested Thursday in his hideout in southern Nigeria’s Delta state.</p>
<p>Abdullahi said Karowei is responsible for several abductions, robberies, the destruction of oil facilities, killings of military personnel and the death of British aid worker Ian Squire.</p>
<p>Niger Delta oil militants say they are fighting for the betterment of the oil-rich region, but many are also engaged in criminal activity.</p> | Nigeria: Militant oil leader sought for killings is dead | false | https://apnews.com/b8a8d7beef06486f8f11d864fd915d47 | 2018-01-12 | 2 |
<p>Pensacola News Journal A jury ruled a 1998 Pensacola News Journal news story maliciously portrayed road paver Joe Anderson Jr. in a false light and awarded him $18.28 million. One of Anderson's lawyers told the jury: "The Gannett Co. has a lot of power and, buddy, when they set out to get you, they get you." The paper says it's considering its options.</p> | Road paver awarded $18.28M in suit against Gannett paper | false | https://poynter.org/news/road-paver-awarded-1828m-suit-against-gannett-paper | 2003-12-15 | 2 |
<p>The Illinois GOP referred to a new bill sponsored by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) as “new leg” in a tweet that was meant to tout Kirk’s bill and attack his Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth, who nearly lost her life&#160;serving in Iraq. On Twitter, the reaction was immediate, pointing out that Duckworth lost two limbs in combat.</p>
<p>The Illinois Republican Party on Monday tweeted its support for a new bill championed by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), saying it “proves he’s better” than his reelection challenger, Rep. Tammy Duckworth.</p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://twitter.com/ilgop/status/719614559061991425" type="external">tweet</a> didn’t refer to the bill as, well, a “bill” or “legislation” or its abbreviation “leg.” Take a look:</p>
<p />
<p>While it’s unlikely that the staffer handling the Illinois GOP twitter account intentionally wrote&#160;“new leg” as a reference to&#160;Duckworth’s anatomy, a handful of Twitter users noticed the insensitivity:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Despite the backlash, the tweet is still live and Kirk’s official campaign account ‘liked’ it:</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>This isn’t the first time the GOP has been inconsiderate in its tweeting about Duckworth. Last month, the National Republican Senatorial Committee <a href="" type="internal">wrote in a tweet</a> that Duckworth — despite her service in the military and as the Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011 — supposedly “has a sad record of not standing up for veterans.”</p>
<p>The NRSC received considerable backlash for the tweet and wound up deleting it.</p>
<p>Is this a pattern?</p>
<p>(AP Photo/Seth Perlman)</p> | TASTELESS: IL GOP Touts Kirk Bill as ‘New Leg’ in Tweet Attacking Tammy Duckworth | true | http://bluenationreview.com/gop-touts-kirk-bill-as-new-leg-in-tweet-attacking-tammy-duckworth/ | 2016-04-12 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A bear with a sweet tooth ripped off the bumper of a car used to deliver doughnuts in Colorado then tried to claw its way through the trunk to get inside.</p>
<p>Moose Watch Cafe owner Kim Robertson said she and her husband discovered the bumper-less car after they awoke Monday in Steamboat Springs.</p>
<p>They initially thought it had been struck by another vehicle. Then they saw the telltale claw and paw marks.</p>
<p>“That car just constantly smells like a rolling bakery,” she said. “It's like Winnie the Pooh with honey.”</p>
<p>There were no doughnuts at the time in the Ford Focus, but there were some sweet-smelling aprons.</p>
<p>After ripping of the bumper, the bear made a valiant attempt at clawing away the insulation in the trunk to get at the sweet smell inside, Robertson said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Police officer John McCartin told The Steamboat Pilot &amp; Today newspaper ( <a href="http://bit.ly/2rSb3gS" type="external">http://bit.ly/2rSb3gS</a>) that he smelled doughnuts while standing outside the damaged vehicle.</p>
<p>“I guess if anyone is an expert about this, it's us,” he joked.</p>
<p>Bears are a common sight in the Colorado ski town. Robertson said she sees several bears a year.</p>
<p>In honor of the bear that snatched the bumper, the Moose Watch Cafe is offering an appropriate treat: bear claws.</p>
<p><a href="#99dc1201-0a81-494d-8bd3-701406313d17" type="external">© 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</a> Learn more about our <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/privacy" type="external">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/terms" type="external">Terms of Use</a>.</p> | Bear trying to get doughnuts tears off Colorado car bumper | false | https://abqjournal.com/1008154/bear-trying-to-get-doughnuts-tears-off-colorado-car-bumper-2.html | 2017-05-24 | 2 |
<p>Ask any native Detroiters old enough to remember about their reflections on the “Detroit riot” and you are likely to hear vivid memories of burning buildings, tanks in the streets, or neighbors protecting one another’s homes.</p>
<p>Early on the morning of July 23, 1967, police in Detroit raided an illegal after-hours bar and began to arrest all 85 people there. A crowd gathered, and, soon, allegations of police brutality were flying—along with bottles and rocks thrown by fed-up Detroiters. Over the next several days, 2,509 buildings were damaged, 7,231 people were arrested and 43 died, most of them killed by police or the Michigan National Guard.</p>
<p>Fifty years later, the structural injustices that laid the groundwork for Detroit’s uprising still exist. Oppressive police forces, widespread poverty and housing segregation pervade U.S. cities, and citizens are again in the streets. The excerpts below are taken from <a href="http://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/detroit-1967" type="external">Detroit 1967: Origins, Impacts, Legacies</a>, a new collection edited by Joel Stone of the Detroit Historical Society.</p>
<p>The following excerpt comes from the book’s foreword, written by native Detroiter Thomas J. Sugrue, professor of history at New York University.</p>
<p>Detroit’s 1967 riot is conventionally portrayed as a moment of collective lawlessness and disorder or as an irrational outpouring of rage. Those descriptions are woefully inadequate. The events in late July were an outgrowth of years of protest. To use the contested language of the 1960s, black Detroiters engaged in an uprising against a racially unequal status quo, a rebellion against brutal police and exploitative shopkeepers. There is no evidence that the burning, looting and vandalism that happened on the city’s streets in July 1967 was organized, despite pervasive conspiracy theories that outside agitators, whether communists or advocates of black power, had orchestrated the riot. But there is abundant evidence that many of those who took to the streets saw their actions as a challenge to the legitimacy of white authorities. Many of the participants in the 1967 riot took the opportunity to exact revenge for economic hardship. Looters singled out merchants, especially owners of food stores who routinely overcharged their inner-city customers. Some saw looting as redistributive justice.</p>
<p>Like all rebellions, Detroit’s had unanticipated consequences. Few who took to the streets had a vision for what the post-riot city would look like. In the aftermath of July events, Detroit’s civic leadership—for a time—channeled money into community economic-development projects. Foundations sponsored job training and creation programs. City officials haltingly implemented programs to diversify the public employee workforce, even though they faced fierce resistance, especially among the city’s overwhelmingly white police force. But the long, hot summer also fueled an already intense, bipartisan demand for tough “law and order” politics, including militarizing police departments and expanding the prison system. The fallout from the urban uprisings also gave whites who had long fiercely opposed housing and educational integration a new justification for keeping blacks out of their neighborhoods and schools. Half a century after 1967, Detroit remains near the top of the list of America’s most racially divided metropolitan areas. Many whites continue to rally around calls for tough policing and continue to discount African-American grievances as special-interest pleading.</p>
<p>Fifty years after Detroit’s uprising, the events of 1967 are sadly relevant. The protests in Ferguson, Mo., after the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown; the burning and looting in Baltimore in the spring of 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody; the anti-police-brutality marches in violent Chicago in 2016; and the uprisings in Milwaukee and Charlotte, N.C., in August and September 2016 are all reminders of the fact that many of the underlying causes of the long, hot summers of the 1960s remain unaddressed.</p>
<p />
<p>Above: Detroiters loot a record store on 12th Street, part of an ebb and flow of activity&#160;that confused officials attempting to determine appropriate countermeasures. (Detroit Historical Society Collection, reprinted with permission from Wayne State University Press)</p>
<p />
<p>Above: Federal troops of the 82nd Airborne Division were shuttled by chartered buses to various staging points near the conflict zones. (Image courtesy of Thomas Diggs, all images reprinted with permission from Wayne State University Press)</p>
<p>From “The Problem Was the Police,” by Melba Joyce Boyd, professor of African-American studies at Wayne State University:</p>
<p>Karl Gregory, a community activist and a professor at Wayne State at the time, described his encounter with the National Guard in July 1967 during an oral history session with the Detroit Historical Society.</p>
<p>It occurred on the east side of Detroit when he was patrolling the streets with Alvin Harrison, trying to get people to return to their homes during the civil eruption. We continued until late that evening during a curfew. The National Guard stopped us. There was a young white guardsman who dismounted from his vehicle, approached, and told me, “Pull your window down.” I was driving. [He] pointed his gun at me. I was concerned, but I wasn’t afraid then. His hand was shaking … on the trigger. And I said, “Look, I’m a college professor. I am just trying to get the people off the street.” And he looked like he was trying to determine whether or not I was a rioter (or what have you), and a sergeant came by and said something like, “Cool it.” But this guardsman [the kid] was more afraid of me than I was of him. I don’t know how many black persons, if any, that youth had been in contact with before in his entire life.</p>
<p />
<p>Above: Detroit Free Press staff entered the conflict area in an armored personnel carrier loaned to the newspaper by the Chrysler Corporation. They included (left to right) copyboy Tom De Lisle, photographer Ira Rosenberg and reporter Gene Goltz. (Timothy Kiska and the Detroit Free Press, reprinted with permission from Wayne State University Press)</p>
<p>From “Hindsight: The Shift in Media Framing,” by Casandra E. Ulbrich, vice president for college advancement and community relations at Macomb Community College in southeast Michigan:</p>
<p>Ask any native Detroiters old enough to remember about their reflections on the “Detroit riot” and you are likely to hear vivid memories of burning buildings, tanks in the streets, or neighbors protecting one another’s homes. They will tell you about the smell of the smoke, the crackling of breaking glass, or the fear that comes from the unmistakable sound of gunfire in the distance.</p>
<p>But you are also likely to hear a refutation of the word riot. “It wasn’t a riot,” some will tell you. “It was a rebellion.” And just like that, the images just described assume a completely different meaning. The actions of those who were involved are transformed, as are the actors themselves. The historical context is redefined, and societal responsibility suddenly becomes part of the discussion.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2017 Wayne State University Press, with the permission of Wayne State University Press</p>
<p>Like what you’ve read? <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/itt-subscription-offer?refcode=WS_ITT_Article_Footer&amp;noskip=true" type="external">Subscribe to In These Times magazine</a>, or <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/support-in-these-times?refcode=WS_ITT_Article_Footer&amp;noskip=true" type="external">make a tax-deductible donation to fund this reporting</a>.</p>
<p /> | Language of the Unheard: 50 Years On, the Flames of the Detroit Uprising Still Burn | true | http://inthesetimes.com/article/20309/the-language-of-the-unheard-detroit-1967-origins-impacts-legacies | 2017-07-21 | 4 |
<p>JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Casino revenue rebounded in November after a dismal October, with Gulf Coast casinos posting strong gains and gambling halls along the Mississippi River showing smaller declines,</p>
<p>State Revenue Department figures released this month show gamblers lost $161 million statewide in November, up almost 4 percent from November 2016's $155 million.</p>
<p>Receipts rose 8 percent to $95 million at the 12 coastal casinos.</p>
<p>The 16 river casinos posted winnings of $66 million, down 2 percent from November 2016.</p>
<p>Statewide revenue is down 2.5 percent so far in 2017, with coast casinos flat and river casinos losing about 5 percent. Casinos in that region have seen years of declines, while those on the coast have seen three years of gains.</p>
<p>Numbers exclude Choctaw Indian casinos, which don't report winnings to the state.</p>
<p>JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Casino revenue rebounded in November after a dismal October, with Gulf Coast casinos posting strong gains and gambling halls along the Mississippi River showing smaller declines,</p>
<p>State Revenue Department figures released this month show gamblers lost $161 million statewide in November, up almost 4 percent from November 2016's $155 million.</p>
<p>Receipts rose 8 percent to $95 million at the 12 coastal casinos.</p>
<p>The 16 river casinos posted winnings of $66 million, down 2 percent from November 2016.</p>
<p>Statewide revenue is down 2.5 percent so far in 2017, with coast casinos flat and river casinos losing about 5 percent. Casinos in that region have seen years of declines, while those on the coast have seen three years of gains.</p>
<p>Numbers exclude Choctaw Indian casinos, which don't report winnings to the state.</p> | Mississippi casinos take more from gamblers in November | false | https://apnews.com/amp/abed3a9ac538421eb165e980af980c82 | 2017-12-29 | 2 |
<p>Investors look forward to earnings season to get a read on the strength of corporate America, and Thursday gave market participants some valuable data points on how well the financial sector has done. Investors had high hopes that some of the nation's biggest banks would take advantage of more favorable industry conditions, as their performance has significant implications for the rest of the economy. Even though major market benchmarks were mixed following the release of those key bank earnings, several stocks managed to post significant gains. Spartan Motors (NASDAQ: SPAR), Ardelyx (NASDAQ: ARDX), and Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU) were among the key winners on the day. Let's look more closely at these stocks to see why they did so well.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Spartan Motors finished the day up nearly 21% after the chassis and vehicle design specialist announced a new strategic plan at its analyst and investor day presentation. The company said it wants to be among the top two competitors in all the markets it serves, with the goal of hitting $1 billion in revenue by 2020. In addition, Spartan is looking to post a double-digit pre-tax operating earnings margin, which would dramatically improve its bottom line. <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/01/15/these-2-stocks-surged-over-185-in-2016-heres-what.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=92f33a72-af66-11e7-827e-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Spartan already delivered for investors in 2016 Opens a New Window.</a>, but shareholders think there's more gas left in the tank for the company.</p>
<p>Ardelyx closed the day with a 44% gain, in the wake of results from its phase 3 study of its irritable bowel syndrome treatment, tenapanor. The company said the trial reached its primary and secondary endpoints, including reduced abdominal pain and more favorable bowel responses. CEO Mike Raab was ecstatic about the results, saying that they represent "a game-changer for patients with IBS-C" [IBS with constipation]. <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/05/29/with-ardelyxs-fall-does-synergy-now-have-a-clear-p.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=92f33a72-af66-11e7-827e-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Ardelyx has faced challenges before Opens a New Window.</a>, but investors now clearly believe that tenapanor has significant potential in the market, especially if it can demonstrate advantages over competing products jockeying for position to treat IBS sufferers.</p>
<p>Finally, Glu Mobile rose as much as 11% before closing the day with a 9.7% gain. Investors continued to react favorably following the mobile-game publisher's announcement that it will launch a digital-entertainment project in partnership with Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift. The launch of The Swift Life will give users the ability to interact with each other and with the pop star. As Glu CEO Nick Earl said, "The result is a deeply social environment where Taylor and her fans are able to better connect with one another while expressing themselves in an interactive community." Glu expects the project to go live later this year, and investors hope the move will <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/09/12/why-glu-mobile-inc-stock-skyrocketed-333-in-august.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=92f33a72-af66-11e7-827e-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">further boost Glu's financial results Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Offer from The Motley Fool: The 10 best stocks to buy now</p>
<p>Motley Fool co-founders Tom and David Gardner have spent more than a decade beating the market. In fact, the newsletter they run, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the S&amp;P 500!*</p>
<p>Tom and David just revealed their ten top stock picks for investors to buy right now.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.fool.com/mms/mark/sa-bbn-usat?aid=8867&amp;source=isausttxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=sa-bbn-evergreen&amp;ftm_pit=6830&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=92f33a72-af66-11e7-827e-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here to get access to the full list! Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of October 9, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFGalagan/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=92f33a72-af66-11e7-827e-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Dan Caplinger Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=92f33a72-af66-11e7-827e-0050569d32b9&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Spartan Motors, Ardelyx, and Glu Mobile Jumped Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/10/12/why-spartan-motors-ardelyx-and-glu-mobile-jumped-today.html | 2017-10-12 | 0 |
<p>&lt;img class=" wp-image-6692 alignleft" title="Allen West Wwhite shirt" src="http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/westbbq-150x150.jpg" alt="Allen West serves BBQ" width="90" height="90" srcset="http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/westbbq-150x150.jpg 150w, http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/westbbq-183x180.jpg 183w" sizes="(max-width: 90px) 100vw, 90px" /&gt; Congressman West will be serving up ribs, wings and “DemPublican” sandwiches at Park Avenue BBQ Grille in North Palm Beach.</p>
<p>When: Wednesday, October 31st from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.</p>
<p>What: Congressman West serves up lunch to local customers, including the restaurant’s famous “DemPublican” sandwiches</p>
<p>Where: Park Avenue BBQ and Grille, 525 US 1, North Palm Beach, FL</p>
<p>(Media Release)</p> | Congressman West to serve up ‘Dempublicans’ at Park Ave BBQ | true | http://bizpacreview.com/congressman-west-to-serve-up-dempublicans-at-park-ave-bbq/ | 2012-10-30 | 0 |
<p>During a speech in San Francisco, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton defended reporter April Ryan and Rep. Maxine Waters.</p>
<p>Both Ryan and Waters are black women, who were both attacked by Republican operatives on Tuesday. On Fox &amp; Friends, Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly mocked Rep.Waters (D-California) after hearing remarks she delivered promising to fight against the Trump administration, saying he couldn’t hear a word she was saying due to her “ <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/03/28/bill-oreilly-rep-maxine-waters-wearing-james-brown-wig/99742572/" type="external">James Brown wig</a>,” an obvious racial slight referring to her hair.</p>
<p>April Ryan, the White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, was likewise attacked when White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/stop-shaking-your-head-sean-spicer-lashes-out-reporter-april-n739691" type="external">demanded she stop shaking her head</a> in response to a non-answer he gave to one of her questions about Trump’s meeting with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whom he once referred to as a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/18/politics/rice-trump-2006-comments/" type="external">“bitch”</a> while she was working in the George W. Bush administration.</p>
<p>During her keynote speech at the Professional Business Women of California’s meeting in San Francisco, Clinton — who narrowly lost to Donald Trump in the November general election — defended both women, saying that both women were “simply doing their jobs.” She described Ryan as a journalist with great integrity getting patronized for just asking a question, and Waters as a Congresswoman who was “taunted with a racist joke about her hair.”</p>
<p>“Too many women, especially women of color, have had a lifetime of practice taking precisely these kinds of indignities in stride,” Clinton said. “But why should we have to? And any woman who thinks this couldn’t be directed at her is living in a dream world.”</p>
<p>Watch the video of Clinton’s remarks below:</p>
<p />
<p>Clinton has <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2017/03/21/mook-clinton-may-run-again-in-2020/" type="external">not ruled out</a>&#160;a potential run for president again in 2020, according to former campaign manager Robby Mook. While the former First Lady, U.S. Senator, and Secretary of State has said she’s “ <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/us/politics/hillary-clinton-says-shes-ready-to-come-out-of-the-woods.html" type="external">ready to come out of the woods</a>,” in reference to her post-election public absence, <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/poll-democrats-independents-no-hillary-clinton-2020-232898" type="external">a wide majority of Democrats and Independents</a> told pollsters that they hope she doesn’t run for president again in 2020.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Jamie Green is a contributor for the Resistance Report covering the Trump administration, and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Hillary Clinton just responded to Sean Spicer berating April Ryan — it’s gracious and painfully honest | true | http://resistancereport.com/politics/hillary-clinton-responds-spicer/ | 2017-03-28 | 4 |
<p>The latest report from the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction says tens of millions of dollars have been wasted because of <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070131/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_reconstruction_waste" type="external">failure and fraud</a>. Among other abuses, the report cites a never-used $48.3-million housing facility, complete with an Olympic-size swimming pool. If Willie Sutton were alive today, he’d head straight to Baghdad.</p>
<p>AP via Yahoo!:</p>
<p>The U.S. government wasted tens of millions of dollars in Iraq reconstruction aid, including scores of unaccounted-for weapons and a never-used camp for housing police trainers with an Olympic-size swimming pool, investigators say.</p>
<p>The quarterly audit by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, is the latest to paint a grim picture of waste, fraud and frustration in an Iraq war and reconstruction effort that has cost taxpayers more than $300 billion and left the region near civil war.</p>
<p />
<p>“The security situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, hindering progress in all reconstruction sectors and threatening the overall reconstruction effort,” according to the 579-page report, which was being released Wednesday.</p>
<p>Calling Iraq’s sectarian violence the greatest challenge, Bowen said in a telephone interview that billions in U.S. aid spent on strengthening security has had limited effect. Reconstruction now will fall largely on Iraqis to manage — and they’re nowhere ready for the task.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070131/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_reconstruction_waste" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Tens of Millions Wasted in Iraq | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/tens-of-millions-wasted-in-iraq/ | 2007-01-31 | 4 |
<p>C-SPAN‘s coverage of the House sit-in brought charges of political bias. (photo: Rep. Chellie Pingree)</p>
<p>The Washington Post‘s&#160; Callum Borchers ( <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/06/23/broadcast-of-democratic-sit-in-revives-charges-of-bias-at-c-span/" type="external">6/23/16</a>) cited FAIR research in a story about complaints that C-SPAN continued to cover the Democratic sit-in on the House floor even after House Speaker Paul Ryan had the network’s cameras <a href="http://www.politicususa.com/2016/06/22/c-span-fights-paul-ryan-blackout-shows-live-video-democratic-protest.html" type="external">turned off</a>.</p>
<p>“This isn’t the first time C-SPAN has been accused of taking sides, of course,” Borchers wrote, noting that usually, “the charge is that it has a conservative bias.”</p>
<p>One of his examples: “In 2005, the media watchdog Fairness &amp; Accuracy In Reporting examined the political affiliations of guests on C-SPAN‘s Washington Journal program during a six-month period and determined that the show was ‘skewing rightward.'” The Post reporter quoted from Steve Rendall’s <a href="" type="internal">piece</a> on National Journal‘s guestlist from the November/December 2005 Extra!:</p>
<p>Out of the 205 partisan guests, Republicans outnumbered Democrats nearly two to one (134 to 70): Republicans accounted for 65 percent of Washington Journal’s partisan guests, while Democrats made up 34 percent. No representative of a third party appeared during the study&#160;period.</p>
<p>Elected officials who appeared on Washington Journal were slightly more balanced than overall partisan guests. Of the 97 elected officials appearing on the show (senators and House members), 58 were Republican and 39 were Democrat—a 60 to 40 percent imbalance in favor of the&#160;GOP.</p> | WaPo Cites FAIR on C-SPAN’s Record of Bias | true | http://fair.org/cite/wapo-cites-fair-on-c-spans-record-of-bias/ | 2016-06-23 | 4 |
<p>For all intent and purposes, the special prosecutor’s duty in the CIA leak case is straightforward. How the investigation ever got so complicated is beyond me. Mr Fitzgerald needs to keep it simple.</p>
<p>Valerie Plame was a CIA agent in July 2003, and the fact that she was a CIA officer was classified. The responsibilities of some CIA employees require that their association with the agency be kept secret, because disclosure has the potential to damage national security in ways that range from preventing the future use of the agents, to compromising intelligence-gathering methods, to endangering the safety of CIA employees, and people who they may be associated with.</p>
<p>Valerie’s status was not widely known. The special prosecutor verified that her friends, neighbors, and college classmates had no idea she had another life. Her cover was blown in July 2003. The first public outing was when Robert Novak published a story about Valerie and her husband Joe Wilson on July 14, 2003, noting her status as a CIA agent, and quoting senior administration officials as his sources.</p>
<p>The investigation really only required the answers to 3 basic questions: (1) which senior officials knew about Valerie’s employment with the CIA? (2) did the officials know the CIA was protecting her identity? And (3) who leaked her name and status to the press?</p>
<p>We now know that just as many people suspected, Karl Rove was one of the sources for Novak. However, he may have published the first outing, but Novak was not the first reporter to learn that Joe’s wife worked at the CIA. Several other reporters were told earlier.</p>
<p>Because, also just as was suspected, Scooter Libby was the other leaker, and he was the first official to leak Valerie’s name and status to the media when he told Judy Miller in June of 2003, after Dick Cheney leaked the information to him, with Bush’s full approval and knowledge.</p>
<p>As a condition for working with classified information, on January 23, 2001, Libby signed a ‘Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement,’ which states in part: ‘I understand and accept that by being granted access to classified information, special confidence and trust shall be placed in me by the United States Government.’</p>
<p>In signing the Agreement Libby goes on to state: ‘I have been advised that the unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized retention, or negligent handling of classified information by me could cause damage or irreparable injury to the United States or could be used to advantage by a foreign nation.’</p>
<p>Scooter clearly violated this oath.</p>
<p>To begin with, it obvious that the White House did not follow the proper procedures for safeguarding Valerie’s identity. Under EO 12958, the White House should have ensured that only those with a “need to know” had access to her covert identity.</p>
<p>It’s a no-brainer, that as Bush’s political advisor, Rove, should not have had access to the information. What compelling “need to know” would justify revealing her identity to him?</p>
<p>This little problem is probably what led to Rove’s ‘promotion’ a while back, just as his up-coming arrest is probably what led to his ‘demotion’ yesterday.</p>
<p>As far as responding to the leak itself, under EO 12958, the White House should have taken prompt action to determine (1) whether nondisclosure agreements were violated; (2) whether individuals without security clearance obtained classified information; and (3) whether national security information was compromised.</p>
<p>But then no investigation was necessary because the Bush White House knew the answers to those questions before the first leak occurred.</p>
<p>By intentionally publicizing the fact that Valerie worked at the CIA, the administration not only destroyed her career, they compromised whatever operations she may have worked on, and whatever networks she may have established over her lengthily career with the agency and the tax dollars spent on the above went right down the sewer.</p>
<p>Early on in the investigation, the FBI interviewed Scooter. In addition to being Cheney’s Chief of Staff at the time, he was also an Assistant to the President and Assistant to the Vice President for national security affairs.</p>
<p>According to filings in the criminal case, the focus of the FBI interview was on what Libby knew about Valerie, what he said to people about her, why he said it, and how he learned of the information.</p>
<p>He told the FBI that he was at the end of a long chain of phone calls. He spoke to reporter, Tim Russert, on July 10, 2003, and during the call, Russert said, hey, do you know that all the reporters know that Wilson’s wife works at the CIA. Scooter said that he learned this information as if it was new, and that is why it ‘struck him.’ Then, according to Scooter, he took the information from Russert and passed it on to Matt Cooper of Time Magazine, and New York Times reporter Judy Miller. He told the FBI that on July 12, 2003, two days before Novak’s column appeared in the press, that he passed the information on with the understanding that this was information he had received from a reporter, and that he didn’t even know if it was true.</p>
<p>However, six months later in March 2004, when he testified before the grand jury on two occasions, Scooter added a new twist to his original tale. To the grand jury, Libby said that he had learned about Valerie from Cheney earlier in June 2003, but he had forgotten all about it; and so when he had learned the information from Russert, he’d learned it as if it were new. Then Scooter said, he passed the information on to Cooper and Miller, later in the week. However, we now know that Scooter discussed the fact that Valerie worked for the CIA, at least 6 times before the call with Russert ever took place, not to mention the fact that according to Tim, they never discussed Valerie at all during that call. The bottom line is that Scooter did not learn about Valerie from Tim Russert. In the Libby indictment, Fitzgerald says that on June 12, 2003, Cheney informed Libby that Valerie worked at the CIA’s Counter-proliferation Division. The CPD is part of the operations directorate, the CIA’s clandestine services.</p>
<p>In fact, the indictment says that Scooter learned of the information about Valeria from other administration officials as well in June of 2003. On June 11, he learned about her from an Under Secretary of State and sometime prior to July 8, Scooter learned the information from someone else in Cheney’s office. On June 14, 2003, he discussed the matter with a CIA briefer and was complaining that the CIA was leaking information or making critical comments about the administration and brought up Joe and Valerie to the briefer. He also discussed the her at lunch with White House Press Secretary, Ari Fleischer, on Monday, July 7, 2003, which means that we have Scooter telling Ari something on Monday that he claims to not have learned from Russert until Thursday. There was also a discussion the next day on July 8, in which Scooter asked the Counsel for the Vice President what paperwork the CIA would have if an employee had a spouse going on a trip. In the end, Scooter had 7 discussions with government officials prior to the day when he claims he learned the information as if it were new from Russert.</p>
<p>In addition, the story he gave to the FBI and grand jury was that he told reporters Cooper and Miller on July 12. However, according to filings in the case, Scooter discussed Valerie at least 4 times with these reporters prior to July 14, 2003; three times with Miller, and once with Cooper.</p>
<p>The first discussion with Miller was on June 23; within days after an article was published online by The New Republic, quoting some critical comments from Wilson.</p>
<p>He spoke about Valerie with Miller again on July 8, in a discussion that was in background as a ‘senior administration official,’ after which he instructed Miller to change the attribution to a ‘former Hill staffer.’</p>
<p>During that conversation, Scooter said that Valerie was working for the CIA, and he discussed her employment status again with Miller on July 12.</p>
<p>In his conversations with Miller, Scooter never said this is what other reporters told me. He never said I don’t know if it’s true, or I don’t even know if Wilson has a wife, according to Miller.</p>
<p>So, Rove and Scooter were the 2 administration officials who leaked the information to the press and the top officials in the Bush administration knew it from day one and allowed a charade of an investigation to stretch on for years on the tax payer’s dime.</p>
<p>However, another cat is said to be ready to leap out of the bag and Rove’s ‘demotion’ yesterday is probably the least of his worries.</p>
<p>According to an article published today by investigative reporter, Jason Leopold, for Truthout.org, Fitzgerald is said to have presented more evidence alleging Rove lied to FBI investigators and the grand jury when he was asked about how he found out that Valerie worked for the CIA and whether he gave that information to the media.</p>
<p>‘Fitzgerald told the grand jury,’ Leopold said, ‘that Rove lied to investigators and the prosecutor eight out of the nine times he was questioned about the leak and also tried to cover-up his role in disseminating Plame Wilson’s CIA status to at least two reporters.’</p>
<p>Mr Fitzgerald needs to keep it simple, wrap up the investigation, and reserve a row of prison cells in Cuba.</p>
<p>Evelyn Pringle can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | How to Out a CIA Agent | true | https://counterpunch.org/2006/04/21/how-to-out-a-cia-agent/ | 2006-04-21 | 4 |
<p>Even the birds are pissed.&#160; Whether it’s the Mockingbird who guards the footpath down by the bus stop.&#160; Or the Blue Jay who cusses across my back deck.&#160; Or even the frigging Grackle who buzzed me early morning at the grocery-store parking lot.&#160; This week I‘m a Hitchcock player and these birds come straight for my neck.</p>
<p>AP says 333 birds have been found dead along the Gulf Coast with no oil on them.&#160; Well, the birds I know are telling me what their fellows died from.&#160; The lead weight of grief.&#160; As if the oil companies hadn’t wrecked every other week this century.&#160; As if this must be nothing but the century of dirty oil.&#160; Suddenly the oil wars have come home to roost and there is nothing to do about it except what everybody else has done who gets smacked by this dark force of history.&#160; You just stand there and cry.</p>
<p>It’s like shock and awe bounced back off the dark side of the moon.&#160; All the wealth and brains and power of the mighty American empire sucked into a vacuum of arrogant corruption and relayed back to earth in the form of a blob that will not be stopped until the death of it all finally sinks in.&#160; You call this stinking mess democracy?</p>
<p>“I would be betting the plan is to let us die,” says St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro, who tells a wicked little story about what happens when your messenger comes back from the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the US Army Corps of Engineers.&#160; The grassroots people were ready to defend their shores, Taffaro says to CNN’s Campbell Brown, but the Corps of Engineers was not.&#160; The American people expected to see ships and uniforms lining the shores with resources and action, but the Coast Guard did not.&#160; Everyone who loves the waters and sands and skies and breezes of the Gulf of Mexico expected a moral equivalent of war to be mobilized by the White House, but the President of the United States did not.</p>
<p>A boot heel on the neck of BP?&#160; Is this how Democrats have come to brag about what real power feels like?&#160;&#160; The US Navy has a fleet of nuclear submarines that can erase all human life from the planet in 90 seconds or less but only BP can be trusted to lead the world when the water gets that deep?&#160; And even in this emergency the only thing that Constitutional authorities know how to do is look for some neck to stand on?&#160; No wonder even the birds have had enough of this nonsense.&#160; If it’s necks that count for power these days, I can tell you, even the birds are ready to go.</p>
<p>No doubt a lot of good folks feel they have to behave properly in front of the television cameras, but thank god for Craig Taffaro cussing right in the Governor’s face.&#160; I know he spoke for me.&#160; Even the vaunted James Carville is stupefied at the obscenities of neglect that are killing our dearly beloved Gulf of Mexico.&#160; If the plan is not to kill the Gulf, why did the President spend the weekend at West Point– ideological home base of The Corps?&#160; If the plan is not to let it die, why wasn’t West Point spending the weekend with Craig Taffaro?&#160; I paid my taxes so that West Point could keep its frigging graduation schedule?&#160; Somebody ought to go up there to Newburgh, New York and take pictures of all the new cars on the West Point campus this week.</p>
<p>If St. Bernard Parish secedes from the union this week, you can count me in.&#160; The world is badly in need of a moral equivalent of a President.&#160; And today, Craig Taffaro is working for me.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://greentags.bigcartel.com/" type="external">WORDS THAT STICK</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p /> | Oil Wars Come Home to Roost | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/05/26/oil-wars-come-home-to-roost/ | 2010-05-26 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Carey spoke to Entertainment Weekly in her first interview since the show in which she stumbled through her songs. At many points she stopped singing, even while a prerecorded vocal track played in the background.</p>
<p>Carey’s publicist blamed show producer Dick Clark Productions earlier this week for not addressing technical difficulties before the performance, including a malfunctioning earpiece. Carey reiterated that stance to EW and praised the late Clark.</p>
<p>“I’m of the opinion that Dick Clark would not have let an artist go through that and he would have been as mortified as I was in real time,” she said.</p>
<p>While she described the night as “a horrible New Year’s Eve,” Carey said the experience wouldn’t stop her from doing another live television performance.</p>
<p>“But it will make me less trusting of using anyone outside of my own team,” she added.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Dick Clark Productions has called the Carey camp’s claims “absurd” and said an internal investigation showed the company it had no involvement in the issues affecting Carey’s performance.</p>
<p>“Rockin New Year’s Eve” co-host Jenny McCarthy defended Dick Clark Productions on her SiriusXM radio show Tuesday , saying “for Mariah to defame them was so incredibly insulting.”</p>
<p>“The truth of the matter is Mariah didn’t do a sound check,” McCarthy said.</p>
<p>Instead, Carey rehearsed her stage movements but stood off to the side while having a stand-in do a sound check, according to McCarthy.</p>
<p>As a television personality, McCarthy said she initially empathized with Carey during what she described as “a complete train wreck.”</p> | ‘Mortified’ Mariah Carey discusses ‘horrible New Year’s Eve’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/920416/mortified-mariah-carey-discusses-horrible-new-years-eve.html | 2017-01-04 | 2 |
<p />
<p>The chorus of voices denouncing the war in Iraq is pretty loud these days, but the addition of critiques by its early proponents continues to be striking. And in his <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&amp;categ_id=5&amp;article_id=73015" type="external">op-ed today</a>, Michael Young, opinion editor for the Lebanese Daily Star, does just that. Young <a href="http://www.reason.com/hod/iraqthreeyears.shtml" type="external">doesn’t regret</a> his earlier support for the war, and there is no lost love between him and the Iraqi leaders—or would-be Arab reformers—critical of the occupation. But the <a href="http://www.reason.com/myoung/myoungbio.shtml" type="external">noted Lebanese political pundit</a> is also far enough removed to call the war a huge disaster, and to do so with more thoroughness than most Americans care to, even now. Like the My Lai massacre back in 1968, Young writes, Haditha “makes the notion of winning hearts and minds laughable.”</p>
<p />
<p>Even for those of us who supported the war, it’s plain that this is a March 1968 moment, though Johnson had a much easier choice to make than Bush. South Vietnam was never as crucial a place as Iraq is, and for the US there is, quite simply, no way out. Democracy is a long-lost hope; Arab liberals who congratulate themselves for having discredited the war from the outset can lustily applaud the humiliation of the last administration that will plead their case in many years. If there is no way out for Bush, freedom in the Arab world has also hit a brick wall.</p>
<p>Lest this sound too cynical, Young does make a few recommendations, the first of which is that Rumsfeld get the boot, and quickly.</p>
<p /> | Turning Against the War | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/06/turning-against-war/ | 2006-06-08 | 4 |
<p>It looks like a pact to ban current cluster bomb designs will take another step forward, with more than 100 countries slated to sign the treaty in the next couple of days. This is the next stage in a process, begun in Dublin in May 2008, to reduce the use of cluster bombs in warfare. However, the U.S., Russia and China - the largest cluster bomb manufacturers - so far have refused to sign on.</p>
<p>The BBC:</p>
<p>The first of more than 100 countries have begun signing a treaty to ban current designs of cluster bombs, at a conference in Oslo, Norway.</p>
<p>Campaigners are hailing the treaty as a major breakthrough.</p>
<p />
<p>But some of the biggest stockpilers, including the US, Russia and China, are not among the signatories.</p>
<p>First developed during World War II, cluster bombs contain a number of smaller bomblets designed to cover a large area and deter an advancing army.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7762031.stm" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Cluster Bomb Treaty Steps Forward | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/cluster-bomb-treaty-steps-forward/ | 2008-12-03 | 4 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>In an interview with&#160;Understanding the Times&#160;host Jan Markell, Rep. Michele Bachmann recently accused President Obama of giving aid to “Al-Qaeda”. Ironically, this charge was never leveled against the president when the case was being argued for bombing Libya “back into the Stone Age” – <a href="" type="internal">right on the eve of the birth of a “United States of Africa”</a> (incidentally or not).</p>
<p>Bachmann’s charge was instead directed at the Obama administrations.&#160;While the Obama administration’s move &#160;to support the Syrian rebels is only related to&#160; <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/09/16/statement-nsc-spokesperson-caitlin-hayden-presidential-determination-res" type="external">non-lethal, defensive and protective aid</a>, Bachmann instead erroneously claimed that “President Obama waived a ban on selling arms to terrorists.”</p>
<p>The representative, who is an Evangelical Christian, said that the administration’s support for the Syrian rebels is proof that we are living in the “End Times.” Of course when former president Ronald Reagan supported the terrorists who became the Taliban in Afghanistan, this did not evidence any apocalyptic fulfillment of prophecy. While most of Obama’s opponents claim that their attacks on the president are not racial in motivation, it seems a bit strange that now that an African American president is in office, suddenly, support of a questionable array of rebels is tantamount to the seventh trumpet of the Book of Revelation.</p>
<p>Bachmann has insinuated many times over that she believes we are all literally living in the Last Days, which she see as having been foretold in the book attributed to Jesus’s disciple John. Of course, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Historical-Context-Pre-Christian-Revelation-ebook/dp/B00ASALEUM" type="external">critical historians, such as myself, have analyzed and concluded that the book itself was written at an earlier date</a> than that which the Christian Church has typically believed. To many scholars of history and religion (her, Christian Origins), the text refers not to future events, but to the historical Jewish revolt against Rome and the oppressive rule of Nero in the late 60s CE. Nero’s name in Hebrew, one should remember, had the numeric value of “666”, and this would have been used as code for a text being passed between revolutionaries, fighting Rome… Revolutionaries who would have in fact been termed “terrorists” by the Roman imperialists. But facts-be-damned, to Bachman, the Book of Revelation is&#160;all about Obama’s “satanic” rule of America.</p>
<p>Bachmann false claims that the U.S. is funding and arming “Islamic extremists in Syria,” were cited as reason enough why “we are to understand where we are in God’s end times history.”</p>
<p>The content of this particular interview was first noticed by Right Wing Watch, who has provided an audio excerpt, and transcript of her eschatological vision:</p>
<p>“[the U.S.’s funding of al Qaeda in Syria] happened and as of today the United States is willingly, knowingly, intentionally sending arms to terrorists, now what this says to me, I’m a believer in Jesus Christ, as I look at the End Times scripture, this says to me that the leaf is on the fig tree and we are to understand the signs of the times, which is your ministry, we are to understand where we are in God’s end times history. Rather than seeing this as a negative, we need to rejoice, Maranatha Come Lord Jesus, His day is at hand. When we see up is down and right is called wrong, when this is happening, we were told this; these days would be as the days of Noah.”</p>
<p>Back in 2011, Mother Jones had also run a story on Bachmann’s vision of politics in prophecy. The publication&#160;reported that her&#160;understanding of the reason for the State of Israel’s existence, the article explained was based on a popular Evangelical interpretation of Genesis 12:3. This verse, Bachmann explained – “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” – meant that God would strike down Arab Muslims and stand by Israel, regardless of the policy or war in question.</p>
<p>Bachmann, like many Evangelicals, was unaware of the fact that this Biblical blessing was extended to Abraham’s children, of which Ishmael, thought of as forefather of the Arabian peoples. Jewish&#160;Midrashic&#160;teachings, and the preeminent Biblical interpretation of the commentator Rashi, tell that Ishmael and Isaac lived the bulk of their later years in peace with one another, side by side, and that Ishmael died (according to the Torah), a “tzaddiq” or “holy man.”</p>
<p>The Obama administration’s <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/-obama--send-syrian-rebels-anti-chemical-weapons-gear--203725090.html" type="external">decision</a>&#160;to allow&#160; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-begins-weapons-delivery-to-syrian-rebels/2013/09/11/9fcf2ed8-1b0c-11e3-a628-7e6dde8f889d_print.html" type="external">vetted Syrian rebels “not affiliated with terrorist organizations”</a>&#160;was purported to help them resist chemical weapons attacks. While there are some Syrian rebels who are religious extremists, <a href="" type="internal">the vast majority of them are not</a>. As well, the supposed video of Syrian <a href="" type="internal">rebels loading sarin gas, later turned out to be disinformation</a>.</p>
<p>Still, Bachmann stated that “President Obama waived a ban on arming terrorists in order to allow weapons to go to the Syrian opposition. Your listeners, US taxpayers, are now paying to give arms to terrorists including Al Qaeda.”</p>
<p>“This happened and as of today the United States is willingly, knowingly, intentionally sending arms to terrorists, now what this says to me, I’m a believer in Jesus Christ, as I look at the End Times scripture, this says to me that the leaf is on the fig tree and we are to understand the signs of the times, which is your ministry, we are to understand where we are in God’s end times history.”</p>
<p>But far from being dismayed by the coming of this hypothetical Apocalypse, Bachmann said, “we need to rejoice, Maranatha Come Lord Jesus, His day is at hand. When we see up is down and right is called wrong, when this is happening, we were told this; these days would be as the days of Noah.”</p>
<p>Further evidence for Bachmann was to be found in the construction of new mosques on U.S. soil: “We’re seeing this all across America, it’s like groups want to top each other and be the new, latest, largest mosque in North America.” These mosques are funded by those “advancing the goals and beliefs of the violent Muslim Brotherhood and that should give us pause,” according to the representative.</p>
<p>Listen to the audio clip from Bachmann’s interview below…</p>
<p /> | Michele Bachmann: ‘Rejoice! The End Times are here!’ | true | http://politicalblindspot.com/michele-bachmann-rejoice/ | 2013-10-12 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>But it’s unclear who dropped the ball, and that’s simply unacceptable for taxpayers who are the ones paying Ernst &amp; Young $228,000 for the computer model, which is supposed to help state lawmakers analyze potential changes to the tax code. Worse yet, the delay could provide yet another reason to once again stall desperately needed tax reform – from lowering and broadening gross-receipts taxes, to eliminating pyramiding, to establishing equity between brick-and-mortar and internet sales – and that is truly unfortunate for our state’s residents and businesses.</p>
<p>Ernst &amp; Young, which is being paid $400,000 for the model and other work, was to turn it over to lawmakers last month – unless the state failed to provide the required data in time. Raúl Burciaga, director of the Legislative Council Service, says the state turned over the data without delay, though there was some back and forth on formatting.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the model is still under development and won’t be available to model tax reforms until finalized.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration, meanwhile, says it isn’t surprised by the delay, maintaining that legislative Democrats orchestrated the need for the model as a stalling tactic in the first place.</p>
<p>That argument appears to be undercut by the fact that it was Republican Sen. William Sharer of Farmington who actually pushed for the study last year after the governor and Democratic lawmakers hit an impasse on tax reform and, in some instances, couldn’t even agree on how proposed changes would affect revenue. Sharer proposed the tax study and model as a way to provide unbiased information that would help lawmakers craft their proposals.</p>
<p>Hiring a firm to provide policymakers with unbiased information on this massive tax code overhaul was reasonable, and, some might argue, the prudent thing to do. But it’s completely unreasonable to hire an international firm to do that work, only for the key deliverable to be stalled as yet another legislative session ticks by.</p>
<p>And as residents and business leaders continue to do without reforms needed to improve the state’s recovering economy, job growth and bottom lines.</p>
<p>Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, called the situation frustrating. A few other words come to mind, including outrageous, incompetent, wasteful and absurd.</p>
<p>Burciaga told the Journal it isn’t clear whether the model will be ready by the end of the session, although he’s hopeful it will be.</p>
<p>With all due respect to Mr. Burciaga, that’s a little like a high school senior telling his English teacher that he didn’t quite finish his final exam, although he’s hopeful that he will be done by graduation. In the real world, that rationale would never fly.</p>
<p>But alas, we’re dealing with Santa Fe, where deadlines come and go, and come and go, and where taxpayers foot the bill whether the work gets done on time or not.</p>
<p>Lawmakers owe it to taxpayers to get to the bottom of the delay in rolling out this computer model. In the meantime, it is heartening that a number of lawmakers and the governor seem poised to move forward with some of the tax reforms even without the model.</p>
<p>Which begs the question of whether the model and its $400,000 total price tag was even needed in the first place.</p>
<p>This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.</p>
<p /> | Editorial: Computer tax model delay doesn’t add up for NM | false | https://abqjournal.com/1121286/computer-tax-model-delay-doesnt-add-up-for-nm.html | 2 |
|
<p />
<p>BOSTON (MA)Boston GlobeBy Michael Paulson, Globe Staff, 3/11/2003</p>
<p>reaking a stalemate of several months, Bishop Richard G. Lennon, the interim administrator of the Archdiocese of Boston, plans to hold his first meeting today with the president of Voice of the Faithful.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Lennon is scheduled to meet with James E. Post, the Boston University management professor who heads the lay organization, at the bishop's office this afternoon, according to both Lennon's spokeswoman and a spokeswoman for Voice of the Faithful.</p>
<p>Post plans to ask Lennon to lift a ban that prohibits chapters of Voice of the Faithful formed since Oct. 12 from meeting on church property, according to the Voice of the Faithful spokeswoman. He also plans to ask Lennon to accept money raised by the lay organization for use by Catholic ministries.</p>
<p>Voice of the Faithful was formed in Wellesley a year ago by Catholics upset about the church's handling of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. The organization says it intends to support ''priests of integrity'' and victims of abuse, and to push for structural change that would give laypeople a greater voice in the church.</p> | Bishop, lay group set to meet | false | https://poynter.org/news/bishop-lay-group-set-meet | 2003-03-11 | 2 |
<p>For all of us who fondly remember the 1992 movie Sister Act starring Whoopi Goldberg and Kathy Najimy, the day has finally come. The stars got back together for a reunion on The View, and sang one of the most memorable songs from the film — habits and all.</p>
<p>Because no sane person watches The View, this reunion video has gone under the radar for two weeks, but it is so worth it.</p>
<p>Sit back, set nostalgia gauges to 10, and enjoy:</p> | ‘Sister Act’ Cast Reunites To Perform ‘I Will Follow Him,’ And It’s Awesome | true | https://dailywire.com/news/21768/sister-act-cast-reunites-perform-i-will-follow-him-frank-camp | 2017-10-01 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Synergy Pharmaceuticals.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>What:After announcing that it will present information on the efficacy and safety of its lead product candidate plecanatide at theDigestive Disease Week 2016 in San Diego, May 21-24, shares ofSynergy Pharmaceuticals, were soaring 13.5% higher at 11:00 a.m. ET today.</p>
<p>So what: The conference will give the company an opportunity to show doctors data from trials evaluating plecanatide for use in patients with chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC). Previously, Synergy Pharmaceuticals reported phase 3 trial results showing that plecanatide effectively addresses CIC and that it does so with a potentially best-in-class low incidence rate of severe diarrhea.</p>
<p>If its efficacy and safety profile resonate with prescribers, then plecanatide could eventually cut into sales of market leader Linzess, a drug co-marketed by Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Allergan . On May 9, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals reported that LinzessU.S.net sales increased 44% to$137 millionin the first quarter compared to Q1 2015, and that Linzess is on track to exceed$1 billionin net sales by 2020.</p>
<p>Now what: Synergy Pharmaceuticals application for approval was accepted by the Food and Drug Administration earlier this year, and that positions the company to receive approval on plecanatide next January.</p>
<p>The market for constipation drugs is big and plecanatide's safety profile offers an opportunity to win away market share, but investors should remember that Synergy Pharmaceuticals owes nearly $80 million and that spending will increase ahead of commercialization. All that spending means that there's no telling when this company could turn profitable. Also, investors should remember that there's always the risk that the FDA will opt against approving plecanatide, and if that happens, then it would significantly impact the company's share price.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Overall, while the market potential for plecanatide is big enough to make this company intriguing, its balance sheet is a bit of a question mark, and given its unclear path to profitability, I'm focusing on other investment ideas.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/16/why-synergy-pharmaceuticals-is-spiking-13-today.aspx" type="external">Why Synergy Pharmaceuticals Is Spiking 13% Today Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/EBCapitalMarkets/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Todd Campbell Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned.He owns E.B. Capital Markets, LLC. E.B. Capital's clients may have positions in the companies mentioned. Like this article? Follow him onTwitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/follow?original_referer=http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/26/can-skyworks-solutions-inc-overcome-the-smartphone.aspx?source=iaasitlnk0000003&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&amp;region=follow_link&amp;screen_name=longtermmindset&amp;tw_p=followbutton&amp;source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">@ebcapital Opens a New Window.</a>to see more articles like this.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Synergy Pharmaceuticals Is Spiking 13% Today | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/05/16/why-synergy-pharmaceuticals-is-spiking-13-today.html | 2016-05-16 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>(Courtesy of Reithoffer Shows Inc.)</p>
<p>FOR THE RECORD: This story incorrectly stated the years Reithoffer Shows Inc. will run the midway carnival at the New Mexico State Fair. Reithoffer will operate the carnival from 2015 through 2018.</p>
<p>The New Mexico State Fair has inked a four-year deal with Florida-based Reithoffer Shows Inc. to run its midway and carnival for the 2015 through 2018 fairs, fair officials said Tuesday.</p>
<p>Reithoffer, a 118-year-old, family-owned business, will replace Oklahoma-based Murphy Bros. Expositions, which has had the fair contract for 27 of the past 30 years. The 2015 State Fair will run Sept. 10-20 at the Expo New Mexico state fairgrounds.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We are extremely pleased to enter into a partnership with Reithoffer Shows, considering their outstanding track record for delivering an exceptionally fun and entertaining event, including the impressive array of new and exciting rides that they plan to bring to the New Mexico State Fair,” Expo general manager Dan Mourning said in a news release. “… This year’s carnival is going to be bigger and better than ever, with lots of cool rides that they’ve never seen before.”</p>
<p>Expo spokeswoman Erin Thompson said Reithoffer is expected to bring about 50 rides to the fair, in addition to games and concessions.</p>
<p>When Expo issued a “request for proposals” to more than 60 carnival vendors at the end of January, Mourning said the carnival midway was a huge source of revenue for the annual state fair, and typically accounts for almost $1 million of its income.</p>
<p>As a state “enterprise fund,” Expo must pay for itself. Though the state Legislature does not fund Expo, it gives the 236-acre fairgrounds some capital outlay money to maintain and improve the facilities. About one-third of Expo’s annual revenues come from the state fair.</p>
<p>Thompson said the only other bid was submitted by Texas-based Crabtree Amusements Inc.</p>
<p>An RFP “evaluation committee” appointed by Mourning – consultant Dupuy Bateman, former state fair official Rodger Beimer, Expo deputy manager John Jaramillo, Expo CFO Bill Nordin and Expo security director Larry Trujillo – selected Reithoffer.</p>
<p>“Ultimately, the committee recommended Reithoffer based on their attention to detail and the thorough nature of their proposal, as well as an extensive inventory of rides – including a number of new rides – and a good blend of games and concessions,” Thompson said. “The committee was also impressed that Reithoffer has recently incorporated technology for a cashless ticketing system which is also being considered for the New Mexico State Fair.”</p>
<p>Thompson said Reithoffer also committed to spending $25,000 annually for improvements at the fairgrounds.</p>
<p>Expo officials hope the new vendor will boost the fair’s revenues.</p>
<p>For example, while Murphy Bros. was paying Expo 33 percent of ride revenues, Riethoffer will pay 45 percent, she said.</p>
<p>Thompson said several elements determine how the state fair receives from its carnival vendor, such as sharing processing fees from ATM machines, RV space rental, reimbursement for the cost of ride tickets, security, utilities, etc. But the lion’s share of carnival revenues comes from ride ticket sales, she said.</p>
<p />
<p /> | State Fair to have new midway operator next four years | false | https://abqjournal.com/556858/state-fair-to-have-new-midway-operator-next-four-years.html | 2015-03-17 | 2 |
<p>Having failed to convince the British people that war is justified, Tony Blair is now invoking the suffering of the Iraqi people to justify bombing them. He tells us there will be innocent civilian casualties, but that more will die if he and Bush do not go to war. Which dossier is he reading from? The present Iraqi regime’s repressive practices have long been known, and its worst excesses took place 12 years ago, under the gaze of General Colin Powell’s troops; 15 years ago, when Saddam was an Anglo-American ally; and almost 30 years ago, when Henry Kissinger cynically used Kurdish nationalism to further US power in the region at the expense of both Kurdish and Iraqi democratic aspirations.</p>
<p>Killing and torture in Iraq is not random, but has long been directly linked to politics–and international politics at that. Some of the gravest political repression was in 1978-80, at the time of the Iranian revolution and Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. But the Iraqi people’s greatest suffering has been during periods of war and under the sanctions of the 1990s. There are political issues that require political solutions and a war under any pretext is not what Iraqis need or want.</p>
<p>In government comment about Iraq, the Iraqi people are treated as a collection of hapless victims without hope or dignity. At best, Iraqis are said to have parochial allegiances that render them incapable of political action without tutelage. This is utterly at variance with the history and reality of Iraq. Iraqis are proud of their diversity, the intricacies of their society and its deeply rooted urban culture.</p>
<p>Their turbulent recent history is not something that simply happened to Iraqis, but one in which they have been actors. Iraqis have a rich modern political tradition borne out of their struggle for independence from Britain and for political and social emancipation. A major explanation for the violence of recent Iraqi political history lies in the determination of people to challenge tyranny and bring about political change. Iraqis have not gone like lambs to the slaughter, but have fought political battles in which they suffered grievously. To assert that an American invasion is the only way to bring about political change in Iraq might suit Blair’s propaganda fightback, but it is ignorant and disingenuous.</p>
<p>It is now the vogue to talk down Iraqi politics under Saddam Hussain as nothing but the whim of a dictator. The fact is that leaders cannot kill politics in the minds of people, nor can they crush their aspirations. The massacres of leftists when the Ba’athists first came to power in 1963 did not prevent the emergence of a new mass movement in the mid-1960s. The second Ba’ath regime attempted to buy time from the Kurdish movement in 1970 only to trigger a united mobilisation of Kurdish nationalism. Saddam co-opted the Communist party in the early 1970s only to see that party’s organisation grow under a very narrow margin of legality before he moved against it. In the 1970s, the regime tried to control private economic activity by extending the state to every corner of the economy, only to face an explosion of small business activity.</p>
<p>The regime’s strict secularism produced a clerical opposition with a mass following. When the regime pressurised Iraqis to join the Ba’ath party, independent opinion emerged within that party and Saddam found it necessary to crush it and destroy the party in the process. In the 1980s, the army was beginning to emerge as a threat, and the 1991 uprising showed the extent of discontent. In the 1990s, Saddam fostered the religious leadership of Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, only to see the latter emerge as a focal point for opposition. Even within Saddam’s family and close circle, there has been opposition.</p>
<p>Of course Saddam Hussain crushed all these challenges, but in every case the regional and international environment has supported the dictator against the people of Iraq. It is cynical and deceitful of Tony Blair to pretend that he understands Iraqi politics and has a meaningful programme for the country. Iraq’s history is one of popular struggle and also of imperial greed, superpower rivalries and regional conflict. To reduce the whole of Iraqi politics and social life to the whims of Saddam Hussain is banal and insulting.</p>
<p>Over the past 12 years of vicious economic blockade, the US and Britain have ignored the political situation inside Iraq and concentrated on weapons as a justification for their policy of containment. UN resolution 688 of April 1991, calling for an end to repression and an open dialogue to ensure Iraqi human and political rights, was set aside or used only for propaganda and to justify the no-fly zones.</p>
<p>Instead of generating a real political dynamic backed by international strength and moral authority, Iraqis were prevented from reconstructing their devastated country. Generations of Iraqis will continue to pay the price of the policy of sanctions and containment, designed for an oil glut period in the international market.</p>
<p>Now that the US has a new policy, it intends to implement it rapidly and with all its military might. Despite what Blair claims, this has nothing to do with the interests and rights of the Iraqi people. The regime in Iraq is not invincible, but the objective of the US is to have regime change without the people of Iraq. The use of Iraqi auxiliaries is designed to minimise US and British casualties, and the result may be higher Iraqi casualties and prolonged conflict with predictably disastrous humanitarian consequences. The Bush administration has enlisted a number of Iraqi exiles to provide an excuse for invasion and a political cover for the control of Iraq. People like Ahmad Chalabi and Kanan Makiya have little credibility among Iraqis and they have a career interest in a US invasion. At the same time, the main forces of Kurdish nationalism, by disengaging from Iraqi politics and engaging in internecine conflict, have become highly dependent upon US protection and are not in a position to object to a US military onslaught. The US may enlist domestic and regional partners with varying degrees of pressure.</p>
<p>This in no way bestows legitimacy on its objectives and methods, and its policies are rejected by most Iraqis and others in the region. Indeed, the main historical opposition to the Ba’ath regime–including various strands of the left, the Arab nationalist parties, the Communist party, the Islamic Da’wa party, the Islamic party (the Muslim Brotherhood) and others–has rejected war and US patronage over Iraqi politics. The prevalent Iraqi opinion is that a US attack on Iraq would be a disaster, not a liberation, and Blair’s belated concern for Iraqis is unwelcome.</p>
<p>KAMIL MAHDI is an Iraqi political exile and lecturer in Middle East economics at the University of Exeter. The column originally appeared in the Guardian.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | War Will Bring Disaster to Iraq, Not Liberation | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/02/20/war-will-bring-disaster-to-iraq-not-liberation/ | 2003-02-20 | 4 |
<p>FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Court documents say a Fort Wayne man charged with killing two women begged officers to shoot him when he was arrested.</p>
<p>Twenty-six-year-old Deyante A. Stephens was charged Monday in the shooting deaths of 37-year-old Preonda M. Jones and 24-year-old Brianna R. Gould inside a home Saturday morning. Gould was pregnant and the Allen County Coroner’s Office said the male fetus would have been of a viable age if he had been born.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/police-fire/20180123/suspect-charged-in-3-slayings-at-lillie-home" type="external">The Journal Gazette reports</a> that about two hours after the shootings, investigators found Stephens at another location trying to enter an apartment. An affidavit says Stephens told them, “Please shoot me! You know it’s going to happen! Shoot me!” He then asked officers for a hug and was handcuffed.</p>
<p>Online court records don’t list an attorney for Stephens.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Journal Gazette, <a href="http://www.journalgazette.net" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.journalgazette.net" type="external">http://www.journalgazette.net</a></p>
<p>FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Court documents say a Fort Wayne man charged with killing two women begged officers to shoot him when he was arrested.</p>
<p>Twenty-six-year-old Deyante A. Stephens was charged Monday in the shooting deaths of 37-year-old Preonda M. Jones and 24-year-old Brianna R. Gould inside a home Saturday morning. Gould was pregnant and the Allen County Coroner’s Office said the male fetus would have been of a viable age if he had been born.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/police-fire/20180123/suspect-charged-in-3-slayings-at-lillie-home" type="external">The Journal Gazette reports</a> that about two hours after the shootings, investigators found Stephens at another location trying to enter an apartment. An affidavit says Stephens told them, “Please shoot me! You know it’s going to happen! Shoot me!” He then asked officers for a hug and was handcuffed.</p>
<p>Online court records don’t list an attorney for Stephens.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Journal Gazette, <a href="http://www.journalgazette.net" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.journalgazette.net" type="external">http://www.journalgazette.net</a></p> | Fort Wayne slayings suspect asks police to shoot him | false | https://apnews.com/6bd202c243db4fb693359bd480771853 | 2018-01-23 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>“I never wanted to be the chief of police, but I hope I served the residents to the best of my ability,” Braziel said.</p>
<p>Braziel said several factors led to his decision to retire, including policies of the city.</p>
<p>“With the direction the city is heading, I do not feel that I would have a positive impact serving as chief of police,” he said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>He declined to elaborate.</p>
<p>“I am not aware of any issues or have any issues with Jason’s performance as police chief,” said Tucumcari City Manager Jared Langenegger.</p>
<p>“Jason has done a great job as police chief, I hate to see him go.”</p>
<p>Langenegger said city officials will review the description of the qualifications and duties of police chief. He said once the qualifications have been established, then the city and will advertise.</p>
<p>“We hope to have a selection by the end of the year,” Langenegger said.</p>
<p>Braziel said his last official day is Dec. 30, but with accrued leave time his last day of active duty will be Nov. 21.</p>
<p>“Tucumcari is still my home, I am not going anywhere,” Braziel said. “I am going to take some time off and maybe play some golf.”</p>
<p>Braziel said his career began in 1992 when he started working as a correctional officer at the Quay County Detention Center. He joined the police department in 1997.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“I did not have intentions or a desire to be the chief,” Braziel said.</p>
<p>Braziel said that changed after a former chief used a stun gun on a Tucumcari teenager in 2010.</p>
<p>“I felt that we needed a hometown chief — someone who knows the community and the residents,” Braziel said.</p>
<p>Braziel said his term as police chief has had its share of ups and downs.</p>
<p>“I just hope I was able to make a difference,” he said.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>©2016 the Quay County Sun (Tucumcari, N.M.)</p>
<p>Visit the Quay County Sun (Tucumcari, N.M.) at <a href="http://www.qcsunonline.com" type="external">www.qcsunonline.com</a></p>
<p>Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.</p>
<p>_____</p> | Tucumcari police chief retires | false | https://abqjournal.com/880283/tucumcari-police-chief-retires.html | 2 |
|
<p>SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday afternoon’s drawing of the Illinois Lottery’s “LuckyDay Lotto Midday” game were:</p>
<p>22-24-25-26-40</p>
<p>(twenty-two, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, forty)</p>
<p>SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday afternoon’s drawing of the Illinois Lottery’s “LuckyDay Lotto Midday” game were:</p>
<p>22-24-25-26-40</p>
<p>(twenty-two, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, forty)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in ‘LuckyDay Lotto Midday’ game | false | https://apnews.com/23a0e65694e04253a5a08675831c391d | 2018-01-22 | 2 |
<p>The state trooper who shot and apprehended <a href="" type="internal">fugitive killer David Sweat</a> has been hailed a “hero” by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.</p>
<p>Sgt. Jay Cook, a 21-year veteran and father-of-two, was part of the vast manhunt scouring the tough terrain of upstate New York for Sweat, one of the two convicted murderers who escaped their maximum security prison <a href="" type="internal">more than three weeks ago</a>.</p>
<p>Speaking at a press conference <a href="" type="internal">after Sweat’s capture</a>, Governor Cuomo said he “had the chance to speak with Sgt. Cook and congratulate him on his great police work.”</p>
<p>The governor said the officer should go home to his 16 and 17-year-old daughters and tell them “that you’re a hero,” before joking that “with teenage girls that will probably last a good 24 hours and then you’ll go back to being a regular dad.”</p>
<p>Cook was alone in his car when he spotted someonejogging along the side of the road, less than two miles from the Canadian border.</p>
<p>Cook got out of his car, approached the man and said: “Hey, come over here,” according to New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico, recounting the incident at a press conference late Sunday.</p>
<p>After Sweat ignored him he called out a second time, to which the escapee turned around as if to say: “What do you want from me?” D'Amico said.</p>
<p>It was then Cook recognized Sweat, who escaped the Clinton Correctional Facility 22 days ago with 49-year-old Richard Matt, who was <a href="" type="internal">shot and killed by law enforcement on Friday</a>.</p>
<p>Sweat fled and the trooper chased after him, D'Amico said.</p>
<p>Cook knew the densely forested terrain of the northern reaches of New York, having served most of his career there. He pursued Sweat into an open field, but realized his target was about to make the tree line and disappear once again, D'Amico said.</p>
<p>Cook fired two shots from his handgun and hit Sweat twice in the torso. He was then handcuffed.</p>
<p>The fugitive was later treated by emergency medical services personnel and airlifted to hospital where he was listed in critical condition.</p>
<p>The sergeant's heroics were also recognized on Twitter with the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&amp;q=%23jaycook" type="external">#jaycook</a>.</p>
<p>D'Amico said that he presumed Sweat was <a href="" type="internal">about to make a break for the Canadian border</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the family of a cop killed by Sweat expressed thanks to all of the officers involved in the three-week manhunt.</p>
<p>Relatives of Broome County Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Tarsla recounted that he had been "ambushed, shot 15 times and then run over with a car simply for stopping to check unusual activity in a town park" on July 4, 2002.</p>
<p>"We would like to extend a special thank you to Sgt. Jay Cook for being vigilant when he saw something that didn't look right and going with his instincts," the family's statement added. They described Matt and Sweat as "two evil people that had no regard for human life."</p> | Sgt. Jay Cook, Who Shot Fugitive Killer David Sweat, Hailed a ‘Hero’ | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/new-york-prison-escape/sgt-jay-cook-who-shot-fugitive-killer-david-sweat-hailed-n383596 | 2015-06-29 | 3 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The start of a new year presents the perfect moment to clean up the clutter.</p>
<p>(TOP) The front desk and space at the New Mexico Kids Matter office was messy and uninviting. Organizer Hazel Thornton and her colleagues from the Professional Organizers of New Mexico helped make the front desk at the New Mexico Kids Matter office more appealing. They removed anything from the top of the desk that was not needed on a daily basis. (SOURCE: Hazel Thornton)</p>
<p>Local professional organizer Hazel Thornton, who owns Organized For Life, said the first step in transforming a messy workspace is an assessment. She said whether the space is at home or in an office setting, the user must determine the purpose and function of the space and what they are trying to accomplish there on a daily basis. A cluttered, messy workspace, she said, can create stress, waste time, lead to late fees on bills, and result in missed opportunities.</p>
<p>Clearing out the work area comes next. She said using boxes with lids to sort out the stuff creates a clean workspace immediately and is the first step to organizing and purging. The boxes should be organized by purpose. For example, there can be a box for decorations, another for stuff that will go into another room, a box for stuff that needs to be filed and one for things that will be donated or thrown away.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>She said the first step to putting the office back together is returning the most relevant items to the desk or worktable.</p>
<p>“Within arm’s reach should only be things you need every day,” she said. “I call that prime real estate. The less you use something the further away it needs to be.”</p>
<p>The hard work starts after this – sorting through the boxes, creating a system and finding a home for everything. She said to schedule a time to work on sorting and purging the contents of the boxes.</p>
<p>“Whether the workspace is a room with a door that closes or it has another function,” she said. “You have to have a dedicated spot for everything.”</p>
<p>Thornton said digital clutter is also something to consider when organizing a workspace. She said email boxes should be purged at least once a week. Once the organizing is complete, she said it’s important to stay on top of it.</p>
<p>“You need a system in place to help you maintain the organization,” she said. “At the end of every day, put things away.”</p>
<p>Thornton has written several blogs about organizing a work area and they can be found at org4life.com.</p>
<p>Thornton recently coordinated a project with the Professional Organizers of New Mexico to help de-clutter the New Mexico Kids Matter offices in Albuquerque. The project was part of the annual GO Month, designated as such every January by the National Association of Professional Organizers.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>New Mexico Kids Matter is a nonprofit advocacy group that works within the court system. Its CASA (court appointed special advocates) program matches its adult volunteers with children going through the court system and in foster care. The volunteer’s job is to advocate for what they believe is best for the child.</p>
<p>“I have a friend who works there,” Thornton said. “She told me things were cluttered and unorganized and could I help.”</p>
<p>Thornton said there are some important things to consider when trying to control clutter in an entire office space.</p>
<p>“You want to make sure everything has a home and the everyone knows about it,” she said. “You also want to think about what people will see when they come in. Presentation is important if the office is seen by the public.”</p>
<p>It took Thornton and her team of volunteers several visits before the project was complete. They gathered all the supplies in the office, sorted them into bins and put them in one location. The front desk was cleared off with only essentials remaining out and the rest being stored away. They also reorganized a storage closet and the kitchen by getting rid of stuff and putting other things in bins.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Office transformation | false | https://abqjournal.com/927782/office-transformation.html | 2 |
|
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The biotech sector is a great hunting ground for investors who are afterstocks that offer massive upside. If you buy shares in a company that goes on to create a blockbuster drug, the returns can be <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/22/medivations-shares-soar-on-confirmation-of-a-pfize.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">life-changing Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, stocks that offer up extreme upside potential also tend to be fraught with risk, so potential investors need to be quite picky about which companies they choose to buy. With that in mind, here's a list of three companies that risk-loving long-term-minded investors might want to consider giving a closer look.</p>
<p>First up isAcadia (NASDAQ: ACAD), acompany that is in the middle of transitioning from a clinical-stage company into a commercial one, which can be a difficult transition topull off.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Image source: Acadia Pharmaceuticals</p>
<p>Acadia's upside potential rests solely in the hands of a single drug, called Nuplazid, which was just recently launched as a treatment for Parkinson's disease psychosis, or PDP. This disease causes patients who have Parkinson's to hallucinate and experience delusions, which makes it exceedingly difficult to care for them. That forces many people who develop PDP to be placed in nursing homes, increasing the cost of their care.</p>
<p>Acadia's Nuplazid promises to help ease that burden, and it's thefirst and only FDA-approved drug that treats PDP. Roughly 400,000 patients in the U.S. suffer from PDP, and Acadia has set a wholesale price of $23,400 annually. Acadiais also currently studying Nuplazid as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease psychosis and for schizophrenia.</p>
<p>Sales of Nuplazid got off to a <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/11/5-cant-miss-quotes-from-acadia-pharmaceuticals-inc.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">slower-than-hoped-for Opens a New Window.</a> start, but that's no surprise since the company is still giving out free samples while it establishes reimbursement agreements. Acadia's market cap is about $3.5 billion right now, and I see huge upside potential from there if Nuplazid can live up to its full potential.</p>
<p>Up next is Radius Health (NASDAQ: RDUS), a biopharma that is focused on diseases of the bone. The company's most important product candidate is named abaloparatide-SC. In late-stageclinical trials, patients who used this drug showed a 86% decrease in their risk of developing a spine fracture compared to the placebo group. Since more than 2 million osteoporosis-related bone fractures occur annually in the U.S. alone, abaloparatide-SC could help to prevent a lot of trips to the emergency room.</p>
<p>Radius has already submitted abaloparatide-SC to U.S. and European regulators for review, which gives the company a number of near-term catalysts. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, a European Union body, should be issuing its opinion on the drug in late 2016 or early 2017, and the FDA has set an approval decision date of March 30, 2017.</p>
<p>The only potential knock againstabaloparatide-SC is that it requires a daily injection, whereas an experimental drug from biotech giant Amgen has shownclinicalgains from a once-a-month injection. To help offset that potential negative, Radius is already developingabaloparatide-TC, which administers the drug through a transdermal patch instead of an injection and is in phase 2development right now.</p>
<p>Peak salesestimatesfor abaloparatide are tough to judge given the huge patient population, but some analysts peg its potential in excess of a billion dollars annually. That suggests there could beupside from today's valuation if regulators give the drug the green light.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Rounding out today's list is Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRPT), a clinical-stage biotech primarily focused on rare diseases.</p>
<p>Sarepta's most important compound is called eteplirsen, which could hopefully treat the deadly muscle-wasting disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy, or DMD. Right now there are no approved treatments for this awful disease in the U.S., although a handful of companies have <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/02/23/an-fda-letter-caused-ptc-therapeutics-to-crash-tod.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">made attempts Opens a New Window.</a> to get the green light over the past year. Of these companies, only Sarepta is still in the running.</p>
<p>Of course, it's quite hard to handicap the company's chances of success. On the one hand, during the FDA's advisory committee meeting to discusseteplirsen, a lot of criticism was lobbed at Sarepta for itsmethodology used to collect data in its clinical trial. On the other hand, there's a clear unmet medical need for a drug that helps to treat DMD, and eteplirsen is the last drug still standing.</p>
<p>Despite the negative comments made during the advisory committee meeting, the FDA has twice delayed its decision data on eteplirsen, and it recently <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/07/why-sarepta-therapeutics-shares-skyrocketed-today.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">requested data Opens a New Window.</a>from the company's ongoing confirmatory study.The agency wants to see more data regarding the drug's ability to restore production of dystrophin, a protein important in muscle function, in patients with DMD. If the FDA sees data that convinces them thateteplirsen helps to restore dystrophin levels, then they may be willing to give the drug the go-ahead.</p>
<p>Sarepta's share price has been unbelievably volatile over the past year given the never-ending string of news, but the company's current market cap of roughly $1.3 billion will look tiny if everything goes according to plan.</p>
<p>All three of these stocks are high-risk, high-reward propositions, so I'd advise investors to approach all three with caution. However, if forced to choose, I'd have to say that Acadia is my favorite stock of this group since it's already sailed through the regulatory approval process. In addition, I'm also encouraged that Nuplazid will have the PDP market all to itself, which gives the drug <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/22/medivations-shares-soar-on-confirmation-of-a-pfize.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">automatic demand Opens a New Window.</a>. If management can successfully execute on its commercialization strategy, then I could easily see shareholders making out like bandits.</p>
<p>A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-apple-wearable?aid=6965&amp;source=irbeditxt0000017&amp;ftm_cam=rb-wearable-d&amp;ftm_pit=2518&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">just click here Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTypeoh/info.aspx" type="external">Brian Feroldi Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.</p>
<p>Like this article? Follow Brian onTwitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="https://twitter.com/LongTermMindset" type="external">@Longtermmindset Opens a New Window.</a>, or connect with him on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-feroldi-mba-46370a5" type="external">LinkedIn Opens a New Window.</a>to see more articles like this.</p>
<p>Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 3 Biotech Stocks With Explosive Upside Potential | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/08/23/3-biotech-stocks-with-explosive-upside-potential.html | 2016-08-23 | 0 |
<p>Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox Inc TV and film company reported quarterly earnings on Tuesday that missed Wall Street expectations as the company invested in the launch of new U.S. cable channels.</p>
<p>For the quarter that ended in September, Fox posted adjusted earnings-per-share of 33 cents, down from 38 cents a year earlier. Wall Street analysts on average had expected 35 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Fox shares dropped 2 percent after hours to $33.40, down from their earlier $34.09 close on Nasdaq.</p>
<p>"They're a little weak but nothing material," said Brett Harriss, an analyst with Gabelli &amp; Company.</p>
<p>Fox recorded $7.06 billion of total revenue for the three months ending September 30, an 18 percent increase from the same period a year earlier.</p>
<p>In June, News Corp separated into a publishing company and the TV and film unit that became Fox.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Lisa Richwine. Editing by Andre Grenon)</p> | Fox earnings miss expectations as new channels launch | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/11/05/fox-earnings-miss-expectations-as-new-channels-launch.html | 2016-01-26 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>No matter how many of those practice shots hit nothing but the bottom of the net of the south basket of an otherwise empty Pit arena, none could erase what had just happened.</p>
<p>It didn't change the fact that Brown missed a free throw with 26.3 seconds remaining that would have tied the game or that his late miss was one of just 12 misses the Lobos had en route to shooting 15-of-27 from the charity stripe.</p>
<p>It didn't change the fact that Wyoming star senior Josh Adams hit seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 38 points, the first opposing player to score that many points in the Pit since Donta Richardson scored 39 in February 2003, which was also the last time Wyoming beat UNM in Albuquerque.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>It didn't change the fact that Brown, who was benched to start the game for violating team rules ( <a href="" type="internal">CLICK HERE for story on discipline</a>), and his Lobos teammates were out of sync throughout the game.</p>
<p>Wyoming's Josh Adams (14), defended by UNM's Sam Logwood, scored 38 points in the Cowboys? 70-68 win. (Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal.)</p>
<p>"We had to do some juggling and got off to a bad start, but I think some of our guys played hard. We just couldn't get into a rhythm," UNM head coach Craig Neal said. "? I thought we would turn the corner, but we've got a lot of work to do."</p>
<p>Nevertheless, UNM (10-8, 3-2 Mountain West), still had a chance to tie or win when drawing up a play in a timeout with 25.7 seconds remaining down by two.</p>
<p>Cullen Neal drove to the rim with about 10 seconds showing on the clock, getting by one defender only to run into another and getting called for traveling with seven seconds remaining. The turnover, UNM's 10th of the game, led to a pair of Adams free throws before a meaningless Lobo basket as time expired and the Cowboys (10-9, 3-3) were celebrating on Bob King Court.</p>
<p>"We got out of it," Craig Neal said of the play he drew up in the huddle. "We were supposed to go to Tim Williams on the block and then get some action, but we didn't really wait enough to get him the ball."</p>
<p>Williams, who had just two of his team-high 17 points in the final six minutes of the game, rarely touched the ball down the stretch. And every time the Lobos did seem to make a run, Adams ended it, often with well-defended shots late in the shot clock.</p>
<p>A 7-0 Lobos run with just under five minutes to play cut a nine point Wyoming lead to 62-60 with 2:23 remaining. But then, 30 seconds later, Adams' seventh 3-pointer put Wyoming back up five with 1:53 remaining, a shot at the end of the shot clock after UNM's defense had seemingly done all it could.</p>
<p>"It's deflating, especially when you play D for that long and he hits a tough shot like that, but those are the kind of shots we have to keep making guys shoot," Williams said. "We can't get worried about them making a couple of those. If they keep shooting tough shots like that, hopefully they'll start missing some."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Just not Josh Adams, apparently.</p>
<p>"Josh Adams was a lot to handle tonight," Craig Neal said. "He kind of put them on his back. We had our chances."</p>
<p>Wyoming coach Larry Shyatt praised Adams, too, but said it was hardly a one-man gang.</p>
<p>"For me, it's the whole team, because to be honest with you (Cullen) Neal got by the initial defender, and it was the secondary defender that had a nice stunt that caused the travel," Shyatt said. "He was by the initial defender. You know, it's a team effort. We had one heck of a performance by one of our players, but there were 32 other points that had to be nailed or we don't win."</p>
<p>Five Lobos scored in double figures, with Brown, Neal and Xavier Adams each scoring 13 after Williams? 17.</p>
<p>UNM has a week off before playing at San Jose State on Saturday.</p>
<p><a href="https://d3el53au0d7w62.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/16/WY-NM-1.pdf" type="external">Box score: Wyoming 70, UNM 68</a></p> | Wyoming stuns Lobos behind Adams? 38 points | false | https://abqjournal.com/707200/wyoming-stuns-lobos.html | 2016-01-16 | 2 |
<p>In the faculty dining room at the California State University where I teach, a Mexican-American woman places thin slices of turkey on bread. Stress lines radiate down from her high cheekbones. One of her sons left last week for Iraq. “I pray every day,” she says, smearing mayonnaise on bread.</p>
<p>“Why did he join the military?”</p>
<p>She smiles, resigned to her lack of control over an adolescent growing up in a combat culture. “He’s a good boy. I ask God to return him to me,” she says. “What can I do? I’m desperate.”</p>
<p>Desperation describes the mood of hundreds of thousands of Latino parents whose kids serve in war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq. It also describes the actual situation of those once confident imperial managers who have gotten 200,000 young men and women stuck in two quagmires without an exit strategy.</p>
<p>Bush’s wars and the subsequent occupation of Iraq have clearly divided the nation and fomented anti-Americanism throughout the world. They have also strained the resources of the mighty Pentagon. The 2005-6 “Defense Budget” of $640+ billion–counting the Intelligence budget–comes to almost twice what the rest of the world spends on “defense.”</p>
<p>Until the 21st Century Middle East wars, the military casually filled its recruiting quota from amongst poor youth around the country. National Guard service appeared attractive since the chances of having to engage in an actual war seemed remote. But after Bush invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and discovered that he had insufficient troops to occupy both places, he called up more than 100,000 National Guard troops and launched an aggressive recruiting campaign. But the growing dead and wounded count filtered through the Administration’s optimistic spin. Even the usually gullible teenagers began to think twice about “joining up.”</p>
<p>Over the last decades, the Pentagon has raised salaries and increased benefits top attract a non-draft army. In less than twenty years, salaries have leaped up to four times. In 1981, a low-ranking private earned less than $4,500 a year. Today, that same rank comes with a salary of almost $15,000. A corporal, two short grades up, leaped from $5,000 to $22,000. In addition, he or she gets free food, housing and clothing–uniform–and discounts on most consumer goods.</p>
<p>Officers without post graduate degrees can earn up to $125,000 and enjoy privileges like ski resorts in the Alps. For the first time in its history, the United States had a large, standing professional army.</p>
<p>Yet, in 2003, despite increases in salaries and bonuses–and other promises of free training and education — offered by the armed forces, the recruiters fell short of their quotas. The slogan “be all you can be in the army” did not convince those who knew of or heard of stories involving friends and family members getting killed or permanently disabled. The body count and wounded numbers rose in the war zones. By late November, more than 2,100 servicemen and women had died; estimates of more than 20,000 wounded. The Pentagon has not released a count on how many of the wounded have died of their injuries.</p>
<p>“As dimwitted as American teenagers are,” a Mexican-American army recruiter confessed to me in June in Pomona California, “they’re not stupid enough to fall for the crap we’re selling to get them to go to Iraq or Afghanistan. Don’t quote me.”</p>
<p>I’m quoting him, but omitting his name and rank. His parents came from Sinaloa and settled in San Bernadino, where he grew up and decided to make an army career after he dropped out of high school. “It pays OK and I don’t work too hard. I’d rather be here than in Iraq or Afghanistan. I’ll tell you that.”</p>
<p>His partner, a young woman with sergeant stripes on her sleeve whispers to him in Spanish. “Estas loco? No digas mas. No te chingas cabron.” He laughs.</p>
<p>Next to his recruiting table outside the university student center, some undergraduates had set up a “de-cruiting” table, offering prospective recruits “the facts about the US military,” including the numbers of dead and wounded that the two wars had already exacted. In addition, the anti-military students “clarified” some of the army’s promises about loans and other benefits, were far less than the military had promised. They had statements from some returning wounded veterans to the effect that the army had docked their pay and cut their benefits.</p>
<p>The sergeant made no attempt to counter the students at the adjoining table. He handed out pamphlets, shook hands and laughed. “It’s my job. I have a quota of kids to recruit, so what the Hell.”</p>
<p>Hell, indeed. That word has spread even to those black and Latino communities that have traditionally supplied more than their share of youth for the US military’s frequent overseas and violent excursions.</p>
<p>For “illegal” Mexicans or those who want a quick route to citizenship, the military holds a strong attraction. Since Mexico provides the closest and most logical recruiting arena, Mexican “illegals” numerically outstrip all other Latin Americans living in the United States and in Iraq itself. Some 8000 Mexicans have now volunteered for official military service (John Ross, Counterpunch February 21, 2005).</p>
<p>Mexicans and those of Mexican descent make up more than half of the approximately 110,000 Latinos mostly, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Central Americans currently serving in the U.S. military. In addition, almost 25,000 other Mexicans have enlisted as a means of obtaining US citizenship. Coyotes smuggled some of these Mexicans into the country as children who never had any “legal” documents.</p>
<p>The recruiters target high schools with heavy population of Mexican descent. The Marines have had particular success in their forceful publicity campaign. They claim that youth of Mexican origin make up 13% of the Corps. But that high percentage of Latinos also shows up in the high dead and wounded count.</p>
<p>Even before the bloody November 2004 battle of Fallujah which exacted a heavy toll, Mexican families began to feel the pain of war. The dead, the legless, armless, eyeless and brain dead wounded began to come home. On both sides of the Rio Grande, Mexican parents shared a common anguish. 122 Latinos were among the first 1000 U.S. casualties in Iraq. 70 of them were of Mexican descent.</p>
<p>On December 24, 2004, the day before Christmas, Sergio Diaz Varela died in Ramadi. His family and friends attended his funeral in Guadalajara, where “armed troops from Fort Hood, Texas led by General Ken Keene accompanied the young soldier to his final resting place, and U.S. ambassador Tony Garza commended the boy’s soul to God” (John Ross, Counterpunch, Feb 21, 2005).</p>
<p>Similar funerals took place in San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato and in the Altos de Jalisco. On the invasion day, the first GI killed was Mexican American. Fernando Suarez del Solar, father of Jesus, a resident of Escondido, California, spoke in Spanish. The 48 year old man, slight of build, said he had immigrated from Tijuana 1997. He now worked as cashier at a convenience stores and delivered newspapers.</p>
<p>He began hesitatingly. “El dia de hoy estoy aqui demandando el retorno inmediato de nuestras tropas,” he told a student audience at the California State Polytechnic University in California. “Yo perdi a mi hijo, a mi Guerrero Azteca, Jesus Alberto, por negligencia del comando Americano en Irak en esta guerra ilegal llena de mentiras del presidente Bush.”</p>
<p>As he spoke he seemed to gain confidence and strength. “Ustedes saben que mi hijo muere por pisar una granada “AMIGA,” una granada puesta la noche anterior por el Army y nunca avisaron a la unidad de mi hijo y les dieron la orden de avansar y como mi hijo era el explorador piso una de ellas y duro casi tres horas para recibir atencion medica, para que un helicoptero llegara con auxilio. Esto es una muestra de nuestro ejercito invensible? Es una muestra de la proteccion que les dan a nuestros muchachos?” A tear of grief or rage or both fell onto his cheek.</p>
<p>He got no answers from the Pentagon. So, he traveled to Iraq to find the truth about his son’s death. He joined Military Families Speak Out. With other relatives of dead and wounded servicemen and women, he speaks and organizes against the war.</p>
<p>Fernando Suarez does more than ask God for help. “Señor Bush,” he shouted to a California student group in the Fall of 2004. “Cuantos hijos de nosotros nesecita para llenar su tanque de gasolina? Cuantos hijos americanos muertos nesecita para parar esta guerra llena de mentiras? Yo no quiero mas muertes de nuestros hijos de sus padres, esposos. paremos esto YA!!! Señor Bush, espero que dios le perdone, porque yo no puedo.”</p>
<p>SAUL LANDAU is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies and teaches at Cal Poly Pomona University.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Latino Troops Have Parents | true | https://counterpunch.org/2005/12/03/latino-troops-have-parents/ | 2005-12-03 | 4 |
<p />
<p>Senate Democrats emerged from today’s caucus meeting with little in the way of clarity on what their energy package might look like. But they were determined, however, to use the issue as a bludgeon against Republicans.</p>
<p>Senators described a meeting in which caucus members were united in enthusiasm for passing an energy package, but they also said not many specifics were discussed. John Kerry (D-Mass.) described the meeting as “inspirational.” Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said it was “an uprising of rank and file members of the caucus.” “A number of senators said this was the best caucus they’ve ever attended,” said Majority Leader Harry Reid. But no one could say exactly what a package would look like on energy, climate, or the oil spill.&#160;</p>
<p>Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has been <a href="" type="internal">critical of leadership</a> for advancing weak bills on this subject, said that specifics on climate provisions “wasn’t what was really talked about today.” Kerry indicated, however, that there was agreement that the Senate should act on cutting carbon before the EPA begins regulating it next year. Senators still expect to debate the package following the July 4 recess.</p>
<p>“We’re determined to bring a bill to the floor of the Senate that we think is reasonable, makes sense, and that will help Americans be able to grab ahold of the future,” Kerry said. As for what that bill will be? “You’ll have to see what we come to the floor with,” Kerry said.</p>
<p>There was unanimity, though, to “make sure we are united in a message to the public that even if we lose, we carry a message that has meaning,” said Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ). Sanders also echoed the idea that this could be more of a message vote than anything else next month. “If you’re strong and you’re clear and you win the support of the American people, there are Americans who are Republicans as well, and they are going to put pressure on Republicans as well,” said Sanders.</p>
<p>Majority Whip Dick Durbin said it was “too soon” to know what the package would look like. So in short, not a whole lot of updates on the package yet coming out of today’s caucus meeting.</p>
<p /> | Dems On Energy Package: Lots of Enthusiasm, Few Actual Details | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/06/dems-see-energy-package-rallying-point/ | 2010-06-24 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Especially when the subject was the upcoming presidency of Donald Trump.</p>
<p>“If what has to happen is that I get metaphorically strung up by my toes because I think we were all born equal and beautiful, then that’s just what’s going to happen,” Dunham said.</p>
<p>“As terrified and as horrible as I think the events of the election were, I live for this moment. I think this is a great time,” said Coates, adding that Trump’s victory had filled him with determination and a sense of purpose. “I make books and I make articles, and now I have a formidable opponent.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The event was organized by the Peterborough, New Hampshire-based MacDowell artist colony and was held before more than 150 MacDowell supporters at the New Museum in downtown Manhattan. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and MacDowell board chairman Michael Chabon, who moderated the discussion, says the idea was to have a “sparky” conversation between artists of different fields and backgrounds, an approach similar to last year’s MacDowell gathering that featured Martin Scorsese and Lin-Manuel Miranda of “Hamilton” fame.</p>
<p>Dunham, author of the best-selling essay collection “Not That Kind of Girl” and at work on a novel, is a self-described “rich white girl” from New York City. Coates grew up in a rough neighborhood in Baltimore and went on to become one of the country’s leading voices on race through his commentary for The Atlantic Magazine and his best-selling “Between the World and Me.”</p>
<p>But Dunham says that she has long admired Coates’ work, and Coates has written warmly about “Girls,” which has been criticized for its scarcity of black actors. In 2013, he reviewed the show in The Atlantic, calling it “really, really funny” and praising it for its candid and liberating depictions of sex.</p>
<p>“The show ain’t perfect,” he concluded. “I found the occasional elements of black culture more jarring and unfortunate (‘Hey, we’re white. Look how lame we are. And look how lame we are when we act black.’) than any lack thereof. But in general I came away genuinely impressed with the artistry.”</p>
<p>On Monday, the two shared thoughts about the writing process (she called her work habits “deplorable,” a word made famous by her friend Hillary Clinton, and joked that she writes in bed amidst spilled food and a heating pad) and their mutual gratitude to the late author and New York Times journalist David Carr.</p>
<p>Both remembered him as a mentor who was volatile and demanding, but profoundly honest and supportive. Coates recalled applying years ago for an internship at an alternative newspaper in Washington, D.C. and his shock at being accepted by Carr, the then-editor, despite submitting a chapbook of “Hate Whitey” poetry. Dunham credited Carr with launching her career when in the Times he praised her short film “Tiny Furniture” at the 2010 South by Southwest festival.</p>
<p>Carr, who died in 2015 at age 58, was “brash and vaguely inappropriate,” Dunham said of him. But he was also “pure love.”</p>
<p>Discussing how they saw their roles during a Trump presidency, Coates and Dunham agreed that they had no way of knowing if they could make a difference, but saw no alternative to trying. Coates noted that blacks have spent more time enslaved in North American than emancipated and vowed to continue the struggle his ancestors had waged for centuries.</p>
<p>Dunham added that she would fight even though “Most people go into conversations having already decided what they’re going to say and what they’re going to hear.</p>
<p>“Which is why it’s so fun to talk to people,” she added.</p> | Dunham and Coates, mutual admirers, talk writing and Trump | false | https://abqjournal.com/903096/dunham-and-coates-mutual-admirers-talk-writing-and-trump.html | 2016-12-06 | 2 |
<p>“What am I doing?”</p>
<p>Twenty-six-year-old Sean Gregory remembers how powerfully this question ran through his mind one day in August 2010.</p>
<p>“I had dropped out of high school a couple years earlier,” Sean recalls. “I got a job at a movie theater and a couple other places to pay rent.”</p>
<p>Later, he worked with the housing authority in Birmingham, helping people in the community facing eviction. For the next two years, Sean scraped by, struggling to pay his bills, surfing from couch to couch.</p>
<p>Then, one day with a $900 paycheck in hand, he bought a train ticket to Los Angeles and left – a split-second decision that would change the course of his life.</p>
<p>Sean ended up on Skid Row, <a href="" type="internal">a community in downtown Los Angeles</a> that contains one of the largest stable populations of homeless people in the United States. The community’s streets are lined with cardboard boxes, tents and shopping carts that the homeless live out of.</p>
<p>“I came to know a lot of these people as family,” Sean says. “I still view them that way.”</p>
<p>It was a time he recalls with clarity:&#160;“I was living on those streets, selling cigarettes, selling beer, selling whatever I could to make a buck.”</p>
<p>But during that homeless period, more than 2,000 miles away from his home state of Alabama, Sean received help from an organization known as Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN). Staff, volunteers and other homeless residents helped him get on his feet.</p>
<p>Sean has gone on to become a core member of LA CAN, where he has worked for the past three years on the organization’s member recruitment committee and its civil rights committee.</p>
<p>His work on the civil rights committee helped lead to a policy change to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Order 11, which resulted in a significant reduction in the list of activities that, though not illegal, the police could classify as “suspicious” and enter into a national security database.</p>
<p>In 2012, he organized a group of young men to support the women-led “Take Back the Night” event, which is held annually and focuses on ending violence against women. Sean was asked to speak at the event, where he made an impassioned call for more men to work in support of ending violence against women.</p>
<p>More recently, after receiving his Shriver Award, he used the money associated with it to buy food and pay bills. “I was homeless at the time. Whoever was around me also ate,” he says.</p>
<p>When he moved to California, his original goal was to be an actor. Now, in a neighborhood that still has single-room occupancy apartments, <a href="" type="internal">people sleeping in tents</a> and renovated lofts selling for up to $1 million, he has found a community to support and one that has welcomed him.</p>
<p>These days, he is working to gain support in <a href="" type="internal">the Golden State</a> for a homeless “Bill of Rights.” Already, <a href="" type="internal">Illinois has approved one</a>. Sean says the California proposal would give people the right to share and accept food in public, rest or sleep in a legally-parked automobile and sit, sleep or rest on public property.</p>
<p>“Growing up in Alabama,” Sean says, “I had no idea I’d be doing any of this.”</p>
<p>“But even in my darkest moments, I always looked to the future, seeing myself being successful. I knew I was going to get through it somehow, even if it had to be with time. But, now, I’m in tune with a great community, doing great work.</p>
<p>“I feel like I’m right where I need to be.”</p>
<p>Each story in the&#160; <a href="" type="internal">“America’s Next Leaders 2014”</a>&#160;special series&#160;features&#160;a young person who contributes to his or her community and who has received a Sargent Shriver Youth Warriors Against Poverty Leadership Award. Each year,&#160; <a href="http://caseygrants.org/" type="external">Marguerite Casey Foundation</a>, which publishes&#160;Equal Voice News,&#160;honors young people&#160;with this award. Equal Voice for Southern California Families and <a href="http://cangress.org/" type="external">LA CAN</a> nominated Gregory&#160;for the award.&#160;Read&#160; <a href="" type="internal">last year’s stories</a>&#160;about award recipients. &#160;</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Contact author</a></p>
<p>&#160;&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Alabama</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Birmingham</a>, <a href="" type="internal">community advocate</a>, <a href="" type="internal">homeless youth</a>, <a href="" type="internal">homelessness</a>, <a href="" type="internal">LA CAN</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Los Angeles</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Los Angeles Community Action Network</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Sargent Shriver Youth Warriors Against Poverty Leadership Award</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Sean Gregory</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Skid Row</a>, <a href="" type="internal">youth activism</a></p> | Special Series: An Advocate Finds 'Home' on Skid Row | true | http://equalvoiceforfamilies.org/special-series-an-advocate-finds-home-on-skid-row/ | 4 |
|
<p>Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook provided several reasons for the former first lady’s electoral misfortunes during a weekend discussion with left-wing CNN’s Jake Tapper. Aired on Sunday's State of the Union, the discussion was conducted with President-elect Donald Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and took place at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.</p>
<p>Mook pointed blame for his campaign’s failure on what he described as FBI director James Comey’s inappropriate conduct, Wikileaks email leaks alleged to be conducted by the Russian government, American attitudes toward female candidates for political office, and the news media’s supposedly excessive focus on Clinton’s email scandal.</p>
<p>Mook claimed that Comey’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghph_361wa0" type="external">public statement</a> and subsequent <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3198222/Letter.pdf" type="external">written statement</a> regarding the agency’s investigations into Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state were deciding factors in the presidential election’s outcome:</p>
<p>“I think it hard to imagine the kind of impact that that letter had. Most of the public polling showed a distinct drop, we certainly saw that in our internal numbers. And particularly because the letter didn’t really seem to have much of a purpose, he said he had some emails, he hadn’t seen them, he didn’t really know what they were… We do think that that was an incredibly powerful force in the race.”</p>
<p>In the absence of what he said was Comey’s “unprecedented intervention,” Mook claimed that Clinton would have been elected president:</p>
<p>"We do think because the director of the FBI sent two letters in what was an unprecedented intervention in the election, total breach of protocol… I would argue, that without those letters we would have [won more undecided voters], and that’s why we would have won the election.”</p>
<p>Mook also said that Clinton's gender was a political liability:</p>
<p>“There were a lot of headwinds in this race. We were trying to make history. She’s the first woman to be the nominee of a major party… Having worked for a few women candidates, now, I think that they sometimes face certain scrutiny that male candidates don’t. Sometimes people would talk about the way Hillary spoke during a speech, I didn’t recall them remark about male candidates that way.”</p>
<p>Tapper teed up Mook to push the left-wing narrative of widespread "fake news" serving Trump's political agenda:</p>
<p>"I think [fake news] was a huge problem. I think there’s a lot of things we need to examine coming out of this. You just named one of them. Congress has got to investigate what happened with Russia, here. We cannot have foreign aggressors intervening in our elections, and we know the the Russian were promulgating fake news through Facebook and other outlets."</p>
<p>Breitbart News's chairman Stephen K. Bannon was also identified by Mook as a pusher of "fake news" benefiting Trump:</p>
<p>"Steve Bannon ran Breitbart News which was notorious for peddling stories like this… They peddled a lot of stories on that stories that are just false. They’re just not true. And that reinforced sexist, racist, anti-Semitic notions in people. Headlines that just, you know, are shocking, and insulting, and shouldn’t be part of our public discourse."</p>
<p>The broader news media was also to blame for Clinton's failure, said Mook, accusing news media outlets of overhyping the former first lady's email scandal:</p>
<p>“This was the most overhyped, overreported, overlitigated story in the history of American politics - full stop, it was - and particularly because of what James Comey did. There are protocols at the Justice Department that they are not to intervene in electoral races. They are not to report out on investigation two, three, four months before an election. This was a total breach of that protocol."</p>
<p>Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p> | Mook Blames Breitbart News, Russia, Media For Failure | true | https://dailywire.com/news/11303/mook-blames-breitbart-news-russia-media-failure-robert-kraychik | 2016-12-04 | 0 |
<p>May First/People Link is being attacked in a Denial of Service attack that is unprecedented in its length and viciousness. We have been fighting off this attack for over three weeks now.</p>
<p>We are convinced that the attack is political. We know how the attackers are targeting us, we know they are targeting the entire organization's systems and we know that they are carefully monitoring our responses because they are quickly adapting to every move our technologists make to return us to service.</p>
<p>We know they are sophisticated and capable. We do not know who they are and, while this started with our defending of our member The National Network of Abortion Funds (which was under DOS attack), we can't be sure why precisely they are attacking us. In the end, however, that is not the important issue.</p>
<p>Both the United States and Mexico (as is true of the entire world) are in profound, irreversible crisis. Fierce struggles are taking place. The rulers of our countries are searching for some strategy of self-protection and all their strategies will make people's lives much harder. Repression is common and attacks on the resistance movements are more frequent.</p>
<p>To resist that, our movements need the Internet and answering that need is our mission as an organization. May First has been the organization that combines actual technology service with the kind of activism that holds tech anc communications issues up. While we are not the only organization in the coalitions we work in, we are the only one with actual technology service experience. While we are not the only alternative provider, we are the one most active in concrete movement work around these issues.</p>
<p>The disappearance of May First would constitute a huge blow to our movements of struggle. We do not intend to allow that to happen.</p>
<p>Our technologists will not allow it. They have worked day and night for weeks fighting off this attack and keeping us on-line. They have forgone vacations, weekends and very often sleep to keep us functional.</p>
<p>Our members will not allow it. Throughout the difficulties and crippled communications they have had to endure, our members have remained strong, committed and supportive. We have not had any member loss as a result of this attack and that, perhaps, is our greatest victory.</p>
<p>Finally, our Leadership Committee will not allow it. We have been in constant consultation and held emergencies meetings about these attacks, made several decisions about it, executed an effective members and movement communications program to keep people up to date and have just approved yet another additional layer of protection for our organization.</p>
<p>We think that attack is going to be the normal for us from now on. We are ready for that. Our enemies should know that successful resistance to those attacks, protection of our members services and data and constant outreach to our movement with innovative alternatives is our normal</p>
<p>This is a battle we need to win and we intend to do just that.</p>
<p>On behalf of our entire organization, we thank all our movement allies for your critically important support and the opportunity to continue working with you.</p>
<p>The Leadership Committee</p>
<p>May First/People Link 237 Flatbush Ave, #278 Brooklyn, NY 11217</p>
<p><a href="/filter/tips" type="external">More information about formatting options</a></p> | May First/PeopleLink Under Attack! | true | http://newpol.org/content/may-firstpeoplelink-under-attack | 2015-08-26 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The two use cafés like Counter Culture on Baca Street as “traveling office spaces” because their gallery, Axle Contemporary, is the back of a van.</p>
<p>It was at Counter Culture that the three struck up a conversation. The chance encounter led to Chase-Daniel and Wellman inviting Heinemann to participate in a project showcasing New Mexico writers and artists. “They saw my work and thought I would be a good fit,.. it was a really good, symbiotic meeting,” she said.</p>
<p>The Local Coloring project she took part in has become a recently published coloring book. It includes short stories from five authors and 67 correlating black-and-white drawings from professional and amateur illustrators.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Chase-Daniel and Wellman were inspired by rising popularity of adult coloring books and said they wanted to take it one step further by adding in storylines and a “universality,” Wellman said, that allows their book to appeal to both children and adults.</p>
<p>An opening reception will take place tonight from 5-8 p.m. in the mobile gallery, this time parked in front of the New Mexico Museum of Art just off the Plaza.</p>
<p>“We’re always trying to find new, surprising ways to show art through our gallery that aren’t the white-wall gallery exhibitions,” said Chase-Daniel.</p>
<p>Like Heinemann, other artists were invited to be part of the coloring book, while some answered an open call from Axle Contemporary. The people who applied and were assigned stories to illustrate ranged from well-established artists with whom the gallery had worked previously to high school students. Chase-Daniel and Wellman ended up using all the submissions.</p>
<p>The story authors – Melody Sumner Carnahan, Joe Hayes, Nasario Garcia, Lily Hoang and Jamie Figuerora – were invited into the project in February. Their charge, according to Chase-Daniel, was to provide stories “rich with imagery.”</p>
<p>While Garcia used his New Mexico roots to craft his story about a Santa Clara boy, others used past experiences or derived them from folklore. And not all the stories are new. Hayes, known for decades of storytelling sessions on Museum Hill and around northern New Mexico, said he has been telling his tale of a coyote wanting to dance with a star for the past 30 years.</p>
<p>Sumner Carnahan, a Santa Fe-based author, used notes from a trip to Barcelona to create her story “(BREATHE),” which describes various animals, people and scenery she saw in the Spanish city. The artists assigned to illustrate the story chose different elements to illustrate. “People picked up on things I would have never imagined,” Sumner Carnhan said.</p>
<p>Heinemann, who was among those who illustrated “(BREATHE),” said she took images described by the author and visualized them in symbolic ways. Because the story mentions Cupid, she puts arrows through the main character’s hair. Instead of drawing swans that are highlighted in the story, she placed small feathers above the woman’s head.</p>
<p>“It’s more exciting for the viewer to notice the little details … details that took more time to see,” said Heinemann. “It’s more satisfying that way.”</p>
<p>Axle Contemporary’s owners said they knew they would get a wide variety of styles of art, both among the various stories and within a single story. But all of the visuals have something that the readers will recognize after reading the short stories.</p>
<p>“If you look at most coloring books, they’re almost all the vision of one illustrator,” said Wellman. “This is a really wonderful way of [expanding] it.”</p>
<p>A reading and book-signing will be in the Museum of Art’s courtyard on Aug. 27. Coloring books and the artists’ original drawings will be on sale in the mobile gallery this month.</p>
<p /> | Local artists, authors collaborate on coloring book | false | https://abqjournal.com/1046365/local-artists-authors-collaborate-on-coloring-book.html | 2017-08-11 | 2 |
<p>In which the author, exclusively for CounterPunch, goes by train but also by ferry, bicycle, plane, and rental car from Nairobi, Kenya, to Pretoria and Johannesburg, South Africa. This is Part VII. <a href="" type="internal">To read part I, click here</a>.</p>
<p>A sleeping car of the National Railways of Zimbabwe, on the line in Bulawayo, a junction near South Africa and Botswana from where it is possible to take an overnight train Victoria Falls.</p>
<p>The (Very Slow) Night Train from Harare to Bulawayo</p>
<p>I was sorry to leave my Airbnb perch in Harare. (There’s a mournful passage in The Fear: “That’s what this place does to you. It makes you want to belong.”) I don’t often get to eat my meals with a cockatoo perched on my shoulder, and it was a pleasure to have a bicycle, not a pleading taxi driver, to take me around. And the guest room came with a purring orange cat and a cascade of hot water (my first in Africa).</p>
<p>The night train to Bulawayo, even though I was in first class, had fewer amenities. The sleeping car looked to be of a 1950s vintage. The initials “RR” (for Rhodesia Railways) were etched into the filthy glass. I took my place in compartment D, which had an ample berth and open window; otherwise, with the faded mahogany of the paneling and dim lighting, it felt as though I had booked passage on a sinking ship.</p>
<p>Consisting of a few coaches, the sleeper, and some freight cars, the train departed exactly on time, at 20:00, and I slept with my door chained shut, although a determined thief could easily have shoved it open.</p>
<p>The conductor, instead of wearing a hat and uniform, had on a Pittsburgh Steelers’ sweatshirt, and some Antonio Brown bling around his neck. When he demanded to see my ticket and wanted me to move compartments, I recoiled, fearing a scam, and asked to see his railway badge, which he produced. So I changed compartments. But he had lacked a solution for the problem that no running water was present on the train, including in the toilets.</p>
<p>I went to bed thinking that at least I would wake up when the train arrived at 7:00 in Bulawayo. I spent an unsettled night, as the air in the compartment was chilly and the ballast of the old tracks caused the train to rock and roll. The line seemed a long way from Cecil Rhodes’ transcontinental colonial dream: “Now we shan’t be long to Cairo.”</p>
<p>In the early morning, when I saw we were entering a large station (not all have signs), I thought maybe we had arrived, but it turned out to be the town of Gweru, which is 138 miles from Harare. In ten hours the train had averaged 13.8 m.p.h. We were halfway to Bulawayo.</p>
<p>Needless to say, the National Railways of Zimbabwe isn’t in the habit of attaching dining cars to the few trains that it operates, so breakfast was the last of my water bottle and Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, which I retrieved from the recesses of my Kindle. The stories of Charlie Marlow would, I hoped, distract me from thinking about hot coffee.</p>
<p>Between Gweru and Bulawayo, the landscape is largely uncultivated. In a few towns, I saw a handful of small factories—one was making shoes, another spark plugs—but essentially the land is a prairie in search of little houses.</p>
<p>What a shame that, when Mugabe’s supporters all decided they needed to live in the wild, he didn’t let them move onto these unclaimed lands. Instead, the settlers were instruments of revenge for more than one hundred years of colonial white rule.</p>
<p>Breakfast with Joseph Conrad</p>
<p>It was surreal to be reading Conrad as the train ambled across what is called the Matabeleland, the prairie brush land between Gweru and Bulawayo. We were five hours late, and for the first time in my African adventures, none of the stations had hawkers selling cookies, hard-boiled eggs, and bottled water, any of which would have sufficed for breakfast.</p>
<p>I first read Heart of Darkness in Harry Shaw’s high school English class in the eleventh grade. I still have my paperback copy of the book, and see now that mostly I underlined words that I didn’t know (trireme, concertina, morose), probably to sharpen my SAT skills. Since then I have thought of Conrad as a great writer, even though at times his English can sound like Google Translate, as if transcribed from Polish.</p>
<p>Heart of Darkness was written early in the twentieth century when Belgium’s King Leopold was using his Congo colony as a private forced labor camp for the embellishment of Brussels and the royal family.</p>
<p>Since high school, I have read the short novel every five or ten years, as the mood strikes me. On this reading, maybe because I am older, I found it stronger as a reflection on man’s fate (“We live as we dream—alone…”) more than as an account of colonial barbarism (“The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. . . ”).</p>
<p>On this reading I confess I didn’t love the ending, when Marlow meets Kurtz’s girlfriend (“The Intended”) and glosses over the circumstances of the trader’s death, stating—to protect her delicate feelings—that his last words were her name, not “The horror! The horror!” (words few jilted brides would want to hear).</p>
<p>Nor could I figure out why Marlow became such a Kurtz fan out there on the river, except that he admires the trader’s perseverance and loyalty, however misplaced the cause.</p>
<p>Earlier Marlow had said about Kurtz: “His was an impenetrable darkness. I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of a precipice where the sun never shines.” But like many of us, he changed his mind when he met him.</p>
<p>At least reading Conrad as the train crept through western Zimbabwe did give my own travels some meaning, as at times on these African roads I had felt as aimless as Marlow adrift on the river, heading upstream for unknown destinations.</p>
<p>Conrad writes: “I don’t like work—no man does—but I like what is in the work,—the chance to find yourself. Your own reality—for yourself, not for others—what no other man can ever know.” I read it as a credo, although I finished the book still unsure if I am more Marlow or Kurtz.</p>
<p>Bulawayo: Cashing Out of the World Economy</p>
<p>No more than ten passengers got off the train in Bulawayo when it arrived six hours late. During the night the express (so to speak) had picked up a number of empty coal cars, giving me the feeling, as I walked along the platform, that I had spent the night hopping freights.</p>
<p>I still didn’t have any local currency (Zim bonds) or small U.S. bills, although that wasn’t an issue at the colonial-era station (the cornerstone was laid in 1913), as no taxis were waiting. I thought of testing the advertised shower room but knew that such a plan would only end in disappointment.</p>
<p>I headed into the downtown, walking past the cooling towers of a power plant and along a raised, covered sidewalk as if entering Bulawayo in a cowboy novel.</p>
<p>On the walk, with the mid-day sun creasing my neck, I decided that while in the countryside Zimbabwe looks like the American West, in town it feels like the Deep South, in the early era of desegregation.</p>
<p>The architecture was that of the planter culture, even though the tempo in the streets was African. Bulawayo might well have been Greenville, South Carolina in the early 1960s.</p>
<p>I went to about six ATM machines, including those of Barclays and Standard Chartered, only to discover that all of them were without local cash, which meant I couldn’t take a taxi or pay for the hotel where I had booked. Nor could I use any of my credit cards.</p>
<p>Not having eaten or drunk anything in fifteen hours and feeling like some disoriented pilgrim on hot, dusty roads, I retreated to the Bulawayo Club, in the center of the small city, and cut a deal with the manager to pay for a room with U.S. dollars.</p>
<p>On one of my train websites, I had read that the club is a bastion of colonial culture, and after I had settled into my room—as if some English subaltern on assignment to the colonies in the nineteenth century—I drank a cold beer and ate a club sandwich in the courtyard restaurant.</p>
<p>Around me were portraits of a vanished Rhodesia, which declared Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965 but surrendered power to Mugabe and ZANU-PF in 1980.</p>
<p>Alexandra Fuller writes in Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: “Rhodesia has more history stuffed into its make-believe, colonial dream borders than one country the size of a very large teapot should be able to amass in less than a hundred years.”</p>
<p>Whites are now less than one-half of one percent of the population. Of the 16.6 million people in Zimbabwe, only about 28,000 are white, and most of them live in or near Harare. Before they were spread across the land, especially in farming communities along the border with Mozambique.</p>
<p>Mugabe’s ethnic cleansing ended that era. But his racialist policies were also a disaster for black families. Godwin writes in The Fear: “The farmers’ organization JAG (Justice for Agriculture) claims that more than half a million displaced farm workers and their dependents have perished in the decade since their expulsion, of starvation and disease.”</p>
<p>The saddest part about Zimbabwe is that for the first decade of majority rule it was all so promising. White farmers and their culture were accepted as an important minority in the country’s future, and the economy was among the strongest in Africa.</p>
<p>That changed when Mugabe felt threatened not just by the whites but by moderate black parties. Godwin hears in one of his interviews: “In a sense, I would say that Robert Mugabe is a prisoner of his own past and he is a prisoner of his own political generation. I see in his character many similarities with Ian Smith—[particularly,] obduracy . . .”</p>
<p>Godwin also poses this question of his homeland: “Why have we allowed him to become the Kim Il-Sung of Africa? We are cosmopolitan and worldly-wise.”</p>
<p>Perhaps the answer can be found in Conrad. On his way up the river, Marlow says about Kurtz: “The thing was to know what he belonged to, how many powers of darkness claimed him for their own.”</p>
<p>Bulawayo to Francistown: One Hundred Miles</p>
<p>Without any ability to convert money into local currency until I checked out of the Bulawayo Club, I had to content myself as a club man, which was no hardship. I was tired from the restless night on the train, and I spent the afternoon catching up on my notes and studying my road and rail maps, trying to figure out a way out of town.</p>
<p>For most of the weekend, I was the club’s only guest, which made it feel as though I was alone in an English manor house, attended by a large and obliging staff.</p>
<p>Looking back, I wish I had known that the Movement for Democratic Change parliamentarian David Coltart lived in Bulawayo, as his book, The Struggle Continues: 50 Years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe, is among the best on the dark politics of the Mugabe regime and that of the struggling opposition.</p>
<p>Cheerful as were the waiters and porters in the club, none of them had any good ideas about how I might get to Francistown, in Botswana, about a hundred miles to the southwest. Everyone knew that buses went there, but not everyone agreed on where they stopped or what time they departed.</p>
<p>On one of my walks around town, I found a busy street corner that was catering to long-haul buses, and there learned that if I turned up on Sunday around 12:30, I would have my choice of “long-haul” carriers to Francistown. When I asked how long the ride took, a tout shrugged and said, “Only about two hours.”</p>
<p>On Sunday just after noon and with a heavy heart, I left the club (it had served me Sunday breakfast in the formal dining room, knowing that I would enjoy the ambiance). I trudged along Fourth Street in the hot sun until I found the makeshift bus depot, which was an intersection of hawkers, minivans, big buses, and pedestrians hiding in the shade of a sidewalk overhang.</p>
<p>At last I had a few dollars of local currency. For $10 I bought a ticket to Francistown and sat on a sidewalk stone for twenty minutes until the bus arrived and I was hustled on board. Finally, I thought, I might be having good luck with an African transportation system. Little did I know.</p>
<p>The bus sat there for about an hour and a half in the baking sun. The driver and the conductor climbed on and off the vehicle about two dozen times. They drank water. They spoke on their cell phones. They joked with friends from other buses. They smoked cigarettes on the street. They rolled up official-looking papers and unrolled them. In short, they did nothing for ninety minutes that could not have been done in ten.</p>
<p>While the passengers were glued to their seats, hawkers crawled all over the bus, selling frozen bottles of water and peanuts.</p>
<p>To the pass the time I read on my Kindle; it’s my traveling bookstore. For awful moments (such as this one, on a sun-baked stalled bus in Bulawayo), I carry on with the twelve volumes of The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt 1725-1798, which I have been reading, on and off, for the last four years, when nothing else will hold my attention. The memoirs have to be among the finest in any language, despite or because of Casanova’s endless pursuit of women. (His elegant prose is a form of seduction.)</p>
<p>When I looked up from my reading (“Love is three quarters curiosity…”), it was to scan the horizon for an inkling that the bus might soon be departing. Still, I didn’t worry too much, as my night train was at 21:00. I still had seven hours to travel a hundred miles. In my mind I even hummed some verses of Peter, Paul and Mary:</p>
<p>If you missed the train I’m on You will know that I am gone You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles A hundred miles, a hundred miles, A hundred miles, a hundred miles You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles</p>
<p>Finally, the bus left downtown Bulawayo at 14:30, crawled through the outskirts, and headed toward the border, 60 miles to the south. It had taken a while, but, now, I hoped, we might make up some of the lost time. The road was empty, and the landscape on the other side of the two-lane asphalt was a broad African plain, as if borrowed from a London Underground travel poster.</p>
<p>We had not driven twenty minutes from Bulawayo when the bus slowed down and turned right off the highway into a dusty rest stop. All the passengers piled off the bus and lined up at a makeshift grill in the center of the sun-baked parking lot.</p>
<p>The meal stop lasted about 30 minutes. When we left, it was close to 15:30. In four hours I had only traveled ten miles from the club. I recalled that man-about-town Casanova always had better luck (in all senses) than I did, as when he writes of eighteenth century travel: “The next day we ascended Mont Cenis in sedan-chairs, and we descended to the Novalaise in mountain-sledges.”</p>
<p>Into Botswana: Trafficking on the Outlaw Express</p>
<p>A little before 17:00 the bus pulled up to a border building, a relatively (for Zimbabwe) modern structure. All the bags on the bus—many large sacks containing who knows what—were offloaded and lined up on the pavement.</p>
<p>The passengers went inside to get stamped out of Zimbabwe, and then we stood around the luggage for another thirty minutes. I asked one of my fellow travelers what we were waiting for, and he said: “They’re scanning the bus.” It made the bus sound like a trick knee, from an old football injury.</p>
<p>Around 17:45 the bus returned from the scanner, all the luggage was returned to the hold, and we drove a half mile to Botswana immigration and customs. A woman on the bus said to me, somewhat ominously: “This side can sometimes be a problem.”</p>
<p>I breezed through the border procedures, which included disinfecting my sandals. (I had to stand in a puddle of some chemical product.) A customs guard went through my backpack carefully. He wasn’t looked for guns, ammo, or cocaine. All he wanted to know was: “Do you have more shoes?” (I let him discover on his own that my packing of choice is the hobo’s roll, plus a computer, Kindle, and enough maps to outfit the German General Staff.)</p>
<p>Past the Botswana frontier—it is called Ramokgwebana—the passengers had to walk for a kilometer to a parking lot outside the controlled border area, where again we had to wait for the bus, presumably getting another scan.</p>
<p>Now it was 18:15, and I was getting nervous for my 21:00 train, for which I needed to buy a ticket. I had tried to buy one online, as Botswana Railways has a surprisingly good website (overall, compared to most African countries, Botswana is functional). But each time I had logged on, there was a glitch when it came to paying.</p>
<p>In the Ramokgwebana parking lot, the bus drivers took another forty-minute break (smoking, talking on their phone, shuffling papers, etc.). I watched the sunset over the savanna, beautiful even near a border crossing, and fretted even more about my 21:00 train</p>
<p>We had sixty miles to cover, and, when the bus finally began rolling, I figured we could certainly cover that distance in less than two hours. But by this point, I had traveled about eighty miles in seven hours.</p>
<p>No sooner had the bus accelerated to an acceptable speed than I saw ahead of us (Botswana has excellent roads) the flashing blue lights of a police car manning a military checkpoint.</p>
<p>I had thought that, compared to lockdown Zimbabwe, Botswana might be a country of indifferent police, but here in the darkness on a remote stretch of road the bus was stopping at a security checkpoint. My heart sank further.</p>
<p>A squad of Botswana police—at least they were dressed nicely and had an unthreatening manor—boarded the bus from both ends and began carefully studying passports and visas, as happens in World War II thrillers in Germany.</p>
<p>Mine were no trouble, but near to me a woman and her children were escorted off the bus, where on the side of the road I could see several open trucks full of people who, clearly, had some issues with their papers.</p>
<p>Just when I thought the visa checking was done, more police arrived on the scene. Behind me, I could hear scuffling and commotion until a woman officer boarded the bus with several pairs of handcuffs and headed toward the back.</p>
<p>After a few minutes, the police led off about ten men who I had never seen at any of our many stops. They were scruffy looking, with dark complexions (perhaps from the Congo?), and it turned out they had been hiding in the bus bathroom and in the luggage hold, to get into Botswana or South Africa. So much for those Zimbabwean scanners.</p>
<p>The appearance of the illegals prompted the police to shout loudly: “Where’s the driver? Where’s the conductor?” I was tempted to say, “They might be having a break,” but this wasn’t a moment for levity. The man next to me whispered to me that they had legged it into the nearby woods.</p>
<p>It took a long time, so it seemed, to handcuff all the turnstile jumpers and lead them off the bus.Then an army woman, with a menacing glare, announced: “This bus is being sent back to the border and is part of a criminal investigation.” (Lloyd Bridges as controller Steve McCroskey in the movie Airplane!: “Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop smoking…”)</p>
<p>The Getaway Car</p>
<p>Fortunately, I had kept my backpack with me and had stashed it over my seat. I had resisted stowing it underneath, just on the off chance I needed to do a runner, which was now.</p>
<p>I grabbed my backpack and got off the bus, and said to the policewoman in charge of the bust: “I have a train in Francistown at 21:00.” It was now 19:45.</p>
<p>Around me, the other passengers were pleading with the police and army not to impound the bus and send it back to Ramokgwebana. They were talking about jobs waiting from them in Gaborone and bus connections to Angola.</p>
<p>I was prepared for the policewoman to order me back onto the Outlaw Express (motto: “Escape in our spacious restrooms…”). Instead, to my pleasant surprise, she said in a voice of quiet confidence: “I’ll help you. Follow me.”</p>
<p>She walked me forward of the crime scene—I counted about thirty illegals in two army trucks, many wearing plastic handcuffs, some cradling babies. It was The Raft of the Medusa, having washed ashore into the savanna.</p>
<p>The policewoman and I stood silently on the side of the dark road, waiting for a passing car or some other vehicles to appear. We might have been on a lonely stretch of highway in Holcomb, Kansas (where the random killings in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood took place).</p>
<p>It took five minutes, but eventually, with her flashlight and reflective vest, she waved down a passing car, opened the back door, told the driver about my train&#160; deadline in Francistown, and pushed me inside. If I had ordered Uber to this remote road in northern Botswana, it would not have been as magical as this ride.</p>
<p>The driver was not at all nonplussed, said to me in English that he knew the train station, and took off at high speed, committed to the game of getting me to the train on time. We did stop for two other hitchhikers, but they were told that the first stop in Francistown would be my train station.</p>
<p>Everyone rode quietly in the darkness, but the driver drove with excellent judgment and speed. How ironic that the only time in Africa I felt completely safe was while hitch-hiking at night in Botswana.</p>
<p>Just when I thought, “I might just make this train,” I saw more flashing blue lights ahead, and yet again I was back in the snare of a police checkpoint. The driver pulled over the car. The police looked at everyone’s passport. And then, to my immense relief, we were sent on our way. Mercifully, no one was hiding in the trunk.</p>
<p>We arrived in Francistown (a small city) at 20:35. Five minutes later I was at the station, where I found a long, orderly queue (Bechuanaland was once a British protectorate) to buy tickets.</p>
<p>I had no choice but to stand helplessly in the queue. But when a real ticket agent poked his head out of the office shed, I pounced and told him I needed to pay with either dollars or a credit card.</p>
<p>“No, you can’t,” he said, but in a friendly manner, “we only take pula (the Botswana currency). But I can take you to an ATM.” Imagine an Amtrak clerk dashing with a confused foreign passenger to a nearby cash machine.</p>
<p>We left the station line on the run and found a bank machine around the dark corner. I madly inserted my ATM card and prayed that this time the machine would have cash. It did. By 20:56 we were jogging toward the train platform. “You can buy your ticket on the train,” the agent said with a friendly wave, “now that you have cash.”</p>
<p>With stunning promptness, the brand new night train to Gaborone and Lobatse left the station at 21:00. I still cannot believe that I was on it.</p>
<p>The Train Across Botswana: Nights in White Satin</p>
<p>A few minutes later I gave the conductor about $25 (in pula) and one of his assistants kindly walked me forward to a sleeping car, where I had the top berth in a compartment with four beds. The car felt factory new. I could easily have been in Germany.</p>
<p>The other three beds had sleeping men in them, so all I did was take off my shoes, stow my bag, climb a ladder, and slip into my bunk (it felt like a dream), where I slept, without waking, until the sun began peeking through the curtain at 5:00.</p>
<p>All of my fellow travelers got off the train at 5:30 in Gaborone, the Botswana capital. I was staying on the train until Lobatse, which is, relatively speaking, close to the South African town of Mafikeng (in the Boer War it was called Mafeking, and it was the scene of a fateful siege that lasted almost a year).</p>
<p>There my plan was to study the siege lines and catch a short flight to Johannesburg. But first I had to get from the train station in Lobatse across the border to Mafikeng.</p>
<p>My Botswana train, incredibly, arrived on time. By 7:45 I had taken a taxi from the station to the local bus terminal, where I was told to stand near a minivan (here they were called combis) destined—so everyone said—for Mafikeng.</p>
<p>Because of the Outlaw Express, I had missed lunch and dinner (save for some cookies) the day before, and breakfast this morning. The only food group on sale at the bus depot was an eye-opener of “pineapple-flavored Fanta,” but it was cold and I drank it.</p>
<p>The driver for the Mafikeng van never showed up, so I was put aboard another combi that was headed only to the Botswana border. From there, I was told, I could walk across the frontier into South Africa, and on the other side catch a local bus heading into Mafikeng, one of the fulcrums of the Anglo-Boer wars—those first shots in the African wars of independence.&#160;</p>
<p>Up next: Walking from Botswana into South Africa. Remembering the novelist Alan Paton. The siege of Mafeking. Winston Churchill escapes from his Boer War prison. <a href="" type="internal">To read Part VI, please click here</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Into Africa: Tracking Into Botswana With Conrad and Casanova | true | https://counterpunch.org/2018/01/09/into-africa-tracking-into-botswana-with-conrad-and-casanova/ | 2018-01-09 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Lest anyone believe Vice President Pence’s claim that “this commission has no preconceived notions or preordained results,” Trump was on hand last week to state clearly what its agenda is.</p>
<p>With the resignation of Sean Spicer as White House press secretary and the rise of Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications czar – an appropriate word these days – the television cameras are riveted on the latest reality show, “Spicey and The Mooch.” But we dare not lose track of the threat the Trump Administration poses to the most basic of democratic rights.</p>
<p>Remember that in January, Trump told congressional leaders that between 3 million and 5 million illegal votes were cast in last year’s election and that they were the reason he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.9 million.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>There is not a shred of evidence for this – none, zero, zilch. Trump’s defenders could find no plausible way to support his statement, which is not unusual. But Trump never backs off from a falsehood. So instead, he did something without precedent: He appointed a presidential commission solely to justify an offhand lie. And now that this body exists, it will almost certainly try to find ways to rationalize purging legitimate voters from the rolls and erecting yet more barriers to voting.</p>
<p>Trump would not let the commissioners forget their reason for being there, his belief phantom votes really exist, although he put his own words into the mouths of unnamed “people,” who – surprise! – came to the same conclusions he did.</p>
<p>“Throughout the campaign and even after it,” Trump said, “people would come up to me and express their concerns about voter inconsistencies and irregularities, which they saw. In some cases, having to do with very large numbers of people in certain states.”</p>
<p>The commission issued a sweeping request to the states for data that included everything from voters’ Social Security numbers, military status and party affiliation to felony convictions.</p>
<p>Trump purported to be pleased because “more than 30 states have already agreed to share the information with the commission.” In truth, the request has been met with widespread resistance from Republican as well as Democratic officials. As of July 8, the Associated Press reported not a single state was in full compliance. The Republican secretary of state of Mississippi, Delbert Hosemann, spoke for many of his colleagues – with a regional twist – when he told the administration to “go jump in the Gulf of Mexico.”</p>
<p>Trump is not happy, and he responded in the way he knows best: with innuendo questioning the motives of others. “If any state does not want to share this information, one has to wonder what they’re worried about. And I asked the vice president, I asked the commission: What are they worried about?” Excellent question. Here’s what we should worry about:</p>
<p>• We should worry about the security of the data. States have absolutely no confidence that the Trump administration will protect it. They also have every reason to fear Trump will misuse it.</p>
<p>• We should worry because his commission is the furthest thing imaginable from a dispassionate investigation into voting procedures.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>• We should worry because Kris Kobach, Kansas’ secretary of state, is vice chairman of the commission. He is a voter suppression fanatic. He is also a Trump flunkie. The Washington Post’s Philip Bump, who is doing an excellent job covering this charade, noted when NBC’s Katy Tur asked him about the 3 million to 5 million fraudulent vote claim, Kobach said: “We will probably never know the answer to that question.” But we do know, and if Kobach thinks we don’t, not a single state should trust him with a single bit of information.</p>
<p>• We should worry because, as Ari Berman noted in The Nation, a new study by MIT found 12 percent of the electorate in 2016 encountered a problem voting, and the Brennan Center reported more states have enacted new voting restrictions in 2017 than in 2015 and 2016 combined. This commission will push states to enact even more laws like these.</p>
<p>• We should worry because the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013 and this Congress has shown no signs of wanting to fix it.</p>
<p>• We should worry about the Trump administration closing civil rights offices and the Justice Department switching sides in voting rights cases. As Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said: “I am old enough to remember when African Americans were denied access to the ballot box, and I fear that we are watching history repeat itself.” We should worry Elijah Cummings’ intuition is right.</p>
<p>E-mail: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Twitter: @EJDionne.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Election integrity under threat by commission | false | https://abqjournal.com/1037689/election-integrity-under-threat-by-commission.html | 2 |
|
<p>In their new book "Without Precedent," 9/11 Commission Chairmen Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton discuss their frustration with the Pentagon and FAA, whose misstatements almost led to an investigation into possible deception. The authors also lament the softball questioning of Rudy Giuliani, which they say damaged their report. Additionally, the book suggests that the panel nearly dissolved over whether to examine the alleged connection between the 9/11 attacks and the war in Iraq.</p>
<p />
<p>:</p>
<p>Kean and Hamilton said the commission found it mind-boggling that authorities had asserted during hearings that their air defenses had reacted quickly and were prepared to shoot down United Airlines Flight 93, which appeared headed toward Washington.</p>
<p />
<p>In fact, the commission determined - after it subpoenaed audiotapes and e-mails of the sequence of events - that the shootdown order did not reach North American Aerospace Command pilots until after all of the hijacked planes had crashed.</p>
<p>The book states that commission staff, "exceedingly frustrated" by what they thought could be deception, proposed a full review into why the FAA and the Pentagon's NORAD had presented inaccurate information. That ultimately could have led to sanctions.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060805/ap_on_go_ot/sept11_commission_7" type="external">Link</a></p> | 9/11 Commissioners Troubled by Pentagon, FAA and Giuliani | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/911-commissioners-troubled-by-pentagon-faa-and-giuliani/ | 2006-08-06 | 4 |
<p />
<p>This cartoon requires Macromedia’s Flash Player. If you don’t see the cartoon above, <a href="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="external">download the player here</a>.</p>
<p>Mark Fiore is an editorial cartoonist and animator whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Examiner, and dozens of other publications. He is an active member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists, and has a <a href="http://www.markfiore.com" type="external">web site</a> featuring his work.</p>
<p /> | From the Trenches to the Benches | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2001/10/trenches-benches/ | 2001-10-30 | 4 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-133605278/stock-photo-guns-and-ammunition.html?src=zl-fxYI_FcPAksDt9BlZVw-1-71"&gt;Burlingham&lt;/a&gt;/Shutterstock</p>
<p />
<p>Even before today’s <a href="" type="internal">tragic shooting in San Bernardino</a>, pressure was building in Washington to overturn an amendment, backed by the National Rifle Association, that has barred federal research on gun violence for nearly 20 years. More than 2,000 physicians, dozens of Democratic lawmakers, and even the author of the amendment have all called on Congress to once again allow gun violence to be investigated as a public health issue.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, <a href="http://www.drsforamerica.org/press-releases/over-2000-physicians-urge-congress-to-end-the-ban-on-cdc-and-nih-gun-violence-research" type="external">nine medical associations publicly urged Congress to overturn the so-called Dickey Amendment</a>, which in 1996 effectively halted research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) into the causes of gun violence.</p>
<p>“Gun violence is a public health problem that kills 90 Americans a day,” Dr. Alice Chen, the executive director of Doctors for America, said in a statement. “Physicians believe it’s time to lift this effective ban and fund the research needed to save lives.”</p>
<p>Tacked onto a 1996 appropriations bill, the Dickey Amendment was pushed through Congress by Republican legislators under substantial pressure from the NRA, as the amendment’s author, former Rep. Jay Dickey (R-Ark.), admitted <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-wont-know-the-cause-of-gun-violence-until-we-look-for-it/2012/07/27/gJQAPfenEX_story.html" type="external">in a 2012 op-ed in the Washington Post</a> that he co-authored. Dickey wrote that the lack of research by the NIH and the CDC had resulted in a troubling information gap: “US scientists cannot answer the most basic question: What works to prevent firearm injuries? We don’t know whether having more citizens carry guns would decrease or increase firearm deaths; or whether firearm registration and licensing would make inner-city residents safer or expose them to greater harm.”</p>
<p>The doctors are not alone in calling for the amendment to be overturned: Late last month, dozens of House Democrats <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/house/260965-dems-push-to-end-ban-on-gun-violence-research" type="external">made a similar plea</a> to renew federal research on gun violence. “We dedicate $240 million a year on traffic safety research, more than $233 million a year on food safety, and $331 million a year on the effects of tobacco, but almost nothing on firearms that kill 33,000 Americans annually,” they wrote <a href="http://speier.house.gov/images/pdf/GunViolenceResearch_Nov15.pdf" type="external">in a letter</a> to senior representatives in charge of appropriations. A few weeks before that, Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) <a href="https://honda.house.gov/news/press-releases/honda-introduces-bill-to-help-prevent-mass-shootings" type="external">submitted a bill</a> called the Gun Violence Research Act with the express purpose of “helping identify and treat those prone to committing mass shootings.”</p>
<p>Dickey himself has repeatedly urged Congress to overturn the provision that bears his name. In <a href="http://mikethompson.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/thompson-former-rep-jay-dickey-calls-to-end-federal-ban-on-gun-violence" type="external">a letter published Wednesday</a> by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, Dickey wrote, “Doing nothing is no longer an acceptable solution.”</p>
<p>“I commend Jay Dickey for taking this stand,” Thompson wrote in response. “As gun owners, we want to protect the Second Amendment. But at the same time, we recognize the fact that we can safeguard those rights while also allowing our expert scientists to conduct research on how to best prevent gun violence.”</p>
<p>A Mother Jones investigation published this summer found that <a href="" type="internal">gun violence costs the United States a staggering $229 billion every year</a>.</p>
<p /> | A Lot of People Are Telling Congress to Repeal Its Gag Order on Gun Violence Research | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2015/12/pressure-builds-gun-research-congress/ | 2015-12-02 | 4 |
<p>Today, beginning at 10 a.m., the three elected National Deputies from the Left and Workers? Front (FIT) are being sworn in: Nicol??s del Ca??o (Mendoza, PTS), N??stor Pitrola (Province of Buenos Aires, PO) and Pablo L??pez (Salta, PO), while the seat for the Province of C??rdoba continues in dispute, since the Supreme Court will have to deal with the request of the FIT, for the ballot boxes to be opened. The Deputies that are taking office have, in addition, presented a brief in the Chamber of Deputies challenging the entry of Diego Mestre, who is trying to enter the Lower Chamber by cheating the Left and Workers? Front out of one parliamentary seat.</p>
<p>The fact that three Deputies that are Trotskyists will take office is unprecedented in the politics of Argentina.Nicol??s del Ca??o, of the PTS, stated that "We are going to put our parliamentary seats at the service of the workers' struggles against the employers, the government and the union bureaucracy. We are going to support the struggle to recover the unions, in order to confront austerity and the limits on wages that the government wants to impose. Our parliamentary seats will also be a platform and a rostrum, so that the struggle of the women's movement against the clerical reform of the Civil Code and for the law that will guarantee legal, safe and free abortion, can be expressed."</p>
<p>Del Ca??o also recalled yesterday: "The representatives of the Left and Workers? Front have today presented before the Supreme Court a Special Appeal demanding that 2,160 ballot boxes in C??rdoba, that contain abundant irregularities and that, up to now, left out our comrade Liliana Olivero, be opened. We also presented a similar appeal in the Chamber of Deputies, with all the precedents and grounds for our complaint." Today, while the session where the Deputies will assume their parliamentary seats is taking place, the Left and Workers? Front will hold a gathering on the outskirts of the Congress, from 11 a.m., to celebrate this event and to demand that the will of the voters of C??rdoba be respected and that Deputy Liliana Olivero (C??rdoba, Izquierda Socialista) be allowed to take office promptly.</p>
<p>Contact: Nicol??s del Ca??o (0261) 470 6345 | @NicolasDelCano</p> | Today, three Trotskyists are taking office as National Deputies: Gathering and action at the Congress | true | https://leftvoice.org/Today-three-Trotskyists-are-taking-office-as-National-Deputies-Gathering-and-action-at-the-Congress | 2013-12-04 | 4 |
<p>DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — A Powerball ticket sold in Dickinson is worth $100,000 in the latest drawing.</p>
<p>North Dakota lottery officials say the ticket matched four white balls and the Powerball in Saturday's drawing to win the game's $50,000 third prize, and an option that was purchased doubled the amount.</p>
<p>The winning numbers were 14, 25, 35, 58 and 69, and the Powerball was 24.</p>
<p>The odds of winning the third prize in Powerball are 1 in about 913,000. The winner has about six months to claim the prize.</p>
<p>Powerball is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The jackpot is at $62 million for the next drawing, on Wednesday.</p>
<p>DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — A Powerball ticket sold in Dickinson is worth $100,000 in the latest drawing.</p>
<p>North Dakota lottery officials say the ticket matched four white balls and the Powerball in Saturday's drawing to win the game's $50,000 third prize, and an option that was purchased doubled the amount.</p>
<p>The winning numbers were 14, 25, 35, 58 and 69, and the Powerball was 24.</p>
<p>The odds of winning the third prize in Powerball are 1 in about 913,000. The winner has about six months to claim the prize.</p>
<p>Powerball is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The jackpot is at $62 million for the next drawing, on Wednesday.</p> | Powerball lottery ticket sold in Dickinson worth $100,000 | false | https://apnews.com/amp/ec43c9248f5b455481a40eb015b512fe | 2018-01-16 | 2 |
<p>WASHINGTON — Unhappy anniversary to you, Gitmo.</p>
<p>On Jan. 11, 2002, the first 20 captives in the “war on terror” were flown from Afghanistan to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. At the time, the flight seemed a necessary byproduct of military action to topple the Taliban and detain prisoners of war who may have been complicit in the 9/11 terrorist attacks or other plots.</p>
<p>Now the compound is America’s shame.</p>
<p>Like the Iraq war, it is a totem to the Bush administration’s blinkered belief in its own righteousness, and an enduring marker for the president’s uninhibited shredding of the laws that the United States and the rest of the civilized world long ago agreed to live by. It is, as well, a monument to President Bush’s undisguised disdain for the facts.</p>
<p />
<p>In the beginning, we were told that those rounded up and shipped to Guantanamo from all corners of the world — they were not just taken from the “battlefield” in Afghanistan, but also from other countries far from the fighting — were the “worst of the worst.” Within days of that first flight, Vice President Dick Cheney described the detainees as “the worst of a very bad lot. They are very dangerous. They are devoted to killing millions of Americans, innocent Americans.” Bush himself would later claim: “They were there to kill.”</p>
<p>Now we know the military itself determined that more than half the so-called enemy combatants at Guantanamo committed no hostile act against the United States. Only 7 percent of detainees actually were picked up by U.S. or coalition forces, according to a review of official documents by Seton Hall University Law School. The rest were rounded up by Pakistani authorities, various local militias and armed groups — and by bounty hunters who sold them for handsome sums.</p>
<p>Despite two Supreme Court rulings to the contrary, the government’s official policy remains that the detainees have no right to contest their confinement or even to see evidence that is the supposed basis for their indefinite incarceration.</p>
<p>In practice, the military’s policy is to release as many detainees to their home countries as possible. The Pentagon says 380 detainees have been released since 2002.</p>
<p>But this endeavor, too, has laid bare the deception at the core of the screeching propaganda that still seeks to depict everyone who ever was brought to Guantanamo — about 395 remain — as determined terrorists. In releasing three men to Albania in November, for example, the Defense Department said it hoped they would be resettled “in an environment that will permit them to rebuild their lives.”</p>
<p>In fact, most of those who’ve been released have been found by their home countries to pose no threat at all. An Associated Press investigation into the fate of 245 released men showed that 205 were either freed without charge or cleared after investigations into the allegations that had landed them at Guantanamo. Afghanistan freed all 83 of its repatriated citizens, saying they were innocent. Most had been rounded up because of tribal or personal rivalries. A Pakistani official told the AP that his government believes most imprisoned Pakistanis had wound up at Guantanamo after being sold to U.S. forces by Afghan warlords.</p>
<p>“It’s hard to believe that the government would release terrorists,” says Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, who has handled the cases of six Bahraini men — four of whom have returned home and been quickly released — on behalf of the Center for Constitutional Rights. “It is also hard to believe that a hardened terrorist was somehow rehabilitated at Guantanamo.”</p>
<p>The Bahraini government, Colangelo-Bryan says, promised to try the men if the United States would send any evidence upon which to base a prosecution. None was offered, and no charges were brought.</p>
<p>As it has been in Iraq, so it has been at Guantanamo. Almost everything our government has told us about the prison has proved untrue. Yet the Bush administration clings to its own fallacies. It is unable to break free from them because to do so would be to admit the historic horror of its error.</p>
<p>But the errors of the president are those of the United States. You cannot separate the two. Most of the world sees Guantanamo as Center for Constitutional Rights President Michael Ratner describes it — “an offshore penal colony in which people have no rights.”</p>
<p>Bush fully intends to pass the fate of Guantanamo and those still in its bleak cells to his successor. This moral encumbrance is now part of America’s legacy, too.</p>
<p>Marie Cocco’s e-mail address is [email protected].</p>
<p>Copyright 2007, Washington Post Writers Group</p> | Marie Cocco: An Unhappy Anniversary for Guantanamo | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/marie-cocco-an-unhappy-anniversary-for-guantanamo/ | 2007-01-11 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — It’s a public relations win for the president-elect: Donald Trump’s company says it will donate profits from any foreign governments that use his hotels. In practice, however, the public may never know if any money changes hands.</p>
<p>Trump says he is making the move to avoid the appearance that foreign governments can curry favor with him by using his hotels — including one that just opened a short walk from the White House.</p>
<p>“This way, it is the American people who will profit,” said Sheri Dillion, a lawyer working with the Trump Organization, as she outlined Trump’s plan for his global business empire while he’s president. The hotel-profits money would be sent the U.S. Treasury.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Yet the unusual arrangement left many ethics experts with questions about how it would be implemented, disclosed and enforced. Several panned the idea as an unenforceable PR move.</p>
<p>One key question was about Trump’s definitions.</p>
<p>The donations pledge only includes his hotels, meaning golf courses and other properties are exempt. The policy appears to apply only to “foreign governments,” — a narrow description that seems to overlook governments that use a third-party vendor to do business with Trump. (It does not apply to domestic interests, including companies that may have regulatory business before the government, or domestic lobbyists.)</p>
<p>And then there is the focus on “profit.” Steven Carvell, a Cornell University School of Hotel Administration professor, said it’s not impossible — but is challenging and unusual — to try to calculate “profit” on an individual room or venue rental. Typically, that’s assessed monthly or quarterly and for an entire category — such as the rooms or food and beverage department — within a property.</p>
<p>“It’s a monumental task to constantly run this down,” Carvell said. “Even if the company is trying its hardest and making its very best effort, it will be difficult to fulfill that goal.”</p>
<p>Through a spokeswoman at her firm, Morgan, Lewis &amp; Bockius, Dillon declined to answer questions about the foreign donations pledge. Representatives of the Trump Organization did not return requests for comment, and a transition official answered select questions but requested anonymity to discuss the company’s internal policies.</p>
<p>The official suggested profit from foreign governments “is already accounted for as standard practice for things like competitive analysis.”</p>
<p>U.S. presidents are not subject to the conflict of interest laws that their own appointees must follow, but until now they have followed them anyway to set an example. Trump is blazing a different trail by refusing to give up a financial interest in his company while turning over the reins to his adult sons and a senior executive.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The policy is crafted to address the argument that Trump’s business may not break conflict-of-interest law but does violate the U.S. Constitution.</p>
<p>Some ethics attorneys have argued that some of his international work and foreign government guests at his hotels will put him in violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution. The clause prohibits presidents from accepting gifts and payments from foreign governments without congressional approval.</p>
<p>Trump’s lawyer argues that fair-value exchanges, such as leasing venue space at a hotel, do not violate the clause.</p>
<p>“No one would have thought when the Constitution was written that paying your hotel bill was an emolument,” Dillon said. Still, she said, Trump was taking this step “to put to rest any concerns.”</p>
<p>Just since Election Day, the Embassy of Bahrain and the Kuwaiti Embassy have booked parties at Trump’s Washington hotel. The transition official said the company had not yet determined if the donations rule will extend beyond foreign governments to include other foreign actors such as members of a royal family or government-controlled businesses.</p>
<p>Trump and his representatives didn’t discuss how anyone might know if they’re doing what they promise.</p>
<p>Like other aspects of the self-imposed arrangement, that’s largely a matter of faith. And Trump hasn’t followed through on previous charity pledges, including a failure to give a promised $6 million to veterans’ organizations last year until months later when reporters asked questions about what had happened to the money.</p>
<p>Trump did not commit to disclosing what money was being turned over to the government. The transition official believes the donations will be made “on an annual basis.” The Treasury Department doesn’t typically report the details of donations, citing the privacy of its donors.</p>
<p>Andy Grewal, a University of Iowa law professor whose position that Trump’s hotels do not violate the emoluments clause was cited in Dillon’s briefing Wednesday, said the company should take steps to make clear what it’s doing. Ideally, he said, one of the major accounting firms would calculate profit on the transactions that trigger the donations and report its findings publicly.</p>
<p>“Once you’ve promised to turn over the profits, you have to back that up with documentation, whether you’re required to do that or not,” he said.</p>
<p>The government first established an account to accept gifts and bequests in 1843. The Treasury Department will accept contributions via credit card, debit card, checks and even PayPal. In fiscal 2016, people donated $2.7 million to reduce the debt, an impressive gesture but hardly a scratch on the $14.1 trillion publicly held debt, according to Treasury Department figures.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Chad Day and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.</p>
<p>Follow Julie Bykowicz on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/bykowicz" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/bykowicz</a></p> | Trump plan to donate foreign hotel profits can’t be checked | false | https://abqjournal.com/926663/trump-plan-to-donate-foreign-hotel-profits-cant-be-checked.html | 2017-01-12 | 2 |
<p>Melania Trump, wife of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, speaks in Pennsylvania on Thursday.Patrick Semansky/AP</p>
<p />
<p>Melania Trump booked 10 paid modeling gigs in the United States in 1996 before formally receiving a legal work visa, <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/37dc7aef0ce44077930b7436be7bfd0d/trumps-wife-modeled-us-prior-getting-work-visa" type="external">according to a report published by the Associated Press late Friday night</a>.</p>
<p>New documents uncovered by the AP—including financial ledgers and contracts—contradict Trump’s <a href="https://twitter.com/MELANIATRUMP/status/776050512772886529" type="external">account</a> in September that she “correctly went through the legal process when arriving in the USA.”</p>
<p>The 1996 modeling assignments for the Slovenia-born model, then Melania Knauss, totaled $20,056 and occurred in the seven weeks before she received her work visa, according to the AP.</p>
<p>The documents obtained by the AP show she was paid for 10 modeling assignments between Sept. 10 and Oct. 15, during a time when her visa allowed her generally to be in the U.S. and look for work but not perform paid work in the country. The documents examined by the AP indicate that the modeling assignments would have been outside the bounds of her visa.</p>
<p>Questions about Trump’s early immigration status have swirled ever since the New York Post <a href="http://nypost.com/2016/07/30/melania-trump-like-youve-never-seen-her-before/" type="external">published racy photo-spreads of the GOP nominee’s wife</a> in August. At the time, the tabloid reported the photos were taken in Manhattan in 1995, raising the <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/melania-trump-immigration-donald-226648" type="external">possibility</a> that Trump worked without proper authorization. Trump’s lawyer, Michael J. Wildes, issued a statement flatly denying the story, and the French photographer who shot the photo spread <a href="" type="internal">later told Mother Jones</a> he couldn’t remember the exact date of the shoot. (The Post corrected its story to note the photo shoot took place in 1996,and appeared in a 1997 issue of French Max magazine.)</p>
<p />
<p>Mother Jones <a href="" type="internal">first reported in August</a> that Donald Trump’s own prestigious modeling agency, Trump Model Management, used foreign models without proper work visas—a common practice in the modeling industry. Two former models recounted stories of being encouraged to lie to customs officials when traveling to the US on tourist visas. Their time working in New York City effectively became a lengthy audition for work visas.</p>
<p />
<p>According to a personal&#160; <a href="" type="internal">financial disclosure</a> that Donald Trump filed in May, he earned nearly $2 million from the company, in which he holds an 85 percent stake.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Donald Trump has continued to pursue hard-line anti-immigration policies in the lead-up to Tuesday’s election. <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/donald-trump-immigration-plan-deport-all-criminal-aliens-republican-nominee-promises-2441547" type="external">“We will deport all criminal aliens,”</a> he declared to a rally in Selma, North Carolina on Thursday. He has also promised a crackdown on visitors to the United States who overstay their visas, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-idUSKCN1120SF" type="external">saying</a> that when any American citizen “loses their job to an illegal immigrant, the rights of that American citizen have been violated.”</p>
<p /> | Report: Melania Trump Worked in the United States Without a Visa | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/melania-trump-immigration-associated-press-visa-illegal/ | 2016-11-05 | 4 |
<p>According to current economic indicators released by the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. economy is booming. Unemployment is at&#160;a low level of 4.1 percent while the economy added some 313,000 jobs in February. The blazing economy is so hot the Fed is considering measures to slow it down to prevent a spike in inflation.</p>
<p>Using history as our guide, if these metrics hold, U.S. President Donald Trump should cruise to an easy re-election victory over any Democratic opponent. This is because Americans have repeatedly demonstrated that they believe that their personal economic security is properly reflected in the nation’s unemployment rate and a few other numerical standards periodically released by the government. After all, “It’s the economy, stupid,” as the campaign team of former President Bill Clinton successfully reminded themselves and us while on the campaign trail in 1992.</p>
<p>If you are a Trump supporter this is great news. Donald Trump ran for president as a populist, a champion of the forgotten middle class. He said he alone had the business expertise to fix the economy and create millions of good jobs. You chose him as President because he appeared more genuine than the artificial Hillary Clinton and a more believable savior of the working class. A low unemployment rate and a spike in job creation seemingly affirm the wisdom of your selection.</p>
<p>However, if you are like me you understand that despite Trump’s populist rhetoric he has so far governed like a typical supply-side Republican, one who believes the best way to create broad-based economic prosperity is to enrich the wealthy through tax relief and corporate deregulation in the hope that such enrichment will spur enough job creation and resulting economic growth to solve our socioeconomic problems. For us, the issue is not so much the quantity of jobs the wealthy create but the quality of those jobs, whether or not the jobs pay a living wage. We understand that trickle-down economics has never fulfilled this promise. Instead, it has enriched the top of the economic ladder to the detriment of the middle and lower classes and our democracy.</p>
<p>Today, the middle class, once the heart of the American Dream, is consumed with survival. Trickle-down economics is the thief that stole the dream. By its pro-corporate and pro-wealthy tax and regulatory policies, trickle-down has contributed to the wage compression, purchasing power reduction and resulting shrinkage of the once flush and expanding American middle class. Over the past few decades, the middle class has seen its standard living costs rise, its wages stagnate and its jobs disappear due to technological advancement, globalization in the form of lower labor and operating costs abroad and opportunistic pirate capitalism.&#160;See “What Went Wrong: How The 1% Hijacked The American Middle Class….And What Other Countries Got Right” by George R. Tyler, (Benbella Books 2013).</p>
<p>Some in the middle class have fallen victim to the greedy financial engineering of corporate executives sitting atop the companies they work for and opportunistic pirate capitalists from outside the company in the financial industry. In one devastating scenario, trickle-down has encouraged the wealthy power elites who control our corporations to place their personal enrichment above company loyalty and the related protection of workers and their wages. This is because our federal finance laws and regulations allow corporate executive pay packages to be set in such a way as to promote the personal enrichment of executives who can demonstrate profits in the short-term over the next few reporting quarters. Unfortunately, this financial maneuvering has often compromised the long-term financial health of companies. What we have often seen in the longer term is a decline in corporate product and service quality, a resulting decline in corporate profits, a decline in worker job security and stagnation in worker wages. See “What Went Wrong: How The 1% Hijacked The American Middle Class….And What Other Countries Got Right” by George R. Tyler, (Benbella Books 2013); see also “Glass House: The 1% Economy And The Shattering Of The All-American Town” by Brian Alexander (St. Martin’s Press 2017).</p>
<p>These challenges have exponentially increased the competition for most jobs typically staffed by the middle class, making life even more difficult for its members. When between jobs, middle class individuals who lose their jobs can expect a lengthy period of unemployment that can range from several months to a few years. In the interim period of time, they often have to take low-paying jobs to make ends meet while waiting for a solid job offer to come through in their respective field of expertise. Aware of these harsh realities and burdened with stagnant wages required to cover the rising expenses of home mortgages, car notes and school tuition, most middle class individuals would be surprised to know that the government considers them prosperous. They are too busy staying afloat to devote much attention to the accuracy of the government’s economic indicators. This makes them vulnerable to exploitation by the wealthy power elites. I will try to lend them a helping hand.</p>
<p>The economic stress placed on the middle class by trickle-down capitalism has created in most Americans an internal survival mechanism that has compromised our values and caused us to accept standards used by the wealthy power elites to maintain and enhance their wealth. Most Americans have accepted trickle-down economic policies that favor the rich despite the fact that there is little evidence that they have created broad-based prosperity for the rest of us. To the contrary, there is overwhelming evidence that these policies have seriously impoverished Americans stuck in the middle and lower classes. In no area is the influence of the power elites more tragically felt than in our acceptance of the economic indicators the federal government uses to periodically report the health of our national economy.</p>
<p>For decades, familiar economic indicators, such as the unemployment rate, the national interest rate and the nation’s total gross domestic product, have been used by the power elites in the government, the media and the business sector to inform us whether or not we as a nation are doing well. These numbers are used by professionals and politicians in our government to direct fiscal policy, presumably to help as many Americans as possible achieve the American Dream.&#160;However, history and present experience clearly inform us that the economic indicators reported by the government are unequal to the task of adequately reporting our true state of economic health. This is because numbers alone could never tell of the real economic misery millions of Americans are always facing in this draconian, trickle-down economy.</p>
<p>For example, during the Reagan and Clinton economic expansions, the government reported to the media historically low unemployment rates and millions of new jobs created. However, as African-American human rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton has noted when lamenting the relative impoverishment of the African-American community even during economic boom times, “We were at full employment during slavery.” This is because the numbers which herald economic expansions such as Reagan’s and Clinton’s do not reflect the suffering millions of Americans are experiencing. Sharpton properly noted that the critical factor which determines economic prosperity is whether a job pays a living wage not the mere possession of a job. Americans who failed to partake in the economic miracles of the 80s and 90s were largely considered losers who must have been at fault for missing the golden opportunities these booms provided.</p>
<p>Today, despite the rosy economic indicators, we know that America’s true state of economic health is poor. In fact, America suffers from the worst wealth and income disparity the world has ever known. Wealth and income disparity denotes the way wealth and income are distributed among the nation’s population. As a result of our government’s long practice of trickle-down economics, the wealthy have gotten much wealthier while the middle and lower classes have gotten much poorer. Since the media has done a good job of reporting data to support this economic disparity, I will only&#160; share one figure with you that I find interesting. According to an income inequality video released by the 2016 presidential campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, in a two-year period the wealth of the richest 15 Americans increased by 170 billion dollars. This increase in wealth was greater than the wealth owned by the bottom 40% of Americans. See “Bernie Brief: Income Inequality, Episode 1” (YouTube 2016).</p>
<p>Our severe economic disparity problem has contributed to America’s growing number of socioeconomic problems, including poverty, low wage employment, middle class shrinkage, social class conflict, police misconduct and human-caused climate damage, to name just a few.&#160;As a result of this laundry list of socioeconomic problems, most Americans are experiencing varying degrees of suffering. I know this because I have eyes and ears that function well enough to observe the lives of real people. However, this harsh reality is buttressed by numbers. All of the polls that I’ve seen over the past few years that ask Americans whether our country is on the right or wrong track have been answered negatively by double digit margins. For example, the latest&#160;Economist / YouGov&#160;“Direction of Country” poll revealed the following: Right Direction 36, Wrong Direction 54. So, most Americans are aware that America is beset with serious problems. So, why are we so easy to manipulate? There is a simple answer to this question. In my opinion, most Americans are simply too busy with their own economic survival to effectively identify and contribute to the resolution of our misery-inducing national problems.</p>
<p>The main problem we must solve is our government’s continued implementation of trickle-down economic policies which have led to our enormous wealth and income inequality gap and the socioeconomic problems it has caused. This gap has transformed our once great democracy into a plutonomy with largely symbolic democratic features. For example, let’s take our constitutional right to vote. Americans can still vote and I encourage them to do so. However, the impact of our voting has been significantly weakened by the influx of big money into our political system and law-making apparatus. This is because the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court has recently given the wealthy power elites the right to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections and the subsequent making of laws to preserve and enhance their wealth and influence.&#160;See&#160;Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010); see also “Captured: The Corporate Infiltration Of American Democracy” by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, (The New Press 2017). Sadly, Lady Liberty, the old, green girl, ain’t what she used to be. So, how do we restore America’s economic health and with it our lost democracy?</p>
<p>The only way we are ever going to restore America’s economic health and our democracy is to end our nation’s long fascination with trickle-down economics and create a moral capitalism that produces broad-based economic prosperity. The way we do that is to concede that the economic indicators we rely on to determine our nation’s economic health and direct public and private action to manage it are inadequate. We must then begin to supplement the economic indicators with serious investigative reporting that leads to an accurate reflection of the nation’s economic health. This will allow us to properly treat what ails America, cure her and restore our once great democracy to its rightful place as the envy of the world. This task starts with an undressing of the principal measure used to set the nation’s economic agenda: the unemployment rate.</p>
<p>Let’s start by disabusing the public of the widely held but erroneous notion that the unemployment rate reflects how many Americans are unemployed. No, this is false. Instead, what the unemployment rate reflects is the share of people who are out of work but actively searching for it at least once within the past four weeks. The rate does not include Americans who are unemployed but who have given up searching for work. If that were not bad enough, the rate does not count temporary workers. In other words, temporary workers who seek full-time work but have not found it are considered employed. The unemployment rate intentionally omits retired people, schoolchildren, and stay-at-home spouses. As you can see the unemployment rate misses a large number of unemployed Americans. This is why it is such an unreliable economic indicator. And, of course, no number could ever reveal the quality of the jobs held by those fortunate Americans who are employed. So, the unemployment rate cannot possibly provide us with an accurate reflection of America’s economic health.&#160;(See U.S. Department Of Labor Bureau Of Labor Statistics for the definition of the unemployment rate).</p>
<p>The only way to determine the true state of America’s economic health is to look behind the unemployment rate and thoroughly investigate both the quality of the jobs in our economy and the lives of people who hold them and those searching for them. Such in-depth reporting would allow us to get to the bottom of the public’s skepticism about our country’s direction and allow our leaders to accurately respond to our socioeconomic problems. This task will take conscientious business and political reporters who are willing to look behind the numbers and ask the hard questions.To accomplish this objective, they will have to go out into the field and meet with unemployed job seekers, employed workers and employers from the middle management level to the CEO level. They should be going out to meet with workers and managers every month, but especially close to the release of employment-related economic indicators. In an economy this large it is vital that reporters speak to as many people as possible. The larger the survey sample is the closer we come to accuracy.</p>
<p>Below, I have listed just a few questions reporters should be asking if we are serious about obtaining the true state of our economy.</p>
<p>How many unemployed job seekers are there?</p>
<p>What industries do the unemployed come from?</p>
<p>Which companies do they come from?</p>
<p>What types of jobs did the unemployed lose?</p>
<p>How did they become unemployed?</p>
<p>Do the unemployed workers share enough characteristics to reflect a pattern?</p>
<p>If so, what are the characteristics?</p>
<p>How long have they been unemployed?</p>
<p>How are they making ends meet while unemployed?</p>
<p>How are they searching for work?</p>
<p>How many of the available jobs in our economy pay a living wage?</p>
<p>How many of the available jobs do not pay a living wage?</p>
<p>How many of the available jobs are temporary employment jobs?</p>
<p>What types of jobs are being reported?</p>
<p>What industries do the jobs originate from?</p>
<p>What region of the country are the jobs located in?</p>
<p>Who are the Americans that are employed?</p>
<p>What is the racial and gender breakdown of those employed?</p>
<p>Which companies do the jobs originate from?</p>
<p>How are these companies performing?</p>
<p>What are these companies paying their workers?</p>
<p>What benefits are these companies offering their workers?</p>
<p>What is the CEO to worker pay ratio in the companies?</p>
<p>What are the companies paying their managers?</p>
<p>How committed to the fiscal health of the companies are their directors?</p>
<p>How frequently are wages increased in the companies</p>
<p>How are unions distributed throughout the economy?</p>
<p>Which companies have unions?</p>
<p>Which companies have collective bargaining agreements?</p>
<p>What is the long-term outlook for these jobs?</p>
<p>Will they be replaced by technology in the near future?</p>
<p>Making this change in our economic reporting would serve a much needed public service by educating the public about the true state of our economy. This would act as an effective check against the injustices associated with our current trickle-down capitalist system. It would allow us to properly identify the forgotten Americans the unemployment rate cannot tell us about and report their stories to America.This would allow us to honestly address our socioeconomic problems and resolve them. This is the only way we will ever have a fighting chance at making America great again.</p> | The Unemployment Rate is an Inadequate Reporter of U.S. Economic Health | true | https://counterpunch.org/2018/03/21/the-unemployment-rate-is-an-inadequate-reporter-of-u-s-economic-health/ | 2018-03-21 | 4 |
<p>Estelle Griswold (left) and Cornelia Jahncke, president of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut (right) celebrate their win.</p>
<p>On this day 48 years ago, <a href="http://blog.womenshealthmag.com/whexperts/griswold-vs-connecticut/" type="external">the Supreme Court ruled in&#160;Griswold v. Connecticut</a>that (married) couples have a right to use contraception. Although a&#160;vocal minority–including a&#160; <a href="" type="internal">recent presidential candidate</a>–thinks this&#160;ruling never should have happened, the <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/charts-birth-control-statistics-catholics" type="external">vast majority of us seem to like it quite a bit</a>.&#160;As conservative attacks against birth control access continue–over the past three years, <a href="http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/06/07/griswold-v-connecticut-and-the-evolution-of-personal-privacy-rights-whats-next/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rhrealitycheck+%28RH+Reality+Check%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" type="external">more than 60 lawsuits</a> have been filed against the contraceptive coverage benefit in Obamacare–we need to remain ready to fight for this right that our generation has always been able to take for granted.</p> | Happy anniversary to your right to birth control! | true | http://feministing.com/2013/06/07/happy-anniversary-to-your-right-to-birth-control/ | 4 |
|
<p>Aug. 7 (UPI) — Six inmates at an Arkansas prison stole keys from corrections officers and took control of an area of the prison, state authorities said.</p>
<p>Arkansas Department of Corrections spokesman Solomon Graves said the inmates grabbed the keys during a recreation call at the Maximum Security Unit in Tucker, Ark. The inmates held three correctional officers in the area they controlled for several hours but have so far released two, the <a href="http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/aug/07/6-inmates-have-keys-maximum-security-unit-arkansas/" type="external">Arkansas Democrat-Gazette</a> reported.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2017/08/07/breaking-tucker-max-inmates-take-control-of-section-of" type="external">Arkansas Times</a>, state police were on the scene and prison officials were in contact with the involved inmates.</p>
<p>“Those conversations are proceeding in a positive direction,” Graves said.</p>
<p>This marks the <a href="https://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2017/07/31/three-shots-fired-after-tucker-max-breakout" type="external">second time</a> in less than a month that inmates at the Tucker Maximum Security Unit were able to take control of their situation. On July 22, three inmates escaped from individual holding pens and attacked two guards and a fellow inmate after the breakout.</p>
<p>“The two officers were assaulted by other inmates who were attempting [to] flee the recreation area. During the incident, at least one other inmate gained access to a secured recreation pen and assaulted another inmate,” Graves said at the time.</p>
<p>The inmates were eventually returned to confinement.</p> | Six inmates at Arkansas prison take control of unit | false | https://newsline.com/six-inmates-at-arkansas-prison-take-control-of-unit/ | 2017-08-07 | 1 |
<p>While Republicans were throwing their silly tantrum, Obamacare became a fact. There is no turning back.</p>
<p>The point of no return was reached when millions of people crashed the websites of the new Affordable Care Act exchanges trying to buy health insurance. Republicans can fight rear-guard battles if they want, but last Tuesday they lost the war. All they can do at this point is harm the nation — and their own political prospects.</p>
<p>Someday, if the GOP captures the presidency and both houses of Congress, President Obama’s health care law could be altered or even repealed. But it would be replaced by some new program that does the same thing, because there is no politically viable way to snatch away the medical insurance that customers are buying through the exchanges.</p>
<p>Quite the opposite: As soon as the glitches are cleared up and everyone becomes a bit less hysterical, the question will be how to obtain coverage for as many as 30 million people who will still be uninsured — including about 8 million ineligible for Obamacare because of a sabotage campaign by Republican governors.</p>
<p />
<p>Look at Texas, which the state medical association calls “the uninsured capital of the United States.” An estimated 22.5 percent of the population lacks health insurance, a higher percentage than in any other state. Many will remain uninsured because Gov. Rick Perry — a once and perhaps future GOP candidate for president — refused to set up a state insurance exchange and turned down billions in federal funds to expand Medicaid coverage.</p>
<p>Rejection of Obamacare may be popular in Texas now. But demographic trends are making the Lone Star State’s electorate more diverse, as the Latino population grows, and less reliably Republican. Small businesses that cannot afford to offer health insurance may soon worry about losing employees to states offering better coverage for the working poor through local exchanges and expanded Medicaid. Time is on the side of those who want to expand coverage, not those who want to restrict it.</p>
<p>I trust that conservative leaders will continue riling up the base with the untrue charge that Obamacare is “government health care.” It is nothing of the sort. Obama decided at the outset not to push for a government-run health system, such as those in Britain and Canada, or a single-payer system of any kind.</p>
<p>Instead, all of Obamacare’s insurance plans are offered by private firms — the same companies that also provide employer-sponsored insurance. Disappointing his liberal supporters, Obama declined to include even a single public, government-run health plan. All the apocalyptic right-wing rhetoric about socialism and the end of freedom is nothing but hot air. Soon, no one will take it seriously.</p>
<p>Those who are genuinely worried about the cost of a new entitlement should have their concerns taken seriously. But if money is the overriding issue, the obvious thing to do is go further and adopt a truly universal system like those in other industrialized countries.</p>
<p>The United States spends nearly 18 percent of GDP on health care, more than any other nation. France, Germany and Japan, to cite three examples with universal health care, spend between 9 percent and 12 percent of GDP on health — and obtain health outcomes at least as good as ours.</p>
<p>Someday, fiscal conservatives will acknowledge those numbers. For now, we are stuck with a fee-for-service health care system that is perhaps the most wasteful in the world. Critics of Obamacare seem not to understand that the vast numbers of uninsured Americans — about 15 percent of the population — contribute heavily to the system’s inefficiencies.</p>
<p>We provide care for these people, but we do it in the dumbest way imaginable. Since they can’t afford to see a doctor regularly, treatable health problems and chronic conditions worsen. When ailments become acute, the uninsured go to hospital emergency rooms — the most expensive way to receive care.</p>
<p>The uninsured cannot pay their bills — medical costs are the biggest single cause of personal bankruptcy — so they are passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher health insurance premiums. Families USA, a nonpartisan health care advocacy group, estimated that in 2010 an average family in Texas paid an extra $2,786 in premiums to cover care for the uninsured. Are you listening, Gov. Perry?</p>
<p>Medicare guaranteed health care for the elderly, Medicaid for the poor. Obamacare begins to fill the remaining gaps. It will get better over time, but already — crashing websites and all — it’s a beautiful thing.</p>
<p>Eugene Robinson’s e-mail address is eugenerobinson(at)washpost.com.</p>
<p>© 2013, Washington Post Writers Group</p> | Server Crashes Prove the ACA Is Here to Stay | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/server-crashes-prove-the-aca-is-here-to-stay/ | 2013-10-08 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — A bitterly divided Senate on Monday confirmed Steven Mnuchin as treasury secretary despite strong objections by Democrats that the former banker ran a “foreclosure machine” when he headed OneWest Bank.</p>
<p>Mnuchin was sworn in Monday night in the Oval Office, where President Donald Trump said Americans should know that “our nation’s financial system is truly in great hands”</p>
<p>Trump hailed Mnuchin as “a financial legend with an incredible track record of success.” He said Mnuchin had spent his entire career making money in the private sector and now will go to work on behalf of the American taxpayer.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Republicans said Mnuchin’s long tenure in finance makes him qualified to run the department, which will play a major role in developing economic policy under President Donald Trump.</p>
<p>“He has experience managing large and complicated private-sector enterprises and in negotiating difficult compromises and making tough decisions — and being accountable for those decisions,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Finance Committee.</p>
<p>Votes on Trump’s Cabinet picks have exposed deep partisan divisions in the Republican-controlled Senate, with many of the nominees approved by mostly party-line votes.</p>
<p>The vote on Mnuchin followed the same pattern. He was confirmed by a mostly party-line vote of 53-47. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia joined the Republicans.</p>
<p>The Senate also confirmed a less divisive nominee Monday evening, physician David Shulkin, to be secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The vote was unanimous.</p>
<p>Like others in Trump’s Cabinet, Mnuchin is a wealthy businessman. He is a former top executive at Goldman Sachs and served as finance chairman for Trump’s presidential campaign.</p>
<p>As Treasury secretary, Mnuchin is expected to play a key role in Republican efforts to overhaul the nation’s tax code for the first time in three decades. Trump has promised to unveil a proposal in the coming weeks.</p>
<p>Mnuchin will also be in charge of imposing economic sanctions on foreign governments and individuals, including Russia.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The president, who has known Mnuchin for years, said his longtime friend will help make the U.S. a “jobs magnet.”</p>
<p>“He’ll work 24 hours a day, I know him. He’ll work 28 hours a day if they give him the extra four hours,” he said.</p>
<p>Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Mnuchin “is smart, he’s capable, and he’s got impressive private-sector experience.”</p>
<p>Democrats complained that Mnuchin made much of his fortune by foreclosing on families during the financial crisis.</p>
<p>In 2009, Mnuchin assembled a group of investors to buy the failed IndyMac bank, whose collapse the year before was the second biggest bank failure of the financial crisis. He renamed it OneWest and turned it around, selling it for a handsome profit in 2014.</p>
<p>“Mr. Mnuchin has made his career profiting from the misfortunes of working people,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. “OneWest was notorious for taking an especially aggressive role in foreclosing on struggling homeowners.”</p>
<p>Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said, “I simply cannot forgive somebody who took a look at that banking crisis and took a look at the pain that Wall Street had sent in a wave across all of America, and thought, ‘Ah, there’s a great new way to make money, foreclosing on people.'”</p>
<p>Rep. Maxine Waters of California, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, called Mnuchin “the foreclosure king.”</p>
<p>Mnuchin has said he had worked hard during the financial crisis to assist homeowners with refinancing so that they could remain in their homes.</p>
<p>He said his bank had extended more than 100,000 loan modifications to borrowers.</p>
<p>But several Democratic senators raised examples of residents in their states who they said were not treated fairly by OneWest, including elderly homeowners and members of the military.</p>
<p>Democrats also complained that Mnuchin failed to disclose nearly $100 million in assets on forms he filed with the Senate Finance Committee.</p>
<p>In his testimony before the committee, Mnuchin defended his actions while heading OneWest. He said he had worked hard during the financial crisis to assist homeowners with refinancing so that they could remain in their homes.</p>
<p>He told the committee that his bank had extended more than 100,000 loan modifications to borrowers.</p>
<p>Mnuchin called his failure to disclose assets an oversight. After meeting with committee staff Mnuchin amended his disclosure forms and also disclosed his position as director of Dune Capital International in the Cayman Islands, a well-known offshore tax haven.</p>
<p>When pressed by Democrats to explain the omissions, Mnuchin said: “I did not use a Cayman Island entity in any way to avoid taxes for myself. There was no benefit to me.”</p>
<p>The Treasury Department is responsible for a wide range of activities, including advising the president on economic and financial issues. The department oversees the IRS, negotiates tax treaties with other countries, imposes economic sanctions against foreign governments and individuals, and targets the financial networks of terrorist groups and drug cartels.</p>
<p>The department also issues the bonds that finance the government’s deficit spending.</p>
<p>Republicans and Democrats praised Shulkin, who is charged with delivering on Trump’s campaign promises to fix long-standing problems at Veterans Affairs.</p>
<p>Shulkin, 57, a former Obama administration official, has been the VA’s top health official since 2015. He secured the backing of Senate Democrats after pledging at his confirmation hearing to always protect veterans’ interests, even if it meant disagreeing at times with Trump.</p>
<p>He has ruled out fully privatizing the agency and says wide-scale firings of VA employees are unnecessary, describing the VA workforce as “the best in health care.”</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter at: <a href="http://twitter.com/stephenatap" type="external">http://twitter.com/stephenatap</a></p> | Senate confirms former banker Mnuchin as Treasury secretary | false | https://abqjournal.com/949072/senate-poised-to-confirm-trumps-pick-to-head-treasury.html | 2017-02-13 | 2 |
<p>The list of warning signals for shareholders includes diversification into new industries, changes of business model, massive hiring programs, unfettered CEO power, distracted management, and high capital spending. But top of the list for many is the construction of a new headquarters. Hubris, meet Amazon.com.</p>
<p>Amazon has achieved extraordinary feats, most notably in speed of expansion. It hired more than 30,000 people in the last quarter alone, and in the past three years has tripled its head count to 382,400. It appears to have managed this without a hitch, even as it spent billions of dollars on Hollywood productions, launched a hit gadget and ramped up its spending on research and development.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Investors are betting that CEO Jeff Bezos will keep his magic touch, and that money plowed into expansion today represents big profits to be made some time in the future.</p>
<p>History and human nature are against Mr. Bezos -- and may eventually prove a headwind for much of the rest of the market too.</p>
<p>The lesson from the long term is that companies with high capital spending tend to underperform. Kenneth French, a professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, calculates that shares in the 30% of U.S. companies with the lowest investment returned six times as much as those with the highest investment since 1963.</p>
<p>Human nature provides a story to back up the findings. CEOs like to expand (not coincidentally, CEOs of bigger companies earn more), like to chase new ideas (putting them on the front of popular magazines) and like to do what shareholders want (boosting the value of their stock options, at least in the short run). The three come together when a company or sector is in vogue, as shareholders give it cheap capital and cheer on plans for growth.</p>
<p>Often it turns out that the premise for the expansion was mistaken, and much capital spending is wasted. Remember peak oil, the race to dig new mines to satisfy forecasts of endless emerging-market growth, or the vast overinvestment in shipping to prepare for global trade's inevitable expansion? Those early in the expansion are right to invest, but as more capital is deployed it can drive down prices and destroy the very opportunity shareholders hoped to exploit.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Other times CEOs just fritter the money away, as in the dot-com bubble. If you exercise little control over management and actively encourage them to spend money as quickly as possible, you shouldn't be surprised if much of it is wasted.</p>
<p>The rise and rise of Amazon has come as the patterns of the past seem to have been suspended. Since the start of 2009 the runaway success of big tech stocks and big dividend payers have helped companies with the most and least investment do well, while middling companies underperformed. Calculations by Goldman Sachs' chief U.S. equity strategist David Kostin suggest shareholders have shifted again in the past 18 months, rewarding capital spending with bigger share-price gains than for dividends and share buybacks. If it continues, CEOs will get the message and corporate investment will pick up.</p>
<p>Amazon shareholders might argue that the company won't fall victim to misplaced capital spending because it is exploiting disruptive technology, investing in growth and spending heavily on R&amp;D.</p>
<p>If the past is any indication, these offer up only a glimmer of a hope. History offers plenty of examples of disruptive technologies leading to investment booms, but those caught up in the spending spree usually lose out horribly. The British "railway mania" of the 1840s is a classic example: money poured in from excited shareholders, railroad companies found ways to spend it and were rewarded with ever-higher share prices, until investors discovered just how much of the capital had been wasted. The winners were the broader economy and those who entered early or sold out in time. But much capital had to be written down as profits were competed away or overestimated.</p>
<p>Investing in growth is more plausible. Academics have shown that higher R&amp;D spending on average is followed by better stock performance than for companies with lower R&amp;D spending.</p>
<p>For this to justify further increases in Amazon's stock price means assuming investors are once again underestimating the future profits from its R&amp;D spending. Given how hard it is even to work out how much the company is spending on R&amp;D -- it is lumped in with "technology and content," where $5.5 billion was spent in total in the second quarter -- it's impossible to come up with a firm view of how well it is spent, or what profits might result. The share price might well be underestimating future products, but might equally be extrapolating the past successes of the web-hosting division or the voice-controlled Alexa device to unknown future products.</p>
<p>Amazon expects to hire another 50,000 staff earning on average more than $100,000 a year at its second HQ over a decade and a half, adding $5 billion a year of pay to the more than $5 billion capital cost of "HQ2."</p>
<p>Amazon shareholders betting on it bucking history have to hope that by the time HQ2 is completed the company has both grown enough to justify its vast scale and found a way to profit from all its capital and R&amp;D spending.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 11, 2017 13:15 ET (17:15 GMT)</p> | Amazon's Big HQ2: A Sign of Hubris and Danger | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/11/amazons-big-hq2-sign-hubris-and-danger.html | 2017-09-11 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The win moved the Hounds to 4-5 all-time against the Grizzlies and 3-2 since the 2000-01 season. ENMU also has won three of the last four games against Adams State. The last time Eastern won a season opener also marked the last season with a winning record, as the squad posted a 14-12 mark in the 2006-07 season. ENMU's 26-point margin of victory was the highest since a 75-36 win over University of the Southwest on December 3, 2013.</p>
<p>In the first contest played under the new rules, Eastern outscored the Grizzlies in all four quarters. The Hounds were especially effective late in each half, with a 22-13 edge in the second quarter and a 23-13 advantage in the final quarter, to pull away.</p>
<p>Adams State took its first and only lead of the game, when Cydney McHenry hit a jump shot 43 seconds after tipoff. Eastern responded just seven seconds later, when <a href="http://www.goeasternathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=12985&amp;elinkdata=68932" type="external">Miranda Moore</a> connected on a trey to spark a 7-0 Greyhound run. Eastern never looked back. Stinnett poured in 13 points in the first half, with Eastern holding a 21-0 lead in points off turnovers (having committed just one turnover in the first 20 minutes of play) and a 13-4 advantage in second-chance points.</p>
<p>Eastern led 38-25 at halftime and never allowed the Grizzlies to close within single digits in the second half. The Hounds held a 41-28.6 edge in shooting percentage, a 37.5-29.5 lead from three point range, and an 84-63 percent advantage from the free throw line. ENMU forced 27 turnovers in the game, the most by an opponent since 29 by Texas A&amp;M-Commerce, in February. <a href="http://www.goeasternathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=12985&amp;elinkdata=68932" type="external">Miranda Moore</a> scored 14 points, had three steals, three rebounds, three steals and a six-for-six performance at the free-throw line. <a href="http://www.goeasternathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=12989&amp;elinkdata=68932" type="external">Briana White</a> finished with 13 points, five boards, and a pair of steals, while <a href="http://www.goeasternathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=12987&amp;elinkdata=68932" type="external">Mikaehla Connor</a> added 10 points, six caroms, and two blocks. Johnette Brown paced the Grizzlies with 11 points.</p>
<p>The Eastern New Mexico University women's basketball team will continue play at the Fort Lewis Skyhawks Regional Challenge, with a Saturday contest against Fort Lewis. The game is scheduled to tipoff at 4 p.m. MT.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Women's basketball: ENMU routs Adams State | false | https://abqjournal.com/675739/womens-basketball-enmu-routs-adams-state.html | 2 |
|
<p>PRESS RELEASE</p>
<p>SACRAMENTO, CA – New legislation by Senator Anthony Cannella (R-Ceres) would require a court to order a criminal to reimburse the state for the cost of his or her incarceration if they are able. <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1124&amp;search_keywords=" type="external">SB 1124</a> would lessen the stress on our state budget by defraying the costs of prison stays of those who have the resources to pay.</p>
<p>“We hear about a <a href="" type="internal">Millionaire’s Tax</a>, but what about the millionaires that we are paying to incarcerate? If someone convicted of a crime can afford to pay for their prison time, they should,” said <a href="" type="internal">Senator Cannella</a>. “It’s unfair that we are making cuts to vital parts of the state budget that affect our most vulnerable, when many inmates who have the means to pay, stay free-of-charge.”</p>
<p>The annual cost of incarcerating an inmate in a <a href="" type="internal">California</a> state prison has more than doubled over the last twenty years. The bill would require a defendant to file a financial disclosure statement in order for the courts to determine the ability to pay for incarceration. While the courts currently have the authority to compel disbursement from a convicted defendant to the state for these expenses, this power is rarely used.</p>
<p>“The California District Attorneys Association supports this effort to provide additional funding for our criminal justice system,” said Chief Executive Officer Scott Thorpe. “With the substantial new responsibilities that come with incarcerating more offenders locally, it is critically important that convicted defendants contribute toward the costs of the time they spend behind bars.”</p>
<p>SB 1124 will be heard in front of the Senate Public Safety Committee on April 17, 2012.</p> | Cannella Bill to Require Affluent Criminals to Reimburse State for Incarceration | false | https://ivn.us/2012/04/12/cannella-bill-to-require-affluent-criminals-to-reimburse-state-for-incarceration/ | 2012-04-12 | 2 |
<p>The current cast of the longest-running play in the world is ready for its changeover – and that doesn’t just refer to hegemonic power-shifts in theatres of war. The Mousetrap, showing in the West End of London and currently starring Georgina Sutcliffe was written by that old Syria resident, Agatha Christie. The cast of the play which celebrates its diamond jubilee along with the British Queen, this year, changes every ten months. When the present cast started, Syria became the first country ever to be saved by a third double veto cast by Russia and China at the UN Security Council.</p>
<p>Christie and her archaeologist husband, Max Mallowan once stayed at the chimerical Baron Hotel near the old Orient Express terminus in Syria’s second city of Aleppo. From the balcony of the Baron’s room 215, the sham independence of Syria, itself, was declared by the colonial puppet King Faisal I of Iraq. I’m not sure, though, that Christie’s room on the second floor even has the original art deco furniture I saw when I visited, eighteen months ago. Who knows what priceless artefacts have been ransacked in Aleppo…Palmyra…the Dead Cities? Aleppo’s Baron Hotel, where spies drank under the Ottomans and which hosted Lawrence of Arabia, Charles de Gaulle, Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser and, of course, Syria’s former president, Hafez Al Assad is now rocked by the sounds of a lethal proxy war that may have already taken the lives of up to 20,000 people. NATO powers have shown themselves every bit as eager to prolong the conflict as they did in Yugoslavia or Palestine. At the UN Security Council, U.S., French and UK leaders would not even countenance peace talks between the warring parties as suggested by China and Russia.</p>
<p>Secular Syria, in the heart of the Middle East, is being slandered on mainstream news every day by a propaganda campaign all too easily coordinated by intelligence agents mandated by President Obama. The incompetence that led to Obama’s ‘secret’ intelligence authorization being leaked to the international media will not deter incompetent war reporters from singing the neoliberal party line on 24 hour television news channels. One wouldn’t put it past U.S. or UK networks for news bulletins to carry celebrations of rebels wearing actual “Al Qaeda” logos on their bandanas. It seems as if Washington desires to destroy Syria at whatever cost, in human life, regional chaos or 9/11 blowback. White House spokesperson Tommy Vietor merely declined to comment on reports of clandestine U.S. organisational support for the ‘secret’ base on Syria’s northern border established by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Will U.S.-taxpayers even be told their dollars are going into the hands of ‘Al Qaeda’? Will the U.S. Southern Bible Belt be told that a French Catholic Bishop on the ground is reporting tens of thousands of Christians driven out of Homs by de facto NATO policy?</p>
<p>Agatha Christie took the name “The Mousetrap” from the drama-within-a-drama in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The Prince wants to gauge the reaction of King Claudius to a play about a regicide and, sure enough, when Claudius leaves the room, Hamlet knows who killed his father. Neither Beijing, Moscow or Damascus needs such a tool to detect responsibility for the mass killing that continues to destabilise the region. Yet, every day, the play is repeated: in the form of televised reactions from politicians in DC, Paris, London and Brussels. There will be no international help for rebels fighting brutal dictators in Saudi Arabia or Bahrain –instead arms exports, Jubilee lunches with the British Queen and even a Grand Prix. Meanwhile, for Syria, there is propaganda masked as journalism in the service of Islamist rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad. As recounted in Counterpunch, Zionists in Tel Aviv name-check the Islamists to visiting Russian leaders as if they were just another branch of the Israeli army.</p>
<p>Some dramatic criticism such as that by Margaret Litvin at Yale has noted that post-1975 Arabic performances of Hamlet put Claudius at the centre, inherently arguing Claudius’ irresistible Leviathan power. The effect was to transform Hamlet into a demonstration of the futility of political action in the Arab world, a pessimism of the will. Ironically, in The Mousetrap, Georgina Sutcliffe’s Mollie Ralston, muses “perhaps you can’t trust anybody – perhaps everyone is a stranger.” And that line finds echoes amidst the tragic ranks of those Syrian dissidents desperate for reform but who are steadily realising that the uprising against President Assad has taken a darker form, one that is now, surely, not able to be rescued under current conditions. You can’t trust anybody.</p>
<p>Maybe one shouldn’t be surprised. Syria since the post-Bashar rapprochement of the West seemed a jelly-like place where the rich and liberal elites educated their children abroad only to return and seek havoc with the best intentions. In off-the-record conversations in Damascus with senior politicians, one got the impression they weren’t aware that liberal economic reform was a Trojan horse. Those educated abroad were coming back thinking that privatisation was a universal panacea which Bashar al-Assad was holding back. Well, now they know what the real agenda is and that everyone is a stranger. The Western economic crisis is lesson enough as to what economic liberalisation would have done to Syria. Gadaffi made that mistake and look what happened to him. The Syrian leadership had more sense of history in curbing neoliberal economic programs but then they felt in their bones that their cities were once the wonders of the world.</p>
<p>Only comprehensive peace talks involving all regional players will begin to undo what has been done. NATO attempts at sectarianizing Syria as it did in Iraq – the mainstream media parrot the line that the country is run by Alawites – is particularly scurrilous in a land which has taken more refugees per capita than any other. This is fertile ground to plant the seeds of colonial ‘divide and rule,’ but so far the worst NATO-backed atrocities seem to be being committed by foreign insurgents. Nevertheless, Beijing and Moscow must act now. Otherwise, if Assad stays on or in the unlikely event he falls, unfolding events in Syria will be a mousetrap for hegemonic powers that spell misery for the Middle East and beyond, most strikingly those in American skyscrapers.</p>
<p>AFSHIN RATTANSI&#160;runs Alternate Reality Productions Ltd. One of its commissions is Double Standards, a political satire show for Press TV, broadcast every Saturday at 2230 GMT. Shows can be accessed via&#160; <a href="http://www.doublestandardstv.com/" type="external">www.doublestandardstv.com</a>. He can be reached via <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p> | The Syrian Mousetrap | true | https://counterpunch.org/2012/08/06/the-syrian-mousetrap/ | 2012-08-06 | 4 |
<p>Nov. 8 (UPI) — A driverless, 6-passenger “robotaxi” prototype capable of autonomously maneuvering the city streets was unveiled in Paris, French manufacturer Navya said.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-07/a-290-000-robot-car-is-french-startup-s-answer-to-gm-waymo" type="external">The new taxi</a>, priced at $290,000 and called the Autonom Cab, debuted Tuesday. It will be tested in the streets of Paris in several weeks before going on sale in the third quarter of 2018. About 30 vehicles have already been ordered.</p>
<p>The company enters a crowded field of manufacturers preparing to bring driverless cars to the market. General Motors is among several auto manufacturers working to develop the vehicles through its car-sharing Maven and driverless software maker Cruise Automation subsidiaries. <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Google/" type="external">Google</a>‘s Alphabet Inc. subsidiary Waymo adapts Chrysler products for autonomous use and said this week it is <a href="https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/11/07/Waymo-testing-self-driving-cars-on-Phoenix-area-streets/5631510084796/" type="external">test-driving its cars in Phoenix, Ariz</a>. Navya SAS, though, builds <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171107006107/en/NAVYA-Unveils-Fully-Autonomous-Taxi" type="external">entire vehicles</a>, including all robotics and software, in-house.</p>
<p>“We’re the first to conceive and manufacture a vehicle that is made to be fully autonomous, instead of adapting an existing car,” Navya CEO Christophe Sapet said. “We want to be the first company to offer a full comprehensive line-up of autonomous vehicles.”</p>
<p>Potential customers include ride-hailing operators like Uber Technologies, and car rental companies like Hertz or Avis, Sapet added.</p>
<p>Navya, headquartered near Lyon, has tested a 15-passenger vehicle in Paris’ business district for several months, although the vehicle serves as a shuttle instead of a taxi. It has a target of 450 shuttles sold by the end of 2018 and has invested in a Michigan factory to produce them.</p> | French company Navya unveils driverless taxi in Paris | false | https://newsline.com/french-company-navya-unveils-driverless-taxi-in-paris/ | 2017-11-08 | 1 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>VIENNA — Vienna airport officials say security measures are being increased with the installation of face-scanning systems at passport control points.</p>
<p>The Austrian officials said Thursday the installations will start in December at 50 airport security gates used for entry from outside the Schengen Zone, the inner-European Union area that allows free travel over borders within much of Europe.</p>
<p>The devices compare the facial features of travelers with their scanned passport pictures.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Vienna airport to increase security with face scan systems | false | https://abqjournal.com/1035724/vienna-airport-to-increase-security-with-face-scan-systems.html | 2 |
|
<p>NASA’s Curiosity rover was alone but not forgotten on its one-year anniversary of landing on Mars.</p>
<p>The space agency’s scientists programmed the robot to play itself “Happy Birthday” by vibrating its <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/curiosity-nearing-first-anniversary-on-Mars/index.html#.UgEnohzkM-I" type="external">sample analysis unit</a> at different frequencies.</p>
<p>In spite of this oddly poignant scene, Curiosity seems completely happy in its Martian life.</p>
<p>In its first year on the Red Planet, Curiosity drilled into rock, gathering samples that show Mars offered favorable conditions for microbial life billions of years ago.</p>
<p>Curiosity has also found evidence Mars lost most of its original atmosphere through events that occurred in its upper atmosphere. NASA plans to launch a mission to Mars in November that will study the planet’s <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/curiosity-nearing-first-anniversary-on-Mars/index.html#.UgEnohzkM-I" type="external">upper atmosphere</a>.</p>
<p>In just 12 months, <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/curiosity-nearing-first-anniversary-on-Mars/index.html#.UgEnohzkM-I" type="external">NASA reported</a>, Curiosity has sent back 190 gigabits of data and nearly 72,000 images; collected and analyzed sample material from two whole rocks; and driven more than a mile.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/weird-wide-web/mars-rover-opportunity-breaks-us-planet-driving-record" type="external">Mars rover Opportunity breaks US off-planet driving record</a></p>
<p>Now the rover is driving over to three-mile-high <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/06/tech/innovation/mars-curiosity-anniversary/" type="external">Mount Sharp</a> to study layers of rock which could reveal more about Mars’ geological history. Scientists estimate it will arrive sometime next summer.</p>
<p>"Successes of our Curiosity – that dramatic touchdown a year ago and the science findings since then – advance us toward further exploration, including sending humans to an asteroid and Mars," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/curiosity-nearing-first-anniversary-on-Mars/index.html#.UgEnohzkM-I" type="external">said in a statement</a>. "Wheel tracks now will lead to boot prints later."</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/globalpost-blogs/weird-wide-web/130513/ground-control-major-tom-international-space-station" type="external">Ground control to Major Tom: International Space Station astronaut does Bowie (VIDEO)</a></p>
<p />
<p /> | Mars Curiosity rover sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to itself (VIDEO) | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-08-06/mars-curiosity-rover-sings-happy-birthday-itself-video | 2013-08-06 | 3 |
<p>Hales Franciscan High School is a lead character in the story Jack Ryan has told on the campaign trail for the last year.</p>
<p>Ryan, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, makes sure voters know that he gave up a prosperous investment banking career to teach history and literature at the all-boys, all-black Catholic school on Chicago’s South Side. And he frequently uses images of the school to illustrate what he believes is an unorthodox approach to conservative politics. Last May, flanked by some of his former students, he officially launched his campaign from the school’s gymnasium. In speeches pushing his school voucher plan, he cited Hales as a model whose achievements-like sending all graduating seniors on to college-other inner-city schools could end up matching. And one of his most successful television ads before the primary showed him in a Hales classroom, handing back papers and writing on a chalkboard while students gathered around, alternately looking engaged and laughing-a sign that this was one rich white guy who was committed, cool and different from all the others.</p>
<p>And that’s the way many former students and teaching colleagues describe him. “Jack was a good guy. All the time he was here, we never knew he was running for political office,” said Derrel Sanders, who teaches English literature and coaches track and basketball at the school. “I considered Jack a person who was coming to our school to help the least of these. He was a guy who tried to do something.”</p>
<p>Yet as Ryan gears up for a November showdown with Democratic state Sen. Barack Obama, whose district includes the Hales campus, some Hales leaders have been working to deliver the very different message that the school isn’t involved in politics and doesn’t favor anyone in the Senate race.</p>
<p>“We’re proud of the fact that Jack Ryan has been able to reach the level of success he has so far in his political career, and that he’s gone out of his way to spotlight his work at Hales. And we’re proud of the representation we’ve gotten from Sen. Obama over the years,” said Bill Owens, chairman of the Hales board of trustees. But “we are absolutely not endorsing either candidate.”</p>
<p>It was a point school officials made repeatedly this spring, especially after the Hales Association of Parents named Obama the featured speaker at its annual prayer breakfast.</p>
<p>Vivian Carter, president of the parents group, said Obama was an ideal choice to keynote the event, which is equal parts worship service, pep rally and fundraiser. “He’s intelligent, he’s articulate and he’s handsome. Who wouldn’t want to be Sen. Barack Obama at this time? Who would not want to follow his lifestyle?” she said. “I wanted someone who was young enough and vibrant enough to hold [the students’] attention.”</p>
<p>She also wanted someone who was African American. “I think if Jewish men can speak to Jewish kids, and Irish men can speak to Irish kids, why couldn’t a successful African American man speak to our African American young men?”</p>
<p>Carter emphasized that the breakfast is not a political event, and that the speakers have always been chosen for their ability to inspire Hales students and bring in a paying crowd-never for their politics. Past speakers have included clergy and other community leaders, she said.</p>
<p>“This had nothing to do with Jack Ryan,” she said. “Hales Franciscan is not in a Senate race. Jack Ryan spent a couple of years here, and that’s wonderful. But it is not Jack Ryan’s school.”</p>
<p>Carter said she is an Obama supporter, though he had left her “pissed off” last fall when he seemingly blew off an earlier request for a donation to Hales. And she admitted that not everyone at Hales was pleased with the invitation to Obama. “It wasn’t supported, necessarily, by the board of directors.”</p>
<p>Not true, said Owens. “I’m not aware of an issue. The board is supportive of both candidates.”</p>
<p>Obama was certainly well received at the breakfast. As WVON radio personality Cliff Kelley hosted his show live from the hallway just inside the school’s front entrance, Obama stood nearby posing for pictures with students in matching khakis, white shirts and dark ties. Obama began working his way into the gym. Parents, alumni and other Hales supporters pushed aside their breakfast plates and stood to shake his hand, and within moments, a small crowd had clustered around him.</p>
<p>Hales senior DéJuon Battles-Newby was busy directing people to the food tables on each side of the room. A future journalism student at Loyola University Chicago, he said he thought Obama was an odd choice for the keynote speaker, noting that some students were upset about it.</p>
<p>Ryan, his sophomore-year literature and junior-year pre-law instructor, “is a great teacher and a great guy,” said Battles-Newby, adding that many students, including him, were volunteering for the Ryan campaign.</p>
<p>Still, he said, “people here are mostly Democrats. The only reason people here would vote for Jack is because he taught here. And even then, some won’t vote for him.”</p>
<p>A few minutes later, Owens stood at the podium in front to introduce Obama. “I can think of no one who understands the theme of our breakfast better than Sen. Barack Obama,” he said, and applause filled the gym.</p>
<p>Obama congratulated the teachers, staff and parents for making the school successful. He said he was glad to be visiting for the first time in four or five years. Then he said, “Some of you may know that I had the good fortune to be nominated to be the Democratic Senate candidate from the state of Illinois.” He paused for the rousing applause before continuing. “And we have an outstanding Republican nominee who has a bit of connection here, and I’m looking forward to a spirited debate. But I don’t want to talk about politics today.”</p>
<p>He wanted to talk about attitude, he said. “What does it meant to be a full-grown man?” he asked the students. He urged them to take responsibility for their actions and get a great education.</p>
<p>Given the history of discrimination against African Americans, “it’s not surprising that many of us would feel oppressed and abused and have a ready-made excuse for why we can’t do everything right,” he said. For example, “I hear people complaining all the time about politics, about how politicians talk a good game but don’t do nothing. Yet when I ask them, ‘Did you vote?’ they say, ‘No.’ That is unacceptable. You are complicit in your own oppression if you’re not going to use all the tools at your disposal.”</p>
<p>Each of the students should work hard and do better than what was expected of them, he said. “I want you to own your own businesses. I want you to run for the U.S. Senate. I want you to become president-I’m just laying the groundwork for you here.”</p>
<p>Obama next stressed that they needed to learn to empathize with others. “I hope you don’t just hang out with people who look like you,” he said. “Try to spend some time with people from another race and see what their life is like. –¦ One of the reasons our campaign was successful was that we saw that people have common interests.” He received a standing ovation.</p>
<p>Afterward, Naomi and Cleophus Sanders, grandparents of a Hales junior, said the speech reaffirmed their commitment to voting for Obama. They were excited about what they saw as his firm grasp of issues affecting people nationwide. “We look at the work [candidates] do, not just for black people, but for people as a whole,” Naomi Sanders said. “We’re not saying Ryan has not done good work-we just want this young man.”</p>
<p>“Jack Ryan is going to have to try another time,” her husband said. Kelli Phiel, Ryan’s spokesperson, said he had no problem with Obama’s appearance at Hales. “It’s obviously a good thing when young students become educated on the issues,” she said. “Jack would stand behind that as their former teacher.”</p>
<p>And the Obama campaign stressed that its candidate simply wanted to take the chance to inspire some young men. “They wanted him to speak from his heart,” said communications director Robert Gibbs.</p>
<p>Owens, the board president, believes Hales would be an ideal venue for a candidates’ debate in the fall. He said the board would be in conversation with the two camps. “This is certainly neutral ground for both,” he said.</p>
<p>Several days after the event, though, Carter wanted to steer the subject back to Hales and its students. The breakfast was a success because her son and the other students had heard a positive, encouraging message, she said. And it had helped her group generate some attention Hales desperately needs.</p>
<p>“This isn’t about Barack Obama,” she said. “It’s about the fact that they have windows that are 40 years old. They did have a heating problem. They don’t have the equipment for my son who runs track. We’ve got to have some people there who really care, because there’s so much that needs to be done. That’s what this is about.”</p> | A lesson in politics | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/lesson-politics/ | 2004-04-01 | 3 |
<p>By Ehab Farouk</p>
<p>CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s tourism revenues jumped by 170 percent in the first seven months of 2017, reaching $3.5 billion, a government official told Reuters.</p>
<p>The number of tourists visiting Egypt rose by 54 percent, reaching 4.3 million in the first seven months of the year, he said.</p>
<p>The government official, who preferred not to be named, said Egypt hoped the number of tourists would reach 8 million this year, compared with 4.5 million in 2016.</p>
<p>He expected revenues to reach $6 billion in 2017, compared with $3.4 billion the previous year, despite Russia’s flight ban. Russia banned flights to Egypt in 2015 after an aircraft crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 passengers on board.</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> | Egypt's tourism revenues rise 170 percent in first seven months of 2017: official | false | https://newsline.com/egypt039s-tourism-revenues-rise-170-percent-in-first-seven-months-of-2017-official/ | 2017-09-05 | 1 |
<p />
<p>If former NSA analyst-turned-whistle-blower Edward Snowden is sitting on any more classified documents with intent to leak their contents, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper believes Snowden ought to give them back to the U.S. government.</p>
<p>Clapper blasted Snowden during Wednesday’s session before the Senate on threats to America’s national security, claiming the expatriated analyst had emboldened the nation’s enemies, estranged allies and endangered intelligence agents by letting loose with the information Snowden leaked last year. As The Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-intelligence-director-calls-on-snowden-to-return-nsa-documents/2014/01/29/7bd9c9ee-88f7-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html" type="external">reported</a> Wednesday, Clapper also riffed on Snowden’s recent “mission accomplished” <a href="" type="internal">declaration</a> to the press:</p>
<p>“Snowden claims that he has won and his mission is accomplished,” Clapper said. “If that is true,” he added, Snowden should return the documents that have not been released.</p>
<p />
<p>Alluding to Snowden’s refu­gee status in Russia, Clapper scoffed at the former contractor’s comments “about what an Orwellian state he thinks this country is.”</p>
<p>But Snowden wasn’t the only figure high on Clapper’s list of security threats. The intelligence chief also pointed to Syria as a growing area of concern, as upheaval in that region has spawned and strengthened militant groups with anti-U.S. inclinations.</p>
<p>–Posted by Kasia Anderson</p> | Intelligence Director to Edward Snowden: Hand Over Your Documents | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/intelligence-director-to-edward-snowden-hand-over-your-documents/ | 2014-01-29 | 4 |
<p>On Tuesday, an anonymous 44-year-old woman decided to come forward with her <a href="https://twitter.com/mellecon/status/910225097310588934" type="external">difficult and regret-filled abortion experience</a>, which she had at just 16 years of age after being impregnated by her then-20-year-old boyfriend.</p>
<p>In detail, the woman recalled her boyfriend leaving her after her pregnancy announcement and pressuring her to kill their child. "F***, get rid of it," the woman remembers her boyfriend telling her. "Your parents already threatened me with statutory rape charges. This is proof," he said. "I don’t want it, and we’re done."</p>
<p>When she told her parents of the news, they also pressured her to abort. “I was pregnant at 15, I can’t have a 16-year-old pregnant daughter. God, how could you embarrass me," her mother told her.</p>
<p>After telling her mother she was going to keep the child, the young girl was met with more hostility. "[Y]ou’re an immature slut, you’re not even half as mature as I was as your age," she remembers her mother saying.</p>
<p>"Then I’ll give the baby up for adoption," the girl urged.</p>
<p>Now grown, with children of her own, the woman recalled what happened next: "My liberal dad snorts snorts 'nobody wants a mixed baby. Your baby will languish in foster care. Is that what you want?' My mother screeches 'You’re out. You keep the baby, you’re out of this house. In fact, get the f*** out now.'"</p>
<p>Eight weeks into the pregnancy, the young girl was pressured into having the abortion by her parents. She remembers the procedure vividly, the sound of the "evil vacuum" sucking away the life of her unborn child, and the severe regret and pain she immediately felt - and still feels - following the abortion:</p>
<p>The pill makes everything hazy and unreal. My feet are in the stirrups and my mind is racing over all that’s happen. Then I hear it. It sounds like an evil vacuum. And I feel the pressure. My mind screams "NO" and then I start to scream “No, No, No, No, No, No”[.] This isn’t right. This isn't right. This [vacuum] is killing. Its sucking the life out of me. I’m killing my baby. “No” I’m sobbing[.] The doctor tells me to quiet down, it will be over soon. I don't. I can't. I'm killing someone. Not anyone, but MINE[.] Again, he assures me it will be over soon. Little did I know, the nightmare for me would never be over. The vacuum continues. I feel violated, more violated than when I was raped 2 years earlier. It’s finally over. They wheel me out to the recovery room. I’m hysterically sobbing “my baby, my baby, my baby."</p>
<p>Concluding her heart-wrenching story, the woman expressed the love she'll always have for that child, the primary victim of the abortion.</p>
<p>"You were just a kid, people tell me," she wrote. "I wasn’t though; the moment I became pregnant, I was a mom. And mom’s [sic] protect their children no matter what. I failed. Every June 8th, I’m reminded. I was reminded every time I heard my kids' heartbeat, or even their laughter, that one is missing. One is dead [b]ecause I was given a 'choice.' I love you little one, I [always] will."</p>
<p>The moving story was quickly noticed online, and in no time other women and men affected by abortion came forward to expose the evil act for it is.</p>
<p>My (then) partner had one. I went along with her decision because I thought that's what men were supposed to do.</p>
<p>Their bravery to come forward and share such devastating and important stories will, with the grace of God, spare other women from becoming victims of the abortion industry or even save unborn lives.</p>
<p>Below is the woman's story in full, save for minor edits for clarification purposes:</p>
<p>My friend and I walk into the clinic. It looks like a regular clinic. The lady asks us at the desk what we want. Pregnancy test, we both say at the same time. We both pay our $10, because [Planned Parenthood] is not cheap. Both of our tests are positive. We both knew it. I know I’m about 3-4 weeks along. My friend is crying. I’m not. I love the father. We’re like Romeo/Juliet. He’s 20 and I’m 16. My parents have kept us apart, now they can’t. The nurse [asks] me first what I plan to do. I puff out my chest and say, ‘I’m keeping it’.’ Do you have an prenatal care[?] The nurse states no. Unless I want an abortion, they have no other services for me. She turns to my friend who’s still crying and says I want an abortion. The nurse says to me ‘there’s nothing else to be done, so you can leave.’ My friend allows me to stay. I sit for 1 ½ hours while [the] nurse spends 5 minutes going [through] procedure and [the rest] trying to brainstorm with my friend how she will [pay] $400 [for the abortion].</p>
<p>I rush home, I call the ‘man’ who loves me. I say, ‘we’re pregnant.’ We can be together. He screams in the phone ‘F***, get rid of it.’ Your parents already threatened me with statutory rape charges. This is proof. ‘I don’t want it, and we’re done.’ I’m stunned, but defiant. This is my baby. I can do this. I’m already in love with it. I’ll find [a way].</p>
<p>I know that I need to tell my parents … to get them on board to support me, so that night I sit them down. My father is oddly quiet. My mother is not. “I was pregnant at 15, I can’t have a 16 year old pregnant daughter. God, how could you embarrass me. “Mom no, I’m keeping it.” My mother says “you’re an immature slut, you’re not even half as mature as I was as your age.” My mom has a way of cutting me down to size, and she’s right. I’m immature. I thought he loved me, but I already love the baby growing inside of me. She/He is due June 8th. Me: Then I’ll give the baby up for adoption. My liberal dad snorts snorts “nobody wants a mixed baby. Your baby will languish in foster care. Is that what you want?” My mother screeches “You’re out. You keep the baby, you’re out of this house. In fact, get the f*** out now.” I leave the home in the dark and wander the street for hours. How the hell am I going to do this? I have no place to go. I’m sitting on a swing in the playground telling myself how stupid I am[.] I wander into the house around 2:00 a.m[.] My mother is sitting up. “ I guess because you’re back it means you’ll do what I say.” My mother’s demeanor changes. She's almost giddy. I feel physically ill. Oh honey, don’t worry. You won’t have to go to that nasty planned parenthood. We’ll get a doctor to do it at the hospital.</p>
<p>At about 5 weeks pregnant, I see a doctor. He’s cold. He doesn’t explain the procedure other than to say that my parents paid for me to be under twilight. I’ll still be aware, but I won’t care[.] The procedure will be simple and quick, he assures me. They do an ultrasound to date the pregnancy, which is turned away from my face, and schedule my abortion for 3 weeks later. 3 weeks later I am prepped for surgery I am brought into a surgical room and given a pill. The pill makes everything hazy and unreal. My feet are in the stirrups and my mind is racing over all that’s happen. Then I hear it. It sounds like an evil vacuum. And I feel the pressure. My mind screams "NO" and then I start to scream “No, No, No, No, No, No”[.] This isn’t right. This isn't right. This [vacuum] is killing. Its sucking the life out of me. I’m killing my baby. “No” I’m sobbing[.] The doctor tells me to quiet down, it will be over soon. I don't. I can't. I'm killing someone. Not anyone, but MINE[.] Again, he assures me it will be over soon. Little did I know, the nightmare for me would never be over. The vacuum continues. I feel violated, more violated than when I was raped 2 years earlier. It’s finally over. They wheel me out to the recovery room. I’m hysterically sobbing “my baby, my baby, my baby." I know I'm loud[.] A nurse comes in and get in my face[,] “shut up, she says; you’re disturbing the other patients." Apparently I don’t deserve the respect of a patient, and I agree. I'm scum. I'm a murderer. They won’t let anybody back there, but my aunt who works at the hospital sneaks back. She sees my state and holds me while I cry. To this day, she’s the only liberal family member who is pro-life. I have always wondered if that was the moment for her. They let me get dressed, I’m bleeding and cramping and it’s horrible. They give me some meds.I go home and I’m still sobbing although hysteria has tempered. I lay down in the bed &amp; let my mother hug me. The women who gave me life, but wouldn’t let me.</p>
<p>You were just a kid people tell me. I wasn’t though, the moment I became pregnant, I was a mom. And mom’s [sic] protect their children no matter what. I failed. Every June 8th, I’m reminded. I was reminded every time I heard my kids heartbeat, or even their laughter , that one is missing. One is dead Because I was given a "choice." I love you little one, I [always] will.</p> | #SilentNoMore: Woman's Post-Abortion Powerful Story Is Triggering Others To Come Forward And Expose Abortion | true | https://dailywire.com/news/21356/silentnomore-post-abortive-womans-powerful-story-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2017-09-20 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Virtual reality is seen as a potential game-changing technology in the sports world. For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the future is now.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The Buccaneers say they are the first professional sports team to merge live, 360-degree video inside a 3D environment for gameday experiences and digital stadium tours. The team is using the technology to introduce fans to the newly renovated Raymond James Stadium. Using a virtual-reality headset and a traditional videogame controller, fans can experience what it’s like to walk around the field and the Hall of Fame Club, a new addition to the 18-year-old venue.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.newbucsgameday.com/" type="external">The Buccaneers also launched a website Opens a New Window.</a> that features 360-degree tours with “before” and “after” views of seating sections and luxury suites—the first use of such technology by a sports franchise. During the season, the Buccaneers have plans to offer behind-the-scenes video utilizing virtual-reality technology, adding another layer to the team’s aggressive push into a new frontier of the tech world.</p>
<p>Brian Killingsworth, chief marketing officer of the Buccaneers, believes virtual reality is changing the way the franchise sells tickets, pursues corporate partnerships and engages fans online.</p>
<p>“We’re excited to be innovators. We pride ourselves on being the first to do things,” Killingsworth told FOXBusiness.com.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The $140 million overhaul of Raymond James Stadium kicked off in January, and the project’s first phase will be completed by the start of the season. One of the most visible changes to Raymond James Stadium will be its high-definition LED video boards. The venue went from just two displays to six that measure a combined 28,000 square feet, the third most for any NFL team. The Bucs also constructed new luxury suites and the 240-seat Hall of Fame Club.</p>
<p>Raymond James Stadium remains a construction zone, but with virtual-reality headsets, current and prospective ticket holders can visualize the new-look stadium even before it opens its doors for the new season in September.</p>
<p>Killingsworth said it was too early to say if the use of virtual reality has boosted ticket sales, although the early response has been “overwhelming.” In the team’s nearby practice facility this week, the Buccaneers opened a PreView Center with a replica video board, an interactive touch screen and Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) Oculus Rift VR headsets, which connect fans to <a href="http://www.buccaneers.com/videos/videos/Winston-Hosts-Virtual-Tour-of-Stadium-Experience/3bca806c-3555-4e43-9313-d41dcb4c926d" type="external">the virtual reality tour featuring quarterback Jameis Winston Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>In the Buccaneers’ front office, virtual reality is helping the team make its pitch to potential sponsors. <a href="http://www.mvp-interactive.com/" type="external">MVP Interactive Opens a New Window.</a>, the company that built the tour of Raymond James Stadium, is able to place a company’s logo inside venues to give executives an early preview.</p>
<p>“We’re seeing a massive opportunity to leverage the technology to give a view from the seats from a season-ticket perspective, and of course corporate sponsors are really important to the finances of a particular team. When folks have their first opportunity to experience virtual reality, that alone helps qualify a sales pitch,” MVP Interactive CEO James Giglio said.</p>
<p>The Buccaneers are bringing virtual reality to fans through the team’s mobile app, where users will find video content throughout the season.</p>
<p>“There are a lot of things that happen during training camp or during the season that fans normally don’t have access to. We want fans to see things they haven’t seen before,” Killingsworth said.</p>
<p>Fans can expect virtual-reality footage from inside the locker room and other behind-the-scenes moments. Killingsworth envisions turning around virtual-reality content on the same day of a game, thus adding more value to the gameday experience. In addition to posting video to their app and social media, the Bucs will have the ability to open kiosks in the stadium with headsets ready to go. The team has partnered with XOS Digital, which offers the equipment and software needed to produce the video.</p>
<p>“Virtual reality is a great way to transport fans to places they’ve never been before. We’ve had customers post simple content to social media, and they’ve recorded a lot of views just because of how engaging the video is,” said Matt Bairos, CEO of XOS Digital.</p>
<p>Executives acknowledged that virtual reality remains in its infancy. Consumer adoption is a work in progress. Yet the Buccaneers, as early adopters themselves, see their investment in the technology as a way to accelerate its growth. “I think what the Bucs are doing is bring to market in a very approachable way,” said MVP Interactive’s Giglio. The Buccaneers’ app will give fans the option of choosing which device they want to use to watch video, either their smartphone or a connected virtual-reality headset such as the Samsung Gear VR.</p>
<p>When they’re on the road, the Buccaneers will have a 50-foot-long RV designed to introduce more people to virtual reality and “The New Raymond James Stadium Experience.” Killingsworth said the RV is a “great marketing tool” that will visit sponsors and other locations.</p>
<p>Virtual reality has made its way onto the field, too. Players started using a 3D simulator as a training tool last season, and the Buccaneers brought virtual reality to their youth quarterback clinic in a partnership with EON Sports.</p> | Tampa Bay Buccaneers Bring Virtual Reality to the Gridiron | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/07/21/tampa-bay-buccaneers-bring-virtual-reality-to-gridiron.html | 2016-07-21 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Now that's a big change in how things get done. Image source: Ritchie Bros.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>When you think of online auctions, names like eBay are probably at the top of your mind. In fact, you might think that the construction equipmentRitchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE: RBA) sells is safe from online competition because they are gigantic machines.You'd be wrong. And that's why 50% is the number to watch at Ritchie Bros.</p>
<p>Let's examine further.</p>
<p>Around the worldRitchie Bros.' business is to sell gigantic equipment -- the types of things used to build stuff like houses, skyscrapers, and roads. In fact, with the oil and gas industry in the dumps, Ritchie Bros. is looking to see if there's a bigger role for it to play in that space, too. The takeaway is that these are expensive and often highly specialized machines that are sold to a limited set of discerning buyers.</p>
<p>That's why Ritchie Bros. was able to generate $4.25 billion in sales last year with just 44 locations.Despite the scale of the equipment, that kind of money is attracting competition from what may seem an unlikely source, the Internet. If you can buy groceries over the Internet, why not a backhoe?</p>
<p>Owning itThat's why 50% is such an important number. Roughly half of Ritchie Bros.' winning bids come from locations that are outside the region in which an auction takes place. Those bids are coming through the company's Internet operations. So Ritchie Bros. isn't some old-line business. It's made sure to keep up with the online competition.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>One of the company's key Web assets. Image source: Ritchie Bros.</p>
<p>While Ritchie Bros. isn't surprised by the success of the online heavy equipment business, some industry watchers might be. According to Karl Werner, one of Ritchie Bros.' top-ranking officers, "When we launched it, there were estimates that online proceeds would never exceed $10 million per year." That was a statement made in early 2014, after an auction where online sales totaled $54 million -- for a single auction. Clearly, Ritchie Bros.' business goes hand in hand with the Internet.</p>
<p>While it's great that Ritchie Bros. has been so proactive online, it can't stop now. Why? The company estimates that it controls less than 2% of the global market for used equipment. To be fair, the business is highly fragmented, so acquisitions are likely to play a big part in Ritchie Bros.' growth. But this is exactly the type of inefficient market that Internet companies love to disrupt.</p>
<p>The bits and pieces that make up Ritchie Bros.: Online gets three spots on the list. Image source: Ritchie Bros.</p>
<p>An acquisition exampleSo Ritchie Bros. needs to focus not just on its brick and mortar business, but also on ensuring that it also properly supports its Internet platform. Take, for example, the company's nearly $27 million purchase of Mascus in February. Mascus is a leading European online listing service for heavy equipment and trucks.</p>
<p>This deal, however, is about more than just expanding the company's online community. Mascus provides access to a new set of tools and allows Ritchie Bros. to offer another service to existing customers, deepening relationships. CEO Ravi Saligram explained, "Combining Ritchie Bros.' current capabilities with Mascus' solutions will enhance the end-to-end services that we can provide to OEMs, dealers, and private equipment sellers."</p>
<p>Not-so-foolish takeawayWhen you look at Ritchie Bros. don't get stuck on the idea that large equipment can't be sold online. It can, and it increasingly is. And while Ritchie Bros. has done a great job to ensure that its business grows to include the online space, Internet communities are fast changing. While I can't tell you that 50% is the right or wrong number for Ritchie Bros., what I can tell you is that any big change in that figure is something to pay close attention to. Ritchie Bros. simply can't afford to let its Internet business slide, so make sure to keep an online eye on this heavy-equipment auctioneer.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/04/28/1-key-ritchie-bros-auctioneers-stock-number-you-mu.aspx" type="external">1 Key Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Stock Number You Must Know Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/ReubenGBrewer/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Reuben Brewer Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends eBay. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 1 Key Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Stock Number You Must Know | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/04/28/1-key-ritchie-bros-auctioneers-stock-number-must-know.html | 2016-04-28 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Daniel&#160;Radosh’s Rapture&#160;Ready!&#160;is one of those books where, as soon as you finish, you wish you could go back in time and revisit something you wrote previously, now that you actually know what you’re talking about. In this case, that would be my <a href="" type="internal">dispatch</a> from the Focus on the Family bookstore in Colorado Springs. At the time I wrote that Christian pop culture was about added value: product + God = better product. But there’s actually a pretty intense debate, as Radosh’s book makes clear, over contemporary Christian performing arts. Should Christians try to work within the secular system and promote their values through actions?&#160;Should they shun the system and purge their pop culture of non-Christian references? And beyond that, should they really be focusing so much on profits rather than, say, prophets?</p>
<p>It’s a fascinating book; Radosh checks in on Christian music festivals, Christian wrestling, Christian chick-lit (and its End Times counterpart, Christian pit-lit), Christian stand-up comedy, Christian&#160;Batman&#160;(“Bibleman”), Christian raves, Christian sex workshops—you name it, really. Anyway, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rapture-Ready-Adventures-Parallel-Christian/dp/0743297709" type="external">check it out</a>. And in the meantime, here’s a clip of Psalty the Singing Songbook, my favorite revelation (sorry) from the book; he’s like a mix of Ronald&#160;McDonald and Spongebob, if Spongebob weren’t an agent of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/20/politics/20sponge.html" type="external">the homosexual agenda</a>:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p /> | Meet Psalty the Singing Songbook | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/11/meet-psalty-singing-songbook/ | 2010-11-28 | 4 |
<p />
<p>You’ve found your new home — congrats! But before you dream about settling in and cozying up on your couch for a Netflix binge, you have to actually prep for and execute that big move.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>While the process of moving can be exhausting, planning your move doesn’t have to be. Check out these apps to help ease your transition into your new home — and get you closer to that movie night.</p>
<p>Home Inventory Photo Remote</p>
<p>Antsy to start planning your move, but feeling overwhelmed about where to begin? Creating an inventory of the items you intend to take with you is easy with <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/home-inventory-photo-remote/id419131094?mt=8" type="external">Home Inventory Photo Remote Opens a New Window.</a>. The app allows you to take photos of your items and then group them by category, collection and even location — keeping you so organized that none of your family members can use the excuse, “I don’t remember where anything goes!”</p>
<p>Once you’re unpacked, the information you’ve gathered in the app will serve as an <a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/how-to-create-home-inventory-154987/" type="external">inventory of your possessions Opens a New Window.</a> should the unexpected happen and you have to file an insurance claim.</p>
<p>My Move</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-move/id406330208?mt=8#ls=1" type="external">My Move app Opens a New Window.</a> lets you read moving company reviews, complete a moving checklist for every step of the process, calculate the weight of the items you plan to take with you, and more. Perfect for calculating potential costs, My Move helps you plan your move on your own terms — and your budget.</p>
<p>Moving Checklist Pro</p>
<p>If you’re just looking for a thorough moving checklist, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/moving-checklist-pro/id467016965?mt=8" type="external">Moving Checklist Pro Opens a New Window.</a> comes with a list of 200+ common household moving items, and you can add your own, too. Creating your own custom lists — such as schools to research, services to cancel or items to return — ensures that you’ll never forget a thing. And if you find that this app doesn’t quite meet your needs, Jimbl Software Labs will even refund your purchase.</p>
<p>Bonus: Gogobot</p>
<p>Once your moving itinerary is planned and you’re on the road, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gogobot-city-guide-for-activities/id459590827?mt=8" type="external">Gogobot Opens a New Window.</a> is a must to download. Referred to as “ <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/16/gogobot/" type="external">a Pandora for travel Opens a New Window.</a>” by TechCrunch and named “ <a href="http://momaboard.com/traveltip/best-free-mobile-apps-for-travel/" type="external">one of the best free apps for travel Opens a New Window.</a>” by Mom Aboard, Gogobot offers you personalized recommendations on where to eat, play and stay wherever you are on your moving journey.</p>
<p>Moving can be a pain, but these apps can make it a bit less of a headache. No need to wait until you have a moving date to try, though. Download a few of our favorite moving help apps today and see which one best meets your moving needs.</p>
<p>More from Zillow:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/additional-services-from-movers-178060/" type="external">Extra Fees That Could Add to the Cost of Your Move Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/house-hunting-with-kids-176504/" type="external">5 Tips for House Hunting With Kids Opens a New Window.</a> <a href="http://www.zillow.com/blog/insuring-long-distance-move-177121/" type="external">Insuring Your Long-Distance Move Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/101564274109642031843/posts" type="external">Sarah Pike Opens a New Window.</a>is a freelancer, writing teacher, and apartment dweller. When she's not writing, teaching, or obsessively organizing her home, she's probably binge-watching RomComs or reading home décor magazines. She also enjoys following far too many celebrities than she should on Instagram. You can find Sarah on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/sarahzpike" type="external">@sarahzpike Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | These Apps Will Make Your Next Move a Breeze | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2015/08/07/these-apps-will-make-your-next-move-breeze.html | 2016-03-05 | 0 |
<p>April 16, 2012</p>
<p>By John Seiler</p>
<p>Tomorrow is Tax Day. It’s April 17, this year, so the government gives us two more days than usual before it skins us alive.</p>
<p>Government is nothing bug a gang of thieves backed by media propagandists.</p>
<p>Here’s the great Man in Black singing about taxes:</p>
<p /> | Johnny Cash sings the tax blues | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2012/04/16/johnny-cash-sings-the-tax-blues/ | 2018-04-20 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images.Worried that you don't have enough saved for retirement? You're not alone.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>A recent <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/191174/americans-financial-worries-edge-2016.aspx" type="external">Gallup survey Opens a New Window.</a>found that Americans list retirement savings as their top financial concern, with 64 percent saying they were "very worried" or "moderately worried" about having enough money to support themselves in their golden years.</p>
<p>Experts often advise young people to start their retirement savings early in their careers, but those who are closer to retirement can take important steps to shore up their finances as well. If you're a few years away from retirement, here are some key moves you should consider to secure your financial future.</p>
<p>It's easier to plan for retirement when you know your timeline. While 65 may be the typical retirement age, some workers choose to retire at other ages that coincide with the availability of specific benefits and income streams. For instance, those who retire at a younger age may do so in part because 401(k) and IRA savers can start withdrawing from their retirement plans at age 59 1/2 without facing a tax penalty. Those who wait until they're older, meanwhile, might be motivated by the fact that waiting until age 70 to claim Social Security benefits will leave you eligible for increased benefits.</p>
<p>Plus, those extra years can be an important time to shore up existing retirement savings plans. The average retirement age in the U.S. is 62 for women and 64 for men, according to <a href="http://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IB_15-4_508_rev.pdf" type="external">The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Life on a fixed income requires a good deal of planning, but it's hard to plan if you don't know how much money you'll actually have coming in the door each month. To learn roughly how much you can expect to receive in monthly Social Security payments, check out the Social Security Administration's <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/retire/estimator.html" type="external">Retirement Estimator Opens a New Window.</a>tool.</p>
<p>The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's <a href="http://apps.finra.org/investor_information/calculators/1/retirementcalc.aspx" type="external">Retirement Calculator Opens a New Window.</a>and <a href="https://secure.aarp.org/work/retirement-planning/retirement_calculator.html#/about-you/lifestyle" type="external">AARP's Retirement Calculator Opens a New Window.</a>can also be good tools to help you estimate how much you need to save annually to meet a specific retirement income goal. These calculators take into account other sources of retirement income beyond Social Security.</p>
<p>Many who use online retirement calculator tools are disappointed to learn that they have too little saved. Experts recommend that your retirement savings total an amount equivalent to about 8 to 11 times your annual salary, yet 62 percent of working households age 55 to 64 have retirement savings that are equal to less than one year of their annual income, according to research by the <a href="http://www.nirsonline.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=882&amp;Itemid=48" type="external">National Institute on Retirement Security Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>If you're part of the majority of workers who should be saving more, that will likely require cutting back on your current spending in order to sock more away into retirement accounts. Fortunately, doing so will afford you more than just healthier retirement savings, said Diane Oakley, the Executive Director of NIRS. By "challenging yourself to live on less," Oakley said, you can establish thrifty habits that continue into retirement and ensure that the savings you do accumulate last longer.</p>
<p>The good news is that Uncle Sam lets you play catch up with your retirement savings if you are 50 or older. Once you reach 50 or older, as of the <a href="http://www.finra.org/investors/annual-contribution-limits" type="external">2016 tax year Opens a New Window.</a>, you can contribute an extra $6,000 to your 401(k) and most other employer-sponsored retirement plans, for a maximum contribution of $24,000 per tax year.</p>
<p>One key way to cut expenses is to find a less expensive living situation. Some 19.8 million Americansabout 17 percent of the U.S. population --spend at least half of their income on housing costs such as mortgage payments or rent, according to the <a href="http://harvard-cga.maps.arcgis.com/apps/StorytellingTextLegend/index.html?appid=18d215ddb20946a4a16ae43586bf0b52" type="external">Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Reducing housing costs often requires either moving to a less expensive home -- perhaps a smaller one where rent or (if you own) the mortgage and property taxes are lower -- or refinancing your current mortgage. Refinancing, said Oakley, may be particularly attractive today thanks to low interest rates.</p>
<p>You'll want to get a handle on the <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/refinancings/#cost" type="external">costs of refinancing Opens a New Window.</a>--and when refinancing might not be such a good idea. "If you haven't refinanced your mortgage and you have a high interest rate, you should be asking, 'Should I refinance?' and [if you do] maybe put some of that money you save toward your retirement accounts," notes Oakley.</p>
<p>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.thealertinvestor.com/retirement-planning-checklist-older-workers/" type="external">thealertinvestor.com Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/retirement/2016/06/26/retirement-planning-a-checklist-for-older-workers.aspx" type="external">Retirement Planning: A Checklist for Older Workers Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p>Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Retirement Planning: A Checklist for Older Workers | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/06/26/retirement-planning-checklist-for-older-workers.html | 2016-06-26 | 0 |
<p>Nervous Democrats in competitive races in November have found one surefire way to try to deflect the political damage from the VA scandal: calling for Eric Shinseki’s head.</p>
<p>With the scandal over secret wait lists at hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs exploding, Shinseki, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, is coming under pressure to resign not just from Republicans but an increasing number of Democrats as well.</p>
<p>For these anxious Democrats, throwing Shinseki under the bus is a safe play to create distance from an increasingly toxic political scandal.</p>
<p>Throughout Wednesday in the wake of <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2014/05/28/va-admits-fraud-is-systemic.html" type="external">a scathing report</a> from VA’s inspector general, it seemed every Democrat in a close race in November was scrambling to condemn Shinseki and call for his head in the scandal—a marked contrast to their reluctance to go after <a href="" type="internal">Kathleen Sebelius</a> during the early failure of <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2013/12/01/is-the-healthcare-gov-fix-too-late-to-save-obamacare.html" type="external">healthcare.gov</a> last year.</p>
<p>Mark Udall, a first-term senator facing a tough race in the swing state of Colorado, said “the systemic problems at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are so entrenched that they require new leadership to be fixed. Secretary Shinseki must step down.” John Walsh, a Montana Democrat was appointed to the Senate seat vacated by <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2013/12/18/baucus-to-be-ambassador-to-china.html" type="external">Max Baucus</a> last year and considered an underdog to keep his seat in November, demanded “It is time for President Obama to remove Secretary Shinseki from office.”</p>
<p>Democratic hopefuls outside Washington, D.C. also didn’t hesitate to call on Shinseki to quit. <a href="" type="internal">Alison Lundergan Grimes</a>, the Democratic nominee for Senate against Mitch McConnell, called on Shinseki to quit last Thursday, saying, “We owe a solemn obligation to our veterans, and our government defaulted on that contract. I don’t see how that breach of trust with our veterans can be repaired if the current leadership stays in place.” Michelle Nunn, the Democratic candidate in Georgia’s open Senate seat, echoed Grimes in calling for Shinseki to step down as well.</p>
<p>In fact, the list of Democrats calling for Shinseki to go increasingly resembles an election simulation by Nate Silver. Democratic congressman in vulnerable seats like <a href="" type="internal">Nick Rahall</a> and John Barrow and those seeking to move to the Senate like Bruce Braley are now demanding Shinseki step down. The most notable defectors on Thursday included Mark Warner, a first-term Senator from Virginia who faces a competitive re-election in a state packed with veterans and DCCC Chair Steve Israel, who is the first member of Democratic leadership to call on Shinseki to step down.</p>
<p>Asked Wednesday evening whether Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), one of the country’s most vulnerable Democrats, had confidence in Shinseki, a spokesman said that there was “no news currently.”</p>
<p>Landrieu has previously called the VA crisis “completely inexcusable,” and is collaborating with Republican Sen. Jerry Moran to propose a Veterans Affairs funding bill that would give the Secretary of Veterans Affairs increased power to reprimand senior officials for mismanagement at VA hospitals.</p>
<p>Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), another vulnerable red-state Democrat, did not immediately respond to a question from The Daily Beast about whether Shinseki should resign. On Thursday though, Pryor <a href="http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/41e2dfb4e7da4ee99f87c29f1ec10ff5/AR--Veterans-Health-Care-Pryor" type="external">said</a> at a press conference that he's not ready to call on Shinseki to step down.</p>
<p>But Pryor also stressed last week that reports about the VA were “extremely disturbing.” In a letter to Shinseki, the Arkansas Senator demanded a “a full explanation of your department’s plan to address this situation.”</p>
<p>In the meantime, a conservative veterans group linked to the Koch brothers is already running ads <a href="http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/05/28/veterans-group-targets-five-democratic-senators-up-in-2014-over-va-bill/" type="external">targeting vulnerable Senate Democrats</a> including Landrieu and Pryor.</p>
<p>Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't).</p>
<p>There is one person on Capitol Hill who notably has not called on Shinseki to resign. Republican Speaker John Boehner told reporters Thursday that while he would continue to reserve judgment, he didn’t think the VA Secretary should resign at present. “Is him resigning going to get us to the bottom of the problem? Is it going to help us find what’s really going on? And the answer I keep getting is no.”</p>
<p>Of course, Shinseki’s continued presence in office though provides political benefits for Boehner and the GOP. Shinseki is an easy political piñata for Republicans to hit. Just as Kathleen Sebelius at the end of her tenure at HHS became a convenient personification of the failures of the rollout of Obamacare, Shinseki has now embodies the VA scandal. The longer he stays in office, the bigger the target on his back.</p>
<p>The only difference between Sebelius and Shinseki is that Democrats had far more reason to rally behind the former Health and Human Services Secretary. Her failures related to Obamacare, the signature legislative achievement of Democrats in the 21st century. In contrast, VA hospitals have no such partisan patina and the VA scandal has provoked bipartisan outrage as a fundamental failure of the healthcare system that American veterans rely upon. There is no reason for Democrats to show loyalty to Shinseki as a result or “take one for the team” as he becomes a political albatross.</p>
<p>Shinseki’s days at the VA seem to be numbered. The only question is how many more Democrats need call for his resignation before the retired general finally falls on his own sword.</p> | Why Dems Are Tripping Over Each Other to Push The V.A. Chief Out | true | https://thedailybeast.com/why-dems-are-tripping-over-each-other-to-push-the-va-chief-out | 2018-10-07 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Albany Molecular Research Inc. announced the cash acquisition on Monday morning, representing one of the largest purchases to date of a homegrown biotechnology company in New Mexico.</p>
<p>AMRI provides global contract research and manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, with operations in North America, Europe and Asia. The publicly traded company generated $210 million in revenue in 2013.</p>
<p>Oso Bio, which launched in Albuquerque in 1984, makes injectable drugs on contract at a 215,000-square-foot facility with roughly 400 employees. The company projects between $58 million and $60 million in revenue this year.</p>
<p>"The sale is terrific for the company and for Albuquerque," said Albuquerque Bioscience Center founder Stuart Rose. "AMRI is a well recognized, growing company in this field. The acquisition draws a lot of attention to the state in terms of potential and appeal here."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Rose is a retired Oso Bio shareholder who cofounded the company in 2008. He and his partners bought the manufacturing facility from Catalent, another company that also made injectable drugs. But following that acquisition, the Oso Bio founders added new capabilities and services to the process to allow the company to handle difficult-to-manufacture pharmaceuticals, such as injectable liquids that require extreme care or that are unstable if not rapidly processed.</p>
<p>Oso Bio will remain in Albuquerque, and current president and CEO Milton Boyer will remain at the helm.</p>
<p>Waneta Tuttle, a long-time biotech investor and founder of Southwest Medical Ventures in Albuquerque, said the acquisition "really validates that homegrown biotechnology companies can be successful."</p>
<p>John Chavez, president of the New Mexico Angels - which has invested in a number of local biotech startups - said this deal "shows we have the ability to create and grow successful companies here."</p> | ABQ's OsoBio to be sold for $110 million | false | https://abqjournal.com/409659/abqs-osobio-sold-for-110-million.html | 2014-06-02 | 2 |
<p>The central bank’s ability to create money to support stock prices negates the price discovery function of the stock market.</p>
<p>Are we witnessing the corruption of central banks? Are we observing the money-creating powers of central banks being used to drive up prices in the stock market for the benefit of the mega-rich?</p>
<p>These questions came to mind when we learned that the central bank of Switzerland, the Swiss National Bank, purchased 3,300,000 shares of Apple stock in the first quarter of this year, adding 500,000 shares in the second quarter. Smart money would have been selling, not buying.</p>
<p>It turns out that the Swiss central bank, in addition to its Apple stock, holds very large equity positions, ranging from $250,000,000 to $637,000,000, in numerous US corporations—Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, Google, Johnson &amp; Johnson, General Electric, Procter &amp; Gamble, Verizon, AT&amp;T, Pfizer, Chevron, Merck, Facebook, Pepsico, Coca Cola, Disney, Valeant, IBM, Gilead, Amazon.</p>
<p>Among this list of the Swiss central bank’s holdings are stocks which are responsible for more than 100% of the year-to-date rise in the S&amp;P 500 prior to the latest sell-off.</p>
<p>What is going on here?</p>
<p>The purpose of central banks was to serve as a “lender of last resort” to commercial banks faced with a run on the bank by depositors demanding cash withdrawals of their deposits.</p>
<p>Banks would call in loans in an effort to raise cash to pay off depositors. Businesses would fail, and the banks would fail from their inability to pay depositors their money on demand.</p>
<p>As time passed, this rationale for a central bank was made redundant by government deposit insurance for bank depositors, and central banks found additional functions for their existence. The Federal Reserve, for example, under the Humphrey-Hawkins Act, is responsible for maintaining full employment and low inflation. By the time this legislation was passed, the worsening “Phillips Curve tradeoffs” between inflation and employment had made the goals inconsistent. The result was the introduction by the Reagan administration of the supply-side economic policy that cured the simultaneously rising inflation and unemployment.</p>
<p>Neither the Federal Reserve’s charter nor the Humphrey-Hawkins Act says that the Federal Reserve is supposed to stabilize the stock market by purchasing stocks. The Federal Reserve is supposed to buy and sell bonds in open market operations in order to encourage employment with lower interest rates or to restrict inflation with higher interest rates.</p>
<p>If central banks purchase stocks in order to support equity prices, what is the point of having a stock market? The central bank’s ability to create money to support stock prices negates the price discovery function of the stock market.</p>
<p>The problem with central banks is that humans are fallible, including the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and all the board members and staff. Nobel prize-winner Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz established that the Great Depression was the consequence of the failure of the Federal Reserve to expand monetary policy sufficiently to offset the restriction of the money supply due to bank failure. When a bank failed in the pre-deposit insurance era, the money supply would shrink by the amount of the bank’s deposits. During the Great Depression, thousands of banks failed, wiping out the purchasing power of millions of Americans and the credit creating power of thousands of banks.</p>
<p>The Fed is prohibited from buying equities by the Federal Reserve Act. But an amendment in 2010—Section 13(3)—was enacted to permit the Fed to buy AIG’s insolvent Maiden Lane assets. This amendment also created a loophole which enables the Fed to lend money to entities that can use the funds to buy stocks. Thus, the Swiss central bank could be operating as an agent of the Federal Reserve.</p>
<p>If central banks cannot properly conduct monetary policy, how can they conduct an equity policy? Some astute observers believe that the Swiss National Bank is acting as an agent for the Federal Reserve and purchases large blocs of US equities at critical times to arrest stock market declines that would puncture the propagandized belief that all is fine here in the US economy.</p>
<p>We know that the US government has a “plunge protection team” consisting of the US Treasury and Federal Reserve. The purpose of this team is to prevent unwanted stock market crashes.</p>
<p>Is the stock market decline of August 20-21 welcome or unwelcome?</p>
<p>At this point we do not know. In order to keep the dollar up, the basis of US power, the Federal Reserve has promised to raise interest rates, but always in the future. The latest future is next month. The belief that a hike in interest rates is in the cards keeps the US dollar from losing exchange value in relation to other currencies, thus preventing a flight from the dollar that would reduce the Uni-power to Third World status.</p>
<p>The Federal Reserve can say that the stock market decline indicates that the recovery is in doubt and requires more stimulus. The prospect of more liquidity could drive the stock market back up. As asset bubbles are in the way of the Fed’s policy, a decline in stock prices removes the equity market bubble and enables the Fed to print more money and start the process up again.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the stock market decline last Thursday and Friday could indicate that the players in the market have comprehended that the stock market is an artificially inflated bubble that has no real basis. Once the psychology is destroyed, flight sets in.</p>
<p>If flight turns out to be the case, it will be interesting to see if central bank liquidity and purchases of stocks can stop the rout.</p>
<p>This article was originally published at <a href="http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/08/23/central-banks-become-corrupting-force-paul-craig-roberts-dave-kranzler/" type="external">PaulCraigRoberts.org</a> and has been used here with permission.</p> | Central Banks Have Become a Corrupting Force | false | http://foreignpolicyjournal.com/2015/08/26/central-banks-have-become-a-corrupting-force/ | 2015-08-26 | 1 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>“Pensions are for people when you are old and are not able to earn a living anymore.”</p>
<p>— Dennis Kintigh, ex-state lawmaker who tried to set a minimum retirement age for legislators</p>
<p />
<p>Well, except in New Mexico.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Even with recent, much-needed fiscal reforms, future public safety employees can still “retire” — and collect a pension — at any age after 25 years of service, future educators at age 55, future state employees when their age and years of service add up to 85.</p>
<p>And all lawmakers can “retire” and collect a pension at any age when they are out of office after 10 years of service .</p>
<p>For instance, Sen. Jacob Candelaria, who was reported as being 25 years old when elected last November, is said to be the youngest person ever elected to the Legislature. That means if he is re-elected a few times he could retire and receive a pension in 2023 while still in his mid-30s.</p>
<p>Or consider Rep. Dan Foley, who “retired” in 2009 when voters kicked him out of office at age 39 and whose yearly pension benefits are $13,254 at this time. Or how about former Senate leader Manny Aragon, who has collected more than $200k in pension payments since “retiring” in 2005 and serving a federal prison sentence in a kickback scheme.</p>
<p>Foley, now a Rio Rancho insurance agent, maintains that the possibility of receiving nearly $450,000 in state pension checks before he’s 67 is fair because “at the end of the day, we paid money into it. It was a retirement plan that was available.”</p>
<p>But New Mexico taxpayers put in a whole lot more; $43 for every buck a lawmaker puts in. Foley’s contribution to the legislative retirement was $5,000. By comparison, the public contributes $1.12 into the pension system for state and local government workers for every $1 an employee contributes.</p>
<p>The state’s citizen legislators don’t get salaries — their time and effort is compensated only by per diem payments (currently $154). But arguing that unpaid service merits 30 extra years of pension payments serves to create a group of hale and hearty retirees who are nowhere near the end of their working days.</p>
<p>The 2013 Legislature spent a lot of time reforming other people’s pensions. The class of 2014 needs to finally bring some equity to its own pension equation.</p>
<p>This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.</p> | Editorial: Legislature’s pensions need a minimum age | false | https://abqjournal.com/198184/legislatures-pensions-need-a-minimum-age.html | 2013-05-12 | 2 |
<p>Polls show Romney isn’t connecting with voters. Has Obama defined him? An anti-Romney ad features a steelworker’s story of losing his wife to cancer right after a Bain restructuring cost him his job and his company medical insurance. And the month of July set new temperature records, but policymakers aren’t budging on climate change.</p>
<p>Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Newsweek/Daily Beast editor David Frum join Matt Miller on this week’s “Left, Right &amp; Center.”</p>
<p>— Adapted from kcrw.com by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p>
<p>KCRW:</p>
<p />
<p /> | 'Left, Right & Center': Campaign Heating Up ... The Planet Too | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/left-right-center-campaign-heating-up-the-planet-too/ | 2012-08-11 | 4 |
<p>INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Colts spent all week poring through New England’s game tapes looking for answers.</p>
<p>They know they haven’t really seen anything yet.</p>
<p>If Indianapolis has learned anything from four straight blowout losses to the rival Patriots, it’s this: Things will change Sunday night.</p>
<p>“Right when you think you know exactly what he (Bill Belichick) is going to do, he defends you a different way,” coach Chuck Pagano said. “Not only him, but Matt Patricia, the defensive coordinator, they do a great job. They do a great job of making you beat them left-handed.”</p>
<p>It’s a riddle Indianapolis (3-2) hasn’t solved since Pagano and Andrew Luck arrived in 2012.</p>
<p>Indy’s last two playoff runs ended with 43-22 and 45-7 losses at New England. When the Colts finally got the Patriots on their home field last November, they lost 42-20. In Luck’s rookie season, Indy took a 14-7 lead then got drubbed 59-24. And when they couldn’t beat Tom Brady on the field, they turned him in to the league office for using improperly inflated footballs during last season’s AFC championship game.</p>
<p>NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down a four-game suspension, but a judge nullified the punishment — handing Brady and his bunch yet another victory.</p>
<p>Brady has responded with one of the best starts of his career. He’s already thrown for 1,387 yards, has 11 touchdowns and no interceptions, leads the league with a rating of 121.5 and has the Pats off to another 4-0 start. His next chance to beat up on the Colts comes with some added motivation, even if Brady won’t talk about it.</p>
<p>“I try certainly, to be a professional with how I approach every week,” said Brady, who is 13-4 against Indy. “You really put a lot into it every week no matter who you’re playing because all these games are important. All of them are hard to win.”</p>
<p>Especially when Belichick is the opponent.</p>
<p>But this time, it’s the Colts who are taking a page out of the Belichick playbook.</p>
<p>They haven’t said much about how they’ll defend Brady, whether they’ll revert to the short passing game that has helped them win three straight or dropped many hints about Luck’s health. Luck missed the last two games with an injured right shoulder and although he’s thrown more in practice this week than the previous two is still considered day to day.</p>
<p>If Luck doesn’t play Sunday, 40-year-old Matt Hasselbeck will make his third straight start, this time against his father’s former team.</p>
<p>The Pats couldn’t care less.</p>
<p>“I don’t think they’ve missed a beat (with Hasselbeck),” Patricia said. “I think they’re really right on track, so I think both quarterbacks are excellent. I think we’ve got to be ready for both.”</p>
<p>The Colts, meanwhile, are working overtime to get ready for whatever wrinkles Belichick may put in this week.</p>
<p>“You may see different looks that you haven’t seen all year,” Luck said. “There’s an element of that to every game in football that you realize there is an unknown element and you learn pretty quickly to handle it.”</p>
<p>Here are some other things to watch Sunday night:</p>
<p>RUNNING WILD: While Brady is putting up MVP numbers this season, the Patriots have dominated this series by grinding it out. Why stop now? During the previous four games against Indy, New England has run for 772 yards and 15 TDs while outscoring the Colts 189-73.</p>
<p>BREAKING FREE: In the AFC championship game, Luck’s receivers couldn’t get open. Since then, Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner have found new homes and the Colts have firmed up their receiving corps. They’re hoping their speedy youngsters — T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief and Phillip Dorsett — and a savvy veteran, Andre Johnson, can perform better against New England’s revamped secondary.</p>
<p>GRONK GONE WILD: Even If Indy’s run defense holds up against New England, the Colts face another major obstacle — tight end Rob Gronkowski. In five career games against Indy, Gronkowski has 20 catches for 325 yards (16.3-yard average) and six TDs. With Indy’s banged up secondary still trying to get healthy, and inside linebackers Jerrell Freeman and Nate Irving fighting injuries, Gronkowski may make life miserable for the Colts again.</p>
<p>DEFYING AGE: Without Luck, the oldest team in football has relied heavily on some longtime vets. Hasselbeck, the oldest non-kicker in the league, has won two straight. Running back Frank Gore and receiver Andre Johnson played well at Houston. Adam Vinatieri is still making kicks. Even if Luck does play this week, the Colts will need the old guys to perform well again to get a breakthrough win.</p>
<p>THE STREAKS: New England has won six straight in this series including the two playoff games and five straight on Sunday night. A win also would give the Pats they’re first 5-0 start since 2007 when they went 18-0 before losing in the Super Bowl.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online:</p>
<p>AP NFL websites: <a href="http://pro32.ap.org" type="external" /> <a href="http://pro32.ap.org" type="external">http://pro32.ap.org</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external" /> <a href="http://twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external">http://twitter.com/AP_NFL</a></p>
<p>INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Colts spent all week poring through New England’s game tapes looking for answers.</p>
<p>They know they haven’t really seen anything yet.</p>
<p>If Indianapolis has learned anything from four straight blowout losses to the rival Patriots, it’s this: Things will change Sunday night.</p>
<p>“Right when you think you know exactly what he (Bill Belichick) is going to do, he defends you a different way,” coach Chuck Pagano said. “Not only him, but Matt Patricia, the defensive coordinator, they do a great job. They do a great job of making you beat them left-handed.”</p>
<p>It’s a riddle Indianapolis (3-2) hasn’t solved since Pagano and Andrew Luck arrived in 2012.</p>
<p>Indy’s last two playoff runs ended with 43-22 and 45-7 losses at New England. When the Colts finally got the Patriots on their home field last November, they lost 42-20. In Luck’s rookie season, Indy took a 14-7 lead then got drubbed 59-24. And when they couldn’t beat Tom Brady on the field, they turned him in to the league office for using improperly inflated footballs during last season’s AFC championship game.</p>
<p>NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down a four-game suspension, but a judge nullified the punishment — handing Brady and his bunch yet another victory.</p>
<p>Brady has responded with one of the best starts of his career. He’s already thrown for 1,387 yards, has 11 touchdowns and no interceptions, leads the league with a rating of 121.5 and has the Pats off to another 4-0 start. His next chance to beat up on the Colts comes with some added motivation, even if Brady won’t talk about it.</p>
<p>“I try certainly, to be a professional with how I approach every week,” said Brady, who is 13-4 against Indy. “You really put a lot into it every week no matter who you’re playing because all these games are important. All of them are hard to win.”</p>
<p>Especially when Belichick is the opponent.</p>
<p>But this time, it’s the Colts who are taking a page out of the Belichick playbook.</p>
<p>They haven’t said much about how they’ll defend Brady, whether they’ll revert to the short passing game that has helped them win three straight or dropped many hints about Luck’s health. Luck missed the last two games with an injured right shoulder and although he’s thrown more in practice this week than the previous two is still considered day to day.</p>
<p>If Luck doesn’t play Sunday, 40-year-old Matt Hasselbeck will make his third straight start, this time against his father’s former team.</p>
<p>The Pats couldn’t care less.</p>
<p>“I don’t think they’ve missed a beat (with Hasselbeck),” Patricia said. “I think they’re really right on track, so I think both quarterbacks are excellent. I think we’ve got to be ready for both.”</p>
<p>The Colts, meanwhile, are working overtime to get ready for whatever wrinkles Belichick may put in this week.</p>
<p>“You may see different looks that you haven’t seen all year,” Luck said. “There’s an element of that to every game in football that you realize there is an unknown element and you learn pretty quickly to handle it.”</p>
<p>Here are some other things to watch Sunday night:</p>
<p>RUNNING WILD: While Brady is putting up MVP numbers this season, the Patriots have dominated this series by grinding it out. Why stop now? During the previous four games against Indy, New England has run for 772 yards and 15 TDs while outscoring the Colts 189-73.</p>
<p>BREAKING FREE: In the AFC championship game, Luck’s receivers couldn’t get open. Since then, Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner have found new homes and the Colts have firmed up their receiving corps. They’re hoping their speedy youngsters — T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief and Phillip Dorsett — and a savvy veteran, Andre Johnson, can perform better against New England’s revamped secondary.</p>
<p>GRONK GONE WILD: Even If Indy’s run defense holds up against New England, the Colts face another major obstacle — tight end Rob Gronkowski. In five career games against Indy, Gronkowski has 20 catches for 325 yards (16.3-yard average) and six TDs. With Indy’s banged up secondary still trying to get healthy, and inside linebackers Jerrell Freeman and Nate Irving fighting injuries, Gronkowski may make life miserable for the Colts again.</p>
<p>DEFYING AGE: Without Luck, the oldest team in football has relied heavily on some longtime vets. Hasselbeck, the oldest non-kicker in the league, has won two straight. Running back Frank Gore and receiver Andre Johnson played well at Houston. Adam Vinatieri is still making kicks. Even if Luck does play this week, the Colts will need the old guys to perform well again to get a breakthrough win.</p>
<p>THE STREAKS: New England has won six straight in this series including the two playoff games and five straight on Sunday night. A win also would give the Pats they’re first 5-0 start since 2007 when they went 18-0 before losing in the Super Bowl.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Online:</p>
<p>AP NFL websites: <a href="http://pro32.ap.org" type="external" /> <a href="http://pro32.ap.org" type="external">http://pro32.ap.org</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external" /> <a href="http://twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external">http://twitter.com/AP_NFL</a></p> | Colts preparing for any, all possibilities against Patriots | false | https://apnews.com/6c584d0117af44cd980071c220c007a2 | 2015-10-17 | 2 |
<p>Whelp, the cantankerous old troll of the House Republicans has declared that if Ted Cruz is the 2016 Republican nominee, he will jump off his own bridge [hat tip <a href="http://patdollard.com/2015/03/peter-king-vows-to-jump-off-a-bridge-if-ted-cruz-is-nominated/" type="external">Pat Dollard</a>].</p>
<p>Oh, don't tease.</p>
<p />
<p>"He's a guy with a big mouth," says the ugly big-mouthed old troll.</p>
<p>Watch the video.</p>
<p>This idiot is considering running for President himself.</p>
<p>He actually thinks he will appeal to the "Ronald Reagan wing" of the Republican party, but Ted Cruz, that "counterfeit conservative," won't.</p>
<p>Hahahahahaha!!!!</p>
<p>Yeah, when I think of Ronald Reagan, I think of the crotchety old crank Peter King.</p>
<p>Sorry to disappoint you, Pete. But I'm a Reagan conservative. And you're about as appealing as a bad case of the clap.</p>
<p>Now, go put on your slippers and bathrobe and get back under your bridge.</p> | Oh, Don't Tease | true | http://patriotretort.com/oh-dont-tease/ | 2015-03-24 | 0 |
<p>WASHINGTON — The moment that most deserves to be remembered from Sunday’s thrilling Super Bowl came before the game, when Jennifer Hudson joined students from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in singing “America the Beautiful.” It was a heart-rending elegy for the fallen — and a stirring call to action.</p>
<p>The brave students, in khakis and white polo shirts, survived the unspeakable massacre in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 of their schoolmates dead, riddled with bullets from an assault rifle fired by a madman. Hudson, the acclaimed recording artist and Oscar-winning actress, lost her mother, brother and nephew to Chicago’s endemic gun violence in 2008 when a troubled relative went on a murderous rampage; she had to identify all three bodies at the morgue.</p>
<p>The performance brought tears to the eyes of some of the players — and, surely, many television viewers. It was a reminder that life goes on, but also that we must not lose sight of unfinished business: reducing the awful toll that barely regulated, insufficiently monitored commerce in powerful weapons takes on innocent victims, day after day after day.</p>
<p>Despite the best efforts of the National Rifle Association and like-minded groups to make sure this business remains unfinished, reducing gun violence remains stubbornly high on the nation’s agenda.</p>
<p />
<p>This is partly due to the ravings of Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s executive vice president and spokesman, who almost single-handedly, or single-mouthedly, is making the pro-gun argument sound even crazier and more irresponsible than it is. And that’s saying something.</p>
<p>On Sunday, LaPierre treated viewers of “Fox News Sunday” to some of his lunacy. Anchor Chris Wallace gave him the opportunity to disavow the NRA’s shameful ad accusing President Obama of hypocrisy for supporting gun control while his own family is protected by armed Secret Service agents. LaPierre stuck to his guns, such as they were.</p>
<p>The president’s daughters “face a threat that most children do not face,” Wallace pointed out.</p>
<p>“Tell that to people in Newtown,” LaPierre replied. He was about to continue in this vein before Wallace interrupted.</p>
<p>“Do you really think the president’s children are the same kind of target as every school child in America? That’s ridiculous and you know it, sir.”</p>
<p>LaPierre then went into an absurdist rant about how “all the elites and all the powerful and privileged, the titans of industry” have armed security and — in LaPierre’s fantasy — send their children to schools that are veritable bunkers. Wallace noted that he sent his children to the same school the Obama daughters attend, and there were no armed guards on campus.</p>
<p>“The idea of an elite class,” Wallace said, “it’s just nonsense, sir.”</p>
<p>When Obama unveiled his far-reaching proposals on gun violence, it appeared initially that the NRA was willing to compromise. NRA President David Keene seemed to indicate the organization would accept universal background checks for gun purchases while strongly opposing proposed bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. But LaPierre declared Sunday that that the NRA will resist (BEG ITAL)any(END ITAL) new legislation.</p>
<p>In Senate hearings last week, LaPierre portrayed life in the United States as one long horror movie. “What people all over the country fear today is being abandoned by their government,” he said. “If a tornado hits, if a hurricane hits, if a riot occurs, that they’re going to be out there alone, and the only way they’re going to protect themselves, in the cold, in the dark, when they’re vulnerable, is with a firearm.”</p>
<p>He left out the zombies.</p>
<p>With so many members of Congress already bought and paid for, it’s understandable that the NRA would feel a measure of confidence. But I believe the pro-gun lobby is seriously overplaying its hand, and that the wind has shifted.</p>
<p>Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords also testified at last week’s hearings; she spoke only briefly, because it is still difficult for her to form words after being shot in the head two years ago. The gunman was wielding a semiautomatic pistol with a 33-round magazine. No one can convince her that if we lived in the world the NRA would like to see — in which everyone is armed to the teeth with military-style guns and ammo — we would be safer. Nor can anyone convince the children of Newtown. Or Jennifer Hudson’s family.</p>
<p>The NRA is powerful but not omnipotent. Polls show that Americans favor sensible gun control; if Obama and other proponents of sanity keep the issue alive, we can achieve it. From sea to shining sea.</p>
<p>Eugene Robinson’s e-mail address is eugenerobinson(at)washpost.com.</p>
<p>© 2012, Washington Post Writers Group</p> | On Guns, Unfinished Business | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/on-guns-unfinished-business/ | 2013-02-05 | 4 |
<p>SALT LAKE CITY - Hundreds of Mormon women who want ecclesiastical equality were denied admittance to a male-only session of their faith's spring conference on Saturday, in their bid to promote the ordination of women into the lay priesthood.</p>
<p>Adorned in purple, members of Ordain Women marched through a hailstorm from a park to the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square, the heart of a four-block campus that is the global home of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were seeking unfilled seats at the evening priesthood meeting at the faith's semi-annual conference.</p>
<p>This follows the group's attempt last fall to gain admittance to the meeting. The actions have led to tensions between church officials and the women, who say they are steadfast in their faith but want to play a more significant role in the life of a religion that claims over 15 million adherents worldwide.</p>
<p>One by one, the women and some male supporters were politely turned away by a church spokeswoman. High school student Emma Tueller, 16, fought back tears after the rejection, which came with a hug from the church representative, who encouraged her to watch the proceedings of the meeting online.</p>
<p>Tueller, a Provo, Utah, resident, joined Ordain Women in the previous action last fall.</p>
<p>"This time it was more painful," she said. "I love this church and I think my personal gifts and my personal talents could be much better utilized if I had the priesthood."</p>
<p>In advance of Saturday's event, church officials had asked Ordain Women to refrain from bringing their cause to Temple Square, saying it would detract from the "spirit of harmony" at the two-day conference, which includes four events open to both genders and the male-only priesthood meeting.</p>
<p>In a statement late on Saturday, church officials expressed displeasure with what they called the women's "refusal to accept ushers' directions and refusing to leave when asked."</p>
<p>Ordain Women has objected to being characterized by the church as protesters.</p>
<p>"We're not activists. We're not protesters," said Kate Kelly, a Washington, D.C.-based human rights attorney and lifetime Mormon who last year co-founded the group with about 20 other women.</p>
<p>"We're people on the inside. We are investing in an institution ... not critiquing it to tear it down," she said.</p>
<p>Men ordained to the priesthood in the Mormon church can perform religious rituals, including baptisms, confirmations or blessings and can be called to lead congregations.</p>
<p>Boys enter into the priesthood as deacons at age 12 and grow in authority and responsibility as they get older or are called to service by more senior church leaders.</p> | Mormon Women Turned Away From All-Male Priesthood Meeting | false | http://nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mormon-women-turned-away-all-male-priesthood-meeting-n72946 | 2014-04-06 | 3 |
<p />
<p>“Live free or die” is the motto of the state of New Hampshire. I hope the residents are prepared to die, because living free is not what they do. NH is merely a cog within the Amerikan Stasi State, but I am referring to what goes on within NH itself, not the police state existence imposed by Washington. On May 5 attorney William Baer was arrested at a school board meeting at which he went over a 2-minute speaking rule while trying to get some explanation from the Gilford, NH, school board for assigning sexually explicit reading material to his 14-year old daughter’s English class. The evasiveness of the school board angered Mr. Baer, and he spoke out again in support of another parent’s protests, and was <a href="http://www.dailypaul.com/318393/fox-news-to-interview-william-baer-father-arrested-in-new-hampshire-for-going-over-two-minute-rule-in-school-board-meetin" type="external">promptly arrested</a> by a goon thug cop. <a href="http://www.dailypaul.com/318393/fox-news-to-interview-william-baer-father-arrested-in-new-hampshire-for-going-over-two-minute-rule-in-school-board-meetin" type="external" /> The school board chairman, Sue Allen, who has no legislative power nevertheless managed to create a law backed by police violence. After all, if Bush and Obama can create laws by edict, why not a school board chairman? Under Allen’s edict, if a parent violates the 2-minute rule that Allen imposed, she has the parent arrested. The goon thug cop wasn’t embarrassed to arrest a parent for making a legitimate complaint during the public comment period of a school board meeting.</p>
<p>[adrotate banner=”52″]Remember, we “freedom and democracy” ‘mericans have free speech and protest rights. Actually, don’t remember that, because you no longer have any such rights. These rights are dangerous. They enable terrorists and extremists such as those dangerous people who don’t believe The Government.</p>
<p>This is Amerika today. Mr Baer offered no resistance, but nevertheless was lucky that the goon thug cop did not taser him, pepper spray him, and call for a backup SWAT team to beat him senseless or even murder him.</p>
<p>Last month wedding guests at the San Luis Hotel in Galveston, Texas, were set upon without reason by 34 crazed goon thug cops. The guests, including the father of the bride and the bride’s brother were brutally beaten and maced along with many guests, including 13 who were arrested for asking, “What is going on?” The brother was so badly injured by the goon thugs that he had to be rushed via helicopter to a hospital.</p>
<p>The mayhem resulted from an off-duty goon thug witnessing a guest walk outside with an alcoholic beverage, thus violating the city’s “open container” law. Instead of advising the guest of the open container law and recommending that he step back inside, the goon thug called the cops who arrived on the scene in mass and enjoyed themselves by <a href="http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/galveston-wedding-beatdown/" type="external">beating up the wedding party</a>.</p>
<p>No charges have been filed against the goon thugs for gratuitously beating up wedding guests. The right of cops to beat and murder the citizens who pay their salaries is now a perk of the job. It is necessary in order to keep us safe from criminals and terrorists, descriptions that are ever expanding.</p>
<p>Don’t expect courts to put any restraint on police and prosecutors. Dave Lindorff and Molly Knefel have given accurate accounts of the frame-up of Cecily McMillan by a corrupt prosecutor and a corrupt goon thug. McMillan was <a href="http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article38424.htm" type="external">convicted on the false charge of assaulting a police officer</a> when the goon thug seized her breasts from behind. The judge, Ronald Zwiebel, enabled the conviction by preventing the defense from showing the evidence. The gullible and very stupid jurors made certain that injustice was perpetrated. Now <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/05/07/kangaroo-court-convicts-occupy-protester/" type="external">a young woman who was sexually assaulted faces a seven-year prison sentence</a> for “assaulting” a goon thug.</p>
<p>This is Stasi Amerika today. And it gets worse. In Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, Eileen Battisti, a 53-year old widow, <a href="http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/eileen-battisti/" type="external">had her $280,000 home seized</a> by Beaver County officials and sold at auction for $116,000 because of an unpaid $6.30 interest fee on the late payment of her school district taxes. A corrupt judge did not insist upon justice for the widow but instead upheld the robbery that benefitted both the county and the purchaser at auction of her home, S.P. Lewis. Lewis offered to sell the widow her home back for $250,000.</p>
<p>To see what cops are really like, <a href="http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/justice-for-arzy/" type="external">read this</a>.</p>
<p>Whatever you do, never call the cops. However bad you might think the situation is, <a href="http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/candy-middleton/" type="external">it will be much worse once the goon thugs arrive</a>.</p>
<p>And do not show any compassion for animals. Showing compassion for animals is proof that you are an animal-rights extremist which lumps you in with terrorists. In Albion, Michigan, extremists who feed a stray cat are fined and locked away for three months. Mary Musselman, an 81-year old Alzheimer sufferer was <a href="http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/albion-michigan-cat-feeding/" type="external">locked away for 90 days for feeding stray cats on her own property</a>. When you see a starving animal, turn your back and walk away. Your inhumanity will be rewarded but your humanity will be severely punished.</p>
<p>Just keep in mind that “we have freedom and democracy” and we are “the exceptional and indispensable people.” Our president told us so. This designation removes you from any responsibility to other humans, much less animals. Don’t lose sight of the fact that Amerikans are so exceptional and indispensable that we have murdered seven entire countries in the new 21st century, and we are just getting started. As it is perfectly acceptable for Amerika to murder countries, how can it possibly matter if a goon thug cop murders you, your pet or your wife or husband or daughter or son?</p>
<p>What is so discouraging is that this article could be hundreds of thousands of pages long. I could sit here writing this article for the rest of my life, adding one incident after another, and not get beyond the tip of the iceberg.</p>
<p>The inhumanity of which Americans are capable and indulge in every day must scare Satan himself.</p>
<p>Parents arrested for protesting the assignment of pornographic reading material to 14-year olds by school boards, elderly and ill people imprisoned for feeding starving animals, pets murdered by police who are supposed to protect the citizens but instead mace them, beat them, body slam them, and shoot them and their pets gratuitously for the thrill of committing violence against life are the reason the public sector is in disrepute.</p>
<p>The worst people in the country are in our public institutions. This is why there is so little sympathy for the public sector unions now under attack by the Republicans. Americans look at their county commissions, their city councils, their criminal justice (sic) system, their governors, state legislatures, Congress, and the White House, and all that they see is evil and corruption.</p>
<p>There is nothing else there.</p>
<p>Americans who trust the criminal justice (sic) system are completely stupid. A case of mass wrongful conviction that I wrote about years ago finally came to trial last November. Annie Dookham, a Massachusetts state chemist who falsified drug tests, thus sentencing thousands of innocent people to years in prison, destroying their lives and the lives of their families, was sentenced to 3 to 5 years in prison. Dookhan <a href="https://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/11/22/annie-dookhan-former-state-chemist-who-mishandled-drug-evidence-agrees-plead-guilty/lhg1mwd9U3J8eh4tNBS63N/story.html" type="external">sent thousands of innocents to prison in order to aid prosecutors in attaining high conviction rates</a> and in order to achieve her own rise as a highly productive state employee. The judge noted that Dookham had cost the state millions of dollars in settling wrongful convictions and had shaken to the core the integrity of the criminal justice (sic) system.</p>
<p>State officials say that Dookhan’s fake evidence could have tainted 40,000 cases. Ask yourself, what kind of person would destroy so many people in order to advance herself? And progressives think that the public sector is the answer.</p>
<p>You can ask the same question about the New York State Police and the Texas police who dropped little bags of ground up wallboard in cars stopped at random, conducted illegal searches, and arrested the occupants for drugs. Hundreds of innocents were convicted until finally one brave public defender demanded presentation of the alleged drugs and had the evidence tested. It came back: wallboard. All other public defenders had accommodated the conviction scheme and arranged plea bargains for their clients. You can read about these and other atrocities in my book, coauthored with Larry Stratton:&#160; <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307396061/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0307396061&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=paulcraigrobe-20" type="external">The Tyranny of Good Intentions.</a></p> | Call the Cops at Your Peril: The Amerikan Police State | false | http://foreignpolicyjournal.com/2014/05/09/call-the-cops-at-your-peril-the-amerikan-police-state/ | 2014-05-09 | 1 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two fatal crashes Thursday morning closed major Westside routes, complicating the morning commute.</p>
<p>I-40 eastbound was closed at 6th for a fatal crash involving a motorcycle, according to an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman.</p>
<p>Officer Tanner Tixier said excessive speed was a factor.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“The motorcycle rider was traveling in excess of 90 mph, and was unable navigate the slight bend in the road on I40 Eastbound at 4th street,” he said. “The male subject struck the barrier separating East/West traffic, separated from his motorcycle and then struck a street light.”</p>
<p>Tixier said alcohol was not a factor and no other vehicles were involved. Police have no identified the motorcyclist.</p>
<p>Police also investigated a fatal crash at Coors and Iliff that involved a pedestrian, Tixier said.</p>
<p>“A female pedestrian was crossing Coors from West to East, outside a designated crosswalk, and was struck by a pick up truck traveling North on Coors in the Center lane,” he said.</p>
<p>Tixier said police interviewed the driver of the truck and alcohol, as well as speed, are not factors in the crash.</p>
<p>“This is being investigated as pedestrian error and no charges are expected against the driver of the truck,” he said. Police did not identify the pedestrian.</p>
<p>Latest info on <a href="" type="internal">Journal’s traffic map</a>.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Two fatal wrecks snarled Thursday Westside commute | false | https://abqjournal.com/1063425/two-fatal-wrecks-snarling-westside-traffic.html | 2017-09-14 | 2 |
<p>Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Government and Public Policy Lawrence Wilkerson's last positions in government were as Secretary of State Colin Powell's Chief of Staff (2002-05), Associate Director of the State Department's Policy Planning staff under the directorship of Ambassador Richard N. Haass, and member of that staff responsible for East Asia and the Pacific, political-military and legislative affairs (2001-02). Before serving at the State Department, Wilkerson served 31 years in the U.S. Army. During that time, he was a member of the faculty of the U.S. Naval War College (1987 to 1989), Special Assistant to General Powell when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-93), and Director and Deputy Director of the U.S. Marine Corps War College at Quantico, Virginia (1993-97). Wilkerson retired from active service in 1997 as a colonel, and began work as an advisor to General Powell. He has also taught national security affairs in the Honors Program at the George Washington University. He is currently working on a book about the first George W. Bush administration.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p /> PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. And welcome to this week's edition of The Wilkerson Report with Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson.
<p />
<p />Larry was the former chief of staff for Colin Powell for many years. He teaches at the William &amp; Mary College, often appears on The Real News.
<p />
<p />Thanks for joining us.
<p />
<p />COL. LAWRENCE WILKERSON, FMR. CHIEF OF STAFF TO COLIN POWELL: Thanks for having me, Paul.
<p />
<p />JAY: So you recently joined the board of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Why?
<p />
<p />WILKERSON: I didn't know the problem was as rampant as it is. And when Mikey Weinstein, who is the head of the foundation, identified to me that his board member Doherty, Glen Doherty, had just been killed in Benghazi and he needed a replacement, I was a little reluctant, because I understand that sometimes Christ is necessary in the foxhole, or Buddha, or whomever. And so I wasn't really interested in it. And then Mikey showed me the depth and profundity of the violations of the Constitution going on in the Armed Forces of the United States, and I changed my mind immediately.
<p />
<p />JAY: Okay. So I said the name very quickly when I said Military Religious Freedom Foundation, so we better dig into what all that means. And, in fact, we did a story with Mikey Weinstein a few years ago, and he's--primarily has been focused on the sort of collaboration between some of the military leadership and outside evangelical churches to proselytize in the army, in the military forces. So where is that at? 'Cause in terms of Real News coverage, we're a few years later now.
<p />
<p />WILKERSON: Right. Well, one group in particular--and you can just Google them and you can see what they're about, called the Dominionist. This is a group that believes that its mission is to take over the Armed Forces of the United States and then use them in a crusade against all those who don't believe in Christ in the world. Mikey's clientele now is over 32,000, some 90&#160;percent of whom are Protestant or Catholic. So you've got mostly Christians who were looking to Mikey's organization to protect them against the chain of command in their own military unit.
<p />
<p />JAY: So when you say clients, these are people that have complaints.
<p />
<p />WILKERSON: Yes.
<p />
<p />JAY: Which are what?
<p />
<p />WILKERSON: They're everything from I've been ordered to go to a prayer breakfast to I'm being proselytized by my commanding officer or by my platoon leader or by my NCOs to be a Christian; or worse, if you will, on the other side of that coin, people being derided and even kept from promotion and from advancement, education, and training, and so forth because they're not the kind of Christian they should be, this sort of Dominionist Christian.
<p />
<p />So it's a scary proposition when you start thinking about the ability of leadership in the Armed Forces to coerce people, and to get away with it, and religion. It's not quite as bad in one respect as sexual assault, which is also rampant in the Armed Forces right now and is because leadership won't crack down on it, but ultimately it is a violation of the Constitution and it is something clearly that bothers people if Mikey's got over 30,000 clients.
<p />
<p />JAY: Now, when you were in the military and coming up through the ranks and when you become an officer, how much of this was already going on?
<p />
<p />WILKERSON: There was very little of it. My first, perhaps, run in with it was with a chaplain that I had in a squadron in which I was the executive officer. And this chaplain actually was an evangelical chaplain and did some things that I had to caution him about. And he immediately corrected what he was doing.
<p />
<p />I had no idea that it had spread the way it has spread now with certain of the more fundamentalist religions in this country actually combating the more mainline religions. So you have Baptists and Presbyterians and Methodists and Lutherans who are more or less on our side in the MRFF because they're being derided and denigrated by the Dominionists within the ranks. If you're a Baptist, you're no good. If you're a Presbyterian, you're no good. If you're Lutheran, you're no good. If you're Catholic, you're anathema. And if you're Jewish, you're truly anathema. If you're Muslim, you're the enemy.
<p />
<p />Let me give you an example. West Point class. West Point class. One of Mikey's recent clients sends him an email and says, in my class on the day of the Boston bombings, the instructor, the military officer instructing that class said to the class, I know it's the Muslims, it's the Muslims, I know it's the Muslims; I don't know why we don't do something about these Muslims. This young man in that class writing Mikey was a Muslim. This is dangerous stuff.
<p />
<p />JAY: Now, it would seem to me--and I know this is going to seem a little naive, but it would seem to me if you have an army, the last thing you want is people believing in the message of Jesus--love your enemy, turn the other cheek. I mean, this does not make for a good fighting force.
<p />
<p />WILKERSON: Well, you've just pointed out the great irony of Christ in America, if you will. Christ would not recognize most Americans.
<p />
<p />But if you look at it from the perspective that the military should be looking at it from--and I think they are now--that is, good order and discipline in the military, you want good order and discipline in the military. It's a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the legal system for the Armed Forces, if you disturb that good order and discipline. And that's what these Dominionists are doing, that's what Christians like this are doing.
<p />
<p />We're not, at the MRFF, against Christianity. We're not in any way against Christianity. We're against all forms of misuse of the leadership to proselytize, to force, to cajole people into doing things because you believe they should based on your religion, not based on good order and discipline in the Armed Forces.
<p />
<p />JAY: And isn't it illegal?
<p />
<p />WILKERSON: It is illegal. It's unconstitutional on the one hand, and it's illegal on the other.
<p />
<p />JAY: And is the military leadership doing anything about it?
<p />
<p />WILKERSON: Well, that's one reason why we went to the Pentagon a couple of weeks ago to talk to the leadership of the Air Force. And I think they were listening, so far, as with sexual assault. The military has not brought the hammer down, and it's going to take bringing the hammer down, punishing some of these leaders, punishing some of these people who are violating the law and the Constitution before the message gets out to the rest of the military that this won't be condoned. And, frankly, it's just not happening the way it should be happening.
<p />
<p />JAY: Is there any suggestion the new secretary of defense, Hagel, will do anything about it?
<p />
<p />WILKERSON: Well, I hope so. He's certainly got a clean sheet here. He needs to write on that sheet, and he needs to write on it with I will not tolerate sexual assault and I will not tolerate abuse of religion.
<p />
<p />And here's the problem, Paul. The problem is you need the bond between soldiers in order to have an effective fighting force. It's not Mom and apple pie and patriotism. When the rubber hits the road, when the bombs start dropping, when the artillery fire starts, it's not that that keeps soldiers together; it's the bond between them, it's the bond forged in training, the bond forged in combat. S.&#160;L.&#160;A.&#160;Marshall wrote a brilliant piece about this post World War II. This is what keeps soldiers together.
<p />
<p />Imagine what you do to that bond when you sexually assault your comrade, or when you proselytize them about Jesus Christ when they're Jewish or they're Muslim, or you tell them, as has happened on many occasions, that they're a lower form of life because they don't believe in Jesus Christ. This is unconscionable, and it's very damaging to the bond between soldiers.
<p />
<p />JAY: And this is a Christianity which essentially is the Christianity of medievalism. It's the Christianity of the Crusades.
<p />
<p />WILKERSON: Of the Inquisition. It's the Christianity of the Inquisition. That's what these people are, inquisitors.
<p />
<p />JAY: Thanks for joining us, Larry.
<p />
<p />WILKERSON: Thanks for having me, Paul, and especially in Baltimore.
<p />
<p />JAY: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
<p />
<p />End
<p />
<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | Christianity of the Inquisition in the US Army | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D767%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D10177 | 2013-05-06 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Jury selection begins Monday in Las Vegas for the conspiracy retrial of four defendants whose cases were left undecided when jurors weren’t able to reach a verdict in April. Two other defendants were found guilty of some charges.</p>
<p>“They’re going to pare down their case compared to last time,” Jess Marchese, attorney for defendant Eric Parker, said Friday. “The government always fixes their mistakes.”</p>
<p>Todd Leventhal, attorney for defendant Scott Drexler, said prosecutors are now asking the judge to narrow the focus of the trial to the standoff itself, and not let defense lawyers raise arguments about constitutional rights and government land policy. The judge has yet to rule on those requests.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for acting U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre declined Friday to comment.</p>
<p>Parker was famously photographed lying on the pavement of an Interstate 15 overpass during the tense April 2014 standoff, looking with his AK-47-style rifle toward heavily armed federal agents below.</p>
<p>“His case comes down to that picture,” Marchese said Friday. “It’s a scary picture.”</p>
<p>Drexler is seen in a similar photo, and images showed Richard Lovelien and Steven Stewart carrying assault-style rifles, but not aiming them.</p>
<p>Yet a 12-member jury that saw the same photos failed to reach verdicts about the four defendants. Most jurors voted to acquit on conspiracy, weapon, assault on a federal agent and other charges.</p>
<p>Defendants maintain they drove to southern Nevada from Idaho and Montana after seeing social media posts about scuffles involving unarmed Bundy family members and Bureau of Land Management agents using dogs and stun guns. Some said they’d never before met Bundy family members.</p>
<p>Officials said the government agents were enforcing federal court orders for Bundy to get his cattle off public rangeland after failing to pay more than $1.1 million in grazing fees.</p>
<p>In the end, no shots were fired in the armed confrontation near Bunkerville. The local sheriff brokered a truce and cows that had been rounded up were released.</p>
<p>The outcome made Cliven Bundy a hero to anti-government activists, and led to his arrest in early 2016 with 18 other men, including four of his sons. All are in federal custody.</p>
<p>Two defendants pleaded guilty last year, and Gregory Burleson and Todd Engel were found guilty during the first trial.</p>
<p>Burleson, of Phoenix, faces 57 years of mandatory prison time on eight charges. Engel, of Idaho, could face up to 30 years in prison. Their sentencings are set later this month.</p>
<p>Bundy, his sons Ammon and Ryan, and two other defendants are due for trial later this year. Six others, including two other Bundy sons, are slated for trial next year.</p> | Retrial set for defendants in Bundy standoff case in Nevada | false | https://abqjournal.com/1030527/retrial-set-for-defendants-in-bundy-standoff-case-in-nevada.html | 2017-07-09 | 2 |
<p>According to <a href="v" type="external">The Washington Post</a>, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is certain that the cuts in Medicaid planned in the Senate health care bill are never going to happen.</p>
<p>Paige Winfield Cunningham of the Post writes:</p>
<p>What McConnell has told several hesitant senators (including Portman and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.): The bill’s deepest Medicaid cuts are far into the future, and they’ll never go into effect anyway. “He’s trying to sell the pragmatists like Portman, like Capito on ‘the CPI-U will never happen,’” a GOP lobbyist and former Hill staffer told me.</p>
<p>The current version of the Senate health-care bill would prompt federal Medicaid spending to plunge 26% – but that means nothing, considering Congress’ dallying when it comes to cutting entitlements. As Cunningham notes, “After all, that's what Congress did for years by enacting the so-called " <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/03/26/bipartisan-doc-fix-passes-the-house-how-did-polarized-parties-do-it/?utm_term=.6af2e523ff1b" type="external">Doc Fix</a>" to a Medicare doctors' payment formula.”</p>
<p>The Senate health care bill, according to the Congressional Budget office, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/changes-senate-health-care-bill-coming-medicaid-cuts-remain-n782226" type="external">includes</a> <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/changes-senate-health-care-bill-coming-medicaid-cuts-remain-n782226" type="external">over $700 billion</a> worth of cuts to Medicaid. Republicans have added $70 billion to a stabilization fund to help lower-income people pay for medical costs.</p>
<p>Even The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/21/upshot/gop-health-plan-is-really-a-rollback-of-medicaid.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" type="external">admitted</a>, “There is some evidence that Medicaid programs enroll some people who are not eligible and sometimes cover some services that are not medically necessary.”</p> | McConnell to Republicans: Vote For Trumpcare, We're Lying About Medicaid Reform Anyway | true | https://dailywire.com/news/18569/mcconnell-republicans-vote-trumpcare-were-lying-hank-berrien | 2017-07-13 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>1. Surreptitiously Google “What is a cabinet?”</p>
<p>2. The first thing that comes up is some sort of rap battle from that cursed musical “Hamilton.”</p>
<p>3. Okay. This is fine. You can do this.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>4. FIFTEEN DEPARTMENTS?</p>
<p>5. If you had only known you would have had more children.</p>
<p>6. Okay, you had better write these departments down. Where is a pen?</p>
<p>7. “How is the Cabinet coming?” Melania Trump asks. “Fine,” you say, holding up a pen. “Huge progress.”</p>
<p>8. Mitt Romney has called you eight times. You wonder why.</p>
<p>9. “The Cabinet,” you read online, “includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments – the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General.” This is too many. No.</p>
<p>10. Sit with your head in your hands in an attitude of desperation until Ivanka Trump comes in. Tweet something ambiguous about your mental state. Members of the press take it literally and worries that you are coming for them.</p>
<p>11. If America were a dictatorship, would you still need to do all this? Probably you would need to do more. Ugh. Why can’t America be like England where boring people get to yell at each other about policy and one person gets to wear ermine and sashay elegantly around touching babies and having diamond jubilees?</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>12. Maybe there is a reality TV show about Cabinets. Spend the next six hours surfing cable trying to find one.</p>
<p>13. “DUCK DYNASTY” IS RIVETING! WHERE HAS THIS SHOW BEEN ALL YOUR LIFE?</p>
<p>14. “How is the Cabinet coming?” Reince Priebus asks.</p>
<p>15. “Great.”</p>
<p>16. “Any names in particular spring to mind?” Priebus asks. You glance helplessly around the room. There is a menu from the Trump Grill and a bill for hair restoration. “Price,” you say, hopelessly. “Chow.” He keeps staring at you hopefully. “Jeff,” you say. There is probably someone in the world named Jeff.</p>
<p>17. “Tom Price?” Priebus asks. “Elaine Chao? Jeff . . . Sessions?”</p>
<p>18. “Yes, obviously.”</p>
<p>19. Squint down at the list, and pick three departments at random. “Health and Human Services, Transportation and attorney general.”</p>
<p>19. Priebus shrugs. “Sure,” he says. “Why not?”</p>
<p>20. You nod. “Any thoughts for secretary of state?” Priebus asks.</p>
<p>21. “I am thinking,” you say, after a long pause, “phone.”</p>
<p>22. The phone rings. Mitt Romney! You are saved, kind of. Eegh, Mitt Romney. Maybe Kellyanne Conway can go on TV and say this is a bad idea.</p>
<p>23. “How about national security adviser?” Priebus asks.</p>
<p>24. That’s not on this list at all. That sounds made-up. You are out of words. “Flin,” you say, after a long pause. Oh no, that’s not a word at all!</p>
<p>25. “Mike Flynn?” Priebus asks.</p>
<p>26. “Yes,” you say quickly. “Of course. Him.”</p>
<p>27. “Are there other surprise people I do not know whom I will need?” you ask President Obama, when he next calls.</p>
<p>28. “Surprise people?” Obama asks. He sounds a little stunned. “You mean important presidential appointments who don’t come up when you Google ‘Cabinet,’ like the U.N. ambassador or CIA director?” If you paid attention to these things, you would detect a certain strain in his voice. “You didn’t just Google this, did you?”</p>
<p>29. “Of course not,” you say, grumpily. You write those down in Sharpie and hang up.</p>
<p>30. This is very stressful. You have earned a taco bowl. While you wait for it, write down the names of every person you have ever met, organized from Most Rich to Least Rich.</p>
<p>31. Draw lines connecting them to your list of jobs at random. Hooray, Betsy DeVos is now education secretary! Wilbur Ross can be commerce secretary! This is like a crossword puzzle, but much easier.</p>
<p>32. Treasury. You know you promised the American people something about the Treasury and Goldman Sachs, but you can’t remember what.</p>
<p>33. Just in case, appoint a Goldman Sachs executive secretary of the Treasury. Okay, great. Progress.</p>
<p>34. See? You can do this. You can do anything. All you have to do is believe. That is how you were elected president. You should remember that.</p>
<p>35. Your taco bowl arrives.</p>
<p>36. As you eat, some of it spills on the name “James Mattis.” Smile ear to ear.</p>
<p>37. This will not be so hard after all.</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Petri writes the ComPost blog, offering a lighter take on the news and opinions of the day. She is the author of “A Field Guide to Awkward Silences.”</p>
<p>cabinet-comment</p> | Donald Trump’s Cabinet assembly instructions | false | https://abqjournal.com/900893/donald-trumps-cabinet-assembly-instructions.html | 2 |
|
<p>By <a href="" type="internal">Robert Reich</a> / <a href="http://robertreich.org/post/155319264160" type="external">RobertReich.org</a></p>
<p>As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically:</p>
<p>1. &#160;Exaggerate their mandate to govern – claiming, for example, that they won an election by a <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2016%2F12%2F11%2F505182622%2Ffact-check-trump-claims-a-massive-landslide-victory-but-history-differs&amp;t=OTViYzEzN2Q4N2EzZmNhNGFmOTEyOTViY2RiMDRhYTFiODM1MmUwMSw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">landslide</a>even after losing the popular vote.</p>
<p>2. &#160;Repeatedly claim <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fstory%2F2016%2F11%2Ftrump-illegal-voting-clinton-231860&amp;t=MGE5M2VkODE0YTA4NzQ3ZTE3ZDMyMTcwNTY2NTE5ZjBjNzZlYjUxZSw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">massive voter</a> fraud in the absence of any evidence, in order to restrict voting in subsequent elections.</p>
<p />
<p>3. &#160;Call anyone who opposes them “ <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicususa.com%2F2016%2F12%2F31%2Ftrump-calls-majority-voted-enemies-losers-years-message.html&amp;t=MDEwN2RiNmJlMzM2ZWU0N2ZjZTYxMGRkZTI4Y2U0OGU1MGY2YTYzMiw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">enemies</a>.”</p>
<p>4. &#160;Turn the public against journalists or media outlets that criticize them, calling them “ <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2016%2F05%2F31%2Fpolitics%2Fdonald-trump-veterans-announcement%2F&amp;t=Y2YyNGRlNDYzNWQ3MWZlNTcwYmZiYmI4MGIwNzExMjIwNTc0Y2I2NSw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">deceitful</a>” and “ <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2016%2F05%2F31%2Fpolitics%2Fdonald-trump-veterans-announcement%2F&amp;t=Y2YyNGRlNDYzNWQ3MWZlNTcwYmZiYmI4MGIwNzExMjIwNTc0Y2I2NSw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">scum</a>.”&#160;</p>
<p>5. &#160;Hold <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2016%2F12%2F15%2F505557146%2Fpresident-elect-trump-breaks-with-long-history-of-press-conferences&amp;t=ZDA4YTBkYzkxMTc1NTUzYTIyYTg5ZDI4YzA2ODhhNDQxMjQ3Y2I5NSw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">few if any press conferences</a>, preferring to communicate with the public directly through mass rallies and <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F2016%2F12%2F13%2Fpolitics%2Fdonald-trump-tweets-as-president-elect%2F&amp;t=MjQzNzFhZGYxNjE1MzMxMGFlYjg0ZDRjNTc3OWYxOGMzY2E5YzM4Niw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">unfiltered statements</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>6. &#160;Tell the public <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politifact.com%2Fpersonalities%2Fdonald-trump%2Fstatements%2Fbyruling%2Fpants-fire%2F&amp;t=ZTM5ZmZlMDBhOTg2ZjM1ODdkMWMyMDg5OGI2OWUyNWY4NjdjYTgwZCw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">big lies</a>, causing them to doubt the truth and to believe fictions that support the tyrants’ goals.</p>
<p>7. &#160;Blame economic stresses on <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F4386240%2Fdonald-trump-immigration-arguments%2F&amp;t=NjJiZmUwMTVjN2ZiNWViNzljZjY4MGFjOTQ4MDU3NmFmOWYwYzU4OSw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">immigrants</a> or racial or religious minorities, and foment public bias and even <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fthinkprogress.org%2Fhow-trump-has-inspired-violence-across-the-country-in-one-map-6ab5e096a627%23.wbwd4ut8f&amp;t=YjViZGVkMDBiNzhkN2UxNmZlNWY3ZWM3MTFiNWVkZDQ2ZDdkYjhhOSw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">violence</a> against them.</p>
<p>8. &#160;Attribute acts of domestic violence to “enemies within,” and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fblogs%2Fcongress-blog%2Fpresidential-campaign%2F291258-donald-trump-is-the-enemy-of-liberty-his-words-are&amp;t=YzIxMDIxNDc0Y2E5ZTkyYzljZmY3YTIyZjA3YzBkMDdhNjliNTVhMiw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">limit civil liberties</a>.</p>
<p>9. &#160;Threaten <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcontent%2F1a6e37e8-a7b8-11e6-8b69-02899e8bd9d1&amp;t=OTRkMDM2ZjlmMjA5ZGYxNjY3ZjM2YzRkZjU2ZWQyMTlhNThmYTgzNyw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">mass deportations</a>, <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcontent%2F1a6e37e8-a7b8-11e6-8b69-02899e8bd9d1&amp;t=OTRkMDM2ZjlmMjA5ZGYxNjY3ZjM2YzRkZjU2ZWQyMTlhNThmYTgzNyw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">registries</a>of religious minorities, and the banning of refugees.</p>
<p>10. Seek to eliminate or reduce the influence of competing centers of power, such as labor <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fstory%2F2016%2F12%2Ftrump-unions-war-232382&amp;t=MTAzYWIyMjJhYjQ3YzVlYWFjNmNiZGUwYjc2YmZjNDk1ODg4YzJkNyw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">&#160;unions</a> and opposition parties.</p>
<p>11. Appoint <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fthe-fix%2Fwp%2F2016%2F11%2F18%2Fwhy-donald-trumps-family-being-in-the-white-house-is-problematic-explained%2F%3Futm_term%3D.48a709c635dd&amp;t=MTEyMTk4MWE3ZTM1ZTU4ZTU1NDRlOWRkYzEzOTEzMzA5NWMyNWEyOSw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">family members</a> to high positions of authority</p>
<p>12. Surround themselves with their <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com%2Fstory%2F2016%2F12%2Fdonald-trump-security-force-232797&amp;t=ZjY1YWQ1MWY2MzE1YzVlZDI0MDYyOTQ2MmFhMjA1ZmEyYzY4ZmQ5NSw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">own personal security force</a>rather than a security detail accountable to the public.</p>
<p>13. Put <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fopinions%2Ftrump-is-surrounding-himself-with-generals-thats-dangerous%2F2016%2F11%2F30%2Fe6a0a972-b190-11e6-840f-e3ebab6bcdd3_story.html%3Futm_term%3D.ad9a81b2a78e&amp;t=NmNiY2M2N2QwZDAzNTk3YTVmM2MzY2NjZGY4ZDU2ZjY0OThjMTA4ZSw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">generals</a>&#160;into top civilian posts&#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160;&#160;</p>
<p>14. Make <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fworldviews%2Fwp%2F2016%2F12%2F14%2Fputin-trump-and-the-wests-new-ideological-alliance%2F%3Futm_term%3D.a0c1f499d2c1&amp;t=NWZmMTZiYzdjMmE0ZmVjZDA3MDhhOGM2ZjkxNmUyZDUwZDc3YzAyZiw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">personal alliances with foreign dictators</a>.</p>
<p>15. Draw no distinction between personal property and public property, <a href="http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fbusiness%2Farchive%2F2016%2F12%2Fdonald-trump-conflicts-of-interests%2F508382%2F&amp;t=YmJkN2JiMGE2NzkzMmQxOWQ0MmJmNDEwZjgzM2UwZGVhZGE4MWJhNCw1S1gzYkRSNQ%3D%3D&amp;b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F155319264160&amp;m=1" type="external">profiteering from their public office</a>.</p>
<p>Consider yourself warned.</p> | The 15 Warning Signs of Impending Tyranny | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-15-warning-signs-of-impending-tyranny/ | 2017-01-03 | 4 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — Two voting members of the Federal Reserve panel that sets interest rates expressed differing views Friday over when the Fed should reduce its $85 billion a month in bond purchases. Esther George, president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, said that the Fed should slow the purchases after it meets Sept. 17-18. She said she could support an initial reduction of $15 billion a month. “It is time to begin a gradual — and predictable — normalization of policy,” she said in a speech in Omaha, Neb. But Charles Evans, president of the Chicago Fed, said that he wants to see more data showing that the economy is gaining momentum. He also wants evidence that factors keeping inflation at ultra-low levels are temporary, during a speech in Greenville, S.C. The Fed’s bond purchases have helped keep long-term interest rates low, encouraging more borrowing and spending. The Fed has also kept short-term interest rates near zero since December 2008. Evans spoke before the government issued a subpar August jobs report — a report the Fed will weigh in deciding whether to slow its bond buying. George spoke afterward. Despite wanting to see more data, Evans said the Fed could begin to reduce the bond purchases before the end of the year, if the economy improves. Those comments echoed remarks made by Chairman Ben Bernanke. George has argued that the bond purchases have lost their effectiveness and are raising the risks of financial market instability and higher inflation in the future. In her speech, George said that slowing the bond purchases will likely make financial markets volatile for a period of time. But she said postponing the move “won’t ease the inevitable adjustment.” She added taking action now with a “firm plan and clear commitment” would be a step toward the Fed’s objective of sustainable growth. The comments do not represent a change in positions for the two Fed regional presidents, both of whom have votes on the Fed’s policy committee this year. Evans has been a supporter of the Fed’s bond purchases. George has objected to them at each of the Fed’s five previous meetings this year. The Fed’s policy-making committee will also meet in October and December.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 2 Fed officials offer differing views on bond buys | false | https://abqjournal.com/258804/2-fed-officials-offer-differing-views-on-bond-buys.html | 2013-09-06 | 2 |
<p>PIERRE, S.D. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening’s drawing of the South Dakota Lottery’s “Dakota Cash” game were:</p>
<p>01-07-08-12-28</p>
<p>(one, seven, eight, twelve, twenty-eight)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $57,000</p>
<p>PIERRE, S.D. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Wednesday evening’s drawing of the South Dakota Lottery’s “Dakota Cash” game were:</p>
<p>01-07-08-12-28</p>
<p>(one, seven, eight, twelve, twenty-eight)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $57,000</p> | Winning numbers drawn in ‘Dakota Cash’ game | false | https://apnews.com/840ab4bedec4434faa67e0f5db5bad9b | 2017-12-28 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>You’re living in the age of the Internet. Your religion will be mocked, and the mockery will find its way to you. Get over it.</p>
<p>If you don’t, what happened last week will happen again and again. A couple of idiots with a video camera and an Internet connection will trigger riots across the globe. They’ll bait you into killing one another.</p>
<p>Stop it. Stop following their script.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Today, fury, violence and bloodshed are consuming the Muslim world. Why? Because a bank fraud artist in California offered people $75 a day to come to his house and act out scenes that ostensibly had nothing to do with Islam. Then he replaced the audio, putting words in the actors’ mouths, and stitched together the scenes to make an absurdly bad movie ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad. He put out fliers to promote the movie. Nobody came to watch it.</p>
<p>He posted a 14-minute video excerpt of the movie on YouTube, but hardly anyone noticed. Then, a week ago, an anti-Muslim activist in Virginia reposted the video with an Arabic translation and sent the link to activists and journalists in Egypt. An Egyptian TV show aired part of the video. An Egyptian politician denounced it. Clerics sounded the alarm. Through Facebook and Twitter, protesters were mobilized to descend on the U.S. embassy in Cairo. The uprising spread. The U.S. ambassador to Libya has been killed, and violence has erupted in other countries.</p>
<p>When the protests broke out, the guy who made the movie claimed to be an Israeli Jew funded by other Jews. That turned out be a lie. Now he says he’s a Coptic Christian, even though Coptic Christian leaders in Egypt and the United States despise the movie and want nothing to do with him. Another guy who helped make the movie claims to be a Buddhist. The movie was made in the United States, yet Sudanese mobs have attacked British and German embassies. Some Egyptians targeted the Dutch embassy, mistakenly thinking the Netherlands was behind the movie. Everyone’s looking for a group to blame and attack.</p>
<p>The men behind the movie said it would expose Islam as a violent religion. Now they’re pointing to the riots as proof. Muslims are “pre-programmed” to rage and kill, says the movie’s promoter. “Islam is a cancer,” says the director. According to the distributor, “The violence that it caused in Egypt is further evidence of how violent the religion and people are and it is evidence that everything in the film is factual.”</p>
<p>Congratulations, rioters. You followed the script perfectly. You did the propagandists’ work for them.</p>
<p>And the provocations won’t end here. Laws and censors won’t protect you from them. Liberal democracies allow freedom of expression. Our leaders and people condemn garbage like this video, but we don’t censor it. Even if we did, the diffusion of media technology makes suppression impossible. The director of this movie was forbidden, under his bank-fraud probation rules, from using computers or the Internet without approval. That didn’t stop him. Nor did it stop the Arabic-language distributor from reposting the video and disseminating it abroad.</p>
<p>Online propaganda is speech. But it’s also part of the global rise of lethal empowerment. It’s easier than ever to kill people. In Muslim countries, mass murderers favor bombs. In the United States, they prefer guns. In Japan, they’ve tried sarin nerve gas. The Oklahoma City bomber used fertilizer. The Sept. 11 hijackers used box cutters and passenger planes. Then came the letters filled with anthrax.</p>
<p>Derision is that much harder to control. The spread of digital technology and Internet bandwidth makes it possible to reach every corner of the globe almost instantly with homemade video defaming any faith tradition. It can become an incendiary weapon. But it has a weakness: It depends on you. You’re the detonator. If you don’t cooperate, the bomb doesn’t explode.</p>
<p>This isn’t just a Muslim problem, though that’s been the pattern lately. On YouTube, you can find videos insulting every religion on the planet: Jews, Christians, Hindus, Catholics, Mormons, Buddhists and more. Some clips are ironic. Others are simply disgusting. Many were posted to bait one group into fighting another. The baiters are indiscriminate. The promoter of the Muhammad video founded a group that also protests at Mormon temples.</p>
<p>The hatred and bloodshed will go on until you stop taking the bait. Mockery of your prophet on a computer with an Internet address somewhere in the world can no longer be your master. Nor can the puppet clerics who tell you to respond with violence. Lay down your stones and your anger. Go home and pray. God is too great to be troubled by the insults of fools. Follow him.</p>
<p>Saletan covers science, technology and politics for Slate.</p> | God Is Not Insulted: You Are | false | https://abqjournal.com/131828/god-is-not-insulted-you-are.html | 2012-09-19 | 2 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>2 teens disappear at Quemado Lake</p>
<p>QUEMADO – New Mexico State Police are searching for two teenagers who disappeared at Quemado Lake in western New Mexico.</p>
<p>Authorities said the boys were last seen Sunday jumping from island to island in the deeper end of the lake. They were there helping with summer programs at the Apache Deaf School and Youth Ranch.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The State Police dive team has been searching the lake, while search and rescue teams have been combing the surrounding area. Tuesday marked the second day of the effort.</p>
<p>State Police spokesman Sgt. Emmanuel Gutierrez says there has been no sign of the boys.</p>
<p>Officials with the Gila National Forest have closed all recreation areas around the lake, the shoreline and the dam because of the ongoing search.</p>
<p />
<p>Gay marriage suit responses sought</p>
<p>SANTA FE – New Mexico’s highest court has asked the attorney general and the Santa Fe County clerk to respond to a lawsuit seeking to legalize same-sex marriage.</p>
<p>The state Supreme Court on Tuesday said their legal arguments in the case should be submitted by July 22. No hearing has been scheduled.</p>
<p>Two Santa Fe men filed a lawsuit last week asking the court to order Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar to issue them a marriage license.</p>
<p>The lawsuit contends that denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples violates the New Mexico Constitution, including its Equal Rights Amendment prohibiting gender-based discrimination.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Attorney General Gary King’s office said in a non-binding legal analysis last month that gay marriage isn’t allowed in New Mexico but the statutory prohibition may violate the constitution’s equal protection clause.</p>
<p />
<p>Caverns photos to be on Google Maps</p>
<p>CARLSBAD – It’s only a matter of time before a virtual tour of hundreds of points along the main corridor at Carlsbad Caverns National Park will be available.</p>
<p>Park officials say Carlsbad Caverns is one of the first caves in the U.S. to be part of a Google Maps Street View special collection.</p>
<p>Google Maps plans to launch 360-degree photos of the cave on Street View later this year.</p>
<p>Social Security protest</p> | Around New Mexico | false | https://abqjournal.com/217002/around-new-mexico-373.html | 2013-07-03 | 2 |
<p />
<p>According to a new study, only two percent of middle-income Baby Boomers feel the economy has fully recovered from the financial crisis that began in 2007.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The survey, “10 Years After the Crisis: Middle-Income Boomers Rebounding But Not Recovered,” by Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement, finds that Boomers' lack of trust in institutions has led to permanent financial impairment.</p>
<p>“[Before the Great Recession] Boomers had a clear vision of what a personally satisfying retirement looked like,” said Scott Goldberg, president of Bankers Life. “But today, many are realizing they will not be as financially independent in retirement as they once expected.”</p>
<p>Goldberg discussed with Fox Business how Boomers have struggled during the slow recovery to rebound financially, and how most have readjusted their retirement expectations to meet their new reality.</p>
<p>Boomer: In what ways are Boomers today adjusting their retirement expectations?</p>
<p>Goldberg: While nearly all the middle-income Boomers we surveyed said they still plan to retire, the financial crisis certainly has forced them to adjust their expectations for what their “new retirement” will look like.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Increasingly, Boomers are either delaying their retirement or working through their retirement. Our research shows that working retirees do not just earn additional income. They enjoy social and emotional benefits by remaining connected to the workplace.</p>
<p>Boomer: What steps have Boomers taken to manage their spending, savings and investments since the start of the financial crisis?</p>
<p>Goldberg: According to the latest report from Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement, 84 percent of middle-income Boomers took at least one-step to adjust their spending behavior. About half of those surveyed either reduced their discretionary expenses (54 percent) or cut their monthly recurring expenses (47 percent).</p>
<p>Middle-income Boomers also adjusted their savings behavior, but what’s interesting is that those adjustments weren’t always to save more. While 28 percent built up an emergency fund and 17 percent now save a larger percentage of their paycheck, 21 percent are saving a smaller percentage of their paycheck and 24 percent say they no longer save.</p>
<p>The crisis also created a more defensive investing posture among middle-income Boomers, with more than one-quarter (28 percent) making more conservative investment decisions, and another quarter (26 percent) reporting that they no longer invest as a result of the crisis.</p>
<p>Boomer: What advice would you give to Boomers hoping to soon retire?</p>
<p>Goldberg: Maintain a household budget that minimizes monthly bills and limits discretionary spending. And importantly, plan for unexpected costs such as long-term care or a critical illness. Medicare does not cover all of the costs that might arise from an adverse health event, but, if you qualify, you can purchase supplemental health insurance plans that can provide important protection.</p>
<p>Boomer: How has retirement changed for Boomers, since the crisis?</p>
<p>Goldberg: Many middle-income Boomers now expect to maintain some sort of employment throughout a portion of their retirement. Among those in our Center for a Secure Retirement report, today, 48 percent expect to work full- or part-time in retirement, compared to just 35 percent before the crisis. Working in retirement, even part-time, will help relieve pressure on other sources of income. Plus, many jobs may provide access to valuable employee benefits.</p> | Retirement Planning: Boomers Navigate Impact of Financial Crisis | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/03/26/retirement-planning-boomers-navigate-impact-financial-crisis.html | 2017-03-26 | 0 |
<p>Sen. Bernie Sanders is floating around the possibility of a recount after narrowly losing the Iowa caucuses to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. That is just about impossible.</p>
<p>When NBC's Kasie Hunt <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2016/02/02/sanders-we-may-look-into-a-recount/" type="external">asked</a> Sanders if he was going to challenge the results of the caucus, the Marxist responded, "Honestly, we just got off the plane and I — we don’t know enough to say anything about it."</p>
<p>Hot Air's Ed Morrisey <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2016/02/02/sanders-we-may-look-into-a-recount/" type="external">writes:</a></p>
<p>How does one recount a caucus? Even on the Republican side that would be difficult, as was discovered in 2012 in the razor-thin outcome between Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney. On the Democratic side, it would be all but impossible, thanks to the multiple-round system employed. In each precinct, voting takes place initially to figure out where the candidates stand; candidates are then eliminated if they cannot get to 15% and another round of voting takes place to see where those freed-up votes will go. Even though Martin O’Malley was in most precincts easily eliminated, the existence of multiple votes would still foul a recount process.</p>
<p>The Daily Wire <a href="" type="internal">reported</a> on Tuesday that Clinton won as the results of winning six straight coin tosses. While there is certainly a valid reason to be skeptical of that outcome, it doesn't seem likely that those Iowa precincts would flip the coins again, as that would be like football players asking the refs to redo the coin toss if they didn't get the desired result.</p>
<p>Sanders and his cult supporters will likely be incensed at the results, but they should be satisfied that Clinton came out of the close race looking very <a href="http://thefederalist.com/2016/02/02/13-quick-takeaways-from-the-2016-iowa-caucuses/" type="external">weak and battered</a> heading into New Hampshire, where Sanders has a <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/nh/new_hampshire_democratic_presidential_primary-3351.html" type="external">massive lead.</a></p> | Bernie Sanders Wants a Recount. One Problem: That’s Pretty Much Impossible. | true | https://dailywire.com/news/3116/bernie-sanders-wants-recount-one-problem-thats-aaron-bandler | 2016-02-03 | 0 |
Subsets and Splits
No saved queries yet
Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.