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<p>Richard Spencer, one of the leaders of the Alt-Right, has suddenly found himself in the news after a video surfaced of him shouting "Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!" at an Alt-Right conference as attendees gave Spencer the Nazi salute in solidarity. He has also been banned from Twitter.</p>
<p>Here are five things to know about Spencer.</p>
<p>1. Spencer became radicalized from reading Friedrich Nietzsche and Jared Taylor. This is according to a lengthy profile on Spencer in Mother Jones, which states that "Spencer found his critiques of equality and democracy darkly compelling." Here are a couple of quotes from Nietzche, via <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/2015/06/19/nietzsches-ressentiment-alive-and-well-today-n2014601" type="external">Jonah Goldberg</a>:</p>
<p>Wrote Nietzsche in his "Genealogy of Morals": "It was the Jews who, with awe-inspiring consistency, dared to invert the aristocratic value-equation (good = noble = powerful = beautiful = happy = beloved of God) and to hang on to the inversion with their teeth ..., saying 'the wretched alone are the good; the poor, impotent, lowly alone are the good; the suffering, deprived, sick, ugly alone are pious, alone are blessed by God ...'"</p>
<p>But if the Jewish prophets introduced the idea that success in this world was a sign of corruption and evil, the Christians perfected it, according to Nietzsche. "Christianity," he wrote, "was from the beginning, essentially and fundamentally, life's nausea and disgust with life, merely concealed behind, masked by, dressed up as, faith in 'another' or 'better' life."</p>
<p>Taylor believes in the notion "that race is a biological fact and that it’s a significant aspect of individual and group identity and that any attempt to create a society in which race can be made not to matter will fail," per the Daily Wire's <a href="" type="internal">Michael Knowles</a>. Taylor also believes "that blacks and Hispanics are a genetic drag on Western society," according to Mother Jones.</p>
<p>2. Spencer wants America to become a white ethno-centric nation. Spencer declared in 2013, "We need an ethno-state so that our people can 'come home again,' can live amongst family and feel safe and secure," per the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/lets-party-like-its-1933-inside-the-disturbing-alt-right-world-of-richard-spencer/2016/11/22/cf81dc74-aff7-11e6-840f-e3ebab6bcdd3_story.html" type="external">Washington Post</a>. Spencer's desire for the white ethno-state stems from his racist belief "that Hispanics and African Americans have lower average IQs than whites and are more genetically predisposed to commit crimes," according to Mother Jones.</p>
<p>Spencer wants the ethno-state to occur peacefully, expecting that somehow all of the non-whites in the country are willing to voluntarily leave and return to their countries of ancestry. He wants his ethno-state to resemble that of Vladimir Putin's Russia, saying, "I love empire, I love power, I love achievement," according to the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/richard-spencer-white-nationalist-leading-alt-right-movement/" type="external">UK Telegraph</a>.</p>
<p>When Spencer was pressed for details on how his white ethno-state utopia would be created, he avoided the question, eventually admitting: "Maybe it will be horribly bloody and terrible. That’s a possibility with everything."</p>
<p>3. Spencer won't denounce the Ku Klux Klan and Adolf Hitler. The Daily Caller's <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2016/11/24/white-nationalist-leader-richard-spencer-defends-meager-conference-attendance-compared-to-bronycon/" type="external">Jamie Weinstein</a> asked Spencer if he would condemn the KKK and Hitler on his podcast; Spencer avoided doing so:</p>
<p>“I’m really not going to play this game,” he said when asked if he condemns the KKK’s history of lynchings.</p>
<p>“Terrible things were done to many different people during that terrible war,” he said when asked if condemns the Holocaust.</p>
<p>Was Hitler evil?</p>
<p>“Hitler is a historical figure,” he said. “He’s done things that I think are despicable. I’m not going to play this game.”</p>
<p>Spencer wouldn’t delineate which things Hitler did that he thought were despicable.</p>
<p>4. Spencer used to date an Asian woman, which would seemingly contradict his white supremacist beliefs. When Mother Jones brought up this fact to Spencer, he was taken aback and wanted it kept on the down-low because "some people in the movement would probably find that terrible."</p>
<p>Spencer dated the Asian woman back in 2007. She said that she was among numerous other Asian women that Spencer dated. Spencer admitted that this was true, but he claimed it was before he adopted his white supremacist views. Now he is opposed to interracial relationships.</p>
<p>5. Spencer claims he has ties to <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-rep-devin-nunes-named-to-trump-s-1478893307-htmlstory.html" type="external">Stephen Miller</a>, the national policy director on Donald Trump's transition team. Spencer told Mother Jones, "It's funny no one's picked up on the Stephen Miller connection. I knew him very well when I was at Duke. But I am kind of glad no one's talked about this because I don't want to harm Trump."</p>
<p>Spencer alleged that he and Miller met through the Duke Conservative Union, and that they worked together on an immigration campus debate hosting Peter Brimelow, one of the Alt-Right's leaders.</p>
<p>Miller has denied any connection to Spencer and denounced his views.</p> | 5 Things To Know About Alt-Right Leader Richard Spencer | true | https://dailywire.com/news/11089/5-things-know-about-alt-right-leader-richard-aaron-bandler | 2016-11-25 | 0 |
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<p>Six months later, some of those promises are taking shape in federal court, but through the expansion of a nearly decade-old program known as Operation Streamline, in which immigrants accused of coming into the U.S. illegally complete a usually months-long prosecution process in one day. Critics say the program violates due process and does nothing to deter repeat offenses.</p>
<p>In Arizona, federal authorities are now prosecuting first-time border crossers – heavily increasing the program’s caseload – after years of prosecuting only repeat offenders. The move is a small part of the overall increase in immigrant prosecutions that Sessions has called for.</p>
<p>Just how effective Operation Streamline is at reducing repeat border crossings is unclear.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>A report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office this year found that the way the Border Patrol calculates recidivism rates in programs such as Operation Streamline results in lower figures by only considering whether a defendant re-entered illegally within a year.</p>
<p>The Border Patrol finds only 14 percent of migrants who go through programs designed to deter border crossings reoffend. The Government Accountability Office puts that figure at 29 percent based on its own methodology, which the Border Patrol has declined to adopt.</p>
<p>Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Jennifer Gabris said the recidivism rate for defendants who go through Operation Streamline was about 8 percent in the 2016 fiscal year.</p>
<p>The Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, which comprises most of Arizona, is one of four in the nation that still use the program.</p>
<p>In these court hearings, dozens of immigrants who were just caught crossing the border are assigned an attorney, go before a judge, plead guilty and are sentenced all within a day.</p>
<p>In recent years, there were few defendants in Tucson because there weren’t as many migrants caught crossing and first-time offenders weren’t being prosecuted.</p>
<p>As of this spring, when the agency decided to resume prosecutions of first-timers, hearings are held four days a week and with close to the maximum number of defendants per hearing, which is 70.</p>
<p>In August, U.S. Marshals led small groups of mostly men into a federal courtroom. The men stood in front of their court-appointed attorneys and listened to a judge give instructions, tell them their rights and ask questions through a translator.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Still in the clothes they were wearing when they got caught, some appeared confused when asked questions.</p>
<p>All of them pleaded guilty.</p>
<p>Federal prosecutors in California, unlike those in Arizona and Texas, have rejected Streamline, considering it an ineffective drain on resources. Karen Hewitt, the top federal prosecutor in San Diego from 2007 to 2010, is quoted in a 2010 University of California, Berkeley Law School paper, saying that pursuit of more serious offenders was “consistent with what the public (in California) would like to see.”</p>
<p>Border Patrol Chief Rodolfo Karisch, who took over as head of the Tucson Sector in August, said programs like Operation Streamline are necessary to show migrants who cross the border illegally that there are consequences to their actions. He said the program in Tucson has been successful.</p>
<p>“At the end of the day, if you simply arrest someone and nothing ever happens to them, then they just continue to come back,” Karisch said.</p>
<p>But many migrants do come back.</p>
<p>Take Ernesto Dorame-Gonzalez, a Mexican man who was has been arrested for crossing the border illegally multiple times since at least July 2013, according to court records.</p>
<p>He was caught again in October 2014 and prosecuted through Operation Streamline in Tucson. Dorame-Gonzalez was charged with one count of illegal entry and another count of illegal re-entry, a greater charge. In a process prosecutors call “flip-flop,” defendants in Operation Streamline with prior offenses can plead to a lesser charge and have the heavier one dropped.</p>
<p>Dorame-Gonzalez was sentenced to 60 days in prison with credit for time served.</p>
<p>Then, in November 2015, Dorame-Gonzalez was caught again, this time smuggling a group of six Middle Eastern men in southern Arizona.</p>
<p>The men had fled violence in their countries and were cleared of any ties to terrorism.</p>
<p>Dorame-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to a smuggling charge and was sentenced to over two years in federal prison.</p>
<p>Hugo Reyna, a federal public defender who has been working Operation Streamline hearings since they were adopted in Tucson nearly a decade ago, says the program isn’t an effective recidivism tool.</p>
<p>Reyna spoke on his behalf only.</p>
<p>He said attorneys start meeting with defendants at 9 a.m. and have until noon to prep with them. Reyna said most of his clients are farmworkers with limited education and no understanding of the American judicial system. Some are indigenous and don’t speak Spanish.</p>
<p>But in the nearly 10 years he’s been working with Operation Streamline, Reyna says he’s seen little change in migrant patterns.</p>
<p>“When we started here in 2008, it was 70 defendants that were being processed and charged. Today we’re still at 70. So as far as deterrent is concerned, maybe it’s not quite as effective as they had anticipated,” Reyna said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.</p>
<p>.</p> | More border crossers prosecuted in ‘new era’ of enforcement | false | https://abqjournal.com/1088650/more-border-crossers-prosecuted-in-new-era-of-enforcement.html | 2017-11-06 | 2 |
<p>Some residents of Newtown, Conn., are understandably upset at the National Rifle Association for bombarding them with pro-gun robocalls and postcards that ask the community to oppose the gun-control measures that the state legislature is considering in the wake of the deadly mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.</p>
<p>“Folks in Newtown have been receiving ‘Robo Calls’ from the NRA this week,” read a message the gun-control advocacy group Newtown Action Alliance posted to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NewtownActionAlliance/posts/144349072407233" type="external">Facebook</a> on Thursday. “Aside from being insensitive and uninvited, these calls may be in violation of telemarketing laws as they do not give the option to opt-out of future calls during the call.”</p>
<p>One resident, Tom Maurath, told The Huffington Post that he got a postcard from the NRA that read, “Despite public outcry, anti-gun legislators in the Connecticut General Assembly are aggressively forging ahead with numerous proposals that are designed to disarm and punish law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen.” Maurath said that he also was on the receiving end of a robocall from the group, and that the message was similar to the one on the postcard.</p>
<p>“The idea that this message could have been delivered to a sibling of one of the families who lost children at [Sandy Hook Elementary School] is just appalling,” he said.</p>
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<p>The NRA claims it was calling only residents who were members or supported the pro-gun lobby, but Maurath, a registered independent, says he has no connection to the organization or its affiliates.</p>
<p>The Huffington Post:</p>
<p>“I received one of these,” Newtown resident Christopher Wenis wrote on Facebook Thursday afternoon. “I was insulted and offended.” Wenis told The Huffington Post in an interview Friday night that in the 36 hours since he first posted his response, he received two more robocalls from the NRA, one later on Thursday night and one on Friday evening.</p>
<p>“I’ve got a 5-year-old son who went to preschool on the Sandy Hook Elementary School campus,” Wenis explained. “And this was a really hard week for me on a lot of levels. These calls were the very last thing I needed.”</p>
<p>…In the months since the tragic school shooting in December, Newtown has become a focal point for the nation’s renewed debate over gun control, as well as an international symbol of America’s epidemic of gun violence. The Connecticut Legislature is considering a bevy of gun-control measures in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre. On Tuesday, a bill requiring universal background checks for gun purchases in Connecticut cleared a key committee. The state already has a ban in place on military-style assault weapons.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/22/nra-robocalls-newtown-_n_2934948.html?utm_hp_ref=sandy-hook-elementary-school-shooting" type="external">Read more</a></p>
<p>Listen to one of the NRA’s robocalls:</p>
<p /> | NRA Inundates Newtown Residents With Anti-Gun Control Robocalls (Audio) | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/nra-inundates-newtown-residents-with-anti-gun-control-robocalls-audio/ | 2013-03-25 | 4 |
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<p>There was a recent misunderstanding that led to an awakening of a jealous side to me that I never had, and now I can’t seem to turn it off. When she goes to her chiropractor appointment, I call to make sure she has the appointment for the time she told me. She spent time visiting her dad and aunt, and even that made me jealous. I feel like if I keep this up, I may lose her.</p>
<p>We had a baby five months ago, and he’s very needy, much more than our older child was, so that’s also putting a strain on our relationship. What can I do to be a better husband and not get angry at her for the dumbest and smallest things? – FRUSTRATED HUSBAND IN CALIFORNIA</p>
<p>DEAR FRUSTRATED: You say this new behavior started because of a “recent misunderstanding.” I wish you had mentioned what it was, because it would have been helpful to know. Did the misunderstanding make you feel insecure, or just angry and punitive? Or is the fact that your wife needs to share her time caring for the new baby what’s bothering you?</p>
<p>If you haven’t already talked this through with your wife, you should. The arrival of a new baby can result in not only the arrival of a bundle of joy, but also bring with it postpartum depression, fatigue, physical aches and pains and lack of physical desire.</p>
<p>If these are what’s setting you off, you should both discuss what’s happening with her doctor. If that’s not the cause, some sessions with a licensed psychotherapist may help you find the answer you’re looking for.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>DEAR ABBY: My 17-year-old son has always been very shy. I don’t think it helps that he’s now 6 feet 6 inches tall and obviously stands out. Recently at a sports event which his team won, there were celebrations that were caught on video, and I could see him milling around outside of the “celebratory circle” of his teammates. It seemed very sad that he didn’t feel comfortable enough to jump into the huddle. When he was asked to join his teammates for lunch, he said he wasn’t hungry.</p>
<p>He has known many of the kids on his team for more than six years and has hung out and been on sleepovers with some of them on many occasions, so it’s not like they are strangers. My husband thinks we should just let him find his own way in life. I desperately want to talk to him and see if I can’t get him to be more sociable, but I’m not sure how to achieve this. What would you suggest, Abby? Leave him alone or intervene, and if so, how? – MOTHER OF A SHY GUY</p>
<p>DEAR MOTHER: I would suggest a little of both. Because you are concerned that your son is isolating himself, talk to him about it and try to find out why. However, you should not push him into doing anything he’s not comfortable with. And if he appears to be happy with his life, let him live it and, as your husband says, find his own way.</p>
<p>Contact Dear Abby at <a href="http://www.DearAbby.com" type="external">www.DearAbby.com</a> or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.</p>
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<p /> | DEAR ABBY: Frustrated husband seeks solution for his jealousy | false | https://abqjournal.com/978497/headline-here.html | 2 |
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<p>JWANENG, Botswana — Diamonds — the glittering symbol of wealth and glamour — had retail sales averaging $9 billion dollars a year for the past decade. Many of the diamonds come from the rich earth of southern Africa.</p>
<p>But now in Botswana, where diamonds account for nearly 65 percent of the country's exports, the slowdown from the world economic crisis has prompted diamond mines to close, at least temporarily.</p>
<p>Botswana's <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=35585" type="external">Jwaneng Mine</a>was the world's richest diamond mine and the second most profitable mine in the world, said Dale Ekmark, the mine's general manager. But after a 20 percent drop in demand for the precious stones mined here, Jwaneng closed this year for months.</p>
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<p>Down in Jwaneng's 1,260-feet-deep&#160;pit, workers like 25-year-old Moitshepi Mosupi drive some of the biggest trucks in the world, loaded with diamond ore called Kimberlite. But given the decline in diamond demand, Mosupi's job is on the line.</p>
<p>Diamond demand has dropped as people around the world slash their luxury spending. De Beers, the world's biggest diamond producer, has experienced other setbacks as well. A massive blimp brought to the desert near Jwaneng mine to prospect beneath the sands of the Kalahari Desert crashed last year. And reports that De Beers planned to prospect in the San people’s homeland caused a wave of bad publicity.</p>
<p>The governments of South Africa, Namibia and Angola also earn a large share of their foreign currency from diamond sales in the coastal and ocean mines of northern South Africa, like these near Port Nolloth. These also face closures unless the low world price for diamonds improves dramatically, according to Moody’s Investor Service.</p>
<p>The fall in demand for diamonds prompted Angola to cancel a conference on ways to raise diamond output and improve the image of diamond producers. The World Diamond Summit, branded as one of the most important gatherings of diamond producing nations and companies, had been scheduled to take place in November in Angola's capital Luanda. Angola is the world's fifth biggest diamond producer.</p>
<p>"This decision is in line with the will of the international diamond community at a time when the economic and financial crisis is having a significant impact on the diamond industry," the Angolan government said in a statement.</p>
<p>Prices of polished diamonds have fallen 13 percent since reaching a peak in August last year, according to Polishedprices, an independent news and price list provider to the diamond industry.</p>
<p>The United States — which accounts for about half of world diamond demand — Europe and Japan have been hit hard by the global economic slowdown.</p>
<p>At the Botswana Diamond Valuation Company offices in Gabarone, Botswana, cutters sort through Botswana's production, which was once the second largest in the world.</p>
<p>Diamonds are graded by clarity, cut and color and that is used to place them on the market, but their value is not based on anything but consumer demand.</p>
<p>“Diamonds are forever” may be physically true, but in Africa today people like Motshepi Mosupi find that jobs mining them are not.</p>
<p>More GlobalPost dispatches from Africa:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/090511/blue-diamond-auction" type="external">Today blue is the color of money</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/090306/reviving-mozambiques-crown-jewel" type="external">Reviving Mozambique's crown jewel</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/090428/ululating-carmen" type="external">Ululating for Carmen</a>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/090511/blue-diamond-auction" type="external">&#160;</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=jwaneng,+botswana&amp;oe=utf-8&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=h&amp;ll=-21.902278,25.72998&amp;spn=7.131482,12.744141&amp;z=6&amp;iwloc=A&amp;source=embed" type="external">View Larger Map</a></p> | Diamonds are forever? | false | https://pri.org/stories/2009-05-13/diamonds-are-forever | 2009-05-13 | 3 |
<p>SACRAMENTO –The Legislature still is working on teacher-discipline legislation. <a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml" type="external">AB375 is by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo.</a> It passed the <a href="http://sedn.senate.ca.gov" type="external">Senate Education Committee</a> Tuesday and is being heard Wednesday in the Senate Appropriations Committee. <a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>Prior to Tuesday’s hearing, all of the stakeholders had been led to believe the bill, which was thought dead in July, was on hold until next year.</p>
<p>But <a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml" type="external">AB375</a> received major amendments late on the late night Sept. 6. The amendments appeared to come out of nowhere — until it became evident during Tuesday’s hearing the amendments were driven in on a teachers union bus.</p>
<p>In its new form, it now looks as though <a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml" type="external">AB375</a> could make it harder, not easier, to dismiss bad teachers. It would preserve the current three-person Commission on Professional Competence that judges teacher-misconduct cases. It would have imposed a seven-month time limit for the completion of a teacher dismissal hearing, but the 7-month “cliff”was taken out of the bill in the last set of amendments negotiated with Liu. So now the bill allows proceedings to go on indefinitely…which isn't any better than current law either.</p>
<p>AB 375 could force districts to settle with bad teachers, or re-file charges — meaning child-victims could be asked to relive their abuse in further testimony.</p>
<p>And to shorten the process, the bill would limit the discovery process for evidence.</p>
<p>Other provisions would limit a district’s ability to amend charges when new evidence is discovered, and provide ample opportunities for defense counsel to delay.</p>
<p>Critics contend that AB375 also overlooks major problems with the dismissal process that lead to costly delays.</p>
<p><a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml" type="external">AB375</a> was shaped as a teacher dismissal bill as a response to the legal technicalities and delays surrounding the 2011 <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/mark-berndt/" type="external">Miramonte Elementary School teacher abuse</a> case in Los Angeles. Teacher Mark Berndt, 61, was charged with 23 felony counts of molestation and lewd conduct with students. The Los Angeles Unified School District agreed to a $30-million settlement.&#160;Parents accused the district of not doing enough to protect students from Berndt even after filing many complaints about inappropriate conduct in his classroom.</p>
<p>But this bill would not have helped LAUSD dismiss Berndt, and could have made the procedure even more complicated and difficult for the children.</p>
<p>School administrators oppose <a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml" type="external">AB375</a> because is does not include sufficient protections to ensure that children are safe from predators in their classrooms. The odd incentives created by this bill could leave egregious offenders in classrooms for months, even after misconduct is reported, because the bill does not require school districts to notify the police if they have evidence of crimes perpetrated by a teacher against a child.</p>
<p><a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml" type="external">AB375</a> does not require the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to continue investigating allegations of misconduct if the school district settles with the teacher. This could allow teachers who are actually guilty of sex offenses to retain their licenses and continue to be in classrooms.</p>
<p>Principals and other school administrators joined school reformers in showing up in force at the hearing to oppose <a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml" type="external">AB375</a>. Among their key suggestions, administrators want school districts to have more discretion dismissing bad teachers, rather than waiting for the Commission on Professional Competence&#160;or an Administrative Law Judge to rule.</p>
<p>AB375 was introduced earlier this year after similar legislation by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima, was defeated in 2012 under pressure by the California Teachers Association and California Federation of Teachers. Padilla's bill&#160;would have given school administrators more authority to fire teachers accused of sexual, drug-related or violent acts with students.</p>
<p>In the education reform movement, some lawmakers have been trying for years to pass a bill to expedite the lengthy teacher dismissal process and reduce the excessive cost.</p>
<p>But many education reformers don’t believe the bill goes far enough to allow schools to get rid of the increasing numbers of sexually abusive school employees.</p>
<p>“School leaders have an obligation to pull bad teachers out,” <a href="http://www.edvoice.org/staff" type="external">Bill Lucia of Edvoice</a> told me after the hearing. Edvoice is an educational nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public schools in California.</p>
<p>Lucia explained “beyond a reasonable doubt” does not belong as the standard in schools. “Think about the young children — the classrooms full of young children, and their parents who are horrified,” Lucia said, speaking about schools which are unable to immediately oust abusive teachers. Such teachers often remain in the classroom.</p>
<p>The other flaw Lucia said he found in AB375 is that teachers who commit egregious moral violations are lumped into the same dismissal process as lousy teachers who fail to teach students to read. “This is, at best, an experiment,” Lucia said.</p>
<p>“[Mandatory reporting] is crucial to the process in terms of protecting children,” Buchanan said during the hearing. “This bill is strictly about what happens when you have an employment dispute and the employee disagrees with the dismissal charges.”</p>
<p>“It's disappointing that, by Assemblywoman Buchanan's own admission, AB375 isn't designed to protect California's kids,” said <a href="http://www.studentsfirst.org" type="external">Jessica Ng with Students First</a>, a grassroots education reform organization. “Not only does it fail to include sufficient protections to keep kids safe from predators in their classrooms, but it also makes it harder for districts to dismiss teachers who are accused of abuse against their students.&#160;California's kids don't need a teacher dismissal bill; they need a child safety and protection bill.”</p>
<p>Critics charge the first clue the bill is not real reform was the alliance of support between the <a href="http://www.cta.org/Issues-and-Action/Key-Points/KP-AB-375-AB-1338.aspx" type="external">California Teachers Association</a> and the <a href="http://www.cft.org" type="external">California Federation of Teachers</a>at the hearing.</p>
<p>At the hearing Tuesday, the CTA said it supported Buchanan’s bill because it leaves the final dismissal decision in the hands of the <a href="http://law.onecle.com/california/education/44944.html" type="external">Commission on Professional Competence</a>, made up of two fellow teachers and an administrative law judge.</p>
<p>“Administrators have allowed bad behavior,” said Sen. Norma Torres, D-Chino, repeating the position of the CTA and CFT. “Let’s not punish teachers for bad management.” She is a member of the Senate Education Committee.</p>
<p>Members of the committee, including the Committee Chairwoman, Sen. Carol Liu, voted to pass the bill, even after saying it was incomplete, and “not perfect.” Liu was the threshold vote, and could have made sure the bill stayed in the committee for further work.</p> | Critics charge AB 375 doesn't really protect students | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2013/09/11/critics-charge-ab-375-doesnt-really-protect-students/ | 2018-09-20 | 3 |
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<p>Gary Hill, who is a professor of music and the director of ensembles at Arizona State University, returns to New Mexico to conduct Concordia Santa Fe’s June concert next Sunday afternoon at St. Francis Auditorium. Hill was a guest conductor for the Santa Fe-based professional wind ensemble in 2010.</p>
<p>“Often Concordia programs are linked to the theme of the art being displayed at New Mexico Museum of Art, but in this case I chose the theme,” he said.</p>
<p>Hill calls the concert “Primary Colors” and has programmed pieces for wind ensembles that feature colors in their titles.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The high-energy piece “Red Line Tango” by John Mackey is one that Hill has conducted at least a dozen times.</p>
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<p>WHERE: St. Francis Auditorium in the New Mexico Museum of Art, 107 W. Palace Ave., Santa Fe</p>
<p>HOW MUCH: Free; donations accepted. For information call 505-913-7211</p>
<p>“This piece began its life as a piece for a dance company that was played by a quartet,” he explained. “The original title was ‘Damn.’ It became ‘Red Line Tango’ when John Mackey made it into an orchestral piece. Because it’s so heavily dependent on winds, John arranged it for winds. This piece is a pivotal one in his career. It really launched it.”</p>
<p>More than a decade ago Hill conducted an ensemble at ASU in a performance of Frank Ticheli’s piece “Blue Shades.” It was one of the first performances of the work. “Blue Shades” takes Concordia Santa Fe’s players on a journey through jazz and blues styles. Blues harmonies, rhythms and melodic idioms are heard throughout the piece. At times, Ticheli makes references to musical clichés from the Big Band era. A long clarinet solo takes place near the end of the piece.</p>
<p>One of the concert’s slower compositions is “The White Peacock” by Charles Griffes. It was written for piano in 1915 and orchestrated in 1919. Griffes, who wrote in an American impressionistic style and also was influenced by early-20th-century Russian composers, had his career cut short in 1920 when he was died from influenza at the age of 35.</p>
<p>Twentieth-century Australian-born composer Percy Grainger, on the other hand, had a long and productive career. One of the works he wrote for instrumentalists is “Green Brushes,” which is presented during the concert. The music is based on an early-19th-century English folk song that composers Ralph Vaughan Williams and George Butterworth also used in their music.</p>
<p>Next Sunday’s concert is Concordia Santa Fe’s third one of the year. The ensemble consists of approximately four dozen New Mexico-based woodwind, brass and percussion players. Rather than have a permanent music director, the group hires a guest conductor for each performance.</p>
<p>“I’ll be working with many of the musicians I worked with three years ago,” said Hill. “Our venue at St. Francis Auditorium is a good one for us. It’s an intimate space, but the room is capable of holding the sound well.”</p> | Concordia concert has colorful theme | false | https://abqjournal.com/211092/concordia-concert-has-colorful-theme.html | 2013-06-16 | 2 |
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<p>If you have an opinion on the expansion of children’s health insurance, hop on over the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/SCHIP_Public_Review/" type="external">White House website</a>, where the SCHIP bill <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/29/AR2009012900325.html" type="external">is open for comments</a>. If Obama’s campaign promise is followed, commenting will last for five days, at which point the President will sign the bill.</p>
<p>While the move is an admirable nod to openness, it’s more of a presidential party trick than anything else. Here’s why:</p>
<p>(1) Public comments aren’t made public. The page that I link to above points you to the full text of the SCHIP legislation and has a submission field for a comment, but it does not display previously made comments. I submitted a comment and it was swallowed up by the White House website, presumably never to be seen again.</p>
<p>When the Obama team was in transition, it hosted a site called <a href="http://change.gov/open_government/yourseatatthetable" type="external">“Seat at the Table”</a> that enabled everyday citizens to view the policy papers that think tanks and interest groups were submitting to the President-elect. The site allowed users to comment and read the comments of others. That model ought to be followed on the White House website now. If comments could be viewed by everyone, one everyday citizen could identify a problem with the legislation, another could research it further, and a third could suggest a better idea. People could work together to push for improved law. And that’s the point, isn’t it?</p>
<p>(2) There is no guarantee that administration officials will actually read the comments. The transition website had a feature called <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2008/12/11289_transition_open_for_questions.html" type="external">“Open for Questions”</a> that allowed users to submit questions to top Obama officials and to vote up or down the questions of others. Popular questions were answered on a somewhat haphazard schedule (and never in fully in-depth way) but at least there was an guarantee that someone was paying attention. The same cannot be said for the five-day commenting period.</p>
<p>(3) The bill has already passed both the House and the Senate. There is no mechanism in the legislative process to change it now that it is on the president’s desk. (Obama could use a presidential signing statement, an <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/04/30/bush_challenges_hundreds_of_laws/" type="external">old Bush Administration trick</a>. But Obama and his camp frowned upon the practice during the campaign.) “All they can do is veto it,” says Ellen Miller, Executive Director of the Sunlight Foundation. Given that Obama isn’t going to veto something like a long-sought children’s health care bill, one has to wonder if this is little more than a way to generate good PR. “It is far more important to have this kind of opportunity for the public to comment during the legislative process,” says Miller, “when changes could actually be made.”</p>
<p>(4) The site demands that users fit their comment inside 500 characters. The paragraph above is 621. “The notion that there can be quality commenting in 500 characters on a piece of legislation is laughable,” says Miller.</p>
<p>Miller suspects that the Obama team simply screwed up. The <a href="http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/29/breaking-lilly-ledbetter-fair-pay-act-signed-into-law-by-president-obama/" type="external">first bill Obama signed</a> was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. He did so without making the bill available for comment at all, a fact that earned him the scorn of the transparency community and his first <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/234/allow-five-days-of-public-comment-before-signing-b/" type="external">broken promise from PolitiFact.com</a>. That led to the subpar commenting system up now. Says Miller, “They realized they goofed last week and they really needed to create this feature immediately, so they did a very simple, very straight-forward feature. I have every expectation that the ability to comment will become far more meaningful than it is right now.”</p>
<p>Fostering legitimate public comment on legislation is clearly a difficult challenge. It does not appear the Obama Administration has the solution just yet.</p>
<p /> | Have Thoughts on SCHIP? The White House is Listening, Kind Of | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/02/have-thoughts-schip-white-house-listening-kind/ | 2009-02-02 | 4 |
<p>In the seemingly never ending Internet treasure trove of headline-grabbing hacked Sony emails, purveyor of down and dirty inside details on celebrities and Hollywood in general, another name has been cast upon the altar of salacious sacrifice: Ben "Batman" Affleck.</p>
<p>Turns out when PBS's Henry Louis Gates, host of the documentary series "Finding Your Roots," was researching Affleck's family tree for an episode tracing the star's lineage, he found a slave owning descendent.</p>
<p>The secret-peddling site, Wikileaks <a href="https://wikileaks.org/sony/press/" type="external">published a searchable database of the Sony emails</a> on April 16, and news organizations wasted little time in trawling through the previously private emails. The U.K.?s Daily Mail <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3043803/Ben-Affleck-wanted-slave-owner-ancestor-censored-Finding-Roots-PBS-documentary-s-host-covered-leaked-emails-reveal.html" type="external">first broke the story</a> of how the studio attempted to dissuade Gates from using the segment.</p>
<p><a href="https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/?q=four+or+five+of+our+guests+this+season+descend+from+slave+owners&amp;mfrom=&amp;mto=&amp;title=&amp;notitle=&amp;date=&amp;nofrom=&amp;noto=&amp;count=50&amp;sort=0#searchresult" type="external">According to the emails</a>, which were between Gates and Sony Pictures chief executive Michael Lynton, Affleck requested the series not run this particular tidbit, leaving Gates in a bit of a moral quandary.</p>
<p>"Here's my dilemma: confidentially, for the first time, one of our guests has asked us to edit out something about one of his ancestors--the fact that he owned slaves. We've never had anyone ever try to censor or edit what we found. He's a megastar. What do we do?" Gates wrote last July, seeking advice from the studio head.</p>
<p>Lynton responded by saying it depended who knew about the discovery, and that if it wasn't common knowledge at PBS they should get rid of it. Basically, if no one would catch the cover up, it wasn't a cover up, right?</p>
<p>The duo eventually decides in the long run that to cave to the star's wishes would both undermine the show's credibility and embarrass everyone, including Affleck, should the news ever get out. Which, of course, it did.</p>
<p>In the end, however, the repugnant relative is left on the cutting room floor anyway, though Gates is claiming this is simply a natural byproduct of the editing process.</p>
<p>"For any guest, we always find far more stories about ancestors on their family trees than we ever possibly could use," he said in a statement to the Associated Press, which also reported the story. "We decided to go with the story we used about his fascinating ancestor who became on occultist following the Civil War. This guy's story was totally unusual: we had never discovered someone like him before."</p> | Sony Emails: Ben Affleck Tried To Hide A Slave-Owning Ancestor | true | https://thedailybeast.com/sony-emails-ben-affleck-tried-to-hide-a-slave-owning-ancestor | 2018-10-06 | 4 |
<p>It’s not often these days that we see the news media expending much effort, but Bush’s new economic stimulus plan- and its homunculus, the Democratic version of same- has got America’s media panting like fatties on a treadmill. I have never seen such rising to the occasion in all my born days. You’d think they were forming a bucket brigade to put out a fire in the church steeple; certainly they’re carrying water (knowing this administration, the water is from the Klamath River). Why? This tax plan is a pig in a poke; it’s also the reason toilets have lids. This tax plan is an unsightly hog, but the Powers That Be are desperate to ensure ordinary Americans buy the thing.</p>
<p>Why would the puling Pollyannae of our media let us down in this way? Why would they work so hard to fool us into thinking the Bush tax plan is anything more than a reeking eructation right in the average American’s face? Because there’s a new class in this country. We have always had the poor, the middle class, and the rich; there are subdivisions like ‘super-rich’, ‘upper middle class’, ‘blue collar’, and ‘might as well eat your own legs’. These don’t address the most potent class of all: the Threatened Class.</p>
<p>The Threatened Class is composed mostly of upper-middle types who were quivering on the edge of being really well emboodled, although many of its members are simply dopes who think they’re well off but are actually wretched (cf. Libertarians). Besides real estate brokers, ex-Internet types who Got Out Early, and devoted market players, the Threatened Class includes most of the influential folks in the media. All the ‘people’ you see on TV are part of the Threatened Class, as are the editors, producers, and analysts who guide what the cognoscenti will say.</p>
<p>The Threatened Class encompasses all those who have wine cellars but no summer home, or summer homes but no yacht, and so on, until you get to the pathetic boobs who share leases on private jets but can’t afford a jet of their own. The Threatened Class is for people who have the better part of a million bucks in their personal thrift, up to around six million. Money they can retire on if they’re careful. You can lose that much really fast, if things don’t go your way. Happened when WWW turned out to stand for ‘What a Withered Wallet’. That’s what threatens this class. They could lose everything, and be right back in the ‘chugging Aqua Velva behind a dumpster’ class.</p>
<p>So these pundits &amp; co. are all members of the Threatened Class, and they worked hard to get what they have, or sucked a lot of fragrant ass to get it, which amounts to the same thing; and they see there’s this terrible danger that all their greedy, single-minded soulless money-grubbing could come to naught, in which case they sold their principles, their hearts and their lives (in ascending order of value) for nothing. In such a situation you will do much to keep your gelt safe, and the safest thing these days is to convince consumers to keep consuming and little investors to keep investing, while you try to figure out where to hide your dough. And a big, fat tax break wouldn’t hurt, either. How can you lose?</p>
<p>After all, when things are good it’s fine to defend the little guys, the slobs who didn’t have the sense or financial backup to get through an expensive college; but disaster looms on all sides. Forget journalistic integrity for a second here_this is about your retirement, dammit! The truth will set you free from your money. If Americans understood that the media diagrams showing the ‘average savings’ of some thousand dollars actually meant tens- even hundreds- of thousands for the really rich and a handful of twenties for themselves, they might cool off to the whole idea, especially when weighed against the effect it will have on the civil infrastructure (such as roads and schools they are forced to use because they can’t afford private jets or schools). To simulate this economic stimulus plan’s effect on the American common weal, drop a Ritz cracker into 200 gallons of boiling chlorine bleach. If it wasn’t in the Threatened Classes’ personal interest to misrepresent this stinker of a plan, its media wing wouldn’t dream of trying to make the thing look good. Easier to put lipstick on the genitals of a moose. But it’s a struggle they’re willing to undertake: either fard the nards, or expose this historic policy fraud and join with the common man in a struggle for lasting economic measures that will require sacrifice from everybody, even the Threatened Class.</p>
<p>When the Titanic sank in 1997, the ship’s officers (led by Capt. James Cameron) did their level best to ensure the very richest folks got into lifeboats first, and then the officers climbed in after them and cast off, leaving the poor to practice their dogpaddles on the poopdeck. Why did the poor folks listen? Because the officers were authorities, trusted figures who Knew What To Do. Today’s Threatened Class, as exemplified by the media, are just exactly like the officers aboard the Titanic. If they can keep the masses quiet just a little longer, they can secure themselves a place in the lifeboats. Maybe that’s a cynical analogy, but why else would they attempt to gloss over this ghastly plan? Think it over. Meanwhile I’ll be in the third class lounge, building a raft out of the piano.</p>
<p>BEN TRIPP is a screenwriter and political cartoonist. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Class Warfare at the Marina | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/01/11/class-warfare-at-the-marina/ | 2003-01-11 | 4 |
<p>The darnedest things have been known to happen during Massachusetts snowstorms, but certainly nothing like this: During a live report from a local TV station meteorologist, a previously unknown creature made an unscripted appearance.</p>
<p>That's right, Marijuana Sasquatch, a creature so reclusive it has never been spotted in the wintry wild before, came out to frolic right in the middle of WWLP meteorologist Jennifer Paglieli's report on Thursday's storm from Springfield.</p>
<p>Sasquatch may have been lured from pot-friendly Canadian climes by recent political events. Last November, Massachusetts voters approved marijuana legalization, with pot being legal to possess and grow as of December 14. But since Marijuana Sasquatch made no comments for the record, his (or her?) motives remain hazy.&#160;</p>
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<p>Phillip Smith is editor of the AlterNet Drug Reporter and author of the Drug War Chronicle.</p> | VIDEO: Rare 'Marijuana Sasquatch' Shows Up for Massachusetts Snowstorm | true | http://alternet.org/drugs/video-rare-marijuana-sasquatch-shows-massachusetts-snow-storm | 2017-02-10 | 4 |
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<p>The ban is set to go into effect on Dec. 5 after the law is advertised Sunday in The Durango Herald.</p>
<p>The vote was 3-1 with Councilor Paul Broderick in opposition and Mayor Doug Lyon absent, The Herald said.</p>
<p>The city plans to post signs in public areas to publicize the ban, the paper reported.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Exceptions to the ban will be made for Hillcrest Golf Course and for Native American groups performing religious ceremonies in public places, according to The Herald.</p>
<p>Smokers could be fined $100 for a first offense and $200 to $300 for subsequent offenses in the same calendar year, with proceeds going to anti-tobacco and smoking-cessation efforts, The Herald said.</p> | Durango OKs Outdoor Smoking Ban | false | https://abqjournal.com/147935/durango-oks-outdoor-smoking-ban.html | 2 |
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<p>A school bus lost control Saturday night as it exited I-5 in Washington state and crashed, resulting in 10 people — eight of them students — being sent to the hospital.</p>
<p>The students were returning to King’s High School in Shoreline after a basketball tournament in Mount Vernon, according to <a href="http://q13fox.com/2015/02/15/students-walk-away-after-school-bus-overturns-coming-off-freeway/" type="external">a local TV station report</a>.</p>
<p>The bus driver, who is also the basketball team’s coach, and several students had to be hospitalized, but fortunately no one had serious injuries. One of the people on the bus, David Barhanovich, was quoted in the TV report as saying he remembers the bus hitting a couple of bumps before losing control, and that he remembered the driver saying something about not having any brakes as the bus picked up speed on the off-ramp.</p>
<p>The bus started rolling before stopping on one side and fishtailing down the off-ramp, finally skidding to a stop. The Washing State Patrol said that brakes were working on the bus, and school officials said all buses have passed their last inspection in 2014, so it was unclear exactly what went wrong.</p>
<p>As to whether or not the driver would be investigated, the head of schools, Eric Rasmussen, said that their concern was for the safety of everyone involved and that that situation would be taken care of when the time comes, according to the report.</p>
<p>Rasmussen said he hopes parents don’t become overly concerned about sending kids on buses for extracurricular activities in the future, as it opens up students to a wide range of activities and it is typically very safe. He said it’s the first time they’ve had an accident like this, calling the situation “very unfortunate.”</p>
<p>Authorities will look at the on-board camera on the bus to help determine what, if anything, should be investigated further.</p>
<p /> | School bus overturns on I-5 in Washington, injuring students | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/02/16/school-bus-overturns-on-i-5-in-washington-injuring-students/ | 2015-02-16 | 3 |
<p>CHICAGO (AP) - The Chicago Blackhawks will be without forward Marcus Kruger for the next four months after surgery to repair a dislocated left wrist.</p>
<p>Team Dr. Michael Terry said Friday that the surgery went well and Kruger should be able to resume "hockey activities in approximately four months."</p>
<p>Kruger left Thursday night's home win against Edmonton with the injury with about 15 minutes left in the second period.</p>
<p>In 33 games this year, Kruger has one assist and 20 penalty minutes. He averages approximately 13 minutes of ice time per game and a key player on the Blackhawks' penalty kill unit.</p>
<p>Chicago recalled forward Phillip Danault from Rockford, where he has a goal and an assist in six games this season.</p>
<p>CHICAGO (AP) - The Chicago Blackhawks will be without forward Marcus Kruger for the next four months after surgery to repair a dislocated left wrist.</p>
<p>Team Dr. Michael Terry said Friday that the surgery went well and Kruger should be able to resume "hockey activities in approximately four months."</p>
<p>Kruger left Thursday night's home win against Edmonton with the injury with about 15 minutes left in the second period.</p>
<p>In 33 games this year, Kruger has one assist and 20 penalty minutes. He averages approximately 13 minutes of ice time per game and a key player on the Blackhawks' penalty kill unit.</p>
<p>Chicago recalled forward Phillip Danault from Rockford, where he has a goal and an assist in six games this season.</p> | Chicago Blackhawks lose F Kruger for 4 months to injury | false | https://apnews.com/amp/e50a9805a28e4d50aa285e09e4641272 | 2015-12-18 | 2 |
<p>A car bomb struck Somalia's&#160;Mogadishu today, officials said, <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/14/uk-somalia-blast-idUKBRE8BD14420121214" type="external">according to Reuters</a>.&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/somalia/121214/somalias-al-shabab-offers-8k-reward-killing-kenyan-force" type="external">Somalia's Al-Shabab offers $8K reward for killing Kenyan forces: officials</a></p>
<p>The attack struck a main road just as an African Union peacekeeper convoy passed by, witness Samira Hussein <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/14/uk-somalia-blast-idUKBRE8BD14420121214" type="external">told Reuters</a>.</p>
<p>"We looked back and saw thick smoke," Hussein said.&#160;</p>
<p>The death toll beyond that of the bomber was not immediately clear.&#160;</p>
<p>Police officer Abdullahi Barise <a href="http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Car-bomb-attack-in-Somalia-kills-bomber-only" type="external">told the Associated Press</a> three people standing nearby were injured but reported no additional casualties, while senior policemen Abdifatah Sabriye <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/14/uk-somalia-blast-idUKBRE8BD14420121214" type="external">told Reuters</a> two people were killed.&#160;</p>
<p>Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack, <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/14/uk-somalia-blast-idUKBRE8BD14420121214" type="external">said Reuters</a>.</p>
<p>The militant group is believed tied to Al Qaeda and lost control of Mogadishu last August, but their operatives continue to launch attacks in the region, <a href="http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Car-bomb-attack-in-Somalia-kills-bomber-only" type="external">said AP</a>.&#160;</p> | Car bomb strikes Somali capital | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-12-15/car-bomb-strikes-somali-capital | 2012-12-15 | 3 |
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<p>Image Source: Sysco</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>What: Shares of food distribution company Sysco jumped 10.8% during February, according to data provided by <a href="https://www.capitaliq.com/CIQDotNet/Login.aspx" type="external">S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence</a>. Much of the gain was due to Sysco's fiscal second-quarter earnings report, which pushed the stock to a new 52-week high.</p>
<p>So what: Sysco reported quarterly revenue of $12.15 billion, up 0.6% year over year and in line with analyst expectations. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.48 beat analyst estimates by $0.07, driven by revenue growth and a 50-basis-point increase in gross margin. Real growth, a non-GAAP measure that adjusts for food cost inflation, acquisitions, and currency, rose 3% year over year.</p>
<p>Sysco CEO Bill DeLaney pointed to strong volume growth as the driver behind the company's solid quarter:</p>
<p>Now what: While Sysco's results were far from stellar, they come at a time when smaller rival United Natural Foods is struggling. Shares of United Natural Foods <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/02/29/why-shares-of-united-natural-foods-inc-slumped-tod.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">tumbled in late February</a> after the company reported its own second-quarter results, the highlights of which were slowing revenue growth, declining earnings, and disappointing guidance.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/SYY" type="external">SYY</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts</a>.</p>
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<p>Despite Sysco's earnings having declined significantly since 2010, driven down by falling margins, the stock has surged, with February's jump pushing Sysco to new highs. Sysco is an expensive stock, trading at 35 times trailing-12-month earnings, a high price to pay for extremely slow growth. But Sysco's dominance of the industry is certainly worth something, and investors appear willing to pay a hefty premium for its shares.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/03/why-shares-of-sysco-corp-jumped-11-in-february.aspx" type="external">Why Shares of Sysco Corp. Jumped 11% in February</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFBargainBin/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Timothy Green</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | Why Shares of Sysco Corp. Jumped 11% in February | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/03/03/why-shares-sysco-corp-jumped-11-in-february.html | 2016-03-28 | 0 |
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<p>Image source: Fortune Live Media via Flickr.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>When it comes to value investing, there's arguably no one better or more revered than Warren Buffett.</p>
<p>Buffett often gives a lot of credit to his mentor, Ben Graham, with regard to teach him how to appropriately value stocks, but it's Buffett's long-term approach to investing -- combined with his keen value assessments -- that have allowed him to be so successful. In six plus decades, Buffett has transformed less than $10,000 into a net worth of $68.4 billion as of Thursday, June 23. Not too shabby, right?</p>
<p>The centerpiece of Buffett's strategy is to find a solid business and acquire them when they're trading at a perceived discount to fair value. As Buffett has previously said,"The best thing that happens to us is when a great company gets into temporary trouble. ... We want to buy them when they're on the operating table."</p>
<p>Of course, picking out a value stock isn't as simple as it sounds. You can't throw a dart at a list of value stocks and necessarily expect a winner. Value stocks can still underperform over the long run if "temporary problems" prove to be more than temporary. This is where Warren Buffett's experience and skill as a stock-picker come in handy.</p>
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<p>After perusing Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio, which consists of more than three dozen companies, some of which have multiple classes of shares, I was able to hone in on three value stocks that were trading well below a price/earnings-to-growth ratio (PEG ratio) of one. The PEG ratio factors in not only a company's current valuation relative to its profits but also takes into account its future growth rate when determining its perceived value. Generally speaking, a PEG ratio below one signifies a potentially cheap stock, whereas anything above two implies a possibly fully valued or overvalued stock. In this article, I used the five year expected PEG ratio.</p>
<p>Based on Berkshire's current holdings, these are Warren Buffett's favorite value stocks.</p>
<p>Image source: General Motors.</p>
<p>Topping the list of value stocks for Warren Buffett is U.S. automaker General Motors with its minuscule PEG ratio of 0.35. Buffett's Berkshire holds 50 million shares of the car-making giant.</p>
<p>General Motors' "operating table moment" was its awful 2014, which saw the company announce 84 separate auto recalls totaling 30.43 million vehicles. The most notable of these recalls were for faulty ignition switches, which had been tied to at least 51 fatalities. In total, GM wound up shelling out $4.1 billion for its recalls, and it took yet another lump to its brand image following its reemergence from bankruptcy.</p>
<p>Yet Buffett sees a lot to like in America's iconic automaker. For starters, precipitously low lending rates in the U.S. and in other developed countries around the globe are creating a perfect scenario for auto sales to blossom. Low lending rates give consumers cheap access to capital, making it more likely that consumers will part with their discretionary income and purchase a vehicle.</p>
<p>General Motors has a substantial growth opportunity in foreign markets, as well. China has easily surpassed the U.S. in terms of the world's largest auto market, and its GDP growth is still well north of 6%. As China's middle class grows and its infrastructure expands into rural communities from its large cities, we're liable to see a new surge of vehicle owners flood the market. GM, along with its joint ventures, delivered 295,282 vehicles in May 2016, a record month that showed year-over-year growth of 16.9%.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, General Motors' focus on in-cabin luxuries, such as built-in infotainment systems and touchscreen technology, is paying big dividends in U.S. markets.</p>
<p>Sporting a dreamy 5.2% dividend yield and forward P/E of just five, GM is hands-down Buffett's cheapest holding based on PEG.</p>
<p>Image source: USG Corporation.</p>
<p>Next in line we have building materials manufacturer USG Corporation , a company that Berkshire Hathaway has held in its portfolio for more than 15 years. Berkshire owns a little more than 39 million shares of USG, which works out to nearly $1 billion in total market value, and nearly 27% ownership in the company.</p>
<p>The "operating table moment" for USG was the housing bubble of 2008-2009 that nearly wrecked homebuilders and the companies that supply them. USG provides gypsum and related products for walls, ceilings, and roofs used in the construction of residential, commercial, and institutional buildings. Since essentially no company associated with construction was spared during the Great Recession, USG witnessed its sales plunge by 50%.</p>
<p>Fast-forward to 2016 and things are much better. USG reported an all-time best quarter for its U.S. ceilings segment in Q1, with operating margin improving to 22.7% from 16.5%, while adjusted net income grew to $63 million from $44 million. Like GM, USG is benefiting from accommodative monetary policy, which is keeping lending rates low and encouraging enterprise customers to keep building and expanding. With the Fed recently lowering its intermediate-term federal funds rate target forecast through 2018, it would appear that the allure of borrowing at a cheap cost is going to continue for at least the next year or two, which bodes well for USG's businesses.</p>
<p>The ongoing rebound in construction is also a boon to USG's pricing power. In Q1 it recorded a 20% increase in wallboard volume but a 2% decrease in pricing, which the company mostly attributed to product mix. However, the press release also notes that a price increase in wallboard has essentially taken care of this negative price mix through the first couple of weeks of Q2.</p>
<p>At 12 times forward earnings and a PEG of 0.56, USG could lay a foundation for big gains in your portfolio.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>The final deeply discounted value stock in Buffett's portfolio is investment banking giant Goldman Sachs . Berkshire Hathaway is currently holding almost 11 million shares of Goldman Sachs' stock, worth about $1.7 billion.</p>
<p>The "operating table moment" that's intrigued Buffett has been Goldman's steadfastness to stick with its fixed-income growth strategy. Tightening industry regulations and a volatile stock market have made it very difficult for Goldman to make a market in bond trading. This has ultimately weighed on its margins and profits, resulting in the company recording a 23% decline in investment banking revenue in Q1 and a 37% dive in institutional client service revenue.</p>
<p>What Buffett probably sees in Goldman is its leading position in facilitating corporate mergers and acquisitions, as well as a company that could easily regain its bond market trading dominance once the Federal Reserve begins calming markets and normalizing lending rates. Chances are unlikely that lending rates will remain near these historic lows for a very long period of time, which does eventually bode well for the bond market, and thus for Goldman.</p>
<p>Goldman Sachs also has a very generous shareholder return policy in place. Although it does pay out what amounts to $2.60 annually in dividends, it's Goldman's share buyback program that can really boost its profitability and make the company appear more attractive from a valuation perspective. Earlier this year my Foolish colleague and Goldman Sachs shareholder John Maxfield, <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/02/06/these-2-things-convinced-me-to-buy-goldman-sachs.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">noted Opens a New Window.</a> that Goldman has repurchased an average of $1.3 billion worth of its common stock every quarter since 2012. These repurchases can do wonders for Goldman Sachs' valuation by lifting its EPS and reducing its P/E ratio.</p>
<p>Valued at only nine times forward earnings and a PEG of 0.57, it might be worth taking a closer look at this value stock.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/01/warren-buffetts-favorite-value-stock.aspx" type="external">Warren Buffett's Favorite Value Stocks Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a>has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name <a href="http://caps.fool.com/player/tmfultralong.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/TMFUltraLong" type="external">@TMFUltraLong Opens a New Window.</a>.The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B Shares). It also recommends General Motors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Warren Buffett's Favorite Value Stocks | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/07/01/warren-buffett-favorite-value-stocks.html | 2016-07-01 | 0 |
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<p>The University of New Mexico baseball coach and his team are riding a low ebb of fortune. They can only hope their luck bottomed out in Sunday’s frustrating 8-7 loss to No. 21 Houston at Lobo Field.</p>
<p>It was the fourth straight one-run loss to a nationally ranked opponent for the Lobos (11-10), and all four came down to the final inning. Sunday’s was particularly rough because UNM spent the entire game fighting back from an early 5-1 deficit, finally pulled even in the bottom of the eighth, then gave up an unearned run – the game-winner – in the top of the ninth.</p>
<p>“We battle and battle to get even and something bad happens,” Birmingham said. “That’s just how it’s been for us lately. We could’ve won all three games in this series and we lost all three.”</p>
<p>For the second time in three games against the Cougars (17-7), the key play was one a Lobo pitcher did not make. This time it came in the ninth inning with a runner on first, no outs and the score tied at 7.</p>
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<p>Houston’s Josh Vidales hit a one-hopper back to UNM reliever Alex Estrella that seemed a sure double-play ball. Estrella turned and fired over the head of second baseman Jared Holley and the ball ended up in center field. Houston’s Kyle Survance raced to third base and later scored on a sacrifice fly.</p>
<p>It was reminiscent of Friday night’s game, when a throwing error on a Cougars sacrifice bunt led to three unearned runs in a 6-5 Houston win.</p>
<p>“Those are (pitchers’ fielding practice) plays that we work on every day,” Birmingham said. “PFP plays killed us twice in this series. That shouldn’t happen once.”</p>
<p>The game’s only error would not have been so costly had UNM’s offense been more efficient. The Lobos outhit Houston for a second straight day (12-11 Sunday) but too often fizzled in key situations. New Mexico was 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base.</p>
<p>“That’s the thing about baseball,” said Lobo left fielder Lane Milligan, “sometimes it just takes one play to decide a game. One play hurt us today but it wasn’t just that one play. We had a lot of chances to execute and score more runs and we didn’t get it done.”</p>
<p>The top of UNM’s order was certainly effective, particularly Milligan and Chris DeVito, who each finished 3-for-4. DeVito’s day included a solo home run, his fifth, two singles and four RBIs.</p>
<p>But the Cougars did a much better job capitalizing on scoring opportunities. Chris Iriart blasted a long solo homer and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Connor Wong was 2-for-3, scored three runs and belted a two-run homer that gave Houston its 5-1 lead in the third inning.</p>
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<p>UNM spent the rest of day playing catch-up and scored single runs in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. The seventh-inning run felt hollow, however, as the Lobos had the bases loaded with no outs after it scored and came away with nothing else after a pair of strikeouts.</p>
<p>Trailing 7-5, New Mexico loaded the bases again with no outs in the eighth. Milligan’s RBI single cut the deficit to 7-6, and Carl Stajduhar’s one-out sacrifice fly finally evened the score.</p>
<p>Jack Zoellner followed with a blast to right-center that Houston center fielder Ashford Fulmer ran down at the fence for the third out.</p>
<p>“We hit balls hard all weekend,” Birmingham said. “Houston’s pitchers aren’t used to getting hit that hard. We just couldn’t buy a hit when we needed one.”</p>
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<p /> | Lobo baseball: Another mistake, another loss | false | https://abqjournal.com/558734/another-mistake-another-loss-for-lobos.html | 2 |
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<p>Businesses have made the leap into the brave new world of mobile devices and the use of personal mobile applications in the workplace, but they're still not moving fast enough to develop and deploy the mobile apps they need, a new study shows. They may think think they're "locked and loaded" and ready for the next skirmish. But if they check their ammunition clips, they'll find they're still only shooting blanks when it comes filling the "app gap."</p>
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<p>It's not for lack of belief in mobile, though. A study of 600 organizations found that 95 percent have employees whose use <a href="http://blog.laptopmag.com/should-you-allow-personal-devices-on-the-company-network" type="external">personal mobile devices</a> for work and who trust that mobile technology will improve business outcomes and applications. The study was sponsored by Progressive Software, a global software systems provider.</p>
<p>In fact, 92 percent of organizations believe that adopting mobile apps will not only give them a competitive edge, but believe that that failure to adopt such apps will put them at a competitive disadvantage.</p>
<p>Despite the proliferation of mobile devices, application use and beliefs that <a href="http://www.laptopmag.com/business/feature/25-most-influential-people-in-mobile-technology.aspx?page=26" type="external">mobile technology</a> will benefit business, only around a quarter (29 percent) of respondents have already begun a formal mobility project, though 42 percent plan to do so in the next year. In addition, only around half (51 percent) of organizations interact with their employees using mobile apps and even fewer (45 percent) use mobile apps to interact with customers.</p>
<p>As organizations make plans to fill the <a href="http://blog.laptopmag.com/four-cores-won%E2%80%99t-fix-android-tablet-app-gap" type="external">app gap</a>, they face some roadblocks. According to the research, perceived risks to implementing formal mobility strategies include security (54 percent), the additional investment required (48 percent) and the need for ongoing support (47 percent).</p>
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<p>In addition, more than half of companies (56 percent) are concerned that they lack the skills to develop an appropriate application and application interface across myriad mobile devices and platforms.</p>
<p>"There’s little doubt that providing employees with the ability to work across mobile devices can increase a business’ productivity and collaboration," said John Goodson, senior vice president of products with Progress Software. "In an effort to increase operational efficiencies across the enterprise, IT organizations need to rely on trusted development environments that provide them with the security and control they’re used to with the ability to easily develop apps for multiple mobile operating systems."</p>
<p>Reach BusinessNewsDaily senior writer Ned Smith at&#160; <a href="http://mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>. Follow him on Twitter @nedbsmith.We're also on&#160; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/BusinessNewsDaily" type="external">Facebook</a>&#160;&amp;&#160; <a href="https://plus.google.com/113390396142026041164" type="external">Google+</a>.</p> | Businesses Should Close Mobile 'App Gap' | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/01/27/businesses-should-close-mobile-app-gap.html | 2016-03-23 | 0 |
<p>ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Six months after the president of this impoverished island nation was forced to resign, Madagascar continues to struggle with political strife and economic uncertainty.</p>
<p>The world’s fourth largest island still has no internationally recognized government and is regularly rocked by protests orchestrated by supporters of former President Marc Ravalomanana and other opposition movements. Many international donors have suspended critical monetary aid as a result of the political stalemate and foreign visitors — scared off by travel warnings and televised images of chaos — have largely stopped coming.</p>
<p>Mamy Tiana Ramaherisoa, a taxi driver in Antananarivo, the country’s capital, said that he doesn’t get involved in politics but he complained that “the crisis” has caused a 70 percent drop in business for him and his vehicle rental company compared to last year. He said he will miss out on a lucrative opportunity as a family of six tourists just dropped their plan to hire him for a two-week trip around the country after watching violent clashes between rival political factions on television.</p>
<p>“I have no more work because of this political crisis,” he said.</p>
<p>Weeks of protests that started at the end of last year culminated in March when Ravalomanana, who had been Madagascar’s president since 2002, was left with no options but to hand his resignation to the military after scores of protesters were killed in front of the presidential palace. An army council then transmitted power to Andry Rajoelina, the youthful Antananarivo mayor who had spearheaded the protests. Rajoelina, 35 but looking much younger, took advantage of the mounting anger of the population toward Ravalomanana. The businessman-turned-president, himself a former mayor of the capital, was credited with vastly improving the country’s infrastructure and for overseeing a period of economic growth but he was also accused of steering much of that growth toward his own enterprises and drastically expanding his own executive power.</p>
<p>Madagascar’s history is littered with undemocratic takeovers. Since Madagascar gained independence from France in 1960, the country has experienced one assassination, one impeachment and numerous coup attempts — some of them successful. Even Ravalomanana’s first election victory was fiercely contested by his opponent, and he was not recognized internationally as Madagascar’s leader until a year after the election.</p>
<p>“The solution is to have a national debate to find the real problem at the source of all these cyclical movements,” said Pierre Houlder, a Rajoelina adviser, in an interview.</p>
<p>And this is pretty much what the international community forced Rajoelina to do. Neither the African Union nor the Southern African Development Community, a regional body, has recognized his legitimacy. To resolve the impasse, a series of talks were set up in Maputo, Mozambique’s capital, between Rajoelina’s camp and those of not only Ravalomanana but of two other former presidents as well.</p>
<p>With four rival factions at odds, negotiations went nowhere, and Rajoelina formed his own transitional government unilaterally. While he was invited to the United Nations’ General Assembly in New York this month, he was prevented from speaking by other members and international recognition is by no means assured in the near future.</p>
<p>But time is running out. Madagascar — a country where as much as 85 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day — is highly dependent on foreign aid, but most non-humanitarian funding has been suspended pending resolution of the political crisis.</p>
<p>To add to economic woes, attacks on Tiko, Ravalomanana’s dairy company, have led to shortages in staple products including butter, and the vanilla industry — a key economic sector in the country’s northeastern region — is going through a severe slump. The country’s gross domestic product, which grew from $4.6 billion in 2002 to an estimated $9.3 billion in 2008, is expected to shrink to $8.6 billion this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. One industry that had provided direct benefits to Madagascar’s population is tourism. Madagascar possesses numerous attractions, from endless white sand beaches to rainforests populated with the island’s unique lemurs. But the political upheavals have left beaches even more deserted than usual, however, and parks are receiving fewer visitors.</p>
<p>Andasibe National Park, located just three hours from the capital and home to the island’s largest lemurs, saw only 5,023 visitors from January until the end of August compared with 11,892 for the same period last year.</p>
<p>“Neither guides nor hotels have enough clients,” said Fanja Olga Randriamanantena, who is responsible for ecotourism at the park. “Everybody has been affected by the crisis.”</p>
<p>Raymond Rabarison Rasolonirina, who heads an association of local guides to the park, said 10 groups have canceled tours recently. Rasolonirina, 55, said several guides have had to take up jobs at a nearby nickel mine for lack of work at the park.</p>
<p>“I have a group of French tourists who canceled at the last minute,” he said. “So it creates big money problems for me.”</p>
<p>One hopeful sign is that SADC mediators are expected to visit Madagascar on Oct. 6 in another attempt to secure a power-sharing deal between Rajoelina's government and the various opposition movements.</p>
<p>But one thing is certain, until a stable government with international recognition is in place, Madagascar will continue in an unstable limbo that will erode the positive economic gains the country has made in recent years.</p> | Madagascar stuck in political limbo | false | https://pri.org/stories/2009-10-04/madagascar-stuck-political-limbo | 2009-10-04 | 3 |
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<p>Twenty miles outside Salt Lake City, a massive man-made bunker known as <a href="http://2.%09http://ldsmediatalk.com/2014/10/29/lds-granite-mountain-records-vault/" type="external">The Vault</a> stretches nearly 700 feet into a <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700028045/Mormon-churchs-storied-Granite-Mountain-vault-opened-for-virtual-tour.html?pg=all" type="external">mountain</a> of granite. Sealed behind colossal doors designed to survive a <a href="http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Granite_Mountain_Record_Vault" type="external">nuclear attack</a>, the climate-controlled cavern is home to the world’s <a href="https://familysearch.org/archives/" type="external">largest collection</a> of genealogical records—3.5 billion at last count. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been <a href="http://29.%09http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/16/explainer-how-and-why-do-mormons-baptize-the-dead/" type="external">collecting</a> these records since the late 1800s so its members may identify and posthumously <a href="http://www.pbs.org/mormons/etc/genealogy.html" type="external">baptize</a>ancestors who might then join them in the afterlife. The public isn’t allowed inside The Vault. But many of its holdings, which include everything from US census records to Jamaican marriage certificates, are available for free on the church’s <a href="https://familysearch.org/about" type="external">FamilySearch</a> website, which has information on more than 4 billion people.</p>
<p>Before they can be used to track down long-gone relatives, the church’s records first must be indexed so they’re searchable. Even with thousands of volunteers entering information from scanned documents, the church can’t process the data fast enough. “People come and they go,” says Mike Judson, who’s in charge of recruiting data entry volunteers. “They do a little bit here, a little bit there.” So the church has tapped into a more consistent source of labor: prisoners.</p>
<p>For about a decade, the Mormons have enlisted inmates in two Utah prisons to index records, explains Paul Starkey, the church’s manager of indexing operations. Prisoners who get a job <a href="http://uci.utah.gov/index.php/business-operations/data-scanning-services.html" type="external">scanning</a> government documents earn between $0.60 and $1.75 an hour. Yet those doing genealogical work for the church are considered volunteers and are not paid a dime.</p>
<p>For Mormon inmates, who make up a third of Utah’s prison population, the Family History Project provides an important link to the church. Church members who are convicted of a crime may be “ <a href="https://file.wikileaks.org/file/mormon-handbook-of-instructions-2006.pdf" type="external">disfellowshipped</a>” or put on a probationary period during which they must <a href="https://www.lds.org/topics/repentance?lang=eng" type="external">repent</a> or be excommunicated. Volunteering for the genealogy project “would certainly help” prevent excommunication, says Michael Wilder, an ex-Mormon and former <a href="https://www.lds.org/topics/high-council?lang=eng" type="external">High Council</a> member. <a href="#correction" type="external">*</a></p>
<p>Non-Mormon inmates have more temporal reasons to volunteer in the prison “family history centers.” Greg Johnson, the administrative coordinator of the Utah Parole Board, says the work may be looked at favorably when inmates come up for parole. In addition, Judson says it helps them develop important research skills like paleography, the deciphering of historical handwriting.</p>
<p>Over the past three years, the indexing project has expanded to 32 prisons and jails across Utah, Idaho, and Arizona. In 2013, inmates supervised by missionaries and using church-supplied computers processed around 2 million records. Last year, they logged 7.5 million. The church is currently exploring expanding the program to prisons in California, Florida, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington.</p>
<p>Asked whether non-Mormon inmates were informed that their genealogical work might be used to baptize the dead, Judson replies, “I don’t know what they are told, exactly.” When I tried my hand at indexing documents in the Salt Lake City Family History Center, the volunteers stressed that my efforts would contribute to the publicly accessible FamilySearch database. They were cagey when I asked about posthumous baptism. Originally meant to extend the church’s blessings to church members’ deceased ancestors, the practice has also baptized millions of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-10-people-posthumously-baptized-by-mormons-2012-3#adolf-hitler-4" type="external">non-Mormons</a>, including Mahatma Gandhi, Elvis Presley, and Adolf Hitler. In 1995, the church promised to stop the controversial practice of <a href="http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/16/explainer-how-and-why-do-mormons-baptize-the-dead/" type="external">posthumously baptizing</a> Holocaust victims. The church states that the practice is not an imposition since “the validity of a baptism for the dead depends on the deceased person accepting it.”</p>
<p>Judson says that Mormon or no, the main reason inmates sign up to digitize old records is the “good feeling that comes from it.” He also recalls asking an inmate why he participated in the program; the inmate replied, “I would have done anything to get out of my cell.”</p>
<p>Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the High Council is the church’s governing body. High Councils supervise groups of local congregations, or <a href="https://www.lds.org/topics/stake?lang=eng" type="external">stakes</a>.</p>
<p /> | Your Family’s Genealogical Records May Have Been Digitized by a Prisoner | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2015/08/mormon-church-prison-geneology-family-search/ | 2015-08-13 | 4 |
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<p>What you study and the skills you develop during college can make a difference when you start your job search after graduation. Having the right major, internships and extracurricular activities, as well as knowing which career you’d like to pursue, will help put your resume above the competition.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“Students shouldn’t be stressed out when choosing a college major, but in this day and age, they need to pay attention to the major that they choose — and it goes beyond ‘I like to do this’,” says Scott Dobroski, community expert at Glassdoor. As businesses and industries evolve, some have more opportunities than others. “Be aware of growth areas by industry and where they’re flattening out,” he adds.</p>
<p>While some majors translate directly into high-paying jobs, some employers prefer to hire a broad range of experience. “At the end of the day, regardless of your degree and the school you went to, you have to be able to show the prospective employer what you’re able to bring to the table,” says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for <a href="http://CareerBuilder.com" type="external">CareerBuilder.com.</a></p>
<p>As a freshman, experts suggest taking a wide range of classes to see what appeals to you. “Everybody is different and everybody has different talents and interests,” says Tara Sinclair, economist at career website <a href="http://Indeed.com" type="external">Indeed.com.</a> “Knowing what kinds of jobs are out there and the type of pay is important so you can make an informed decision. This doesn’t mean everyone has to pursue the highest paying job if that won’t make them happy.”</p>
<p>Although good grades are key for graduate school applications, today’s employers want more than that from new hires. “You have to be strategic during college because the competition is fierce,” says Lori Almeida, Chief Talent Officer at Siegel+Gale. “Grades aren’t enough — you have to go above and beyond that and go one step ahead.”</p>
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<p>Experts provide five tips to help you plan your college career.</p>
<p>1. Figure out what you like</p>
<p>“There are two people: the ones who know what they want to do and the ones who have no idea,” says Sinclair. If you know what you want to do, you can follow the career path of people with those majors. If you’re unsure, looking at online resumes will show you what people studied to pursue a certain job or career and vice versa.</p>
<p>Most majors don’t lead to just one career path though, and some companies offer the chance to explore new roles. “Your career trajectory can move at different speeds and in various directions, so focus on mastering life-long skillsets, like strong communication and problem-solving skills, that prepare you to succeed in any position,” says Sumita Banerjee, Vice President of Talent Acquisition of L’Oreal USA.</p>
<p>2. Research careers</p>
<p>“When you’re thinking about what you want to do, you need to learn what’s out there,” says Almeida, “and talking to as many people as you can is very important.”</p>
<p>Knowing which industries are hiring is also important. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides data on industries that are shrinking and growing, suggests Dobroski, as this data can help you determine which jobs you’d like to pursue. “The overall theme is you want to check real world data and trends with how industries are doing so you can have a fulfilling career while doing what you enjoy.”</p>
<p>Searching LinkedIn (NASDAQ:LNKD) and online resumes can help you figure out where people started their careers. “Some companies have a greater concentration of college hires from certain schools because they tend to train the students a certain way,” says Almeida. “Consider the program that you’re choosing because people from these programs may get hired easier than others.”</p>
<p>3. Plan your internships and extracurricular activities</p>
<p>Although test scores and grades are important, as you choose a major, also begin to plan internships in different industries that suit you and your skillset. “It’s not just to get your foot in the door,” says Dobroksi. “You should be evaluating these to figure out what you like and don’t like about that type of job.”</p>
<p>Look for opportunities that will help you develop concrete skills and contribute to a business.</p>
<p>“Great internship experiences can give students a significant advantage,” says Banerjee. “They’ve had the chance to test-drive careers and companies for size and fit, and now have a realistic view of that company and role.” Depending on your performance, internships may lead to entry-level job positions too.</p>
<p>Being active in clubs during your college career helps to establish your personal brand. “If you’re not fortunate enough to get an internship, there are ways to show those skills by joining college organizations and taking on leadership roles in those groups,” says Almeida. “It’s important to make sure you’re well rounded — you want to paint a picture to employers that you’re the one they want to choose.”</p>
<p>4. Know your options</p>
<p>While industries develop, so do different career paths. If you like math, for example, but don’t want a career in academia or teaching, you could work as a data scientist, suggests Dobroski. Certain fields are growing leaps and bounds and also have handsome salaries attached to them. “It’s about being aware of your options and knowing what your options are,” he adds.</p>
<p>Sometimes finding a career for your major isn’t as cut and dry. “You can study your passion, but once you’ve decided on a career, you have to take steps to tie that major into your career,” says Almeida. English majors can work in content management and do very well, for example, but they may have to broaden their skillset by joining clubs focusing on a specific industry, or following blogs or writing articles about that industry.</p>
<p>“Look at as many career options as you can, but there are some disciplines that the education is required — you can’t be an engineer, accountant or doctor without the degree,” says Armando Roman, certified public accountant in Phoenix, Arizona.</p>
<p>5. Consider a minor</p>
<p>Depending on what you study, having a minor can give you a competitive edge. “If you minor in a foreign language, that’s great since foreign language skills are in demand,” says Dobroski. “Choose minors wisely to enhance your resume — it’s an added value for the company.”</p>
<p>Which college majors are most in demand?</p>
<p>As with years past, demand for business and technical majors remains high. The most sought-after majors this year include:</p> | Five Tips for Getting the Most Out of College | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/11/13/five-tips-for-getting-most-out-college.html | 2016-03-04 | 0 |
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<p />
<p>They know Trump has said crude things about women. He may even have behaved like a lout. But when forced to weigh Trump’s behavior against their disdain for Clinton, the women at Granny’s say it’s not even close.</p>
<p>“She couldn’t care less about me,” said Brenda Vaughn, 62, wearing a “Women for Trump” shirt at a rally at this landmark restaurant, home to Friday night Gospel gatherings and a reputation for the best fried chicken in these Blue Ridge foothills.</p>
<p>Like most of the women here, Vaughn came out Wednesday to listen to wives of Republican congressmen, who are on a week-long barnstorming bus tour through this critical swing state. And she was happy to disparage Clinton as much, if not more, than to cheer for Trump.</p>
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<p>“When I see her, all I see is plastic – all fake. He might have said things people don’t agree with, but he is real,” said Vaughn, who helped distribute 400 Trump signs around neighboring McDowell County, North Carolina.</p>
<p>“I know of only one Hillary sign,” she said proudly.</p>
<p>A growing gender gap is marking the 2016 campaign. Not since CBS News exit polls were first taken in 1972 has there been such a divide in how men and women view candidates. Polls show that more women are abandoning Trump, while men are still more likely to support him than Clinton.</p>
<p>After The Washington Post released a video Friday showing Trump making vulgar comments about women and bragging of his ability to force himself on them sexually because he was a “star,” Clinton’s advantage among women jumped, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC Survey.</p>
<p>Overall, the survey showed Clinton had an 11-point lead, 46 percent to 35 percent. But among women, her lead grew from 12 points in mid-September to a remarkable 21 points this month.</p>
<p>Perhaps more unexpected than women abandoning Trump are those who still enthusiastically support him. Judging from conversations with those leading the “Women for Trump” bus tour, and the women it is attracting, the female Trump support has little to do with him.</p>
<p>Many of these women are steadfast supporters of traditional GOP policies of low taxes and small government. But many simply can’t stomach Clinton. They call her “unrelatable,” “corrupt” and a “machine” who has been angling for the presidency for what they say feels like a lifetime. Many strongly disagree with her policy positions, especially her views in support of abortion rights.</p>
<p>Many also said they do not like things about Trump. But they have been forced to disregard his less savory attributes and focus on issues important to them, such as Trump’s promise of tighter immigration controls.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“I am voting for policies, not the personalities,” Suzanne Conaway, wife of Mike Conaway, R-Texas, told the crowd at Granny’s.</p>
<p>“I am voting on America’s future, not on Trump’s past,” said Carolyn Yoho, wife of Ted Yoho, R-Fla., before she set off Thursday morning for another day on the trail. “The Clinton regime and machine has been rife with corruption for years and years and years and we don’t want to go down that path again.”</p>
<p>Since the video surfaced Friday, several women have come forward to say that Trump has groped them or made other unwanted sexual advances. Many here said Thursday they have heard those reports but treat them with great skepticism because of what they perceive as media bias against Trump.</p>
<p>Still, these women accept that Trump made the vulgar comments they heard on the video, and they are worried that Republicans in GOP strongholds like this town of 2,700 will be so disgusted they just won’t vote at all.</p>
<p>“Is it offensive? Yes. Can we forgive it? Yes!” said Debbie Meadows, wife of Mark Meadows, R-N.C.</p>
<p>“Amen!” a woman shouted.</p>
<p>“Some people say, ‘I am not voting because both candidates are trash.’ You’ve heard it. I’ve heard it. But you have got to pick because one of them will be president,” Meadows said.</p>
<p>Meadows said Clinton would be far worse, reminding people, “Hillary Clinton calls me a ‘deplorable!’ ” Even worse, she argued, Clinton said, “I’m irredeemable.”</p>
<p>She told the Christian crowd that Clinton was essentially telling her she couldn’t go to heaven.</p>
<p>LeeAnn Johnson, wife of Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, also urged people not to stay home Nov. 8.</p>
<p>“If someone says both candidates are flawed and don’t want to vote, tell them that as many as seven justices on the Supreme Court are at stake,” she said.</p>
<p>Yoho also addressed the video, saying, “When I found out, I had a few moments of righteous indignation. Then I got some perspective.”</p>
<p>She said she has heard professional men speaking “very inappropriately and it doesn’t make them incompetent.” And, she noted that huge numbers of women bought “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the bestselling erotic novel that centered on bondage and rough sex.</p>
<p>“Women can be just as inappropriate,” she said.</p>
<p>Vaughn, the retiree in the “Women for Trump” shirt, said she is definitely voting, as the saying around here goes, “If the Lord is willing and the creek doesn’t rise.”</p>
<p>Many of the women interviewed said they are insulted when people tell them they should vote because they would be electing the first female president. In fact, they are energized to campaign against her because they dislike her so much.</p>
<p>“How can she be so offended by his nasty talk, his lewd talk, when she bullied, silenced and intimidated women who had been abused by her husband?” Meadows said, repeating a common sentiment here.</p>
<p>Nancy Schulze, a Republican activist who organized the bus tour, said a rotating handful of congressional wives are on the bus, along with staff members from Capitol Hill. Earlier in the week, Dorothy Woods, widow of Tyrone Woods, who was killed in the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, also spoke at stops to urge people to support Trump.</p>
<p>Schulze said she believes women will decide the 2016 election in key states including North Carolina and Pennsylvania. She is urging people to forget “locker room talk” and “focus on the two very different visions for the country.”</p>
<p>Alison Lloyd, a cashier at Granny’s, said she is an independent who voted for Barack Obama last time. She is still undecided and getting more confused about whom to support.</p>
<p>After the Trump gathering was over and the “Women for Trump” bus motored on to its next stop, Lloyd recalled the criticism against Mitt Romney in 2012 when he talked of having “binders full of women.”</p>
<p>“Remember the backlash? It was out of control against Romney. And for Donald Trump to say what he did, and for me then to watch all these women speak on his behalf, and 25 more sit back and clap, is remarkable,” said Lloyd, a mother of two.</p>
<p>She said it is so puzzling that she finds herself questioning if there isn’t more to Trump than she realizes, because he had done so many offensive things and yet his support holds.</p>
<p>“Is there something about this man that I am not getting?” she said, shaking her head and serving another customer a “country boy”– a bowl of pinto beans, cornbread and coleslaw.</p>
<p>As Lloyd rang up Carol Smith’s bill at the register, the scheduler for a local orthodontist group said she is worried that Trump could kill Obamacare. She said that would be bad news for those with preexisting conditions, including her husband, who has heart disease.</p>
<p>“It would devastate us,” she said.</p>
<p>Yet she still plans to vote Trump.</p>
<p>“I just feel she is corrupt,” said Smith, adding she wouldn’t put it past Clinton to somehow steal the election.</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Scott Clement contributed to this story.</p>
<p>trump-women</p> | On a ‘Women for Trump’ tour, more disdain for Clinton than respect for Trump | false | https://abqjournal.com/866779/on-a-women-for-trump-tour-more-disdain-for-clinton-than-respect-for-trump.html | 2016-10-13 | 2 |
<p>Even liberals are seeing the ethical problems raised by foreign donations to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.</p>
<p>Appearing on Fox News, Juan Williams said, “I think it’s rank influence peddling for someone who’s running for president to somehow now be open to backdoor donations from foreign countries given her prominence and influence in American life,” referring to Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p />
<p>“She may not be an official candidate as yet, but she’s being asked questions, for example, about the Keystone XL pipeline. Well, guess what, she’s taken donations for that foundation from the company that’s promoting the pipeline.</p>
<p>“So this would appear to put her in a very difficult ethical situation and I think it’s beyond the point of saying ‘ethically dubious’ and I think it’s unethical,” Williams said.</p>
<p>He concluded, “Just from a purely political point of view, I don’t understand why she would expose herself to this vulnerability.”</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/foreign-government-gifts-to-clinton-foundation-on-the-rise-1424223031" type="external">reports</a> the foundation dropped its self-imposed ban on foreign donations.</p>
<p>“Recent donors include the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia, Germany and a Canadian government agency promoting the Keystone XL pipeline,” the paper reports.</p>
<p>The organization created the ban when Hillary Clinton was U.S. Secretary of State, but has since reversed the order.</p> | Juan Williams: ‘Backdoor’ foreign Clinton Foundation donations ‘rank influence peddling’ | true | http://theamericanmirror.com/juan-williams-backdoor-foreign-clinton-foundation-donations-rank-influence-peddling/ | 2015-02-19 | 0 |
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<p>The Williams Lake Trail No. 62, beginning at the Taos Ski Valley, is a popular summer route in Northern New Mexico. A totally different experience can be had in the winter via snowshoes.</p>
<p>The trailhead into the Wheeler Peak Wilderness begins at a four-wheel-drive accessible parking area near the base of the Kachina Chairlift.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>After passing between the chairlift and the Bavarian Lodge, the trail travels south along a road before heading into the forest.</p>
<p>The forest remains dense in most places but passes through occasional avalanche paths before entering the wilderness.</p>
<p>The elevation gain increases slightly around the wilderness area boundary and novice snowshoe hikers may need an occasional rest.</p>
<p>Small birds flutter between branches along the trail, and an occasional squawk of a crow is heard overhead.</p>
<p>As the trail nears the lake, it passes along the edge of rock fields and meadows covered in layers of undisturbed snow.</p>
<p>At its highest point, around 11,150 feet in elevation, the Wheeler Summit Trail #67 spurs off to the east. At this point, the Williams Lake Trail drops roughly 50 feet toward Williams Lake.</p>
<p>Williams Lake is nestled at the base of Wheeler Peak, the tallest mountain in New Mexico at 13,161 feet.</p>
<p>It is a natural alpine lake that freezes in the winter; because of this, it does not have any fish.</p>
<p /> | A snowy trail | false | https://abqjournal.com/356027/a-snowy-trail.html | 2014-02-20 | 2 |
<p>KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Butler had a simple explanation for the collapse that ended its four-game winning streak.</p>
<p>“When it comes down to it, I just feel like we got out-toughed in the second half,” Butler forward Kameron Woods said after the 15th-ranked Bulldogs’ 67-55 loss at Tennessee.</p>
<p>Butler (8-2) led 37-25 after Kellen Dunham’s 3-pointer in the opening minute of the second half, but Josh Richardson scored the game’s next eight points to spark a 12-0 run that tied the score.</p>
<p>The Bulldogs weren’t the same the rest of the way. Richardson scored 18 of his 20 points after halftime and Kevin Punter added 18 points as Tennessee (4-3) outscored Butler 42-21 in the second half.</p>
<p>Butler shot 6 of 23 and committed nine turnovers after halftime.</p>
<p>“It hurts when teams like that hit 3s,” Punter said. “It kind of takes the life out of you. But you’ve just got to stay with it if you want to win. We stayed with it, we kept grinding, they coughed it up a few times and we capitalized.”</p>
<p>Dunham scored 16 points, but only two of those came in the game’s final 19 minutes. Kelan Martin added 13 for Butler. Woods had seven points and matched a career high with 16 rebounds.</p>
<p>Butler struggled on both ends of the floor in the second half. The Bulldogs couldn’t take care of the ball on offense and couldn’t stop anyone on defense, as Tennessee shot 59.3 percent (16 of 27) over the final 20 minutes.</p>
<p>“We couldn’t get a stop in the second half,” Butler interim coach Chris Holtmann said. “I think if you said, ‘Hey, what was the most disappointing part of the game,’ it’s the fact we got out-toughed in some areas and we just could not get a stop in the second half. We just weren’t able to do it. What has been our bread and butter through the first (part) of the season was a real liability, and that was our half-court defense tonight.”</p>
<p>Tennessee missed seven consecutive shots during one stretch late in the first half and trailed 34-25 at the break. The Volunteers rallied to tie the game at 37-all on Derek Reese’s putback with 13:57 left.</p>
<p>Moore later put the Vols up 50-49 for their first lead since it was 6-5 in the game’s opening minutes. That started a 6-0 run.</p>
<p>After Butler’s Andrew Chrabascz hit a 3-pointer to cut Tennessee’s lead to 58-55 with 2:40 left, Reese answered by banking in a 3-pointer to start a game-ending 9-0 run.</p>
<p>“Thank God it went in,” Reese said. “The bank is open on Sundays sometimes.”</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Butler: Butler gave up the most points it has allowed all season. Butler had held eight of its first nine opponents below 60 points.</p>
<p>Tennessee: The Vols used their sixth different starting lineup in seven games. Devon Baulkman, a junior-college transfer, made his first career start and had three points and three rebounds in 18 minutes.</p>
<p>STAT LINE</p>
<p>Butler entered the day with a turnover margin of plus-5.9, but it committed 14 turnovers while forcing only seven against Tennessee.</p>
<p>QUOTE OF THE DAY</p>
<p>“I don’t know that I’ve ever been more proud of a group of guys than I was today, just because you’re playing a nationally ranked team with the tradition and history of Butler. The first half didn’t go our way. Early in the second half, it didn’t start exactly right and they just battled, clawed and found a way.“-Tennessee coach Donnie Tyndall</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Butler: Saturday vs. Indiana in Crossroads Classic at Indianapolis.</p>
<p>Tennessee: Wednesday at North Carolina State.</p>
<p>KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Butler had a simple explanation for the collapse that ended its four-game winning streak.</p>
<p>“When it comes down to it, I just feel like we got out-toughed in the second half,” Butler forward Kameron Woods said after the 15th-ranked Bulldogs’ 67-55 loss at Tennessee.</p>
<p>Butler (8-2) led 37-25 after Kellen Dunham’s 3-pointer in the opening minute of the second half, but Josh Richardson scored the game’s next eight points to spark a 12-0 run that tied the score.</p>
<p>The Bulldogs weren’t the same the rest of the way. Richardson scored 18 of his 20 points after halftime and Kevin Punter added 18 points as Tennessee (4-3) outscored Butler 42-21 in the second half.</p>
<p>Butler shot 6 of 23 and committed nine turnovers after halftime.</p>
<p>“It hurts when teams like that hit 3s,” Punter said. “It kind of takes the life out of you. But you’ve just got to stay with it if you want to win. We stayed with it, we kept grinding, they coughed it up a few times and we capitalized.”</p>
<p>Dunham scored 16 points, but only two of those came in the game’s final 19 minutes. Kelan Martin added 13 for Butler. Woods had seven points and matched a career high with 16 rebounds.</p>
<p>Butler struggled on both ends of the floor in the second half. The Bulldogs couldn’t take care of the ball on offense and couldn’t stop anyone on defense, as Tennessee shot 59.3 percent (16 of 27) over the final 20 minutes.</p>
<p>“We couldn’t get a stop in the second half,” Butler interim coach Chris Holtmann said. “I think if you said, ‘Hey, what was the most disappointing part of the game,’ it’s the fact we got out-toughed in some areas and we just could not get a stop in the second half. We just weren’t able to do it. What has been our bread and butter through the first (part) of the season was a real liability, and that was our half-court defense tonight.”</p>
<p>Tennessee missed seven consecutive shots during one stretch late in the first half and trailed 34-25 at the break. The Volunteers rallied to tie the game at 37-all on Derek Reese’s putback with 13:57 left.</p>
<p>Moore later put the Vols up 50-49 for their first lead since it was 6-5 in the game’s opening minutes. That started a 6-0 run.</p>
<p>After Butler’s Andrew Chrabascz hit a 3-pointer to cut Tennessee’s lead to 58-55 with 2:40 left, Reese answered by banking in a 3-pointer to start a game-ending 9-0 run.</p>
<p>“Thank God it went in,” Reese said. “The bank is open on Sundays sometimes.”</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Butler: Butler gave up the most points it has allowed all season. Butler had held eight of its first nine opponents below 60 points.</p>
<p>Tennessee: The Vols used their sixth different starting lineup in seven games. Devon Baulkman, a junior-college transfer, made his first career start and had three points and three rebounds in 18 minutes.</p>
<p>STAT LINE</p>
<p>Butler entered the day with a turnover margin of plus-5.9, but it committed 14 turnovers while forcing only seven against Tennessee.</p>
<p>QUOTE OF THE DAY</p>
<p>“I don’t know that I’ve ever been more proud of a group of guys than I was today, just because you’re playing a nationally ranked team with the tradition and history of Butler. The first half didn’t go our way. Early in the second half, it didn’t start exactly right and they just battled, clawed and found a way.“-Tennessee coach Donnie Tyndall</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Butler: Saturday vs. Indiana in Crossroads Classic at Indianapolis.</p>
<p>Tennessee: Wednesday at North Carolina State.</p> | No. 15 Butler fades late, loses 67-55 to Tennessee | false | https://apnews.com/69fe5a88ff79491dabd2236dfa1c9325 | 2014-12-14 | 2 |
<p>MIAMI (AP) — Looking for stripper poles, a coffin with cherry red lining and a velociraptor? You might want to check out the upcoming auction of gaudy items that decorated two mansions once owned by a former developer in South Florida.</p>
<p>The Miami Herald <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article196515049.html" type="external">reports</a> the former estate of Thomas Kramer will be sold in one package to the highest bidder on Feb. 14.</p>
<p>The auction followed the seizure of Kramer’s Star Island mansions following a judgment his former in-laws obtained against him. Kramer’s extravagant South Beach lifestyle was fueled by the millions given him by father-in-law Siegfried Otto, a now-deceased German businessman.</p>
<p>Later, a battle ensued over whether it was a gift or loan. Kramer lost the case, his home and possessions. Kramer, now living in Europe, is only allowed to keep his personal photos.</p>
<p>MIAMI (AP) — Looking for stripper poles, a coffin with cherry red lining and a velociraptor? You might want to check out the upcoming auction of gaudy items that decorated two mansions once owned by a former developer in South Florida.</p>
<p>The Miami Herald <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article196515049.html" type="external">reports</a> the former estate of Thomas Kramer will be sold in one package to the highest bidder on Feb. 14.</p>
<p>The auction followed the seizure of Kramer’s Star Island mansions following a judgment his former in-laws obtained against him. Kramer’s extravagant South Beach lifestyle was fueled by the millions given him by father-in-law Siegfried Otto, a now-deceased German businessman.</p>
<p>Later, a battle ensued over whether it was a gift or loan. Kramer lost the case, his home and possessions. Kramer, now living in Europe, is only allowed to keep his personal photos.</p> | Stripper poles, coffin, velociraptor up for grabs in auction | false | https://apnews.com/5119a755d1584e2cbb9fdc66035b6e6d | 2018-01-25 | 2 |
<p>Your support has been overwhelming. Yesterday was the deadline for our $750,000 Matching Challenge. Thanks to your tremendous outpouring of support, we not only met, but exceeded the goal in the final hours prior to our deadline. Thank you.</p>
<p>It is because of your support that the ACLJ is able to continue fighting for life, faith, and freedom.</p>
<p>You are making it possible for our work to move forward – standing up for the sanctity of Ground Zero, defending <a href="" type="internal">pro-life pregnancy centers</a>, protecting the <a href="" type="internal">Ten Commandments</a>, fighting <a href="" type="internal">Planned Parenthood’s abortion business</a>, defeating <a href="" type="internal">ObamaCare</a>, and much more. I am very grateful that you are making this work possible.</p>
<p>Together, we are sending a message to Mayor Bloomberg that <a href="" type="internal">prayer must be included at the 9/11 10th anniversary ceremony</a>, and we are preparing to file a brief defending the Ground Zero Cross against an atheist lawsuit. In the next few weeks, we will be presenting a critical oral argument in federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. challenging pro-abortion ObamaCare. Through your generosity, you are having a tremendous impact in defense of liberty.</p>
<p>On behalf of all those who you are helping through your support for the ACLJ, thank you.</p> | Thank you! We Exceeded Our Matching Challenge Goal | true | http://aclj.org/aclj/thank-you-we-exceeded-matching-challenge-goal | 2011-09-01 | 0 |
<p>Tesla Inc. delivered the new electric Model 3 compact car to its first 30 customers — all employees — on Friday evening. The car starts at $35,000, which is half the cost of Tesla's previous models, so it has the potential to attract many more customers to the brand. Already, around 500,000 people worldwide have paid $1,000 to reserve a car, Tesla CEO Elon Musk says.</p>
<p>Here are some details about the Model 3:</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>PRICE: The starting price of the Model 3 is $35,000. A version with every available option, including longer range, partial self-driving capability, special paint (it costs $1,000 to get any color besides black) and sport wheels costs $59,500. That includes $3,000 for "full self-driving capability," which Tesla promises sometime in the future.</p>
<p>TAX CREDITS: In the U.S., where sales will begin, the Model 3 is eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit, but that credit is likely to begin phasing out next year after Tesla sells more than 200,000 vehicles in the U.S. Many states offer additional tax credits, including California, Colorado and New York.</p>
<p>SIZE: The Model 3 is 184.8 inches (15.3 ft./4.3 meters) long and 72.8 inches (6 ft./1.8 meters) wide, which is similar in size to a BMW 3 Series. The Model 3 can comfortably seat five adults.</p>
<p>RANGE: The base model can go an estimated 220 miles (354 kilometers) on a charge. For a $9,000 upgrade, customers can get a long-range version that goes 310 miles (498 kilometers) on a charge.</p>
<p>PERFORMANCE: The base model goes from 0-60 miles per hour (96.5 kph) in 5.6 seconds and has a top speed of 130 mph (209 kph). The long-range version goes from 0-60 mph (96.5 kph) in 5.1 seconds and has a top speed of 140 mph (225 kph).</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>CHARGING: The base model can get 130 miles (209 km) of range in 30 minutes at a Tesla Supercharger or 30 miles (48 km) of range per hour with a 240-volt home charger. The long-range model can get 170 miles (273.5 kph) of range in 30 minutes at a Supercharger or 37 miles (59.5) of range per hour with a home charger.</p>
<p>FEATURES: The Model 3 has some surprises. There is no instrument panel; the odometer and other details normally there can all be found on a center screen. That let engineers give the car a more spacious, less cluttered feel. There are no traditional air conditioning vents; they're hidden within the dashboard and the driver can control the direction of the airflow from the center screen. There's also no key fob. The Model 3 can be opened, started and locked using a smartphone or a card that comes with the car.</p>
<p>EXTRAS: The cameras, radar and other hardware for Autopilot, Tesla's partially self-driving system, will be on all cars, but customers have to pay $5,000 for the whole suite of semi-autonomous capabilities, including automatic lane-changing and self-parking. There's also a separate $5,000 premium package that comes with 12-way power adjustable seats, wood decor and a tinted glass roof. Eighteen-inch wheels come standard; 19-inch sport wheels are $1,500 extra.</p>
<p>ORDERING: People reserving a car now will likely get it in late 2018. Versions with the long-range battery will be delivered first, starting this summer; base models will follow in the fall. West Coast customers will get their cars first. The cars will start to ship overseas late next year, with right-hand-drive versions coming in 2019.</p> | What we know about Tesla's new Model 3 sedan | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/28/what-know-about-teslas-new-model-3-sedan.html | 2017-07-29 | 0 |
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<p />
<p>A woman in Portland, Oregon was sentenced today to two years in federal prison Tuesday on a drug conspiracy charge after she passed her inmate boyfriend seven balloons of meth through a kiss and he died. Melissa Ann Blair, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Marco Hernandez to also complete three years of probation, drug treatment, and mental health programs.</p>
<p>Blair was visiting her boyfriend, Anthony Powell, at the Oregon State Penitentiary June 2, 2016, when she passed transferred the drugs to him through a kiss. Powell was serving a life sentence for aggravated murder for stabbing his mother-in-law. It was at the end of the visit that the kiss took place and the seven balloons were transferred. Two of the balloons ruptured in his stomach killing him from methamphetamine toxicity according to prosecutors.</p>
<p>Judge Hernandez said, "It was tragic and sad but he shares responsibility for what happened." Blair says she felt coerced by Powell and that she had used meth but wasn't addicted. Blair's attorney, John Ransom, argued that despite being behind bars he still had full control of her. "It was a very Svengali-type situation where he had total control over her life," he said."</p>
<p>Another woman said in a witness impact statement that she had a developed a relationship with Powell over a 12 year period after he had written her husband and she replied instead. The woman was Brandy Pokovich and she said she believes Powell felt remorse for his crime, "Now, because of the choices that were made, I no longer can pick up the phone and hear his voice, I can't go on a visit and see his big cheesy smile and get the best hug in the world."</p>
<p>"He was not just an inmate. He was a very loved and cared for the person who had a family that would always be there no matter what," Popovich said. She later said outside of court that she had helped Powell find girlfriends from behind bars by using her social media accounts and introduced him to Blair, to begin with.</p>
<p />
<p>On Twitter:</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/ErvinProduction" type="external">@ErvinProduction</a></p>
<p>Tips? Info? Send me a message!</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/crime/2017/11/21/inmate-dies-meth-laden-kiss-girlfriend-gets-2-years/886461001/" type="external">statesmanjournal.com/story/news/crime/2017/11/21/inmate-dies-meth-laden-kiss-girlfriend-gets-2-years/886461001</a></p> | Inmate Dies From Overdose After Girlfriend Passes Him 7 Balloons Of Meth Through A Kiss | true | http://thegoldwater.com/news/12431-Inmate-Dies-From-Overdose-After-Girlfriend-Passes-Him-7-Balloons-Of-Meth-Through-A-Kiss | 2017-11-22 | 0 |
<p>National Security Advisor General H.R. McMaster and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said during Monday’s White House press briefing that the United States would impose sanctions on Venezuela following the "sham" election this weekend. The highly-contested election saw dictator Nicolás Maduro shore up the power of his ruling socialist party.</p>
<p>“Since President Trump’s inauguration,” began McMaster “...the Trump administration has called on Venezuela’s Maduro regime to respect Venezuela’s constitution, respect the role and authorities of the constitutionally-established National Assembly, hold free and fair elections, address the humanitarian needs of the Venezuelan people, release political prisoners, and stop oppressing its great people.”</p>
<p>General McMaster continued, “Maduro is not just a bad leader, he is now a dictator. The United States stands with the people of Venezuela in the face of this oppression. We will work with our partners to hold accountable all those responsible for the escalating violence and ongoing human rights violations. The President promised strong and swift actions if the regime went forward with imposing the National Constituent Assembly on the Venezuelan people, and he will keep that promise.”</p>
<p>Mnuchin said, “Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, has sanctioned the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros. As a result of today’s sanctions, all assets of Maduro subject to U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are prohibited from dealing with him.”</p>
<p>He continued, “As President Trump said earlier this month, the strong and courageous actions by the Venezuelan people to stand for democracy, freedom, and the rule of law have been continually ignored by Nicolás Maduro, who dreams of becoming a dictator. Yesterday’s illegitimate elections confirm that Maduro is a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people. The National Constituent Assembly aspires, illegitimately, to usurp the constitutional role of democratically-elected National Assembly, rewrite the constitution, and impose an authoritarian regime on the people. As such, it represents a rupture in Venezuela’s constitutional and democratic order.”</p>
<p>He concluded, “We hope that these sanctions will make all Maduro regime officials reconsider how their actions have affected their country. These actions highlight the high cost and personal recriminations enablers of this regime could face if they continue their reckless and undemocratic activities. Anyone who participates in this illegitimate ANC could be exposed to future U.S. sanctions for their role in undermining democratic process and institutions in Venezuela.”</p>
<p>Maduro had a negative reaction to the sanctions after the announcement. According to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/31/americas/venezuela-constituent-assembly-election/index.html" type="external">CNN</a>, he said, "You are either with Trump or you are with Venezuela. You are either with Trump or with democracy!” He opined, "Why are they sanctioning me? Because I don't comply with foreign governments? Because I don't wag my tail and am not a stray dog?"</p>
<p>Maduro’s position has not halted the criticism. Nikki Haley, America’s ambassador to the UN said on Twitter:</p> | Trump Admin Calls Venezuela Election A 'Sham,' Announces New Sanctions | true | https://dailywire.com/news/19220/trump-admin-calls-venezuela-election-sham-jacob-airey | 2017-08-01 | 0 |
<p>Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson. Via <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/01/13/jared_leto_and_michael_douglass_homophobic_golden_globes_speeches_show_the_worst_of_hollywood/" type="external">Salon</a></p>
<p>Last night Jared Leto won a Best Supporting Actor (the award for ladies is Best Supporting Actress, so this was in the dude category) for playing a trans woman.</p>
<p>I have not seen Dallas Buyers Club, in which Leto plays Rayon, a trans woman with AIDS. I will not see Dallas Buyers Club because I don’t hate myself. Leto’s performance may be a “ <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2013/nov/01/news/la-ol-dallas-buyers-club-jared-leto-transgender-actors-20131101" type="external">revelation</a>” as some have called it, though I highly doubt I’d see it that way. It also may be awful, stereotypical, and offensive, which sounds like the way Rayon is portrayed based on the <a href="http://www.autostraddle.com/pity-is-not-the-same-as-respect-a-critique-of-dallas-buyers-club-208308/" type="external">opinions of folks who’ve seen the movie</a>and actually care about trans women. I suspect the latter, since Leto gave an <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/01/13/jared_leto_and_michael_douglass_homophobic_golden_globes_speeches_show_the_worst_of_hollywood/" type="external">offensive speech about physical transformation</a> when he won the Golden Globe and has described Rayon as an “unbelievably impossible person.”</p>
<p>Hi, I’m over here being a possible trans woman. What’s up?</p>
<p>I have no interest in watching a cis man in drag play a trans woman ever again. No matter what&#160;Dallas Buyers Club&#160;does as a film, the narrative around this movie, the fact that a man in drag is playing a trans woman, perpetuates the stereotype that we are men in drag.</p>
<p>I hate everything about Felicity Huffman’s weak, female impersonator-y performance in TransAmerica, but at least she’s a woman playing a woman — but that’s not enough. I personally know multiple great trans lady actors. Why not cast a trans woman to play a trans woman? (For that matter, why aren’t trans women being cast to play cis women when we’ve got so many cis people doing trans drag?). I find the <a href="" type="internal">feminist conversation around Orange is the New Black</a> pretty bizarre: it’s a fun show, but it’s a trashy, soapy sitcom, not a realistic depiction of the lives of marginalized and incarcerated women. Having said that, at least the show bothered to cast a trans woman to play a trans woman, which shouldn’t be a big deal but is. And of course the indomitable Laverne Cox knocked it out of the park. How does anyone in Hollywood look at that show and not realize it just makes sense to cast great trans women actors to play trans women?</p>
<p>At least the award was just a Golden Globe. All awards shows are ridiculous spectacles, but the Globes take the cake. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association sounds like a group of reviewers or movie-related journalists, but they’re <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/01/13/golden-globe-voters-live-good-life/" type="external">actually a bizarre collection of rich folks</a> who’ve routinely excluded actual critics and journalists. All awards voting is political, but it’s a well-documented fact that <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/11/news/OE-WAXMAN11" type="external">Golden Globes are basically bought and sold</a>. Still, awards give some sense of legitimacy, they’re promotion for the movies that win, and they pile up — a Golden Globe could spiral into an Oscar win.</p>
<p>And this isn’t just an isolated incident. Trans women seem to be getting increasing visibility in Hollywood — and not in a good way. Lori, Maya, and I went to the movies together this weekend, and every comedy trailer we saw (and there seem to be at least 2 hours of trailers before a movie these days) was super racist and sexist — the worst “joke” probably being in the trailer for Bad Words&#160;in which Jason Bateman told a very young South Asian kid to shut his “curry hole” and our jaws hit the sticky theater floor. And then came the trailer for The Other Woman, which looks like an anti-feminist remake of The First Wive’s Club, a film I absolutely adore. In addition to the racism and sexism, this trailer included basically the same joke about a cis man taking hormones and transitioning that played out in the Netflix season of Arrested Development (a show that’s been <a href="http://badtransjokes.tumblr.com/tagged/arrested-development" type="external">super</a>&#160; <a href="http://www.queerty.com/arrested-development-makes-tranny-joke-in-new-ad-20130421/" type="external">transmisogynist</a> throughout its run #sorryhipsters). At least we weren’t subjected to the trailer for 22 Jump Street which I’d already seen, and which includes a despicable joke about the rape of trans women in men’s prisons. I don’t know what any of these movies will actually be like, but why is Hollywood leaning so heavily on bigotry to sell us films? How is this OK?</p>
<p>Before going to the movies we’d tried to entertain ourselves with an episode of Louie. Unfortunately, we started watching the season 3 premiere, which opens with a <a href="http://badtransjokes.tumblr.com/post/62515317198/but-heres-the-good-news-i-am-getting-older-but-i" type="external">horribly transphobic and racist stand up routine</a> about genitalia. I’m a big fan of Louis C.K., who’s humor is often “offensive” and controversial, but in a way that’s <a href="" type="internal">aimed at power</a>. Jokes making fun of people who have it worse than you are easy. It’s harder to mock privilege, and that’s been the surprising power of comedy for a long time — just think of royal courts where jesters were able to mock the king. Louie’s humor is usually aimed at white supremacist patriarchy, usually used to show that the emperor has no clothes. It’s a good way for a privileged white dude to use his position. Watching this comedian make an ignorant, hurtful joke about “transvestite” genitalia tells me that in his eyes I’m not human, not worthy of the humanization that comes from mocking the ways trans folks get dehumanized. I’m just a punch line.</p>
<p>We’re hearing a lot right now about what a great year 2013 was for women in film. <a href="" type="internal">Movies that pass the Bechdel Test</a> made more money than movies that don’t. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, a movie with a female lead, <a href="http://badassdigest.com/2014/01/10/the-four-decade-streak-broken-by-catching-fire/" type="external">topped the 2013 box office</a>. Folks say the last time this happened was The Exorcist in 1973, though I always considered Father Karras the lead. So I’d go back to 1965 and The Sound of Music&#160;— that’s almost five decades. Of course, Jennifer Lawrence is a white woman playing a character who’s a person of color in the books (which makes the <a href="" type="internal">racist anger around casting</a>&#160;Amandla Stenberg&#160;to play Rue, who’s Black in the books as well, even more offensive). Frozen and Gravity, both female-led movies, also did well. I really enjoyed Catching Fire, and as a woman it was great to be reflected in the lead. It’s been a good year for white cis female characters, yes. But I’m also a trans woman, and Hollywood has been pretty terrible to me on that level — and to people of color in general.</p>
<p>Increased visibility is important for marginalized folks like trans women. But only when that means increased awareness of our humanity. Visibility can be dangerous when it’s based entirely on bigoted stereotypes. As Laverne Cox <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/01/07/laverne_cox_artfully_shuts_down_katie_courics_invasive_questions_about_transgender_people/" type="external">pointed out in response to Katie Couric’s ignorant bigotry very recently</a>:</p>
<p>The preoccupation with transition and surgery objectifies trans people. And then we don’t get to really deal with the real lived experiences. The reality of trans people’s lives is that so often we are targets of violence. We experience discrimination disproportionately to the rest of the community. Our unemployment rate is twice the national average; if you are a trans person of color, that rate is four times the national average. The homicide rate is highest among trans women. If we focus on transition, we don’t actually get to talk about those things.</p>
<p>We are so much more than our medical histories. Reducing us to jokes about hormones and genitalia dehumanizes us, supporting a culture in which we’re targeted with violence. Rewarding a man for his brave portrayal of an “impossible” trans woman perpetuates stereotypes about us being men in drag, which also supports a culture of dehumanization and violence. Most of the increased visibility trans women are getting in Hollywood right now is not a good thing — it’s cruel and it’s dangerous. We deserve much better from the stories our culture tells itself.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="https://twitter.com/jostruitt" type="external">Jos Truitt</a> is over it.</p> | The Golden Globes gave Jared Leto an award for playing a trans woman because Hollywood is terrible | true | http://feministing.com/2014/01/13/the-golden-globes-give-jared-leto-an-award-for-playing-a-trans-woman-because-hollywood-is-terrible/ | 4 |
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<p>Yakima Rich and Emily Whitworth in ‘Dry Land.’ (Photo by DJ Corey Photography)</p>
<p>#NastyWomenRep &#160; <a href="https://www.forum-theatre.org" type="external">‘What Every Girl Should Know’/‘Dry Land’</a> &#160; Through April 15 &#160; Forum Theatre &#160; 8641 Colesville Road, Silver Spring &#160; $33-38 &#160; 301-588-8279</p>
<p>We’ve heard a lot about what goes on in boys’ locker rooms. But with Ruby Rae Spiegel’s remarkable play “Dry Land” making its area premiere at Forum Theatre in Silver Spring, we’re invited into the less frequently explored space where the girls shower and change.</p>
<p>Swim team practice is over, and two girls still in swimsuits are alone in the girls’ locker room at a Florida high school. Amy (Emily Whitworth) repeatedly orders teammate Ester (Yakima Rich) to punch her in the gut. Ester obediently complies. At first it seems some bravado or rite of passage thing, but soon it becomes clear that Amy is desperate to end an unwanted pregnancy.</p>
<p>The team’s star swimmer, Ester is a transfer student from another school where she had an intensely emotional relationship with a hideously tough coach. She’s guarded, sensitive and a little naïve. Outgoing Amy enlists friendless Ester precisely to help with her problem, but as they explore various methods of self-induced abortion, a close friendship develops. They share laughs and secrets including Amy’s aspiration to be a writer like Herman Melville. But the business at hand is never far from their thoughts.</p>
<p>This new friendship with Ester leads Amy to feel uncomfortably exposed prompting her mean girl side to takeover and accuse Ester of being in love with her. To worsen the blow, Amy makes the claim in front of a third girl, the infinitely superficial Reba (Thais Menendez). Ester distances herself from Amy for a time.</p>
<p>The majority of the play unfolds in the locker room realistically rendered with worn benches, tiles and battered lockers by Paige Hathaway. But Ester gets away for a while. Seeking a college scholarship, she goes to Florida State to swim for a prospective new coach. There she meets college freshman Victor (charmingly played by Christian Montgomery) who also knows Amy from home and interestingly sheds some light on her complex psyche.</p>
<p>“Dry Land” is 90 minutes of scenes of varying intensity and length interrupted by blackouts. The cast is terrific. Director Amber Paige McGinnis pulls no punches. It moves seamlessly from laugh-out-loud funny to horrific, almost hard to watch. Following a very graphically staged happening in the locker room, the janitor (out actor Matty Griffiths) casually mops up (in real time) bloody detritus smeared across the tiled floor.</p>
<p>And while “Dry Land” is partly political and makes a great case for further funding Planned Parenthood, it’s not just about reproductive rights. It’s a compelling exploration of growing up and the difficulties involved in relationships that are forged along the way.</p>
<p>Part of Forum’s #NastyWomenRep, “Dry Land” runs in repertory with Monica Byrne’s “What Every Girl Should Know,” a 90-minute play directed by Jenna Duncan that follows four teen girls in a New York reformatory circa 1914. Together the girls explore their sexuality and share the disturbing events that led each of them to be locked up. They adopt birth control activist Margaret Sanger as their secret patron saint and construct a fantasy world where they travel the world, take lovers and obliterate enemies.</p>
<p>Though set 100 years apart, both plays involve a woman’s right to control her body and explore the characters’ complexities in a meaningful way, interestingly juxtaposing what’s changed and what hasn’t over the years.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Amber Paige McGinnis</a> <a href="" type="internal">Christian Montgomery</a> <a href="" type="internal">Dry Land</a> <a href="" type="internal">Emily Whitworth</a> <a href="" type="internal">Forum Theatre</a> <a href="" type="internal">Paige Hathaway</a> <a href="" type="internal">Ruby Rae Spiegel</a> <a href="" type="internal">Thais Melendez</a> <a href="" type="internal">What Every Girl Should Know</a> <a href="" type="internal">Yakima Rich</a></p> | Teen dramedy ‘Dry Land’ is well-acted character study | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2017/03/24/teen-dramedy-dry-land-is-well-acted-character-study/ | 3 |
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<p>PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island is looking for its first youth poetry ambassador.</p>
<p>The Providence Journal <a href="http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180109/ri-launches-youth-poetry-initiative" type="external">reports</a> that Rhode Island Poet Laureate Tina Cane and the Rhode Island Center for the Book at the Rhode Island Council on the Humanities are partnering to look for a high school student to serve in the role.</p>
<p>The winner will have an opportunity to publish a guest column in The Providence Journal, have their poetry featured on public buses and record an episode for Cane’s podcast.</p>
<p>The ambassador will also share poetry writing and items of interest on social media.</p>
<p>The winner will be announced in April for National Poetry Month.</p>
<p>The Rhode Island Center for the Book has posted information for potential applicants <a href="https://ribook.org/youth-poetry/" type="external">online</a> . The deadline is Feb. 1.</p>
<p>PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island is looking for its first youth poetry ambassador.</p>
<p>The Providence Journal <a href="http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180109/ri-launches-youth-poetry-initiative" type="external">reports</a> that Rhode Island Poet Laureate Tina Cane and the Rhode Island Center for the Book at the Rhode Island Council on the Humanities are partnering to look for a high school student to serve in the role.</p>
<p>The winner will have an opportunity to publish a guest column in The Providence Journal, have their poetry featured on public buses and record an episode for Cane’s podcast.</p>
<p>The ambassador will also share poetry writing and items of interest on social media.</p>
<p>The winner will be announced in April for National Poetry Month.</p>
<p>The Rhode Island Center for the Book has posted information for potential applicants <a href="https://ribook.org/youth-poetry/" type="external">online</a> . The deadline is Feb. 1.</p> | Rhode Island looks for its 1st youth poetry ambassador | false | https://apnews.com/afc3a4b177774e7fbf585322662bfb2b | 2018-01-13 | 2 |
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<p>From left, Jonathan Gallegos is Bob Wallace, Emily Melville is Betty Haynes, Jessica Quindlen is Judy Haynes and Michael Rascon is Phil Davis in “White Christmas.” (Courtesy of Cassidy Allen Knight)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Albuquerque Little Theatre is wrapping Irving Berlin in a big red bow just in time for the holidays.</p>
<p>Based on the beloved 1954 Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye film, “White Christmas” opens Friday, Dec. 5.</p>
<p>The ALT last performed the production in 2010, director Henry Avery said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“It was so popular and it was such a big hit,” he said. “It was the top-grossing show at the time. It’s actually selling better than ‘Grease,’ which is the top-grossing show we’ve done.”</p>
<p />
<p>Bubbling with familiar songs like “Blue Skies,” “I Love a Piano,” “How Deep Is the Ocean” and, of course, “White Christmas,” the show was adapted for the stage in 2004.</p>
<p>“The Broadway adaptation is fairly new,” Avery said. “It combined the film music with other Irving Berlin songs. It’s still an uplifting, fun show.”</p>
<p>The musical tells the tale of Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, two famous song-and-dance men and former war buddies. With romance in mind, the two follow a duo of beautiful singing sisters en route to their Christmas show at a Vermont lodge.</p>
<p>The resort happens to be owned by the men’s former army commander. Expect whiplash plot turns and Broadway-scale production numbers woven with some of Berlin’s most recognizable songs.</p>
<p>“They all end up together, of course,” Avery said.</p>
<p>“White Christmas” the movie was loosely based on the 1942 film “Holiday Inn.” The title song remains one of the most recorded songs in history. The film won the Academy Award for Best Music in an Original Song.</p>
<p>The cast of 34 includes Emily Melville in her third turn in Rosemary Clooney’s role and Jonathan Gallegos starring opposite her as Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby). Gallegos starred as Marius in the ALT production of “Les Misérables.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Fresh from “Grease,” Jessica Quindlen and Michael Rascon will play Judy Haynes (Vera-Ellen in the film) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye).</p>
<p>“The acting for the stage is very different from the movies and TV,” Avery said. With film, “the camera is right there in front of you. On stage, you have to do the same things and travel 500 seats back. It’s just a different style.”</p>
<p>The musical opens on a World War II battlefield, then jumps 10 years later to the “Ed Sullivan Show,” a nightclub, then a train traveling to Vermont, where the singers are booked to play a holiday show.</p>
<p>“They’re waiting for snow,” Avery said. “They get there and it’s 89 degrees.”</p>
<p>When the singers discover the inn being run by their former commander, they scheme to help the failing lodge.</p>
<p>“White Christmas” also stars Thom Hinks (Gen. Henry Waverly); Emily Carvey (Martha Watson); Amanda Klingler (Susan Waverly); Dehron Foster (Mike); Norman Dawson (Ezekiel Foster); Nicholas Fleming (Sheldrake); Julia Parma (Rita) and Michelle Eiland (Rhoda).</p>
<p /> | ‘White Christmas’ bubbles with familiar songs | false | https://abqjournal.com/503243/white-christmas-bubbles-with-familiar-songs.html | 2 |
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<p>President Donald Trump has spoken with advisers about firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as he continues to rage against Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from all matters related to the Russia investigation.</p>
<p>The president’s anger again bubbled into public view Monday as he referred to Sessions in a tweet as “beleaguered,” and continued Tuesday by describing the attorney general as “weak” on “Hillary Clinton crimes.”</p>
<p>So why aren’t the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes &amp; Russia relations?</p>
<p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/889467610332528641" type="external">July 24, 2017</a></p>
<p>Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails &amp; DNC server) &amp; Intel leakers!</p>
<p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/889790429398528000" type="external">July 25, 2017</a></p>
<p>Privately, Trump has speculated aloud to allies in recent days about the potential consequences of firing Sessions, according to three people who have recently spoken to the president. They demanded anonymity to discuss private conversations.</p>
<p>News website <a href="https://www.axios.com/trump-in-phone-call-what-would-happen-if-i-fired-sessions-2465113665.html" type="external">Axios.com reported</a> similar information Tuesday, saying the president called a longtime political associate and asked, “What would happen if I fired Sessions?”</p>
<p>Trump often talks about making staff changes without following through, so those who have spoken with the president cautioned that a change may not be imminent or happen at all. What is clear is that Trump remains furious that the attorney general recused himself from the investigations.</p>
<p>“So why aren’t the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes &amp; Russia relations?” Trump tweeted Monday. His tweet came just hours before his son-in-law, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, traveled to Capitol Hill to be interviewed about his meetings with Russians.</p>
<p>Trump’s intensifying criticism has fueled speculation that Sessions may resign even if Trump opts not to fire him. During an event at the White House, Trump ignored a shouted question about whether Sessions should step down. The attorney general said last week he intended to stay in his post.</p>
<p>If Trump were to fire Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein would be elevated to the top post on an acting basis. That would leave the president with another attorney general of whom he has been sharply critical in both public and private for his handling of the Russia probe, according to four White House and outside advisers who, like others interviewed, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.</p>
<p>It could also raise the specter of Trump asking Rosenstein — or whomever he appoints to fill the position — to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and potential collusion with Trump’s campaign.</p>
<p>The name of one longtime Trump ally, Rudy Giuliani, was floated Monday as a possible replacement for Sessions, but a person who recently spoke to the former New York City mayor said that Giuliani had not been approached about the position. Giuliani told CNN on Monday that he did not want the post and would have recused himself had he been in Sessions’ position.</p>
<p>The president’s tweets about the former Alabama senator comes less than a week after Trump, in a New York Times interview, said that Sessions should never have taken the job as attorney general if he was going to recuse himself. Sessions made that decision after it was revealed that he had met with a top Russian diplomat last year.</p>
<p>Trump has seethed about Sessions’ decision for months, viewing it as disloyal — arguably the most grievous offense in the president’s mind — and resenting that the attorney general did not give the White House a proper heads-up before making the announcement that he would recuse himself. His fury has been fanned by several close confidants — including his son Donald Trump Jr, who is also ensnared in the Russia probe — who are angry that Sessions made his decision.</p>
<p>Trump and Sessions’ conversations in recent weeks have been infrequent. Sessions had recently asked senior White House staff how he might patch up relations with the president but that effort did not go anywhere, according to a person briefed on the conversations. Sessions was in the West Wing on Monday but did not meet with the president, according to deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.</p>
<p>Newt Gingrich, a frequent Trump adviser, said that the president, with his criticisms of Sessions, was simply venting and being “honest about his feelings. But that doesn’t mean he’s going to do anything,” Gingrich said. Still, he said the president’s comments would have repercussions when it comes to staff morale.</p>
<p>“Anybody who is good at team building would suggest to the president that attacking members of your team rattles the whole team,” Gingrich said.</p>
<p>Sessions and Trump used to be close, sharing both a friendship and an ideology. Sessions risked his reputation when he became the first U.S. senator to endorse the celebrity businessman and his early backing gave Trump legitimacy, especially among the hard-line anti-immigration forces that bolstered his candidacy. Several of Sessions’ top aides now serve in top administration posts, including Stephen Miller, the architect of several of Trump’s signature proposals, including the travel ban and tough immigration policy.</p>
<p>After Trump’s public rebuke last week, Sessions seemed determined to keep doing the job he said “goes beyond anything that I would have ever imagined for myself.”</p>
<p>“I’m totally confident that we can continue to run this office in an effective way,” Sessions said last week.</p>
<p>Armand DeKeyser, who worked closely with Sessions and became his chief of staff in the Senate, said he did not see the attorney general as someone who would easily cave to criticism, even from the president.</p>
<p>“If Jeff thinks he is in an untenable position and cannot be an effective leader, I believe he would leave,” DeKeyser said. “But I don’t think he’s reached that point.”</p>
<p>But Anthony Scaramucci, the president’s new communications director, said that it’s time for Trump and Sessions to hash out a resolution, regardless of what they decide.</p>
<p>“My own personal opinion, I think they’ve got to have a meeting and have a reconciliation one way or another. You know what I mean? Either stay or go, one way or another,” he said.</p>
<p>The Justice Department declined to comment.</p> | Trump Speaks to Advisers About Firing Sessions | false | https://newsline.com/trump-speaks-to-advisers-about-firing-sessions/ | 2017-07-25 | 1 |
<p>Good news, gang: the delightfully non-self-aware fellow who said he received short-term PTSD from firing an AR-15 is back. This time, New York Daily News columnist Gersh Kuntzman – yes, that’s his real name – says that it’s time for baseball to stop playing “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch.</p>
<p>It’s just too much for the sophisticated Kuntzman, who deems such patriotic displays gauche. “[N]o matter which home team you root, root, root for, ‘God Bless America’ should be sent permanently to the bench,” Kuntzman writes. He admits that in the aftermath of 9/11, the ceremonial singing provided “catharsis, comfort and shared heartache.”</p>
<p>But that time has passed.</p>
<p>Kuntzman believes, you see, that asking fans to doff their caps and place their hands over their hearts is “Mussolini-esque” – because, as we all know, singing “God Bless America” at a ballgame is the prelude to invading Ethiopia and siding with Hitler. But it gets better:</p>
<p>Reality check, friends: “God Bless America” is not the National Anthem. The only songs Americans should stand for are “The Star Spangled Banner” and “Here Comes the Bride.”</p>
<p>The lack of logic here is hilarious. Presumably, according to Kuntzman, we should only rise and sing “The Star Spangled Banner.” But in literally the next sentence, Kuntzman gives us another song for which we should rise. So there’s that.</p>
<p>Kuntzman, it turns out, doesn’t like the song itself, calling it “maudlin and depressing.” He admits that it “still embodies great things about America,” but adds that it also embodies “our worst things: self-righteousness, forced piety, earnest self-reverence, foam.”</p>
<p>It’s a patriotic song. Of course it’s self-righteous. It mentions God, which presumably makes Kuntzman feel uncomfortable in his nether regions (he says later in the article that he’s an atheist and wants “In God We Trust” removed from currency). So what? America is founded on a concept of rights springing from the Creator. Tough luck, Kuntzman. The song is reverent about the country founded on a philosophy of freedom and liberty. Shouldn’t we be?</p>
<p>We shouldn’t, according to Kuntzman. He writes:</p>
<p>“God Bless America” is as divisive as American politics: Kaskowitz’s research found that 83.8% of people who described themselves as “very liberal” dislike the song, while only 20.5% of people who called themselves “very conservative” have a problem with it.</p>
<p>That’s no shock. Of course very liberal people hate the song. Aside from some environmental imagery, it celebrates precisely the things the left hates about America. Kuntzman doesn’t like the song’s exclusivity (God, says the atheist, doesn’t bless America, he blesses the whole world); he quotes some arrogant British twit sneering that Americans are parochial and self-righteous. Well, crap, we fought a revolution so that we could avoid British twits like Kuntzman’s dickish friend.</p>
<p>Kuntzman doesn’t like that the song doesn’t say America is awful; he prefers Woody Guthrie’s communist anthem about how America was built for the rich, but the land is for everybody.</p>
<p>Here’s Kuntzman’s big finish:</p>
<p>So this July 4, join me at the Church of Baseball by not rising and not doffing your cap for a song that is not the national anthem of a nation that is not uniquely blessed by some deity that doesn’t exist anyway. If you want to thank God for blessing America, you can do it on Sunday in the other church.</p>
<p>Yes, let’s let the atheist leftist in love with big government dictate the national character. That’s clearly what America is all about: some priggish, irritating Manhattan pseudointellectual who likely believes that apple pie has too much sugar and that motherhood is cisgender lecturing us all about how America isn’t all that great and all you God-lovers should suck it.</p>
<p>After all, it’s the 4th of July.</p> | Priggish New York Daily News Columnist: Stop Singing ‘Fascist’ Song ‘God Bless America’ | true | https://dailywire.com/news/7138/priggish-new-york-daily-news-columnist-stop-ben-shapiro | 2016-07-01 | 0 |
<p>The following are excerpts from the Boston Public School Plan for Whole School Change. They address the objective of examining student work and data in relation to the citywide learning standards. The goal is to identify students’ needs, to improve assignments and instruction, to assess student progress, and to inform professional development.</p>
<p>Key Activities</p>
<p>train teachers to look at student work and create time blocks in the daily schedule for this activity.</p>
<p>fully assess student work to find out students’ current aptitudes, where they need to go, and how to get them there.</p>
<p>use professional development tools and resources from the Institute for Learning, as well as work with national networks and consultants.</p>
<p>develop competencies at each school that meet or exceed the Citywide Learning Standards.</p>
<p>Evidence of Progress</p>
<p>examples of good work, developed by teachers; evidence of student work that meets standards and provides data on individual students.</p>
<p>professional development for teachers; full assessment by teachers and administrators to determine school-wide and classroom instructional needs; use of technology to consult with colleagues.</p>
<p>public access to student work through portfolios and exhibitions.</p>
<p>Measuring Progress</p>
<p>annual interviews and surveys of teachers, parents, students, as well as feedback from visits with external staff; written reports from school teams and coaches.</p>
<p>quarterly review of student work and annual review of student products and school portfolios.</p>
<p>analysis of pre- and post-New Standards results; effective use of Stanford 9 and other data; School Quality Review.</p> | How Boston is doing it | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/how-boston-doing-it/ | 2005-07-27 | 3 |
<p>The mayor of Paris has some harsh words for President Trump following his decision to leave the 195-nation climate agreement.</p>
<p>Despite former President Barack Obama striking the Paris accords with foreign leaders in December of 2015, Trump announced he would be pulling the United States out of the historic agreement in a Thursday afternoon press conference. Anne Hidalgo, Paris’ mayor, expressed her disappointment with Trump’s decision following his announcement.</p>
<p>“That incredible diplomatic achievement could not have been secured without the decisive role of the United States of America. That is why President Trump is committing a mistake with dramatic and fatal consequences,” Hidalgo said in a public statement, <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-06-01/paris-mayor-says-trump-climate-withdrawal-a-mistake-with-fatal-consequences" type="external">according to Reuters</a>.</p>
<p>“Regardless of President Trump’s decision, the great cities of the world, in particular the twelve American C40 cities, remain resolutely committed to doing what needs to be done to implement the Paris agreement,” she added, in reference to the 90+ global cities that have pledged to do everything in their power to stem rising global temperatures by reducing carbon emissions.</p>
<p>New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has already pledged to <a href="" type="internal">ignore Trump’s plans to withdraw</a> from the Paris agreement, and use his authority as mayor of America’s largest city to adhere to the standards outlined in the December 2015 accords.</p>
<p>“The president withdrawing from the Paris Agreement would be horrible destructive for the planet, the country, and this city,” Mayor de Blasio tweeted. “President Trump should know that climate change is a dagger aimed straight at the heart of New York City.”</p>
<p>Trump’s decision to withdraw means that the U.S. will join Nicaragua and Syria as the only nations not to sign on to the 195-nation climate deal. Tesla CEO Elon Musk already <a href="" type="internal">announced his intent to resign</a> from all of Trump’s presidential councils in protest of the decision.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Jamie Green is a contributor to the Resistance Report covering the Trump administration, and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.</p> | Trump Withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement. Paris Mayor’s Response Is Brutal. | true | http://resistancereport.com/world/paris-mayor-response-trump/ | 2017-06-01 | 4 |
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<p>With the leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine due to hold negotiations in Minsk, Belarus, on Wednesday, the EU has delayed placing asset freezes and travel bans on 19 more individuals, including five Russians, for their actions in eastern Ukraine. It said the situation would be reviewed Monday.</p>
<p>“The principle of the sanctions is maintained but the application will depend on what happens on the ground,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said during a break in talks with EU foreign ministers in Brussels.</p>
<p>Fabius said political advisers would meet in Minsk on Tuesday to “hopefully” set up talks for the following day between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.</p>
<p>“There is plenty of work left to do. There are a series of questions to answer,” he said, including where heavy weapons should be withdrawn to and how to secure Ukraine’s borders.</p>
<p>German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also cautioned that the Minsk meeting is not set in stone yet and diplomats were meeting Monday in Berlin to try to pave the way.</p>
<p>The EU foreign ministers are backing fresh diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, rejecting calls by some U.S. politicians to provide lethal defensive weapons to Kiev.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We do not see this as progress. It would be easy for the Russians to immediately compensate for that,” said Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders.</p>
<p>“The UK is not intending to supply lethal weaponry to Ukraine at this point,” Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said.</p>
<p>The EU now has visa bans and asset freezes on 132 individuals and 28 entities for their actions in eastern Ukraine. Nine more entities — companies and separatist groups in eastern Ukraine not recognized by the West, including one from Russia — could also be added to the list.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>David Rising contributed from Berlin.</p> | EU puts off fresh Russia sanctions awaiting Minsk talks | false | https://abqjournal.com/538837/eu-puts-off-fresh-russia-sanctions-awaiting-minsk-talks.html | 2 |
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<p>So there's this website called HelloGiggles. It describes itself as a "positive online community for women (although men are always welcome!) covering news, culture, entertainment, beauty, fashion, and more." (On the site, though, news is last in the list of clickables at the top, which goes from left to right: "the pretty, beauty, fashion, lifestyles, love entertainment, news."</p>
<p>But a story in HelloGiggles (HiGig to all you regular Gigglers out there) found its way onto the Yahoo! lifestyle section, where it was widely disseminated. The headline was bizarre: "George Clooney’s description of his twins is a perfect example of unconscious sexism in action."</p>
<p>George and Amal Clooney had twins this year, a girl, Ella, and a boy, Alexander. Enter HelloGiggles.</p>
<p>And while we adore getting news on how the little ones are doing, we couldn’t help but notice the gendered way in which Clooney spoke about the twins in a recent interview.</p>
<p>While speaking to Extra, he said, “Ella is very elegant and dainty. She has these big beautiful eyes. She looks like Amal.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, he noted that son Alexander, “Weighs three pounds more than his sister. [He’s] just a thug, he’s a fat little boy,” while proudly noting that his son has the “loudest laugh in the room.”</p>
<p>While it’s tempting to view Clooney’s descriptions as nothing but the good-humored words of a loving dad, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out the very different ways the actor speaks of his male and female child. At just four-months-old, Ella is being praised for her “elegance,” and beautiful features, while Alexander is jokingly referred to as a “loud thug.”</p>
<p>We’re sure Clooney meant no harm with these descriptors; he very likely didn’t think too much about them. And therein lies the problem — this is how subtle and pervasive gendered and sexist language is in our culture.</p>
<p>HelloGiggles writer Toria Sheffield concludes her piece with this: "And again, while his comments may seem harmless, the truth of the matter is the casual language we use to describe our sons and daughters has a very real impact on perpetuating gender stereotypes. It can also have a concrete effect on the 'ideals' our children absorb. If a girl senses that she garners praise and approval for her 'daintiness' and 'elegance,' she may tailor herself to those traits as she grows. Conversely, if a boy senses his approval comes from his loudness, or brashness, he may learn to lean into those characteristics."</p>
<p>But hang on. There really are genders. And I'm a bit of an expert. I have a boy and a girl. So while my observations are narrow, I'll just give this one observation.</p>
<p>We had our girl first. When she was two or so, she loved to sit next to my wife while she (my wife, not my daughter!) put on her makeup. My wife would give her a brush to play with and she'd mimic spreading rouge on her cheek.</p>
<p>When my son was two, or maybe three, he didn't climb up to watch my wife's makeup session. Instead, he climbed everything — trees, fences, everything. And one day, he took his tricycle to the top of the back hill and rode down full speed. It didn't end well (but he was soon back on his trike riding like a maniac).</p>
<p>We hadn't conditioned them into their "gender roles" — they had them from birth. And while the Giggles author abhors "stereotypes," the reason those exist is because they're often broadly true.</p>
<p>But more, boys are boys and girls are girls. They're different. They have different genetic makeups, different body parts — they're different!</p>
<p>We can't all agree on much, but can't we at least agree on that?</p> | George Clooney's 'Perfect Example Of Unconscious Sexism In Action' | true | https://dailywire.com/news/22660/george-clooneys-perfect-example-unconscious-sexism-joseph-curl | 2017-10-24 | 0 |
<p>TEMPE, Ariz. — When the <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Arizona-Cardinals/" type="external">Arizona Cardinals</a> begin workouts upon their official start of training camp, the first questions to head coach <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Bruce-Arians/" type="external">Bruce Arians</a> aren’t going to be about the health of his team, position battles, the rise of <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/David_Johnson/" type="external">David Johnson</a> or what went wrong a year ago.</p>
<p>What everyone will want to know is whether the 2017 season might be the last for not only the 64-year-old Arians, but also the final year in the careers of quarterback <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Carson_Palmer/" type="external">Carson Palmer</a> and wide receiver <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Larry_Fitzgerald/" type="external">Larry Fitzgerald</a>, Palmer turns 38 in December while Fitzgerald turns 34 in August.</p>
<p>And if it is the final go-round for all three, does that mean the Cardinals’ window of opportunity to get back to the playoffs and make a possible Super Bowl appearance is about to slam shut after this season?</p>
<p>A new head coach likely means wholesale changes to just about everything. And since there is no young protege to learn and study under Palmer at quarterback, it could also mean there is no “quarterback whisperer” to teach him. It also means the best and most popular player in the history of the organization might not be around either to help soften the losses of the other two.</p>
<p>It’s the most pressing issue entering Cardinals’ camp and until or unless Arians, Palmer and Fitzgerald make their intentions fully known about their futures beyond this season, it can be assumed that 2017 could be the end of the road for all of them.</p>
<p>Arians revealed in his new book, entitled “The Quarterback Whisperer,” that he underwent surgery in February to remove cancerous cells in his kidney. He had been diagnosed, he wrote, with renal cell carcinoma in December.</p>
<p>“Now I feel great,” Arians said in his book. “My energy has returned. I’m told I’m cancer-free again. I’m ready for at least one more season of NFL football — maybe more.”</p>
<p>One more season? Maybe more? What about Palmer? What about Fitzgerald? Both players have said for the past couple years that they evaluate their futures at the end of every season. Fitzgerald, entering the final year of his contract, has indicated he will make some sort of announcement in training camp.</p>
<p>As for Palmer, who technically has another year left on his deal, it seems just as up in the air as Arians and Fitzgerald. To hear Arians tell it, however, Palmer could play as long as he wants.</p>
<p>“Physically, he’s probably body-wise like if he was 28 right now,” Arians told CBS Sports Network last week. “The sports science is unbelievable, you know with the stuff right now, nutrition, all of the training stuff, he could play easily ’til he’s 40-42 probably — if he wants to.”</p>
<p>TOP THREE TRAINING CAMP GOALS</p>
<p>–Keeping Carson Palmer fresh. With four quarterbacks in camp, this normally wouldn’t be an issue. But with an extra week of camp, five preseason games and Palmer turning 38 in December, it could be. For that reason, look for the Cardinals to try and rest Palmer as much as they can before the start of the regular season, relying on <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Drew_Stanton/" type="external">Drew Stanton</a>, <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Blaine_Gabbert/" type="external">Blaine Gabbert</a> and yes, undrafted rookie free agent Trevor Knight. Gabbert, specifically, figures to see more action than most No. 3 quarterbacks so coach Bruce Arians and staff get a better idea if he can ultimately be the man to replace Palmer in another year — or two.</p>
<p>–Finding the No. 2 starting cornerback. The leaders in the clubhouse to start opposite <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Patrick-Peterson/" type="external">Patrick Peterson</a> are, in order, <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Justin-Bethel/" type="external">Justin Bethel</a> and <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Brandon-Williams/" type="external">Brandon Williams</a>, but don’t discount general manager <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Steve-Keim/" type="external">Steve Keim</a> throwing a big-name veteran free agent into the mix like he normally does when there are pre-camp questions about a concerning starting position on this team. He’s basically done it every year since assuming full control of the front office and for the most part, it’s always seemed to work. In this situation, it may not be necessary unless Bethel or Williams prove after a few weeks that neither is trustworthy enough to handle the role, which is incredibly tough considering opposing teams rarely throw in Peterson’s direction and this spot usually gets all the serious action.</p>
<p>–Making sure the Badger and Money-backer are ready. Two incredibly important players on defense, safety Tyrann Mathieu and inside “money” linebacker Deone Bucannon, are returning from injuries and the Cardinals plan to be mindful of that in regard to how hard they push each player early on. Bucannon, in fact, might not even be ready for Week 1 after undergoing foot surgery to fix a problem he thought was past him. Mathieu, meanwhile, has dealt with numerous injuries virtually every year since turning pro in 2013 and hasn’t been able to finish a season without some sort of issue. What could be considered just as troubling is that the Cardinals may have to rely on two rookie draft picks if either player isn’t ready. The good news is, the team loves both first-year players in No. 1 pick Haasan Reddick, an inside linebacker, and second-round pick Budda Baker, a seemingly do-everything safety who has patterned his game after the Honey Badger.</p>
<p>PROJECTED CAMP DEPTH CHART</p>
<p>QUARTERBACKS: Starter — Carson Palmer. Backups — Drew Stanton, Blaine Gabbert, Trevor Knight.</p>
<p>RUNNING BACKS: Starter — David Johnson. Backups — Andre Ellington, Kerwynn Williams, Elijhaa Penny, T.J. Logan, James Summers.</p>
<p>TIGHT ENDS: Starter. — <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Jermaine_Gresham/" type="external">Jermaine Gresham</a>. Backups — Troy Niklas, Ifeanyi Momah, Hakeem Valles, Ricky Seals-Jones, <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Steven/" type="external">Steven</a> Wroblewski.</p>
<p>WIDE RECEIVERS: Starters — Larry Fitzgerald, <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/John_Brown/" type="external">John Brown</a>, <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/JJ-Nelson/" type="external">J.J. Nelson</a>. Backups — Aaron Dobson, Jaron Brown, Chad Williams, Brittan Golden, Jeremy Ross, Kris Hogan, <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Larry_Clark/" type="external">Larry Clark</a>, Marquis Bundy, Carlton Agudosi.</p>
<p>OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: Starters — LT D.J. Humphries, LG Mike Iupati, C A.Q. Shipley, RG Evan Boehm, RT Jared Veldheer. Backups — T Will Holden, G/C Cole Toner, C Tony Bergstrom, G Dorian Johnson, T John Wetzel, G Kaleb Johnson, T Ulrick John, T Givens Price, C/G Daniel Munyer, C Lucas Crowley, T Jonathan McLaughlin.</p>
<p>DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: Starters — LDE Robert Nkemdiche, NT Corey Peters, RDT Frostee Rucker. Backups — DE Ed Stinson, NT Xavier Williams, DT Josh Mauro, DT Rodney Gunter, NT Olsen Pierre, DE Tasini Pasoni.</p>
<p>LINEBACKERS: Starters — SOLB <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Chandler-Jones/" type="external">Chandler Jones</a>, SILB Karlos Dansby, RILB Haasan Reddick, WOLB Markus Golden. Backups — OLB Jarvis Jones, MLB Deone Bucannon, MLB Gabe Martin, OLB Kareem Martin, ILB/OLB Alani Fua, MLB Scooby Wright, MLB Tre’Von Johnson, OLB Capi Cap, MLB Zaviar Gooden, OLB Alex Bazzie.</p>
<p>DEFENSIVE BACKS: Starters — LCB Patrick Peterson, RCB Justin Bethel, FS Tyrann Mathieu, SS Antoine Bethea. Backups — CB Brandon Williams, CB Jumal Rolle, FS Budda Baker, SS Tyvon Branch, CB Rudy Ford, S/CB Harlan Miller, CB Elie Bouka, S Ironhead Gallon, CB Ronald Zamort, CB Sojourn Shelton, CB Daniel Gray, CB Gump Hayes, CB Ryan Lewis.</p>
<p>SPECIAL TEAMS: K <a href="https://www.upi.com/topic/Phil_Dawson/" type="external">Phil Dawson</a>, P Richie Leone, P Matt Wile, LS Aaron Brewer, KOR T.J. Logan, PR Patrick Peterson.</p> | Arizona Cardinals 2017 training camp preview, projected team depth chart | false | https://newsline.com/arizona-cardinals-2017-training-camp-preview-projected-team-depth-chart/ | 2017-07-19 | 1 |
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<p>Pope Francis prays at the Shrine of the Virgin of Caacupe in Caacupe, Paraguay, on Saturday. The country's most important pilgrimage site is close to the pope's heart. (Alessandro Bianchi/The Associated Press)</p>
<p>CAACUPE, Paraguay - Pope Francis lauded the strength and religious fervor of Paraguayan women on Saturday while visiting the country's most important pilgrimage site, where thousands of his fellow Argentines joined with hundreds of thousands of local faithful to welcome Latin America's first pope.</p>
<p>"Being here with you makes me feel at home," Francis said in his homily. He then spoke affectionately about the women of this tiny, landlocked nation, praising them for rebuilding the country after a devastating war in the 1860s wiped out more than half the population, primarily men.</p>
<p>"Then and now, you found the strength not to let this land lose its bearings," he said to wild cheers from the crowd. "God bless your perseverance. God bless and encourage your faith. God bless the women of Paraguay, the most glorious women of America."</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Thousands of people packed the main square and nearby streets at Caacupe. Argentina's blue and white flag and its national team soccer jersey were ubiquitous among the mate tea-sipping faithful.</p>
<p>The gathering at the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Caacupe was evidence of Francis' special affection for the revered image of the Virgin Mary. He declared the simple church, which houses a little wooden statue of the virgin, the world's newest basilica.</p>
<p>When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio often visited the Villa 21 slum where many Paraguayan immigrants live, joining them in their religious processions and celebrating baptisms at their church, Our Lady of Miracles of Caacupe.</p>
<p>"It's wonderful that the pope really knows us," said Raquel Amarilla, 39, who cried throughout the Mass and was accompanied by her 13-year-old daughter. "We are the ones in church every Sunday. We pray every day, much more than men."</p>
<p>In a deeply symbolic nod to the region's indigenous people, Francis led the faithful in "The Lord's Prayer" in Guarani. His arms outstretched at the altar, Francis read along as the crowd intoned the prayer.</p>
<p>While Christianity is under siege by secularism and evangelicals in much of the hemisphere, Paraguay remains overwhelmingly Catholic. Eighty-nine percent here profess the faith, according to the Pew Center.</p>
<p>At the end of the Mass, officials announced that Francis had designated the Caacupe sanctuary a minor basilica, giving it an elevated status that signals its connection to Rome and its importance for the local church. There are four major basilicas in Rome and more than 1,600 minor basilicas throughout the world.</p>
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<p /> | Pope praises strength of Paraguay's women | false | https://abqjournal.com/611328/pope-praises-strength-of-paraguays-women.html | 2 |
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<p>Since the day Dubya was installed in the White House by court appointment, not a week has passed, it seems, that his administration has not said or done something at odds with reality as understood by most of the world. From Kyoto to Columbia, Saudi Arabia to North Korea, the Bush administration continually misreads or simply ignores facts and conditions “on the ground” and elbows forward with the neoconservative, belligerent, and imperialistic agenda of Pax-Americana, which is accompanied by the shrill insistence, as vocalized by the likes of Paul Wolfowitz and William Kristol, that we will get what we want, or else a few hundred thousand people will die.</p>
<p>Now comes word the State Department will hold a two-day conference designed to “explore the roots of anti-Americanism worldwide.” According to Richard Boucher, scholars will “share their thoughts” with State Department types and, hopefully, some of the dunderheads will come to a better understanding of why people across the world find the US loathsome. Naturally, for a huge number of people outside of the State Department, and beyond America itself, the reasons are obvious. As Gore Vidal wrote in The Guardian earlier this year, “Our imperial disdain for the lesser breeds did not go unnoticed by the latest educated generation of Saudi Arabians and by their evolving leader, Bin Laden, whose moment came in 2001 when a weak American president took office in questionable circumstances.” No longer are the “lesser breeds”–as many Arabs, Asians, Central and South Americans are viewed by our managers–so easily deceived or intimidated. More and more, the victims of US foreign policy are beginning to fight back, and even on occasion respond violently, if often ineffectually. “American foreign policy has invited everybody, actually, to try to humiliate America, and to give it a bloody nose,” Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical Muslim cleric, arrested in March by Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorism squad, told Peter Ford of The Christian Science Monitor last September. “When a president stands up before the planet and says an American comes first, he is only preaching hatred.”</p>
<p>Nobody likes a bully. Yet, in spite of the painful lessons of 911, large numbers of Americans do not consider the US an insolent and violent bully lording over “lesser breeds,” but rather as a “peacekeeper,” a generous, selfless friend willing to rescue helpless and endangered innocents from Nazism, Communism, and from evil men such as Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein. The long and brutal history of US intervention in the private affairs of other nations is rarely mentioned, let alone explained. Our government and military–exactly one hundred years after the vicious and deadly US subjugation of the Philippines, which resulted in the death of one million Filipinos–is still practicing “Benevolent Assimilation,” as Mark Twain called it, “which is the pious new name of the musket.” Few Americans know anything about our support of Suharto in Indonesia, or the 500,000 killed during his CIA-supported coup, or the 120,000 to subsequently die when Indonesia invaded East Timor. Or does the average American know anything about our support, under Reagan, for Jonas Savimbi of UNITA in Angola, which resulted in the murder of 750,000 humans, two-thirds of them children.</p>
<p>Precious little is mentioned of direct US military intervention in Nicaragua (1912), the Dominican Republic (1965), Grenada (1983), and Panama (1989). Or the CIA-engineered coup against the popular and democratically elected leader of Iran, Mossadegh, or of CIA involvement in the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. Henry Kissinger is now consulted on how best to deal with terrorism and Iraq–yet the media never broaches the subject of his complicity in the violent overthrow of the democratically-elected Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende in Chile. So removed is the American media from the past (and present) misdeeds of its government that when the idea of extradition proceedings against Kissinger for his role in the 1973 military coup in Chile–and his possible connection to the murder of the American film-maker and journalist Charles Horman–the US media hardly covered the story.</p>
<p>In general, these are historical non-events in the United States, seldom mentioned or provided the attention and public examination due. So blinkered is the American public to the role its government has played in subverting the political process of nations around the world that when “blowback” finally arrives–as it surely did on 911 and will continue to do in the future–the people will have no contextual frame of reference. The corporate media–as an intellectual handmaid to more than fifty years of US imperialism and self-serving crimes in the third world–serves the assigned and largely automatic role of generating historical amnesia. For instance, in the days following the bombings of the WTC and the Pentagon, MSNBC asked: “To the question ‘Why do the terrorists hate us?’ Americans could be pardoned for answering, “Why should we care?”</p>
<p>Intellectuals in the mainstream just don’t seem to get it. “Anti-Americanism can be mere shallow name-calling,” opined Salman Rushdie in The Washington Post. “Anti-Americanism can be hypocritical: wearing blue jeans or Donna Karan, eating fast food or Alice Waters-style cuisine, their heads full of American music, movies, poetry and literature, the apparatchiks of the international cultural commissariat decry the baleful influence of the American culture that nobody is forcing them to consume.” It is obviously no matter to Rushdie–who had his own close call with Muslim extremists–that the “baleful influence” he mentions may arrive in Iraq or Iran via a Tomahawk cruise missile. Chances are the unfortunate inhabitants of the El Chorrillos slum in Panama–nearly 4000 of whom died under a barrage of American bombs for the crime having lived in close proximity to Manuel Noriega–knew little of Donna Karan. Mindless consumerism aside, Rusdie may wish to consider something written by another Pakistani, Mushahid Hussain, before he pens another article for The Washington Post: “The problem is that American goodness is hardly ever exported, remaining confined to its shores. This gap between what America says at home–liberties, rule of law and democracy–is rarely practiced in American foreign policy.”</p>
<p>Chances are Richard Boucher and his coterie of hand-picked intellectuals at the State Department will not waver greatly from official conclusions already reached on anti-Americanism. Our unelected leader has already pronounced these on numerous occasions: they are envious, they hate democracy and civilization, they are evil. Of course, the State Department approved intellectuals will not characterize anti-Americanism in those precise words–and they may even throw in a few mild and entirely flaccid criticisms of the way we conduct business around the world–but they will surely not take Dubya, Clinton, Reagan, et al, to task, or will they dare vilify in any significant manner the machinations of Empire.</p>
<p>Kurt Nimmo is a photographer and multimedia developer in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Clueless at the State Department | true | https://counterpunch.org/2002/08/30/clueless-at-the-state-department/ | 2002-08-30 | 4 |
<p>By Bob Allen</p>
<p>Biblical inerrancy is at the heart of the debate about whether or not homosexuality is a sin, the Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman for moral and religious liberty concerns said at a recent gathering of journalists who cover religion.</p>
<p>Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics &amp; Religious Liberty Commission, said at the <a href="http://www.rna.org/?page=2015_About_Conf" type="external">Religion Newswriters Association</a> annual conference Aug. 27-30 in Philadelphia that people who call themselves evangelicals while affirming homosexuality as morally acceptable are only “so-called” evangelicals but in fact are “revisionist voices” who reject the authority or primacy of Scripture, according to a Sept. 2 <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/can-affirming-gay-christians-be-evangelical-russell-moore-says-no-and-not-to-expect-actual-evangelicals-to-change-their-minds-144266/" type="external">news story</a> by Christian Post reporter <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/author/nicola-menzie/" type="external">Nicola Menzie</a>.</p>
<p>Asked about David Gushee, a one-time professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary who recently announced that after many years he has <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Changing-Our-Mind-David-Gushee/dp/1939880769" type="external">changed his mind</a> on LGBT issues, Moore said he doesn’t think a faithful evangelical can arrive at a position that says “our theology was wrong.”</p>
<p>“I think that most of the voices that you see calling for a revision of the Christian sexual ethic have already long ago negotiated away other more basic pieces of orthodoxy,” Moore said. “So the controversies that we typically have with, say a David Gushee or a Matthew Vines, are not first and foremost controversies over the interpretation of particular texts. They’re controversies over an understanding and inspiration of Scripture.”</p>
<p>“If one says the Apostle Paul, for instance, would have spoken differently about homosexuality if he had known what we know now about homosexuality, or in some cases, Jesus himself was wrong about sexual orientation, well, that’s not&#160;a debate over particular passages,” Moore said. “That’s a debate over a very foundational, fundamental issue of what does it mean to believe the Bible and to follow the authority of Scripture.”</p>
<p>Moore said when Christians debate homosexuality, whether they have a high view or low view of the Bible “is where the problem lies.” He said the small number of congregations recently making headlines for changing their views on homosexuality “were long ago&#160;negotiating away other doctrines and issues” like biblical inspiration.</p>
<p>Moore contrasted those stories to March 2014, when World Vision had to <a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/march-web-only/world-vision-reverses-decision-gay-same-sex-marriage.html" type="external">reverse</a> a decision to hire Christians in same-sex marriages after intense criticism from evangelical leaders.</p>
<p>“If you want to see where evangelicalism is on the sexuality issues, look at what happened with World Vision,” Moore said. “World Vision made a revision when it comes to marriage, and within a week, the evangelical movement showed that it was still evangelical. World Vision turned around, and I think handled it very well in terms of rebuilding trust there.”</p>
<p>According to the Christian Post story, Moore said he does not ascribe the term evangelical to gay-affirming Christians because by definition the word means someone who upholds biblical inerrancy. The same principle, he said, applies to the term “gay Christian.”</p>
<p>“There are some people who use that term to mean same-sex attracted but who are living out lives of celibacy believing the historic Christian sexual ethic,” Moore said. “In that case —&#160;of course, I think that the Christian life is a life of cross-carrying, fighting against temptation; we have different points of temptation —&#160;that every Christian is in a place of struggling against temptation.”</p>
<p>Moore’s comments came during a discussion about his new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Onward-Engaging-Culture-without-Losing/dp/1433686171" type="external">, Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel</a>.</p> | Russell Moore says faithful evangelicals cannot affirm homosexuality | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/russell-moore-says-faithful-evangelicals-cannot-affirm-homosexuality/ | 3 |
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<p><a href="http://variety.com/t/caa/" type="external">CAA</a> has promoted ten trainees to agent or exec at the agency.</p>
<p><a href="http://variety.com/t/austin-denesuk/" type="external">Austin Denesuk</a> has been promoted to agent in <a href="http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/caa-steve-hasker-global-nielsen-1202625075/" type="external">CAA</a>’s industry-leading television department. Denesuk is based in Los Angeles, where she serves in the TV lit group.</p>
<p><a href="http://variety.com/t/bennett-beckner/" type="external">Bennett Beckner</a>, Joseph Harris, Madison Lee, and Joe Mott were elevated to agents in CAA’s music department, which represents more than one-third of this year’s top 100 worldwide tours. Beckner and Lee are based in Nashville, while Harris and Mott are based in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Callie Rivers and Maddy Roth have been named executives in the CAA Foundation, the agency’s philanthropic arm, and are based in the Los Angeles office.</p>
<p>Jacksonville-based Beth Enstrom has been promoted to executive in CAA golf, and Tee Stumb has been promoted to agent in CAA sports talent sales department. He will continue to be based in New York.</p>
<p>Erik Telford has been promoted to agent in the speakers group, and is based in the CAA’s Los Angeles office.</p>
<p /> | CAA Promotes Ten Trainees | false | https://newsline.com/caa-promotes-ten-trainees/ | 2017-12-12 | 1 |
<p>We asked you to send us your plans for the eclipse, and you delivered! You wrote and called in to tell us that you’re traveling from Alaska to Illinois, hiking mountains in Idaho and paddling kayaks in South Carolina to catch the Great American Eclipse.</p>
<p>Jason Rekulak from Philadelphia is camping with his family at a goat farm in McMinnville, Oregon.</p>
<p>He realized last minute that an already-planned family vacation to the West Coast would bring him within a few hours of the eclipse’s path of totality and rushed to book a place to stay.</p>
<p>"I thought we were going to be staying at a Holiday Inn and probably watching from a parking lot,” Rekulak said. “But instead we're going to be on a 500-acre goat farm.”</p>
<p>The operators of McPhillips farm, where he and his family will be staying, assured him that the event would be family-friendly and inclusive. The guests will include drag queens, senior citizens and the farm’s friendliest goats.</p>
<p>"I don't know if the goats will actually watch the eclipse themselves or if they'll have glasses, or how they'll react when the Earth goes dark. It will truly be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me,” Rekulak said.</p>
<p>Listener Mary Langenbrunner wrote in to say she’s thinking of serving tequila sunrise cocktails and moon pies to her neighbors. (Get it? Eclipse-themed snacks!) Addy Hale from Clemson, South Carolina, will be hosting friends at her house, which is smack-dab in the path of totality.</p>
<p>"We have a big field, so we're inviting all of our friends and we're throwing an eclipse party. We'll be cooking out and enjoying everybody's company. And I think everybody is really excited to be in the path of totality right in our backyard!” Hale said.</p>
<p>Listeners who don’t live so close to the eclipse’s path are getting themselves there in interesting ways.</p>
<p>Paul Darbo is taking his annual motorcycle trip with his son up the West Coast to watch the eclipse in Salem, Oregon.</p>
<p>“I’m very excited, this is going to be an extremely exciting day for my son and I,” Darbo said.</p>
<p>A husband and wife from North Carolina are kayaking Lake Monticello in South Carolina during the eclipse.</p>
<p>The World listener who wrote in with the farthest journey is Christine Fik, who’s bringing her infant son to Carbondale, Illinois, for the eclipse.</p>
<p>“I am so excited to be able to share this with my son!” she wrote “Pretty cool first birthday road trip!”</p>
<p>Listener John Garvey, who is traveling to Nashville to watch the eclipse, sent us this eclipse song.</p>
<p>The eclipse-watching trip that Damir Pevec is organizing to the Grand Teton mountain range will be more somber than most. Her daughter, Aleksija Pevec Kays, who was battling breast cancer when she learned about the eclipse, hoped to watch it herself with friends and family.</p>
<p>“In April she heard about the total eclipse and was ecstatic about it,” Pevec wrote. “She asked me if I can get some friends and family to experience it all together.”</p>
<p>Kays picked out a location outside of Jackson Hill, Wyoming, to watch the eclipse. But in July, she died of breast cancer.</p>
<p>Shortly after she passed away, Pevec and more than a dozen other friends and family members decided to pursue the trip anyway, as a memorial to her.</p>
<p>“So … we are departing Santa Barbara and Los Angeles for the Grand Tetons to view this incredible phenomena in her honor and in her memory,” Pevec wrote in an email to The World.</p>
<p>For listener Kathy Shrout of Preston, Kentucky, this Monday marks the end of 51 years of anticipation.</p>
<p>“I have waited since I was 10 years old…to see this eclipse,” Shrout said.</p>
<p>When Shrout was a schoolgirl, a teacher gave her a Little Golden Book about the solar system that listed the dates for future eclipses.</p>
<p>“I knew I’d never go very far from Kentucky, and I happened to see one way off in 2017 that would hit the edge of Kentucky and Tennessee. And I thought to myself, 'Well I’ll never live that long!' ” Shrout said.</p>
<p>But she never forgot the date. At the time, Shrout was obsessed with outer space and desperately wanted to be an astronaut.</p>
<p>“It stuck in my head, all these years, it stuck in my head. I think I’m just so enamored about that I can’t stop thinking about it once I found out,” she said.</p>
<p>Shrout is taking her family to Sweetwater, Tennessee, to camp out Sunday night and watch the eclipse together Monday. She says she’s driving her family crazy with her anticipation.</p>
<p>“It's an exciting thing for me, and I can't stop talking about it,” Shrout said.</p>
<p>This is an eclipse in Queensland, Australia, in 2012.</p>
<p>Courtesy Terry and Leila Cuttle</p>
<p>This is an eclipse over the Great Wall of China in 2008.</p>
<p>Courtesy Terry Cuttle</p>
<p>Terry Cuttle took this photo of a 2005 eclipse over the South Pacific Ocean.</p>
<p>Courtesy Terry Cuttle</p>
<p>Terry Cuttle is shown with his photography gear set up on the atoll of Anaa in French Polynesia in 2010.</p>
<p>Courtesy Terry Cuttle</p>
<p>This is an eclipse in Queensland, Australia, in 2012.</p>
<p>Courtesy Terry and Leila Cuttle</p>
<p>This is an eclipse over the Great Wall of China in 2008.</p>
<p>Courtesy Terry Cuttle</p>
<p>Share your photos and stories to Instagram or Twitter and tag @pritheworld and @PRI and we’ll re-post them below.</p>
<p>In <a href="" type="internal">Science, Tech &amp; Environment</a>.</p>
<p>Tagged: <a href="" type="internal">citizen science</a> <a href="" type="internal">astronomy</a> <a href="" type="internal">astrophyics</a> <a href="" type="internal">solar eclipse</a> <a href="" type="internal">NASA</a>.</p> | false | https://pri.org/stories/2017-08-11/we-want-your-eclipse-plans-stories-and-photos | 3 |
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<p>Two groups that want to deploy drones to fight Zika won support from the federal government Wednesday.</p>
<p>The funding will go to helping them develop drones that could drop off Zika-fighting mosquitoes or ferry lab samples from remote regions.</p>
<p>They join a batch of inventive solutions for fighting Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases being funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).</p>
<p>Delaware-based WeRobotics will use seed money from USAID to develop drones that can carry sterile mosquitoes into hard-to-reach zones. Flooding mosquito populations with sterile insects can greatly reduce populations as lovesick bugs waste time and energy mating with barren sweethearts.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Mosquito Control Vital to Fight Zika</a></p>
<p>"Usually, when you think about fighting Zika you think of trucks driving up and down and fogging streets," said Wendy Taylor, who directs USAID’s Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact.</p>
<p>But there are plenty of places with packed humanity vulnerable to the Zika-carrying Aedes mosquitoes that are also hard to reach.</p>
<p>"Think about Rio — think about the favelas," Taylor said, describing the haphazard neighborhoods that define parts of Brazil’s coastal metropolis.</p>
<p>"It might be easier to use a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) instead of driving up and down small, winding streets with a truck."</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Here's a Look at Our Tools to Fight Zika</a></p>
<p>The idea is to pack the drones with sterile mosquitoes and drop them into mosquito hot zones. Or they could deliver a load to hard-to-reach zones that cannot quite be reached by trucks, larger aircraft or people on foot.</p>
<p>“Those little spots can turn into hot spots that spread,” Taylor said.</p>
<p>USAID is using $30 million borrowed from Ebola-fighting efforts to pay for its “Grand Challenge” grants.</p>
<p>The Obama administration pulled the Ebola cash when Congress failed to provide a requested $1.9 billion in new funding earlier this year. Part of the money got approved when Congress passed a temporary budget at the end of last month but it won’t go to pay back any Ebola funds.</p>
<p>Taylor said all of the projects being funded can fight not only Zika, but a range of mosquito-borne diseases including malaria and yellow fever, as well as dengue fever and chikungunya.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Complete NBC Coverage of the Zika Virus Outbreak</a></p>
<p>"Mosquitoes are pretty small and they are pretty light so you can pack a lot of punch in these small devices," Taylor said. “That drone can then go back and reload."</p>
<p>Delaware-based WeRobotics will work with United Nations agencies to deliver the sterile mosquitoes. Michigan-based Vayu is working on drones that can deliver medical supplies or ferry lab samples to and from remote regions.</p>
<p>Other projects getting USAID funding include a group making sandals impregnated with mosquito repellent that protect vulnerable feet and ankles for months; groups working to infect mosquitoes with bacteria called Wolbachia that make them sterile; and a team at Johns Hopkins University making natural insecticides out of soil bacteria.</p>
<p>Related: <a href="" type="internal">Scientists Aren't Afraid of GM Mosquitoes</a></p>
<p>Taylor said the agency got overwhelming response when it sent out a call for new ideas.</p>
<p>“In two months, we ended up getting 900 ideas,” she said.</p>
<p>A group called BluSense is working to develop a one-drop blood test that can show on the spot if someone’s infected with Zika, or with one of its close relatives such as dengue or chikungunya.</p>
<p>It’s tricky to test someone for Zika infection and people who think they may be infected say they sometimes have to wait weeks for results. Having a quick test that can be used in the field would greatly improve efforts to study and fight Zika.</p>
<p>Zika has spread across much of Latin America and the Caribbean, and it’s caused outbreaks in south Florida.</p>
<p>The Florida department of health reports more than 1,000 cases of Zika. Most have been carried in by travelers but 172 people have been infected in Florida, presumably by Aedes mosquitoes that live there. Travelers infected with Zika can infect other people sexually and if they are bitten by Aedes mosquitoes when they get back home, those mosquitoes can infect more people.</p> | Feds to Fund Plans to Take on Zika Virus With Drones | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/zika-virus-outbreak/feds-fund-plans-take-zika-virus-drones-n665241 | 2016-10-12 | 3 |
<p>After losing a prototype iPhone, a Chinese product manager for Apple's overseas manufacturer killed himself by jumping from his apartment window. Apple doesn't directly manufacture its products, but the company's notorious and sometimes belligerent devotion to secrecy isn't playing well in light of <a href="http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090722/tc_nm/us_apple_china" type="external">reports</a> that Sun Danyong, 25, was harassed before his death by security personnel from his employer's parent firm.</p>
<p>To be clear, Apple did not directly employ the man in question or the security personnel who are alleged to have searched his apartment.</p>
<p>The iPhone is manufactured in China by Taiwan-based Foxconn, which is itself owned by a company called Hon Hai.</p>
<p>A Hon Hai security official has been <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&amp;sid=aohDaP5qAE68" type="external">suspended</a>, but it's not clear there's a link to the suicide.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://engadget.com" type="external">(via Engadget)</a></p>
<p>Reuters via Yahoo:</p>
<p>But according to a report in the influential Nanfang Daily, Sun, a 25-year-old product manager, became frantic after discovering that one of 16 prototypes of Apple's fourth-generation N90 iPhone had gone missing. The iPhone is Apple's hottest-selling device and the latest version is a well-kept secret.</p>
<p>Sun vented his growing frustration in text messages to his girlfriend and a former classmate, and tried to find the missing device, the Nanfang Daily said. But company officials from Foxconn's security division apparently got suspicious and raided his home.</p>
<p>The Yunnan native jumped from his 12th floor apartment the day after, according to the report.</p>
<p><a href="http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090722/tc_nm/us_apple_china" type="external">Read more</a></p> | A Phone to Die For | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/a-phone-to-die-for/ | 2009-07-23 | 4 |
<p>ETF Trends publisher Tom Lydon spoke with Brian Diessner, Senior VP &amp; Head of Sales, Global X, at Inside ETFs conference that ran Jan. 22-25, 2017. Diessner discussed ESG investing and why advisors are excited about it. Build a Portfolio to Capitalize on Long-Term Trends For the past eight years, investors have enjoyed the rewards… <a href="http://www.etftrends.com/2017/02/global-x-explains-what-is-esg-why-are-advisors-excited-about-it/" type="external">Click to read more at ETFtrends.com. Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Global X Explains What is ESG & Why Are Advisors Excited About It | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/02/17/global-x-explains-what-is-esg-why-are-advisors-excited-about-it.html | 2017-02-17 | 0 |
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<p>FARMINGTON (AP) — A veterans group and a federal agency are wrangling over a campground that’s located on federal land but that has been managed by the veterans group for nearly 40 years.</p>
<p>The Daily Times reports that a Veterans of Foreign Wars post recently asked the Bureau of Land Management for help in combating vandalism at the campground near Bloomfield.</p>
<p>That prompted BLM officials to review the situation and to demand that the post relinquish control until there’s a new agreement regarding the site.</p>
<p>That’s frustrating VFW members whose group have improved the campground.</p>
<p>It’s used for recreation, picnics and as a place for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder to relax.</p>
<p>BLM official Scott Hall says the agency is researching options that could allow the VFW to continue using the site.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | BLM, VFW wrangle over campground | false | https://abqjournal.com/171113/blm-vfw-wrangle-over-campground.html | 2013-02-21 | 2 |
<p>What would Donald Trump do to fix the Middle East? Listening to his prescriptions, it’s not an easy question to answer.</p>
<p>Trump sought to clarify his worldview with a prepared speech in Youngstown, Ohio, on Monday after a week of battles over his claim that President Obama “founded ISIS” and was the “MVP” of the Islamist terror group.</p>
<p>But setting aside the debate over that rhetoric, which he did not repeat in his speech, the national security framework he described was so contradictory and filled with so many obvious falsehoods that it’s virtually impossible to tell what he would do as president.</p>
<p>Trump’s “Obama founded ISIS” catchphrase is inflammatory, but it’s not a literal argument (even though <a href="http://www.hughhewitt.com/donald-trump-makes-return-visit/" type="external">Trump initially insisted it was</a>). Instead he's used the term to stitch together a patchwork of more mainstream criticisms that blame Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former President George W. Bush for creating the current Middle East crisis. “Our current strategy of nation building and regime change is a proven, absolute failure,” Trump said on Monday.</p>
<p>Under Trump’s telling, Bush committed the initial sin by destabilizing the Middle East with his 2003 invasion of Iraq. This is a version of events more common on the left, but one that exists on the right as well.</p>
<p>Obama then made things worse with a "reckless" withdrawal of troops that created a "vacuum" for groups like ISIS to assert control. This is a frequent complaint from more neoconservative Republicans.</p>
<p>In addition, Trump said, Clinton exacerbated the problem by supporting airstrikes against Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi's "stable" regime, which provided Islamic radicals another weak state to serve as a base. He also argued Clinton and Obama should have supported Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, rather than encouraged him to step down in the face of street protests. These too are relatively ordinary criticisms.</p>
<p>But these arguments, while unremarkable enough on their own, say nothing about Trump's instincts or how he would govern.</p>
<p>That’s because Trump previously supported every single foreign policy decision he now decries.</p>
<p>Despite claiming daily that he opposed the Iraq War from the start, Trump endorsed deposing Saddam Hussein in a <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/in-2002-donald-trump-said-he-supported-invading-iraq-on-the" type="external">2002 interview</a> and there’s no record of him opposing the war until after it had began. As for exiting the Iraq War, he <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/trump-cites-iraq-withdrawal-he-passionately-supported-to-say?utm_term=.baE4meYXex#.dbgBYqLXqj" type="external">said repeatedly</a> in 2007 and 2008 that America should withdraw immediately and later <a href="https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/289807790178959360" type="external">recommended the same</a> course for Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Turning to Libya, Trump recorded a video in 2011 demanding the Obama administration <a href="" type="internal">remove Gadhafi from power</a> on humanitarian grounds. He went on to lie about his support for the Libya intervention in a Republican debate only to admit to it when confronted with footage of his old statements in a CBS interview. Finally, Trump called Mubarak’s departure <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/trump-in-2011-praised-hosni-mubaraks-ouster-as-a-good-thing?utm_term=.piX30XLnXW#.vvZR54jp4e" type="external">“a good thing”</a> at the time before turning against the idea years later.</p>
<p>The result is that the only thing we know about Trump is that he’s good at criticizing decisions by other presidents in hindsight. Unfortunately, this is not a very useful skill for the person tasked with making the decisions in the first place.</p>
<p>“He’s best when he’s making forceful retrospective critiques,” Colin Dueck, a professor at George Mason University who’s <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008E2QV7W/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1" type="external">researched</a> the history of Republican foreign policy, said when asked to describe Trump’s worldview. “But when you ask him what specifically are you proposing going forward, he doesn’t have a coherent proposal.”</p>
<p>As Colin Powell famously cautioned George W. Bush ahead of the Iraq War, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/if-you-break-it.html?_r=0" type="external">“you break it, you own it.”</a> The consequences of military action — or inaction, in some of these cases — are irreversible.</p>
<p>Trump’s chameleon-like prescription for Middle East is not consistent with any one school of thought – or with itself. Sometimes he resembles a non-interventionist in the vein of Ron Paul, like when he decried nation building and regime change in his speech on Monday. At other times, he sounds like Genghis Khan, like when he demanded in the very same speech that American troops conquer oil fields in Iraq by force and claim the profits for America. He previously suggested in 2011 that the US claim Libya's oil as well.</p>
<p>“In the old days when we won a war, to the victor go the spoils,” Trump said on Monday, describing a doctrine that runs directly counter to the international regime America led the world in establishing and currently enforces.</p>
<p>The result of this confusing mix is that Trump has alienated Republican national security minds across a range of policy schools.</p>
<p>John Noonan, who advised Jeb Bush’s campaign on national security, said Obama’s “premature withdrawal from Iraq" was an avoidable mistake that contributed to the rise of ISIS and that Trump was accurate to point it out. But that doesn’t mean Noonan is on board with the GOP nominee — far from it.</p>
<p>“The rest of his foreign policy is an absolutely blathering jumble of nonsense,” he told NBC News. “I can’t in good conscience sign my name to it."</p>
<p>In March, Noonan <a href="http://warontherocks.com/2016/03/open-letter-on-donald-trump-from-gop-national-security-leaders/" type="external">signed onto a letter</a> with dozens of Republican foreign policy hands disavowing Trump in part because his policies are “wildly inconsistent and unmoored in principle."</p>
<p>Daniel Larison, a writer at the American Conservative, has spent years criticizing the Republican Party’s foreign policy for leaning too hard on military operations to advance American interests. But despite Trump’s stated opposition to “nation building” and toppling dictators by force, Larison opposes the nominee as well.</p>
<p>“Trump has relatively few antiwar conservative friends because he is not really reliably antiwar in any meaningful sense,” Larison said. “He favors a much larger military budget, he usually has no strong objections to foreign wars when they begin, and he has little or no interest in diplomatic engagement that might avert conflict.”</p>
<p>Trump’s views on intervention weren’t the only place where things ran off the rails. Adopting a standard GOP talking point, he decried Obama for a mythic “apology tour” on Monday and chided him for not championing feminism and gay rights abroad.</p>
<p>But this is at odds with his stated views as well, which have long been characterized by a deep contempt for any notion of human rights that might impede raw material gains. In addition to <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/trump-hails-torture-mass-killings-pigs-blood-ammo-sc" type="external">celebrating torture</a> and regaling audiences with apocryphal tales of Americans committing war crimes, Trump has regularly argued America’s own leaders should refrain from criticizing dictatorial regimes because America lacks the moral authority to do so.</p>
<p>“When the world looks at how bad the United States is, and then we go and talk about civil liberties, I don’t think we’re a very good messenger,” Trump <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/07/21/donald-trump-says-u-s-shouldnt-criticize-turkeys-erdogan-over-post-coup-purge/" type="external">said last month</a> when asked about concerns over a crackdown on opposition by Turkish leader Reccep Erdogan.</p>
<p>Pressed on MSNBC’s Morning Joe last year over his praise for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin despite allegations he’s murdered journalists and rivals, Trump responded: “I think our country does plenty of killing also.”</p>
<p>In 2013, Trump also lavished praise on Putin in multiple interviews for writing an op-ed that criticized the <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/donald-trump-praised-putin-for-bashing-the-term-american-exc?utm_term=.ov0dKqZWq3#.uuDG3v5avX" type="external">very concept of American exceptionalism</a>.</p>
<p>“You use a term like ‘American exceptionalism,’ and frankly, the way our country is being treated right now by Russia and Syria and lots of other places and with all the mistakes we've made over the years, like Iraq and so many others, it's sort of a hard term to use,” Trump said on Fox News, adding that Putin was “extremely diplomatic” for pointing this out.</p>
<p>Outside of the Middle East, Trump’s “America First” foreign policy views are at least somewhat more consistent. He’s long described international relations as a zero-sum gain between strong winners and weak losers in ways that apply to both national security and trade. Trump has consistently called for new tariffs to protect workers from foreign competition and he’s cast a skeptical eye towards alliances like NATO, which he’s threatened to abandon in recent months if member states don’t pay enough for protection.</p>
<p>Dueck compared Trump’s perspective to the original “America First” movement, which resisted foreign entanglements and sought American neutrality in World War II.</p>
<p>“Trump’s actually been saying for decades that he thinks U.S. alliances are more of a burden than an asset, he’s been saying for decades he against free trade deals like NAFTA,” Dueck said. “He’s very volatile and contradictory day to day but he has been actually saying this for years.”</p>
<p>All of this would be a major break from the last seven-plus decades of Republican and Democratic presidents. But at least American voters could fairly say they were warned if he implemented this approach. No one, probably not even Trump himself, knows how what he’d do about the Middle East.</p>
<p>Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. claim Libya’s oil fields was made in 2011, not during his speech Monday as first reported.</p> | Analysis: Making Sense of Donald Trump’s Disjointed Foreign Policy Pitch | false | http://nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/analysis-making-sense-donald-trump-s-disjointed-foreign-policy-pitch-n631311 | 2016-08-16 | 3 |
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<p>The child prodigy and master composer was born 261 years ago on Jan. 27.</p>
<p>The musicians will honor that anniversary with the help of violinist Benjamin Beilman at Santa Fe’s Lensic Performing Arts Center on Saturday, Jan. 28, and Jan. 29.</p>
<p>Pro Musica conductor/artistic director Thomas O’Connor first heard Beilman at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival two years ago.</p>
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<p>“At the first concert I heard, he was clearly the best player on stage,” O’Connor said. “I definitely wanted to work with him.”</p>
<p>The violinist will join the orchestra on Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216, one of five penned by the composer around 1756.</p>
<p>“In many ways, it’s the most completely fleshed-out” version, O’Connor said. “He wrote them in the space of two years. He was a teenager.</p>
<p>“He was an outstanding violinist. Before a trio performance with his father, the elder Mozart admonished his son to play softly. This was when Mozart was just 7 years old.</p>
<p>“He didn’t realize how good he was. He realized with astonishment that his own playing was superfluous.”</p>
<p>Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 “Jupiter” closes the program.</p>
<p>No one knows for sure how it got that name long after the composer’s death, O’Connor said.</p>
<p>Written in 1788, the symphony was Mozart’s last. He died in 1791.</p>
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<p>“It’s truly a transformational piece,” O’Connor said. “He wrote it in the space of six weeks.”</p>
<p>The majority of the composer’s catalog consists of commissioned works, with the exception of the “Jupiter.” Mozart died before hearing it performed.</p>
<p>“As late as 1798, critics were of the opinion that he’d gone too far; it was too revolutionary,” O’Connor said.</p>
<p>“It’s so hard,” he said, “It’s hard to maintain the integrity of each theme without clashes; it’s note against note.”</p>
<p>Anna Clyne’s “Within Her Arms” sandwiches the two Mozart works with a piece dedicated to her mother. Unashamedly romantic, it was inspired by the writings of the Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh with harmonies recalling Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.</p>
<p>“We have for the last several years focused on compositions by women,” O’Connor said. “As conductors and composers, they’re still being marginalized. Some of the most exciting composers today are women.”</p>
<p /> | Santa Fe concert to mark Mozart’s birthday | false | https://abqjournal.com/933002/santa-fe-concert-to-mark-mozarts-birthday.html | 2 |
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<p>This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (November 10, 2017).</p>
<p>RÜSSELSHEIM, Germany -- The maker of Peugeot on Thursday unveiled a sweeping restructuring plan for its Opel and Vauxhall units aimed at pushing into electric cars and finally turning a profit at the recently acquired brands within two years.</p>
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<p>The overhaul marks the next step in the turnaround for PSA Group, which also manufactures the Citroën brand. The French car maker was rescued from near bankruptcy in 2013 through a bailout from the French government and Chinese state-owned Dongfeng Motors.</p>
<p>Over the past three years, PSA has become one of Europe's most profitable companies as Chief Executive Carlos Tavares has tried to build Peugeot into a global competitor to Volkswagen AG, General Motors Co. and Toyota Motors Co.</p>
<p>Peugeot acquired Opel and its British unit Vauxhall from GM in August for $2.2 billion, after GM threw in the towel following years of losses and failed attempts to wean them back to health.</p>
<p>"Over the past 15 years this company has lost more than $10 billion. This company has cut more than 30,000 jobs. This is a fact. We face a dramatic situation," Mr. Tavares told reporters at Opel's headquarters in Rüsselsheim.</p>
<p>If Mr. Tavares succeeds where GM failed, the restructuring could become a watershed for the European auto industry, which still suffers from low profits and overcapacity as growth in European new-car sales slows, and transform Peugeot into a potent rival to Volkswagen.</p>
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<p>The restructuring plan, thrashed out in over three months of tense meetings, targets annual savings of EUR1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) and a profit margin of 2% by 2020. By 2026, those targets are forecast to increase to EUR1.7 billion in savings and a 6% profit margin.</p>
<p>Opel's management doesn't plan to achieve the savings through plant closures or mass layoffs, said Opel Chief Executive Michael Lohscheller. He said labor costs needed to come down, but that could be achieved through early retirement and other measures, declining to elaborate on any details.</p>
<p>Mr. Tavares is aiming to nurse Opel and Vauxhall back to profit by accelerating plans to shift production to the French car maker's technology, allowing the larger car group to cut costs by building Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and Vauxhall models with the same equipment and parts.</p>
<p>Mr. Lohscheller said savings would be achieved through long-overdue streamlining "just like PSA did" that includes reducing the number of engine groups to four from 10 and cutting the model technology platforms to two from nine.</p>
<p>Opel is targeting substantial savings in manufacturing, purchasing, and management, aiming to reduce costs per car by EUR700 by 2020 with the aim of reducing the break-even point to the sale of 800,000 cars. The executives didn't say where break-even is now.</p>
<p>Producing Opel and Vauxhall models on Peugeot technology will help cut the number of components used by half. Opel isn't planning to shut any plants, but it will reduce the size of their manufacturing operations by 25% and will boost capacity usage in Germany by moving production from South Korea.</p>
<p>Until now, Opel has only had one electric vehicle, the Ampera-E. Without additional electric-car models, Opel has been on a trajectory to exceed European greenhouse-gas emission targets in 2020. Under the new plan, Opel will begin churning out electric and hybrid versions of its models. Every model the company makes will have an electric version by 2024.</p>
<p>"They were able to rebuild the product planning in a short period of time to put the CO2 strategy back on track," Mr. Tavares said.</p>
<p>Under GM's leadership, Opel neither exported its products nor expanded into other markets where GM was present. That will also change under Peugeot's tutelage. Mr. Lohscheller said Opel has identified up to 20 markets that the company plans to enter in the coming years. He declined to elaborate much, but cited Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan.</p>
<p>Mr. Tavares's best argument for the potential success of his plans for Opel is his record at Peugeot. When he began in 2014, Peugeot's factories were working well below capacity and bleeding cash. Last month, he said, Peugeot's factories worked at 130% capacity.</p>
<p>Opel is the next steppingstone for Mr. Tavares to achieve his global ambition.</p>
<p>"Being a strong champion in Europe gives us a very strong basis from which we can leverage more profitable growth overseas," he said. "You cannot be a strong global leader if you are not strong in your home market."</p>
<p>--Max Bernhard contributed to this article.</p>
<p>Write to William Boston at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>November 10, 2017 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)</p> | Peugeot Steers Opel Into Electric Cars -- WSJ | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/11/10/peugeot-steers-opel-into-electric-cars-wsj.html | 2017-11-10 | 0 |
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<p>So, after Wednesday night's 75-63 win against Nicholls State, a team that, frankly, appeared more interested in playing in the Pit than the Lobos did, UNM&#160; coach Craig Neal took a more blunt approach.</p>
<p>"Oh, they're going to buy in or they're not going to play," said Neal, whose team improved to 4-1. "I'll play (walk-ons) Adam Cumber and Connor (Joy) and those guys. It's a privilege to wear our jersey. It's not a right and some of our guys think it's a right. They think that they are entitled to it. - Guys aren't going to play just because they think I'm not going to do anything about it (when they under-perform)."</p>
<p>Neal didn't single out any players for his criticism, but it wasn't hard to understand the message was as much, or more, about his presumed leaders than about those deeper in the rotation.</p>
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<p>In a message more subtly sent, freshman guard Anthony Mathis (seven points on 2-of-7 shooting in 14 minutes off the bench) was the player made available to talk to the media Wednesday night. That was instead of more impactful statistical performers like Cullen Neal (12 points, 5 assists), Elijah Brown (18 points, nine rebounds, five assists) and Tim Williams (10 points, 12 rebounds).</p>
<p>"To be honest with you, I've been too soft on them," Craig Neal said. "To be honest, I've been too easy on them. And that's my fault. We'll figure it out and get it straightened out."</p>
<p>MORE THAN THE 3: Mathis, the 6-foot-3 freshman from West Linn, Ore., has been known since committing to the Lobos as a sharp-shooting guard. He bolstered fan expectations along those lines when he won the team's 3-point contest at the Lobo Howl and can be seen in practices and warmups nailing deep 3 after deep 3.</p>
<p>But he's only 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) this season from beyond the arc, which is why showing an ability to find other ways to score on Wednesday was a welcomed sign. He was just 1-of-6 from 3-point range, but got to the free throw line three times (he made two) and hit a nice head fake/step-inside-the arc jumper that clearly wasn't included on the Nicholls State scouting report.</p>
<p>"Obviously people know that I'm a pretty good shooter," said Mathis. "If I just give them a head fake, they're going to fly and I'll have an open 15-, 17-footer."</p>
<p>He also admitted to finally starting to feel less anxious on the court during games.</p>
<p>"Definitely," Mathis said. "The first couple games I wasn't feeling as comfortable as usual, but as time goes on and I'm on the court, I feel a lot more comfortable."</p>
<p>FURST OFF THE BENCH: Sophomore forward Joe Furstinger played a season-high 25 minutes off the bench Wednesday and had his usual moments of high-energy, crowd-pleasing moments. He screamed for about half a minute straight following a blocked shot late in the first half that seemed to rev up the Pit crowd louder and louder as his face turned more and more red.</p>
<p>But maybe more important than that moment of fiery Furstinger were the other 24 minutes of quality basketball he played. He finished with four points on 2-of-3 shooting with three blocked shots and two steals.</p>
<p>"I thought Joe was terrific," Neal said. "I thought he was good at USC (on Saturday), and I should have played him more. - Joe's giving us great effort. He's got great confidence right now. He's playing at a high level. I was really happy with the way that he played. And he's going to continue to get better because he wants to get better."</p>
<p>Neal added that Furstinger in the past month or so has put in more time in the gym and in film study on his own time than at any time prior in his still young Lobo playing career.</p>
<p>TIME OFF: The Lobos took Thanksgiving off and will also be off today before returning to practice Saturday night.</p> | Neal sends a message to his Lobos | false | https://abqjournal.com/682030/neal-sends-a-message-to-his-lobos.html | 2 |
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<p>TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will see average to cooler weather between February and April, the official forecaster said on Wednesday.</p> A man takes a picture at a park in Tokyo, Japan, January 23, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
<p>Eastern Japan, including the most densely populated Tokyo, will have a 40 percent chance of average temperatures for the period, the Japan Meteorological Agency said in its monthly three-month forecast.</p>
<p>Reporting by Fumika Inoue; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>NEW YORK (Reuters) - The threat of a global trade war pushed benchmark equity indexes in the United States and Europe deep into the red on Thursday and cut into commodity prices, a day after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates as expected.</p>
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday that could impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of imports from China. Under the terms of the memorandum, Trump will target the Chinese imports only after a consultation period.</p>
<p>The Dow Jones Industrial Average <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.DJI" type="external">.DJI</a> fell 724.42 points, or 2.93 percent, to 23,957.89, the S&amp;P 500 <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX" type="external">.SPX</a> lost 68.24 points, or 2.52 percent, to 2,643.69 and the Nasdaq Composite <a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC" type="external">.IXIC</a> dropped 178.61 points, or 2.43 percent, to 7,166.68.</p>
<p>Equity markets were down worldwide, with the 1 percent increase in Japan’s Nikkei the only positive among major indexes for the day. Emerging market stocks lost 1.21 percent, and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 1.65 percent.</p>
<p>China blamed U.S. export restrictions for its record trade surplus with the United States, but expressed hope that a solution can be found to settle trade issues.</p>
<p>China also gingerly raised a key short-term interest rate.</p>
<p>“Markets are saying that these tariffs are going to cut into the global growth story that looked pretty strong just a few weeks ago. The prospect of more tariffs is making markets very unsettled and you’re going to see choppy trading until we see the effect they are having on earnings,” said Jamie Cox, a managing partner for Harris Financial Group.</p>
<p>Those jitters, plus weaker-than-expected German business confidence data, caused European shares to fall 1.6 percent.</p> Slideshow (2 Images)
<p>The dollar index .DXY rose 0.03 percent, with the euro <a href="/finance/currencies/quote?srcCurr=EUR&amp;destCurr=USD" type="external">EUR=</a> down 0.19 percent to $1.2312. The yen rose to a three-week peak against the dollar as traders piled into the Japanese currency in a safe-haven move.</p>
<p>The Fed raised its key rate by 25 basis points to a range of 1.50 percent to 1.75 percent on Wednesday and flagged at least two more increases for the year, short of the three that some economists had been predicting.</p>
<a href="/finance/markets/index?symbol=.DJI" type="external">Dow Jones &amp; Company Inc</a> 23957.89 .DJI Dow Jones Indexes -724.42 (-2.93%) .DJI .SPX .IXIC
<p>Shares in U.S. social media giant Facebook fell 2.6 percent. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg apologized for a “major breach of trust” over how it had handled data belonging to 50 million users. That did little to ease investor worries about the cost to fix mistakes and lawmakers’ dismay that his response did not go far enough.</p>
<p>Bond yields fell broadly. Borrowing costs on 30-year German debt hit their lowest level of the year.</p>
<p>Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR last rose 22/32 in price to yield 2.8263 percent, from 2.907 percent late on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Concern about a trade war between the world’s two largest economies also rattled commodity markets.</p>
<p>U.S. crude CLcv1 fell 1.41 percent to $64.25 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was last at $68.90, down 0.82 percent on the day.</p>
<p>Spot gold XAU= dropped 0.2 percent to $1,328.61 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 gained 0.55 percent to $1,328.80 an ounce.</p>
<p>Editing by Nick Zieminski and Dan Grebler</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - The U.S. Congress’ $1.3 trillion spending bill includes language that would forbid restaurants and other employers from pocketing employees’ tips, the result of a deal between the government’s top labor official and a Senate Democrat.</p>
<p>The provision addresses worker advocates’ concerns that employers could steal tips under a Labor Department proposal that could have allowed businesses to pool tips made by wait staff and other workers and share them with “back-of-the-house” employees like cooks and dishwashers.</p>
<p>A worker advocate on Thursday applauded the language in the spending legislation released late the previous night.</p>
<p>The provision is “exactly what restaurant workers have been looking for,” Judith Conti, the federal advocacy coordinator for the National Employment Law Project, a New York-based worker advocacy group, said in a telephone interview.</p>
<p>On the employer side, the National Restaurant Association’s regulatory counsel, Angelo Amador, said in a statement the group was concerned the measure’s enforcement and penalty provisions go too far.</p>
<p>The House of Representatives passed the $1.3 trillion spending bill on Thursday. To avert a government shutdown on Friday, the Senate needs to pass the bill and President Donald Trump must sign it.</p>
<p>The tipping issue resurfaced in December when the Labor Department proposed a rule rolling back an Obama-era regulation that banned tip pooling for workers making at least the full minimum wage.</p>
<p>Companies that pay workers the tipped minimum wage cannot pool tips in this way. The federal tipped minimum wage is $2.13 per hour, more than five dollars less per hour than the standard federal minimum wage.</p>
<p>Last month, three congressional Democrats called on the Republican Trump administration to withdraw the proposal following news reports saying the Labor Department failed to disclose results of an economic analysis that determined pooling tips could cost workers billions of dollars.</p>
<p>The new language on tipping was negotiated by U.S. Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta and Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Republican-controlled Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.</p>
<p>The provision, which forbids employers from keeping pooled tips or giving them to managers, is part of an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act that is a rider to the spending bill.</p>
<p>The measure also gives workers the right to sue if their tips are stolen and authorizes the Labor Department to seek civil penalties for tip theft.</p>
<p>Murray said in a statement that Acosta’s listening to workers’ concerns about the proposal and agreeing to the legislative fix came as “a sigh of relief” for millions of workers who rely on tips to make a living.</p>
<p>A Labor Department spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>Reporting by Robert Iafolla, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Jonathan Oatis</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Republicans’ conservative Freedom Caucus said on Thursday it would not vote for the $1.3 trillion government spending bill before Congress, citing the measure’s “massive price tag,” the group said in statement.</p>
<p>The group, which includes about three dozen lawmakers in the House of Representatives, also said the bill did not adequately fund Republican priorities such as U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall while continuing to fund other projects that run counter to the party’s priorities.</p>
<p>Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Doina Chiacu</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - Facebook Inc came under further pressure from lawmakers, investors, advertisers and users on Thursday, the day after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg admitted the social media network made mistakes in letting 50 million users’ data get into the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.</p>
<p>U.S. lawmakers demanded Zuckerberg personally testify in Washington to explain his company’s actions.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, advertisers Mozilla and Commerzbank suspended ads on the service and the hashtag #DeleteFacebook remained popular online, although it was hard to tell how many users are abandoning Facebook.</p>
<p>In light of those concerns, investors continued to sell off Facebook shares.</p>
<p>The company has lost more than $50 billion in market value since allegations this week that political consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly accessed data to build profiles on American voters and influence the 2016 presidential election.</p>
<p>Five days after the scandal broke, Zuckerberg apologized on Wednesday for mistakes his company made and promised to restrict developers’ access to user information as part of a plan to improve privacy protection.</p>
<p>On Thursday, Facebook executives were still saying sorry. “It was a mistake,” Campbell Brown, head of news partnerships at Facebook, said at The Financial Times FT Future of News Conference in New York City.</p>
<p>Zuckerberg’s apology and promises were not enough to ease political pressure on the world’s largest social media company.</p>
<p>“It shouldn’t be for a company to decide what is the appropriate balance between privacy and innovation and use of data. Those rules should be set by society as a whole and so by parliament,” British minister for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Matt Hancock, told BBC Radio.</p>
<p>Zuckerberg’s media rounds did little to satisfy Washington lawmakers in either political party who have demanded this week that the billionaire testify before Congress.</p>
<p>The Republican chairman and top Democrat of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee said they will in coming days formally ask Zuckerberg to testify.</p>
<p>The request came a day after company executives briefed committee aides for nearly two hours and left with a list of at least 60 questions they were unable to answer, according to two aides.</p>
<p>Zuckerberg said in media interviews on Thursday he would be willing to testify if he is the right person at the company to speak to lawmakers.</p>
<p>“My message to Mark Zuckerberg is you are right person. There’s no question you are the right person,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, told reporters after Facebook executives briefed Senate staff on Thursday.</p> A 3D-printed Facebook logo is seen in front of displayed stock graph in this illustration photo March 20, 2018. Picture taken March 20. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
<p>Facebook said it had no further comment beyond what Zuckerberg had already said.</p>
<p>Facebook executives also briefed another House committee on Thursday, and while they answered many questions about Cambridge Analytica they were unprepared to address broader questions about Facebook’s data privacy policies, according to a staffer who was present</p> REPUTATIONAL COSTS
<p>Wall Street analysts expressed relief that there were no signs so far of a more fundamental shift in the company’s advertising-driven revenue model, but some said there would be costs to shore up its reputation.</p> Slideshow (4 Images)
<p>Facebook, with more than 2 billion monthly active users, made almost all its $40.6 billion in revenue last year from advertising.</p>
<p>Several analysts cut price targets and Facebook shares were down 2.2 percent on Thursday in heavy trading. Technology stocks have fallen along with Facebook this week as investors worried about tighter scrutiny of global platforms like Alphabet’s Google, Twitter and Snapchat.</p>
<p>Analysts said that Zuckerberg’s promises to investigate thousands of apps, and to give members a tool that lets them turn off access, would not substantially reduce advertisers’ ability to use Facebook data - the company’s lifeblood.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, open-source browser and app developer Mozilla said it was “pressing pause” on its Facebook advertising after the revelations prompted it to take a closer look at the site’s default privacy settings.</p>
<p>“We found that its current default settings leave access open to a lot of data – particularly with respect to settings for third-party apps,” Mozilla said in a blog post.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-facebook-cambridge-analytica-kogan/senate-subcommittee-seeks-information-on-facebook-data-idUSKBN1GY2LS" type="external">Senate subcommittee seeks information on Facebook data</a>
<a href="/article/us-facebook-cambridge-analytica-warrants/cambridge-analytica-london-search-warrant-delayed-by-court-idUSKBN1GY1DW" type="external">Cambridge Analytica London search warrant delayed by court</a>
<a href="/article/us-facebook-cambridge-analytica-nix/suspended-cambridge-analytica-ceo-recalled-by-british-parliamentary-committee-idUSKBN1GY2AH" type="external">Suspended Cambridge Analytica CEO recalled by British parliamentary committee</a>
<p>Commerzbank paused its campaign on Facebook. “Brand safety and data security are very important to us,” head of brand strategy Uwe Hellmann told newspaper Handelsblatt. The comments were confirmed by a spokesman for the bank.</p>
<p>British advertising group ISBA, which represents thousands of brands, threatened to withdraw ads if investigations show user data has been misused.</p>
<p>“We think this issue is more likely to snowball than recede and that advertisers are reaching a tipping point at which spending on not only Facebook and other online platforms, is re-evaluated,” brokerage Liberum said in a note.</p>
<p>But Sharon Rowlands, president of USA Today Network Marketing Solutions, said it was unlikely a flood of brands would stop advertising on Facebook because it is good at targeting their customers and generating a return on investment.</p>
<p>“The challenge is that the platform performs,” Rowlands said.</p>
<p>Additional reporting by Dustin Volz and David Shepardson in Washington, Jessica Toonkel in New York, Munsif Vengattil in Bangalore and Paul Sandle in London; Writing by Susan Thomas, Editing by Nick Zieminski</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Japan to see average to cooler weather during February-April Equities, commodities hit by trade war worries U.S. spending bill would stop employers from pocketing workers' tips House Freedom Caucus rejects $1.3 trillion U.S. spending bill Investors, lawmakers, advertisers pressure Facebook over data | false | https://reuters.com/article/us-japan-weather/japan-to-see-average-to-cooler-weather-during-february-april-idUSKBN1FD0EL | 2018-01-24 | 2 |
<p>NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Saints All-Pro defensive end Cameron Jordan grinned playfully as he glanced up at a bottle of red wine in the top shelf of his locker and asked if anyone knew Carolina quarterback Cam Newton's address.</p>
<p>A bottle with the name "Jordan" on the label - even if it isn't made by the Saints star's family - might be the last thing Newton wants right now.</p>
<p>Drew Brees and his receiving corps came through when Carolina stifled New Orleans' prolific backfield, and a relentless Jordan spearheaded a late defensive stand to seal a 31-26 an NFC wild-card round victory on Sunday.</p>
<p>"You can't be more happy about the way we played in terms of how we finished the game," Jordan said. "We almost let them back in the game, but here I am standing as winner. Here I am, as a Cam Jordan, sending Cam Newton a bottle of Jordan wine."</p>
<p>Brees passed for 376 yards and two touchdowns, but one more completion would have considerably lowered the stress level on the Saints' sideline. Coach Sean Payton kept the offense on the field on fourth-and-short with two minutes remaining and Carolina out of timeouts, hoping for one more first down that would have allowed New Orleans to run out the clock.</p>
<p>But Brees couldn't find an open receiver, was flushed out of the pocket and decided his best option was to throw it up for grabs. It was intercepted by safety Mike Adams, which turned out better for New Orleans than an incompletion because it meant the Panthers had to start from their own 31 instead of mid-field.</p>
<p>Still, Newton completed three straight passes to move the Panthers to the Saints 26-yard line with 58 seconds left before New Orleans' resistance stiffened.</p>
<p>"I'm frustrated," Newton said. "I hate that I couldn't do enough to get a win today for a lot of guys that I think so highly of.</p>
<p>"I just have to be better," he added. "I'm not going to take the cowardly way and point somebody else out."</p>
<p>The comeback bid began to fizzle when Jordan induced an intentional grounding penalty on Newton, making it third-and-25 on the Saints 34 and a requiring 10-second runoff that left 20 seconds on the clock.</p>
<p>After an incompletion in the end zone, Vonn Bell <a href="http://www.nfl.com/m/share?p=%2Fvideos%2Fnfl-game-highlights%2F0ap3000000904111%2FSaints-SLAM-the-door-on-Panthers-comeback-with-sack-of-Cam-Newton" type="external">sacked Newton on a safety blitz</a> , ensuring the Saints (12-5) swept all three meetings with Carolina (11-6) this season, in addition to winning the first postseason game they've played in four seasons.</p>
<p>"The coaches wanted to get the ball out of the quarterback's hands fast," Bell said. "They dialed it up and I said, 'Go make a play.'"</p>
<p>Brees' touchdowns went for <a href="http://www.nfl.com/m/share?p=%2Fvideos%2Fnfl-cant-miss-plays%2F0ap3000000903875%2FCan-t-Miss-Play-Ginn-burns-former-squad-on-Brees-80-yard-TD-bomb" type="external">80-yards to Ted Ginn</a> and 9 yards to tight end Josh Hill. Fullback Zach line and running back Alvin Kamara each ran for short touchdowns, the latter set up by Michael Thomas' <a href="http://www.nfl.com/m/share?p=%2Fvideos%2Fnfl-game-highlights%2F0ap3000000904070%2FBrees-buys-time-finds-Thomas-on-deep-crosser-for-46-yards" type="external">46-yard reception</a> .</p>
<p>"What we've shown offensively is we have a lot of ways to be effective," Brees said, mentioning clutch first-down catches by Brandon Coleman and Willie Snead in addition to the big plays by Ginn and Thomas. "The ball was spread around quite a bit and guys were making plays when they had the chances."</p>
<p>Thomas <a href="http://www.nfl.com/m/share?p=%2Fvideos%2Fnfl-game-highlights%2F0ap3000000904119%2FTop-5-Michael-Thomas-catches-NFC-Wild-Card" type="external">caught eight passes for 131 yards</a> on a day when the Saints needed the passing game to compensate for a ground game that struggled to get going. Thomas said when he noticed the Panthers playing with one safety deep instead of their usual two, "you're licking your chops with a quarterback like Drew Brees and the talent we have. We knew what we had to do and it was on the receivers."</p>
<p>Ginn, a former Panthers receiver, celebrated the sweep of his former team by holding up a broom in the locker room.</p>
<p>MISSED OPPORTUNITIES</p>
<p>Helped by the presence of tight end Greg Olsen - who did not play in the teams' previous two meetings - Newton marched Carolina into Saints territory more often than not. But the Panthers stalled four times inside the New Orleans 25 in the first three quarters. They settled for four field goal attempts on those drives, one of which kicker Graham Gano surprisingly missed from 25-yards.</p>
<p>Jordan called the Saints' red-zone stops "huge."</p>
<p>"Had half of those been touchdowns, we'd be sitting in a different spot," Jordan said.</p>
<p>KEY STATS</p>
<p>Olsen had eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.</p>
<p>Newton finished 24 of 40 passing for 349 yards and two touchdowns, including a <a href="http://www.nfl.com/m/share?p=%2Fvideos%2Fnfl-game-highlights%2F0ap3000000904088%2FCan-t-Miss-Play-McCaffrey-TAKES-OFF-for-56-yard-catch-and-run-TD" type="external">56-yard scoring strike to Christian McCaffrey</a> that pulled the Panthers within a touchdown with 4:09 left.</p>
<p>Saints running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara, who combined for more than 3,000 yards from scrimmage this season, were held to 68 total yards.</p>
<p>RUSHING THE PASSSER</p>
<p>Newton was sacked four times, once each by Bell, Jordan, Jonathan Freeney, and David Onyemata. The sack by Onyemata came as Newton tried to spin away from Tyeler Davison and slammed his head into Onyemata's chest. Newton appeared to be checked for a concussion, but missed only one play before returning to the game on Carolina's next possession</p>
<p>Newton sat on the field near the sideline after the play, and while a new NFL rule calls for players to be taken to the locker room to be evaluated for concussions if they appear to be struggling to stand, Newton said part of his helmet got pushed into his eyelid. Panthers coach Ron Rivera offered a similar explanation and added that Newton only sat down to give backup Derek Anderson more time to warm up.</p>
<p>The NFL said it planned to discuss the matter with the Panthers medical staff before commenting further.</p>
<p>INJURIES</p>
<p>Panthers: Cornerback Daryl Worley briefly was placed in the concussion protocol but also cleared to return during the game.</p>
<p>Saints: Starting left guard Andrus Peat was carted off the field with a broken left fibula.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Panthers: Begin the offseason after their fourth trip to the playoffs in five years lasted on game.</p>
<p>Saints: Move on to play at Minnesota in the NFC Divisional playoffs.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For more NFL coverage: <a href="http://www.pro32.ap.org" type="external">http://www.pro32.ap.org</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL</a></p>
<p>NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Saints All-Pro defensive end Cameron Jordan grinned playfully as he glanced up at a bottle of red wine in the top shelf of his locker and asked if anyone knew Carolina quarterback Cam Newton's address.</p>
<p>A bottle with the name "Jordan" on the label - even if it isn't made by the Saints star's family - might be the last thing Newton wants right now.</p>
<p>Drew Brees and his receiving corps came through when Carolina stifled New Orleans' prolific backfield, and a relentless Jordan spearheaded a late defensive stand to seal a 31-26 an NFC wild-card round victory on Sunday.</p>
<p>"You can't be more happy about the way we played in terms of how we finished the game," Jordan said. "We almost let them back in the game, but here I am standing as winner. Here I am, as a Cam Jordan, sending Cam Newton a bottle of Jordan wine."</p>
<p>Brees passed for 376 yards and two touchdowns, but one more completion would have considerably lowered the stress level on the Saints' sideline. Coach Sean Payton kept the offense on the field on fourth-and-short with two minutes remaining and Carolina out of timeouts, hoping for one more first down that would have allowed New Orleans to run out the clock.</p>
<p>But Brees couldn't find an open receiver, was flushed out of the pocket and decided his best option was to throw it up for grabs. It was intercepted by safety Mike Adams, which turned out better for New Orleans than an incompletion because it meant the Panthers had to start from their own 31 instead of mid-field.</p>
<p>Still, Newton completed three straight passes to move the Panthers to the Saints 26-yard line with 58 seconds left before New Orleans' resistance stiffened.</p>
<p>"I'm frustrated," Newton said. "I hate that I couldn't do enough to get a win today for a lot of guys that I think so highly of.</p>
<p>"I just have to be better," he added. "I'm not going to take the cowardly way and point somebody else out."</p>
<p>The comeback bid began to fizzle when Jordan induced an intentional grounding penalty on Newton, making it third-and-25 on the Saints 34 and a requiring 10-second runoff that left 20 seconds on the clock.</p>
<p>After an incompletion in the end zone, Vonn Bell <a href="http://www.nfl.com/m/share?p=%2Fvideos%2Fnfl-game-highlights%2F0ap3000000904111%2FSaints-SLAM-the-door-on-Panthers-comeback-with-sack-of-Cam-Newton" type="external">sacked Newton on a safety blitz</a> , ensuring the Saints (12-5) swept all three meetings with Carolina (11-6) this season, in addition to winning the first postseason game they've played in four seasons.</p>
<p>"The coaches wanted to get the ball out of the quarterback's hands fast," Bell said. "They dialed it up and I said, 'Go make a play.'"</p>
<p>Brees' touchdowns went for <a href="http://www.nfl.com/m/share?p=%2Fvideos%2Fnfl-cant-miss-plays%2F0ap3000000903875%2FCan-t-Miss-Play-Ginn-burns-former-squad-on-Brees-80-yard-TD-bomb" type="external">80-yards to Ted Ginn</a> and 9 yards to tight end Josh Hill. Fullback Zach line and running back Alvin Kamara each ran for short touchdowns, the latter set up by Michael Thomas' <a href="http://www.nfl.com/m/share?p=%2Fvideos%2Fnfl-game-highlights%2F0ap3000000904070%2FBrees-buys-time-finds-Thomas-on-deep-crosser-for-46-yards" type="external">46-yard reception</a> .</p>
<p>"What we've shown offensively is we have a lot of ways to be effective," Brees said, mentioning clutch first-down catches by Brandon Coleman and Willie Snead in addition to the big plays by Ginn and Thomas. "The ball was spread around quite a bit and guys were making plays when they had the chances."</p>
<p>Thomas <a href="http://www.nfl.com/m/share?p=%2Fvideos%2Fnfl-game-highlights%2F0ap3000000904119%2FTop-5-Michael-Thomas-catches-NFC-Wild-Card" type="external">caught eight passes for 131 yards</a> on a day when the Saints needed the passing game to compensate for a ground game that struggled to get going. Thomas said when he noticed the Panthers playing with one safety deep instead of their usual two, "you're licking your chops with a quarterback like Drew Brees and the talent we have. We knew what we had to do and it was on the receivers."</p>
<p>Ginn, a former Panthers receiver, celebrated the sweep of his former team by holding up a broom in the locker room.</p>
<p>MISSED OPPORTUNITIES</p>
<p>Helped by the presence of tight end Greg Olsen - who did not play in the teams' previous two meetings - Newton marched Carolina into Saints territory more often than not. But the Panthers stalled four times inside the New Orleans 25 in the first three quarters. They settled for four field goal attempts on those drives, one of which kicker Graham Gano surprisingly missed from 25-yards.</p>
<p>Jordan called the Saints' red-zone stops "huge."</p>
<p>"Had half of those been touchdowns, we'd be sitting in a different spot," Jordan said.</p>
<p>KEY STATS</p>
<p>Olsen had eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.</p>
<p>Newton finished 24 of 40 passing for 349 yards and two touchdowns, including a <a href="http://www.nfl.com/m/share?p=%2Fvideos%2Fnfl-game-highlights%2F0ap3000000904088%2FCan-t-Miss-Play-McCaffrey-TAKES-OFF-for-56-yard-catch-and-run-TD" type="external">56-yard scoring strike to Christian McCaffrey</a> that pulled the Panthers within a touchdown with 4:09 left.</p>
<p>Saints running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara, who combined for more than 3,000 yards from scrimmage this season, were held to 68 total yards.</p>
<p>RUSHING THE PASSSER</p>
<p>Newton was sacked four times, once each by Bell, Jordan, Jonathan Freeney, and David Onyemata. The sack by Onyemata came as Newton tried to spin away from Tyeler Davison and slammed his head into Onyemata's chest. Newton appeared to be checked for a concussion, but missed only one play before returning to the game on Carolina's next possession</p>
<p>Newton sat on the field near the sideline after the play, and while a new NFL rule calls for players to be taken to the locker room to be evaluated for concussions if they appear to be struggling to stand, Newton said part of his helmet got pushed into his eyelid. Panthers coach Ron Rivera offered a similar explanation and added that Newton only sat down to give backup Derek Anderson more time to warm up.</p>
<p>The NFL said it planned to discuss the matter with the Panthers medical staff before commenting further.</p>
<p>INJURIES</p>
<p>Panthers: Cornerback Daryl Worley briefly was placed in the concussion protocol but also cleared to return during the game.</p>
<p>Saints: Starting left guard Andrus Peat was carted off the field with a broken left fibula.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Panthers: Begin the offseason after their fourth trip to the playoffs in five years lasted on game.</p>
<p>Saints: Move on to play at Minnesota in the NFC Divisional playoffs.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>For more NFL coverage: <a href="http://www.pro32.ap.org" type="external">http://www.pro32.ap.org</a> and <a href="http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL" type="external">http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL</a></p> | Brees, defensive stand, help Saints survive Panthers, 31-26 | false | https://apnews.com/amp/76dec3d1ab0843fda130caefaee258c0 | 2018-01-08 | 2 |
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<p />
<p>Analysts said the Japanese telecom and Internet conglomerate could be angling for lucrative benefits, including the regulatory approval to carry out one of the largest telecom mergers in recent history, between Sprint, which SoftBank owns, and rival carrier T-Mobile. It could also be cultivating a friendly environment for further technology investments Son is seeking to make in the United States.</p>
<p>“I think Son must have thought how to use Trump and this opportunity” for his business, said Mana Nakazora, chief credit analyst at BNP Paribas Securities.</p>
<p>Shares of SoftBank Group Corp rose 6.2 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday to close at their highest level in more than a year. Shares of Sprint Corp rose nearly 9 percent on Wednesday, while T-Mobile’s stock climbed more than 4 percent. Collectively, the companies added billions of dollars in market value after the announcement.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Trump said on Twitter on Tuesday that Son said he would not have made the investment if Trump had not won the election.</p>
<p>But analysts said that the $50 billion investment would likely come from a $100 billion fund created by SoftBank and the Saudi government – Son said as much to the Wall Street Journal – and that much of the fund might have been destined for the U.S. anyway.</p>
<p>SoftBank announced in October that it would dedicate at least $25 billion toward the $100 billion so-called SoftBank Vision Fund to invest in global technology companies in the next five years. Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund pledged to invest up to $45 billion in the same time period, with the additional $30 billion coming from outside investors.</p>
<p>“Son must have intended as much as half of the Vision Fund to go to the U.S., as he’s aware that there are great companies in Silicon Valley. But he chose this time to announce it as Trump is now going to be the next president,” said Jun Tanabe, a SoftBank analyst at JP Morgan Securities in Tokyo.</p>
<p>“Mr. Son already created the $100 billion fund and chose to invest $50 billion into the U.S. I suspect he would have done this whether the winner was Trump or Hillary,” Suzuki Kazuto, professor of international political economy at Hokkaido University, tweeted Wednesday.</p>
<p>A SoftBank spokesperson declined to comment whether the funds would be coming from the SoftBank Vision fund or give further information regarding the investment. Trump’s spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>Analysts suggested it would be difficult to deploy $100 billion in investment in global technology without looking largely to the U.S. and Silicon Valley. In 2015, for example, venture capitalists invested $148 billion worldwide in 8,381 deals, according to consulting firm EY. The U.S. accounted for roughly half of that investment.</p>
<p>“In 2016 so far, about 60 percent of all venture capital in the world has gone to the U.S.,” said Jeff Grabow, U.S. venture capital leader for EY. “The U.S. would be the first place anybody would look.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Analysts said Sun may be seeking to improve the chances of a merger between SoftBank’s Sprint and T-Mobile, a deal which would create a mobile carrier larger than Verizon and almost as big as AT&amp;T. Sprint and SoftBank abandoned an effort to purchase rival telecom carrier T-Mobile in 2014 – a deal valued at roughly $32 billion – after the Federal Communications Commission signaled the deal might violate antitrust laws.</p>
<p>Trump will be responsible for appointing the next chairman to the FCC. Speaking from the lobby of the Trump Tower on Tuesday, Son said that he wanted to celebrate Trump’s election “because he would do a lot of deregulation.”</p>
<p>“SoftBank’s original plan may come true with the new FCC chairman,” Naoshi Nema, analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, said in a note.</p>
<p>Analysts also speculated the deal could be an effort to smooth the way for other investments in the U.S. in the future, and specifically ward off the suspicion that sometimes surrounds foreign investment.</p>
<p>“It’s possible that the SoftBank Vision Fund, the money coming from overseas, will start investing in American companies one after another, so there’s a risk that Trump might criticize the move,” said Hideaki Tanaka, senior analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co.</p>
<p>Instead, Son first paid his respects to Trump by showing that SoftBank would be investing in American start-ups and hiring locals, said Tanaka. “This could help SoftBank do its business in the U.S. more smoothly. It could give an impression that his company is friendly to the U.S.”</p>
<p>In the last two months, Trump has taken an unusual new approach toward companies, negotiating with the air conditioner and furnace manufacturer Carrier to keep hundreds of jobs at an Indiana furnace factory from moving to Mexico, and singling out gear-maker Rexnord on Twitter for plans to offshore facilities. He has threatened American firms that outsource jobs with “retribution,” and proposed a 35 percent tariff against U.S. firms that do so.</p>
<p>Some lawmakers and Trump allies have celebrated the deal with Carrier. Peter Wallison, former White House counsel under Ronald Reagan and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said there isn’t enough evidence yet to say that Trump will continue to single out companies. “We haven’t yet seen a real policy that would suggest to me that is the way he is going to conduct his presidency.”</p>
<p>But others have argued that Trump’s actions represent the beginning of a policy of negotiating with companies on an individual basis, which in turn will create an incentive for companies to threaten to send jobs overseas in exchange for deals at home. Indiana agreed to $7 million tax subsidies to save the Carrier jobs.</p>
<p>In a Washington Post op-ed last week, former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders criticized Trump for delivering Carrier tax and regulatory favors in return for keeping jobs in the state, arguing that the practice could allow companies to hold Trump “hostage.”</p>
<p>“[H]e has signaled to every corporation in America that they can threaten to offshore jobs in exchange for business-friendly tax benefits and incentives. Even corporations that weren’t thinking of offshoring jobs will most probably be re-evaluating their stance this morning,” Sanders wrote.</p>
<p>Matthew Mitchell, a senior research fellow at the libertarian Mercatus Center, says it’s unclear what direct benefits SoftBank may receive from the Trump administration, if anything. But he added that the president shouldn’t be involved in the investment decisions of individual companies, because it risks making the U.S. government reliant on the support of companies to carry out its policies.</p>
<p>“I think we’re getting into this world now where there’s no longer a taboo about picking winners and losers. And to me, that’s a big concern, because institutionally that’s in some way what has set the U.S. apart from banana republics,” he said.</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Yuki Oda contributed reporting from Tokyo.</p>
<p>trump-softbank</p> | Donald Trump’s deal to create 50,000 jobs in America looks a lot different on day two | false | https://abqjournal.com/904468/donald-trumps-deal-to-create-50000-jobs-in-america-looks-a-lot-different-on-day-two.html | 2 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque Cab Co., one of&#160; the Duke City’s oldest and largest taxi businesses, closed its doors on Monday, laying off about 70 people, including cab and airport shuttle drivers, mechanics, and administrative staff.</p>
<p>The company, which formed in 1974, has dominated the Albuquerque market for nearly four decades, alongside the city’s other long-standing service, Yellow Checker Cab. But those two firms now face a lot more competition following efforts by state officials in recent years to open the local market to more competition.</p>
<p>Today, five cab companies are operating in Albuquerque, plus three airport shuttle firms, said Albuquerque Cab’s director of administrative services, Jeree Tomasi. That’s in addition to ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft.</p>
<p>“The transport industry has gotten more and more challenging because state regulators and legislators decided to de-regulate the market,” Tomasi told the Journal. “The competition has taken a huge portion of our market share, and we just couldn’t survive. Uber and Lyft in particular put the final nails in the coffin.”</p>
<p>Albuquerque Cab has always operated as a family business. Shawkeet Hindi, who took over the business from his brothers in 1998, ran the company until his death in 2015. His wife, Lois Hindi, has run it since then, along with her daughter, Jeree Tomasi, and other relatives.</p>
<p>The company operated nearly 50 vehicles, including cabs and shuttle buses. As of Monday, a recording told callers that Albuquerque Cab is no longer in operation, referring customers to Yellow Checker.</p>
<p>“Our drivers were all very loyal and good workers, but they couldn’t make a living anymore,” Tomasi said. “We did the best we could and invested all we had. Seventy people have lost their jobs. It’s devastating.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | End of the road for Albuquerque Cab | false | https://abqjournal.com/963177/end-of-the-road-for-albuquerque-cab.html | 2 |
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<p>Ten days after taking office, Pres. Donald Trump’s ordered his first foreign military initiative, a covert counterterrorism operation&#160;by Navy’s SEAL&#160;Team 6 in Yemen. &#160;He apparently approved the attack following discussions with his principle “strategist,” Stephen Bannon.&#160; Trump is about the only person who still claims it was a “great” success even though it led to the death of 24 innocent civilians and a U.S. serviceman, let alone the reported $75 million cost of a helicopter.</p>
<p>The war in Afghanistan is now in its 16th year, the longest war in U.S. history.&#160; Who knows how long it will drag on under Trump, the Commander-and-Chief of all U.S. military – intelligence and nuclear – forces.&#160; Since the war-monger troika of Pres. George Bush, VP Dick Chaney and Sec. of War Donald Rumsfeld reigned supreme, a reported 6,800 U.S. troops have died in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2003 and 2015.</p>
<p>This is a relatively tiny body-count compared to the losses of American lives sacrificed in the Vietnam War, 48,000, and in World War II, 292,000.&#160; One can only wonder if, for most Americans, the war in Afghanistan is not unlike what Romans likely felt about the Middle East wars taking place during the time of Jesus.&#160; Out of media sight, out of the minds of most Americans.</p>
<p>The American media’s attention span is a nanosecond, the moment between the latest scandal and the next hyped press release.&#160; Its currently consumed by the Shakespearian soap opera playing out on the White House stage, let alone foreign engagements like the battle against Isis, the Syrian civil war and the battle for Mosul being waged in Iraq.&#160; So, what about Afghanistan?</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>In 1893, the Agreement Between Great Britain and Afghanistan was signed in Kabul, reconfirming the 1873 Agreement that launched the Great Game. &#160;A century later, in 1979, the Game saw the former Soviet Union invade Afghanistan and withdraw in defeat a decade later, in 1989.&#160; As portrayed in Mike Nichols’ movie, Charlie Wilson’s War, the CIA’s secret support for the Afghan&#160;mujahideen defeated the Soviet military. &#160;Now, nearly 16 years after September 11th attacks, the U.S. flounders in the latest round of the Great Game.&#160; Will Trump, like Nixon in Vietnam, proclaim victory and withdraw in the face of defeat?</p>
<p>There are about 9,800 U.S. troops and some 5,000 troops from allied countries still fighting in Afghanistan, with their service split between fighting terrorist groups and propping up a faltering government. &#160;In February, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Armed Service Committee, lamented the state of the war in Afghanistan: “I want to know why we’re losing, and what we need to do to start winning.”</p>
<p>Had the good Senator simply read the January 30, 2016, report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), he would have gotten his answer.&#160; It <a href="" type="internal">states</a>:</p>
<p>The Taliban now controls more territory than at any time since 2001. Vicious and repeated attacks in Kabul this quarter shook confidence in the national-unity government. A year after the Coalition handed responsibility for Afghan security to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), American and British forces were compelled on several occasions to support ANDSF troops in combat against the Taliban.</p>
<p>The lack of security has made it almost impossible for many U.S. and even some Afghan officials to get out to manage and inspect U.S.-funded reconstruction projects.</p>
<p>In December 2016, the Dept. of Defense reported to Congress that the U.S.-backed Afghan government controlled about 20&#160;percent of the Afghan population and the</p>
<p>Taliban controlled only 10&#160;percent.&#160; Politico <a href="" type="internal">reports</a> that as of November 2016, the Afghan government controlled just more than half (57%) of the country’s districts.&#160; Most alarming, U.S.-backed government-controlled districts have 21 percent of its former district-control since a year earlier, November 2015.</p>
<p>Writing in <a href="" type="internal">Foreign Policy</a>, Jason Dempsey paints an eye-opening — if disappointing — view of the current situation in Afghanistan: “The United States military failed America in Afghanistan. It wasn’t a tactical failure. It was a failure of leadership.”</p>
<p>James Mattis, Sec. of Defense, a retired Marine Corps general, oversees the nation’s war machine and is among the failed Afghan “leadership.”&#160; He spent over four decades in the military, with commands in the Persian Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan.&#160; He garnered his nickname, “Mad Dog,” for his role in 2004 battle of Fallujah, Iraq, the same year he ordered an attack on a “suspected foreign fighter safe house” in a small Iraqi village, Mukareeb, that led to the killing of 42 people attending a wedding ceremony.&#160; From 2010-2013, he was Commander of U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), but forced out by Pres. Obama over his hardline, hawkish stance on Iran.</p>
<p>Mattis is famous for his pithy statements and one he made to fellow officers is notorious: “… there are some assholes in the world that just need to be shot. There are hunters and there are victims. By your discipline, cunning, obedience and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim. It’s really a hell of a lot of fun. You’re gonna have a blast out here!”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>During Mattis’ Senate confirmation hearing, a retired Green Beret officer and a fellow at the New America think tank, Jason Amerine, raised a question of Mattis’ leadership.&#160; Amerine claimed that “Mad Dog” hesitated sending medical evacuation flights and left soldiers to die during a 2001 friendly-fire incident in Afghanistan.&#160; Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser and at least two Afghans died after they were hit by a U.S. bomb outside of Kandahar.&#160; “He was indecisive and betrayed his duty to us, leaving my men to die during the golden hour when he could have reached us,” wrote Amerine. &#160;Mattis now leads Americans long-failed campaign in the Middle East and North Africa, let alone the rest of the world.</p>
<p>The current Afghan government of Ashraf Ghani (president) and Abdullah Abdullah (chief executive) is mired in age-old&#160;corruption with embezzlement and bribery siphoning billions of U.S. dollars to private bank accounts and pay-offs to warlords and Taliban.&#160; Equally troubling, unemployment is estimated at 40 percent and millions of Afghans have fled to Pakistan, Iran and Europe.&#160;More disturbing, over the last 15 years that U.S. has “invested” $8.5 billion to fight opium cultivation and trafficking, but Afghan’s illegal opium industry is booming.&#160; The SIGAR report found, “Afghan farmers are growing more opium than ever”; they account for an estimated 90 percent of the world’s illicit opiates like heroin.&#160; The UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime&#160;reported that Afghan opium production jumped 43 percent over the last year.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Trump has been in office for two months and has laid out no new military plan for Afghanistan. Nor has the new Sec. of War issued a comprehensive plan addressing the conditions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Isis, let alone Iran and Pakistan.</p>
<p>However, over the last few years, Trump has made repeated – if often confusing – statements about the war in Afghanistan. The following are some of his gems:</p>
<p>“We made a terrible mistake getting involved there [Afghanistan] in the first place. We had real brilliant thinkers that didn’t know what the hell they were doing. And it’s a mess. It’s a mess. And at this point, you probably have to [stay] because that thing will collapse about two seconds after they leave. Just as I said that Iraq was going to collapse after we leave.”</p>
<p>“I never said that. OK, wouldn’t matter, I never said it. Afghanistan is a different kettle. Afghanistan is next to Pakistan, it’s an entry in. You have to be careful with the nuclear weapons. It’s all about the nuclear weapons. By the way, without the nukes, it’s a whole different ballgame.”</p>
<p>“I would stay in Afghanistan. I hate doing it. I hate doing it so much. But again, you have nuclear weapons in Pakistan, so I would do it.”</p>
<p>“I don’t trust him [Putin]. But the truth is, it’s not a question of trust. I don’t want to see the United States get bogged down. We’ve spent now $2 trillion in Iraq, probably a trillion in Afghanistan. We’re destroying our country.”</p>
<p>“Afghanistan is not like what’s happening in Chicago. &#160;People are being shot…”</p>
<p>A plan for Afghanistan will likely be announced after Trump fulfills his campaign promises with one executive order after another.&#160; Its outline might be suggested by the three U.S. military outposts in operations – 1,000&#160;soldiers&#160;in Kuwait, 400 marines in Syria&#160;and 1,000&#160;(of a promised 4,000)&#160;troops in Poland.&#160; And the civilian-causality continues to mount with a minimum of <a href="https://airwars.org" type="external">2,543 civilians</a> killed by Coalition forces.</p>
<p>It appears that Pres. Obama was a restraining force not only against the inherent war-making tendencies of the military leadership, but also – during his first term – a hawkish Sec. of State.&#160; With Trump, the gloves are off and the military can do whatever it wants.&#160; “Mad Dog” seems to be following the Obama line of cautious probes with a limited number of military personnel, but backed by extensive military aid and air support.</p>
<p>One can only wonder if Trump and his advisers share a common fantasy to renew the Great Game by committing a sizable force of the U.S. military to battle insurgent forces of anti-modernism, of local corruption and 1st-world exploitation.&#160; We’ll learn more when the plan comes out – if it ever does.&#160; Scarier still, the only Congressional leaders to likely hold back the worse-instincts of Mattis and Trump (with Steve Bannon) from a still-deeper engagement in Afghanistan, or another war zone, is Senators McCain and Lindsey Graham, two conservative, militarist Republicans.&#160; Scary times.</p> | Countdown to Disaster: Trump’s Looming Afghan Crisis | true | https://counterpunch.org/2017/03/31/countdown-to-disaster-trumps-looming-afghan-crisis/ | 2017-03-31 | 4 |
<p>Eurozone PMIs rise to 6-year highs and beat forecasts</p>
<p>French stocks closed lower Friday after a suspected terror attack in Paris just ahead of the country's presidential election vote, helping to leave the regional equity benchmark with a loss for the week.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index finished less than 1 point higher at 378.12, and ended the week lower by 0.7%.</p>
<p>In Paris, the CAC 40 ended down by 0.4% at 5,059.20, the last trading session before Sunday's first round of voting in what's seen as an extraordinarily tight presidential race.</p>
<p>A gunman late Thursday opened fire (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gunman-slain-after-killing-paris-police-officer-trump-suggests-terrorism-2017-04-20) on the Champs-Élysées boulevard in Paris, killing a police officer and wounding two others. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the suspected terror attack. The attack could give a late-campaign surge in support for anti-immigration, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, analysts said. Le Pen on Friday urged the government to immediately reinstate French borders (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/le-pen-urges-government-to-immediately-reinstate-french-borders-after-paris-attack-report-2017-04-21) and expel foreigners monitored by surveillance.</p>
<p>Read:When are the French election results out on Sunday? (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-are-the-french-election-results-out-on-sunday-2017-04-20)</p>
<p>The CAC 40 on Thursday jumped 1.5%, its biggest jump in seven weeks, as markets started to price in the prospect of a win for centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron.</p>
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<p>Le Pen has vowed to hold a referendum on France's membership of the European Union, fueling fears of a breakup of the bloc. One of her three key rivals, far-left euroskeptic Jean Luc Melenchon, has also pledged to renegotiate EU treaties and hold a referendum.</p>
<p>"Last night's terrorist attack in Paris, which given the tightness of the polls, could influence events, leaving investors to face the prospect of a face-off between Marine Le Pen on the right and Melenchon on the left. Any such outcome is unlikely to be well received by the markets," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a note.</p>
<p>And: Here's how France's hotly contested election could rattle markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-how-frances-hotly-contested-election-could-spark-market-turmoil-2017-04-19)</p>
<p>And:5 charts show what the French presidential election means for financial markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-charts-show-what-the-french-presidential-election-means-for-financial-markets-2017-04-21)</p>
<p>(https://twitter.com/MichelReuters/status/855450649881960450)</p>
<p>Individual benchmarks: Germany's DAX 30 index finished higher by 0.2% at 12,048.57, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index shed 0.1% at 7,114.55. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-wavers-ahead-of-retail-sales-on-course-for-worst-week-in-5-months-2017-04-21)</p>
<p>Economic news: Preliminary readings on April purchasing managers' indexes for the eurozone, France and Germany were all released Friday morning.</p>
<p>All three flash readings for the eurozone--the composite, manufacturing and services PMIs--rose to six-year highs and came in better than forecast, signaling accelerating private-sector activity.</p>
<p>France's preliminary PMIs also beat expectations, with the composite reading jumping to a 71-month high at 57.4.</p>
<p>For Germany, the manufacturing PMI came in slightly better than expected, but the gauge of the services sector missed forecasts.</p>
<p>Movers: Volkswagen AG shares (VOW.XE) fell 0.8% after the German auto maker was ordered to pay a $2.8 billion criminal fine (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/volkswagen-hit-with-28-billion-criminal-fine-2017-04-21)for using equipment used to cheat emissions tests. That formalizes punishment Volkswagen agreed to earlier this year in a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors</p>
<p>Shares of Software AG (SOW.XE) jumped 7.9% after the company reported a smaller-than-expected drop in underlying earnings.</p>
<p>WS Atkins PLC (ATK.LN) rose 6.1% after SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (SNC.T) said it would buy the U.K. engineering company for GBP2.1 billion ($2.69 billion).</p>
<p>Shares in German soccer club Borussia Dortmund GmbH &amp; Co. KGaA (BVB.XE) added 2.5%. The gain came after police charged a Russian-German man (https://www.wsj.com/articles/dortmund-bomb-suspect-bought-stock-options-on-soccer-attack-1492758515) with being behind the bomb attack on the Borussia Dortmund team bus last week, alleging he was hoping to make money on a drop in the stock price.</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>April 21, 2017 12:43 ET (16:43 GMT)</p> | EUROPE MARKETS: French Stocks End Lower After Paris Attack Fuels Election Uncertainty | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/04/21/europe-markets-french-stocks-end-lower-after-paris-attack-fuels-election-uncertainty0.html | 2017-04-21 | 0 |
<p>BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) _ These North Dakota lotteries were drawn Thursday:</p>
<p>2 By 2</p>
<p>Red Balls: 1-07, White Balls: 12-19</p>
<p>(Red Balls: one, seven; White Balls: twelve, nineteen)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $22,000</p>
<p>Lucky For Life</p>
<p>08-12-15-16-41, Lucky Ball: 9</p>
<p>(eight, twelve, fifteen, sixteen, forty-one; Lucky Ball: nine)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $45 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $50 million</p>
<p>BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) _ These North Dakota lotteries were drawn Thursday:</p>
<p>2 By 2</p>
<p>Red Balls: 1-07, White Balls: 12-19</p>
<p>(Red Balls: one, seven; White Balls: twelve, nineteen)</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $22,000</p>
<p>Lucky For Life</p>
<p>08-12-15-16-41, Lucky Ball: 9</p>
<p>(eight, twelve, fifteen, sixteen, forty-one; Lucky Ball: nine)</p>
<p>Mega Millions</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $45 million</p>
<p>Powerball</p>
<p>Estimated jackpot: $50 million</p> | ND Lottery | false | https://apnews.com/amp/5b43127088a6490f9d826f88e5dfdf86 | 2018-01-12 | 2 |
<p>Dear Mr Ban Ki-Moon,</p>
<p>Thank you for the attention you have brought to the country of Haiti.</p>
<p>In response to your New York Times op ed piece I wanted to widen your perspective a bit.</p>
<p>I don’t pretend to represent anyone.</p>
<p>I’ve been living in Haiti since 1985. I grew up in New England with my Haitian mother and my American father during the 1960’s and 1970’s.</p>
<p>Though my parents were both teachers, I’m nothing more than a musician/innkeeper. When I arrived in Haiti, the Creole pig, an indigenous Haitian pig which was the backbone of Haitian peasant life, had recently been wiped out because of a supposed threat of swine flu.</p>
<p>At the same time, Leslie Delatour and “the boys from Chicago” (an economic club) were convincing everyone that Haitians ought to be importing inferior rice and sugar instead of producing it themselves.</p>
<p>Those three acts (Pig, sugar, and rice) have destroyed the rural lifestyle in Haiti and created overcrowding in the cities. Those three acts also enriched the Gang of Eleven, Haiti’s economic elite, who aside from profiting from all that happens in Haiti, also gave us the repressive regimes of, Henri Namphy, Raoul Cedras and Gerard Latortue.</p>
<p>Health care in Haiti; non existent. Public education in Haiti; non existent, infrastructure in Haiti; non existent, foreign aid getting to the people in Haiti; non existent.</p>
<p>How many hundred million dollars were allocated to Gonaives since Hurricane Jeanne in 2004? The last time I drove through Gonaives I couldn’t tell if more than a few hundred dollars had been spent.</p>
<p>The textile act that you’re supporting (HOPE) will further enrich Haiti’s wealthy elite but will only provide an opportunity for a small part of the Haitian masses to “tread water”, as most of the salaries made at these factories only cover transportation to and from work along with a meal at lunch time. If, however, you’re considering &#160;providing health care, a meal and an education for at least two &#160;children for all the factory workers plus a reasonable wage, then I &#160;think you’re working towards something. Otherwise, I think you may be &#160;on the wrong side of the fence.</p>
<p>When cell phones first came to Haiti, the companies were run by Haitian &#160;elites and their representatives. The phones and phone cards were too expensive for the general &#160;population. The “Communication Club” in20Haiti was an exclusive club and &#160;meant to be that way. The “families” wanted it that way. Out of &#160;Ireland came Digicel to the rescue: inexpensive phones, low rates, &#160;superior service. Anyone who wants to communicate in Haiti can now &#160;communicate. Democracy in communication. Digicel has had so much success in Haiti &#160;that they’ve moved their Caribbean headquarters here. When the government saw Digicel’s &#160;success they immediately wanted to raise all communication taxes. Digicel threatened to leave.</p>
<p>If you’re preaching democracy in the Haitian economy, I’ll support you, &#160;but if you’re preaching the Gang of Eleven gets richer and every one &#160;else gets poorer then I wouldn’t even know how to support you. The Haitian people &#160;vote the governments in and the gang of Eleven buys them.</p>
<p>The last time Mr Clinton was in town, I had the opportunity to meet him &#160;here at my home, the Hotel Oloffson. He asked me how long I’ve been in &#160;Haiti and I replied “22 governments”.</p>
<p>On your recent trip, Mr Clinton &#160;asked us to forget our past and look towards the future. Haitians can’t &#160;forget their past.</p>
<p>Aristide is a phenomenon created as a reaction to &#160;the way the Gang of Eleven likes to rule this country. Haitians have an &#160;obligation to try and forgive but we don’t have the luxury to forget &#160;the trials and tribu lations of our past.</p>
<p>We also have a culture with &#160;deep roots in the past that makes this comment a bit insensitive. I &#160;understand and want to believe that you and Mr Clinton have all the best &#160;intentions for Haiti, but some times decisions are made and the potential &#160;impact of the decisions aren’t well represented in the decision making process.</p>
<p>We desperately need National Production coming out of Haiti’s &#160;countryside. Perhaps President Preval is not in a position to tell you &#160;this, but its a reality. We also need to provide jobs for the urban &#160;sector. That’s where your HOPE bill comes in. If your support is only for &#160;the HOPE bill everyone from the countryside is going to be moving to &#160;the capital looking for a job. Please don’t forget the irrigation in &#160;the countryside, the farmers in the countryside, schools in the &#160;countryside and infrastructure in the countryside and don’t forget that &#160;when you make your inevitable deals with the Gang of Eleven, they’re &#160;often looking to suck Haiti dry and spend their long weekends in Miami.</p>
<p>Most Haitians aren’t allowed into Miami.</p>
<p>My personal issues are with Culture and Tourism; I’ll save those &#160;subjects for another day. Hopefully, by then, it won’t be too late to &#160;correct the path we’re heading down.</p>
<p>Yours truly,</p>
<p>RICHARD MORSE Port-au-Prince Haiti</p>
<p>RICHARD MORSE runs the Oloffson Hotel Port-au-Prince Haiti and the leads the Haitian band RAM.</p> | Why Haiti Can’t Forget Its Past | true | https://counterpunch.org/2009/04/01/why-haiti-can-t-forget-its-past/ | 2009-04-01 | 4 |
<p />
<p>According to an <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=3R3S1NAZ1X2NVQFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/09/12/nwater112.xml" type="external">article</a> in the UK’s Telegraph, a British inventor has developed a plastic bottle that converts even the rankest sludge into tasty drinking water almost instantly.</p>
<p>The bottle, which looks a lot like the refillable types carried on bikes everywhere, can scrub virtually any water, even samples containing viruses or fecal matter. It promises to be useful to soldiers, as well as refugees and disaster victims.</p>
<p>Said Michael Pritchard, the brainiac behind the invention, “Something had to be done. It took me a little while and some very frustrating prototypes but eventually I did it.”</p>
<p /> | Presto Chango, It’s H2O | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/09/presto-chango-its-h2o/ | 2007-09-13 | 4 |
<p>Passing through the new Incheon International Airport outside of Seoul, South Korea, the other day, I was amazed to see a pay phone using voice-over-IP technology. The device, called a WebTel, incorporates voice, Internet surfing, e-mail service, and videoconferencing on a color display capable of full-motion video. It is manufactured by <a href="http://www.kovecom.co.kr/english/product/terminal_w.asp" type="external">Kovecom</a> in Korea, and the bank of them that I saw was being operated by <a href="http://new.kt.co.kr/new_kt/eng/index.jsp" type="external">KT</a> <a type="external" href="">(Korea Telecom). Users can pay with coins, bills, or cards, but since I don't read Korean, I couldn't figure out how much it cost. The units have 15.1-inch TFT screens and flash advertising in Flash, video, still images, and banners.</a></p> | South Korea's Trendy IP Pay Phones | false | https://poynter.org/news/south-koreas-trendy-ip-pay-phones | 2003-10-15 | 2 |
<p>Two U.S. destroyers equipped with Tomahawk missiles are moving into Mediterranean waters north of Libya after attacks on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi and another in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.</p>
<p>Libyans in Benghazi sympathetic to the United States poured into the streets to <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/jtes/12-photos-of-benghazi-citizens-apologizing-to-amer" type="external">peacefully protest</a> what the Obama administration suspects was an attack organized by anti-American groups.</p>
<p>Initial reports suggested the attack in Benghazi was a spontaneous response to a film that mocked Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad. “Innocence of Muslims” was supposedly made by a 56-year-old Israeli-born Jewish writer and director named Sam Bacile. Israeli officials claimed no such citizen existed according to their records and similarly <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/12/israel-says-no-connection-to-anti-islam-film/" type="external">denied</a> a connection to the film. Bacile has since been <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/12/nakoula-basseley-nakoula-anti-islam-film_n_1879195.html" type="external">revealed</a> to be 55-year-old Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a Coptic Christian living near Los Angeles. Nakoula initially denied that he directed the film, but a phone call The Associated Press made to the number belonging to “Bacile” traced to an address where its reporters found Nakoula. Federal court papers have since revealed Nakoula to have used several aliases.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Alexander Reed Kelly</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>Security Clearance at CNN:</p>
<p>“These ships will give the administration flexibility,” a senior official said, if the administration orders action against targets in Libya.</p>
<p>The USS Laboon was making a port call in Crete, a few hours from Libya, when it was ordered to reposition. The USS McFaul was outside the Strait of Gibraltar, a few days sail from Libya, and is headed to the Libyan coast.</p>
<p><a href="http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/12/us-moving-navy-destroyers-off-coast-of-libya/" type="external">Read more</a></p> | U.S. Positions Two Warships Off Libya | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/u-s-positions-two-warships-off-libya/ | 2012-09-13 | 4 |
<p>"Reliable Sources"Howard Kurtz to New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser: "The New York Daily News was going nuts over this [Bernard Kerik] story. And The Post, at least by New York Post standards, I thought was rather restrained." PEYSER: "I think that perhaps his personal life -- you know, you have to make a judgment, is this fair game? In this case, it turned out to be." SETH MNOOKIN'S REACTION: "I think this is the first time we'll have someone from the New York Post saying that they think a public figure's personal life is off limits, even for a couple of days."</p> | NY Post staffer wonders if Kerik's personal life is fair game | false | https://poynter.org/news/ny-post-staffer-wonders-if-keriks-personal-life-fair-game | 2004-12-20 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Shares of Clayton Williams Energy (NYSE: CWEI) rocketed higher on Tuesday, closing up 26%. Fueling the surge was news of the sale of its Giddings Area assets, as well as the hiring of a Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL)senior executive as its COO.</p>
<p>Clayton Williams Energy announced it is selling all of its Giddings Area assets in East Central Texas for $400 million. It plans to use the proceeds to repay some debt, and to fund the development of its Delaware Basin assets.</p>
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<p>With this move, the company will have completed a stunning transformation since the start of the year. The company has slowly stepped away from the precipice, and is now a well-capitalized driller, focused on the development of a substantial acreage position in the hottest oil play in the country.</p>
<p>Clayton Williams started the year in disarray, so much so that it's leadership initiated a strategic review to enhance shareholder value -- and to keep it from going under after oil prices plunged in the second half of 2015. Conditions were so tenuous that the company initially only had the financial resources to drill a handful of wells. However, it was able to secure a term loan from a private equity fund, which -- combined with non-core asset sales, an equity issuance, and improving oil prices -- enabled the company to get back on solid ground.</p>
<p>Further, amid all the troubles it was enduring at the start of the year, the company was able to strengthen its position in the Southern Delaware Basin by swapping acreage with Concho Resources (NYSE: CXO). Under the terms of that deal, Clayton Williams traded all of its acreage -- subject to a farm out agreement with Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) -- for additional working interests in leases owned by Concho. The net result was that Clayton Williams increased its working interest in its core acreage, which gave it more operational control, while Concho will work with Chesapeake on those farm-out leases.</p>
<p>Now, the company is planning to retake control of its destiny by reinvesting capital into its prime Delaware Basin acreage to accelerate production growth. To steer that development, the company hired Patrick Cooke away from Noble Energy to serve as its new COO. That is noteworthy because Cooke's previous position gave him direct management responsibility for the development of Noble's emerging Delaware Basin position.</p>
<p>Clayton Williams Energy has transformed itself from a deeply indebted driller with limited resources into a cash-rich company targeting the best oil growth play in the country. Because of that, the company is poised to deliver substantial production growth as the oil market continues its recovery.</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=2692&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/TMFmd19/info.aspx" type="external">Matt DiLallo Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=isiedilnk018048&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Clayton Williams Energy Inc. Rockets Higher on Asset Sale News | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/10/25/clayton-williams-energy-inc-rockets-higher-on-asset-sale-news.html | 2016-10-25 | 0 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>But in 2012, the NCAA shut down his coaching career. The collegiate association enacted a ban on anyone with a felony conviction participating in an NCAA-certified tournament, such as those where Hardie’s Triple D Hoops AAU team would play in front of Division I coaches. Now Hardie is alleging the ban has a disparate impact on African-Americans, and challenging it as a violation of the Civil Rights Act. A federal appeals court in California heard oral arguments on the case earlier this month but has not yet ruled. The case could make its way to the Supreme Court and establish new precedent for how a key part of the Civil Rights Act is enforced.</p>
<p>Hardie’s case is emblematic of a growing trend in America to reintegrate convicted felons to society, rather than branding them as outcasts whose rights are permanently diminished, regardless of their backgrounds or post-conviction accomplishments. Many states are restoring voting rights to those who have completed their sentences, and the Justice Department last year held a “National Reentry Week” in which it created programs to help newly released felons find work and rejoin their families, and announced it would no longer use the stigmatizing terms “felon” or “convict.”</p>
<p>Hardie, 39, enlisted the help of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which filed suit in San Diego after Hardie was banned from coaching in a tournament there. Kristen Clarke, the committee’s executive director, said the NCAA’s ban was “discriminatory and serves no legitimate business purpose.” The committee found that 80 percent of those denied approval because of a felony conviction were African American.</p>
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<p>“Unnecessary barriers,” Clarke said, “that arbitrarily exclude rehabilitated ex-offenders from public establishments and prevent them from reintegrating into society must be eradicated.”</p>
<p>Hardie said he had no idea of the reverberations his conviction would have 15 years later. “I accepted what I did, I admitted I was wrong,” Hardie said. “After I paid my debt to society, I thought I would move on. I was ignorant to the system. For somebody to get an economic death penalty for a drug sentence? I tell the kids, we have to be educated to the law.”</p>
<p>The NCAA is aggressively defending the ban, and hired former U.S. solicitor general Seth Waxman, who has argued 75 cases before the Supreme Court, to handle the appeal. The NCAA’s rule is technically aimed at its own coaches: they may not attend any event which is not NCAA-certified, and to be certified participants — organizers, coaches, referees — may not have a felony conviction. The NCAA created the rules in 2006 both to remedy the problem of sleazy middlemen, agents and recruiters exercising influence at youth tournaments and showcases, and to protect young players from possible predators.</p>
<p>The NCAA’s rule initially disqualified only coaches with violent or sex-related felonies, and those with any other felony conviction were granted approval if the conviction was more than seven years old. Hardie, who received probation and no jail time for his conviction, was approved in 2010 and 2011. But in 2011, the NCAA changed its rule to a blanket ban on all felonies, with no time limit. In 2012, the NCAA denied Hardie’s application for approval.</p>
<p>“The policy of excluding convicted felons from coaching,” Waxman wrote in his brief, “serves the NCAA’s legitimate interest in protecting the safety of children who participate in the tournaments and the integrity of the NCAA’s recruiting process and college athletics more generally.”</p>
<p>The law Hardie’s lawyers are targeting is the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, and in particular Title II, which states that “All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment. . .of any place of public accomodation. . .without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.” The lawyers argue that rules or laws which have a disparate impact on African Americans, even if that is not their intent, should be invalidated.</p>
<p>The NCAA conceded that the felons ban does have a disparate impact, but that the alternatives offered by Hardie’s lawyers — individual assessments of each coach, or reverting to the prior policy — would not make the situation any better. Though there was little case law on Title II violations, the NCAA asked U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel to dismiss the case on summary judgment. In 2015, Curiel did so, saying that “the Supreme Court has indicated that the term ‘discrimination,’ without more, does not include disparate impact.”</p>
<p>Hardie appealed. But in front of a three-judge panel in Pasadena last week, two of the circuit court judges did not seem sympathetic. Senior U.S. District Court Judge David Faber, sitting by assignment in from his normal post in West Virginia, said, “I find it almost shocking that the organizers of a tournament like this can’t choose to exclude convicted felons from coaching, regardless of what race they come from.”</p>
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<p>Waxman quickly agreed with Faber. “I also find it incredible,” the former solicitor general said, “to think that the NCAA can’t just say, ‘Listen, we’re not going to have our Division 1 coaches associated in any way with a tournament that allows felons to coach girls, or boys.”</p>
<p>And Senior U.S. Circuit Court Judge Richard Tallman of Seattle declared, “In this society, we accept the fact that a felony conviction carries with it a number of consequences, including denying the right to vote, denying the right to possess or buy firearms. Why is this not a perfectly legitimate reason” to deny someone the ability to coach? Tallman asked.</p>
<p>James Sigel, Hardie’s lead attorney, replied that rules which have disparate impact are prohibited under Title II. “It’s not justified,” Sigel said after the hearing, ” to think that everybody who has ever suffered a felony conviction presents a risk to the children. And Mr. Hardie is a perfect example of that, he’s a social worker, he’s been certified to work with children in Texas. It requires a more nuanced calculation to determine if somebody presents a risk. . ..We’re trying to get people like Mr. Hardie an opportunity that’s been denied to them based on overbroad categorization.”</p>
<p>Donald Remy, the NCAA’s chief legal officer, said after the hearing that the association’s policy “simply identifies which non-scholastic basketball tournaments its Division I coaches may attend as spectators,” and that it “provides important protection for prospects participating in those events, and for the integrity of the NCAA’s recruiting process.”</p>
<p>Robert Bloom, a civil rights law professor at Boston College Law School, said he was not optimistic about Hardie’s chances. “The question is,” Bloom said, “does Title II allow for this kind of lawsuit? That’s a real huge stretch.” Even though 80 percent of those rejected from coaching were black, Bloom said he did not think that qualified as disparate impact. “It wasn’t because they were black,” he said, “it was because they were felons. If the rule banned all black felons, that would be a different story.”</p>
<p>Hardie said he watched the arguments as they were live streamed. “Hearing a judge say, ‘That’s a penalty you’re going to have to pay for the rest of your life,’ that’s hard to hear,” Hardie said. “That’s why I’m fighting it. We’re talking about mass incarceration and disparate impact. Hopefully we can change these prehistoric laws which pretty much everybody has concluded are ridiculous.”</p> | Coach with 15-year-old drug conviction challenges NCAA’s ‘No felons’ rule | false | https://abqjournal.com/933909/coach-with-15-year-old-drug-conviction-challenges-ncaas-no-felons-rule.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>The solar manufacturing business continues to be a tough one for companies to make money in, even for the biggest manufacturers in the world. Hanwha Q Cells' (NASDAQ: HQCL) fourth-quarter earnings report showed another loss for the industry on falling margins, continuing a downward trend seen across the board.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>On the bright side, a single contract announced today could account for nearly a quarter's worth of demand. If Hanwha Q Cells can cut costs enough, it may be able to bring back profits, but there's no guarantee -- even after winning a contract that will account for a large percentage of the next year and a half's supply.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Margins are falling across the solar industry as the rapid reduction in panel prices is hitting manufacturers' income statements. <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/22/recent-losses-expose-flaws-in-canadian-solars-expa.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Previously reported earnings Opens a New Window.</a> from competitors Canadian Solar, JinkoSolar, and JA Solar have all showed a consistent decline in results and even losses on the bottom line. But Hanwha Q Cells' results were particularly bad.</p>
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<p>Revenue in the fourth quarter fell 19.1% compared to a year ago to $565.9 million and module shipments of 4,583 MW fell well short of the 4,800 MW to 5,000 MW guidance given on Nov. 22. Gross margin was just 9.5% -- lower than the competitors I mentioned above -- and net loss was $25.5 million, or $0.31 per share.</p>
<p>Image source: <a href="http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/SOLF/4131777097x0x934394/91FD52A9-E082-46E7-A089-9EB05964A986/2017-03-23_HQCL_4Q16_FY16_supplementary_deck_vF.pdf" type="external">Hanwha Q Cells Q4 2016 earnings presentation Opens a New Window.</a>(link opens PDF).</p>
<p>Despite the weak financial results, management expects to increase shipments to 5,500 MW to 5,700 MW, despite the fact that <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/11/in-case-you-missed-it-this-hasnt-happened-in-the-s.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">global installations are projected to drop by 5,000 MW to 69,000 MW Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>The narrative we hear from Hanwha Q Cells is similar to what we hear from every other solar manufacturer: Financial results are getting worse and the world is oversupplied with solar panels, but it's forging ahead with more capacity expansion.</p>
<p>Part of that confidence comes from deals like the 1,000 MW construction agreement to build a power plant in Turkey. The project will take three years to build, but it's a huge amount of demand from a single agreement. What we don't know is if the price bid will be high enough to generate a strong gross margin, and frankly we won't know the results for years because the cost structure of solar manufacturing changes so quickly.</p>
<p>There's really no bright sign right now for commodity solar suppliers like Hanwha Q Cells. The industry is oversupplied, demand is falling in the short term, and margins are dropping, leading to financial losses. That's not a good position for any company to be in, particularly when new technology like mono-PERC and other high-efficiency options are becoming more highly valued than the panels manufacturers have typically made.</p>
<p>Despite management's confidence in expanding production and the new 1,000 MW project signing, I wouldn't bet on commodity solar manufacturers in solar today, and fourth-quarter results show that the trends are heading the wrong direction for investors.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Hanwha SolarOneWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=3fbdf545-a422-48cc-96fa-6f28a729e64a&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and Hanwha SolarOne wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=3fbdf545-a422-48cc-96fa-6f28a729e64a&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFFlushDraw/info.aspx" type="external">Travis Hoium Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any 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;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Loss for Hanwha Q Cells Shows Deterioration in Solar Market | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/24/loss-for-hanwha-q-cells-shows-deterioration-in-solar-market.html | 2017-03-24 | 0 |
<p>Hollywood producers have always been a prey to the delusion that what makes great novels great are their stories, or their characters or their “ideas”—things whose transfer to celluloid is fairly straightforward. But as Stéphane Mallarmé once said of poems, novels are not made of ideas but of words. Without Dickens’s words, Great Expectations is just superior Victorian melodrama and not necessarily promising material for the movies—though David Lean, John Mills and Alec Guinness managed to make a pretty good job of it half a century ago. But perhaps it is not even possible anymore. Pip’s encounter with the convict on the East Anglian marshes has an elemental quality to it that it is scarcely possible to reproduce today. When Alfonso Cuarón, working from a screenplay by Mitch Glazer, tries to reproduce it in his new cinematic version of the novel, we keep asking ourselves why the little boy (here, for some obscure reason, renamed Finn) didn’t just go to the police? Kids nowadays, for better and worse, are much more connected to the world and unlikely to let a scary man met in a wilderness fill their whole mental horizon unless they are disturbed or retarded.</p>
<p>Well, OK. The adaptors couldn’t help that. And Robert DeNiro’s fine performance as the convict shows that they really tried to make his scariness override all that TV-borne youthful sophistication. What they could help was the casting of Ethan Hawke as the grown-up Finn. This is an actor with only one facial expression in his repertory: a sort of dumb amazement, expressed with the mouth open, which makes him look to me like a village idiot. And yet for some reason he is often cast in the part of a brooding intellectual. Here he is an artist. And that’s another problem. Dickens’s Pip went to London to learn how to be a gentleman. All through Dickens’s novel there is the very strong sense that gentlemanliness is a noble aspiration. Mr Glazer’s Finn aspires to be a boor by the now forgotten standards of the gentleman—a New York art celebrity whose lack of manners is supposed to be a token of his authenticity of feeling. Pip’s contemporary avatar doesn’t want to be a gentleman; he wants to be rich and famous. It’s not the same.</p>
<p>So even if this adaptation of the novel could survive the loss of Dickens’s language and its unprepossessing leading man, the extraction of its moral dimension would be fatal. In fact, you don’t see any education taking place—not even the education in boorishness that young New York artists must undergo. One minute Finn is arriving in New York, a rube from Florida with nothing, and the next he’s opening his own incredibly successful show at a posh gallery in the city, and being rude to all the rich art people who know him by his first name. How did he get from there to here? We never find out. All we see of him working is his sketching his femme fatale, Estella (Gwyneth Paltrow), in the nude.</p>
<p>As in Titanic, that is, a romantic artist sketches his gal nude as a preliminary to or a substitute for sexual congress. In this case, it suggests that sex is for him a pose, like art. The artistic pose is obvious, given that Finn simply gives up his art for eight years after Estella leaves their little Florida Gulf Coast town for Europe. He goes to work on the fishing boat of his stepfather, Joe (Chris Cooper) and is quite happy there. Artistic expression comes back to him only as a means to a social and pecuniary end. Thus for Finn, looking broodingly and drawing childish dawbs that are supposed to be works of genius becomes the equivalent of learning the gentlemanly arts in Dickens.</p>
<p>By the way, the pictures we see, which purport to come from the pencil of Finn, are actually the work of Francesco Clemente, and they make an odd sort of comment on the action of their own. For the various representations of the body of the beautiful and charming Miss Paltrow are rendered with considerable sensual realism while the heads all seem to have that angular, bovine quality that makes Picasso’s women so scary. The awkward join of human and animal may also serve as an ironic comment on the gentlemanly ideal.</p>
<p>Anne Bancroft’s Ms Dinsmoor, the film’s version of Miss Havisham, is prevented, by political considerations, from being devastated (as was her original) by the loss of a man. Instead she is a lively old bird whose training up of Estella to be a heartbreaker only seems one in a long list of her eccentricities. Interestingly, however, she is the only person in the film who seems to have a moral lesson to learn. The last we see of her is as she calls out after Finn: “What have I done?” Unfortunately, we cannot be quite sure ourselves what she is referring to. Possibly it’s that she’s sorry now she taught Estella to be such a bitch. But it’s odd, in that case, that Estella herself never seems to be particularly sorry about it.</p>
<p>Nor, for that matter, is Finn ever sorry—so far as we can see—for his being embarrassed by Joe or disgusted by the reappeared convict, here called Lustig. He learns no moral lessons, is never humiliated except by Estella (her fault) and never has to recognize or amend a fault. In other words, this film has nothing left of Dickens but the title and a vaguely familiar story. It is of course unfair for us to judge it simply on the grounds of its having drained away the novel’s Victorian earnestness, but it has replaced same with nothing but empty gesture and banal language. When Magwich/Lustig turns up at Finn’s expensive apartment in the middle of the night and teases him with the information that he is the mysterious benefactor, Finn, who thinks he’s just let someone in to use the phone, begins to get nervous. “This is making me feel real uncomfortable,” he says, obviously hoping that a hint of the therapeutically “inappropriate” will drive the old man away.</p>
<p>The whole movie made me feel real uncomfortable.</p> | Great Expectations | false | https://eppc.org/publications/great-expectations/ | 1 |
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<p>So you’ve had a strong front 9 at Sandia, which – as always – is in gorgeous shape from tee-to-green. Now it’s on to No. 10, and what looks to be a relatively easy par 4 because of the bowl-shaped fairway. Yes, most off-center drives will bounce toward the middle. But don’t take this for granted, and remember that you are playing uphill into a picturesque view of the Sandias. The ideal drive is a right-to-left shot starting at the left bunkers.</p>
<p>The green is protected by a false front, bunkers on the right and behind, and a deep collection area on the left. The false front will toss your ball back down into the fairway if your approach shot is short, so make sure you have the right club and be aggressive. If the pin is in the center, play a little extra club and the ball will roll back for an easy birdie attempt.</p>
<p>Sandia Golf Club</p>
<p>• Opened: June 2005</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>• Director of Golf: Matt Molloy, PGA</p>
<p>• Head Pro: Matt Long, PGA</p>
<p>• Length: Blue (middle) 6,841; Black (championship) 7,755</p>
<p>• Par: 72</p>
<p>• Address: 30 Rainbow Road, Albuquerque 87113</p>
<p>• Phone: 505-798-3990</p>
<p>• Website: <a href="http://www.sandiagolf.com" type="external">www.sandiagolf.com</a></p>
<p>• Greens fees: Mon-Thu $56; Fri—Sun $71. Cart fee: $15</p>
<p>• Specials: Twilight starts at 2 p.m., $46 Mon.-Thur.; $61 Fri.-Sun.</p>
<p>Sandia Golf Club No. 10</p>
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<p /> | Golf hole of the week: Sandia Golf Club No. 10 | false | https://abqjournal.com/411854/golf-hole-of-the-week-sandia-golf-club-no-10.html | 2014-06-06 | 2 |
<p>Pentagon officials on Monday assured Texas residents that upcoming military exercises in the state are not part of a plot to take over Texas, despite conspiracy theorists’ concerns that the U.S. will impose martial law in the state.</p>
<p>Defense officials rejected the “wild speculation” about the “Jade Helm 15” exercise, which prompted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to <a href="" type="internal">order</a> the Texas State Guard to oversee the exercises.</p>
<p />
<p>“Operation Jade Helm poses no threat to any American’s civil liberties,” Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren told <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/05/04/265541/pentagon-texas-has-nothing-to.html" type="external">McClatchy</a>. “Operation Jade Helm is being conducted by Americans – by, specifically, American special forces personnel.”</p>
<p>Warren said that the military coordinated the exercises with land owners and public officials in multiple states.</p>
<p>“In every case, extensive coordination has been completed with whoever’s responsible for that land,” Warren said. “In the case of private land, we’ve spoken and made detailed coordination with the patriotic Americans who have volunteered their land for the use of this important training.”</p>
<p>The Texas State Guard said on Monday that the unit will follow Abbott’s orders to oversee the Jade Helm exercises.</p>
<p>Lt. Col. Joanne MacGregor, a spokeswoman for the state guard, told McClatchy that they “are in the process of examining the best way to meet the governor’s intent.”</p>
<p>Abbott on Monday <a href="" type="internal">defended</a> his decision to have the Texas State Guard oversee the military exercises and said he wanted to be a “communication facilitator” between the military and concerned Texans.</p> | Pentagon Rebuts ‘Wild Speculation’ About Military Takeover In Texas | true | http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/pentagon-jade-helm-wild-speculation | 4 |
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<p>Jan 18 (Reuters) - Intercontinental Exchange Inc:</p>
<p>* INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE AND BLOCKSTREAM LAUNCH CONSOLIDATED DATA FEED FOR CRYPTOCURRENCIES</p>
<p>* INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE SAYS CO, BLOCKSTREAM ANNOUNCED LAUNCH OF CRYPTOCURRENCY DATA FEED</p>
<p>* INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE - AGREEMENT BETWEEN ICE DATA SERVICES, BLOCKSTREAM OFFERS COVERAGE OF PRICES &amp; ORDER BOOK DATA FOR BITCOIN, OTHER CRYPTOCURRENCIES Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Saturday called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council as Moscow said it would consider supplying S-300 missile systems to Syria following U.S.-led strikes.</p> Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a ceremony to receive credentials from foreign ambassadors at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia April 11, 2018. Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool via REUTERS
<p>“Russia convenes an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss aggressive actions of the U.S. and its allies,” President Vladimir Putin said in a statement published on the Kremlin website.</p>
<p>“The current escalation of the situation around Syria has a devastating impact on the whole system of international relations,” he added.</p>
<p>U.S., British and French forces pounded Syria with more than 100 missiles early on Saturday in response to a poison gas attack that killed dozens of people last week, in the biggest intervention by Western powers against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.</p>
<p>Putin said the U.S. actions in Syria made the humanitarian catastrophe worse and caused pain for civilians.</p>
<p>“Russia in the most serious way condemns the attack on Syria where Russian military servicemen help the legitimate government to fight terrorism,” Putin said.</p> MISSILES FOR SYRIA
<p>Moscow may consider supplying S-300 surface to-air missile systems to Syria and “other countries”, Colonel-General Sergei Rudskoi told a televised briefing on Saturday.</p>
<p>Russia had “refused” supplying those missiles to Syria a few years ago, he added, “taking into account the pressing request of some of our Western partners”.</p>
<p>Following the U.S.-led strikes, however, “we consider it possible to return to examination of this issue not only in regard to Syria but to other countries as well,” Rudskoi said.</p>
<p>Syria’s air defence system, which mostly consists of systems made in the Soviet Union, has intercepted 71 of the missiles fired on Saturday by the U.S., British and French forces, he added.</p>
<p>“In the past year and a half Russia has fully restored Syria’s air defence system and continues to further upgrade it,” Rudskoi said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Clelia Oziel</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian opposition said on Saturday Western missile strikes would not be enough to change the course of the seven-year-old civil war, and the army said it would crush remaining rebel-held parts of the country.</p> A Syrian soldier waves a flag during a protest against air strikes in Damascus,Syria April 14,2018.REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki
<p>The action by the United States, Britain, and France targeted President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons capabilities in response to a deadly poison gas attack near Damascus a week ago, Washington said.</p>
<p>But rebels and opposition politicians said the Western powers should also have hit Assad’s conventional weapons which have killed many more people during the war.</p>
<p>“Maybe the regime will not use chemical weapons again, but it will not hesitate to use weapons...such as barrel bombs,” opposition leader Nasr al-Hariri said in a Tweet.</p>
<p>A rebel fighter said he was bracing for further attacks by the government with its allies on rebel territory in the northwest, which a senior Iranian official has indicated could be the next target.</p>
<p>“I am expecting an escalation by the regime against civilians in Idlib and in the areas of northern Syria and the liberated areas, because the regime always takes revenge on civilians,” the rebel told Reuters from Hama province.</p>
<p>“More was expected from the American strike to affect the path of the war and to curb Assad’s crimes.”</p>
<p>Damascus and its allies have said reports about poison gas in Douma were fabricated as a pretext for Western strikes.</p>
<p>The suspected gas attack, which medical relief groups said killed dozens, led rebels holed up in Douma to finally surrender the town. That clinched a big victory for Assad by wiping out the last insurgent pocket in the eastern Ghouta region near the capital.</p>
<p>The war has been going Assad’s way since Russia intervened on his side in 2015. From holding less than a fifth of Syria in 2015, Assad has recovered to control the largest chunk of the country with Russian and Iranian help.</p>
<p>The Syrian presidency posted a video appearing to show Assad arriving for work on Saturday morning a few hours after the U.S.-led attack, dressed in a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase.</p>
<p>Though swathes of Syria remain beyond his grasp, the insurgency currently poses no military threat to his rule.</p>
<p>The opposition has praised President Donald Trump for taking action against Assad after criticizing former U.S. President Barack Obama for failing to enforce his own red line when Assad was accused of using gas in 2013. But they want more.</p>
<p>“The strike has weakened the regime, but has not strengthened the opposition,” said a second rebel commander.</p>
<p>Trump last year decided to halt a CIA program that had funneled weapons and cash to rebel Free Syrian Army groups.</p> “LIBERATING IDLIB”
<p>Having driven rebels from eastern Ghouta, Assad and his allies are expected to soon retake the last few insurgent pockets around Damascus and nearby.</p>
<p>The bigger challenge will be rebel territory at the frontiers with Turkey, Jordan and Israel, and the swathe of eastern and northern Syria which Kurdish-led militias control with support from the United States.</p>
<p>Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, on a visit to Damascus this week, said he hoped Syria and its allies would soon drive U.S. troops from the country. He also said he hoped the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria would be captured from rebels very soon.</p>
<p>The Syrian army said the United States, Britain and France launched nearly 110 missiles on targets in the capital Damascus and other territory, and air defense systems brought most of them down.</p>
<p>“Such attacks will not deter our armed forces and allied forces from persisting to crush what is left of the armed terrorist groups,” the military said.</p>
<p>The foreign ministry said the Western strikes would only “lead to inflaming tensions in the world” and threaten international security.</p>
<p>“The barbaric aggression ...will not affect in any way the determination and insistence of the Syrian people and their heroic armed forces,” state media cited an official source in the ministry as saying.</p>
<p>Reporting by Ellen Francis; editing by Angus MacSwan</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S., British and French forces struck Syria with more than 100 missiles on Saturday in the first coordinated Western strikes against the Damascus government, targeting what they called chemical weapons sites in retaliation for a poison gas attack.</p>
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump announced the military action from the White House, saying the three allies had “marshaled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality”.</p>
<p>As he spoke, explosions rocked Damascus.</p>
<p>The bombing represents a major escalation putting the West in direct confrontation with Assad’s superpower ally Russia, but is unlikely to alter the course of a multi-sided war which has killed at least half a million people in the past seven years.</p>
<p>That in turn raises the question of where Western countries go from here, after a volley of strikes denounced by Damascus and Moscow as both reckless and pointless.</p>
<p>By morning, the Western countries said their bombing was over for now. Syria released video of President Bashar al-Assad, whose Russian- and Iranian-backed forces have already driven his enemies from Syria’s major towns and cities, arriving at work as usual, with the caption “morning of resilience”.</p>
<p>British Prime Minister Theresa May described the strike as “limited and targeted”. She said she had authorized the British action after intelligence indicated Assad’s government was responsible for the attack using chemical weapons in the Damascus suburb of Douma a week ago.</p> Related Coverage
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia/russia-likely-to-call-u-n-meeting-over-syria-attack-russian-lawmaker-idUSKBN1HL075" type="external">Russia likely to call U.N. meeting over Syria attack: Russian lawmaker</a>
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-israel/syria-strikes-an-important-signal-to-iran-and-hezbollah-israeli-minister-idUSKBN1HL0A4" type="external">Syria strikes an 'important signal' to Iran and Hezbollah: Israeli minister</a>
<a href="/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-nato/u-s-france-britain-to-brief-nato-allies-on-syria-on-saturday-idUSKBN1HL0MA" type="external">U.S., France, Britain to brief NATO allies on Syria on Saturday</a>
<p>French President Emmanuel Macron said the strikes had been limited so far to Syria’s chemical weapons facilities.</p>
<p>With more than 100 missiles fired from ships and manned aircraft, the allies struck three of Syria’s main chemical weapons facilities, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford said.</p>
<p>The targets included a Syrian center in the greater Damascus area for the research, development, production and testing of chemical and biological weaponry as well as a chemical weapons storage facility near the city of Homs. A third target, also near Homs, contained both a chemical weapons equipment storage facility and a command post.</p>
<p>Mattis called the strikes a “one time shot”, although Trump raised the prospect of further strikes if Assad’s government again used chemical weapons.</p>
<p>“We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents,” the U.S. president said in a televised address.</p>
<p>The Syrian conflict pits a complex myriad of parties against each other, with Russia and Iran giving Assad military and political help that has largely proven decisive over the past three years in crushing any rebel threat to topple him. Fractured opposition forces have had varying levels of support from the West, Arab states and Turkey.</p>
<p>The United States, Britain and France have all bombed the Islamic State group in Syria for years and had troops on the ground to fight them, but refrained from targeting Assad’s government apart from a volley of U.S. missiles last year.</p>
<p>Although the Western countries have all said for seven years that Assad must leave power, they held back in the past from striking his government with no wider strategy to defeat him.</p>
<p>Assad’s government and allies responded outwardly with fury, although there were also clear suggestions that they considered the attack a one-off, unlikely to harm Assad.</p>
<p>A senior official in a regional alliance that backs Damascus told Reuters the Syrian government and its allies had “absorbed” the attack. The sites that were targeted had been evacuated days ago thanks to a warning from Russia, the official said.</p>
<p>“If it is finished, and there is no second round, it will be considered limited,” the official said.</p>
<p>Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said on Twitter: “Again, we are being threatened. We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences.”</p>
<p>Syrian state media called the attack a “flagrant violation of international law.” An official in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it would cause consequences that were against U.S. interests.</p>
<p>French Defence Minister Florence Parly said the Russians “were warned beforehand” to avoid inadvertant escalation.</p> “ABSORBED THE STRIKE”
<p>At least six loud explosions were heard in Damascus and smoke was seen rising over the city, a Reuters witness said. A second witness said the Barzah district of Damascus had been hit in the strikes. Barzah is the location of a major Syrian scientific research center.</p>
<p>Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S.-led attacks and said Washington and its allies would bear responsibility for the consequences in the region and beyond, state media reported.</p>
<p>State-controlled Syrian TV said Syrian air defenses shot down 13 missiles fired in the attack. The Russian defense ministry said none of the rockets launched had entered zones where Russian air defense systems are protecting military facilities in Tartus and Hmeimim.</p>
<p>The combined U.S., British and French assault appeared more intense than a similar strike Trump ordered almost exactly a year ago against a Syrian air base in retaliation for an earlier chemical weapons attack that Washington attributed to Assad.</p> A missile is seen crossing over Damascus, Syria April 14, 2018. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
<p>Mattis said the United States conducted the air strikes with conclusive evidence that chlorine gas was used in the April 7 attack in Syria. Evidence that the nerve agent sarin also was used was inconclusive, he said.</p>
<p>Allegations of Assad’s chlorine use are frequent in Syria’s conflict, raising questions about whether Washington had lowered the threshold for military action in Syria by deciding to strike after a chlorine attack. Syria agreed in 2013 to give up its chemical weapons. It is still permitted to have chlorine for civilian use, although its use as a weapon is banned.</p>
<p>Mattis, who U.S. officials said had earlier warned in internal debates that too large an attack would risk confrontation with Russia, described the strikes as a one-off to dissuade Assad from “doing this again”.</p>
<p>But a U.S. official familiar with the military planning said there could be more air strikes if the intelligence indicates Assad has not stopped making, importing, storing or using chemical weapons including chlorine. The official said this could require a more sustained U.S. air and naval presence in the region, as well as more surveillance.</p> EXIT SYRIA?
<p>Trump has been leery of U.S. military involvement in the Middle East, and is eager to withdraw roughly 2,000 troops in Syria taking part in the campaign against Islamic State.</p>
<p>“America does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria, under no circumstances,” Trump said in his address. “The purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons.”</p> Slideshow (11 Images)
<p>The U.S. president, who has tried to build good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, had sharply critical words for Russia and Iran over their support of Assad.</p>
<p>“To Iran and to Russia, I ask, what kind of a nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children?” Trump said.</p>
<p>Last year, the United States fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the guided missile destroyers USS Porter and the USS Ross that struck the Shayrat air base.</p>
<p>At the time, the Pentagon said that a fifth of Syria’s operational aircraft were either damaged or destroyed.</p>
<p>Reporting by Steve Holland and Tom Perry; Additional reporting by Phil Stewart, Tim Ahmann, Eric Beech, Lesley Wroughton, Lucia Mutikani, Idrees Ali, Patricia Zengerle, Matt Spetalnick and John Walcott in Washington; Samia Nakhoul, Tom Perry, Laila Bassam Ellen Francis in Beirut; Michael Holden and Guy Faulconbridge in London; and Jean-Baptiste Vey, Geert de Clerq and Matthias Blamont in Paris; Polina Ivanova in Moscow; Writing by Yara Bayoumy, Warren Strobel, Nick Tattersall and Peter Graff; Editing by Angus MacSwan</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>PARIS (Reuters) - France has concluded after analyzing “reliable intelligence” and open sources that a chemical attack on Douma on April 7 was carried out by Syrian government forces, a declassified intelligence report showed on Saturday.</p> FILE PHOTO: A man walks with his bicycle at a damaged site in the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, in Damascus, Syria March 30, 2018. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh
<p>“On the intelligence collected by our services, and in the absence to date of chemical samples analyzed by our own laboratories, France considers, beyond possible doubt, a chemical attack was carried out against civilians at Douma ... and that there is no plausible scenario other than that of an attack by Syrian armed forces,” the report said.</p>
<p>It was released after coordinated air strikes by Britain, France and the United States on Syrian government targets overnight.</p>
<p>“After examining the videos and images of victims published online, they (intelligence services) were able to conclude with a high degree of confidence that the vast majority are recent and not fabricated,” the report said.</p>
<p>It said no deaths from mechanical injuries were visible and all symptoms were characteristic of a chemical weapons attack, particularly choking agents and organophosphorus agents or hydrocyanic acid.</p>
<p>“Reliable intelligence indicates that Syrian military officials have coordinated what appears to be the use of chemical weapons containing chlorine on Douma, on April 7,” it said. It gave no other details on the intelligence.</p>
<p>The report, which provided a broad outline of the Syrian government-backed offensive supported by Russia on the eastern Ghouta region over recent months, also said French services had assessed that not all Syrian government chemical stockpiles and capacities had been declared to the U.N.</p>
<p>Syria had omitted to declare many of the activities of its Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC), the report said.</p>
<p>It said Syria had not answered questions on matters including possible remaining stocks of yperite (mustard gas) and DF (a sarin precursor), undeclared chemical weapons of small caliber and signs VX and sarin on production and loading sites.</p>
<p>Reporting by John Irish; editing by Ingrid Melander and Jason Neely</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | BRIEF-Intercontinental Exchange And Blockstream Launch Consolidated Data Feed For Cryptocurrencies Russia calls for UN meeting on Syria, mulls supplies of S-300 systems Syrian army vows to press war, rebels say strikes not enough U.S., British, French air strikes target Syrian chemical capabilities France says its analysis points to Syria behind Douma gas attack | false | https://reuters.com/article/brief-intercontinental-exchange-and-bloc/brief-intercontinental-exchange-and-blockstream-launch-consolidated-data-feed-for-cryptocurrencies-idUSFWN1PD13N | 2018-01-18 | 2 |
<p>AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The winning numbers in Saturday evening's drawing of the Texas Lottery's "Pick 3 Evening" game were:</p>
<p>5-1-2, Sum It Up: 8</p>
<p>(five, one, two; Sum It Up: eight)</p>
<p>AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The winning numbers in Saturday evening's drawing of the Texas Lottery's "Pick 3 Evening" game were:</p>
<p>5-1-2, Sum It Up: 8</p>
<p>(five, one, two; Sum It Up: eight)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in 'Pick 3 Evening' game | false | https://apnews.com/amp/2a1650693a5245f98f79dd46c1f180c3 | 2017-12-31 | 2 |
<p>Today marks a political milestone: Twenty-six years ago today, Bill Clinton declared he was running for president in Little Rock, Arkansas.</p>
<p>It was a providential moment, for more ways than one. Not only would Bill Clinton eventually find his way into the White House, but he would use a phrase that a future candidate would utilize to also win the presidency.</p>
<p />
<p>Do you see what it is? Look very closely at the third paragraph below:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>“Together we can make America great again…”</p>
<p>Well, there you have it. Clinton said it nearly three decades before President Trump popularized the slogan, and branded his best-selling hats with it.</p>
<p />
<p>Of course, Clinton was not the first politician to use the now-iconic phrase. Ronald Reagan <a href="" type="internal">was also fond of it</a>.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>What makes Clinton’s use of the MAGA slogan interesting is how liberals reacted to it when then-candidate Trump said it during the campaign. When Trump said he wanted to “make America great again,” liberals treated it like a dog-whistle, summoning his wily band of racist supporters.</p>
<p />
<p>A writer for the Huffington Post <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/esther-suh/the-racist-nostalgia-behind-make-america-trump_b_8145962.html" type="external">called it</a> “racist nostalgia.” One college student <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/10/21/the-problem-with-the-make-america-great-again-slogan/" type="external">said</a> that Trump’s slogan was no better than calling for a return of slavery. A teacher <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/sep/12/ga-teacher-who-compared-make-america-great-again-s/" type="external">even compared</a> the tagline to a Nazi swastika.</p>
<p />
<p>Do you think any of these clueless liberals thought “Make America Great Again” was a racist, Nazi slogan when Bill Clinton used it? Of course not. Critics of Trump’s MAGA line are only looking for an excuse to tear Trump down. They’re political opportunists, and ineffectual ones at that.</p>
<p />
<p>And, as history showed us, presidents who promise to restore America don’t always succeed. Bill Clinton tried to force his liberal vision upon American (remember Hillarycare?) but Newt Gingrich and congressional Republicans fought back, putting the brakes on his progressive takeover.</p>
<p />
<p>Thankfully, we now have a president who is truly working to “make America great again.”</p>
<p />
<p>Share this story with others to show them the origins of “Make America Great Again”!</p>
<p /> | Bill Clinton Declared Presidential Campaign 26 Years Ago, Promised to “Make America Great Again” | true | http://thepoliticalinsider.com/bill-clinton-declared-presidential-campaign-26-years-ago-promised-make-america-great/ | 2017-10-03 | 0 |
<p>ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Sunday evening’s drawing of the New York Lottery’s “Win 4 Evening” game were:</p>
<p>7-0-0-3, Lucky Sum: 10</p>
<p>(seven, zero, zero, three; Lucky Sum: ten)</p>
<p>ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Sunday evening’s drawing of the New York Lottery’s “Win 4 Evening” game were:</p>
<p>7-0-0-3, Lucky Sum: 10</p>
<p>(seven, zero, zero, three; Lucky Sum: ten)</p> | Winning numbers drawn in ‘Win 4 Evening’ game | false | https://apnews.com/bd6f6537cec04ba687780f286b666a86 | 2018-01-22 | 2 |
<p>When Donald Trump promised to “drain the swamp” it was taken by his supporters to mean that he would rid Washington of corrupt and self-dealing insiders. Little did they know that he really intended to relocate the swamp dwellers to his administration. And in that respect he succeeded beyond all expectations.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NewsCorpse/posts/2068565573158227" type="external" /></p>
<p>Trump’s appointees to high-level positions have proven to be the worst offenders of the sort he railed against. A <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/what-we-found-in-trump-administration-drained-swamp-hundreds-of-ex-lobbyists-and-washington-dc-insiders" type="external">report by ProPublica</a> found that “At least 187 Trump political appointees have been federal lobbyists and … many are now overseeing the industries they once lobbied on behalf of.” But the standout abusers of the public trust are the heads of his cabinet agencies. People like:</p>
<p>These are all egregious breaches of ethics by executive branch managers. Any administration would be shocked and embarrassed by such irresponsible behavior. And Trump’s administration is no exception. Indeed, the President was embarrassed by the news reports of these incidents. So embarrassed that he made sure that those involved were reprimanded. However, it’s clear from the reports that what they were being scolded for were the embarrassing stories, not their unethical behavior. Their mistake was that they cast a negative light on their egocentric boss. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/09/politics/cabinet-secretaries-ethical-behavior/index.html" type="external">As CNN reports</a>:</p>
<p>“The White House held private meetings with four Cabinet-level officials last month to scold them for embarrassing stories about questionable ethical behavior at their respective agencies, sources familiar with the sessions tell CNN.</p>
<p>“Internal watchdogs have launched at least nine audits, reviews or investigations across several Cabinet agencies, and stories about first-class travel, expensive office furniture, and internal strife have become commonplace.”</p>
<p>Notice that there is no indication that the White House was upset with what these agency heads did, only that they got caught and generated bad press. Nor is there any mention of punishment for the offenders. That’s typical of this White House that refuses to hold anyone accountable for their misdeeds. Just last week Trump senior counsel Kellyanne Conway was found to have <a href="" type="internal">violated the Hatch Act</a>, which forbids politicking by government staffers. In fact, she broke this law three times. But she has not been fired or punished in any way. Except, perhaps, Trump may have pulled her aside to complain about having embarrassed him.</p>
<p>How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QSSMOES/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B00QSSMOES&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=newscorpsecom-20&amp;linkId=TLI6JC2OYE22MUTS" type="external">Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.</a> Available now at Amazon.</p>
<p>So for anyone who was wondering, the swamp is alive and well in Trump’s White House. It must be comforting to the alligators that they will always be defended against any effort to hold them accountable. Which insures that future misbehavior can be expected since there are no repercussions. That’s pretty much the way Trump lived his life of excess and crime before coming to Washington. And he’s apparently sticking to that method. Because, at least with regard to his dimwitted supporters, it’s working.</p> | Trump Scolds Cabinet Secretaries for Embarrassing Stories, Not for Being Ethical Dirtbags | true | http://newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p%3D34721 | 4 |
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<p>“He who knows the enemy and himself will never in a hundred battles be at risk.” Sun­Tzu.</p>
<p>Last Friday was potentially a sublime day for the cause of peace in the House of Representatives. Under pressure from the peace movement and a handful of antiwar legislators, Speaker Nancy Pelosi had inserted a few poison pills into the supplemental for war funding – in the form of restrictions and deadlines for the war. However these dollops of poison had many antidotes in the form of the numerous loopholes provided to Bush. And so it was basically a bill to make the Democrats look good without terminating the war. In this way the Democrats could satisfy their real constituencies, AIPAC and other pro-war forces, while posturing for peace. Look good to the people, bash Bush and satisfy the real constituency. This was the plan.</p>
<p>As predicted, the phony poison pills were not acceptable to the stubborn pro-war Representatives and to the champions of a “Unitary” Executive, that is an emperor. They vowed to vote it down. That was the moment of sweetness. If but a handful, literally, of the “anti-war” Democrats voted against the bill, there would be no war funding. A crisis would be precipitated and a real debate over the war would have to begin in the Congress. It was a moment when all the talk about using an opponent’s weakness against him, political jujutsu, the oft-cited skill of the “insiders,” could be realized. It was a moment when “progressive” Democrats were in the driver’s seat. But in the end it was a moment of betrayal by virtually all the Democrats who have posed for so long as voices of peace. The bill passed, and funding for the war has been provided by the Democrats ­ once more. (The vote was 218 for funding and 212 against funding ­ so a mere four votes (yes, 4!) could have defeated the funding.)</p>
<p>There were only ten “heroes” in the entire House who voted against the supplemental on the basis of opposing the war. They were: Libertarian/Republican Ron Paul; Democrats Dennis Kucinich, John Lewis, Barbara Lee, Mike McNulty, Mike Michaud, Maxine Waters, Diane Watson, Lynn Woolsey; and Republican John Duncan. So that is about it ­ there are only ten who will desert the War Parties when push comes to shove.</p>
<p>Here in my home state of MA, things were especially grim on that day. Not a single member of “our anti-war” Congressional delegation voted against the supplemental! This despite the fact the sentiment here for peace is very strong, an atmosphere bestowed upon “our” congressmen by the hard work of the peace movement over the decades. Especially instructive is the case of Congressman Jim McGovern who has railed against funding the war and put his own Iraq withdrawal resolution before the House to much fanfare. That resolution is all very nice; it makes McGovern look good, perhaps allows him to salve his conscience a bit and most importantly permits the Dems to say that they harbor peaceniks in their ranks. But in Friday’s roll call McGovern’s vote was needed and the time for meaningless pleasantries was over. Jimmy McGovern toed the line. Here in MA the peace movement has adopted an all carrot, no stick approach to “our” delegation. The time for that is past. It is time to play hardball. It is earnestly to be hoped that this lesson has been learned. We shall see.</p>
<p>And finally there is the nationwide peace movement. MoveOn, in a repeat performance of its bogus polling ploy, claimed the “movement” was for “Pelosi’s” bill. Their push-pull poll was circulated on the floor of the House at a crucial moment, convincing wavering Democrats (or more likely providing them with cover) to vote for the war funding. (I can hear our House solons crying out one day: “If I knew then about MoveOn what I know now, I would have never voted for funding the war.”) Too many others in the “movement” (e.g., Council for a Livable World) and the “progressive” blogosphere (e.g., the boss of Daily Kos) joined MoveOn in its exercise in perfidy. But happily much of the peace movement stuck to its guns, including United for Peace and Justice, Military Families Speak Out, Veterans For Peace, Progressive Democrats of America, AfterDowningSt, Voters For Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Cindy Sheehan, Michael Moore, Code Pink and others. Those organizations and others like them deserve our support; not a penny should go to the MoveOn’s of the world.</p>
<p>Every decent experiment in science brings a bit more clarity. And every significant struggle in politics does the same, as someone or other is sure to have said. In each case the insights are precious and we ought not waste them. We have learned a bit more about our enemy and, hopefully, about our own strategies.</p>
<p>JOHN V. WALSH can be contacted at <a href="http://www.FilibusterForPeace.org/" type="external">www.FilibusterForPeace.org</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | The Democrats’ War Funding Debacle | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/03/26/the-democrats-war-funding-debacle/ | 2007-03-26 | 4 |
<p>Investing.com – The U.S. dollar dropped to a 27-month lows against its Canadian counterpart on Wednesday, after the Bank of Canada unexpectedly raised interest rates by 25 basis points, sending the Canadian currency broadly higher.</p>
<p>lost 1.23% to 1.2211 by 10:15 a.m. ET (14:15 GMT), the lowest level since June 2015.</p>
<p>The Bank of Canada raised interest rates to from 0.75% on Wednesday, saying that growth in the country’s economy is becoming more broad-based and self-sustaining.</p>
<p>Commenting on the decision, the bank said , underpinned by continued solid employment and income growth.</p>
<p>At the same time, Statistics Canada reported that the trade deficit narrowed to in July from C$3.76 billion in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of C$3.60 billion.</p>
<p>Analysts had expected the trade deficit to hit C$3.10 billion in July.</p>
<p>In the U.S., the Institute of Supply Management said that service sector activity .</p>
<p>The greenback was already under pressure since Federal Reserve official Lael Brainard said on Tuesday that until it is confident inflation that is now “well short” of target will rebound.</p>
<p>Separately, markets were jittery after a North Korean diplomat on Tuesday warned that his country was ready to send “more gift packages” to the U.S.</p>
<p>The threat came after the rogue regime conducted its sixth and largest ever nuclear test on Sunday, prompting U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis to say that any threat to the U.S. or its allies would be met with a “massive military response”.</p>
<p>The loonie was lower against the euro, with tumbling 1.31% to 1.4553.</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> | Forex – USD/CAD tumbles to 27-month lows after BoC move | false | https://newsline.com/forex-usdcad-tumbles-to-27-month-lows-after-boc-move/ | 2017-09-06 | 1 |
<p>Each year, people across the country participate in the <a href="http://www.the3day.org/" type="external">Susan G. Komen 3-Day</a> to raise millions of dollars for breast cancer research, education, and community health programs. This 3-day, 60-mile walk will be held in fourteen <a href="http://www.the3day.org/site/PageServer?pagename=learn_about_cityl_" type="external">cities</a>, including San Diego.</p>
<p>Since its inception, the walk has raised more than $500 million. The net proceeds fund the Susan G. Komen for the Cure mission to end breast cancer by empowering people and energizing science. Through global research and grant programs the foundation strives to ensure quality care for all people, everywhere.</p>
<p>Tomorrow morning thousands of San Diegans will join together to walk-for-a-cure through the city. Beginning at 7:30am in Del Mar, participants, who have committed to fundraising, training, and a three-day weekend to the event, will walk an average of 20 miles a day.</p>
<p>Participants raised a minimum of $2,300 through&#160;personal fundraising pages. If you’d like to make a donation to support a participant, you can search by individual or team name to find their fundraising <a href="http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Events/General?fr_id=1430&amp;pg=pfind" type="external">webpage</a>.</p>
<p>Although the deadline to participate in the walk has past, there are still several ways to help raise funds for the cause against breast cancer. San Diegans are invited to join in supporting the walkers by attending the walk or by donating a few cases of bottled water to various water donation stations.</p>
<p>The event also raises funds through the Matching Gift program, which allows San Diego businesses the opportunity to double the donations their employees contribute. If you plan to make a contribution and would like to see if your company is a part of the Match Gift program, click <a href="http://www.the3day.org/site/PageServer?pagename=donat_match" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>To learn more about the upcoming walk and how to get involved, please visit San Diego’s Susan G. Komen 3-Day <a href="http://www.the3day.org/site/PageServer?pagename=learn_about_cityl_SD_landing" type="external">website</a>.</p> | San Diego to Host Annual Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk Friday | false | https://ivn.us/2012/11/15/san-diego-to-host-susan-g-komen-3-day-walk-friday/ | 2012-11-15 | 2 |
<p>By Frank Pingue</p>
<p>(Reuters) – Britain’s Amy Tinkler did not expect to recover from surgery in time for this week’s gymnastics world championships but on Tuesday she delivered an impressive display and is well placed to make the all-around final in Montreal.</p>
<p>Tinkler, who won a surprise bronze medal in the women’s floor final at last year’s Rio Olympics, only began training seven weeks ago after undergoing an operation on a torn calf muscle in April.</p>
<p>But that did not keep the 17-year-old Briton from finishing atop the all-around standings after the first subdivision and fifth overall with 52.831 points over the four apparatus at Olympic Stadium.</p>
<p>Women’s qualification resumes on Wednesday with three more subdivisions. The top 24 qualify for Friday’s all-around final.</p>
<p>“I’m really buzzing from my performance,” said Tinkler.</p>
<p>“I’ve had some injury difficulties this year and have felt a bit ill this week so to have made it through today is a huge relief.”</p>
<p>Tinkler stepped out of bounds on her third major tumbling pass during an action-packed floor routine and was equally impressive on vault where she performed two different passes.</p>
<p>On bars, Tinkler looked strong but counted a fall on her final release skill when she could not re-catch. She also delivered a nicely executed beam routine.</p>
<p>Canada’s Ellie Black (55.766) leads all-around qualifying, followed by Russia’s Elena Eremina (54.999) and Belgium’s Nina Derwael (53.598).</p>
<p>Men’s qualification wrapped up earlier on Tuesday and nobody could overtake Cuban 2015 silver medalist Manrique Larduet, whose Monday performance earned him an 86.699 all-around score that held up through all four subdivisions.</p>
<p>Xiao Ruoteng of China is in second and David Belyavskiy of Russia is in third while Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev, who missed out on a gold medal in Rio by just 0.099 of a point, remained in fifth place heading into the men’s final on Thursday.</p>
<p>Japan’s Kohei Uchimura, who has won the last six world and two Olympic all-around titles, pulled out of qualification on Monday with an apparent lower left leg injury.</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> | Gymnastics: Tinkler tailors way to soldier on and spy final | false | https://newsline.com/gymnastics-tinkler-tailors-way-to-soldier-on-and-spy-final/ | 2017-10-03 | 1 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Opportunity should be for all.</p>
<p>That’s the message behind the documentary “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.” The film will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7 at the Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco in Santa Fe. A panel discussion will be held after the screening. The presentation will feature a 40-minute segment of The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn’s documentary focusing on women’s economic empowerment. This segment features actress Olivia Wilde visiting with Folk Art Market artist Rebecca Lolosoli in Kenya.</p>
<p>Tickets are free. For more information, visit www.ticketssantafe.org.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Panel discussion on ‘Half the Sky’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/173503/panel-discussion-on-half-the-sky.html | 2013-03-01 | 2 |
<p />
<p>The Jeb Bush&#160;presidential&#160;campaign&#160;people deny it in a high-energy way&#160;so unlike their famously even-tempered boss: Tonight's South Carolina primary is not&#160;a litmus test for the former Florida governor's so-far fizzling presidential campaign. If he does lousy here, expect him to trudge on, through Nevada and next into Super Tuesday&#160;on March 1.&#160; There is no quit in their guy despite the "low energy" Trumped-up label, they assure me, just a deep-seated determination to win based on a belief that Republican primary voters will eventually see what they're getting in him-a proven leader, a successful governor and a policy expert.&#160;What&#160;they're getting in the others: a rogues gallery of ideologues, neophytes and one very crazy billionaire&#160;reality show host.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>There is a part of me who really wants to believe this spin. Jeb Bush is beyond all doubt the most qualified person to lead this country as president. He is honest, decent and smart. He was a successful governor espousing Conservative principles in possibly the most culturally and economically diverse states in the country--no easy feat.</p>
<p>For every flirtation with big government like his affinity for Common Core education standards that deserves scorn, or milquetoast explanation for illegal immigration (it's&#160;an "act of love"), there is&#160;his very early and principled stances on school choice, lower taxes, smaller government. Yes I know, after he left as&#160;Florida&#160;governor in 2007 Jeb worked for Lehman Brothers, the firm that collapsed and sparked the 2008 financial crisis. But he did so as 99 percent of the people there did: as someone who did deals, and helped individuals and companies make investments and get&#160;the&#160;financing they needed, which by the way is actually a good thing no matter how many times the socialist Democratic president candidate, Bernie Sanders, says it&#160;isn't.</p>
<p>More than that, he ran the most issue-oriented campaign among the GOP contenders. I know the race will be known as The Donald&#160;show for all the obvious reasons. But you don't look to Trump for detailed policy prescriptions.&#160;Senator&#160;Ted&#160;Cruz is a smart guy, but when was the last time he really broke down his tax plan?&#160;Senator&#160;Marco Rubio has the soaring Reaganesque speech stuff down, but you also get the impression he needs more time in the Senate to understand how things really work.</p>
<p>Jeb, on the other hand, can unpack just about any major policy issue put before him. Not a bad quality for a leader of the free world.</p>
<p>Ok now the bad part: Jeb obviously lost something between the time he left the&#160;Governor's office in&#160;Florida and today.&#160;I could see it almost immediately during his announcement in the summer: The event opened with Spanish folk singers (not exactly a way to gain favor with the base and its immigration concerns), and featured Bush downplaying his conservative record with establishment nods to the need for welfare, and&#160;multiculturalism.</p>
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<p>That might have worked in 2006 but it is not working in&#160;2016 after the GOP base has suffered through an&#160;unrelentingly,&#160;aggressive progressive agenda of&#160;President&#160;Obama. Then came Donald Trump&#160;who not just labeled Jeb as "low energy" but underscored his weakness as a retail candidate.&#160;This is because&#160;Bush finds it so difficult relating to average GOP voters, who want a war on issues like immigration, Obamacare and hate the political correctness that Jeb went out of his way to embrace.</p>
<p>It's been mostly downhill for Jeb ever since. He got blown out in Iowa and lost handily in New Hampshire. South Carolina, you would think, is made for a Bush; his brother, the former president, remains popular in the state&#160;as does the entire family. And yet he trails in all the polls, even as his campaign staff&#160;assures me he will surprise the naysayers when all the votes are counted tonight.</p>
<p>The bottom line: Jeb Bush will not be the Republican nominee if he doesn't pull off a surprise showing in South Carolina tonight.</p>
<p>He may not know it, "he's too stubborn to concede defeat,"&#160;says one major fundraiser. His&#160;staff may not want to admit it, but every major donor I have spoken to in the past week says&#160;this is the unfortunate&#160;reality Bush is facing.</p>
<p>And with that will come pressure to drop out of the race from the&#160;guys who want a Republican to win because they are really getting scared that a socialist or a near clone who has been forced to adopt far-left positions might become president.</p>
<p>In other words, a vast portion of the Republican donor class that has remained solidly behind the Bush machine will in the minutes after a significant defeat start looking at Marco Rubio, and possibly Ted Cruz as their saviors. I am told one top Bush donor might even break bread with Donald Trump, because the alternative of a Hillary Clinton or a Bernie Sanders presidency is so revolting.</p>
<p>So&#160;after tonight's possible (some would say likely defeat) Jeb may not announce his campaign has come to an end, but he will see the writing on the wall fast enough with donors jumping ship and money drying up.</p>
<p>Then he will do what needs to be done and quit in the near future. A sad end to what could have been something great.</p>
<p>A couple&#160;more odds and ends&#160;before tonight's results...</p>
<p>--Private polling shows a surge for&#160;Rubio&#160;and&#160;Cruz&#160;on Friday, which has people in both camps talking about a three-way race when South Carolina is over (Trump, Cruz,&#160;and&#160;Rubio) and others dropping out in short order. Possible upset: Cruz overtaking Trump, according to political operatives despite The Donald's seemingly significant lead in most polls.</p>
<p>--GOP operatives say they are getting ready to accept the possibility of a Trump nomination but they also don't miss an opportunity to point out an interesting statistic: A huge swath of voters (in some polls as much as&#160;two-thirds)&#160;say they won't vote for Trump under any circumstances. In other words, the post-South Carolina GOP establishment spin will go something like this: A vote for Trump is a vote for Hillary Clinton.</p> | South Carolina Will Be Swan Song For Jeb Bush | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/02/20/south-carolina-will-be-swan-song-for-jeb-bush.html | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
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<p>CATCH OF THE WEEK</p>
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<p>Nathan Pratt of Albuquerque caught and released a 25-inch rainbow trout at Tingley Beach on Saturday. He was using a gold Kastmaster with a single barbless hook.</p>
<p>AROUND THE STATE</p>
<p>TINGLEY BEACH: Trout fishing in the Children’s and Central Ponds has been great. Best reports from anglers using, garlic PowerBait, all types of PowerBait, marshmallow, salmon egg combinations, worms and spinners. In the South/Catch and Release Pond slow to good on Pistol Petes, zebra midges and bunny leeches. Some 22- to 26-inch trout caught on egg patterns, gold kastmaster. Joe Martinelli, curator</p>
<p>NOTES from GAME &amp; FISH: Trout fishing on the ALBUQUERQUE-AREA DRAINS was very good this past week. Anglers reported doing very well fishing the Albuquerque (South Drain), Belen, Bernalillo and Peralta Drains. Best baits were worms, a single salmon egg on a small hook, small brassies, parachute adams and homemade dough bait.</p>
<p>Trout fishing through the quality waters of the SAN JUAN RIVER was good for anglers using egg patterns, sparkle worms, leeches, foam wing emergers, dead chickens and olive and grey midge patterns. Fishing through the bait waters was good using PowerBait, salmon eggs, copper John Barrs, and wooly buggers.</p>
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<p>Trout fishing at BLUEWATER LAKE was good using salmon eggs, garlic cheese, homemade dough bait and an assortment of PowerBait.</p>
<p>Monday morning water flows on the CHAMA RIVER below El Vado and Abiquiu were 449 cfs and 515 cfs respectively. Fishing below El Vado was fair to good using nightcrawlers, PowerBait, salmon eggs, copper John Barrs and wooly San Juan worms for a mix of browns and rainbows. Below Abiquiu, trout fishing was good using worms and wooly buggers.</p>
<p>Fishing at COCHITI LAKE was slow for all species.</p>
<p>At FENTON LAKE, the cold snap and storm this past weekend covered the lake with a thin layer of ice and snow. The lake is off limits to fishing at this time. For updates contact the state park office at 575-829-3630.</p>
<p>Snow and ice covered EAGLE NEST LAKE on Monday morning, shutting down fishing from boats as well as from the bank. For updated ice conditions contact the state park office at 575-377-1594.</p>
<p>Fishing pressure was light at LAKE MALOYA but there were some trout caught by anglers using homemade dough baits, marshmallows and PowerBait.</p>
<p>Trout fishing was good at MONASTERY LAKE using PowerBait and salmon eggs.</p>
<p>At UTE LAKE, there were several limits of walleye caught, ranging in size from 16 to 23 inches. Best baits were spoons and blade baits fished at depths of 22 to 35 feet.</p> | Fishing Line | false | https://abqjournal.com/238426/fishing-line-73.html | 2 |
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<p>Insert the age clichés here:</p>
<p>Like a fine wine …</p>
<p>You’re not getting older …</p>
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<p>Age is only in the mind …</p>
<p>They all apply when referring to Jeff Roth. And they are more than just words.</p>
<p>“I am feeling really good about my game right now,” says Roth, the head pro at San Juan Country Club – who on Monday qualified for his fourth U.S. Senior Open. “Sure, there are things I can’t do the same physically, but the experiences can only help.”</p>
<p>And he’s having a great number of experiences of late.</p>
<p>Next month at Omaha, Neb., Roth will tee it up for the fourth time in the U.S. Senior Open.</p>
<p>On Monday, he beat Mac McGee of Midland, Texas, in a six-hole playoff in the U.S. Senior Open qualifier at Albuquerque Country Club. There were 40 players competing for just one spot.</p>
<p>Both Roth and McGee shot rounds of 2-under 68s. Roth’s came in the day’s second group and McGee’s in the third to the last group, two hours later.</p>
<p>“I thought 68 was nice number to post, but it won’t be the winning score. I got back from lunch with my wife, and lo and behold, I was leading by four shots,” said Roth, who had finished 10th in the 72-hole San Juan Open on Sunday, an event he ran on his home course. He drove to Albuquerque on Sunday night for his 7:40 a.m. tee time Monday at ACC.</p>
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<p>“I saw that some great players had already finished, guys like R.W. Eaks, Eric Hoos, Dal Daily, Bob Niger, Bill Harvey. Then I thought I had it won.”</p>
<p>That changed when McGee, an amateur, finished.</p>
<p>Both players made par on the first extra hole, bogey on the second and pars on the third, fourth and fifth.</p>
<p>On the sixth – the par 4 No. 4 – Roth stuck an 8-iron a foot from the cup for a birdie that won the playoff.</p>
<p>“I didn’t play very well in the playoff,” he said. “Mac could have won it one or two times, but I was fortunate.”</p>
<p>Roth also has played in five Senior PGA Championships. In both 2010 and 2011, he became a national name during both Senior Opens. In each, he headed into the weekend as part of the final pairing.</p>
<p>He was paired with Bernhard Langer – the eventual winner – in 2010 and wound up 17th. He missed – by one shot – tying for 12th. The top 15 and ties received exemptions into the 2011 field.</p>
<p>No problem. In 2011, Roth again made it through qualifying and headed for Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.</p>
<p>He shot 72-66-68 the first three days and was just two off the lead heading into the final round. He could muster only a final-round 74, but he still tied for 15th and an automatic berth in the 2012 field.</p>
<p>He didn’t make the cut last year, but in 2009, Roth – a former Champions Tour player – finished 37th at the PGA Senior Championship. That’s three cuts made in eight previous senior majors.</p>
<p>Roth, whose wife, Maureen, will once again be his caddy in Omaha, is pumped about the coming Open.</p>
<p>“If you have a great week, it can be a lottery,” he said. “It was worth about $80,000 for me those two years (2010, 2011). That’s a lot of money for a club pro.”</p> | Roth gets back to Senior Open | false | https://abqjournal.com/239884/roth-gets-back-to-senior-open.html | 2 |
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<p>Former Houston Mayor Annise Parker could be named the first openly LGBT Cabinet secretary. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)</p>
<p>If Hillary Clinton prevails on Election Day, some supporters are already speculating that her victory could lead to a new milestone for the LGBT community: The appointment of an openly LGBT Cabinet member.</p>
<p>Aisha Moodie-Mills, CEO of the Gay &amp; Lesbian Victory Institute, said the appointment of an openly LGBT person to Cabinet-level position would be huge&#160;“just for the simple fact that it would be the highest-ranking LGBT person ever appointed.”</p>
<p>“On a practical standpoint, though, it’s a really big deal for us to have representation, period, in our government,” Moodie-Mills added. “And we know that it matters because when you have people who are governing and who are driving policy and who are managing and&#160;serving in the administration through the lens of the real-lived experience of other Americans, then you have a government that is more reflective, responsive and also accountable to the people.”</p>
<p>The potential appointment, Moodie-Mills said, would build the record number of at least 300 LGBT appointments seen under President&#160;Obama and coordinated by the Victory Institute-led Presidential Appointments Initiative.</p>
<p>Among these appointments are Eric Fanning, the first openly gay Army secretary; Fred Hochberg, who’s gay and chair of the U.S. Export-Import Bank; and Amanda Simpson, the first-ever openly transgender woman appointed in any presidential administration and now deputy assistant secretary of defense for operational energy.</p>
<p>“So he set a high bar, but to your point, there is not currently a Cabinet-level position,” Moodie-Mills said. “And we are confident that we are going to continue to see, if it’s a friendly administration, more high-ranking LGBT people serving, and that’s what we’re working on for&#160;the next administration as well.”</p>
<p>Although the person tapped to fill a Cabinet-level position&#160;in the Clinton administration could be virtually any high-profile LGBT individual who has supported the Democratic Party, one name observers keep mentioning is former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who’s now co-chair of the Democratic National Committee’s LGBT advisory body.</p>
<p>Malcolm Lazin, executive director of the Philadelphia-based Equality Forum, said Parker “certainly would be a contender” based on her record as mayor of the nation’s fourth largest city and her position within the DNC.</p>
<p>“Certainly one would not expect her to be the secretary of state or the secretary of treasury, but certainly there are a number of other positions that certainly she would be well qualified,” Lazin said. “Clearly, everything from health and human services, to HUD, Commerce. So there are a number of different agencies where she certainly has the type of background and political sophistication that would qualify her.”</p>
<p>Lazin said “nobody knows anything specific” about whether Parker or any other LGBT person has been suggested as a Cabinet-level position for Clinton, but&#160;LGBT advocates who spoke at&#160;the Equality Forum’s panels at the Democratic National Committee said&#160;the appointment would be&#160;“among the primary asks”&#160;of the next administration.</p>
<p>“Certainly people on those panels were people who were prominent within our movement, and certainly prominent within the Democratic Party, and people who have relationships with Secretary Clinton,” Lazin said. “I think across the board in terms of when that issue was discussed, I think there was a clear consensus that was one of the primary asks.”</p>
<p>Other names that emerged as potential Cabinet picks are Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Darren Walker, president of the New York-based Ford Foundation.</p>
<p>Another name that emerged is John Berry, who currently serves as U.S. ambassador to Australia and formerly was head of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. For a time, Berry was thought to have been a potential pick&#160;as head of the Department of the Interior before <a href="" type="internal">Interior Secretary Sally Jewell was chosen</a> and he was appointed as a U.S. ambassador.</p>
<p>But what happens if Trump wins the election? Lazin said the question of whether Trump would appoint an LGBT Cabinet member is “interesting” because in a 2000 interview with The Advocate, the candidate&#160;said he’d support adding sexual-orientation protections to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Trump&#160;hasn’t said during this election cycle whether that remains his position.</p>
<p>In June, the Equality Forum sent via certified mail a letter to then-top officials with the Trump campaign asking whether Trump&#160;supports the Equality Act, which would add LGBT protections to the federal non-discrimination law, but Lazin said the organization received “no response.”</p>
<p>“Certainly one would hope that Mr. Trump would have an openly gay person in his Cabinet, but given his non-response to this question, I would say that would be unlikely rather than likely,” Lazin said.</p>
<p>Last week, the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-peter-thiel-supreme-court_us_57d80d57e4b09d7a687f9b03" type="external">Huffington Post</a> reported PayPal founder Peter Thiel, a Trump supporter who declared he was “ <a href="" type="internal">proud to be gay</a>”&#160;at the Republican National Convention, was&#160;promised an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court by the Republican presidential nominee, citing sources close to Thiel. But the Trump campaign said there was “no truth” to that claim, as did a Thiel spokesperson.</p>
<p>Neither the Clinton nor the Trump campaigns responded to the Washington Blade’s request over the past two weeks to comment on whether the candidates would be open to appointing an openly LGBT Cabinet member in their administrations.</p>
<p>UPDATE: Annise Parker responded to speculation she could be the first openly LGBT Cabinet member in an email to Washington Blade after publication of this article:</p>
<p>“I’m flattered to be in the conversation,” Parker said. “I would offer my skills and experience in any way I could to help make a successful Clinton administration. At the moment I’m focused on the campaign.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Aisha Moodie-Mills</a> <a href="" type="internal">Annise Parker</a> <a href="" type="internal">Cabinet</a> <a href="" type="internal">Equality Forum</a> <a href="" type="internal">Gay &amp; Lesbian Victory Institute</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay appointments</a> <a href="" type="internal">Malcom Lazin</a></p> | New White House, new chance for LGBT Cabinet member | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2016/09/21/new-white-house-new-chance-lgbt-cabinet-member/ | 3 |
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<p>A former Houston school police officer who was charged with two counts of indecency with a 14-year-old middle school student has pled guilty to a lesser charge and will spend no time in jail.</p>
<p>Jacob Ryan Delgadillo, 30, pled guilty to having an improper relationship with the student on Wednesday. According to testimony reported by <a href="http://www.click2houston.com/news/ex-hisd-officer-charged-after-improper-relationship-with-student" type="external">KPRC</a>, another student&#160;said that the victim told her that she performed oral sex on Delgadillo in the girl’s bathroom. Other witnesses say he was seen blowing kisses to the victim through a classroom window. He even sent her nude photos of himself that were taken while he was in his office on campus.</p>
<p>Jacob Ryan Delgadillo (KPRC)</p>
<p>After Delgadillo admitted to fondling the girl in her genital area, the judge offered him a plea deal of&#160;5 years probation with no need to register as a sex offender — dropping the two felony charges. After his probation stint is up, Delgadillo will have a clean record.</p>
<p>From <a href="http://www.vocativ.com/433284/jacob-ryan-delgadillo-houston-middle-school-police-sentence/" type="external">Vocativ</a>:</p>
<p>After resigning from his job in December 2015, Delgadillo was arrested in January 2016. At the time, the school, which did not respond to Vocativ’s request for comment,&#160; <a href="http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/Domain/636/Updated%20November%20Incident.pdf" type="external">sent a note home</a> to parents saying that the district “take[s] situations such as this very seriously.” According to the school’s calendar, Delgadillo’s sentence came just a day before classes let out for the summer.</p>
<p>Watch KPRC’s report on the story below:</p>
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<p>Featured image via screen grab</p> | School cop who molested 14-year-old student gets a sweet plea deal | true | http://deadstate.org/no-jail-or-sex-offender-registry-for-school-cop-who-molested-14-year-old/ | 2017-05-26 | 4 |
<p>LANSDOWNE (MD)Baltimore SunBy Laura BarnhardtSun StaffOriginally published June 4, 2003</p>
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<p>In order for the St. Clement Academy to cover its operating expenses, 173 students must attend the school, according to the parish pastoral life director.</p>
<p>But as of yesterday morning, 136 had registered for fall classes.</p>
<p>"These are really tough decisions that we need to make," said Anne Buening, who in January became the first married lay woman to lead a Baltimore-area parish.</p>
<p>"The demographics in the area certainly have changed," she said. "I think that's a significant part of it."</p>
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<p /> | Catholic school in Lansdowne could close | false | https://poynter.org/news/catholic-school-lansdowne-could-close | 2003-06-04 | 2 |
<p>Marie Antoinette had Rose Bertin to sort out her wardrobe, and Michelle Obama has the Chicago retailer Ikram Goldman. But that's where the similarities between the two powerful and historically significant women end—although you could also argue that the young dauphine and the first lady both share a certain sartorial boldness.</p>
<p>Over the weekend some in the media <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/08/04/2010-08-04_material_girl_michelle_obama_is_a_modernday_marie_antoinette_on_a_glitzy_spanish.html" type="external">called the first lady a modern-day Marie Antoinette</a> for taking her daughter, some friends, and full-time security to Spain for a weekend vacation while Americans struggle with a lousy economy. The sojourn stirred up the first real public criticism of Mrs. Obama since she stepped into her highly scrutinized role a year and a half ago. The issue at hand is the purportedly high cost of the trip at a time when unemployment is stuck at 9.6 percent. Why she took her group on such a lavish tour was relentlessly questioned, until Lynn Sweet of <a href="http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/08/michelle_obamas_spain_trip_the.html" type="external">the Chicago Sun-Times revealed</a> that the destination was chosen because a recently widowed family friend from Chicago had promised to take her daughter to Spain for her birthday. Mrs. Obama agreed to join them. It was a private trip.</p>
<p>Click the Image to View Our Gallery of Michelle Obama's Fashion</p>
<p>But nothing about the first lady's life is really private, so it wasn't long before photos of her and daughter Sasha and their entourage romping on the beach and touring the Alhambra were pinging around the Internet. And the much-publicized prices of the five-star hotel rooms at Marbella's Villa Padierna sent columnists and cable talk-show hosts into <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/let-them-eat-tapas-mrs-obama-faces-holiday-fury-2048108.html" type="external">spasms of sticker shock</a>.</p>
<p>But to my mind the real issue is not hotel room rates or vacation destinations or whether the first lady is politically tone-deaf. The real issue is that Mrs. Obama is not playing the traditional White House hostess role. She's writing her own rules, doing things her way—all with a seemingly effortless sense of style. Whether she's touching the queen, leaping barefoot across the South Lawn, or throwing out the first pitch at a Baltimore Orioles game, she does it with style and confidence and that is rare. She breaks the rules and she looks good doing it, perhaps too good. And therein lies the rub: The public wants their first lady to look good, but not too good. A year ago, critics slammed her for wearing hiking shorts in the Grand Canyon; today they call her glitzy for <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/04/michelle-obama-spain-day_n_670787.html" type="external">wearing Gaultier in Spain</a>. Who said fashion wasn't fickle?</p>
<p>Although it seems frivolous to some, the first lady's style is incredibly important because it sets the emotional tone of her husband's administration. This has been true since the earliest days of our Founding Fathers, when style played a crucial if symbolic role in politics. Martha Washington dressed in homespun clothing to differentiate herself from royalty. Dolley Madison used her personal style to convey a mix of democratic warmth and royal opulence. Even Rosalynn Carter, who was pooh-poohed for recycling her drippy inaugural gown during a recession, made a point of showing up at the White House with her own sewing machine, as if to say, "Hey, I make my own clothes," although of course she was more interested in making policy.</p>
<p>Like Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Obama is way too smart to ignore the power of visual communication in our culture. Say what you will about her personal style, but her wardrobe—a canny calculation of high and low fashion—is carefully attuned to our tough economic times. During the campaign she outwitted the free-spending vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin by showing up on Jay Leno in a $340 J. Crew outfit. Once in the White House, she hosted Nancy Reagan for lunch wearing a floral Gap cardigan that didn't cost more than $40. And, more recently, she stepped off the plane in Mexico in April wearing a $275 Tracy Reese dress. When she does spend the big bucks on clothing—and she was a corporate lawyer and a hospital administrator, so she did make her own money—she splurges on young American fashion designers, promoting them more than anybody else in the fashion firmament does. At the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh last May, she greeted other first wives in Thakoon's $2,075 Ikat print plissé number. She even repeats these pricey outfits. The peach-colored Moschino skirt she wore to lunch with King Juan Carlos was last seen at a joint session of Congress back in September.</p>
<p>Can't we just accept that Michelle Obama is someone who loves fashion? Is that OK, or do we puritans have to make excuses for it? Women who love fashion spend money on fashion. That's no secret. Mrs. Obama knows this—her mother once scolded her for spending all her money on a Coach handbag. And thankfully, times really have changed since Mrs. Reagan was called out for receiving a gift of $45,000 worth of Galanos. Dress codes are much less formal and, thanks to H&amp;M, Zara, and the Gap, fashion is no longer solely the province of modern-day Marie Antoinettes.</p>
<p>Say what you will about her personal style, but her wardrobe—a canny calculation of high and low fashion—is carefully attuned to our tough economic times.</p>
<p>More important, what critics of Mrs. Obama have forgotten is that style matters for women in high-profile positions, not just for the pageantry and the symbolism of it, but also for the lessons it can impart. Perhaps there was nothing to be learned from Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton's $2,000 Oscar de la Renta pantsuits, because they didn't have much invested in the way they looked. But critics of Mrs. Obama fail to see the powerful message of self-possession that her appearance carries for millions of young women, especially African-American women. Style and the care you put into how you present yourself to the world are not just frivolous endeavors, they are powerful tools of communication. Mrs. Obama uses her own image and appearance to connect with other women and to teach them how to take care of themselves, how to improve their lives. That look is not expensive; it's priceless.</p>
<p>Plus: <a href="" type="internal">Check out more of the latest entertainment, fashion, and culture coverage on Sexy Beast—photos, videos, features, and Tweets</a>.</p>
<p>Kate Betts is a contributing editor at Time magazine and until this year was also the editor of Time Style &amp; Design, a special supplement to the magazine. Previously, Betts was the editor in chief of Harper's Bazaar and the fashion news director of Vogue. She is the author of the book Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama and the Power of Style, due out February 2011.</p> | Michelle Obama’s Fashion Message Is Priceless | true | https://thedailybeast.com/michelle-obamas-fashion-message-is-priceless | 2018-10-02 | 4 |
<p>GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich started his week on the wrong foot with ill-advised TV tirades and a huge Tiffany tab, but the glitter on the cake came Tuesday when a gay rights advocate dumped a bag of the stuff on Gingrich and his wife, Callista. They were signing books at an event in Minneapolis when the culprit struck, saying, “Feel the rainbow, Newt. Stop the hate. Stop anti-gay politics. It’s dividing our country and it’s not fixing our economy.” Gingrich’s joking response: “It’s nice to live in a free country.” — KDG</p>
<p>AP via YouTube:</p>
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<p /> | Not a Sparkling Day for Newt | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/not-a-sparkling-day-for-newt/ | 2011-05-18 | 4 |
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<p>What a coincidence that just a week after the Nov. 6 election a Washington think tank described as an idea factory for President Barack Obama presented a plan for significant federal budget savings through cuts in Medicare.</p>
<p>The pre-election rhetoric from the White House was all about fighting tooth and nail against Republicans planning to cut Medicare.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Yet on Wednesday the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress released a blueprint for cuts in Medicare that mostly targets service providers — from the pharmaceutical industry to hospitals and nursing homes — and higher-income Medicare recipients.</p>
<p>While this blueprint pretends to keep services intact, it raises questions about who would be left to provide them.</p>
<p>And the center’s plan attempts to completely shield the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid as Congress gets ready to attempt to turn the nation away from the fiscal cliff that threatens the U.S. economy at the year’s end.</p>
<p>Under the center’s plan, pharmaceuticals would account for $160 billion of the cuts — mostly through rebates on drugs to low-income Medicare beneficiaries — or about 40 percent of the proposed 10-year savings. Hospitals would face about $61 billion in cuts, medical device manufacturers and insurance companies about $20 billion apiece, and nursing homes about $16 billion.</p>
<p>The center also recommends repealing the payment formula for doctors that has required Congress to regularly pass a Medicare “doctor patch.”</p>
<p>Since 2003, Congress has passed short-term fixes to keep provider payments stable, ranging from a few years to just 30 days. In 2010 alone, Congress passed five separate doctor patches. The current doctor patch, which cost $19 billion, lasts until the end of 2011 and is a component in the looming fiscal cliff. Unless Congress acts, doctors will face a nearly 30 percent cut in Medicare payments starting Jan. 1.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The center’s plan would also change deductibles and cost-sharing in traditional Medicare so that upper middle-class and wealthy seniors pay at least their first $500 in medical costs in any given year, with some exceptions.</p>
<p>Among seniors with Medigap insurance that covers medical costs from the first dollar, the well-to-do would still have to pay the first $500 out of pocket.</p>
<p>Upper-income seniors also would pay higher monthly premiums for outpatient and prescription coverage. The center’s proposal would gradually increase the percentage of seniors facing higher premiums until it comprises the top 10 percent of beneficiaries, boosting their premiums by 15 percent.</p>
<p>Don’t look for any of the bipartisan working together hinted at after the election.</p>
<p>Republicans have already blasted the plan as not credible, saying that all health care programs, including Medicaid and Obamacare, must be on the table.</p>
<p>Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and formerly a senior White House official who worked on Obama’s health care overhaul, was more blunt with comments like suggesting Republicans recheck the election results, saying: “This election was not a coin toss. We did not come out equal.”</p>
<p>While waiting until after the election to present a plan that cuts from Medicare may be politically savvy — some might say cynical — at least it recognizes that controlling health care costs is vital to the nation’s economic health.</p>
<p>But if you are on Medicare, good luck in trying to get a doctor to see you or in trying to access other medical services if the center’s plan becomes the law of the land.</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: Looks Like Medicare Cuts on Table, After All | false | https://abqjournal.com/147413/looks-like-medicare-cuts-on-table-after-all.html | 2012-11-19 | 2 |
<p>Editor’s note: In this column, Cocco argues that the current push to require voters to supply proof of citizenship at the voting booth has very little to do with preventing illegal voting and much more to do with keeping away from the polls those most likely to vote for Democrats.</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — I hereby declare on oath that I will carry my valid U.S. passport, my birth certificate or my naturalization papers so that proof of citizenship can be offered on demand to partisan election workers, who will determine on Election Day if I may cast a vote.</p>
<p>Congress has not — yet — passed this requirement. But the day draws closer as the debate over illegal immigration is odiously transformed into an assault on the right of U.S. citizens to vote.</p>
<p>The ugliness was most public when the House leadership was forced to put off a vote to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, the landmark legislation that was supposed to consign the most noxious forms of voting discrimination to the dustbin of history. Initially, objections came from Southern Republicans who claimed their states should no longer be singled out for scrutiny because of past discrimination.</p>
<p />
<p>Soon enough, another agenda became clear. Far more lawmakers were incensed at the law’s requirement that language assistance be given at the polls to voters who aren’t sufficiently proficient in English. A spending amendment that would prohibit federal funds from being used on language assistance failed — but only after a majority of House Republicans went on record as supporting it.</p>
<p>They affixed to their brows the usual xenophobic blinders, unwilling to see the facts: About two-thirds of those requiring language assistance at the polls aren’t newcomers but native-born U.S. citizens. They include large numbers of Alaskans and Native Americans, as well as Puerto Ricans. Besides Hispanic-Americans, millions of Asian-American voters use the assistance, which includes foreign-language ballots.</p>
<p>The Voting Rights Act may survive. But what of the rights of citizens who are unable to produce the paper trail that Republicans now seek from people who register to vote — or who try to vote, once registered?</p>
<p>Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) is sponsoring a measure that would require people who register to vote at motor vehicle offices and other public facilities to produce documents proving their citizenship, instead of merely affirming citizenship, as many states require now. A voter who changes his or her registration — say, by moving from one state to another, or even from one county to another — also would have to produce this proof. In states where registration takes place on Election Day, the voter would have to bring the documents to the polls.</p>
<p>Hyde would require a passport — held by only 25% of American citizens, according to the State Department. Or a birth certificate — likely to be interred in a file drawer several states away from where the voter now lives if, in fact, the certificate is available at all. Blacks in the Jim Crow South often were denied admission to hospitals; births at home often went unrecorded. Minorities and elderly people (read, mostly Democrats) are least likely to be able to produce a birth certificate. Naturalized citizens — even those who became citizens decades ago — would have to produce their naturalization papers. Obtaining a replacement copy from the Homeland Security Department now costs $220.</p>
<p>“You’re 86 years old, you’re homebound, you might be lucky if somebody comes to visit you once in a while,” Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-Texas), who chairs the civil rights task force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said in an interview. “Where do you turn? How do you get this done?”</p>
<p>Hyde says “voting fraud is legendary in many cities.” Legend seems quite the proper word. No army of illegal immigrants, or other noncitizens, is storming the voting booth.</p>
<p>Between October 2002 and September 2005, according to data Hyde supplied to support his legislation, the Justice Department won 55 convictions for election fraud — while hundreds of millions of ballots were cast. Typically the convictions were for “vote buying” by zealous partisans at all levels of political combat. A handful of cases involved convictions of noncitizens who voted; one had been a candidate for the Florida Legislature. Another prosecution involved a Canadian who voted illegally in 2000 and 2002 during elections in Avery County, N.C.</p>
<p>Some believe the solution to this scourge is to force Americans to undertake a paper chase at their own expense — a passport costs $97, a copy of a birth certificate $10 to $20. Together with a proposal to require all voters to show a photo ID — a mandate that’s consistently been found to discriminate against minorities, the poor and the elderly — the intent is clear.</p>
<p>The scheme has little to do with blocking illegal immigrants from voting illegitimately. It is meant to keep from the polling place those legitimate citizens whose votes might go against Republicans.</p>
<p>Marie Cocco’s e-mail address is mariecocco(at symbol)washpost.com.</p>
<p /> | Marie Cocco: Your Papers, Please | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/marie-cocco-your-papers-please/ | 2006-07-13 | 4 |
<p>Discussion Paper - Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, Belfer Center</p>
<p />
<p>The São Paulo Proposal is designed to create a stable, long-term, universal regime based on the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Such a regime is required to encourage the technological change and structural shifts necessary to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations. Richer countries adopt binding targets that become more stringent over time. Financial and institutional provisions to enhance developing country implementation of mitigation and adaptation actions are strengthened. Over time they "graduate" to binding commitments based on their individual circumstances. Adaptation and technology are given prominent roles and significantly increased funding. Coordination of key domestic policies, including national emissions trading systems, energy efficiency standards, and fossil fuel subsidies, is enhanced. Specified emissions — such as those from international bunkers, a specific industry or a sub-national region of a non-party — can be addressed through sectoral agreements. Parties would have the option to impose trade sanctions on non-parties.</p>
<p /> | The São Paulo Proposal for an Agreement on Future International Climate Policy | false | http://belfercenter.org/publication/sao-paulo-proposal-agreement-future-international-climate-policy | 2009-10-01 | 2 |
<p>BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana health officials say the flu remains widespread across the state.</p>
<p>The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services reports that at the end of the first week of January, 425 new cases were reported in 38 counties, and all but three counties have verified at least one case of influenza. Altogether, 1,441 cases have been confirmed and 239 people have been hospitalized, including 47 in the most recent report.</p>
<p>Overall, 12 people have died from influenza, most of them elderly.</p>
<p>Kim Bailey, communicable disease program manager for RiverStone Health in Billings, tells <a href="http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/flu-remains-widespread-in-montana/article_fae2fef9-2264-5584-9f16-a5ccac348014.html" type="external">The Billings Gazette</a> the numbers of those who contract the flu are probably much higher because many people don't go to the doctor when they get sick.</p>
<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says this year's immunization is about 30 percent effective.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Billings Gazette, <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com" type="external">http://www.billingsgazette.com</a></p>
<p>BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana health officials say the flu remains widespread across the state.</p>
<p>The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services reports that at the end of the first week of January, 425 new cases were reported in 38 counties, and all but three counties have verified at least one case of influenza. Altogether, 1,441 cases have been confirmed and 239 people have been hospitalized, including 47 in the most recent report.</p>
<p>Overall, 12 people have died from influenza, most of them elderly.</p>
<p>Kim Bailey, communicable disease program manager for RiverStone Health in Billings, tells <a href="http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/flu-remains-widespread-in-montana/article_fae2fef9-2264-5584-9f16-a5ccac348014.html" type="external">The Billings Gazette</a> the numbers of those who contract the flu are probably much higher because many people don't go to the doctor when they get sick.</p>
<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says this year's immunization is about 30 percent effective.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: The Billings Gazette, <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com" type="external">http://www.billingsgazette.com</a></p> | Flu remains widespread across Montana | false | https://apnews.com/amp/b41a9ee6e769469090222955bdcf078c | 2018-01-15 | 2 |
<p>When you get to a certain point in your life, it can be rare to find something that astonishes you- well, at least in a good manner. I suppose the hideous always seems able to achieve new and varied freshness. They passed a law that allows WHAT? My new office is in a BATHROOM? She ate a PLACENTA? Stuff like that. But against this background static of crap, I stumbled on a work of fiction so satisfying that I find myself to be something of a zealot at this moment. In short, I don’t know that I’ve ever read a novel so completely hilarious.</p>
<p>The book I’m talking about is John Kennedy Toole’s “ <a href="" type="internal">A Confederacy of Dunces</a>”. Certainly not a hidden or secret work, it did win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1981, but for some reason, many haven’t discovered it. &#160;The novel certainly deserves a loving read, and a revisit.</p>
<p>The only thing more bizarre than the protagonist of this book is the way that it ended up being published, but I’ll get back to that story later. It’s a crazy tale.</p>
<p>New Orleans resident Ignatius J Reilly is not a fan of modern society. He’s 30 years old, Master’s degree prepared, and patently unemployable. His choice of clothing “suggests a rich inner life”. His impressive girth is plagued by problems with his “valve”- a mysterious part of his anatomy which may or may not exist, but closes off periodically, causing Ignatius great and unpleasant gastrointestinal ramifications. He doesn’t like canned goods, new clothes, bowling, or any philosophy that emerged after the Middle Ages. He is not above secretly sucking the jelly out of filled donuts or starting race riots. He’s even open to alliances with “sodomites” to achieve his ends. He’s a very complicated man.</p>
<p>Ignatius is forced into the workplace after his mother becomes indebted due to a car accident. He grudgingly looks for a job when his she threatens to mortgage their home in response to the crisis. Ignatius is sure that someone greased the pavement as a scam, causing that fateful accident. The book follows Ignatius during this period of tumult in his life. His fantastic and comic narcissism creates some of the most hilarious situations ever put to print. And his screeds, penned on Big Chief tablets (for later publication) cause aggressive pain from laughing. It would be a crime to ruin them for you so I’ll be sparse in that regard.</p>
<p>But the book isn’t just about Ignatius, it’s also about New Orleans in all its technicolor freakery. The town so loves this book that a statue of Ignatius is perched on Canal Street. Of course they had to take it down during this last Mardi Gras, perhaps in deference to the disdain Ignatius holds for the denizens of the French Quarter. When he didn’t see many people walking around the area during the mid-afternoon, Ignatius surmised “Many no doubt required medical attention: a stitch or two here and there in a torn orifice or a broken genital. I could only imagine how many haggard and depraved eyes were regarding me hungrily from behind the closed shutters.” He would no doubt, assume that his statue would be molested due to his “impressive carriage” during Mardi Gras. I asked my niece, who is relatively new NOLA resident, if she had read the book. She hasn’t yet, but was told by a fortune teller down there that to truly understand the city, it is mandatory that you read the book.</p>
<p>Not just an amazing assortment of character studies, there is an underlying work ethic that crafted this piece. Toole went to great pains to connect disparate plots. And though Reilly is much more than a comic buffoon, the genius of the novel is that it works on that level, too. It can be slapstick, and it can be subtle. The book only gets more hilarious as you consider the intricate layers that the author has piled on with a blazing wit and a scary ability to hone in on the absurdities of human motivation. “The Consolation of Philosophy”, a hard-cover tome by Boethius keeps emerging physically in ridiculous situations, including a violent attack in a bathroom and a high school porno ring. It’s that askew craziness that makes reading this book such pure pleasure. And it’s smart as hell without an puff of pretention.</p>
<p>The semi-lucid screeds from Ignatius are a gently uncomfortable mirror to all of us who perhaps have a fetish for other eras, or consider ourselves to be outside of normal society, grouchily looking in. Though most of us will fake it, Ignatius makes no such concessions to social niceties and it is delicious and hideous.</p>
<p>There is a sharp sadness associated with the novel, though- and it’s because there will never be anything like it again. Toole did not live to see this book’s success; he took his own life on a back country road near Biloxi, Mississippi in 1969. Amazingly, he wrote the book while in his 20’s, enduring a couple of years of suggestions and revisions from an editor at Simon and Schuster– ultimately the project as it stood was rejected. Among other things, editor Robert Gottlieb told him that the book was essentially about nothing. He encouraged more action in Toole’s novel; we can presume more car chases and explosions, too.</p>
<p>Toole was not a person who knew how to handle failure. He was the only son of older parents; his mother in particular, was a smothering influence, expecting great things from her precocious son. And Toole was blessed with a rapid wit and a personality which made him extremely sought after for social events at the colleges and <a href="" type="internal" />universities he taught at. When drafted, he excelled in even the military atmosphere, a fact that he found charged with irony. He probably had no idea how to handle rejection. And in truth, he did produce something astounding. What the fuck was wrong with people for not realizing it? I’m sure that bitter thought had to be circulating in his head.</p>
<p>Ken Toole, as he was known, would watch in a state of rapt attention when a particularly unusual person would begin talking, even going so far as unconsciously imitating the mannerisms of the person being studied. He met such a character in Bob Byrne, a fellow professor at the University of Southwest Louisiana. Byrne was a medieval studies specialist who enjoyed hotdogs, playing the lute, and wearing a duck hunter’s hat. Toole combined the weirder affectations of Byrne with an outrageous narcissism to create Ignatius Reilly. Many of his friends said that Ignatius had a lot of Toole in him as well.</p>
<p>The fact that the characters in the book are glowing eccentrics that Toole fashioned out of souls he had met over many years made it difficult for him to revise or put the project away. Gottlieb was encouraging him to write something else. But these were living creatures. Toole tried to please the editor during that prolonged carrot and stick agony- all of those hopes for publication and recognition. This undoubtedly led to the tragedy on that terrible day in 1969. That specific rejection, along with others he suffered in regard to the novel, led to a spiral of despair, drinking, as well as delusions of persecution. And Toole didn’t seem to have any significant other in his life to provide support; the women he dated all said that nothing beyond a good night kiss ever occurred. It’s generally accepted that he was gay, but if so, he was very private in that regard. There wasn’t anyone close, even though countless individuals loved him.</p>
<p>The disappointments mounted, and at one point, Toole had a particularly harsh argument with his mother. He got in his car and went on a surreal last drive, traversing the nation, even making a stop at the home of deceased Southern Gothic writer, Flannery O’Connor. The drive ended on a road that he had mysteriously pointed out to a friend years before, not giving any indication as to its significance. He picked this spot to fashion a hose to his exhaust pipe.</p>
<p>You have to wonder, though— how could a talent able to see all the excess and insanity in his fellow man go on for long without becoming slightly mad? In almost the manner that excess stimulation irritates and enrages those with autism, it would follow that a supernatural ability to notice all the little details about others might become painful. At first, Toole was able to turn that ability into a wildly humorous novel, but when that was ultimately rejected-what then? Did that talent start feeling like a useless curse? Toole was obviously channeling some awareness of details not noticed by others. How do you take anything seriously when it’s all uncovered before you? I’d say Toole’s method to navigate the world, that of using biting humor was lost in that smoggy realm of rejection. His coping mechanism was shredded. And it didn’t help that he was constantly worried about his aging parents and their lack of resources. He made sure to leave them with some life insurance and a bit of savings. And hideously, the car he killed himself in.</p>
<p>With humor and tragedy so closely related, it’s like watershed off a sharp knife. Events can fall towards absurdity and dark humor or simply be tragic, but the separation is small. A man like Toole surely felt the pull of both directions.</p>
<p>Well, how did the novel end up published?</p>
<p>Years after he died, his overbearing, outlandish mother found a handwritten and smudged up manuscript in her home. She put all of her energy into getting that book published. She faced rejection, just as he did, but when she found out that writer Walker Percy was going to be teaching at Loyola, she decided to go all out. Like a character in the novel, she pestered Percy frequently; it was even said that she enlisted a relative to pretend to be her driver when she went to meet him. Her theatrics and persistence made Percy decide to read a paragraph or two, hoping he could placate the old grieving eccentric. But that’s not how it turned out. He was astounded by the work, and decided to do all he could to get it published.</p>
<p>The novel was released in small numbers by the University press, and its fame grew. It rapidly gained word of mouth recommendation, eventually receiving that Pulitzer.</p>
<p>The raging humor of the thing has had Hollywood’s mouth watering for a few decades now. The thing is, there’s something of a curse. John Belushi wanted to play Ignatius and we know what happened to him. Then some idiots decided that just being fat would be enough to play the part- at different times John Candy and Chris Farley were approached. And we know what happened to them. The NOLA Film Commission coordinator involved with the project was murdered. They say that Will Farrell wants to play Ignatius in a fat suit. That idea is so patently hideous that I hope the curse kicks in quickly. It’s almost unimaginable- that a book that owes most of its greatness to wordplay and subtle details would ever lend itself to a movie screen. But I guess people always think that about their favorite books, and they are always right.</p>
<p>But don’t wait for a crappy movie with a guy in a fat suit. Go out and get yourself a copy of “A Confederacy of Dunces”. And don’t forget to appreciate that isolated, beautiful soul that left it behind for us.</p>
<p>Kathleen Peine writes out of the US Midwest and can be contacted at&#160; <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>&#160;or at the website&#160; <a href="http://paintedfire.org/" type="external">paintedfire.org</a></p> | Timeless Absurdity | true | https://counterpunch.org/2012/05/07/timeless-absurdity/ | 2012-05-07 | 4 |
<p>HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Gun Runner's final race might be a bit of a challenge.</p>
<p>The 5-year-old is the overwhelming 4-5 favorite for Saturday's $16 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park. But the likely Horse of the Year — an honor that will be announced Thursday at the Eclipse Awards — will have to win his finale from a post near the outside after drawing the No. 10 spot in an expected 12-horse field.</p>
<p>Horses that start at least that far from the rail in distance events at Gulfstream are winning at only about an 8 percent clip this season. Then again, none of those starters was of Gun Runner's caliber.</p>
<p>"I've always said you don't know to complain about a post position until after a race is run," Gun Runner trainer Steve Asmussen said after Wednesday's draw. "So it might work out perfectly for him. The horse is doing extremely well, in the capable hands of (jockey) Florent Geroux, and hopefully we'll have a big day Saturday and send the 2017 Horse of the Year out on top."</p>
<p>Gun Runner will be racing for the last time before retirement. He has won four consecutive starts, all of them Grade 1 events, and will have a chance to push his career earnings to nearly $16 million. Saturday's winner earns a $7 million share of the purse.</p>
<p>Sharp Azteca is the second choice in the morning line, at 6-1. Collected and West Coast — both trained by Bob Baffert, who got Arrogate the win in the inaugural Pegasus last year — will start at 8-1.</p>
<p>"If you drew it up on paper and tried to make the race as fair as you possibly could, I think you've got speed on the inside, speed in the middle and speed on the outside," said Ron Paolucci, who owns Sharp Azteca and fellow Pegasus entry War Story. "It's going to be a real rider's race going into that first turn. That's going to be the whole thing."</p>
<p>The field for the Pegasus, from the rail out with morning lines: Singing Bullet, 30-1; West Coast, 8-1; Stellar Wind, 30-1; Sharp Azteca, 6-1; Collected, 8-1; Gunnevera, 15-1; Fear the Cowboy, 30-1; War Story, 25-1; Toast of New York, 20-1; Gun Runner, 4-5; Seeking the Soul, 25-1; Giant Expectations, 30-1.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>This story has been corrected to show that Gun Runner's age is 5, not 4.</p>
<p>HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Gun Runner's final race might be a bit of a challenge.</p>
<p>The 5-year-old is the overwhelming 4-5 favorite for Saturday's $16 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park. But the likely Horse of the Year — an honor that will be announced Thursday at the Eclipse Awards — will have to win his finale from a post near the outside after drawing the No. 10 spot in an expected 12-horse field.</p>
<p>Horses that start at least that far from the rail in distance events at Gulfstream are winning at only about an 8 percent clip this season. Then again, none of those starters was of Gun Runner's caliber.</p>
<p>"I've always said you don't know to complain about a post position until after a race is run," Gun Runner trainer Steve Asmussen said after Wednesday's draw. "So it might work out perfectly for him. The horse is doing extremely well, in the capable hands of (jockey) Florent Geroux, and hopefully we'll have a big day Saturday and send the 2017 Horse of the Year out on top."</p>
<p>Gun Runner will be racing for the last time before retirement. He has won four consecutive starts, all of them Grade 1 events, and will have a chance to push his career earnings to nearly $16 million. Saturday's winner earns a $7 million share of the purse.</p>
<p>Sharp Azteca is the second choice in the morning line, at 6-1. Collected and West Coast — both trained by Bob Baffert, who got Arrogate the win in the inaugural Pegasus last year — will start at 8-1.</p>
<p>"If you drew it up on paper and tried to make the race as fair as you possibly could, I think you've got speed on the inside, speed in the middle and speed on the outside," said Ron Paolucci, who owns Sharp Azteca and fellow Pegasus entry War Story. "It's going to be a real rider's race going into that first turn. That's going to be the whole thing."</p>
<p>The field for the Pegasus, from the rail out with morning lines: Singing Bullet, 30-1; West Coast, 8-1; Stellar Wind, 30-1; Sharp Azteca, 6-1; Collected, 8-1; Gunnevera, 15-1; Fear the Cowboy, 30-1; War Story, 25-1; Toast of New York, 20-1; Gun Runner, 4-5; Seeking the Soul, 25-1; Giant Expectations, 30-1.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>This story has been corrected to show that Gun Runner's age is 5, not 4.</p> | Gun Runner the overwhelming favorite for $16 million Pegasus | false | https://apnews.com/amp/5e68aa8020a346f488ee5f94c90d30a9 | 2018-01-24 | 2 |
<p>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The two Koreas’ rare high-profile talks Tuesday took place at the jointly controlled area inside the world’s most heavily fortified border — the same place where North Korean soldiers recently sprayed bullets at a colleague who was making a daring dash for freedom.</p>
<p>The defecting soldier was hit five times, but he survived and is now recovering in South Korea. The dramatic video of his defection, released by the American-led U.N. command, showed again why the area, called Panmunjom, is known as one of the scariest places on Earth.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Panmunjom captured international headlines again when a group of high-level North Korean officials walked across concrete slabs that make up a military demarcation line for their first formal talks with South Korea in more than two years.</p>
<p>A look at Panmunjom, whose mystique makes the place not only a potential flash point, but also a venue for talks and a tourist site:</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>NO-MAN’S LAND</p>
<p>Panmunjom sits inside the 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) -wide Demilitarized Zone, a buffer created at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Once an obscure farming village, it was where the armistice that ended the Korean War was signed.</p>
<p>No civilians live there, and a cluster of blue huts form a Joint Security Area overseen by North Korea and the U.N. Command.</p>
<p>The 248-kilometer (154-mile) -long DMZ is guarded on both sides by mines, razor-wire fences, tank traps and combat-ready troops. But Panmunjom is the only DMZ location where North and South Korean troops stand only several meters (feet) away from each other. North Korean soldiers wearing lapel pins with the portraits of late North Korean leaders use binoculars to monitor the South, while tall South Korean troops wearing aviator sunglasses stand motionless like statues.</p>
<p>This unique scene makes it a popular tourist spot, drawing curious visitors to both sides of the village.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>PAST BLOODSHED</p>
<p>The most notorious incident at Panmunjom happened in the summer of 1976, when two American army officers were killed by ax-wielding North Korean soldiers.</p>
<p>The U.S. officers had been sent out to trim a 12-meter (40-foot) tree that obstructed the view from a checkpoint. The attack prompted Washington to fly nuclear-capable B-52 bombers toward the DMZ to intimidate North Korea. Then-North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, the late grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un, expressed regret over the incident before animosities eased.</p>
<p>In 1984, North Korean and U.N. Command soldiers traded gunfire after a Soviet citizen defected by sprinting to the South Korean sector of the truce village. The incident left three North Korean soldiers and one South Korean soldier dead.</p>
<p>The rival Koreas have had similar violent confrontations along other parts of the DMZ in the past. No deadly clashes have occurred in recent years, but a 2015 land mine blast that maimed two South Korean soldiers pushed the Koreas to the brink of an armed conflict. South Korea blames North Korea for the explosion.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>VENUE FOR TALKS</p>
<p>Military officials from North Korea and the U.N. Command used to meet at Panmunjom to oversee the armistice. In recent years, it has been used for occasional talks between the two Koreas.</p>
<p>Tuesday’s talks were held at Peace House, a Seoul-run conference hall in the southern half of the village. The facility has equipment that can feed real-time closed-circuit TV footage of the talks to South Korean leaders in Seoul. It also allows North Korean leaders in Pyongyang to listen to the talks, according to South Korean officials.</p>
<p>North Korea operates another conference room, called “Panmungak,” on the northern side of Panmunjom.</p>
<p>Before Tuesday’s meeting, the most recent high-profile gathering in Panmunjom was in August 2015, when negotiators for the rivals met for nearly 40 hours and reached a deal that allowed them to pull back from a military standoff triggered by the land mine explosion.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>U.S. PRESIDENTIAL VISITS</p>
<p>U.S. presidents and other top officials have often traveled to Panmunjom and other areas of the DMZ at times of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. They have peered through binoculars across the border and vowed to boost the U.S. military alliance with South Korea.</p>
<p>In 1993, then-President Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom when the North Korean nuclear crisis first flared. In 2002, President George W. Bush visited the DMZ a few weeks after he labeled North Korea part of an “axis of evil.”</p>
<p>In 2012, ahead of a planned North Korean long-range rocket launch, President Barack Obama visited a front-line U.S. military camp just south of the DMZ and told American troops they are protectors of “freedom’s frontier.” Obama’s trip came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Panmunjom.</p>
<p>In November 2017, President Donald Trump planned to visit the DMZ to underscore his stance against North Korea’s nuclear program when he came to South Korea as part of an Asian tour, but his plans were thwarted by heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing at the border area.</p>
<p>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The two Koreas’ rare high-profile talks Tuesday took place at the jointly controlled area inside the world’s most heavily fortified border — the same place where North Korean soldiers recently sprayed bullets at a colleague who was making a daring dash for freedom.</p>
<p>The defecting soldier was hit five times, but he survived and is now recovering in South Korea. The dramatic video of his defection, released by the American-led U.N. command, showed again why the area, called Panmunjom, is known as one of the scariest places on Earth.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Panmunjom captured international headlines again when a group of high-level North Korean officials walked across concrete slabs that make up a military demarcation line for their first formal talks with South Korea in more than two years.</p>
<p>A look at Panmunjom, whose mystique makes the place not only a potential flash point, but also a venue for talks and a tourist site:</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>NO-MAN’S LAND</p>
<p>Panmunjom sits inside the 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) -wide Demilitarized Zone, a buffer created at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Once an obscure farming village, it was where the armistice that ended the Korean War was signed.</p>
<p>No civilians live there, and a cluster of blue huts form a Joint Security Area overseen by North Korea and the U.N. Command.</p>
<p>The 248-kilometer (154-mile) -long DMZ is guarded on both sides by mines, razor-wire fences, tank traps and combat-ready troops. But Panmunjom is the only DMZ location where North and South Korean troops stand only several meters (feet) away from each other. North Korean soldiers wearing lapel pins with the portraits of late North Korean leaders use binoculars to monitor the South, while tall South Korean troops wearing aviator sunglasses stand motionless like statues.</p>
<p>This unique scene makes it a popular tourist spot, drawing curious visitors to both sides of the village.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>PAST BLOODSHED</p>
<p>The most notorious incident at Panmunjom happened in the summer of 1976, when two American army officers were killed by ax-wielding North Korean soldiers.</p>
<p>The U.S. officers had been sent out to trim a 12-meter (40-foot) tree that obstructed the view from a checkpoint. The attack prompted Washington to fly nuclear-capable B-52 bombers toward the DMZ to intimidate North Korea. Then-North Korean leader Kim Il Sung, the late grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un, expressed regret over the incident before animosities eased.</p>
<p>In 1984, North Korean and U.N. Command soldiers traded gunfire after a Soviet citizen defected by sprinting to the South Korean sector of the truce village. The incident left three North Korean soldiers and one South Korean soldier dead.</p>
<p>The rival Koreas have had similar violent confrontations along other parts of the DMZ in the past. No deadly clashes have occurred in recent years, but a 2015 land mine blast that maimed two South Korean soldiers pushed the Koreas to the brink of an armed conflict. South Korea blames North Korea for the explosion.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>VENUE FOR TALKS</p>
<p>Military officials from North Korea and the U.N. Command used to meet at Panmunjom to oversee the armistice. In recent years, it has been used for occasional talks between the two Koreas.</p>
<p>Tuesday’s talks were held at Peace House, a Seoul-run conference hall in the southern half of the village. The facility has equipment that can feed real-time closed-circuit TV footage of the talks to South Korean leaders in Seoul. It also allows North Korean leaders in Pyongyang to listen to the talks, according to South Korean officials.</p>
<p>North Korea operates another conference room, called “Panmungak,” on the northern side of Panmunjom.</p>
<p>Before Tuesday’s meeting, the most recent high-profile gathering in Panmunjom was in August 2015, when negotiators for the rivals met for nearly 40 hours and reached a deal that allowed them to pull back from a military standoff triggered by the land mine explosion.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>U.S. PRESIDENTIAL VISITS</p>
<p>U.S. presidents and other top officials have often traveled to Panmunjom and other areas of the DMZ at times of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. They have peered through binoculars across the border and vowed to boost the U.S. military alliance with South Korea.</p>
<p>In 1993, then-President Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom when the North Korean nuclear crisis first flared. In 2002, President George W. Bush visited the DMZ a few weeks after he labeled North Korea part of an “axis of evil.”</p>
<p>In 2012, ahead of a planned North Korean long-range rocket launch, President Barack Obama visited a front-line U.S. military camp just south of the DMZ and told American troops they are protectors of “freedom’s frontier.” Obama’s trip came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Panmunjom.</p>
<p>In November 2017, President Donald Trump planned to visit the DMZ to underscore his stance against North Korea’s nuclear program when he came to South Korea as part of an Asian tour, but his plans were thwarted by heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing at the border area.</p> | Venue for Korea talks is potential flash point inside border | false | https://apnews.com/46745d83c6774aef80b6bd4ee9990d1c | 2018-01-09 | 2 |
<p>Published time: 28 Jul, 2017 14:16</p>
<p>MPs from parliamentary majority party United Russia have drafted a motion that, if passed, would limit the size of membership fees and oblige political parties to disclose the names of those paying such fees, in an effort to boost transparency.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/politics/345286-bill-on-ngos-political-activity/" type="external" /></p>
<p>“Transparency in the bodies of power, political forces and officials at all levels is one of the key principles of the national plan and the national strategy on countering corruption,” the author of the draft, MP Anatoliy Vyborniy, said in comments with Izvestia daily.</p>
<p>“This is the reason behind the proposed legislative changes. We must clearly understand what financial sources are used by various political parties and what forces are behind them.”</p>
<p>He also wrote in an explanatory note attached with the bill that the proposed changes are in line with the recommendations issued by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) – the anti-corruption monitoring body of the Council of Europe.</p>
<p>The document sets a maximum limit on membership fees paid by political party members at 4.3 million rubles (about $72,000 at current rate) per person per year.</p>
<p>It also charges the Central Elections Commission with the task of setting and updating the maximum size of a donation, entry fee and membership fee, upon exceeding which the party would have to disclose the source of the money in its annual official report.</p>
<p>Currently, Russian law sets a maximum amount on annual donations to a political party by a private person (the limit is the same as proposed in the bill – 4.3 million rubles), but does not regulate the entry or membership fees paid by party members.</p>
<p>Read more</p>
<p><a href="https://www.rt.com/politics/366484-united-russia-plans-to-help/" type="external" /></p>
<p>The law also states that political parties that have overcome a 3-percent threshold in federal parliamentary elections are entitled to state sponsorship proportionate to the number of votes received.</p>
<p>In late 2016, the figure for this sponsorship was increased from 110 to 153 rubles ($1.85 to $2.55) per vote, in order to support opposition groups which won few parliamentary seats in the last elections. The bill is being prepared jointly by all parliamentary parties, but as United Russia currently holds the overwhelming majority of seats in the State Duma, it has total control over what drafts can pass.</p>
<p>The Central Elections Commission said in comments that it considered United Russia’s bill on regulation of party membership fees timely and necessary. However, deputy chairman of the commission, Nikolai Bulayev, told Izvestia that fees and donations from private persons played a relatively small part in the combined budget of Russian parties. In 2016, 43 percent of this money came from the state and 40 percent came from corporate sponsors.</p> | United Russia pushes for greater transparency of political sponsors | false | https://newsline.com/united-russia-pushes-for-greater-transparency-of-political-sponsors/ | 2017-07-28 | 1 |
<p><a href="http://pienews.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/article-2684064-1F77D1D400000578-980_634x380.jpg" type="external" />Published: 21:06 EST, 7 July 2014 | Four people were injured tonight and around 21 others were left hanging 30ft in the air when a roller coaster at Six Flags in Los Angeles derailed. Los Angeles County Fire Department first responders were called to Six Flags Magic Mountain in [?]</p>
<p />
<p><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2684064/Four-people-injured-30-left-hanging-20ft-air-Six-Flags-roller-coaster-hit8s-tree-DERAILS.html" type="external">Click here to view original web page at www.dailymail.co.uk</a></p>
<p /> | Los Angeles: Six Flags rollercoaster derails in terrifying crash | true | http://politicalillusionsexposed.com/six-flags-rollercoaster-derails-in-terrifying-crash-four-hurt-as-ride-that-hits-55mph-smashes-into-tree-leaving-riders-trapped-20ft-up/ | 0 |
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