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<p>KABUL&#160;—&#160;Afghanistan’s parliament has passed a tough new bill mandating harsh punishments for alcohol. Those who buy, sell, or consume the evil brew can be fined, imprisoned, or given 60 lashes with a whip, all in accordance with Sharia law.</p>
<p>This is the first time that the legislature has addressed the issue of liquor, which could signal a stricter approach to the issue.</p>
<p>But given the brisk if discreet trade in gin, vodka, whiskey and beer in some of Kabul’s markets, the residents of the capital are not taking the new law all that seriously.</p>
<p>“There are lots of other things that should be outlawed before alcohol,” laughed one young man, who was haggling with a shop-owner over a bottle of whiskey near Shar-e-Naw Park, in central Kabul. “I am having guests tonight, so I need to buy it, even if there are 10 laws against it."</p>
<p>Alcohol has always been illegal in Afghanistan, since it is prohibited in Islam. But the ban has always been more honored in the breach than in the observance.</p>
<p>One foreign guest, prowling a back street in a Kabul suburb a few years ago in search of beer, came upon a shop stacked high with bright green cans of Heineken. The sales personnel were a bit tipsy, and one was smoking what appeared to be a joint.</p>
<p>The foreigner was overjoyed, but surprised.</p>
<p>“Are you not Muslims?” he asked the store’s owner.</p>
<p>“Of course we are,” came the equable reply. “But we are happy Muslims.”</p>
<p>The happy Muslim rule seems to apply widely to Afghans, especially the hip urban young. Few social occasions pass without some kind of mood enhancer, either drunk or inhaled.</p>
<p>Nor is the laissez-faire attitude towards drinking restricted to Kabul, although prices rise and quality drops the further one travels from the capital. In Helmand province, the centre of the Taliban insurgency, foul-tasting “cognac” of dubious purity was selling for $70 a liter a year ago. The local supplier also catered to the turbaned crowd, although hashish was much more popular than liquor among the fighters.</p>
<p>One exception is the western city of Herat, where good wine is available for reasonable prices. Local fans of la dolce vita say that it finds its way off the military base in town, which is run by Italy.</p>
<p>While it is rare to see alcoholic beverages openly displayed, those in the know can always find what they need.</p>
<p>“I keep it next door,” said one shop owner. “Once I agree with a customer, I go and get it.”</p>
<p>If caught, the shop owner could be in trouble. Article 45 of the new law allows for the imprisonment of those who import or sell liquor, “from 10 days to 20 years, depending on the amount.”</p>
<p>He is unruffled, however.</p>
<p>“I know I can always work something out with the police,” he smiled.</p>
<p>Corruption is endemic in Afghanistan, and much larger crimes than bootleg liquor are subject to some form of gentleman’s agreement.</p>
<p>Tipplers have an easier time of it. Article 349 of the penal code metes out fines of $60-$120 dollars, three to six months in jail, or both, to those caught using any form of intoxicant, including alcohol.</p>
<p>But if Mawlawi Abdul Manan Mudarez of Samangan province has his way, things could get a bit uncomfortable for those who persist in boozing.</p>
<p>“The Book of Hedaya, a major source of Hanafi jurisprudence, says that the consumer of alcohol should receive 60 lashes from a leather whip,” he said.</p>
<p>Hanafi is the oldest of the schools of law within Sunni Islam.</p>
<p>Kabul’s thriving foreign community may also feel the pinch of the new law.</p>
<p>At present, non-Muslims are given a free pass when it comes to alcohol consumption. Thursday evenings at L’Atmosphere, the capital’s premier watering hole, would be all but unthinkable without vast quantities of demon drink.</p>
<p>Employers’ attempts to impose a “two-can limit” on contractors appear to be futile, at least judging by the slurred speech and lurching gait of many of L’Atmo’s patrons.</p>
<p>Article 57 of the Constitution of Afghanistan specifies that foreign citizens residing in Afghanistan are bound by the laws of the state, and the new bill could be tricky.</p>
<p>“We are a bit concerned,” admitted the hostess at Bocaccio’s, one of Kabul’s most popular restaurants. The Italian cuisine is backed by an impressive wine selection, and reservations are hard to come by on weekends. A loss of their liquor license could put a big dent in business.</p>
<p>But the manager of the small shop at one of the UN guest houses in town just shrugged off the new law.</p>
<p>“Of course alcohol is against Islam, and should be banned,” he said, pointing to the well-stocked shelves of beer, wine, and whiskey. “But those who want it will always be able to get it.”</p>
<p>Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi contributed to this report.</p>
<p>More on life in Afghanistan:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/afghanistan/090209/the-lights-come-kabul" type="external">The lights come on in Kabul</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/afghanistan/090413/setback-afghan-women?page=0,1" type="external">A setback for Afghan women</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/afghanistan/090331/afghanistan-gets-the-bombs-pakistan-the-bucks" type="external">Afghans get the bombs, Pakistan the bucks</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/afghanistan/090213/love-the-time-taliban" type="external">Love in the time of Taliban</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Last call in Kabul | false | https://pri.org/stories/2009-06-09/last-call-kabul | 2009-06-09 | 3 |
<p>This week, readers sent us comments about crime rates in Flint, Mich., and benefit cuts for seniors.</p>
<p>In the FactCheck Mailbag, we feature some of the e-mail we receive. Readers can send comments to <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a>. Letters may be edited for length.</p>
<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Credit Troopers for Decline in Flint Crime</p>
<p>Hello, I would like to comment on your article [ <a href="" type="internal">“Biden’s Flint Fiasco, Continued,” Oct. 23</a>] about Joe Biden and his claims about crime rates in Flint, Michigan.</p>
<p>I am NOT a Democrat nor am I a Democrat supporter — but you haven’t correctly reported the ENTIRE situation in Flint, Michigan with regard to Joe Biden’s comments about crime rates.</p>
<p>What you have failed to take into consideration — when claiming that the crime rates have dropped while the number of Flint police officers has also declined — is that when Flint, Michigan began to collapse financially, the Michigan State Police reassigned an entire detachment of State Troopers to patrol the City of Flint. That was their sole responsibility, investigate crimes in the City of Flint. I am a retired state trooper and have worked on such details. When troopers are assigned to a city with a horrible crime rate, we go in in force and all patrols have two troopers to each patrol car. With two troopers in each car, the troopers are very aggressive in targeting criminals. Traffic stops go up exponentially and traffic stops lead to solving crimes. To the general public you may not believe that but in my 26 years as a police officer, including four years as a city cop, traffic stops are one of the most effective methods of identifying criminals. People who commit crimes drive cars and when they are stopped, they often have evidence of their crimes in their cars. A state trooper’s training in Michigan is more than double that of municipal officers. The state police academy is a residential academy — meaning that recruits live at the academy — and the typical length of a recruit school is about six months. It is tough and thorough training, including extensive training to investigate crimes. Because of the massive presence of state troopers in Flint, the crime rate has declined. THAT is the reason for the decline in crime.</p>
<p>Please correct the record. Without the city police force, crime would be through the roof. I know, I’ve worked in Flint and two of my cousins were Flint police officers.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Robert W. Mendham Petoskey, Mich.</p>
<p>FactCheck.org responds: Michigan State Police has increased its trooper presence in Flint this year. But that did not happen until late June, so the drop in crime in the first six months of this year cannot be attributed to an increased trooper presence. In an email, State Police spokeswoman Shanon Banner told us, “Our current commitment to the city is four squads of troopers (4 sergeants and 20 troopers), which is double what it was previously. This began on June 24, 2011.” Spokeswoman Tiffany Brown also told us that the State Police briefly increased the number of troopers assigned to the city in 2010. Brown said the Michigan State Police “tripled its uniform presence in the city beginning on May 26, 2010 for 7-10 days, in response to the mayor’s request for assistance.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Different Languages</p>
<p>Sometimes I think you and I do not speak the same language [“ <a href="" type="internal">A ‘Risky’ Trio for Seniors?</a>,” Oct. 20]. It seems to me there are only three possibilities:</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter if the cuts are in the future, if they consist of raising the retirement age or replacing Medicare with a voucher system that would cost seniors much more, or privatizing Social Security. It’s either 1, 2 or 3.</p>
<p>The answer is clear.</p>
<p>Len Charlap Princeton, N.J.</p> | FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Oct. 18-24 | false | https://factcheck.org/2011/10/factcheck-mailbag-week-of-oct-18-24/ | 2011-10-27 | 2 |
<p>DETROIT, Mich. -- On a cold December day in East Detroit, a dozen kids form a human assembly line stretching across the parking lot of the&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Downtown Boxing Gym</a>.</p>
<p>With strong arms, the kids grab and push boxes of food from the delivery truck.</p>
<p>"The kids don't go without a meal," Coach Khali Sweeney told NBC News. "Forgotten Harvest, the local food bank, they'll bring food here for 'em, so we have food for the kids to eat healthy.”</p>
<p><a href="http://datadrivendetroit.org/web_ftp/Project_Docs/DETKidsDrft_FINAL.pdf" type="external">According to a 2010 report</a>, more than half of the city's households with children under 18 receive food assistance from the state.&#160;</p>
<p>But that food is just one of the reasons the kids depend on this gym, which is the only building left standing on its city block.</p>
<p><a href="http://downtownyouthboxing.org/" type="external">To learn more about the Downtown Boxing Gym, please click here to visit their website.&#160;</a></p>
<p>It is surrounded by a handful of vacant lots and remnants of abandoned buildings, where the kids sometimes run laps at night.</p>
<p>"It's not, like, really safe for us to go out there and train," 19-year-old boxer Anthony Flagg Jr. said.&#160; "But we do it anyway. They say boxing, you're risking your life."</p>
<p>For these kids, there are risks both in and out of the ring.</p>
<p>Across train tracks, less than a mile away from the gym, there's a scene of a different kind: a new Whole Foods grocery-- a sign of new life for the struggling city.</p>
<p>"I appreciate and applaud all the efforts goin' into [...] buildin' the city," Sweeney said. "But the residents themselves, they're not gonna see that for a long time, and they're still suffering. So places like this is a good place for kids to go. "</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">We first profiled the Downtown Boxing Gym back in March of 2013</a>. The gym, a grassroots effort to keep kids off the streets,&#160;had no heat, and was beyond capacity. Since the story aired, the gym has received an outpouring of support from their community and from viewers across the nation.</p>
<p>"A lot of doors opened up for us," Sweeney said. "There was a lot of people working behind the scenes, but a lot more people reached out to us."</p>
<p>Sweeney, who still goes to pick up students for practice, now uses donated Zipcars to get around the city. Rides are not limited to and from the gym; the students’ parents can call for help as necessary.</p>
<p>“They are my family, all of 'em,” Sweeney said. “I wouldn't drive across the planet, you know, if they wasn't.”</p>
<p>Good grades and graduation are the priority at the Downtown Boxing Gym in Detroit, Mich.</p>
<p>Inside of the gym, a new ring stands, complete with a life-sized wall decal of Sweeney and the boxers. A few feet away from the ring, the tutoring area boasts new furniture, fresh paint, and updated computers.</p>
<p>Teach for America Detroit started a partnership with the gym, assigning seven teachers to work alongside the gym’s pre-existing tutors to help strengthen the gym's academic program.</p>
<p>"Seeing kids using boxing to give them more confidence and focus on their self-esteem, I think education can be used the same way," Teach For America Detroit community coordinator Lauren Coleman said. "Our goal is to provide students with at least an hour a day [of] tutoring and prep, and also ... college and career readiness."</p>
<p>Another major change is on the horizon: The gym has raised more than $175,000 in donations toward a new facility that Sweeney hopes will be able to accommodate some of the gym's more than 150 kids that remain on the waiting list.</p>
<p>"That's one of the things we can't afford to do, just keep kids waitin' around," Sweeney said. "If they're just sitting around, I mean, nobody's helping them at that point, you know?"</p>
<p>Today, that help also comes in the form of mentoring and improved self-esteem.</p>
<p>"I think I'm turning into a role model,” Flagg said. “It makes me feel good on the inside, that kids be askin' me for help with their homework and for advice. I never thought I'd be givin’ anybody advice.”</p>
<p>“You know, boxing is a male-dominated thing,” said boxer Christal Berry, 15. “I think it gives me a lot of power, because I feel really good, I feel strong.”</p>
<p>Parent club leader Sheba McKinney, whose daughter and son visit DBG every weekday, said the gym gives her peace of mind.</p>
<p>"It gives [the kids] an outlet of something to do, so they're not just out in the streets," she said. "This gives them something to work hard for."</p>
<p>Sweeney and the kids have also found appreciation and recognition within their community. The Detroit Pistons recently invited every kid and volunteer to a basketball game, after which they received a monetary donation from the Meijer store for winter coats.</p>
<p>Despite the positive changes over the past year for the gym, Sweeney says there’s much more to be done—and a much larger need to fill.</p>
<p>“Right now, the kids need it more than ever,” Sweeney said. “Detroit is still a rough place, you know. With all the progress that we're makin’, we can't forget the fact that a lot of people are still suffering.”</p>
<p>Jessica Hauser, the gym’s executive director, believes the gym’s growth and progress thus far is proving to be a good lesson for the boxers.</p>
<p>“It's okay to struggle,” she said. “It’s okay as long as you're working towards your dream and that you can make it happen ... And I think that's what the [new gym] will show them.&#160; That hard work does pay off."</p> | Fighting to Stay Off Detroit’s Streets | false | http://nbcnews.com/nightly-news/fighting-stay-detroits-streets-n3851 | 2014-01-04 | 3 |
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<p>Today's businesses can choose from dozens of avenues to reach consumers. This is both a curse and a blessing: On one hand, more channels means more work for marketers, who may already be stretched thin at smaller companies. But if multi-channel marketing and branding strategies are done right, they give you a much better chance of winning your target customers' business.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"The average consumer may go in-store to make a purchase, buy an item online, or search for items on their mobile devices and make their purchases that way," said Henry Helgeson, CEO of merchant services provider Merchant Warehouse. "This means that retailers have to cast a wider net than ever before so they can meet consumers where they prefer to shop. Consumers are also expecting that the experience they have with a store remain the same, whether they're online, in-store or using a mobile device. Omnichannel marketing ensures that businesses, no matter the size, get the competitive edge by providing the best possible experience for consumers."</p>
<p>Robert D'Loren, CEO and chairman of brand management company Xcel Brands, noted that social media has changed everything brands had learned about marketing, and influenced the shift toward omnichannel strategies. <a href="http://businessnewsdaily.com/" type="external">[MORE: How to Use Social Media for Customer Service] Opens a New Window.</a></p>
<p>"Static marketing doesn't work," D'Loren told Business News Daily. "You can't engage [with customers] without having a dynamic, authentic voice. Customers are on every screen today, and it's important to have a strong presence on social media."</p>
<p>If you want to succeed in your omnichannel marketing efforts, you first have to provide a great customer experience, so you earn the right to operate in multiple consumer spaces, D'Loren said. Here are three things you can do to build up your brand with this end goal in mind.</p>
<p>Leverage your knowledge about customers. Small businesses are particularly good at knowing their customers well and providing a level of service that larger businesses often can't achieve, Helgeson said. For example, a small sporting goods store might know from its customers that an important local baseball camp is coming up. From talking with customers, the business may also know the list of supplies participants need to bring to that camp. With this information, the store can stock the specific bats, balls, gloves and other equipment that players need to buy. More importantly, though, the store can effectively market to consumers and draw sales; they can do this in-store, via mobile, and online through SEO and social media.</p>
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<p>Make your culture count. For companies of any size, the culture of the business is one of the most important keys to success. D'Loren said that brands must be committed to engaging and serving their customers, and should speak with consumers instead of at them, as marketers used to do. From there, you can layer all your marketing efforts onto a foundation of customer service.</p>
<p>Use technology to your advantage. Remember that omnichannel marketing isn't just for large retailers; businesses of all sizes can take advantage. Helgeson believes that omnichannel is a new enough concept that small businesses can actually lead the way in the category and compete with larger brands. He advised taking advantage of technological tools like data analytics programs and social listening software, so that you can be even better at what you already do best.</p>
<p>Originally published on <a href="http://businessnewsdaily.com/" type="external">Business News Daily</a></p> | Market Everywhere: 3 Tips to Use Omnichannel Right | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2014/07/03/market-everywhere-3-tips-to-use-omnichannel-right.html | 2016-04-07 | 0 |
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<p>Small-cap stocks occasionally get a bad rap from Wall Street and investors. Small-caps, often defined as companies valued at less than $2 billion, are usually thought of as risky and volatile investments. Yet if we look back at 2016, small-cap stocks absolutely trounced theS&amp;P 500. TheVanguard Small-Cap ETFwound up gaining 16.6% for the year, compared to just a 9.5% gain for the broad-based S&amp;P 500. Investors who take the time to analyze small-cap stocks can occasionally walk away with absolute gems.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The good news for you is there are always small-cap stocks being overlooked by Wall Street. If you're looking for the next diamond in the rough, consider these four top small-cap stocks this spring.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Gold and silver mining stocks have been solid performers since the beginning of 2016, and in spite of all three major U.S. indexes hitting all-time highs, hedge plays (gold and silver) have worked out well for investors. One small-cap hedge to consider this spring is Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ: SSRI).</p>
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<p>Silver Standard has made quite the transition over the past year. Its acquisition of Claude Resources added what will amount to 70,000 to 80,000 ounces of gold production per year, which is on top of the more than 200,000 ounces of gold production it expects annually from the Marigold mine in Nevada.</p>
<p>It's also likely not done expanding production at the Santoy underground mine, acquired when it purchased Claude Resources. In October, Silver Standard entered into an agreement with Eagle Plains Resources to acquire an 80% interest in the Fisher project, which is the adjacent site to the Seabee and Santoy mines.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Even more recently, the company announced that it would exercise its option to form a joint-venture with Golden Arrow Resources for the Chinchillas project in Argentina. Silver Standard had been facing the end-of-life for its Pirquitas property prior to the formation of this joint-venture, meaning the property could generate new silver production for the coming decade and keep Silver Standard from becoming wholly reliant on gold. Construction is expected to begin in the third quarter, with the first ore delivery expected in the second half of 2018. Silver Standard will have a 75% interest in the property.</p>
<p>With the company now having multiple avenues to expand production, and uncertainty over Britain's exit from the EU and Trump leading the U.S. still high -- which is good news for precious metals -- Silver Standard Resources could be an intriguing small-cap stock to consider this spring.</p>
<p>Another small-cap company that's worth a look blends a perfect amount of financial knowledge with some technical pizzazz. I'm talking about none other than Bankrate (NYSE: RATE).</p>
<p>The past couple of years for Bankrate have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for shareholders. Its stock has lost nearly half of its value since the summer of 2014, and the company has missed Wall Street's profit projections in five out of 10 quarters. However, the company's management team has made serious strides toward reinvigorating its core operations, and we began to see this hard work pay off in the company's fourth-quarter earnings report.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>For the quarter, revenue grew by 21% to $113.6 million, with sales up 17% for the entire year. A big reason for this jump was its bread-and-butter CredtiCards.com asset, which provides comparisons on credit cards and credit information to consumers. Q4 sales jumped by 32% year-over-year to nearly $84 million, while content market revenue increased 40% from the sequential third quarter. It's highly possible that with the Federal Reserve in a tightening stance consumers will turn more frequently to CreditCards.com for comparisons and advice as variable credit card interest rates rise. That's a great formula for Bankrate to be able to increase its ad rates and rack up extra sales.</p>
<p>Bankrate's banking segment, which includes mortgage service inquiries, still managed to increase revenue by 6% on a year-over-year basis to $26 million in the fourth quarter. Even if this segment were to slow during the monetary tightening process, the credit cards segment is three times as large, meaning Bankrate can still thrive.</p>
<p>With double-digit percentage sales growth expected for the near future, Bankrate could be a turnaround story to look into this spring.</p>
<p>Unlike the other companies on this list, Fossil Group (NASDAQ: FOSL), a retailer of watches, leather products, and jewelry, looks like a full-scale disaster. Shares of the company are down over 85% in less than four years' time as traditional mall retailers have struggled against a growing e-commerce presence, and watchmakers of all forms have been battling the emergence of the smartwatch.</p>
<p>However, Fossil has three factors working in its favor that suggest a turnaround is possible.</p>
<p>Image source: Fossil Group.</p>
<p>First, Fossil is a brand-name product that often sells at a discounted price. Consumers have shown time and again that they value brand-name products at a great price, which lends hope that Fossil will continue attracting consumers.</p>
<p>Second, history has shown that consumer buying habits are fickle. While the stock's moves upward and downward might seem more magnified this time around, I can assure you that Fossil has undergone protracted sales and profit contractions before, and that management has successfully responded to the issues the company was facing each and every time.</p>
<p>Finally, Fossil has more than doubled down on its own smartwatch efforts, since it's been a rapidly growing category for the company. It's also reducing costs by closing underperforming retail stores, and investing heavily in its e-commerce platform, which has also grown at a reasonably solid rate. These changes won't happen overnight, but within a few quarters we should see its business stabilizing and margins expanding.</p>
<p>Last but certainly not least, social media interaction company MeetMe (NASDAQ: MEET) is a rapidly growing small-cap stock you'll likely want on your radar this spring.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>Last year was a transformative year for MeeMe. It acquired mobile flirting app Skout for $55 million in cash and stock. The addition of Skout, along with its self-named brand, pushed its monthly active user count above the eight million mark, which suggests just how in demand social engagement apps are at the moment. MeetMe isn't done, either. Its acquisitions of if(we)'s Tagged and hi5 brands are expected to push its monthly active user count over 10 million.</p>
<p>Through organic growth and the acquisition of Skout, MeetMe wound up growing its revenue by 24% to $76.1 million in 2016, with more than 90% of its sales coming from the mobile side of the equation. Here's the beauty of MeetMe's business model: it's generally low cost, save for the upfront expenses tied to its acquisitions, meaning the more users it can bring into its portfolio, the more leverage it has with regard to mobile ad pricing. This is why the company ended 2016 with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 39%!</p>
<p>Furthermore, MeetMe now has a healthy amount of cash on hand following a March share offering that generated around $46 million in gross proceeds. With no debt and now with more than $60 million in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet, MeetMe is in an advantageous position: it can continue to add new social interaction apps to its portfolio (some of this cash is going to fund its if(we) acquisition). This is a hot small-cap tech stock you'll want to know this spring.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than Fossil Group, Inc.When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<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=fdcafbe9-40e8-4565-9f1f-bb34c9561fe8&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 Fossil Group, Inc. 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=fdcafbe9-40e8-4565-9f1f-bb34c9561fe8&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/TMFUltraLong/info.aspx" type="external">Sean Williams Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Silver Standard Resources. The Motley Fool recommends Fossil Group, Inc. 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> | 4 Top Small-Cap Stocks to Buy This Spring | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/04/10/4-top-small-cap-stocks-to-buy-this-spring.html | 2017-04-10 | 0 |
<p>A government lawsuit seeks to ban a popular memory loss dietary supplement marketed to seniors, saying there's no scientific evidence to support its claims.</p>
<p>Democratic New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (SHNEYE'-dur-muhn) and the Federal Trade Commission filed the lawsuit Monday against Madison, Wisconsin-based Quincy Bioscience, maker of Prevagen (PREH'-vuh-jehn). The lawsuit seeks a ban on further claims about Prevagen's effectiveness, refunds for consumers and civil penalties.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Prevagen is sold at major retailers and is advertised as being "clinically shown" to support "clearer thinking" and to "improve memory within 90 days."</p>
<p>Schneiderman says Quincy Bioscience based its claims primarily on a study that failed to show a statistically significant improvement in memory.</p>
<p>Quincy Bioscience says it "vehemently disagrees" with the allegations. It calls the lawsuit an "example of government overreach and regulators extinguishing innovation."</p> | Lawsuit disputes claims of popular memory loss supplement | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/09/lawsuit-disputes-claims-popular-memory-loss-supplement.html | 2017-01-09 | 0 |
<p>India’s Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Bhansali Productions have halted the global release of much-anticipated costume drama “ <a href="http://variety.com/t/padmavati/" type="external">Padmavati</a>.” Controversy was sparked by the idea that it features a cross-faith Hindu-Muslim romance.</p>
<p>The film had been set for a Dec. 1 release in India. Related company, <a href="http://variety.com/t/paramount/" type="external">Paramount</a> Pictures was recently announced as handle the worldwide distribution, in a day-and-date date release, coordinated with the outing in India.</p>
<p>While announcing a “voluntary deferment” of the film’s release, Viacom18 said that it had faith in legal process. And that it expected to announce a new date soon.</p>
<p>Directed by <a href="http://variety.com/t/sanjay-leela-bhansali/" type="external">Sanjay Leela Bhansali</a> (“Bajirao Mastani”), the film features Deepika Padukone (“xXx: Return of Xander Cage”), as the titular Hindu Rajput queen <a href="http://variety.com/2017/film/asia/paramount-to-release-indias-padmavati-from-december-1202604283/" type="external">Padmavati</a> who is married to Maharajah Ratan Singh (Shahid Kapoor), the king of the state of Mewar. Their prosperous kingdom attracts the attention of Muslim potentate Sultan Alauddin Khilji (Ranveer Singh) who develops an obsession with Padmavati’s legendary beauty.</p>
<p>The Rajputs are a martial Hindu community, leading members of which ruled several parts of India before British rule.</p>
<p>The film’s troubles began when Rajput fringe groups repeatedly vandalized the sets and staged protests across the country demanding a ban. The bone of contention was an alleged dream sequence in the film where Khilji is seen romancing Padmavati.</p>
<p>India’s Supreme Court dismissed petitions by groups who claimed that the film distorts history. It deferred to the decision of the Central Board of Film Certification. The filmmakers submitted the film for certification, but the CBFC said that the film was incomplete.</p>
<p>Political pressure after the chief ministers of the states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan wrote to the Information &amp; Broadcasting ministry seeking a delay of the release. Bhansali and Padukone have received threats and are under police protection.</p>
<p>“Along with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, amongst the most gifted filmmakers of his generation, Viacom18 Motion Pictures has created a beautiful cinematic masterpiece in ‘Padmavati’ that captures Rajput valor, dignity and tradition in all its glory,” Viacom18 said in a statement. “We are a responsible, law-abiding corporate citizen… We have faith that we will soon obtain the requisite clearances to release the film. We will announce the revised release date of the film in due course.”</p> | Viacom Halts ‘Padmavati’ Release After Religious Uproar | false | https://newsline.com/viacom-halts-padmavati-release-after-religious-uproar/ | 2017-11-19 | 1 |
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<p>APD Chief Allen Banks said the man who was shot had at least 12 felony warrants, but didn’t release his identity or offer any information about the warrants. He did not say how many shots were fired, or where the suspect was hit, and it’s unclear if the suspect was armed.</p>
<p>One of the officers “did call out that there was a gun,” he said, but police had not confirmed that a gun was present as of Sunday evening.</p>
<p>“There were multiple officers who did discharge their firearms based on the threat that they saw,” Banks said.</p>
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<p>But he would not elaborate on what exactly the threat was, because it’s still being investigated. He said details would likely be released later this week. He said he did not know to which hospital the man was taken, although he said that normally in such situations, people are taken to University of New Mexico Hospital.</p>
<p>It was APD’s seventh officer-involved shooting of the year.</p>
<p>The incident began when officers responded to a domestic disturbance in the 1400 block of Virginia NE around 2 p.m.</p>
<p>A woman there gave police a description of the man who was later shot.</p>
<p>“She asked for officers to respond and wanted this subject to go to jail,” Banks said.</p>
<p>Banks said that when officers found the man at Wyoming and Northeastern, the conflict ensued.</p>
<p>Alfred Garcia, who works at Furr’s Fresh Buffet across from where the shooting happened, said he was getting ready for work around 2:45 p.m. in his apartment a block away when he heard between 12 to 15 shots fired.</p>
<p>“I’m glad I wasn’t out there,” Garcia said.</p>
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<p>Jamie Forness, of Belen, was at her nephew’s birthday party at her sister’s home nearby when she heard the shots.</p>
<p>“We didn’t know what happened,” Forness said. “It’s scary; this is really close to home.”</p>
<p>Wyoming was closed from Indian School to Menaul until after 10 o’clock Sunday night.</p>
<p>A black backpack could be seen on the sidewalk at the intersection where police said the shooting occurred.</p>
<p>Sunday’s incident comes a little more than two weeks after another police shooting, in which a veteran APD officer wounded Robert “Bobby” Garcia Sr., who had been stopped for suspicion of drunken driving on Nov. 15.</p>
<p>That scenario, Banks said a week later when Garcia was identified and details were made public, was planned by Garcia, who wanted to commit “suicide by cop.” Garcia approached the officer with a pellet gun in hand and refused to obey as many as nine commands to drop the weapon.</p>
<p>Banks said Garcia later apologized to detectives for putting the officer, Peter Romero, in a position where Romero felt he had to fire his weapon.</p>
<p>An Oct. 28 officer-involved shooting in the university area wounded Joaquin Ortega, 34, who police said had been shooting from a car window in the university area and running drivers off the road before he crashed into a light pole, robbed a woman pedestrian and tried to carjack a vehicle. Officers later found a shotgun and bullet casings in Ortega’s car.</p>
<p>That spree was two days after Christopher Chase, 35, stole a police vehicle, shot three APD officers and a Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputy, and led law enforcement on a chase the morning of Oct. 26. He was later found dead in the police car and results of his autopsy have not yet been released.</p>
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<p /> | APD officers shoot suspect | false | https://abqjournal.com/312429/suspect-in-apd-shooting-in-critical-condition.html | 2 |
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<p>The noisy public debate over whether the income gap between the wealthiest Americans and the rest of us is getting wider is no longer a debate, according to ratings and research firm Standard &amp; Poor’s.</p>
<p>S&amp;P released a report on Wednesday that says the widening income gap in the U.S. contributed to a boom and bust cycle that led to the 2008 financial crisis, and that the growing gap has served as an obstacle to ongoing economic recovery.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“At extreme levels, income inequality can harm sustained economic growth over long periods. The U.S. is approaching that threshold,” S&amp;P said in the report.</p>
<p>S&amp;P said “extreme income inequality” serves as a drag on long-run economic growth. Consequently, S&amp;P has reduced its 10-year U.S. growth forecast to a 2.5% rate, down from 2.8% five years ago.</p>
<p>S&amp;P’s research included a 2011 Congressional Budget Office report that showed that while real net average U.S. household income grew 62% from 1979-2007, household income growth was “much more rapid” at the higher end of the income scale than at the middle and lower end.</p>
<p>A second CBO report in 2013 showed that after-tax average income soared 15.1% for the top 1% from 2009 to 2010, but grew by less than 1% for the bottom 90% over the same time period, and fell for many income groups.</p>
<p>S&amp;P cautioned against “extreme policy measures” to ease the gap, instead recommending that Americans seek to improve their educations. Specifically, obtaining college degrees.</p>
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<p>“With wages of a college graduate double that of a high school graduate, increasing educational attainment is an effective way to bring income inequality back to healthy levels,” the report states.</p>
<p>More Americans achieving a higher level of education would also benefit the economy. S&amp;P said that if more Americans completed one more year of school over the next five years, the additional productivity gains would add about $525 billion, or 2.4%, to the level of GDP.</p>
<p>Higher levels of income inequality increase political pressures, discouraging trade, investment, and hiring, according to the report. And when the imbalances reach their peak, the U.S. falls into a boom and bust cycle similar to the one that resulted in the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession.</p>
<p>Moreover, broad income imbalances “tend to dampen social mobility and produce a less-educated workforce that can't compete in a changing global economy. This diminishes future income prospects and potential long-term growth, becoming entrenched as political repercussions extend the problems,” S&amp;P warned.</p>
<p>The report holds a mirror up to Washington, D.C., where the question of a growing income disparity has fueled a heated national debate over the impact of such a gap and how or if it should be addressed.</p>
<p>President Barack Obama and many other Democrats say the wealthiest Americans should pay higher taxes to offset the gap, while Republicans argue that raising taxes would prove more harmful to the economic recovery than a growing income disparity.</p>
<p>S&amp;P doesn’t offer specific policy measures to address the issue, but argues that reducing the gap would benefit the economy.</p>
<p>“In addition to strengthening the quality of economic expansions, bringing levels of income inequality under control would improve U.S. economic resilience in the face of potential risks to growth,” the report states.</p>
<p>Boosting the income of middle and lower-earning Americans would add to their purchasing power, which would increase demand for goods and lift the entire economy. And wealthy Americans would benefit by not being left vulnerable to boom and bust cycles perpetuated by a widening income gap.</p>
<p>“Policymakers should take care, however, to avoid policies and practices that are either too heavy handed or foster an unchecked widening of the wealth gap. Extreme approaches on either side would stunt GDP growth and lead to shorter, more fragile expansionary periods,” S&amp;P said.</p> | Widening Income Gap Holding Back Recovery: S&P | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2014/08/05/widening-income-gap-holding-back-recovery-sp.html | 2016-03-09 | 0 |
<p>When Darlene Flynn of Owens Elementary found out that her school was going to offer a program for teachers who wanted to earn the profession’s highest credential, National Board certification, she immediately signed up.</p>
<p>“I was excited,” says Flynn, who teaches kindergarten at the school in West Pullman. “I thought that this would help me improve my skills and it was so convenient.”</p>
<p>Teachers at Owens and nearby White Elementary had been targeted to participate in an initiative of the civic group Chicago United that aimed at increasing the number of National Board-certified teachers.</p>
<p>Chicago United raised money to pay for on-site classes, mentor training and candidate application fees. The program would support teachers for three years—one year to prepare for the extensive application process, a second year to undergo the process itself and a third to train successful candidates to become mentors.</p>
<p>“We were trying to build capacity with National Board, and we wanted to eliminate as many barriers as possible,” explains Carolyn Nordstrom, former president of Chicago United.</p>
<p>In all, 23 teachers—17 from Owens and six from White—signed on, representing close to the entire faculty at each school.</p>
<p>But after the first year, Flynn dropped out for personal reasons. “I wanted to do it, but I would have had to put in too much time. It’s a very involved process, and I have a husband and kids who are still at home.”</p>
<p>Seventeen other teachers quit that first year, too. Of the remaining five who completed the application process, only two—one from each school—earned National Board certification.</p>
<p>What happened at White and Owens demonstrates the challenge of shepherding teachers through the National Board pipeline. On average, only 50 percent of first-time applicants eventually obtain certification.</p>
<p>The process requires 200 to 400 hours of work outside the classroom, according to estimates by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, which issues the credential. Applicants must complete an extensive series of assessments, including portfolios, student work samples and videotapes, then write analyses that demonstrate content knowledge and their understanding of how to teach those subjects.</p>
<p>“People discovered it was a lot of work,” says Owens art teacher Linda Norby, one of the two who achieved certification. “Many had small children and family concerns. I had no small children to worry about.”</p>
<p>Even so, Owens Principal Samuel Jordan and Yvonne Womack, former principal of White, deemed the program a success. Teachers are now more reflective about instruction, they say, and are more apt to be guided by best practices and open to changing their teaching approach.</p>
<p>Chicago United chalked up a win, too. “You have to look at it as an investment that had other benefits,” says Nordstrom. “If the faculty and the principals thought it was good, then it was good. If teachers say, ‘This changed us,’ that was the goal.”</p>
<p>Welcome plan for both schools</p>
<p>Chicago United began working with Owens and White as part of a larger plan to improve instruction, especially in math and science, in West Pullman. In 1999, the group brought in the Teachers Academy for Mathematics and Science (TAMS) to provide professional development at 10 area elementary schools.</p>
<p>But two of those schools, Owens and White, had worked with TAMS a few years earlier, so Chicago United offered them a National Board preparation program instead. Coursework would be provided by Illinois State University.</p>
<p>Jordan says Owens had raised its math scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills by working with TAMS, so the faculty was open to the idea of more professional development. “I’ve always encouraged my teachers to reach higher,” he says.</p>
<p>Same for teachers at White, says Womack. White already was in the habit of offering teachers additional supports, such as keeping the building open in the evening, and providing computers and other resources. “Anything out of the ordinary, we supplied it because we knew the kids would benefit,” Womack adds.</p>
<p>By offering the National Board preparation program to the entire faculty at both schools, the partnership was looking to get “a larger pool of successful candidates,” says Jackie Simmons, a former Chicago United project director.</p>
<p>During the first year, however, teachers realized how demanding the process was. They wrote papers based on observations of their students, videotaped classroom lessons, critiqued each other and learned how to reflect on their own teaching practices. For 10 months, they met after school once a week for at least three hours.</p>
<p>“I don’t think that the teachers understood the rigor of the process,” Simmons says. “It’s like preparing for a marathon.”</p>
<p>Kathleen Kornhaber, a special education teacher at White and the other teacher who earned certification, agrees, noting that she spent every Sunday working on her application. When it was over, “my husband was glad to get the mess out of the dining room,” she says.</p>
<p>Lynn Cherkasky-Davis, founder of a candidate support program at the Chicago Teachers Union’s Quest Center, says she advises teachers to reconsider starting the process if they have other time-consuming commitments. Some teachers are weeded out by the program’s application, which can take up to 15 hours to complete.</p>
<p>It’s typical for more than half of teachers in pre-candidacy programs to drop out, says Lynn Gaddis, director of Illinois State University’s National Board Resource Center. “We’ve seen this throughout the state. Once teachers see the time and work involved, they self-select out.”</p>
<p>One improves, another holds steady</p>
<p>While many of those involved in the Chicago United program say it was worthwhile, only one school has since posted an increase in test scores.</p>
<p>The percentage of children at White who meet reading and math standards rose slightly, by 4 percent and 2 percent respectively, while the program was in place between 2000 and 2003.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, results at Owens were mixed. The percentage of children meeting state standards in reading fell from 42 percent in 1999 to 36 percent in 2003. During the same period, math scores were unchanged.</p>
<p>Jordan points to school-based problem solving, a CPS strategy used to decrease the rate of special education referrals, for Owen’s falling scores. (The strategy, begun seven years ago, requires schools to try a variety of academic and behavioral interventions before referring students for special education.)</p>
<p>“We had children that needed special education services, but we were restricted from referring them,” says Jordan. “Children that should not have been taking the tests were taking the tests.”</p>
<p>Research shows, however, that National Board certification can have a measurable impact on achievement. A recent study in North Carolina found that National Board-certified teachers are more effective at raising test scores, especially the scores of low-income children. (See sidebar.)</p>
<p>Still, staff at Owens and White say teachers have changed their classroom strategies for the better.</p>
<p>Teachers at Owens are “using more cooperative grouping with the children,” says Jordan. “They are more open to being observed by their colleagues, and they are talking about what they are doing.”</p>
<p>Owens literacy coordinator Nedra Durham says participating in the program taught her to be more cognizant of students’ strengths and weaknesses, to examine what she does in the classroom and to focus on standards. “Everything in National Board makes you analyze what you do,” Durham says.</p>
<p>Phyllis Chappell, a 1st-grade teacher at Owens, says she learned to better assess what classroom activities work. “I automatically do this now. I’m even working on developing a primary rubric for our curriculum.” Chappell, who completed the process but still needs to retake one part of the process to earn certification, plans to start anew at the Chicago Teachers Union Quest Center this coming school year.</p>
<p>Womack says teachers at White began “checking what they were doing against National Board standards, and what they had learned was being implemented in the classroom.”</p>
<p>To contact Debra Williams, call (312) 673-3873 or send an e-mail to [email protected].</p> | Attempt at critical mass falls short but pays dividends | false | http://chicagoreporter.com/attempt-critical-mass-falls-short-pays-dividends/ | 2005-08-16 | 3 |
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<p>FILE - This file frame grab from video, provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) shows a test at the FAAs technical center in Atlantic City, N.J., in April 2014, where a cargo container was packed with 5,000 rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. A U.N. aviation agency has voted to ban cargo shipments of rechargeable lithium batteries on passenger planes because they can create intense fires capable of destroying the aircraft. The Feb. 22, 2016, decision by International Civil Aviation Organization's top-level governing council isn't binding, but most countries follow the agency's standards. The ban goes into effect on April 1.(AP Photo/FAA, File)</p>
<p>WASHINGTON - A U.N. panel approved on Monday a temporary ban on cargo shipments of rechargeable lithium batteries on passenger planes because they are can create intense fires capable of destroying an aircraft.</p>
<p>The decision by the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization's top-level governing council isn't binding, but most countries follow the agency's standards. The ban is effective on April 1.</p>
<p>"This interim prohibition will continue to be in force as separate work continues through ICAO on a new lithium battery packaging performance standard, currently expected by 2018," said Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, the ICAO council's president.</p>
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<p>Lithium-ion batteries are used in a vast array of products from cellphones and laptops to some electric cars. About 5.4 billion lithium-ion cells were manufactured worldwide in 2014. A battery is made up of two or more cells. A majority of batteries are transported on cargo ships, but about 30 percent are shipped by air.</p>
<p>Aviation authorities have long known that the batteries can self-ignite, creating fires that are hotter than 1,100 degrees. That's near the melting point of aluminum, which is used in aircraft construction.</p>
<p>Safety concerns increased after Federal Aviation Administration tests showed gases emitted by overheated batteries can build up in cargo containers, leading to explosions capable of disabling aircraft fire suppression systems and allowing fires to rage unchecked. As a result of the tests, an organization representing aircraft manufacturers - including the world's two largest, Boeing and Airbus - said last year that airliners aren't designed to withstand lithium battery fires and that continuing to accept battery shipments is "an unacceptable risk."</p>
<p>More than other types of batteries, li-ion batteries are susceptible to short-circuit if they are damaged, exposed to extreme temperatures, overcharged, packed too close to together or contain manufacturing defects. When they short-circuit, the batteries can experience uncontrolled temperature increases known as "thermal runaway." That, in turn, can spread short-circuiting to nearby batteries until an entire shipment is overheating and emitting explosive gases.</p>
<p>It's not unusual for tens of thousands of batteries to be shipped in a single cargo container.</p>
<p>Safety experts believe three cargo jets have been destroyed and four pilots killed in in-flight fires since 2006 that accident investigators say where either started by batteries or made more severe by their proximity. The International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations lobbied the ICAO council unsuccessfully to extend the ban to cargo carriers.</p>
<p>Dozens of airlines have already voluntarily stopped accepting battery shipments, but others oppose a ban. KLM, the royal Dutch airline, made a presentation to a lower-level ICAO panel arguing against a ban, according to an aviation official familiar with the presentation. KLM and Air France are owned by a Franco-Dutch holding company. Representatives from the Netherlands and France on the dangerous goods panel voted last fall against a ban.</p>
<p>The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition that he not be named.</p>
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<p>KLM officials didn't respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>The battery industry and manufacturers of consumer electronics that rely on the batteries also opposed the ban. The ban doesn't apply to batteries packaged inside equipment like a laptop with a battery inside, for example.</p>
<p>The U.S decided last October to back a ban, calling the risk "immediate and urgent." ICAO's decision frees the Transportation Department to begin work on regulations to impose a ban.</p>
<p>A law passed by Congress in 2012 at the behest of industry prohibits the department from issuing any regulations regarding air shipments of lithium batteries that are more stringent than ICAO standards unless there is a crash that can be shown to have been started by batteries. Since most evidence in crashes is destroyed by fire, that's virtually impossible to do, critics of the provision say.</p>
<p>Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., who authored the provision, has said that since batteries are an international industry there should be a single, international standard because it would be too confusing for shippers to follow multiple rules.</p>
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<p>Follow Joan Lowy at twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy. Her work can be found at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/content/joan-lowy" type="external">http://bigstory.ap.org/content/joan-lowy</a></p> | UN panel agrees to ban battery shipments on airliners | false | https://abqjournal.com/728413/un-panel-agrees-to-ban-battery-shipments-on-airliners.html | 2 |
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<p>Years ago, people used to ask me what journalists should do to combat the nation’s drift toward “factish” and “truthy” logic. What was needed, I’d reply with misplaced confidence, is robust fact-checking. If news media were more aggressive in calling people out for lying, I predicted, they’d be less likely to do so with impunity.</p>
<p>Well, in the years since I prescribed that remedy, Snopes and PolitiFact have come of age, and newspapers and TV news outlets have beefed up their fact-checking operations. Indeed, fact-checking has become a minor industry.</p>
<p>And it hasn’t helped.</p>
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<p>To the contrary, politicians and partisans are more likely than ever to cry “Fake news!” whenever truth hurts their feelings or facts puncture their fantasies. And if fact-checking has become a minor industry, so has conspiracy theorizing, as bizarre fantasies about pizza parlor child molestation rings, “hoax” shootings and the so-called “deep state” infest our political discourse, making some people famous and others, stupid.</p>
<p>So when a journalist asked that same question last week, I demurred. All we can do, I said, is our jobs.</p>
<p>That being the case, Steven Spielberg’s latest movie arrives not a minute too soon, providing as it does a timely reminder of just what that job entails. “The Post,” which went into wide release last Friday, is a tour de force about the 1971 standoff between The Washington Post and the federal government over publication of The Pentagon Papers, top-secret documents proving the government lied as it led the nation deeper into the fatal quagmire of Vietnam.</p>
<p>The decision by Post publisher and neophyte businesswoman Katharine Graham to put her newspaper and, conceivably, her freedom, at risk by going up against the Nixon White House is rightly regarded as a feminist coming of age. But it is also a journalistic watershed. In battling Nixon all the way to the Supreme Court with everything at stake, the Post embodied the sheer guts it sometimes takes simply to report the truth.</p>
<p>Of course, 1971 was a long time ago, a point Spielberg makes by lingering lovingly on typewriters, rotary dials, linotype machines and other artifacts of the pre-digital newsroom. We see people gazing enraptured at their newspapers the way they do their smartphones today.</p>
<p>It is a not-subtle reminder that things were different then. Yet, the movie also offers a rousing, timely reminder that for all that’s changed, one thing cannot: journalism’s mission must always be to hold power accountable.</p>
<p>So yes, all we can do is our jobs.</p>
<p>Frankly, I was initially dissatisfied with that answer. I was disappointed I wasn’t able to offer some innovative strategy to turn back the tide of factishness and truthiness. Then it occurred to me: That’s not journalism’s responsibility.</p>
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<p>No, our responsibility is to provide information, not to enforce the proper use thereof. I’m reminded of the old adage about leading horses to water. I’m also reminded of the motto of the Scripps company, which started life as a newspaper publisher: “Give light, and the people will find their own way.”</p>
<p>We in journalism have, I submit, fulfilled our part of that bargain, doggedly if imperfectly. The question that will define the future is whether “the people” will fulfill theirs or whether they will choose to believe, as too many too often do, that partisan resentments justify factual apostasy. That’s something they must decide. It’s not journalists’ call to make.</p>
<p>In 2018, as it was in 1971, our job is to find the courage to report the truth.</p>
<p>It’s up to the people to find the courage to hear it.</p>
<p>Copyright, The Miami Herald; e-mail to <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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<p>Ben Feldman, left, and Perdita Weeks are shown in a scene from “As Above, So Below.” They are led to explore the Paris catacombs.</p>
<p>“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here,” is the inscription uncovered by a gang of 20-something treasure hunters in the catacomb-hopping horror flick, “As Above, So Below.” But the warning could easily apply to viewers checking out this rather hopeless mash-up of “The Descent” and “(Rec),” not to mention a dozen other found-footage movies that have clogged the screens over the last five years.</p>
<p>Hardly credible, even for a film claiming that the gates of hell lie a few hundred feet below Paris (if anywhere, they can be found in an overcrowded Metro car with no air conditioning), this low budget effort from director John Erick Dowdle and writer-producer-brother Drew Dowdle provides a few late scares after plenty of eye-rolling setup, with said scares due more to the heavy sound design than the action itself.</p>
<p>First seen wearing a headscarf as she explores an off-limits cavern in Iran, gorgeous tomb raider Scarlett (Perdita Weeks) claims to be a black belt in Capoeira while holding a doctorate from University College London. While she never uses her fighting skills and fails to cite Dante when coming across the above-mentioned quote (so much for the Ph.D.), she’s still brazen enough to continue her dead father’s lifelong quest to discover the legendary, eternal-life giving Philosopher’s Stone. (Yes, the same one from Harry Potter, though this specimen happens to be found in France.)</p>
<p>Teaming up with an ex-pat clockmaker (Ben Feldman, aka Ginsberg on “Mad Men”) who also speaks fluent Aramaic, and a guy named Benji (Edwin Hodge, “The Purge”) who’s been brought on as the requisite cameraman-who-keeps-shooting-at-all-costs, Scarlett uncovers a few clues that lead her to the Paris catacombs, which famously house the bones of 6 million dead, buried there up through the late 19th century.</p>
<p>The three Americans then contract the services of three spelunking Frenchies (Francois Civil, Marion Lambert, Ali Marhyar) and together they head underground, the treasure hunt taking them further and further down as things inevitably get out of hand.</p>
<p />
<p>Cue up lots of stinging sound effects, eerie chanting, rats, a freaky dude named “the Mole” (Cosme Castro) who pops up now and then (and who, for no reason, everyone addresses in English), and a slew of lame paranormal gags whereby each character is forced to face their own inner demons.</p>
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<p>But the characters are all so brazenly one-dimensional, and Scarlett so ridiculous (she dresses for the expedition like she’s headed to the mall), that “As Above” never passes the credibility test from the get-go, only partially salvaged by a few chilling moments that pop up in the final reel.</p>
<p>No strangers to the found-footage game, the Brothers Dowdle (as they call their production shingle) already handled the lesser U.S. remake of “(Rec),” and while that movie at least had a decent pitch, this one feels like an oddly serious take on the tongue-in-cheek Venice cave sequence from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”</p>
<p /> | Catacomb-hopping horror flick ‘As Above, So Below’ is hopeless and hardly credible | false | https://abqjournal.com/456954/catacomb-hopping-horror-flick-as-above-so-below-is-hopeless-and-hardly-credible.html | 2 |
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<p>Gerald Epstein is codirector of the <a href="http://www.peri.umass.edu" type="external">Political Economy Research Institute (PERI)</a> and Professor of Economics. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University. He has published widely on a variety of progressive economic policy issues, especially in the areas of central banking and international finance, and is the editor or co-editor of six volumes.</p>
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<p /> PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay in Baltimore.
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<p />What happens to an economy and a society when the finance sector becomes increasingly dominant? Some people call much of the finance sector parasitical. And if that's the case, then what happens when parasitical capital becomes so dominant?
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<p />Here's a graph that gives some sense of just how important a question this is. You'll see in this graph that starting around 1860, 1880, the GDP share of the U.S. financial industry starts to grow. It more or less goes up steadily until around the crash of '28, '29, '30, in that area, where it reaches something like about 6Â&#160;percent of GDP. It goes down steadily and reaches a dip at around just after 1940 and during the war, and then starts to climb again continuously. Sometime around 1980 it gets back to that 6Â&#160;percent peak, but it keeps going. By early 2000s, based on this graph, it hits over 8Â&#160;percent. And then we have the crash in 2008.
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<p />Now joining us to talk about these numbers and more is Gerry Epstein. He's coordinator of the political—codirector, I should say, of the Political Economy Research Institute. He's a professor of economics. And he joins us now from Amherst, Massachusetts. Thanks for joining us, Gerry.
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<p />GERALD EPSTEIN, CODIRECTOR, PERI: Thanks for having me, Paul.
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<p />JAY: So, first of all, talk about this graph. Why are these numbers significant? So why should we care that the finance sector gets so big? Maybe that just shows us the economy's doing well.
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<p />EPSTEIN: Well, this graph by Thomas Philippon at NYU is a very important one, because it illustrates this problem that Keynes, among others, talked about. You know, Keynes said that there's enterprise and there's speculation. Speculation is undertaken by the financial sector, enterprise by manufacturers and other parts of the real economy. And he says when enterprise is dominant, when speculation is just a bubble on the sea of enterprise, the economy can grow and it can develop. But when enterprise is just a little bubble on the swirl of speculation, that can destroy the economy. And we saw that.
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<p />If you look at this graph that you started with, when finance became a larger and larger share of the economy, it was associated with the crash of the 1930s. And then, when it kept going up and up and up again by 2008, we again saw another crash.
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<p />And it represents, among other things, this dominant short-termism of speculation and, most importantly, of private debt in the economy, which makes it much less stable.
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<p />JAY: Now, the issue of the percentage of GDP is one thing, but percentage of profits is also astounding.
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<p />EPSTEIN: That's right. If you look at some other data, what you'll see is that by around 2007, 2008, the profits going to the financial sector was 40Â&#160;percent or more of total profits in the United States. So when you have such a dominance by one sector of the economy—which, by the way, does not really produce much of anything; it's an intermediate product; it's supposed to be helping the rest of the economy grow—when you have it taking over so much of the profit and such a large part of the economy, it can lead to a number of significant problems.
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<p />JAY: Now, one of the things I thought was very interesting about this graph is that it isn't something new that finance gets so big, that—if you look at the first part of the 20th century, the same process took place. And I know there's a lot of weight put on Glass–Steagall as the legislation that was passed in the 1930s that tried to mitigate this, but this idea that finance becomes so dominant, I've seen some people analyze that this is kind of a natural phenomenon with capitalism, that when you get industry at such a massive scale and the need for massive amounts of capital to buy the kind of equipment it takes to do auto manufacturing or any of the mass manufacturing processes, that that necessarily puts finance in this driving-seat position in relationship to the rest of the economy.
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<p />EPSTEIN: Well, certainly finance is important to capitalism, and finance under certain conditions can play a very productive role. Joseph Schumpeter, the famous economist, thought that finance played really dynamic role in financing innovation and financing the real economy. And so part of what one sees in these data from the 1860s, 1880s, is in fact the role of finance in helping to finance a lot of very important, real activity in the U.S.—manufacturing, the building of the railroads, canals, a lot of infrastructure, the whole development of the United States as the workshop of the world during that period. So, clearly, finance, when it's well-organized and functioning in the service of the economy, is very important.
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<p />So part of what we saw in those early data from that graph is finance playing that role. But then eventually what happened in the 1920s and so forth is that finance started playing a highly speculative role on the stock market and so forth. And that's what Keynes was talking about in that quote that I mentioned. And so when finance becomes primarily a speculative activity, that is, investors making bets on what other investors are doing rather than actually financing jobs and real investment, then it becomes a problem.
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<p />JAY: And the banks would play this role of they would loan money to company A, and then they'd loan money to company B to buy stuff from company A, and they'd be greasing the wheels on all sides, which I guess is part of what some of the legislation was meant to mitigate. But I guess my point is: is it not inherent in this stage of capitalist development?
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<p />EPSTEIN: It's a danger, just as you said. You know, if you look across the world, there are different kinds of financial systems, different kinds of relationships between finance and industry. And historically in Germany and in France and Italy there were much closer relations between the banks and the industrial companies, the manufacturing companies and so forth, and there were ways in which that kind of close relationship was bettered, that the banks could take a longer-term perspective on investment, they didn't have such a short-term perspective that required returns, you know, every quarter or every month. And so for the industrial development in Germany and France in the 19th and early 20 century, this kind of longer-term connection was actually productive. Same in Japan—we had this kind of longer-term connection between finance and industry.
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<p />But what you're saying is absolutely right. When finance begins to get the upper hand and to agglomerate business so that it can become a monopoly and exploit consumers and workers, when they start using this leverage to grease the political system and to engage primarily in speculation and not longer-term investment, this creates not only massive inequality of incomes but inequality of power.
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<p />And I think that's what we saw in the United States and increasingly in other countries: we saw that there was a deregulation of finance here in the United States that was really promoted, starting in the 1980s. You pointed to the graph where the shares started going up around 1980 with—when Ronald Reagan became president, Paul Volcker was head of the Fed. And then, when Carter and Clinton came in, they got rid of many more controls over finance.
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<p />And so then finance became really an engine of speculation, an engine of agglomeration. Part of this was helped by the economics profession. This thing started called the shareholder value movement, the idea that companies should do whatever—they should start acting like financial firms, industrial firms like General Motors or GE, to start acting like financial firms, and should maximize the short-term earnings of their shareholders and forget about the stakeholders, the workers and others. And the economics profession thought that this was really the way to maximize the productivity of the industrial economies.
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<p />And so what we saw as a result of this is that CEOs of corporations started caring just about their stock options and the short-term returns that they could get on their stock rather than making the long-term investments in their corporations. William Lazonick, among others, has written about this. And this has facilitated an enormous increase of inequality by both the financiers and the CEOs of these companies. In fact, what we saw was a financialization of nonfinancial companies.
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<p />JAY: And this idea that finance, you know, helped create everything, that's only partially true, because most of the big infrastructure projects, from roads to canals to power, dams and such, was all public money. It wasn't that—it wasn't the banks were the only source of finance to spur manufacturing or the creation of these things. Public finance played a decisive role in many parts of the economy.
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<p />EPSTEIN: Yeah, that's right. In fact, I think that's part of the reason why by the middle of the Great Depression, Keynes had gotten to the point where he was saying, you know, if he had his way, we'd really reduce the role of private finance, socialize most of this big investment, socialize most of finance, because that's the surest way, in his view, to reduce this role of speculation and to maximize the longer-term term perspective for society as a whole.
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<p />You know, we do have this big problem now, as we have this aging population, the baby boomer population—the U.S. is aging, and elsewhere in the world—who are trying to figure out how to save for their old age. And we've totally privatized or almost totally privatized the mechanisms for transferring wealth from when you're young to when you're old so you can retire.
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<p />And with the financial industry, one of the reasons it's grown so much is that by financial liberalization, by reducing the amount of socialized savings, or Social Security and defined benefit plans and so forth, they've managed to grab most of these savings that people my age have tried to put into the system to figure out how we're going to survive when we're old.
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<p />And what they've done with most of these savings is siphoned off massive incomes for the CEOs and for the financial sector, made poor investments in the real economy. And so in the end, when those people, my generation or a little bit younger, retire, there's not going to be a lot of wealth created for people to retire on.
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<p />And again, this gets back to what Keynes was saying. Our ability to retire really depends on how productive our economy has been over the previous 20 years and how the rewards of that productivity are shared among the population. We need to return to a financial system and an economic system where we can really invest in true productivity in the economy, where those returns can be shared widely. And only then will people have real income, real wealth to retire on.
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<p />JAY: But when you say "return", we're at a point now where finance capital is so powerful, and not just as a percentage of the GDP, but so powerful politically, that you can barely pass the flimsiest regulation to try to control what's happening, whether it's in derivatives markets or other forms of banking activity. You know, the joke has been they own Congress. I guess it's not a joke. It's a sad truth. [incompr.] get to that point, it's not—what can you return to? Don't we have to move toward something new?
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<p />EPSTEIN: Right, we have to move to something new. And what we have to look at—let's look at the Occupy movement, for example. There's a new initiative there that I think is very important. It's called Strike Debt. And it's using the fact that when you look at these financial returns, these financial profits, you have to understand that the other side of that is debt and the fact that households are indebted, mortgages, student debt, small businesses, a huge amount of debt, and the way the whole legal system has been restructured and the political system, as you said, has been restructured, where now the dominant goal of much of our political and legal system is to make sure that people try to—have to repay this debt. And so what Strike Debt is saying is, no, there has to be debt resistance; we have to have change in laws so that it's easier for households and students to go bankrupt, to wipe the slate clean.
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<p />You know, as David [greIb3`] in his book Debt: The First 5,000 Years pointed out, historically, if you look back thousands of years, societies get overindebted. They tend to—they start to weigh down the progress of the society. And leaders of the political system have to call jubilees. We have to strike the debt, and I think we're at that point now in the United States. Certainly they're at that point in Europe. And we have to be part of this movement to really—to give debt relief to the vast majority of Americans who are now weighed down by debt. And it's this debt that is one of the major burdens that's making it very difficult for our economy to get going again.
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<p />JAY: Alright. Thanks for joining us, Gerry.
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<p />EPSTEIN: Thank you.
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<p />JAY: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
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<p />End
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<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | Financialization and the World Economy | true | http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option%3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D767%26Itemid%3D74%26jumival%3D8875 | 2012-09-24 | 4 |
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<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Markopolos" type="external">Harry Markopolos</a> is the independent financial fraud investigator, who, over a period of nine years, tracked Bernie Madoff’s $50-billion <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme" type="external">Ponzi scheme</a>, screaming to the heavens when no one would listen. Testifying this morning before the <a href="http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hr020409.shtml" type="external">House Financial Services Committee</a>, he took an opportunity to speak directly to the Russian mafia and other organized crime figures who lost billions when Madoff’s hedge fund imploded. “I’m the good guy here!” he said, eager to have them understand that he was only protecting their investments from a financial predator. Madoff’s victims in the US tended to be Jewish (“Ponzi schemes are first and foremost an affinity fraud,” says Markopolos), whereas overseas he preyed on mafiosi, royal families, blue-blooded aristocrats, and the nouveaux riche. (It’s interesting to note that his victims also indirectly included <a href="" type="internal">Iraqi refugees</a>.)</p>
<p>Markopolos is used to living with danger. A former Army Special Forces operator, he told Congress that he and his small team of volunteers have all feared for their lives at various points during almost a decade of building a case against Madoff. His testimony ( <a href="http://financialservices.house.gov/markopolos020409.pdf" type="external">.pdf</a>) reads like a John le Carré spy novel, detailing how he and three other independent investigators secretly conspired against huge odds and physical dangers to bring down one of the worst white-collar criminals in American history. “If Mr. Madoff was already facing life in prison, there was little to no downside for him to remove any such threat,” Markopolos said. “Neither my team nor I had any personal knowledge of Mr. Madoff or his psychological make up. As such we had only the conclusions of our investigation into his fund to surmise of what he may have been capable. We did know, however, that he was one of the most powerful men on Wall Street and in a position to easily end our careers or worse.”</p>
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<p>Markopolos began looking into Madoff’s fund in 1999 when his then-employer asked him to study its success with an eye towards creating a competing hedge fund. Almost immediately, though, he smelled dirt. “In less than four hours I knew I had proved mathematically that [Maddof] was a fraud,” he said. It was only a question of uncovering the details of how the swindle worked. Maddoff’s “math never made sense, his performance charts were clearly deceiving, and his return stream never resembled any known financial instrument or strategy… to believe in [Madoff] was to believe in the impossible.”</p>
<p>It seems that many people did believe in the impossible. This perhaps comes as no surprise: if you’re making tons of money, there’s little incentive to investigate where it’s coming from. Besides, Madoff’s scheme was purposely devised to be as complex and undecipherable as possible. I won’t even attempt an explanation here (for that, read the <a href="http://financialservices.house.gov/markopolos020409.pdf" type="external">complete text</a> of Markopolos’ statement), but suffice it to say that Madoff was the Michelangelo of financial fraud. The scheme was complicated enough “that even market professionals without derivatives experience would have trouble keeping track of all the moving parts… [Madoff] knew most wouldn’t understand it and would be embarrassed to admit their ignorance so he would have less questions to answer. And, with Ponzi schemes, you never ever want the victims to understand how the sausage is made.”</p>
<p>Not everyone was fooled by Madoff, of course, and it’s this fact that forms the most troubling part of Markopolos’ testimony—and the part most relevant to the future. The whistleblower describes repeated attempts to report Madoff’s financial crimes to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as far back as 2000. No one took him seriously, and indeed he complains of rude, arrogant treatment at the hands of senior SEC officials and lawyers whom he describes as “financially illiterate.” He pulls no punches in spreading the blame around: “What troubles us is that hundreds of highly knowledgeable men and women also knew that [Madoff] was a fraud and walked away silently… How can we go forward without assurance that others will not shirk their civic duty? We can ask ourselves would the result have been different if those others had raised their voices and what does that say about self-regulated markets?”</p>
<p>Good questions, to be sure, and hopefully ones that federal regulators will consider carefully. But ultimately the blame lies with all of us, says Markopolos. “These troubles were of our own making and due solely to unchecked, unregulated greed. We get the government and the regulators that we deserve…”</p>
<p>Photo used under a Creative Commons license from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/shinythings/3110291868/" type="external">Shiny Things</a>.</p> | Madoff Whistleblower Tells Congress He Feared For His Life | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/02/madoff-whistleblower-tells-congress-he-feared-his-life/ | 2009-02-04 | 4 |
<p>Once again, medical-marijuana advocates are taking to the courts to eliminate the biggest barrier to legal use—the federal law that classifies marijuana as a dangerous drug with no valid medical use.&#160;</p>
<p>On Oct. 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the federal appeals court that usually handles cases involving government regulations, will hear oral arguments on Americans for Safe Access v. DEA. It will be the first time in almost 20 years that federal courts have considered the science of medical marijuana, says ASA spokesperson Kris Hermes.</p>
<p>Specifically, ASA, a California-based patient-advocacy group, is trying to get the Drug Enforcement Administration to move marijuana out of Schedule I, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970s category for drugs with “a high potential for abuse,” “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States,” and no “accepted level of safety for use under medical supervision.” Heroin, LSD, and PCP are also in Schedule I. Cocaine, methamphetamine and OxyContin are in Schedule II, legal for medical use but strongly restricted.</p>
<p>Two previous attempts to get the DEA to reschedule marijuana failed, but advocates believe there is enough new evidence to convince the courts. “There’s simply more science now,” says ASA chief counsel Joseph D. Elford. Since 2000, says Igor Grant of the University of California at San Diego’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, the center has done six studies that showed “efficacy for marijuana over a placebo” in relieving pain caused by peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage).</p>
<p>This current attempt began in 2002, when a coalition of medical-marijuana and legalization advocates filed a petition with the DEA. It contended that cannabis “has an accepted medical use in the United States, is safe for use under medical supervision, has an abuse potential lower than Schedule I or II drugs, and has a dependence liability that is also lower than Schedule I or II drugs.” It requested that marijuana be moved to Schedule III (Vicodin, acetaminophen with codeine), Schedule IV (Valium, Xanax), or Schedule V (codeine cough syrup).</p>
<p>“Based on evidence currently available, the Schedule I classification is not tenable,” Grant wrote in the 2012 issue of the Open Neurology Journal. “It is not accurate that cannabis has no medical value, or that information on safety is lacking. It is true cannabis has some abuse potential, but its profile more closely resembles drugs in Schedule III.”</p>
<p>The DEA rejected the petition in June 2011. Administrator Michelle Leonhart declared that marijuana had no accepted medical use, because no form of it has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The Department of Health and Human Services had previously concurred that it had a high potential for abuse, because an estimated more than 14 million people get high illegally at least once a month.</p>
<p>“They only responded to the petition after we filed a lawsuit alleging unreasonable delay,” says Elford. “Delay, delay, and then delay some more. The government doesn’t want to take on whether marijuana has medical use.”</p>
<p>The DEA refused to comment on the lawsuit. It referred calls to the Justice Department, which did not return phone calls.</p>
<p>The DEA has consistently refused to reclassify marijuana. It did move Marinol, synthetic THC capsules, from Schedule II to Schedule III in 1999. It insists that is a viable alternative for anyone who claims they need medical marijuana. (Marinol’s manufacturer was then advertising it to AIDS patients with the slogan “This is your appetite… This is your appetite on Marinol.”) Most medical-marijuana users, however, prefer real cannabis, because smoking it or inhaling vaporized THC provides much faster relief than taking capsules orally, and as with eating marijuana, oral doses are much harder to control.</p>
<p>“It’s just not as effective,” says William Brent, a 52-year-old California man who is a plaintiff in the ASA suit. Brent, who suffers from seizures, depression and chronic pain cause by bone abnormalities, has sought relief from prescription painkillers, muscle relaxers, antiseizure, antianxiety, and antinausea drugs—but says “cannabis is the one that works best for me.”</p>
<p>Donald Abrams, director of clinical programs at San Francisco General Hospital—where he worked in the nation’s first AIDS clinic—finds it “a bit ironic” that cannabis is in Schedule I, completely illegal, when its main active ingredient is in Schedule III.</p>
<p>History</p>
<p>The DEA rejected two previous petitions to reclassify cannabis. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws first challenged the Schedule I classification in 1972, on the grounds that marijuana had valid medical use. The Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics, a medical-marijuana group founded by pioneering patient Robert Randall, joined later.</p>
<p>It took years of litigation to get the DEA to consider that petition. When it did, in 1988, DEA administrative law judge Francis Young recommended the change, writing, in a quote often cited by medical-cannabis advocates, that marijuana was “the safest therapeutically active subject known to man.” The DEA rejected his recommendation, and in 1994 the D.C. Circuit upheld that decision.</p>
<p>In 1995, cannabis-policy researcher Jon Gettman and High Times magazine filed another petition, arguing that marijuana did not belong in Schedule I because it did not have a high potential for abuse. The DEA rejected it in 2001, and a federal appeals court ruled a year later that Gettman and High Times did not have legal standing to contest that decision.</p>
<p>This time will be different, advocates say. Scientific knowledge of marijuana has advanced dramatically in the past 20 years. The brain’s naturally occurring cannabinoids were first identified in 1992.</p>
<p>“There are numerous peer-reviewed studies establishing that marijuana is effective in treating AIDS wasting syndrome, muscle spasticity, emesis, appetite loss, negative side effects of chemotherapy, and chronic pain… The government, however, simply ignores these well-controlled studies,” ASA’s appeal brief says. “It is only by failing to apply the appropriate standards and make the required comparisons that the federal government could conclude that marijuana is as harmful as heroin and PCP and even more harmful than methamphetamine, cocaine and opium.”</p>
<p>The federal government acknowledged the medical potential of cannabis in 1999, Abrams notes, in the Institute of Medicine’s “Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base” report. That report said cannabis-based drugs held promise for treating pain, nausea from chemotherapy, and the “wasting syndrome” from AIDS and cancer, and that “there are patients with debilitating symptoms for whom smoked marijuana might provide relief.” It also said that marijuana had a very low addiction potential, comparable to that of caffeine, Abrams adds.</p>
<p>Because the petition was filed in 2002, however, the court may decide not to consider more recent research. This weakens the case, says Elford—but it also denies the DEA an excuse to delay its response by saying it has to evaluate that research.</p>
<p>The plaintiffs will also have to overcome the argument that smoking a drug is not legitimate medicine. The DEA and prohibitionists hammer this point, and many, if not most, doctors, don’t like the idea of sick people inhaling smoke. “We see little future in smoked marijuana as a medicine,” IOM principal investigator Dr. John A. Benson said in 1999, although the report conceded that it could help in extreme cases.</p>
<p>Some medicines are inhaled, Abrams responds, such as those for asthma, and vaporization, in which the cannabis is heated so that the THC can be inhaled without smoke, decreases the health risk. He also cites research by Donald Tashkin of the University of California at Los Angeles, who in a 2006 study found that even people who had smoked more than 20,000 joints in their lives did not have a higher rate of lung cancer. The main respiratory risk for heavy marijuana smokers Tashkin found was bronchitis.</p>
<p>“Is the risk-benefit ratio favorable? Every drug has problems,” says Grant. But the evidence, he adds, suggests that marijuana could be added to the “armamentarium” with “adequate safeguards.”</p>
<p>Herbal Catch-22?</p>
<p>The DEA’s insistence that marijuana has no valid medical use because it has not been approved by the FDA would seem to imply that the only valid medicines are those produced by pharmaceutical companies. That contrasts sharply with the FDA’s virtually nonexistent regulation of herbal “dietary supplements” that are often sold with implied medical benefits.</p>
<p>“There is no provision under any law or regulation that FDA enforces that requires a firm to disclose to FDA or consumers the information they have about the safety or purported benefits of their dietary supplement products,” the FDA’s Web site states.</p>
<p>Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, it adds, the manufacturer is responsible for determining that its herbal products are safe and not falsely advertised. If it claims that an herb will prevent, treat, or cure an illness, then the product is classified as a drug and needs FDA approval.</p>
<p>Manufacturers can make thinly disguised claims, however, as long as the product’s label cautions that “this statement has not been evaluated by the FDA.” St. John’s wort, often taken as an herbal antidepressant, is advertised as promoting a “positive mood balance.” Black cohosh “helps to support menopause.” Walmart sells echinacea as an “immune health supplement… used for treating various health disorders like high blood pressure, boosting energy, preventing diseases and regulating vital body functions.”</p>
<p>The not-approved-by-the-FDA argument is “a bit of a straw man,” says Grant. The “single, well-characterized chemical” model for medicine, he explains, is a good one, but it’s not the only one. The FDA has approved extracts and tinctures of other herbs, and is now evaluating Sativex, a cannabis extract. For marijuana, he says, “we haven’t fully figured out what combination of cannabinoids” and which methods or administration are optimal.</p>
<p>The federal National Institute on Drug Abuse, the only legal source of cannabis for research, has also discouraged research on its medical uses, Abrams says. When he began investigating its use in treating AIDS in 1996, NIDA told him it would not fund research on the effectiveness of cannabis, only on its abuse. He sidestepped that restriction by doing a 21-day study of whether smoking marijuana three times a day interfered with protease inhibitors in AIDS patients—and found that it didn’t, and they had better appetites and more T cells.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Michael Krawitz, another plaintiff in the suit, says that the best relief for his chronic pain is a combination of cannabis and opioid painkillers—but the current laws deny him that. Krawitz, a 49-year-old Air Force veteran, has had 13 surgeries, including having part of his intestines removed, since he was seriously injured in a car accident in 1984. But the Veterans Administration refused to prescribe him any more painkillers after he refused to take a drug test. And because he lives in Virginia, where medical marijuana is not legal under state law, he can’t get a doctor’s recommendation and has to buy it on the black market, where it’s expensive and not always available. The last time he went without cannabis, he says, he almost lost the sight in his right eye.</p>
<p>Moving cannabis to a less restrictive schedule would enable doctors to prescribe it, and also make doing research on it easier. If the D.C. Circuit directly orders the DEA to reschedule cannabis, says Elford, that would be the most favorable result. The court could also order the DEA to hold hearings on the petition, which is what happened in the 1980s. It could also uphold the DEA’s denial.</p>
<p>Whatever the outcome, says Elford, the loser will likely appeal to the Supreme Court.</p>
<p><a href="http://stevenwishnia.com/novels" type="external">Steven Wishnia</a>&#160;is a New York-based journalist and musician. He is the author of the novel "When the Drumming Stops" ( <a href="http://www.manicdpress.com/" type="external">Manic D Press</a>), "Exit 25 Utopia," and "The Cannabis Companion."</p> | Powerful Court Quietly Takes Marijuana Case That Could Shatter Federal Prohibition Laws | true | http://alternet.org/drugs/powerful-court-quietly-takes-marijuana-case-could-shatter-federal-prohibition-laws | 2012-10-11 | 4 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Law enforcement officers found a body in a water drainage area by a financial institution along North Fourth Street on Wednesday, according to police.</p>
<p>Officer Daren DeAguero, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene after receiving calls of a person lying in the drain in front of the Nusenda Credit Union branch near Fourth and Guadalupe NW.</p>
<p>He said after the deputies discovered the body, they turned the investigation over to APD.</p>
<p>Police did not immediately release the name or gender of the person found dead or any additional information.</p>
<p>Police were waiting for the Office of the Medical Investigator to arrive and conduct its investigation.</p>
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<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Body found in drainage area along North Fourth Street, police say | false | https://abqjournal.com/1073502/body-found-in-canal-behind-northwest-albuquerque-bank-police-say.html | 2 |
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<p>Insects, particularly ants, do a great job of cleaning up garbage and debris on the streets of Manhattan, according to a new study. The study, from the North Carolina State University, indicates that ants and various other anthropods play a crucial role in breaking down garbage.</p>
<p>The team of researchers focused on anthropods, including insects and millipedes, along street medians and parks in Manhattan to determine the biodiversity at the various sites. Additionally, the researchers wanted to find out the amount of garbage consumed by anthropods and whether the test subjects consumed more garbage in one location than another. This tested at least one hypothesis, that insects consume a greater amount of garbage in areas that with more biodiversity.</p>
<p>Dr. Elsa Youngsteadt, the paper’s lead author and a research associate at NC State, <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-12/ncsu-sfi111914.php" type="external">said in a statement</a>, “We calculate that the arthropods on medians down the Broadway/West St. corridor alone could consume more than 2,100 pounds of discarded junk food, the equivalent of 60,000 hot dogs, every year – assuming they take a break in the winter.”</p>
<p>Hurricane Sandy hit the city in 2012, when researchers were working on their long-term study of urban insects. Following the destructive storm, the researchers examined whether the hurricane had any impact on how the insect populations behaved.</p>
<p>The researchers discovered that the storm did not have a tremendous impact on the insects. Additionally, they found that anthropod populations in medians consumed two to three times more junk food than the insects in parks, despite the fact that the medians had less biodiversity.</p>
<p><a href="http://insected.arizona.edu/arthroinfo.htm" type="external">According to arizona.edu</a>, arthropods constitute over 90 percent of the animal kingdom and are classified in the phylum Arthropoda.</p>
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<p /> | Ants are New York City’s greatest street sweepers | false | http://natmonitor.com/2014/12/03/ants-are-new-york-citys-greatest-street-sweepers/ | 2014-12-03 | 3 |
<p>Last week in California, the Simi Valley City Council repealed a 2012 ordinance that would have <a href="http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2017/10/16/sex-offender-law-repealed/" type="external">prevented registered sex offenders</a> on the California Megan’s Law website from opening their doors to trick-or-treating children.</p>
<p>City leaders cited the fact that the ordinance would have been overturned in a legal appeal as a reason to repeal it. The ordinance had also banned registered sex offenders from decorating the outside of their homes or front lawns; they were supposed to keep off outdoor lighting from 5 p.m. to midnight on Halloween.</p>
<p>Since the law was enacted, two federal lawsuits have been filed saying the law is unconstitutional. The second lawsuit, filed on September 18, was <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/communities/simi-valley/2017/09/18/federal-lawsuit-challenges-simi-valley-halloween-sex-offender-law-second-time/677265001/" type="external">filed</a> by a Simi Valley registered sex offender and his mother, brother and daughter, all of whom live in the same home. The suit was brought on behalf of the defendants by a group called the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws. It named Simi Valley and Simi Valley Police Chief Dave Livingstone as defendants.</p>
<p>Livingstone said the city has never enforced the law; he added that 165 registered sex offenders are listed in Simi Valley on the Megan's Law website.</p>
<p>The first lawsuit challenging the law came in 2012 from attorney Janice Bellucci, executive director of the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws, on behalf of five registered sex offenders.</p>
<p>Ventura County Superior Court documents reveal that one of Simi Valley's Megan's Law registrants was convicted of exposing himself to six people at a Thousand Oaks home on Halloween in 2010 while dressed as a woman.</p> | CA City Repeals Ordinance Banning Sex Offenders Opening Doors To Children On Halloween | true | https://dailywire.com/news/22627/ca-city-repeals-ordinance-banning-sex-offenders-hank-berrien | 2017-10-23 | 0 |
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<p>But amid fast-paced developments as lawmakers returned to Washington from their five-week summer recess, supporters of the deal stopped short of declaring victory. That was because it remained uncertain whether all 41 Democratic and independent senators now on record in favor of the deal would also support a filibuster to block a final vote on the disapproval resolution.</p>
<p>Still, the complicated machinery of Congress was turning in favor of the president on his top foreign policy priority, despite GOP control of both the House and the Senate. Already supporters of the deal have the votes in hand to uphold Obama's veto of a disapproval resolution, should that become necessary. Blocking the disapproval resolution with a filibuster, while ideal from the White House view because it would spare Obama from having to use a veto, would not change the ultimate outcome.</p>
<p>"This agreement will stand," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a speech Tuesday morning at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "America will uphold its commitment and we will seize this opportunity to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon."</p>
<p>As the day began Tuesday Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced his opposition to the deal, a surprise "no" vote from a moderate Democrat who had sounded like he favored the pact aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions.</p>
<p>But that setback for supporters was erased within the hour as three Democrats seen as potential "no" votes on the deal all announced they would support it. Those senators were Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Gary Peters of Michigan.</p>
<p>"The fundamental question for me is what this agreement means for the prospects of Iran getting a nuclear bomb," Wyden said. "This agreement with the duplicitous and untrustworthy Iranian regime falls short of what I had envisioned, however, I have decided the alternatives are even more dangerous."</p>
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<p>The agreement struck by Iran, the U.S. and five world powers in July will provide Iran hundreds of billions of dollars in relief from international sanctions in exchange for a decade of constraints on the country's nuclear program.</p>
<p>Republicans who control the House and Senate strongly oppose the pact, saying it makes dangerous concessions to Iran, and hope to push through a resolution of disapproval this week.</p>
<p>Leaders of Israel have been strongly lobbying against the deal they say could empower Iran, but had succeeded in winning over only three Senate Democrats, albeit all of them prominent figures - Chuck Schumer of New York, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Manchin added his name to that list Tuesday.</p>
<p>But the majority of Democrats have swung behind the president, and predictions that the issue would dominate discussion during Congress? August recess never came to pass as political headlines were largely overtaken by Donald Trump's presidential candidacy. The two topics will converge on Wednesday, though, when Trump joins Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for a rally to oppose the deal - the same day Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers a speech supporting it.</p>
<p>The deal sets Iran back so that it is at least a year away from being able to produce enough nuclear material for a weapon, before the restrictions ease after a decade. Iran is currently assessed to be only 2 to 3 months away from being able to enrich enough uranium for a bomb, if it decides to do so.</p> | Democrats clinch critical 41 votes for Iran nuclear deal | false | https://abqjournal.com/640922/democrats-struggle-to-block-iran-deal-disapproval-resolution.html | 2 |
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<p>Real estate mogul Donald Trump's campaign appears to be imploding, setting headlines ablaze with the <a href="" type="internal">firing</a> of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Here is everything you need to know about Lewandowski.</p>
<p>Lewandowski is 'a complete amateur.'</p>
<p>That is what an anonymous Republican from the Trump campaign <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/trump-lewandowski-florida-republicans-222069" type="external">told</a> Politico back in April, as insiders were becoming increasingly agitated with Lewandowski after he attacked the Republican chairman of Florida, whom they were having good discussions with for appointing delegates, and said that the campaign could gain 200 delegates by the end of the month when their more realistic goal was 180.</p>
<p>Lewandowski certainly doesn't have a lot of experience in campaigns and his inexperience showed in the lack of campaign infrastructure, <a href="" type="internal">fundraising</a>, and money spent in key swing states.</p>
<p>Lewandowski grabbed then-Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields's arm tightly and bruised her--then lied about it repeatedly.</p>
<p>Here is the video of the incident:</p>
<p />
<p>Lewandowksi and the Trump campaign had a <a href="" type="internal">revolving door of differing stories</a> about the incident, until it became clear that <a href="" type="internal">he was not going to be prosecuted</a> for battery.</p>
<p>At the time, Trump staunchly defended his campaign manager, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-not-firing-campaign-manager-corey-lewandowski-i-can-t-n547591" type="external">saying</a>, "I can't destroy a man. I can't destroy him. He's got a beautiful wife and children, and I'm not gonna destroy a man for that."</p>
<p>Nearly two months later, Lewandowksi was fired.</p>
<p>Fields, now a reporter for The Huffington Post, took the opportunity to <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/michelle-fields-reacts-to-corey-lewandowskis-firing-i-hear-breitbart-is-hiring/" type="external">troll</a> Lewandowski:</p>
<p>Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/CLewandowski_" type="external">@CLewandowski_</a> I hear <a href="https://twitter.com/BreitbartNews" type="external">@BreitbartNews</a> is hiring <a href="https://t.co/YKOZqRdi0p" type="external">https://t.co/YKOZqRdi0p</a></p>
<p>Lewandowski has an out-of-control temper and quite the potty mouth.</p>
<p>Here is a list of <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/more-former-co-workers-step-forward-to-call-corey-lewandowski-a-sexist-jerk/" type="external">foul-mouthed and misogynistic comments</a> Lewandowski made towards employees at Americans for Prosperity when he worked there:</p>
<p>Naturally, many of the employees at AFP were "flabbergasted" that Lewandowksi was hired as Trump's campaign manager and referred to him as a "condescending, nasty brutish boor."</p>
<p>Lewandowski has also <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/report-trump-aide-drunk-dials-female-reporters.html" type="external">grabbed</a> a protester's collar in the past as well as shoved away a CNN reporter and threatened to take away his press credentials.</p>
<p>Lewandowski also reportedly drunk-dialed female reporters and made unwanted sexual advances towards them.</p>
<p>The report came from <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/trump-campaign-manager-faces-new-allegations-of-pushing-sexu?utm_term=.vpkp4286#.feEQe69V" type="external">Buzzfeed</a>:</p>
<p>There is also talk among Trump’s traveling press corps about his behavior toward women. Politico first reported that Lewandowski has made “sexually suggestive” comments to female journalists that one recipient described as “completely inappropriate in a professional setting.”</p>
<p>In conversations with reporters, he has expressed frustration with female journalists covering the campaign while also voicing a wish to have sex with them. And sources told BuzzFeed News that more than once, Lewandowski has called female reporters late at night to come on to them, often not sounding entirely sober. Some in the press corps joke that if Lewandowski is calling after a certain hour, women are better off not answering.</p>
<p>Lewandowski and the Trump campaign vehemently denied the report, even though it is certainly not incongruent with the misogynistic comments he has made towards women.</p>
<p>Lewandowksi and campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks did not get along, and that's putting it mildly.</p>
<p>Hicks <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/print/report-trump-campaign-manager-screamed-youre-fing-dead-to-me-to-press-secretary/" type="external">told</a> The Daily Beasts's Olivia Nuzzi in a GQ profile that Lewandowski drove her to tears on numerous occasions, recalling one particular incident where he blew up at her when she wanted to leave the campaign to work for a public relations position in Trump Tower.</p>
<p>"You made a big f***ing mistake; you’re f***ing dead to me," Lewandowski reportedly said to Hicks.</p>
<p>Lewandowski has denied that the incident happened.</p>
<p>He and Hicks also <a href="https://pagesix.com/2016/05/19/trump-campaign-staffers-get-into-public-screaming-match/" type="external">reportedly</a> got into a screaming match on the streets of Manhattan in May:</p>
<p>One witness told us, “Hope was screaming at Corey, ‘I am done with you!’ It was ugly, she was doubled over with her fists clenched. He stood there looking shocked with his hands on his head.”</p>
<p>Other sources insist the street showdown was about how to handle the announcement that seasoned political operative Paul Manafort would be taking an even larger role in Trump’s campaign, and how Lewandowski’s role would be defined going forward.</p>
<p>Ironically, it was Hicks who announced Lewandowski's firing in a press release.</p>
<p>There was a civil war within the Trump campaign between Lewandowski and Paul Manafort.</p>
<p>Manafort, who was originally hired to be Trump's convention manager, was <a href="http://therightscoop.com/cnn-report-ivanka-gave-daddy-trump-an-ultimatum-on-lewandowski-reince-also-involved/" type="external">gunning</a> for Lewandowski's job from the get-go and attempted to turn Trump into a more restrained and polished candidate, while Lewandowski has parroted the mantra of letting "Mr. Trump be Mr. Trump," which has included railing against a judge for being a "Mexican."</p>
<p>At first Manafort succeeded, as Lewandowski was briefly demoted in the campaign. That didn't last long after Trump became irate with Manafort for saying that he was "projecting an image." Now, Manafort appears to be Trump's new campaign manager by default.</p>
<p>Trump's children were on Manafort's side, and that ultimately is what led to Lewandowski's ouster.</p>
<p>Was Ivanka the final say? ... --&gt; <a href="https://t.co/HEMV59NYql" type="external">pic.twitter.com/HEMV59NYql</a></p>
<p>According to <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/06/trump-kids-ousted-corey-lewandowski.html" type="external">New York Mag</a>, Ivanka, Eric and Donald, Jr. had all been lobbying for Lewandowski's firing for quite sometime, and it only intensified after Lewandowski leaked "dirt" about Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner, a staunch advocate of Manafort who said "Lewandowski seemed to encourage Trump's worst behavior."</p>
<p>The Trump children took advantage of a meeting Monday morning to bait Lewandowski into being ousted:</p>
<p>According to two sources briefed on the events, the meeting was a setup. Shortly after it began, the children peppered Lewandowski with questions, asking him to explain the campaign's lack of infrastructure. "They went through the punch list. 'Where are we with staffing? Where are we with getting the infrastructure built?'" one source explained. Their father grew visibly upset as he heard the list of failures. Finally, he turned to Lewandowski and said, "What's your plan here?" Lewandowski responded that he wanted to leak Trump's vice-president pick. And with that, Lewandowski was out. Trump has long viewed announcing his running mate at the GOP convention next month as a valuable card to play. He was shocked that Lewandowski didn't have any other ideas. Shortly after the meeting, Lewandowski was escorted out of the building by Trump security.</p>
<p>Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus has also been <a href="http://therightscoop.com/cnn-report-ivanka-gave-daddy-trump-an-ultimatum-on-lewandowski-reince-also-involved/" type="external">"calling for a change with Lewandowski."</a></p>
<p>Lewandowski will <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/cnns-dana-bash-pushes-corey-lewandowski-on-details-of-exit-from-trump-campaign/" type="external">still support</a> Trump, although there a number of people in the campaign who <a href="" type="internal">don't like him</a>.</p> | WHOA: Trump DUMPS Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski. Here’s Everything You Need To Know About Lewandowski. | true | https://dailywire.com/news/6764/whoa-trump-dumps-campaign-manager-corey-aaron-bandler | 2016-06-21 | 0 |
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<p>NASA said Monday that astronaut Shane Kimbrough filed his ballot in Tuesday’s presidential election from the International Space Station sometime over the past few days. He arrived at the orbiting lab in mid-October.</p>
<p>Before launching on a four-month mission, Kimbrough said it was going to be special, being able to say “I voted from space.”</p>
<p>By the time he’s back on Earth in February, America will have a new commander in chief. Astronauts are “pretty much apolitical,” he told reporters last month. “And I’ll be glad to welcome the new president, whoever that is.”</p>
<p>The previous U.S. space station resident, Kate Rubins, also cast an absentee ballot from up there, before returning to Earth a week ago, according to NASA.</p>
<p>A 1997 Texas law allows U.S. astronauts to vote from space. For NASA astronauts, home is Houston when they’re not circling the globe. A secure electronic ballot is forwarded to the astronauts by Mission Control in Houston and returned by email to the county clerk.</p>
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<p>Kimbrough is sharing the space station with two Russians. The crew will double in size at the end of next week, adding another American, a Russian and a Frenchman.</p>
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<p>Online:</p>
<p>NASA: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html" type="external">http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html</a></p> | ‘I voted from space’: Lone American off planet casts ballot | false | https://abqjournal.com/883978/i-voted-from-space-lone-american-off-planet-casts-ballot.html | 2016-11-07 | 2 |
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<p>LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A crowd of about 200 people protested outside the Las Cruces office of Rep. Steve Pearce, the sole Republican member of New Mexico’s congressional delegation.</p>
<p>The Las Cruces Sun-News (https://goo.gl/4oYvUS ) reports that demonstrators said they participated in the event because the 2nd District lawmaker didn’t have an in-person town hall during the congressional recess this past week.</p>
<p>Protesters expressed frustrations about various concerns, including health care, public lands and President Donald Trump.</p>
<p>Pearce held a telephone town hall recently and spokeswoman Kelley Christensen says Pearce couldn’t have a town hall in his district this past week because he’s been traveling overseas on congressional business.</p>
<p>Christensen says Pearce will hold both in-person telephonic town halls in the future.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Protest held at Las Cruces office of Rep. Pearce | false | https://abqjournal.com/957292/protest-held-at-las-cruces-office-of-new-mexico-congressman.html | 2 |
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<p>Nearly every time I hear the word “agenda,” it is used as an accusation, as if good and honest people would never have such a thing as an agenda, as if it is OK to do what is compassionate and right for the world, as long as you don’t plan to do it, as if goodwill is only good when it is accidental, as if authenticity is not possible if you also possess a sense of purpose.</p>
<p>Of course, rarely will you be charged with the crime of having an agenda by the people who agree with you. So if you want to have an agenda and not get caught, only talk to the people who think exactly like you do. Otherwise, stay quiet. Smile and nod along even when you don’t agree. Do not ask questions. Do not challenge the ordinary way of being. Otherwise, it will be said about you that you had an agenda, and then people will dismiss what you say, because a person with an agenda cannot be trusted.</p>
<p>Then again, even if they dismiss you, at least you used your voice, at least there was something you cared about, at least you know you’re not beholden to the status quo out of fear, at least someone might hear you, at least you trust yourself, at least you didn’t smile and nod your way through signs of injustice when your heart screamed no.</p>
<p>The first few times I was accused of having an agenda, I felt defensive. I wanted to insist, “I do not have an agenda! I’m just here to love people.” But then I examined my heart and realized I do, in fact, have an agenda. Oops. It turns out that for me, loving people requires concrete actions, beliefs and principles.</p>
<p>For the sake of full disclosure, I have decided to come right out with my agenda, since everyone knows the only thing worse than an agenda is a secret agenda. My big agenda is as follows:</p>
<p>• Prevent violence. (Plan: Examine causes. Support community efforts. Raise awareness. Listen to the voices of victims.) • Tell the truth. (Plan: Even when it’s ugly, unpleasant, uncomfortable or not advantageous to me, tell the truth.) • Be nonviolent. (Plan: Don’t rape people, kill people, demean people, harm people or silence people.) • Spread compassion. (Translation: Do justice, but do it kindly. Tear down walls but build bridges. I can’t make anyone cross the bridge, but I can keep the bridge clear and in good shape.) • Talk about uncomfortable things, especially when they are things that matter. (Plan: Be a peace-making disturber of the peace; that is, be willing to shake up superficial unity that depends on keeping those without power silent and compliant. Be willing to interrupt the comfort of the privileged when it relies on the discomfort of the oppressed.)</p>
<p>I would expect my agenda to evolve over time, and I expect it to evolve based on my thoughtful conversations with other people of goodwill who are willing to articulate their own agendas. What if, instead of pretending like only the people we dislike have agendas, we admitted that we all have them and then begin to engage the content of the agenda rather than attacking the mere presence of the agenda?</p>
<p>It has always been hard to listen to new ideas. Dissenting voices are seldom welcome in their own hometown. The problem for the hometown is, you never know when the person with a divergent agenda is a prophet of God, sent on purpose by some divine agenda to shake your sleepy town awake.</p>
<p>Sometimes the dissenting voice does have a word straight from God. Sometimes the dissenting voice says something false. Sometimes the truth is somewhere in the middle. The scary thing about a dissenting voice is not the potential for disagreement in the community. The scary thing is the refusal to engage a new idea, which is the same thing as a refusal to grow.</p>
<p>So I say, bring on the agenda. Stay open to the agenda of your neighbor. Bring on the potential to grow.</p> | Yes, I have an agenda. There, I said it. | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/yes-i-have-an-agenda-there-i-said-it/ | 3 |
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<p>Hometown audiences can be harsh–especially when they are disappointed. After the Alaska <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2008/10/10199_palin_report_abused_office_branchflower.html" type="external">Troopergate report</a> was released and declared that Governor Sarah Palin had abused her office, Palin maintained that she had been exonerated. Not so fast, says the Anchorage Daily News. Here’s how the newspaper <a href="p://www.adn.com/opinion/view/story/555236.html" type="external">responded</a> to Palin’s claim:</p>
<p>Sarah Palin’s reaction to the Legislature’s Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation.</p>
<p>She claims the report “vindicates” her. She said that the investigation found “no unlawful or unethical activity on my part.”</p>
<p>Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian.</p>
<p>Page 8, Finding Number One of the report says: “I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.”</p>
<p>In plain English, she did something “unlawful.” She broke the state ethics law.</p>
<p>….If she had actually read it, she couldn’t claim “vindication” with a straight face.</p>
<p>….Palin’s response is the kind of political “big lie” that George Orwell warned against. War is peace. Black is white. Up is down.</p>
<p>….You asked us to hold you accountable, Gov. Palin. Did you mean it?</p>
<p>Bottom line: Gov. Palin, read the report. It says you violated the ethics law.</p>
<p>It’s hard to accuse the Anchorage Daily News of being part of the Eastern establishment liberal media conspiracy that is supposedly out to destroy Palin. So how will the McCain-Palin spinners spin this one?</p>
<p /> | Anchorage Daily News Calls Palin a Big “Orwellian” Liar | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/10/anchorage-daily-news-calls-palin-big-orwellian-liar/ | 2008-10-14 | 4 |
<p>Between 2013 and 2016, social media company Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) reported $2.2 billion of cumulative net losses. That's nearly equivalent to Twitter's annual revenue. Revenue growth ground to a halt this year, so the only path toward profitability was to dramatically slash costs.</p>
<p>Twitter's third-quarter report showed some serious progress on that front. Revenue declined by 4% year over year, but operating expenses were reduced by so much that the company produced a positive GAAP operating profit for the first time in its history. A GAAP net profit is possible during the fourth quarter if Twitter hits the high end of its guidance, something that looked out of reach as recently as last year.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Twitter's march toward profitability is a welcome sight for investors. But with revenue moving in the wrong direction, the stock still looks awfully expensive.</p>
<p>Twitter's GAAP expenses, which includes cost of revenue as well as operating expenses, dropped by 16% year over year to $582 million during the third quarter. Research and development spending dove 23% to $136 million, while sales and marketing spending dropped by the same percentage to $173 million.</p>
<p>Twitter attributed the declines to lower stock-based compensation and employee-related expenses, as well as a 30% year-over-year decline in traffic acquisition costs. Twitter's stock-based compensation in recent years has been excessive to say the least. In 2015, stock-based comp totaled $679 million, about 30% of revenue.</p>
<p>Twitter is finally bringing it under control. Stock-based comp declined by 36% year over year during the third quarter, dropping from $159 million during the prior-year period to just $101 million. For the fourth quarter, Twitter sees it falling to a range of $90 million to $100 million.</p>
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<p>Besides reducing GAAP losses, cutting back on stock-based comp lowers the dilution suffered by Twitter shareholders. The diluted share count rose by just 3.3% year over year during the third quarter. Between the end of 2014 and the end of 2016, the share count soared 16%.</p>
<p>This cost-cutting led to a positive GAAP operating profit of about $7.3 million during the quarter. Twitter still posted a small net loss of $17.5 million, with interest on its debt knocking down the bottom line. But that's up from a net loss of $96.3 million during the third quarter of 2016. Pushing into the black on an operating basis is a major accomplishment for a company that has a knack for producing staggering losses.</p>
<p>Twitter doesn't provide straight earnings guidance. It instead provides an estimate for adjusted EBITDA, <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/05/01/attention-investors-stop-falling-for-this-tech-bub.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5dde305a-ba72-11e7-8b8c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">a mostly useless number</a>. But the company sees GAAP net income turning positive if it hits the high end of its adjusted EBITDA guidance. Twitter's first truly profitable quarter could be just around the corner.</p>
<p>Twitter investors should be thrilled that the company is on the cusp of turning a profit. <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/26/why-twitter-stock-is-soaring-today.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5dde305a-ba72-11e7-8b8c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">With the stock jumping</a> following the third-quarter report, Twitter's market capitalization is up to about $15 billion. That's far below Twitter's peak of around $38 billion reached soon after its IPO in late 2013, but it's still excessive given the company's fundamentals.</p>
<p>Twitter will produce roughly $2.4 billion of revenue this year, putting the market capitalization at more than six times sales. Given that Twitter is no longer growing revenue, that seems way too high. Revenue growth could return down the road, but there's no sign that the current trend is shifting.</p>
<p>Once Twitter becomes profitable, investors better hope the stock doesn't start being valued based on earnings. The company would need to produce hundreds of millions of dollars in net income annually to justify the valuation, and even then, it would sport a nose-bleed price-to-earnings multiple.</p>
<p>Twitter is doing the right thing by cutting costs, turning its business into a sustainable enterprise instead of a bottomless money pit. But even with real profitability on the horizon, the stock price bakes in far too much optimism.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than TwitterWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=c93f5e13-6017-4581-8f29-50ed8338305f&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5dde305a-ba72-11e7-8b8c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks</a> for investors to buy right now... and Twitter wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-static%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=c93f5e13-6017-4581-8f29-50ed8338305f&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5dde305a-ba72-11e7-8b8c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of October 9, 2017</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFBargainBin/info.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5dde305a-ba72-11e7-8b8c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Timothy Green</a> has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Twitter. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;uuid=5dde305a-ba72-11e7-8b8c-0050569d4be0&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | Twitter Is Finally Getting Its Costs Under Control | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/10/26/twitter-is-finally-getting-its-costs-under-control.html | 2017-10-26 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Struggling department-store chain JCPenney (NYSE:JCP) on Friday released a list of 138 upcoming store closures as part of a <a href="" type="internal">previously-announced plan Opens a New Window.</a> to kick start growth and turn more focus to its e-commerce platforms.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>With closures slated for 41 states,&#160;the biggest cuts are set to take place in Texas where the company plans to shutter nine of its retail locations, and Minnesota – where eight stores will go dark.</p>
<p>“We believe closing stores will allow us to adjust our business to effectively compete against the growing threat of online retailers,” CEO Marvin Ellison said in a statement last month. He added that he believes the future of the retail industry will include companies that can seamlessly combine their bricks-and-mortar presences with their online platforms.</p>
<p>The cuts represent about 14% of Penney’s overall store portfolio that produces about 5% of its total annual sales. The company said about 5,000 positions will be impacted by the closures which will begin in June with liquidation processes starting early next month. In addition to a reduction in store count, JCP will also shutter a supply-chain facility in Lakeland, Florida and relocate another in Buena Park, California.</p>
<p>In its fourth-quarter earnings results released last month, Penney said it booked a profit of $192 million, or 61 cents per share, compared with a $131 million loss during the same period in 2015. Sales registered $3.61 billion for the period. Shares of JCP traded along the unchanged line at $6.10 Friday following the company’s release of the store-closure list, though they have seen a 46% drop over the last 52 weeks.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>JCP is one of many U.S. retailers taking decisive action to address changes in customer shopping habits, as more consumers move online for purchases. Last year, American department-store icon Macy’s (NYSE:M) revealed plans to close 100 of its stores as it tries to put in place <a href="" type="internal">plans to execute its overall sales and e-commerce strategy faster. Opens a New Window.</a> This comes at the same time Sears (NYSE:SHLD) and Kmart announced efforts to shrink their physical footprint, and others like The Limited and American Apparel have declared bankruptcy.</p>
<p>Traditional retailers have struggled to lure customers to their physical store locations as they face stiff competition from e-commerce giants like Amazon (NYSE:AMZN) and off-price retailers like TJMaxx and Marshall’s parent company, TJX (NYSE:TJX). In February, <a href="" type="internal">TJX said it would increase its store count by 50% Opens a New Window.</a> as shoppers continue to crave the “treasure hunt” experience they get when walking into one of the chain’s stores.</p> | JCPenney Is Closing These 138 Stores: Texas, Minnesota Hit Hardest | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/03/17/jcpenney-is-closing-these-138-stores-texas-minnesota-hit-hardest.html | 2017-03-17 | 0 |
<p>People who use rent-to-own stores often end up paying twice the retail price - or more - for anything they buy.</p>
<p>So why do millions of people rent to own?</p>
<p>Researchers say people who patronize rent-to-own outlets aren't being stupid, necessarily. Instead, they're falling prey to the kinds of irrational thinking that plague most humans along with the limited options facing low-income people with bad, nonexistent or maxed out credit.</p>
<p>"If you talk to rent-to-own customers, you'll find out that nobody thinks this is cheap," says Jim Hawkins, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center who has researched the industry. "Everybody knows this is a costly way to buy."</p>
<p>The primary appeal of rent-to-own is that it provides immediate access to household goods without having to save or make a long-term commitment - two things that are especially difficult for low-earning families who are less likely to have predictable incomes than wealthier families.</p>
<p>WHY PAYMENTS ARE MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN SAVING</p>
<p>Customers can get brand-name furniture, appliances or electronics (market leader Rent-A-Center's motto is "Get the Good Stuff Today") with no credit checks or down payments and relatively low monthly or weekly payments.</p>
<p>Rent-to-own companies typically offer free delivery, setup and service if items need repairs, a huge plus, because many families don't have savings to pay for unexpected expenses. (The Federal Reserve says 44 percent of U.S. adults couldn't come up with $400 in an emergency.)</p>
<p>If customers can't make the payments, the items can be returned without triggering collections activity or damage to credit reports. Because low-income families often lack savings cushions to deal with financial shocks, they're willing to pay a hefty premium for the flexibility of "a completely escapable contract," researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found.</p>
<p>"An external observer might note that they are paying a huge price for those features, and they are," says researcher Brian Zikmund-Fisher, who is now a professor at the University of Michigan. "But it's difficult for someone looking at these contracts from a place of financial stability and wealth to truly understand the experience of financial uncertainty that many people live with."</p>
<p>WHERE CASH IS RISKY</p>
<p>Zikmund-Fisher and his colleague Andrew Parker found many customers who struggled to save money instead employed rent-to-own contracts as a financial management tool. Low-income people often fear any money they save will disappear into other spending when their incomes drop, or get eaten up by bank fees, or disqualify them from some public benefits, while payments required by a rent-to-own contract allow them to purchase goods they couldn't otherwise get.</p>
<p>"They used (rent-to-own contracts) as a self-control mechanism: It forced them to put money towards durable goods on literally a weekly basis," Zikmund-Fisher says.</p>
<p>That still doesn't make renting-to-own a good idea. Buying stuff you really can't afford rarely is.</p>
<p>The difference is that higher-income people and those with better credit can put their inadvisable purchases on plastic at much lower effective interest rates. Someone who charges a $450 television on a card with a 20 percent interest rate will pay $89.49 interest over 22 months, if she makes minimum payments. To buy the same TV, a rent-to-own customer might make 52 weekly payments of $20 and spend $1,040 - $590 more than the cash price.</p>
<p>Although customers may understand the cost is high, many don't understand exactly how high or appreciate how rent-to-own - like payday loans, auto title loans and other products that target low-income consumers - can erode their <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/financial-literacy/?trk=nw-synd_442_0_0" type="external">financial well-being</a> , says economist Signe-Mary McKernan, an expert on wealth-building and poverty for the Urban Institute, an economic and social policy think tank.</p>
<p>McKernan thinks the solution lies not in regulating these businesses out of existence, but helping low-income families get in the habit of saving despite the obstacles. She encourages people to make savings automatic, look for low-fee bank accounts and learn about asset limits for benefit programs like food assistance, since those may be higher than people think.</p>
<p>"The idea is to make it easier to create savings so they need these products less," McKernan says.</p>
<p>_______</p>
<p>This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website <a href="https://nerd.me/home" type="external">NerdWallet</a> .</p>
<p>Liz Weston is a columnist at NerdWallet, a certified financial planner and author of "Your Credit Score." Email: <a href="http://elvisb.ap.org/News/Stories/CTCB-2017-Oct-25-000501/[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> . Twitter: @lizweston.</p>
<p>RELATED LINKS:</p>
<p>NerdWallet: What's your financial well-being score?</p>
<p>https://nerd.me/financial-health-quiz</p>
<p>NerdWallet: A risky, costly way to buy home goods</p>
<p>https://nerd.me/rent-a-center</p>
<p>People who use rent-to-own stores often end up paying twice the retail price - or more - for anything they buy.</p>
<p>So why do millions of people rent to own?</p>
<p>Researchers say people who patronize rent-to-own outlets aren't being stupid, necessarily. Instead, they're falling prey to the kinds of irrational thinking that plague most humans along with the limited options facing low-income people with bad, nonexistent or maxed out credit.</p>
<p>"If you talk to rent-to-own customers, you'll find out that nobody thinks this is cheap," says Jim Hawkins, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center who has researched the industry. "Everybody knows this is a costly way to buy."</p>
<p>The primary appeal of rent-to-own is that it provides immediate access to household goods without having to save or make a long-term commitment - two things that are especially difficult for low-earning families who are less likely to have predictable incomes than wealthier families.</p>
<p>WHY PAYMENTS ARE MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN SAVING</p>
<p>Customers can get brand-name furniture, appliances or electronics (market leader Rent-A-Center's motto is "Get the Good Stuff Today") with no credit checks or down payments and relatively low monthly or weekly payments.</p>
<p>Rent-to-own companies typically offer free delivery, setup and service if items need repairs, a huge plus, because many families don't have savings to pay for unexpected expenses. (The Federal Reserve says 44 percent of U.S. adults couldn't come up with $400 in an emergency.)</p>
<p>If customers can't make the payments, the items can be returned without triggering collections activity or damage to credit reports. Because low-income families often lack savings cushions to deal with financial shocks, they're willing to pay a hefty premium for the flexibility of "a completely escapable contract," researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found.</p>
<p>"An external observer might note that they are paying a huge price for those features, and they are," says researcher Brian Zikmund-Fisher, who is now a professor at the University of Michigan. "But it's difficult for someone looking at these contracts from a place of financial stability and wealth to truly understand the experience of financial uncertainty that many people live with."</p>
<p>WHERE CASH IS RISKY</p>
<p>Zikmund-Fisher and his colleague Andrew Parker found many customers who struggled to save money instead employed rent-to-own contracts as a financial management tool. Low-income people often fear any money they save will disappear into other spending when their incomes drop, or get eaten up by bank fees, or disqualify them from some public benefits, while payments required by a rent-to-own contract allow them to purchase goods they couldn't otherwise get.</p>
<p>"They used (rent-to-own contracts) as a self-control mechanism: It forced them to put money towards durable goods on literally a weekly basis," Zikmund-Fisher says.</p>
<p>That still doesn't make renting-to-own a good idea. Buying stuff you really can't afford rarely is.</p>
<p>The difference is that higher-income people and those with better credit can put their inadvisable purchases on plastic at much lower effective interest rates. Someone who charges a $450 television on a card with a 20 percent interest rate will pay $89.49 interest over 22 months, if she makes minimum payments. To buy the same TV, a rent-to-own customer might make 52 weekly payments of $20 and spend $1,040 - $590 more than the cash price.</p>
<p>Although customers may understand the cost is high, many don't understand exactly how high or appreciate how rent-to-own - like payday loans, auto title loans and other products that target low-income consumers - can erode their <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/financial-literacy/?trk=nw-synd_442_0_0" type="external">financial well-being</a> , says economist Signe-Mary McKernan, an expert on wealth-building and poverty for the Urban Institute, an economic and social policy think tank.</p>
<p>McKernan thinks the solution lies not in regulating these businesses out of existence, but helping low-income families get in the habit of saving despite the obstacles. She encourages people to make savings automatic, look for low-fee bank accounts and learn about asset limits for benefit programs like food assistance, since those may be higher than people think.</p>
<p>"The idea is to make it easier to create savings so they need these products less," McKernan says.</p>
<p>_______</p>
<p>This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website <a href="https://nerd.me/home" type="external">NerdWallet</a> .</p>
<p>Liz Weston is a columnist at NerdWallet, a certified financial planner and author of "Your Credit Score." Email: <a href="http://elvisb.ap.org/News/Stories/CTCB-2017-Oct-25-000501/[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> . Twitter: @lizweston.</p>
<p>RELATED LINKS:</p>
<p>NerdWallet: What's your financial well-being score?</p>
<p>https://nerd.me/financial-health-quiz</p>
<p>NerdWallet: A risky, costly way to buy home goods</p>
<p>https://nerd.me/rent-a-center</p> | Liz Weston: Why would anyone rent to own? | false | https://apnews.com/amp/335690bd6112495ca5b88adedb688018 | 2017-11-03 | 2 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>A potent Twitter hashtag goes directly to the heart of the way media shows “black victims of crime” by the images chosen. And this has produced a <a href="http://iftheygunnedmedown.tumblr.com/" type="external">flood of tweets</a>.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>This all started after Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, was shot over and over by a police officer in a St. Louis suburb. Some of the media picked a photo of Brown using a hand sign that might have looked like a “ <a href="http://iftheygunnedmedown.tumblr.com/" type="external">gang sign</a>.” Other chose an image depicting a “high school graduate in cap and gown.”</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>That was the beginning of the <a href="http://iftheygunnedmedown.tumblr.com/" type="external">#IfIWereGunnedDown hashtage</a>. Kids started posted dual images of themselves – one doing something great. The other photo is less than flattering. The comparison makes a remarkable statement about the power of the media.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>#IfIWereGunnedDown and any versions of that hashtag have made people question the media. Does the media intentionally seek out our worst picture (and we all have them)? Or are they willing to give everyone a fair shakes, as in “innocent until proven guilty.”</p>
<p>If&#160;the media’s image message is “guilty to make some $$$,” then they won’t automatically get a pass. Young people have taken something good from Brown’s tragic death and set us upon a path of questioning what we see so we can avoid mass media manipulation.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Potent Hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown Points To Media Manipulating Black Images (IMAGES) | true | http://addictinginfo.org/2014/08/13/potent-hashtag-iftheygunnedmedown-points-to-media-manipulating-black-image-images-images/ | 2014-08-13 | 4 |
<p>A lack of transparency by top Obama administration officials has prompted an environmental group to sue the Interior Department to determine whether wind power projects are killing large numbers of bats and birds.</p>
<p>The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia accusing the government of intentionally withholding the information and refusing to comply with requests for certain documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).</p>
<p>"It's ridiculous that Americans have to sue in order to find out what their government is saying to wind companies about our wildlife," Kelly Fuller, ABC spokeswoman said in a statement announcing the legal action.</p>
<p />
<p>A spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>In particular, the conservation group wants to see correspondence between the government agency and private wind development companies that discussed wildlife fatalities caused by the alternative energy developments.</p>
<p>President Barack Obama pledged to make his administration the most transparent in history, and during his first month in office directed federal agencies to respond to FOIA requests in a prompt manner. "A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency," Obama said.</p>
<p>Fuller said the group's lawsuit asks the court to enforce the president's promise. "Some (Interior) offices have not sent a single document that we asked for, even though the agencies were legally required to do so more than seven months ago," Fuller said.</p>
<p>Daniel Ashe, FWS director, said in a March letter to the conservation group that the agency was being "meticulously transparent" in addressing the impact of wind power on wildlife, and asked for ABC's help in assessing their voluntary guidelines, Fuller said.</p>
<p>Being denied access to the information makes that task impossible and is hardly transparent, Fuller said.</p>
<p>The wind development projects are located in Arizona, California, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas. The group says there are more than 2,000 locations in the U.S. where birds are vulnerable to the impacts of wind energy development.</p>
<p /> | Bird group sues Obama administration over wind power | true | http://humanevents.com/2012/06/27/bird-group-sues-obama-administration-wind-power/ | 2012-06-27 | 0 |
<p>Chokwe Lumumba was an unlikely candidate for high office in Mississippi. But last June, the former Black Nationalist and one-time attorney to Tupac Shakur was elected Mayor of Jackson. He’s now in hot pursuit, not of big box stores or the next silver bullet solution to what ails the state’s capital city. He wants to create <a href="" type="internal">worker-owned cooperatives</a> and small-scale green businesses and to invest in training and infrastructure. It’s the program of change he ran on in the election: local self-reliance.</p>
<p>Jackson’s population is 80 percent black, 18 percent white, and the rest largely immigrant, with heavy concentrations of Indians, Nigerians, and Brazilians.</p>
<p />
<p>Peaches, a soul-food restaurant on Jackson's historic Farish Street. The business was started in 1961 by Wilora "Peaches" Ephram and was frequented by leaders in the Civil Rights movement. Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheilascarborough/7275712816/sizes/m/in/photolist-c5VVWq-di2okp-di2nkj-di2o6E-c5VWAU-e3pnTo-di2mge-89cnjY-di2nJf-di2oEc-di2oSv-a8sUCf-di2pyk-di2oa1-7X5gHW-di2oyL-di2pSM-aKb3CV-aKv3ZR-7JwusD-9f2W6m/" type="external">Sheila Scarborough.</a></p>
<p>“Without question, the ideas of economic democracy that we want to propose come from the Southern context,” says Kali Akuno, a member of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and a coordinator of special projects for the Lumumba administration.</p>
<p>That Lumumba won the election came as a surprise to some, but not to Akuno: “There exists an audience in the black community that is way more willing than others to experiment with distribution.”</p>
<p>Self-reliance “is in our history. It’s had to be,” he continues. “People know about Fannie Lou Hamer organizing black voters to fight segregation, but do they know she also helped to start cooperatives with retail distribution across Mississippi that are still around today?”</p>
<p>Far from Mississippi, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, indigenous entrepreneur Mark Tilsen has just begun the process of turning ownership of his local food products company over to his workers. Tilsen founded Native American Natural Foods with his partner Karlene Hunter in 2006. Five years later, they won a Social Innovation Award from the Social Venture Network. Today, they’re innovating again: joining a cohort of Native American leaders in a program to strengthen the local economy by democratizing wealth and ownership. The program has been developed by the Democracy Collaborative and the Northwest Area Foundation.</p>
<p>Tilsen and I talked via cellphone in August, as a hailstorm pelted down on the reservation. For many years, <a href="" type="internal">Pine Ridge has ranked as this nation's poorest place</a> according to the U.S. Census. Eighty percent of the residents are unemployed; 49 percent live below the poverty line. In 2007, life expectancy was estimated at 48 for men and 52 for women. “Why co-ops?” I asked.</p>
<p />
<p>Mark Tilsen (back left) with staff of Native American Natural Foods. Photo courtesy of Native American Natural Foods.</p>
<p>“The goal of our company is wealth creation and self-determination on the Pine Ridge Reservation, so we want our employees to own the wealth they’re creating. We didn’t make this company to sell or flip it,” answered Tilsen.&#160;“In tribal communities, traditional methods of production were based on ‘tiospaye’—the Oglala word for extended family structures,” Tilsen explained.&#160; “That’s how we survived and how we took care of one another, organizing points of production in a cooperative way. It’s nothing foreign.”</p>
<p>Tilsen hopes to have Native American Natural Foods in employee hands by June, 2014.</p>
<p>Welcome to “ <a href="" type="internal">Commonomics</a>,” a new collaboration between <a href="" type="internal">YES! Magazine</a> and <a href="http://www.grittv.org" type="external">GRITtv</a>. Starting this month, we’ll be traveling the country asking the question: what makes for a strong local economy? It's not a question that produces easy answers.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Farmer-philosopher Wendell Berry</a> defines economy this way: “I mean not economics but economy, the making of the human household upon the earth; the arts of adapting kindly the many, many human households to the earth’s many eco-systems and human neighborhoods.”</p>
<p>By now, we know the signs of a "household" that’s been hollowed out. We’ve seen the <a href="" type="internal">food deserts</a> and the <a href="" type="internal">chronically vacant homes</a>, the ghostly downtown storefronts and the municipalities in hock to the last sweet-talking corporation to <a href="" type="internal">suck up public subsidies</a> and then run away. We’re familiar with the tension in a city where the only thing the rich and poor districts have in common is a subway line.&#160; We know what it’s like to be close, everywhere, to the same chain coffee shop and two hours away from the “local” hospital. We’ve seen the sprawl that ate the woodlands and the floodwaters that steadily rose.</p>
<p>In Commonomics we’re going to look at communities that have had enough of all that; places where, by choice or by crisis, <a href="" type="internal">people are trying to figure out how to transform what they’ve known</a> into something better for all.</p>
<p>There’s no consensus on the meaning of “local,” let alone agreement on what makes an economy “strong.” Ask 25 people with expertise in the topic, and you'll hear 25 different answers. (I know because that's what I did.) But there is history here, and a breadth of experience we can draw on if we pay attention, especially to those for whom “self-reliance” is not a lifestyle choice.</p>
<p>Wealthy communities, let’s face it, aren’t famous for their embrace of togetherness and sharing.&#160; The wealthiest “local” economies are surrounded by locking gates.&#160; In <a href="" type="internal">Commonomics</a>, we’re going to talk with some of the people and groups who, when it comes to sustainability and localism, have often been excluded from the policymaking and the debate, and yet who may have the most rooted and innovative ideas for building strength.</p>
<p>I’m reminded of the words of J. Bob Alotta, executive director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, referring to the disproportionately low-income LGBT groups she funds: “To be unsafe inside your own skin can be isolating but it is also a value proposition…It begets the possibility of building community in ways that may seem old fashioned.”</p>
<p>Nevertheless, even the best community builders need structural support. Policymakers and economic developers typically fall into two camps: “hunters” and “gatherers.” The former look to tempt big businesses from elsewhere to move to where they are by <a href="" type="internal">showering them with tax breaks and benefits</a> that simultaneously siphon money out of a local area. <a href="" type="internal">Commonomics</a>will focus on the gatherers, those who are working to foster economic growth from within. We’ll be asking what’s working, what isn’t, and by what standard are our local economies to be judged? Environmental health, unemployment, social mobility; there are many relevant metrics. We’ll prioritize poverty reduction and quality of life.</p>
<p>Beyond GDP: Measuring What MattersAggregate counts of economic activity like gross domestic product, or GDP, give all activity equal value. The cultivating of an urban farm, which may involve little paid work and consume few bought materials, is less “productive,” in GDP terms, than paving that farm over. “When grain prices go up, that’s good for GDP but terrible for hunger," says Joshua Farley, a professor in community development and applied economics at the University of Vermont.&#160;"GDP is an excellent measure of cost; a terrible measure of benefit.” To even start a new conversation, we need new measurements. As the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) puts it, it’s time to start “measuring what matters.” Farley’s been involved in studies of Burlington, Vt., using a Genuine Progress Indicator, a version of the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare that looks at a community's overall well-being. There are many variations of these alternative indicators. Though most still equate value with consumption and growth, some include factors that GDP leaves out—like the value of unpaid household and volunteer work—and factor in the cost of pollution, depletion of resources, and the consequences of uneven distribution of wealth. We don’t yet measure the real costs of these problems in the United States, because, for example, we tend to underprice energy, transportation, and education, and pay no tax on environmental pollution.According to Robert Reich, former U.S. Labor Secretary and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, “A true tally of all that might reveal the value of being more local."</p>
<p>"Local" has become a buzzword. There’s “Eco-localism,” local food and local farming, local media movements, and regional, state, and even national ad campaigns urging us to “eat local," "buy local," and "put local first." Local's gone global, but what exactly does it mean?</p>
<p>I bought the desk I’m writing on on eBay. I’ve saved a pretty antique from the dump and spared the environment the cost of a bit of fresh manufacturing. I’ve helped some eBay merchant’s “local” economy. But compared to the closest furniture factory, is that nice eBay seller in Oklahoma contributing more or less in terms of jobs and taxes? The mind boggles.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>(CLICK TO ENLARGE)</p>
<p />
<p><a href="" type="internal">Stacy Mitchell</a>, director of independent business and community banking initiatives at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, says “local” varies by sector of the economy. Retail and banking businesses can be considered local if the owners are within a certain geographic area. But every village is not going to start making its own jet aircraft. “Talking manufacturing, you may need to be talking regional or statewide,” says Mitchell.</p>
<p>Geography matters less than goals, she continues: “The goal is having community-led, community-controlled economies where the decision-making is by those who are feeling the effects of the decisions that are made. [We need] humanly scaled systems both in economics and politics.”</p>
<p>At the American Sustainable Business Council, David Levine talks about the “triple bottom line” of social, environmental, and economic impacts.</p>
<p>“Within that frame, local by itself is not enough,” he says. Levine does not want people buying “local first” from a <a href="" type="internal">locally owned sweatshop</a> or toxic chemical plant. To avoid that, what’s important to business owners and consumers alike, he says, is that there be “transparency around values.”</p>
<p>“The so-called local economy is really best understood as a regional transaction,” says <a href="" type="internal">Anthony Flaccavento</a>, a family farmer, community leader, and small-business owner from Abingdon, Va.</p>
<p>“You need to think regionally. What does your region support ecologically and where are the markets? The hyper-local focus, within five or 100 miles is foolish.&#160; Most goods travel 2,000 miles. If you can build something [to substitute] within 500 miles you’ve made a major impact.”</p>
<p>To Flaccavento, who built a nationally recognized nonprofit, <a href="" type="internal">Appalachian Sustainable Development</a>, a critical indicator of a strong local economy is what he calls “synergy”—how much one positive action ignites another.&#160; A few large employers help anchor a community’s economy, for sure, but when a community is depending on one or two entities to keep a place ticking over, it’s vulnerable to devastation should that single employer move out.&#160; That company may get a better deal somewhere else in tax breaks or community services.</p>
<p>To make the substantial shifts that we need, it’s going to take more than consumers buying local, says <a href="" type="internal">Michael Shuman</a>, research director of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). It’s going to require <a href="" type="internal">tilting the policy landscape toward local businesses.</a>Rather than simply <a href="" type="internal">lecturing consumers on buying local</a>, government will have to lead by doing likewise.&#160; The government’s purse is a whole lot more powerful than Joe and Jane Consumer’s. There are many things cities and <a href="" type="internal">states already do</a> to benefit business—like offering subsidies, grants, and loans.&#160; Cities are experimenting with different ways to direct those public benefits to locally owned businesses that benefit the public, and through government contracting and procurement. Some, like <a href="" type="internal">Cleveland,</a> award extra points in the contract bidding process to businesses that are locally owned, or green, or pay prevailing wages, or hire local workers, or all of the above. But so far, policymakers have generally been reluctant to cut the multinationals off. Charging discrimination, internationally owned firms have been known to challenge local preference rules under international trade law and the fear of lawsuits puts an effective chill on legislators.</p>
<p>But, says Flaccavento, “If you’re promoting downtown revitalization and supporting small business, you can’t simultaneously build a big box development on the outskirts of town. One will undermine the other."</p>
<p>Shuman wants government to move its money—all of it, “including everything that requires city staff time and energy, from non-local business and refocus it instead—laser-like—on local business.”</p>
<p>Which brings us back to Wendell Berry’s idea of the “household.” There’s not a lawmaker in America who thinks he has more money than his community needs. Deploying that public purse is all about making choices. How are you going to manage the household?&#160; And who’s seen and heard in your economic “house”? The human household is a many-faceted thing, not to mention multinational, which can make the language of “local” contentious. Can disparaging non-local businesses spill over into discriminating against non-local workers? Just whom do we call a “local” anyway and do they have to speak our language?</p>
<p>Artisanal crafts and local produce are attractive. But if you're going to serve everybody, scale matters. Wealthy communities can afford to do a lot of sexy things that poor communities cannot because no money is coming in.&#160; That’s why Dan Swinney believes manufacturing needs to be part of the strong local economy too.</p>
<p>A former machinist who established Manufacturing Renaissance in Chicago, Swinney works in <a href="" type="internal">communities that have become job-poor due to globalization</a> and the closure of local businesses for lack of next-generation owners and managers. “A lot of people ignore the material aspect of things,” he said.</p>
<p>“You can have jobs that build people or destroy people but you need an employment base.”&#160; Swinney would prefer ownership of his company be local and democratic. He's all for ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans) and is in favor of <a href="" type="internal">co-ops with worker ownership and worker control</a>. But, he says, “There’s a sequence from lower to higher value.” Swinney’s first priority is on getting people into jobs.</p>
<p>Local arts ...“It’s important to do the right kind of asset mapping,” says Sam Miller, director of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Communities with robust local economies create environments where artists can thrive and work. Artists “hire workers, rent space, make stuff, sell it,” says Miller. Good arts policy is good development policy, and vice versa. Don’t fetishize artists, fund them: “When you’re defining a economic cluster, do you include artists in the same way you’d include web developers?”... and local media.The strongest local communities have local independent media—think Berkeley, Boulder, Tampa (all are community-radio rich). “People need to be well informed about what’s happening where they live and how it relates to what’s going on around them. People need to get to know each other and be shown a way to respond to the challenges they face,” says Jo Ellen Kaiser, executive director of The Media Consortium, a collaborative organization of independent media outlets (both GRITtv and YES! are members).&#160; Put an independent media center in your downtown development district and you give it voice.</p>
<p>What’s exciting about getting people engaged in local community-building is getting people engaged in how their community works. But if and when people want to change that, “locals” need not just local shops and arts, but institutions that influence policy.</p>
<p>The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is, at last, no longer the only business group at most negotiating tables. “I think it’s fair to say there’s a blossoming of alternative economic development models and business associations,” says Greg LeRoy, of Good Jobs First, a group that debunks what it calls the business lobby’s “pseudo-science” around what’s good for the “business climate."&#160; There's also—among many others—BALLE, the Independent Business Alliance, the Main Street Alliance, and the American Sustainable Business Council.</p>
<p>“There’s much broader thinking now, more rooted in the local community, that’s able to weigh in on development debates such that the Chamber doesn’t have a monopoly any more,” LeRoy says.</p>
<p>On the worker side, “a strong local economy would have to have collective organizing of workers in order to be fully democratic,“ says Michael Lighty, policy director of <a href="" type="internal">National Nurses United</a>, based in Oakland, Calif.&#160; “Unions are the key institutions that give individuals collective power.”</p>
<p>Still, “The new economy for us is not simply about peppering the landscape with groovy models, but is part of broader economic justice organizing and political action,” says Sarah Ludwig, founder and co-director of the New Economy Project in New York. Unless there's broad institutional change—breaking up big banks, effecting some semblance of corporate accountability, getting money out of politics, "you know, just for starters," Ludwig says—"The creation of model institutions will take us only so far."</p>
<p>The most participatory local budgeting process isn’t going to stop the crisis in public schools as long as the budget the community’s participating in is an austerity budget. Which brings us to the question of power.</p>
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<p>Katrina aftermath: Signs like these were found in the New Orleans debris, especially in the Lower Ninth Ward. Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgermony/105691810/sizes/z/in/photolist-akGuA-anS4h-mczNm-mcA8Q-mcB65-mcBSQ-mcD4K-mcE39-mdfJi-mdfNQ-mdtRK-mdtZ4-mdud9-mduAu-mdw7T-mdwoR-mdx17-mdx71-mdxhx-mdygY-mdACj-mdAMM-mdAUY-mdBSM-mdDhc-mdDnK-mdDzC-mdDY2-mdEvx-mdETu-mdFJ6-mdFNh-mdGu1-mdGPV-mdGTN-mdH3i-mdHhV-mdJJR-mdPm9-mdQaZ-mdQfV-mdQxH-mdQCC-477CRx-47bHkS-4EHmBV-4EHn4n-4EMCrY-5NpaZx-6Sbm76-6SbmXB/" type="external">Dan Germony</a>.</p>
<p>From Mississippi to Pine Ridge, allies abound for policymakers, entrepreneurs, and those who want to build strong local economies. But how do those potential allies build power enough to have an influence?</p>
<p>On the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Saket Soni works with guest workers. Arriving in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he saw firsthand the decimation of an entire local economy and the eradication of local control—and he watched, up close, the consequences.</p>
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<p>Saket Soni (left), executive director of the National Guestworker Alliance. Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jwjnational/6100035350/sizes/l/in/photolist-ai3gZh/" type="external">Jobs With Justice.</a></p>
<p>“The logic of the corporate model after Katrina was to create a predatory community that could funnel local people into low-wage work with a revolving door to deportation or prison without creating a single stable job or career path for the most vulnerable," says Soni. Guest workers from other countries were brought in on temporary visas with virtually no rights in a labor supply chain that left local workers out. Antagonism between groups grew just as plans for the area’s reconstruction were being decided, and low-income communities suffered as a result. Over time, immigrant and local reconstruction workers organized together, and started demanding of Congress that the labor abuses be stopped. After some of their demands were met and fines were levied by government, some of those same organizations got involved in housing and local development planning too.</p>
<p>“The other side [of the crisis]," Soni says, "was that at the center of the ruin, <a href="" type="internal">a core of resilient people</a>, who were in crisis long before the recession, had the vision and relationships to make a set of economic demands and organize to win them.”</p>
<p>What holds people back from doing more themselves is need, he adds. The low-wage workers he organizes don’t plan their lives more than a week or two in advance. They’re not allowed to by the economy. “They don’t know their next shift, their next job, even the industry they’ll be working in next week.”</p>
<p>In Soni’s world, the measure of a strong and rooted local economy lies in families' and communities' ability to imagine, and plan for, their future. That affects everything, including organizing, he says.</p>
<p>“No one wants a sustainable future and a shareable economy more than the low-wage workers we organize.”</p>
<p>You’ll be seeing more reports, from Jackson, New Orleans, Pine Ridge, and other frontlines of the “strong local economy” movement right here in <a href="" type="internal">Commonomics</a>. And we hope you’ll contribute your news and ideas at: <a href="" type="internal">www.yesmagazine.org/commonomics</a>.</p> | Welcome to Commonomics: How to Build Local Economies Strong Enough for Everyone | true | http://yesmagazine.org/commonomics/welcome-to-commonomics-how-to-build-local-economies-strong-enough-for-everyone | 4 |
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<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Albuquerque International Sunport’s long-term parking lot will close Wednesday when workers begin a $5 million reconstruction project expected to finish by May.</p>
<p>Alternate long-term parking, at the same $7 daily rate, will be available in a new surface parking lot just east of the Sunport’s parking structure. The lot can be accessed by turning south on Girard SE from Gibson.</p>
<p>Motorists pay by using a self-serve credit/debit card machine.</p>
<p>The project will repave the 500-car long-term parking lot, located just north of the parking structure, and add solar panels that will double as shade canopies. The project will not affect private long-term parking lots located near the Sunport.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Sunport’s Long-Term Parking Lot To Close Wednesday | false | https://abqjournal.com/155009/sunports-long-term-parking-lot-to-close-wednesday.html | 2 |
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<p>According to a screencap tweeted this afternoon by a Fox Business reporter, on Sunday porn mogul Larry Flynt will run a full-page ad in the Washington Post offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the “impeachment and removal for office of “Donald J. Trump.”</p>
<p>Back in October 2016, Flynt offer a $1 million bounty for “recordings of Donald Trump breaking the law or acting in sexually demeaning manner.”</p>
<p /> | Porn Mogul Larry Flynt Offers $10 Million Reward For Info Leading To “Impeachment And Removal” Of Trump | true | http://joemygod.com/2017/10/13/porn-mogul-larry-flynt-offers-10-million-reward-info-leading-impeachment-removal-trump/ | 2017-10-13 | 4 |
<p>FRANKFURT, Jan 19 (Reuters) - European wholesale power prices for early next week were down on Friday as milder weather prospects led to lower demand while more thermal capacities were being readied.</p>
<p>* “There is no sustained winter weather scenario in sight, which has triggered selling,” one trader said.</p>
<p>* German baseload for Monday delivery, at 36 euros ($44.14) a megawatt hour (MWh), was 7.7 percent down from the Friday delivery price.</p>
<p>* The equivalent French contract, at 35.5 euros, was off by 11.5 percent.</p>
<p>* Thomson Reuters data showed demand will be off 3.5 gigawatts (GW) in Germany on Monday compared with Friday, and off 4 GW in France. Average daily temperatures are likely to rise by 3.1 degrees Celsius in Germany to 5.8 degrees and by 1.4 degrees to 8.7 degrees in France in the same period.</p>
<p>* These factors overrode the only bullish indication, an anticipated halving of German wind power volumes by Monday to 13.8 GW.</p>
<p>* French nuclear supply, meanwhile, remains at a comfortable 91.6 percent of total availability and German and Austrian thermal generators will add 3.2 percent to capacity next week.</p>
<p>* Along the power curve, Germany’s Cal ‘19 baseload contract, the European benchmark, rose 40 cents to 35.5 euros/MWh.</p>
<p>* The equivalent French contract was 20 cents up from its close at 40.5 euros/MWh close.</p>
<p>* BayernLB in a market research note said a robust economy, that should be supporting the German key Cal ‘19 contract, had not come to play since the start of the year. As the market was weighed down by coal prices losses and higher wind and hydro supply in France, the contract has been losing out so far.</p>
<p>* December 2018 expiry European carbon emissions permits jumped by 3.9 percent to 8.82 euros a tonne.</p>
<p>* Cif Europe coal for 2019 was broadly unchanged at $85.3 a tonne.</p>
<p>* In eastern Europe, the Czech baseload contract for Monday delivery , which mirrors the German contract, was untraded after a day-ahead close of 39.5 euros for Friday. Czech year-ahead power remained untraded after a 36 euros close. ($1 = 0.8157 euros) (Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Elaine Hardcastle)</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | EUROPE POWER-Early next week prices down on milder weather, more capacity | false | https://reuters.com/article/europe-electricity/europe-power-early-next-week-prices-down-on-milder-weather-more-capacity-idUSL8N1PE2J1 | 2018-01-19 | 2 |
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<p>Not only are they experiencing the financial strains associated with a probate or other dispute, they are also experiencing the emotional strains. All of this because their loved one "couldn't be bothered" to put a plan in place.</p>
<p>We hear a thousand and one excuses - too expensive, no time, I don't have anything to plan for - but for your loved ones who have to deal with the mess of not having a plan in place, they would have paid anything, made time, and they know that you DO have things to plan for.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>It is important to have a plan - so the right people are able to make the right decisions at the right time. And to be able to do those things as easily and seamlessly as possible is worth the few dollars and little bit of time it takes to get it in place.</p>
<p>Please don't leave a nightmare for your loved ones. If you think it "won't happen to you," you are simply setting yourself up for trouble (now I would HOPE that it does not happen to you, but I have seen too many instances of issues arising from the most innocent spots). Put your estate plan in place now!</p>
<p>As Ben Franklin once said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."</p>
<p>This blog should be used for informational purposes only. &#160;It does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader and should not be construed as legal advice. &#160;If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney in your community who can assess the specifics of your situation.</p>
<p>Contributed by Attorney James P. Plitz</p>
<p>Morris, Hall &amp; Kinghorn, P.L.L.C.</p>
<p>www.morristrust.com</p>
<p>Estate planning attorney James P. Plitz practices with the law firm of Morris, Hall &amp; Kinghorn, P.L.L.C., in Albuquerque, which has offices in Santa Fe and Las Cruces. Find out more at <a href="http://www.morristrust.com" type="external">www.morristrust.com</a>. You may contact him at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> or 505-889-0100.</p>
<p>Ask James P. Plitz about estate planning issues in the comments field below or by emailing him at <a href="" type="external">[email protected].&lt;br</a>&gt;</p> | Plan NOW, from Ask the Experts' James P. Plitz | false | https://abqjournal.com/511004/headline-287-2.html | 2 |
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<p>In the strange land of presidential debates, format matters.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/highway-2012/third-time-s-the-charm" type="external">Monday night's final showdown</a> between President Obama and Mitt Romney will likely be a more somber affair than the feisty town hall debate that featured verbal attacks and finger-pointing from both candidates.</p>
<p>In that <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/highway-2012/presidential-debates-obama-romney-hofstra" type="external">debate on Long Island, NY</a>, the candidates were encouraged to walk around and interact with each other. When the candidates face off at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. tonight, they will both be seated and won't have an audience to engage.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/series/foreign-policy-debate-obama-romney" type="external">Don't get hoodwinked by tonight's debate; read our binders full of foreign policy</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/22/politics/debate-bob-schieffer-bio/index.html" type="external">Moderator Bob Schieffer</a>, CBS News chief Washington correspondent and anchor of Face the Nation, will be seated at a desk with the candidates.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.debates.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&amp;cntnt01articleid=45&amp;cntnt01origid=&amp;cntnt01detailtemplate=newspage&amp;cntnt01returnid=80" type="external">Commission on Presidential Debates</a> said Schieffer selected six topics for the 90-minute debate including "our longest war - Afghanistan and Pakistan," "red lines - Israel and Iran" and "America's role in the world."</p>
<p>Each topic will run for 15 minutes. The candidates will each have two minutes to respond to an initial question; after that, Schieffer will moderate a discussion on the topic.</p>
<p>"I think it would be great if I could pose a question and the two men could answer and the other guy says, 'That can't be right,' and they get into it," <a href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/entertainment/television/a-qa-with-cbs-bob-schieffer-on-the-lynn-debate/nShRR/" type="external">Schieffer told the Palm Beach Post.</a></p>
<p>"I wouldn't intervene in that because they would be expanding the discussion."</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/politics/elections/121004/denver-presidential-debate-defense-jim-lehrer" type="external">In defense of moderator Jim Lehrer</a></p>
<p>The sparks could fly during those ten-minute discussions. The candidates are being encouraged to talk to each other, challenge their points and even ask each other questions.</p>
<p>"The format is brand new. We have tried to do what the American public says they want. Which is to take away the minute timing of these debates and actually give extended periods of time for the candidates to discuss the issues. I think that has worked really well," Janet Brown, the executive director of the Commission on Debates, told CBS Miami.</p>
<p>The format will be similar to the vice presidential debate between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden, where the competing candidates faced each other while seated side by side at a table.&#160;</p>
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<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Moderator Martha Raddatz was a much bigger presence during the VP debate than the much-criticized Jim Lehrer, whom critics say had trouble controlling the candidates during the first presidential debate.</p>
<p>TV critic Robert Bianco told USA Today that having Raddatz seated with the candidates helped her keep control.&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/121011/vice-presidential-debate-biden-ryan-kentucky" type="external">Biden, Ryan get combative (VIDEO)</a></p>
<p>"It helped, perhaps, that she was sitting at a table with them rather than sitting downstage while the candidates were upstage at podiums, the situation Lehrer faced. As every parent knows, it's harder for children to misbehave when they're within your reach."</p>
<p>The town hall style for the second presidential debate, moderated by Candy Crowley, allowed the candidates the freedom to challenge each other directly. Some viewers felt the exchanges were too antagonistic and not very presidential, but it definitely made for more interesting viewing.&#160;</p>
<p>Here, the president and his challenger face off over oil production on federal lands.&#160;</p>
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<p>Even though Obama eeked out a win among debate watchers, it was arguably Crowley's role as moderator that overshadowed both candidates.&#160;</p>
<p>Republicans attacked her for asking questions about immigration, women's issues and gun control that they felt favored Obama.</p>
<p>She was also heavily attacked for on the spot fact-checking after correcting Romney when he said Obama never used the words "act of terror" to refer to the attacks in Benghazi. &#160;</p>
<p>It may have made for good television, but the audience suffers when serious policy discussion gets lost in a back-and-forth.&#160;</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/highway-2012/president-barack-obama-and-mitt-romney-the-hofstra-showdown" type="external">President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney: the Hofstra showdown (LIVE VIDEO)</a></p>
<p>NBC's David Gregory criticized the candidates for breaking the rules, <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1012/82669.html" type="external">telling POLITICO</a>that it "makes the moderators look like they don't have any control."</p>
<p>"These campaigns aren't willing to just sit down, have a conversation - and have a moderator there to police that a little bit," Gregory told POLITICO.</p>
<p>"That's the kind of debate that the American people deserve, not what we have been treated to with an antiquated format and campaigns that want to select moderators or veto moderators and arbitrate these rules that they don't even follow."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/commentary/debate-format-candidates-question-each-other" type="external">In commentary for GlobalPost, Mac Deford</a>agreed, saying the substance of the debates often gets lost amid the format.</p>
<p>Whether it's Jim Lehrer asking the questions and then meekly disappearing into the woodwork, or a bunch of local Long Islanders, managed by Candy Crowley, asking pre-approved questions, the format permits the two candidates to repeat endlessly their little memorized formulas. For Romney, it's his five-point plan; for Obama, his support for the middle class; and for both, it's jobs, jobs, and jobs.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/commentary/debate-format-candidates-question-each-other" type="external">Change the debate format to let candidates question one another</a></p>
<p>It's likely that Schieffer will fall somewhere in the middle between Lehrer and Crowley's styles. He will have the advantage of meeting both candidates at eye-level, but will also have to reign in two men during their last chance to make their case to the American people.&#160;</p>
<p>Foreign policy might not be the number one issue on voters' minds in the last two weeks before the election, but this third and final debate still has the chance to sway undecided voters.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-ohio-florida-voters-foreign-policy-20121021,0,2063798.story" type="external">The Los Angeles Times</a> reports that&#160;one poll found that 61 percent of Florida voters and 59 percent of Ohio voters called foreign affairs one of the most important issues to them or a "very important" issue.</p>
<p>Both candidates will have to make their case in an engaging and informative way. Otherwise we'll all have to flip to <a href="http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/espn-suggests-watching-monday-night-game-and-debate-on-2-screens/" type="external">Monday Night Football.&#160;</a></p>
<p>Watch GlobalPost's campaign correspondent Jean MacKenzie decode the role of foreign policy in the 2012 race:</p>
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<p /> | Final debate format allows more room for discussion (VIDEO) | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-10-22/final-debate-format-allows-more-room-discussion-video | 2012-10-22 | 3 |
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<p>As Crawford puts it while searching for a role, “Everything written for women seemed to fall into just three categories: ingenues, mothers, or gorgons.” As I watched the first five episodes of “Feud,” I found myself thinking as much about how the series fits into Murphy’s larger project of explaining America as about the feud in question.</p>
<p>This phase of Murphy’s career is relatively new; FX ordered the first installment of “American Crime Story” in late 2014, and of “Feud” in 2016. These being Ryan Murphy productions, though, this aspect of his empire is expanding rapidly. The next three seasons of “American Crime Story” have already been set, and will focus, respectively, on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (Matthew Broderick is set to play feckless Federal Emergency Management Administration director Michael D. Brown), the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace, and Monica Lewinsky’s relationship with former President Bill Clinton and the aftermath. “Feud” has been renewed for a second season, which will focus on the enmity between Prince Charles and Princess Diana.</p>
<p>Taken together, “American Crime Story” and “Feud” seem like an attempt to establish a canon, a set of defining historical and cultural moments that are essential to understanding the American — for the most part — character. The best way to describe this project is probably to say that Murphy is making a bid to be a campier Ken Burns, an auteur who establishes what events are important, and then explores and reframes those events through a distinct visual style and worldview.</p>
<p>A comparison between these two very different artists might be a little jarring. Burns is a documentarian, while Murphy tells both purely fictional stories and fictionalized versions of history. Burns is 36 years into his exploration of American history, while, as I’ve mentioned, Murphy’s project is relatively new. Burns’s work is defined by sincerity, while New York Times television critic James Poniewozik wrote in his review of “Feud” that the dominant mode of Murphy’s storytelling is “campathy,” a fusion of camp and sympathy. “Katrina: American Crime Story” will be Murphy’s first major foray into the sorts of major disasters Burns has handled with sensitivity and intelligence since “The Civil War.”</p>
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<p>But Murphy’s penchant for perfectly centered shots and his sense of color are almost as immediately identifiable as Burns’s use of pans and tilts to bring still photographs to vivid life, a technique so distinct and popular that there is actually a tool in Apple’s Final Cut Pro editing software that apes the effect. Both men enjoy steady backing from the networks that air their work, FX in Murphy’s case and PBS in Burns’, giving the leeway to develop project slates far into the future.</p>
<p>And more importantly, both men bring new perspectives to obsessively analyzed events, restoring lost elements of history or challenging our sense of who deserves our sympathy. The sympathy Murphy and his “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” crew extended to vilified prosecutors Christopher Darden (Sterling K. Brown) and especially Marcia Clark (Murphy’s muse, Sarah Paulson) was one of the most striking things on American television in 2016. It was in keeping with the quiet emphasis Burns played on the role that black soldiers played in their own liberation in “The Civil War,” helping codify a narrative also advanced in “Glory” that’s now part of conventional wisdom about the end of slavery, or Burns’ focus on gender roles and mental illness in his excellent miniseries “The Dust Bowl.”</p>
<p>Murphy has a way to go to catch up to Burns in scope, who has documentaries on the Vietnam War, country music and Ernest Hemingway coming out over the next three years. But if “American Crime Story” and “Feud” are any indication, I can’t wait to see what Murphy casts his catty, loving eye on next.</p> | ‘Feud’ is Ryan Murphy’s bid to be the Ken Burns of camp | false | https://abqjournal.com/962781/feud-is-ryan-murphys-bid-to-be-the-ken-burns-of-camp.html | 2 |
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<p>Celebrity is the first good film Woody Allen has made since Husbands and Wives, though it’s still not all that great. It is about celebrity, which is a subject of major concern to the postmodernist sensibility, and it makes use of a central postmodern joke. That is, the celebrity director known as “Woody Allen,” does not actually appear as an actor and alter ego in this film by Woody Allen, as he does in so many of his films. It is one reason why it is his best in years. But he has put in a surrogate Woody, played by (of all people) the British actor, Kenneth Branagh. Branagh, as a journalist called Lee Simon, does the Woody impersonation to a T, and everyone recognizes who he is supposed to be—a fact which makes its own ironic commentary on the matter of celebrity.</p>
<p>But the heart of the film lies in a remark made by Robin (Judy Davis), Simon’s ex-wife, when she goes from being a schoolteacher, teaching Chaucer, to being a TV star, promoted by her new boyfriend, Tony (Joe Mantegna), with a trashy show about the rich and famous in New York She was, she says, “performing a serious function” as a teacher. She has now left off doing that and instead has “become the kind of woman I have always hated. And I’m happier.” It is just convincing enough to make us pause for a moment. Quite probably, Woody Allen himself is a divided character like this, loathing the whole celebrity machine of which he himself is obviously a part, but at the same time loving it—and hating himself for loving it.</p>
<p>But happiness? We don’t believe for a single moment that Judy Davis’s character is happy, any more than we believe that the character developed for himself over a score of movies by Woody Allen is. The comparative “happier” deliberately leads us astray. If all life is meaningless, then it is simply marginally better to get through it with the help of the deference paid to fame. That is all. Robin, interestingly, had never particularly wanted to be happy and is, in fact, terrified by the idea. When in one of the movie’s several funny scenes she goes to see a prostitute (Bebe Neuwirth) for instructions in how to give her new man, Tony, pleasure in bed, the latter asks: “What goes through your mind when you’re doing it?”</p>
<p>“The Crucifixion.”</p>
<p>That’s a little over the top, maybe, not just in tastelessness but in its attempt to conflate Allenesque nihilism and Roman Catholic guilt. But the movie is more successful on its most familiar ground, as Lee is presented as that cliché figure, the middle-aged man afraid that “happiness” has passed him by. We see him in a flashback at his high school class reunion, where the “mid-life crisis” happens before our eyes. After 16 years of marriage, “I’ve got to change my life before it’s too late,” he says to a classmate psychiatrist. “I’m married to a schoolteacher, writing the occasional travel piece, never knowing what it’s like to make love to that f***ing sleazy blonde that’s with Monroe Gordon,” a minor celebrity as lounge singer in nearby hotel restaurants. Thereafter he plunges into a life as a swinging bachelor and hanger-on to the stars.</p>
<p>Celebrity thus stands for all the meretricious allure of “happiness”—which in the end we are assured by Robin is nothing more than luck. It is the moral of the story. She has found a wonderful guy in Tony, who marries her, even though she is so full of a kind of “guilt” at the idea of being happy (because of Catholic upbringing) that she leaves him at the altar at the first attempt. “No matter what the shrinks or the self-help books say, when it comes to love, it’s luck,” she says. Meanwhile, Lee’s life with his latest hot young girlfriend, Nola (Winona Ryder), which had seemed like pure Kismet, is a nightmare.</p>
<p>As in all the best of Woody Allen’s movies, however, this central, nihilistic thread can be disregarded and you can just laugh at the jokes that hang loosely off it. One of the best has to do with an appearance by Leonardo Di Caprio as, like the real Leonardo Di Caprio, the superstar of the pre-teens but a much nastier piece of work. At the culmination of this episode, Lee finds himself engaged in group sex while trying to pitch his screenplay—about an armored car heist but with “a very strong personal subplot”—to the young star next to him in the bed. Not surprisingly, he finds himself unable to perform with the airhead groupie who has fallen to his lot and is forced to fall back on small-talk. She asks him what he does. He says he’s a writer. “I’m a writer!” she says brightly. “You ever hear of Chekhov?”</p>
<p>“Yesss,” says Lee.</p>
<p>“I write like him.”</p>
<p>Almost equally hilarious is a scene set in the green room at Tony’s daytime TV show when Robin has mixed up the booking dates. skinheads, Nazis, Klansmen, Jews, blacks all mix on easy and friendly terms as all prepare to do the only thing they really care about, which is to appear on television and so stake their own small claims to celebrity. We see a rabbi elbowing his way to the buffet and calling out, “Did the skinheads eat all the bagels already.” It is the final word on the subject of celebrity— not very original, perhaps, but still funny.</p> | Celebrity | false | https://eppc.org/publications/celebrity/ | 1 |
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<p>Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman may be the next person on the Navy SEALs hit list, Wired's <a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/08/el-chapo/" type="external">Danger Room blog reported today</a>.</p>
<p>According to Danger Room, the Pentagon reportedly plans on sending the SEALs by helicopter after El Chapo, who is supposedly hiding in the mountains of the western Mexican states of Sinaloa and Durango. The blog cites anonymous Mexican and US military sources who detailed the plan to <a href="http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=316815" type="external">Processo magazine.</a></p>
<p>El Chapo has risen to the top of the United States' most wanted list now that Osama bin Laden is no longer alive, and it's no secret that the US has been after <a href="http://gawker.com/5932866/in-mexico-these-are-the-men-who-kill-the-most" type="external">current public enemy number one</a> for some time. Most recently,&#160; <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-mexicos-most-wanted_n_1751671.html?utm_hp_ref=world" type="external">the US targeted three Belize-based associates</a> of the drug king pin by freezing their US assets and those of five of Guzman's companies. In June, Mexican Marines arrested El Chapo's son <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/mexico/120621/mexico-drug-war-marines-arrest-son-el-chapo-the-worlds-" type="external">Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar</a>.</p>
<p>No matter how badly the US wants El Chapo, there are a few issues with the current plan:</p>
<p>For starters, no one is sure that Mexico's incoming President Enrique Pena Nieto is going to go along with the United States' plan for the drug war. A few months ago, Pena Nieto <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-15/mexico-s-pena-nieto-taps-colombia-drug-war-head-for-cartel-fight" type="external">recruited Colombian General Oscar Naranjo</a> as his top security adviser. Naranjo is a veteran of the war against notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar and the pick indicates that Pena Nieto may have some of his own ideas about how to handle Mexico's drug cartels.&#160;</p>
<p>Then there's the fact that Pena Nieto hasn't been quiet about his plans to create <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/mexicos-plan-create-paramilitary-force" type="external">a new national paramilitary police force</a> to fight Mexico's drug cartels.</p>
<p>And there's also the small hiccup of Guzman's security detail. <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i2jthHX_9f-HzzBMjrTwRtPvhSGQ?docId=d2abf3d136fa42788f58365d271b1f8a" type="external">According to the Associated Press</a>, El Chapo has a tendency to travel with helicopters and up to 300 men to protect him.</p>
<p>What's more, there's a fat chance that killing El Chapo will not be anything like killing bin Laden.&#160;</p>
<p>"The Obama administration has a policy to disrupt transnational criminal organizations as well as improve security in Mexico," James Bosworth, a Latin American crime and security analyst, told Danger Room in an e-mail. "How much does getting El Chapo really contribute to those goals? It certainly has some effect, but El Chapo is no bin Laden, symbolically, ideologically or organizationally."</p> | Navy SEALs to target El Chapo: report | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-08-14/navy-seals-target-el-chapo-report | 2012-08-14 | 3 |
<p />
<p>Lack of affordable housing and <a href="" type="internal">pervasive unemployment</a> are getting so bad in this country, <a href="" type="internal">homeless</a> people are coming up with new, ambitious ways to survive.</p>
<p>Twenty-five-year-old Yosue Joel Rios was recently arrested by police after it was discovered he had built a 15-foot-deep, two-room cave in Van Dyck Park, Fairfax, Virginia.</p>
<p>Steps at the entrance lead down into the cave's two rooms, which were measured at five feet, 10 inches tall each. Rios told authorities he hid the excess dirt while building the cave by spreading it out throughout the park and covering it with leaves. Now the Department of Public Works will be filling the cave back in.</p>
<p>Police charged Rios with destruction of property for which he will be held without bond. He also reportedly had an outstanding traffic ticket in Arlington County for which he failed to appear.</p>
<p>Some in the comments section of this story on a <a href="http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Homeless-Man-Charged-With-Destruction-of-Property-for-Living-in-Man-Made-Cave-361879121.html" type="external">local NBC affiliate</a>&#160;pointed out the irony that police arrested this man for this:</p>
<p><a href="https://i2.wp.com/www.thedailysheeple.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2015-12-14_16-24-13.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p>Contributed by The Daily Sheeple of <a href="http://www.thedailysheeple.com/" type="external">www.TheDailySheeple.com</a>.</p>
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<p /> | Homeless Man Arrested for Living in a 15-Foot-Deep Cave He Dug in a Park | true | http://dcclothesline.com/2015/12/15/homeless-man-arrested-for-living-in-a-15-foot-deep-cave-he-dug-in-a-park/ | 2015-12-15 | 0 |
<p>Donald Trump’s new Washington hotel was vandalized on Saturday with spray-painted messages of “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice No Peace” on its front entrance.</p>
<p>The vandalism came in the heat of a racially charged presidential contest. Hillary Clinton met with Black Lives Matter protestors and last week at the presidential debate she stated Trump “has a long record of engaging in racist behaivor” as reported by CNN.</p>
<p>The graffiti was reported to police at 4 p.m. Saturday, according to the Metropolitan Police. The graffiti has now been covered up with plywood and no arrests have been made.</p>
<p /> | Donald Trump’s Washington Hotel Vandalized | true | http://shark-tank.com/2016/10/03/donald-trumps-washington-hotel-vandalized/ | 0 |
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<p>PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — Thieves targeting a so-called tiny home in Missouri decided to go big – and steal the whole house.</p>
<p>The Joplin Globe ( <a href="http://bit.ly/2tEnHUK" type="external">http://bit.ly/2tEnHUK</a> ) reports Missouri resident Lisa Stubblefield left the structure in a roped-off area in Springfield last week for the Food Truck Showdown. When she arrived for the festivities Saturday morning, it was gone.</p>
<p>Stubblefield says she's surprised someone targeted the building, which is 13 feet (4 meters) tall and looks like a small house, complete with a covered porch, but has no plumbing. It's designed to be a mobile clothing boutique.</p>
<p>Stubblefield's Facebook post about the theft was shared more than 5,000 times and eventually caught the attention of a woman in Pittsburg, Kansas, a town about 90 miles (145 kilometers) west. Police found the house there the next day.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>No arrests have been made.</p>
<p>Information from: The Joplin (Mo.) Globe, <a href="http://www.joplinglobe.com" type="external">http://www.joplinglobe.com</a></p>
<p><a href="#5d94d087-d4c8-425b-984b-4930139d774e" type="external">© 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</a> Learn more about our <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/privacy" type="external">Privacy Policy</a> and <a href="http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/terms" type="external">Terms of Use</a>.</p> | Thieves go big, steal tiny home in Missouri | false | https://abqjournal.com/1031560/thieves-go-big-steal-tiny-home-in-missouri.html | 2017-07-11 | 2 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-302563p1.html?cr=00&amp;pl=edit-00"&gt;Ryan Rodrick Beiler&lt;/a&gt;/Shutterstock.com</p>
<p>When President Barack Obama decided to allow undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children to stay in the country and work, Republicans blew a gasket. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/06/26/506195/top-republican-senator-suggests-impeaching-obama-over-immigration-policies/" type="external">raised the possibility of impeachment</a>. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/steve-king-threatens-to-sue-over-obama-immigration-order/2012/06/15/gJQAWsBXfV_blog.html" type="external">vowed to sue the administration</a> in court to block the move. And&#160;Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/06/obama-to-speak-on-new-immigration-rules/1" type="external">accused</a> Obama of putting “partisan politics and illegal immigrants ahead of the rule of law and the American people.” The GOP line:&#160;Obama went rogue and exceeded his constitutional powers.</p>
<p>Yet Kadiatou Diallo and thousands of other undocumented immigrants like her are living proof that Kyl, King, and Smith are unjustifiably hyperventilating about Obama overstepping his authority.</p>
<p>Diallo is in America because of George W. Bush. She came to the United States from Guinea in 1999, after her son died in a hail of 41 bullets, shot by New York City police officers who said they believed the wallet in his hand was a gun. Diallo—and her family—overstayed their visas. But rather than deport her, immigration authorities granted her deferred action (lawyer-speak for temporarily delayed deportation) and work authorization—and continued to do so every two years, for the entire time Bush was in office.</p>
<p>“This is what my family uses to go to work, pay taxes,” Diallo says. “It’s the only thing we depend on now.”</p>
<p>Diallo is a prime example of how presidents from both parties have long claimed the authority to grant temporary stays of deportation and work authorization to undocumented immigrants. In a series of memos issued after the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act, a law that sought to curtail illegal immigration and prioritize removal of unauthorized immigrants, immigration officials in both the Clinton and Bush administrations established guidelines and limits for when authorities could exercise leniency in dealing with unauthorized immigrants.&#160;</p>
<p>“The [immigration] guidelines we issued in 2000 were not rescinded,” says Doris Meissner, a top immigration official in the Clinton administration who is now a senior fellow at the <a href="http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/administrativefixes.pdf" type="external">Migration Policy Institute</a> (MPI), a nonpartisan think tank that studies migration. “They’re in place today; they were observed by the Bush administration.” Those guidelines were driven in part by complaints that, as a bipartisan group of members of Congress argued in <a href="http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/Smith_to_Reno_1999.pdf" type="external">a 1999 letter to the Clinton Justice Department</a>, the deportation process was “unfair” and resulted in “unjustifiable hardships.” <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/23/lamar-smith-block-obama-deportation_n_883259.html" type="external">Smith signed that letter</a>, which urged “discretion in removal proceedings.”&#160;But now the congressman says the president is undermining the rule of law.</p>
<p>Bush officials didn’t just embrace the&#160;idea that the government can prioritize whom to deport—they expanded it. “The universe of opportunities to exercise prosecutorial discretion is large,” Bush immigration adviser <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/22092975/ICE-Guidance-Memo-Prosecutorial-Discretion-William-J-Howard-10-24-05" type="external">William Howard wrote in a 2005 memo</a>. Howard recommended letting people stay in the country when “compelling reasons exist,” such as an unauthorized immigrant being a relative of a US servicemember or for “sympathetic humanitarian factors.”</p>
<p>Julie L. Myers, another Bush-era immigration official, <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/22092973/ICE-Guidance-Memo-Prosecutorial-Discretion-Julie-Myers-11-7-07" type="external">issued another follow-up memo</a>&#160;in 2007, advising immigration officials to consider letting people who had health problems or were taking care of sick relatives remain in the United States.</p>
<p>The powers Obama exercised in June decision weren’t new. They don’t grant any of the unauthorized immigrants legal status or citizenship, and it would be a simple matter for a future president to change the rules again and deport the people Obama allowed to stay. And up until now, the Obama administration has been aggressive in pursuing deportations of unauthorized immigrants, removing more than a million since taking office. This chart shows how deportations have risen since Bush took office:</p>
<p />
<p>Republicans are right about one thing in this controversy: The Obama administration is using the government’s immigration powers on a greater scale than they were previously used. A June analysis from the MPI estimates that 1.4 million unauthorized immigrants could benefit from the administration’s new policy. That’s a big change. As the chart below shows, until now&#160; <a href="http://americasvoiceonline.org/blog/la_opinion_obama_has_granted_a_record_low_number_of_deferred_actions/" type="external">Obama had actually granted fewer deferred actions</a> than his predecessor—a little over 500 in 2010 compared to more than 1,000 in the last year of the Bush administration:</p>
<p>Via <a href="http://amvoice.3cdn.net/95f0bb79cfe0eec1d4_h9m6bnb6v.jpg" type="external">America’s Voice</a></p>
<p>If the MPI estimate is correct, the 2012 bar on a future version of this chart will be many times higher than the 2009 and 2010 bars. One of people who might be included in that 2012 number is Oleg Chashchukhin, a 22-year-old in Maryland whose father brought him here from Russia when he was seven. Chashchukhin has been getting by doing odd jobs like fixing cars. He has an associate degree in information services technology from a community college in Maryland, but he can’t afford to attend a four-year school in the state because of the out-of-state tuition rate. If he manages to acquire work authorization from DHS, he’ll be able to find regular work. Chashchukhin’s father was so excited that he actually taped Obama’s announcement of the new policy so his son could watch it.</p>
<p>“I couldn’t believe that [Obama] even actually did it,” Chashchukhin says. “He’s the first one that actually even tried to do anything for people who are in the same boat I am.”</p> | Like Obama, George W. Bush Let Illegal Immigrants Stay and Work | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/obama-bush-immigration-enforcement/ | 2012-07-06 | 4 |
<p>For months, I have watched Barack Obama excite crowds with his message of hope. And, I will admit that I, too, have felt inspiration seeing thousands of young people react to Obama as if he were that singular leader who will carry American forward to retrieve its rightful place in a world that is burdened with everything from food shortage, escalating energy prices and war.</p>
<p>Eight years of George Bush has created an environment that shouts out for change and Obama’s message of hope touches a nerve in people faced with economic hardship and calamity.</p>
<p>With those positive feelings, I ventured to the Obama speech in Evansville (IN) last night (4/22). For more than a year, I’ve quelled my concerns with many policies Obama has embraced, opting to take friends’ and colleagues’ advice that he is the only candidate that will bring change that I agreed is needed.</p>
<p>I was particularly thrilled that I would get to see Obama on Earth Day. He has oft acknowledged the planetary carbon crisis and he was coming to the town that is the center of the largest concentration of coal fired capacity in the world. Rarely, are politicians give such wonderful opportunities to speak directly to such issues to a national audience.</p>
<p>But, Obama was mum on the environment and everything else that could have been discussed on Earth Day. Oh, he did mention renewable energy and a “planet in peril.” I had heard him say those things a thousand times.</p>
<p>Did he even know it was Earth Day?</p>
<p>His speech was identical to the one he has made in nearly every other state after a loss except that this time he delivered it without passion as if he were tired and disillusioned. And even missing the great opportunity that Earth Day presented, he said little about anything except hope, making me hope that he would give me something new to digest for having had to wait for close to three hours to hear him.</p>
<p>I tried to dismiss the lack of an Earth Day message as a personal bias on my part. But what I failed to understand why his handlers had failed to even recognize that it was Earth Day.</p>
<p>More than a week ago, I sought to inform the Obama campaign about the marvelous honor that some kids from Mater Dei High School in Evansville had earned for building the best high mileage vehicle ever designed. A team of aspiring young engineers drove away as winners in the competition against numerous university teams for a vehicle that achieved a phenomenal 2,843 miles per gallon in a contest in California.</p>
<p>That was before his campaign had decided to come to Evansville on Earth Day or any other day. With Earth Day, however, it seemed a perfect way for Obama to recognize these enterprising youth as examples of the “change that we can believe in.”</p>
<p>Either, my efforts to inform the Obama campaign failed or else they simply were not interested perhaps a mixture of both.</p>
<p>But it was not until today I found just how insensitive the Obama camp is to issues pertaining to our perilous planet.</p>
<p>Apparently Obama flies around in a Boeing 757. He has business to conduct and there is no fault in using such a plane to get from here to there with an entourage of staff and reporters in tow.</p>
<p>However, I was told today by an air traffic controller at the Evansville tower that they were informed by the plane’s crew that they would leave the engines running during his stay in Evansville so that a quick exit could be made.</p>
<p>The 757 has two rather large jet engines and frankly I have no idea how much fuel would be consumed at idle over the approximately two hours the plane was on the ground in Evansville. The amount is irrelevant. What is relevant is the total lack of understanding his campaign shows toward wasteful use of energy by keeping the plane running on the ground when it is not needed.</p>
<p>If Obama has not instructed his staff to eliminate ALL waste of energy during his campaign, what are the implications for an Obama presidency when it comes to a planet in peril?</p>
<p>Wasting energy is something that must stop immediately if we are to ever get a handle on climate change or any other energy problem we face. And, that means turning off engines of all sorts when they are not in use.</p>
<p>Some may say that I am being overly sensitive to these issues, that I should lighten up on this guy or anyone else who chooses waste instead of conservation. There is one word for that-BUNK.</p>
<p>But what concerns me more than anything is Obama’s failure to capitalize on what has become an international effort to draw attention to the environment – Earth Day.</p>
<p>Instead of trying to keep a smiley face on his big loss in Pennsylvania, acting like it did not matter that his candidacy is on the ropes, Obama could have diverted attention away from the Clinton Pennsylvania win with a strong Earth Day statement during his appearance in Evansville.</p>
<p>He needn’t even discuss global warming, coal or anything so contentious. He could have thrown out softballs, nearly anything that would have made him look green. It was Earth Day after all. His failure to even mention the day in his Evansville speech says volumes about his true concern for the serious issues facing our planet.</p>
<p>Politically, he could have changed the entire dialogue from being defeated in yet another big state to just how valid are the proposals he was making to save the planet. Sure some of the pundits would insist on keeping the issue purely political but others are full of hope that someday, he will set forth some real issues on which to base the hope and the change we can truly believe in.</p>
<p>Opportunities like those presented last night in Evansville do not occur very often and frankly he blew this one big time. On Earth Day, instead of planting seeds for a green revolution, he left his engines running on the tarmac.</p>
<p>JOHN BLAIR is a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer who serves as president of the environmental health advocacy group Valley Watch in Evansville, IN. He is a contributor to <a href="" type="internal">Red State Rebels: Tales of Grassroots Resistance from the Heartland</a>, edited by Jeffrey St. Clair and Joshua Frank. (AK Press) His email address is <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | Obama’s Missed Opportunities in Indiana | true | https://counterpunch.org/2008/04/24/obama-s-missed-opportunities-in-indiana/ | 2008-04-24 | 4 |
<p>May 24, 2013</p>
<p>By Katy Grimes</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>SACRAMENTO — A Sacramento couple recently had their baby ripped from their arms at their home by <a href="http://www.dhhs.saccounty.net/CPS/Pages/CPS-Home.aspx" type="external">Sacramento Child Protective Services</a>&#160;workers, with the help of local police, after telling a Sacramento hospital they wanted a second opinion on treatment for their baby.</p>
<p>According to the family, Anna Nikolayev tried to leave Sutter Memorial Hospital and take her baby Sammy, 5 months old, to another hospital for a second opinion, when she was threatened with a call to the CPS. Sammy was&#160;born with a serious heart condition.&#160;After a nurse at Sutter Memorial tried to give Sammy medicine that&#160;a doctor later explained should not have been administered, Anna became nervous about the quality of Sammy’s care. She expressed her desire to&#160;receive a second opinion from another doctor.</p>
<p>Anna Nikolayev said she didn’t like the care Sammy was receiving from Sutter, and felt the doctors and nurses were “pressing us to do surgery.” She was told by the hospital workers, “You are free to leave this hospital, but your baby is not.” The hospital refused to discharge Sammy. &#160;And they notified the CPS.</p>
<p>Anna put Sammy in his stroller, left Sutter Memorial and went directly to Kaiser Hospital. She met with a doctor there who said Sammy was free to go home, and didn’t need immediate surgery. The second doctor wrote that Sammy was cleared to go home with his parents. “I do not have concern for the safety of the child at home with his parents,” the Kaiser doctor wrote in the medical release from the hospital.</p>
<p>The next day, CPS and the police showed up at the family’s home, claimed they had a warrant and the authority to take Sammy. Anna asked to see the warrant, but the authorities wouldn’t show it to her. What they had was a CPS order, generated in their offices, not a court order signed by a judge. &#160;Thanks to Anna’s quick thinking, there is a home&#160; <a href="http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/05/03/california-lawmaker-tim-donnelly-wants-audit-child-protective-services-after-baby-taken" type="external">video</a>&#160;of this abusive government action, in which one police officer can be heard telling Anna, “I’m going to grab your baby and don’t resist and don’t fight me, okay?”</p>
<p />
<p>The Nikolayevs showed police the note from the second doctor, but to no avail. Police forced Alex Nikolayev to the ground. “This is like living under communist regime,” Nikolayev told News 10 the next day, as shown in the above YouTube. He and Anna are immigrants from Russia, which for 74 years was run by a communist government.</p>
<p>CPS took the baby away, claiming “severe neglect.” Sutter Memorial released a media statement explaining the qualifications of the doctors and nurses, but said, “Our nurses and physicians are bound by law to call Child Protective Services if they believe a pediatric patient’s health is in danger.”</p>
<p>Assemblyman Donnelly is now demanding an audit of Child Protective Services.</p>
<p>Donnelly first contacted a Deputy Director at CPS. “The first question I asked them is, ‘Are these parents abusive? Do you suspect that they are guilty of neglect or something along those lines.’ And they said, ‘Absolutely not; 99.9 percent these are just normal parents.’ And I said then, ‘What the Hell are you doing?'”</p>
<p>Donnelly said CPS told him, “We don’t answer to Assemblymen.”</p>
<p>Donnelly wrote a letter to Sherri Heller, CPS Director, demanding to know under what authority was CPS acting by removing Sammy from the Nikolayev home for seeking a second medical opinion.</p>
<p>Heller responded to Donnelly in a two-page letter filled with legal codes justifying the CPS decision to take the Nikolayev baby:</p>
<p>“The law is clear: if there is imminent risk of serious harm to the child and there is insufficient time to obtain a court order to remove the child from the care of the parents, the social worker or law enforcement officer can remove the child. The legal term is ‘exigent circumstances.’…</p>
<p>“The laws and policies that guide agency practice are designed to ensure that there are adequate protections for the rights of everyone involved, while placing priority on children’s health, safety, and well-being.”&#160;</p>
<p>“I am shocked and appalled an agency of Sacramento County would go so far to remove a child from the care of his able and loving parents,” Donnelly said.</p>
<p>On June 5 at 9 a.m. there will be a rally for the baby on the South steps of the State Capitol led by Donnelly. After that, he will lead a 10 a.m. hearing to audit the policies and procedures of the Sacramento County Child Protective Services regarding child seizures.</p> | Sacramento family fights seizure of child by CPS | false | https://calwatchdog.com/2013/05/24/sacramento-family-fights-seizure-of-child-by-cps/ | 2018-05-20 | 3 |
<p>Silent Sound Spread Spectrum (SSSS) &amp; the All-Digital TV Broadcast Signal:&#160;Connection?</p>
<p><a href="http://ppjg.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/obey_dees.jpg" type="external" />&#160;October 11, 2010</p>
<p>since first hearing of it last spring, I’ve had a deepening sense of foreboding – an unnamed dread of the upcoming shift to an <a href="http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/digitaltv.html" type="external">all-digital television broadcast signal</a>, scheduled to occur in February 2009. Now, I believe, that nameless dread may have a name, after all.</p>
<p>The Department of Defense calls it Silent Sound Spread Spectrum (SSSS), and it also goes by the name of S-quad or Squad. In the private sector, the technology goes by the name of Silent Subliminal Presentation System and the technology has also been released to certain corporate vendors who have attached catchy brand names like <a href="http://www.brainspeak.com/Programs/index.html" type="external">BrainSpeak</a> Silent Subliminals to their own SSSS-based products.</p>
<p>Whatever you call it, SSSS is a technology that uses <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subliminal_message" type="external">subliminal programming</a> that is carried over Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) broadcast waves, planting inaudible messages directly into the subconscious human mind.</p>
<p>Perfected more than twenty years ago by the Department of Defense and <a href="http://www.raven1.net/silsoun2.htm" type="external">battlefield-tested upon unwitting Iraqi soldiers</a> serving in the army of Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War during 1991, SSSS is a sinister weapon that may have been been developed for a specific mission: the total s <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14250" type="external">ubjugation of the American people.</a></p>
<p>Whether SSSS is coupled with the new all-digital TV signal as its means of delivery into the minds of an unsuspecting U.S. populace or not, it can be deployed by many different devices, including HAARP and GWEN towers, which would effectively blanket the entire nation at once. In fact, Judy Wall says that “there is evidence that the US Government has plans to extend the range of this technology to envelop all peoples, all countries. This can be accomplished, is being accomplished, by utilising the nearly completed HAARP project for overseas areas and the GWEN network now in place in the US. The US Government denies all this.”</p>
<p><a href="http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/subliminal-programming-ssss-technology/" type="external">READ MORE HERE&gt; &gt;</a></p>
<p><a href="/" type="external">We encourage you to Share our Reports, Analyses, Breaking News and Videos. Simply Click your Favorite Social Media Button and Share.</a></p> | It’s all coming to pass: Subliminal programming: SSSS technology | true | http://beforeitsnews.com/story/213/082/It_s_all_coming_to_pass%3A_Subliminal_programming%3A_SSSS_technology.html | 2010-10-13 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Although has not been independently verified, the phone call in the video was reportedly made from Guaynabo, by a female police officer. Choking back emotion, the officer tells Mega 97.9 in New York City that shipping containers full of aid and supplies sits undistributed at a Puerto Rican port because of local bureaucracy.</p>
<p>Indeed, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/puerto-rico-aid-problem/index.html" type="external">CNN reported just three days ago</a> that aid remains undistributed because Puerto Rico does not have enough licensed truck drivers to handle it, and won’t allow anyone else to handle it. Yet, CNN has been one of the main media sources feeding the talking point that President Trump is not providing enough aid to the island.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/09/30/puerto-rico-cop-calls-u-s-radio-station-reporting-corrupt-mayor-of-san-juan-and-request-for-help/" type="external">The Conservative Treehouse has transcribed the phone call</a>, which is in Spanish and featured in a video below.</p>
<p>Radio Announcer: What is your name?</p>
<p>Police Caller: I cannot give my name because I work for Puerto Rico’s Police Department. I need to pass this information out because the stuff that is being brought from the U.S. is not being distributed. They are not allowing the Puerto Rican people to receive the donations.</p>
<p>Radio Announcer: What part of Puerto Rico are you calling us from right now?</p>
<p>Police Caller: I am right now in Guaynabo.</p>
<p>Radio Announcer 2: Wow.</p>
<p>Radio Announcer 3: But what information do you have? What have you seen?</p>
<p>Police Caller: The Mayor, Carmen Yulin, is not allowing anyone to distribute… We need… what Puerto Ricans need is that the U.S. armed forces come in and distribute the aid. And that they stop the governor, Rosello, and the mayor, Yulin, on doing what they are doing… It’s an abuse, it looks like communism, in our own island (sobbing)… (sobbing continues, inaudible translation due to cries)…</p>
<p>Police Caller (cont.): People are helping us, but they are not accepting it, they are not accepting anymore help supposedly: “they have to wait for the license, that there are no buses.” …Let me tell you something Boricuas (Puerto Ricans) are dying of hunger (crying continues) … This is a bureaucracy, everything has to be protocol, the lines are stretched. …We can only give one box of water per person (sobbing continues). …The medics here, people are dying, the hospitals are in crisis.</p>
<p>Police Caller (cont.): I am embarrassed, as a Boricua to work for Puerto Rico’s police and see that we cannot do anything. There are dozens and thousands and thousands of food and when people ask we cannot give anything away because [Mayor] Carmen Yulin says that we cannot take anything out; because everything is a soap opera, everything is a show and there have to be cameras here and there. ….Because you know they are just looking for votes for the upcoming years.</p>
<p>Radio Announcer 2: Wow</p>
<p>Police Caller: And the governor won’t move unless there is a camera behind him; [Mayor] Carmen Yulin won’t move unless there is a camera behind her. This is how we are living in Puerto Rico, meanwhile artists are giving money and the people of Florida are sending stuff, and I don’t know how many more people are helping because we have very limited communication, very limited, and we have no idea what’s going on outside; and the people who are sending stuff, they have to come in; they have to come to help Puerto Rico and distribute what is being wasted …because what else are we going to do? You tell me, what are we going to do?</p>
<p>Radio Announcer #2: Of course the desperation..</p>
<p>Radio Announcer #3: We are with our hearts broken listening to you describing this situation which is heartbreaking when we know that so many people are helping …this is a police officer speaking.</p>
<p>Police Caller: I’ve been for one hour and a half just trying to download an application because the phones that they give to us I cannot use them as a police officer due to security measures. But I need to speak for the people because the people are suffering. Because I, as a cop, and other partners are seeing it. A lot of people have been posting videos (sobbing – inaudible) …and no-one is paying attention.</p>
<p>Radio Announcer #3: We are truly sorry for this situation, we did not know that..</p>
<p>Police Caller: If Cuba and Venezuela want to help and we are grateful for that; and that the government denies their help, the government denies Cuba’s help. …That they reject Venezuela’s help, …Look for God’s sake! Tell me how is that possible, we need help.</p>
<p>Radio Announcer #3: We are going to send this message out so that it gets to where it needs to get to…</p>
<p>Police Caller: We want the U.S. to come in, that the strongest forces come in and take the governor out, he is not doing anything, he is just going around and around, …and everyone is like: “oh, look how nice, the governor, he is going in the mud, he is going in the water”, And where is it? Pardon the expression: WHERE IS THE FOOD?</p>
<p>Police Caller (cont.): Look, grab the food, grab the sausage can and take it to the families! Stop the show! The governor is just doing a show, is all a show. There are many mayors that are suffering because they cannot do anything for their people.</p>
<p>Radio Announcer #2: What are they doing with the food? Is it being kept in storage because they are not allowing to give it out?</p>
<p>Police Caller: They are not doing anything, and they tell the harbors (ports) that they cannot bring stuff anymore. If the U.S. government doesn’t get involved they will finish us. We are going to end up worse. …Worse than Cuba, Africa, or worse than Haiti. We are living in an era that you don’t want to see, people are desperate. The gasoline, people are already killing each other. Not to rob you, they are doing it so they can be the firsts to get food and take it to their families.</p>
<p>Police Caller (cont.): Do you know what it is when a woman approaches me and tells me “I don’t have any more.” “I don’t know what else to give my kids because I don’t have anymore.” “Water and crackers”!</p>
<p>Radio Announcer #1: Sweetie, thank you for calling us and using this medium to denounce this situation; and good thing that it was you who explained this so that people don’t think that we are making up stuff; because this has nothing to do with politics. This is a very serious situation.</p>
<p>Police Caller: Very Serious (sobbing continues)</p>
<p>Here is the video of the call of the Puerto Rican cop.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>We already know that the Mayor of San Juan, who has been the lead critic of President Trump’s response, <a href="" type="internal">has not even bothered to meet with FEMA officials to coordinate aid distribution</a>, even though other Mayors have.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | VIRAL VIDEO: Puerto Rico Cop Blames Local Bureaucracy for Aid Problems, Not Trump | true | http://silenceisconsent.net/viral-video-puerto-rico-cop-claims-local-bureaucracy-blocking-american-aid/ | 2018-04-03 | 0 |
<p>A Texas teen who qualified for the Junior Olympics for track has contracted an aggressive brain eating amoeba.</p>
<p>Michael Riley Jr., 14, was getting ready for his first day of high school when doctors confirmed he contracted the amoeba after being in a lake two weeks prior. Riley is a track star and when meeting with his team and coach at Sam Houston State Park on August 13, he spent the day running, working out and swimming in the lake, according to <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/08/25/teen-being-treated-with-experimental-drug-after-contracting-brain-eating-amoeba/" type="external">Fox News</a>.</p>
<p>Within a week, Riley was complaining about a headache and had a slight fever which then turned into severe neck pain and an increasingly more painful headache. When his family had realized he was also becoming visibly disoriented, they took him to Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH). The doctors examined him at that point and recognized the same symptoms they had seen in a previous case weeks prior.</p>
<p>“TCH performed many tests but also ran an uncommon one that would help diagnose that Michael had contracted a brain-eating amoeba called Naegleria fowler, which then causes a rare disease, Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM),” the family posted on their GoFundMe page. The doctors also concluded that he contracted the amoeba from the lake.</p>
<p>Riley was placed in a medically-induced coma in order for experts to treat him with an experimental drug that is provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).</p>
<p>The family posted on Tuesday that there had been increased brain swelling and that doctors are hoping to see more brain activity soon.</p>
<p>To support their son and others at risk, Riley’s family is working hard to raise awareness about the danger of the brain-eating amoeba and spreading knowledge on how to prevent infection. At this time, the CDC is reporting a 95 percent fatality rate for the infection.</p>
<p /> | Olympic-bound teen athlete falls ill from brain-eating amoeba | false | http://natmonitor.com/2015/08/25/olympic-bound-teen-athlete-falls-ill-from-brain-eating-amoeba/ | 2015-08-25 | 3 |
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<p>The wardens in their uniforms looked more like Smokey Bear than Yogi, and the way they handled encounters between bears and people seemed reasonable to me.</p>
<p>When a homeowner kept his pet food on the patio or failed to take in a bird feeder or left the garbage can out on the street overnight and it attracted a bear, the Game and Fish wardens shooed the bear away and shot the homeowner with a tranquilizer dart.</p>
<p>After he passed out, they invited the news media over to look at the man lying there on a tarp with his tongue hanging out and to take pictures of his long, untrimmed toenails. Then they threw him in a cage in the back of a truck and drove him out to Mount Taylor. When he awoke, they released him and he bounded groggily into the forest.</p>
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<p>It would be a long time before that guy was back in Albuquerque terrorizing wildlife and wasting Game and Fish’s time.</p>
<p>I had another dream that the Albuquerque Police Department was run by randy rabbits rockin’ smokin’ bods.</p>
<p>If he could negotiate with Saddam Hussein, maybe former Gov. Bill Richardson, on his horse Sundance in the Pecos Wilderness, could settle the disagreement about roaming horses in Placitas. (AP photo/Courtesy of Gov. Bill Richardson’s Office)</p>
<p>Or maybe I just fell asleep on the couch and woke up when the 10 o’clock news came on.</p>
<p>APD Chief Ray Schultz tried to shed some light on his frisky force – exposed in testimony during the trial at which former officer Levi Chavez was acquitted of murder charges – in an interview with KOB’s Tom Joles.</p>
<p>Before Schultz pointed it out, I had never noticed how completely, irresistibly sexy Albuquerque Police officers are and how practically inevitable it is that they get busy with one another regardless of rank or marital status.</p>
<p>“In law enforcement,” Schultz said, “uh, you’ve got young, good-looking folks that do this job. I mean that’s our target group of employees – 20-, 30-, 40-year-old men and women. We ask them to stay in good shape. There’s nature at play.”</p>
<p>My stars. X-rated dreams at my age.</p>
<p>I had another dream that the governor called together all of the parties concerned about the horses – the ones alternately called “feral” and “wild” – populating Placitas and nearby Indian lands.</p>
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<p>In my dream, she reached across party lines (pinch me, I am dreaming) and put her predecessor, Bill Richardson, in charge of peace talks. Richardson has negotiated with Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro and Kim Jong Il, so he might stand a chance of bringing together the polarized parties in what has become one of the hottest controversies in New Mexico.</p>
<p>I had a dream, a nightmare actually, that candidates for Albuquerque mayor weighed in on exactly which week they thought it was OK for a woman unrelated to them to end an unwanted pregnancy.</p>
<p>The nightmare got worse: Special interest groups, like the one pushing a ban on ending pregnancies after 20 weeks and throwing abortion into the Albuquerque election, started to put more of these initiatives on the ballot. Before long, people were throwing all sorts of emotional issues on local and statewide ballots regardless of whether they made sense or were constitutional.</p>
<p>Can gays marry? Should Albuquerque be gun-free? Or should everyone be required to carry grenades? Should we limit families to two children? Require Christian prayer? Ban hats?</p>
<p>By the time I woke up, the nightmare had run its full course. We were living in California.</p>
<p>UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Leslie at 823-3914 or <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a>. Go to <a href="" type="internal">www.abqjournal.com/letters/new</a> to submit a letter to the editor.</p>
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<p /> | Wayward bears and other VIPs turn tables in writer’s dreams | false | https://abqjournal.com/244020/trouble-sleeping-at-least-a-girl-can-dream.html | 2013-08-08 | 2 |
<p>When it comes to Alex Jones, the <a href="" type="internal">revolting, Sandy Hook-denying</a> founder of InfoWars, nothing he says shocks me anymore. Considering the type of tragedy-exploiting <a href="" type="internal">detestable bastard he is,</a>&#160;and the fact the current “president” thinks he has an “amazing” reputation, I’ve made it a point to fight back against allowing his brand of&#160; <a href="" type="internal">utter insanity</a> to become “normal.” Just because the crazies are <a href="" type="internal">taking over the right-wing media</a> doesn’t mean those of us who aren’t stupid enough to fall for the preposterous lies these scumbags are pushing should sit by and let them destroy this country.</p>
<p>Without a doubt, when it comes to pushing some of the most outrageous conspiracies you’ll find anywhere, the scumbag I often refer to as the “Human Walrus” <a href="" type="internal">fabricates total nonsense</a> a person would have to be legitimately insane to believe.</p>
<p>Such as when Jones said that people have told him, personally, that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are demons who smell like sulfur. Keep in mind, he wasn’t talking figuratively, as in they’re just bad people, Jones meant that Obama and Clinton were literally demons.</p>
<p>If you doubt me, <a href="" type="internal">just take a look</a>.</p>
<p>Well, in proving that there’s not a heartbreaking tragedy Jones won’t exploit to push his special brand of hate that’s made him a millionaire, on Tuesday the Human Walrus pushed the idea that the reason Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner (a Democrat) didn’t evacuate the city was to make Donald Trump look bad.</p>
<p>“Is he just completely negligent, insane, or is Sylvester Turner conscious of what he’s doing and they’re wanting to blame Trump so they want to make the disaster as bad as possible?,” Jones asked.</p>
<p>“Is it complete ineptitude, or is it part of a plan?” he added.</p>
<p>But wait – <a href="" type="internal">what about the “weather weapon” he thought Obama was using</a> on Oklahoma back in 2013? What happened to that “government plan”? Couldn’t that have been utilized by Trump this time around to cause Harvey to be even more destructive?</p>
<p>Apparently Jones isn’t aware that Trump’s spent the better part of the last few days exploiting the storm, and the devastation that’s followed, <a href="" type="internal">to distract Americans</a> from his shameful pardoning of a racist, his ban on transgender Americans serving in the military, and <a href="" type="internal">to try to make himself look good</a> — including bragging about the size of the crowd that gathered to see him upon his visit to Corpus Christi, Texas.</p>
<p>What Jones also failed to mention (because he’s a worthless pile of crap) is that the Houston City Council chose not to order an evacuation over concerns that there might be a repeat this year of what happened in 2005 when <a href="http://www.chron.com/news/hurricanes/article/Exodus-weighs-heavily-in-death-toll-107-1502590.php" type="external">107 people died</a> due to evacuation-related incidents — more than from the actual storm, itself.</p>
<p>It was absolute chaos.</p>
<p>Travel times that were normally only a couple of hours turned into 24-36 hour commutes. People were running out of gas, cars were catching on fire, and several people died of heat exhaustion stuck in the congestion of it all.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>When it came to this storm, it’s likely Houston officials looked at making the “better” of two bad decisions. They ultimately decided that fewer lives would be at risk if they didn’t evacuate the country’s fourth largest city than if they did.</p>
<p>The harsh reality is there really was no “right answer.” It came down to choosing what city leaders felt would minimize the risk to human life, then doing their best to handle the aftermath of one of the worst storms in history the best they could.</p>
<p>Yet leave it to a creature like Alex Jones to take an incredibly hard decision made by Houston’s mayor and turn it into some petty, partisan conspiracy where he put forth the idea that Democrats would put lives at risk — just to make Trump look bad.</p>
<p>To even think that’s possible is absolutely sick.</p>
<p>Alex Jones is a <a href="" type="internal">reprehensible and deplorable parasite</a> who I hesitate to even call “human” and anyone who trusts such a vile parasite should be absolutely ashamed of themselves — but sadly they’re probably not.&#160;</p>
<p>Feel free to <a href="https://www.twitter.com/allen_clifton" type="external">follow me on Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/allencliftonroc" type="external">Facebook</a> to let me know what you think. Also, if you’re able, please consider donating to help with Harvey recovery. You can find a list of several worthwhile organizations <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/8/27/16211642/hurricane-harvey-donations-charities-disaster-relief" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>You could watch Jones’s comments below, but why bother? There’s got to be something more creative, educational or fulfilling you could do with your time rather than listen to him blather on with his insanity.</p>
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<p>0 Facebook comments</p> | Alex Jones Pushes Absolutely Sickening Conspiracy About Hurricane Harvey (Video) | true | https://forwardprogressives.com/alex-jones-pushes-absolutely-sickening-conspiracy-about-hurricane-harvey-video/ | 2017-08-30 | 4 |
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<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>What: Shareholders of the biotech companyTesaro are likely smiling from ear to ear today. Tesaro's stock has more than doubled today, up 111% as of 11:30 a.m. EST on exceptionally high volume, after the company reported strong data from a pivotal phase 3 ovarian cancer trial.</p>
<p>So what:Tesaro reported data from itsphase 3 NOVA trial, which was testing the ability of its lead compound, niraparib, to treat a few different types of recurrent ovarian cancer.</p>
<p>The results were nothing short of fantastic.The study showed thatniraparib significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) in all three of the cohorts that were studied.</p>
<p>Patientswho were identified as carriers of the germline BRCA mutation demonstrated a PFS of21 months, far longer than the 5.5 months for the control group. BRCA mutations affect the risks of certain cancers, including ovarian cancer.</p>
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<p>Patients who were not carriers of the germline BRCA mutation but who tested positively using Myriad Genetics' myChoiceHRD test (indicating they have homologous recombination deficient tumors) also showed impressive gains. This group showed a PFS of 12.9 months, far higher than the 3.8 months in the control group.</p>
<p>Finally, niraparib also showed a statistically significant gain in PFS among patients who were not carriers of the germline BRCA mutation. This cohort included patients with both HRD-positive and HRD-negative tumors. The PFS for these patients was 9.3 months when using niraparib, compared with only 3.9 months for those on placebo.</p>
<p>Mary Lynne Hedley, Tesaro's president and COO, had this to say about the results:</p>
<p>She thenadded that the company will present the data in its entirety at theEuropean Society for Medical Oncology congress in October.</p>
<p>Now what: This news is obviously a big deal for Tesaro, but it's also worth pointing out thatMyriad Genetics is also a big winner from today's announcement. The data showed that the company'smyChoice HRD test was able to identify almost twice as many patients who could benefit from using niraparib, which is a significant clinical benefit compared to currently available tests.</p>
<p>Myriad Genetics and Tesaro have been working with each other since 2014, and this study shows that their products, myChoiceHRD test andniraparib,hold the potential to become standard-of-care treatments for identifying and treating ovarian cancer moving forward.</p>
<p>From here Tesaro plans on submitting niraparib for regulatory approval in the U.S. and the EU during the fourth quarter of this year. Today's data looks so strong that the company's chances of regulatory success look quite favorable. That's especially true when you consider that ovarian cancer is currently the fifth most deadly form of cancer for women in the U.S. Approximately 196,000 women are currently battling this disease, and 22,000 more are diagnosed each year. With a relapse rate of up to 85%, there is a real medical need for a treatment that can help improve survival.</p>
<p>Given that this trial suggests that Tesaro has created a viable solution, it's no wonder shares are skyrocketing today.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/29/shares-of-tesaro-inc-have-more-than-doubled-today.aspx" type="external">Shares of Tesaro, Inc. Have More Than Doubled Today. Here's Why Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFTypeoh/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Brian Feroldi Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned.Like this article? Follow him onTwitter where he goes by the handle <a href="https://twitter.com/LongTermMindset" type="external">@Longtermmindset Opens a New Window.</a>or connect with him on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-feroldi-mba-46370a5" type="external">LinkedIn Opens a New Window.</a> to see more articles like this.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Shares of Tesaro, Inc. Have More Than Doubled Today. Here's Why | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/06/29/shares-tesaro-inc-have-more-than-doubled-today-here-why.html | 2016-06-29 | 0 |
<p>PORTALES, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico authorities say a man who used a front-end loader to try to flip an SUV and led deputies on a chase is hospitalized after being shot by sheriff’s deputies.</p>
<p>State police said in a statement that the confrontation happened in the small city of Portales near Texas.</p>
<p>The statement issued Tuesday said James Wallace McFarlin, 48, was shot Monday by Roosevelt County deputies after refusing to stop the front-end loader and driving it through fences.</p>
<p>McFarlin was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas.</p>
<p>No information was released on a possible motive.</p>
<p>The Eastern New Mexico News <a href="http://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2018/01/17/news/police-identify-man-shot-by-deputies/155767.html" type="external">reports</a> that resident Juan Espinoza said McFarlin was a neighbor and was using the loader to flip his own vehicle and break windows in his own home.</p>
<p>PORTALES, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico authorities say a man who used a front-end loader to try to flip an SUV and led deputies on a chase is hospitalized after being shot by sheriff’s deputies.</p>
<p>State police said in a statement that the confrontation happened in the small city of Portales near Texas.</p>
<p>The statement issued Tuesday said James Wallace McFarlin, 48, was shot Monday by Roosevelt County deputies after refusing to stop the front-end loader and driving it through fences.</p>
<p>McFarlin was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas.</p>
<p>No information was released on a possible motive.</p>
<p>The Eastern New Mexico News <a href="http://www.easternnewmexiconews.com/story/2018/01/17/news/police-identify-man-shot-by-deputies/155767.html" type="external">reports</a> that resident Juan Espinoza said McFarlin was a neighbor and was using the loader to flip his own vehicle and break windows in his own home.</p> | New Mexico man in front-end loader chase shot by deputies | false | https://apnews.com/848e05953dff453fa9e8da3b6b4824da | 2018-01-17 | 2 |
<p>Jan 18 (Reuters) - Capitala Finance Corp:</p>
<p>* CAPITALA GROUP PARTICIPATES IN $29.0 MILLION CREDIT FACILITY</p>
<p>* CAPITALA FINANCE-PARTICIPATED IN $29.0 MILLION CREDIT FACILITY,WITH EQUITY CO-INVESTMENT,TO SUPPORT GROWTH OF A NATIONAL COMMERCIAL REFRIGERATION BUSINESS​ Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services on Saturday recommended investors vote against the re-election of five Equifax Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=EFX.N" type="external">EFX.N</a>) directors who served on the company’s audit and technology committees prior to a 2017 data breach.</p> Credit reporting company Equifax Inc. corporate offices are pictured in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., September 8, 2017. REUTERS/Tami Chappell
<p>The Atlanta-based consumer credit company last fall said hackers had stolen personally identifiable information of U.S., British and Canadian consumers, including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, driver’s license and credit card numbers. Over time, Equifax has increased the number affected to more than 147 million people.</p>
<p>ISS said in a report to shareholders sent to Reuters by a spokesman that the company’s reputation and shareholder value had been damaged by the extent of the breach and the company’s slow response to it, placing a cloud over the company.</p>
<p>In response, it recommended against voting for directors Mark L. Feidler, G. Thomas Hough, John A. McKinley, Elane B. Stock and Mark B. Templeton, who served on the two committees with relevant oversight duties. It recommended votes in support of the remaining five director candidates at the company, including Siri S. Marshall, head of the governance committee.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=EFX.N" type="external">Equifax Inc</a> 116.0 EFX.N New York Stock Exchange -0.91 (-0.78%) EFX.N
<p>An Equifax spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the recommendations.</p>
<p>Equifax has said breach-related costs could reach $439 million through year-end, potentially making it the most costly U.S. hack yet disclosed. The company has lost 19 percent of its market value since the massive cybertheft was disclosed. Its shares traded at $116 on Friday. [L2N1QK1Q1]</p>
<p>The credit reporting company is facing 100s of lawsuits by consumers, financial institutions and even the city of Chicago relating to the cybersecurity breach. The company disputes the claims and has said it intends to defend against them.</p>
<p>ISS also recommended “cautionary support” for the company’s say-on-pay resolution, noting the compensation committee’s decision to not pay annual incentives, steps to adjust incentive metrics and strengthen clawback provisions. However, it said there are ongoing questions about former Chief Executive Richard F. Smith’s pay and “the issue warrants continued monitoring.”</p>
<p>It also recommended a vote in favor of a shareholder resolution seeking a report on political contributions by the company, saying holders would benefit from more disclosure of the company’s political spending, payments to trade groups, its management of related risks.</p>
<p>The company’s annual general meeting is scheduled for May 3.</p>
<p>Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Alistair Bell</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Two multi-billion dollar takeovers of semiconductor makers are being stalled by Chinese regulatory reviews amid rising U.S.-China trade tensions, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.</p> FILE PHOTO: A sign on the Qualcomm campus is seen in San Diego, California, U.S. November 6, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
<p>Qualcomm Inc’s ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=QCOM.O" type="external">QCOM.O</a>) proposed $44 billion purchase of Dutch chip maker NXP Semiconductors NV ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NXPI.O" type="external">NXPI.O</a>) could be at risk due to the delayed review. China is the only country that has not yet signed off on the deal, or on Toshiba Corp’s ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=6502.T" type="external">6502.T</a>) planned $19 billion sale of its chip unit to a Bain Capital consortium, according to the newspaper.</p> Slideshow (2 Images)
<p>Qualcomm’s merger agreement with NXP was extended for a second time in January, giving the two until to April 25, although the parties could decide to extend the deadline.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=QCOM.O" type="external">Qualcomm Inc</a> 55.73 QCOM.O Nasdaq +0.53 (+0.96%) QCOM.O NXPI.O 6502.T
<p>China’s Vice President, Wang Qishan, last month assured Qualcomm Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf that the review would not be affected by politics, the newspaper said.</p>
<p>Qualcomm and Toshiba did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>In a move to force China to lower its $375 billion trade surplus with the U.S., the Trump administration this month unveiled tariffs representing about $50 billion on Chinese technology, transport and medical products, drawing an immediate threat of retaliatory action from Beijing.</p>
<p>At the same time, China pledged to further open the country’s economy and lower import tariffs on certain products, moves it said were unrelated to the trade spat.</p>
<p>Reporting by Gary McWilliams; editing by Diane Craft</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>CARACAS (Reuters) - President Nicolas Maduro has decreed extra powers to his oil czar Manuel Quevedo to try and halt sliding crude output in crisis-hit Venezuela, which has sunk to its lowest level since the 1950s.</p> FILE PHOTO: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro gestures during a TV show with National Constituent Assembly member Diosdado Cabello in Caracas, Venezuela April 11, 2018. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS
<p>Struggling with a deep economic recession, failed socialist policies, debt default, and U.S. financial sanctions, Venezuela’s crude production slipped to 1.586 million barrels per day in February, according to OPEC.</p>
<p>Maduro’s decree, seen by Reuters, gives Quevedo, a major general, powers to “create, annul or modify” deals involving state energy company PDVSA and its subsidiaries. The oil minister is also head of PDVSA.</p>
<p>It was not immediately clear what that might mean for PDVSA’s joint ventures. But Quevedo met late on Friday with some foreign partners including representatives of Total ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TOTF.PA" type="external">TOTF.PA</a>), Statoil ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=STL.OL" type="external">STL.OL</a>), Chevron ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=CVX.N" type="external">CVX.N</a>), Rosneft ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=ROSN.MM" type="external">ROSN.MM</a>) and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC).</p> FILE PHOTO: Venezuela's Oil Minister and President of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA Manuel Quevedo attends the event launching the new Venezuelan cryptocurrency "Petro" in Caracas, Venezuela February 20, 2018. REUTERS/Marco Bello
<p>In a statement, PDVSA said the new measure would enable a reorganization of operations and minimization of bureaucracy.</p>
<p>“We are going to work with PDVSA to implement the measures and increase production,” Rosneft representative Pavel Kamenets was quoted as saying in the PDVSA statement.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TOTF.PA" type="external">Total SA</a> 48.6 TOTF.PA Paris Stock Exchange -0.29 (-0.60%) TOTF.PA STL.OL CVX.N ROSN.MM
<p>The decree creates a “special regime” in the sector until Dec. 31, with the possibility of a year’s extension. “The Oil Minister will be able to ... establish norms and special contract procedures for products, assets and services,” it said.</p>
<p>One clause ordered all specialized personnel, on national or international assignments, to return to original workplaces.</p>
<p>Socialist leader Maduro has promised a vast anti-corruption purge to cleanse the oil industry of “mafias”.</p>
<p>At least 70 executives have been detained in recent months, panicking PDVSA workers, depriving the industry of much of its top brass and stalling decision-making in the company overseeing the world’s biggest crude reserves, insiders have said.</p>
<p>The opposition dismisses the probe as a power struggle within government, noting that the industry has been under tight control of the Socialist Party since early in former president Hugo Chavez’s 14-year rule.</p>
<p>Reporting by Deisy Buitrago; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by David Gregorio</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>(Reuters) - Tesla Inc ( <a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TSLA.O" type="external">TSLA.O</a>) will be profitable in the third and fourth quarters of this year and will not have to raise any money from investors, billionaire Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Friday, driving shares in the electric carmaker higher.</p> FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk, founder, CEO and lead designer at SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla, speaks at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Washington, U.S., July 19, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein
<p>Tesla has already sought this month to play down widespread Wall Street speculation that it would need to return to capital markets this year to raise more funds for the money-losing company as it ramps up production of the Model 3 sedan seen as crucial to its long-term profitability.</p>
<p>The Silicon Valley car maker, which has consistently fallen short of promised production targets and is fighting bad publicity over a fatal crash of a car using its Autopilot system, said 10 days ago it would have positive cash flow from the third quarter.</p>
<p>Musk went further on Friday in a tweeted response to a story in The Economist which cited estimates Tesla would need $2.5 billion to $3 billion this year in additional funding.</p>
<p>“The Economist used to be boring, but smart with a wicked dry wit. Now it’s just boring (sigh). Tesla will be profitable &amp; cash flow+ in Q3 &amp; Q4, so obv no need to raise money,” Musk wrote.</p>
<p>Tesla shares, which have gained nearly 10 percent since disclosing the Model 3 production numbers on April 3, were up 1.8 percent in afternoon trading on Wall Street.</p>
<p>Musk’s claim about profit and cash flow hinges on a rapid rise in production of the Model 3 sedan, Tesla’s latest vehicle to have experienced production delays. That has postponed revenue from reaching Tesla’s bottom line from cars being delivered to customers.</p>
<p>An unprecedented level of robots used in the Model 3’s final assembly, in a break with automotive manufacturing norms, has added complexity and delays, which Musk acknowledged on Friday.</p>
<p>“Excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake,” Musk tweeted. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated.”</p>
<p>Thomson Reuters consensus of analyst estimates predicts Tesla’s free cash flow to be negative well into 2019, thanks in part to heavy investments. Only one of 19 analysts covering the stock see positive adjusted earnings per share in the third quarter, with that number growing to four for the fourth quarter.</p> FILE PHOTO: A Tesla dealership is seen in West Drayton, just outside London, Britain, February 7, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo
<p>Wall Street brokerage Jefferies, which provided the funding estimate cited by The Economist, said in a note last week it expects refinancing risk to remain high for Tesla until it can consistently produce 10,000 Model 3s a week.</p>
<p>The company again missed its own 2,500 target for weekly production at the end of the first quarter, and analysts and fund managers doubt Tesla’s ability to keep production growing to a promised 5,000 Model 3s per week in three months time.</p>
<p>Musk in July said Tesla was going through “manufacturing hell” in ramping up production of the Model 3.</p>
<p>He told “CBS News” in an interview that aired Friday the company “got complacent” and “put too much new technology into the Model 3 all at once.” Part of the interview took place in a Tesla Model 3 Musk was driving with Autopilot activated at times.</p>
<a href="/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=TSLA.O" type="external">Tesla Inc</a> 300.34 TSLA.O Nasdaq +6.26 (+2.13%) TSLA.O
<p>Musk told CBS Tesla is currently producing 2,000 Model 3 cars a week.</p>
<p>Last month, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Tesla’s credit rating to B3 from B2, reflecting “the significant shortfall in the production rate of the company’s Model 3.”</p>
<p>Moody’s added that its negative outlook for Tesla “reflects the likelihood that Tesla will have to undertake a large, near-term capital raise in order to refund maturing obligations and avoid a liquidity shortfall.”</p>
<p>On Thursday, the National Transportation Safety Board said that after a series of public disclosures by Tesla it had taken the unusual step of revoking Tesla’s status as a formal party to its investigation of a March 23 crash in California that killed a driver who was using Autopilot. The NTSB is also investigating two other Tesla crashes.</p>
<p>Tesla lashed out at the NTSB and said it planned to complain to Congress.</p>
<p>Asked by CBS if there was a defect with Autopilot, Musk responded: “The system worked as described, which is that it is a hands-on system. It is not a self-driving system.”</p>
<p>At one point during the interview, Musk did not have his hands on the wheel and the car beeped at him to retake the wheel.</p>
<p>Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru and David Shepardson in Washington; additional reporting by Dan Burns and Alexandria Sage; editing by Phil Berlowitz</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | BRIEF-Capitala Group Participates In $29.0 Million Credit Facility Proxy adviser ISS recommends against five Equifax directors over cyberbreach China slows review of chip company mergers amid trade tensions: WSJ Venezuela empowers oil minister Quevedo to reform energy sector Musk insists Tesla does not need more capital, predicts profit soon | false | https://reuters.com/article/brief-capitala-group-participates-in-290/brief-capitala-group-participates-in-290-million-credit-facility-idUSASB0C1E3 | 2018-01-18 | 2 |
<p>Starmax/Newscom/ZUMA</p>
<p />
<p>Crash-and-burn politics truly make for strange bedfellows. On Tuesday afternoon, as Donald Trump’s campaign was in full civil war with the GOP establishment—which had begun to abandon him after the emergence of a 2005 video showing him bragging about committing sexual assault—the Trump campaign sent out a press release highlighting a <a href="http://buchanan.org/blog/the-donald-lives-125811" type="external">column</a> that praised Trump and his turn to nothing-but-scorched-earth tactics. The column hailed the besieged GOP nominee for aiming his fire at Republican elites: “If he is going down to defeat, he will go out as Trump, not some sniveling penitent begging forgiveness from hypocrites who fear and loathe him.” But it also defiantly declared, “The Donald Lives.”</p>
<p>The point of the press release was to show recipients that Trump was still in the fight and receiving support. But there was a twist the campaign did not acknowledge: Trump once fiercely attacked the author of the column, conservative pundit and onetime GOP presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, as a bigot and a “fan” of Hitler.</p>
<p>In 1999, Trump was pondering a run for president as a Reform Party candidate. So was Buchanan, who had mounted a feisty but unsuccessful populist (from the right) campaign in 1996 for the GOP nomination. That year, Buchanan published a book on World War II that contended that Hitler had not posed a direct threat to the West and that the war had not been necessary. Trump leaped to <a href="" type="internal">criticize</a> his potential rival. At a visit to a museum run by&#160;the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an organization that promotes human rights and studies the Holocaust, he denounced Buchanan, saying, “We must recognize bigotry and prejudice and defeat it wherever it appears.” He noted, “I think Pat Buchanan should come here, absolutely. His views are so far off, and what he wrote in his book was so bad.”</p>
<p>In early 2000, while still considering a White House bid, Trump published a book called The America We Deserve, and in the work he lit into Buchanan:</p>
<p>His startling view that the Western allies should not have stopped Hitler is repugnant. When he said that, he totally lost it…To say that Hitler had no “malignant intentions” toward the United States is beyond belief. (Twenty years ago, Buchanan was less cautious. He called Hitler “an individual of great courage, a soldier’s soldier…a leader steeped in the history of Europe,” and talked about his extraordinary gifts.)…Buchanan denigrates the memory of those Americans who, in the Second World War, gave their lives in the effort to stop Hitler.</p>
<p>In another passage, Trump asserted that Buchanan had praised Hitler and called Buchanan “a fan” of the Nazi leader. He added:</p>
<p>[Buchanan] has a long history of defending Nazi war criminals and actually argued that the death camps at Treblinka couldn’t have executed anyone because the poison gas used was not toxic enough to kill. Buchanan’s theory seems to be that Jews took over American foreign policy after the war and lied to us about everything, that Jewish global interests were paramount in American governmental thinking, and they even outweighed United States security interests.</p>
<p>Trump pointed out that conservative icon William F. Buckley had concluded that it was “impossible to defend Pat Buchanan against the charge that what he did and said…amounted to anti-Semitism.”</p>
<p>Trump expanded his critique of Buchanan beyond Hitler, Jews, and World War II. He wrote, “I always enjoyed watching Pat Buchanan on TV…I knew his political position was far to the right, but until he published his public embrace of Adolph Hitler, I didn’t realize how dangerous his view are on a broad range of subjects.” He observed that Buchanan “has been guilty of many egregious examples of intolerance. He has systematically bashed Blacks, Mexicans, and Gays. In 1983, saying that homosexuals had ‘declared war on nature,’ he said that AIDS is nature’s awful retribution.” Trump&#160; assailed Buchanan for once saying that women did not possess the “single-minded ambition and the will to succeed in the fiercely competitive world of Western capitalism.” He criticized Buchanan for supporting apartheid in South Africa.</p>
<p>Some of Trump’s criticisms now seem similar to the charges he has faced during the current presidential campaign. And he didn’t hold back when decrying Buchanan, declaring that “Buchanan is close to the lunatic fringe” and that his “extremist views have to be challenged by someone.” Trump added, “Simply put, Pat Buchanan has written too many inflammatory, outrageous, and controversial things to ever be elected president.”</p>
<p>This was a mighty attack: Buchanan, according to Trump, was a Hitler-loving, anti-Semitic, homophobic, misogynistic, racist right-wing extremist.</p>
<p>That was then—and Buchanan hasn’t held a grudge. In the past year, he has been a passionate cheerleader for Trump, insisting (proudly) that Trump <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/06/01/pat-buchanan-donald-trump-is-running-as-me.html" type="external">stole</a> his playbook and <a href="http://buchanan.org/blog/124610-124610" type="external">proclaiming</a> him the future of the GOP. And now the Trump campaign is citing Buchanan as a Trump supporter and defender. The Hitler “fan” and bigot of 16 years ago has become a Trump fan—and that’s all Trump’s crew needs to know to embrace him.</p>
<p /> | Trump’s Campaign Enlists Commentator He Once Slammed as a Bigot and Hitler “Fan” | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/donald-trump-pat-buchanan-hitler/ | 2016-10-11 | 4 |
<p>Late yesterday Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis was ordered to issue marriage licenses to all qualified couples. Yet this morning her office turned away two gay couples. Via the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-clerk-denies-gay-couple-marriage-license-33058291" type="external">Associated Press</a>:</p>
<p>A Kentucky clerk’s office has turned away two gay couples seeking marriage licenses, defying a federal judge’s order that dismissed her argument involving religious freedom. Hours after the judge’s order to issue licenses to same-sex couples, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis’ office still turned away the two couples, one after the other, on Thursday morning. Davis has argued that her Christian beliefs prevent her from issuing licenses to same-sex couples. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled gay marriage bans unconstitutional, Davis stopped issuing licenses to any couple, gay or straight. Five couples sued her, and U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning on Wednesday ordered her to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling. On the street Thursday, gay-rights activists held signs reading “clerk not clergy” and “obey the law.”</p>
<p>Deputy county clerk Nathan Davis says that the Liberty Counsel has told them to defy the court while awaiting the appeal of yesterday’s ruling.</p>
<p>UPDATE: Oh, get <a href="http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/Defying-order-clerk-wont-give-gay-couple-marriage-license-321741082.html" type="external">THIS</a>.</p>
<p>On Thursday, deputy clerk Nathan Davis, Kim Davis’ son, said the office was advised by attorneys with the Christian law firm Liberty Counsel to continue refusing same-sex couples as it appeals the order that was filed Wednesday. They told David Moore and his partner David Ermold, who showed up as soon as the doors opened, that they were not issuing marriage licenses. Davis’ attorneys at Liberty Counsel were not available for comment Thursday. They told WKYT they were in a prayer meeting. After being turned away by the clerk’s office, the couple went to the county judge executive’s office to see whether he would issue a marriage license. Moore and Ermold say he told them he didn’t have the required paperwork and that the issue would have to be settled by the courts. When they were turned away this morning Moore and Ermold got emotional. This is not the first time Moore and Ermold, his partner of 17 years, have been denied a marriage license by the Rowan County Clerk’s Office. Last Month, the couple tried to get a marriage license, but Kim Davis refused to issue it. They videotaped the experience, posted it on YouTube and it eventually went viral. “These people are cruel and this is wrong. And that’s how it is,” Ermold said. “That’s the bottom line. She’s wrong and these people are cruel to do this to us and that’s how I feel.”</p>
<p>UPDATE II: Davis has <a href="http://files.eqcf.org/cases/015-cv-00044-45/" type="external">filed a motion</a> for a stay on yesterday’s ordering pending the resolution of her appeal to a higher court.</p> | KENTUCKY: Office Of County Clerk Kim Davis Defies Court, Turns Away Two Gay Couples Seeking Marriage Licenses | true | http://joemygod.com/2015/08/13/kentucky-office-of-county-clerk-kim-davis-defies-court-turns-away-two-gay-couples-seeking-marriage-licenses/ | 2015-08-13 | 4 |
<p>The Iran nuke Framework deal is bad for anyone other than Iran.</p>
<p>Iran achieved its <a href="" type="internal">two key negotiating objectives</a>: Keep its nuclear infrastructure in place and get sanctions relief.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-iran-deal-falls-well-short-of-his-own-goals/2015/04/02/7974413c-d95c-11e4-b3f2-607bd612aeac_story.html?postshare=3081428027029597" type="external">The Washington Post</a> editorial board points out, these parameters are contrary to the bottom line Obama spelled out at the start of the negotiations:</p>
<p>THE “KEY parameters” for an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program released Thursday fall well short of the goals originally set by the Obama administration. None of Iran’s nuclear facilities — including the Fordow center buried under a mountain — will be closed. Not one of the country’s 19,000 centrifuges will be dismantled. Tehran’s existing stockpile of enriched uranium will be “reduced” but not necessarily shipped out of the country. In effect, Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will remain intact, though some of it will be mothballed for 10 years. When the accord lapses, the Islamic republic will instantly become a threshold nuclear state.</p>
<p>That’s a long way from the standard set by President Obama in 2012 when he declared that “the deal we’ll accept” with Iran “is that they end their nuclear program” and “abide by the U.N. resolutions that have been in place.” Those resolutions call for Iran to suspend the enrichment of uranium. Instead, under the agreement announced Thursday, enrichment will continue with 5,000 centrifuges for a decade, and all restraints on it will end in 15 years.</p>
<p>How did Iran do it?</p>
<p>By setting its own negotiating red line and refusing to budge.</p>
<p>I’ve seen that negotiating tactic hundreds of time — it’s effective only when the opposing party is not willing to walk away from the negotiation.</p>
<p>That’s us.</p>
<p>Obama so desperately wanted a deal that he was not willing to walk away. The Iranians didn’t need to walk away, they just needed to dig in behind their red line and wait.</p>
<p>So Obama capitulated on the key insistance of Iran keeping it’s nuclear program intact, and then negotiated over the rest. Obama admitted as much in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVIxURU9kbA" type="external">his speech</a> after the Framework was announced:</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>So desperate was Obama for a deal, he agreed to keep the Fordo nuclear site open and operating in violation of prior demands, as the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/04/world/middleeast/an-iran-nuclear-deal-built-on-coffee-all-nighters-and-compromise.html?_r=0" type="external">NY Times reports</a>:</p>
<p>It was just one of hundreds of arguments between American and Iranian officials as they tried to hash out what may prove to be one of the hardest-to-negotiate arms control agreements in history. But it spoke volumes about how two countries that so deeply distrust each other managed to strike a tentative deal.</p>
<p>After President Obama revealed the existence of a secret, deep-underground enrichment operation near the sacred city of Qum in late 2009, the White House demanded that it be dismantled and closed. In defiance, the Iranians stuffed the facility, called Fordo, with 3,000 centrifuges — a huge issue for American and Israeli military planners because it is impervious to all but the largest bunker-buster bombs.</p>
<p>Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also decreed that no nuclear facilities would be closed. So when negotiations turned to Fordo’s fate, the Iranians insisted that the centrifuges had to stay and the Americans said they all had to come out.</p>
<p>The compromise — one of the most painful, an American official acknowledged on Thursday night — was that 1,000 centrifuges would remain. But they are to have no fissile material, the makings of a nuclear weapon.</p>
<p>Instead, they will spin another element, for medical isotopes. Still, the official acknowledged the optics were bad: “Having even one centrifuge in Fordo is hard.”</p>
<p>This sentence from The Times article sums it all up:</p>
<p>The Iranians knew the [March 31] deadline meant a lot to Mr. Kerry — who needed to show progress to Congress — but it meant nothing to them.</p>
<p>Incompetent? Absolutely.</p>
<p>Incompetent on purpose (aka part of the plan)? Yeah, I could be convinced of that.</p> | Obama: Iran wouldn’t budge on keeping nuke program (so we capitulated) | true | http://legalinsurrection.com/2015/04/obama-iran-wouldnt-budge-on-keeping-nuke-program-so-we-capitulated/ | 2015-04-04 | 0 |
<p>The sight of Bill Clinton back on the White House podium defending tax cuts for the super-rich was more a sick joke than a serious amplification of economic policy. How desperate is the current president that he would turn to the great triangulator, who opened the floodgates to banking greed, for validation of the sorry opportunistic hodgepodge that passes for this administration’s economic policy? A policy designed and implemented by the same Clinton-era holdovers whose radical deregulation of the financial industry created this mess in the first place.</p>
<p>As a candidate running against Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama quite accurately excoriated the economic policies of the Clinton years when the Democratic president united with congressional Republicans, led by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm, to obliterate sensible regulations of the New Deal. The result, as candidate Obama noted in March 2008, has been chaos:</p>
<p>“Unfortunately, instead of establishing a 21st century regulatory framework, we simply dismantled the old one—aided by a legal but corrupt bargain in which campaign money all too often shaped policy and watered down oversight. In doing so, we encouraged a winner-take-all, anything-goes environment that helped foster devastating dislocations in our economy.”</p>
<p>These dislocations were authorized when Clinton signed off on the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which reversed the Glass-Steagall Act’s separation between the high rollers of investment banking and the properly conservative, insured and regulated activities of commercial banks entrusted with the life savings of ordinary folks. With a stroke of a pen that he then presented as a gift to Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill, Clinton opened the door to the too-big-to-fail monstrosities that have caused so much misery.</p>
<p />
<p>Back in 1999, even though he had been warned of the coming financial instability, foreshadowed by the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management, Clinton was giddy in signing the bill: “Over the past seven years we have tried to modernize the economy,” he enthused. “And today what we are doing is modernizing the financial services industry, tearing down those antiquated laws and granting banks significant new authority.”</p>
<p>A year later Clinton signed off on the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, advanced most fiercely by his treasury secretary, Lawrence Summers, who has been the dominant personality setting economic policy for Obama. Titles 3 and 4 of that act summarily exempted from the surveillance of any existing regulatory agency or laws all of the newfangled financial gimmicks — the collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps — that have proved so toxic to the jobs and homes of tens of millions of Americans.</p>
<p>In his rambling and somewhat incoherent comments on the economy at the White House last week, Clinton attempted to explain away the failure of the banks to use the money that the government has made available to them to shore up housing and create jobs. As an aside, in commenting on community banks, Clinton touched on the mortgage security mess that his law enabled, but he still doesn’t seem to get his connection with the problem: “ … some of them may have a few mortgage issues unresolved, most of that mortgage debt has been offloaded to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or has vanished into cyber-sphere with those securitized subprime mortgages. I don’t like the securities, but they happened.”</p>
<p>What gibberish. The mortgage-backed securities didn’t just happen. Clinton signed legislation freeing those securities from any effective government regulation. Most Americans’ homes, which represented their dreams and savings, were turned into gambling chips in the Wall Street casino on a scale unknown and indeed unthinkable before the Clinton presidency. What has vanished is the equity of homeowners. As for the offloading to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that represents at least a $700 billion burden on taxpayers who have had to bail out those government-sponsored agencies that became totally corrupt on Clinton’s watch.</p>
<p>The bottom line on the Clinton legacy is that the census now finds an all-time high of 44 million Americans living under the poverty line, bringing us back, as a percentage of the population, to Bill Clinton’s first two years in office. One big difference is that thanks to Clinton’s so-called welfare reform program, there is no longer a significant federal anti-poverty program, and the plight of the poor is now a problem for the state governments, which also have been impoverished thanks to the bursting of the Clinton bubble.</p>
<p>As a candidate, Obama laid responsibility for the meltdown on the bipartisan deregulation of the Clinton years: “This loss has not happened by accident. It’s because of decisions made in boardrooms, on trading floors, and in Washington. Under Republican and Democratic administrations, we failed to guard against practices that all too often rewarded financial manipulation instead of productivity and sound business practices. We let the special interest put their thumbs on the economic scales.”</p>
<p>That’s the path Clinton followed after his party’s electoral reversal after he had been in office two years, a fact that made it all that more ominous to witness the great triangulator back on a White House podium.</p>
<p />
<p>Keep up with Robert Scheer’s latest columns, interviews, tour dates and more at <a href="" type="internal">www.truthdig.com/robert_scheer</a>.</p> | Return of the Great Triangulator | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/return-of-the-great-triangulator/ | 2010-12-15 | 4 |
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<p>President David Boren said he was sickened and couldn’t eat or sleep after learning about the video Sunday afternoon. The video, which was posted online, shows several people on a bus participating in a chant that included a racial slur, referenced lynching and indicated black students would never be admitted to OU’s chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.</p>
<p>The Oklahoma football team decided to protest rather than practice on Monday. At the team’s indoor practice facility, coach Bob Stoops led the way as players, joined by athletic director Joe Castiglione, walked arm-in-arm, wearing black. Meanwhile, a top high school recruit withdrew his commitment to the university after seeing the video.</p>
<p>Boren attended a pre-dawn rally organized by students and lambasted the fraternity members as “disgraceful” and called their behavior “reprehensible.” He said the university was looking into a range of punishment, including expulsion.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“This is not who we are,” Boren said at a midday news conference. “I’d be glad if they left. I might even pay the bus fare for them.”</p>
<p>Facility workers removed the letters from the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., on Monday. (Nick Oxford/The Associated Press)</p>
<p>National leaders of Sigma Alpha Epsilon said late Sunday that its investigation confirmed members took part in the chant and announced it would close the local chapter. The national group said it was “embarrassed” by the “unacceptable and racist” behavior.</p>
<p>White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the efforts by the university and the national fraternity to repudiate the racist comments were “an appropriate step.”</p>
<p>Boren said fraternity members have until midnight Tuesday to remove their belongings from the fraternity house. He said the fraternity was “not totally forthcoming,” and he was still trying to find out who was on the bus so the school could consider disciplinary actions.</p>
<p>He said the university’s legal staff was exploring whether the students who initiated and encouraged the chant may have violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination.</p>
<p>“We are also going to look at any individual perpetrators, particularly those that we think took a lead in this kind of activity,” Boren said.</p>
<p>It’s unclear who recorded the video, when it was recorded and who initially posted it online. Boren suggested it was likely taken by another student who didn’t agree with what was being chanted.</p>
<p>OU Unheard, a black student group on campus, posted a link to the video after someone anonymously called it to the group’s attention Sunday afternoon, communications director Alexis Hall said Monday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We immediately needed to share that with the OU student body,” said Hall, a junior. “For students to say they’re going to lynch an entire group of people. … It’s disgusting.”</p>
<p>The video appears to have been taken on a charter bus, with at least one of the chanting young men wearing a tuxedo.</p>
<p>Telephone and email messages left Monday with several members of the fraternity seeking comment on the video were not returned. Other members declined to comment.</p>
<p>“I was shocked they were just doing it openly on the bus, like they were proud of it,” said Jared Scarborough, a junior in construction science. “From the chant you could tell they had done it before. It wasn’t a first-time thing. And it was everybody. And the fist-pumping.”</p>
<p>North Mesquite High School football star Jean Delance, a top offensive lineman prospect, told KTVT television and KRLD-AM in Dallas-Fort Worth that he would not attend Oklahoma. He said he spoke Sunday night with coach Bob Stoops, but wasn’t told about the incident.</p>
<p>“I’m very disappointed in the coaches not letting me know. ‘Hey, Jean, this is going on. Be aware. I don’t want you to be shocked tomorrow when you wake up,'” Delance told KRLD. “But that was just heart-breaking right there.”</p>
<p>A university police cruiser was parked Monday outside the fraternity house, a sprawling two-story, sand-colored brick building on a street lined with Greek houses just west of the center of campus. The Greek letters were removed from the side of the house Monday afternoon.</p>
<p>The University of Oklahoma, located in the southern Oklahoma City suburb of Norman, has about 27,000 students, about 5 percent of whom are black. The Greek system is largely segregated.</p>
<p>Boren said fraternity members had “violated all that we stand for.”</p>
<p>“Effective immediately, all ties and affiliations between this University and the local SAE chapter are hereby severed,” he said in a statement.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Allen Reed contributed to this report from Little Rock, Arkansas.</p> | Univ. of Oklahoma severs ties with frat after racist chant | false | https://abqjournal.com/552219/univ-of-oklahoma-president-frat-members-disgraceful.html | 2 |
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<p>CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Gary Andersen said his decision to leave Wisconsin after just two seasons for the job at Oregon State came down to fit.</p>
<p>"There's no doubt that this is where I'm supposed to be," Andersen said as he was introduced as the new head coach of the Beavers on Friday.</p>
<p>Andersen replaces Mike Riley, who surprisingly left Oregon State for Nebraska last week. It was equally surprising when Andersen told his team on Wednesday that he was leaving Wisconsin.</p>
<p>The Badgers have gone 10-3 this season and are headed to the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 against Auburn. Wisconsin athletic director and former coach Barry Alvarez will lead the Badgers in their bowl game.</p>
<p>Alvarez has said he was taken aback by Andersen's decision. He said Andersen left for personal reasons, but also said Andersen had some issues with Wisconsin's admission standards and felt like it made recruiting more difficult.</p>
<p>"Barry Alvarez is a hall of fame coach and a hall of fame AD," Andersen said in response. "There's no ill feelings, there's no issues for me. I simply saw an opportunity at Oregon State."</p>
<p>Riley left the Pac-12's Beavers to accept the Nebraska job after the dismissal of Bo Pelini. Oregon State finished this season 5-7 and out of the postseason picture.</p>
<p>Riley was known for his pro-style offense, most recently utilizing the talents of prolific senior quarterback Sean Mannion. He also had a track record of producing successful NFL players.</p>
<p>Andersen, known as a hard-nosed coach, will shake things up, saying he'll introduce a "wide open offense that will play at pace" and stretch the field.</p>
<p>"It's a great move for my family for a lot of reasons. It gets us in a position where we're very comfortable. It goes back to fit," Andersen said. "I was at a great institution. I had an opportunity to coach some unbelievable young men the last two years, and the last four years prior to that. But I know, as I've gone through this for many years, that when you sit back and see from afar a program — the coaching world is not as big as you'd think it is — this was always a place where I thought, 'This fits us.'"</p>
<p>Players were already going home for the holiday break, so Andersen won't be able to meet with the entire team until the new year. But a few were still around for Andersen's introductory news conference, which featured members of the marching band and curious boosters.</p>
<p>Redshirt freshman receiver Jordan Villamin said any coach who wins 10 games in a season is doing something right.</p>
<p>"I'm a little sad because Riley left. But I'm not going to leave here," he said. "Football is football. New stuff is going in. It will be interesting to see what happens."</p>
<p>Andersen was 19-7 in his two seasons as Wisconsin's coach. He came to the Badgers from Utah State, where he spent four seasons. He also had a short stint as head coach at Southern Utah in 2003 before becoming an assistant at Utah. He's 49-38 overall as a head coach.</p>
<p>The Badgers had an up-and-down season, losing two of their first five games but recovering to win seven straight. But the season ended with a thud when the team was blown out by Ohio State 59-0 in the Big Ten championship game.</p>
<p>A highlight was the record-breaking performance of Melvin Gordon, who is one of the three finalists for the Heisman Trophy. Gordon leads the nation with 2,336 yards rushing and 179.7 yards per game.</p>
<p>Beavers athletic director Bob De Carolis said he had always held Andersen in high regard, and his name was one of the first that came to mind when Riley left. De Carolis reached out to Andersen's agent, and the two sides met. Both were sold.</p>
<p>"He is a great fit," De Carolis said. "A quality person, and he fits our values."</p>
<p>Andersen did raise some eyebrows when he said he needed to "get his ducks in a row." The reference to "ducks" never sits well with the Beavers because of that rival school to the south.</p>
<p>"What did I say?" he asked, then laughed: "Go Beavs!"</p>
<p>Riley was credited with turning around an Oregon State team that had 26 straight losing seasons when he first became head coach in 1997. He left for the San Diego Chargers in 1999, and Dennis Erickson coached the Beavers for four seasons from 1999-2002. Riley returned to Oregon State in 2003.</p>
<p>Riley took the Beavers to eight bowl appearances, compiling a 6-2 record.</p>
<p>CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Gary Andersen said his decision to leave Wisconsin after just two seasons for the job at Oregon State came down to fit.</p>
<p>"There's no doubt that this is where I'm supposed to be," Andersen said as he was introduced as the new head coach of the Beavers on Friday.</p>
<p>Andersen replaces Mike Riley, who surprisingly left Oregon State for Nebraska last week. It was equally surprising when Andersen told his team on Wednesday that he was leaving Wisconsin.</p>
<p>The Badgers have gone 10-3 this season and are headed to the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 against Auburn. Wisconsin athletic director and former coach Barry Alvarez will lead the Badgers in their bowl game.</p>
<p>Alvarez has said he was taken aback by Andersen's decision. He said Andersen left for personal reasons, but also said Andersen had some issues with Wisconsin's admission standards and felt like it made recruiting more difficult.</p>
<p>"Barry Alvarez is a hall of fame coach and a hall of fame AD," Andersen said in response. "There's no ill feelings, there's no issues for me. I simply saw an opportunity at Oregon State."</p>
<p>Riley left the Pac-12's Beavers to accept the Nebraska job after the dismissal of Bo Pelini. Oregon State finished this season 5-7 and out of the postseason picture.</p>
<p>Riley was known for his pro-style offense, most recently utilizing the talents of prolific senior quarterback Sean Mannion. He also had a track record of producing successful NFL players.</p>
<p>Andersen, known as a hard-nosed coach, will shake things up, saying he'll introduce a "wide open offense that will play at pace" and stretch the field.</p>
<p>"It's a great move for my family for a lot of reasons. It gets us in a position where we're very comfortable. It goes back to fit," Andersen said. "I was at a great institution. I had an opportunity to coach some unbelievable young men the last two years, and the last four years prior to that. But I know, as I've gone through this for many years, that when you sit back and see from afar a program — the coaching world is not as big as you'd think it is — this was always a place where I thought, 'This fits us.'"</p>
<p>Players were already going home for the holiday break, so Andersen won't be able to meet with the entire team until the new year. But a few were still around for Andersen's introductory news conference, which featured members of the marching band and curious boosters.</p>
<p>Redshirt freshman receiver Jordan Villamin said any coach who wins 10 games in a season is doing something right.</p>
<p>"I'm a little sad because Riley left. But I'm not going to leave here," he said. "Football is football. New stuff is going in. It will be interesting to see what happens."</p>
<p>Andersen was 19-7 in his two seasons as Wisconsin's coach. He came to the Badgers from Utah State, where he spent four seasons. He also had a short stint as head coach at Southern Utah in 2003 before becoming an assistant at Utah. He's 49-38 overall as a head coach.</p>
<p>The Badgers had an up-and-down season, losing two of their first five games but recovering to win seven straight. But the season ended with a thud when the team was blown out by Ohio State 59-0 in the Big Ten championship game.</p>
<p>A highlight was the record-breaking performance of Melvin Gordon, who is one of the three finalists for the Heisman Trophy. Gordon leads the nation with 2,336 yards rushing and 179.7 yards per game.</p>
<p>Beavers athletic director Bob De Carolis said he had always held Andersen in high regard, and his name was one of the first that came to mind when Riley left. De Carolis reached out to Andersen's agent, and the two sides met. Both were sold.</p>
<p>"He is a great fit," De Carolis said. "A quality person, and he fits our values."</p>
<p>Andersen did raise some eyebrows when he said he needed to "get his ducks in a row." The reference to "ducks" never sits well with the Beavers because of that rival school to the south.</p>
<p>"What did I say?" he asked, then laughed: "Go Beavs!"</p>
<p>Riley was credited with turning around an Oregon State team that had 26 straight losing seasons when he first became head coach in 1997. He left for the San Diego Chargers in 1999, and Dennis Erickson coached the Beavers for four seasons from 1999-2002. Riley returned to Oregon State in 2003.</p>
<p>Riley took the Beavers to eight bowl appearances, compiling a 6-2 record.</p> | Andersen introduced as Oregon State's head coach | false | https://apnews.com/amp/817bf88b651e4d408a1075eb501aace5 | 2014-12-13 | 2 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>The U.S. economy added 113,000 jobs in January. This was a tiny improvement over December’s numbers, but the figures are already being touted by pundits as proof of an “economic recovery.” In spite of the claims, these figures fell well below forecasters’ predictions of 185,000 new jobs.</p>
<p>The Labor Participation Rate, which is used as a&#160;gauge of the percentage of working-age Americans currently employed,&#160;was 63%, up from December’s 62.8% in December. While that might sound like an improvement, these are amongst the lowest rates in four decades.</p>
<p>Statistics from the Labor Department said most job growth in January was in construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade and mining. But many of these jobs are hiring for part-time hours.</p>
<p>While the number of long-term unemployed – those who’ve been out of work for 27 weeks or more – has declined by 232,000 to 3.6 million, those obtaining jobs are more often than not finding low-paying jobs. In fact&#160;75% of jobs created so far in this “recovery” have been low-wage jobs.</p>
<p>If you live in the United States, <a href="" type="internal">there is a good chance that you are now living in poverty or near poverty</a>, in spite of the declining unemployment figures. Nearly 50 million Americans, (49.7 Million), are living below the poverty line, with&#160; <a href="" type="internal">80% of the entire U.S. population living near poverty or below it</a>.</p>
<p>That near poverty statistic is perhaps more startling than the 50 million Americans below the poverty line, because it translates to a full 80% of the population struggling with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on government assistance to help make ends meet.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, we’re told of some “Economic Recovery” that many Americans just aren’t seeing in their day-to-day lives.</p>
<p>(Article by James Achisa; image via International Business Times)</p> | U.S. Unemployment Is Down To 6.6%, But 50 Million Are Poor, and 80% of America Near Poverty | true | http://politicalblindspot.com/u-s-unemployment-is-down-to-6-6-but-50-million-are-poor-and-80-of-america-near-poverty/ | 2014-02-09 | 4 |
<p>BERLIN (AP) — The head of Germany’s elite paramilitary unit says it will be increased by a third and will open a second base due to increased terror threats.</p>
<p>Jerome Fuchs told rbb Inforadio Monday that in addition to the GSG-9′s base near Bonn in western Germany they will add another base, likely in Berlin, “because if you look at comparable terror situations across Europe, often the capitals were affected.”</p>
<p>The secretive GSG-9 unit was created in response to German security services’ failure to prevent the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.</p>
<p>It gained international fame with the storming of the Lufthansa jet ‘Landshut’ in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1977 without any loss of life among the 86 hostages or commandos.</p>
<p>The actual number of the unit’s members is not public but is estimated currently at 400.</p>
<p>BERLIN (AP) — The head of Germany’s elite paramilitary unit says it will be increased by a third and will open a second base due to increased terror threats.</p>
<p>Jerome Fuchs told rbb Inforadio Monday that in addition to the GSG-9′s base near Bonn in western Germany they will add another base, likely in Berlin, “because if you look at comparable terror situations across Europe, often the capitals were affected.”</p>
<p>The secretive GSG-9 unit was created in response to German security services’ failure to prevent the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.</p>
<p>It gained international fame with the storming of the Lufthansa jet ‘Landshut’ in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1977 without any loss of life among the 86 hostages or commandos.</p>
<p>The actual number of the unit’s members is not public but is estimated currently at 400.</p> | Germany’s elite unit to grow by a third due to terror fears | false | https://apnews.com/ee78313b211142a5bd3015f62793c85c | 2018-01-15 | 2 |
<p>I have not sworn like this since Bush, the Most Recent, stole the election.</p>
<p>This year’s Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer, is Sept. 7. I never thought I would say this, but if I had school-age children I would have said it mid-July – I am so ready to have this summer of 2015 end.</p>
<p>Of course the end of June was a joyous victory for federal marriage equality, and we partied like we were the Secret Service. But our joy that day was tempered by the violence in Charleston, S.C.</p>
<p>Summer has been endless.</p>
<p>July was a brutal, steamy march in the ongoing war on women. ISIS, divinely inspired by its own “theology of rape,” continued enslaving and raping women. A high school senior, and would-be divinity student, was tried for allegedly raping a freshman girl to boost his scores in the school’s so-called ‘Senior Salute.’ Anti-choice terrorists started another video assault in the unrelenting campaign to shut down Planned Parenthood. Bill Cosby.</p>
<p>August was spent binge-watching the Armageddon. The cliffhanger in each week’s episode was, “Is this the week The Donald will finally blow up and go away?”</p>
<p>One week, Trump insults immigrants in language profane and inhumane.&#160; That ought to do it! No. His crowds love him. Almost as much as he loves himself. And he wants a wall at the border.</p>
<p>Next week, he insults the heroism of John McCain and veterans. Oh no he didn’t! He’s toast! No. The crowds grow larger. As does his red hat.</p>
<p>Then a woman, a fair and balanced Fox debate moderator, calls him out for calling women pigs and fat slobs. He replies by insulting women who bleed from he’s not sure where. She’s fired! Or sent on an unplanned two-week vacation. Trump is pig-slob triumphant.</p>
<p>Trump has made himself the anger translator for the downtrodden whom he trod down. And he has made the rabid Republican Teahaddist also-rans look like moderate choirboys and choirgirl.</p>
<p>He has made me start swearing like a sailor again. And I mean no insult to sailors, especially any women trying to become Navy Seals.</p>
<p>I have not sworn like this since Bush, the Most Recent, stole the election.&#160; Or since he invaded Iraq and started the cascading Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS shit-storm, which should have put him in fucking jail by now.</p>
<p>See what I mean?&#160; If I’m swearing like this in print, you can imagine what hashtag hell it’s like in person.</p>
<p>Both my dear partner and I are trying to ramp down the language. But it is hard to give up the word ‘fuck.’ That one-syllable word with the opening fricative F sound, the middle ‘uhn’ sound and the voiceless plosive K sound at the end is so satisfying. Fucking is so satisfying. We don’t want to be pills against women’s sexual arousal.</p>
<p>Most of August we have tried alternatives. There are none. No single syllable words anyway. And certainly not the ‘effing’ or ‘fecking’ variants.</p>
<p>We are trying to use our words. Instead of saying ‘fuck’ we have been substituting ‘white privilege.’ When Trump does something outrageous, every day, instead of a neck-vein popping, “What the fuck?” we say, “What the white privilege?”</p>
<p>During September, instead of saying ‘shit,’ we are going to practice substituting ‘class struggle.’ Instead of “Shit happens,” we’ll say, “Class struggle happens.”</p>
<p>Fall can’t happen soon enough.</p>
<p />
<p>Kate Clinton is a longtime humorist.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">al-Qaeda</a> <a href="" type="internal">Bill Cosby</a> <a href="" type="internal">Charleston</a> <a href="" type="internal">Donald Trump</a> <a href="" type="internal">Fox News</a> <a href="" type="internal">gay marriage</a> <a href="" type="internal">George W. Bush</a> <a href="" type="internal">Iraq</a> <a href="" type="internal">ISIS</a> <a href="" type="internal">Islamic State</a> <a href="" type="internal">John McCain</a> <a href="" type="internal">marriage equality</a> <a href="" type="internal">Obergefell v. Hodges</a> <a href="" type="internal">Planned Parenthood</a> <a href="" type="internal">same-sex marriage</a> <a href="" type="internal">South Carolina</a> <a href="" type="internal">United States Supreme Court</a></p> | Ready for this effing summer to end | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2015/08/28/ready-for-this-effing-summer-to-end/ | 3 |
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<p>Acknowledging a mistake, U.S. forces have <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/29/AR2007082900333.html?hpid=topnews" type="external">released</a> eight Iranians, including two diplomats, seized at the Baghdad Sheraton Ishtar hotel yesterday. The Iranians from the Ministry of Electricity had been working at the invitation of the Iraqi authorities.</p>
<p>“Iraqi Foreign Minister Hosyhar Zebari told the British Broadcasting Corp. the Iranians were released after Iraqi officials intervened and told the Americans they were part of an official delegation on a legal visit to discuss electricity cooperation,” the AP reports.</p>
<p>The seizure came hours after President Bush delivered a speech to the American Legion convention in Reno, Nevada in which he had threatened to confront Iranian operatives in Iraq.</p>
<p>“I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran’s murderous activities,” Bush was cited. “The Iranian regime must halt these actions.”</p>
<p>An Iraqi advisor to U.S. Iraq commander General David Petraeus, Saadi Othman, insisted there was no connection between the two events. “Othman … told British Broadcasting Corp. television that the detentions were ‘regrettable’ and had ‘nothing to do’ with President Bush’s remarks on Tuesday,” the AP reports.</p>
<p /> | Never Mind. U.S. Forces Release 8 Iranians Seized in Baghdad | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2007/08/never-mind-us-forces-release-8-iranians-seized-baghdad/ | 2007-08-29 | 4 |
<p />
<p>U.S. single-family home price increases accelerated at a faster pace than expected in November and rising mortgage rates coupled with potential economic growth could push them higher, a survey showed on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The S&amp;P CoreLogic Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas rose 5.3 percent in November on a year-over-year basis, up from a 5.1 percent climb in October. November's result topped the estimate of 5.1 percent from a Reuters poll of economists.</p>
<p>"The new Administration in Washington is seeking faster economic growth, increased investment in infrastructure, and changes in tax policy which could affect housing and home prices," said David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices.</p>
<p>"Further gains in personal income and employment may increase the demand for housing and add to price pressures when home prices are already rising about twice as fast as inflation," Blitzer said.</p>
<p>Prices in the 20 cities rose 0.9 percent in November after an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in October on a seasonally adjusted basis, the survey showed, outpacing expectations for a 0.7 percent increase.</p>
<p>On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, prices increased 0.2 percent from October, in-line with expectations. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)</p> | U.S. Home Prices Increase Faster Than Expected in November | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/01/31/u-s-home-prices-increase-faster-than-expected-in-november.html | 2017-01-31 | 0 |
<p>President Donald Trump has begun a fundraising push to take advantage of the controversy over his remarks about NFL players kneeling during the national anthem.</p>
<p>Over the weekend, Trump insulted players who used the pre-game national anthem as an opportunity to protest racial inequality, calling them “unpatriotic,” and urging for them to be fired.</p>
<p>On Monday, Trump’s campaign staff sent an email to his supporters, calling for them to “stand with Donald Trump and the American flag,” and to donate to his campaign, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-nfl-national-anthem-taking-a-knee-raise-money-election-president-campaign-a7967516.html" type="external">according to The Independent</a>.</p>
<p>Trump fundraising email: “Stand or kneel?” <a href="https://t.co/DMwh5TnWrN" type="external">pic.twitter.com/DMwh5TnWrN</a></p>
<p>— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/912459508030611456" type="external">September 25, 2017</a></p>
<p>“When the national anthem plays, President Trump proudly stands and places his hand over his heart out of respect for our flag, our country and our heroes,” the email reads.</p>
<p>“That’s because the President supports the courageous patriots who have sacrificed to make this country great.”</p>
<p>Former White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush Richard Painter decried the email, accusing Trump of “using” the anthem.</p>
<p>Just got a “stand or kneel” email from POTUS with a push poll and ask for support. He’s using our national anthem to raise cash. Disrespect.</p>
<p>— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/RWPUSA/status/912456276864532481" type="external">September 25, 2017</a></p> | Trump Fundraising on NFL Protest Controversy | false | https://newsline.com/trump-fundraising-on-nfl-protest-controversy/ | 2017-09-26 | 1 |
<p />
<p>Back in 2011, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-04-28/elon-musk-on-running-tesla-motors-and-spacex" type="external">Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confessed Opens a New Window.</a> that he “never really wanted to run companies,” but concluded that he “was better than the CEOs” he hired.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>“Professional managers – MBA CEOs – are not very creative or adaptable,” he said, “and their skills don't suit a startup.”</p>
<p>The thing is, Tesla is no longer a startup, which begs the question: Are Musk’s skills suitable to scaling and running a mainstream car company? From what I’ve seen, the answer is a resounding “no.” It’s simply not in his makeup. In my opinion, the Model 3 will be his and Tesla’s undoing.</p>
<p>Just to be clear, I have no skin in this game. I’m simply a management consultant and former senior executive who has been around Silicon Valley for decades making an observation. And in all my experience, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a business leader so ill-suited for such an enormously challenging task.</p>
<p>Musk is a creator. An inventor. An innovator. As long as Tesla was in startup mode – building limited production high-priced vehicles – he managed to perform. But in terms of operations and execution on everything from product pricing and production to cash flow and profits, his track record has been abysmal.</p>
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<p>Unfortunately, the Model 3 is not a creation or innovation problem; it’s an operations and execution problem. More important, it’s a competitive problem. The likes of Toyota, GM and Mercedes are not going to sit idly by while a new car company marches right in the front door and steals half a million cars a year in market share.</p>
<p>The only thing reliable about Tesla’s execution is how spectacularly unreliable it’s been.</p>
<p>When the <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/tesla-motorss-second-electric-car-will-be-made-in-silicon-valley/" type="external">Model S sedan was announced in 2008 Opens a New Window.</a>, it was supposed to “hit the roads at the end of 2010” and “sell for around $60,000,” according to the company. <a href="" type="internal">The Model S actually started shipping in mid-2012</a> and sells for an average price of $106,000. The Model X was also about 18 months late and, instead of costing less as planned, actually costs more than its predecessor.</p>
<p>Even at those prices, Tesla has never made an operating profit or been cash-flow positive. And it’s been plagued by quality and delivery problems. The notion that all those issues are magically going to disappear as it attempts to grow 10x while cutting prices by 60% is simply ludicrous.</p>
<p>When Musk announced the Model 3 in April, he said shipments will begin in late 2017, it will have a base price of $35,000 and it will sell for an average price of $42,000. That, along with Tesla’s sterling brand, brought in 373,000 deposits at $1,000 apiece. That is solid demand. And therein lies the rub.</p>
<p>That’s not incremental market demand, meaning those sales will have to come at the expense of other car makers. And now that they know that kind of demand exists, competitors will target that electric car model and price-point. That may not be an issue if Tesla could actually meet its targets, but history suggests otherwise.</p>
<p>Tesla has consistently taken three and a half years from prototype to initial delivery, which puts Model 3 shipments in the 2019 timeframe, at the earliest. That’s plenty of time for competitors to get to market. Moreover, bigger car companies will have a far easier time absorbing a loss leader than Tesla.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, those deposits are all refundable. How many do you think will still be valid three or four years down the road at a far higher price when Toyota, GM, Mercedes, Honda, Apple and who knows how many other car makers are all in the game?</p>
<p>Meanwhile, we tend to forget that Tesla is planning to build a high-volume car company in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the cost of labor and everything else is sky high. In addition to needing extraordinary amounts of capital to fund this massive build-up, it’s hard to see how Tesla makes money or achieves positive cash flow anytime soon.</p>
<p>The final factor working against Tesla is its leadership, or lack thereof. That kind of growth requires a solid, stable, top-notch management team. Unfortunately, you won’t find one at Tesla. <a href="http://ir.tesla.com/management.cfm" type="external">The company’s website names just three executives Opens a New Window.</a>: Musk, co-founder and CTO JB Straubel and CFO Jason Wheeler, who has only been with the company for nine months.</p>
<p>Over the past four months, the company has lost an alarming number of top executives, including <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/05/04/tesla-production-chiefs/" type="external">VP of manufacturing Josh Ensign, VP of production Greg Reichow Opens a New Window.</a>, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-16/tesla-motors-chief-spokesman-leaves-ahead-of-model-3-unveil" type="external">VP of global communications Ricardo Reyes Opens a New Window.</a>, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-16/tesla-motors-chief-spokesman-leaves-ahead-of-model-3-unveil" type="external">VP of regulatory affairs and deputy general counsel James Chen, and VP of finance and worldwide controller Michael Zanoni</a>.</p>
<p>Never mind the management distraction and capital requirements of <a href="" type="internal">bailing out SolarCity</a>.</p>
<p>Maybe Musk was best suited to run Tesla, the innovative startup. But scaling that Tesla into a mainstream electric car company capable of flawless execution in a highly competitive market presents an entirely different set of problems that Musk has already demonstrated are beyond his capability to solve. And to me, it looks like it is simply not in his DNA.</p> | Why Tesla Model 3 Will Be Elon Musk's Undoing | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2016/08/04/why-tesla-model-3-will-be-elon-musks-undoing.html | 2016-08-04 | 0 |
<p>Journal Article - Middle East Journal</p>
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<p>Iran’s nuclear program has become a highly controversial issue in international politics since the August 2002 unveiling of the secretly built uranium enrichment facility in Natanz and the heavy-water production plant in Arak. American officials and experts assert that Iran has secret plans to use its nuclear capabilities to develop nuclear weapons. Iranian officials, however, deny such allegations and claim that they will use their capabilities exclusively for peaceful purposes. Notwithstanding the official rhetoric, some Iranian scholars, intellectuals, and even bureaucrats argue that Iran should seriously consider developing nuclear weapons given that they have the necessary skills and capabilities as well as the reasons to do so. The clerical leaders have supposedly not yet decided about weaponizing Iran’s nuclear capability. However, the ever-increasing size of Iran’s existing nuclear infrastructure, and the achievements of Iranian scientists, who claim to have developed indigenous capabilities, may very well elevate Iran to the status of a nuclear power, even a de facto nuclear-weapons state.</p>
<p /> | Good for the Shah, Banned for the Mullahs: The West and Iran's Quest for Nuclear Power | false | http://belfercenter.org/publication/good-shah-banned-mullahs-west-and-irans-quest-nuclear-power | 2018-10-06 | 2 |
<p>BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama teenager who was burned while trying to start a fire has died.</p>
<p>Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Randy Christian tells news outlets that authorities were notified by a hospital social worker that the teenager suffered severe burns and would be taken off life support.</p>
<p>News outlets report the teenager was taken to a hospital, where he died Thursday.</p>
<p>Authorities haven’t released the teenager’s identity.</p>
<p>Christian says an investigation found that the teenager and other juveniles were trying to ignite some type of paper near a deck of a home.</p>
<p>Authorities say the victim picked up a five gallon can of gasoline and dumped it on the small fire when the paper didn’t burn rapidly enough. The gasoline exploded and showered the victim with flames.</p>
<p>BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama teenager who was burned while trying to start a fire has died.</p>
<p>Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Randy Christian tells news outlets that authorities were notified by a hospital social worker that the teenager suffered severe burns and would be taken off life support.</p>
<p>News outlets report the teenager was taken to a hospital, where he died Thursday.</p>
<p>Authorities haven’t released the teenager’s identity.</p>
<p>Christian says an investigation found that the teenager and other juveniles were trying to ignite some type of paper near a deck of a home.</p>
<p>Authorities say the victim picked up a five gallon can of gasoline and dumped it on the small fire when the paper didn’t burn rapidly enough. The gasoline exploded and showered the victim with flames.</p> | Alabama teen dies after trying to start fire | false | https://apnews.com/e57ac5e15e1140b6ad0324a6a21fa129 | 2018-01-22 | 2 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Disney/ESPN.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Pay-TV companies have been responding to cord-cutters the best they can. While many customers are still ditching their video packages, others are simply opting for smaller and less expensive bundles of networks. These skinny bundles can have even more detrimental effects on media companies, as subscriber losses for some networks drastically outnumber the number of people cutting ties with cable altogether.</p>
<p>By far the two biggest losers from cord-cutting and cord-shaving are Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ESPN and Viacom's (NASDAQ: VIA) family of networks. ESPN and ESPN2 are both in the top five networks with the most subscriber losses between 2011 and 2015, according to Ampere Analysis. Meanwhile, Viacom owns five of the top 10 subscriber losers.</p>
<p>Here's what both of them are doing to combat and offset subscriber losses.</p>
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<p>ESPN lost <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/12/03/espn-is-still-losing-millions-of-subscribers-what.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">7 million subscribers Opens a New Window.</a> between 2013 and 2015. Many analysts expect that trend to continue this year. At the end of last year, Disney CEO Bob Iger recognized that much of the losses are coming from subscribers switching to skinny bundles. As such, he's made more efforts to include his networks in the smaller bundles.</p>
<p>Specifically, Disney worked closely with DISH Networkto launch Sling TV with ESPN's channels. As more digital television distributors come online, Disney expects its networks to be part of the lowest-paid tier they offer. During its third-quarter earnings call, Disney announced that ESPN will be part of both DirecTV Now subscription tiers when AT&amp;T launches the digital service later this year.</p>
<p>Viacom is as close as it gets to a pure-play cable network operator, and cord-cutting hasn't been kind to it. Data from Ampere Analysis shows that Spike TV, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and CMT have all lost over 6 million subscribers since 2011.</p>
<p>More importantly, Viacom saw its affiliate fee revenue decline 8% last quarter and 4% through the first nine months of 2016. Near the end of the second quarter, then-CEO Philippe Dauman indicated that <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/22/viacoms-plan-to-turn-around-the-biggest-part-of-it.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">the worst was over Opens a New Window.</a>, noting that Viacom recently signed deals with DISH Network and Cox Cable "on attractive terms" in the low- to mid-single-digit range.</p>
<p>However, the company was unable to renew an SVOD deal, which more than offset the benefits of its renewals with traditional distributors. Even with the expectation that it will renew the deal by the end of the year, Viacom still expects overall affiliate revenue to decline for the full year.</p>
<p>That stands in stark contrast to Disney, which was able to increase affiliate revenue from its media networks segment by 5% in the third quarter. Growth in its broadcast networks led the way, but cable network affiliate revenue still increased 3.5% despite subscriber losses.</p>
<p>Both Viacom and Disney are experimenting with over-the-top services. Viacom launched its Nickelodeon-branded Noggin streaming service last year to bring its kids' programming into more households. Disney, meanwhile, launched its DisneyLife service to stream movies, TV, and music in Europe at the end of 2015.</p>
<p>Disney is taking further steps to get into digital streaming. It bought a one-third <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/12/why-disneys-next-acquisition-could-be-a-home-run.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">stake in BAMTech Opens a New Window.</a> earlier this year. BAMTech provides the technology behind popular streaming services such as HBO Go and Disney's own WatchESPN. The company plans to launch an ESPN-branded streaming service in the future to complement its linear television networks.</p>
<p>The problem Viacom currently faces is that none of its networks have a hit program -- especially since Jon Stewart left The Daily Show. Its channels fill out the bundle without providing much value other than something to watch when nothing is on TV -- and those instances are more often filled by SVOD services these days.</p>
<p>ESPN, by comparison, has the rights to several must-see events for sports fans, such as Monday Night Football and the NBA Finals. It also produces compelling sports documentaries.</p>
<p>ESPN's programming gives it the capability to demand higher affiliate fees or succeed as a stand-alone over-the-top service. Viacom's lack of superior programming enables distributors to offer a skinnier bundle without subscriber complaint. As such, Disney is a much more attractive investment at the moment than Viacom.</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=2667&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/adamlevy/info.aspx" type="external">Adam Levy Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Walt Disney. 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> | The Biggest Losers From Cord-Cutting So Far | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/10/10/biggest-losers-from-cord-cutting-so-far.html | 2016-10-10 | 0 |
<p />
<p>Virginia Lieutenant Gov. Ralph Northam is looking to succeed Gov. Terry McAuliffe. (Photo courtesy of Ralph Northam for Governor of Virginia)</p>
<p />
<p>“Virginians want someone who will stand up to his hatred and bigotry,” Northam told the Washington Blade during a telephone interview.</p>
<p>“He is a narcissist,” he added.</p>
<p>Northam spoke with the Blade eight days before he and former Congressman Tom Perriello will face off in the Democratic primary. Former Republican National Committee Chair Ed Gillespie is among the Republicans who are vying to succeed Gov. Terry McAuliffe.</p>
<p>Northam, 57, was born on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.</p>
<p>He became a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army after he graduated from the Virginia Military Institute.</p>
<p>Northam completed a pediatric residency at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and child neurology fellowships at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C. and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He was among the doctors at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany who treated wounded soldiers during Operation Desert Storm.</p>
<p>Northam served eight years of active duty, rising to the rank of major. He began to practice pediatric neurology at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk after Operation Desert Storm.</p>
<p>Northam told the Blade he decided to run for the Virginia Senate in 2007, in part, because he had “a lot of frustrations with the insurance companies.”</p>
<p>“I spent more time on the phone with insurance companies than with my patients,” he said. “It was just very frustrating.”</p>
<p>Northam also noted cleaning up Chesapeake Bay was among the other issues about which he was concerned.</p>
<p>“I figured I could be a bystander or make a difference,” he said.</p>
<p>Northam has been Virginia’s lieutenant governor since 2014.</p>
<p>He cast the tie-breaking vote in the state Senate that allowed the passage of a bill that sought to ban discrimination against state and local government employees because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Northam has repeatedly criticized North Carolina’s House Bill 2, which banned transgender people from using public bathrooms consistent with their gender identity and prohibited municipalities from enacting LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination measures.</p>
<p>Northam attended the 2015 wedding of Tim Bostic and Tony London, two men from Norfolk who are among the same-sex couples who filed a federal lawsuit against Virginia’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.</p>
<p>Northam on Monday told the Blade he is “very proud of what” McAuliffe has done to advance LGBT-specific issues in Virginia, which includes <a href="" type="internal">vetoing a bill</a> earlier this year that critics contend would have allowed discrimination against gay and lesbian couples. Northam also said Herring — who announced in 2014 that he would no longer defend the marriage amendment — has “done courageous work in Virginia.”</p>
<p>“We have worked very hard on equality,” Northam told the Blade, while noting anti-LGBT discrimination persists in Virginia’s schools and in the workplace.</p>
<p>Equality Virginia’s political action committee last month <a href="" type="internal">endorsed Northam.</a></p>
<p>James Parrish, the group’s executive director, noted during a conference call that Northam and Equality Virginia have a “shared vision of Virginia that is free from discrimination.” Parrish also noted the lieutenant governor has stood “side-by-side with our community every day” since his election to the Virginia Senate.</p>
<p>Virginia’s statewide nondiscrimination bill does not include sexual orientation and gender identity.</p>
<p>Northam on Monday said there is still “a lot of work to do” to combat anti-LGBT discrimination in Virginia. He told the Blade these efforts begin with “good leadership.”</p>
<p>“I will be a brick wall and stand against any type of legislation that discriminates against anyone, particularly against the LGBT community,” said Northam.</p>
<p>Northam also praised <a href="" type="internal">Danica Roem, a transgender journalist who is challenging</a> state Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William County) in the 13th District.</p>
<p>Marshall, who has been in the Virginia House of Delegates since 1992, is among the General Assembly’s most vocal opponents of LGBT rights. Roem would become the first openly trans person elected to the General Assembly if she defeats the Prince William County Republican in November.</p>
<p>“People like Bob Marshall, they need to go,” Northam told the Blade.</p>
<p>He described Roem as “courageous.”</p>
<p>“I’m totally supportive of her,” said Northam.</p>
<p>The race to succeed McAuliffe is seen as a referendum on Trump and his administration’s policies.</p>
<p>Northam describes Trump as a “narcissistic maniac” in a television ad that continues to air in the D.C. media market.</p>
<p>“He’s very dangerous,” Northam told the Blade.</p>
<p>Northam said Trump lies and has no empathy, pointing out he mocked disabled New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski during his presidential campaign.</p>
<p>“That’s all I needed to see,” said Northam.</p>
<p>Northam also told the Blade there is a “good chance” that Trump could be impeached over his alleged ties to Russia’s interference with last year’s election. Northam said he is confident that U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) — who is the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee — and other members of Virginia’s congressional delegation will conduct a thorough investigation.</p>
<p>“This business with Russia is very eye-opening,” said Northam. “We’ve just seen the surface of it.”</p>
<p>He also pointed out to the Blade that Warner has endorsed his campaign along with U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), McAuliffe and Herring.</p>
<p>“It’s all about relationships,” said Northam as he discussed Perriello. “This is something that I have fought for for 10 years. There are continued attacks coming from the other side of the aisle.”</p>
<p>Northam further suggested Perriello does not fully understand the issues and has the relationships in order to effectively govern Virginia.</p>
<p>“I’ve been in Virginia for the last 10 years,” said Northam. “I’ve been in a lot of fights, rallies, a lot of protests. I don’t remember seeing him at those. I’m all about Virginia. I have the relationships.”</p>
<p>Editor’s note: The Blade is scheduled to interview Perriello on Wednesday morning.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Bob Marshall</a> <a href="" type="internal">Danica Roem</a> <a href="" type="internal">Donald Trump</a> <a href="" type="internal">Ed Gillespie</a> <a href="" type="internal">Equality Virginia</a> <a href="" type="internal">James Parrish</a> <a href="" type="internal">Mark Herring</a> <a href="" type="internal">Mark Warner</a> <a href="" type="internal">Ralph Northam</a> <a href="" type="internal">Terry McAuliffe</a> <a href="" type="internal">Tim Bostic</a> <a href="" type="internal">Tom Perriello</a> <a href="" type="internal">Tony London</a> <a href="" type="internal">Virginia</a></p> | Northam: Trump is ‘embarrassing’ | false | http://washingtonblade.com/2017/06/05/northam-trump-embarrassing/ | 3 |
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<p>Last week, Nashville-based guitarist Dave Rawlings, best known for his collaboration with <a href="" type="internal">Gillian Welch</a>, released his first solo record, titled <a href="" type="internal">A Friend of a Frien</a>d. Rawlings appears on all of Welch’s albums and has become known for his ephemeral voice and intricate guitar picking. His style is a mix of <a href="" type="internal">country</a>, old-time, <a href="" type="internal">bluegrass</a>, and rockabilly. Mother Jones talked with Rawlings about his first guitar, concert fiascoes, and what it’s like to be in Gillian’s shadow. Click <a href="" type="internal">here</a>to listen to an extended podcast of our interview.</p>
<p>Mother Jones: How did you start playing music? &#160;</p>
<p>Dave Rawlings: When I was probably just about 16, I was walking home from a pizza parlor with one of my best friends, and he said, “Why don’t you get a guitar for Christmas and I’ll get a harmonica, and we can play ‘Heart of Gold,’ the Neil Young song, in the talent show.” And as soon as I had a guitar I loved it, and I started playing in every spare moment.</p>
<p>MJ:&#160;You played in a rock band in the ’90s.</p>
<p>DR: When I played with the Esquires, the two of us and our friend David Steal decided to go and play Chuck Berry songs and Tom Waits songs and things like that at a couple local bars in Nashville. That was probably ’round about 1998. But I taped a few of the shows; I know what they sounded like. It was never anything too exciting, but it was fun.</p>
<p>MJ: How did you get into the country, string music?</p>
<p>DR: I answered an ad in the back of the paper to join a sort of working country band that played at honky-tonks and roadhouses up there on weekends. I did that partially because I was learning about country music and I loved lots of different kinds of music, but also because, you know, it paid. And it let me quit my part-time job.</p>
<p>MJ: So this is your first solo record after cowriting so much music with Gillian Welch. What’s it like not having your name on all these albums, when you’re such an important part of the music?</p>
<p>DR: She is talented enough as a singer and a writer that she could make an album of records that she wrote all the songs by herself, and it could be wonderful. That, combined with the fact that when we were starting, we didn’t feel like picking a band name and playing under some larger name for two people, and the “Gillian Welch and David Rawlings” part of it seemed really ungainly. I never wanted to see that on a marquee.</p>
<p>MJ: Tell me about your biggest concert fiasco.</p>
<p>DR: We did a show in South Carolina one time where a truck hit the transformer across the street and we lost all the power. So we had to play the first part of the show with no amplification whatsoever. There was a brownout once in Boston where we played an entire candlelit show.</p>
<p>MJ: So A Friend of a Friend I think is actually funnier than a lot of the Gillian Welch albums that have come out. What are the big differences you see between your own music and Gillian’s?</p>
<p>DR: The lead singer isn’t as good, which is one thing. But I feel like my singing style is a little more rambunctious. When Gillian and I started playing concerts with just the two of us, but under my name, we both noticed that we played a little harder on our guitars and sang a little louder—that the overall feel was a little lighter in that way. It wasn’t quite as moody.</p>
<p>MJ: What’s your favorite track on A Friend of a Friend?</p>
<p>DR: The thing I was most surprised with in a way—was the proudest of—was the fact that I was able to finger-pick a song and sing it by myself just as a solo track, and we felt that it was good enough to release. Just because it never dawned on me that I would be able to play something by myself and it would be okay. So I guess that would be “I Hear Them All.”</p>
<p>MJ: Is the Dave Rawlings Machine here to stay?</p>
<p>DR:&#160;There’s a good chance there will be another record in the future. I’m planning on it. Whether or not I will succeed is another issue. Gillian’s record is partially done. I think once we get that out, we might turn our attention back to making another one of these records.</p>
<p /> | Music Monday: 15 Minutes With the Dave Rawlings Machine | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2009/11/interview-gillian-welchs-sideman-dave-rawlings/ | 2009-11-23 | 4 |
<p>By Robert Dilday</p>
<p>An American Baptist leader has spoken out against a death sentence imposed May 16 on a Sudanese woman who news reports say refused to recant her Christian faith in front of a court which considers her to be Muslim.</p>
<p>“American Baptists condemn the sentencing of Meriam Yahya Ibrahim Ishag to death for apostasy as a violation of the fundamental human right to religious liberty,” said <a href="http://www.abc-usa.org/" type="external">American Baptist Churches USA</a> General Secretary A. Roy Medley in a press release. “We call upon the international community to voice their opposition to such a heinous act. We continue to be deeply concerned for the Christian community here and elsewhere where they are a minority faith and subject to acts of violence and discrimination, even as we have voiced our condemnation of the oppression of the Rohingya in Burma.”</p>
<p>The Rohingya are a Burmese ethnic group which practices Islam and which the United Nations says is persecuted by the Buddhist-majority government in Burma.</p>
<p>CNN <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/15/world/africa/sudan-christian-woman-apostasy/index.html?hpt=hp_t1" type="external">reports</a> that a Khartoum court not only sentenced Ishag, who is said to be pregnant, to death, but also convicted her of adultery with a penalty of 100 lashes because her marriage to a Christian man is considered void under Sharia law.</p>
<p>“We pray for our sister in Christ, that angels might minister to her and grant her strength even as we pray for her release,” said Medley.</p>
<p>After the sentencing of his wife, Ishag’s husband said he feels helpless. “I’m so frustrated. I don’t know what to do,” Daniel Wani told CNN. “I’m just praying.”</p>
<p>In a statement May 16, U.S. National Security Council Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said, “We strongly condemn this sentence and urge the government of Sudan to meet its obligations under international human rights law. We call on the government of Sudan to respect Ms. Ishag’s right to freedom of religion, a universal human right enshrined in Sudan’s own 2005 constitution as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”</p> | American Baptist leader condemns death sentence for Sudanese woman | false | https://baptistnews.com/article/american-baptist-leader-condemns-death-sentence-for-sudanese-woman/ | 3 |
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<p>BOSTON — The war in Darfur is over? That’s what the outgoing general of the United Nations forces in that troubled African region says.</p>
<p>General Martin Agwai, who is leaving his post this week, said <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gg7Z-medtPagPo1cWM6QBxme0v7A" type="external">the vicious fighting over the past six years has subsided</a> as the rebel groups have divided into insignificant factions. He says the Darfur region of Sudan now suffers more from low-level disputes and banditry, instead of war.</p>
<p>But many people are not buying that line. Especially the nearly 3 million refugees in Darfur. They remain huddled in their camps, terrified of attacks by government-sponsored militia, according to experts on the long-running conflict.</p>
<p>The U.N. says 300,000 people have died in Darfur, but the Sudanese government says the fatalities are much lower, at 10,000. About 7 million people live in Darfur, out of Sudan's total population of about 40 million.</p>
<p>The war broke out in the arid, impoverished Darfur region of western Sudan (see map below) in 2003 when rebel groups attacked government targets. They accused the the Arab-dominated Khartoum government of oppressing black Africans.&#160;Pro-government militias hit back with brutal force, killing thousands of civilians. The U.S. and many rights groups charge the government sponsored the violence and have called it genocide. The Khartoum government denies supporting the militias, but the international court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant earlier this year for President Omar al-Bashir, accusing him of war crimes.</p>
<p>Agwai, who led the joint U.N. and African Union peacekeeping force known as <a href="http://unamid.unmissions.org/" type="external">Unamid</a>, said that Darfur now suffers more from isolated "security issues" than a full-blown conflict.</p>
<p>"Banditry, localised issues, people trying to resolve issues over water and land at a local level. But real war as such, I think we are over that," he said.</p>
<p>But several specialists on the Darfur conflict reject Agwai’s assertion that the war has been resolved.</p>
<p>“This is incredibly premature. To say the war in Darfur is over directly contradicts what we see on the ground,” said Colin Thomas-Jensen, policy adviser for <a href="http://www.enoughproject.org/" type="external">Enough</a>, the anti-genocide project at the Center for American Progress in Washington.</p>
<p>“There may be a lull in the violence, but you cannot say that it is over. There is no political settlement and no political process to resolve the conflict. Neither side is defeated and the government is building up its arms stockpile,” Thomas-Jensen told GlobalPost.</p>
<p>He said if the Darfur conflict were really over, “we would see from 2.5 to 3 million people begin to return to their homes and start to rebuild their lives. But that’s not happening. The people who were driven from their homes and who lost family, they remain frightened. They do not feel safe outside the camps because the Sudanese government still has a military proxy group that is committing atrocities outside the camps. To chalk this up to banditry and lawlessness is flatly disingenuous.”</p>
<p>Enough charges that the Sudan government is stockpiling weapons in preparation for renewed conflict in Darfur as well as a possible re-ignited war in southern Sudan.</p>
<p>“The Khartoum government has bought fighter jets from China and artillery and surface-to surface-missiles. They have bought tanks from former Soviet republics. And it is well known that Sudan now manufactures its own small arms, mostly AK-47 rifles, thanks to help from the Chinese,” Thomas-Jensen said.</p>
<p>Sudan analyst Gillian Lusk said the U.N. general’s statement was "unhelpful" because it could lead people to believe that Darfur's problems had been solved.</p>
<p>"There has been a large decline in fighting in Darfur, and that is undoubtedly a good thing for the people," she told the BBC. "But it is the government that turns the tap on and off — they can restart the violence whenever they want."</p>
<p>The Washington-based <a href="http://www.savedarfur.org/" type="external">Save Darfur Coalition</a> also finds fault with Agwai's statement. "The political and humanitarian crisis in Darfur is not over. Nor is the threat of full-scale fighting over, said Sean Brooks, policy associate of Save Darfur Coalition. "We find Gen. Agwai's statement surprising, considering that just a few weeks ago he said that the U.N. forces are only at 70 percent deployment and need to be fully deployed to protect the people of Darfur. There are still no U.N. helicopters to fully meet the protection mandate for refugees and aid workers. 2009 has been the most dangerous year for aid workers with kidnappings and hijackings."</p>
<p>Concerted international pressure, "particularly from Egypt and other neighboring states, the Arab League and the African Union is needed to get the Khartoum government to be committed to the peace process," said Brooks.&#160; All sides agree that a political solution is needed to fully end the conflict.</p>
<p>The Sudan government, however, has proved so far to be relatively impervious to international pressure, as it has wealth from its oil exports and support from neighboring Arab and African countries.</p>
<p>Last week, the U.S. envoy to Sudan, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/18/j-scott-gration-special-e_n_176266.html" type="external">Scott Gration</a>, said the existence of 26 different rebel factions was a major obstacle to reaching a peace agreement with the government. Gration brokered talks that led to four groups agreeing to work together, calling the deal a "very strong foundation for rebel unification."</p>
<p>However much more concerted international pressure is needed to get the Sudanese government to commit to fully implementing a comprehensive peace agreement.</p>
<p>Thomas-Jensen of Enough concludes, “What is needed is a credible and inclusive political process to create a lasting resolution to the conflict.”</p>
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<p><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;source=embed&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;q=Darfur,+Sudan&amp;sll=37.0625,-95.677068&amp;sspn=52.550571,79.541016&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;t=p&amp;ll=13.38962,23.994141&amp;spn=29.606714,50.976563&amp;z=4" type="external">View Larger Map</a></p> | War in Darfur over? Not quite | false | https://pri.org/stories/2009-08-27/war-darfur-over-not-quite | 2009-08-27 | 3 |
<p>WASHINGTON — The Secret Service says it arrested someone near the White House on Sunday for possessing firearms.</p>
<p>In a statement Monday, the agency says officers were approached by an individual at 17th Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue at about 7:15 a.m. Sunday. The location is the Old Executive Office Building, part of the White House grounds.</p>
<p>The Secret Service says the person was arrested for possessing “several firearms.” It provided no further details.</p> | Person with firearms arrested near White House | false | https://reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/person-with-firearms-arrested-near-white-house/ | 2017-09-25 | 1 |
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<p>But what if Diaw, the Jazz and the countless other athletes who regularly consume caffeine had to give up it up? According to Russian Federal Microbiological Agency chief Vladimir Uiba, that could be coming.</p>
<p>“Caffeine,” he told Russian news agency TASS last week, “is currently on WADA’s waiting list of prohibited substances. If it eventually makes its way into the list of the prohibited substances, we will be forced to recommend everyone against drinking coffee as well as soft drinks containing caffeine.”</p>
<p>“Theoretically, it can happen this year,” Uiba added.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Uiba is right about the substance being on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s watch list for in-competition prohibited substances, but he’s likely incorrect in insinuating athletes will have to give up coffee, soda and other naturally caffeinated beverages and food altogether.</p>
<p>“Generally speaking, WADA is extremely careful that normal food consumption does not interfere with anti-doping tests,” WADA spokeswoman Maggie Durand said Tuesday.</p>
<p>WADA added caffeine to its Monitoring Program for 2017 so experts could study whether athletes are using the substance “with the intent of enhancing performance.”</p>
<p>WADA’s study will continue through September, at which point the agency will issue a three-month notice that the substance will be added to the Prohibited List the following year. To be added to the prohibited list, the substance must meet two or three criteria: 1) It has the potential to enhance performance; 2) It poses a health risk to athletes; and/or 3) It violates “the spirit of sport.”</p>
<p>Caffeine has been a prohibited substance before, but it was removed in 2003 to prevent athletes “who . . . drink cola or coffee from testing positive to banned substances,” Agence France-Presse reported at the time.</p>
<p>“Hence the thresholds or reporting values established for some prohibited substances naturally present in foodstuff,” Durand said.</p>
<p>Without more research, WADA can’t predict what its threshold might be. Nor does the agency want to predict whether it’s likely caffeine will wind up back on the prohibited list at this point, but it appears, whatever happens, it’s likely Diaw and others won’t have to give up their pregame rituals.</p>
<p>The old threshold from when caffeine was previously on the prohibited list was 12 micrograms per milliliter, which amounts to about “four Starbucks lattes” ingested within a couple of hours, according to Men’s Health.</p>
<p>The NCAA currently limits caffeine consumption for college athletes to 15 micrograms per milliliter, or roughly six to eight cups of coffee ingested two to three hours before a competition.</p>
<p>“More caffeine is not necessarily better,” a report published by the Collegiate &amp; Professional Sports Dietitians Association states. “Caffeine consumed at very high levels – 6-9 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight – can cause gastrointestinal issues, nausea or shaking, as well as ‘overstimulation’ that can negatively impact training, sleep and performance.”</p>
<p>Likewise, the report said some caffeine can enhance speed and stamina, but it really depends on the individual.</p>
<p>Diaw and the Jazz declined to comment, but whatever they’re doing is working, whether it has to do with the coffee or not. The team is fourth in the very competitive Western Conference, with a 40-24 record.</p> | Caffeine could be headed to World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited substance list | false | https://abqjournal.com/964488/caffeine-could-be-headed-to-world-anti-doping-agencys-prohibited-substance-list.html | 2 |
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<p>TOKYO, Japan - Japanese authorities have allowed reporters to visit the Fukushima Daiichi power plant for the first time since it was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, sparking the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.</p>
<p>The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), and the government arranged the tour in an attempt to demonstrate that, eight months on from the disaster, the plant has been largely stabilized.</p>
<p>"We are doing all we can to bring this crisis to an end," Tepco spokesman Yoshimi Hitosugi told an Associated Press reporter at the site. "We believe it is important to be transparent.?</p>
<p>Three of the plant's six reactors suffered meltdown in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, which knocked out vital backup power supplies used to cool fuel rods. The resulting radiation leaks forced the evacuation of 80,000 people living inside a 12-mile radius of the facility.</p>
<p>Residents closest to the plant have been told it could be decades before their neighborhoods are safe enough to live in.</p>
<p>The authorities also face the task of removing more than 3 million tons of topsoil from contaminated farmland in Fukushima prefecture - enough to fill 20 football stadiums. The operation could end up costing 1.5 trillion yen.</p>
<p>Of the 36 reporters, photographers and camera crews permitted to visit the plant, only four represented foreign media organization, including just one print reporter.</p>
<p>Wearing protective suits and masks, they saw firsthand the devastation the tsunami left in its wake: vehicles that had been carried along by the wave, piles of rubble and large pools of water.</p>
<p>The site is littered with cranes used to lift debris and build shrouds for the damaged reactors, according to pool reports. Tanks are being used to hold thousands of tons of contaminated water, which is also being purified in a cleaning facility housed in a group of white tents.</p>
<p>Outside can be seen the flags of the United States, France and Japan, which made the technology for the decontamination system.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/japan/111101/japanese-lawmaker-drinks-radioactive-water" type="external">Japanese lawmaker drinks Fukushima water</a></p>
<p>The bases of the Nos. 1-4 reactors buildings are still filled with crumpled vehicles, twisted steel fencing and dented water tanks.</p>
<p>Goshi Hosono, the government minister overseeing the nuclear crisis, addressed some of the 3,300 workers who continue to work in shifts to bring the reactors under control, remove radioactive debris and prepare the plant for decommissioning.</p>
<p>Tepco has stated that it expects to bring the three damaged reactors to a safe state, known as cold shutdown, by the end of this year. "Until then, we will ensure we go on step by step without letting our guard down," Hosono said.</p>
<p>He praised employees for improving the situation at the plant. "Every time I come back, I feel conditions have improved," he reportedly told one worker. "This is due to your hard work. In March and April, you overcame a very difficult predicament."</p>
<p>The plant's manager, Masao Yoshida, said the situation had improved significantly, but warned against complacency.</p>
<p>From the data at the plant that I have seen, there is no doubt that the reactors have been stabilized,? said Yoshida. "But not extremely stabilized, so it is still dangerous to work here."</p>
<p>He said that cold shutdown was possible because despite falling through the reactors' pressure vessels, the melted fuel was still inside the containment vessels, where it is being cooled.</p>
<p>Yoshida recalled the horror of the early days of the crisis, saying he feared that some of his fellow workers would die in the disaster. The bodies of two men, presumed to have drowned, were found in early April.</p>
<p>The utility has conceded that it could take 30 years to safely remove melted fuel from the reactors and decommission the facility.</p>
<p>Late last month, a panel set up by Japan's nuclear energy commission called on Tepco to begin moving the fuel rods within 10 years. The damage to Fukushima's reactors is more difficult to repair than that sustained at Three Mile Island, where worker began removing fuel six years after an accident in 1979.</p>
<p>On Friday, reporters were shown around J-Village, a former sports training complex that has been turned into a base for the thousands of workers involved in the operation.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost: <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/japan/111101/japanese-lawmaker-drinks-radioactive-water" type="external">Radiation reports overshadow progress at plant</a></p>
<p>The village's 12 soccer fields have been turned into helipads, areas for emergency vehicles and heavy equipment, and decontamination centers. It is also being used to store 480,000 sets of contaminated protective gear that cannot be used again, Kyodo reported.</p>
<p>All workers coming off their daily shift must undergo radiation checks at the complex, located about just outside the exclusion zone.</p>
<p>Two tents on the site house 12 full-body radiation counters that identify if workers have suffered internal exposure. The devices can check 200 people a day, according to officials, who added that none had tested positive. The site is staffed by 400 people, including a doctor and two nurses.</p>
<p>Tepco officials said conditions for workers had improved since the early days of the crisis, when they had to sleep on the floor and eat canned food. Now, all of the workers sleep in prefabricated housing, eat in cafeterias and work fewer hours. The firm said it had also vastly improved decontamination and screening facilities.</p> | Fukushima power plant hosts press event | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-11-12/fukushima-power-plant-hosts-press-event | 2011-11-12 | 3 |
<p>&lt;img class="alignnone wp-image-39823 size-full" src="http://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/De-Blasio-Terrorist.jpg" alt="de blasio parade terrorist" width="1200" height="627" srcset="https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/De-Blasio-Terrorist.jpg 1200w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/De-Blasio-Terrorist-300x157.jpg 300w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/De-Blasio-Terrorist-768x401.jpg 768w, https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/De-Blasio-Terrorist-1024x535.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /&gt;</p>
<p>There are all sorts of trends making waves in leftist circles. One of the hottest is cozying up to violent&#160;jagweeds in the hope of scoring brownie points for “inclusiveness”&#160;(see&#160; <a href="" type="internal">ISIS Claims Credit for Manchester Attack. Leftists Worry About… Islamophobia</a>). Just ask New York City’s&#160;Mayor, Bill de Blasio. Billiam is doing his virtue-signaling peers proud. He’s&#160; <a href="http://nypost.com/2017/05/22/saying-no-to-a-parade-that-honors-a-terrorist/" type="external">set to march in a parade honoring a known terrorist</a>. Not kidding…</p>
<p>Three cheers for Police Commissioner James O’Neill for standing tall where New York’s political leaders have waffled by announcing&#160;he won’t march in next month’s Puerto Rican Day Parade.</p>
<p>The reason: Guest of honor Oscar López Rivera, hailed by organizers as a “national freedom hero,” is a “terrorist,” the commisioner says. Added O’Neill: “I cannot support a man who is a co-founder of an organization that engaged in over 120 bombings.”</p>
<p>That hasn’t stopped Mayor de Blasio, who plans on marching, or Gov. Cuomo, who says he’s “inclined” to march&#160;but is still thinking it over.</p>
<p>Organizers claim honoring López Rivera will “create awareness on issues.”</p>
<p>The only awareness that’s being created by honoring this douchenozzle is an awareness that leftists are out of their gourds for kowtowing to terrorists.&#160;Methinks a straitjacket and an extended holiday at Bellevue would do de Blasio well.</p>
<p>And the list of law-enforcement groups refusing to participate is growing longer by the day. It now includes&#160;the NYPD Hispanic Society, the Gay Officers Action League and the Rafael Ramos Foundation, named for a slain police officer.</p>
<p>Even the Hispanics and the fancy lads&#160;think Bill’s a nutbar.&#160;Both groups lean solidly left.&#160;There are many things that divide Americans. Having a strong dislike of terror-doing asshats isn’t one of them. De Blasio likely&#160;assumed the gesture would score popularity points.&#160;Um… no.</p>
<p>&lt;img class="size-full wp-image-39844 aligncenter" src="http://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/plane-crash-knowing.gif" alt="plane crash knowing" width="320" height="180" /&gt;</p>
<p>The left seems to get googly-eyed with radical scum-buckets, like <a href="" type="internal">Castro</a> and <a href="" type="internal">Chavez</a>. If pantywaist leftists&#160;wish to align themselves&#160;with&#160;those crapweasels there’s a simple solution:&#160;exit the country.&#160;We can help.</p>
<p>&lt;img class=" wp-image-39846 aligncenter" src="http://www.louderwithcrowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/jazzy-jeff-thrown-out.gif" alt="fresh prince jazzy jeff thrown out" width="416" height="233" /&gt;</p>
<p>This is where the left stands, and it ain’t on our side. If people like de Blasio wish to pal around with terrorists, that’s fine and dandy. Just don’t come whining to the rest of us on the next election day when you guys are getting tossed out of office on your lumpy keisters…</p>
<p />
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<p>NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST?&#160; <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/louder-with-crowder/id929121341?mt=2" type="external">FIX THAT</a>! IT’S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH&#160; <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/louder-with-crowder/id929121341?mt=2" type="external">ITUNES&#160;HERE</a>&#160;AND&#160; <a href="https://soundcloud.com/louderwithcrowder" type="external">SOUNDCLOUD&#160;HERE</a>.</p>
<p /> | Douchebag NYC Mayor De Blasio to March in Parade Honoring Terrorist | true | https://louderwithcrowder.com/de-blasio-march-terrorist/ | 2017-05-24 | 0 |
<p>With employees of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system&#160; <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Outlook-bleak-for-quick-end-to-BART-strike-4910113.php" type="external">on strike</a>, the Silicon Valley tech elite has reminded us all that despite their enlightened Bay Area lifestyles, they are still, at root, a bunch of rich dudes. Corey Robin ably&#160; <a href="" type="internal">documents</a>&#160;the reactionary politics and moral degeneracy of people who see themselves as heroic entrepreneurs and the people who get them to work as greedy parasites.</p>
<p>The combination of the strike and the government shutdown has shined a welcome light on the more&#160; <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/10/silicon-valleys-secessionists.html" type="external">delusional parts</a>&#160;of the tech bro intelligentsia, who&#160; <a href="http://valleywag.gawker.com/this-asshole-misses-the-shutdown-1447331354" type="external">revel</a>&#160;in government dysfunction and&#160; <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57608320-93/a-radical-dream-for-making-techno-utopias-a-reality/" type="external">dream</a>&#160;of stateless techno-utopias. It’s all the more amusing to see these would-be John Galts dismissing the need for government one moment, and bemoaning the shutdown of a public transit agency the next.</p>
<p>But the most revealing of the tech industry commentaries on the strike is&#160; <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/14/bay-area-subway-strike-re-ignites-the-feud-between-unions-and-silicon-valley.html" type="external">this one</a>, in which Gregory Ferenstein attempts to sort out what he sees as a difference of opinion about the virtues of technology and innovation. He asserts that “the very existence of unions threatens the kind of unpredictable disruption that fuels the knowledge economy,” and that what is at stake in the BART strike is not class struggle but rather the tech elite’s “legitimate philosophical differences that assume the benefits to innovation outweigh the short-term gains of protecting workers.”</p>
<p>In a way, this attempt to change the subject from class to technology is the mirror image of Gavin Mueller’s recent Jacobin&#160; <a href="" type="internal">essay</a>, in which he takes me to task as a techno-utopian and suggests that “instead of depending on capitalism to give us all the machines we need for a socialism without scarcity or drudgery, we put the installation of technology on hold until ‘after the revolution.’” Rather than fight over how different kinds of technologies are implemented and how the losers from change are compensated, he suggests that we concentrate on “the disempowering effects of automation.”</p>
<p>Thus manual control over the production process takes precedence over control over the workplace or the economy. But by portraying technical change under capitalism as always and only a nefarious plot to intensify exploitation and disorganize workers, Mueller affirms the gambit of those like Ferenstein who would prefer to debate the merits of innovation rather than the social relations of class and power. He thus makes an ideal foil from the perspective of the libertarian tech bro.</p>
<p>I have no intention of playing that part, however. I’m more interested in examining what the “innovation vs. worker rights” framing presupposes, and what it cedes.</p>
<p>Ferenstein insists that that there’s no need for unions for either the “lucky elite class of tech workers” who have “all the benefits and influence they could ever hope for,” or for the “army of freelance engineers that thrive on unpredictability.” As Scott Kilpatrick <a href="http://storify.com/pefrase/tech-workers-and-unions" type="external">observed</a> on Twitter, the “lucky elite” rests on top of a mass of precarious contractors and service employees who have little voice in companies like Google. But Ferenstein’s view is a telling indicator of the worldview of the tech elite, who breathlessly tout “disruption” and glamorize unpredictability and uncertainty. For this elite, losing your job only means moving on to the next startup, or retiring on a pile of stock options. It doesn’t mean prolonged unemployment, homelessness, or being cut off from health care.</p>
<p>For transit workers, of course, disruption and unpredictability have much more dire implications, but Ferenstein would prefer to distract us from that reality by portraying their concerns as the consequence of a philosophical objection to innovation. But instead of playing the straight man to this routine by extolling the virtues of stable employment, let’s ask instead what it would mean to make unstable labor relations the bearable and even pleasant experience that they can be for the elite. It would mean something like what the Danish Social Democrats call&#160; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexicurity" type="external">“flexicurity”</a>: a system that protects workers rather than jobs, by providing a robust system of unemployment benefits and training programs to ease the burden of joblessness and the transition between jobs.</p>
<p>For the true believers in libertarian secession, such policy would no doubt amount to an intolerable state incursion on the freedom of the entrepreneur. But I’m more interested in the comment of UserVoice CEO Richard White, quoted by&#160; <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/07/08/silicon_valley_is_stoking_the_wrong_kind_of_revolution/" type="external">Andrew Leonard</a>&#160;(and then re-quoted by Ferenstein): “Get ’em back to work, pay them whatever they want, and then figure out how to automate their jobs so this doesn’t happen again.”</p>
<p>This doesn’t quite get at the real substance of the dispute, which is more about&#160; <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BART-workers-go-on-strike-4904918.php" type="external">work rules</a>&#160;than about pay. In particular, the union wants to preserve a provision that requires mutual agreement between management and the union before an existing labor practice can be altered.</p>
<p>As is typical in disputes like this, the employer tries to portray the work rule under discussion as an absurd impediment to rational management, while the union raises its valid uses. So BART claims that this rule “makes it difficult to make technological changes like having station agents file reports by e-mail instead of writing them out longhand, using e-mail instead of fax machines to send documents and sending paycheck stubs to each work location electronically instead of hand-delivering them.” But it’s hard to see just why the union would object to this. More plausible is the union’s contention that the past practices rule is useful for things like “preventing BART management from making punitive work assignments to employees who have filed workplace complaints.”</p>
<p>This strike thus turns out to be an excellent example of the dynamic I wrote about&#160; <a href="" type="internal">some while back</a>: the dialectical interplay between class struggle and technological development. I noted there that technology is two-sided under capitalism: it can increase material abundance, and it can also oppress and fragment workers, and often it does both at the same time. In that earlier post I posited that “the form that technological change takes is shaped by the strength and organization of workers.” This is what we see played out in the BART strike.</p>
<p>The transit workers’ union, SEIU Local 1021, has an interesting&#160; <a href="http://www.seiu1021.org/2013/10/20/bart-unions-offer-new-proposal-to-get-trains-running-monday-and-end-the-strike/" type="external">post</a>&#160;describing their most recent settlement offer. Their proposal, they say, “allows for the continued use of new technology in the workplace but protects workers from changes in work rules that would lead to unsafe conditions.” The post goes on to note the recent fatal accident that occurred recently when two workers&#160; <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Train-kills-2-track-workers-amid-SF-Bay-strike-4909051.php" type="external">were killed</a>&#160;by trains under the operation of BART managers. The union strategically positions itself not as an opponent of technology, but as an advocate for innovations that truly improve the transit system, rather than just providing ways for management to degrade the power of labor — whether by imposing unsafe working conditions or by using computer scheduling to disrupt the predictability of the workday, which is the example of anti-worker technology I cited in my earlier post.</p>
<p>In another post, the union&#160; <a href="http://www.seiu1021.org/2013/10/17/bart-unions-shocked-about-the-collapse-of-negotiations-reluctantly-prepare-for-strike-at-midnight/" type="external">notes</a>&#160;that “the system is carrying more passengers than ever with fewer frontline workers than ever.” So it seems that the union is not even attempting to preserve all jobs for their own sake, which would be an understandable position but also one that could genuinely impede the introduction of productivity-enhancing changes. Instead, they are trying to shape the development of the labor process in a way that is less dehumanizing to the worker.</p>
<p>But if CEO White got his wish, and we truly did “figure out how to automate their jobs” entirely, the union leadership and the members would probably have some understandable objections eventually. Which is why, as I note in a&#160; <a href="http://www.peterfrase.com/2011/09/conservative-leftists-and-radical-dockworkers/" type="external">different post</a>, a viable compromise between labor-saving technology and the working class has to be worked out an economy-wide scale rather than in a single workplace or industry — the Danish model, in other words, or something even&#160; <a href="" type="internal">more audacious</a>.</p>
<p>Still, the BART strike is a useful starting point for moving away from the techno-babble and talking about class and politics. And the approach of “give the workers what they want, then figure out how to automate” is far preferable to the more common “hyper-exploit the workers, while hand-waving about some great innovation that’s going to come along in the future.” What the BART workers are doing can be considered part of the utopian strategy of&#160; <a href="http://www.peterfrase.com/2011/07/cheap-labor-and-the-great-stagnation/" type="external">making labor expensive</a>. And if the tech industry could take on the challenge of transforming economic processes while accepting the rights and dignity of existing workers, that would be some truly disruptive innovation.</p> | Delusions of the Tech Bro Intelligentsia | true | http://jacobinmag.com/2013/10/delusions-of-the-tech-bro-intelligentsia/ | 2018-10-06 | 4 |
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<p>Construction spending in August increased 0.7 percent from July, when it had risen 0.4 percent, the Commerce Department said Thursday. It rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.09 trillion, the highest level since May 2008.</p>
<p>The latest result suggests that businesses remain confident enough in the economy to expand. Construction activity is expected to provide solid support for the overall economy for the rest of the year.</p>
<p>The gains were led by gains of 1.3 percent in home building and 0.5 percent in government construction projects.</p>
<p>Private nonresidential construction also advanced, but by a more modest 0.2 percent. Two key areas - office building and the category that covers shopping centers - both declined.</p>
<p>The 1.3 percent rise in home construction reflected a 4.8 percent surge in apartment construction and a more modest 0.7 percent rise in construction of single-family homes.</p>
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<p>The 0.5 percent rise in government construction projects was driven by a 0.5 percent rise in state and local projects and a 0.6 percent rise in federal building projects.</p>
<p>The overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, expanded at an annual rate of 3.9 percent in the April-June quarter.</p>
<p>Business spending on structures grew at a 6.2 percent rate during the spring while construction of homes was growing at an even faster 9.3 percent rate after gains of 10 percent over the previous six months.</p>
<p>Economists are forecasting home construction will show further gains in coming months.</p> | US construction spending up 0.7 percent in August | false | https://abqjournal.com/652125/us-construction-spending-up-0-7-percent-in-august.html | 2 |
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<p>Recruits of India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, crawl through a simulated battlefield Jan. 24, 2014, as part of a combat training course on Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. This course is part of Basic Warrior Training and develops recruits’ newly learned combat skills such as tactical communication and movement. While on Parris Island, recruits receive basic combat training skills that will be built upon throughout their Marine Corps careers. India Company is scheduled to graduate Feb. 14, 2014. Parris Island has been the site of Marine Corps recruit training since Nov. 1, 1915. Today, approximately 20,000 recruits come to Parris Island annually for the chance to become United States Marines by enduring 13 weeks of rigorous, transformative training. ( <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/marine_corps/12324559324/" type="external">U.S. Marine Corps photo</a> by Cpl. Caitlin Brink/Released)</p>
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<p /> | We’re Still at War: Photo of the Day for February 26, 2014 | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/02/were-still-war-photo-day-february-26-2014/ | 2014-02-26 | 4 |
<p>Donald Trump can say just about anything to his base without repercussions—anything, that is, other than slanderous words about Texas Tea Party darling, Senator Ted Cruz.</p>
<p>Trump found this out at an event in South Carolina over the weekend. The real estate mogul can be heard receiving audible boos after saying, “You give a campaign contribution to Ted Cruz, you get whatever the hell you want.”</p>
<p>Trump became annoyed at the booing crowd and doubled-down, only to receive more jeers.</p>
<p>“Say whatever you want, it’s okay, he didn’t report his bank loans. He’s got bank loans from Goldman Sachs, he’s got bank loans from Citibank, folks, and then he acts like Robin Hood?" said Trump upon more fierce booing.</p>
<p>Donald Trump has been able to beat up on establishment types like Governor Jeb Bush and even rather conservative opponents like Senator Marco Rubio with no problems—with massive support actually. But treading in Cruz-waters hasn’t exactly turned out swimmingly for the billionaire.</p>
<p>On Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate, Trump laid the smack down on Cruz over the “ <a href="" type="internal">New York values</a>” fiasco. But that same debate the frontrunner received boos from the crowd when he attacked Senator Cruz on the Trump-launched <a href="" type="internal">“birther”</a> issue—even if Trump cleverly disguised the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU6_f7aRuTs" type="external">jeers directed at him</a> as being directed at Cruz.</p>
<p>Although the New York media was quick to jump on the "New York values" punch from Trump toward Cruz, focus group results, such as Frank Luntz’s, have revealed that Cruz was perceived as the <a href="" type="internal">debate winner</a> among Republicans, illustrating what The Daily Wire editior-in-chief Ben Shapiro <a href="" type="internal">argued</a> on Friday: Trump's attack will not hurt Cruz with anyone outside of New York.</p>
<p>With the Trump-Cruz "bromance" over and the Republican primary race turning into a two-man showdown as of late, the hits from both Trump and Cruz will surely keep coming.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.redstate.com/2016/01/17/trumps-gets-booed-bad-week/" type="external">H/T</a> Red State</p> | Here’s Why Trump Got Booed in South Carolina | true | https://dailywire.com/news/2677/heres-why-trump-got-booed-south-carolina-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2016-01-18 | 0 |
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<p>Laurie Jurkiewicz, a nurse-midwife, describes the group-learning approach to prenatal care. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Women are the experts in pregnancy and childbirth and can learn as much from one another as they can from physicians, health professionals said Thursday at the launch of a prenatal care program focused on group learning.</p>
<p>The pilot program, based at a University of New Mexico clinic in Albuquerque, will begin enrolling pregnant women this fall in small group sessions, with the aim of improving birth outcomes for African-Americans.</p>
<p>Called Centering Pregnancy, the program is open to all women but focused on African-Americans, said Yvette Kaufman-Bell, director of the New Mexico Office of African American Affairs, which is funding the one-year pilot with a $50,000 state appropriation.</p>
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<p>"It's a really different experience for a woman to walk into a group of friends rather than a waiting room," said Laurie Jurkiewicz, a nurse-midwife at San Francisco General Hospital, who will train staff this week at UNM Hospital's North Valley Center for Family and Community Health, where the first event was held.</p>
<p>Women who have similar due dates form groups of up to 12 who meet in two-hour sessions that become more frequent as their due date approaches, Jurkiewicz said. The women will begin by taking their own blood pressure and other vitals, then gather in a circle to engage in a free-form discussion led by a health professional, she said. Group meetings continue after birth to help women adapt to motherhood.</p>
<p>Yvette Kaufman-Bell on Thursday announces a program that offers prenatal care to groups of women. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>"It's about getting women engaged in their own prenatal care," she said. The Centering model was developed by midwives more than a decade ago and is not practiced across much of the U.S., she said.</p>
<p>Kaufman-Bell said state officials sought the model as a way to reduce high rates of infant mortality among African-Americans in New Mexico. If successful, the model could be replicated throughout the state, she said.</p>
<p>The infant mortality rate for African-Americans in 2013 was 10.9 per 1,000 live births, compared with rates of 4.5 for Hispanics and 2.9 for Anglos, according to state Department of Health data.</p>
<p>Dr. Larry Leeman, co-director of UNMH's mother-baby unit, said the group model can address aspects of pregnancy, such as depression, that too often are overlooked by the traditional physician-patient model.</p>
<p>"This program addresses the social determinates of pregnancy," he said. Women "are working as a group. They can learn together."</p>
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<p /> | Prenatal care program taps women's knowledge | false | https://abqjournal.com/601485/prenatal-care-program-taps-womens-knowledge.html | 2 |
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<p>This is a 1923 ad (for the coat, I assume), drawn by the great Swiss illustrator Otto Baumberger, and now in a MoMA show called " <a href="http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1331" type="external">Artist's Choice: Trisha Donnelly</a>". (Click to zoom in on the image). I'm not sure that artist-chosen shows are of that much curatorial or art-historical use, and anyway they've become a cliche. In a way, they revert to the reactionary notion of the "connoisseur's eye", now genuflecting to the hero-artist as was once done to savior-collectors. Still, by avoiding curatorial serieux, they manage to pull amazing things out of storage that might not otherwise find a reason to be seen – and Donnelly's choices are plum. Baumberger's stunning color litho, a full 50" high, shows his amazing skill in rendering fabrics, and speaks of a time when everyday textiles where a subject of true connoisseurship, because they didn't come cheap from Asia.</p>
<p>For a full visual survey of past Daily Pics visit <a href="http://blakegopnik.com/archive" type="external">blakegopnik.com/archive</a>.</p> | Otto Baumberger at MoMA is the Daily Pic by Blake Gopnik | true | https://thedailybeast.com/otto-baumberger-at-moma-is-the-daily-pic-by-blake-gopnik | 2018-10-06 | 4 |
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<p>Listen up, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121296724450055721.html?mod=googlenews_wsj" type="external">slacker senators</a>. The EU’s “ <a href="/interview/2008/05/interview-rebranding-nukes.html" type="external">cap-and-trade</a>” system for carbon dioxide is working well and has had little or no negative impact on the overall EU <a href="/news/feature/2008/05/the-greenback-effect.html" type="external">economy</a>. This according to an analysis for the <a href="http://www.pewclimate.org/eu-ets" type="external">Pew Center on Global Climate Change</a> by <a href="http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/emissions-0610.html" type="external">MIT</a> researchers. They conclude that although the <a href="http://www.inforse.dk/europe/pdfs/S3_EU%20Cap%20Trade%20Directive_CAN_MDuwe.pdf%20-" type="external">EU Emissions Trading Scheme (pdf)</a> was fast-tracked 3 years ago to <a href="http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2213332/eu-cap-trade-fails-curb" type="external">criticism of its wobbly start</a>, it quickly worked out its own kinks. A. Denny Ellerman, senior lecturer in the MIT Sloan School of Management, suggests the system doesn’t need to be in perfect working order before start up. “Obviously you’re better off having things all settled and worked out before it gets started,” he said. “But that certainly wasn’t the case in Europe, and yet a transparent and widely accepted price for CO2 emission allowances emerged rapidly, as did a functioning market and the infrastructure to support it. This important public policy experiment is not perfect, but it is far more than any other nation or set of nations has done to control greenhouse-gas emissions—and it works surprisingly well.”</p>
<p>Okay, if I believed in the Imaginary Friend I might be inclined to say God Bless Europe. Instead, how about, thanks, and may our next president and our next Congress look to the Old World now and again for better ways to build a new one.</p>
<p><a href="http://julia.whitty.googlepages.com/home" type="external">Julia Whitty</a> is Mother Jones’ environmental correspondent, <a href="http://julia.whitty.googlepages.com/juliawhittylectures" type="external">lecturer</a>, and 2008 winner of the <a href="http://www.kiriyamaprize.org/pressroom/2008/pr_040108.html" type="external">Kiriyama Prize</a> and the <a href="http://www.research.amnh.org/burroughs/medal_award_list.html" type="external">John Burroughs Medal Award</a>.</p>
<p /> | European CO2 Cuts Working | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2008/06/european-co2-cuts-working/ | 2008-06-11 | 4 |
<p>On Wednesday night, two-time failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton compared herself to Wonder Woman while <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rambling-reporter/wonder-woman-is-talk-town-at-crystal-lucy-awards-1013550" type="external">appearing</a> in a surprise video for actress and Hillary-sycophant Elizabeth Banks at the Crystal + Lucy Awards.</p>
<p>"Now I haven't seen Wonder Woman yet, but I'm going to, in part because it's directed by the fabulous Patty Jenkins," <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rambling-reporter/wonder-woman-is-talk-town-at-crystal-lucy-awards-1013550" type="external">screeched</a> Hillary. "But something tells me that a movie about a strong, powerful woman fighting to save the world from a massive international disaster is right up my alley."</p>
<p>WATCH:</p>
<p>Now, I haven't seen the new Wonder Woman movie yet either, but is Gal Gadot's character a power-hungry serial liar who ends up wandering the Chappaqua woods taking selfies with passersby, too?</p>
<p>The former secretary of state went on to heap praise on Banks, who took home the Crystal Award for Excellence in Film.</p>
<p>"She is such a special person, again, on screen and off," Hillary gushed. "You're not only a creative force in front of the camera and behind it, you are a passionate advocate for women's equality and opportunity; I can vouch for that."</p>
<p>But the feminist love-fest wasn't over yet. Former First Lady Michelle Obama also appeared in a surprise video, where she showered praise on actress Tracee Ellis Ross.</p>
<p>"You are hilarious," Michelle said of Ross, who was awarded the Lucy Award for Excellence in Television. "You are one of the most talented actors I know, and your character on Black-ish, Bow, is an inspiration to folks all across this country. The work you're doing off-screen is just as remarkable. From empowering our girls to educating people on the importance of voting, thank you. Thank you for using your voice to change so many lives."</p>
<p>WATCH:</p> | Hillary: I'm A Lot Like Wonder Woman | true | https://dailywire.com/news/17556/hillary-im-lot-wonder-woman-amanda-prestigiacomo | 2017-06-15 | 0 |
<p>New York City subway train derailed Friday morning in Queens, disrupting service on several local lines. An express F train bound for Manhattan and Brooklyn derailed shortly before 10:30 a.m., according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the New York City Fire Department. Firefighters and emergency medical service responders [?]</p>
<p>An express F train bound for Manhattan and Brooklyn derailed shortly before 10:30 a.m., according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the New York City Fire Department. <a href="http://pienews.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/NYC.jpg" type="external" /></p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/101637911" type="external">Click here to view original web page at www.cnbc.com</a></p>
<p /> | Subway train derails in NYC | true | http://politicalillusionsexposed.com/subway-train-derails-in-queens-nyc/ | 0 |
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<p>At least 34 people, including two foreign nationals, were wounded in the day’s violence, which was one of the bloodiest attacks in Jordan in recent memory.</p>
<p>Security officials announced late Sunday, several hours after reports of the first shooting, that the operation had ended and that four gunmen were killed. They said troops continued to search the area.</p>
<p>The officials said large amounts of weapons had been seized. They made no reference to local media reports that at one point, the attackers had held hostages.</p>
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<p>The shootings were the latest in a series of attacks that have challenged this pro-Western kingdom’s claim to be an oasis of calm in a region threatened by Islamic extremists.</p>
<p>A witness said attackers immediately targeted tourists when they reached the castle.</p>
<p>“Four gunmen got out of their car” at the castle, said Wasfi al-Habashneh, a local resident. “They opened fire at the Canadian tourists. The woman was killed, the other Canadian tourist escaped and hid behind a car and one of the children was injured.”</p>
<p>Al-Habashneh said the attackers also targeted other people. Security forces “engaged with the gunmen and cornered the gunmen at the castle gate,” he said.</p>
<p>The killing of the Canadian visitor could further hurt Jordan’s embattled tourism sector, which has declined sharply since the Islamic State group seized large parts of neighboring Syria and Iraq two years ago.</p>
<p>Canada’s global affairs spokesman, John Babcock, told The Associated Press that the dead woman was Linda Vatcher. Babcock said her son Chris was injured.</p>
<p>“Canadian officials in Amman are actively working with local authorities to gather additional information and are providing consular assistance to Canadians at this difficult time,” Babcock said.</p>
<p>Barb Rhymes, a cousin of the slain tourist, said the victim was a retired elementary teacher from Burgeo, Newfoundland, and was visiting her son in Jordan where he works. Rhymes said Linda Vatcher, 62, was a widow and a mother of two adult sons.</p>
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<p>“She was very friendly, outgoing. She was nice to everyone. A friend to all,” Rhymes said from Burgeo, a remote town of 1,400 people on Canada’s East Coast. “It’s devastating. It has hit the town hard. My mind is not there right now. She was a beautiful person.”</p>
<p>The Canadian Embassy in Amman issued an alert warning urging Canadians to avoid travel to Karak, a town in central Jordan about 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of the capital.</p>
<p>There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks in and near Karak.</p>
<p>The chain of events began when a police patrol received reports of a house fire in the town of Qatraneh in the Karak district, said a statement by Jordan’s Public Security Directorate. Officers responding to the call came under fire from inside the house, the statement said. Two policemen were wounded and the assailants fled in a car, it said.</p>
<p>In another attack, gunmen fired on a security patrol in Karak, causing no injuries, the statement said.</p>
<p>Armed men also opened fire on a police station at the Crusader fort, wounding members of security forces.</p>
<p>In all, seven members of the security forces, two local civilians and the tourist from Canada were killed, security officials said. Fifteen members of the security forces, 17 local civilians and two foreign nationals were injured.</p>
<p>Jordan faces homegrown extremism, with hundreds of Jordanians fighting alongside other Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria and several thousand more supporting the extremist group in the kingdom. Jordan is a key U.S. ally, and a member of a U.S.-led military coalition fighting IS.</p>
<p>Over the past year, gunmen have carried out several attacks on members of the Jordanian security forces and foreign trainers. Earlier this year, Jordanian security forces engaged in a deadly shootout with suspected IS sympathizers in a northern Jordanian town.</p>
<p>In the most recent incident, three U.S. military members were killed in a shooting outside an air base in southern Jordan in November. The three were in Jordan on a training mission, and came under fire while driving into the base.</p>
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<p>Associated Press writer Omar Akour reported this story in Karak and AP writer Mohammed Daraghmeh reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip. AP writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.</p> | Gunmen kill 10, including Canadian, in attacks on police | false | https://abqjournal.com/911635/gunmen-kill-10-including-canadian-in-attacks-on-police.html | 2016-12-18 | 2 |
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<p>Image source: Jack in the Box, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>What:Shares ofJack in the Box Inc.rose 26.1% in the month of May, according to data provided by <a href="https://www.capitaliq.com/CIQDotNet/Login.aspx" type="external">S&amp;PGlobal Market Intelligence Opens a New Window.</a>, driven by a combination of the fast-food restaurant chain's strong fiscal second-quarter 2016 results and an encouraging 2016 analyst day.</p>
<p>So what:More specifically, shares climbed more than 14% on May 12 after Jack in the Box announced quarterly revenue climbed a modest 0.8% year over year, to $361.2 million, including flat same-store sales at its core Jack in the Box system locations, and 2.1% same-store sales growth from its wholly owned Qdoba subsidiary. With the help of the company's healthy margins and cost control initiatives, that translated to 24.7% growth in net earnings, to $28.7 million, and -- thanks in part to aggressive share repurchases over the past year -- 40% growth in adjusted net income per share, to $0.84. Analysts, on average, were anticipating adjusted earnings of just $0.70 per share.</p>
<p>Then shares continued their climb on May 25, 2016, following Jack in the Box's 2016 investor and analyst meeting, during which the company revealed plans to increase the percentage of its restaurants owned by franchisees from around 82% today to a range of 90% to 95% over the next several years. In doing so, Jack in Box believes it can drive growth in operating earnings per share in the mid-teens, at least 25% returns on invested capital from operations (up from 15.5% last year), and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBTIDA) of at least $400 million (up from $290 million last year) through the 2018 to 2020 time frame.</p>
<p>Now what:As it stands after last month's rally, shares of Jack in the Box trade almost exactly where they stood one year ago, having rebounded from a particularly painful report in February as the chain suffered under the competitive weight of McDonald's successful all-day breakfast campaign. So while I'm personally content watching its progress from the sidelines for at least another quarter in these early stages of its strategic plan, I won't be the least bit surprised if Jack in the Box stock continues to rise from here.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/02/why-jack-in-the-box-inc-stock-jumped-261-in-may.aspx" type="external">Why Jack in the Box Inc. Stock Jumped 26.1% in May Opens a New Window.</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
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<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFSymington/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">Steve Symington Opens a New Window.</a> has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Why Jack in the Box Inc. Stock Jumped 26.1% in May | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/06/02/why-jack-in-box-inc-stock-jumped-261-in-may.html | 2016-06-02 | 0 |
<p>President George Bush said yes; some bishops said no; even Doonesbury touched on the question.</p>
<p>But what does is mean, in any case, to say that a war is just?&#160; What are the yard-sticks of justice that support President Bush’s claim that is was just to reverse Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait?&#160; And how does on evaluate the justness of stopping the war when the allies did?&#160; And what of our fierce bombing of the fleeting Iraqi troops on the road from Kuwait?&#160; The threat to Israel?&#160; The value of oil in weighing whether to fight or not?</p>
<p>‘But Was It Just?’ is an ethical primer in which the leading thinkers of our time on matters of war and peace take up these questions and more.&#160; In a style both popular and substantive, they explore the morality of the Gulg War in light of the centuries-old just war tradition; of political analysis; and of personal experience and conviction.</p>
<p>Michael Walzer; author of ‘Just and Unjust Wars’, makes the case for the war’s justness as does George Weigel, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. Jean Bethke Elshatain, author of ‘Women and War’, explores the ambiguities of the war’s morality and the role of women in it, while Sari Nusseibeh, a Palestinian philosopher, discusses the conflict from the vantage point of an Israeli jail.&#160; Stanley Hauerwas offers a Christian pacifists response to the war.&#160; On appendix features a watershed editorial on the Gulf War and war in general by a Jesuit magazine thet usually reflects the point of view of the pope.&#160; Another appendix features a chronology of the Gulf crisis, highlighting those events that have figured most in assessing the war’s justness.</p>
<p>This is a book for citizens and students about one of the most significant episodes in recent American history.&#160; It is also a model of moral reasoning on questions sure to be with us again in the future.</p>
<p>George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. and holds EPPC’s William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies.</p> | But Was It Just? | false | https://eppc.org/publications/but-was-it-just/ | 1 |
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<p>By Michelle Roberts The Associated Press Published: 09/27/05 Excerpt:</p>
<p>The chaos also seemed to affect some reporters and editors, said Kelly McBride, who teaches ethics to journalists at the Poynter Institute, a journalism research and education center in St. Petersburg, Fla. "You get so hung up as a reporter on what the big picture is that you use generalizations that become untrue," McBride said. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5306071,00.html" type="external">More of this article...</a> <a href="http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&amp;ned=us&amp;q=%22Kelly+mcBride%22&amp;btnG=Search+News" type="external">Search Google News for more quotes by Kelly McBride...</a></p> | Some Reports of N.O. Violence Exaggerated | false | https://poynter.org/news/some-reports-no-violence-exaggerated | 2005-10-07 | 2 |
<p>SYDNEY (AP) — England defeated Australia by 16 runs in the third one day international at the Sydney Cricket Ground Sunday to clinch their five-game series with two games to spare and hand the world champions their first ODI series defeat at home since 2010.</p>
<p>After being thumped 4-0 in the Ashes test series, England’s limited-overs players produced a stunning turnaround to beat the Australians three times in a week, outplaying the home team both when chasing and defending big totals.</p>
<p>Needing to win Sunday’s match to keep the series alive, Australia brought their best fast bowlers together for the first time since the Ashes but it was to no avail as England’s middle-order pounded Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Pat Cummins at the death to post an imposing total of 302 for six.</p>
<p>Jos Buttler hit two runs off the final ball to complete his first ODI century against Australia after sharing an unbroken 113-run partnership with Chris Woakes that proved the difference between the sides.</p>
<p>“Jos was probably the difference between the sides. On a two-paced wicket, he paced it to perfection, played the anchor until about five or six overs out,” England captain Eoin Morgan said.</p>
<p>“This is one of the best wins from this group. With our bowling efforts, everybody was required to give a bit extra and everyone did. With the ball we were outstanding.”</p>
<p>The tourists had looked to be in trouble after slumping to 189-6 in the 39th over but rebounded in spectacular fashion with Buttler belting six boundaries and four sixes to finish 100 not out from just 83 balls, while Woakes chipped in with five fours and cleared the rope twice to remain unbeaten on 53 off only 36 deliveries.</p>
<p>The Australians did not help themselves in the field, bowling 13 wides and dropping three catches, including one off Buttler when he was on 70.</p>
<p>The Englishman had another scare on 97 when he was given out leg before wicket on the first ball of the last over but the decision was correctly overturned on review after replays showed the ball hit the edge of his bat.</p>
<p>Buttler took a single off the next ball and didn’t get back on strike until the final delivery, but managed to squeeze Starc’s attempted yorker into the legside field and scramble through to reach his hundred, leaping into the air with excitement.</p>
<p>“Great win, probably the best we’ve had,” said Buttler.</p>
<p>“We’ve championed this way of playing, even if you lose wickets. Chris and I tried to push on, we were looking at 270 but we had a couple of good overs. Against Cummins, Starc, etc it was very special.”</p>
<p>Australia’s reply began poorly when Dave Warner and Cameron White both went cheaply but Steve Smith’s men were thrown an unexpected lifeline when England paceman Liam Plunkett pulled a hamstring in his second over and was forced off the field, leaving the tourists a bowler short.</p>
<p>Most of the Australians made starts but none was able to go on and post a big number to match Buttler’s electrifying rate and they finished on 286-6.</p>
<p>Aaron Finch, who made centuries in each of the first two matches, top scored with 62, while Marcus Stoinis (56) and Mitchell Marsh (55) also made half-centuries after Smith was controversially given out for 45 when caught behind by Buttler although replays were inconclusive as to whether the ball had carried through.</p>
<p>“Disappointing tonight,” a rueful Smith said. “I thought the way we bowled in the first 45 overs was good, but Jos played exceptionally well, Woakesy too, but we bowled poorly at the end, can’t do that to a guy like Jos.</p>
<p>“We were chasing probably 30 too many, batted well but not enough to get over the line. Our one-day cricket hasn’t been up to scratch, we’ve got to find ways to win against quality opposition.”</p>
<p>SYDNEY (AP) — England defeated Australia by 16 runs in the third one day international at the Sydney Cricket Ground Sunday to clinch their five-game series with two games to spare and hand the world champions their first ODI series defeat at home since 2010.</p>
<p>After being thumped 4-0 in the Ashes test series, England’s limited-overs players produced a stunning turnaround to beat the Australians three times in a week, outplaying the home team both when chasing and defending big totals.</p>
<p>Needing to win Sunday’s match to keep the series alive, Australia brought their best fast bowlers together for the first time since the Ashes but it was to no avail as England’s middle-order pounded Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Pat Cummins at the death to post an imposing total of 302 for six.</p>
<p>Jos Buttler hit two runs off the final ball to complete his first ODI century against Australia after sharing an unbroken 113-run partnership with Chris Woakes that proved the difference between the sides.</p>
<p>“Jos was probably the difference between the sides. On a two-paced wicket, he paced it to perfection, played the anchor until about five or six overs out,” England captain Eoin Morgan said.</p>
<p>“This is one of the best wins from this group. With our bowling efforts, everybody was required to give a bit extra and everyone did. With the ball we were outstanding.”</p>
<p>The tourists had looked to be in trouble after slumping to 189-6 in the 39th over but rebounded in spectacular fashion with Buttler belting six boundaries and four sixes to finish 100 not out from just 83 balls, while Woakes chipped in with five fours and cleared the rope twice to remain unbeaten on 53 off only 36 deliveries.</p>
<p>The Australians did not help themselves in the field, bowling 13 wides and dropping three catches, including one off Buttler when he was on 70.</p>
<p>The Englishman had another scare on 97 when he was given out leg before wicket on the first ball of the last over but the decision was correctly overturned on review after replays showed the ball hit the edge of his bat.</p>
<p>Buttler took a single off the next ball and didn’t get back on strike until the final delivery, but managed to squeeze Starc’s attempted yorker into the legside field and scramble through to reach his hundred, leaping into the air with excitement.</p>
<p>“Great win, probably the best we’ve had,” said Buttler.</p>
<p>“We’ve championed this way of playing, even if you lose wickets. Chris and I tried to push on, we were looking at 270 but we had a couple of good overs. Against Cummins, Starc, etc it was very special.”</p>
<p>Australia’s reply began poorly when Dave Warner and Cameron White both went cheaply but Steve Smith’s men were thrown an unexpected lifeline when England paceman Liam Plunkett pulled a hamstring in his second over and was forced off the field, leaving the tourists a bowler short.</p>
<p>Most of the Australians made starts but none was able to go on and post a big number to match Buttler’s electrifying rate and they finished on 286-6.</p>
<p>Aaron Finch, who made centuries in each of the first two matches, top scored with 62, while Marcus Stoinis (56) and Mitchell Marsh (55) also made half-centuries after Smith was controversially given out for 45 when caught behind by Buttler although replays were inconclusive as to whether the ball had carried through.</p>
<p>“Disappointing tonight,” a rueful Smith said. “I thought the way we bowled in the first 45 overs was good, but Jos played exceptionally well, Woakesy too, but we bowled poorly at the end, can’t do that to a guy like Jos.</p>
<p>“We were chasing probably 30 too many, batted well but not enough to get over the line. Our one-day cricket hasn’t been up to scratch, we’ve got to find ways to win against quality opposition.”</p> | England beats Australia to clinch ODI series | false | https://apnews.com/6756dcf8070845e491bf04b398aaf3c6 | 2018-01-21 | 2 |
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<p>FILE – In this March 28, 2012 file photo, supporters of health care reform rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on the final day of arguments regarding the health care law signed by President Barack Obama. Nearly five years after Obama signed his health care overhaul into law, the Supreme Court will again get to decide its fate. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)</p>
<p>WASHINGTON — Nearly five years after President Barack Obama signed his health care overhaul into law, its fate is yet again in the hands of the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>This time it’s not just the White House and Democrats who have reason to be anxious. Republican lawmakers and governors won’t escape the political fallout if the court invalidates insurance subsidies worth billions of dollars to people in more than 30 states.</p>
<p>Obama’s law offers subsidized private insurance to people who don’t have access to it on the job. Without financial assistance with their premiums, millions of those consumers would drop coverage.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>And disruptions in the affected states don’t end there. If droves of healthy people bail out of HealthCare.gov, residents buying individual policies outside the government market would face a jump in premiums. That’s because self-pay customers are in the same insurance pool as the subsidized ones.</p>
<p>Health insurers spent millions to defeat the law as it was being debated. But the industry told the court last month that the subsidies are a key to making the insurance overhaul work. Withdrawing them would “make the situation worse than it was before” Congress passed the Affordable Care Act.</p>
<p>The debate over “Obamacare” was messy enough when just politics and ideology were involved. It gets really dicey with the well-being of millions of people in the balance. “It is not simply a function of law or ideology; there are practical impacts on high numbers of people,” said Republican Mike Leavitt, a former federal health secretary.</p>
<p>The legal issues involve the leeway accorded to federal agencies in applying complex legislation. Opponents argue that the precise wording of the law only allows subsidies in states that have set up their own insurance markets, or exchanges. That would leave out most beneficiaries, who live in states where the federal government runs the exchanges. The administration and Democratic lawmakers who wrote the law say Congress’ clear intent was to provide subsidies to people in every state.</p>
<p>While predicting a victory, the White House has not prepared consumers for the consequences of a reversal. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell repeatedly said that “nothing has changed,” even as other supporters of the law grew alarmed when the Supreme Court unexpectedly took the case. Burwell has dodged questions about contingency planning.</p>
<p>With oral arguments set for March 4 and a decision expected early in the summer, here’s what’s at stake:</p>
<p>RED STATES IN THE PATH</p>
<p>Insurance losses would be concentrated in Republican-led states, many of which have resisted “Obamacare.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, and New Jersey are among those with the most to lose. Residents of blue states that are running their own markets, including California and New York, would continue to receive benefits.</p>
<p>Because the health law’s 2015 sign-up season is still underway, it’s unclear how many millions of people could become uninsured. Two independent studies put the number at around 8 million. That includes consumers who bought individual policies outside of HealthCare.gov, but would drop coverage if premiums jump.</p>
<p>The federal government is currently running the insurance markets in 37 states, but not all may be affected. Some states have made progress toward setting up their own exchanges.</p>
<p>INSURER ESCAPE CLAUSE?</p>
<p>Even if the Obama administration has no Plan B, insurers appear to have been thinking ahead.</p>
<p>The federal government acknowledges in contract language that insurers “could have cause to terminate” their agreements with HealthCare.gov if the subsidies cease.</p>
<p>TIME TO SCRAMBLE</p>
<p>If the Supreme Court rules in late June, that would leave about three months before the start of the next sign-up season for coverage.</p>
<p>If the ruling goes against the subsidies, it’s unclear whether the courts can delay the effects for more than a few weeks, and most state legislatures are not in session during the summer. Meanwhile, insurers are supposed to have their rates for 2016 locked down.</p>
<p>There’s speculation that the White House could quickly roll out an administrative fix, but Obama could also toss the whole mess into the lap of the GOP-led Congress.</p>
<p>Technically, a few tweaks from Congress would fix the problem. But after repeated votes to repeal “Obamacare,” would any Republicans be willing to facilitate its rescue?</p>
<p>“We don’t see fixes the administration can make and we don’t see Congress acting to fix this,” said Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, a public policy center aligned with the White House.</p>
<p>REPUBLICAN vs. REPUBLICAN?</p>
<p>Faced with constituents at risk of losing coverage, some congressional Republicans may be willing to make fixes to the subsidies in exchange for concessions from Obama. Republicans have a long hit list of health law provisions, including employer requirements to cover workers, a tax on medical devices and a Medicare cost-control board.</p>
<p>But other Republicans will not want to lift a finger to bail out the program they’ve railed against.</p>
<p>“The president will say, ‘With one line of legislation, you could save 5 million people from losing their health insurance,’ and the Republicans need to have a unified response,” said Leavitt, the former HHS secretary. “If they don’t, then it creates a problem for them.”</p>
<p>Yet in the five years since the health law passed, Republicans have failed to find consensus on an alternative, and remain hard-pressed to do so. The GOP’s 2016 presidential hopefuls will be hounded for answers.</p>
<p>To complicate matters, budget experts say a congressional fix restoring some or all of the subsidies would have to be paid for with either spending cuts or tax increases.</p>
<p>The last time the Supreme Court ruled on the health care law, the result was a 5-4 decision upholding its central requirement that virtually all Americans must carry health insurance. This time, it won’t just be political junkies holding their breath before the announcement, but many consumers as well.</p>
<p>——</p>
<p>The case is King v. Burwell, docket No. 14-114.</p> | Anxiety over Supreme Court’s latest dive into health care | false | https://abqjournal.com/536448/anxiety-over-supreme-courts-latest-dive-into-health-care.html | 2 |
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<p />
<p>While on the campaign trail, the Republican threatened to impose a 35 percent tariff on some products imported from Mexico into the United States – as well as to renegotiate more favorable terms in the North American Free Trade Agreement, a free-trade pact among the United States, Canada and Mexico.</p>
<p>In the days following Trump’s election, Mexico’s economic minister declined to speculate on whether the United States might follow through on imposing such tariffs on the country. “We can’t anticipate anything, because we’d be anticipating something that wouldn’t suit anybody, which is a trade war,” said the minister, Ildefonso Guajardo. Yet Guajardo also said that Mexico would be willing to discuss NAFTA with the U.S. president and explain the pact’s strategic importance to him.</p>
<p>The tone was far more conciliatory than the statements that have emerged from China. Trump has threatened to label the country a currency manipulator in his first day in office and impose a 45 percent tariff on products imported from the country.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>In an editorial published Sunday, a state-run Chinese newspaper argued, “Making things difficult for China politically will do [Trump] no good.”</p>
<p>The editorial vowed tit-for-tat countermeasures against the broad range of American businesses that count China as one of their largest export markets. “A batch of Boeing orders will be replaced by Airbus,” the state-run Global Times said. “U.S. auto and iPhone sales in China will suffer a setback, and U.S. soybean and maize imports will be halted. China can also limit the number of Chinese students studying in the U.S.”</p>
<p>It makes sense that China might take a tougher stand against Trump than Mexico.</p>
<p>The United States accounted for 73 percent of Mexico’s exports and 51 percent of its imports in 2014, while Mexico accounted for only about 13 percent of U.S. exports and imports.</p>
<p>For China, in comparison, the United States accounted for 18 percent of the country’s exports and 8.8 percent of its imports in 2014. China accounted for 9.2 percent of U.S. exports and 20 percent of its total imports.</p>
<p>Even the smallest of these percentages represent a massive volume of trade. But while a dislocation from the U.S. export market would be highly damaging to the Chinese economy, it could be catastrophic for Mexico.</p>
<p>“It’s a question of your alternatives to negotiating,” said Daniel Shapiro, director of the Harvard International Negotiation Program and author of “Negotiating the Nonnegotiable.”</p>
<p>“For Mexico, they arguably can’t walk away without doing substantial damage to their economy. . . . They are in a less powerful position than the U.S.,” he said. “With China, their alternative to negotiating with the U.S. . . . is maybe investing in other European countries or elsewhere. It’s still a big deal, but they are more powerful because they are less dependent on the U.S. in that negotiation.”</p>
<p>Years ago, it might have seemed unlikely that the United States would follow through with any policies that could trigger a trade war. But the strength of Trump’s anti-trade mandate, Britain’s surprise exit from the European Union and the rise of far-right parties around the world have made the intellectual elite question some assumptions.</p>
<p>Still, economists agree that any trade wars the United States starts or stumbles into could be devastating to the American economy as well. About $118 billion in cars and auto parts moved tariff-free between the United States and Mexico last year, according to the Commerce Department. If a tariff were imposed, it would take years for companies to rebuild their global supply chains. In the meantime, U.S. consumers would pay significantly higher prices for daily purchases.</p>
<p>Shapiro said that while U.S. trade measures against Mexico would hurt the Mexican economy, “the opposite is true, too. If the U.S. does not negotiate an agreement with Mexico, what is our best alternative? Are there enough factories readily available and suppliers to make up the lost supplies?”</p>
<p>trump-trade</p> | Why Mexico has a lot to lose in a Trump trade war | false | https://abqjournal.com/889772/why-mexico-has-a-lot-to-lose-in-a-trump-trade-war.html | 2 |
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<p>By <a href="http://www.alternet.org/sex-amp-relationships/number-americans-who-identify-bisexual-rise" type="external">Kali Holloway / AlterNet</a></p>
<p>It seems fitting that as we close out a year in which sexual fluidity was one of the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/08/17/kristen-stewart-miley-cyrus-and-the-rise-of-sexual-fluidity/" type="external">most discussed topics</a>, a new <a href="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2016/images/01/06/nhsr88.pdf" type="external">study</a> finds that the number of adult Americans who identify as bisexual is on the rise.</p>
<p>That’s according to the Centers for Disease Control, which assessed sexual attitudes of more than 9,000 U.S. residents aged 18-44. The survey found that between 2011 and 2013, an increasing number of respondents reported same-sex sexual contact and bisexual self-identification.</p>
<p>As in other recent surveys, the CDC report found U.S. women outpaced men in reporting bisexuality. Two percent of men polled labeled themselves bisexual, up from 1.2 percent in the 2006-2010 survey. Women, at 5.5 percent, up from 3.9 percent in the previous poll, were <a href="https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/01/07/yet-another-study-shows-women-are-far-more-likely-to-identify-as-bisexual/" type="external">nearly three times</a> as likely to identify as bisexual than men.</p>
<p />
<p>Fittingly, the report notes an increase in the number of American women who report same-sex sexual contact. This was true of 14.2 percent of women polled in 2006-2010—a figure that rose to 17.4 in the most recent survey. Just 6.2 percent of men say they’ve had sexual contact with other men.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/health/bisexuality-on-the-rise/index.html?eref=rss_topstories" type="external">CNN notes</a> that researchers identified some race-linked disparities among survey respondents. Hispanic and Latina women, at 11.2 percent, were least likely to have had sexual contact with other women. Conversely, 19.6 percent of white women and 19.4 percent of black women reported having had same-sex sexual contact.</p>
<p>In late 2015, a study at the <a href="http://www.details.com/story/women-are-never-straight-study-says" type="external">University of Essex</a> became somewhat controversial due to researchers’ determination that “100 percent heterosexual” women simply don’t exist. The study assessed women’s involuntary physical responses, such as pupil dilation, when shown sexually suggestive videos of both men and women. Overwhelmingly, women who identified as lesbian showed signs of arousal almost solely with images of women. But heterosexual women involved in the study responded to both.</p>
<p>“Even though the majority of women identify as straight, our research clearly demonstrates that when it comes to what turns them on, they are either bisexual or gay, but never straight,” said the study’s lead author Gerulf Rieger, in a statement that garnered a few <a href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/11/study-all-women-are-a-little-gay-lesbian.html" type="external">interesting responses</a>.</p>
<p>The 2014-2015 edition of the CDC study is slated for release this fall.</p> | Number of Americans Who Identify as Bisexual Is on the Rise | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/number-of-americans-who-identify-as-bisexual-is-on-the-rise/ | 2016-01-08 | 4 |
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<p>PHOENIX — A former Peoria high school teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a teenage student for years has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.</p>
<p>The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office says 47-year-old Brian Woolsey was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty two counts of sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of attempted sexual conduct with a minor in June.</p>
<p>Woolsey and his now ex-wife were arrested in October 2015. Jennifer Woolsey also was a teacher at Sunrise Mountain High and was accused of failing to report her husband’s relationship, although she was never charged.</p>
<p>Police say Brian Woolsey began a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl in January 2010. The two kept the relationship secret for three years before the girl reported it to authorities.</p>
<p>Woolsey was also sentenced to lifetime supervised probation.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Ex-teacher sentenced to 12 years in case involving student | false | https://abqjournal.com/1057196/ex-teacher-sentenced-to-12-years-in-case-involving-student.html | 2 |
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<p>Recent racist attacks against Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson have been met with utter silence from black civil rights organizations nationwide, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Contacted for comment by The Daily Wire, the NAACP refused.</p>
<p>At a recent campaign stop in Harlem, insults and invectives were thrown at the presidential candidate, with protesters invoking everything from slavery to the Jim Crow South. Hecklers accosted the candidate, shouting “ <a href="http://atlantadailyworld.com/2015/08/14/ben-carson-answers-those-who-call-him-uncle-tom-and-race-traitor/" type="external">Uncle Tom</a>” and calling Dr. Carson a “ <a href="http://atlantadailyworld.com/2015/08/14/ben-carson-answers-those-who-call-him-uncle-tom-and-race-traitor/" type="external">traitor to his race</a>.”</p>
<p>When The Daily Wire asked the NAACP to comment on or even condemn these racial epithets, the self-proclaimed civil rights organization refused to do so. “We are a non-partisan organization,” tersely stated an NAACP representative via telephone.</p>
<p>When asked again whether the NAACP will consider releasing a statement condemning the vitriol and racism directed against Dr. Carson, the representative stated that they have no “intention” of doing so.</p>
<p>The NAACP representative then quickly ended the conversation with the phrase, “We have no comment.” When asked again whether the NAACP will consider releasing a statement condemning the vitriol and racism directed against Dr. Carson, the representative stated that they have no “intention” of doing so. Instead, the organization insisted that the NAACP has not “endorsed” any candidate, as if political endorsements are a pre-requisite for condemning racism.</p>
<p>After that conversation came to an abrupt close, The Daily Wire attempted to contact the NAACP again. The phone call disconnected immediately.</p>
<p>It would be one thing if the NAACP invariably refused to engage with political candidates or public figures altogether. However, that does not appear to be in the case. According to the NAACP’s own <a href="file:///C:/Users/joshu/Desktop/The%20NAACP,%20along%20with%20our%20half-million%20adult%20and%20youth%20members%20throughout%20the%20United%20States,%20are%20frontline%20advocates%20committed%20to%20raising%20awareness%20for%20political,%20educational,%20social%20and%20economic%20equality%20of%20minority%20group%20citizens%20in%20the%20electoral%20process." type="external">website</a>, the organization spearheads a civic engagement project that “along with [about] a half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States, are frontline advocates committed to raising awareness for political, educational, social and economic equality of minority group citizens in the electoral process.”</p>
<p>Raising awareness about the racist attacks against the candidate would appear to qualify as part of the NAACP’s civic engagement protocol. But alas, it apparently does not.</p>
<p>The NAACP does have a history of condemning what they perceive to be racist statements against particular politicians, so long as those politicians are not conservative. For example, in 2010, the NAACP went out of its “non-partisan” way to pass a resolution condemning “extremist elements with the Tea Party,” specifically citing unverified racist treatment of Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO) at the hands of Tea Partiers. The full text of the statement is available <a href="http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/naacp-delegates-vote-to-repudiate-racist-elements-within-the-tea-pary/" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>“The resolution came after a year of high-profile media coverage of attendees of Tea Party marches using vile, antagonistic racial slurs &amp; images,” <a href="http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/naacp-delegates-vote-to-repudiate-racist-elements-within-the-tea-pary/" type="external">stated</a> the NAACP. The NAACP's hypocrisy here is underscored by the fact that some of the very same language the NAACP condemned when allegedly directed at Democrats has now been ignored when it is directed at Carson. According to the NAACP, “…NAACP delegates passed a resolution to condemn extremist elements within the Tea Party, calling on Tea Party leaders to repudiate those in their ranks who use racist language in their signs and speeches.” No such statement of repudiation exists about the remarks of protestors in Harlem or the myriad of other instances of crude racial bigotry directed against Carson.</p>
<p>On March 23, 2013, The Daily Kos published an <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/27/1197404/-Dear-Ben-Carson-When-A-Person-Has-to-Deny-Being-an-Uncle-Tom-It-Usually-Means-They-Are-One" type="external">article</a> entitled, “Dear Ben Carson, When A Person Has to Deny Being an Uncle Tom, It Usually Means They Are One.” The article began with the phrase, Ben Carson, <a href="https://wearerespectablenegroes.blogspot.com/2013/03/introducing-ben-carson-newest-black.html" type="external">the Tea Party GOP Mandingo</a>.” The hyperlink The Daily Kos provides tracing the online history of “GOP Mandingo” is connected to a fringe website that appears to spew conspiracy theories. “ <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/us/politics/dr-benjamin-carson-obama-critic-have-conservatives-dreaming-of-2016.html" type="external">The NY Times' flattering profile</a> of the very professionally accomplished Dr. Ben Carson is part of a concerted effort to <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/03/22/ben_carson_new_gop_savior/" type="external">make a compelling news story</a> out of the Republican Party's search for a viable black presidential candidate,” <a href="http://www.chaunceydevega.com/2013/03/introducing-ben-carson-newest-black.html" type="external">writes</a> “Essayist and Cultural” Critic Chauncey DeVega, a contributing writer for the liberal sites Salon and Alternet.</p>
<p>The NAACP’s deafening silence demonstrates once again that the organization is happy to condone racism, so long as the victims are conservative.</p> | NAACP 'Declines to Comment' on Racial Attacks Against Ben Carson | true | https://dailywire.com/news/470/naacp-declines-comment-racial-attacks-against-ben-michael-qazvini | 2015-10-16 | 0 |
<p>By Tim Radford / Climate News Network</p>
<p />
<p>&#160; &#160; Victims of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated Myanmar in 2008, receive supplies. The cyclone claimed at least 138,000 lives. (TZA via Flick)</p>
<p>This Creative Commons-licensed piece first appeared at <a href="http://climatenewsnetwork.net/un-counts-climates-human-cost/" type="external">Climate News Network</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>LONDON — In the 20 years since the first UN conference on climate change, weather-related disasters have claimed 606,000 human lives, damaged or destroyed 87 million homes, and injured, displaced or left helpless a total of 4.1 billion people.</p>
<p>A new study from the <a href="http://www.unisdr.org/" type="external">UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction</a> (UNISDR) demonstrates that 90% of all disasters are now weather-related. And the average of 335 weather-related disasters per year in the last 10 years is twice that recorded between 1985 and 1995</p>
<p>The report, <a href="http://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/publications/46796" type="external">The Human Cost of Weather-Related Disasters 1995-201</a>5, is intended to focus attention during the <a href="http://www.cop21paris.org/about/cop21" type="external">UN climate change conference</a>&#160;— which opens in Paris on Monday — on the damage already inflicted by global warming as a consequence of rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, in turn as a consequence of the human combustion of fossil fuels and the destruction of the planet’s forests.</p>
<p>Development cost</p>
<p>As world leaders head for the summit, referred to as COP21, the numbers alone tell the story. In the last 20 years, there have been 6,457 floods, storms, heatwaves, droughts and other climatic events that meet the UN definition of a disaster — that is, they killed people, displaced communities, or caused damage calculated in millions.</p>
<p>But there are figures nobody can assess. One of these is the true economic cost, especially in terms of economic development.</p>
<p>The UN’s <a href="http://www.cred.be/" type="external">Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters</a>, based at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, puts the tally at US$1.891 trillion over the last 20 years.</p>
<p>However, that accounts for about only 71% of all losses attributable to natural hazards. The true figure for disasters — including earthquakes and tsunamis — could be between $250bn and $300bn a year, which would mean a total of up to $6 trillion just for the last decade.</p>
<p>In terms of numbers, the US was hit most often, with 472 recorded tornadoes, ice storms, hurricanes, floods, heatwaves, droughts and other events. China followed with 441, India with 228, the Philippines with 274, and Indonesia with 263.</p>
<p>“An agreement in Paris at COP21 on reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be a significant contribution to reducing damage and loss from disasters.”</p>
<p>The greatest loss of lives was in Asia, where 332,000 people died and 3.7 billion were affected. Cyclone Nargis, which hit Myanmar in 2008, claimed 138,000 lives.</p>
<p>Floods accounted for 47% of all weather-related disasters in the 20 years, affecting 2.3 billion people and killing 157,000. Storms accounted for 242,000 deaths, or 40% of the total. Almost 90% of these deaths were in the lower-income nations.</p>
<p>Paradoxically, higher-income countries felt the impact of temperature extremes. Of the 164,000 who perished when the thermometer dropped or climbed to catastrophic levels, 148,000 died during heatwaves, and 90% of these deaths were in Europe.</p>
<p>Greater extremes</p>
<p>But drought hit Africa more than any other continent, with 136 arid spells between 1995 and 2015, and 77 of these were in East Africa.</p>
<p>Researchers have <a href="http://climatenewsnetwork.net/weather-events-taken-to-extremes-by-climate-change/" type="external">repeatedly given warnings</a>&#160;that global warming is likely to be accompanied by <a href="http://climatenewsnetwork.net/extremes-concern-as-planet-gets-hotter-and-colder/" type="external">greater extremes</a>.</p>
<p>“In the long term, an agreement in Paris at COP21 on reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be a significant contribution to reducing damage and loss from disasters, which are partly driven by a warming globe and rising sea levels,” says Margareta Wahlström, head of UNISDR.</p>
<p>“For now, there is a need to reduce existing levels of risk and avoid creating new risk by ensuring that public and private investments are risk-informed and do not increase the exposure of people and economic assets to natural hazards on flood plains, vulnerable low-lying coastlines, and other locations unsuited for human settlement.”</p>
<p>Tim Radford, a founding editor of Climate News Network, worked for The Guardian for 32 years, for most of that time as science editor. He has been covering climate change since 1988.</p> | U.N. Counts the Human Cost of Climate Change | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/u-n-counts-the-human-cost-of-climate-change/ | 2015-11-27 | 4 |
<p>Deutsche Telekom AG unit T-Mobile USA will start selling the Apple Inc iPhone in about three to four months and will enforce its plan to get rid of cellphone subsidies in a similar timeframe, according to Chief Executive John Legere.</p>
<p>Legere declined to disclose details about the company's agreement with Apple, except to say that T-Mobile USA's timing for selling the smartphone would be sooner rather than later, along with its subsidy elimination plan.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"They're all, I would call them, in three to four months as opposed to six to nine months, Legere told Reuters in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.</p>
<p>T-Mobile USA said late last year it would eliminate handset subsidies in 2013 to give customers more flexibility and lower service prices. It said at the same time that it will also sell the iPhone, making it the last U.S. mobile provider to do so.</p>
<p>The company hopes to attract customers from bigger rivals like AT&amp;T Inc and Verizon Wireless with the combination of selling iPhones and removing subsidies, which would be a first for the U.S. wireless industry.</p>
<p>The executive said he could possibly increase T-Mobile USA's market share by 5 percent or higher from bigger rivals who still depend on subsidizing phones to give their customers a device discount in exchange for tying them into a two-year contract.</p>
<p>"If the old industry structure chooses to ignore what we do," he said, "That's a potential."</p>
<p>While the company is currently focused on gaining regulatory approval and closing its merger with MetroPCS Communications in the second quarter this year, Legere said that he might not stop there.</p>
<p>For example, the executive said he could explore a relationship with satellite provider Dish Network Corp or a combination with smaller rival Leap Wireless International Inc .</p>
<p>T-Mobile USA is currently seeking approval to merge with smaller wireless rival MetroPCS and analysts have long said that MetroPCS and Leap networks would go well together.</p>
<p>Leap is "one of those things that makes extreme sense for us to look at" Legere said.</p>
<p>Meanwhile Dish, which recently gained approval to use airwaves it bought for a wireless service, has said that it is looking at options including a network sharing partnership with another U.S. wireless carrier. {ID:nL1E9C805E]</p>
<p>Analysts have said that they see Sprint Nextel Corp or T-Mobile USA as the most likely partners for Dish.</p>
<p>Legere said that he has not had talks with Dish, but when asked if he would consider a partnership with the satellite company he said: "The answer is obviously yes."</p>
<p>"They'd be interesting for us to talk to and we'd be fascinating for them," he added.</p>
<p>While Dish announced today that it will battle Sprint to buy another smaller wireless company, Clearwire Corp , some analysts have said that it is unlikely to succeed in that bid so could still need a wireless network partner.</p>
<p>(Reporting By Sinead Carew; Editing by Matt Driskill)</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | T-Mobile USA to soon sell iPhones, cut subsidies: CEO | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/01/09/t-mobile-usa-to-soon-sell-iphones-cut-subsidies-ceo.html | 2016-01-29 | 0 |
<p>More than 80 people protesting a controversial North Dakota oil pipeline project were arrested Saturday and pepper spray was used in what the sheriff’s department called a "riot."</p>
<p>Saturday’s arrests occurred in a confrontation with police after around 300 demonstrators trespassed on private property along the Dakota Access Pipeline project's right of way, the Morton County Sheriff's Office said.</p>
<p>Protests have been held for more than two months against the project, which the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe says the pipeline project would destroy some of its sacred sites.</p>
<p>The confrontation between police and protesters began at 5:20 a.m. Saturday and lasted five hours, according to the sheriff’s office spokesman Rob Keller. Protesters have camped for weeks about five miles from the site, close to where the Missouri and Cannonball rivers meet.</p>
<p>The sheriff department’s statement said law enforcement officers decided to use pepper spray when protesters tried to breach the line they had created between the demonstration and construction equipment. It added that a protester disarmed an officer and used his own pepper spray against him, blinding him for up to five minutes.</p>
<p>Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said Saturday's confrontation shows "that this protest is not peaceful or lawful."</p>
<p>A section of a state highway had to be shut down because of the protests, but has since reopened.</p>
<p>"It was obvious to our officers who responded that the protesters engaged in escalated unlawful tactics and behavior during this event," Kirchmeier said in a statement. "This protest was intentionally coordinated and planned by agitators with the specific intent to engage in illegal activities."</p>
<p>Eight-three people were arrested in all, the sheriff's office said.</p>
<p>Four of those arrested Saturday had attempted to attach themselves to a sports utility vehicle parked on private property close to the construction equipment. Two fastened themselves to the exterior of the car, one bound himself to the steering wheel, and another fed his arm through a hole in the door and had his hand stuck inside a bucket of hardened concrete.</p>
<p>Charges of those arrested include assault on a peace officer, criminal trespass and engaging in a riot.</p>
<p>Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners were granted approval for the 1,172-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline earlier this year. The project runs from Illinois to North Dakota, cost nearly $3.8 billion and could move up to 570,000 barrels of oil per day once completed.</p>
<p>Protesters, many of whom are members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, are worried about the potential environmental impact to the Missouri River and the possible desecration of nearby sacred sites. Plans are to cross under the riverbed less than a mile from the tribe’s reservation.</p> | More Than 80 Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Arrested, Some Pepper Sprayed | false | http://nbcnews.com/storyline/dakota-pipeline-protests/more-80-dakota-access-pipeline-protesters-arrested-some-pepper-sprayed-n671281 | 2016-10-23 | 3 |
<p>Last week, March 25, 2015—a date which will live in infamy—One Direction, the world’s most popular boy band, was suddenly and deliberately under attack. You see, that day, <a href="" type="internal">Zayn Malik</a> chose to leave the group; this, despite the fact that they raked in a reported $75 million last year, and recently became the first group ever to have their first four albums debut at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard charts.</p>
<p>The 22-year-old pop star, and the only person of color in the group (he’s British Pakistani), had been the group’s de facto media punching bag, receiving flak for everything from puffing on a joint to <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3016508/Swedish-model-Martina-Olsson-claims-Zayn-Malik-cheated-Perrie-Edwards-bedding-TWICE-Thailand.html" type="external">recent tabloid allegations</a> that he cheated on his fiancee of three years with not one—but two—blondes while on vacation in Thailand. Malik <a href="https://twitter.com/zaynmalik/status/578291230758449152" type="external">denied the rumors</a> on Twitter.</p>
<p>And the group’s superfans, dubbed Directioners, were so torn up over the news that many of them (the employed ones, at least) went as far as requesting <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/zayn-malik-quits-one-direction-hundreds-of-workers-demand-compassionate-leave-following-band-members-exit-10136603.html" type="external">compassionate leave</a>. Over the weekend, the 1D Twitter mob lost their marbles all over again when <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2015/03/29/naughtyboydonteatzayn-one-direction-fans-are-pretty-unhappy-with-zayn-malik-and-naughty-boy-5126339/" type="external">photos surfaced</a> of Malik hanging with record producer Naughty Boy. If that all weren’t enough, on Monday, Naughty Boy got into it on Twitter with One Direction member Louis Tomlinson after the producer <a href="http://www.people.com/article/zayn-malik-one-direction-fight-louis-tomlinson-naughty-boy-twitter" type="external">retweeted a video</a> claiming ‘Naughty Boy saved ‘Zaughty’’ and ‘Zaughty will rise,’ which led to this exchange:</p>
<p>Well, now Directioners will really be left scratching their floppy-haired heads. Naughty Boy and Zayn were apparently up to something in the studio, and on Monday night, the producer released the track they’ve been cooking up, <a href="https://twitter.com/NaughtyBoyMusic/status/582728600610332672" type="external">“I Won’t Mind.”</a></p>
<p>The track came accompanied by <a href="https://twitter.com/NaughtyBoyMusic/status/582736818774405120" type="external">the cryptic message</a>, “Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy.”</p>
<p>“I Won’t Mind” is markedly different from the Naughty Boy-produced dance hit “La La La.” It’s a spare tune that features Zayn crooning contemplative lyrics over light acoustic guitar strumming with the chorus, “’Cause we are who we are, and right from the start (you know I got you).” It seems, given all the recent media chatter, that Zayn had more than a little something to get off his chest, and this elliptical ballad may be an ode to his fiancée, Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards, who’s had her name dragged through the mud because of his alleged dalliances.</p>
<p>Either way, while the sound quality is very demo-y and rough, “I Won’t Mind” provides further evidence of Zayn’s considerable vocal talents—and reinforces claims that he was the strongest singer in One Direction.The group’s reactionary fans will no doubt feel betrayed and lash out against this development, especially since it’s happened before their wounds have healed. But with time, and a well-received solo album, perhaps they won’t mind.</p> | One Direction’s Zayn Malik Begins Solo Career with Debut Song ‘I Won’t Mind’ | true | https://thedailybeast.com/one-directions-zayn-malik-begins-solo-career-with-debut-song-i-wont-mind | 2018-10-05 | 4 |
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